Eric Crossley's Blog

Getting WebEx to run on Ubuntu 64 9.x and higher

ecrossley — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:43:32 GMT

So I was on a mission now that there is a supported Sun Java Plugin for 64bit Ubuntu – I need Webex to work so that I don't have to jump through hoops to run it in a VM.

Typically when I'm hosting it's for presentations, so I'll continue to do those in my VM. Otherwise, I'm an attendee and / or hosting but not sharing or displaying data with folks, I turn it over to them so I can see what is happening on their
end. Hence the reason for the Webex in Ubuntu scenario.

As it stands, I have been able to get everything running on 9.10 and 64 bit. Here's how I did it:

Download and install the latest Java JRE (1.6.0_u18 as of this post)
1. Select the text from item 2 below and paste into your browser window.
2. ~~https://cds.sun.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/CDS-CDS_Developer-Site/en_US/-/USD/ViewProductDetail-Start?ProductRef=jre-6u18-oth-JPR@CDS-CDS_Develope~~
3. Select your OS type (Linux 64 bit)
4. Download the package (.bin)
Open a terminal window
1. execute the following commands (in sequence and substitute your jre or icetea filename accordingly):
  - chmod +x jre-6u18-linux-x64.bin
  - ./jre-6u18-linux-x64.bin
  - mkdir ~/.mozilla/plugins/
  - sudo mv jre1.6.0_18 /usr/lib/jvm/jre1.6.0_18
    - Note: no trailing slash after the _18 and a space between it and /usr*
  - ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/jre1.6.0_18/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so ~/.mozilla/plugins/
    - Note: Space between .so and ~/
  - sudo apt-get purge icedtea6-plugin
  - sudo apt-get purge icedtea-6-jre-cacao
  - sudo update-alternatives --config java
    - During the config, ensure you select the Sun Java plugin from the list, on mine it was item #3.
Shut down any Firefox sessions you have open and restart your browser
Open Firefox
Select Tools --> Manage Content Plug-Ins
1. Validate that all of your Java plugins show the most recently updated version you just installed
Go to Webex and have at it. Initially it will take a bit to get going, but you should be able to execute the Webex Meeting Center items accordingly.

How to find what packages you have installed in Ubuntu

ecrossley — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:57:43 GMT

So, I have used this process many times in the past and wanted to pass it along to those of you who may not be familiar with it.

If you run multiple Ubuntu systems like I do, one of the biggest challenges you can come across is ensuring that the packages that I had installed on one system were also available on another. There is nothing more frustrating that being on the road and not recalling which package you needed to install to do that one thing you were doing on a desktop.

Here is a nifty series of instructions that you can use to generate a list of installed packages on one system and then install that same package set on another. If you are concerned about orphaned packages there are a couple of things you can do to alleviate your concerns. The first option is to ensure that you have executed a sudo apt-get autoremove prior to executing the commands below. The second option is to execute a sudo apt-get autoremove after completing the steps below. The autoremove will identify orphaned or obsolete packages and will automatically remove them from your system.

Note: All of these steps are executed in terminal and given the example below you must use the --set-selections command in the directory where your installed-software file resides.

1) Open a terminal window on Ubuntu system A

2) On Ubuntu system A type: dpkg --get-selections > installed-software

3) Copy the installed-software file to Ubuntu system B

4) On Ubuntu system B, you have to have the dselect package installed. In a terminal window on Ubuntu system B type: sudo apt-get install dselect and follow prompts to install

5) In the Ubuntu system B terminal window, type dpkg --set-selections < installed-software

6) In the same Ubuntu system B terminal window, type sudo dselect

7) Select the install option (Option 3 in the list)

8) Follow the remainder of the normal terminal package install

Once done, your two systems will have identical packages on them providing you with the same feature sets from one installation to another.

Default keyring password synchronization

ecrossley — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:10:11 GMT

Recently I was importing some IM accounts into a new IM applicaiton, Empathy. I've always used Pidgin until now and figured that I would give Empathy a go, since it's integrated into the GNOME desktop for Karmic anyway.

If you change your user password at any time, you must also update the default keyring password. If you don't, you must then also remember your previous password that you used to setup the initial account for that user on your system.

This caused much grief, because if you manage your passwords like I do, remembering what I used to setup the system with after i've changed my user password is impossible.

Here's how you can "sync" your default keyring and user passwords:

1) In terminal install seahorse:

sudo apt-get install seahorse
Once install completes close terminal

2) Go to Applicaitons - Accessories

Select Passwords and Encryption keys

3) In the Passwords tab, right mouse click on Passwords: login

4) Select Change Password option

5) Enter in credentials (your previous password and then your new password)

After you have completed this step, your default keyring password will now match your local user password so that any applications requesting access can be given access to the keyring.

