As the author of “Troubleshooting Windows 7 Inside Out” from Microsoft Press one of the most popular webcast requests I have received is for how you can diagnose and repair these complex and difficult problems, so on January 12th 2012 this is exactly what I’m going to do.

The webcast is completely free, live and starts at 10AM PT - San Francisco | 6pm – London | 1pm – New York | Fri, Jan 13th at 5am – Sydney | Fri, Jan 13th at 3am – Tokyo | Fri, Jan 13th at 2am – Beijing | 11:30pm – Mumbai

It can be difficult enough finding out what’s gone wrong with windows 7 or a program, but some problems can be a nightmare to diagnose. In this webcast, Mike Halsey, the author of Troubleshooting Windows 7 Inside Out talks you through how to diagnose really stubborn and hidden problems in Windows 7, and explains how you can go about fixing them.

In this webcast I’ll cover the tools and skills you’ll need to diagnose problems, and I’ll show you the extensive diagnostic tools that already exist inside Windows 7 to help you with the job.  In fact it’s possible to diagnose complex Windows 7 problems using nothing more than Windows 7 itself.

If you’re not able to make the webcast when it’s broadcast live, just register in advance and you’ll be given free access to watch it afterwards online through the O’Reilly website.  It will last for approximately 60 minutes and is part of a series of regular webcasts that, from February, will return to their regular first Thursday slot.

You can register for this free webcast here.

The webcasts are all on the theme “Windows 7 Troubleshooting” and will include Securing Windows 7 and Internet Explorer, Troubleshooting Windows Update and Service Pack Problems and Troubleshooting Networking Issues and will be one a month until the beginning of November.

The webcasts are all free to attend, from the comfort of your own home or office, and full details can be found below.

Join Mike Halsey, author of Troubleshooting Windows 7 Inside Out, in this four-part webcast series on Troubleshooting Windows 7. On the first Thursday of each month, Mike will guide us through a new aspect of Windows troubleshooting. You’ll learn how to take control of essential Windows 7 maintenance and security features and master quick fixes to the most common Windows problems. Bring your questions, too. Mike will allow plenty of time for Q&A. Securing Your Files and Data in Windows Thursday, Aug 4, 2011 at 10:00AM PT The most important part of your PC is your files and data, but how can you safeguard them against sudden disaster, and how can you recover them should things go wrong? In this webcast, Mike  will talk you though how to keep your files and data safe from even the worst disaster. Securing Windows 7 and Internet Explorer Thursday, Sep 1, 2011 at 10:00AM PT The more time you spend online, the more vulnerable you can be to malware and scammers. In this webcast, Mike  will describe what to look for to keep yourself safe, and how you can configure Windows and Internet Explorer to keep yourself, your family, small business and your personal data safe from prying eyes and online thieves. Troubleshooting Windows Update and Service Pack Problems Thursday, Oct 6, 2011 at 10:00AM PT Among the most common problems with Windows are issues around the installation and maintenance of Windows Updates and Service Packs. In this webcast Mike  will talk you through how to repair common problems and diagnose and repair more complex issues that can bring your computer to a standstill. Troubleshooting Networking Issues in Windows 7 Thursday, Nov 3, 2011 at 10:00AM PT Everybody has had issues with networking at some point and with the Introduction of new features including Homegroup, networking in Windows 7 is more complex than ever before. In this webcast Mike will discuss how you can diagnose and repair networking problems on your PC.

You can find out more about these webcasts here.

Kaspersky removed the virus diligently enough, but it had left her with an annoying and recurring Windows Defender 0X80070006 error code whenever she started her PC.  This code, if you do a quick search on Google is “Application failed to initialise” though it was clear to me straight away what had happened and it’s so common I thought I’d write it up here.

Windows Defender has been a staple component of Windows since the famous XP Service pack 2 that introduced it.  It’s a basic anti malware app that runs automatically in the background on your PC and helps keep it free of nasties.  It’s no substitute for a commercial anti-malware app though, MalwareBytes being my all-time favourite, and as such many third-party anti-virus programs disable it when you install them.  Kaspersky is no exception to this but on this occasion, as also happens so many times, something went wrong and Windows Defender wasn’t disabled, or wasn’t disabled correctly.

This is a simple-enough problem to fix and can be done in just a few simple steps.  I thought I’d talk you through those steps here.

The first thing to do is to open the Servicespanel in Windows.  While Windows Defender is to all intents and purposes a program, it’s not installed as a normal program.  Instead it runs as a Windows service, much in the same way your print spooler or your firewall does.

The best way to find services is just to type the word services into the search box in the Start Menu.  You’ll see in figure 1 that the services panel has an icon that’s a couple of cogs, a large one and a small one (it’s highlighted here).  Click on this option to open the services panel.

Fig 1

When the services panel opens you’ll see a very long list of a great many Windows services as in Figure 2, they’ll by default all be listed in alphabetical order.  Scroll down the list until you find Windows Defender.

Once you have Windows Defender visible in the services panel, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu that appears.

Fig 2

After you’ve selected the properties for Windows Defender, a small dialog window will appear showing all the options for that service.  You can see this in Figure 3.  In the centre of this window is an option to select the service’s Startup Type.  This is the option you’ll want to change as, most likely, your new anti-virus software has failed to disable Windows Defender and its service is still running.

Just changing this Startup Type behaviour to Disabled and pressing the OK button in the window is enough to fix the problem.  You can now close the services window and restart your PC.  Now you won’t get the error any more as Windows Defender will no longer be running and there won’t be any conflicts between it and your new anti-virus software.

