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  • Pass variables between separate instances of ruby (without writing to a text file or database)

    - by boulder_ruby
    Lets say I'm running a long worker-script in one of several open interactive rails consoles. The script is updating columns in a very, very, very large table of records. I've muted the ActiveRecord logger to speed up the process, and instruct the script to output some record of progress so I know how roughly how long the process is going to take. That is what I am currently doing and it would look something like this: ModelName.all.each_with_index do |r, i| puts i if i % 250 ...runs some process... r.save end Sometimes its two nested arrays running, such that there would be multiple iterators and other things running all at once. Is there a way that I could do something like this and access that variable from a separate rails console? (such that the variable would be overwritten every time the process is run without much slowdown) records = ModelName.all $total = records.count records.each_with_index do |r, i| $i = i ...runs some process... r.save end meanwhile mid-process in other console puts "#{($i/$total * 100).round(2)}% complete" #=> 67.43% complete I know passing global variables from one separate instance of ruby to the next doesn't work. I also just tried this to no effect as well unix console 1 $X=5 echo {$X} #=> 5 unix console 2 echo {$X} #=> "" Lastly, I also know using global variables like this is a major software design pattern no-no. I think that's reasonable, but I'd still like to know how to break that rule if I'd like. Writing to a text file obviously would work. So would writing to a separate database table or something. That's not a bad idea. But the really cool trick would be sharing a variable between two instances without writing to a text file or database column. What would this be called anyway? Tunneling? I don't quite know how to tag this question. Maybe bad-idea is one of them. But honestly design-patterns isn't what this question is about.

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  • Storing and displaying unicode string (??????) using PHP and MySQL

    - by Anirudh Goel
    I have to store hindi text in a MySQL database, fetch it using a PHP script and display it on a webpage. I did the following: I created a database and set its encoding to UTF-8 and also the collation to utf8_bin. I added a varchar field in the table and set it to accept UTF-8 text in the charset property. Then I set about adding data to it. Here I had to copy data from an existing site. The hindi text looks like this: ????????:05:30 I directly copied this text into my database and used the PHP code echo(utf8_encode($string)) to display the data. Upon doing so the browser showed me "??????". When I inserted the UTF equivalent of the text by going to "view source" in the browser, however, ???????? translates into &#2360;&#2370;&#2352;&#2381;&#2351;&#2379;&#2342;&#2351;. If I enter and store &#2360;&#2370;&#2352;&#2381;&#2351;&#2379;&#2342;&#2351; in the database, it converts perfectly. So what I want to know is how I can directly store ???????? into my database and fetch it and display it in my webpage using PHP. Also, can anyone help me understand if there's a script which when I type in ????????, gives me &#2360;&#2370;&#2352;&#2381;&#2351;&#2379;&#2342;&#2351;? Solution Found I wrote the following sample script which worked for me. Hope it helps someone else too <html> <head> <title>Hindi</title></head> <body> <?php include("connection.php"); //simple connection setting $result = mysql_query("SET NAMES utf8"); //the main trick $cmd = "select * from hindi"; $result = mysql_query($cmd); while ($myrow = mysql_fetch_row($result)) { echo ($myrow[0]); } ?> </body> </html> The dump for my database storing hindi utf strings is CREATE TABLE `hindi` ( `data` varchar(1000) character set utf8 collate utf8_bin default NULL ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1; INSERT INTO `hindi` VALUES ('????????'); Now my question is, how did it work without specifying "META" or header info? Thanks!

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  • Rsync: how to mount truecrypt on-the-fly on the receiving side?

    - by deepc
    The short version: how can I keep an rsync backup on a truecrypt volume? The hard part is to mount/unmount this volume on the fly when it is needed for rsync. Details This is my current backup configuration (which works fairly well for the most part): backup source is on Win7 64 bit, destination is a remote Linux box (Debian) actual data transfer is done by rsync via ssh (cwRsync with cygwin) rsync daemon is started on demand via ssh On the Linux box the backup is protected by file permissions only. I want to increase security here and put the backup into a truecrypt volume. I can fuse-mount that volume manually in the shell. The question is now how can I make rsync not only open an ssh connection and starting the rsync daemon, but also to mount the truecrypt volume before (and unmount it after)? My money is on option --rsync-path which can be used to pass a command line to ssh - provided that stdin and stdout still work the same. I guess that command would have to be a shell script. Is this possible, and what would the script look like? For reference, here's a quote of that option: --rsync-path=PROGRAM Use this to specify what program is to be run on the remote machine to start-up rsync. Often used when rsync is not in the default remote-shell's path (e.g. --rsync-path=/usr/local/bin/rsync). Note that PROGRAM is run with the help of a shell, so it can be any program, script, or command sequence you'd care to run, so long as it does not corrupt the standard-in & standard-out that rsync is using to communicate. One tricky example is to set a different default directory on the remote machine for use with the --relative option. For instance: rsync -avR --rsync-path="cd /a/b && rsync" host:c/d /e/ This is the full rsync man page. Truecrypt volume auto-mount Solved! Turns out this option is actually key to auto-mounting the truecrypt volume on the remote side. The following command line does the trick (one line!): rsync $options -e "ssh -p $port -i ../.ssh/id_dsa" --rsync-path="/usr/local/bin/truecrypt -d && /usr/local/bin/truecrypt --fs-options=rw,sync,utf8,uid=$UID,umask=0007 --non-interactive -p $password $pathToVolume $remoteMountDir && rsync" $localSourceDir $user:$remoteMountMountDir Truecrypt volume auto-dismount Still open: how can I unmount the volume when rsync is done? Not sure if the following makes sense to anyone but I give it a try... Right now I am unmounting (truecrypt -d), then mounting again, then continuing with rsync. At this time rsync needs to do its thing but I dont know when its done. Adding ... rsync && truecrypt -d to the command line does not work because then the rsync daemon does not start. This is because rsync starts the daemon with parameter --server on the remote side and that parameter would go to the final truecrypt -d.

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  • Windows: what is the difference between DEP always on and DEP opt-out with no exceptions?

    - by Peter Mortensen
    What is the difference between DEP always on ("/NoExecute=AlwaysOn" in boot.ini) and DEP opt-out ( "/NoExecute=OptOut" in boot.ini) with no exceptions? "no exceptions" = empty list of programs for which DEP does not apply. DEP = Data Execution Prevention (hardware). One would expect it to work the same way, but it makes a difference for some applications. E.g. for all versions of UltraEdit 14 (14.2). It crashes at startup for DEP always on, at least on Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition x64 edition. (2010-03-11: this problem has been fixed with UltraEdit 15.2 and later.) Update 1: I think this difference is caused by the backdoors that Microsoft has put into hardware DEP for OptOut, according to Fabrice Roux (see below). In the case of IrfanView, for which Steve Gibson observed the same difference as I did for UltraEdit (see below), the difference is caused by a non-DEP aware EXE packer (ASPack) that Microsoft coded a backdoor for. Is there a difference between Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 ? Is there a difference between 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows ? Sources: From [http://blog.fabriceroux.com/index.php/2007/02/26/hardware_dep_has_a_backdoor?blog=1], "Hardware DEP has a backdoor" by Fabrice Roux. 2007-02-26. "IrfanView was not using any trick to evade DEP ... Microsoft just coded a backdoor used only in OPTOUT. Bascially Microsoft checks the executable header for a section matching one of the 3 strings. If one these strings is found, DEP will be turned OFF for this application by windows. ... 'aspack', 'pcle', 'sforce'" From [http://www.grc.com/sn/sn-078.htm], by Steve Gibson. "I can’t find any documentation on Microsoft’s site anywhere, because we’re seeing a difference between always-on and opt-out. That is, you would imagine that always-on mode would be the same as opting out if you weren’t having any opt-out programs. It turns out it’s not the case. For example ... the IrfanView file viewer ... runs fine in opt-out mode, even if it has not been opted out. But it won’t launch, Windows blocks it from launching ... in always-on mode." From [http://www.grc.com/sn/sn-083.htm], by Steve Gibson. "... IrfanView ... won’t run with DEP turned on. It’s because it uses an EXE packer, an executable compression program called ASPack. And it makes sense that it wouldn’t because naturally an executable compressor has got to decompress the executable, so it allocates a bunch of data memory into which it decompresses the compressed executable, and then it runs it. Well, it’s running a data allocation, which is exactly what DEP is designed to stop. On the other hand, UPX, which is actually the leading and most popular EXE compressor, it’s DEP- compatible because those guys realized, hey, when we allocate this memory, we should mark the pages as executable."

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  • stunnel crashing

    - by Jay
    I'm trying to use stunnel to secure a legacy application's communications. I can't seem to get it setup and working. Can anyone provide any hints where I'm going wrong? Here's what I'm trying to accomplish: A windows service on a client machine connects to a server on port 7000 using TCP. I'd like to encrypt the communication between client and server. Here's what I've tried: Created a new server that accepts ssl connections on port 7443. Got a certificate for the server and installed it. That seems to work with my test setup. Installed stunnel on my windows machine (version 7.43 from the distribution archive file). Installed libssl32.dll and libeay32.dll in the same directory as stunnel.exe ( from the openssl-0.9.8h-1 binary distribution). Installed it as a service using "stunnel -install" Configured stunnel as follows: debug=7 output=C:\p4\internal\Utility\Proxy\proxy.log service=Proxy taskbar=no [exchange] accept=7000 client=yes connect=proxy.blah.com:7443 I changed my hosts file to trick the old application into connecting through stunnel: server.blah.com 127.0.0.1 # when client looks up server it goes to stunnel proxy.blah.com IP-address-of-server.blah.com # stunnel connects to new server "server.blah.com" now resolves to the machine it's running on (i.e. stunnel). "proxy.blah.com" goes to the real server. stunnel should connect to the server. I start the stunnel service and try to connect. It looks like it's working but the stunnel service just shuts down with no message. 2010.04.19 13:16:21 LOG5[4924:3716]: stunnel 4.33 on x86-pc-mingw32-gnu with OpenSSL 0.9.8h 28 May 2008 2010.04.19 13:16:21 LOG5[4924:3716]: Threading:WIN32 SSL:ENGINE Sockets:SELECT,IPv6 2010.04.19 13:16:49 LOG5[4924:3748]: Service exchange accepted connection from 127.0.0.1:4134 2010.04.19 13:16:49 LOG6[4924:3748]: connect_blocking: connecting x.80.60.32:7443 2010.04.19 13:16:49 LOG5[4924:3748]: connect_blocking: connected x.80.60.32:7443 2010.04.19 13:16:49 LOG5[4924:3748]: Service exchange connected remote server from x.253.120.19:4135 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG5[3668:3856]: Reading configuration from file stunnel.conf 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: Snagged 64 random bytes from C:/.rnd 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: Wrote 1024 new random bytes to C:/.rnd 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: RAND_status claims sufficient entropy for the PRNG 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: PRNG seeded successfully 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: SSL context initialized for service exchange 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG5[3668:3856]: Configuration successful 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG5[3668:3856]: No limit detected for the number of clients 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: FD=312 in non-blocking mode 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: Option SO_REUSEADDR set on accept socket 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: Service exchange bound to 0.0.0.0:7000 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: Service exchange opened FD=312 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG5[3668:3856]: stunnel 4.33 on x86-pc-mingw32-gnu with OpenSSL 0.9.8h 28 May 2008 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG5[3668:3856]: Threading:WIN32 SSL:ENGINE Sockets:SELECT,IPv6 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:4556]: Service exchange accepted FD=372 from 127.0.0.1:4156 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:4556]: Creating a new thread 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:4556]: New thread created 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: Service exchange started 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: FD=372 in non-blocking mode 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG5[3668:3756]: Service exchange accepted connection from 127.0.0.1:4156 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: FD=396 in non-blocking mode 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG6[3668:3756]: connect_blocking: connecting x.80.60.32:7443 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: connect_blocking: s_poll_wait x.80.60.32:7443: waiting 10 seconds 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG5[3668:3756]: connect_blocking: connected x.80.60.32:7443 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG5[3668:3756]: Service exchange connected remote server from x.253.120.19:4157 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: Remote FD=396 initialized 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): before/connect initialization 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 write client hello A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 read server hello A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 read server certificate A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 read server done A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 write client key exchange A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 write change cipher spec A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 write finished A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 flush data 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 read finished A The client thinks the connection is closed: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it 127.0.0.1:7000 at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.DoConnect(EndPoint endPointSnapshot, SocketAddress socketAddress) at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Connect(EndPoint remoteEP) at Service.ConnUtility.Connect() Any suggestions?

