For those who do not know what GIMP is, is short GNU Image Manipulation Program. What’s GNU? It’s GNU Not UNIX. What’s GNU? It’s GNU Not UNIX.. What’s.. you know.

Most of the tutorials I’ll mentioned here is based / borrowed /stolen from this link, so be sure to check it out and bookmark that one too

http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Color2BW/

A number of people are asking, specially those folks not so familiar with computer or with technology in general – “how do i make my computer run faster?”

Reasons a computer runs Slow

Here are a couple of reason why a computer run slow:

1. Old model
2. Not enough ram to accommodate application
3. A computer virus

First of all, if you bought a hand me down, second hand, used computer from a few years back, that is a pretty good chance that the applications that you installed or want to install in your PC will run slow as the computer hardware industry is very fast paced that the hardware of today will become obsolete in a year. With that said, if you have an old computer, there is no other way of making it faster but replacing it with a new one or upgrading the main components of it like the system board, memory or the central processing unit.

Second, there are many software application today that is very memory extensive that it eats up most of the RAM (Random access memory) of the computer which leaves nothing for the Operating System or for other application.

Third possible reason is that the unit is infected by a virus which also consumes a lot of your computer’s processing power. Viruses can come from an external drive or from online in the websites that you are visiting.

How to make a new computer run faster?

From the same reason given above, the same things can be done to make a computer run faster.

For the first and second point or item, like mentioned, there is no better way than to upgrade.

The third one is to have a antivirus scan and clean the computer up. But in my experience it is better or completely erase the computer (format the system) and reinstall the OS and application to make sure that the virus is completely removed. (Of course, you have to make backup of your important files)

You may definetly need to clean up your PC.
Here is instructions about how to clean your PC: http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Your-Comput…
1. Download a nice PC cleaner from http://www.pc-registry-repair.cc
(System cleaner is a best choice)
2. Run the cleaner and clean up your PC.
3. Restart your PC

To be honest, this is the steps that really made me understood the steps and procedure and the concept behind the 10_Recommended patch for solaris kernel.

So, here it is:

Check Boot Disk

This step is to check which disks are the member of the boot mirror. We can say that this is the check disk mirror / disk membership step


# df -h /
Filesystem size used avail capacity Mounted on
/dev/md/dsk/d0 33G 7.3G 25G 23% /
#
# metastat -c d0
d0 m 33GB d10 d20
d10 s 33GB c1t0d0s0
d20 s 33GB c1t1d0s0

As you can see, there are two disk that comprise the boot mirror (d0), 33GB c1t0d0s0 and c1t1d0s0, which is named d10 and d20 respectively

Check which disk is booting up

In this step, we will determine which of the disk are the one being use as the boot default boot disk.

Usually it’s the default ‘disk’ or ‘disk0′, but there are times, very rare, that ‘disk1′ is set as the default boot disk.

To know which disk is the one that boot up the system, you can use the eeprom command in the system shell:


# eeprom boot-device
boot-device=disk0


In this case, it’s the most common disk that is used as the boot disk – disk0. That means, when can detach the other disk as backup just in case the patching screw up.

Check The Bootability of the Backup Disk

Prior to patching, check if the other disk is booting. This is a precaution. Just in case the patching went sour, we know that we can always revert to a good disk, revert to the previous good booting condition of the server.

Since from the previous step, we know that the default boot disk is ‘disk0′, we will switch to ‘disk1′ and try to reboot the server and see if it will come up.

Now, there are two ways to set the value of the ‘boot-device’ paramter of the server. You can either set it at the system shell, or through the Boot PROM, depending on where you are at the moment.

Now, set the default boot disk to ‘disk1′

eeprom boot-device=disk1

or

set boot-device=disk1

After setting it up, reboot the server:

init 0 then boot

or

init 6

If you’re successfull, you just booted on the ‘other half’ of the bootdisk.

Now, don’t forget to switch back to disk0 !!!

Next, (optional… can differ from company to company)

# untar the patch file
cd /var/tmp
rm -rf PatchDir
mkdir PatchDir
mv S10KernelUpdate4.0.tar.gz PatchDir
cd PatchDir
gunzip -c S10KernelUpdate4.0.tar.gz|tar xf -

Splitting the Mirror

The next steps are the meat of the procedure. This is the patching of the kernel itself.. But of course, after checking the boot disk – whether the both disks are good- it’s time to break the mirror and patch one disk.

sync;metadeatch

detach the backup disk

metadetach d0 d20

# mount the detached root file system to root and modify these

mount /dev/dsk/c1t1d0s0 /mnt

vi /mnt/etc/vfstab
vi /mnt/etc/system

Modifying vsfstab and /etc/system of the detached disk will make sure that if the patching fail, we can alyas boot up to the backup disk.