Fig 3

It can be verytempting to look down the list in the Services panel to see what else you may or may not need.  By default Windows 7 is very good at only running services that are actually required.  You may find that the Tablet PC Input Service is running, and if you don’t have a touch-enabled computer you can safely disable this service too.  I would alwaysadvise against shutting down any other services however.  Some are required for Windows to start and operate, and others are required by third-party software (including your anti-virus software).

You should always be extremely careful disabling Windows services unless you know exactly what they are!  Doing so could cause your computer to become unstable or even unable to start.

UPDATE : In the first day of it’s release as a free eBook, the Windows 7 Power Users Guide has received more than half a million hits!

The book contains 16 chapters and is a guide on how to get the very best out of Windows 7 from installation to configuration and advanced operations. It includes step-by-step guides, screenshots and diagrams on every page, quick tips throughout the book and is presented in full colour.

From the author of Troubleshooting Windows 7 Inside Out from Microsoft Press… A book for people who use Windows 7 at home or at work and know it can do more for them, but who don’t know how. The Windows 7 Power Users Guide contains helpful how-to’s, full colour pictures and quick tips to guide you through everything from using the Start Menu and Taskbar to backing up your documents and identifying and fixing problems

You can download the book from my online book store or directly from my website here. 

You can now catch up with more of my writing and events (including competitions and giveaways) at my new Facebook Group.

What you need

First, you will need a working Firefox browser. That is simple as nearly every distribution ships with Firefox. Next you will need to install the application apturl. To install this you can either find it from within Synaptic (NOTE: You will not find this within the Ubuntu Software Center) or you can install it from the command line. Let’s install from the command line:

1. Open up a terminal window.
2. Issue the command sudo apt-get install apturl.
3. Type your sudo password and hit Enter.
4. Accept any necessary dependencies.
5. Let the installation complete.

Now you are ready for a little Firefox configuration magic.

Configuring Firefox

Figure 1

If you’ve never worked with the about:config piece in Firefox, you are about to. The about:config page is a way to configure numerous hidden options in Firefox. This also allows you to create new configuration options. To get to this page open up Firefox and enter about:config in the address bar. You will be warned about the dangers of messing with this configuration and you will have to accept by clicking a button to continue on. Once within about:config you will see numerous strings that can be edited (see Figure 1).

Figure 2

What you have to do is create a new string. To do this right click anywhere on the page and select New > String. In the resulting window (see Figure 2) enter the following string:

network.protocol-handler.app.apt

Click OK and a new window will appear pre-filled with the string:

/usr/bin/apturl

OK that string to complete the new configuration. Now you have to add one more string. Right-click the about:config page, select New > String, and enter the following:

network.protocol-handler.app.apt+http

OK that and then OK the pre-filled in string for the value.

You are now ready to give it a try.

Installing

From Firefox, go to the site http://appnr.com and locate an application to install. You will notice, when you mouse over an application, an Install button will appear. Click on that application’s Install button and you will prompted for your sudo password. Once you authenticate to sudo the application will install without having to open an external application. Although the same things are going on in the background, it is just one step quicker than the standard GDebi install from within Firefox. And anything to make Linux easier is a plus.

Centrify Express is free tool offered by the company that makes various Single Sign-On tools, of which only Express is available free and easily for the Linux operating system. Once you have used this tool to join a Windows Domain you will be shocked at how easily it is done.

Installation

I am going to illustrate this installation process on a Ubuntu 10.10 machine. If you need to install on a different distribution (or on Windows, or Mac) you will need to sign up for a download. If you do that you will find pre-compiled binaries for:

• Windows
• Mac
• CentOS
• Debian
• Mandriva
• SUSE
• OpenSolaris
• Oracle Enterprise Linux
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Scientific Linux

But if you are using Ubuntu, you can follow these easy steps:

1. Open up the Ubuntu Software Center.
2. Search for “centrify” (No quotes).
3. Click Install.
4. Type your sudo password and press Enter.
5. Once the installation is finished you can then close out the Ubuntu Software Center.

Now it’s time to do just a tiny bit of configuration.

Configuration

The only configuration you need to take care of is in the /etc/nsswitch file. In that file you will find a line that looks like:
hosts:          files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4

Change that file to just read:

hosts:        files dns

Now there is one other configuration you need to take care of BEFORE you join the domain. In the file /etc/centrifydc/group.ignore you need to add the group “admin” (no quotes) to this list. If you do not do this your sudo users will not longer have sudo privileges. Without sudo privileges your users will not be able to install applications or run anything that needs administrative permissions.

Once you have configured that file, save  it. You are now ready to join the comain.

Joining the domain

You will need the domain admin password for this to be successful. To join the domain do the following:

Open up a terminal window.

Issue the command sudo adjoin -w DOMAIN (Where DOMAIN is the domain you want to join).

Type the Domain admin password and hit Enter.

It may take some time but you will eventually be joined to the domain. You should now be able to open up Nautilus and explore your network by hostname as if you were using a Windows machine.

If you find you can not see your network by hostname, you might have to reboot and then log in with your AD credentials.

Final thoughts

You now have two methods with which to join a Windows domain. The enterprise pastures, for Linux, are growing greener and greener by the day.

You could work around this by plugging in a monitor, mouse, and keyboard and letting the OS boot and then removing the monitor when the boot process has finished. This is a far from ideal solution. Fortunately the Linux community has come up with a temporary work around for this issue (I’m confident the distribution developers will come up with a much better solution soon). Let’s take a look at the solution.

