Re: Recommendation: Backup system
On 01/10/16 18:40, Gene Heskett wrote: On Saturday 01 October 2016 12:39:58 Clive Menzies wrote: Quick question. Are your backups incremental or complete every night? This is probably better explained in the manpages. Amanda has the concept of doing a full backup of everything in its disklist according to the days you give it. Amanda will then shuffle the schedule such that those full backups are done at random in that cycle, with an eye toward equalizing, as much as possible, the amount of data saved during each run. It does this by advanceing the the level 0's as it will not let a given file go beyond that cycle before a full copy is made again. Level 0 is a full copy of a file, level 1 is whats been changed in that file since the last level 0. Level 2 is whats been changed since level 1, ad infinitum but most useage never gets past level 2. I have the drive I use for amanda setup as 30 virtual tapes, using one a day, then recycle. With 4 machines feeding amanda, that 1Tb drive stays at around 46% used: gene@coyote:~$ df /amandatapes Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on /dev/sdc2 960798056 410555684 501429932 46% /amandatapes I stayed on the devel branch of amanda, playing the part of the canary in the coal mine for years while it was being heavily developed, but apparently that grant ran out so not a lot has changed in around 5 years. So while I have a self made, slightly newer version on this machine as master, v3.3.7p1, the slaves are all running 3.3.1 clients from the wheezy repo. And it Just Works(TM). I would be the first to point out that my way is NOT for archival storage due to this 30 day and recycle setup. I could extend it to 60 days on this drive I suppose, but this is not a business. For a business, I would include the price of the drive as a CODB, fill it up and put it on the shelf at a remote location so it doesn't all go up in smoke when the place burns, thereby giving me the ability to recover something 5+ years old, or for however long one has had that setup running. That $100 or less a month for a new commodity drive is far less of a CODB than the archival storage of tapes would be over a 10 year period. And you would have to add in that the tape drive(s) would be out of service for about a month each annually while they spend the holidays in Oklahoma City getting fresh heads and rubber at about a kilobuck each for the rebuild. Thats been the track record here in my usage of tapes. The hard drives all have been 10x (or) more dependable. And all it takes is getting rid of the idea that one must do a full backup on Friday nights. Yes, amanda can do that, but do it as a separate configuration else you will drive the poor girl out of her mind when she finds out all her carefully worked out plans have all gone aglay. And don't forget that in ones long term business plans, the technology changes with time and there will come a time when you will have nothing in the house that can read todays 1Tb sata hard drive. So having a storage location to save the old tech that can read those drives should be part of that long term plan also. And be damned hard headed about it. Thanks Gene A dozen years ago, we found a couple posts on incremental backups using rsync and adapted it to provide 6 months of rolling incremental backups. We've been running this setup ever since - automated nightly, incremental backups. I posted our notes on the installation earlier in this thread. All important stuff is kept on the servers but it would be good to backup the laptops/workstations too and maybe Amanda is the answer :-) We don't install GUIs on our servers; can this be managed from individual workstations? Regards Clive -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Re: Recommendation: Backup system
On 01/10/16 17:22, Gene Heskett wrote Yeppers! It runs in the wee hours of the night here, for an hour or so. Currently backing up this machine, and 3 more on my little home network here, using its own unique, distribute the nightly load to equalize as much a it can given its list of what to back up with nightly backups totaling 11 to 14 Gb per night. Hi Gene Quick question. Are your backups incremental or complete every night? Regards Clive -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Re: Configuring Exim for mail delivery