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  • Cannot ping Localhost so I can't shutdown Tomcat

    - by gav
    Hi, I installed Tomcat 6 using the tar-ball via wget. Startup of the server is fine but on shutdown I get a timeout exception. root@88:/usr/local/tomcat/logs# /usr/local/tomcat/bin/shutdown.sh Using CATALINA_BASE: /usr/local/tomcat Using CATALINA_HOME: /usr/local/tomcat Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /usr/local/tomcat/temp Using JRE_HOME: /usr Using CLASSPATH: /usr/local/tomcat/bin/bootstrap.jar 30-Mar-2010 17:33:41 org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina stopServer SEVERE: Catalina.stop: java.net.ConnectException: Connection timed out at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketConnect(Native Method) at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.doConnect(PlainSocketImpl.java:333) at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connectToAddress(PlainSocketImpl.java:195) at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.connect(PlainSocketImpl.java:182) at java.net.SocksSocketImpl.connect(SocksSocketImpl.java:366) ... I read that this might be because I have a firewall blocking incoming connections on the shutdown port (8005). I have a default Ubuntu 9.04 installation running on a VPS with no rules in my iptables. How can I tell if that port is blocked? How can I check that the server is listening for connections on 8005? Bizarrely pinging localhost or the IP of my server fails from the server itself, whereas pinging the IP of my server from another machine succeeds. -------- EDIT -------- (In reply to Davey) Thanks for all the tips and suggestions! netstat -nlp Active Internet connections (only servers) Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State PID/Program name tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:8005 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 9611/java tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:3306 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 28505/mysqld tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:8080 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 9611/java tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:22 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN ... So we can see that tomcat is listening, I just don't seem to be able to reach it. root@88:/usr/local/tomcat# telnet localhost 8005 Trying 127.0.0.1... Trying to telnet to the port Hangs indefinitely. I have no rules in my iptables so I don't think it's a firewall thing. root@88:/usr/local/tomcat# iptables --list Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT) target prot opt source destination Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT) target prot opt source destination Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT) target prot opt source destination This is the contents of /etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost # Auto-generated hostname. Please do not remove this comment. 88.198.31.14 88.198.31.14 88 88 But I still can't ping localhost... do I need to check a loopback device is enabled properly or something? (I'm unsure how to do that if you do say yes :)). root@88:/usr/local/tomcat# ping localhost PING localhost (127.0.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data. --- localhost ping statistics --- 7 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 5999ms Trying to find out what the loop back is configured as; root@88:~# ifconfig lo lo Link encap:Local Loopback LOOPBACK MTU:16436 Metric:1 RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B) SOLUTION THANKS TO DAVEY I needed to bring up the interface (Not sure why it wasn't running). ifconfig lo up did the trick. root@88:~# ifconfig lo up root@88:~# ifconfig lo lo Link encap:Local Loopback inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0 inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1 RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B) root@88:~# ping localhost PING localhost.localdomain (127.0.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from localhost.localdomain (127.0.0.1): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.025 ms Thanks again, Gav

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  • Apache access.log interpretation

    - by Pantelis Sopasakis
    In the log file of apache (access.log) I find log entries like the following: 10.20.30.40 - - [18/Mar/2011:02:12:44 +0200] "GET /index.php HTTP/1.1" 404 505 "-" "Opera/9.80 (Windows NT 6.1; U; en) Presto/2.7.62 Version/11.01" Whose meaning is clear: The client with IP 10.20.30.40 applied a GET HTTP method on /index.php (that is to say http://mysite.org/index.php) receiving a status code 404 using Opera as client/browser. What I don't understand is entries like the following: 174.34.231.19 - - [18/Mar/2011:02:24:56 +0200] "GET http://www.siasatema.com HTTP/1.1" 200 469 "-" "Python-urllib/2.4" So here what I see is that someone (client with IP 174.34.231.19) accessed http://www.siasatema.com and got a 200 HTTP status code(?). It doesn't make sense to me... the only interpretation I can think of is that my apache server acts like proxy! Here are some other requests that don't have my site as destination... 187.35.50.61 - - [18/Mar/2011:01:28:20 +0200] "POST http://72.26.198.222:80/log/normal/ HTTP/1.0" 404 491 "-" "Octoshape-sua/1010120" 87.117.203.177 - - [18/Mar/2011:01:29:59 +0200] "CONNECT 64.12.244.203:80 HTTP/1.0" 405 556 "-" "-" 87.117.203.177 - - [18/Mar/2011:01:29:59 +0200] "open 64.12.244.203 80" 400 506 "-" "-" 87.117.203.177 - - [18/Mar/2011:01:30:04 +0200] "telnet 64.12.244.203 80" 400 506 "-" "-" 87.117.203.177 - - [18/Mar/2011:01:30:09 +0200] "64.12.244.203 80" 400 301 "-" "-" I believe that all these are related to some kind of attack or abuse of the server. Could someone explain to may what is going on and how to cope with this situation? Update 1: I disabled mod_proxy to make sure that I don't have an open proxy: # a2dismod proxy Where from I got the message: Module proxy already disabled I made sure that there is no file proxy.conf under $APACHE/mods-enabled. Finally, I set on my browser (Mozzila) my IP as a proxy and tried to access http://google.com. I was not redirected to google.com but instead my web page appeared. The same happened with trying to access http://a.b (!). So my server does not really work as a proxy since it does not forward the requests... But I think it would be better if somehow I could configure it to return a status code 403. Here is my apache configuration file: <VirtualHost *:80> ServerName mysite.org ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost DocumentRoot /var/www/ <Directory /> Options FollowSymLinks AllowOverride None </Directory> <Directory /var/www/> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews AllowOverride None Order allow,deny allow from all </Directory> ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/ <Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin"> AllowOverride None Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch Order allow,deny Allow from all </Directory> ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/error.log LogLevel warn CustomLog /var/log/apache2/access.log combined Alias /doc/ "/usr/share/doc/" <Directory "/usr/share/doc/"> Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymLinks AllowOverride None Order deny,allow Deny from all Allow from 127.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 ::1/128 </Directory> </VirtualHost> Update 2: Using a block, I restrict the use of other methods than GET and POST... <Limit POST PUT CONNECT HEAD OPTIONS DELETE PATCH PROPFIND PROPPATCH MKCOL COPY MOVE LOCK UNLOCK> Order deny,allow Deny from all </Limit> <LimitExcept GET> Order deny,allow Deny from all </LimitExcept> Now methods other that GET are forbidden (403). My only question now is whether there is some trick to boot those how try to use my server as a proxy out...

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  • Forwarding rsyslog to syslog-ng, with FQDN and facility separation

    - by Joshua Miller
    I'm attempting to configure my rsyslog clients to forward messages to my syslog-ng log repository systems. Forwarding messages works "out of the box", but my clients are logging short names, not FQDNs. As a result the messages on the syslog repo use short names as well, which is a problem because one can't determine which system the message originated from easily. My clients get their names through DHCP / DNS. I've tried a number of solutions trying to get this working, but without success. I'm using rsyslog 4.6.2 and syslog-ng 3.2.5. I've tried setting $PreserveFQDN on as the first directive in /etc/rsyslog.conf (and restarting rsyslog of course). It seems to have no effect. hostname --fqdn on the client returns the proper FQDN, so the problem isn't whether the system can actually figure out its own FQDN. $LocalHostName <fqdn> looked promising, but this directive isn't available in my version of rsyslog (Available since 4.7.4+, 5.7.3+, 6.1.3+). Upgrading isn't an option at the moment. Configuring the syslog-ng server to populate names based on reverse lookups via DNS isn't an option. There are complexities with reverse DNS and the public cloud. Specifying for the forwarder to use a custom template seems like a viable option at first glance. I can specify the following, which causes local logging to begin using the FQDN on the syslog-ng repo. $template MyTemplate, "%timestamp% <FQDN> %syslogtag%%msg%" $ActionForwardDefaultTemplate MyTemplate However, when I put this in place syslog-ng seems to be unable to categorize messages by facility or priority. Messages come in as FQDN, but everything is put in to user.log. When I don't use the custom template, messages are properly categorized under facility and priority, but with the short name. So, in summary, if I manually trick rsyslog into including the FQDN, priority and facility becomes lost details to syslog-ng. How can I get rsyslog to do FQDN logging which works properly going to a syslog-ng repository? rsyslog client config: $ModLoad imuxsock.so # provides support for local system logging (e.g. via logger command) $ModLoad imklog.so # provides kernel logging support (previously done by rklogd) $ActionFileDefaultTemplate RSYSLOG_TraditionalFileFormat *.info;mail.none;authpriv.none;cron.none /var/log/messages authpriv.* /var/log/secure mail.* -/var/log/maillog cron.* /var/log/cron *.emerg * uucp,news.crit /var/log/spooler local7.* /var/log/boot.log $WorkDirectory /var/spool/rsyslog # where to place spool files $ActionQueueFileName fwdRule1 # unique name prefix for spool files $ActionQueueMaxDiskSpace 1g # 1gb space limit (use as much as possible) $ActionQueueSaveOnShutdown on # save messages to disk on shutdown $ActionQueueType LinkedList # run asynchronously $ActionResumeRetryCount -1 # infinite retries if host is down *.* @syslog-ng1.example.com *.* @syslog-ng2.example.com syslog-ng configuration (abridged for brevity): options { flush_lines (0); time_reopen (10); log_fifo_size (1000); long_hostnames (off); use_dns (no); use_fqdn (yes); create_dirs (no); keep_hostname (yes); }; source src { unix-stream("/dev/log"); internal(); udp(ip(0.0.0.0) port(514)); }; destination per_host_destination { file( "/var/log/syslog-ng/devices/$HOST/$FACILITY.log" owner("root") group("root") perm(0644) dir_owner(root) dir_group(root) dir_perm(0775) create_dirs(yes)); }; log { source(src); destination(per_facility_destination); };

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  • Reinstall Postfix

    - by Kevin
    I tried to reinstall Postfix, but I get this bunch of errors: root@***:/etc/init.d# sudo apt-get install -f postfix Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Suggested packages: procmail postfix-mysql postfix-pgsql postfix-ldap postfix-pcre resolvconf postfix-cdb mail-reader The following NEW packages will be installed: postfix 0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 0B/1,389kB of archives. After this operation, 3,531kB of additional disk space will be used. Preconfiguring packages ... Selecting previously deselected package postfix. (Reading database ... 56122 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking postfix (from .../postfix_2.7.1-1ubuntu0.1_amd64.deb) ... Processing triggers for ureadahead ... Processing triggers for ufw ... Processing triggers for man-db ... Setting up postfix (2.7.1-1ubuntu0.1) ... Configuration file `/etc/init.d/postfix' ==> File on system created by you or by a script. ==> File also in package provided by package maintainer. What would you like to do about it ? Your options are: Y or I : install the package maintainer's version N or O : keep your currently-installed version D : show the differences between the versions Z : start a shell to examine the situation The default action is to keep your current version. *** postfix (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ? Y Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/postfix ... Adding group `postfix' (GID 109) ... Done. Adding system user `postfix' (UID 106) ... Adding new user `postfix' (UID 106) with group `postfix' ... Not creating home directory `/var/spool/postfix'. Creating /etc/postfix/dynamicmaps.cf Adding tcp map entry to /etc/postfix/dynamicmaps.cf Adding group `postdrop' (GID 115) ... Done. setting myhostname: ***.net setting alias maps setting alias database setting myorigin setting destinations: ***.net, localhost.***.net, , localhost setting relayhost: setting mynetworks: 127.0.0.0/8 [::ffff:127.0.0.0]/104 [::1]/128 setting mailbox_size_limit: 0 setting recipient_delimiter: + setting inet_interfaces: all Postfix is now set up with a default configuration. If you need to make changes, edit /etc/postfix/main.cf (and others) as needed. To view Postfix configuration values, see postconf(1). After modifying main.cf, be sure to run '/etc/init.d/postfix reload'. Running newaliases postalias: fatal: /etc/mailname: cannot open file: Permission denied dpkg: error processing postfix (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1 Processing triggers for libc-bin ... ldconfig deferred processing now taking place Errors were encountered while processing: postfix E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) I tried aptitude purge, remove, autoclean and all of dpkg options (configure, remove, purge) but nothing did the trick. /etc/mailname exists (0644 root:root) with as content *.net (fetched from hostname). What am I doing wrong?

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  • stunnel crashing

    - by Jay
    I'm trying to use stunnel to secure a legacy application's communications. I can't seem to get it setup and working. Can anyone provide any hints where I'm going wrong? Here's what I'm trying to accomplish: A windows service on a client machine connects to a server on port 7000 using TCP. I'd like to encrypt the communication between client and server. Here's what I've tried: Created a new server that accepts ssl connections on port 7443. Got a certificate for the server and installed it. That seems to work with my test setup. Installed stunnel on my windows machine (version 7.43 from the distribution archive file). Installed libssl32.dll and libeay32.dll in the same directory as stunnel.exe ( from the openssl-0.9.8h-1 binary distribution). Installed it as a service using "stunnel -install" Configured stunnel as follows: debug=7 output=C:\p4\internal\Utility\Proxy\proxy.log service=Proxy taskbar=no [exchange] accept=7000 client=yes connect=proxy.blah.com:7443 I changed my hosts file to trick the old application into connecting through stunnel: server.blah.com 127.0.0.1 # when client looks up server it goes to stunnel proxy.blah.com IP-address-of-server.blah.com # stunnel connects to new server "server.blah.com" now resolves to the machine it's running on (i.e. stunnel). "proxy.blah.com" goes to the real server. stunnel should connect to the server. I start the stunnel service and try to connect. It looks like it's working but the stunnel service just shuts down with no message. 2010.04.19 13:16:21 LOG5[4924:3716]: stunnel 4.33 on x86-pc-mingw32-gnu with OpenSSL 0.9.8h 28 May 2008 2010.04.19 13:16:21 LOG5[4924:3716]: Threading:WIN32 SSL:ENGINE Sockets:SELECT,IPv6 2010.04.19 13:16:49 LOG5[4924:3748]: Service exchange accepted connection from 127.0.0.1:4134 2010.04.19 13:16:49 LOG6[4924:3748]: connect_blocking: connecting x.80.60.32:7443 2010.04.19 13:16:49 LOG5[4924:3748]: connect_blocking: connected x.80.60.32:7443 2010.04.19 13:16:49 LOG5[4924:3748]: Service exchange connected remote server from x.253.120.19:4135 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG5[3668:3856]: Reading configuration from file stunnel.conf 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: Snagged 64 random bytes from C:/.rnd 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: Wrote 1024 new random bytes to C:/.rnd 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: RAND_status claims sufficient entropy for the PRNG 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: PRNG seeded successfully 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: SSL context initialized for service exchange 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG5[3668:3856]: Configuration successful 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG5[3668:3856]: No limit detected for the number of clients 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: FD=312 in non-blocking mode 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: Option SO_REUSEADDR set on accept socket 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: Service exchange bound to 0.0.0.0:7000 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG7[3668:3856]: Service exchange opened FD=312 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG5[3668:3856]: stunnel 4.33 on x86-pc-mingw32-gnu with OpenSSL 0.9.8h 28 May 2008 2010.04.19 13:20:24 LOG5[3668:3856]: Threading:WIN32 SSL:ENGINE Sockets:SELECT,IPv6 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:4556]: Service exchange accepted FD=372 from 127.0.0.1:4156 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:4556]: Creating a new thread 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:4556]: New thread created 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: Service exchange started 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: FD=372 in non-blocking mode 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG5[3668:3756]: Service exchange accepted connection from 127.0.0.1:4156 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: FD=396 in non-blocking mode 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG6[3668:3756]: connect_blocking: connecting x.80.60.32:7443 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: connect_blocking: s_poll_wait x.80.60.32:7443: waiting 10 seconds 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG5[3668:3756]: connect_blocking: connected x.80.60.32:7443 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG5[3668:3756]: Service exchange connected remote server from x.253.120.19:4157 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: Remote FD=396 initialized 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): before/connect initialization 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 write client hello A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 read server hello A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 read server certificate A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 read server done A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 write client key exchange A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 write change cipher spec A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 write finished A 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 flush data 2010.04.19 13:21:02 LOG7[3668:3756]: SSL state (connect): SSLv3 read finished A The client thinks the connection is closed: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it 127.0.0.1:7000 at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.DoConnect(EndPoint endPointSnapshot, SocketAddress socketAddress) at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Connect(EndPoint remoteEP) at Service.ConnUtility.Connect() Any suggestions?