I have attached a small video tutorial to show you how to do the above steps. Use either the tar.gz and unzip on your Ubuntu system and enjoy or click on the .ogg file to watch it on your system without unzipping it.

Ubuntu Rsync Daemon Configuration Tips

ecrossley — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:47:37 GMT

I understand that this isn't the standard and some frown upon it; however, sometimes you just have to buck the trend because you have to.

I recently ran across a situation where my home NAS system, a Iomega ix4-200d, had a fantastic backup job feature that I wanted to use for my Ubuntu systems at home. While the NAS could be configured as an rsync server, the copy job feature uses a configuration-less (if thats a word) rsync copy command that essentially goes out to your specific Linux hosts and compares files in a backup location on the NAS to changes on your remote Linux box.

In order to get this to function properly, I had to learn more than I ever wanted to learn about the rsync daemon and how to configure excludes for it.

It took a bit of trial and error; hopefully, someone can benefit from what I learned.

Once you have completed the rsync daemon configuration at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/rsync, then make the following changes to exlude specific files from your rsync daemon presents. Make sure that you have installed the following packages - rsync, xinetd and ssh onto your system.

1. Edit the file /etc/rsyncd.conf and add your exlude filter configuration location. I put my exclude file under my user home directory to ensure that it gets backed up during any rsync backups (Note - Do not include the section between the ** ):

Example /etc/rsyncd.conf

max connections = 2
log file = /var/log/rsync.log
timeout = 300

**share** - The ** should be brackets but the blog system replaces them, so I had to change to ** so you could see it.
comment = Public Share
path = /home/share
read only = no
list = yes
uid = nobody
gid = nogroup
auth users = user
secrets file = /etc/rsyncd.secrets
exclude from = /home/USERNAME/LOCATION **(My location is /home/ecrossley/rsync.exludes)**

2. Create a file and list your excludes or includes in that file. This is the file that the rsync daemon will read and use to determine what files and locations to "show" to the remote rsync connection. In the example below, I have opted not to present my Music, Pictures, Videos, Internet browser, etc. to the rsync client. I did this because my media files (Music, Videos and Pictures) are already stored on a centralized NAS and I use NFS to mount these locations in Ubuntu. By excluding them, I ensure that I'm not backing up my NAS media files as part of my Ubuntu backups. The way I have chosen to "exlude" items is backwards from other's in that I want everything visible but WHAT I tell it to hide. Most others "exclude" everything and only "include" what they want visible. I don't have the time to keep up with changes on my system and track them in a filter file, so I keep it simple. My system is secured behind a firewall and anything internal can access anything on the box by design so I'm not concerned about security.

(For those of you not in the know, NFS presents your remote drives in Ubuntu as Directories on your local system. Ubuntu treats them as file folders with content and shows them as such. As I sync many systems, I want to minimize file irregularities across them and therefore NFS mount specific locations to make sure that any files I update, add, change are all presented to all of my Ubuntu systems the same.)

Example /home/ecrossley/rsync.exludes

- Music/
- Pictures/
- public/
- Videos/
- *Xauthority
- EMCSohoClient/
- .juniper_networks/
- .cache/
- .config/
- .mozilla/
- .local/share/Trash/

With exludes, it's important to note that you and use wildcards if you so desire. There are many references on what the wild cards are and how to use them. From above you can see that * is a global wildcard and anything following the * would be excluded (both files and directories).

3. Verify your rsync daemon shares to ensure that what you told it to exlude are exluded. You can do this with the following command in terminal:
sudo rsync USERNAME@HOSTNAME::share **Replace USERNAME with the configured username you put into your /etc/rsyncd.secrets file and by using your Ubuntu system's Hostname**

That's it. Have fun playing with excludes. I'm attaching my rsync.conf and rsync.excludes files for your reference.

ix4-200d Iomega 4tb NAS and Ubuntu 9.x

ecrossley — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:04:01 GMT

So I run Ubuntu at home and figured that I'd post my experiences with the ix4-200d and some of my configurations to help anyone else out there through the process of configuring the NAS with my setup. (I'm also posting this so that in the event I lose my ubuntu box or have to build a new one, I'll have it online )

Configuration setup information by topic:

1) Rsync copy job
a) I followed the rsync setup and configuration at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/rsync
- This page shows you how to setup and configure rsync, the rsync daemon and the files necessary to make it all play nice.
- You MUST install the rsync, xinetd, and ssh packages for your distro to make this work
- I have attached copies of my /etc/default/rsync, /etc/xinetd.d/rsync/, /etc/rsyncd.conf and /etc/rsyncd.secrets for your reference on how these files should look.
- In the attachments I've changed my specifics and indicated items you need to change in ALL CAPS.
b) After configuring the above and using the files as shown, you can then successfully use the rsync copy job command to backup your ubuntu system.
c) NOTE: If you use NFS and have mapped NFS drives inside of your /home user area, it will back these up too. This is good and bad depending on what you want on your NAS. I have scripts that unmount my NAS drives BEFORE copy job and Mount AFTER it's completed.

---UPDATED to use rsync daemon excludes, to prevent issues with item c) above. See updated code below! I added exclude from in the rscyncd.conf and a new excludes file in my home directory. I also included the test commands to run to show what your rsync daemon will present to your Iomega ---

/etc/default/rsync
[code]

defaults file for rsync daemon mode

start rsync in daemon mode from init.d script?
only allowed values are "true", "false", and "inetd"
Use "inetd" if you want to start the rsyncd from inetd,
all this does is prevent the init.d script from printing a message
about not starting rsyncd (you still need to modify inetd's config yourself).

RSYNC_ENABLE=inetd

which file should be used as the configuration file for rsync.
This file is used instead of the default /etc/rsyncd.conf
Warning: This option has no effect if the daemon is accessed
using a remote shell. When using a different file for
rsync you might want to symlink /etc/rsyncd.conf to
that file.
RSYNC_CONFIG_FILE=

what extra options to give rsync --daemon?
that excludes the --daemon; that's always done in the init.d script
Possibilities are:
--address=123.45.67.89 (bind to a specific IP address)
--port=8730 (bind to specified port; default 873)

RSYNC_OPTS=''

run rsyncd at a nice level?
the rsync daemon can impact performance due to much I/O and CPU usage,
so you may want to run it at a nicer priority than the default priority.
Allowed values are 0 - 19 inclusive; 10 is a reasonable value.

RSYNC_NICE=''

Don't forget to create an appropriate config file,
else the daemon will not start.

[/code]

/etc/rysncd.conf
[code]
max connections = 2
log file = /var/log/rsync.log
timeout = 300

share
comment = Home
path = /home/USERAREA
read only = yes
list = yes
uid = YOURUSERID
gid = YOURGROUPID
auth users = YOURUSERID
secrets file = /etc/rsyncd.secrets
exclude from = /home/ecrossley/rsync.excludes
[/code]

/etc/xinetd.d/rsync
[code]
service rsync
{
disable = no
socket_type = stream
wait = no
user = root
server = /usr/bin/rsync
server_args = --daemon
log_on_failure += USERID
}
[/code]

/etc/rsyncd.secrets
[code]
USERNAME:PASSWORD
(Example: NOBODY:cr@zy)
[/code]

/home/ecrossley/rsync.excludes (these are examples of directories that I do NOT want the rsync copy job to include in the backups, edit as you feel fit. Anything with a trailing slash is a root level direcotry in my /home location. Anything with a * will exclude any patterns written immediately after. I exclude trash because no sense backing that up.)

[code]

Music/
Pictures/
public/
Videos/
*Xauthority
EMCSohoClient/
.juniper_networks/
.cache/
.config/
.mozilla/
.local/share/Trash/

[/code]

Testing command:
[code]

In terminal type:
sudo rsync USERNAME@HOSTNAME::share

My example: sudo rsync ecrossley@Quad64::share

Replace USERNAME with the username identified above in the secrets file and hostname with the hostname of your Ubuntu system (Quad64 in my case)

The resulting list in the terminal window shows what files your Iomega drive can see and backup using the Copy Job feature in your Iomega control panel.

[/code]

2) Printing
a) After moving my printer over (HP DeskJet 5550) to the NAS, I was unable to get my Ubuntu system to print to it properly. As a result, I used the Windows SAMBA share option in your printer configuration (System, Administration, Printing). This allowed me to print to my printer.
- When configuring using this option, I found that I HAD to set authentication to allow printing to work. I created a printer "user" via security in the StorCenter control panel and used that account for "authentication". I've been able to print perfectly ever since.

