BRU Server 2.0 was released this week, offering a long anticipated update to the popular cross platform backup suite of applications. The main two features that the TOLIS group is highlighting include Encryption of backup target sets and client initiated backup.
Whether you are a BRU, Atempo, Bakbone, Backup Exec or Retrospect environment, 318 can assist you with planning, testing, verifying or restoring backups. Contact your 318 account manager today for more details.
Sun was in merger talks with IBM. Talks that had fallen through. Today, the Sun website says “Oracle to Buy Sun.” Oracle is the largest database company in the world and has been tinkering with selling support contracts for Linux and the Oracle suite of database products, that already includes PeopleSoft, Hyperion and Siebel. This merger, valued at $7.4Billion, will give Oracle access to sell hardware bundled solutions, further the Oracle development product offerings and give Oracle one of the best operating systems for running databases on the planet.
Oracle doesn’t just get hardware and Solaris though. This move also solidifies a plan for Oracle customers to integrate Sun storage. Oracle had previously been working with HP in a partnership that never seemed to gain traction. Then there is Java, MySQL, VirtualBox, GlassFish and OpenOffice.org. A number of the Sun contributions will be Open Source projects, but overall it’s possible to see a strategy that can emerge from a new Oracle + Sun organization.
As a Sun partner, 318 can assist its clients through this transition, be it with storage, MySQL, Java, Solaris or Oracle middleware scripting. Overall, this deal makes a lot of sense and 318 is behind doing whatever possible to ease our clients through the transition.
Finally, for those concerned that Oracle might just be buying Sun to kill off MySQL, keep in mind that the Open Source community built MySQL in the first place (or was integral to building it) and it can build another in its place just as easily, this time faster and with less required legacy support. MySQL is not a fluke. PostgreSQL or a newer solution will take its place if MySQL were to fall by the wayside under the Oracle helm. Oracle is not going to make MySQL into a martyr of sorts, and is going to want to capitalize on their investment (a Billion dollar purchase by Sun and obviously part of this purchase); especially with a clear business plan for MySQL to be profitable (which is why Sun bought them for such a lofty price in the first place). Overall, Oracle has no reason to kill MySQL; instead, with Siebel, MySQL, Oracle, PeopleSoft, etc – they can simply tout “All Your Databasen Are Belong To Us!”
VMware’s ESX Server, like any system, needs to be updated regularly. To see what patches have been installed on your ESX server use the following command:
esxupdate -query
Once you know what updates have already been applied to your system it’s time to go find the updates that still need to be applied. You can download the updates that have not yet been run at http://support.vmware.com/selfsupport/download/. Here you will see a bevy of information about each patch and can determine whether you consider it an important patch to run. At a minimum, all security patches should be run as often as your change control environment allows. Once downloaded make sure you have enough free space to install the software you’ve just downloaded and then you will need to copy the patches to the server (using ssh, scp or whatever tool you prefer to use to copy files to your ESX host). Now extract the patches prior to running them. To do so use the tar command, as follows:
tar xvzf
.tgz
Once extracted, cd into the patch directory and then use the esxupdate command with the update flag and then the test flag, as follows:
esxupdate –test update
Provided that the update tests clean, run the update itself with the following command (still with a working directory inside the extracted tarball from a couple of steps ago):
esxupdate update
There are a couple of flags that can be used with esxupdate. Chief amongst them are -noreboot (which doesn’t reboot after a given update), -d, -b and -l (which are used for working with bundles and depots).
If esxupdate fails with an error code these can be cross referenced using the ESX Patch Management Guide.
You can also run patches without copying the updates to the server manually, although this will require you to know the URL of the patch. To do so, first locate the patch number that you would like to run. Then, open outgoing ports on the server as follows:
esxcfg-firewall -allowOutgoing
Next, issue the esxupdate command with the path embedded:
esxupdate –noreboot -r http://
update
Once you’ve looped through all the updates you are looking to run, lock down your ESX firewall again using the following command:
esxcfg-firewall -blockOutgoing
The File Replication Pro folks have published a customer success story outlining some of the ways we’re using their product. Check it out and if you have any questions about what we’re doing with it feel free to drop us a line!
