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

    Basic Git Usage

    Previously we looked at installing Git on Mac OS X. Now let’s take a look at using it. The first step is to add a new local git repository that looks to a remote repository. In the following example I’m going to add a local repository called custom-safari based on the git repository at packages/custom-safari on git.krypted.com. git remote add custom-safari git://https://krypted.com//packages/custom-safari.git Next make sure you’re using the latest from the repository: git pull Then checkout from the master git branch: git checkout -b custom-safari/master Now pull the files you’ve checked out: git pull custom-safari master Now you can do your work. Edit the files, wok on them and when…

  • Mac OS X,  Ubuntu,  Windows XP

    Cross Platform Screen Sharing: TiffanyScreens

    Sure, you can screen share using ARD – but to Windows? TiffanyScreens is a little application that can run on Mac, Windows or Linux. It allows you to share your screen to a number of client systems, very useful with presentation broadcasting, training and standard screen sharing. I’ve tested in my lab with Windows 7 and Snow Leopard and must say that I’m impressed by how well it shares screens and how zippy it is over my AirPort network. Nice little app that deserves a plug: http://www.tiffanyscreens.com

  • Mac OS X,  Mass Deployment,  Ubuntu,  Unix

    php from the Command Line

    Using php at the command line isn’t an exact science in regard to which scripts that run in a web page will function from the shell. However, if you are automating many tasks, such as how you would go about with a shell script, then php is a nice alternative to other languages. To get started, let’s look at the version of php that we’re running. A quick way to test this is type the following from the command line. php -v This should result in something like the following message, which includes the version of PHP you are running and the current date: PHP 5.3.0 (cli) (built: Jul 19 2009…

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

    Piping Commands

    The pipe (|) character is used to combine multiple commands. A pipe is a temporary storage place where the output of one command is stored and then passed as the input for a second command. Pipes are used to run more than two commands from the same command line.  The sort command is used to sort data. When you run the ls –l command, you will see a listing of the files in a directory with each file shown on a separate line. When you use a pipe after the command and then sort your results, you will sort the data listed on the screen by the list command. The…

  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Network Infrastructure,  Ubuntu,  Unix

    Simple Networking Commands

    Troubleshooting the network is faster and more thorough when it is done using the command line. Here are some simple command-line utilities that can perform a variety of tasks that can help when administering many services and multiuser environments: Whoami lists the user you are currently logged in as from the command line. Who lists the users logged onto your system. Id shows a list of all defined users and groups whether they are actually logged in. Groups <userid> shows a list of all the groups a user is in. Whois lists ownership information for domains. Hostname lists the name of the computer you are currently working on. You can…

  • Active Directory,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment,  Ubuntu,  Unix

    Likewise Open 5.3 Supports Snow Leopard

    Likewise 5.3 supports Snow Leopard at 32 or 64 bit! Likewise Open 5.3 is open source software that can be used to bind Mac OS X, Linux & Unix to Active Directory. Likewise Enterprise (which is not open source) starts with the Open client but allows leveraging Workgroup Manager or Active Directory Users & Computers to manage policies. If you haven’t already, check it out at www.likewise.com.

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

    Adding Color to & Customizing the Shell Prompt

    As promised in the article on colorizing the terminal, let’s look at how to customize your bash prompt.  First note that text as well as the following can be used in your string. a – ASCII bell d – date e – ASCII escape h – LocalHostName H – HostName j – number of jobs managed by shell l – basename of terminal device name n – insert a newline r – insert a carriage return @ – time in 12-hour HH:MM format A – time in 24-hour HH:MM format t – time in 12-hour HH:MM:SS format T – time in 24-hour HH:MM:SS format u – current user v –…

  • Business,  Mac OS X,  Ubuntu,  Windows XP

    H1N1 and Computer Labs

    Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (Athens, Georgia), I worked in computer labs. And I don’t think we cleaned the keyboards but once in the year before I moved into more department-specific IT. But now I’m a parent. And I keep hearing that we need to wash the hands of our children, that we need to keep everything they come in contact with sanitized and that we need to be prepared to take 7 business days to stay with them if they get sick or if something happens at their school (not that mine is in school yet). It isn’t that they want to keep our…

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

    Colorizing the Terminal

    It really helps me to see different types of entries in the Terminal listed with different colors. I don’t go for listing everything that you can list as a different color though, as it starts looking a bit like a circus in Terminal when I do. If you want to colorize your terminal in Mac OS X there are two main ways to do so; both will require altering your .bash_profile (or creating if it’s not already there). To get started, go to your home folder from within Terminal and open .bash_profile from your favorite text editor. If it doesn’t exist then the text editor should create a new file…