3) NFS
a) It took me a bit to get NFS to function properly; however, it's really not that complicated (I was just being a moron).
- Make sure to set NFS options in the StorCenter settings section.
- When you edit an existing share that has security, you will be presented with an option for a host and what host access rights you want.
- Use the following commands to mount the NFS shares in your system: sudo mount IPADDRESSOFNAS:/nfs/SHAREDLOCATION /LOCALUBUNTUFILESYSTEM/LOCALDIRECTORY (Example in my case: sudo mount 192.168.xxx.xxx:/nfs/public/Media/xxxxxxx /home/ecrossley/Media/xxxxxx)
- REMEMBER: If you mount NFS under your home directory and execute a copy job, Ubuntu treats the NFS share as a local drive and will include it in your copy job. This essentially duplicates all data you have on your NAS under your backup file location. I personally didn't want this so I unmount the shares before the copy job rsync and remount them after. This is until I move the shares to a different location in my filesystem (once I get around to it).

4) FTP
a) DO NOT OVERLOOK USING FTP TO MAKE YOUR LIFE MUCH SIMPLER!!!!!!!!!
b) Copy something to your NAS only to find out if you have to change it's location you have to do it through your client? - FTP is your answer
c) After logging into FTP, you can drag and drop files using the FTP client (I use FileZilla) and not have to transfer data across your network or through the shares on your system. You can literally move things from backup locations to public locations, public directories to private, between private to private, etc.
d) This is possible because when you move something with the FTP client, it will use a RENAME feature in the FTP server and the server will just change the location of the existing files on the NAS, without it having to transfer across your network, etc.

Ok that's it for now, hope this helps someone.

Top things you MUST do after 9.10 upgrade or install

ecrossley — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:52:05 GMT

Great read over here: http://blog.thesilentnumber.me/2009/09/top-things-to-do-after-installing.html

Check out some of the key things you must do once you upgrade your system to 9.10 (or rebuild it from scratch).

VMware Workstation 7 on Ubuntu 64

ecrossley — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:53:55 GMT

Workstation 7 is FANTASTIC on Ubuntu 64. I'm so excited about this new workstation release as it provides many additional features over WS 6.5.

1) Sockets / Core selection - You can now set number of sockets and cores per socket to your individual workstation vm's.
2) Compacting of VM disk files can be done from workstation.
3) Encryption of Workstation VM's can now be done preventing access into VM's without proper credentials.
4) Windows 7 support

These are just a few of the options that are available, as well as, the ability to run nested ESX environments inside of Workstation 7.

If you are installing workstation for the first time on Ubuntu 64, you MUST execute the vmnetset script (http://communities.vmware.com/blogs/ecrossley/2009/06/29/ubuntu-and-vmware-workstation-networking) from this blog in order to allow promiscuous mode for your ethernet adapters

VMware View Open Client on 64 bit

ecrossley — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:41:08 GMT

Great article over at Cosmic Egg about open source view client on 64 bit linux. I've been slacking on the blog, so enjoy the read.

http://blog.cosmicegg.net/2009/10/vmware-view-open-client-on-64-bit.html

Gnome-Do my new best friend!

ecrossley — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:43:57 GMT

So after playing with quite a few menu bar systems and applications (AWN, Cairo, Docky, etc.) I've finally decided to put an end to it all and use Gnome-Do now that it has docky integration. This is by far the least buggy and most time saving application I've used on my system to date.

Gnome-Do's slogan is a bit silly but you really can do things much more quickly with it than with other tools and navigation systems. If you are a keyboard-er like I am and really hate to use the mouse unless you have to, Gnome-Do is a must have.

How to install it in Ubuntu?

I personally use the PPA repositories so that it becomes managed as part of my normal apt-get update routine. You can find the complete information here: https://launchpad.net/~do-core/+archive/ppa

Alternatively:

1) Add the below to your software sources list (the below are specifically for Jaunty distro 9,04x) via System - Administration - Software Sources - Third Party Software tab

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

2) Update your security keys to include the Gnome-Do launchpad keys via System - Administration - Software Sources - Authentication tab

Click on http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x28A8205077558DD0 and save the contents of the webpage from the PGP start portion to the PGP end portion into a file on your desktop
In your Authentication tab, select import and then select the file you just saved to your desktop.

3) Open terminal and:

Type sudo apt-get update, follow prompts for password and allow it to complete the update
Type sudo apt-get install Gnome-Do
Allow install to complete
Either reboot gnome or reboot the system (whichever is easier for you)

4) Configure Gnome-Do

Right click on Gnome-Do and select properties
Select any add on's you wish for it to use for the apps you have installed
Select "Docky" under the theme tab and add any docklets you wish
Modify other settings as desired, I personally use auto-hide for mine

5) Have fun!