On 01/10/16 12:39, mo wrote: Am 01.10.2016 um 13:22 schrieb Brian: On Sat 01 Oct 2016 at 12:36:10 +0200, mo wrote: I just figured out how to get this working myself a week or two back, so it's fresh in my mind. The key trick is the use of "hubbed hosts". Did you follow a specific book or guide? The manual for exim4-config_files is the first place to look. I will look into the manual. I also found a book about exim from O'Reilly, it's quite old (2001) but i guess i can get some info out of it. Exim configuration has the concept of "routers" and "transports". Routers basically decide what to do with a message, and transports do it. One of the routers configured by default in the Debian exim configuration is for "hubbed hosts". What this means, is machines capable of sending and receiving email ("hosts" in exim speak) that are on the same LAN as this machine (connected by a "hub"). Note that this "hub" could be your local home network router, and for these purposes machines on WiFi and machines on a wired LAN would be considered on the same hub, even though that isn't strictly true. The point is that network packets can be addressed directly between the machines, they don't require a router in between. As far as i do understand this is that only machines which are defined as hubbed hosts can be send mail in the local LAN? Or am i misunderstanding something here? :) hubbed_hosts can send mail wherever you want. For example: example.com: smtp.example.com would send mail to someone at example.com through smtp.example.com (which could be a smarthost). Got it, thanks ;) In Debian, this is achieved with Avahi. This is what allows you, if you have MachineA and MachineB on your network, to do for example "ping MachineA.local" from MachineB and expect MachineA.local to be resolved into an IP address. I'm not a friend of avahi to be honest, i much rather ignore it :D Let's hope your IP addresses do not change. No changes here, static network configuration, so that should not pose problems. (My network only has 4 machines, so DHCP is not needed, at least atm i don't need it :) ) In /etc/exim4, create a file owned by root called hubbed_hosts. In the file, each line maps a "domain" (the part after the @ sign in an email address) to a "host" (the name of a machine on your network, as it can be reached from this machine). Put the domain first, then a tab character (spaces may also be OK) and then the host. So for example I have a machine on my network called affinity, and so in the hubbed_hosts file on the machine I am sitting in front of now, I have two lines, one saying "affinity.localaffinity.local", and the other saying "affinityaffinity.local" (no quotes in the file). This tells the local exim installation that any email address with @affinity.local as the domain should be forwarded on to a machine called affinity.local, and any mail with @affinity as the domain should be forwarded on to a machine called affinity.local. Exim4 will then say "Connect to affinity.local!" with no attempt to translate that into an IP address, and Avahi daemon will answer "that is IP address WW.XX.YY.ZZ!" to which exim will say "very well, connect to WW.XX.YY.ZZ!" and the exim4 on affinity will wake up and co-operate to deliver the mail. I just did that and now mailing works flawlessly :D Just one questions: Why do i need hubbed_host entries? Should it not be fine alone to make a entry in /etc/hosts for the machines i want to send mail to (I do not operate a dedicated DNS server). This is something i dont really understand... I'd suggest you try it and look at the logs. I will try that out, exim has a pretty nice logging format i think ;) Hi Mo I tried to send this with a .pdf yesterday d'oh! Anyway, we've just reinstalled our servers with mail and automated backup and updated our notes. They're not finalised and hence not on the web yet but you can access them here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/63603283/InstallationNotes2016.9.24.pdf Bit's of it may help. Regards Clive -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
fetchmail ssl issue - was Problems communicating with and between servers after upgrade
Hi Independent of our recent issues, we've had a longstanding problem with fetchmail. from /var/log/syslog: "Warning: the connection is insecure, continuing anyways. (Better use --sslcertck!)" It's something we've tried to resolve from time to time but gave up in frustration. /etc/fetchmailrc: # to collect mail: @clivemenzies.co.uk : poll mail.clivemenzies.co.uk with proto POP3 sslproto tls1 uidl sslcertck sslcertpath /etc/ssl/fetchmail user "u...@clivemenzies.co.uk" there with password "*" is "user" here options keep user "anot...@clivemenzies.co.uk" there with password "" is "another" here options keep fetchmail won't run with ssl options we've tried various permutations and combinations to no effect. We've also tried using the fingerprint method instead but any options we add seem to break fetchmail. It appears to be a syntax error. Am I missing something obvious? Thanks Clive -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Re: Problems communicating with and between servers after upgrade - SOLVED