Warnings

This solution requires that you create an /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration file. I assume that anyone wanting to set up a headless server isn’t afraid of manually creating/editing the xorg.conf file. If you are, make sure you back up any pre-existing xorg.conf file that might live in /etc/X11.

This guide also assumes that you already have a working server installation that you can successfully boot with an attached monitor. I will also assume you know what graphics card is in your server. You will need this information momentarily (so if you don’t know it, dig around and find out what card you are using). With that being said, let’s get on with it.

xorg.conf

The first thing you need to do is to set up the xorg.conf configuration. If one already exists, copy it to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.OLD and then erase the contents of the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. The new contents of that file will be:

Section "Device"
Identifier "VNC Device"
Driver "vesa"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "VNC Screen"
Device "VNC Device"
Monitor "VNC Monitor"
SubSection "Display"
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "VNC Monitor"
HorizSync 30-70
VertRefresh 50-75
EndSection

Once you have saved and closed that file you now need to edit the /etc/default/grub file and add the following line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="nomodeset"

You can take this one step further and disable the splash screen for the boot process by setting the line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=

to “quiet” instead of “quiet splash”

Save the /etc/default/grub file and then issue the command sudo update-grub to rebuilt grub.

To test this setup go ahead and boot the machine without the monitor attached. Once you have given it plenty of time to boot you can either VNC or ssh into the machine. If you get a successful connection you are good to go. If you do not get a successful connection plug the monitor back in and see where in the process it stopped. If you have a black screen revisit the configuration and make sure everything is correct. To further troubleshoot boot the machine with the monitor plugged in and check the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file for any errors. Hopefully you will find the setup above works like a champ.

Perspective is the ability to make it look like you are seeing objects coming or going or to give them a three dimensional shape. Although it may seem like a difficult tool to use, it’s actually quite easy (once you get the hang of it). Let’s see just how this is done.

Assumptions

Naturally I will assume you already have The GIMP installed on your machine. I will also assume you have at least a rudimentary grasp on how The GIMP is used (as I won’t be explaining fundamentals of GIMPs usage). Now, with that said, let’s get to work.

Figure 1

The Perspective tool

When you open up The GIMP you will find the Perspective tool in the toolbox. Figure 1 shows the Perspective tool selected. As you can see you can change the Interpolation and the Clipping as well as the Direction.

What I want to do is to show you how to create a road that

Figure 2

looks like it’s coming at you. The initial image (Figure 2) was created by simply drawing two solid lines and a dotted line.

Because you are going to be actually changing the shape of the image, you need to copy your image onto a larger image. If you do not do this you will not have room to change the perspective of your working image. In the case of our example I will create a newer, larger workspace with the same background color as what you see in Figure 2.

Figure 3

With the new workspace created copy the contents of what you want to work with into the new space. Once that is there select the perspective tool.

When you click on your working image you will see four small squares appear, one in each corner of the copied image. All you need to do is manipulate those corners around until you get the exact perspective you need. Figure 3 shows how The GIMPs perspective tool shows you the original perspective and your working perspective.

When you have the exact look you want you will need to click the Transform button in the floating Perspective window.

Figure 4

When you are done, you will have a 3D looking image of a road appearing to come your way (see Figure 4).

Sure you could have done this freehand, but the task is far, far easier using the tool dedicated to that single purpose.

Final thoughts

The GIMP is filled with handy tools like the Perspective tools. And each of these tools only takes a short period to get used to how they work. The Perspective tool is no different. And, in the end, you will create fantastic images with ease.

Whatever reason you have for wanting to add a nifty splash screen to Grub, you can. There is no “handy” GUI application for this, so you are going to have to issue a few commands. NOTE: This is something you should undertake ONLY if you know what you are doing. One mistake with Grub and your machine could be rendered unbootable. You’ve been warned. NOTE: I will show how to do this in both Grub and Grub2

What is the splash screen?

The Grub splash screen is the image you see behind the text as the OS boots. There are certain specifications the splash screen must follow. These specs are:

• Must be 640×480 pixels
• Contain no more than 16 colors (12 colors works best)
• Must be in gzipped xpm format (.xpm.gz).

Fortunately The GIMP can handle all of the above. So the first task is to create your splash screen following the above guidelines. A few tips for creating your own splash images:

• Monochrome images in either greyscale, or primary colors work best.
• Abstract images work well because distortions won’t effect them as much as reality-based images.
• Too much detail in an image will be lost.
• Make sure your splash screen has a strong design, otherwise it will look boring.

After you have created your image, you will need to save the image in /boot/grub, remembering to save it in the .xpm.gz format.

Grub

Once you have your image created, the next step is to configure Grub. Open up the file /boot/grub/menu.lst and add the line:

splashimage(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz

Where splash is the name of the image you want to use and hd0,0 is your boot partition.

Save that file and the next time your boot your machine you will see your new splash image.

Grub2

For Grub2 the images should follow these rules:

• Size should be 640×480
• Format should be .tga (The GIMP can do this)
• Follow the same design tips as above.
• Saved in /usr/share/images/grub/

When you have your image created and saved in the proper location, open up the file /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme and look for the line:

WALLPAPER="/usr/share/images/desktop-base/moreblue-orbit-grub.png"

You will want to change the explicit path of the image in the line above to the path of your new image. When you have that done, save the file, and issue the command:

sudo update-grub2

The above command will reveal numerous pieces of information, of which one should look like:

Found background image: imagename.tga

Where imagename.tga is the image you are using for your splash screen.