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  • iptables 1.4 and passive FTP on custom port

    - by Cracky
    after the upgrade from debian squeeze to wheezy I've got a problem with passive FTP connection. I could narrow it to be iptables related, as I could connect via FTP w/o problems after adding my IP to the iptables ACCEPT rule. Before the upgrade I was able just to do modprobe nf_conntract_ftp ports=21332 and adding iptables -A THRU -p tcp --dport 21332 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT now..it doesn't help anymore. The INPUT rule is being triggered as I can see in the counter, but the directory listing is the last thing it does. Setting up a passive-port range is the last thing I want to do, I dislike open ports. I also tried the trick with helper mod by adding following rule before the actual rule for 21332 iptables -A THRU -p tcp -i eth0 --dport 21332 -m state --state NEW -m helper --helper ftp-21332 -j ACCEPT but it doesn't help and is even not being triggered according to counter. The rule in the next line (w/o helper) is being triggered.. here some info: # iptables --version iptables v1.4.14 # lsmod |grep nf_ nf_nat_ftp 12460 0 nf_nat 18242 1 nf_nat_ftp nf_conntrack_ftp 12605 1 nf_nat_ftp nf_conntrack_ipv4 14078 32 nf_nat nf_defrag_ipv4 12483 1 nf_conntrack_ipv4 nf_conntrack 52720 7 xt_state,nf_conntrack_ipv4,xt_conntrack,nf_conntrack_ftp,nf_nat,nf_nat_ftp,xt_helper # uname -a Linux loki 3.2.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.2.46-1 x86_64 GNU/Linux # iptables-save # Generated by iptables-save v1.4.14 on Sun Jun 30 03:54:28 2013 *filter :INPUT ACCEPT [0:0] :FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0] :OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0] :BLACKLIST - [0:0] :LOGDROP - [0:0] :SPAM - [0:0] :THRU - [0:0] :WEB - [0:0] :fail2ban-dovecot-pop3imap - [0:0] :fail2ban-pureftpd - [0:0] :fail2ban-ssh - [0:0] -A INPUT -p tcp -m multiport --dports 110,995,143,993 -j fail2ban-dovecot-pop3imap -A INPUT -p tcp -m multiport --dports 21,21332 -j fail2ban-pureftpd -A INPUT -p tcp -m multiport --dports 22 -j fail2ban-ssh -A INPUT -p tcp -m multiport --dports 110,995,143,993 -j fail2ban-dovecot-pop3imap -A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN,RST,PSH,ACK,URG NONE -j DROP -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,SYN FIN,SYN -j DROP -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags SYN,RST SYN,RST -j DROP -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,RST FIN,RST -j DROP -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags FIN,ACK FIN -j DROP -A INPUT -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --tcp-flags ACK,URG URG -j DROP -A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT -A INPUT -j BLACKLIST -A INPUT -j THRU -A INPUT -j LOGDROP -A OUTPUT -j ACCEPT -A OUTPUT -s 93.223.38.223/32 -j ACCEPT -A BLACKLIST -s 38.113.165.0/24 -j LOGDROP -A BLACKLIST -s 202.177.216.0/24 -j LOGDROP -A BLACKLIST -s 130.117.190.0/24 -j LOGDROP -A BLACKLIST -s 117.79.92.0/24 -j LOGDROP -A BLACKLIST -s 72.47.228.0/24 -j LOGDROP -A BLACKLIST -s 195.200.70.0/24 -j LOGDROP -A BLACKLIST -s 195.200.71.0/24 -j LOGDROP -A LOGDROP -m limit --limit 5/sec -j LOG --log-prefix drop_packet_ --log-level 7 -A LOGDROP -p tcp -m tcp --dport 25 -m limit --limit 2/sec -j LOG --log-prefix spam_blacklist --log-level 7 -A LOGDROP -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -m limit --limit 2/sec -j LOG --log-prefix web_blacklist --log-level 7 -A LOGDROP -p tcp -m tcp --dport 22 -m limit --limit 2/sec -j LOG --log-prefix ssh_blacklist --log-level 7 -A LOGDROP -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-host-prohibited -A THRU -p icmp -m limit --limit 1/sec -m icmp --icmp-type 8 -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 25 -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p udp -m udp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 110 -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 143 -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 465 -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 585 -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 993 -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 995 -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 2008 -m state --state NEW,RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 10011 -m state --state NEW,RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 21332 -m state --state NEW,RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT -A THRU -i eth0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 30033 -m state --state NEW,RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT -A fail2ban-dovecot-pop3imap -j RETURN -A fail2ban-dovecot-pop3imap -j RETURN -A fail2ban-pureftpd -j RETURN -A fail2ban-pureftpd -j RETURN -A fail2ban-ssh -j RETURN -A fail2ban-ssh -j RETURN COMMIT # Completed on Sun Jun 30 03:54:28 2013 So, as I said, I have no problems with connecting when adding my IP to go through..but that's not a solution as noone except me can connect anymore~ If someone got an idea what the problem is, please help me! Thanks Cracky

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  • Set source address to use tun device does not work (Debian Squeeze)

    - by A. Donda
    there have been similar questions on StackExchange but none of the answers helped me, so I'll try a question of my own. I have a VPN connection via OpenVPN. By default, all traffic is redirected through the tunnel using OpenVPN's "two more specific routes" trick, but I disabled that. My routing table is like this: 198.144.156.141 192.168.2.1 255.255.255.255 UGH 0 0 0 eth0 10.30.92.5 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 tun1 10.30.92.1 10.30.92.5 255.255.255.255 UGH 0 0 0 tun1 192.168.2.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0 0.0.0.0 10.30.92.5 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 tun1 0.0.0.0 192.168.2.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0 And the interface configuration is like this: # ifconfig eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr XX-XX- inet addr:192.168.2.100 Bcast:192.168.2.255 Mask:255.255.255.0 inet6 addr: fe80::211:9ff:fe8d:acbd/64 Scope:Link UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:394869 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:293489 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:388519578 (370.5 MiB) TX bytes:148817487 (141.9 MiB) Interrupt:20 Base address:0x6f00 tun1 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00 inet addr:10.30.92.6 P-t-P:10.30.92.5 Mask:255.255.255.255 UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:64 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:67 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:100 RX bytes:9885 (9.6 KiB) TX bytes:4380 (4.2 KiB) plus the lo device. The routing table has two default routes, one via eth0 through my local network router (DSL modem) at 192.168.2.1, and another via tun1 through the VPN's gateway. With this configuration, if I connect to a site, the route chosen is the direct one (because it has less hops?): # traceroute 8.8.8.8 -n traceroute to 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets 1 192.168.2.1 0.427 ms 0.491 ms 0.610 ms 2 213.191.89.13 17.981 ms 20.137 ms 22.141 ms 3 62.109.108.48 23.681 ms 25.009 ms 26.401 ms ... This is fine, because my goal is to send only traffic from specific applications through the tunnel (esp. transmission, using its -i / bind-address-ipv4 option). To test whether this can work at all, I check it first with traceroute's -s option: # traceroute 8.8.8.8 -n -s 10.30.92.6 traceroute to 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets 1 * * * 2 * * * 3 * * * ... This I take to mean that connection using the tunnel's local address as source is not possible. What is possible (though only as root) is to specify the source interface: # traceroute 8.8.8.8 -n -i tun1 traceroute to 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets 1 10.30.92.1 129.337 ms 297.758 ms 297.725 ms 2 * * * 3 198.144.152.17 297.653 ms 297.652 ms 297.650 ms ... So apparently the tun1 interface is working and it is possible to send packets through it. But selecting the source interface is not implemented in my actual target application (transmission), so I would like to get source address selection to work. What am I doing wrong?

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  • How do I make an external hard drive keep the same drive letter permanently?

    - by andygrunt
    I have a desktop PC (2002 vintage) running Windows XP that I turn on about 2 or 3 times per week. I have a mains powered 250Gb Western Digital hard disk connected to it via USB. I always turn the hard disk on before the PC so it's up and running as the PC boots. When I first connected the external hard disk, the PC assigned it a letter ('i' if it matters) and I've installed software to it, created shortcuts to various files and folders on the disk using that letter. For years everything was fine then I would boot the PC and the hard disk was assigned a different letter. I'd then have to go into 'my computer/manage/disk management' and manually change the letter back to 'i'. If I then rebooted the PC, the hard disk would usually still be 'i' but after the next reboot would be some other random letter and I have to manually change it back to 'i'. This would go on for some time then there'd be periods when the it would always be 'i' then, for no apparent reason (no new devices added, for example), the drive letter would start changing again. At the moment it's in random drive letter mood so I thought I'd ask the following question... How do I assign the external hard disk to be 'i' permanently? Answer: Thanks Molly that seems to have done the trick (after a little fiddling) - slightly disappointed there wasn't a way to do it within Windows without installing something else though. For anyone else trying this, it wasn't completely straightforward so here's what happened with me. I installed USBDLM as per the instructions on its website. I guessed that I had to assign the first USB letter to i so replaced the 'Letter1=' lines to 'Letter=I' in the ini file. To test it, I rebooted the PC only to find it came back up with the display set to 640x480 in 16 colours. After some investigation, I re-installed the display drivers and rebooted and set the display back to its usual setting. The external hard disk now gets set to 'i' but I found I had to re-apply sharing status to it so it was seen from my laptop which is on the same network. The end result of all this is that it now does what I wanted although it does act as though the hard drive has just been plugged in a few seconds after the Windows desktop appears i.e. the little box appears with a progress bar as it searches through the contents of the 'new' hard drive and I eventually get a dialogue box saying 'This disk or device contains more than one type of content. What do you want Windows to do?' and lists options such as play media files, print the pictures or open folder to view the files. This is a tiny pain I wish didn't happen but not exactly a huge price to pay. Other than that - it seems to work fine :) Looks like a spoke too soon... Every time I reboot, I have to re-share the 'i' drive (which I didn't have to do before) so it can be seen by my laptop on the same network. Any ideas how to make that permanent?

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  • The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials

    - by Ross
    The Apple iPad is the latest new toy, and we’ve put together a comprehensive list of every tip, trick, and tutorial that we could find to help you get the most out of it—and we’re even giving one away to one lucky reader. So read on! Note: We’ll be keeping this page updated as we find more great articles, so you should bookmark this page for future reference. Want Your Own iPad? How-To Geek is Giving One Away! All you have to do to enter is become a fan of our Facebook page, and we’ll pick a random fan to win the prize. Win an iPad on the How-To Geek Facebook Fan Page Disable the “clicking sound” on the iPad Keyboard Does the clicking sound when you tap the iPad keyboard bother you? Thankfully it’s easy to disable with a couple of taps. How to disable the “clicking sound” on your iPad’s keyboard Enable and add bookmarks to the Safari Bookmarks Bar on your iPad By default, Safari doesn’t display the Bookmarks Bar. This tip shows you how to change that. How to enable and add bookmarks to the Safari Bookmarks Bar on your iPad Clear the Cache, History and Cookies in Safari for the iPad You’re probably used to clearing this kind of data right from within the browser. Not so with Safari on the iPad – but here’s how you can. How to clear the cache, history and cookies in Safari for iPad How to add more Apps to your iPad Dock The iPad has four icons in its ‘dock’. Did you know it can hold 6? How to add more Apps to your iPad Dock Convert PDF files to ePub files to read on your iPad with iBooks ePub is the format that iBooks are in. So for those of you with large eBook collections in PDF, here’s how you convert them to read in iBooks. How to convert PDF files to ePub files to read on your iPad with iBooks How to force your iPad to restart Has an app caused your iPad to freeze up, and you can’t escape? This tip shows you how to force your iPad to restart. How to force your iPad to restart How to export Keynote for iPad presentations to your Mac or PC Exporting Keynote presentations from your iPad to your Mac or PC isn’t as straight forward as you might have expected. This tutorial shows you how. How to export Keynote for iPad presentations to your Mac or PC How to import presentations to Keynote on your iPad Having trouble getting your presentations onto your iPad? How to import presentations to Keynote on your iPad How to import documents to Pages on your iPad This guide shows you how to transfer documents (MS Word or Pages) from your Mac/PC to your iPad. How to import documents to Pages on your iPad How to insert photos in a Pages document using iPad and share it as a PDF Want to spice up that doc with a picture you just took? This tutorial will show you how – and how to export that document as a PDF. How to insert photos in a Pages document using iPad and share it as a PDF How to lock your iPad If you have kids or co-workers/friends who think it’s funny to mess with your iPad – lock it. How to lock your iPad How to remove the “Sent from my iPad” signature from outgoing email on your iPad Does everyone need to know you just sent that email from your iPad? Probably not. This guide shows you how to remove the “Sent from my iPad” signature and replace it with your own (or none). How to remove the “Sent from my iPad” signature from outgoing email on your iPad How To Sync Multiple Calendars to the iPad With Google Sync This tutorial will show you a workaround on how to sync multiple calendars on your iPad using Google Sync. How to Sync Multiple Calendars to the iPad With Google Sync How to determine the MAC address of your iPad If your network restricts connections via MAC address – this guide will show you how to determine what yours is. How to determine the MAC address of your iPad How to take a screenshot of your iPad Do you need to take a screenshot of your iPad? This quick tip shows you how to do just that. How to take a screenshot of your iPad How to delete apps from your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad Anyone who had an iPod Touch or iPhone before they had an iPad won’t need this tutorial. But if you’re new to the experience, this one will help. How to delete apps from your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad How to determine the iPad ECID on Windows and Mac iPadintosh shows us how to determine the iPad’s ECID code – something you’ll want to have come Jailbreak time. How to grab the iPad ECID in Windows or OS X iPad Apps: Twitter and social networking essentials Enggadget has you covered with reviews of the first slew of iPad specific Twitter and other social networking apps. iPad Apps: Twitter and social networking essentials What does your website look like on an iPad? iPad Peek is a web based tool that allows you to enter any given URL, and it will display that page the same way Safari on the iPad does. Great for web site owners who don’t have access to an iPad. iPadPeek Stream Music and Videos to your iPad Gizmodo reviews the iPad app StreamToMe, which allows you to stream media from your Mac to your iPad across your local network. Their feelings in a nutshell – worth the $3, but not perfect. Review: StreamToMe for the iPad Apple iPad : Change links in Google Reader to point to full HTML webpage How to change links in Safari for iPad so that Google Reader points to a full HTML webpage How to connect an iPad to your existing wireless keyboard This video will show you how to connect your iPad to a wireless keyboard if you’re having any problems – and from the sound of things, quite a few folks are. via TUAW How to get started with the iPad Mashable has a very entry-level guide that will help you set up your iPad for the first time. Mashable’s Guide to Setting up the iPad Essential iPad Apps Downloadsquad gives mini-reviews to 8 iPad apps that you should install as soon as you get your iPad. iPad App Buyers Guide: Essential Apps you should get on day one Videos: The Official iPad Guided Tours From none other than Apple! Great getting started videos for all the included iPad apps. The Official iPad Guided Tours The Official iPad Manual When you buy an iPad, you don’t get a manual. But that’s not to say there isn’t one. Apple provides a 150 guide for your iPad in PDF format. The Official iPad Manual (pdf) How to print from your iPad Sure, it’s actually just an App (PrintCentral – $9.99 USD), but as of right now, it’s the only way. PrintCentral How to make your own iPad Wallpaper A perfectly detailed tutorial on how to make your own wallpaper for your iPad. The author also provides a really nice sample wallpaper, published under the Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic license. How to make your own iPad Wallpaper Got any more tips? Share them in the comments, and we’ll update the post with the links, or just the tip itself. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Want an iPad? How-To Geek is Giving One Away!Why Wait? Amazing New Add-on Turns Your iPhone into an iPad! [Comic]Clear the Auto-Complete Email Address Cache in OutlookAsk the Readers: Share Your Tips for Defeating Viruses and MalwareStupid Geek Tricks: Tile or Cascade Multiple Windows in Windows 7 TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Are You Blocked On Gtalk? Find out Discover Latest Android Apps On AppBrain The Ultimate Guide For YouTube Lovers Will it Blend? iPad Edition Penolo Lets You Share Sketches On Twitter Visit Woolyss.com for Old School Games, Music and Videos

