Linux Lore

sleep mode and hdparam

2011-06-26T06:29:00.001-07:00

Is my drive sleeping?

user@host:~$ sudo hdparm -C /dev/sdb

/dev/sdb:

drive state is: standby

Set my drive to sleep

user@host:~$ sudo hdparm -Y /dev/sdb

/dev/sdb:

issuing sleep command

finding files

2010-07-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Last couple of months I've wanted my output format to look like this from find:

Mon Feb 15 12:49:18 2010, 50356KB, ./files.txt

This was the printf format I've used.

find . -name tmp* -type f -printf "%t, %kKB, %h/%f\n"

Crontab summary

2010-07-11T05:55:00.000-07:00

A good crontab summay.

I was looking to redirect stderr to stdout and append to a file -- example

*/10 * * * * /bin/execute/this/script.sh 2>&1 >> /var/log/script_output.log

MySQL MyIASM files what are they for MYI,MYD,frm

2010-01-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

One would hope to never need to know this, but an unfortunate soul who is trying to recover MySQL MyISAM tables may need this.

http://forge.mysql.com/wiki/MySQL_Internals_MyISAM

A quote from the above:
'MySQL creates files named Table1.MYD ("MySQL Data"), Table1.MYI ("MySQL Index"), and Table1.frm ("Format")'

Mythtv File Parsing for Metadata

2009-12-24T05:22:00.000-08:00

From
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MythVideo_File_Parsing

Filenames

A Movie Title.mpg
Title s01e01 Subtitle.mpg
Title 1x01 Subtitle.mpg
Title Season 1 Episode 1 Subtitle.mpg

Filename/Path combinations

Title/Season 1/01 Subtitle.mpg
Title/Season 1/s01e01 Subtitle.mpg
Title/Season 1/1x01 Subtitle.mpg
Title/Season 1/Title s01e01 Subtitle.mpg
Title/Season 1/Title 1x01 Subtitle.mpg
Title/Season 1/Episode 1 Subtitle.mpg
Title/Season 1/Season 1 Episode 1 Subtitle.mpg
Title Season 1/01 Subtitle.mpg
Title Season 1/s01e01 Subtitle.mpg
Title Season 1/1x01 Subtitle.mpg
Title Season 1/Title s01e01 Subtitle.mpg
Title Season 1/Title 1x01 Subtitle.mpg
Title Season 1/Episode 1 Subtitle.mpg
Title Season 1/Season 1 Episode 1 Subtitle.mpg

Ubuntu squeezeserver audio transcoding support

2009-12-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

To add a few more transcoding/decoding dependencies for your ubuntu squeezeserver install:

sudo apt-get install faad flac lame mplayer ffmpeg alac-decoder sox wavpack shntool

Linux process listening on a port

2009-12-08T20:54:00.000-08:00

Command-line:

sudo netstat --tcp --udp --listening --program

http://www.go2linux.org/which_service_or_program_is_listening_on_port

Sorting DU results

2009-12-08T08:32:00.000-08:00

A quick 'one-liner' to sort the results of a du by size.

from: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=885344

sudo du -hx --max-depth=1 / | perl -e '%byte_order = ( G => 0, M => 1, K => 2 ); print map { $_->[0] } sort { $byte_order{$a->[1]} <=> $byte_order{$b->[1]} || $b->[2] <=> $a->[2] } map { [ $_, /([MGK])/, /(\d+)/ ] } <>'

Ubuntu and temp sensors applet in the panel

2009-11-26T06:07:00.000-08:00

The following is the link to how to configure this for Ubuntu:

http://www.techthrob.com/2009/03/02/enabling-hardware-sensors-in-linux/

Turn your mp3 into an iphone Ringtone

2009-11-11T21:42:00.000-08:00

This little nugget worked for me to turn one of my existing mp3s into an iphone ringtone:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2160460_custom-iphone-ringtones-free.html

All that and it was free and just a little work using iTunes.

Network UPS Tools (NUT) in Ubuntu Server

2009-10-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

I used this Ubuntu NUT article as a basis for installing NUT on Ubuntu Server 9.04.

I did install it command-line ( apt-get install nut) and found you need to 'reboot' to have the new udev rule file run against the USB UPS.

Linux Distro Review

2009-10-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

A quick, easy to read review of a number of Linux popular distributions.

http://www.osnews.com/story/22305/Linux_Distros_that_Don_t_Suck

MythTV

2009-03-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

The following is the documentation I used to configure MythTV on the following system:

Motherboard: Asus M3N78-EM http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=149&l3=676&l4=0&model=2260&modelmenu=1
CPU: 65w AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ Brisbane 2.7GHz
Heatsink/Fan: Thermaltake TR2-R1
RAM: 4GB RAM DDR2 800MHz Patriot
Video Card: On board video Geforce 8300
Sound Card: On board motherboard Realtek ALC1200 8 -Channel HD audio
HD: 2 x SATA 1TB WD Caviar Green WD10EADS-00L
Optical: Lite-On iHAS120 DVD-RAM
Remote: Harmony One Advanced Universal Remote
Tuner: HDHomeRun Home Networked Digital TV Tuner http://www.silicondust.com/
Receiver: ONKYO TX-DS696
Case: Antec Fusion Remote Black http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NzE4
TV: Panasonic 42" plasma TH-42PX60U
Country: USA
TV provider: Comcast

This was done on the Mythbuntu 8.10 release http://www.mythbuntu.org/ by simply sticking the 64 Bit (x86_64) Direct Desktop Download CD in the drive and walking through the installation wizard. It was later upgraded to the Mythbuntu 9.04.

Configuring the HD Homrun Tuner:
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Silicondust_HDHomeRun
Notes:
* (time consuming) Channel mapping in Seattle required watching all the TV station, then hitting the 'E' key to type in the station information (Callsign and number) as per schedulesdirect.org. Plus enabling that channel in my lineup in schedulesdirect.org.
* Ensure that the network is up before mythtv backend (otherwise the tuner is marked as down)
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1018339

LCD and Remote:
The new Soundgraph LCD/IR (Antec Fusion usb-id 15c2:0038 with RM200 remote) required the most custom work all phenomenally well documented on this thread
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1103474

My 19 month son was helping and together we found we could move the front-end screen (by accident pressing the ctrl-[mouse right button[-drag). To restore reset here: http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Screen_size_setting_wizard

SPDIF(PCM/etc) Sound not working out of the box: For the builtin sound processor on the Asus M3N78-EM(Realtek ALC1200 8-Channel High Definition Audio Codec)
Requires adding the following line to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf:
options snd-hda-intel model=6stack-dig

Secondly it required starting the alsamixer, scrolling to the right and un-muting the digital out (IEC958, IEC958 D, IEC958 1)

Webpage HTTP performance

2008-11-27T05:03:00.000-08:00

Yahoo developers have encapsulated much of their experience in optimizing web sites and serving web pages in a Firefox add-in. It is called YSlow, I've been having decent success in analyzing pages using it as of late. It is simple and effective, a great little tool. Not everything is easily achievable and depending on the content you are delivering it might not be reasonable. In the end, I've been able to use it and spend a short amount of time to identify a number of changes needed for more rapid delivery of HTTP content.

Download it, install it, try it ...

YSlow

Keywords: website performance, analyzing website performance, analyzing http performance, http performance, speed up web page delivery

Gentoo Portage and downgrading to older packages

2008-02-03T07:52:00.000-08:00

All in the day of the life of an open source system.

Often I find myself using the time machine to discover whether some new install is the problem or something it depends isn't responding as expected.

So you want something older than curl 7.16 out of the portage tree? Use the less than (<) symbol:

emerge -av "<net-misc/curl-7.16.0"

HOWTO set up NUT 2.2.0 on Gentoo Linux for Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD USB UPS

2007-12-24T07:05:00.000-08:00

Last December after a significantly power outage, I purchased a Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD USB UPS from Costco. I spent awhile integrating it with my Gentoo distro running on my home server. I found that Network-UPS Tools (NUT for short) was the best way to go. I would recommend them and their mailing list if you are interested in getting anything running -- I've been lurking on their mailing-list for 12 months now and it is one of the most helpful lists I've seen in my days.

Back in December of 2006, I had no choice but to get a development tree and compile it and integrate that with Portage (see old HOWTO link ). Today NUT version 2.2.0 is in the tree but all architectures are marked as in 'testing'. That is the tilde in front of them : ~alpha ~amd64 ~ppc ~sparc ~x86 ~x86-fbsd when you look at portage nut package . unmasking this package will be much easier than my last experience of integrating my own build in portage (overlaying).

I've been running on this 2.2.0 package for a couple months and I declare it seems good to me.

If you want to unmask it and test it yourself that is simple:

(1) add the following line to the file /etc/portage/package.keywords
=sys-power/nut-2.2.0 ~x86

This will allow you to install this package.

(2) emerge nut with the hal flag
USE="hal" emerge nut

(3) Configure NUT

- the OMNI1000LCD is working fine with the new usbhid-ups driver

Now that we've made this build, you can follow the steps at the wiki:
Gentoo HOWTO NUT (Network UPS Tools)

You'll get to start after the Install Software section. Yes, you'll need the usbhid-ups driver. I am pasting my last instructions with the appropriate substitutions for the OMNI1000LCD for NUT 2.2.0.

I added the bit about adding a MONITOR line to uspmon.conf. This is necessary for upsmon to work

Configuring

Go to /etc/nut . Open ups.conf. Add to this file every UPS you want to monitor. Mine looks like this:

# [powerware]
# driver = bcmxcp
# port = /dev/ttyS0
# desc = "Server, adsl, 3com"

Change the values to something that fit's your configuration better and save. If you have a USB connection to your UPS, your entry might look like

[OMNI1000LCD]
driver = usbhid-ups
port = auto
desc = "Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD USB"

Open upsd.conf. This file contains access-policy to the UPS's you have.

To only allow the same computer to connect to them, the file should look like this:

ACL all 0.0.0.0/0
ACL localhost 127.0.0.1

ACCEPT localhost
REJECT all

The ACL-lines are used to add hosts. The syntax is ACL name IP. If the name is placed after ACCEPT connections from there are accepted, if it's placed under REJECT, connections are rejected. This sort of reminds me of a hosts.allow file?

Next open upsd.users. This file contains accounts for users who can make modifications. The following line grants access to the user server to everything. This isn't integrated with particular logins from my observation. So you can make-up a new user/pass and run with that. The only place one needs to remember this if you are setting properties through NUT on the UPS.

[server]
password = changeme
allowfrom = localhost
actions = SET
instcmds = ALL
upsmon master

Next take a look at upsmon.conf. This is the UPS Monitor configuration. A scan through this file is going to answer more questions than me writing about it. It is pretty simple, but the below three changes are all I needed to make.

1. in Gentoo, the nut package uses the 'nut' user, so ensure this is in there.
RUN_AS_USER nut
2. The UPS to monitor
MONITOR OMNI1000LCD@localhost 1 server changeme master
3. for those of us with a measly single UPS for our home network you'll need this line:
MINSUPPLIES 1

Next if you want look at upssched.conf too, it may be interesting if you want to schedule events. This will be useful if you want to automate something like "30 seconds after the power is out, send an email via SMTP." I currently am not interested in this

Finishing

Now, start the upsd and upsmon service:

/etc/init.d/upsd start
/etc/init.d/upsmon start

This should identify if there is some still wrong.
If nothing is wrong add them to the default runlevel

rc-update add upsd default
rc-update add upsmon default

If you didn't get any error when you started the services you seemed to configure it right. Else, have a look at the error output and think what might be wrong. One error I got was the permissions of the serialport, which is easy fixed with adding nut to the tty-group.

Testing

You'll be using tools upsc and upscmd

Test upsc and see if your UPS replies:

upsc yourupsname@yourupshost ups.status
specifically from above conf: upsc OMNI1000LCD@localhost ups.status

If you get "OL" (On Line) everything is working good (if it is on the line and not battery).

To see every command your UPS supports, type

upscmd -l OMNI1000LCD@localhost

A full status looks like the below.

#upsc OMNI1000LCD@localhost
battery.charge: 100
battery.type: PbAc
battery.voltage: 13.4
battery.voltage.nominal: 12.0
driver.name: usbhid-ups
driver.parameter.pollinterval: 2
driver.parameter.port: auto
driver.version: 2.2.0
driver.version.data: TrippLite HID 0.1 (experimental)
driver.version.internal: 0.30
input.frequency: 59.8
input.voltage: 117.2
input.voltage.nominal: 120
output.frequency.nominal: 60
output.voltage.nominal: 120
ups.beeper.status: disabled
ups.delay.reboot: 65535
ups.delay.shutdown: 65535
ups.mfr: Tripp Lite
ups.model: TRIPP LITE UPS
ups.power.nominal: 1000
ups.productid: 2005
ups.serial: 692195 B
ups.status: OL CHRG
ups.test.result: 0
ups.vendorid: 09ae

If you've typed that command and gotten a similar response you are on the winning side of this conf.

(4) UPSMON conf
At this point you have the default configuration for the monitoring. If you want to do something aside from a straight shutdown on the battery level reaching a critical level I highly recommend reading up here: Network UPS

Keywords: Tripp Lite, USB UPS, Tripp Lite Gentoo, Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD, USB HID UPS Linux, Gentoo HID UPS, gentoo NUT 2.2.0 portage overlay, Gentoo UPS NUT, Tripp Lite Linux, Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD Gentoo, Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD Linux, Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD UPS.

How to add a DiggIt, Del.icio.us, Reddit, and more links/button to blogger

2007-10-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

Several generations of the internet before today, one manually had to add each link to their blog template. In fact I posted about how to do this sometime a year ago. Time has passed and things have improved.

Yesterday I discovered www.addthis.com, a site that simplifies the process. They manage the details of the links, buttons, and adds the very latest social bookmarking sites. You the blogger can get back to posting, and not waste your day tweaking your templates (unless you like that sort of thing).

Read up on AddThis by going to their site: link

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open your files from a find command in emacs/vi or your favorite editor

2007-10-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

For those shell experts this is obvious:

emacs `find . -name *.java`
vi `find . -name *.cpp`
etc...

Notice the back-quote which is one of the forms of command substitution.

More about Command Substitution here

keywords: open all files from find command, using find with emacs, using find with vi, find, bash, shell, Command Substitution, open multiple files with emacs, vi.

LiveJournal to Blogger or Blogger to LiveJournal or to/from Wordpress blog migration tool (Blog2Blog)

2007-09-29T11:16:00.001-07:00

Last year I built a little tool that migrated blogs from LiveJournal to Blogger. It was aptly named lj2blogger. Today is the release of version 2.5

I've recently extended it to be able to move blogs from LiveJournal, Blogger, WordPress and publish to LiveJournal, Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, WordPress. This means you can move your blog to a new blog name or clone it.

Time to rename the tool, subsequently, it is now called Blog2Blog. Possibly further blogging systems will be integrated in later versions.

This is now a .NET 2.0 Application.

Download Blog2Blog (2.5.0.0 updated March 9, 2009)

ATTENTION: Noted added Oct, 9, 2008
Users with trouble (0 entries downloaded/exceptions/etc) downloading blogspot.com blogs:

We've identified a bug in the latest google feeds and client libraries. (http://groups.google.com/group/bloggerDev/browse_thread/thread/6fa01659eb21b0d for deep details)

Basically as a work-around, you need to put the blogger.com feed SOURCE-API-URL. To find this you will need to view the html source of your blog and look for the string that will contain "service.post" it will contain a URL like:
"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/*blog_id_number_here*/posts/default"

That is the URL you'll need for the SOURCE-API-URL or DEST-API-URL

Recently added:
Version 2.5.0.0
* Integrated the latest GData .NET framework

Version 2.4.0.2
* Fixed regression in saving journals to disk (empty titles would crash application).Version

Version 2.3.0.1
* Fixed Blogger fetching of large journals 500 entries or greater
* Added Blogger (only) Label fetching and publishing

Version 2.2.1.0
* Publishing to Microsoft's live spaces.
* Fetching from and publishing to WordPress.
* Delete All for Wordpress, LiveJournal, Blogger.
* Subject Title fix for Livejournal
* More description in LiveJournal errors.

