Archive for August, 2010
Caching RPMs with pkg-cacher
Introduction apt-cacher is an excellent proxy server for caching .deb packages. It integrates into apt so that when a package is requested, apt-cacher checks to see if there is a cached copy. If there is, it sends the cached copy. If there isn’t, it downloads the package from the Internet, caches it, and sends it [...]
Cobbler and SSH Keys
Introduction Utilizing SSH keys for server access, whether password-less or with a passphrase, is a staple of system administration and automation. However, configuring this type of access is usually done manually: an admin will manually log in to the server, manually create the /root/.ssh directory, and then manually paste the source server’s public SSH key [...]
Deploying Ubuntu with Cobbler
Introduction In my previous article, I described the basics of Cobbler and how to get a simple installation up and running and distributing Linux. While I was able to get simple RedHat-based distributions installed easily, I had some problems with Ubuntu. Although it was easy enough to configure Cobbler to distribute Ubuntu via PXE, I [...]
Cobbler
Introduction I recently discovered Cobbler, an server that assists in the automated deployment of Linux distributions. A normal installation infrastructure is composed of several components: DHCP, DNS, PXE, TFTP, and the actual install media. Cobbler glues all of these components together very nicely. In addition, it provides dynamic configuration support by the way of kickstart [...]
Perl Development
Introduction After finishing my Python Development article, I was curious as to how I could create a better Perl development environment for myself. Why Perl? I first learned Perl in 1997 when I was a Sophomore in High School. It has stuck ever since. No matter what other language I learn or focus on, I’m [...]