• Mac OS X,  Mass Deployment,  Unix

    New Eggplant Now Available

    Eggplant has released an update of their regression testing platform. And to make things easier for us, they’ve introduced Linux support, allowing you to regression test even more systems than before using a single, streamlined interface. This update also introduces support for Mac OS X 10.6. http://www.testplant.com/news_and_events/#recent_news

  • Mac OS X Server

    Podcast Producer Web Controller

    By default, Podcast Producer clients submit podcasts to a Mac OS X Server using the Podcast Capture application, as you can see in the comic from yesterday. This is a seamless integration, if a bit Mac-centric. But there is also a web controller for Podcast Producer that allows you to submit podcasts via a web interface, rather than through Podcast Capture and allows you to control cameras using the portal. If you have a number of Windows or Linux stations or just want to communicate over a web browser this is a great option to bolt on to Podcast Producer deployments. Find it on the Apple Education for IT Professionals…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Unix

    CPAN

    Getting through all of the dependencies for certain Perl modules can be hairy. To give you a sense of how complex perl can be, here’s a small fact: CPAN has over nine thousand perl modules listed. Keeping track of module dependencies can be a real pain. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution…CPAN.pm CPAN.pm is a PERL module that automates the whole process of downloading, unpacking, compiling and packaging modules. For example, if I wanted to install a module called Colors::Yellow, I would type: perl -MCPAN -e ‘install Colors::Yellow’ That’s it. The CPAN.pm would automatically figure dependancies, download the appropriate modules, and install them. If you want more information on using the…

  • Mass Deployment,  Unix

    LISA 2008

    No, this isn’t the new version of my wife (although there is a new version out and it’s awesome;).  Instead, LISA’08 is the 22nd year of the Large Installation System Administration conference in San Diego California.  LISA runs from November 9 to November 14th of 2008 and looks to be a conference those who do mass deployment might not want to miss.  The biggee this year is virtualization: ESX, ESX 3i, Xen, etc.  But there are alos talks on security, forensics, the Linux Kernel, Performance tools for Solaris and Linux, Perl mods, network performance tuning, wireshark, diskless Linux, SELinux, mass deployment of database servers, disk-to-disk backups for Unix, cfengine, directory…

  • Mac OS X,  Ubuntu

    Ubuntu: Installing Netatalk

    Netatalk is an Open Source implementation of AFP. To get Netatalk you have to perform a custom build from the source code.  To start: open system -> Administration -> Software Sources. Check the Source Code Box then click on close and click reload. Then open a terminal and type the following commands: sudo apt-get build-dep netatalk sudo apt-get install cracklib2-dev fakeroot libssl-dev sudo apt-get source netatalk cd netatalk-2* Next build the Netatalk package using: sudo DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS=ssl dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot sudo dpkg -i ~/netatalk_2*.deb echo “netatalk hold” | sudo dpkg –set-selections That’s it.  

  • Ubuntu

    Ubuntu 8.04

    Originally posted at http://www.318.com/TechJournal Ubuntu 8.04 is now available – the first major release since 7.10. Code named Hardy heron, 8.04 will look familiar to long-time Ubuntu users. But under the hood, 8.04 sports a new kernel (2.6.24-12.13), a new rev of Gnome (2.22), improved graphical elements (such as Xorg 7.3), a spiffy new installer (Wubi), the latest and greatest in software, enhanced security and of course more intelligent default settings. The build is free to download the desktop version from ubuntu.com. The new Ubuntu installer comes with a new utility called Wubi. Wubi can run as a Windows application, which means that Windows users will be able to more…

  • Mac OS X,  Unix

    Writing Shell Scripts

    There’s usually a few different steps in the learning process for writing shell scripts.  The first is to figure out how to just do simple things, like write hello world to the screen.  The second is to start using a series of commands.  The third seems to be using variables.  The fourth is to start using libraries to reuse your scripts.  The next is to take variables to the next level, variabalizing everything.  Where are you at with this?

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Ubuntu,  Unix

    ps

    Limit process listing to those belonging to a given user by piping the output through grep. For example, processes belonging to a user with a username charles can be displayed with the following: ps -ef | grep charles The -l option generates a long listing, and when used together with the -e and -f options creates a table with 15 columns, which can also be piped for the user name: ps -efl | grep charles

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Ubuntu,  Unix,  Windows Server,  Windows XP

    TrueCrypt

    Great encryption software, although there is no full disk encryption for the Mac from TrueCrypt I hope to see it eventually.  By the way, I didn’t mention this yet: it’s free. http://www.truecrypt.org/ UPDATE: While TrueCrypt does not do full disk encryption (FDE) for the boot volume still, it does do FDE for other volumes fairly easily and of course free.  If you need FDE for boot volumes on Mac OS X check out PGP and CheckPoint FDE.  PGP Desktop is easy to install and use and has a great command line interface.  CheckPoint though seems to be a bit more mature and has an easier methodology for mass deployment.