There is a Blog2Blog Manual included, but the interface is relatively simple. If you are having a problem, please scan through the comments below; many users have discovered the same things and the solutions. If you don't see your problem, please post a comment and send an email to "blog2blog.support (at) gmail.com".

Blog2Blog Manual

Introduction

This tool migrates a blog from online line Blog systems. It uses the public API of LiveJournal, Blogger, WordPress, and Spaces to extract data and create equivalent entries in a different account.

Features
- Download Journal Entries from LiveJournal, Blogger, or Wordpress
- A simple read-only viewer of downloaded entries
- Publish Journal Entries to multiple online blogs
* upload private entries (it will make them public)
* parse entries and wrap http:// entries with HTML to make them active links
- Delete ALL entries for your destination journal (Blogger, WordPress, LiveJournal supported).

Usage

The designed usage pattern is below.

Download from source Journal
First, Select a source
1. Enter username (e.g. user1).
2. Enter password (e.g. pass1).
3. Enter source-url (the URL of the blog you wish to download): http://user1.livejournal.com.
4. (optional) if necessary modify the source-api-url of your journal. This is auto-populated with a typical value.
5. Press Fetch Button.

View Entries (optional)
6. Press View Entries Button.
7. Use the Entry Number Dialog to change the entry being viewed.
8. When complete Press the upper right close window (the X).

Save Entries (optional)
1. Press Save Entries
2. Choose the filename, it is an XML file with the extension (*.B2B)
Note: once saved you can load these Entries without downloading from LiveJournal (use the Load Entries button)

Publish to Destination
Next, Select a Destination
9. Enter username (e.g. user1).
10. Enter password (e.g. pass1).
11. Enter dest-url (the URL of the blog you wish to upload): http://user1.blogspot.com.
12. (optional) if necessary modify the dest api-url of your journal. This is auto-populated with a typical value. (if you have a non-upgraded blogger blog take note; for non-upgraded blogs you will need to update the dest-api-url! To find the URL you will have to look at the page source of your journal. See below for more information)
13. (optional) select options you please; publish private entries and/or wrap http:// with html tags and/or Publish Back Dated posts.
14. Press Publish Button.
15. Select the Entries you will to publish (defaults to all entries).

Further instructions (non-upgraded Blogger blogs circa late 2006):
For non-upgraded blogs you will need to find your feed URI.
- To do this you will have to use your favorite browser and type in the URL of you blog (e.g. http://user1.blogspot.com)
- Using your browser you will need to 'View Source'. This differs slightly between browsers.
- In the source look for link rel="service.post" type="application/atom+xml" title="User1 (Atom 1.0)"
- The api-url is the http:// location in the href

Additionally it is not possible to post to an old journal with a new 'google' integrated account (for those of you that have only partially upgraded all your journals). Additionally the publish dates of your livejournal won't be regarded. This is part of the API limitation.

Known issues

· The Application is not multithreaded – The UI refreshes slowly while connected to LiveJournal/Blogger.
· Does not import/export comments
· found 01/02/2007 - defaults for api-url only work with upgraded blogs.
· There are occasional connection problems with the XMLRPC interface to livejournal, but immediately retrying Fetch from Livejournal seems to connect successfully. Just try a couple of times. No harm should be done.

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HOWTO tether your Blackberry Pearl (8100) to linux (AT&T or T-Mobile)

2007-08-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

Since many of you have likely hit this blog while looking HOWTO tether a blackberry on Linux, it would be kind of me to point you to somewhere you can do this. Thibaut posted a comment on my blog with a link, so I'll share it here.

I've not personally tried this, but this looks solid. Let me know how it goes out there.

HOW setup tethering for Blackberry Pearl (8100) on a linux machine (Thibaut's Blog).

Reminder that if you are connecting to AT&T you'll need to use the modem information below in the etc/chatscripts/blackberry conf (the entry above uses T-Mobile's settings)
Modem Initialization String: AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","wap.cingular"
Dial-up Phone Number: *99#
Dial-up username/password:blank/blank

Keywords: Tether Blackberry, Tether Blackberry Pearl, Tether Blackberry Linux, Tether Blackberry 8100, Tether Blackberry with Cingular, Tether Blackberry with AT and T Wireless, Dialup via Blackberry, Wireless internet through Blackberry, Tether Blackberry with AT&T Wireless, Tether Blackberry with T-Mobile, Tether Blackberry 8100, Tether AT&T, Tether T-Mobile.

AT&T wireless Motorola RAZR V3xx import contact list

2007-07-22T12:15:00.001-07:00

Of the several million people who have purchased this phone, I may have been one of the few that wanted to import a Comma Separated Value (CSV) contact list into my Motorola RAZR V3xx cellular phone? Before handing over my Blackberry Pearl to my former company I had exported my contacts for importing once I got another mobile phone. A practical solution, right? After all who wants to re-enter 75 contacts through a mobile phone's interface?

This address book import turned out to be a little more challenging than it should have been. First off, Motorola provides an application to do all variety of communication to ones phone, for a price ($40). I've already paid for the phone and this didn't seem practical/economical for a single use.

Not my solutions
Hence I wandered the internet in search of an open-source solution. After stumbling across KMobilePhoneTools (linux), P2KTools (Windows), and P2K Commander (Windows). I found that I had spent a number of hours discovering the following tidbits:

Put your Motorola RAZR V3XX Phone into DATA Mode while talking over USB for KMobilePhoneTools. Main Menu - > Settings -> Connection -> USB settings -> Default connection
Get the driver download (single install) from developer.motorola.com (you'll need to register) rather than attempt all the varieties of drivers provided on the Motorola Modding sites. They worked immediately rather than sitting around and tweaking like I ended up with the other way. This is for P2KTools and P2K Commander (Windows).
Neither of these three tools provided an easy way to upload my contacts. Maybe it is there and I missed it, but I looked around and these tools were developed for a different purposes.

The solution? Use the Mac and the built in OS X Tiger's iSync.

Sadly I didn't try this right away with my Mac book Pro (OS X): use iSync. Unfortunately the connection to the Motorola RAZR V3xx phone isn't built in yet, but there is a forum that appears to develop the plugins for the phones rather rapidly. www.clockskew.com the link to the RAZR V3xx plugin: http://www.clockskew.com/blog/2006/12/18/isync-and-a-motorola-razr-v3xx/

Once I installed this plugin for iSync, I could sync the phone's contact list with the built in address book for the MAC. This address book of course has an import functionality. I imported my CSV and hit sync and within 20 minutes from start to finish I had my old contacts imported. However, I will not get back the minutes I spent trying to attempt this on Linux/Windows :(.

Just hoping to save you time...

Happy iSyncing.

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wx200d Text File Headers - Tab separated value (TSV)

2007-07-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

To re-iterate some other posts, I use the Oregon Scientific WMR-968 weather station with the wx200d version 1.3 ( Sourceforge link ). One of the nice side-effects of the wx200d daemon is that it collects and stores the data in a text format at /usr/local/share/wx200d/. This is TAB separated format (TSV).

I didn't find a succinct definition of this TAB separated format file when searching for it, so here is with one line of data for context my extrapolation of it from the source file tab.c:

Time--TAB--Indoor Temperature--TAB--Outdoor Temperature--TAB--Indoor Humidity--TAB--Outdoor Humidity--TAB--Dew Point Indoor--TAB--Dew Point Outdoor--TAB--Barametric Pressure Indoor--TAB--Barametric Pressure Outdoor--TAB--Wind Gust Direction--TAB--Wind Gust Speed--TAB--Wind Direction--TAB--Wind Speed--TAB--Wind Chill--TAB--Rain Rate--TAB--Rain Total
0.6564--TAB--24.5--TAB--18.6--TAB--63--TAB--98--TAB--18--TAB--19--TAB--1011--TAB--1011--TAB--0--TAB--2.4--TAB--0--TAB--1.2--TAB--18--TAB--0--TAB--991

Our if you prefer to read this in comma separated format:
Time,Indoor Temperature,Outdoor Temperature,Indoor Humidity,Outdoor Humidity,Dew Point Indoor,Dew Point Outdoor,Barometric Pressure Indoor,Barometric Pressure Outdoor,Wind Gust Direction,Wind Gust Speed,Wind Direction,Wind Speed,Wind Chill,Rain Rate,Rain Total

Happy parsing.

Note:The units are in this file are metric.

Keywords: wx200d text file headers, wx200d log file headers, wx200d tab separated value file, wx200d comma separated value file, wx200d TSV, wx200d CSV.

The Apple Graphite AirPort Base Station, Windows Vista, and failing to connect to the internet

2007-05-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

Recent experience with the Apple Graphite AirPort Base station and the newest MS OS Vista found me googling without an answer. This is likely to be a rare combination these days, so it isn't a surprise to not have a solution out there. This is used for wireless modem sharing up my parent's (in-law) cabin where the cost of high-speed Internet is preventative.

The basic symptom was that the "Internet" wasn't functioning on the Vista machine. It could connect fine with the AirPort base station, but would get no further. Digging deeper it appeared that DNS was not functioning for the Vista machine. A little more digging and installing a separate copy of Vista using bootcamp for Mac confirmed it was reproducible.

Another step in the digging was to try an nslookup from a functioning machine -- note Windows XP, MAC OS X all work while simultaneously Vista does not.

Welcome to Darwin!
macpowerbookpro:~ user$ nslookup www.google.com
;; reply from unexpected source: 198.6.100.140#53, expected 10.0.1.1#53
;; reply from unexpected source: 198.6.100.140#53, expected 10.0.1.1#53

This seemed to be potentially at the root of the problem. I suspect that Windows XP/Mac OS X don't mind a response from a DNS server that it didn't ask. Vista is a bit more particular about it.

The temporary solution is to put the nameservers that your ISP has directly in the TCP/IP configuration of Vista (see image below). I admit there is probably a more complete solution, but this will keep one going until that is solved.

Keywords: Apple Graphite AirPort Base Station, Windows Vista, Internet connection problems, DNS problem, DNS lookups fail.

D-link Emulators

2007-05-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Bumped into this because of a LinuxLore browser.

D-link is now providing user interface emulators for many of its products. Not a bad idea in the try-it-before-you-buy-it world. And for many of us out here, we've encountered awful interfaces for some of these consumer level products that have impaired the product's function enough that one wished they never bought it.

Link to D-link Emulators

Interestingly enough, trying out the DCS-950G Wireless Internet Camera's interface on Firefox has shown me there is potentially a bug there. I couldn't log-in.

Keywords: D-link network gear, d-link emulators, dlink emulators, Dlink network gear, dlink product demos, dlink

DSM-G600, DWL-G820 and DI-724GU default username and password

2007-05-03T06:33:00.000-07:00

Occasionally Google indexes this blog and determines that my site has the default admin username and passwords (root, administrator, ...) listed for the following devices: DSM-G600, DWL-G820 and DI-724GU. Up until now, many of you have come here and not found that information. Since I like to help out, I will make it true (what Google wants, you'll get -- in a good way).

Please note that everyone out there will highly recommend that you immediately change the passwords for your networking equipment. There is no need to grant access to every one that can Google to this page or read the manuals.

The information:
D-Link Wireless 108G QoS Gigabit Router -- DI-724GU:
username: admin
password: {blank}
DI-724GU Product Manual link

D-Link Wireless Network Storage Enclosure -- DSM-G600 revision B:
username: admin
password: {blank}
DSM-G600 revision B Product Manual link

D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless Gaming Adapter: -- DWL-G820:
username: admin
password: {blank}
DWL-820 Product Manual link

You may start to notice a trend in the default usernames and passwords. I cannot say for sure, but if you have a D-Link product it might be a good first start.

Keywords: D-link default username and password, Dlink DSM-G600 default username and password, Dlink DI-724GU default username and password, Dlink DWL-G820 default username and password, D-link DSM-G600 default username and password, D-link DI-724GU default username and password, D-link DWL-G820 default username and password, D-link consumer network gear default username and password.

HOWTO cleanup gentoo portage distfiles, packages that are unused (eclean)

2007-04-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

eclean can be your friend, it is a part of the gentoolkit. If you don't have the gentoolkit: emerge gentoolkit.

eclean can cleanup distribution files and packages. Because you are a regular emerge --sync, emerge --update --deep --ask world sort of person, you will likely be using disk space on all those old packages you have upgraded out of.

eclean distfiles
eclean packages

DESCRIPTION

eclean is small tool to remove obsolete portage sources files and binary packages. Used on a regular basis, it prevents your DISTDIR and PKGDIR directories to infinitely grow, while not deleting files which may still be useful.

By default, eclean will protect all distfiles or binary packages corresponding to some ebuilds available in the Portage tree. This is the safest mode, since it will protect whatever may still be useful, for instance to downgrade a package without downloading its sources for the second time, or to reinstall a package you unmerge by mistake without recompiling it. Sure, it's also a mode in which your DISTDIR and PKGDIR will stay rather big (although still not growing infinitly). For the 'distfiles', this mode is also quit slow mode because it requiries some access to the whole Portage tree.

If you use the --destructive option, eclean will only protect files corresponding to some currently installed package (taking their exact version into account). It will save much more space, while still preserving sources files around for minor revision bumps, and binaries for reinstallation of corrupted packages. But it won't keep files for less usual operations like downgrading or reinstalling an unmerged package. This is also the fastest execution mode (big difference for distfiles), and the one used by most other cleaning scripts around like yacleaner (at least in its version 0.3).

Somewhere in the middle, adding the --package-names option when using --destructive will protect files corresponding to all existing versions of installed packages. It will allow easy downgrading without recompilation or redownloading in case of trouble, but won't protect you against package uninstallation.

In addition to this main modes, some options allow to declare a few special cases file protection rules:

o: --time-limit is useful to protect files which are more recent than a given amount of time.
o: --size-limit (for distfiles only) is useful if you want to protect files bigger than a given size.
o: --fetch-restricted (for distfiles only) is useful to protect manually downloaded files. But it's also very slow (again, it's a reading of the whole Portage tree data)...
o: Finally, you can list some categories or package names to protect in exclusion files (see EXCLUSION FILES below).

Keywords:gentoo, portage, cleanup, portage cleanup, eclean, cleanup portage directory, cleanup portage storage /usr/portage/distfiles, /usr/portage/distfiles, cleanup of /usr/portage/distfiles

VMWare with Gentoo Guest - why is fit guest now grayed out?

2007-04-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

My configuration
HOST: Windows XP
Guest: Linux Gentoo 2006.1
VMWARE Version: VMWare Server 1.0.2 build-39867
X Windows: 7.2
Desktop Environment: KDE 3.5

I wished to fill my 1600X1400 monitor with my Gentoo VMWare image while in 'Quick switch' mode. However, the Fit Guest Now was grayed out. The reason? I needed to have vmware-user running (location for me: /usr/lib/vmware-tools/bin32/vmware-user). This is a tool in the VMWare tools. For VMWare tools installation see Install Gentoo on VMWare - VMWare Tools Section.

