Re: Careers in Linux
"Jonathan D. Proulx" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Wed, Jun 20, 2001 at 01:52:02AM +0100, mark wrote: > :Hi, > > :Iam finding it very hard to even get looked at by > :empolyeers.Basically i have made a career change 1 1/2 years ago > :from being a factory worker to supporting pc's (sadly win9x/win2k > :for a uk comapany,name withheld to protect my job :-), at least it > :got my foot in the door). > > Luck did have a big part in getting my current position! I was "the > guy who knows computers" in my last job (Public Works department of a > local Municipality), but hat little official responsibility for them. Similar here. At the university i studied social sciences the department of mechanical engeneering was looking for a student with ,,programming knowledge´´. OK, I thought, after 7 jears of linux experience, GEM - Programming on Atari ST, I have ,,programming knowledge´´. I got the job, it was very bad payed, and I ended up with 13000 lines of C++ - Code (in the biggest program), a very good attestation, much more knowledge than before and a lifelong job guarantee. > > Try to leverage that foot in the door, can you work in a cheap linux > box to do firewalling, mail, fileserving, intranet webserver, VPN ? > > Be creative and see if there's anything you can do with old machines > going out of service or a really low end PC, so it won't cost your > employer much if anything, and then you'll have "official" linux admin > on your CV > Also try to learn at home as much as possible. Networking, mailing, firewalling, etc. I would especially take care of things like volume management, high availability, shared filesystems (Coda, GFS) and other enterprise features. If you have knowledge in this fields, no matter on which flavor of unix, you can pick out your employer. Scripting is a must, I would recommend python. Try to automate with failure checking and everything needed in a production environment. > > :Also I would be inclined as Iam to start playing with something like > :Solaris as its more Unix based than say debian/rh/mandrake (if you > :know what I mean) > > All my "important" servers are Sun machines running Solaris, so yes > it's important to know. But I wouldn't call it "more Unix based" > exept that Unix is a trademark Linux doesn't wear. From an admin > perspective some of the commands behave a little differently (though I > use the GNU tools mostly so they are the same), and there's a few > minor differences that can be trouble till you get used to them. From > a user view there's even less difference. I'd go so far as to say the > difference between RH and Debian is greater than the difference > between Debian and Solaris. Except that debian is much better. It´s cleaner, it has a clear policy, an absolute superior package management and more I can count here. I work in a major data processing center as a solaris sysadmin, and I hate solaris. > > That said, they're running Solaris because of the Sun hardware, and > Sparc Linux isn't quite where we'd need it to be. Here the same. No one decides to use solaris, but to use SUN hardware. Greetings, Christoph
Re: LVM, RAID stability
Stefan Traber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Hello, Hi, > i have a question regarding the software RAID and LVM support in Linux. I am > planning on setting up a Debian system for use as a file-server in a > production environment. I want to set up RAID-1 (mirroring) and if possible > use the > LVM so that i can increase the size of my volumes afterwards, as i don't know > yet how much they will grow. i use lvm extensively, mostly without problems. The only problem I had was after an upgrade from 0.8 to 0.9-beta1. Upgrading to 0.9-beta5 was painles. I moved PVs from disk to disk, grew partitions, etc. In my opinion it´s just as stable as AIX-lvm, and more stable than veritas VM. I can highly recommend it. I also tried the combination of raid and LVM without success, but I had to do it on a redhat-box (company policy), and it was difficult to get all needed patches into the kernel. This should be easier on debian, because redhat uses a non-standard kernel, which is not easy to patch. I thing today it should be possible, maybe easy. I recommend the lvm mailing list for technical questions. Greetings, Christoph
debian and 3rd-party certifications
Hi all, I recently had to set up and configure a linux-box at our company. I naturally wanted to take the best UNIX ever made, debian linux, but I was told that i had to use redhat, because veritas netbackup client is only certified to work with redhat. My argument, that if it runs on redhat, I will get it also to run under debian was cancelled, because of support questions. So my question is: How to get debian certified as a recommended netbackup platform? I think it is very importatnt for the success of debian in the server-market to get these certifications. Greetings, Christoph
Re: LVM, MD, what's what?
