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Gnome-RDP, Terminal Server Client, vncviewer – Fullscreen woes! 12 December 2007

Posted by Maulvi Bakar in : Linux,System , 2 comments

Well, I am using Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon.  Feeling gutsy right?  ;-)

Anyway, it seems that whenever I connect to a remote machine via VNC protocol, doesn’t matter what my client of choice, if I am using ‘Fullscreen’, I’ll be ‘Full Screaming’.  Seems that the CTRL-ALT-ENTER does not work for me to switch windows.  I’ll be stuck to the remote machine screen.

Fortunately, there’s hope yet.  Press ‘F8′ button and voila! There’s a host of options in the menu revealed.

Enjoy!

unknown nfs status return value: -1 11 December 2007

Posted by Maulvi Bakar in : Linux,System,Unix,Work , 1 comment so far

I’m trying to mount an NFS export from an AIX machine to a Linux client.

Had encountered the above problem.  Apparently the NFS exports on AIX requires the client’s hostname and IP address within the /etc/hosts file.

Enjoy!

MITI MATRIIX II – Project Team Dinner 10 August 2007

Posted by Maulvi Bakar in : Work , add a comment


Some of the SE Team with our EVP


Well, I had a grand night.. Firstly, I got my first real digital camera. A Fujifilm Finepix 3800. Bought it off Amazon refurbished. Reason I got it is because I wanna try some amateur photographing. ;-)

Anyway, at my workplace, with project dateline fast approaching, our CEO organized a pep-talk session and dinner for the whole project team! This is sort of an exhortation gesture for everyone to pull their socks and really “up and at ‘em” attitude. Oh yeah, XYBASE, Do it!

All I can say is, “What a grand dinner it was!”. I really stuffed myself until I couldn’t gorge a bit more.. ;-)

Anyway, the whole photoshoot can be viewed here – XYBASE Matriix II Dinner (Flickr)

Lastly, I would like to thank Mr Islah, Trade Commissioner for Matrade Miami Office for the camera.

PHP with Informix IDS support via IFX Module – Centos5 / RHEL5 12 June 2007

Posted by Maulvi Bakar in : Linux,Work , 2 comments

Hello everyone, sorry for the long silence..

These are drafts mainly, careful with the syntax until I fix the coding code of my wordpress.. :-P
Firstly, install the Informix Client SDK for Linux..
Get the Client SDK from here – http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/informix/linux/csdk.html

Download, untar it to a folder, then follow the instructions below -

# useradd informix
# passwd informix

./installclientsdk

install to /opt/IBM/informix

ensure “/etc/hosts” have these entry -

x.x.x.x informix_server_hostname

ensure that “/opt/IBM/informix/etc/sqlhost” have these entry -

database_instance_name onsoctcp informix_server_hostname 9088

add these at line number 38 in file “/etc/init.d/httpd”, which should be before the “# check for 1.3 configuration” line -

export INFORMIXDIR=/opt/IBM/informix
export INFORMIXSERVER=mtx2informix_prod
export ONCONFIG=onconfig
export PATH=$PATH:$INFORMIXDIR/bin
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$INFORMIXDIR/lib:$INFORMIXDIR/lib/esql

Download this -

http://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/enterprise/5Server/en/os/SRPMS/php-5.1.6-5.el5.src.rpm

and install it

rpm -ivh php-5.1.6-5.el5.src.rpm

go to /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/

edit the php.spec file at line 428 (approximately after the xml, before $*, add this line -

–with-informix=/opt/IBM/informix \

Then, run this command -

rpmbuild -ba php.spec

and also, prior to rebuilding the RPM, may need to export the environments -

export INFORMIXDIR=/opt/IBM/informix
export INFORMIXSERVER=mtx2informix_prod
export ONCONFIG=onconfig
export PATH=$PATH:$INFORMIXDIR/bin
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$INFORMIXDIR/lib:$INFORMIXDIR/lib/esql

Run this command to identify whatever php packages that you’ve installed -

rpm -qa | grep php

uninstall them using this command

rpm -e package_name1 package_name2

and re-install them using newly recompiled RPMs from this location -

“/usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/”

