Creating Partimages of Host Machines (Very Customized For My Environment)

- Boot up the Knoppix CDROM into textual mode in RAM
knoppix 2 toram

- Eject the CDROM for possible use in another host

- Setup basic networking.

- Setup Ethernet interface:
ifconfig eth0 <ip> netmask <nm> up
- Setup default gateway (this can be skipped if files on same subnet):
route add default gw <ip_address>

- Setup correct date / time info. This information will be assumed to be correct by the partimage backup script.

export TZ=CDT
date 07181314 (MMDDhhmm)

- Assign "normal" root password

- Start up SSH server

/etc/init.d/ssh start

- SCREEN a new BASH session

chmod 755 /var/run/screen
screen bash

- Make a working directory and cd there:

mkdir /tmp/partimage
cd /tmp/partimage

- Scp the "partimage-backup.pl" script and the <hostname>-source-me.txt file.

- Source the <hostname>-source-me.txt file in.

- Use perl to execute the "partimage-backup.pl" script.

Creating a RHEL 5.2 KickStart Bootdisk (x86_64)

1 - Download Binary Disc 1 ISO (rhel-5.2-server-x86_64-disc1.iso)
2 - Mount ISO (step 1) via loopback on a Linux box
3 - Copy the boot.iso file somewhere else (/var/tmp for example)
4 - Umount the ISO from step 2
5 - Mount the boot.iso file (step 3) via loopback
6 - Copy that structure somewhere else, for example, /var/tmp/myiso
7 - Umount the ISO from step 5
8 - Following my example path, alter the /var/tmp/myiso/isolinux/isolinux.cfg file. Add in any necessary boot labels to address all of the KickStart scenarios you need. A simple boot stanza might look like this:

label scenario_04
 kernel vmlinuz
 append ks=nfs:<ip_address>:/kickstartstuff/RH5.1_server_x86_64/scenario_04.cfg initrd=initrd.img

9 - Use the mkisofs(8) command to make a new ISO. My little script looked like this:

#!/bin/bash
cd /var/tmp/myiso
rm -f ../mycustomks.iso
/usr/bin/mkisofs -r -N -allow-leading-dots -d -J -T -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat -no-emul-boot -V "RHEL5U1 Custom KickStart"  -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -o ../mycustomks.iso .

10 - Burn/boot/test the ISO created in step 9

NOTE: The mkisofs command line was acquired from here.

Upgrading SLES10SP1 to SLES10SP1U1

1) Get the RPM files to be used in the upgrade to the machine in question.

st32:/var/tmp/joeuser # ls -alt (output edited for brevity)
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 45570118 Jun 30 15:32 kernel-source-2.6.16.53-0.16.x86_64.rpm
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 1620378 Jun 30 15:32 kernel-syms-2.6.16.53-0.16.x86_64.rpm
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 121758 Jun 30 15:32 perl-Bootloader-0.4.18.11-0.2.x86_64.rpm
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 17204994 Jun 30 15:32 kernel-smp-2.6.16.53-0.16.x86_64.rpm
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 16846928 Jun 30 15:32 kernel-default-2.6.16.53-0.16.x86_64.rpm
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 17682230 Jun 30 15:32 kernel-debug-2.6.16.53-0.16.x86_64.rpm

NOTE: In my example, I don't need the kernel-default-* or kernel-debug-* RPMs.

2) Upgrade the perl-Bootloader RPM.

# What's there now?
st32:/var/tmp/joeuser # rpm -qa | grep '^perl-Boot'
perl-Bootloader-0.4.15-0.6

# Upgrade it!
st32:/var/tmp/joeuser # rpm -U perl-Bootloader-0.4.18.11-0.2.x86_64.rpm

# Now, what's there?
st32:/var/tmp/joeuser # rpm -qa | grep '^perl-Boot'
perl-Bootloader-0.4.18.11-0.2

3) Upgrade the kernel RPMs.

# What's there now?
st32:/var/tmp/joeuser # rpm -qa | sort | grep '^kernel-'
kernel-smp-2.6.16.46-0.12
kernel-source-2.6.16.46-0.12
kernel-syms-2.6.16.46-0.12

# Upgrade the kernel-smp-* RPM
st32:/var/tmp/joeuser # rpm -U kernel-smp-2.6.16.53-0.16.x86_64.rpm
Setting up /lib/modules/2.6.16.53-0.16-smp
Root device: /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_Maxtor_6Y120M0_Y3PRT2QE-part2 (/dev/sda2) (mounted on / as reiserfs )
Module list: amd74xx sata_nv processor thermal fan reiserfs edd (xennet xenblk)

