Suse Enterprise Administration Bulletin, 2009

[Dec 17, 2009] Top Ten Things I Miss in Windows

Thoughts on Technology

Klipper/Copy & Paste Manager

 I use this one alot when I am either coding or writing a research paper for school. More often than not I find I have copied something new only to discover I need to paste a link or block of code again from two copies back. Having a tray icon where I can recall the last ten copies or so is mighty useful. 

Gnome-Do

Most anyone who uses the computer in their everyday work will tell you that less mouse clicks means faster speed and thus (typically) more productivity. Gnome-Do is a program that allows you to cut down on mouse clicks (so long as you know what program you are looking to load). The jist of what it does is this: you assign a series of hot keys to call up the search bar (personally I use control+alt+space) and then you start typing in the name of an application or folder you want to open and it will start searching for it - once the correct thing is displayed all you need to do is tap enter to load it up. The best part is that it remembers which programs you use most often. Meaning that most times you only need to type the first letter or two of a commonly used application for it to find the one you are looking for.

ISO Master - GUI Tool to edit ISO Images in openSUSE

SUSE & openSUSE

ISO Master which is claimed to be the best ISO editing tool is a graphical editor for ISO images. ISO Master is useful for extracting, deleting, or adding files and directories to or from an ISO image. ISO Master can read .ISO files (ISO9660, Joliet, RockRidge, and El Torito), most .NRG files, and some single-track .MDF files and can save and only save as .ISO.

 

The supported operations include, add/delete files and directories under the ISO image, Modify/delete the Boot records. extract files from the ISO etc.

Install ISO Master

Packman as always hosts a 1-click install Yast Metapackage for ISO Master. This installer is supported on openSUSE 11.0, openSUSE 10.3, openSUSE 10.2, and SUSE 10.1 & 10.0

[Nov 26, 2009] BleachBit to cleanup unwanted files on your openSUSE

Posted by admin on April 16th, 2009

BleachBit is a simple cool utility to delete unnecessary files on the systemt to free disk space. This includes application and browser cache, temporary fiiles and cookies. Among the many supported application files are Bash, Beagle, Epiphany, firefox, Adobe flash, java, KDE, openoffice,Opera, XChat, rpmbuild etc. While, DIsk space may not be an issue these days on most of the systems, it is always cool clear those items not required anymore on the system.

Install BleachBit

To install BleachBit in openSUSE, click this 1-click installer from Packman supported on openSUSE 11.1/11.0/10.3

This should download the YMP file and automatically launch the YaST package manager to add the required Repositories, download and install BleachBit and the  dependencies. Click next on the BleachBit installation screen and Next again on the installation proposal window. This should start adding the required repositories, download and install BleachBit and its required dependencies. Click Finish when the installation completes successfully.

This should install BleachBit under Applications – System – File System as “Unnecessary File Cleaner“. You can see here there are two menu items, one to run as a normal user (your user user account) and one as an Administrator to delete files which cannot be deleted by a normal user (requires Admin password though).

[Nov 5, 2009] cdrecord will not burn DVD ISO's

Use a separate binary "cdrecord-dvd":  cdrecord-dvd -v -data SLED-10-SP2-DVD-x86_64-GMC-DVD1.iso

04-15-2009 | Novell

cdrecord will not burn DVD ISO'sThis document (7003017) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

Situation
Executing:

cdrecord -v -data SLED-10-SP2-DVD-x86_64-GMC-DVD1.iso

you will get the similar output:

cdrecord: Found DVD+ media but DVD+R/DVD+RW support code is missing.cdrecord: If you need DVD+R/DVD+RW support, ask the Author for cdrecord-ProDVD.cdrecord: Free test versions and free keys for personal use are at ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/cdrecord/ProDVD/cdrecord: Sorry, no CD/DVD-Recorder or unsupported CD/DVD-Recorder found on this target.cdrecord: This version of cdrecord does not include DVD-R/DVD-RW support code.cdrecord: If you need DVD-R/DVD-RW support, ask the Author for cdrecord-ProDVD.cdrecord: Free test versions and free keys for personal use are at ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/cdrecord/ProDVD/cdrecord: Unspecified command not implemented for this drive.cdrecord: Data will not fit on any disk.cdrecord: Cannot write more than remaining DVD capacity.Burning of CD-ROM sized ISO images works fine.

