SysAdmin

Tiny Core Linux and Operational Readiness : " When installing, configuring, or managing VMware virtual infrastructure, one of the steps which should be performed before releasing a host (back) to production is to perform operational readiness tests. One test which is quite critical is that of testing virtual infrastructure networking. After all, what good is a running VM if it has no connectivity to the rest of the network? Each ESX or ESXi host pNIC should be individually tested for internal and upstream connectivity, VLAN tagging functionality if in use (quite often it is), in addition to proper failover and fail back, and jumbo frames at the guest level if used. There are several types of VMs or appliances which can be used to generate basic network traffic for operational readiness testing. One that I’ve been using recently (introduced to me by a colleague) is Tiny Core Linux . To summarize: Tiny Core Linux is a very small (10 MB) minimal Linux GUI Desktop. It is based on...

Linux 101: Using chmod and chown : " When you use Linux long enough you are going to use the command line. Although nearly every command line trick can be done from a GUI front end now, there are times when the command line is the only route (headless server for example). When you have to go that route, you will be glad to have the fundamentals of the more important Linux commands under your belt. Two very important commands, chmod and chown, deal with permissions and ownership (respectively). With these tools you control who owns and who reads, writes, and executes files and folders on your Linux system. Let’s take a look at how to use these commands. Installation? Not a bit. By default you will have both chmod and chown installed on your system. Chmod The chmod command allows you to change permissions on a file. The basic usage is: chmod PERMISSIONS FILE Where PERMISSIONS is either the numeric or the alpha equivalent of the permissions you want to assign and FILE is the file (or...

The Bug Genie – User-Friendly & Open Source Issue Tracking With Project Management : " The Bug Genie is an open source issue/bug tracking application (built with PHP/MySQL) with project management capabilities. It was previously shared at WRD in 9 Free And Open Source Bug Tracking Softwares article but improved so much since then and seems like this is a good chance to remind it. The application now has a very slick, Ajaxed interface where any number of projects>milestones>issues can be created + assigned to users. Besides the team members, end users can report issues as well which is a very good way of improving an application (access control features lets you define who can see what parts of the project). A complete project hierarchy is supported including editions, releases and components. There is an integrated wiki where you can use to create a detailed-documentation on an issue or a how-to for end users. The Bug Genie supports and integrates with several di...

Argente Utilities, Free System Maintenance Tool : " Argente Utilities is a free system maintenance tool for the Windows operating system that offers access to several maintenance, optimization and security related applications. The software displays a welcome screen on first run where the user can enable or disable scheduled automatic system maintenances and automatic updates. Argente Utilities contains a one-click maintenance mode which basically runs several of the tools included in the application without user interaction. A summary of all discovered errors and problems is available for analysis, impatient users can click on the Repair all problems button right away to resolve all issues directly (not recommended). The application creates backups of the Registry automatically. It furthermore creates backups whenever a module is run or a setting changed so that it is always possible to restore the system. The following modules are included in the application: Registry Cleaner – ...

How to Repair Your Internet Connection : " Windows only There are an infinite number of reasons as to why someone’s Internet connection could stop working, but even with that in mind there are still a number of things we techies are “trained” to check first before banging our heads against the wall. I’m talking about things like releasing/renewing the IP address, flushing the DNS, and checking the Windows Firewall settings. Thanks to a program called Complete Internet Repair all of those “tier 1″ troubleshooting efforts can be taken care of automatically for you. This free portable app tries to repair all of the most troublesome Internet-related issues including Windows Update problems and the mind-numbing lack of network connectivity. Here’s a list of situations that the developers have said their program fares well in: Internet or network problem after removing adware, spyware, virus, worm, Trojan horse, etc. Loss network connection after installing/uninstalling adware, spyw...

Confirmada a união Nokia e Microsoft : "Conforme já o tínhamos anunciado, fruto de rumores cada vez mais fundamentados, a Nokia firmou uma parceria com a Microsoft para a disponibilização do novo sistema operativo Windows Phone 7 para os telefones da companhia Finlandesa. O anúncio foi feito hoje pelos CEO’s das duas companhias numa conferência de imprensa que teve lugar em Londres. A parceria [...] "

Windows 7 SP1, Server 2008 R2 SP1 available February 22 : " The Windows Team blog has finally given us a concrete release date for Windows 7 SP1 . On February 22, the service pack will be available to the general public for download via Windows Update or directly from the Microsoft website. The client (Windows 7) update is being released in tandem with its server counterpart, so administrators will be able to grab Server 2008 R2 SP1 on the 22nd as well. If you jumped the gun and installed a pre-release version of Windows 7 SP1, you may need to remove it and reinstall the RTM -- so get your download manager ready. Windows 7 SP1, Server 2008 R2 SP1 available February 22 originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments "

The Beginner’s Guide to Nano, the Linux Command-Line Text Editor : " New to the Linux command-line? Confused by all of the other advanced text editors? How-To Geek’s got your back with this tutorial to Nano, a simple text-editor that’s very newbie-friendly. When getting used to the command-line, Linux novices are often put off by other, more advanced text editors such as vim and emacs. While they are excellent programs, they do have a bit of a learning curve. Enter Nano, an easy-to-use text editor that proves itself versatile and simple. Nano is installed by default in Ubuntu and many other Linux distros and works well in conjunction with sudo, which is why we love it so much "

Last blocks of IPv4 addresses allocated, exhaustion now imminent : " This is just a quick note to say that, in a ceremonial event in Miami, the last five blocks of IPv4 addresses have now been handed out by IANA , a part of ICANN . Each of the five regional registries -- North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia -- now have only a few million IP addresses to allocate. IP address exhaustion will hit Asia first. With 24 million IP addresses used by APNIC in January 2011 , and only around 50 million addresses left in its pool, exhaustion is expected to occur in the next few months. Europe will be next, probably towards the end of 2011, and North America will follow sometime in 2012. Are you prepared for the IPocalypse ?! Last blocks of IPv4 addresses allocated, exhaustion now imminent originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments "

Windows 8 Direct Experience Mode : " We do not know an awful lot about Microsoft’s upcoming operating system Windows 8 . Heck, we do not even know if it will be named Windows 8. Microsoft is tight lipped and does not reveal planned features at this point in time, probably to avoid jeopardizing the sales of their current operating system Windows 7. The official information we have are mostly from job postings and patent applications. Back in August I ran a story on the Direct Experience Mode which could become a part of Windows 8 which was mentioned in a patent application. It basically mentioned an option to load different versions of the operating system automatically or manually. An example is a video DVD inserted by the user before boot which would load a faster loading video player instead of the full operating system. A new patent application was filed in January 2011 which looks like a detailed version of the previous application. The operating system is not loaded directl...