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  • Our Look at Opera 10.50 Web Browser

    - by Asian Angel
    Everyone has been talking about the newest version of Opera recently but perhaps you have not looked at it too closely yet. Today we will take a look at 10.50 and let you see what this “new browser” is all about. The New Engines Carakan JavaScript Engine: Runs web applications up to 7 times faster than its predecessor Futhark Vega Graphics Library: Enables super fast and smooth graphics on everything from tab switching to webpage animation Presto 2.5: Provides support for HTML5, CSS2.1 and the latest CSS3 standards A Look at the Features Available If you have installed or used older versions of Opera before then the default look after a clean install will probably seem rather different. The main differences in appearance are mainly located within the “glass border” areas of the browser. The “Speed Dial” setup looks and works just as well as in previous versions. You can set a favorite wallpaper or image as your background and choose the number of “dials” using the “Configure Speed Dial Command”. One of the “standout” differences is the “O Button”. All of the menus have been condensed into this single access point but it only takes a few moments to find what you are looking for. If you have used the style before in earlier versions of Opera some of the items have been moved around. For those who prefer the “Menu Bar” that can be easily restored using the “Show Menu Bar Command”. If desired you can actually “extend” the “Tab Bar” downwards to display thumbnails of your open tabs. Just use your mouse to grab the bottom of the “Tab Bar” and adjust it to suit your personal needs. The only problem with this feature is that it will quickly use up a good sized portion of your available UI and browser window space. The “Password Manager” is ready to access when needed…the background for the button will turn a shiny metallic blue when you open a webpage that you have “Login Information” saved for. One of the new features is a small “Recycle Bin Button” in the upper right corner. Clicking on this will display a list of recently closed tabs letting you have easy access to any tabs that you may have accidentally closed. This is definitely a great feature to have as an easy access button. For those who were used to how the “Zoom Feature” looked before it has a new “look” to it. Instead of the pop-up menu-type listing of “view sizes” present before you now have a slider button that you can use to adjust the zooming level. For our default setup here the “Sidebar Panels” available were: “Bookmarks, Widgets, Unite, Notes, Downloads, History, & Panels”. Additional panels such as “Links, Windows, Search, Info, etc.” are available if you want and/or need them (accessible using the “Panels Plus Sign Button”). The “Opera Link Button” makes it easy for you to synchronize your “Speed Dial, Bookmarks, Personal Bar, Custom Searches, History & Notes”. Note: “Opera Link” requires an account and can be signed up for using the link provided below. Want to share files with your family and friends? “Unite” allows you to do that and more. With “Unite” you can: “Stream Music, Show Photo Galleries, Share Files and/or Folders, & host webpages directly from your browser”. We have a more in-depth look at “Unite” in our article here. Note: Use of “Unite” requires an Opera account. Got a slow internet connection? “Opera Turbo” can help with that by running the web traffic through their “compression servers” to speed up your web browsing. Keep in mind that “Opera Turbo” will not engage if you are accessing a secure website (i.e. your bank’s website) thus preserving your security. Note: “Opera Turbo” can be set up to automatically detect slow internet connections (i.e. crowded Wi-Fi in a cafe). Opera has a built-in “Private Browsing Mode” now for those who prefer anonymous browsing and want to keep the “history records clean” on their computer. To access it go to “Tabs and windows” and select “New private tab” or “New private window” as desired. When you open your new “Private Tab or Window” you will see the following message with details on how Opera will handle browsing information and a large “door hanger symbol”. Notice that the one tab is locked into “Private Browsing Mode” while the others are still working in “Regular Browsing Mode”. Very nice! A miniature version of the “door hanger symbol” will be present on any tab that is locked into “Private Browsing Mode”. If you are using Windows 7 then you will love how things look from your “Taskbar”. Here you can see four very nice looking thumbnails for the tabs that we had open. All that you have to do is click on the desired thumbnail… The “Context Menu” looks just as lovely as the thumbnails and definitely has some terrific functionality built into it. Add Enhanced Aero Capability If you love “Aero” and want more for your new Opera install then we have the perfect theme for you. The theme’s name is Z1-AV69 and once you have downloaded it you will need to place it in the “Skins Subfolder” in Opera’s “Program Files Folder”. Note: For our example we used version 1.10 but version 2.00 is now available (link provided below). Once you have restarted Opera, go to the “O Menu” and select “Appearance”. When the “Appearance Window” opens click on “Z1-Glass Skin” and then click “OK”. All of a sudden you will have more “Aero Goodness” to enjoy. Compare this screenshot with the one at the top of this article…the only part that is not transparent now is the browser window area itself. Want even more “Aero Goodness”? Right click on the “Tab Bar” and set “Tab Bar Placement” to “Left”. Note: You can achieve the same effect by setting the “Tab Bar Placement” to “Right”. With the “Speed Dial” visible you will be able to see your wallpaper with ease. While this is obviously not for everyone it does make for a great visual trick. Portable Versions Perhaps you need this wonderful new version of Opera to go with you wherever you do during the day. Not a problem…just visit the Opera USB website to choose a version that works best for you. You can select from “Zip or Exe” setup files and if needed update an older portable version using a “Zipped Update Files Package”. If you are updating an older version keep in mind that you will need to delete the old “OperaUSB.exe. File” due to changes with the new setup files. During our tests updating older portable versions went well for the most part but we did experience a few “odd UI quirks” here and there…so we recommend setting up a clean install if possible. Conclusion The new 10.50 release is a pleasure to use and is a recommended install for your system. Whether you are considering trying Opera for the first time or have been using it for a bit we think that you will pleased with everything that the 10.50 release has to offer. For those who would like to add User Scripts to Opera be certain to look at our how-to article here. Links Download Opera 10.50 for your location (Windows) Get the latest Snapshot versions for Linux & Mac Sign up for an Opera Link account View In-Depth detail on Opera 10.50’s features Download the Z1-AV69 Aero Theme Download Portable Opera 10.50 Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Set the Speed Dial as the Opera Startup PageSet Up User Scripts in Opera BrowserScan Files for Viruses Before You Download With Dr.WebTurn Your Computer into a File, Music, and Web Server with Opera UniteSet the Default Browser on Ubuntu From the Command Line TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Make your Joomla & Drupal Sites Mobile with OSMOBI Integrate Twitter and Delicious and Make Life Easier Design Your Web Pages Using the Golden Ratio Worldwide Growth of the Internet How to Find Your Mac Address Use My TextTools to Edit and Organize Text

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  • Week in Geek: FBI Back Door in OpenBSD Edition

    - by Asian Angel
    This week we learned how to migrate bookmarks from Delicious to Diigo, fix annoying arrows, play old-school DOS games, schedule smart computer shutdowns, use breaks in Microsoft Word to better format documents, check the condition of hard-disks using Linux disk utilities, & what the Linux fstab is and how it works. Photo by Jameson42. Random Geek Links Another week with extra news link goodness to help keep you up to date. Photo by justmakeit. Report of FBI back door roils OpenBSD community Allegations that the FBI surreptitiously placed a back door into the OpenBSD operating system have alarmed the computer security community, prompting calls for an audit of the source code and claims that the charges must be a hoax. Fortinet: Job outlook improving for cybercrooks In an ironic twist in the job market, more positions will open up for developers who can write customized malware packers, people who can break CAPTCHA codes, and distributors who can spread malicious code, according to Fortinet. Enisa: Malware for smartphones is a ’serious risk’ Businesses and consumers are at risk of data breaches through smartphone use, according to the European Network and Information Security Agency. The trick with the f: Google and Microsoft web sites distribute malware Last week, Google’s DoubleClick advertising platform and Microsoft’s rad.msn.com online ad network briefly distributed malware to other web sites in the form of advertising banners. New scam tactic: Fake disk defraggers It would appear that scammers are trying out new programs to see which might best confuse potential victims and evade detection by legitimate antivirus software. Microsoft closes IE and Stuxnet holes As previously announced, Microsoft has released 17 security updates to close 40 security holes. All four Windows holes so far disclosed in connection with Stuxnet have now been closed. Microsoft Offers H.264 Support to Firefox on Windows via Add-On The new HTML5 Extension for Windows Media Player Firefox Plug-in add-on from Microsoft offers users that are running Firefox on Windows 7 H.264 support for HTML5 video playback. Google proclaims Chrome business-ready Google has announced that Chrome is ready for corporate use. Microsoft Tells Exchange Customers to Think Twice Before Opting for Google Message Continuity This week, Microsoft is telling companies still running Exchange 2010’s precursors that they should carefully consider the implications of embracing Google Message Continuity. Who Google has in mind for its Chrome OS users Steven Vaughan-Nichols explains why he feels that Chrome OS will be ideal for either office-workers or people who need a computer, but do not know the first thing about how to use one safely. Oracle takes office suite to the cloud Oracle has introduced Cloud Office 1.0, a cloud-based version of its office suite, which is aimed at web and mobile users. Mozilla pays premiums for reports of vulnerabilities The Mozilla Foundation has followed Google’s example by expanding its rewards program for reports of vulnerabilities in its Web applications. Who bought those 882 Novell patents? Not just Microsoft The mysterious CPTN Holdings — the organization that bought the 882 Novell patents as part of the terms of the Attachmate acquisition of Novell – has been unmasked (Microsoft, Apple, EMC and Oracle). Appeals court: Feds need warrants for e-mail Police must obtain search warrants before perusing Internet users’ e-mail records, a federal appeals court ruled today in a landmark decision that struck down part of a 1986 law allowing warrantless access. Geek Video of the Week What happens when someone plays a wicked prank by shoveling crazy snow paths that lead to dead ends or turn back on themselves? Watch to find out! Photo by CollegeHumor. Janitor Snow Shoveling Prank Random TinyHacker Links The Oatmeal on Cat vs Internet What lengths will our poor neglected kitty hero have to go to in order to get some attention? Guide On Using JoliCloud With Windows JoliCloud is a nifty operating system that’s made for people who need a light-weight OS that’s mostly cloud based. Check this guide on using it with Windows. Use Cameyo to Easily Create Portable Programs Here’s a nifty tool to make portable apps out of programs in Windows. Check out the guide to do it. Better Family Tech Support A nice new site by Google to help members of family understand how computers work. Track Your Stolen Mobile Phone With F-Secure A useful anti-theft tool for your mobile phone. Super User Questions Another week with great answers to popular questions from Super User. What Chrome password manager fits my requirements? What’s the best way to be able to reimage windows computers? Could you suggest feature-rich disk-based personal backup program for linux (and I’ve seen a few)? What is IPv6 and why should I care? Is there any way to find out what programs are trying to connect to Internet on windows? How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Here are our hottest articles full of geeky goodness from this past week at HTG. 20 OS X Keyboard Shortcuts You Might Not Know Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Kills Viruses Dead. Download It Now. Is Your Desktop Printer More Expensive Than Printing Services? Ask the Readers: Would You Be Willing to Give Windows Up and Use a Different O.S.? The Twelve Days of Geekmas One Year Ago on How-To Geek Enjoy reading through our latest batch of retro-geek goodness from one year ago. Macrium Reflect is a Free and Easy To Use Backup Utility How To Turn a Physical Computer Into A Virtual Machine with Disk2vhd How To Restore Windows 7 from a System Image How To Manage Hard Drive Space Used by Windows 7 Backup and Restore How To Manage Hibernate Mode in Windows 7 The Geek Note That is all we have for you this week, so see you back here again after the holidays! Got a great tip? Send it in to us at [email protected]. Photo by mitjamavsar. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better The How-To Geek Holiday Gift Guide (Geeky Stuff We Like) LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 8: Filters Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor Deathwing the Destroyer – WoW Cataclysm Dragon Wallpaper Drag2Up Lets You Drag and Drop Files to the Web With Ease The Spam Police Parts 1 and 2 – Goodbye Spammers [Videos] Snow Angels Theme for Windows 7 Exploring the Jungle Ruins Wallpaper Protect Your Privacy When Browsing with Chrome and Iron Browser

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  • HttpContext.Items and Server.Transfer/Execute