As soon as I launched the vmware-user, the Fit Guest Now menu becomes un-grayed and works beautifully. Enjoy your new found desktop real estate.

I've yet to have the autofit guest work, but I am happy enough that the fit guest now works. Another day for the autofitting.

Keywords: fit guest now grayed out, gentoo, vmware, linux, VMWare server, vmware-user, maximizing desktop for Gentoo Guest in VMWare, autofit guest.

VMWare with Gentoo Guest - why does copy and paste not work

2007-04-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

My configuration
HOST: Windows XP
Guest: Linux Gentoo 2006.1
VMWARE Version: VMWare Server 1.0.2 build-39867

First off, the copy and paste is provided by VMWare Tools. VMWare Tools run under X Windows.

There are a number of articles out there describing how to do this for various flavors of VMWare; however, my experience has demonstrated that these work just fine for VMWare Server. I would worry not.

I found that with these instructions (HOWTO install Gentoo on VMWARE - installation of VMWARE Tool Section) and my original version of X11 R6.8 did not work out as well with driver module installation. Perhaps I was careless, but my solution was simply to upgrade to X Windows 7.2 - a seamless upgrade for me. Note to you: you may as well take a snapshot to allow a roll back.

I would recommend following the path of upgrading if you've not, insuring that you have in your make.conf: INPUT_DEVICES="keyboard vmmouse" VIDEO_CARDS="vmware". If you have/want to upgrade, as I did, follow these instructions: Migrating to Modular X HOWTO

After migrating to Modular X Windows 7.2 the VMWare tools launch automatically as I start X so copy and paste works seamlessly now.

Keywords: gentoo, vmware, copy and paste, vmware tools, vmware server, gentoo guest, x windows, why doesn't copy and paste work?

The ever improving Internet, Mashups and innovations and where to find them listed

2007-03-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

In the quest to turn the data into information, many unique ideas as quickly formed when someone integrates two or more internet APIs these days. The marketing phrase Web 2.0 has been used to describe this, but it is news to me that someone has been managing the web releases from a configuration management standpoint.

What can be done with the 'Mashup'?

Want to know where Tim Hibbard is? Where's Tim. (I had no idea who he is, but I know where he is) - 3/25/07 8:31 PM. I stand corrected I know a little more about who he is and I infer he has a decent sense of humor now. :-)
Local Ski conditions? Ski Bonk. Integrating Google Maps with ski resorts/cameras/etc.
Nintendo Wii finder. Wii finder. Search ebay, walmart, target, bestbuy, circuit city and overlay the locations on a google map.
Auctions nearby? Find Near By. Like the above, but finds items up for sale on craigslist, ebay, amazon, walmart.
Dig through the earth. Dig Here. Have Google maps show you where a hole thru the earth would come out.
Birth place of Oscar winners. Oscar Winners. From 1928 - 2006
Internet Domains. Domain Tools. A multitude of information about a domain name.
Webcams. GooCam. Google Maps integrated with found streaming web cameras.
Downgrade your graphics? Ascii Maps. Transform Google Maps images into Ascii
Blog value calculator. How much is your blog worth?

As you can tell, there is plenty of ideas -- Several useless, others are entertaining. Programmableweb is registering 3.1 mashups per day. Soon we will need to mashup the mashup listings to add value to that infinite data.

Keywords: Mashups, Web 2.0, programmable web, Web APIs, google maps mashups, technorati mashups, mashup listings.

HOWTO tether your Blackberry Pearl (8100) to a PC using Windows XP and Cingular

2007-03-10T07:02:00.000-08:00

One of the advantages to having a Blackberry phone is the built-in ability to connect your PC/laptop to the internet via the phone. Now the hunt for free wireless connections while traveling has been made simple. No more of the questions (and the incessant googling that ensues to know for sure): does that hotel have free wireless? does this coffee shop have free wireless? Admission of internet addiction will be prevented and you (and I) can continue to remain in denial. Using this method I was able to achieve 120 Kbps downloads/ 60Kbps uploads in the Seattle area in March of 2007. It is not broadband speed these days, but it is better than 0 Kbps.Want to do this for Linux? Go here to the Linux post.

Prerequisites:

The latest Software For BlackBerry Desktop Software v4.2 Service Pack 1 from Research in Motion installed. Today this is version 4.2.1.8. Download link.
A Blackberry Pearl (8100). This may work with others.
A USB cable to connect computer to Blackberry

HOWTO

Summary
You will need to have the Blackberry Device Manager running, it provides the emulated serial port. You will need to modify the modem initialization string, this was a modem added when the BlackBerry Desktop Software was installed. Lastly a dial-up connection will need to be made.

Data you will need (Cingular, now AT&T Wireless again):
Modem Initialization String: AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","wap.cingular"
Dial-up Phone Number: *99#
Dial-up username/password:blank/blank

This web-page has an excellent step-by-step guide that you can plug in the Cingular data above
How to: Tether BlackBerry Pearl to PC for use as a modem

Enjoy.

Keywords: Tether Blackberry, Tether Blackberry Pearl, Tether Blackberry Windows XP, Tether Blackberry 8100, Tether Blackberry with Cingular, Tether Blackberry with AT and T Wireless, Dialup via Blackberry, Wireless internet through Blackberry.

Visual Studios 6.0 shortcut keys that matter to me

2007-02-20T19:59:00.000-08:00

At work I end up living within Visual Studios 6.0 for long durations. These below are probably my most used short-cuts.

Failed compile?
F4 - Move to next Error (and highlight in the IDE)

Auto-Complete
ALT+SPACE

Structure members
CTRL+SPACE

View function parameters
CTRL+SHIFT+SPACE

Auto-indent current selection
ALT+F8

Callgraphs
ALT+F12

Brace Matching
Ctrl-}

Or if you want do 'know it all'

To display keyboard shortcuts

From the Help menu, choose Keyboard Map and perform one or more of the following actions:
- Click Category, Editor, Command, Keys, or Description to sort the keyboard shortcut list alphabetically in different ways.
- Click the Printer button to print a copy of the list.
- Click the Copy button to copy the list to the Clipboard so you can paste it into a word processor or other text editor.
- Click the drop-down menu to filter the list to view either All Commands, Bound Commands, or by menu.

HOWTO turn off sticky keys in windows

2007-02-06T20:02:00.000-08:00

I am normally not one to get riled up, but I have to admit that the number of times I've seen the above dialog makes me ready to use words I shouldn't.

We are blessed with every Windows installation having Sticky Keys ready to respond to either a rapid press of the shift key or a long pause on the shift key. If you are anything like me, I often pause in thought with a finger on the shift key. Right now I pause with my finger on the shift and wonder whose decision it was to leave this on by default in Windows? ... On a lighter note, on the name "sticky keys." Isn't that something you would get if you use your keyboard immediately after peeling an especially juicy orange?

To the get dialog above:
Hit shift 5 times
or
Hold shift down for 5 seconds.

To turn it of from the dialog above:

Click Settings
On Keyboard Tab, as seen the dialog below un-select use StickyKeys
Careful you aren't done yet. Click the settings button in the StickyKeys area.
In that dialog un-select all the items.
Click OK.
Click OK once more.

You are now not going to be interrupted while you are paused thinking any more.

Keywords: Windows, StickyKeys off, Turn off StickyKeys, how to Turn off StickyKeys, Stop StickyKeys dialog.

HOWTO turn off the UPS alarm on Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD UPS (USB)

2007-02-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

All UPS units tend to have an alarm (also known as the beeper) that sounds when the power is removed from the unit. This alarm maybe valuable to some people, but I would say for my computer room closet it would be more annoying in the middle of the night than necessary. I'll deal with a power outage when I wake up.

I am running NUT on Gentoo Linux to manage my Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD UPS (USB) and to turn off the alarm one simply needs to run the following command, remember the username is what you defined in /etc/nut/upsd.users:

#upsrw -s ups.beeper.status=disabled -u nutusername
-p nutpassword theUPS@localhost:3493


immediately following that the command
upsc verified the change was live:

# upsc theUPS@localhost
battery.charge: 53
battery.type: PbAc
battery.voltage: 12.3
battery.voltage.nominal: 12.0
driver.name: newhidups
driver.parameter.port: auto
driver.version: 2.1.0
driver.version.data: TrippLite HID 0.1
(experimental)
driver.version.internal: 0.30
input.frequency: 59.8
input.voltage: 116.7
input.voltage.nominal: 120
output.frequency.nominal: 60
output.voltage.nominal: 120
ups.beeper.status: disabled
ups.delay.reboot: 65535
ups.delay.shutdown: 65535
ups.mfr: Tripp Lite
ups.model: TRIPP LITE UPS
ups.power.nominal: 1000
ups.serial: 692195 B
ups.status: OL CHRG

Now when there is a power loss to the unit it is silent and will shut down the computer when the low battery signal occurs.

keywords: UPS, NUT, alarm off, beeper off, disable alarm, disable beeper, linux, Gentoo, Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD UPS USB.

Enlighten your windows desktop or background with the Computer Name - BGInfo

2007-01-28T06:18:00.000-08:00

In my current employment, I am typically remote "desktoped" (RDP'd) into several machines at the same time. The tool I use to keep myself informed is BGInfo a SysInternals (now owned by Microsoft).

For instance see below. There is a nice background, overlayed with particular machine information.

This tool is for the admin and people with some windows know-how, but still I would love to wrap this tool up in a little installer to add a little more value like an example configuration file and allow it to use a config file and run on startup.

I am willing to bet that several people in the legal department at MS would not be willing to let me redistribute this tool with my own MSI. I am not willing to experiment and find out for sure.

Instead of an installer, I'll list out the minor steps that made this tool more valuable to me and provide the configuration as above for you to experiment with.

Configuration

Download the BGinfo zip from Sysinternals site
Unzip into C:\Program Files\BGInfo (or a path of your choice)
Download my example configuration BGsetup.zip.
Unzip into C:\Program Files\BGInfo
Launch BGInfo.exe by double clicking.
Use the File Menu -> Open to open the bgsetup.bgi file.
Tweak as you see fit. Hit apply and view the results.

Autorun BGinfo at Windows start up

You could download autorunBGInfo.zip, a registry entry and double click the .reg file to put it in your registry
OR
Add the following to your registry:
Key Location: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
String Name/Value:
Name: BGIno
Value: \"C:\\Program Files\\BGInfo\\Bginfo.exe\" \"C:\\Program Files\\BGInfo\\bgsetup.bgi\" /timer:0 /silent /all

With those two things together, this tool is more valuable to me. Notice that you aren't limited to only the options listed in GUI. A quote from the BGInfo manual:

If BGInfo does not contain information you would like to display you can create a user defined field that contains whatever information you want. You can define one or more custom fields that display:
· An environment variable;
· A registry value;
· The contents of a text file;
· The version information contained in a DLL or executable file;
· The time stamp (last modified date) of a file;
· The output of a VB Script;
· The result of a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) query.

For the working soul in the tech industry, I can imagine that data could add further value to your desktop.

Keywords: BGInfo, Background text, background overlay Windows, Machine information desktop overlay, Wallpaper text configurator, machine information on background, Machine information on desktop, solve the what machine am I logged into problem, desktop background, desktop wallpapter.

HOWTO customize your D-Link DSM-G600 NAS with Telnet (BusyBox), iTunes server, gentoo and more.

2007-01-21T09:18:00.000-08:00

To solve the always on storage, network attached storage [NAS], problem I choose to purchase the D-Link DSM-G600 device; in part because my tendency to stick with a the same hardware vendor. I may be naive and my demonstration is I believe that companies do more testing with their own hardware components than other hardware. The other part of the choice is that is a Gigabit NAS with a drive enclosure and with potential to plug in our external USB drives. The other, other part is that it is running Linux underneath.

I have the DSM-G600 revB and to demonstrate this last statement of it running a copy of embedded Linux, the following is the output of uname.
# uname -a
Linux NAS 2.4.21-pre4 #480 ¤ 4¤ë 28 11:21:43 CST 2006 ppc unknown

And it looks like the below image
First step is to understand 'fun_plug'. This is a script that is called after after the DSM-G600 boots, but the user has full control over it. It resides on the drive that you've put into the enclosure. For the full background: How to fun_plug . This concept is a big seller to me, it allows customization to your heart's content.

Starting to fun_plug
(reference: Wiki Page Howto fun_plug )

There are several way to get the fun plug script on the device. I would recommend connecting via Samba from a Linux host. Most importantly you'll save yourself the hassle of Unix vs. Windows linefeeds.

(1) You'll want your DSM-G600 booted (and a drive in the enclosure).
(2) From your linux host:
mount -t smbfs -o username=admin ///HDD_a /mnt/nas
(3) Enter your password (the same as the web interface admin password).
(4) Execute:
touch /mnt/somedir/fun_plug
chmod 777 /mnt/somedir/fun_plug
(5) Customize fun_plug (open fun_plug up and do some customization) - See below
(6) Execute: umount /mnt/nas

Customization of fun_plug

There many customizations and the the limit only in your imagination . Several that seem worthy to mention are starting a telnet daemon, starting an itunes server, chrooting to a Gentoo distribution.

Starting small

output dmesg to a text file

(1) Open fun_plug with your favorite editor
emacs /mnt/nas/fun_plug
(2) Add
#!/bin/sh
dmesg > /mnt/HD_a2/dmesg.out
(3) reboot the DSM-G600

Why /mnt/HD_a2? because that is where the NAS device mounts the internal IDE drive.

Getting bigger

Telnet daemon (and more) Telnet and your DSM-G600
(1) Open fun_plug in your favorite editor
(2) enter the following
#!/bin/sh
if [ ! -e /mnt/HD_a2/ash ]
then
ln -s /mnt/HD_a2/busybox /mnt/HD_a2/ash
fi
if [ ! `grep root /etc/shadow` ]
then
echo kontroll.`grep admin /etc/shadow` >> /etc/shadow
/mnt/HD_a2/sed -i -e 's/kontroll.admin/root/' /etc/shadow
fi
/mnt/HD_a2/sed -i -e 's/root:.*/root:x:0:0:Linux User,,,:\/:\/mnt\/HD_a2\/ash/' /etc/passwd
cd /dev && /mnt/HD_a2/busybox makedevs ptyp c 2 0 0 9
cd /dev && /mnt/HD_a2/busybox makedevs ttyp c 3 0 0 9
/mnt/HD_a2/busybox telnetd &
(3) Get and extract busybox-telnetd-1.2.1.tar.bz2 in the root folder of the DSM-G600. Download it
(4) reboot the DSM-G600

Medium sized

Firefly/mt-daapd itunes server on your DSM-G600
Step by Step: Step by Step for itunes server on DSM-G600

Slightly larger than Medium

A NFS server server on your DSM-G600
(1) Download the nfs binaries (nfs-utils-1.0.10-portmap5-nfsd.tar.gz)
(2) Unzip in an appropriate folder
(3) Add this to fun_plug

# nfs server
# Vars. Change these according to your setup
NFSROOT=/mnt/HD_a2/nas_packages/nfs

# Set up needed directories and files
if [ ! -d $NFSROOT/var/lib/nfs ]
then
 mkdir -p $NFSROOT/var/lib/nfs
fi

if [ ! -d $NFSROOT/etc ]
then
 mkdir -p $NFSROOT/etc
fi

if [ ! -f $NFSROOT/etc/exports ]
then
cat > $NFSROOT/etc/exports <<"EOF"
/mnt/HD_a2 192.168.0.0/24(rw)
EOF
fi

if [ ! -f $NFSROOT/etc/hosts.allow ]
then
cat > $NFSROOT/etc/hosts.allow <<"EOF"
lockd: 192.168.0.*
rquotad: 192.168.0.*
mountd: 192.168.0.*
statd: 192.168.0.*
EOF
cat > $NFSROOT/etc/hosts.deny <<"EOF"
lockd:ALL
mountd:ALL
rquotad:ALL
statd:ALL
EOF
fi

if [ ! -d /usr/sbin ]
then
mkdir -p /usr/sbin
fi

# Make symlinks
ln -s $NFSROOT/etc/exports /etc/
ln -s $NFSROOT/var/lib /var/
ln -s $NFSROOT/etc/hosts.* /etc/
ln -s $NFSROOT/sbin/* /usr/sbin/

# start the server
/sbin/insmod $NFSROOT/modules/nfsd.o
/usr/sbin/portmap
sleep 1
/usr/sbin/rpc.mountd
sleep 1
/usr/sbin/rpc.nfsd
sleep 1
/usr/sbin/rpc.statd
# re-export...