May need to use “–nodeps” option – the .so files required are actually Informix libraries already found within the ld_library_lib path

Hope it is useful to someone else someday ;-)

New Year Resolutions.. 14 January 2007

Posted by Maulvi Bakar in : Home,Linux,Society,Work , 2 comments

A week or so ago, I was asked by a journalist-friend to comment on my technological resolutions from last year and this year.  Particularly those made, kept and broken.  ;-)

Well, I did some and eventually, it appears in the local daily’s tech section!  8-O

I am nowhere really an expert, but that was something that I really strive for, with the grace of god, and assistance from friends and colleagues alike – god-willing..

Below are part of the article which appears in full here -

Resolutions made, kept, and broken

A system engineer with XyBase Sdn Bhd, Maulviridha Abu Bakar, is the resident Linux expert at work. Maulviridha is also into self-initiated awareness programs on Linux.
Last year, his resolution was to enhance his personal knowledge of Linux and Free and Open Source software. He had also intended to migrate all internal servers at work to Linux and Free and Open Source Software.
He had initiated the process last year at work and had been successful with some recognition from his employers.
They even let him conduct training internally and for customers, and Maulviridha intends to accomplish more this year.
He had also wanted to make Linux as the main operating system on his desktop for everyday use but to this day, he has only Linux installed on his desktop on a dual-boot configuration with Windows.
There appears to be a snag in the plan to go totally Linux both at work and home, says Maulviridha. “I seem to go back to Windows for some crucial usage and applications. For example, in the case of Microsoft Visio, there seems to be no quality alternative.”

Nonetheless, there’s much for me still to learn..  “Life is a lifelong learning experience”

Enjoy!

Enabling JAVA plugin after installing JPackage JDKs 27 November 2006

Posted by Maulvi Bakar in : Linux,Work , add a comment

If you’ve installed java-1.5.0-sun-plugin and you want to use it with Firefox or any other mozilla-based browser, you’ll need to set up the link manually as there is a small bug in the java-1.5.0-sun-plugin package that causes it not to set up the link properly.

Please take note of the period (“.”) on the last line!

# cd /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins
# rm -f libjavaplugin_oji.so
# ln -s  ../../../lib/jvm/java/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so .


	
Lau Jun Wei
	8 October 2006

	Posted by Maulvi Bakar in : Society	, add a comment	
			  
	
I first saw this news article on News Straits Times last Friday (6th October 2006).


Simply put, I was very much disturbed by this event.  It really affects me deeply as I went through two days thinking about Lau Jun Wei.   Looking at his picture, I can hear his cries vividly.  It seems very real, as I have to only imagine my nephew or niece whom are about the same age to imagine the poor child, alone and abused.


Whoever’s responsible, I sincerely hoped that they’ll be punished to the maximum extent of the law.


Sexually-abused child dies, couple held


06 Oct 2006

Jassmine Shadiqe


JOHOR BARU: He must have gone through hell before he died. And he was just three.


Lau Jun Wei is believed to have been tied up for hours and sexually abused until his private parts turned blue and his anus was bleeding.


There were also signs on his buttocks that he had been repeatedly whipped.



The abrasions on his little body were unbelievable: He even had bruises on his head.Lau Jun Wei


A private doctor took one look at the dead child and the extent of injuries on Wednesday, and called in the police.


A 29-year-old relative and her 23-year-old boyfriend, who had brought Jun Wei’s battered body to the clinic about 3.50pm, were detained.


Their explanation to the doctor that the child had become unconscious after a fall won’t stand up to scrutiny as a post-mortem in a day or two will reveal the sordid truth.


What is sure is this: Jun Wei died after being methodically abused in the two rooms that his relative and her boyfriend had rented at a house in Jalan Kebudayaan, Taman University, here.


It is learnt Jun Wei’s parents are separated and that his father’s whereabouts are unknown.


Hours after the couple was detained, it emerged from their housemates that although they appeared normal, there had been signs that something was amiss.