You are now ready to boot Ubuntu and see your special splash screen.

Final thoughts

No, it’s not going to make you a better user, but it will allow you or your company to show your brand better, or for you to just make your PC all the more customized. Linux is good like that.

In this article I am going to show you how to, from both the GUI and from the command line. After you are finished, you should have a working version of Ubuntu 10.10 beta. Of course, as 10.10 comes out of beta you can continue to update and have a full released version in no time.

NOTE: You can ONLY do this upgrade from 10.04. You can not upgrade from any earlier release. Also make sure you DO back up all of your data. Even though the upgrade process has become very reliable, you never know when something could go south.

From the GUI

Figure 1

Let’s tackle this task from the GUI tool first (as that is how most will want to do this anyway). The first step is to open up the update manager in in “development release” mode. To do this hit Alt-F2 and type update-manager --devel-release and hit Enter. When you do this the update manager will open with a new addition – the Upgrade button (see Figure 1).

Before you actually hit the Upgrade button, you MUST install any and all updates for your system. If there are none listed click the Check button first. If you see any updates go ahead and click Install Updates and allow those updates to finish. NOTE: If the updates require a reboot, do so BEFORE you continue on to the upgrade.

Once you have completed all updates it is then safe to click the Upgrade button. Walk through the steps for this upgrade (they are very straight-forward) and reboot when completed.

From command line

Believe it or not, upgrading from command line is just as easy as it is from the GUI tool. The first step is to update your system. So open up a terminal window and issue these two commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Of course, you will have to enter your sudo password for the first command. Once that is complete you may need to restart your computer (depending on if the kernel is updated or not). After that, you are ready for the upgrade. The first step is to issue the following command:

sudo apt-get install update-manager-core

Now we need to make a simple edit to the /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades. This file determines the default behavior for the release upgrader. The line you need to change is at the bottom of this file. Change it from:

Prompt=lts

to

Prompt=normal

Save and close that file and then issue the command:

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

When  prompted, click Y to continue on with the upgrade. Once the upgrade is complete, you will need to restart you computer.

Final thoughts

Linux does make it easy to upgrade from release to release. I have run these upgrades many times and only rarely have I encountered a problem. Does that mean they are 100% guaranteed? No. Things happen…so please, make sure you backup all of your data before attempting this process.

So why bother with it now? When machines are large and fast enough to not have to worry about such issues as extra kernel modules or space? There are still plenty of reasons for wanting to compile your own kernel. One of those reasons is the experience. Nothing says “Linux” like compiling ones own kernel. But beyond that – gaining as much performance out of your server or eking out a bit more security are two fine examples as to why one should learn how to compile their own kernel.

In this article, I am going to show you how to do just that – compile your own Linux kernel.

A word of warning

Before you attempt this task, it’s best that you read through this document in its entirety, instead of just marching through, step by step. You will also want to make sure you keep a working kernel on your system. That way, if the kernel you build doesn’t work, you will have one to fall back on.

Also, my intention with this is to be as generic as possible. There might be tools or tasks that are specific to your distribution. If you find something is lacking for your particular distribution, or a particular step isn’t working for your distribution, please not it in the comments so it can be resolved.

What you will need

You won’t need much more than the latest kernel source (download the latest from kernel.org), you will need to make sure you have gcc installed, and you will need a lot of patience. This process can take a lot of time…so make sure you have plenty of time blocked off.

If you do not have gcc installed you can do so with a command similar to either of these (depending upon your distribution):

sudo apt-get install gcc

yum install gcc

NOTE: The latter command will require you to su to root first.

Much of the kernel building process will require root access.

The compilation process

Figure 1

Now it’s time to do the work. I will list out the steps for compilation:

Unpack the source code into /usr/src/ with the command tar -xjvf linux-2.6.XXX.tar.bz2 -C /usr/src. Where XXX is the release number.

Move into the newly created /usr/src/2.6.XXX directory with the command mv /usr/src/linux-2.6.XXX (Where XXX is the release number).

Issue the command make menuconfig.

At this ncurses based you will need to go through the entire kernel and remove (or add) the modules that you want. This can take some time, so go through this step very carefully.

Once you have finished selecting all modules exit out of that tool and issue the command make. This will compile the kernel.

After the initial make is complete issue the command make modules to compile the modules for your kernel.

Now it’s time to install the kernel modules with the command make modules_install.

Now, install the kernel with the command make install.

The above last command will install the following files into /boot:

• System.map-2.6.XXX
• config-2.6.XXX
• vmlinuz-2.6.XXX

Where XXX is the release number.

Now you have to create the initrd file with the commands:

cd /boot/
mkinitrd -o initrd.img-2.6.XXX 2.6.XXX Where XXX is the release number.

You now have to update Grup to include the new kernel. This will depend upon the distribution you are using. For this we will tackle in a separate article.

Final thoughts

You have just compiled your first Linux kernel. You may not even have a need to do this, but it’s always good to have an understanding of what old school Linux users had to go through. To be honest, I haven’t had to compile my own kernel for quite a while. But knowing how to do is allows you to have complete control over your Linux system.

Once LDAP is installed you have, at your fingertips, plenty of tools to add, edit, and delete data on that server. One of those tools is critical to keeping data current. That tool is ldapmodify. In this article I am going to show you how to use this tool to modify an entry in an LDAP server.

Command basics

The ldapmodify command isn’t exactly like all other commands. Instead of just running a single command and being done with it, you issue the command, do you work, and then escape out of the command. The actual modification of the data doesn’t happen until you escape the command. The sequence goes like this:

1. Issue the ldapmodify command (with appropriate options).
2. Inform ldapmodify what you are modifying.
3. Modify your data.
4. Escape with CTRL-d.
5. ldapmodify will make the changes.

