I’ve been reading through a Bash scripting book for a few days now.  I already was familiar with quite a lot of what I’ve read so far, but what the book has been doing for me is filling in a lot of the finer details about bash that I’ve just never spent the time to read about.  It’s good though, I want to focus the same kind of intensity on this as I have in the past with VBScript and VMware ESX.

Technorati Tags: bash, Linux, Unix

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So far the real bottleneck appears to be related to the NTFS-3G module that facilitates the communication between Linux and the NTFS filesystem on my Drobo.  The wife tried to copy 26 GB of video files over the network to the Drobo, and when I checked “top” on the server, there’s a “mount.ntfs-3g” process that was soaking up 88% CPU, and my load average was about 1.4 - 1.6 (on a dual proc system).

So, it looks like there’s quite a bit of overhead to getting Linux to fully interact with NTFS.  I really don’t want to go to EXT3 on this thing though.  Drobo Inc. claims they support it, but it still sounds like there’s issues with it.  I could just buy the Droboshare module that would basically put the Drobo on the network, but that eliminates me having all this fun with Linux and making it do my dirty work.

If I can find time this week, I might research this kernel module a little more to see if there’s some tweaking I can do to make it a little faster.

Technorati Tags: drobo, Linux, ntfs, ntfs-3g, Samba

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1. The file system format had to be something that I could easily still move to a Windows box, and plug it in and it would work.  This is just in case my Linux box blows up, and the wife still needs access to the files on her Vista PC.  That limits me to FAT32 nd NTFS.
2. The front lights still need to work.  I’ve read that with EXT3 on the Drobo, it can’t properly evaluate drivespace use.  If you put data on, and the use lights go up…then you delete, the lights don’t change.
3. It needed to be able to be mounted into the filesystem and used with Samba without much difficulty.

I had originally wanted to convert it to FAT32 since that’s natively supported in Linux.  But, I later found out that would limit me to files no larger than 2GB in size.  That’s not possible because I have some TrueCrypt volumes and AVI files that are WAY larger than that.

Then I tossed around the idea of going to EXT3 on the Drobo, but that won’t work because I can’t move i back to Windows easily, and the front usage lights on the Drobo stop working.  Plus, I’m still unsure if removing and upgrading drives in the Drobo will function properly with the EXT3 filesystem, even though the latest firmwares are supposed to allow EXT3 to be supported.

So, decided to leave it in NTFS format (which it already was in), and try to find a way to make CentOS mount it with R/W capabilities.  After some Googling, I found out that a few packages (Fuse / NTFS-3G) was all that was needed to add this functionality.  After some wrestling with kernel versions, compiling, kernel module tweaking, etc..etc..  I finally got the Drobo to mount properly, and added it to /etc/fstab.

I’m still a bit worried about it, but so far I’m able to access everything.  Creates and deletes files/folders just fine.  Has ownership/group of root, and 777 for permissions (which is fine for me for now).  So, I created a Samba share for it, and headed on over to the wife’s Vista PC.  She already had a drive mapping pointed at \\drobolizer\drobo, so I opened it up and POOF!  The damn thing worked perfectly, as if nothing had changed.  Seemless!  On her side of things, she wouldn’t know it’s on a completely different OS now.  Share comes up the same to her.

Mission accomplished.  Now I have to setup some cron jobs to do backups on this thing.  Amanda maybe.

Technorati Tags: centos, drobo, ext3, fuse, Linux, ntfs-3g

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Well, I did that and then went and changed /etc/fstab to reflect the new names, and rebooted.  Splat!  System wouldn’t boot.  Looked pretty obvious, I forgot to change my GRUB config.  So, I rebooted again, changed the line in GRUB boot to reflect the new root mount point, and everything booted fine.

Modified /boot/grub/grub.conf to fix it, and rebooted again.  Now everything was coming up ok, except that I was still getting an initial error stating that there was a volume that couldn’t be mounted or checked for resume.  Kept naming LogVol01 (which was my swap volume).

Did some digging and found out that there was still references in the initial ramdisk that pointed to the old LV name.  Found some docs on how to edit it manually, and then also how to use “mkinitrd” command to just recreate it.  Did that, and now everyting is running fine.

Great lessons on LVM and also the boot process learned there.

Technorati Tags: initrd, logical volume, LVM, mkinitrd, volume group

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Lots of quotes come to mind when I think about what I just dove into this week:

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.”