Resolution

Use a separate binary "cdrecord-dvd"

Executing:

cdrecord-dvd -v -data SLED-10-SP2-DVD-x86_64-GMC-DVD1.iso

results in a proper DVD record to DVD media.

Document

[Aug 21, 2009] SLES 10 Installation Checklist was updated

[May 29, 2009] Novell's Linux Business Still Not Profitable By Sean Michael Kerner

InternetNews.com

"We have invested heavily in our Linux business to gain market share and acquire new customers," Novell CFO Dana Russell said on the company's quarterly conference call last night. "While the business is not yet profitable, we are making steady progress and plan for it to be break-even no later than 12 to 18 months from today."

Novell entered the Linux business in 2003 with the acquisition of SUSE Linux for $210 million and Linux desktop vendor Ximian.

Novell reported its second quarter fiscal 2009 results after the market close yesterday, with net revenue for the quarter coming in at $216 million, a decline from the $236 million reported for the second quarter of 2008 and just below Wall Street estimates.

Kiwi Imaging System - Forge your own operating system images in a matter of hours

Kiwi is one of the tools used by the openSUSE Build Service, a complete distribution development platform that allows you to create and release software for openSUSE and other Linux distributions.

Kiwi focuses on openSUSE itself, allowing you to do the following:

• Create a custom, bootable live CD/DVD image of the openSUSE distribution, containing only the packages you want or need.
• Build a bootable USB image.
• Create Xen, VMware or QEMU virtual machine images, complete with configuration files.
• Convert (migrate) your own installation into a deployable image of any kind.

We've already seen most of these cool tricks done:

• We've had Remastersys, which runs on Debian-based distros and can convert your physical installation into a bootable .iso image, whether to be used for backup or distributed as a live CD/DVD.
• We've had remaster-on-the-fly, in PCLinuxOS, which does the same as Remastersys.
• We've had QEMU at work, converting VMware hard disks (.vmdk) disks into Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) images (.ami), as covered in this tutorial.
• We've learned how to clone VMware Server and ESXi virtual machines.
• We've had VMware Converter doing lots of wonders, creating all sorts of images.

Still, some of these phenomenal solutions did not provide us with everything we need. For instance, Remastersys does not create virtual machines, only images that you can use to install as guest operating systems. But this requires extra work and user interaction. Amazon conversion was neat, but this was mainly a command-line work, with quite a few preparatory steps and lots of user interaction. VMware Converter provided us with an almost the entire solution that we need here.

Kiwi can do all of the above - and then some.

Being Sysadmin, the Root User in SUSE Linux 9.3 - For Dummies

that's a very useful trick:  single init=/bin/sh. It works also with grub.

Resetting a forgotten root password

To perform system administration tasks, you have to know the root password. What happens if you forget the root password? Not to worry: Just reboot the PC and you can reset the root password by following these steps:

1. Reboot the PC (select Reboot as you log out of the GUI screen) or power up as usual.

Soon you see the graphical boot screen that shows the names of the operating systems you can boot. The text cursor rests on a line labeled Boot Options.

2. If you have more than one operating system installed, use the arrow key to select SUSE Linux as your operating system.

3. Type the following and then press Enter:

single init=/bin/sh

Linux starts up as usual but runs in a single-user mode that does not require you to log in. After Linux starts, you see the following command line prompt that ends with a hash mark (#), similar to the following:

sh-3.00#

4. Type the following command, and then press Enter:

mount / -n -o remount,rw

This makes the root file system — the forward slash (/) in the mount command — writeable so that you can change the password (which is stored in a file in the root file system).