Performing replication between physical locations is always an interesting task. Perhaps you’re only using your second location for a hot/cold site or maybe it’s a full blown branch office. In many cases, file replication can be achieved with no scripting, using off the shelf products such as Retrospect or even Carbon Copy Cloner. Other times, the needs are more granular and you may choose to script a solutions, as is often done using rsync.
However, a number of customers have found these solutions to leave something to be desired. Enter File Replication Pro. File Replication Pro allows administrators to replicate data between two locations in a variety of fashions and across a variety of operating systems in a highly configurable manner. Furthermore, File Replication Pro provides delta synchronization rather than full file copies, which means that you’re only pushing changes to files and not the full file over your replication medium, greatly reducing required bandwidth. File Replication Pro is also multi-platform (built on Java), allowing administrators to synchronize Sun, Windows, Mac OS X, etc.
If you struggle with File Replication issues, then we can help. Whatever the medium may be, give us a call and we can help you to determine the best solution for your needs!
You can dynamically watch new lines come into log files in Mac OS X. In order to do this you can use the tail command with the -f switch. So if you want to watch your system.log file and run some processes you think will cause errors you can use the following command:
tail -f system.log
Ubuntu 8.04 is now available – the first major release since 7.10. Code named Hardy heron, 8.04 will look familiar to long-time Ubuntu users. But under the hood, 8.04 sports a new kernel (2.6.24-12.13), a new rev of Gnome (2.22), improved graphical elements (such as Xorg 7.3), a spiffy new installer (Wubi), the latest and greatest in software, enhanced security and of course more intelligent default settings. The build is free to download the desktop version from ubuntu.com.
The new Ubuntu installer comes with a new utility called Wubi. Wubi can run as a Windows application, which means that Windows users will be able to more easily transition and learn about Ubuntu. Wubi can perform a full installation of Ubuntu as a file on a Windows hard drive. This means that you no longer need to install a second drive or perform complicated partitioning on an existing drive. When you boot up Ubuntu the system reads and writes to the disk image as though it were a standard drive letter, much like VMWare would do. Ubuntu can also be uninstalled as though it were a standard Windows application using Add/Remove Programs.
The new application set is solid. Firefox 3.0 comes pre-installed. Brasero provides an easier interface for burning CDs and DVDs. PulseAudio now gets installed by default (which is arguably a questionable decision but we found it worked great for us). The Transmission BitTorrent client is now included by default. Vinagre provides a very nice and streamlined VNC client for remote administration (although the latency for remote users is still a bit of a pain compared to the Microsoft RDP protocol). Inkscape has always been easy to install and use, but the popular Adobe Illustrator-like application it now comes bundled with Ubuntu.
In order to play nicer in the enterprise, the security infrastructure of Ubuntu has also had a nice upgrade. The Active Directory plug-in is provided using Likewise Open (unlike Mac OS X which sees a custom package specifically for this purpose). There is a new PolicyKit which provides policies similar to GPOs in Windows or MCX in Mac OS X. The default settings in 8.04 are also chosen with a bit more of a security mindset. New memory protection is built into 8.04, primarily to make exploits harder to uncover and prevent rootkits. Finally, UFW (uncomplicated firewall) is now built into the system to make firewall administration more accessible to the everyday *nix fan.
Network Administrators will be impressed by the inclusion of many new features. KVM is included in the Kernel and lib-virt and virtmanager are provided to make Ubuntu a very desirable virtualization platform. iSCSI support provides more targets with which to store those virtual machines and also expanded storage for those larger filers (eg – using Samba 3). Postfix and Dovecot provide a standardized mail server infrastructure out of the box. CUPS in 8.04 now supports Bonjour and Zeroconf protocols as well as the solid standbys of SMB, LPD, JetDirect and of course IPP. Those building web servers will be happy to see Apache 2, PHP 5, Perl, Python and Ruby on Rails (with GEM) and of course Sun Open JDK (community supported). If you need the database side of things there’s MySQL, Postgresql, DB2 and Oracle Database Express.
However, if you are just starting out keep in mind that Ubuntu Server does not come with a windowing system by default – so beef up those command line skills sooner rather than later! We are also still waiting for a roadmap for integrating much of the more Enterprise or Network-oriented packages. For example, we now have the PolicyKit and a solid Active Directory client. But how do we push out en masse the policies that we want our users to have post imaging?