“The impossible is often the untried.”

“Know your limits, but never stop trying to exceed them.”

“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.”

Leaving the Windows and the VMware ESX world behind to take on new challenges is not an easy choice to make.

“One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.”

I was even asked on my interview if I’m going to miss the Windows/ESX world that I’ve become so used to and comfortable with?  Of course I am.  It’s been “home” for me for a long time.

I’ve decided to challenge myself by leaving the comforts of the Windows world, and jump head-first into the harshness of the command-line world of a Unix Systems Engineer.  For a long time I’ve been a very hybrid-OS type of guy.  I have used most major operating systems professionally at one time or another…but the Unix arena is one I haven’t really put a scratch in yet.

Why do I use the word “harsh” to describe Unix and the command line?  How else does any (former) Windows engineer describe Unix?  Think about it, how many Windows GUI-oriented people do you know that have tried Linux, only to decide that it’s “too hard to work with”, or “I couldn’t make it work because it was too much of a pain in the neck to setup”, or “it’s just so much easier in Windows to point and click..and BOOM, it works!”

There’s really nothing wrong with that.  It’s a preference.  But, for most Windows folks that’s the end of it and they never give it another look.  Not for me.  I’m the weird one here.  I’m the one that looks at something like that, and runs faster towards it instead of away from it.  It’s a challenge.  It’s the whole “road less traveled” thing for me.

I’ve had my eye on the Unix arena for quite a while though.  I think going back as far as 1999-ish I’ve always wanted to get more involved in this intriguing operating system.  There’s an odd elegance to the simple complexities of it.

“The best angle from which to approach any problem is the try-angle.”

I truly believe that you can’t know for sure if you can do something unless you make the decision to act on it, put effort into it, fail at it, learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward.  Because if you’re not moving forward, then you’re doing one of two other things: standing still, or falling behind.

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Technorati Tags: blog, Tech, Technology

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On paper, this guy appears to be a Windows guy.  He publishes articles for Windows IT Pro magazine, runs http://winsupersite.com, has a new version os his Windows Vista Secrets book coming out soon, everything about him on paper says Microsoft Windows.  But yet week after week when I hear him speak with Leo Laporte on the Windows Weekly netcast, he sounds more and more anti-Microsoft/Windows and more of an Apple/Mac/iPhone fan than anything else.

I thought I was going to get through episode 64 without hearing anything about Apple or Macs, or any Microsoft bashing…but fear not, 20 minutes into the show they start talking about bad Microsoft slogans, and how Apple’s commercials are so great even though they do nothing but bash Windows PC’s.  Then they go on and on about Apple’s image in the public’s mind compared to Microsoft’s…only to lead up to the fact that Paul admits he just bought a Macbook Pro recently.  Oh sure, he installed Windows on it, but left Leopard on it too…was that Windows install done just to keep the Windows fans somewhat happy?

He even mentioned that he’d leave the Windows platform for Macs if Microsoft did an ad with a Bruce Springsteen/John Cougar Mellencamp singer guy.

Paul doesn’t hide the fact that he has an iPhone user.  What?  Microsoft makes phones with Windows on them…how can you call yourself a Windows guy if you use the competition’s phone and OS?

30 minutes into episode 64, he’s talking about his first Macbook he bought…ugh!  Then makes a comment about the Apple store service being excellent, and ends up buying a brand new Macbook Pro.  He likes to keep his toe in the Mac side of things so he can stay up to date with what you can get on the Mac side that you can’t get on the PC side.  What?

So they continued to talk about Macs 36 minutes into the show, and then segwayed into Paul using iTunes, all his iPod’s and also the fact that he has an AppleTV.  Again, Paul’s a Windows guy, remember?  Not a Mac/Apple guy.  Are you convinced?

39 minutes in, we’re bashing Microsoft inability to get some decent branding on their music stuff, Urge, MSN Music, Plays-for-sure, the Zune store, etc..etc..

I could go on and on.  This is just one episode of Twit where Paul’s coming off sounding more like a Apple/Mac fan.  There’s plenty previous episodes where Apple’s name and products take centerstage on a Windows podcast in a positive light (meaning, it’s talked about how great it is, and then in another breath Microsoft and Windows are talked about how confusing it is, or bad the products are, or the poor decisision making on Microsoft’s part).