5. Type the passwd command to change the root password as follows:

sh-3.00# passwd

Changing password for user root.

New password:

6. Type the new root password that you want to use (it doesn't appear on-screen), and then press Enter.

The passwd command asks for the password again, like this:

Re-enter new password:

7. Type the password again, and press Enter.

If you enter the same password both times, the passwd command changes the root password.

8. Type the following command and press Enter.

mount / -n -o remount,ro

This remounts the root file system in a read-only mode.

9. Now type /sbin/reboot to reboot the PC.

After SUSE Linux restarts, you can again become root by typing su - and entering the new password. When GUI utilities such as YaST prompt for the root password, enter the new root password.

Make sure that your SUSE Linux PC is physically secure. As these steps show, anyone who can physically access your SUSE Linux PC can simply reboot, set a new root password, and do whatever they want with the system.

[Apr 22, 2009] BleachBit to cleanup unwanted files in openSUSE SUSE & openSUSE

See also KleanSweep: http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php?content=28631

BleachBit is a simple cool utility to delete unnecessary files on the systemt to free disk space. This includes application and browser cache, temporary fiiles and cookies. Among the many supported application files are Bash, Beagle, Epiphany, firefox, Adobe flash, java, KDE, openoffice,Opera, XChat, rpmbuild etc. While, DIsk space may not be an issue these days on most of the systems, it is always cool clear those items not required anymore on the system.

[Mar 31, 2009] Novell Doc- Installation and Administration - Oracle Cluster File ...

Oracle Cluster File System 2 (OCFS2) is a general-purpose journaling file system that is fully integrated in the Linux 2.6 kernel and later. OCFS2 allows you to store application binary files, data files, and databases on devices in a SAN. All nodes in a cluster have concurrent read and write access to the file system. A distributed lock manager helps prevent file access conflicts. OCFS2 supports up to 32,000 subdirectories and millions of files in each directory. The O2CB cluster service (a driver) runs on each node to manage the cluster.

 In SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and later, OCFS2 can be used for any of the following storage solutions:

• Oracle RAC and other databases
• General applications and workloads
• XEN image store in a cluster

  XEN virtual machines and virtual servers can be stored on OCFS2 volumes that are mounted by cluster servers to provide quick and easy portability of XEN virtual machines between servers.

• LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP | PERL | Python) stacks

In addition, it is fully integrated with Heartbeat 2.

As a high-performance, symmetric, parallel cluster file system, OCFS2 supports the following functions:

• An application’s files are available to all nodes in the cluster. Users simply install it once on an OCFS2 volume in the cluster.
• All nodes can concurrently read and write directly to storage via the standard file system interface, enabling easy management of applications that run across a cluster.
• File access is coordinated through the Distributed Lock Manager (DLM).

  DLM control is good for most cases, but an application’s design might limit scalability if it contends with the DLM to coordinate file access.

• Storage backup functionality is available on all back-end storage. An image of the shared application files can be easily created, which can help provide effective disaster recovery.

OCFS2 also provides the following capabilities:

• Metadata caching
• Metadata journaling
• Cross-node file data consistency
• A GTK GUI-based administration via the ocfs2console utility
• Operation as a shared-root file system
• Support for multiple-block sizes (each volume can have a different block size) up to 4 KB, for a maximum volume size of 16 TB
• Support for up to 255 cluster nodes
• Context-dependent symbolic link (CDSL) support for node-specific local files
• Asynchronous and direct I/O support for database files for improved database performance

See also  ocfs2-1_4-usersguide

Oracle Cluster File System 2 (OCFS2) is a general-purpose journaling file system that is fully integrated in the Linux 2.6 kernel and later. OCFS2 allows you to store application binary files, data files, and databases on devices in a SAN. All nodes in a cluster have concurrent read and write access to the file system. A distributed lock manager helps prevent file access conflicts. OCFS2 supports up to 32,000 subdirectories and millions of files in each directory. The O2CB cluster service (a driver) runs on each node to manage the cluster.