Kernel image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.16.53-0.16-smp
Initrd image: /boot/initrd-2.6.16.53-0.16-smp
Shared libs: lib64/ld-2.4.so lib64/libacl.so.1.1.0 lib64/libattr.so.1.1.0 lib64/libc-2.4.so lib64/libdl-2. 4.so lib64/libhistory.so.5.1 lib64/libncurses.so.5.5 lib64/libpthread-2.4.so lib64/libreadline.so.5.1 lib64/l ibrt-2.4.so lib64/libuuid.so.1.2 lib64/libnss_files-2.4.so lib64/libnss_files.so.2 lib64/libgcc_s.so.1

Driver modules: ide-core ide-disk scsi_mod sd_mod amd74xx libata sata_nv processor thermal fan edd
Filesystem modules: reiserfs
Including: initramfs fsck.reiserfs
Bootsplash: SuSE-SLES (800x600)
15311 blocks

# Upgrade the kernel-syms-* RPM. Use the "--nodeps" option because, currently, there would
# be a circular dependentcy.
# (e.g. kernel-syms is dependent on kernel-source which is dependent on kernel-sysms)
st32:/var/tmp/joeuser # rpm -U --nodeps kernel-syms-2.6.16.53-0.16.x86_64.rpm

# Upgrade the kernel-source-* RPM. Probably didn't have to use the "--nodeps" option, since
# the kernel-syms-* RPM got installed above, but did anyway.
st32:/var/tmp/joeuser # rpm -U --nodeps kernel-source-2.6.16.53-0.16.x86_64.rpm
Changing symlink /usr/src/linux from linux-2.6.16.46-0.12 to linux-2.6.16.53-0.16
Changing symlink /usr/src/linux-obj from linux-2.6.16.46-0.12-obj to linux-2.6.16.53-0.16-obj

# Reboot to see the magic take effect.
st32:/var/tmp/joeuser # init 6

IB Fabric: Installing SLES10SP1 or SLES10SP2 Consistently

1) Disable iptables
2) Configure static address for ethernet interface
3) Ensure that these package groups are installed:
Server Base System, Common Code Base, Novell AppArmor, 32 Bit Runtime Environment, Documentation, GNOME, X-Window, C/C++ Compiler And Tools, Development (all packages here, resolve minimal to no dependencies).
4) Don't let installer establish a Certificate Authority (CA).
5) Set default runlevel to "3" (multi-user, networked, no X-Window)

Note: This post is just very rough and will need to be embellished in near future.

IB Fabric: Establishing Pre-Placed SSH Keys So That All Nodes Trust Each Other

Assumptions: /etc/sysconfig/iba/hosts file reflects the compute node (CN) set.

1) Ensure that root SSH key pairs have been generated on all nodes. If not, generate the root SSH key pair using "ssh-keygen -t rsa" on all nodes.

2) Establish SSH trust between the management node (MN) and an individual CN by appending the MN root user's public SSH key (~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub) onto the CN root user's SSH authorized keys file (~/.ssh/authorized_keys2). Repeat this for the CN set.

This command may be helpful:
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh CN "cat - >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2"

3) On the MN, using the FF /sbin/setup_ssh script, to build a new known_hosts file.
a) cp /dev/null ~/.ssh/known_hosts
b) /sbin/setup_ssh -C

4) On the MN, build a new authorized_keys2 file for later propagation.
a) cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub > /var/tmp/new_authorized_keys2
b) cmdall "cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub" | grep -v 'ssh/id_rsa.pub' >> /var/tmp/new_authorized_keys2

5) Now, distribute the new authorized_keys2 and known_hosts files.
a) scpall /var/tmp/new_authorized_keys2 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2
b) cmdall "chmod 644 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2"
c) scpall ~/.ssh/known_hosts ~/.ssh/known_hosts
d) cmdall "chmod 644 ~/.ssh/known_hosts

6) Gain confidence that everything is synchronized correctly by:
a) cmdall "md5sum ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2"
b) cmdall "md5sum ~/.ssh/known_hosts"

NOTE: (3-Feb-2009) -- I have now found that the IFS /sbin/setup_ssh script seems to only work to generate half (no IB interfaces) of a known_hosts file. I used something like this:

/sbin/setup_ssh -s -S -i'-ib' -f /etc/sysconfig/iba/hosts

I still had to generate the authorized_keys2 file using the technique above.

NOTE: this rough procedure still needs more debugging.