I have nothing against Apple.  I don’t use any of their products, but I would if I found a compelling reason to dump Windows/Linux (it just doesn’t make sense for me to spend the $$$ on it right now for something I wouldn’t get ultimately that much different functionality out of with Skype, Firefox, Google Docs, etc..etc..)  But Paul’s surrounded himself with everything-Windows, and makes money off publishing content revolving around Windows.  Just really bugs me and makes me question his loyalty if he comes on a Windows-based podcast and talks more about Apple in a positive light, and then turns around bashing Microsoft and Windows products.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Leo Laporte, Mac, microsoft, paul thurrott, SuperSite for Windows, twit, Windows, Windows IT Pro Magazine, Windows Weekly

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The typical problem with most folks that participate in social networking is that they’re involved in too many of them that are separate and don’t share information with each other.  I have profiles on Facebook, Linkedin, Plurk, Twitter, Friendfeed, and a number of other ones.  The trouble is that if you want to update any of those sites, you have to visit them all individually.

Ping.fm tries to resolve this problem by allowing you to post updates to all of your social networking sites all at once.  All you need to do is create an account on Ping.fm and then add in all the sites you’re a member of (that they support), and you can update from Ping.fm.  They also provide mobile pages to do updates from, API’s, and even an email address you can send email to that will update the status of all your social networking websites.

If you’re heavy into the social networking scene, this is a great tool to use to keep all of your friends on different sites updated with the latest information on what’s going on.  I highly recommend it.

Technorati Tags: facebook, friendfeed, linkedin, Ping.fm, plurk, social networking, twitter

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So, I’m ditching Flickr tonight and trying out Picasa.  I suppose right off the bat what I love is that Picasa is more than just an online photo service.  My wife has been using the offline photo application for a long time now, so I had a good laugh tonight when I asked her to help me with it.

The other factor that made me switch…Friendfeed supports it!  I had thought that only Flickr was on there a while back (maybe it was?) but I checked tonight and it’s out there now, so I added it to my feed.

We’ll see how things go.  It does look like there’s quite a limit on photo storage though… 1 GB?  Seems low, but I really don’t need to upload high quality photos.  In fact, I have a crappy $15 camera that I’m carrying around that will most likely be the source of everything I upload.

I’ll have a magic shortcut button for my feed on the right side of my blog soon as I can find a nice image, but if you’d like to check out my photo feed you can find it here:  http://picasaweb.google.com/pagesix1536 .  Or just follow me on FriendFeed.com to keep updated on when I publish photos.

Technorati Tags: flickr, Google, photos, picasa, yahoo

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Little did I know, the service provider for the airport, Boingo, doesn’t offer it free.  They have 3 or 4 different plans you can pay for depending on the amount of time you want service in whatever airport you happen to be at.  So that shot all my plans to just kill some time while I was waiting, until I started to do some Googling on my Blackberry.

I discovered that there’s a promotional plan for iPhone users which allows them free access for 15 minutes at a time.  The only catch is that you have to watch a small advertisement (which didn’t even work on my laptop anyway).  Well, I don’t have an iPhone, but what I did have is some more information gathered via Googling which you can use to make Internet Explorer pretend to be an iPhone (there’s other articles out there for how to do this on Firefox, which is honestly easier…go find em.)

This is the string you need (make it all one line, it just wraps here in my blog due to the width limitations):

Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1A543a Safari/419.3

And here’s where you need to put it in the Windows registry for it to work:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent

Create a “String Value” named Version under that area in the registry and put that iPhone string in as the data.

Now, when you launch IE, it’ll present itself as an iPhone.  You should be able to get on Boingo’s wifi network and watch the mini ad.  One thing I found out though is that if you continue to use that string after you’ve connected, some sites will format as a mobile version.  So what I did was just go back into the registry and rename the “Version” key to something like “Boingo_free_Version” and then restart IE.  Voila, 15 minutes of free internet access at the airport.

After 15 minutes is up, just repeat the process and you can continue.  One thing you could probably do is export that key to a .REG file.  Save it to your desktop.  Then create the other version of the key (the “off” version) and save that to the desktop as well as a .REG file.  Just double-click them to turn on/off the iPhone disguise.

If someone knows of a User Agent plugin for IE (similar to the one that Firefox has), sound off in the comments to this post.

Technorati Tags: airport, boingo, free wifi, Internet Explorer, iphone

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