13.1.1 Features and Benefits

In August 2005, OCFS2 was added to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 to support Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) databases and Oracle Home (its application files). In SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and later, OCFS2 can be used for any of the following storage solutions:

• Oracle RAC and other databases
• General applications and workloads
• XEN image store in a cluster

  XEN virtual machines and virtual servers can be stored on OCFS2 volumes that are mounted by cluster servers to provide quick and easy portability of XEN virtual machines between servers.

• LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP | PERL | Python) stacks

In addition, it is fully integrated with Heartbeat 2.

As a high-performance, symmetric, parallel cluster file system, OCFS2 supports the following functions:

• An application’s files are available to all nodes in the cluster. Users simply install it once on an OCFS2 volume in the cluster.
• All nodes can concurrently read and write directly to storage via the standard file system interface, enabling easy management of applications that run across a cluster.
• File access is coordinated through the Distributed Lock Manager (DLM).

  DLM control is good for most cases, but an application’s design might limit scalability if it contends with the DLM to coordinate file access.

• Storage backup functionality is available on all back-end storage. An image of the shared application files can be easily created, which can help provide effective disaster recovery.

OCFS2 also provides the following capabilities:

• Metadata caching
• Metadata journaling
• Cross-node file data consistency
• A GTK GUI-based administration via the ocfs2console utility
• Operation as a shared-root file system
• Support for multiple-block sizes (each volume can have a different block size) up to 4 KB, for a maximum volume size of 16 TB
• Support for up to 255 cluster nodes
• Context-dependent symbolic link (CDSL) support for node-specific local files
• Asynchronous and direct I/O support for database files for improved database performance

[Mar 24, 2009] SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 released - LinuxWorld

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 was released on March 24, 2009 and include Linux kernel 2.6.27, Oracle Cluster File System 2, support for the OpenAIS cluster communication protocol for server and storage clustering, and Mono 2.0.

Meanwhile, Novell is also hoping to rev up the application market around its OS, with SUSE Linux Enterprise JeOS (just enough operating system), which ISVs can use along with a set of tools called Suse Studio, to package their products as virtual appliances.

Novell has a "supportability algorithm" for vetting appliances; those that pass muster will receive technical support from Novell

[Mar 10, 2009] Cluster SSH

Perl-based

freshmeat.net

Cluster SSH opens terminal windows with connections to specified hosts and an administration console. Any text typed into the administration console is replicated to all other connected and active windows. This tool is intended for, but not limited to, cluster administration where the same configuration or commands must be run on each node within the cluster. Performing these commands all at once via this tool ensures all nodes are kept in sync.

See also: Software Distribution, Enterprise Unix System Administration

[Mar 10, 2009] Cool Solutions Using ClusterSSH to Perform Tasks on Multiple Servers Simultaneously By Martijn Pepping

Problem:

As an administrator of SLES/OES Linux clusters or multiple SUSE Linux servers you are probably familiar with that fact that you have to make an identical change on more than one server. Those can be things like editing files, execute commands, collect data or some other administrative task.

There are a couple of way to do this. You can write a script that performs the change for you, or you can SSH into a server, make the change and repeat that task manually for every server.

Now both ways can cost an extended amount of time. Writing and testing a shell script takes some time and performing the task by hand on lets say five or more servers also costs time.

Now, wouldn't it be a real timesaver when you have only one console in which you can perform tasks on multiple servers simultaneously? This solution can be found in ClusterSSH.

Solution:

With ClusterSSH it is possible to make a SSH connection to multiple servers and perform tasks from one single command window, without any scripting. The 'cssh' command lets you connect to any server specified as a command line argument, or to groups of servers (or cluster nodes) defined in a configuration file.

