May 2010 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Remote adminstration
by cmoman 05 Oct '10

05 Oct '10

Hello all, Is there a tool in ubuntu that a user can start that reports the real world ip address and configures a home router to open a port to allow remote administration? I have a friend or two for whom it would nice to get them to start a program, report to me the details via MSN or Skype or telephone etc and allow me to log in and fix or make a configuration change to their machine. I know how to set things up using ssh etc but that relies on some initial configuration at the their end. KDE has a nice VNC invite function but it won't do the router config part. It appears the likes of KTorrent and Azuereus have the ability to do some to the router via UPnP to open ports up on the router dynamically so I am guessing all this is possible. Cheers

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WLUG Fixit Meeting tomorrow
by Meeting Reminder bot 20 Aug '10

20 Aug '10

A reminder; the WLUG Fixit Meeting is tomorrow. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday Mar 6th, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm SaturdayWorkshop at Te Whanau Pūtahi (http://www.wlug.org.nz/TeWhanauPutahi) the community church at the end of Oxford Street. We'll have the usual tables, power, various ISO's, Internet, coffee and light lunch, etc.

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job vacancy - Software Developer (Linux)
by John McPherson 31 May '10

31 May '10

Global-Pix.com runs several websites, including the Marathon-Photos.com site. In 2009 we photographed more than 400 events through 30 countries - taking more than 4 million images and recording over a thousand hours' worth of video footage. We are looking for another Programmer to join our small development team based at our offices in Hamilton. We want someone with a minimum of 3 years' programming experience, particularly with the Python programming language. In this position you would help maintain and program both customer-facing and internal/back-end systems, reporting to the team lead. You will be responsible for implementing feature and change requests as well as developing new projects. Most of our projects are written in python, but you have some latitude to use other technologies where appropriate. Any expertise in the following areas would be an advantage: * HTML, CSS and jQuery * Cheetah templating system * SQL databases * SMTP, IMAP Experience in system administration would also be a distinct advantage, especially: * Server internals (eg RAID, SATA, UPSes) * Debian GNU/Linux administration experience * LAN management (configuration, DNS/bind, diagnostics, etc) * Centralised account management - LDAP, SMB, SSH Salary is negotiable based on skillset and experience. Our office has a small and friendly atmosphere near the middle of the Hamilton CBD. Please send email to vacancies(a)global-pix.com to apply or request further information. (If you reply to this email, please ensure that your reply stays off-list) -- John McPherson

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Shared authentication, 2010 style
by Craig Box 27 May '10

27 May '10

Back in the day (a Wednesday, for those who remember it) us WLUG/NZLUG folks were pretty clued up when it came to things like connecting Linux machines to Active Directory using SAMBA [1]. However, kids these days just don't know what kind of crap we had to go through back then, and while I haven't done the testing myself, I'm pretty sure that today you just type 'apt-get install likewise-open', and you don't have to know any magic incantations at all. How about if you want to run a central directory on Linux, not on Windows? You could look at the Ubuntu guide [2]. Or "LDAP for the Lazy Sysadmin" [3]. Do go check that last one out - you don't have to read it all. Just scroll through it for a second. I'll wait. <<taps toes>> That isn't lazy at all! Lazy is paying Microsoft for Active Directory. Unfortunately, due to one complexity or another, it seemed AD often won out for a situation where you had to have some Windows machines as well as your Linux hosts. I remember thinking it strange back when Windows was supposed to be all about the desktop and Linux was supposed to be all about the server, that you got a better client experience on Linux and server experience on Windows. It's 2010 now. Flying cars, etc. I want central authentication across a small network of Ubuntu machines - no Windows machines are expected. Ultimately I'd like multi-master (I believe 389, formerly Fedora DS/Netscape Directory Server does this; and OpenLDAP does not?) so I don't have to think too much about failover/redundancy. Please, someone, tell me there is a better solution? Is there a turn-key method for this? Craig [1] http://www.wlug.org.nz/SambaAsPDC?action=PageHistory and http://www.wlug.org.nz/LDAPAuthentication?action=PageHistory for some examples. Look at the dates. [2] https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/serverguide/C/openldap-server.html [3] http://wiki.ucc.asn.au/LDAP/LazySysadmin

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Re: [wlug] [nzlug] Shared authentication, 2010 style
by Craig Box 25 May '10