$NFSROOT/sbin/exportfs -ra

(4) Reboot the DSM-G600.

Reference (Forum post)

Big and Bold

chroot into Gentoo on DSM-G600
Step by Step: Chroot to Gentoo

There you have it, the world is yours now that you are in Gentoo. Enjoy it.

References:
DSM-G600 revB Hack Forum
A well organized Wiki about the DSM-G600 revB

keywords:D-Link DSM-G600, dlink DSM-G600, linux, NAS, configuring, fun_plug, fun plug, Customizing DSM-G600, embedded linux on DSM-G600, tweaking DSM-G600, itunes DSM-G600, telnet DSM-G600, gentoo DSM-G600, D-Link NAS, gentoo, embedded linux.

LiveJournal to Blogger conversion/import tool - lj2blogger

2006-12-29T09:59:00.000-08:00

Sept 29, 2007 update - An updated tool (renamed to Blog2Blog)is available see this post for download. Regardless, We will keep this post and the download around for posterities sake. My advice would be to try the current blog2blog tool which has better error handling and updated functionality but the choice is yours.

As unknown surprise to the Blogger staff that picked my blog for the blog of note, I've been working on a tool to import LiveJournal blogs into Blogger. I may as well post this today for all of you incoming viewers. I wish I had something witty and amusing to say in addition, but words fail. I am certain I'll think of something in a couple of days, my mind just works that way -- slow and steady?

Like many good ideas, this one came from my wife who wanted to migrate from LiveJournal to Blogger. I looked around and didn't find a conversion tool after several attempts to Google it. Thus, as a good software developer I spent the time to learn several things and build a tool.

Note, I would say this is a Beta at this point. It works well for the scenarios I've run it through. Please feel free to comment/suggest improvements through the blog comments.

Download lj2blogger (1.5.0 updated Feb 12, 2007)

The above is a .zip with a Windows installer. To install unzip and double click on setup.exe.

After installing there is a small manual:
"LiveJournal2Blogger Manual.rtf" at C:\Program Files\Cooley Computing Inc\lj2blogger\doc (default location).

To save you the time of opening this file it is below.

LiveJournal2Blogger (lj2blogger)

Introduction

This tool migrates a blog from LiveJournal to Blogger. It uses the public API of LiveJournal and the public API of Blogger to extract data from Livejournal and create equivalent entries in a Blogger account with the appropriate date/time of the orignal entry.

Features
- Download Journal Entries from LiveJournal
- A simple read-only viewer of downloaded entries
- Publish Journal Entries to Blogger
* upload private entries (it will make them public)
* parse entries and wrap http:// entries with HTML to make them active links
- Delete ALL entries for a Blogger journal
- Save/Load journal entries to/from file.

Usage

The designed usage pattern is below. For issues please feel free to contact me at pcooley.newsgroups at gmail.com.

Download from LiveJournal
1. Enter username (e.g. user1).
2. Enter password (e.g. pass1).
3. Enter lj-url (the URL of the livejournal you wish to download): http://user1.livejournal.com.
4. (optional) if necessary modify the api-url of your journal. This is autopopulated with a typical value.
5. Press Fetch from LiveJournal Button.

View Entries (optional)
6. Press View Entries Button.
7. Use the Entry Number Dialog to change the entry being viewed.
8. When complete Press the upper right close window (the X).

Save Entries (optional)
1. Press Save Entries
2. Choose the filename, it is an XML file with the extension (*.J2B)
Note: once saved you can load these Entries without downloading from LiveJournal (use the Load Entries button)

Publish to Blogger

9. Enter username (e.g. user1).
10. Enter password (e.g. pass1).
11. Enter lj-url (the URL of the livejournal you wish to download): http://user1.blogspot.com.
12. (optional) if necessary modify the api-url of your journal. This is autopopulated with a typical value. (if you have a non-upgraded blog take note; for non-upgraded blogs you will need to update the api-url! To find the URL you will have to look at the page source of your journal. See below for more information)
13. (optional) select options you please; publish private entries and/or wrap http:// with <a href=”…”>.
14. Press Publish to Blogger Button.
15. Select the Entries you will to publish (defaults to all entries).

Further instructions (non-upgraded blogs):
For non-upgraded blogs you will need to find your feed URI.
-- To do this you will have to use your favorite browser and type in the URL of you blog (e.g. http://user1.blogspot.com)
-- Using your browser you will need to 'View Source'. This differs slightly between browsers.
-- In the source look for link rel="service.post" type="application/atom+xml" title="User1 (Atom 1.0)"
-- The api-url is the http:// location in the href

Additionally it is not possible to post to an old journal with a new 'google' integrated account (for those of you that have only partially upgraded all your journals). Addtionally the publish dates of your livejournal won't be regarded. This is part of the API limitation.

Known issues

• The Application is not multithreaded – The UI refreshes slowly while connected to LiveJournal/Blogger.
• Does not import/export comment
• found 01/02/2007 - defaults for api-url only work with upgraded blogs.
• There are connection problems with the XMLRPC interface to livejournal, but immediately retrying Fetch from Livejournal seems to connect sucessfully. Just try a couple of times. No harm should be done.

It appears today I made the blogs of note on blogger.com Blogs of Note. Incoming hits galore!

Happy Blogging

Keywords: Blog migration tool, LiveJournal to Blogger migration, LiveJournal to Blogger conversion, transfer blog to Blogger, Import blogs from LiveJournal into Blogger, lj2blogger, livejournal2blogger, migrate livejournal blogger.

Energy Usage of My Computers (Kill-A-Watt)

2006-12-28T20:28:00.000-08:00

Getting a fine gift, A Kill-A-Watt device, from my Sister and Brother in-law last year meant I could measure the energy usage of my computer systems. Not necessarily a HOWTO article, but informative for those of us that obsess over numbers and metrics.

The Server Closet contains:
(1) Server (512MB/AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1600+)
(2) D-Link DI-724GU Router
(3) Comcast Cable modem (Motorola SB5120)
(4) Vonage Phone Adapter (Motorola VT1005V)
(5) Oregon Scientific WMR-968 Weather Station
- Note No Monitor

Power Usage:
1.34 Amp
125 Watts
2.95 KWH per day

My Primary System consists of:
(1) User System (1GB/Pentium 4 - 3.00GHz)
(2) Monitor 1 - Dell 2001FP 20" LCD
(3) Monitor 2 - Sony GDM-500PS CRT
(4) Sound - Yamaha Receiver RXV420, KLH Speakers and Subwoofer Model HTA-4906.

Power Usage:
3.06 A
300 - 400 Watts (depending on whether it is rendering in game or relaxing writing a document)
4.30 KWH per day

Our computer room is on a 15 Amp fuse and it now makes sense when my wife's computer system is on and she turns on an electric space heater my resulting trip to the fuse panel. Given the above, I now expect that fuse is probably even being lenient on us, given her system probably uses 3.0 Amps (identical system).

Keywords: computer, power usage, watts, how much power does my computer consume

HOWTO set up NUT on Gentoo Linux for Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD USB UPS

2006-12-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

The below documents my configuration of a Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD USB UPS to communicate with Gentoo Linux (2.6.17-gentoo-r8 kernel) in my home network using NUT (Network UPS Tools). Note this is much easier in Dec 2007 - see new howto here

Plugged into the UPS :
(1) Linux Server (Older machine with AMD XP processor)
(2) D-Link DI-724GU Router
(3) Comcast Cable modem (Motorola SB5120)
(4) Vontage Phone Adapter (Motorola VT1005V)
(5) Oregon Scientific WMR-968 Weather Station

The average draw of those components is around 125 Watts (you have a Kill-A-Watt device don't you? Kill-A-Watt link). During my two simulated power outages it appeared that this UPS would power those components for ~30 minutes.

This UPS was purchased at Costco, so with that ease of distribution I suspect there might be more of you out there that may want to do this, so I'll write down my steps of configuration for Linux/Gentoo. Truth be told, maybe the key feature of the UPS verses others? The pretty Blue LCD display panel; even my wife attests to it aesthetic value.

Configuration took the better part of a day because, I didn't realize/admit the 2.0.4 version of NUT didn't support my Tripp Lite USB UPS. Once I use the development tree of NUT it was much easier. I hope to save you that time.

1. Ensure your kernel has hid support compiled into it

- in 'make menuconfig' select the '/dev/hiddev raw HID device support'

Device Drivers --->
USB support --->
<*> Support for Host-side USB
[*] HID input layer support
[ ] Force feedback support (EXPERIMENTAL)
[*] /dev/hiddev raw HID device support

2. emerge 'sys-power/nut'

Guess what? This, as of January 1, 2007, does not have the support in it for the Tripp Lite USB models (nut 2.0.4-r1 in portage). Following this, you will have to fetch the development trunk from the fine people on the NUT development team and create a Portage overlay. From this trunk, it runs great. I spent significant time starting the newhidups driver with the response No matching USB/HID UPS found and it appears 20 googles. It just doesn't work ;)

Note: Everything I know about Portage overlays I learned while watching a 'Cold Case' episode, so it isn't too hard. Kudos to portage.

3. Get the development trunk from Subversion. Don't have subversion in Gentoo? Me neither, but a simple 'emerge subversion', got me a running version.

mkdir ~/src/nut
cd ~/src/nut
svn co svn://svn.debian.org/nut/trunk

This will get the latest source for nut in a directory called trunk in your home directory ~/src/nut

4. Create a Portage Overlay for the development trunk source.

We will want to do this so that portage knows what we are up-to. Admittedly you can go straight for the compilation of the nut source and figure out all the configuration necessary to get it to run in Gentoo, but it was already all figured out for sys-power/nut-2.0.4.r1 so lets use that.

References:
HOWTO Create an Updated Ebuild
HOWTO Install 3rd Party Ebuilds (slightly less relevant in our case.)

a. Package the source:
in dir ~/src/nut
cp -r trunk nut-2.1.0
note: we are making up a nut version that follows the portage convention.
tar -cf nut-2.1.0.tar nut-2.1.0
gzip nut-2.1.0.tar

b. copy the source into the portage distribution tree
cp nut-2.1.0.tar.gz /usr/portage/distfiles/

c. Create an overlay directory and add it to your make.conf (I am presuming you have root like powers aren't I? Keep this in mind)
mkdir -p /usr/local/portage && echo 'PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/usr/local/portage"' >> /etc/make.conf

d. copy the existing ebuild for nut into your new Portage Overlay directory

make the dir: mkdir -p /usr/local/portage/sys-power/nut
copy it: cp -r /usr/portage/sys-power/nut /usr/local/portage/sys-power/nut

e. create the new ebuild file (copying from the latest ebuild).
cd /usr/local/portage/sys-power/nut
cp nut-2.0.4-r1.ebuild nut-2.1.0.ebuild
note: remember to name this the same as tar file above.

f. remove the ebuilds you don't need (I like clean)
for me it was: rm nut-2.0*

g. edit the ebuild. I removed a patch that probably isn't necessary in the development trunk.
nano -w /usr/local/portage/sys-power/nut/nut-2.1.0.ebuild

I removed line 46 that started with 'epatch'

5. Manually step thru the emerge steps with ebuild (slow and cautious). Ebuild is a lower level tool that emerge uses.
Note: I am only going to compile the driver I need, it isn't a default driver so I need to use the NUT_DRIVERS directive to ebuild system. Additionally when I didn't do this, one of the drivers in the development tree had a compile time error.

a. The digest:
NUT_DRIVERS="newhidups" ebuild /usr/local/portage/sys-power/nut/nut-2.1.0.ebuild digest

b. The unpacking (the unzips the tar file you created earlier):
NUT_DRIVERS="newhidups" ebuild /usr/local/portage/category/program/program-version.ebuild unpack

c. The compile
NUT_DRIVERS="newhidups" ebuild /usr/local/portage/category/program/program-version.ebuild compile

d. The installation
NUT_DRIVERS="newhidups" ebuild /usr/local/portage/category/program/program-version.ebuild install

Without the NUT_DRIVERS declaration I got:
/bin/sh ../libtool --tag=CC --mode=link i686-pc-linux-gnu-gcc -I../include -O2 -march=athlon-xp -pipe -Wall -Wsign-compare -o blazer blazer.o ../common/libcommon.a ../common/upsconf.o
../common/parseconf.o
../common/state.o main.o dstate.o serial.o
i686-pc-linux-gnu-gcc -I../include -O2 -march=athlon-xp -pipe -Wall -Wsign-compare -o blazer blazer.o ../common/upsconf.o ../common/parseconf.o
../common/state.o main.o dstate.o serial.o ../common/libcommon.a
if i686-pc-linux-gnu-gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I. -I../include -I../include -O2 -march=athlon-xp -pipe -Wall -Wsign-compare -MT cpsups.o -MD -MP -MF ".deps/cpsups.Tpo" -c -o cpsups.o cpsups.c; \
then mv -f ".deps/cpsups.Tpo" ".deps/cpsups.Po"; else rm -f ".deps/cpsups.Tpo"; exit 1; fi
cpsups.c: In function 'clr_cps_serial':
cpsups.c:110: error: 'TIOCM_DTR' undeclared (first use in this function)
cpsups.c:110: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
cpsups.c :110: error: for each function it appears in.)
cpsups.c:112: warning: implicit declaration of function 'ioctl'
cpsups.c:112: error: 'TIOCMBIC' undeclared (first use in this function)
cpsups.c: In function 'set_cps_serial':
cpsups.c:117: error: 'TIOCM_DTR' undeclared (first use in this function)
cpsups.c:119: error: 'TIOCMBIS' undeclared (first use in this function)

6. Configure NUT

Now that we've made this build, you can follow the steps at the wiki:
Gentoo HOWTO NUT (Network UPS Tools)

You'll get to start after the Install Software section. Yes, you'll need the newhidups driver. I am pasting in the article with a couple of mods for my UPS posterity/consistency.

I added the bit about adding a MONITOR line to uspmon.conf. This is necessary for upsmon to work

Configuring

Go to /etc/nut . Open ups.conf. Add to this file every UPS you want to monitor. Mine looks like this:

# [powerware]
# driver = bcmxcp
# port = /dev/ttyS0
# desc = "Server, adsl, 3com"

Change the values to something that fit's your configuration better and save. If you have a USB connection to your UPS, your entry might look like

[OMNI1000]
driver = newhidups
port = auto
desc = "Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD USB"

Open upsd.conf. This file contains access-policy to the UPS's you have.

To only allow the same computer to connect to them, the file should look like this:

ACL all 0.0.0.0/0
ACL localhost 127.0.0.1

ACCEPT localhost
REJECT all

The ACL-lines are used to add hosts. The syntax is ACL name IP. If the name is placed after ACCEPT connections from there are accepted, if it's placed under REJECT, connections are rejected. This sort of reminds me of a hosts.allow file?