The 'cssh' command opens a terminal window to every server which can be used to review the output sent from the cssh-console, or to edit a single host directly. Commands given in to the cssh-console are executed on every connected host. When you start typing in the cssh-console you'll see that the same command also show up on the commandline of the connected systems.

The state of connected systems can be toggled from the cssh-console. So if you want to exclude certain hosts temporarily from specific command, you can do this with a single mouseclick. Also, hosts can be added on the fly and open terminal windows can automatically be rearranged.

One caveat to be aware of is when editing files. Never assume that file is identical on all systems. For example, lines in a file you are editing may be in a different order. Don't just go to a certain line in a file and start editing. Instead search for the text you want to exit, just to be sure the correct text is edited on all connected systems.

Example:

Configuration files section from the man-page:

/etc/clusters

This file contains a list of tags to server names mappings. When any name is used on the command line it is checked to see if it is a tag in /etc/clusters (or the .csshrc file, or any additional cluster file specified by -c). If it is a tag, then the tag is replaced with the list of servers from the file. The file is formatted as follows:

<tag> [user@]<server> [user@]<server> [...]

i.e.

# List of servers in live

live admin1@server1 admin2@server2 server3 server4

Clusters may also be specified within the users .csshrc file, as documented below.

/etc/csshrc & $HOME/.csshrc

This file contains configuration overrides - the defaults are as marked. Default options are overwritten first by the global file, and then by the user file.

Environment:

ClusterSSH can be used to any system running the SSH daemon.

• ClusterSSH RPM for openSUSE 10.2/10.3 and SLE10 are available through the openSUSE Build-service: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/martijn/
• The ClusterSSH sourcecode can be downloaded from: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=89139

See also: Software Distribution, Enterprise Unix System Administration

[Feb 23, 2009] How to install MySQL on SuSE Linux laffers.net

1. MySQL 5 Installation
   1. Prerequisites
   2. Download the Source
   3. Unpack, Copy, Configure
   4. Create my.cnf File
   5. Additional Settings
   6. Start Server, Check It, Connect
   7. Set the Root Password
   8. Restart MySQL Server
   9. Automatic Startup
2. Apache 2 Installation
3. PHP 5 Installation

[Feb 22, 2009] 10 shortcuts to master bash - Program - Linux - Builder AU By Guest Contributor, TechRepublic | 2007/06/25 18:30:02

If you've ever typed a command at the Linux shell prompt, you've probably already used bash -- after all, it's the default command shell on most modern GNU/Linux distributions.

The bash shell is the primary interface to the Linux operating system -- it accepts, interprets and executes your commands, and provides you with the building blocks for shell scripting and automated task execution.

Bash's unassuming exterior hides some very powerful tools and shortcuts. If you're a heavy user of the command line, these can save you a fair bit of typing. This document outlines 10 of the most useful tools:

1. Easily recall previous commands

   Bash keeps track of the commands you execute in a history buffer, and allows you to recall previous commands by cycling through them with the Up and Down cursor keys. For even faster recall, "speed search" previously-executed commands by typing the first few letters of the command followed by the key combination Ctrl-R; bash will then scan the command history for matching commands and display them on the console. Type Ctrl-R repeatedly to cycle through the entire list of matching commands.
    

2. Use command aliases

   If you always run a command with the same set of options, you can have bash create an alias for it. This alias will incorporate the required options, so that you don't need to remember them or manually type them every time. For example, if you always run ls with the -l option to obtain a detailed directory listing, you can use this command:

   bash> alias ls='ls -l' 

   To create an alias that automatically includes the -l option. Once this alias has been created, typing ls at the bash prompt will invoke the alias and produce the ls -l output.

   You can obtain a list of available aliases by invoking alias without any arguments, and you can delete an alias with unalias.
    

3. Use filename auto-completion

   Bash supports filename auto-completion at the command prompt. To use this feature, type the first few letters of the file name, followed by Tab. bash will scan the current directory, as well as all other directories in the search path, for matches to that name. If a single match is found, bash will automatically complete the filename for you. If multiple matches are found, you will be prompted to choose one.
    

