Archive for the 'Software' Category
I am working on a SUSE Enterprise Linux Server 10 server today and I have no experience with Novell’s flavor of Linux at all. But, that’s wht Google was created… Google allows admins and non-admins to “fake it till you make it”. And, that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what I have done today while working with this SUSE box.
So, my task was to get the box booted up, setup the network configuration, and then turn it back over to another department who will get with the vendor working with this server to complete the configuration. I have setup network configurations in FreeBSD, Red Hat Linux (way back in the day), AIX, Solaris (again, way back in the day), and obviously Windows and Mac OS X. But, I had no idea where SUSE stored it’s network configuration files or what the file format was for setting up the network parameters until today.
I am posting this information for two reasons: 1.) I may need this again someday, and 2.) hopefully it will help someone else out who is just entering into the SUSE arena. Here is what I found out during my research:
The files necessary to setup my network configuration were located in /etc/sysconfig/network. Within this directory are different ifcfg-<interface_name> files, obviously, one for each interface in the machine. Now, most Linux fans would assume that since there was a ifcfg-lo file in this directory for the local loopback interface that there would need to be a ifcfg-eth0 file for the eth0 interface. Well, not so… I don’t guess.
My config file for eth0 was labeled ifcfg-eth-id-00:00:00:00:00:00 where 00:00:00:00:00:00 is the MAC address of the interface I wanted to configure. Since I wanted to create a static configuration, not a DHCP assigned address, I put the following contents in my ifcfg-eth-id-00:00:00:00:00:00 configuration file, again, located within /etc/sysconfig/network:
BOOTPROTO='static'
BROADCAST=''
ETHTOOL_OPTIONS=''
IPADDR='xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx'
MTU=''
NAME='Descriptive Name for Interface'
NETMASK='xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx'
NETWORK=''
REMOTE_IPADDR=''
STARTMODE='auto'
UNIQUE='<random_stuff_it_appears_maybe_not>'
USERCONTROL='no'
_nm_name='bus-pci-000:01:00.0'
Obviously, you’ll need to set IPADDR to the IP address you want to use for your box/server. The NETMASK also needs to be set correctly. I’m not really sure what the UNIQUE variable is or how it is computed. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this one. And, it appears that the _nm_name is the actual hardware address to your NIC. Again, maybe someone can help me out with the variable as well.
So, once I had that file configured the way I wanted, it was time to set my default route. This was extremely simple. All I had to do was create a file with a name similar to the configuration file we just modified, but instead of using ifcfg-* I used ifroute-*. So, my route configuration file for my eth0 interface was named ifroute-eth-id-00:00:00:00:00:00. Obviously you will need to replace the 00:00:00... with your actual MAC address. Inside the file I put one line and all of my problems were solved. I entered:
default xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Make sure you replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the actual IP address of your network’s gateway. Also, that is a
Once these files were created/modified, I rebooted the server, logged on, and was able to access network resources like it was nobody’s business.
Until next time…
I have been a long time Firefox fan and have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences with it and the many extensions available to extend its uses. I started using Firefox back in the early days, maybe even prior to the 1.x release, on the Windows platform. I then used Firefox on FreeBSD, different Linux distributions, and now on my current favorite OS, Mac OS X. Again, I have been very happy with my Firefox experience, but now a new contender has entered the ring.
I have been doing a lot of Web development these days and have been testing my designs and applications in multiple Web browsers on multiple platforms. During this testing phase (QA), I have been using the most stable release of Apple’s Safari Web browser on Mac OS X. I have got to say that Safari is fast to load (firing up the application) and extremely quick at rendering Web related content. Needless to say, I have been very impressed with Safari in the little amount of time I have been using it on OS X.
A week or so ago (maybe it was longer), I noticed that Apple had released a public beta of its Safari web browser, version 3.0. This release was for both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. That’s pretty impressive! Today, I finally got around to downloading the public beta of Safari for Windows and have been test driving it. So far, I’ve had some issues… Here’s the scoop.
On my box at work, I was able to install Safari but I was unable to launch it as an unprivileged user. Even if I used an administrator account to set the security permissions for the C:\Program Files\Safari\ folder, the application would still not launch. It would immediately throw up an error report for me to sen to Microsoft. I was able to launch it as an administrator, but not as an under privileged user. I assume there are some Registry Keys that need some sort of permissions changed for a normal user…
On my Windows box at home, I was able to install the browser and run it fine… Yes, I run as a local admin on my home Windows box. Bad in practice, I know, but I do it. I currently use the box all of about once a week.