    - by Rick Strahl
    A few days ago my buddy Ben Jones pointed out that he ran into a bug in the ScriptContainer control in the West Wind Web and Ajax Toolkit. The problem was basically that when a Server.Transfer call was applied the script container (and also various ClientScriptProxy script embedding routines) would potentially fail to load up the specified scripts. It turns out the problem is due to the fact that the various components in the toolkit use request specific singletons via a Current property. I use a static Current property tied to a Context.Items[] entry to handle this type of operation which looks something like this: /// <summary> /// Current instance of this class which should always be used to /// access this object. There are no public constructors to /// ensure the reference is used as a Singleton to further /// ensure that all scripts are written to the same clientscript /// manager. /// </summary> public static ClientScriptProxy Current { get { if (HttpContext.Current == null) return new ClientScriptProxy(); ClientScriptProxy proxy = null; if (HttpContext.Current.Items.Contains(STR_CONTEXTID)) proxy = HttpContext.Current.Items[STR_CONTEXTID] as ClientScriptProxy; else { proxy = new ClientScriptProxy(); HttpContext.Current.Items[STR_CONTEXTID] = proxy; } return proxy; } } The proxy is attached to a Context.Items[] item which makes the instance Request specific. This works perfectly fine in most situations EXCEPT when you’re dealing with Server.Transfer/Execute requests. Server.Transfer doesn’t cause Context.Items to be cleared so both the current transferred request and the original request’s Context.Items collection apply. For the ClientScriptProxy this causes a problem because script references are tracked on a per request basis in Context.Items to check for script duplication. Once a script is rendered an ID is written into the Context collection and so considered ‘rendered’: // No dupes - ref script include only once if (HttpContext.Current.Items.Contains( STR_SCRIPTITEM_IDENTITIFIER + fileId ) ) return; HttpContext.Current.Items.Add(STR_SCRIPTITEM_IDENTITIFIER + fileId, string.Empty); where the fileId is the script name or unique identifier. The problem is on the Transferred page the item will already exist in Context and so fail to render because it thinks the script has already rendered based on the Context item. Bummer. The workaround for this is simple once you know what’s going on, but in this case it was a bitch to track down because the context items are used in many places throughout this class. The trick is to determine when a request is transferred and then removing the specific keys. The first issue is to determine if a script is in a Trransfer or Execute call: if (HttpContext.Current.CurrentHandler != HttpContext.Current.Handler) Context.Handler is the original handler and CurrentHandler is the actual currently executing handler that is running when a Transfer/Execute is active. You can also use Context.PreviousHandler to get the last handler and chain through the whole list of handlers applied if Transfer calls are nested (dog help us all for the person debugging that). For the ClientScriptProxy the full logic to check for a transfer and remove the code looks like this: /// <summary> /// Clears all the request specific context items which are script references /// and the script placement index. /// </summary> public void ClearContextItemsOnTransfer() { if (HttpContext.Current != null) { // Check for Server.Transfer/Execute calls - we need to clear out Context.Items if (HttpContext.Current.CurrentHandler != HttpContext.Current.Handler) { List<string> Keys = HttpContext.Current.Items.Keys.Cast<string>().Where(s => s.StartsWith(STR_SCRIPTITEM_IDENTITIFIER) || s == STR_ScriptResourceIndex).ToList(); foreach (string key in Keys) { HttpContext.Current.Items.Remove(key); } } } } along with a small update to the Current property getter that sets a global flag to indicate whether the request was transferred: if (!proxy.IsTransferred && HttpContext.Current.Handler != HttpContext.Current.CurrentHandler) { proxy.ClearContextItemsOnTransfer(); proxy.IsTransferred = true; } return proxy; I know this is pretty ugly, but it works and it’s actually minimal fuss without affecting the behavior of the rest of the class. Ben had a different solution that involved explicitly clearing out the Context items and replacing the collection with a manually maintained list of items which also works, but required changes through the code to make this work. In hindsight, it would have been better to use a single object that encapsulates all the ‘persisted’ values and store that object in Context instead of all these individual small morsels. Hindsight is always 20/20 though :-}. If possible use Page.Items ClientScriptProxy is a generic component that can be used from anywhere in ASP.NET, so there are various methods that are not Page specific on this component which is why I used Context.Items, rather than the Page.Items collection.Page.Items would be a better choice since it will sidestep the above Server.Transfer nightmares as the Page is reloaded completely and so any new Page gets a new Items collection. No fuss there. So for the ScriptContainer control, which has to live on the page the behavior is a little different. It is attached to Page.Items (since it’s a control): /// <summary> /// Returns a current instance of this control if an instance /// is already loaded on the page. Otherwise a new instance is /// created, added to the Form and returned. /// /// It's important this function is not called too early in the /// page cycle - it should not be called before Page.OnInit(). /// /// This property is the preferred way to get a reference to a /// ScriptContainer control that is either already on a page /// or needs to be created. Controls in particular should always /// use this property. /// </summary> public static ScriptContainer Current { get { // We need a context for this to work! if (HttpContext.Current == null) return null; Page page = HttpContext.Current.CurrentHandler as Page; if (page == null) throw new InvalidOperationException(Resources.ERROR_ScriptContainer_OnlyWorks_With_PageBasedHandlers); ScriptContainer ctl = null; // Retrieve the current instance ctl = page.Items[STR_CONTEXTID] as ScriptContainer; if (ctl != null) return ctl; ctl = new ScriptContainer(); page.Form.Controls.Add(ctl); return ctl; } } The biggest issue with this approach is that you have to explicitly retrieve the page in the static Current property. Notice again the use of CurrentHandler (rather than Handler which was my original implementation) to ensure you get the latest page including the one that Server.Transfer fired. Server.Transfer and Server.Execute are Evil All that said – this fix is probably for the 2 people who are crazy enough to rely on Server.Transfer/Execute. :-} There are so many weird behavior problems with these commands that I avoid them at all costs. I don’t think I have a single application that uses either of these commands… Related Resources Full source of ClientScriptProxy.cs (repository) Part of the West Wind Web Toolkit Static Singletons for ASP.NET Controls Post © Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2010Posted in ASP.NET  

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  • Securing an ASP.NET MVC 2 Application

    - by rajbk
    This post attempts to look at some of the methods that can be used to secure an ASP.NET MVC 2 Application called Northwind Traders Human Resources.  The sample code for the project is attached at the bottom of this post. We are going to use a slightly modified Northwind database. The screen capture from SQL server management studio shows the change. I added a new column called Salary, inserted some random salaries for the employees and then turned off AllowNulls.   The reporting relationship for Northwind Employees is shown below.   The requirements for our application are as follows: Employees can see their LastName, FirstName, Title, Address and Salary Employees are allowed to edit only their Address information Employees can see the LastName, FirstName, Title, Address and Salary of their immediate reports Employees cannot see records of non immediate reports.  Employees are allowed to edit only the Salary and Title information of their immediate reports. Employees are not allowed to edit the Address of an immediate report Employees should be authenticated into the system. Employees by default get the “Employee” role. If a user has direct reports, they will also get assigned a “Manager” role. We use a very basic empId/pwd scheme of EmployeeID (1-9) and password test$1. You should never do this in an actual application. The application should protect from Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF). For example, Michael could trick Steven, who is already logged on to the HR website, to load a page which contains a malicious request. where without Steven’s knowledge, a form on the site posts information back to the Northwind HR website using Steven’s credentials. Michael could use this technique to give himself a raise :-) UI Notes The layout of our app looks like so: When Nancy (EmpID 1) signs on, she sees the default page with her details and is allowed to edit her address. If Nancy attempts to view the record of employee Andrew who has an employeeID of 2 (Employees/Edit/2), she will get a “Not Authorized” error page. When Andrew (EmpID 2) signs on, he can edit the address field of his record and change the title and salary of employees that directly report to him. Implementation Notes All controllers inherit from a BaseController. The BaseController currently only has error handling code. When a user signs on, we check to see if they are in a Manager role. We then create a FormsAuthenticationTicket, encrypt it (including the roles that the employee belongs to) and add it to a cookie. private void SetAuthenticationCookie(int employeeID, List<string> roles) { HttpCookiesSection cookieSection = (HttpCookiesSection) ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.web/httpCookies"); AuthenticationSection authenticationSection = (AuthenticationSection) ConfigurationManager.GetSection("system.web/authentication"); FormsAuthenticationTicket authTicket = new FormsAuthenticationTicket( 1, employeeID.ToString(), DateTime.Now, DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(authenticationSection.Forms.Timeout.TotalMinutes), false, string.Join("|", roles.ToArray())); String encryptedTicket = FormsAuthentication.Encrypt(authTicket); HttpCookie authCookie = new HttpCookie(FormsAuthentication.FormsCookieName, encryptedTicket); if (cookieSection.RequireSSL || authenticationSection.Forms.RequireSSL) { authCookie.Secure = true; } HttpContext.Current.Response.Cookies.Add(authCookie); } We read this cookie back in Global.asax and set the Context.User to be a new GenericPrincipal with the roles we assigned earlier. protected void Application_AuthenticateRequest(Object sender, EventArgs e){ if (Context.User != null) { string cookieName = FormsAuthentication.FormsCookieName; HttpCookie authCookie = Context.Request.Cookies[cookieName]; if (authCookie == null) return; FormsAuthenticationTicket authTicket = FormsAuthentication.Decrypt(authCookie.Value); string[] roles = authTicket.UserData.Split(new char[] { '|' }); FormsIdentity fi = (FormsIdentity)(Context.User.Identity); Context.User = new System.Security.Principal.GenericPrincipal(fi, roles); }} We ensure that a user has permissions to view a record by creating a custom attribute AuthorizeToViewID that inherits from ActionFilterAttribute. public class AuthorizeToViewIDAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute{ IEmployeeRepository employeeRepository = new EmployeeRepository(); public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext) { if (filterContext.ActionParameters.ContainsKey("id") && filterContext.ActionParameters["id"] != null) { if (employeeRepository.IsAuthorizedToView((int)filterContext.ActionParameters["id"])) { return; } } throw new UnauthorizedAccessException("The record does not exist or you do not have permission to access it"); }} We add the AuthorizeToView attribute to any Action method that requires authorization. [HttpPost][Authorize(Order = 1)]//To prevent CSRF[ValidateAntiForgeryToken(Salt = Globals.EditSalt, Order = 2)]//See AuthorizeToViewIDAttribute class[AuthorizeToViewID(Order = 3)] [ActionName("Edit")]public ActionResult Update(int id){ var employeeToEdit = employeeRepository.GetEmployee(id); if (employeeToEdit != null) { //Employees can edit only their address //A manager can edit the title and salary of their subordinate string[] whiteList = (employeeToEdit.IsSubordinate) ? new string[] { "Title", "Salary" } : new string[] { "Address" }; if (TryUpdateModel(employeeToEdit, whiteList)) { employeeRepository.Save(employeeToEdit); return RedirectToAction("Details", new { id = id }); } else { ModelState.AddModelError("", "Please correct the following errors."); } } return View(employeeToEdit);} The Authorize attribute is added to ensure that only authorized users can execute that Action. We use the TryUpdateModel with a white list to ensure that (a) an employee is able to edit only their Address and (b) that a manager is able to edit only the Title and Salary of a subordinate. This works in conjunction with the AuthorizeToViewIDAttribute. The ValidateAntiForgeryToken attribute is added (with a salt) to avoid CSRF. The Order on the attributes specify the order in which the attributes are executed. The Edit View uses the AntiForgeryToken helper to render the hidden token: ......<% using (Html.BeginForm()) {%><%=Html.AntiForgeryToken(NorthwindHR.Models.Globals.EditSalt)%><%= Html.ValidationSummary(true, "Please correct the errors and try again.") %><div class="editor-label"> <%= Html.LabelFor(model => model.LastName) %></div><div class="editor-field">...... The application uses View specific models for ease of model binding. public class EmployeeViewModel{ public int EmployeeID; [Required] [DisplayName("Last Name")] public string LastName { get; set; } [Required] [DisplayName("First Name")] public string FirstName { get; set; } [Required] [DisplayName("Title")] public string Title { get; set; } [Required] [DisplayName("Address")] public string Address { get; set; } [Required] [DisplayName("Salary")] [Range(500, double.MaxValue)] public decimal Salary { get; set; } public bool IsSubordinate { get; set; }} To help with displaying readonly/editable fields, we use a helper method. //Simple extension method to display a TextboxFor or DisplayFor based on the isEditable variablepublic static MvcHtmlString TextBoxOrLabelFor<TModel, TProperty>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper, Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression, bool isEditable){ if (isEditable) { return htmlHelper.TextBoxFor(expression); } else { return htmlHelper.DisplayFor(expression); }} The helper method is used in the view like so: <%=Html.TextBoxOrLabelFor(model => model.Title, Model.IsSubordinate)%> As mentioned in this post, there is a much easier way to update properties on an object. Download Demo Project VS 2008, ASP.NET MVC 2 RTM Remember to change the connectionString to point to your Northwind DB NorthwindHR.zip Feedback and bugs are always welcome :-)

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  • Adding DTrace Probes to PHP Extensions