25 May '10

> You'll want an LDAP server, a Kerberos server, NTP server, pam_ldap and pam_krb5. You can auth against ldap if you don't want kerberos, but I think krb is a much better solution. > > Setting up ldap will be the most pain, Active Directory and Open Directory come with schemas set up, but you'll have to figure out what you want yourself. I believe there are some gui tools for this these days, but last I checked it wasn't much better than 2002. See, that's the point. I /don't/ want any of that. I want to apt-get install --jfdi ubuntu-directory-server. Then I want to apt-get install ubuntu-managed-client. If I have to figure out what I need, the problem isn't solved. (Personally, I hate LDAP, but it is what it is.) Interestingly, there are blueprints and specs for almost every Ubuntu release in the last 2 years suggesting they should implement this, but there doesn't seem to be any movement. There is a guy working on a bunch of Puppet recipes, and should I end up using LDAP and automating deployment, I will probably end up contributing to this. </rant> Good news though, I did have another look at the eBox website today [1], and it seems they have a potential turn-key-esque answer. (Dagan, Apache Directory Studio looks quite good - I will check it out. Unfortunately it doesn't solve the "which schema do I choose" problem any.) Craig [1] http://www.ebox-platform.com/

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NZ Computer Society National Series: ICT in a Disaster Zone
by David Hallett 24 May '10

24 May '10

NZ Computer Society National Series: ICT in a Disaster Zone 9 June 2010: 12:00pm - 1:30pm Events Room 1, Gallagher Hub City Campus, Gate 5 Tristram Street, Hamilton NZCS is proud to bring you the next of the National ICT Series, this month focusing on ICT in a disaster zone and the role technology plays in saving lives. National Series: ICT in a Disaster Zone As we know, ICT has transformed everyday life and changed the way we do things. As well as this, technology now plays a pivotal role in the global humanitarian and rescue response when disaster strikes around the world. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have established a number of IT & Telecommunications Emergency Response Units (ERUs) to help in the response to disasters and emergencies around the world. New Zealand's ERU was the 5th such unit and consists of a team of 20 with diverse backgrounds in telecommunications and ICT. The Emergency Response Units are charged with putting in place emergency telecommunications infrastructure to support the rescue effort. Ongoing power and internet outages as well as IT system software and hardware failures within the country create significant difficulties for Red Cross to maintain ongoing contact with key partners, field staff and external contacts, making this role essential. As an active member of the NZ Red Cross IT&T ERU, Steve Davis will outline the impact greater use of telecommunications and IT infrastructure has had on the rescue efforts in disaster-hit areas such as Haiti, Tonga and the Solomon Islands, the challenges faced, as well as some of the background to the Red Cross IT&T team. About The Speaker Steve Davis has a background in Radio Communications and IT spanning more than 25 years and has been putting this to use in the fields of Emergency Management and Disaster Response through a number of agencies over the past 18 years. Through an early interest in electronics and radio Steve obtained his amateur radio license in 1980, soon after becoming a member of the New Zealand Association of Amateur Radio Transmitters (NZART) and later joining the Amateur Radio Emergency Communications group (AREC). Steve has served as a member of the National Council for NZART, various offices for the local NZART branch and as Section Leader for the local AREC Section. Through AREC Steve became involved in Land Search and Rescue in New Zealand and has responded to many searches to provide communications and IT support at the Incident Control Point. Steve has also participated in local, regional and national roles of the Land SAR organisation over many years. In more recent times Steve has become a member of NZ Red Cross’s first International Emergency Response Unit, providing IT & Telecommunications support to International and Local Red Cross in times of a major disaster. Steve is currently self employed providing training, consulting and contracting services in a range of fields in the ICT and Emergency Management sectors, and is active in NZCS, Scouts NZ, and the Mountain Safety Council. Note: Light lunch provided. Free for NZCS members, inexpensive for others. Registration required at the following URL: http://www.nzcs.org.nz/events/waikato_bop/152-National_Series_ICT_in_a_Disa… <http://www.nzcs.org.nz/events/waikato_bop/139-National_Series_Transformatio…> Regards, David Hallett, BSc, MNZCS ITCP P.O. Box 15-516 Hamilton, New Zealand Phone: +64-7-210 5520 Mobile: +64-21-802 256

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting tonight!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 23 May '10

23 May '10

There's a WLUG meeting tonight: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Software Freedom Day 2010 A presentation and summary of previous SFD events that WLUG has run, and our plans for http://www.wlug.org.nz/SoftwareFreedomDay2010 May 24th 7:30pm MS4.G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4)

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Update problem
by john 23 May '10

23 May '10

I have a very strange problem. I had Ubuntu 9.10 working well on my desktop - after updating to 10.04, it would not recognise my mouse or keyboard - they are not usb, they are the older plug in types (?ps2). When I plugged in a usb mouse, and rebooted, both the usb and old devices worked intermittently. I then plugged in a usb wireless keyboard and mouse and all was well for a while but now both have ceased to function - I just get a stationary arrow and no way of accessing anything. They all work perfectly if I boot into windows as this is a dual boot computer. Any ideas?