4. Use key shortcuts to efficiently edit the command line

   Bash supports a number of keyboard shortcuts for command-line navigation and editing. The Ctrl-A key shortcut moves the cursor to the beginning of the command line, while the Ctrl-E shortcut moves the cursor to the end of the command line. The Ctrl-W shortcut deletes the word immediately before the cursor, while the Ctrl-K shortcut deletes everything immediately after the cursor. You can undo a deletion with Ctrl-Y.
    

5. Get automatic notification of new mail

   You can configure bash to automatically notify you of new mail, by setting the $MAILPATH variable to point to your local mail spool. For example, the command:

   bash> MAILPATH='/var/spool/mail/john'
   bash> export MAILPATH 

   Causes bash to print a notification on john's console every time a new message is appended to John's mail spool.

    

6. Run tasks in the background

   Bash lets you run one or more tasks in the background, and selectively suspend or resume any of the current tasks (or "jobs"). To run a task in the background, add an ampersand (&) to the end of its command line. Here's an example:

   bash> tail -f /var/log/messages &
   [1] 614

   Each task backgrounded in this manner is assigned a job ID, which is printed to the console. A task can be brought back to the foreground with the command fg jobnumber, where jobnumber is the job ID of the task you wish to bring to the foreground. Here's an example:

   bash> fg 1

   A list of active jobs can be obtained at any time by typing jobs at the bash prompt.
    

7. Quickly jump to frequently-used directories

   You probably already know that the $PATH variable lists bash's "search path" -- the directories it will search when it can't find the requested file in the current directory. However, bash also supports the $CDPATH variable, which lists the directories the cd command will look in when attempting to change directories. To use this feature, assign a directory list to the $CDPATH variable, as shown in the example below:

   bash> CDPATH='.:~:/usr/local/apache/htdocs:/disk1/backups'
   bash> export CDPATH

   Now, whenever you use the cd command, bash will check all the directories in the $CDPATH list for matches to the directory name.
    

8. Perform calculations

   Bash can perform simple arithmetic operations at the command prompt. To use this feature, simply type in the arithmetic expression you wish to evaluate at the prompt within double parentheses, as illustrated below. Bash will attempt to perform the calculation and return the answer.

   bash> echo $((16/2))
   8

9. Customise the shell prompt

   You can customise the bash shell prompt to display -- among other things -- the current username and host name, the current time, the load average and/or the current working directory. To do this, alter the $PS1 variable, as below:

   bash> PS1='\u@\h:\w \@> '
   
   bash> export PS1
   root@medusa:/tmp 03:01 PM>

   This will display the name of the currently logged-in user, the host name, the current working directory and the current time at the shell prompt. You can obtain a list of symbols understood by bash from its manual page.
    

10. Get context-specific help

    Bash comes with help for all built-in commands. To see a list of all built-in commands, type help. To obtain help on a specific command, type help command, where command is the command you need help on. Here's an example:

    bash> help alias
    ...some help text...

    Obviously, you can obtain detailed help on the bash shell by typing man bash at your command prompt at any time.

[Feb 21, 2009]  Configuring a Remote Serial Console for SLES

Configuration Steps

1. Connect a null modem cable between the system that will act as the console and the server. Refer to the Wikipedia article Null modem for details, including pin mapping.
    
2. If the server's BIOS supports serial console, configure the BIOS for it. The details of this procedure are dependent on the BIOS vendor - refer to vendor documentation.
    
3. Configure GRUB on the server to use the first serial port. In the file /boot/grub/menu.lst, comment out the color and gfxmenu lines and add the following lines:
    

   serial --unit=0 --speed=115200
   terminal --timeout=15 serial console

    

4. Configure the kernel (and hypervisor) on the server to use the serial port. This configuration differs between Xen setups and non-Xen setups.