Next open upsd.users. This file contains accounts for users who can make modifications. The following line grants access to the user server to everything. This isn't integrated with particular logins from my observation. So you can make-up a new user/pass and run with that. The only place one needs to remember this if you are setting properties through NUT on the UPS.

[server]
password = changeme
allowfrom = localhost
actions = SET
instcmds = ALL
upsmon master

Next take a look at upsmon.conf. This is the UPS Monitor configuration. A scan through this file is going to answer more questions than me writing about it. It is pretty simple, but the below three changes are all I needed to make.

in Gentoo we compiled the nut package using the 'nut' user, so ensure this is in there.
RUN_AS_USER nut
The UPS to monitor
MONITOR OMNI1000@localhost 1 server changeme master
for those of us with a measly single UPS for our home network you'll need this line:
MINSUPPLIES 1

Next if you want look at upssched.conf too, it may be interesting if you want to schedule events. This will be useful if you want to automate something like "30 seconds after the power is out, send an email via SMTP." I currently am not interested in this

Finishing

Now, start the upsd and upsmon service:

/etc/init.d/upsd start
/etc/init.d/upsmon start

This should identify if there is some still wrong.
If nothing is wrong add them to the default runlevel

rc-update add upsd default
rc-update add upsmon default

If you didn't get any error when you started the services you seemed to configure it right. Else, have a look at the error output and think what might be wrong. One error I got was the permissions of the serialport, which is easy fixed with adding nut to the tty-group.

Testing

You'll be using tools upsc and upscmd

Test upsc and see if your UPS replies:

upsc yourupsname@yourupshost ups.status
specifically: upsc OMNI1000@localhost ups.status

If you get "OL" (On Line) everything is working good (if it is on the line and not battery).

To see every command your UPS supports, type

upscmd -l OMNI1000@localhost

A full status looks like the below.

#upsc OMNI1000@localhost
battery.charge: 100
battery.type: PbAc
battery.voltage: 13.4
battery.voltage.nominal: 12.0
driver.name: newhidups
driver.parameter.port: auto
driver.version: 2.1.0
driver.version.data: TrippLite HID 0.1 (experimental)
driver.version.internal: 0.30
input.frequency: 59.8
input.voltage: 117.5
input.voltage.nominal: 120
output.frequency.nominal: 60
output.voltage.nominal: 120
ups.beeper.status: enabled
ups.delay.reboot: 65535
ups.delay.shutdown: 65535
ups.mfr: Tripp Lite
ups.model: TRIPP LITE UPS
ups.power.nominal: 1000
ups.serial: 692195 B
ups.status: OL CHRG

7. Customization of and understanding UPSMON.

It is upsmon that will be responsible for a system shutdown when the battery level reaches a critical level. It is here that if you want to do magic like emails/etc, you'll want to look.

There you have it in 7 easy (or not so easy?) steps, it should be configured.

UPS/NUT References that will help.
Network UPS Tools Home
Nut-upsuser Mailing List Note: from my lurking on this mailing list, it is filled with people very helpful and with an abundance of experience with NUT.

Keywords: Tripp Lite, USB UPS, Tripp Lite Gentoo, Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD, USB HID UPS Linux, Gentoo HID UPS, gentoo NUT portage overlay, Gentoo UPS NUT, Tripp Lite Linux, Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD Gentoo, Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD Linux, Tripp Lite OMNI1000LCD UPS.

HOWTO remove blocked packages in portage on gentoo

2006-12-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

On my routine of weekly updates to my gentoo installation I often encounter blocked packages in response to the command 'emerge --update --deep --ask world'

[blocks B ] mail-mta/ssmtp (is blocking mail-mta/postfix-2.2.2-r1)

This, until I became familiar with it, seemed confusing. My analysis, the order of this response is what tripped me up in combination with the temptation of speed reading. My interpretation was 'blocks mail-mta/ssmtp. Is blocking mail-mta/postfix-2.2.2-r1?' The parenthesis caused me to consider this as a separate thought. It is not and is my fault for confusing myself; And aside, I'd love for the parenthesis to be removed. That interpretive linguistics analysis aside on to the point.

Looking at the statement mail-mta/ssmtp is blocking mail-mta/postfix. The simple thing to do is to say, I don't need ssmtp let me remove it. The portage command:

emerge --unmerge 'mail-mta/smtp'

In summary it is the first item listed that is the 'blocking' package, that is what you want to remove.

Then try again with 'emerge --update --deep --ask world'

Of course the removal of something needed is a bad idea, so be careful.

An introduction to Portage: link
A simple portage Wiki page: Portage and Ebuilds
The man page: Portage Man page
The "best-known practices" for working with Portage: HOWTO_Use_Portage_Correctly
keywords: gentoo remove blocked package, portage remove blocked package, gentoo blocks, portage blocks.

Patterns and Practices of Software Development

2006-11-29T07:09:00.000-08:00

It appears to be low profile so I hadn't heard of this until a co-worker pointed out this MS Wiki where they are putting together a community to work on documenting patterns and practices.

Microsoft's Patterns and Practices Guidance Library

This is useful in two ways, (1) in defining some templates for creating better documentation. For instance there is a template for writing a Mini How To. It lists a number of good ideas to consider while writing a How To. (2) It provides documentation, an example How To: How To: Use Regular Expressions to Constrain Input in ASP.NET. Another example is they have checklists for instance they have a Web Services Security Checklist.

From my observation there are not necessarily 'deep' thoughts here. The statements all make sense, to the point that it seems like stating the obvious. The value is in that the thought have been persisted, collected and present in a clean and concise way. This means that in our haste to get a product out the door, we can walk through a relatively simple list to verify we didn't miss something obvious.

A good idea. I hope it continues to have contributions and a community is built around this.

HOWTO Forge (linux)

2006-11-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine sent me this link. This is really my blog, on steroids and then some. A community of people making howtos for Linux. Smart. I wish I thought of it :-).

http://www.howtoforge.org/ - HOWTO Forge

I am definitely adding this to my resources. Maybe I should start to contribute.

HOWTO use microsoft's logparser to analyze IIS logs with example sql/code

2006-11-27T18:50:00.000-08:00

Logparser can be your good friend if you have a large set of data (text form or otherwise) and you would like to summarize it. It can be used to analyze Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS) logfiles, text based logfiles, XML files, Eventviewer data, Registry, Active Directory Objects, CSVs and more (see all the input formats at the end of blog entry).

The below is my documenting a howto use logparser with a number of examples. Most of the examples of IIS log parsing were not developed by me, rather there is a MS team that can be employed to do an IIS health check, these were the logparser SQLs they used.

Logparser to start

I recommend become familiar with:
logparser -h
In all truth all my needs have been answered in the command-line help. I may have googling for a solution, but the problem was solvable with careful reading.

Logparser and IIS logs.

Logpaser automatically reads the IIS header. In fact, I highly suspect that the reason for the tool’s existence began with the need to analyze IIS logs - the history and lore, I have not taken that much time to learn. I'll let you correct me?

Queries (examples):
updated March 2007 to add reverse DNS lookup, Referer URLs (sic), and Referer Summary (sic).
• Merge Multiple Log files
To consolidate log files into a single file.
logparser -o:IIS "select * into merged.log from ex*.log"
• A count of the Total Requests
logparser "select count(*) into IISLOG_TOTAL_REQ.csv from ex061023.log"
• How many unique clients
logparser "select count(distinct c-ip) into IISLOG_DISTINCT_CLIENTS.csv from ex061023.log"
• Top 20 URLs Hit
logparser "SELECT TOP 20 cs-uri-stem, COUNT(*) AS Hits INTO Analysis.csv from ex061023.log group by cs-uri-stem order by Hits DESC"
• Top 20 ASP pages Hit
logparser "SELECT TOP 20 cs-uri-stem, COUNT(*) AS Hits INTO Analysis.csv from ex061023.log where cs-uri-stem like '%%.asp' group by cs-uri-stem order by Hits DESC"
• Hit Frequency (how many hits per hour)
logparser "SELECT TO_LOCALTIME(QUANTIZE(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time),3600)), COUNT(*) AS Hit_Frequency INTO IISLOG_ANALYSIS_HIT_FREQ.CSV FROM ex061023.log GROUP BY TO_LOCALTIME(QUANTIZE(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time),3600)) ORDER BY TO_LOCALTIME(QUANTIZE(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time),3600)) ASC"
• Bytes per Extension
What is the percentage of the bytes served per extension-type?
logparser "SELECT EXTRACT_EXTENSION(cs-uri-stem) AS Extension, MUL(PROPSUM(sc-bytes),100.0) AS PercentOfTotalBytes INTO IISLOG_ANALYSIS_BYTES_PER_EXT.CSV FROM ex061023.log GROUP BY Extension ORDER BY PercentOfTotalBytes DESC"
• Top 20 Clients Hitting this server
logparser "SELECT top 20 c-ip AS Client_IP,count(c-ip) AS PageCount from ex061023.log to IISLOG_ANALYSIS_TOP20_CLIENT_IP.CSV GROUP BY c-ip ORDER BY count(c-ip) DESC"
• REVERSEDNS of Top 20 Clients Hitting this server (reversedns(...) is a long running function for obvious reasons)
logparser "SELECT top 20 c-ip AS Client_IP, REVERSEDNS(c-ip),count(c-ip) AS PageCount from ex061023.log to IISLOG_ANALYSIS_TOP20_CLIENT_IP_WITH_DNS.CSV GROUP BY c-ip ORDER BY count(c-ip) DESC"
• Referrer Host Names directing traffic to this server with count of pages referred (summary)
logparser "SELECT ReferringHost, count(*) AS TotalReferrals, Min(cs(Referer)) AS ExampleRefererURL USING CASE EXTRACT_TOKEN(cs(Referer),2, '/') WHEN null THEN 'NoReferer' ELSE EXTRACT_TOKEN(cs(Referer),2, '/') END as ReferringHost into IISLOG_ANALYSIS_REFERER_HOSTS.CSV FROM ex061023.log group by ReferringHost order by count(*) DESC"
• Referrer URLs directing traffic to this server (full report)
logparser "SELECT EXTRACT_TOKEN(cs(Referer),2, '/') as RefererHostName, cs(Referer) AS RefererURL, count(cs(Referer)) AS TotalReferrals into IISLOG_ANALYSIS_REFERERURLs.CSV FROM ex061023.log group by cs(Referer) order by count(cs(Referer)) DESC"
• Unique Clients per Hour
This is two separate SQLs.
1. logparser -o:CSV "Select TO_LOCALTIME(QUANTIZE(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time),3600)) as Times, c-ip as ClientIP into IISLOG_ANALYSIS_DIST_CLIENT_IP.LOG from ex061023.log group by Times, ClientIP"
2. logparser -i:CSV "Select Times, count(*) as Count from IISLOG_ANALYSIS_DIST_CLIENT_IP.LOG to IISLOG_ANALYSIS_HOURLY_UNIQUE_CIP.CSV group by Times order by Times ASC"
• IIS Errors and URL Stem (Error code > 400)
logparser "SELECT cs-uri-stem, sc-status,sc-win32-status,COUNT(cs-uri-stem) from ex061023.log to IISLOG_ANALYSIS_ERROR_COUNT.CSV where sc-status>=400 GROUP BY cs-uri-stem,sc-status,sc-win32-status ORDER BY COUNT(cs-uri-stem) DESC"
• IIS Errors by hour (Error code > 500)
Can answer if the errors are load related
logparser "SELECT TO_LOCALTIME(QUANTIZE(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time),3600)), COUNT(*) AS Error_Frequency FROM ex061023.log TO IISLOG_ANALYSIS_ERROR_FREQ.CSV WHERE sc-status >= 500 GROUP BY TO_LOCALTIME(QUANTIZE(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time),3600)) ORDER BY TO_LOCALTIME(QUANTIZE(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time),3600)) ASC"
• Status Code distribution
logparser "SELECT sc-status, COUNT(*) AS Times from ex061023.log to IISLOG_ANALYSIS_STATUS_CODE.CSV GROUP BY sc-status ORDER BY Times DESC"
• Top 20 Longest time-taken (on average) pages
logparser "SELECT top 20 cs-uri-stem,count(cs-uri-stem) As Count,avg(sc-bytes) as sc-bytes,max(time-taken) as Max,min(time-taken) as Min,avg(time-taken) as Avg from ex061023.log to IISLOG_ANALYSIS_TOP20_AVG_LONGEST.CSV GROUP BY cs-uri-stem ORDER BY avg(time-taken) DESC"
• Top 50 longest requests
logparser "SELECT top 50 TO_LOWERCASE(cs-uri-stem),time,sc-bytes,time-taken INTO IISLOG_ANALYSIS_TOP50_LONGEST.CSV FROM ex061023.log ORDER BY time-taken DESC"
• Average Response time by Hour
logparser "SELECT TO_LOCALTIME(QUANTIZE(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time),3600)), avg(time-taken) INTO IISLOG_ANALYSIS_AVG_RESP_TIME.CSV FROM ex061023.log WHERE cs-uri-stem like '%%.asp' GROUP BY TO_LOCALTIME(QUANTIZE(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time),3600)) ORDER BY TO_LOCALTIME(QUANTIZE(TO_TIMESTAMP(date, time),3600)) ASC"
• Percentage Processing time by extension
logparser "SELECT EXTRACT_EXTENSION(cs-uri-stem) AS Extension, MUL(PROPSUM(time-taken),100.0) AS Processing_Time INTO IISLOG_ANALYSIS_PROCTIME_PER_EXT.CSV FROM ex061023.log GROUP BY Extension ORDER BY Processing_Time DESC"

As an added bonus, I’ve created a small cmd (windows) shell script that runs thru all (but the first) of these queries below against a log file. It is located at the following link
download it
Note it requires logparser on the path and has a commandline invocation of:
logparseranalysis.cmd ex061023.log

Logparser and creating separate SQL files (the file: argument)

You may have noticed that these SQLs can get a long, as is the way with SQL. Logparser provides the means to create a text file with these long sqls in it. Additionally the ability to pass arguments is of course a given. Next, an example is in order. To use the commandline below you will need to create a little text file (extension sql) with the contents of the below.

Command Line:
logparser file:iis.sql?logfile=ex061113.log

Text file: iis.sql
-- Start of SQL file --
SELECT
c-ip AS ClientIP,
cs-host AS HostName,
cs-uri-stem AS URIStem,
sc-status AS Status,
cs(User-Agent) AS UserAgent,
count (*) as Requests
INTO output.csv
FROM %logfile%
where time > to_timestamp('18:20:00', 'hh:mm:ss') and time < to_timestamp('18:45:00', 'hh:mm:ss') GROUP BY c-ip, cs-uri-stem, cs-host, cs(User-Agent), sc-status ORDER BY Requests DESC
-- End of SQL file --

Logparser and the files without headers
Don’t have a header in your csv file? With a little work we can define a logparser SQL that will map the empty fields to names with meaning. The automatic header row parsing will need to be turned off.
Command Line:
logparser -i:csv -headerRow:OFF file:dslog.sql?logfile=logwoutheader.log+outputfile=out.csv
Text file: log.sql
-- Start of SQL file --
select To_TimeStamp(MyDate, MyTime) as DateTime, field3 as MachineNane, field4 as PID, field5 as TID, To_Int(field6) as ErrorLevel, field7 as RegExp, field8 as Line, field9 as SID, field12 as Message using TO_TIMESTAMP(field1,'MM/dd/yyyy') as MyDate, TO_TIMESTAMP(field2, 'hh:mm:ss.lx') as MyTime into %OUTPUTFILE% from %LOGFILE% where ErrorLevel >= 35
-- End of SQL file --

Logparser and the eventviewer
Although already covered in a previous article, logparser can also connect to eventviewer and analyze those logs. It can even do this on remote machines. The below SQL is an example on how to detect locked out accounts.