A housemate, a primary school teacher who only wanted to be identified as Theen, said he sometimes heard thumping noises from the couple’s rooms after midnight.


Jun Wei's Room“They maintained a quiet profile and there was nothing openly suspicious about them, except for the thumping noises,” said Theen, 26, who lived downstairs.


He said when he saw the couple about 3.30pm on Wednesday, “the boy’s relative was looking very pale and in a state of panic”.


“The boyfriend was waiting outside in a taxi. There was no sign of the boy.”


Theen said the boy seldom left his room, having been seen only about three times in the living room since his relative and her boyfriend moved in three months ago.


He said another strange thing was that the couple sometimes left Jun Wei alone in his room when they went out.


“I used to hear him weeping inside his room. People just don’t leave their three-year-old alone at home.”Drawing found in Lau Jun Wei's room


Another housemate, who wanted to be known only as Tan, 29, said although her room was next to the couple’s, she seldom saw or heard the child. Jun Wei was unusually quiet for a boy of his age, she said.


It is learnt that the boyfriend works in a handphone shop at the housing estate and is related to the house owner.


Skudai district police chief Assistant Commissioner Johari Yahya, who confirmed the incident, said the case was being investigated as murder.


	
Apache vs SELinux
	25 September 2006

	Posted by Maulvi Bakar in : Linux,Work	, add a comment	
			  
	
Towards the end of the working week, I receive a request from a colleague to have access to the ftp account folder via http.  The guy is on site in a foreign country and it seems that his net access is being regulated (read – no ftp).


Now that seems reasonable, considering I was not in the office for the whole week due to an extended training/seminar that I am attending.  Luckily I thought, since the training premises gave me access to wifi internet -whee!!


Here I am thinking I can solve it in the next few minutes!


I have a folder in the /home directory – “/home/thefolder“.  I thought a simple settings as below in httpd.conf is enough -


Alias /thefolder "/home/thefolder/"

<directory /home/thefolder>

Options MultiViews Indexes Includes FollowSymLinks

AllowOverride AuthConfig

Order allow,deny

Allow from all

AuthType Basic

AuthName "The Folder Authentication"

AuthUserFile /the/passwd/folder/thepasswdfile

Require user theaccount

</directory>


Apparently not!


I keep getting 403 – Forbidden errors. Checked the permissions, double-checked it, even making it 777 – world-readable! FAIL!


I felt like screaming!


/var/log/httpd/error_log shows access is denied, even with 777 – world readable!


I felt some suspicions, the SELinux thingy began to smell fishy.  Cursory examinations of the /var/log/messages logs shows some clues – Bleagh!


The analogy is like this -


Someone who does not have permission to a certain facility but has been given one, will still not be given access.  That is what SELinux is all about.


Basically, it is Linux’s Last Line of Defence.


Read all about it and it’s relations to Apache here!


Enjoy!


	
OpenBSD – Reloading pf.conf
	18 September 2006

	Posted by Maulvi Bakar in : Unix,Work	, add a comment	
			  
	
OpenBSD, world most secure OS.  Also one of the most User-Hostile ones.  Now, I needed to reload the firewall rules.  Modified some settings in the /etc/pf.conf and this is how did it to reload the ruleset -


$ pfctl -f /etc/pf.conf


This will reload the ruleset plainly from the file specified.  The -R flag only loads the filtering rules. -N only loads the NAT rules.  Should there be need to reload just the filtering and/or NAT rules, just use the appropriate options.


Enjoy!


	
Ubuntu Linux – Root Account
	17 September 2006

	Posted by Maulvi Bakar in : Home,Linux	, 1 comment so far	
			  
	
I like Ubuntu Linux, always have.  Nice features, fairly comprehensive repositories for softwares.  The only thing that bugs the hell out of me is the non-existance of the root account.  Anytime you want to do something, it’s sudo this, and sudo that…


Well, this is how I did it -


sudo passwd root


voila!


I can now either use su to change to root, or even login as root..


Enjoy!








		
		
	

	
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