Yes, it does seem like a fairly complex process…and yes it is a complex, but a very necessary process.

Let’s take a look at the actual process. As an example I am going to modify the gecos entry of an already existing directory entry. The gecos entry is a general information field that can be used for just about anything). Let’s have some fun and change the gecos entry for user scooper and indicate that Sheldon Cooper is a Theoretical Physicist at Caltech University. We’ll assume the gecos entry only contains the information “Sheldon Cooper” and the LDAP server’s is on 192.168.1.10 and the full dc is wallen.local. Here is the actual process for this task:

Issue the command:

ldapmodify -h localhost -x -W -D "cn=admin,dc=wallen,dc=local"

It will now seem like the command is stuck. It’s actually just waiting for input. The input will look like this (hit Enter after each line):

dn: uid=scooper,ou=People,dc=wallen,dc=local
changetype: modify
replace: gecos
gecos: Theoretical Physicist, Caltech University

Once you have completed entering this text, hit Enter, and then hit CTRL-d to escape the command and then you should see something like:

modifying entry "uid=scooper,ou=People,dc=wallen,dc=local"

Now if you issue the ldapsearch command you will see the changes made. The ldapsearch command would look something like:

ldapsearch -x -b "dc=wallen,dc=local" -s sub "objectclass=*"

You should see Sheldon’s listing like this:

# scooper, People, wallen.local
dn: uid=scooper,ou=People,dc=wallen,dc=local
uid: scooper
cn: Sheldon Cooper
objectClass: account
objectClass: posixAccount
objectClass: top
loginShell: /bin/bash
uidNumber: 500
gidNumber: 120
homeDirectory: /home/scooper
gecos: Theoretical Physicist Caltech University

You now have modified the entry. Of course you aren’t limited to the gecos entry. You can actually modify any entry you want using the same technique.

Final thoughts

Hopefully LDAP is getting easier and easier for you. You can now add and modify entries. We will keep digging and eventually you will have the LDAP basics mastered.

So, yeah…LDAP comes with it’s own set of management tools and, in this article, we are going to take a look at the primary tool for adding entries to your LDAP databases: ldapadd.

From file or command?
One of the best things about the ldapadd command is that you can have it read all of your entries from files. That way you don’t have to issue lengthy commands every time you want to add an entry. This also means you can add multiple entries at once. I will show you how to add entries this way so your LDAP administration life is much simpler. And from that process you should be able to glean enough to know the full command-line process.

ldapadd

When you see an ldapadd command for the first time, you might cringe, thinking it far too difficult to use. But once you understand the usage, it becomes quite easy. Now, you must have admin rights to issue the ldapadd command; so, depending up your distribution, you will either have to su to the root user or use sudo to issue the command.

The basic usage of the ldapadd command is:

ldapadd [OPTIONS] [CREDENTIALS] filename

Any file name you read into the ldapadd command should be in the form of an .ldif file. Now, let’s take a look at the more common options you will use with ldapadd:

• x: Use simple authentication, instead of SASL authentication.
• D: This options means you are going to use the Distinguished Name (binddn) to bind to the LDAP directory.
• W: Prompt for simple authentication.
• f: The file name you want to read into ldapadd.

Using the D option means you are going to be using a Distinguished Name. What this means is that you are going to authenticate in the form of:

cn=admin,dc=wallen,dc=local

The above entry means you are using the admin user on the domain wallen.local.

Now, let’s take a look at the format of the file you will use. Let’s examine a very basic entry. Let’s say I want to add the user Willow Wallen to my LDAP address book. I will do that within the file users.ldif. The entry looks like:

# Willow's Entry
dn: cn=Willow Wallen,ou=people,dc=wallen,dc=local
cn: Willow Wallen
objectClass: person
sn: Wallen

This will add the user Willow Wallen to the group people and she will be labeled as a person. Save that file and now let’s add her with the command:

sudo ldapadd -x -D cn=admin,dc=wallen,dc=local -W -f users.ldif

You will have to enter both your sudo password and your ldap password.

Final thoughts

You have taken one major step forward in your usage of LDAP. This is a very powerful, very complex tool you have at your finger tips. It’s important to understand the basics and learn one step at a time. We’ll continue our journey into LDAP in upcoming articles.

But here’s the thing – the slapd server can be a real pain to set up. It didn’t used to be. The old fashion way was to install slapd and then edit the /etc/ldap/slapd.conf file to suite your needs. Thing is, the slapd.conf configuration file has been deprecated and now, trying to figure out how to configure slapd is like finding the proverbial needle in the proverbial haystack. Fortunately, in my desperate scouring to work out an easy method of doing this, I have found some tools to make the job easier. And that’s what this article is all about, getting slapd up and running on a Ubuntu machine so you too can have LDAP running.

Installation

Of course there is a bit of installation to take care of before you do anything. But the installation isn’t challenging and there isn’t too much to install. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Open up a terminal window.
2. Issue the command sudo apt-get install slapd ldap-utils php5-ldap.
3. Type your sudo password and hit Enter.
4. Accept any dependencies necessary.

And that’s it. You are now ready for the configuration of slapd. But what to do? This article isn’t about a fancy GUI tool. Instead I have found a script floating around the web (who’s author I can not name because I have seen this script on a number of sites) which actually makes this process amazingly easy. I have posted the script here on pastebin for you to either download or copy and paste.

