Archive for Administration
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 [...]
Surviving an HTTP DDOS Attack
Introduction I occasionally run into a cPanel server under a DDOS attack due to either the site itself being attacked or the site has had malicious files uploaded to it that are being used to launch an attack. This post will describe what I do to help mitigate the attack.
Automating an Ubuntu Server Install
Introduction Updated for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS While the installation procedure for Ubuntu Server is simple enough, I wanted to create a total hands-free solution. Doing so would allow me to simply boot a new PC or Virtual Machine and have a working Ubuntu Server in 10 minutes or so. The solution I came up with [...]
SpamAssassin 2010 Bug
I first heard of the SpamAssassin 2010 bug in an email notice from cPanel and then saw it mentioned on LWN. The full details of the incident can be read in the bug report.
Remote Encrypted Storage Revisited
Introduction I’ve been using my Dropbox / encfs combination since April and it’s worked great. Lately, however, I’ve come across some areas where I would like to see some improvement. Namely: I want it truly cross-platform — this solution does not work with any OS that does not support encfs. I want control of my [...]
64-bit On A Personal Level
I never paid much attention to 64-bit. I figured 64-bit operating systems were just a natural evolutionary step and I’d just casually start running 64-bit Linux distros whenever it was convenient. I understood the technical benefits with larger integers and stuff, but in my experience, Apache, MySQL, et al ran just the same whether it [...]
Practical Remote Encrypted Storage
Introduction I’ve been looking for an easy way to keep my important files off-site and secure at the same time. When putting together what I thought would be my perfect solution, I came up with the following features: Automatic — no manual synchronizing or uploading. Secure — encrypted file storage and file transfers. Portable — [...]
VMWare Tools on Ubuntu 8.04 Server
Introduction I maintain a VMWare Server (not ESX) that currently hosts 9 Ubuntu 8.04 LTS guests. To my mistake, I never thought of installing VMWare Tools on any of them until I started seeing premature performance bottlenecks. Being tasked with 9 installations, I could either install the Tools on each guest manually or look for [...]