   Non-Xen setup

   In the file /boot/grub/menu.lst, add the following options to the kernel command line:
    

   console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200
    

   
   Kernel messages will be written to both tty0 and ttyS0, but OS messages will only be written to ttyS0. OS messages go to the last console defined on the boot options line.

   A sample /boot/grub/menu.lst file illustrating these changes:
    

   #color white/blue black/light-gray
   default 0
   timeout 8
   #gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
   serial --unit=0 --speed=115200
   terminal --timeout=15 serial console
   
   title Linux ! SERIAL CONSOLE !
   kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda3 selinux=0 splash=0 resume=/dev/sda1 showopts elevator=cfq vga=791 console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200
   initrd (hd0,1)/boot/initrd
   
    

   Xen setup

   When Xen virtualization is used, both the Xen hypervisor and the Dom0 kernel need to be instructed to use the serial connection:
    

   1. Add console=vga,com1 com1=115200 to the parameters for the hypervisor.
   2. Add console=tty0 console=xvc0,115200 to the parameters for the Dom0 kernel.
       
   
   A sample /boot/grub/menu.lst file illustrating these changes:
    

   #color white/blue black/light-gray
   default 0
   timeout 8
   #gfxmenu (hd1,0)/boot/message
   serial --unit=0 --speed=115200
   terminal --timeout=15 serial console

   title Linux - Xen ! SERIAL CONSOLE !
   kernel (hd0,1)/boot/xen.gz console=vga,com1 com1=115200
   module (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda3 console=tty0 console=xvc0,115200
   module (hd0,1)/boot/initrd
    

   
    
5. Configure the server to allow logins over the serial connection. In the file /etc/inittab, add the following line.
    

   S0:12345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -L 115200 console vt102

    

   To allow single-user mode to work using the serial connection, additionally change the line
    

   ~~:S:respawn:/sbin/sulogin
    

   in /etc/inittab to
    

   ~~:S:respawn:/sbin/sulogin /dev/console
    

   NOTE: Single-user mode will only work on the serial console with this option. You will need to change it back, to run on the local console.

    

6. Configure the serial port on the server as a secure port, so a login as root is possible on it without the need to log in as a regular user first.

   Add lines
    

   console
   ttyS0
   xvc0
    

   to the file /etc/securetty
7. Ensure the package screen is installed on the server; this will be used later on to send control sequences to it.

[Feb 12, 2009] FSlint - Utility to clean up your File System in openSUSE SUSE & openSUSE

FSlint is a simple yet very easy to use utility to find and clean various forms of lint on a filesystem. i.e., unwanted or problematic cruft in your files or file names. For example, one form of lint it finds is duplicate files. FSlint operates in both GUI and Command Line mode and the GUI is very straight forward to use especially there isn’t much of hidden menu options.

FSlint basically checks if sizes are same, files are not hardlinked to each other, md5sums are the same, sha1sums are the same (in case of md5 collisions).

[Jan 26, 2009] Slashdot SUSE Studio — Linux Customization For the Masses

See Welcome – SUSE Studio

"Novell just released the first alpha of SUSE Studio (screencast), which provides an easy way to customize your own Linux distribution with the software and configuration you want. Among other things, you can spin a Live CD, a USB image, or create a VMware image. It builds upon the already established openSUSE Build Service and KIWI imaging system."

Etc

Society

Groupthink : Two Party System as Polyarchy : Corruption of Regulators : Bureaucracies : Understanding Micromanagers and Control Freaks : Toxic Managers :   Harvard Mafia : Diplomatic Communication : Surviving a Bad Performance Review : Insufficient Retirement Funds as Immanent Problem of Neoliberal Regime : PseudoScience : Who Rules America : Neoliberalism  : The Iron Law of Oligarchy : Libertarian Philosophy