Start Patching

# go to single user mode
sync;sync;init 0

init -s

Rebooting with command: boot -s
Boot device: /pci@8,600000/SUNW,qlc@4/fp@0,0/disk@0,0 File and args: -s
SunOS Release 5.10 Version Generic_141414-02 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.

… You then follow the ReadMe document that comes with the Patch here.

Once the patching is done, you’ll see the difference of the patch level of the kernel.

Boot device: disk0 File and args:
SunOS Release 5.10 Version Generic_142900-02 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.

Optional
=——————–
For more installation messages refer to the installation logfile:
/var/sadm/install_data/PMGT:_TLP-Set_Solaris_10_SOE_S10KernelUpdate4.1_A1_04_27_10

Use ‘/usr/bin/showrev -p’ or ‘/usr/sbin/patchadd -p’ to verify
installed patch-ids.
Refer to individual patch README files for more patch detail.
Rebooting the system is usually necessary after installation.
svc.startd: The system is coming down. Please wait.
svc.startd: 20 system services are now being stopped.

!!! Please read the logfile for any required action before rebooting !
————–

reboot:! for the bank, it’s automatic

If all is good, you can reattach the other disk

metattach d0 d20

And you’re done.

Summary: User instruction on how to setup public-key authentication.

In setting up the ssh public-key authentication between servers, local and remote, we have to generate the key pairs and transfer it to the remote/server.

Client Side

The publickey authentication method is enabled by the SSHtectia package by default. A functional ID’s key pair can be generated using the ‘generate_keys’ script (may be located in /export/opt/SSHtectia//util/ or depending on your installation). That script, ‘generate_keys’, is use to generate user key pairs: id_dsa_2048_a and id_dsa_2048_a.pub (default names) in the centralized key location:

/etc/opt/SSHtectia/keys/

The script also creates an ‘identification’ file in /etc/opt/SSHtectial/keys/ that contains the name of the private keys:

# more identification
# SSH Tectia private key
IdKey /etc/opt/SSHtectia/keys/%U/id_dsa_2048_a

# OpenSSH private key
IdKey /etc/opt/SSHtectia/keys/%U/id_dsa

Don’t forget to substitute the private key filename for ‘id_dsa_2048_a’ or ‘id_dsa’ if you are using a different naming convention. If several key pairs are used, list private keys on a separate lines.

Server Side

The publickey authentication method is enabled for functional IDs ONLY by the SSHtectia package (how do we know if an account is such?).

Copy the public key file (i.e. id_dsa_2048_a.pub) to the server, to the centralized key location. You can use sftp, copy paste or any other method to do this.

Also copy the ‘authorization’ file (created by the ‘generate_keys’ script) from the cliet to the server’s centralized key location.

Test the connection.. it should work.. It worked on mine.

getfacl is a file utility for viewing the access control list information associated with a file or directory.

For a memory aid, you can think of ‘getfacl’ as “Get File ACL“.. ACL being Access Control List.

Access control lists are extended attributes added to most major file systems in the 2.6 kernel to improve ability to control the access of files. They allow permissions to be set for individual groups and users and not just the owning user, owning group, and all other users.

setfacl is a command that allows you to set the Access Control List information for a file or directory.

Access control lists are extended attributes added to most major file systems in the 2.6 kernel to improve ability to control the access of files. They allow permissions to be set for individual groups and users and not just the owning user, owning group, and all other users.

You can read man pages for both getfacl and setfacl for more information.

getfacl and setfacl example….

Here’s an example of using the basic funtion of getfacl and setfacl

# getfacl

#setfacl

setfacl -m default:user::rwx,default:group::r-x,default:other:r-x,default:mask:rwx /u06/OneSource/datapump_dbdump

setfacl -m default:user:rcodapp1:r-x,default:group:r-x,default:other:—,default:mas:rwx /u06/OneSouce/datapump_dbdump

Anyway, the link will forward you to a form where you need to fill up some personal information (it’s from Sun, so there will be no selling of email or spamming there). Once you’re done with that, go read and study Solaris Virturalization!

Enjoy!

» Download your free copy of Virtualization for Dummies.