Command Line:
logparser file:lockedoutaccounts.sql?DOMAINCONTROLER=HQDC01C

Text file: lockedoutaccounts.sql
-- Start of SQL file --
SELECT timegenerated AS TimeLockedout,
extract_token(strings, 0, '|') As UserName ,
extract_token(strings, 1, '|') AS OriginatingMachine,
EventID,
SourceName,
Message,
CASE EventID
WHEN 529 THEN 'Invalid userid/password'
WHEN 531 Then 'Account disabled out'
WHEN 539 Then 'Account locked out'
WHEN 530 Then 'Outside of logon time'
WHEN 532 THEN 'Account Expired'
WHEN 535 THEN 'Password Expired'
WHEN 533 THEN 'User not from allowed system'
WHEN 644 THEN 'Account Auto Locked'
WHEN 540 THEN 'Successful logon'
ELSE 'Not specified' END AS EventDesc,
strings
INTO lockedact.csv
FROM \\%DOMAINCONTROLER%\Security
WHERE EventID=644
-- End of SQL file --

Reference Material:
http://www.logparser.com/ the unofficial logparser site. It hosts a great knowledge base and an active forum.

How logparser 2.2 Works

To download: Download Logparser

Logparser Blog Entry

Logparser 2.2 Input formats:
• IISW3C: This is the IIS W3C Extended log file format.
• IIS: This is the IIS log file format.
• IISMSID: This is the log format for files generated by IIS when the MSIDFILT filter or the CLOGFILT filter is installed.
• NCSA: This is the IIS NCSA Common log file format.
• ODBC: This is the IIS ODBC format, which sends log files to an ODBC-compliant database.
• BIN: This is the IIS binary log file format.
• URLSCAN: This is the format for URLScan logs.
• HTTPERR: This is the IIS 6.0 HTTP error log file format.
• EVT: This is the Microsoft Windows Event Messages format.
• TEXTWORD: This is a generic text file, where the TEXT value is any separate word.
• TEXTLINE: This is a generic text file, where the TEXT value is any separate line.
• CSV: This is a comma-separated list of values.
• W3C: This is a generic W3C log file, such as a log generated by Windows Media Services or Personal Firewall.
• FS: This provides information about file and directory properties.
• XML: Reads XML files (requires the Microsoft® XML Parser (MSXML)) •
• TSV: Reads tab- and space- separated values text files
• •ADS: Reads information from Active Directory objects
• REG: Reads information from the Windows Registry
• NETMON: Makes it possible to parse NetMon .cap capture files
• ETW: Reads Event Tracing for Windows log files and live sessions
Logparser 2.2 Output formats:
• W3C: This format sends results to a text file that contains headers and values that are separated by spaces.
• IIS: This format sends results to a text file with values separated by commas and spaces.
• SQL: This format sends results to a SQL table.
• CSV: This format sends results to a text file. Values are separated by commas and optional tab spaces.
• XML: This format sends results to an XML-formatted text file.
• Template: This format sends results to a text file formatted according to a user-specified template.
• Native: This format is intended for viewing results on screen.
• CHART: Creates chart image files (requires Microsoft Office 2000 or later)
• TSV: Writes tab- and space- separated values text files
• SYSLOG: Sends information to a SYSLOG server or to a SYSLOG-formatted text file

Keywords: IIS log file analysis, IIS 6.0, IIS 5.0, IIS, logparser, logparser examples, logparser samples, logparser input formats, logparser output formats, logparser examples, howto use logparser, example sqls for logparser, how to use logparser, Analyzing IIS logs with logparser, logparser and files without headers, logparser eventviewer example, using logparser to analyze IIS logfiles, logparser sample code.

How to add a DiggIt and Del.icio.us links/button to blogger

2006-11-26T07:37:00.000-08:00

Do you want to make it easy have your blog be submitted to the social networking sites like Digg and Del.icio.us?

You can add the submission URLs to the Comment footer of each of your blogger posts.

Below is how to do this in both the new and old version of Blogger.

Heads Up Folks: I've recently updated a simplier way to do this at this new post here.

NEWEST BLOGGER

Thanks to Sabre for looking and finding this. As he writes in his blog SabreNews: HOWTO add "diggit" and "del.icio.us" links to blogger( not beta , but latest version)

1.check whether email post page element is added to your blog .
if not, you can add thru template --->page elements page in your blog admin page

2.after adding email-post , search for in the edit html page of Templage.
do not forget to check "Expand Widget Templates"

3.paste the following snippet before tag
::for DIGGIT
<a expr:href='"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=" +
data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title'
target='_blank'>DiggIt!</a>
::for DEL.ICIO.US
<a expr:href='"http://del.icio.us/post?url=" +
data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title'
target='_blank'>Del.icio.us</a>

OLD BLOGGER

(1) Goto your blogger Template.
(2) Search for the BlogItemCommentsEnabled section.
(3) Add the submission URLs following the template:
digg: http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=www.UniqueURL.com&
title=StoryTitle&bodytext=StoryDescription&topic=YourSelectedTopic
del.icio.us:
http://del.icio.us/post?url=www.UniqueURL.com&title=StoryTitle

The below is the example of the BlogItemCommentsEnabled section I am using.

<BlogItemCommentsEnabled><br><a href="http://digg.com/submit?phase=3&url=<$BlogItemPermalinkUrl$>&title=<$BlogItemTitle$>" Title="Submit To Digg" target="_blank"&gtDiggIt!</a> | <a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=<$BlogItemPermalinkUrl$>&title=<$BlogItemTitle$>" Title="Del.icio.us" target="_blank">Del.icio.us</a> | <a href="<$BlogItemCommentCreate$>"
<$BlogItemCommentFormOnclick$>>
<$BlogItemCommentCount$> ;comments</a>

The blog I found this information in is:
Technology Wrap: Guide: How to add a DiggIt and Del.icio.us button to blogger

Keywords: Blogger, Submit URL links, Digg link, Diggit link, Del.icio.us link, Digg submit link, Diggit submit link, Del.icio.us submit link, HOWTO add Digg submit links to blogger, HOWTO add delicious submit links to blogger.

Paste Special Unformatted Text At Your Fingertips

2006-11-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

This one is a pet peeves of Paul, I admit that sometime Rich Text is really a good thing. In our world of Windows Rich Text, there are times when I want to paste rich text and many more times I want to paste Text-only. My wife actually influenced me into realizing the need is great enough to research it. I've used the Paste Special command for a long time, but have been troubled by the lack of a short-cut key to it.

This article (link below) is a great howto create a macro to a shortcut key for MS Word. Which these days (Office 2003) translates directly to our Outlook 2003 Email Client. If you create this macro in Word, you can use it in composing your Outlook emails.

Paste Special Unformatted Text At Your Fingertips

The next extension would be to create a Windows wide Paste Special shortcut key. Sure, I'll add it to my project list ;)

Update: I won't yet bother with the Windows Wide implementation. It is done:
PureText - http://stevemiller.net/PureText/, a quick trial seems to suggest it works well.

A quote from the web-page:
Have you ever copied some text from a web page or a document and then wanted to paste it as simple text into another application without getting all the formatting from the original source? PureText makes this simple by adding a new Windows hot-key (default is WINDOWS+V) that allows you to paste text to any application without formatting.

After running PureText.exe, you will see a "PT" tray icon appear near the clock on your task bar. You can click on this icon to remove formatting from the text that is currently on the clipboard. You can right-click on the icon to display a menu with more options.

Keywords: Paste Special keyboard shortcut, paste special, paste unformatted text, paste unformatted text shortcut key, unformatted text paste, unformatted paste, Windows, Word, Outlook, Windows Wide unformatted paste.

Integer Types In C and C++

2006-11-15T10:14:00.000-08:00

Unless I am switching back and forth between compilers often, I tend to need a kick (or look up) to recall the different implementations of integer types.

The below page of Jack Klein's is just that kick.

Integer Types In C and C++

The introduction, a copy-paste from the above site, and the sample program to run through your compiler is below.

Introduction

You would think that the basic integer types provided by the C and C++ languages wouldn't cause an much confusion as they do. Almost every day there are posts in the C and C++ newsgroups which show that many newcomers do not understand them. Some experienced programmers who are only familiar with one platform do not understand them either.

The most common source of confusion are the sizes of the integer types, and the range of values which they can hold. That is because the languages leave many features of the integer types implementation-defined, meaning that it is up to the particular compiler to determine their exact specifications. C and C++ do set minimum requirements for each of the integer types, but the compiler is free to exceed these limits.

Each compiler is required to document its implementation. This information should be available in the printed manuals, online help, or man pages which come with the compiler.

In addition, there is a required standard header named <limits.h> (&ltclimits> in newer C++ compilers) that provides information about the integer types that can be used in your programs at run time. A compiler is not required to provide a header like <limits.h> as a readable text file, but I do not know of any compilers which do not.

There are programs on this page to display the information that this file contains.

A Program To Display Integer Type Information Standard C++ Compilers

#include <iostream>
#include <climits>

using std::cout;
using std::endl;

volatile int char_min = CHAR_MIN;

int main(void)
{
cout << "Size of boolean type is "
<< sizeof(bool) << " byte(s)"
<< "\n\n";

cout << "Number of bits in a character: "
<< CHAR_BIT << '\n';
cout << "Size of character types is "
<
<< " byte" << '\n';
cout << "Signed char min: "
<< SCHAR_MIN << " max: "
<<< '\n';
cout << "Unsigned char min: 0 max: "
<< UCHAR_MAX << '\n';

cout << "Default char is ";

if (char_min < 0)
cout << "signed";
else if (char_min == 0)
cout << "unsigned";
else
cout << "non-standard";
cout << "\n\n";

cout << "Size of short int types is "
<< sizeof(short) << " bytes"
<< '\n';
cout << "Signed short min: "
<< SHRT_MIN << " max: "
<< SHRT_MAX << '\n';
cout << "Unsigned short min: 0 max: "
<< USHRT_MAX << "\n\n";

cout << "Size of int types is "
<< sizeof(int) << " bytes"
<< '\n';
cout << "Signed int min: "
<< INT_MIN << " max: "
<< INT_MAX << '\n';
cout << "Unsigned int min: 0 max: "
<< UINT_MAX << "\n\n";

cout << "Size of long int types is "
<< sizeof(long) << " bytes"
<< '\n';
cout << "Signed long min: " <<
LONG_MIN << " max: "
<< LONG_MAX << '\n';
cout << "Unsigned long min: 0 max: "
<< ULONG_MAX << endl;

return 0;
}

Keywords: C++, types, integer, int, short, long, char, bool, sizeof, C, compiler implementation of integer types, unsigned.

HTML Validation Service (W3C Markup)

2006-11-12T07:27:00.000-08:00

While exploring the internet trying to figure out a trivial little problem, I discovered a tool that the w3.org has provided to any and all users on the internet that I forgot about. It can validate a multitude of DOCTYPE from XHTML 1.0 to SVG 1.1 and several flavors in between.

A quote from the validator's FAQ:
"Most pages on the World Wide Web are written in computer languages (such as HTML) that allow Web authors to structure text, add multimedia content, and specify what appearance, or style, the result should have.

As for every language, these have their own grammar, vocabulary and syntax, and every document written with these computer languages are supposed to follow these rules. The (X)HTML languages, for all versions up to XHTML 1.1, are using machine-readable grammars called DTDs, a mechanism inherited from SGML.

However, Just as texts in a natural language can include spelling or grammar errors, documents using Markup languages may (for various reasons) not be following these rules. The process of verifying whether a document actually follows the rules for the language(s) it uses is called validation, and the tool used for that is a validator. A document that passes this process with success is called valid.

With these concepts in mind, we can define "markup validation" as the process of checking a Web document against the grammar (generally a DTD) it claims to be using."

This reminds me, I should remember to throw pages I publish through this tool. I expect it to be more pedantic than a web browser, but that is a good thing. I see a few things that I need to fix up on a could of my sites right now.

The Link: The W3C Markup Validation Service

They also provide a number of other tools such as:
A Link Checker
CSS Validator
Feed Validator
P3P Validator
RDF Validator
XML Schema Validator
HTML Semantic Extractor - Checks for metadata

Keywords: HTML validation, HTML, XML validation, XHTML, XHTML 1.0, XHTML 1.1, SVG, SVG 1.1, SVG 1.0, Web page validator, validate my html, validate the html on my website.

HOWTO convert from Flash Video-FLV to AVI for free AKA Transcoding

2006-11-09T06:43:00.000-08:00

This is a special request HOWTO on Transcoding. There is a soul out on the internet that wants to be able to convert Flash video (FLV) to AVI, MPEG (MPG), or WMV. For those of us out there that don't know this is called Transcoding. This is simply a matter of decoding the video to and an intermediate form and encoding the video to the chosen format.

Windows Instructions: (Linux instruction are down below)

Prerequisites for the method described below.
1. Firefox
2. The Video Downloader plugin for Firefox
3. Riva FLV Encoder 2. A free FLV encoder that can transcode as well.

The step-by-step HOWTO:

1. Pick a Flash Video to download. Click the Download Video Link.

2. Save the FLV video. Make sure to Rename it with an flv extension. It is weird that Video Downloader doesn't let us pick a name.

3. Start Riva FLV Encoder.
- Pick your FLV file or the input.
- Pick the location and name of output file
- Pick the extension you'd like to transcode into. (AVI or MPG). In my example I chose AVI.
- Press the encode button.

And there you have it, tada, you are done. When the Riva FLV Encoder 2 is complete, you've transcoded into another format.

Be aware that you might need to specifically have the codec for the AVI/MPG encoding you just did.

Reading briefly on the forum of Riva it appears that there are occasional gitches, sound problems with transcoding. It isn't a specifically supported operation, either.

Riva Links:
Riva Homepage
Riva Forums

Do you want to do this for Linux?
Take a look at this: Converting flv to mpeg in Linux
Of course you can download a flv file with Firefox in Linux

You will need ffmpeg.
And the simple commandline:
ffmpeg -i videotoconvert.flv -ab 56 -ar 22050 -b 500 -s 320x240 output.mpg

Keywords: Transcoding, FLV2AVI, FLV2MPG, FLV2MPEG, Convert Flash Video to AVI or MPEG/MPG, Convert FLV to AVI, Convert FLV to MPG, Howto Convert FLV to WMV, convert youtube videos, convert google videos.

InterfaceLIFT: High-Resolution Wallpaper

2006-11-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

Not that this is very technical, but yesterday I found a good site for sharing and getting wallpaper/desktop backgrounds.

InterfaceLIFT's content is entirely vistor-submitted and is intended to be shared. They do a great job of search and provided a multitude of resolutions from 1024x768 to 2560X1600 as well as a number of other formats (ipod/sony psp).

My search for "Seattle" returned several of great photos of the city. Another search for "Vancouver" returned even more.

InterfaceLIFT: High-Resolution Wallpaper

The more sharing, the merrier and who can complain at the price of nothing?

And if you are looking for other art they have icons too. Have a new app that you want a cool icon for? I'd check these ones out.

Paul

Keywords: Wallpaper, Desktop background, images, free wallpaper, linux, windows, icons

HOWTO create ISO images and mount ISO images linux

2006-11-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

As a comparison to my last post, all that work of installing applications is moot in Linux.