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Fixit Day Next month
by Ron Dean 23 May '10

23 May '10

Is it being held on the 5th of June as it's Queens Birthday Weekend. -- Ron Dean 2 Shannon Place Nawton Hamilton Ph 8493904

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting is on Monday
by Meeting Reminder Bot 20 May '10

20 May '10

There's a Waikato Linux Users Group meeting on Monday: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Software Freedom Day 2010 A presentation and summary of previous SFD events that WLUG has run, and our plans for http://www.wlug.org.nz/SoftwareFreedomDay2010 May 24th 7:30pm MS4.G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4)

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Free registration for tomorrow's NZCS National Series Event!
by David Hallett 16 May '10

16 May '10

I've just come off the phone to the NZCS CEO. He said that due to the interest of this topic to members of the LUG, that NZCS will provide 5 free registrations to this event for members of WLUG. Please email me off-list and I will register you for this event. http://www.nzcs.org.nz/events/waikato_bop/139-National_Series_Transformatio… Be quick to secure your free lunch! Regards, David Hallett, BSc, MNZCS ITCP P.O. Box 15-516 Hamilton, New Zealand Phone: +64-7-210 5520 Mobile: +64-21-802 256

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NZ Computer Society National Series: Transformational ICT through Open Data
by David Hallett 16 May '10

16 May '10

NZ Computer Society National Series: Transformational ICT through Open Data 18 May 2010: 12:00pm - 1:30pm Events Room 1, Gallagher Hub City Campus, Gate 5 Tristram Street, Hamilton NZCS is proud to bring you the next of the National ICT Series, this month focusing on the concept of open data, and how it is transforming the ICT sector. Transformational ICT through Open Data Throughout Europe in the 18th Century the great Age of Enlightenment was born, a movement promoting the black arts of education, reason and logic in decision-making. In this entertaining and informative presentation popular ICT commentator and online strategist Paul Reynolds will shine light on the new Internet-driven "Age of Enlightenment" happening right now, and how individuals and organisations can cash in on the phenomena by building upon the growing wealth of publicly-available open data covering everything from map and geospatial information, through to the human genome itself. Exploring what is available and where is fascinating, and as Reynolds takes us through some of the more obscure and interesting datasets freely available, what we can do with it will surprise even the most data-aware information scientists amongst us. Reynolds will argue that with the age of the Internet and the new age of Cloud Computing now upon us, the revolution is already here, with levels of information and data never seen before at our fingertips and the type, nature and volume of open data expanding rapidly. Similarly, the scope and range of the tools being applied to open government and e-democracy are transforming the landscape we, as ICT professionals, operate in, also impacting on politicians, bureaucrats, citizens and business. But where does the ICT profession sit in relation to these double revolutions? Managing information and data has responsibilities attached, and is the profession really ready and open to always-on ubiquitous networks, or will risk aversion, and a craving for the old certainties of centralisation send the baby with the bathwater? In a truly inspired presentation designed to provoke discussion and debate Paul Reynolds's asks: Is the ICT profession ready for the 18th century? Note: Light lunch provided. Free for NZCS members, inexpensive for others. Registration required at the following URL: http://www.nzcs.org.nz/events/waikato_bop/139-National_Series_Transformatio… Regards, David Hallett, BSc, MNZCS ITCP P.O. Box 15-516 Hamilton, New Zealand Phone: +64-7-210 5520 Mobile: +64-21-802 256

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ANNOUNCE: WLUG meeting is one week away
by Meeting Reminder Bot 16 May '10

16 May '10

The Waikato Linux Users Group have a meeting in one week from today: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Software Freedom Day 2010 A presentation and summary of previous SFD events that WLUG has run, and our plans for http://www.wlug.org.nz/SoftwareFreedomDay2010 May 24th 7:30pm MS4.G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4)

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Grub boot problem, help please
by Cesar 16 May '10

