Computer related articles
Tips and Tricks
The Zazzybob.com Tips and Tricks Database is a fully browsable
repository of tips and hacks relating to various topics including
UNIX/Linux, Networking, Programming, Hardware, Software, etc. You
can also submit tips for review and addition to the site.
Tips and Tricks Section
Getting Started with Solaris Containers
This article details how to provision Solaris Containers (aka zones), and a few
interesting/prerequisite technologies such as Dynamic Link Aggregation and
Dynamic Resource Management.
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Setting up a BIND DLZ Nameserver with MySQL Replication
This article explains the process required to build a BIND nameserver with
Dynamically Loadable Zones functionality, using a replicated MySQL backend, on
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 4.
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Building and Configuring a Central Logging Server with syslog-ng
A detailed article showing how to replace syslog with syslog-ng in order to
better control your logging. This article details the implementation of a central
logging host, and introduces concepts around LVM for good measure.
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OpenLDAP Installation, Configuration and Replication
A highly detailed article showing how to install OpenLDAP, as well as performing basic
configuration and then population of the LDAP database. The article then moves on to
configuring replication to a slave node.
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Solaris 10 BIND Chroot
The default BIND installation in Solaris 10 does not run in a chroot environment, which is an obvious security risk.
Starting BIND to run in a chroot environment is a no-brainer, but getting it to managed by SMF in Solaris 10
requires a bit more work...
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Using smrsh
This article introduces the SendMail Restricted SHell, showing how to pipe mail
messages safely to programs and scripts, and includes a sample application. It
also details how to configure sendmail to take advantage of smrsh.
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Keeping an eye on troublesome users
An article detailing a solution for monitoring malicious users and logging all
session data (i.e. input and output) using script.
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Squid: Increasing Available File Descriptors
A brief walkthrough showing how to increase the maximum amount of file descriptors
available to Squid. This involves a ./configure time option - not just as
simple as setting ulimit -n (although this still needs to be done).
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Implementing a CVS Repository Under Solaris 10
This article details the configuration and usage of a simple CVS repository
on a Solaris 10 server. The procedure here can be utilised on any *nix
flavour. I also show a sample application of CVS - storing configuration files
for DR purposes.
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Installing Sybase ASE Express Edition for Linux
A document intended to fill the gaps in the official installation documentation,
detailing the steps required to prepare for the installation of Sybase Adaptive
Server Enterprise Express Edition under Linux, and what to do once you've got
the server installed.
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Creating Your Own Solaris Packages
If you administer a large number of Solaris systems, you'll want to
maintain a consistent set of administrative scripts across all your
servers. This article shows you how to create your own Solaris packages,
ideal for such a requirement.
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Configuring an active-passive Apache web server highly-available cluster
This paper shows how easy it is to set up your own HA web server using the open source heartbeat package, using an NFS server as shared storage between our two cluster members.HTML
Sun StorEdge 3510 FC Array Configuration
This article documents the configuration of the StorEdge 3510
Fibre Channel array on a Solaris 8 box (Sunfire 4800) including
the patching of the server. Also includes full configuration of
the array using the sccli command, configuring the
controller, and integrating the logical volume into Veritas Volume
Manager's control.
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RAID1 Under Solaris 10 for Intel Using Solaris Volume Manager
This document details the procedure for configuring RAID1
(mirroring) of the root disk under Solaris 10 for Intel, using SVM. I
noticed on many forums that people were having problems recovering
from a disk failure even when one disk in the mirrored pair was still
viable. I have found a couple of workarounds that get the system
recovered. Prepare to save yourself hours ;-)
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Complex Scripting in a Heterogeneous Environment
I had a need to gather system information on three Solaris servers,
collect that information on a central Linux server, and then publish
the statistics to a Windows server network share. A variety of
techniques were employed to achieve this task.
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Solaris 10 for Intel - UFS Root Filesystem Fun With fssnap, ufsdump and ufsrestore
An article detailing how to backup the root filesystem on a Solaris
10 system without unmounting it using the fssnap command. Also details
the recovery process required to bring the system back online after
wiping out the root filesystem with dd...
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Using OnChange with PHP
An article describing how to use a <select>'s onchange
event to populate another <select> using a homebrewed
PHP/JavaScript solution. Available in a variety of formats.
NOTE: This code has ONLY been tested with Mozilla and Firefox
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PDF
Software RAID Under SUSE Linux
A paper detailing the implementation of Software RAID levels
1 and 5 under recent versions of SUSE Linux.
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Customising Your Home Environment
An article discussing the finer points of customising your home
environment. Topics covered include Korn Shell initialisation files
and good home directory layout.
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LaTeX Source
Adding Colour to /etc/motd
With a modern terminal, it is relatively easy to add colour to /etc/motd and allow your users to see a colourful message after they log in (if that's what floats your boat...). You just need to add some escape sequences. Download a commented example /etc/motd or view the kind of results you can achieve.
Aimless Rant #1: Popup Blocking
Yes, I agree that popups are just about the worst thing about the Internet today. However, certain "browsers" out there are inherently broken and do more harm than good when it comes to blocking popups. Read this article to find out more!
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