    - by cj
    The powerful DTrace tracing facility has some PHP-specific probes that can be enabled with --enable-dtrace. DTrace for Linux is being created by Oracle and is currently in tech preview. Currently it doesn't support userspace tracing so, in the meantime, Systemtap can be used to monitor the probes implemented in PHP. This was recently outlined in David Soria Parra's post Probing PHP with Systemtap on Linux. My post shows how DTrace probes can be added to PHP extensions and traced on Linux. I was using Oracle Linux 6.3. Not all Linux kernels are built with Systemtap, since this can impact stability. Check whether your running kernel (or others installed) have Systemtap enabled, and reboot with such a kernel: # grep CONFIG_UTRACE /boot/config-`uname -r` # grep CONFIG_UTRACE /boot/config-* When you install Systemtap itself, the package systemtap-sdt-devel is needed since it provides the sdt.h header file: # yum install systemtap-sdt-devel You can now install and build PHP as shown in David's article. Basically the build is with: $ cd ~/php-src $ ./configure --disable-all --enable-dtrace $ make (For me, running 'make' a second time failed with an error. The workaround is to do 'git checkout Zend/zend_dtrace.d' and then rerun 'make'. See PHP Bug 63704) David's article shows how to trace the probes already implemented in PHP. You can also use Systemtap to trace things like userspace PHP function calls. For example, create test.php: <?php $c = oci_connect('hr', 'welcome', 'localhost/orcl'); $s = oci_parse($c, "select dbms_xmlgen.getxml('select * from dual') xml from dual"); $r = oci_execute($s); $row = oci_fetch_array($s, OCI_NUM); $x = $row[0]->load(); $row[0]->free(); echo $x; ?> The normal output of this file is the XML form of Oracle's DUAL table: $ ./sapi/cli/php ~/test.php <?xml version="1.0"?> <ROWSET> <ROW> <DUMMY>X</DUMMY> </ROW> </ROWSET> To trace the PHP function calls, create the tracing file functrace.stp: probe process("sapi/cli/php").function("zif_*") { printf("Started function %s\n", probefunc()); } probe process("sapi/cli/php").function("zif_*").return { printf("Ended function %s\n", probefunc()); } This makes use of the way PHP userspace functions (not builtins) like oci_connect() map to C functions with a "zif_" prefix. Login as root, and run System tap on the PHP script: # cd ~cjones/php-src # stap -c 'sapi/cli/php ~cjones/test.php' ~cjones/functrace.stp Started function zif_oci_connect Ended function zif_oci_connect Started function zif_oci_parse Ended function zif_oci_parse Started function zif_oci_execute Ended function zif_oci_execute Started function zif_oci_fetch_array Ended function zif_oci_fetch_array Started function zif_oci_lob_load <?xml version="1.0"?> <ROWSET> <ROW> <DUMMY>X</DUMMY> </ROW> </ROWSET> Ended function zif_oci_lob_load Started function zif_oci_free_descriptor Ended function zif_oci_free_descriptor Each call and return is logged. The Systemtap scripting language allows complex scripts to be built. There are many examples on the web. To augment this generic capability and the PHP probes in PHP, other extensions can have probes too. Below are the steps I used to add probes to OCI8: I created a provider file ext/oci8/oci8_dtrace.d, enabling three probes. The first one will accept a parameter that runtime tracing can later display: provider php { probe oci8__connect(char *username); probe oci8__nls_start(); probe oci8__nls_done(); }; I updated ext/oci8/config.m4 with the PHP_INIT_DTRACE macro. The patch is at the end of config.m4. The macro takes the provider prototype file, a name of the header file that 'dtrace' will generate, and a list of sources files with probes. When --enable-dtrace is used during PHP configuration, then the outer $PHP_DTRACE check is true and my new probes will be enabled. I've chosen to define an OCI8 specific macro, HAVE_OCI8_DTRACE, which can be used in the OCI8 source code: diff --git a/ext/oci8/config.m4 b/ext/oci8/config.m4 index 34ae76c..f3e583d 100644 --- a/ext/oci8/config.m4 +++ b/ext/oci8/config.m4 @@ -341,4 +341,17 @@ if test "$PHP_OCI8" != "no"; then PHP_SUBST_OLD(OCI8_ORACLE_VERSION) fi + + if test "$PHP_DTRACE" = "yes"; then + AC_CHECK_HEADERS([sys/sdt.h], [ + PHP_INIT_DTRACE([ext/oci8/oci8_dtrace.d], + [ext/oci8/oci8_dtrace_gen.h],[ext/oci8/oci8.c]) + AC_DEFINE(HAVE_OCI8_DTRACE,1, + [Whether to enable DTrace support for OCI8 ]) + ], [ + AC_MSG_ERROR( + [Cannot find sys/sdt.h which is required for DTrace support]) + ]) + fi + fi In ext/oci8/oci8.c, I added the probes at, for this example, semi-arbitrary places: diff --git a/ext/oci8/oci8.c b/ext/oci8/oci8.c index e2241cf..ffa0168 100644 --- a/ext/oci8/oci8.c +++ b/ext/oci8/oci8.c @@ -1811,6 +1811,12 @@ php_oci_connection *php_oci_do_connect_ex(char *username, int username_len, char } } +#ifdef HAVE_OCI8_DTRACE + if (DTRACE_OCI8_CONNECT_ENABLED()) { + DTRACE_OCI8_CONNECT(username); + } +#endif + /* Initialize global handles if they weren't initialized before */ if (OCI_G(env) == NULL) { php_oci_init_global_handles(TSRMLS_C); @@ -1870,11 +1876,22 @@ php_oci_connection *php_oci_do_connect_ex(char *username, int username_len, char size_t rsize = 0; sword result; +#ifdef HAVE_OCI8_DTRACE + if (DTRACE_OCI8_NLS_START_ENABLED()) { + DTRACE_OCI8_NLS_START(); + } +#endif PHP_OCI_CALL_RETURN(result, OCINlsEnvironmentVariableGet, (&charsetid_nls_lang, 0, OCI_NLS_CHARSET_ID, 0, &rsize)); if (result != OCI_SUCCESS) { charsetid_nls_lang = 0; } smart_str_append_unsigned_ex(&hashed_details, charsetid_nls_lang, 0); + +#ifdef HAVE_OCI8_DTRACE + if (DTRACE_OCI8_NLS_DONE_ENABLED()) { + DTRACE_OCI8_NLS_DONE(); + } +#endif } timestamp = time(NULL); The oci_connect(), oci_pconnect() and oci_new_connect() calls all use php_oci_do_connect_ex() internally. The first probe simply records that the PHP application made a connection call. I already showed a way to do this without needing a probe, but adding a specific probe lets me record the username. The other two probes can be used to time how long the globalization initialization takes. The relationships between the oci8_dtrace.d names like oci8__connect, the probe guards like DTRACE_OCI8_CONNECT_ENABLED() and probe names like DTRACE_OCI8_CONNECT() are obvious after seeing the pattern of all three probes. I included the new header that will be automatically created by the dtrace tool when PHP is built. I did this in ext/oci8/php_oci8_int.h: diff --git a/ext/oci8/php_oci8_int.h b/ext/oci8/php_oci8_int.h index b0d6516..c81fc5a 100644 --- a/ext/oci8/php_oci8_int.h +++ b/ext/oci8/php_oci8_int.h @@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ # endif # endif /* osf alpha */ +#ifdef HAVE_OCI8_DTRACE +#include "oci8_dtrace_gen.h" +#endif + #if defined(min) #undef min #endif Now PHP can be rebuilt: $ cd ~/php-src $ rm configure && ./buildconf --force $ ./configure --disable-all --enable-dtrace \ --with-oci8=instantclient,/home/cjones/instantclient $ make If 'make' fails, do the 'git checkout Zend/zend_dtrace.d' trick I mentioned. The new probes can be seen by logging in as root and running: # stap -l 'process.provider("php").mark("oci8*")' -c 'sapi/cli/php -i' process("sapi/cli/php").provider("php").mark("oci8__connect") process("sapi/cli/php").provider("php").mark("oci8__nls_done") process("sapi/cli/php").provider("php").mark("oci8__nls_start") To test them out, create a new trace file, oci.stp: global numconnects; global start; global numcharlookups = 0; global tottime = 0; probe process.provider("php").mark("oci8-connect") { printf("Connected as %s\n", user_string($arg1)); numconnects += 1; } probe process.provider("php").mark("oci8-nls_start") { start = gettimeofday_us(); numcharlookups++; } probe process.provider("php").mark("oci8-nls_done") { tottime += gettimeofday_us() - start; } probe end { printf("Connects: %d, Charset lookups: %ld\n", numconnects, numcharlookups); printf("Total NLS charset initalization time: %ld usecs/connect\n", (numcharlookups 0 ? tottime/numcharlookups : 0)); } This calculates the average time that the NLS character set lookup takes. It also prints out the username of each connection, as an example of using parameters. Login as root and run Systemtap over the PHP script: # cd ~cjones/php-src # stap -c 'sapi/cli/php ~cjones/test.php' ~cjones/oci.stp Connected as cj <?xml version="1.0"?> <ROWSET> <ROW> <DUMMY>X</DUMMY> </ROW> </ROWSET> Connects: 1, Charset lookups: 1 Total NLS charset initalization time: 164 usecs/connect This shows the time penalty of making OCI8 look up the default character set. This time would be zero if a character set had been passed as the fourth argument to oci_connect() in test.php.

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  • Validation in Silverlight

    - by Timmy Kokke
    Getting started with the basics Validation in Silverlight can get very complex pretty easy. The DataGrid control is the only control that does data validation automatically, but often you want to validate your own entry form. Values a user may enter in this form can be restricted by the customer and have to fit an exact fit to a list of requirements or you just want to prevent problems when saving the data to the database. Showing a message to the user when a value is entered is pretty straight forward as I’ll show you in the following example.     This (default) Silverlight textbox is data-bound to a simple data class. It has to be bound in “Two-way” mode to be sure the source value is updated when the target value changes. The INotifyPropertyChanged interface must be implemented by the data class to get the notification system to work. When the property changes a simple check is performed and when it doesn’t match some criteria an ValidationException is thrown. The ValidatesOnExceptions binding attribute is set to True to tell the textbox it should handle the thrown ValidationException. Let’s have a look at some code now. The xaml should contain something like below. The most important part is inside the binding. In this case the Text property is bound to the “Name” property in TwoWay mode. It is also told to validate on exceptions. This property is false by default.   <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal"> <TextBox Width="150" x:Name="Name" Text="{Binding Path=Name, Mode=TwoWay, ValidatesOnExceptions=True}"/> <TextBlock Text="Name"/> </StackPanel>   The data class in this first example is a very simplified person class with only one property: string Name. The INotifyPropertyChanged interface is implemented and the PropertyChanged event is fired when the Name property changes. When the property changes a check is performed to see if the new string is null or empty. If this is the case a ValidationException is thrown explaining that the entered value is invalid.   public class PersonData:INotifyPropertyChanged { private string _name; public string Name { get { return _name; } set { if (_name != value) { if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(value)) throw new ValidationException("Name is required"); _name = value; if (PropertyChanged != null) PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs("Name")); } } } public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged=delegate { }; } The last thing that has to be done is letting binding an instance of the PersonData class to the DataContext of the control. This is done in the code behind file. public partial class Demo1 : UserControl { public Demo1() { InitializeComponent(); this.DataContext = new PersonData() {Name = "Johnny Walker"}; } }   Error Summary In many cases you would have more than one entry control. A summary of errors would be nice in such case. With a few changes to the xaml an error summary, like below, can be added.           First, add a namespace to the xaml so the control can be used. Add the following line to the header of the .xaml file. xmlns:Controls="clr-namespace:System.Windows.Controls;assembly=System.Windows.Controls.Data.Input"   Next, add the control to the layout. To get the result as in the image showed earlier, add the control right above the StackPanel from the first example. It’s got a small margin to separate it from the textbox a little.   <Controls:ValidationSummary Margin="8"/>   The ValidationSummary control has to be notified that an ValidationException occurred. This can be done with a small change to the xaml too. Add the NotifyOnValidationError to the binding expression. By default this value is set to false, so nothing would be notified. Set the property to true to get it to work.   <TextBox Width="150" x:Name="Name" Text="{Binding Name, Mode=TwoWay, ValidatesOnExceptions=True, NotifyOnValidationError=True}"/>   Data annotation Validating data in the setter is one option, but not my personal favorite. It’s the easiest way if you have a single required value you want to check, but often you want to validate more. Besides, I don’t consider it best practice to write logic in setters. The way used by frameworks like WCF Ria Services is the use of attributes on the properties. Instead of throwing exceptions you have to call the static method ValidateProperty on the Validator class. This call stays always the same for a particular property, not even when you change the attributes on the property. To mark a property “Required” you can use the RequiredAttribute. This is what the Name property is going to look like:   [Required] public string Name { get { return _name; } set { if (_name != value) { Validator.ValidateProperty(value, new ValidationContext(this, null, null){ MemberName = "Name" }); _name = value; if (PropertyChanged != null) PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs("Name")); } } }   The ValidateProperty method takes the new value for the property and an instance of ValidationContext. The properties passed to the constructor of the ValidationContextclass are very straight forward. This part is the same every time. The only thing that changes is the MemberName property of the ValidationContext. Property has to hold the name of the property you want to validate. It’s the same value you provide the PropertyChangedEventArgs with. The System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotation contains eight different validation attributes including a base class to create your own. They are: RequiredAttribute Specifies that a value must be provided. RangeAttribute The provide value must fall in the specified range. RegularExpressionAttribute Validates is the value matches the regular expression. StringLengthAttribute Checks if the number of characters in a string falls between a minimum and maximum amount. CustomValidationAttribute Use a custom method to validate the value. DataTypeAttribute Specify a data type using an enum or a custom data type. EnumDataTypeAttribute Makes sure the value is found in a enum. ValidationAttribute A base class for custom validation attributes All of these will ensure that an validation exception is thrown, except the DataTypeAttribute. This attribute is used to provide some additional information about the property. You can use this information in your own code.   [Required] [Range(0,125,ErrorMessage = "Value is not a valid age")] public int Age {   It’s no problem to stack different validation attributes together. For example, when an Age is required and must fall in the range from 0 to 125:   [Required, StringLength(255,MinimumLength = 3)] public string Name {   Or in one row like this, for a required Name with at least 3 characters and a maximum of 255:   Delayed validation Having properties marked as required can be very useful. The only downside to the technique described earlier is that you have to change the value in order to get it validated. What if you start out with empty an empty entry form? All fields are empty and thus won’t be validated. With this small trick you can validate at the moment the user click the submit button.   <TextBox Width="150" x:Name="NameField" Text="{Binding Name, Mode=TwoWay, ValidatesOnExceptions=True, NotifyOnValidationError=True, UpdateSourceTrigger=Explicit}"/>   By default, when a TwoWay bound control looses focus the value is updated. When you added validation like I’ve shown you earlier, the value is validated. To overcome this, you have to tell the binding update explicitly by setting the UpdateSourceTrigger binding property to Explicit:   private void SubmitButtonClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { NameField.GetBindingExpression(TextBox.TextProperty).UpdateSource(); }   This way, the binding is in two direction but the source is only updated, thus validated, when you tell it to. In the code behind you have to call the UpdateSource method on the binding expression, which you can get from the TextBox.   Conclusion Data validation is something you’ll probably want on almost every entry form. I always thought it was hard to do, but it wasn’t. If you can throw an exception you can do validation. If you want to know anything more in depth about something I talked about in this article let me know. I might write an entire post to that.