So if you use Ubuntu or are interested in getting to know the Linux platform then 8.04 is likely a great move. It’s solid, stable and much improved over 7. It’s easier to migrate, virtualize and work in. The developers should be proud!
The Microsoft Open XML standard is what Microsoft is hoping will be the standard in document formats. The first step in that process is now complete with Office Open XML being accepted as a draft standard by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization. ISO is the world’s largest developer of standards and has no governmental affiliation.
Office 2007 created a stir by omitting the Open Document Format (ODF), which is already an ISO standard. Many had hoped that ODF would help to spark an uptick in the interest of applications such as OpenOffice.org as a replacement for the Microsoft Office Suite of applications. However, the ODF standard has had slow adoption in large part due to the Microsoft omission of it from Office.
If Microsoft’s Open XML format receives ratification from ISO as a standard then it would introduce a pair of rival standards into the document community. In many ways, the non-official standardization of documents around the Microsoft doc format over the past decade has led to an unparalleled ability for organizations to trade information freely. However, many (especially in the open source community) feel that allowing Microsoft to hold all the cards is a dangerous thing and that by bringing about a truly open standard such as ODF there will be more options in the word processing suite that organizations can use.
The battle between ODF and Open XML is likely to rage on for years as the appeals and votes and red tape continue to drag on. Just to put things in perspective, ISO rejected the Open XML proposal in September of 2007 and after a rewrite based on input from vendors and members of ISO it was voted as a draft standard in March. The appeals process doesn’t close until June but we’re likely to see more red tape for awhile given the interests of the parties involved.
The new MacBook Air was introduced at MacWorld with the option for a 64GB Solid-State hard drive. Toshiba is also now offering Solid-State drives in sizes that are 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. The drives still seem to be lagging in adoption due to high costs, but they offer more durability, faster boot times and lower power requirements which should all lead to higher adoption over the next two years.
Toshiba will also begin making Solid-state SATA drives in May that can be used in desktop systems.
It seems like everyone wants to dabble in the Open Source market these days. First came the RedHat, VA Linux and other public companies using Open Source technologies to ramp up. Then IT giants such as Novell, Sun and Apple started to come to markets with products faster due to their newfound Open Source roots. Now a lot of other companies are jumping on the bandwagon and introducing products based on Open Source technologies or purchasing other companies to help them do so quickly.
Citrix has purchased XenSource, a company that provided virtualization products based on the Xen Open Source virtualization platform. XenSource is now a prodcut of Citrix that is meant to compete directly with VMWare on the virtualization scene. Why use something like XenSource instead of just building a virtual cluster based on the actual Open Source Xen packages? Citrix offers annual support plans for Standard Edition, which allows customers to receive support. In addition, Citrix is providing free web-based resources, including online product documentation, a knowledge base, and discussion forums, as is done with their popular Metaframe products. And of course, XenSource becomes the preferred platform to run Citrix clusters on. Not that VMWare won’t do a fine job, but support will be a lot easier if you’re using XenSource.
Apple has been slowly winning over a lot of traditional Unix and Linux converts. This new breed of switcher is after a cool shell environment. In Leopard, Apple has upgraded Terminal.app to provide a whole slew of new features that are sure to continue winning new converts. Let’s just take a look at a few of them:
Secure Keyboard Entry – Prevent other applications from detecting keystrokes used in terminal. Enable this using the Terminal menu.
Tabbed Interface – I always have 3 shell windows open. That’s how I roll. But with the new tabbed interface (which you can access using the Command-T keystroke) I find that I’m using two shell windows with 3 tabs each. This gives me the ability to have a man page or process list on one side of my screen while being able to run other commands on the other side. You can fire up 2 shell windows and then open as many tabs as you like.
Export Settings – This isn’t new in Leopard, but what is new in Leopard is that the tabs get exported along with window positions, layouts, themes and backgrounds.
Themes – Glass, Homebrew, Novel, Red Sands – these themes allow you to use prebuilt templates for how you view your shell. These include background, text color, transparency. Can you imagine Steve sitting in his office at Apple dinking around with the Homebrew theme?
Window Groups – A group of windows with a saved location, tabbed layout, shell configuration and settings.
Terminal Inspector – Switch themes on the fly, view running process and increase the columns and rows of a shell environment.