Quotes

War and Peace : Skeptical Finance : John Kenneth Galbraith :Talleyrand : Oscar Wilde : Otto Von Bismarck : Keynes : George Carlin : Skeptics : Propaganda  : SE quotes : Language Design and Programming Quotes : Random IT-related quotes :  Somerset Maugham : Marcus Aurelius : Kurt Vonnegut : Eric Hoffer : Winston Churchill : Napoleon Bonaparte : Ambrose Bierce :  Bernard Shaw : Mark Twain Quotes

Bulletin:

Vol 25, No.12 (December, 2013) Rational Fools vs. Efficient Crooks The efficient markets hypothesis : Political Skeptic Bulletin, 2013 : Unemployment Bulletin, 2010 :  Vol 23, No.10 (October, 2011) An observation about corporate security departments : Slightly Skeptical Euromaydan Chronicles, June 2014 : Greenspan legacy bulletin, 2008 : Vol 25, No.10 (October, 2013) Cryptolocker Trojan (Win32/Crilock.A) : Vol 25, No.08 (August, 2013) Cloud providers as intelligence collection hubs : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2010 : Inequality Bulletin, 2009 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2008 : Copyleft Problems Bulletin, 2004 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2011 : Energy Bulletin, 2010 : Malware Protection Bulletin, 2010 : Vol 26, No.1 (January, 2013) Object-Oriented Cult : Political Skeptic Bulletin, 2011 : Vol 23, No.11 (November, 2011) Softpanorama classification of sysadmin horror stories : Vol 25, No.05 (May, 2013) Corporate bullshit as a communication method  : Vol 25, No.06 (June, 2013) A Note on the Relationship of Brooks Law and Conway Law

History:

Fifty glorious years (1950-2000): the triumph of the US computer engineering : Donald Knuth : TAoCP and its Influence of Computer Science : Richard Stallman : Linus Torvalds  : Larry Wall  : John K. Ousterhout : CTSS : Multix OS Unix History : Unix shell history : VI editor : History of pipes concept : Solaris : MS DOS :  Programming Languages History : PL/1 : Simula 67 : C : History of GCC development :  Scripting Languages : Perl history   : OS History : Mail : DNS : SSH : CPU Instruction Sets : SPARC systems 1987-2006 : Norton Commander : Norton Utilities : Norton Ghost : Frontpage history : Malware Defense History : GNU Screen : OSS early history

Classic books:

The Peter Principle : Parkinson Law : 1984 : The Mythical Man-Month :  How to Solve It by George Polya : The Art of Computer Programming : The Elements of Programming Style : The Unix Hater’s Handbook : The Jargon file : The True Believer : Programming Pearls : The Good Soldier Svejk : The Power Elite

Most popular humor pages:

Manifest of the Softpanorama IT Slacker Society : Ten Commandments of the IT Slackers Society : Computer Humor Collection : BSD Logo Story : The Cuckoo's Egg : IT Slang : C++ Humor : ARE YOU A BBS ADDICT? : The Perl Purity Test : Object oriented programmers of all nations : Financial Humor : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2008 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2010 : The Most Comprehensive Collection of Editor-related Humor : Programming Language Humor : Goldman Sachs related humor : Greenspan humor : C Humor : Scripting Humor : Real Programmers Humor : Web Humor : GPL-related Humor : OFM Humor : Politically Incorrect Humor : IDS Humor : "Linux Sucks" Humor : Russian Musical Humor : Best Russian Programmer Humor : Microsoft plans to buy Catholic Church : Richard Stallman Related Humor : Admin Humor : Perl-related Humor : Linus Torvalds Related humor : PseudoScience Related Humor : Networking Humor : Shell Humor : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2011 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2012 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2013 : Java Humor : Software Engineering Humor : Sun Solaris Related Humor : Education Humor : IBM Humor : Assembler-related Humor : VIM Humor : Computer Viruses Humor : Bright tomorrow is rescheduled to a day after tomorrow : Classic Computer Humor

The Last but not Least Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand ~Archibald Putt. Ph.D

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Last modified: March 12, 2019