Hi, Alec Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Right now I've got a 10GB drive split into 4 partitions (/, /boot, /home, and > swap). I'd like to add another drive to the system, adding its space to /home, > which is /dev/hda7 under my current setup. The machine currently runs kernel > 2.2.18 > and will be upgraded to 2.4.x once a few point releases are out. I run kernel 2.2.18 and lvm 0.9.beta3. > How can I go about using Multiple Disks and/or LVM to manage this addition? Is > there a HOWTO someplace I should be looking at? I'm also thinking about > converting > from ext2 to ReiserFS at some point and would be interested in knowing about > any > gotchas it would involve as far as MD/LVM are concerned. I would suggest the following: Install lvm from http://www.sistina.com/lvm/ and install it following the INSTALL file. Eventually add reiserfs-patches to your kernel before rebulding it. Add the new drive, and create 10 partitions, type 8e, each 1G. # pvcreate /dev/hdb[1-9] /dev/hdb10 Then look how much space you need for /usr, /var, /tmp and create a volume group for them: If you need btween 3 and 4G, then do # vgcreate root_vg /dev/hdb[1-4] # lvcreate -n usr_lv -L root_vg # lvcreate ... (...means do this also for var_lv and tmp_lv) # mkreiserfs /dev/root_vg/usr_lv ... # mkdir /usr_new # mount -t reiserfs /dev/root_vg/usr_lv /usr_new ... # cd /usr # find . -print | cpio -dmp ../usr_new # ... Act like this with home_vg, local_vg or whatelse you need. Then change vou /etc/fstab to the new devices and reboot. Leave the root-partition and eventually /boot where it is. If everything is ok, mount says tha /usr is on /dev/root_vg/usr_lv ..., then you can pvcreate the old partitions and vgextend your volume groups. I left / (200G) non-lvm and ext2, so I can boot from a normal debian - CD, but there are also ways for putting root under lvm-control and reiserfs. If you need further assistance then send me a mail. Greetings, Christoph
Re: Laptops for Debian GNU/Linux?
"Dexter Graphic" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > The site is a rich source of information on GNU/Linux laptops. > > http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/ > > But it's almost too much information and to general in nature > to be of immediate use. I still have no idea how to go about > comparing the hundreds of models listed and what each one's > strengths and weaknesses are in terms of running my preferred > OS: Debian GNU/Linux. > > Perhaps some of you folks would be willing to share your own > laptop preferences? Are there any hardware companies you > know of that provide GPL drivers and support open standards? Hi, I use a compaq armada 1750 under debian since the slink times, and I?m very happy with it. Graphics, Sound, PCMCIA, everything works. Greetings, Christoph
Re: lvm
> "JM" == Julio Merino <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: JM> Hi all, JM> I have now a currently working Potato system organized in simple JM> partitions as I posted in another message. Well, my question is about JM> how can I use LVM. JM> Can I convert my current installation structure in a LVM one ? Do I JM> have to reinstall all my system ? HOW ? JM> Potato install doesn't contemplates LVM. Hi, that´s the way I did it: I installed lvm deb [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ dpkg -l lvm Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold | Status=Not/Installed/Config-files/Unpacked/Failed-config/Half-installed |/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: uppercase=bad) ||/ Name VersionDescription +++-==-==- ii lvm0.8i-3 The Logical Volume Manager for Linux Then I patched my Kernel 2.2.17 with patch-2.2.16-LVM-0.8i ( http://linux.msede.com/lvm/ ) linux-2.2.17-reiserfs-3.5.25-patch ( http://devlinux.com/projects/reiserfs/ ) and recompiled with lvm and reiserfs compiled in ( not as modules ). The I did a vgscan (after reboot), pvcreate on spare partitions ( I repartitioned a disk with parted to 500MB - Partitions, so I can reassign them to different volume groups), vgcreate and lvcreate, and copied my existing partitions to the new ones, e.g. # vgscan # pvcreate /dev/hdb[12345] # vgcreate root_vg /dev/hdb[12345] # lvcreate -L 1G -n usr_lv root_vg # mkreiserfs /dev/root_vg/usr_lv # mkdir /usr_new # mount -t reiserfs /dev/root_vg/usr_lv /usr_new # cd /usr # find . -print | cpio -dpm ../usr_new and also for all other partitions Then I edited /etc/fstab to