On 08/09/16 23:07, Clive Menzies wrote: Hi We've suffered a series of seemingly disconnect problems on 4 machines since upgrading jessie on Monday: This nightmare of expanding problems has been going on for three days, since Monday afternoon. Never before have I questioned the decision to base our business (and our lives) on Debian and I remain a firm advocate. I also recognise that over successive releases, accommodating a plethora of configurations becomes harder and that at some point a step changes in the foundations of the system are required. I'm presuming that the transition to systemd from sysv-init was an essential step and understand that backwards compatibility becomes more challenging as time goes on. Whether this systemd transition is related to the remote connectivity with the servers and the samba issue, I don't know but this number of seemingly random but mission critical series of problems has shaken our confidence. Apologies if this sounds like a complaint, it's not. It is a concern, which someone may be able to allay, that Debian is not as rock solid as it was. We've reinstalled all 4 servers and after customising the latest .conf files for dovecot, samba and rsyncd, everything is now communicating as required. Phew! In retrospect, our practice of keeping our customised .conf files through successive upgrades was probably a mistake. Backwards compatibility worked fine for years, and then suddenly it didn't on a routine upgrade (not a stable transition or point release). In future, we'll accept the maintainer's .conf and customise as necessary. It may add to the time for significant upgrades but should save us a similar episode in future. This hasn't destroyed our confidence in Debian and I recognise that my lack of knowledge and previous neglect are probably the root causes of our recent problems. It does, however, beg the question: should there be something in the installation warnings to emphasise the risks of keeping old conf files? If this episode has done anything, it's greatly improved our understanding of what's going on "under the bonnet". Hitherto, we've worked on the basis of: if it ain't broke, don't mess with it. Finally, the systemd tools make monitoring and understanding where problems arise much easier. In this context, we've one minor wrinkle outstanding. After reboot:/ $ sudo systemctl --all status/ gives: /Warning: Unit file changed on disk, 'systemctl daemon-reload' recommended. /Running/: //$ sudo //systemctl daemon-reload / fixes it but it would be good to prevent it in the first place. Thanks Clive/ / -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Re: Crontab doesn't complete a script
Hi Thomas The absolute path was the answer. Your explanation has added to my limited knowledge :-) Thanks Clive On 19/09/16 23:04, Thomas Schmitt wrote: Hi, Clive Menzies wrote: rsync_opts="-av --exclude-from=exclude_list --delete --delete-excluded" exclude_list=/root/uhuru_backup/exclude_list rsync: failed to open exclude file exclude_list: No such file or directory (2) The decisive difference between dialog and cron could be the current working directory. Try with an absolute path as parameter to --exclude-from= : rsync_opts="-av --exclude-from=/root/uhuru_backup/exclude_list --delete --delete-excluded" Or if you want to use the variable exclude_list, set it first. Then evaluate it by $exclude_list in the definition of variable rsync_opts: exclude_list=/root/uhuru_backup/exclude_list rsync_opts="-av --exclude-from=$exclude_list --delete --delete-excluded" This should yield the same rsync_opts content as above line. echo "Currently at line 17">>$log_file /root/uhuru_backup/uhuru.daily.sh: line 17: $log_file: ambiguous redirect Hm. To what value did you set the variable log_file ? If i set it to "/tmp/log_file", then the echo works in dash and bash. (We have to expect that cron uses the shell dash, whereas the dialog shell is probably bash.) If i set it to empty text, then dash complains dash: 2: Syntax error: newline unexpected bash says -bash: syntax error near unexpected token `newline' A blank would do it in bash but not in dash: $ log_file="/tmp/log file" $ echo "Currently at line 17">>$log_file -bash: $log_file: ambiguous redirect dash is brutal enough to really create a file "/tmp/log file". Have a nice day :) Thomas -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Re: Crontab doesn't complete a script - SOLVED