To create an image (link to a more verbose explanation) use dd on an unmounted CD/DVD drive:
dd if=/dev/cd of=cd.iso

To mount an image, if your kernel is compiled with the loopback block device and ISO 9660 built in (link to a more verbose explanation):

mount -o loop -t iso9660 cd.iso /mnt/isoimage/

Wikipedia on ISO

Keywords: ISO, mounting, ISO mounting, CD emulator, DVD emulator, Daemon Tools, Mount ISO, Linux, Linux CD emulator, Linux DVD emulator, Gentoo Linux.

Mount an ISO (CD/DVD) image in Windows CD/DVD emulator

2006-11-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

CDs/DVDs, who needs them?

It is better to just mount the ISO image you need and live in the virtual world; when that works for you. It is harder to do an OS installation like that, but for many other cases, this is fine.

For Windows the best way to do that is to use Daemon Tools CD/DVD emulator.

the Daemon Tools download link

However, you may use the MS tool (not as slick as daemon-tools and unsupported ), it can be downloaded at:

Microsoft's Virtual CD/ISO mounting tool (Virtual CD Control panel)

Don't have an ISO? Create your own: ISO Recorder v2. This allows a simple right click on a CD drive to write an iso. e.g:

Wikipedia on ISO

Keywords: ISO, mounting, ISO mounting, CD emulator, DVD emulator, Daemon Tools, Mount ISO, Windows, Windows CD emulator, Windows DVD emulator.

Windows and multiple file renaming (creating a sequence)

2006-11-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

I never thought to try this, but the multiple rename is built in to Windows. It is simple enough. (1) Select multiple files. (2) Rename one of them. (3) The others will be renamed and have a sequence of numbers appended to the end of the file name. It is a little more verbose at the below link.

Tips, Articles & Reviews on Windows, Gadgets, Web Services, etc, Collected in My Bucket: Rename Multiple Files For Free

Keywords: multiple file rename in Windows, rename files, Windows, Windows XP, rename multiple files windows GUI.

Links to Search Engine Webmaster Tools (Google, Yahoo, MSN)

2006-11-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

After the invent of Google's Webmaster tools there appeared the Yahoo Site Manager. I suspect that MSN is going to be next in that space. It is in these tools that the user gets the ability to configure some of the high level details for search engine optimization.

(1) Google - Webmaster Tools
(2) Yahoo - Site Explorer
(3) MSN/live search - MSN Search Web Crawler and Site Indexing Tools and Services for Site Owners - No tools/submission
(4) Ask.com - Webcrawler information - No tools/submission

For those of you that are casual interested in increasing your page ranks/positions, this would be these would be the places to go.

At this point in time, the primary functionality these appear to provide is the ability to submit Sitemap feeds to the search engine. Allowing for two methods of listing sites for these search engines, (one) the crawler/bot and (two) the submission of URLs.

Prior blogs on a similar vein:
(1) Google Webmaster Tools and HOWTO/how to add a sitemap for Blogger/blogspot.com
(2) Google webmaster Tools and HOWTO/how to verify your Blogger/blogspot.com site

HOWTO use logparser to find what machine locked out an account

2006-11-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

I've been in a number of organizations where the mystery of who, what, where, when and how an account got locked out is umm, a mystery. This is because the regular login/logout data and other authentication data is bundled in with the 1 or 10 errors per day. The truth is obfuscated by too much data. The biggest problem always appears to be with service accounts, with a number of dependencies on an account.

It turns out it can be relatively simple to right a MS logparser query to hunt out this information. AKA, logparser is your best friend. The second think to note is EventID 644 indicates the event that is written when an account is locked out. The rest is really the details.

install Logparser - Logparser download from Microsoft
Create a file by the name of lockedaccounts.sql at the same directory as your logparser.exe (or add the folder that holds logparser.exe to the path).
file contents:
SELECT timegenerated AS TimeLockedout,
extract_token(strings, 0, '|') As UserName ,
extract_token(strings, 1, '|') AS OriginatingMachine,
EventID,
SourceName,
Message,
CASE EventID
WHEN 529 THEN 'Invalid userid/password'
WHEN 531 Then 'Account disabled out'
WHEN 539 Then 'Account locked out'
WHEN 530 Then 'Outside of logon time'
WHEN 532 THEN 'Account Expired'
WHEN 535 THEN 'Password Expired'
WHEN 533 THEN 'User not from allowed system'
WHEN 644 THEN 'Account Auto Locked'
WHEN 540 THEN 'Successful logon'
ELSE 'Not specified' END AS EventDesc,
strings
INTO lockedact.csv
FROM \\%DOMAINCONTROLER%\Security
WHERE EventID=644
run the following command: (it has a 90 second run time on ~500,000 remote eventviewer records)
C:\>logparser file:lockedaccounts.sql?DOMAINCONTROLER=ADOMAINCONTROLER

Open the lockedact.csv file in Excel. Hunt out the account you want to analyze. The Column ‘OriginatingMachine’ is the machine that locked out the account. The other columns are there for info only. Note that EventID 644 is the one you are interested in (http://www.ultimatewindowssecurity.com/events/com264.htm ).

For more (much, much more) on logparser: http://www.logparser.com

For a more elaboration on logparser scripts see my blog entry on logparser here: Logparser examples and more.

Keywords:Windows, Active Directory, how to, HOWTO use Microsoft logpaser to find what machine locked out an account in Windows, what machine locked out an account.

HOWTO regexp Visual Studios and automating code/sql/data creation

2006-11-01T08:44:00.000-08:00

This is my little documentation area of regexps that I create when I need to convert one for of text to another. Being in Windows, I've taken to simply using the Visual Studios regexp Find and Replace.

My plan is to update this entry as do other regexps in my day to day work life.

First off feel free to check the Use: Regular Expression button in the Find and Replace Dialog

(1) IDL definition into PL/SQL
To replace:
LINEITEMFLAG_****** = 1, //bit 1
with
insert into lineitem_flags values ('1', 'LINEITEMFLAG_****** Description', 'LINEITEMFLAG_******');

regexp search for: {LINEITEMFLAG_[A-Z,_]*}:b*=:b*{.*},.*$
regexp replace with: insert into lineitem_flags values ('\2', '\1 Description', '\1');

HOWTO create your 'own' Google custom search engine

2006-10-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

Feature of the day from Google: build your own custom search engine from Google's data.

Check it out at Google Co-op Custom Search Engine.

Google's FAQ is here.

Why would you want this? For instance what if you wanted a search engine for your own 7 sites. You could use this to make a search for these 7 sites.

Go to Google Co-op Custom Search Engine
Click on the Create a Search Engine.
Login to your Google account
Setup the 6 configuration points
Name: The name for your custom search engine
Description: A longer description
Keywords: These are the keywords that pages that have them will be promoted in the search results. For example if you wanted to promote FAQ for your documentation search engine, the docs with FAQ will rank higher in the results.
Sites to Search: the urls of sites you'd like in your search engine
How to Search: Whether or not you'd like to include the 'internet' in the results or exclude it.
Contributors: Whether or not it is a collaboration
Hit the Next button and you have your custom search engine. The following page is simply to let you try it and to confirm it was created.

I've created a search engine for my sites Paul Cooley's Sites and for Linux documentation

Going into the control panel for these sites you will find additional options like updating the look and feel, refinements, adding sites, code to be able to inject this custom search engine in a site, etc.

This ability to create these custom search engines and have them on our sites will be a big step. We now can filter the contents according to our suggestions. I think the opportunities will only be limited to our imaginations.

On that note, I wonder if there is an API. Imagine tweaking a 'search' dialog on the fly to the specifics a page or according to user selection?

Gentoo Linux HOWTO configure a SOCKS proxy server

2006-10-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Inspired by my wife's difficulty connecting to the internet due to new security policies at her organization, I decided to try a proxy to allow her to use Windows Live Messenger.

The Linux SOCKS proxy server implementation these days is made under the name DANTE. Their site is here.

In Gentoo it is in our Portage Tree so the step-by-step is here:

emerge dante
edit the config file (/etc/socks/sockd.conf). Open that file in your favorite editor
It is in this file logging is enabled via the syslog mechanism and internal and external addresses are bound. Whereas the internal bindings include a port specification, the external one does not.
The comments are well formed I'd also spend a little time looking them over.

The details:
```
logoutput: syslog

internal: eth1 port = 1080
internal: 127.0.0.1 port = 1080

external: 1.2.3.4
# or
external: eth0
```
To achieve full access (no username/password).
```
method: username none

# Not using authentication, so unnecessary
#user.privileged: proxy

user.notprivileged: nobody
```
The access controls for sockd daemon are last. They are checked against in the order they appear in the configuration file. Notice, don't open your proxy server to the wild world - you've been warned.
The first three directives control which IP ranges that have accesss to the server.
- The from: is were the details of the IPs are added. In my cause it is the IP space the clients live in.
- The to: option is one of the IPs the proxy server is bound to that the given IP range can speak to. It is set to the addresses Dante/sockd is listening on.
The last of the three drops any requests that don't match either of the first two directives.
```
client pass {
from:  192.168.0.0/16 port 1-65535 to: 0.0.0.0/0
}

client pass {
from:  127.0.0.0/8 port 1-65535 to: 0.0.0.0/0
}

client block {
from:  0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0
log: connect error
}
```
The next four configuration points control who 'routing'.
- Requests from anywhere to the loopback addresses are dropped.
- From the loopback addresses and 192.168.0.0/16 are allowed to communicated over tcp or udp protocols.
- Finally, drop everything else.
```
block {
from:  0.0.0.0/0 to: 127.0.0.0/8
log: connect error
}

pass {
from:  192.168.0.0/16 to: 0.0.0.0/0
protocol: tcp udp
}

pass {
from:  127.0.0.0/8 to: 0.0.0.0/0
protocol: tcp udp
}

block {
from:  0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0
log: connect error
}
```

Start Dante/sockd.

sockd -V // this verifies configuration and exits
sockd -d // this enables debugging to the console.

That will start Dante in debugging mode.

The help page for your reference
localhost ~ # sockd -h
sockd: usage: sockd [-DLNVdfhnv]
-D : run in daemon mode
-L : shows the license for this program
-N : fork of servers [1]
-V : verify configuration and exit
-d : enable debugging
-f <filename> : use <filename> as configuration file [/etc/socks/sockd.conf]
-h : print this information
-n : disable TCP keep-alive
-v : print version info

if you'd like sockd to start on the default runlevel:
rc-update add sockd default

Next would be configuring your browser and test this. Using IE configure it to use a proxy server and enter the server name port (1080), close the browser. Restart the browser and request a page. If it works, then great move on. Otherwise you'll start to debug (inspection of /var/log/* time).

Gentoo adding a service to the default run-level

2006-10-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

This is done millions of times a week, I am sure. I just want to write it down so I hope to imprint it on my brain. It is very simple with Gentoo.

rc-update is the tool that Gentoo uses to abstract the guts that often are associated with adding a service to certain runlevels.

Example with adding ntpd to the default run level.

rc-update add ntpd default

RC-UPDATE MAN page details.

NAME
rc-update - add and remove init scripts to a runlevel

SYNOPSIS
rc-update add script <runlevels>
rc-update del script [runlevels]
rc-update show [--verbose] [runlevels]

DESCRIPTION
Gentoo's init system uses named runlevels. Rather than editing some
obscure file or managing a directory of symlinks, rc-update exists to
quickly add or delete init scripts from different runlevels.

All scripts specified with this utility must reside in the /etc/init.d
directory. They must also conform to the Gentoo runscript standard.

Improved Seattle (WSDOT) traffic flow for mobile devices

2006-10-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

My wife found that the Washington State Department of Transportation started creating traffic flow maps for mobile devices for the Greater Seattle (Puget Sound) area. One problem though, the page layout isn't ideal for most of our commuting; the maps are split across our routes. Downloading two pages on your blackberry? No thanks.

The solution? Build our own HTML page that references the all the small images so all of the images are loaded with one page. Then create links to the other reference pages such as the travel times.

Do you want to use our Seattle traffic flow maps for mobile or wireless devices? Just use the link you like better:

http://traffic.paulcooley.com
http://traffic.lauracooley.com

Happy Commuting in the Puget Sound area!
Paul Cooley

Seattle (WSDOT) traffic flow for handheld devices

HOWTO have a traffic map(image) as your screen saver

2006-10-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

This HOWTO is for Windows XP. Traffic maps are becoming increasingly predominant. The age of the internet has improved us? In Seattle the traffic map is actually rendered as a GIF image.

If you are in the lucky few cities of:
Atlanta, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Louisville, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, OC/Inland Empire, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, Seattle

You can use the TrafficGauge download.

However, I've found the WSDOT traffic map is much more detailed than TrafficGauge.

An alternative solution is:

download SeqDownload - This utility allows you to schedule and automatic download of an image file
Install SeqDownload
Configure SeqDownload

Run SeqDownload
Click the Run at Startup, Click the Run In System Menu
Click New (for a new scheduled download)
Configure the URL (for Seattle: http://images.wsdot.wa.gov/nwflow/
flowmaps/videomap_Seattle.gif)
the link
- Pick a New folder to download images into (c:\traffic\download)
- Pick a time frame to download image (5 minutes?)
- Select save to the same filename everytime
- Pick the length of time for this downloading (1 year?)
Press Create New Item

Setup the Window XP Screensaver to use this folder, of one image, for its Slide Show

Right-click on the desktop - select Properties (or your favorite method to change the screensaver)
Select the Screen Saver Tab followed by My Pictures Slideshow
Select the directory that you are downloading the traffic image to (from the SeqDownload above - in my case C:\traffic\download)

Click OK and now the Seattle traffic map will be your screen saver, updating every 5 minutes with a new image.

Google Webmaster Tools and HOWTO add a sitemap for Blogger/blogspot.com

2006-10-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

The setting up of a Sitemap file for a Blogger/Blogspot.com is an easy thing to do. The question of what is a Sitemap file and why should I have one? is answered here

Prerequite:
(1) your site setup/verified in Google Webmaster Tools (more on that here my blog entry on that).

HOWTO:
(1) Login to Webmaster Tools (link)
(2) Click On the Add a Sitemap link
(3) Choose Add General Sitemap
(4) type in: *********.blogspot.com/rss.xml (your blog name for *********)
(5) Click on Add Sitemap button.

You are done! That is it. Simple.

After posting this I found that there is also an equivelant site at Yahoo - Yahoo Site Explorer It functions similarly and you could basically do the same thing over there.

Google webmaster Tools and HOWTO verify your Blogger/blogspot.com site

2006-10-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

There are two important things you can do with the Google Webmaster tools for your blogger site.

One -> Verify your site
and
Two -> Submit a sitemap.

What we are interested in here is verifying a Blogger site (ONE!). So here is how to do that.

** Google Webmaster Tools Verify your Blogger site. **

(1) Control your blog site through Google Webmaster tools - login/signup for Google's Webmaster tools and add your blogger site *****.blogspot.com
(2) Click on the Verify link
(3) Choose Add a Metatag - note the META tag information
(4) In New Tab (Browser): Login to your Blogger account. Click on your blog of interest and click on the template tab. After the < >> tag paste in the META tag information as found in step (3)
(5) Republish your entire blog.
(6) Go back to the Google Webmaster tools - Click Verify. You are done and your blog has been verified. The next step you'll want to do is add a sitemap.

Tunneling Remote Desktop through SSH

2006-10-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

I just googled this "port forwarding remote desktop putty" and just realized this is easy. I am remote desktop'ing' from windows machines outside of my home network into my home LAN into my Windows XP machine. PuTTY and openSSH can make this easy, maybe even ultra easy!