point to the new partitions, rebooted and ready. The I pvreated the old partitions, added them to the right volume group, and pvmoved the /dev/hdb[12345] back to /dev/hdb. Here´s my mount - output: [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ mount /dev/hda1 on / type ext2 (rw,errors=remount-ro,errors=remount-ro) proc on /proc type proc (rw) devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620) /dev/root_vg/var_lv on /var type reiserfs (rw) /dev/root_vg/usr_lv on /usr type reiserfs (rw) /dev/root_vg/home_lv on /home type reiserfs (rw) /dev/root_vg/tmp_lv on /tmp type reiserfs (rw) /dev/local_vg/local_lv on /usr/local type reiserfs (rw) /dev/local_vg/apt-mirror_lv on /usr/local/apt-mirror type reiserfs (rw) The / - partition can also be brought under lvm-control, but the you need to boot in a initial ramdisk before mounting the physical partiton on your HD. This system works without any hassles, and I moved and resized very much. I recommend using reiserfs, it does journaling, and comes up very fast after a power failure or cold reboot. If you have any questions, send me a mail. Here some konfiguration outputs: [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/home/cg# pvscan pvscan -- reading all physical volumes (this may take a while...) pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda10" of VG "local_vg" [500 MB / 0 free] pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda11" of VG "local_vg" [500 MB / 0 free] pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda12" of VG "local_vg" [500 MB / 476 MB free] pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda13" of VG "local_vg" [500 MB / 0 free] pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda14" of VG "local_vg" [500 MB / 0 free] pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda15" of VG "local_vg" [500 MB / 0 free] pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda16" of VG "local_vg" [500 MB / 0 free] pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda5" of VG "root_vg" [996 MB / 0 free] pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda6" of VG "root_vg" [2.93 GB / 0 free] pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda7" of VG "root_vg" [996 MB / 0 free] pvscan -- ACTIVE PV "/dev/hda9" of VG "root_vg" [500 MB / 500 MB free] pvscan -- inactive PV "/dev/hdb1" is in no VG [502 MB] pvscan -- inactive PV "/dev/hdb2" is in no VG [502.03 MB] pvscan -- inactive PV "/dev/hdb3" is in no VG [502.03 MB] pvscan -- inactive PV "/dev/hdb5" is in no VG [502 MB] pvscan -- inactive PV "/dev/hdb6" is in no VG [502 MB] pvscan -- inactive PV "/dev/hdb7" is in no VG [502 MB] pvscan -- inactive PV "/dev/hdb8" is in no VG [502 MB] pvscan -- inactive PV "/dev/hdb9" is in no VG [619.66 MB] pvscan -- total: 19 [12.83 GB] / in use: 11 [8.79 GB] / in no VG: 8 [4.04 GB] [EMAIL PROTECTED]:/home/cg# lvscan lvscan -- ACTIVE "/dev/local_vg/local_lv" [1.95 GB] lvscan -- ACTIVE "/dev/local_vg/apt-mirror_lv" [1 GB] lvscan -- ACTIVE "/dev/root_vg/usr_lv" [2.73 GB] lvscan -- ACTIVE "/dev/root_vg/var_lv" [152 MB] lvscan -- ACTIVE "/dev/root_vg/home_lv" [1 GB] lvscan -- ACTIVE "/dev/root_vg/tmp_lv" [1012 MB] lvscan -- 6 logical volumes with 7.82 GB total in 2 volume groups lvscan -- 6 active logical volumes Greetings, Christoph
console-apt and absolute paths
Hi, everytime I try to install something with console-apt (and aptitude) I get the message Package manager (dpkg) failed: * Internal Error, Pathname to install is not absolute 'bash-doc_2.03-6_all.deb' apt-get install works. Greetings Christoph
Re: Reading Sun disks/backup tapes on a Debian system
> "EGM" == Eric G Miller writes: EGM> On Sun, Aug 27, 2000 at 03:09:12PM +0100, Melanie Dymond Harper wrote: >> Hi folks, >> >> Does anyone have information about how one might read Sun-format >> (ufsdump) backup tapes or, alternatively, ufs-format disks on a Debian >> system? EGM> You probably need a kernel with ufs support. Apparently there are EGM> several versions so you have to specify a 'usftype=...' paramater to EGM> mount. See /Documentation/filesystems/ufs.txt for more EGM> info. I'm guessing it doesn't come with the prebuilt *.deb kernels, but EGM> you can check /lib/modules/ would be named ufs.o . If it's built into the kernel (doubtful) you can EGM> also look at /proc/filesystems. Hi, ufsdumps are basically cpio-files. If the copy on tape was made to the raw device (which is so in most cases), then you can access it with cpio as usual. Maybe you have to skip at the beginning, but I don´t think so. Hope that helps, Christoph