No matter if you download or copy and paste the script, name it something like ldap_script.sh and save it in your home directory. Once you have it saved give it executable permissions with the command:

chmod u+x ldap_script

Now the script is almost ready. You do have to make a few simple changes. Near the top of the script you will see:

passwd=pleaseeditme
dc1=pleaseeditme
dc2=pleaseeditme

Obviously you need to change each pleaseeditme entry to suit your needs. For my LDAP server that section lookes like:

passwd=mypassword
dc1=wallen
cd2=local

You will also notice, near the end of the script, it adds a user. The section #Adding user can be edited to suit your needs, or it can be left alone so that at least one correct user is added at first.

When you have the script ready, it’s time to execute. Issue the command sudo ./ldap_script and watch the magic fly by. When all is said and done you should then be able to check out your LDAP server with one of the means mentioned in previous articles, or you can issue the command:

ldapsearch -x -h localhost -b "dc=EXAMPLE,dc=COM" "(objectClass=*)"

Where EXAMPLE and COM match your dc entires.

Final thoughts

You should now have your LDAP server up and running. You can start adding entries and managing it with whatever tool (or command line) you want. NOTE: We’ll take a look at the management of LDAP via the command line in later articles. Enjoy your LDAP server!

That is, until I discovered a very handy little tool, just for this purpose, called Luma. Luma is an LDAP manager that is pure graphical ease. If you already have your LDAP server up and running, you won’t have any problem managing your data with this tool. In this article I am going to show you how to install Luma and how to connect to your LDAP server.

Installation

I’m going to show you how to install Luma on both Ubuntu and Fedora. It’s actually quite simple. Just follow these steps:

Fedora

1. Open up a terminal window.
2. Su to the root user.
3. Issue the command yum install luma.
4. Okay any dependencies (if necessary).
5. Once installation is complete, you can close the terminal.

Ubuntu

1. Open up a terminal window.
2. Issue the command sudo apt-get install luma.
3. Enter your sudo (user) password.
4. Okay any dependencies (if necessary).
5. Once the installation is complete, you can close the terminal.

Now that you have Luma installed, let’s open it up and connect to a server.

Usage

Figure 1

To start up Luma you will not find a menu entry, so you will have to run Luma from command line (or create a menu entry). To do this click Alt-F and then enter luma in the run dialog. Or you can leave that terminal window open and then just issue the command from within there.

Once started you will see a simple window (see Figure 1) where you can choose from any one of the available plugins. In order to add a server you need to click Settings > Edit Server List. From this window click the Add button to create a new server.

The first step is to give this new server a name. This is a human readable name so it does not need to be a hostname or IP address.  After you create a name click OK to move on to the real work.

Figure 2

Once you have created the server you have three configurations to take care of (see Figure 2):

• Network options: Hostname, Port, Encryption type.
• Authentication: Mechanism for authentication (simple, or SASL type), Bind as (login authentication), and Password.
• LDAP options: Follow aliases and/or Use Base DNs provided by the server.

The trickiest option for most is going to be the Authentication “Bind as” setting. You do not just log in with a plain username. Instead (as you can see in Figure 2), you log in with username and domain in the form of cn=USERNAME,dc=DOMAIN, dc=NAME. In the case of my example it’s cn=admin,dc=wallen,dc=local.

Figure 3

Once you have logged in you can then use the plugins like Browse (see Figure 3). This examples illustrates how you can manage the various aspects of your LDAP entries.

Final thoughts

In upcoming articles we will deal with more LDAP administration with Luma as it is, by far, one of the easiest front ends for the LDAP server I have come across.

But because LDAP is fairly complex, it is not often used except by those who have the lengthy period of time it takes to understand the task of getting an LDAP server up and running. That doesn’t need to be the case, if you happen to have a Fedora server lying around. There is a tool, 389 Directory Server, that helps you to get this up and running quickly and easily.  In this article I am going to show you how to install and set up the 389 Directory Server.

Installation

The installation of 389 DS is simple. Just follow these steps:

1. Open up a terminal window.
2. Su to the root user.
3. Issue the command yum install fedora-ds.
4. Accept all of the dependencies.
5. Wait for the installation to finish.

Now you are ready to begin. The configuration of 389 is done via command line. Once that is complete you can then manage your LDAP server with a nice GUI tool.

Configuration

Figure 1

The configuration takes place in the terminal window. To begin the process issue the command (as root) setup-ds-admin.pl. This will begin a process that will take about 14 steps. Each step looks similar to that in Figure 1.

The steps for the setup are:

1. Agree to license.

2. Set up warning alert.

3. Choose type of installation.

4. Configure fully qualified domain name for name.

5. Server user name.

6. Do you want to register this software with an existing configuration directory server?

7. Administrator ID.

8. Administration domain.

9. Server network port.

10. Directory server identifier (name).

11. Valid DN for your directory suffix.

12. Directory Manager DN.

13. Administration network port.

14. Save configuration and set up server.

The final step is basically writing your configurations to the config script and then starting the server. Once you have completed these steps, the hard part is over! Don’t worry about not understanding any of the above explanations, as each step is clearly explained on its own screen (as shown in Figure 1).

Now that your setup is complete, you are ready to fire up the GUI admin tool.

The admin tool

Figure 2

The administration tool is started (as the root user) with the command 389-console. When you login to the admin tool you will need to use your admin username and password you created during the setup and the URL (including port number) you created (see Figure 2).