But, here’s my gripe with Safari and my home box. I can run the application without a problem. I use dual monitors on my Windows box and from time to time choose to browse on the secondary monitor while something else is running on the primary. Guess what?! This works fine as long as I don’t maximize the Safari window on the secondary monitor. When I do maximize the window, the browser window disappears and I am only left with the remnants in my Windows Task Bar. I have to kill Safari and start over to get the browser window back. Strange, I know.
But, I’m not giving up. I am very impressed with the speed of Safari on my Mac, and will continue testing and working with Safari on Windows. If Safari has, or will have, community/vendor provided add-ons, similar to Mozilla applications, I may have just found myself another, faster web browser. I still have a lot of research and playing to do. I’ll keep you updated.
Until next time..
I was digging around this evening and foun d a web site called Thinkature and decided to give it a try. The Thinkature web site describes itself as:
Thinkature brings the richness of in-person, visual communication to the web by placing instant messaging inside a visual workspace. Use it as a collaboration environment, a meeting room, a personal web-based whiteboard, or something entirely new.
Sounds interesting enough. But how does it work?!
I signed up for a free account and started messing around with the application. Basically, it allows you to do flowcharting, drawing, chatting, workflows (flowcharting?), and basically anything you can think of it seems. You can insert images, insert HTML formatted text, freehand drawings in real-time, and more.
I started using it to chart out some ideas I need to get pounded out for a “project” I am working on. This project is pretty big, well, extremely time consuming to say the least. It always seems that I come up with ideas for the project but they always fall through the cracks and never get completed. Now, I have some ideas and some to do list items on my Thinkature workspace that will hopefully keep me on track. If I complete one task, I can either delete it, or modify the text to show it as completed. I can also add additional ideas as they pop into my mind… Pretty cool if you ask me.
As a final note, this whole “Web 2.0″ phenomenon really blows me away. Not necessarily the designs that are defining Web 2.0, but the dynamic applications that are being developed along the way. They are extremely interactive, visually attractive, and do a very good job of mimicking a desktop piece of software. I’m impressed and am looking to “Web-two-dot-oh-ilize” some of my applications and web sites. We’ll see how it goes. If I am not too set in my ways, maybe I can become a part of the “Web 2.0″ generation of developers!
Until next time…
While I was at home working last week, I needed to make a phone call to a business that I have listed in my ever so handy Address Book on my laptop. While I was looking at the business’ contact information, I right (ok, Command-clicked) clicked on the phone number and saw an option to dial the number with Skype. Guess what?! That’s what I did!
I know I will get slammed for this, but I like Skype. I have used it a number of times while out and about to make calls that would otherwise cost me cell minutes. Outbound calls for me are free due to my annual subscription. I use my Bluetooth® headset with my laptop to make Skype calls so it is really no different than talking over a cellular network… Except that your calls are encrypted and bouncing along a peer-to-peer network via a proprietary protocol.
Anyway, I was impressed that I could right click contacts in my Address Book and make the call from right there. No dialing numbers, no opening Skype and then dialing the number, just a simple right-click (or Command-click if you will). If you use Skype on your Mac and also take advantage of Apple’s Address Book contact management application, give a contact a right-click (I know, I know, Command-click) and let the dialing begin!
Until next time…
I have been doing a lot more design and development lately. It’s awesome working on my 13-inch MacBook along side my 24-inch Gateway LCD Display (model FPD2485W). This is an extremely nice setup and very comfortable, mostly due to the Apple Bluetooth® Mighty Mouse, Apple Wireless Keyboard, and my Griffin Elevator.
But, since I am doing more design these days, and I want all of my images and photos to have somewhat consistent color across multiple monitors, I decided that display calibration was in order. I looked around at some devices for performing display calibration and they all seemed a little more expensive than what I was willing to pay.
So, as I was walking through Office Depot a month or so ago, I spotted a little gadget over in the software section of the store. The device is called huey™ by Pantone® and retails for $89.99.
When I got my huey™ device home and started calibrating my laptop’s display, I was pumped. Then I wanted to calibrate my gateway display. Well, out of the box the huey™ will only calibrate one display. I did some research on the Pantone® web site and found out that they have a software upgrade that will allow you to calibrate multiple displays with the same huey™ device. The software, huey™ PRO is available as a download on the Pantone® web site for $39.99.
The device is cool in that it constantly monitors the room’s light and automatically adjusts the color settings of your displays to the appropriate levels to keep the colors where they need to be. It also prompts you to calibrate your displays periodically when it believes the previous calibration has expired. The calibration process is quick and easy and well worth the few minutes it takes to keep your colors looking fresh and your details popping!
With the upgraded software and the huey™ device I bought from Office Depot, I can now calibrate both of my displays and keep my colors consistent across both of my monitors. If you’re looking for an entry level calibration device for your monitors or displays, give huey/huey™ PRO a try and see what your colors are actually supposed to look like.
Until next time…
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