Plone 3.2.2 on Jaunty with python sandbox

By karl | Published: May 4, 2009

It seems that a lot of python2.4 support was dropped from Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty. Support which without Plone would not run. I started recompiling python packages to bring back python2.4 builds, but this was turning into a slippery slope and would bring back problems if any python package was updated from Ubuntu again.

Solution:

Use a separate user with it’s own install of python2.4 and any libraries needed for plone.

These are not complete instructions on how to get plone running again. But more or less just notes to point most people in the right path. Read More »

Posted in Server | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments closed

OpenLDAP TLS with wildcard domain certs

By karl | Published: April 3, 2009

After the last post on the OpenLDAP trouble I had, I’ve continued trying new things with it and can confirm that wildcard domain certificates do succeed with OpenLDAP.

When creating the certificate request enter for eg *.example.com in the common name field and you can then use the one certificate on all servers that fall in that domain.

BIG WARNING! This is very dangerous if the keys are not secured properly. As if somebody compromises one key, they have compromised all of the services on all the machines that use the same key! So make sure you really want to do this, have the file permissions set correctly and are prepared for the consequences.

Posted in Server, Ubuntu | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Notes on ubuntu-8.10-serverguide-openldap

By karl | Published: April 3, 2009

After deciding to learn to setup OpenLDAP yesterday I realised it was more than a days work, and that the documentation that I thought was going to be the most suited for my platform left a lot of holes for the beginner. I also had a firefox window with all the sites I used as a reference open in tabs, but then decided to print out some colouring pictures for the kids and one site kept crashing firefox (and ruined my day). So no citing references sorry, most of this information was only grepped from google eventually anyway.

The openldap-server guide does try to take you from wo to go fairly well and the following notes are just extra things that would have been handy to know or were needed to continue. Read More »

Posted in Server, Ubuntu | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Dlink DWA-110 + Ubuntu 8.10 = Happy Customer

By karl | Published: March 20, 2009

Just a quick note for anybody looking to see if this Wireless (802.11b/g) USB adaptor works with linux before purchasing.

I purchased one from Dick Smiths last night plugged it into my (Ubuntu-8.10 powered) laptop and was up and running within seconds.

Signal strength and speed are fairly industry standard. Cost AU$50. I probably could have found it cheaper elseware but DSE was conveniently on my way home last night.

D-Link DWA-110

D-Link DWA-110

Now just to find an access point with decent signal strength.

Posted in Ubuntu | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Zabbix update

By karl | Published: March 13, 2009

Zabbix is growing on me more and more now. I dont think the learning curve is any worse than Nagios or Cacti, it’s just different.

I am using zabbix-1.6.2 to auto-discover devices across two sites. Mainly snmp devices and zabbix-agent devices. Everything else gets lumped into the workstation catagory unless specified otherwise.

I can monitor data via ipmi too but am yet to work out how to control servers manually via ipmi.

But one of the unique features has to be monitoring of web services. Testing loging into a self hosted website making sure a page or two return as expected and monitoring the response time and download speed.

There is not much need for me to post any tutorials on zabbix as most of it is in the zabbix manual. Just be sure to jump to the quick start guide for a quick reference.

Posted in Server | Tagged | Comments closed