Figure 3

Once you have successfully logged in you will now be in the 389 Directory Server Management Console (see Figure 3). It is from within this console that you actually take care of all of the LDAP management (we’ll save that for another article).

Final thoughts

If you’ve ever tried to set up LDAP manually then you know it can be a real pain. With tools like 389 Directory Server, this process has become exponentially easier. Give this a try and see if you have better luck setting up your LDAP server.

Why? What can you use a subversion repository for? If you are collaborating on an application project in which multiple users need to be able to check in and check out your code, you will definitely want to use a solution such as subversion. There are other, interesting possibilities, for using subversion…such as a repository for documentation that is

In this process we are going to create a repository called myrepository and a project within that repository called “myproject”.  For simplicity sake we are going to house that repository in our ~/ directory. This is only used for simplicity (to avoid permissions issues). Once you have gained an understanding of how to work with subversion, we’ll discuss creating repositories that can be accessed from without.

Here are the steps for creating your subversion repository.

Step 1: Install Subversion

Step 2: Create your repository

svnadmin create ~/repository

Step 3: Create project folders within ~/myrepository. Once you have created the directory structure, you can then move the pre-existing project files into the trunk folder. If this is a new project (that no work has been done) you can start saving your project files to the trunk folder. The folder structure needs to look like this:

• main folder – project
• sub folders – branches, tags, trunk
• trunk sub folders (holds various project folders)

Step 4: Create an svn user. This will be the user(s) that are allowed access to the project.  The first step is to edit the ~/myrepository/conf/svnserve.conf file and add the following to the end of the file:

anon-access = none
auth-access = write
password-db = passwd

The next step is to edit ~/myrepository/conf/passwd and add the following to the end of the file:

user = user password

Where user is the username and password is the password for the user.

Step 5: Now it’s time to import your project. From within your ~/myrepository direcotory issue the command:

svn import project1/ svn+ssh://user@ADDRESS/home/USER/myproject/project1 -m "Original Commit"

Where ADDRESS is the location of the machine housing the repository and USER is the actual user name. NOTE: The above command is all one line.  When that command runs successfully you will be prompted for the user password. Once you correctly enter the user password you will see scroll by a number of lines all beginning with “Adding”. That tells you all of your project files/folders have been added.

Step 6: Start the daemon. In order for other uses to be able to access that repository you have to run the subversion daemon. To start this, issue the command:

svnserve -d

You can now check out and check in your project files on your svn repository.

Final thoughts

This has been a very basic introduction to setting up a subversion server. The next time around we are going to take this to the next level and set up a subversion server that others can check in and check out files.

But subversion isn’t always the easiest tool for the end user to get up to speed with. So, with the end user in mind, this article will attempt to explain how subversion can be used in the process of installing software on the Linux operating system.

When is subversion the right tool to use?

This is a fairly tricky question. There are two obvious reasons to use subversion:

Keeping archives of older versions: By nature, subversion is a version control system, so it handles this task perfectly.

Collaboration: If you are working on the development of an application with more than one person, then subversion is perfect for you as well. Using subversion this way allows developers to check out code, work on it, and check it back in.

And of course, you can use subversion to check out the latest version of code and then install said latest version.

How it all works

The first step in this is to install subversion itself. This is simple, as subversion will be found in your standard repository. To install open up a terminal window and issue the command:

sudo apt-get install subversion

or on Fedora like so:

yum install subversion

Once the software is installed you are ready to go.

Let’s assume you are wanting to check out the latest version of a piece of software. Let’s illustrate this with the Enlightenment E17 window manager/desktop environment. Now, as this is a fairly complex package, there are dependencies that must be resolved. Those dependencies can be resolved using your regular installation tool (like yum or apt-get). Those dependencies are:

• m4
• autoconf
• automake (1.7 or higher)
• cvs
• libtool
• pkg-config
• texinfo
• zlib
• libpng
• jpeg
• freetype2
• liblua (5.1 or higher)
• xorg-x11 or xfree86
• x11-libs
• dbus
• hal
• pam (required for desklock)

You might also want these optional dependencies:

• librsvg2
• inotify (linux only)
• curl
• openssl
• libungif
• libtiff
• gettext

Once you have all the dependencies met, you can then proceed with the subversion installation.

The first thing you have to do is check out and install all of the dependencies (that can not be installed via the normal means). These are all done using the subversion svn command. The basic usage of the command is:

svn co ADDRESS

Where ADDRESS is the actual link to the CVS repository. NOTE: co stands for check out. Now we are going to check out all of the dependencies and then install them all from CVS. to do this, issue the following commands (one at a time):

svn co http://svn.enlightenment.org/svn/e/trunk/eina eina-svn
svn co http://svn.enlightenment.org/svn/e/trunk/eet eet-svn
svn co http://svn.enlightenment.org/svn/e/trunk/evas evas-svn
svn co http://svn.enlightenment.org/svn/e/trunk/ecore ecore-svn
svn co http://svn.enlightenment.org/svn/e/trunk/efreet efreet-svn
svn co http://svn.enlightenment.org/svn/e/trunk/embryo embryo-svn
svn co http://svn.enlightenment.org/svn/e/trunk/edje edje-svn
svn co http://svn.enlightenment.org/svn/e/trunk/e_dbus e_dbus-svn

Each of the above commands will create a new directory. For example the first command will create the directory eina-svn within the directory from which the command is run. You will need to cd into each of these directories (one at a time of course) and then issue the following commands:

./autogen.sh
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

After you have done this for all of the dependencies it’s time to check out and install the main software. This is done with the following:

svn co http://svn.enlightenment.org/svn/e/trunk/e e17-svn

Now it’s time to install. Change into the newly created e17-svn folder and issue the following commands:

./autogen.sh
make
sudo make install

After a fairly lengthy time, Enlightenment E17 should then be installed on your machine. You should now be able to log out and log back in with E17.