Ever wish you could hit the VPN from your T-61 Ubuntu box?

ecrossley — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:28:43 GMT

Just go to your VPN web address and enter in your credentials. If it promts you through an xterminal session to hit enter and allow it to clear through to the option listing for services. Stay in the browser window and you can hit those internal things from inside your browser sslvpn wrapper.

Have you ever needed to kill the graphical interface for Ubuntu?

ecrossley — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:07:42 GMT

So, if you are wanting to install new video drivers, etc. inside of Ubuntu (like making your own amd64 kernel packages) then you have run into a situation where you need to install new video drivers and a simple switch out to a console login won't work.

Here are the simple steps to shutdown the graphical interface from inside a console session (notice I didn't say terminal) / text login:

Stop GNOME: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop
Start GNOME: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start
Stop KDE: sudo /etc/init.d/kdm stop
Start KDE: sudo /etc/init.d/kdm start

How do I set Ubuntu to boot to console every time I restart my box?

Definitions of runlevels:

runlevel 1 = single user text mode.
runlevel 2 = GUI mode

How to set Ubuntu to boot to console every time:

Open terminal
type sudo init 1
System will shut down and boot you into single user text mode.

How to set Ubuntu to boot to GUI every time:

Open terminal
type sudo init2
System will shut down and boot you into GUI mode.

Ubuntu Sources List auto-pgp key updates from Launchpad

ecrossley — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:25:41 GMT

While working with Ubuntu 9.04 i've found that it's quite a pain to update your software sources listing with new software sources that you trust. this is because each trusted software source from Launchpad has a PGP security key that needs to be imported so that you can validate that you are pulling source code from the website.

I've found a nifty script that was written by someone on the internet and a few instructions which allow for easier management of this process. Essentially, you add a software source to your software sources list via System - Administrations - Software Sources - (enter root password) - Third party software tab. Once you enter in the software source, the script and associated updates will automagically collect the proper PGP keys necessary to allow you access into the repositories on launchpad, when you run apt-get update.

Enjoy!

PS - I didn't write the script, nor the code inside of the readme but I have validated that it works with no security risk. The text of the readme is my own.

Readme contents:

How to automatically add new PPA repo security keys when doing a normal apt-get update:

1. Save the script which adds the keys for all your PPA repos from this email.

2. Extract and put it in /usr/local/bin

3. Chmod the script to 775. Do this by changing to /usr/local/bin and then typing chmod 775 launchpad-update into the terminal.

4. Create a new file, "etc/apt/apt.conf.d/05ppa" (file 05ppa which should be located in etc/apt/apt.conf.d) and put this in it:

APT::Update::Pre-Invoke { "if ~~-x /usr/local/bin/launchpad-update~~ ; then /usr/local/bin/launchpad-update; fi"; };

5. That's it. This will execute the script in local/bin and automatically import any security keys from the PGP keyserver to support repositories that you have added to your 9.04 system. Its an easy way to work through the adding a repository in system sources thing.

Ubuntu and VMWare Workstation Networking

ecrossley — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:15:59 GMT

I'm running Ubuntu 64 bit on my T-61 laptop as the host OS (so that I could actually use the full 4GB of ram issued to me when I received my laptop). I run workstation 6.5 and host all of my VM's I use to accomplish my job functions. One of the initial challenges that I ran into while running Workstation on Ubuntu started when I was creating a laptop lab to host ESX 3.5 and ESXi servers inside Workstation on my laptop. During boot time, ESX and ESXi attempt to put your network connections into promiscuous mode, which under Ubuntu isn't possible without the proper read / write permissions on the /dev/vmnet* items.

As such, I created a simple script that, once included in /etc/init.d will allow this action to occur during system startup. I'm attaching both the simple script and the instructions on how to execute and add this component to your startup sequence for Ubuntu. I've also attached a tar.gz file which includes both the script and the instructions.

Enjoy.

Read me file information:

How to set VMnets at startup:

1) Extract the vmnetset.tar.gz file to your desktop or any other location.

2) Copy the vmnetset.sh script to your /etc/init.d directory by executing the following:
a) cp /directory/where/the/script/is/vmnetset.sh /etc/init.d/

3) Execute the following commands to set the script to boot and to assign the proper symlinks for bootup
a) sudo update-rc.d vmnetset.sh defaults
b) sudo chmod +x vmnetset.sh

4) Once completed, reboot system and validate your network settings by:
a) open a terminal window and type ls -l /dev |grep vmnet

If all vmnet settings are set rw, you are good to go!

To remove the script from startup: sudo update-rc.d -f vmnetset.sh remove