Pre-placed SSH Keys

Use this link and this link

Apt Commands To Update Ubuntu Via CLI

apt-get update; apt-get upgrade

Possible CRON:
(apt-get update && apt-get -y upgrade) > /dev/null

Source Link

Linux Raid 5 Example Using mdadm(8)

mdadm(8) - manage MD devices aka Linux Software RAID

RAID 5 filesystem (~940GB of effective storage, 14 disks, 2 reserves, ~73GB drives)

mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md0 --level=5 --raid-devices=14 --spare-devices=2 --chunk=128 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1 /dev/sdd1 /dev/sde1 /dev/sdf1 /dev/sdg1 /dev/sdh1 /dev/sdi1 /dev/sdj1 /dev/sdk1 /dev/sdl1 /dev/sdm1 /dev/sdn1 /dev/sdo1 /dev/sdp1

mke2fs -j -b 4096 -R stride=32 /dev/md0

fstab line:
/dev/md0 /raid5 ext3 rw 0 0

After reboot, we had to re-assemble by:

mdadm --assemble -f /dev/md0 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1 /dev/sdd1 /dev/sde1 /dev/sdf1 /dev/sdg1 /dev/sdh1 /dev/sdi1 /dev/sdj1 /dev/sdk1 /dev/sdl1 /dev/sdm1 /dev/sdn1 /dev/sdo1 /dev/sdp1

# cat /proc/mdstat

Personalities : [raid5]
md0 : active raid5 sda1[0] sdo1[14] sdp1[15] sdn1[13] sdm1[12] sdl1[11] sdk1[10] sdj1[9] sdi1[8] sdh1[7] sdg1[6] sdf1[5] sde1[4] sdd1[3] sdc1[2] sdb1[1]
931864960 blocks level 5, 128k chunk, algorithm 2 [14/14] [UUUUUUUUUUUUUU]
unused devices:

Monitor example:

mdadm --monitor -m someone@somewhere.com -f /dev/md0

Thanks co-worker (you know who you are)

Note: Please see the November 2008 issue of Linux Journal (pg. 68-72) for an excellent article on Linux SW RAID using mdadm.

RPMS on Ubuntu: Checkout "alien"

Checkout the "alien" utility to install RPMs on a Debian/Ubuntu based system.

Letting A Vncviewer Control Your Ubuntu Desktop

This link shows how to enable an Ubuntu desktop such that a vncviewer can control it.

Note: I used a TightVNC viewer on an XP box. If you put the viewer into fullscreen, you need CTRL-ALT + SHIFT-F to get you out.

WordPress As A CMS

See this link to investigate using WordPress as a CMS for static sites.
According to my research, this has been done quite a bit for static sites.
Also, here is the part 2 that goes with the link above.

This is another great link to hit too. This too.

Google stuff like: "using WordPress for static websites" and "using WordPress as a CMS for static websites". You know, the usual stuff.

Managing Binary Patches With "rdiff"

If you need to create or manage binary patches, check out the "rdiff" utility. It uses the same algorithm as "rsync". Please reference Kyle Rankin's "Lightning Hacks" article in the June 2008 Linux Journal.

Infiniband Wireshark Filter

Need the Wireshark (was Ethereal) Infiniband Filter?

Hit this:Infiniband Wireshark Filter

The Program "screen" Rocks!

# use screen in a script to detach a given program
screen -d -m <program_to_detach>

# list existing screen sessions
screen -ls

# attach to a previously screened program
screen -r <screen_id>

# detach from the currently attached screen session
CTRL-A, CTRL-D

Ubuntu 7.10, Cisco VPN Related Packages

These are the Cisco VPN related packages that I believe are needed for my Ubuntu 7.10 Desktop:

network-manager, network-manager-gnome, network-manager-vpnc, vpnc

As a side note, I ended up not using vpnc. I ended up using the Cisco 4.8.00.0490-k9 client code and patching it. Basically, I ended up following the instructions as documented by "peteguhl" here:

Howto: Cisco VPN client on x86_64

I am almost tempted to paste a complete copy of those instructions here, but I'll hold off on that for now.

The control script is here: /etc/init.d/vpnclient_init

To connect, issue: "vpnclient connect <profile_name>"

Some Handy Git Commands

# Grab some GIT stuff
git clone <git_reference>

# Possible GIT workflow. One person team. Master branch.
git pull <git_reference>
git add <filesystem object>
git commit -m 'Comment here' <filesystem object>
git push <git_reference>

# See what is different
git diff

Some Handy CVS Commands

# Checkout a Module
cvs co <module>

# Checkout a Module from a given branch, MY_BRANCH_TAG
cvs co -rMY_BRANCH_TAG <module>

# Display log associated with a file
cvs log <file>

# Update the Module with any new code committed
cvs update <module>

# Add a new binary file
cvs add -kb <binary_file>
cvs commit

# Review list of files that have been modified in your diretory
cvs -qn up

Mini Fake Python DNS Server

Google: "pyminifakeDNS"
Code here

A Windows TFTP / DHCP Server

TFTPD32 (Philippe Jounin (philippe@jounin.net))

Some Excellent Dot Net Tools

.NET Reflector (Lutz Roeder)
SharpDevelop (IDE)