Prerequistes:

A server running SSH (openSSH?) - of course this is a Gentoo Linux server at my house but it doesn't need to be. * Configuration for this is outside the scope of this blog.
puTTY - download to the computer that will be the client

Setup Putty:

PuTTY is a free software SSH, Telnet, rlogin, and raw TCP client. It is perfect for this.

Setup the Tunnel Port Forwarding in puTTY.
- Click on the Tunnel. (configure the Tunnel configuration)
- Enter a source port, this is the port on the local machine, 3390.
- Enter a Destination IP or name and port number of 3389 using a colon separator character. An example is for a Remote Desktop session to the PC machinewithRDP.
- Click the Add button
- Repeat for other hosts
- Click on SSH (configure the high level SSH)
- Turn on compression
- Use only SSH 2
- Click on Session (configure session)
- Save your settings
Connect to the SSH server with your username/password
Start up Remote Desktop
- use the address of the port you setup in puTTY. localhost:3390
- click Connect

You are done and connected! Nice work.

Keywords: Tunneling Remote Desktop through SSH with Putty and openSSH. RDP, Windows, Tunnel, Gentoo, Linux, D-Link Wireless Router, DI-724 DU.

Tunneling HTTP/WEB/Port 80 traffic(requests) thru SSH

2006-10-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

I just bumped into something I've never done before but think is really cool. Tunnelling HTTP/Port 80 traffic through SSH.

A scenario that is valid for me. I would like to view a intranet website that is behind a firewall/router. The website isn't meant for public consumption, but for myself. For instance the D-Link Wireless router DI-724DU configuration page for my home network.

What you need:
(1) Server servicing SSH -- in my case a Gentoo Linux machine running SSHD and configured correctly). Reference name: remotehost.remotedns.org
(2) The DI-724DU (or some other router with port forwarding functionality). Reference name: di724-192-168-0-1 (192.168.0.1 is the default ip)
(3) The SSH port being forwarded to the above named server .
(4) A SSH client -- for me openSSH on an VMWare server with Gentoo on it (outside of my home LAN): Reference name: host.outsidenetwork.com

On the VMWare Gentoo Linux machine that is outside of my home LAN simply type:
(1) ssh -L 2022:192.168.0.1:80 username@remotehost.remotedns.org
where 192.168.0.1 is IP of the router di724-192-168-0-1
(2) Enter the username's password on the remotehost.remotedns.org machine
(3) Start a browser on host.outsidenetwork.com. Enter http://localhost:2022.

You will get the webpage of the D-Link DI-724 wireless router.

Cool! Simple as 1,2,3!

Tracking visits to a Webpage, Website or Blogger Blog (A HOWTO)

2006-10-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. However, I'll tell you the one way that I've used that seemed easy to integrate with the Blogger platform.

I am using sitemeter one of the many tracking sites out there.

I admit the following only: their website interface isn't completely smooth. I know what I wanted and for some reason the sitemeter site didn't lead me to it immediately. Maybe they need a step-by-step for the I-am-too-busy-to-read soul?

To add sitemeter.com tracking to your Blogger Blog:

My step-by-step guide

Sign up for an account: Sign-up to Sitemeter
Sign in.
Click on the Manger link [Near the top of the page]
Click on the HTML code link [on the side bar]
For those of you Blogger Users (beta users need a different link), click on the Adding Site Meter to a Blogger or Blogspot site
Use your login/password for blogger, and it can add the Site Meter HTML to your Blogger template.
Or you can add it yourself
Something like:

< href="http://s17.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s17yourloginname" target="_top">
< img src="http://s17.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=s17yourloginname" alt="Site
Meter" border="0" />

To add your sitemeter.com tracking to a webpage/website

Simply put the HTML code of Step 7 of the Blogger tracking into your HTML page.

install DB2 on Gentoo (Part 2)

2006-10-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

It has come to my attention that there is significant interest in installing DB2 on Gentoo Linux.

I am running the kernel 2.6.17-gentoo-r8 on an AMD Athlon(tm) XP. It is a fully up to date on all installed packages as off the writing of this Blog.

1. Pre-requistes
Emerge the rpm package and any of its pre-requisites:

emerge rpm

2. Installation
Follow the installation section of 15.2 at: The Linux Documentation Project - Installing DB2 Version 8.2 on Gentoo (2005-01-17)
Pay attention to that step 4. It suprised me. You need to type in the product name of the only product on the list. Intuitive?
3. Post Installation configuration
Follow steps 1 - 3 in section 15.3 at: The Linux Documentation Project - Installing DB2 Version 8.2 on Gentoo (2005-01-17)
Insert a step 3.5: Ensure / directory access read permissions for users in my out of the box installation of gentoo see further detail in this post of mine. As root Run this command:
chmod a+rx /
Continue with step 4
4. I also enabled remote connections section 15.3.1: The Linux Documentation Project - Installing DB2 Version 8.2 on Gentoo (2005-01-17)
5. Install IBM Software Developer's Kit for Java:

rpm --force --nodeps -ivh db2/linux/Java-1.4/IBMJava2-SDK-1.4.1-2.0.i386.rpm

6. I was then able to run db2cc as the user db2inst1.

Following all that I created a database through the control center.

My next goal is going to be a tougher one (I suspect): to see if I can install Rational CQ on Gentoo.

Enjoy,
Paul

HOWTO find what network card is installed (PCI)

2006-10-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

'Which network drivers to compile into the kernel? ' This has been a common question of mine theme over many years of using Linux. From Slackware of 1996 days to last month when I rebuilt the kernel on my Gentoo Linux server. I don't compile the kernel often, and in the months between it happening or when I bring up a new machine and I didn't remember which adapter I installed the week before, etc.

In the past this brought me to the following
(1) Non-optimal - Open up the computer case, physically inspect the network card
(2) Non-technical - Label the back of the Ethernet Adapter card with the vender/model
(3) Latest - run the command: lspci | grep Ethernet

lspci - List all PCI devices

Note this could also remind you of what video adapter is installed, or any other PCI adapter for that matter.

Bash Shell commands quick reference

2006-10-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

I've been using www.ss64.com for several years to remember:

(1) Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003, etc shell commands
(2) Oracle PL/SQL syntax
(3) Bash Shell commands

Here is a link to the Bash Shell commands: Linux commands

I also noticed while composing this post they have a SQL Server 2005 section. That is news to me. I recommend using this reference for either the Windows or bash shell in a 'what was that command syntax sort of moment'.

Gentoo HOWTO Update Portage?

2006-10-08T12:27:00.001-07:00

Even the simple things can confuse. Imagine seeing this message?

* An update to portage is available. It is _highly_ recommended
* that you update portage now, before any other packages are updated.
* Please do so and then update ALL of your configuration files.

What would a reasonable person do? Cry? Probably. Why doesn't it strike me immediately to use portage to update portage? I don't know.

The solution:

emerge portage

HOWTO - Gentoo on VMWare server

2006-10-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

VMWare has been doing a great job in PC virtualization. I've been using VMWare as a test bed for attempting new configurations in Gentoo.

Many have worked on the Gentoo installation since I did my installation around May of 2006. It was a significant amount of work gleening thru the various different VMWare articles in the gentoo Wiki to understand it. Quite possibly I don't yet, but it works day in and day out, so it is a 'close enough'. I am writing this up months after the facts, so I might be a little fuzzy on the details, so don't let me distract you.

Googling on it today Oct. 8, 2006 reveals this, I might try that if I were ready to try again.
HOWTO Install VMWare Server - Gentoo Linux Wiki

The primary article I used in May 2006:
HOWTO Install Gentoo on VMware in Windows NT/2K/XP

Key recollections:
- Download Gentoo ISO
- boot from CD in the VMWare machine
- Recompile Kernel (to get the Network/Disk details all worked out)
- Install X Windows
- Install VMWare tools (this was the most work as I recall -- hopefully is has been cleaned up a little more)

As for a 'Should I run gentoo in VMWare'? I would say for sure! Once you are there it is highly useful. At work (a Windows development environment) if I want to use some UNIX tools, I can start up this tiny little VM (relative to my windows) that has a 6GB disk and 256 MB of RAM and it runs just fine, even starting up X Windows and then Eclipse.

Changing the screen resolution in KDE

2006-10-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

There is no good reason why I don't remember this, but going between OSs enough and I confuse myself on the simplest of things. For instance, changing the screen resolution in KDE is much like doing in Windows these days

Right-click on the desktop
Select Configure Desktop
Select the Display Icon in the Left Window
Adjust the screen Size to your hearts content

installing DB2 on Gentoo Linux

2006-10-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

There is a well written article on howto do this:
Article Link -Installing DB2 Version 8.2 on Gentoo (2005-01-17)

My only issue I had with this on gentoo was with this command
/opt/IBM/db2/V8.1/instance/db2icrt -u db2fenc1 db2inst1
It was returning
DBI1088E Invalid access permission detected for directory "" IBM article describing the problem/solution

It wasn't really the permissions to the directory given it was a failure the script detected in /usr/bin/pwd

It turns out that the real problem is more in my configuration of gentoo and the /usr/bin/pwd executable. The DB2 installation scripts are peppered with the use of /usr/bin/pwd and doesn't use the built-in pwd in the shell. The problem is that the executable needs to be able to view /.
/ doesn't have read permissions for users in my out of the box installation of gentoo.

To give read access as root Run this command:
chmod a+rx /

The script should run successfully after that.

I've elaborated some further details on a second blog entry

Linux, Gentoo, Weatherstations and uploading to Wunderground

2006-10-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

I am using the Oregon Scientific WMR-968 weather station for monitoring the local weather. I upload the data to wunderground at station id: KWAREDMO10

Key piece of software is Timothy D. Witham's and Jay Denebeim's sourceForge wx200d project.

SourceForge - SourceForge Link
Project Homepage - wx200d Homepage

Steps (as best I can remember them)
(1) Get account at www.wunderground.com - register
(2) Install wx200d
(3) Setup a symlink for the serial port 1 (details below)
a new udev configuration file location: /etc/udev/rules.d/55-udev.rules
add the line: KERNEL=="ttyS0", SYMLINK="wx200"
(4) emerge lib-wwwperl
(5) Configure wx200d, for my case the launching of the daemon needed a '-r' because my station is a WMR-968 - TOUGH!. The README with wx200d is very clear.
The details in my /etc/conf.d/local.start:
if [ -x /usr/local/sbin/wx200d ]; then
echo -n " starting wx200d : "
/usr/local/sbin/wx200d -r
echo
fi
(4) Schedule a cron job to call the wunderground upload utility that came with wx200d. The argument to this utility wunderground is a path to the username/password file
Crontab information:
0-59/5 * * * * /usr/local/sbin/wunderground \
/etc/wunderground/wunderground.conf

Potentially the hardest part of this was learning what udev was all about and how to create a symlink to Serial port 1.

The next step in this process is the generation of a personalized page that I can put up on my domains like http://weather.paulcooley.com. This I've seen done very nicely with Virtual Weather Station. I would like to do this myself and save the cost of the Virtual Weather Station, the demo didn't like my Gentoo linux, X server, etc installation much and was fairly prone to crashing. It worked well in Windows, but my server is definiately linux.

NTP - Network Time Protocol

2006-10-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

It is probably just me, but time is important. Having accurate time down to the millisecond is very important. And having you computer's time sync with a near-atomic clock is ideal. Hence NTP.

With Gentoo here is howto - NTP HOWTO

Once setup here are a few command to watch which servers you are connected to, what stratum you are in, and more data about the time than you are generally interested in.

Who are you connected to?
ntpq -c pe

What stratum are you?
ntpq -c rv | grep stratum

More data than necessary.
ntpq -c rv

Gentoo Cron job for backing up your data

2006-10-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Using one of those emerge commmands the other week to rebuild everything after a GCC 4.1.something upgrade, I overwrote a couple of key config files under /etc/... . Ouch, not wise. I made the rash assumption that it was a smart merge of the .config files. Don't do that, it is only as smart as the user :^). The only real loss was in the starting of a daemon for pulling data off of my weather station, but it took awhile to recollect the configuration.

A wiser way to go would be to goto my backups. Not having any didn't help -- it was on the to-do list. I found this to be a simple backup scheme for getting those all important configuration files and other data I might need.

Wikipage for Backupscripts and the cron jobs

I will now not repeat that mistake.

Keywords: Gentoo, Linux, cron job for backups, cron script for backups, simple script for linux backups.

Useful Portage commands (emerge)

2006-10-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

Sync up your portage tree with a mirror

emerge --sync

--sync: Initiates a portage tree update with one of the rsync.gentoo.org mirrors. Note that any changes you have made to the portage tree will be erased. Except for special circumstances, this uses rsync to do the update. See make.conf(5)'s description of PORTDIR_OVERLAY for a method to avoid deletions.

Build/install the latest updates in the portage tree.

I use this after 'emerge --sync'

emerge --update --deep world

--update (-u): Updates packages to the best version available, which may not always be the highest version number due to masking for testing and development. This will also update direct dependencies which may not be what you want. In general, use this option only in combination with the world or system target.

Rebuild Everything
Making deep changes to the compiler toolchain may have lowlevel affects, forcing you do rebuild everything (if you are particularly inclined to play it safe). It could also be that you just like using CPU time ...

emerge -eav system
emerge -eav world

-emptytree (-e): Reinstalls all world packages and their dependencies to the current USE specifications while differing from the installed set of packages as little as possible. You should run with --pretend first to make sure the result is what you expect.

Search for portage packages
Used to look into the portage tree and find something. It also will tell you if it is install, what version it is, and other useful tidbits.

emerge -s package_name
Example
#emerge -s nut
[snipping the none relevant matches]
* sys-power/nut
Latest version available: 2.0.4-r1
Latest version installed: 2.0.4-r1
Size of files: 683 kB
Homepage: http://www.networkupstools.org/
Description: Network-UPS Tools
License: GPL-2

External References
Rockfloat's tips and tricks also has a good reference

An introduction to Portage: link
A simple portage Wiki page: Portage and Ebuilds
The man page: Portage Man page
The "best-known practices" for working with Portage: HOWTO_Use_Portage_Correctly

Keywords: Gentoo Portage, Gentoo Package Management, Gentoo Portage Commands, Gentoo emerge commands, Gentoo Linux Portage, Useful Portage commands.

Gentoo Linux

2006-10-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Currently I am using Gentoo Linux as my primary Linux machine in my home network.

You can get to the Gentoo homepage via this link.

I've found it is very well documented and easy to use because of portage, the integrated software distrubution system. It is a one-step system to get the latest source, build it, install it for linux. For instance if you want the pine email system, simply type 'emerge pine' and wait for it to complete compiling, once it is complete you can run 'pine'. Simply as 1,2; no 3 even necessary.

In the beginning

2006-10-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

there was darkness: In terms of knowledge sharing and documentation.

My intention for this blog is to record the learning and lore of my experiences with Linux; mostly so that I keep my documentation in one location. However, I hope to be able to share my information to others that might find this useful.

To the root of the word lore, see the definition below. I am hoping to aim more for (1) and (2) rather than the definition (3).

Lore dictionary.com link
–noun
1. the body of knowledge, esp. of a traditional, anecdotal, or popular nature, on a particular subject: the lore of herbs.
2. learning, knowledge, or erudition.
3. Archaic.
a. the process or act of teaching; instruction.
b. something that is taught; lesson.

Paul Cooley

Other Sites of interest
http://www.cooley.ca
http://www.paulcooley.com