On 19/09/16 22:10, Clive Menzies wrote: It didn't find the exclude_list I created. I modified the script to point to it but clearly the syntax is not right # Good rsync options for uhuru_backups. rsync_opts="-av --exclude-from=exclude_list --delete --delete-excluded" # exclude list location: exclude_list=/root/uhuru_backup/exclude_list echo "Currently at line 17">>$log_file The log reported thus: /root/uhuru_backup/uhuru.daily.sh: line 17: $log_file: ambiguous redirect rsync: failed to open exclude file exclude_list: No such file or directory (2) rsync error: error in file IO (code 11) at exclude.c(1179) [client=3.1.1] D'oh! I searched around a bit and realised I'd over-complicated it. This works :-) # Good rsync options for uhuru_backups. rsync_opts="-av --exclude-from=/root/uhuru_backup/exclude_list \ --delete --delete-excluded" Thanks Thomas, I'd still be going round in circles. Regards Clive -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Re: Crontab doesn't complete a script
On 19/09/16 12:31, Thomas Schmitt wrote: The classic remedy would be to set the missing variables inside the cronjob script. /root/uhuru_backup/uhuru.daily.sh Consider to put some "echo" commands into the script and direct them to a log file: log_file=/tmp/uhuru_daily_sh.log ... echo "Currently at: ..." >>$log_file ... This should give you an idea what part of the script causes the premature end. Thanks Thomas I confess, I've not originated scripts before and so am on a steep learning curve. Your suggestion was very useful but my implementation is poor. It did yield useful information though. It didn't find the exclude_list I created. I modified the script to point to it but clearly the syntax is not right # Good rsync options for uhuru_backups. rsync_opts="-av --exclude-from=exclude_list --delete --delete-excluded" # exclude list location: exclude_list=/root/uhuru_backup/exclude_list echo "Currently at line 17">>$log_file The log reported thus: /root/uhuru_backup/uhuru.daily.sh: line 17: $log_file: ambiguous redirect rsync: failed to open exclude file exclude_list: No such file or directory (2) rsync error: error in file IO (code 11) at exclude.c(1179) [client=3.1.1] Regards Clive -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Crontab doesn't complete a script - was Re: Longstanding rsync script no longer excludes
On 17/09/16 17:12, Clive Menzies wrote: WORKING version: # Good rsync options for uhuru_backups. rsync_opts="-av --exclude-from=exclude_list --delete --delete-excluded" The exclude_list is a file with one excluded directory per line with an asterisk at the end directory name. $rsync $rsync_opts $password Uhuru::rsync \ /root/uhuru_backup/uhuru/home/ > /var/rsync/uhuru.$NOW.log The daily backup script works fine when run manually as sudo but doesn't complete when run as a root cronjob. I know the script starts because it creates a log. When successful it gives a list of files copied but when run as a cronjob it's blank (0 bytes) $ sudo crontab -l 20 21 1 * * /root/uhuru_backup/uhuru.monthly.sh > /dev/null 25 21 * * 7 /root/uhuru_backup/uhuru.weekly.sh > /dev/null 30 21 * * * /root/uhuru_backup/uhuru.daily.sh > /dev/null This should be impossible but I've got the same issue on two backup servers. Regards Clive -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Re: Longstanding rsync script no longer excludes - SOLVED
On 17/09/16 13:32, Mike Bird wrote $rsync $rsync_opts $password FileServer::rsync \ /home/backup/home/ > /var/rsync/FileServer.$NOW.log I don't see where the $excludes you built is actually used. On 17/09/16 13:44, Clive Menzies wrote: The script wasn't changed and I've always assumed the $rsync-opts took care of this. The script was copied from someone else and adapted. # Good rsync options for FileServer_backups. rsync_opts="-av --delete --delete-excluded" Thanks to prompting by Mike, I've changed the way excludes are handled and it works :-) OLD version: # Good rsync options for uhuru_backups. rsync_opts="-av --delete --delete-excluded" # A list of files and directories that do not need to be backed up exclude_list="music funstuff cma/TransitStuff lost+found/" excludes="" for exclude in $exclude_list; do excludes="$excludes --exclude=$exclude" WORKING version: # Good rsync options for uhuru_backups. rsync_opts="-av --exclude-from=exclude_list --delete --delete-excluded" The exclude_list is a file with one excluded directory per line with an asterisk at the end directory name. Regards Clive -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Longstanding rsync script no longer excludes