This post was created because of the email from one of my webhosting account… They said that my dedicated server is ready and I can now set up my own custom name server. They even offer to help if I don’t know how to do it. I just need to give them my account info…. sure… NOT.

Here’s how to do it in GoDaddy:

GoDaddy
1. Login to your GoDaddy Account.
2. Click on My Account
3. Click on Manage Domains
4. Click on the domain name you want to modify.
5. In the lower left corner of the page, there is a Host Summary. Click Add.
6. Enter the ns1 and ns2 and IP addresses. Then click OK.
7. Click the Nameservers icon across the top.
8. Change the nameservers to the ones you just created.

Try it! Goodluck!

Yesterday we had to replace a failed disk that belongs to a mirror. The disk is running in a Sparc Solaris 10 box. It’s a 72GB from Fujitsu

c1t1d0           Soft Errors: 440 Hard Errors: 12 Transport Errors: 124
Vendor: FUJITSU  Product: MAY2073RCSUN72G  Revision: 0501 Serial No: 0711S0935R
Size: 73.40GB <73400057856 bytes>

As you can see from the iostat -En command, the disk is spitting hard errors and must be replaced before it can cause a lot more headache. It’s in c1t1, right.

Here’s what we’re supposed to do:

• we could delete the meta data base that corresponds to the failed disk
• detached the failed disk/slices to the mirror
• clear it
• unconfigure the disk
• replace the disk
• configure the disk
• create new meta device database
• Initialize the disk
• Attached it to mirror
• and sync

Here’s the detailed job:

Info:
metadb | grep c1t1
metadb –d c1t1d0s7

Detach:
metadetach d30 d32
metadetach d40 d42
metadetach d20 d22
metadetach d10 d12

metaclear d32
metaclear d42
metaclear d22
metaclear d12

Verify:
metastat -p | grep c1t1d0
metadb | grep c1t1d0
[root@localhost] /> cfgadm -al
Ap_Id Type Receptacle Occupant Condition
c0 scsi-bus connected configured unknown
c0::dsk/c0t0d0 CD-ROM connected configured unknown
c1 scsi-bus connected configured unknown
c1::dsk/c1t0d0 disk connected configured unknown
c1::dsk/c1t1d0 disk connected configured unknown
c1::dsk/c1t2d0 disk connected configured unknown
c1::dsk/c1t3d0 disk connected configured unknown
usb0/1 unknown empty unconfigured ok
usb0/2 unknown empty unconfigured ok
usb1/1.1 unknown empty unconfigured ok
usb1/1.2 unknown empty unconfigured ok
usb1/1.3 unknown empty unconfigured ok
usb1/1.4 unknown empty unconfigured ok
usb1/2 unknown empty unconfigured ok

Unconfigure:
cfgadm -c unconfigure c1::dsk/c1t1d0

Verify ulit, note the red text above:
cfgadm –al
SWAP DISK

Undo what has been done….

Configure:
cfgadm -c configure c1::dsk/c1t1d0

format (to label disk)

prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0s2 | fmthard -s – /dev/rdsk/c1t1d0s2

metadb -a –c 2 c1t1d0s7

Attach!!

metainit d32 1 1 c1t1d0s6
metainit d42 1 1 c1t1d0s4
metainit d22 1 1 c1t1d0s1
metainit d12 1 1 c1t1d0s0
metattach d30 d32
metattach d40 d42
metattach d20 d22
metattach d10 d12
metastat -p
metadevadm -u c1t1d0

And you’re done! Grab a cup of coffee and wait till the synchronization is done.

If you’re not familiar with Firefox, it’s an open source web browser and I suggest you use it right now. Trash that IE and start using Firefox (or Google Chrome – cooler!).

File transfer protocol (FTP) is how we send large files from one computer to another using the Internet — not an e-mail attachment.

Here’s how to install and use FireFTP on Firefox.

First thing’s first… install FireFTP to your firefox Browser… You can download FIREFTP here. Or using Firefox, open up this page and click on the “Add to Firefox” button. Dowload one now.

It will automatically install and you will need to restart Firefox.

After restarting there will be a new object on the Tools menu of Firefox called … what else, FireFTP.

When you click on that, Firefox will open another Tab and the first time you open FireFTP, you’ll need to create an account:

You’ll need to input some information to the Fireftp’s text boxes:

Of course, the important field is the ‘host’, the login and the password field.

You will then have a drop down menu with your newly created profile… simple choose it and click connect and you’re good to go!