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  • Top 10 Reasons SQL Developer is Perfect for Oracle Beginners

    - by thatjeffsmith
    Learning new technologies can be daunting. If you’ve never used a Mac before, you’ll probably be a bit baffled at first. But, you’re probably at least coming from a desktop computing background (Windows), so you common frame of reference. But what if you’re just now learning to use a relational database? Yes, you’ve played with Access a bit, but now your employer or college instructor has charged you with becoming proficient with Oracle database. Here’s 10 reasons why I think Oracle SQL Developer is the perfect vehicle to help get you started. 1. It’s free No need to break into one of these… No start-up costs, no need to wrangle budget dollars from your company. Students don’t have any money after books and lab fees anyway. And most employees don’t like having to ask for ‘special’ software anyway. So avoid all of that and make sure the free stuff doesn’t suit your needs first. Upgrades are available on a regular base, also at no cost, and support is freely available via our public forums. 2. It will run pretty much anywhere Windows – check. OSX (Apple) – check. Unix – check. Linux – check. No need to start up a windows VM to run your Windows-only software in your lab machine. 3. Anyone can install it There’s no installer, no registry to be updated, no admin privs to be obtained. If you can download and extract files to your machine or USB storage device, you can run it. You can be up and running with SQL Developer in under 5 minutes. Here’s a video tutorial to see how to get started. 4. It’s ubiquitous I admit it, I learned a new word yesterday and I wanted an excuse to use it. SQL Developer’s everywhere. It’s had over 2,500,000 downloads in the past year, and is the one of the most downloaded items from OTN. This means if you need help, there’s someone sitting nearby you that can assist, and since they’re in the same tool as you, they’ll be speaking the same language. 5. Simple User Interface Up-up-down-down-Left-right-left-right-A-B-A-B-START will get you 30 lives, but you already knew that, right? You connect, you see your objects, you click on your objects. Or, you can use the worksheet to write your queries and programs in. There’s only one toolbar, and just a few buttons. If you’re like me, video games became less fun when each button had 6 action items mapped to it. I just want the good ole ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘SELECT’, and ‘START’ controls. If you’re new to Oracle, you shouldn’t have the double-workload of learning a new complicated tool as well. 6. It’s not a ‘black box’ Click through your objects, but also get the SQL that drives the GUI As you use the wizards to accomplish tasks for you, you can view the SQL statement being generated on your behalf. Just because you have a GUI, doesn’t mean you’re ceding your responsibility to learn the underlying code that makes the database work. 7. It’s four tools in one It’s not just a query tool. Maybe you need to design a data model first? Or maybe you need to migrate your Sybase ASE database to Oracle for a new project? Or maybe you need to create some reports? SQL Developer does all of that. So once you get comfortable with one part of the tool, the others will be much easier to pick up as your needs change. 8. Great learning resources available Videos, blogs, hands-on learning labs – you name it, we got it. Why wait for someone to train you, when you can train yourself at your own pace? 9. You can use it to teach yourself SQL Instead of being faced with the white-screen-of-panic, you can visually build your queries by dragging and dropping tables and views into the Query Builder. Yes, ‘just like Access’ – only better. And as you build your query, toggle to the Worksheet panel and see the SQL statement. Again, SQL Developer is not a black box. If you prefer to learn by trial and error, the worksheet will attempt to suggest the next bit of your SQL statement with it’s completion insight feature. And if you have syntax errors, those will be highlighted – just like your misspelled words in your favorite word processor. 10. It scales to match your experience level You won’t be a n00b forever. In 6-8 months, when you’re ready to tackle something a bit more complicated, like XML DB or Oracle Spatial, the tool is already there waiting on you. No need to go out and find the ‘advanced’ tool. 11. Wait, you said this was a ‘Top 10′ list? Yes. Yes, I did. I’m using this ‘trick’ to get you to continue reading because I’m going to say something you might not want to hear. Are you ready? Tools won’t replace experience, failure, hard work, and training. Just because you have the keys to the car, doesn’t mean you’re ready to head out on the race track. While SQL Developer reduces the barriers to entry, it does not completely remove them. Many experienced folks simply do not like tools. Rather, they don’t like the people that pick up tools without the know-how to properly use them. If you don’t understand what ‘TRUNCATE’ means, don’t try it out. Try picking up a book first. Of course, it’s very nice to have your own sandbox to play in, so you don’t upset the other children. That’s why I really like our Dev Days Database Virtual Box image. It’s your own database to learn and experiment with.

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  • Customize your icons in Windows 7 and Vista

    - by Matthew Guay
    Want to change out the icons on your desktop and more?  Personalizing your icons is a great way to make your PC uniquely yours,, and today we show you how to grab unique icons, and default Winnows. to be your own. Change the icon for Computer, Recycle Bin, Network, and your User folder Right-click on the desktop, and select Personalize. Now, click the “Change desktop icons” link on the left sidebar in the Personalization window. The window looks slightly different in Windows Vista, but the link is the same. Select the icon you wish to change, and click the Change Icon button.  In Windows 7, you will also notice a box to choose whether or not to allow themes to change icons, and you can uncheck it if you don’t want themes to change your icon settings. You can select one of the other included icons, or click browse to find the icon you want.  Click Ok when you are finished. Change Folder icons You can easily change the icon on most folders in Windows Vista and 7.  Simply right-click on the folder and select properties. Click the Customize tab, and then click the Change Icon button.  This will open the standard dialog to change your icon, so proceed as normal. This basically just creates a hidden desktop.ini file in the folder containing the following or similar data: [.ShellClassInfo]IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dllIconIndex=20 You could manually create or edit the file if you choose, instead of using the dialogs. Simply create a new text file named desktop.ini with this same information, or edit the existing one.  Change the IconFile line to the location of your icon. If you are pointing to a .ico file you should change the IconIndex line to 0 instead. Note that this isn’t available for all folders, for instance you can’t use this to change the icon for the Windows folder.   In Windows 7, please note that you cannot change the icon of folder inside a library.  So if you are browsing your Documents library and would like to change an icon in that folder, right-click on it and select Open folder location.  Now you can change the icon as above. And if you would like to change a Library’s icon itself, then check out this tutorial: Change Your Windows 7 Library Icons the Easy Way Change the icon of any file type Want to make you files easier to tell apart?  Check out our tutorial on how to simply do this: Change a File Type’s Icon in Windows 7 Change the icon of any Application Shortcut To change the icon of a shortcut on your desktop, start menu, or in Explorer, simply right-click on the icon and select Properties. In the Shortcut tab, click the Change Icon button. Now choose one of the other available icons or click browse to find the icon you want. Change Icons of Running Programs in the Windows 7 taskbar If your computer is running Windows 7, you can customize the icon of any program running in the taskbar!  This only works on applications that are running but not pinned to the taskbar, so if you want to customize a pinned icon you may want to unpin it before customizing it.  But the interesting thing about this trick is that it can customize any icon anything running in the taskbar, including things like Control Panel! Right-click or click and push up to open the jumplist on the icon, and then right-click on the program’s name and select Properties.  Here we are customizing Control Panel, but you can do this on any application icon. Now, click Change Icon as usual. Select an icon you want (We switched the Control Panel icon to the Security Shield), or click Browse to find another icon.  Click Ok when finished, and then close the application window. The next time you open the program (or Control Panel in our example), you will notice your new icon on its taskbar icon. Please note that this only works on applications that are currently running and are not pinned to the taskbar.  Strangely, if the application is pinned to the taskbar, you can still click Properties and change the icon, but the change will not show up. Change the icon on any Drive on your Computer You can easily change the icon on your internal hard drives and portable drives with the free Drive Icon Changer application.  Simply download and unzip the file (link below), and then run the application as administrator by right-clicking on the icon and selecting “Run as administrator”. Now, select the drive that you want to change the icon of, and select your desired icon file. Click Save, and Drive Icon Changer will let you know that the icon has been changed successfully. You will then need to reboot your computer to complete the changes.  Simply click Yes to reboot. Now, our Drive icon is changed from this default image: to a Laptop icon we chose! You can do this to any drive in your computer, or to removable drives such as USB flash drives.  When you change these drives icons, the new icon will appear on any computer you insert the drive into.  Also, if you wish to remove the icon change, simply run the Drive Icon Changer again and remove the icon path. Download Drive Icon Changer This application actually simply creates or edits a hidden Autorun.inf file on the top of your drive.  You can edit or create the file yourself by hand if you’d like; simply include the following information in the file, and save it in the top directory of your drive: [autorun]ICON=[path of your icon] Remove Arrow from shortcut icons Many people don’t like the arrow on the shortcut icon, and there are two easy ways to do this. If you’re running the 32 bit version of Windows Vista or 7, simply use the Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover. If your computer is running the 64 bit version of Windows Vista or 7, use the Ultimate Windows Tweaker instead.  Simply select the Additional Tweaks section, and check the “Remove arrows from Shortcut Icons.” For more info and download links check out this article: Disable Shortcut Icon Arrow Overlay in Windows 7 or Vista Closing: This gives you a lot of ways to customize almost any icon on your computer, so you can make it look just like you want it to.  Stay tuned for more great desktop customization articles from How-to Geek! Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Change Start Menu to Use Small Icons in Windows 7 or VistaResize Icons Quickly in Windows 7 or Vista ExplorerRoundup: 16 Tweaks to Windows Vista Look & FeelRestore Missing Desktop Icons in Windows 7 or VistaClean Up Past Notification Icons in Windows Vista TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional Change DNS servers on the fly with DNS Jumper Live PDF Searches PDF Files and Ebooks Converting Mp4 to Mp3 Easily Use Quick Translator to Translate Text in 50 Languages (Firefox) Get Better Windows Search With UltraSearch Scan News With NY Times Article Skimmer

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  • Solaris 11 Launch Blog Carnival Roundup

    - by constant
    Solaris 11 is here! And together with the official launch activities, a lot of Oracle and non-Oracle bloggers contributed helpful and informative blog articles to help your datacenter go to eleven. Here are some notable blog postings, sorted by category for your Solaris 11 blog-reading pleasure: Getting Started/Overview A lot of people speculated that the official launch of Solaris 11 would be on 11/11 (whatever way you want to turn it), but it actually happened two days earlier. Larry Wake himself offers 11 Reasons Why Oracle Solaris 11 11/11 Isn't Being Released on 11/11/11. Then, Larry goes on with a summary: Oracle Solaris 11: The First Cloud OS gives you a short and sweet rundown of what the major new features of Solaris 11 are. Jeff Victor has his own list of What's New in Oracle Solaris 11. A popular Solaris 11 meme is to write a blog post about 11 favourite features: Jim Laurent's 11 Reasons to Love Solaris 11, Darren Moffat's 11 Favourite Solaris 11 Features, Mike Gerdt's 11 of My Favourite Things! are just three examples of "11 Favourite Things..." type blog posts, I'm sure many more will follow... More official overview content for Solaris 11 is available from the Oracle Tech Network Solaris 11 Portal. Also, check out Rick Ramsey's blog post Solaris 11 Resources for System Administrators on the OTN Blog and his secret 5 Commands That Make Solaris Administration Easier post from the OTN Garage. (Automatic) Installation and the Image Packaging System (IPS) The brand new Image Packaging System (IPS) and the Automatic Installer (IPS), together with numerous other install/packaging/boot/patching features are among the most significant improvements in Solaris 11. But before installing, you may wonder whether Solaris 11 will support your particular set of hardware devices. Again, the OTN Garage comes to the rescue with Rick Ramsey's post How to Find Out Which Devices Are Supported By Solaris 11. Included is a useful guide to all the first steps to get your Solaris 11 system up and running. Tim Foster had a whole handful of blog posts lined up for the launch, teaching you everything you need to know about IPS but didn't dare to ask: The IPS System Repository, IPS Self-assembly - Part 1: Overlays and Part 2: Multiple Packages Delivering Configuration. Watch out for more IPS posts from Tim! If installing packages or upgrading your system from the net makes you uneasy, then you're not alone: Jim Laurent will tech you how Building a Solaris 11 Repository Without Network Connection will make your life easier. Many of you have already peeked into the future by installing Solaris 11 Express. If you're now wondering whether you can upgrade or whether a fresh install is necessary, then check out Alan Hargreaves's post Upgrading Solaris 11 Express b151a with support to Solaris 11. The trick is in upgrading your pkg(1M) first. Networking One of the first things to do after installing Solaris 11 (or any operating system for that matter), is to set it up for networking. Solaris 11 comes with the brand new "Network Auto-Magic" feature which can figure out everything by itself. For those cases where you want to exercise a little more control, Solaris 11 left a few people scratching their heads. Fortunately, Tschokko wrote up this cool blog post: Solaris 11 manual IPv4 & IPv6 configuration right after the launch ceremony. Thanks, Tschokko! And Milek points out a long awaited networking feature in Solaris 11 called Solaris 11 - hostmodel, which I know for a fact that many customers have looked forward to: How to "bind" a Solaris 11 system to a specific gateway for specific IP address it is using. Steffen Weiberle teaches us how to tune the Solaris 11 networking stack the proper way: ipadm(1M). No more fiddling with ndd(1M)! Check out his tutorial on Solaris 11 Network Tunables. And if you want to get even deeper into the networking stack, there's nothing better than DTrace. Alan Maguire teaches you in: DTracing TCP Congestion Control how to probe deeply into the Solaris 11 TCP/IP stack, the TCP congestion control part in particular. Don't miss his other DTrace and TCP related blog posts! DTrace And there we are: DTrace, the king of all observability tools. Long time DTrace veteran and co-author of The DTrace book*, Brendan Gregg blogged about Solaris 11 DTrace syscall provider changes. BTW, after you install Solaris 11, check out the DTrace toolkit which is installed by default in /usr/dtrace/DTT. It is chock full of handy DTrace scripts, many of which contributed by Brendan himself! Security Another big theme in Solaris 11, and one that is crucial for the success of any operating system in the Cloud is Security. Here are some notable posts in this category: Darren Moffat starts by showing us how to completely get rid of root: Completely Disabling Root Logins on Solaris 11. With no root user, there's one major entry point less to worry about. But that's only the start. In Immutable Zones on Encrypted ZFS, Darren shows us how to double the security of your services: First by locking them into the new Immutable Zones feature, then by encrypting their data using the new ZFS encryption feature. And if you're still missing sudo from your Linux days, Darren again has a solution: Password (PAM) caching for Solaris su - "a la sudo". If you're wondering how much compute power all this encryption will cost you, you're in luck: The Solaris X86 AESNI OpenSSL Engine will make sure you'll use your Intel's embedded crypto support to its fullest. And if you own a brand new SPARC T4 machine you're even luckier: It comes with its own SPARC T4 OpenSSL Engine. Dan Anderson's posts show how there really is now excuse not to encrypt any more... Developers Solaris 11 has a lot to offer to developers as well. Ali Bahrami has a series of blog posts that cover diverse developer topics: elffile: ELF Specific File Identification Utility, Using Stub Objects and The Stub Proto: Not Just For Stub Objects Anymore to name a few. BTW, if you're a developer and want to shape the future of Solaris 11, then Vijay Tatkar has a hint for you: Oracle (Sun Systems Group) is hiring! Desktop and Graphics Yes, Solaris 11 is a 100% server OS, but it can also offer a decent desktop environment, especially if you are a developer. Alan Coopersmith starts by discussing S11 X11: ye olde window system in today's new operating system, then Calum Benson shows us around What's new on the Solaris 11 Desktop. Even accessibility is a first-class citizen in the Solaris 11 user interface. Peter Korn celebrates: Accessible Oracle Solaris 11 - released! Performance Gone are the days of "Slowaris", when Solaris was among the few OSes that "did the right thing" while others cut corners just to win benchmarks. Today, Solaris continues doing the right thing, and it delivers the right performance at the same time. Need proof? Check out Brian's BestPerf blog with continuous updates from the benchmarking lab, including Recent Benchmarks Using Oracle Solaris 11! Send Me More Solaris 11 Launch Articles! These are just a few of the more interesting blog articles that came out around the Solaris 11 launch, I'm sure there are many more! Feel free to post a comment below if you find a particularly interesting blog post that hasn't been listed so far and share your enthusiasm for Solaris 11! *Affiliate link: Buy cool stuff and support this blog at no extra cost. We both win! var flattr_uid = '26528'; var flattr_tle = 'Solaris 11 Launch Blog Carnival Roundup'; var flattr_dsc = '<strong>Solaris 11 is here!</strong>And together with the official launch activities, a lot of Oracle and non-Oracle bloggers contributed helpful and informative blog articles to help your datacenter <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven">go to eleven</a>.Here are some notable blog postings, sorted by category for your Solaris 11 blog-reading pleasure:'; var flattr_tag = 'blogging,digest,Oracle,Solaris,solaris,solaris 11'; var flattr_cat = 'text'; var flattr_url = 'http://constantin.glez.de/blog/2011/11/solaris-11-launch-blog-carnival-roundup'; var flattr_lng = 'en_GB'