Hi One of the issues we've encountered following a recent Jessie upgrade, (around 5th September) is an rsync script seems to have changed behaviour. We've been using rsync for a daily automated incremental backup and have three scripts to maintain an archive of daily snapshots for a week; weekly snapshots for a month; and 6 monthly snapshots (files are irretrievable 6months after they been deleted from the backed up server). We've two pairs of FileServer and BackupServer, rsyncd runs on FileServer and the following daily script on BackupServer #!/bin/bash # This script is called daily from cron to perform overnight backups # The full paths of the programs used in this script rm=/bin/rm mv=/bin/mv cp=/bin/cp rsync=/usr/bin/rsync # Good rsync options for FileServer_backups. rsync_opts="-av --delete --delete-excluded" # The name of the file containing the rsync connection password password="--password-file=/etc/.rs_pass" # A list of files and directories that do not need to be backed up exclude_list="music funstuff cma/TransitStuff lost+found/" excludes="" for exclude in $exclude_list; do excludes="$excludes --exclude=$exclude" done # define NOW for adding date to rsync log filename eg. FileServer.date NOW=$(date +"%F.%H:%M") # Move all other backups up a level. Copy previous backup to /backup/daily. # Backup FileServer according to the [rsync] sections of the rsyncd.conf files # on FileServer. Use the password given in /etc/.rs_pass. Dump any output and # error messages to /var/rsync/FileServer mv /home/backup/snapshot/day.5 /home/backup/snapshot/day.6 mv /home/backup/snapshot/day.4 /home/backup/snapshot/day.5 mv /home/backup/snapshot/day.3 /home/backup/snapshot/day.4 mv /home/backup/snapshot/day.2 /home/backup/snapshot/day.3 mv /home/backup/snapshot/day.1 /home/backup/snapshot/day.2 cp -al /home/backup/home /home/backup/snapshot/day.1 $rsync $rsync_opts $password FileServer::rsync \ /home/backup/home/ > /var/rsync/FileServer.$NOW.log The incremental backups have worked seamlessly for over 10 years but recently, possibly related to the upgrade of Debian Jessie, the exclude options have ceased to have effect. I've dug around the docs but haven't found anything relevant. Any suggestions as to what may be wrong? Thanks Clive -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Re: Systemd and Init was Problems communicating with and between servers after upgrade - correction
On 12/09/16 19:57, Greg Wooledge wrote: On Mon, Sep 12, 2016 at 07:32:52PM +0100, Clive Menzies wrote: Most of the common server-oriented packages in jessie have systemd units written for them. E.g. openssh-server: ~$ dpkg -L openssh-server | grep systemd /lib/systemd /lib/systemd/system /lib/systemd/system/ssh.service /lib/systemd/system/ssh.socket /lib/systemd/system/ssh@.service However, there are still several packages that were not updated to use systemd facilities in time for jessie. These packages still ship with sysvinit scripts. When a given service has sysvinit script and does *not* have systemd unit files, it falls back to the sysvinit scripts. Thanks Greg That makes sense. Does this mean init will disappear from Debian in a future release? It is interesting that you gave ssh as an example because we seem to have encountered strange problems with mixed IDE/SATA systems: specifically ssh, samba and dovecot. The first server(U) we reinstalled (twice) seemed to exhibit samba and dovecot communications problems with some clients (but it was complicated by problems we later discovered on those) after the first reinstall. The second time, we changed the system disk from IDE to SATA (making it exclusively SATA) and it cleared most of the client communication issues. We reinstalled serverM on SATA, similarly the communications problems disappeared. The working back up server is all SATA but the "broken" one isn't; it's IDE for the system, and software RAIDed SATA for the data. We've ordered another PCI SATA card to change it. Has anyone else seen this? Regards Clive -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Systemd and Init was Problems communicating with and between servers after upgrade - correction