Titles – Set titles for your terminal windows so you can remember what was where.
First let’s start off with what Asterisk is. Asterisk is an open source PBX (FreePBX) application that can be run on most versions of Linux. It is usually compiled from a tarball, and then configured from there. It allows you to use that Linux computer as a PBX, and add other add-ons as necessary. Without a 3rd party add-on, Asterisk is completely command line driven, and is difficult for most people to administer who are not familiar with command line operations. It allows you to use your current telephone line and/or VoIP for calls.
Asterisk@Home was the package that was on an ISO that you would run to completely reformat your PC and install a ready made configuration of Asterisk for you, with a lot of other 3rd party add-ons to the main Asterisk application. It came with SugarCRM (a client relations management software package), AMP, the Asterisk Management Portal, which allowed you to interact with Asterisk realtime, and without knowing too much about the scripting and command line aspect of Asterisk, and built in IVR (Interactive Voice Response), that allowed for greetings, timed greetings, menus, extension options, etc.. It ran on the CentOS flavor of Linux.
Trixbox version 1.0 was released (and would have been Astersik@Home version 3.0), on May 31, 2006. It still retains the previous add-ons, plus a lot more, and still runs on CentOS. The name was reportedly changed due to the moniker “@home” possibly causing an image that didn’t sit well with its potential business class clientele.
Trixbox is based on the same code as Asterisk@Home, and works with the Digium hardware, that allows you to use FXO cards for POTS lines, or FXS cards for plain old telephones inside the business or household.
Trixbox is considered “turn-key” software because of the low amount of configuration required to get it running, when compared to Asterisk proper. Trixbox can be used with standard telephone lines (POTS) or separately or in conjunction with VoIP.
Some cool features with Trixbox:
For the home user, you can have extensions at home that will ring your computer with the use of softphones
You can have your softphone on your laptop and use it to receive and make outgoing calls at any hotspot (Trixbox will direct your call to you appropriately) to any phone number
You can have “Bluetooth Proximity Checking” setup and enabled. This will allow Trixbox to determine if it should route calls to your desk when you are within range, or to your cell phone when out of range
With the proper amount of storage, you can record outgoing and incoming calls, or only specific calls
Video phone calls (using softphones)
More information on Trixbox can be found here:
http://asteriskathome.sourceforge.net/
Information on VoIP in general can be found here:
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/
VI Reference SOP
Creating and opening Files
Running a vi command without a file name will open a new file. Running a vi command with a existing file name will open that file for editing. For example, using vi test.txt will open a document called test.txt if it’s in the working directory.
VI Modes
Command mode treats input from the keyboard as vi commands. Command mode cannot be used for entering text. When a file is first opened, you start out in command mode and you will not see the words you are typing on the screen . To enter and edit text you have to switch to insert mode by pressing the i or a keys. Use command mode to move to the part of the file you want to edit and then use insert mode to enter text in the file. To switch back to command mode use the Escape key.
COMMAND MODE
Moving around the file
h Move the cursor one column to the left
i Move the cursor one column to the right
k Move the cursor one line up
j Move the cursor one line down
^ & B Go to the beginning of the current line
$ Go to the end of the current line
) Go to the next sentence
( Go to the previous sentence
} Go to the next paragraph
{ Go to the previous paragraph
:$ Go to the end of the file
w Move the cursor one character forward
W Move the cursor one word forward
:
Inserting and Appending Text :
i inserts text to the left of the cursor
I inserts text in the beginning of line
a appends text to right of cursor
A appends text to the end of the line
Adding New Line
o Add a new line below the current line
O Adds a new line above the current line.
Deleting Text
X deletes the text character to the right of the cursor
dd deletes the current line
D delete all of the data until the end of the current line.
Replacing Words and Characters
r replace the character above the cursor
R replaces characters until Esc is pressed
C replaces till end of line.
Substitute
s substitutes the current character
S substitutes the entire line
Repeating Last Command
. repeats the last command
Undo the last change
u undo the last change
U undo changes to the current line
Copy and pasting lines
yy copy the current line into buffer
p pastes the information in the current buffer
Searching
:/name searches for the word name in the file
n continues search forward.
N searches backwards.
Search and Substite :s/
Saving
:w is a simple save command
:wq saves & quits VI
:q! quit VI without saving any changes