Final thoughts

Installing with the help of subversion is actually quite a nice way of keeping on the bleeding edge of your software. And some software, like E17, can only be installed (on certain distributions) in this manner. I hope this has helped you to understand how useful and how easy subversion can be.

In this article I am going to show you how to migrate your ext2 or ext3 partition to ext4. I will use a Ubuntu machine as an example. I want to warn you that you could lose data by doing this so, following good administrative practices, back up your data! Once you are certain you have that backup of your data, it’s time to begin.

Kernel pre-requisite

You must be certain you have a kernel that is at least 2.6.28-11-generic or higher. If not, do NOT continue on with this. To find out what kernel you are running issue the command uname -r. If your kernel is lower thatn 2.6.28-11 stop where you are and close your browser.

Step 1

The first step is to boot from a Ubuntu Live CD. You do this because you can’t convert a file system that has been mounted. If you are converting a second drive on your machine (one that doesn’t contain your OS or your ~/ (home) directory, you can always just unmount that drive and do this without booting the Live CD.

Step 2:

Now it’s time to convert. We’re going to use /dev/sda1 as an example for converting. You will want to know the exact name of the drive and/or partition you are wanting to covert. If you are converting from ext2 to ext4 issue the following commands:

sudo bash
tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index,has_journal /dev/sda1

If you are wanting to convert ext3 to ext4 issue the following commands:
sudo bash
tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index /dev/sda1

NOTE: After you enter either of the sudo bash commands you will have to enter your sudo password.

Step 3:

Regardless of which conversion you are doing you will want to check the drive (or partition) after the conversion and repair any issues. Do this with the command:

e2fsck -pf /dev/sda1

Step 4:

Now you need to make sure the partition will mount. Do this with the command:

sudo mount -t ext4 /dev/sda1 /mnt

Hopefully you won’t see any errors. You should now see the contents of that drive listed in the /mnt directory.

Step 5:

It’s time to edit your /etc/fstab file to reflect the change. Open this file up with your favorite text editor and look for the line that corresponds to the drive/partition you just changed. In that line you will reference to either ext2 or ext3. Change that reference to ext4. Save and close that file.

Step 6:

Now you need to refresh grub. Depending upon how your boot partition is will determine how you do this. If your boot partition is SEPARATE, do the following:

sudo bash
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot
grub-install /dev/sda --root-directory=/mnt --recheck

If your boot partition is NOT separate, do the following:

sudo bash
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
grub-install /dev/sda --root-directory=/mnt --recheck

Step 7:

Reboot. Once up and running you will now be using the ext4 file system!

Final thoughts

If you are leery of any of the above, don’t worry…you don’t HAVE to do this. Your system will run fine with ext2 or ex3. But if you love to get your hands dirty with your machines…then you will enjoy converting a working file system from one type to another. Just remember BACK UP YOUR DATA!

But there are times when that trust old application needs to have a bit of a tweaking and when that time comes, you’re going to need to know exactly what to tweak and what to do post-tweak. In this Ghacks article I am going to introduce you to some of the fundamentals of the Grub2 bootloader.

What the bootloader does

In a nutshell, the bootloader instructs the kernel how it is supposed to boot. Without the bootloader the kernel wouldn’t get it’s initialization instructions (which kernel is default, any switches that are passed at startup, etc). Of course this is a vast over-simplification of what the boot loader does, but for the newer user, it’s explanation enough.

Handy Grub switches

There are plenty of Grub command line switches that you can use upon boot. But first you have to get to the Grub command prompt. To do this hit the “e” key when you see the kernel listing at boot followed by <Ctrl>x. This will land you in the Grub command prompt, at which point you can run any of the following:

• grub> CTRL + X: Boots any arguments you enter into the commandline.
• grub> halt: Shuts down the computer
• grub> reboot: Reboot the computer
• grub> help: :ists all available commands (which is quite a few)
• grub> help a: Lists all available commands that start with the letter a
• grub> ls: Lists all available partitions on your disk(s)
• grub>ls (hdx,x): Lists all files on that partition
• grub>cat (hdx,x)file: Outputs the contents of “file”

Configuring Grub

I am going to demonstrate how to make a change to Grub and then make that change take effect. There are a few files that might seem like the one you want to edit. The real file you should edit is /etc/default/grub. When you open this file take notice of the following entry:
GRUB_DEFAULT=0

That line instructs which kernel is the default to boot. You may find any number of entries in your Grub configuration file. For each kernel version you will find a standard entry and a recovery mode entry. The are numbered 0,1,2,3,4, etc. Look through your Grub configuration file for the kernel line you want to be the default entry. Remember, numbering starts at 0 not 1. So the third entry will actually be 2. Change that GRUB_DEFAULT= line to reflect the entry you want to serve as the default, save and close the file, and then run the following command update Grub:

sudo update-grub

Now when you reboot your machine, it will default to the kernel you have chosen as default. This is always helpful when you are experimenting with kernels or you get an upgraded kernel that breaks a feature.

Final thoughts

The boot loader for your machine is crucial. Take good care of this tool and it will do the same for you. But do use caution when undertaking any task that involves the boot loader, else you render your machine unbootable. Of course Grub is much more than what you have been shown here. We’ll get into more about this powerful boot loader later.