On 08/09/16 23:50, Clive Menzies wrote: On 08/09/16 23:07, Clive Menzies wrote: Hi We've suffered a series of seemingly disconnect problems on 4 machines since upgrading jessie on Monday: apt/log: Start-Date: 2016-09-05 12:17:10 Commandline: apt-get upgrade Upgrade: libgcrypt20:i386 (1.6.3-2+deb8u1, 1.6.3-2+deb8u2), gnupg:i386 (1.4.18-7+deb8u1, 1.4.18-7+deb8u2), linux-libc-dev:i386 (3.16.7-ckt25-2+deb8u3, 3.16.36-1+deb8u1), linux-image-3.16.0-4-686-pae:i386 (3.16.7-ckt25-2+deb8u3, 3.16.36-1+deb8u1), gpgv:i386 (1.4.18-7+deb8u1, 1.4.18-7+deb8u2), libidn11:i386 (1.29-1+deb8u1, 1.29-1+deb8u2) End-Date: 2016-09-05 12:19:22 First there was a DMA error on bootup on file and mail server_U, we were alerted to by no email being delivered from dovecot on the server. We fsck'd the disk offline and no errors were reported. Although the system would boot, dovecot wouldn't work. We've been through so many permutations and combinations since that I can't remember each step we took after that, some of which we repeated. Eventually, in spite of the fsck result, we replaced the disk and reinstalled. The samba installation worked out of the box but dovecot and rsync (for automated remote backups) didn't. It turned out to be a certification problem which required creating the certs while making sure dovecot knows where to look (not straightforward). I can't remember the specifics of the rsync issue; it may have been self-inflicted. Eventually, all was well and everything was working, including the remote backup. Tuesday: we'd lost ssh connection to the two remote backup servers via the VPN; I've no idea of their state other than getting someone onsite to reboot them using the power button - they appear to be working. We then found that laptop_T can access smb shares (using both windows and debian systems) on file and mail server_M but two other linux machines couldn't, nor could a remote windows laptop via VPN, (but that may be because the user's machine is "broken" but the timing is suspicious). Nor can he get to dovecot with his Thunderbird email client which may be related to the same upgrade. We've compared /etc/fstab on laptop_T which mounts the shares with no problem to that on laptop_D which doesn't. Same user, same share and they are identical in respect of mounting the shares but one works, one doesn't. As server_U is working after reinstallation, following much exploration, we reinstalled jessie 8.3 on server_M and committed to systemd to avoid potential progressive sysv-init problems we'd learned of during our investigation. After a reinstall of the system and subsequently samba (twice), we resorted to the maintainer's version of /etc/smb.conf and customised it for our setup. We tried to keep the configuration as vanilla as possible but there was no improvement in terms of access from the two debian machines. In comparing the /etc/smb.conf with that on server_U, we noticed that the winserver IP address on U was uncommented and gave its LAN IP (it is acting as the winserver for the workgroup). We edited server_M /etc/fstab to include the winserver IP and debian workstation_E saw the shares in file manager but the share didn't show up in df -h. The shares appeared to be unmounted but were accessible through Thunar(FM). We commented it out and access broke, uncommented it and it worked again. On laptop_D the IP "fix" didn't have any effect - won't mount and can't be seen. Sorry, brain disengaged. We edited server_M /etc/smb.conf to include the winserver IP NOT /etc/fstab At this point we're stuck which gives pause for reflection. These 4 servers have been running stable debian for over 10 years and apart from the odd hardware issue have been rock solid. Two of the machines have been replaced more than once over the years but the other two are the original boxes. Most upgrades were pretty seamless and if there were problems, a short burst of intensive exploration, trial and error, quickly resolved them. This nightmare of expanding problems has been going on for three days, since Monday afternoon. Never before have I questioned the decision to base our business (and our lives) on Debian and I remain a firm advocate. I also recognise that over successive releases, accommodating a plethora of configurations becomes harder and that at some point a step changes in the foundations of the system are required. I'm presuming that the transition to systemd from sysv-init was an essential step and understand that backwards compatibility becomes more challenging as time goes on. Whether this systemd transition is related to the remote connectivity with the servers and the samba issue, I don't know but this number of seemingly random but mission critical series of problems has shaken our confidence. Apologie
Re: Problems communicating with and between servers after upgrade - correction