Re: Win & Potato on LAN
> "V" == Vitux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: V> Dan Hutchinson wrote: >> >> You know there has to be a default gateway with the NIC in Windows! >> Also which version of Windows 95/98 or WindowsNT/2000. >> >> Dan >> V> Sorry, Win98 1st.ed. V> I tried setting "gateway" to Potato's IP (192.168.0.1), now if I V> ping the same IP, I get host does not exist. V> Do you have any suggestion as to the default gateway in Win? Hi, do you think, the network card in the Windows box is set up correctly. I had some Problems with win95 and more than one card, massice resource conflicts. Also check the cabeling. If the LED on the hub doesn´t show anything, it must be the windows box or the cable. If the card is set up to autonegoitation, try to set mode and speed manually. Just a few suggestions, Christoph
Re: Debian Linux on Sun UltraSparc IIi
> "WY" == Wilson Yau <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >> Where did you fail in the boot process? ie. did the Sun access the floppy >> and spit out an error message, or did it simply say something like "can't >> find boot image" off the HDD? WY> When the system started booting, I saw it soughting the floopy drive as WY> the green light was on and off several times. WY> Shortly after displaying the system information like: WY> SPARCengine(tm) Ultra CP1400 (UltraSparc-IIi 303MHz) OpenBoot 3.10.9 ME WY> with 192MB RAM. WY> Got this message: WY> Drive not ready WY> Boot device: net File and args: Hi, try changing the boot device. Type STOP + a, then "boot floppy". Greetings, Christoph
Re: Raid 1 Problems
> "MK" == Matt Kopishke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: MK> Hi, I am running potato and a 2.2.16 kernel on our file server. I MK> have two raid 1 devices set up, each 10 gigs big. The problem is that it MK> does not seem to cleanly unmount/update the superblock when I MK> restart/shutdown (although it says it does). So what happens is each MK> startup it needs to run chkraid, which on two 10 gig md devices, takes a MK> while. It would not be the solution to the source of your Problem, but why don´t you use reiserfs on the md-devices? I do so without problems. Second, did you check the versions of the raidtools and the kernel modules? Greetings, Christoph
Re: roaming user
Matt Emmett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Hi all, > > This is question for those users that have a deskop machine and a > laptop... do you have any suggestions for making the life of a roaming > user easier? Most importantly, how does one keep their home > directories "synced"? I use coda for this. Try searching for coda in freshmeat. Greetings, Christoph
Re: Coda filesystem?
Oki DZ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On 3 May 2000, Christoph Gaitzsch wrote: > > I use it on my laptop with my home machine as Coda-Server, and I like > > it very much. I keep my diary and address-files there, and some other > > stuff I want to share. If it keeps beeing stable, I will put more > > stuff in the shared directories. > > How do you deal with local cache overflow? When the link is disconnected, > any updates will be done on the local cache, but if it overflows, no > message generated. I don't think that Unix "quota" would handle Coda > caches. I think Coda client needs some improvement regarding local cache. My cache is much larger than my files I hold there, so I don´t have any problems regarding cache size. Do you know how to resize the cache? Greetings, Christoph
Re: Coda filesystem?
Oki DZ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Sat, 15 Apr 2000, Norman Walsh wrote: > > > I'll shortly have both a laptop and a desktop machine, just out of > > curiosity, is anyone using the Coda filesystem on top of Debian? > > Not yet, but already installed. > > Oki I use it on my laptop with my home machine as Coda-Server, and I like it very much. I keep my diary and address-files there, and some other stuff I want to share. If it keeps beeing stable, I will put more stuff in the shared directories. Greetings, Christoph
Can only print dvi
Hi all, I have a problem with printing something other than dvi-files with lprng/magicfilter on slink. Somehow magicfilter doesn't call gs (I can see dj500-filter in top a short time), but lpd thinks, it has printed with sucess: Any hints? Greetings, Christoph