16 May '10

Hi, I wonder if anybody could please advice me on a booting issue. I have double hard disk computer, which I was using with either Ubuntu or Windows depending on the need of the moment. I have been using the F10 option at start-up to select the Windows HD when needed. After upgrading to the latest version of Ubuntu, I cannot boot in Windows any more. While I was upgrading, "Grub" software opened options, and I most likely selected the wrong ones. Now when the computer boots, only does it in Ubuntu, even if I select Windows option. Even selecting the HD of Windows with the F10 option, still doesn't boot on Windows, it just get stopped on a black screen. For the grub version : ada(a)ada-desktop:~$ dpkg -l grub\* Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold | Status=Not/Inst/Cfg-files/Unpacked/Failed-cfg/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad) ||/ Name Version Description +++-==============-==============-============================================ un grub <none> (no description available) ii grub-common 1.98-1ubuntu5 GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (common un grub-coreboot <none> (no description available) un grub-doc <none> (no description available) un grub-efi <none> (no description available) un grub-efi-amd64 <none> (no description available) un grub-efi-ia32 <none> (no description available) un grub-emu <none> (no description available) un grub-ieee1275 <none> (no description available) un grub-legacy <none> (no description available) un grub-legacy-do <none> (no description available) un grub-linuxbios <none> (no description available) ii grub-pc 1.98-1ubuntu5 GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (PC/BIOS un grub2 <none> (no description available) Here is a copy of the grub.cfg # # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE # # It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates # from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub # ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ### if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then load_env fi set default="0" if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then set saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry} save_env saved_entry set prev_saved_entry= save_env prev_saved_entry set boot_once=true fi function savedefault { if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then saved_entry=${chosen} save_env saved_entry fi } function recordfail { set recordfail=1 if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi } insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 8af1e583-20e8-459f-94b6-2e1c12a7e952 if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then set gfxmode=640x480 insmod gfxterm insmod vbe if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else # For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't # understand terminal_output terminal gfxterm fi fi insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 8af1e583-20e8-459f-94b6-2e1c12a7e952 set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale set lang=en insmod gettext if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then set timeout=-1 else set timeout=10 fi ### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ### set menu_color_normal=white/black set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray ### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ### menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { recordfail insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 8af1e583-20e8-459f-94b6-2e1c12a7e952 linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=8af1e583-20e8-459f-94b6-2e1c12a7e952 ro quiet splash initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic } menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { recordfail insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 8af1e583-20e8-459f-94b6-2e1c12a7e952 echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-21-generic ...' linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=8af1e583-20e8-459f-94b6-2e1c12a7e952 ro single echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...' initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic } ### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ### menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" { insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 8af1e583-20e8-459f-94b6-2e1c12a7e952 linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin } menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" { insmod ext2 set root='(hd0,1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 8af1e583-20e8-459f-94b6-2e1c12a7e952 linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8 } ### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ### menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (on /dev/sdb1)" { insmod ntfs set root='(/dev/sdb,1)' search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set e29010fc9010d8bd drivemap -s (hd0) ${root} chainloader +1 } ### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ### ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ### # This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the # menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change # the 'exec tail' line above. ### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ### Help will be very much appreciated. Regards Cesar Waksman

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Dell, ubuntu 10.4, Phillips 21"
by Andrew Crosby 08 May '10

08 May '10

Hi I am having trouble with a ubuntu 10.4 install, the problem is sometimes it detects the display, and changes to its native res (something like 2048x1560) however other times it doesn't and then default to 1024x768, this wouldn't be a problem if it just stuck with one all the time, but it seams to take liberties about when it chooses with res to go with, and as this is a pc for my parents, it is somewhat annoying, any ideas? Cheers Andrew (PS, its a fairly boring intel on board graphics chipset)

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Some cheap, good Linux games for you (DRM Free)
by Liz Quilty 07 May '10

07 May '10

This is the best promo ever, i thought the games were so good i ended up donating more money. 5 good Linux,Mac,Windows games for a donation. http://www.wolfire.com/humble Liz

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O'Reilly donation
by John Billings 06 May '10

06 May '10

We received a donation of 5 new books from O'Reilly: * Learning Perl http://library.wlug.org.nz/show.pl?id=69 * Ubuntu Up And Running http://library.wlug.org.nz/show.pl?id=68 * Version Control w/ Git http://library.wlug.org.nz/show.pl?id=66 * The Ruby Programming Language http://library.wlug.org.nz/show.pl?id=67 * Mastering Regular Expressions http://library.wlug.org.nz/show.pl?id=65 Books will be available at our upcoming meetings. Thanks to O'Reilly for donating these books, Marsee and Kristin over there were very helpful getting these out to us. http://oreilly.com/ Check out their DRM free ebooks: http://oreilly.com/ebooks/ Cheers, John

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meeting topic this month.
by John Billings 05 May '10

05 May '10

A few people at the workshop last Saturday mentioned they might be interested in presenting at our regular meeting. Will be the 24th this month. AFAIK there is nothing planned, so anyone have any suggestions, want to follow up? Thanks, John

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Acer 5315 Laptop overheating with ubuntu 10.04 32 biit
by Ron Dean 04 May '10

04 May '10

One of the fixes I've found on the net is to edit the grub2 file which has a basic emacs editor they suggest we add a line acpi=off however I don't seem to be able to save it. What command should I use? cntrl + s doesn't seem to work Ron Dean

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