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  • Multi-tenant ASP.NET MVC - Views

    - by zowens
    Part I – Introduction Part II – Foundation Part III – Controllers   So far we have covered the basic premise of tenants and how they will be delegated. Now comes a big issue with multi-tenancy, the views. In some applications, you will not have to override views for each tenant. However, one of my requirements is to add extra views (and controller actions) along with overriding views from the core structure. This presents a bit of a problem in locating views for each tenant request. I have chosen quite an opinionated approach at the present but will coming back to the “views” issue in a later post. What’s the deal? The path I’ve chosen is to use precompiled Spark views. I really love Spark View Engine and was planning on using it in my project anyways. However, I ran across a really neat aspect of the source when I was having a look under the hood. There’s an easy way to hook in embedded views from your project. There are solutions that provide this, but they implement a special Virtual Path Provider. While I think this is a great solution, I would rather just have Spark take care of the view resolution. The magic actually happens during the compilation of the views into a bin-deployable DLL. After the views are compiled, the are simply pulled out of the views DLL. Each tenant has its own views DLL that just has “.Views” appended after the assembly name as a convention. The list of reasons for this approach are quite long. The primary motivation is performance. I’ve had quite a few performance issues in the past and I would like to increase my application’s performance in any way that I can. My customized build of Spark removes insignificant whitespace from the HTML output so I can some some bandwidth and load time without having to deal with whitespace removal at runtime.   How to setup Tenants for the Host In the source, I’ve provided a single tenant as a sample (Sample1). This will serve as a template for subsequent tenants in your application. The first step is to add a “PostBuildStep” installer into the project. I’ve defined one in the source that will eventually change as we focus more on the construction of dependency containers. The next step is to tell the project to run the installer and copy the DLL output to a folder in the host that will pick up as a tenant. Here’s the code that will achieve it (this belongs in Post-build event command line field in the Build Events tab of settings) %systemroot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\installutil "$(TargetPath)" copy /Y "$(TargetDir)$(TargetName)*.dll" "$(SolutionDir)Web\Tenants\" copy /Y "$(TargetDir)$(TargetName)*.pdb" "$(SolutionDir)Web\Tenants\" The DLLs with a name starting with the target assembly name will be copied to the “Tenants” folder in the web project. This means something like MultiTenancy.Tenants.Sample1.dll and MultiTenancy.Tenants.Sample1.Views.dll will both be copied along with the debug symbols. This is probably the simplest way to go about this, but it is a tad inflexible. For example, what if you have dependencies? The preferred method would probably be to use IL Merge to merge your dependencies with your target DLL. This would have to be added in the build events. Another way to achieve that would be to simply bypass Visual Studio events and use MSBuild.   I also got a question about how I was setting up the controller factory. Here’s the basics on how I’m setting up tenants inside the host (Global.asax) protected void Application_Start() { RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes); // create a container just to pull in tenants var topContainer = new Container(); topContainer.Configure(config => { config.Scan(scanner => { scanner.AssembliesFromPath(Path.Combine(Server.MapPath("~/"), "Tenants")); scanner.AddAllTypesOf<IApplicationTenant>(); }); }); // create selectors var tenantSelector = new DefaultTenantSelector(topContainer.GetAllInstances<IApplicationTenant>()); var containerSelector = new TenantContainerResolver(tenantSelector); // clear view engines, we don't want anything other than spark ViewEngines.Engines.Clear(); // set view engine ViewEngines.Engines.Add(new TenantViewEngine(tenantSelector)); // set controller factory ControllerBuilder.Current.SetControllerFactory(new ContainerControllerFactory(containerSelector)); } The code to setup the tenants isn’t actually that hard. I’m utilizing assembly scanners in StructureMap as a simple way to pull in DLLs that are not in the AppDomain. Remember that there is a dependency on the host in the tenants and a tenant cannot simply be referenced by a host because of circular dependencies.   Tenant View Engine TenantViewEngine is a simple delegator to the tenant’s specified view engine. You might have noticed that a tenant has to define a view engine. public interface IApplicationTenant { .... IViewEngine ViewEngine { get; } } The trick comes in specifying the view engine on the tenant side. Here’s some of the code that will pull views from the DLL. protected virtual IViewEngine DetermineViewEngine() { var factory = new SparkViewFactory(); var file = GetType().Assembly.CodeBase.Without("file:///").Replace(".dll", ".Views.dll").Replace('/', '\\'); var assembly = Assembly.LoadFile(file); factory.Engine.LoadBatchCompilation(assembly); return factory; } This code resides in an abstract Tenant where the fields are setup in the constructor. This method (inside the abstract class) will load the Views assembly and load the compilation into Spark’s “Descriptors” that will be used to determine views. There is some trickery on determining the file location… but it works just fine.   Up Next There’s just a few big things left such as StructureMap configuring controllers with a convention instead of specifying types directly with container construction and content resolution. I will also try to find a way to use the Web Forms View Engine in a multi-tenant way we achieved with the Spark View Engine without using a virtual path provider. I will probably not use the Web Forms View Engine personally, but I’m sure some people would prefer using WebForms because of the maturity of the engine. As always, I love to take questions by email or on twitter. Suggestions are always welcome as well! (Oh, and here’s another link to the source code).

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  • Eine komplette Virtualisierungslandschaft auf dem eigenen Laptop – So geht’s

    - by Manuel Hossfeld
    Eine komplette Virtualisierungslandschaftauf dem eigenen Laptop – So geht’s Wenn man sich mit dem Virtualisierungsprodukt Oracle VM in der aktuellen Version 3.x näher befassen möchte, bietet es sich natürlich an, eine eigene Umgebung zu Lern- und Testzwecken zu installieren. Doch leichter gesagt als getan: Bei näherer Betrachtung der Architektur wird man schnell feststellen, dass mehrere Rechner benötigt werden, um überhaupt alle Komponenten abbilden zu können: Zum einen gilt es, den oder die OVM Server selbst zu installieren. Das ist recht leicht und schnell erledigt, aber da Oracle VM ein „Typ 1 Hypervisor ist“ - also direkt auf dem Rechner („bare metal“) installiert wird – ist der eigenen Arbeits-PC oder Laptop dafür recht ungeeignet. (Eine Dual-Boot Umgebung wäre zwar denkbar, aber recht unpraktisch.) Zum anderen wird auch ein Rechner benötigt, auf dem der OVM Manager installiert wird. Im Gegensatz zum OVM Server erfolgt dessen Installation nicht „bare metal“, sondern auf einem bestehenden Oracle Linux. Aber was tun, wenn man gerade keinen Linux-Server griffbereit hat und auch keine extra Hardware dafür opfern will? Möchte man alle Funktionen von Oracle VM austesten, so sollte man zusätzlich über einen Shared Storag everüfugen. Dieser kann wahlweise über NFS oder über ein SAN (per iSCSI oder FibreChannel) angebunden werden. Zwar braucht man zum Testen nicht zwingend entsprechende „echte“ Storage-Hardware, aber auch die „Simulation“ entsprechender Komponenten erfordert zusätzliche Hardware mit entsprechendem freien Plattenplatz.(Alternativ können auch fertige „Software Storage Appliances“ wie z.B. OpenFiler oder FreeNAS verwendet werden). Angenommen, es stehen tatsächlich keine „echte“ Server- und Storage Hardware zur Verfügung, so benötigt man für die oben genannten drei Punkte  drei bzw. vier Rechner (PCs, Laptops...) - je nachdem ob man einen oder zwei OVM Server starten möchte. Erfreulicherweise geht es aber auch mit deutlich weniger Aufwand: Wie bereits kurz im Blogpost anlässlich des letzten OVM-Releases 3.1.1 beschrieben, ist die aktuelle Version in der Lage, selbst vollständig innerhalb von VirtualBox als Gast zu laufen. Wer bei dieser „doppelten Virtualisierung“ nun an das Prinzip der russischen Matroschka-Puppen denkt, liegt genau richtig. Oracle VM VirtualBox stellt dabei gewissermaßen die äußere Hülle dar – und da es sich bei VirtualBox im Gegensatz zu Oracle VM Server um einen „Typ 2 Hypervisor“ handelt, funktioniert dieser Ansatz auch auf einem „normalen“ Arbeits-PC bzw. Laptop, ohne dessen eigentliche Betriebsystem komplett zu überschreiben. Doch das beste dabei ist: Die Installation der jeweiligen VirtualBox VMs muss man nicht selber durchführen. Der OVM Manager als auch der OVM Server stehen bereits als vorgefertigte „VirtualBox Appliances“ im Oracle Technology Network zum Download zur Verfügung und müssen im Grunde nur noch importiert und konfiguriert werden. Das folgende Schaubild verdeutlicht das Prinzip: Die dunkelgrünen Bereiche stellen jeweils Instanzen der eben erwähnten VirtualBox Appliances für OVM Server und OVM Manager dar. (Hier im Bild sind zwei OVM Server zu sehen, als Minimum würde natürlich auch einer genügen. Dann können aber viele Features wie z.B. OVM HA nicht ausprobieren werden.) Als cleveren Trick zur Einsparung einer weiteren VM für Storage-Zwecke hat Wim Coekaerts (Senior Vice President of Linux and Virtualization Engineering bei Oracle), der „Erbauer“ der VirtualBox Appliances, die OVM Manager Appliance bereits so vorbereitet, dass diese gleichzeitig als NFS-Share (oder ggf. sogar als iSCSI Target) dienen kann. Dies beschreibt er auch kurz auf seinem Blog. Die hellgrünen Ovale stellen die VMs dar, welche dann innerhalb einer der virtualisierten OVM Server laufen können. Aufgrund der Tatsache, dass durch diese „doppelte Virtualisierung“ die Fähigkeit zur Hardware-Virtualisierung verloren geht, können diese „Nutz-VMs“ demzufolge nur paravirtualisiert sein (PVM). Die hier in blau eingezeichneten Netzwerk-Schnittstellen sind virtuelle Interfaces, welche beliebig innerhalb von VirtualBox eingerichtet werden können. Wer die verschiedenen Netzwerk-Rollen innerhalb von Oracle VM im Detail ausprobieren will, kann hier natürlich auch mehr als zwei dieser Interfaces konfigurieren. Die Vorteile dieser Lösung für Test- und Demozwecke liegen auf der Hand: Mit lediglich einem PC bzw. Laptop auf dem VirtualBox installiert ist, können alle oben genannten Komponenten installiert und genutzt werden – genügend RAM vorausgesetzt. Als Minimum darf hier 8GB gelten. Soll auf der „Host-Umgebung“ (also dem PC auf dem VirtualBox läuft) nebenbei noch gearbeiten werden und/oder mehrere „Nutz-VMs“ in dieser simulierten OVM-Server-Umgebung laufen, empfehlen sich natürlich eher 16GB oder mehr. Da die nötigen Schritte zum Installieren und initialen Konfigurieren der Umgebung ausführlich in einem entsprechenden Paper beschrieben sind, möchte ich im Rest dieses Artikels noch einige zusätzliche Tipps und Details erwähnen, welche einem das Leben etwas leichter machen können: Um möglichst entstpannt und mit zusätzlichen „Sicherheitsnetz“ an die Konfiguration der Umgebung herangehen zu können, empfiehlt es sich, ausgiebigen Gebrauch von der in VirtualBox eingebauten Funktionalität der VM Snapshots zu machen. Dies ermöglicht nicht nur ein Zurücksetzen falls einmal etwas schiefgehen sollte, sondern auch ein beliebiges Wiederholen von bereits absolvierten Teilschritten (z.B. um eine andere Idee oder Variante der Umgebung auszuprobieren). Sowohl bei den gerade erwähnten Snapshots als auch bei den VMs selbst sollte man aussagekräftige Namen verwenden. So ist sichergestellt, dass man nicht durcheinander kommt und auch nach ein paar Wochen noch weiß, welche Umgebung man da eigentlich vor sich hat. Dies beinhaltet auch die genaue Versions- und Buildnr. des jeweiligen OVM-Releases. (Siehe dazu auch folgenden Screenshot.) Weitere Informationen und Details zum aktuellen Zustand sowie Zweck der jeweiligen VMs kann in dem oft übersehenen Beschreibungsfeld hinterlegt werden. Es empfiehlt sich, bereits VOR der Installation einen Notizzettel (oder eine Textdatei) mit den geplanten IP-Adressen und Namen für die VMs zu erstellen. (Nicht vergessen: Auch der Server Pool benötigt eine eigene IP.) Dabei sollte man auch nochmal die tatsächlichen Netzwerke der zu verwendenden Virtualbox-Interfaces prüfen und notieren. Achtung: Es gibt im Rahmen der Installation einige Passworte, die vom Nutzer gesetzt werden können – und solche, die zunächst fest eingestellt sind. Zu letzterem gehört das Passwort für den ovs-agent sowie den root-User auf den OVM Servern, welche beide per Default „ovsroot“ lauten. (Alle weiteren Passwort-Informationen sind in dem „Read me first“ Dokument zu finden, welches auf dem Desktop der OVM Manager VM liegt.) Aufpassen muss man ggf. auch in der initialen „Interview-Phase“ welche die VirtualBox VMs durchlaufen, nachdem sie das erste mal gebootet werden. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt ist nämlich auf jeden Fall noch die amerikanische Tastaturbelegung aktiv, so dass man z.B. besser kein „y“ und „z“ in seinem selbst gewählten Passwort verwendet. Aufgrund der Tatsache, dass wie oben erwähnt der OVM Manager auch gleichzeitig den Shared Storage bereitstellt, sollte darauf geachtet werden, dass dessen VM vor den OVM Server VMs gestartet wird. (Andernfalls „findet“ der dem OVM Server Pool zugrundeliegende Cluster sein sog. „Server Pool File System“ nicht.)

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