Please ignore this last message about dovecot - my brain was scrambled. I hadn't installed it yet. On 09/09/16 09:16, Clive Menzies wrote: On 08/09/16 23:50, Clive Menzies wrote: On 08/09/16 23:07, Clive Menzies wrote: This nightmare of expanding problems has been going on for three days, since Monday afternoon. Never before have I questioned the decision to base our business (and our lives) on Debian and I remain a firm advocate. I also recognise that over successive releases, accommodating a plethora of configurations becomes harder and that at some point a step changes in the foundations of the system are required. I'm presuming that the transition to systemd from sysv-init was an essential step and understand that backwards compatibility becomes more challenging as time goes on. Just when I thought life couldn't get anymore bizarre, dovecot-imapd and core have disappeared off server_M this morning along with the config files which had the cert info in. The mail on server_U is working fine. I've looked in the apt-log and there's no indication it was uninstalled which is not surprising because it was working fine in the early hours of this morning. -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Re: Problems communicating with and between servers after upgrade - correction
On 08/09/16 23:50, Clive Menzies wrote: On 08/09/16 23:07, Clive Menzies wrote: This nightmare of expanding problems has been going on for three days, since Monday afternoon. Never before have I questioned the decision to base our business (and our lives) on Debian and I remain a firm advocate. I also recognise that over successive releases, accommodating a plethora of configurations becomes harder and that at some point a step changes in the foundations of the system are required. I'm presuming that the transition to systemd from sysv-init was an essential step and understand that backwards compatibility becomes more challenging as time goes on. Just when I thought life couldn't get anymore bizarre, dovecot-imapd and core have disappeared off server_M this morning along with the config files which had the cert info in. The mail on server_U is working fine. I've looked in the apt-log and there's no indication it was uninstalled which is not surprising because it was working fine in the early hours of this morning. -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Problems communicating with and between servers after upgrade
nd I'm aware that my contribution to the project has been very small and pretty non-existent for the last few years - other priorities. So thank you. Regards Clive PS If anyone has any ideas to help, they'd be much appreciated. -- Clive Menzies http://freecriticalthinking.org
Re: Problems communicating with and between servers after upgrade - correction
On 08/09/16 23:07, Clive Menzies wrote: Hi We've suffered a series of seemingly disconnect problems on 4 machines since upgrading jessie on Monday: apt/log: Start-Date: 2016-09-05 12:17:10 Commandline: apt-get upgrade Upgrade: libgcrypt20:i386 (1.6.3-2+deb8u1, 1.6.3-2+deb8u2), gnupg:i386 (1.4.18-7+deb8u1, 1.4.18-7+deb8u2), linux-libc-dev:i386 (3.16.7-ckt25-2+deb8u3, 3.16.36-1+deb8u1), linux-image-3.16.0-4-686-pae:i386 (3.16.7-ckt25-2+deb8u3, 3.16.36-1+deb8u1), gpgv:i386 (1.4.18-7+deb8u1, 1.4.18-7+deb8u2), libidn11:i386 (1.29-1+deb8u1, 1.29-1+deb8u2) End-Date: 2016-09-05 12:19:22 First there was a DMA error on bootup on file and mail server_U, we were alerted to by no email being delivered from dovecot on the server. We fsck'd the disk offline and no errors were reported. Although the system would boot, dovecot wouldn't work. We've been through so many permutations and combinations since that I can't remember each step we took after that, some of which we repeated. Eventually, in spite of the fsck result, we replaced the disk and reinstalled. The samba installation worked out of the box but dovecot and rsync (for automated remote backups) didn't. It turned out to be a certification problem which required creating the certs while making sure dovecot knows where to look (not straightforward). I can't remember the specifics of the rsync issue; it may have been self-inflicted. Eventually, all was well and everything was working, including the remote backup. Tuesday: we'd lost ssh connection to the two remote backup servers via the VPN; I've no idea of their state other than getting someone onsite to reboot them using the power button - they appear to be working. We then found that laptop_T can access smb shares (using both windows and debian systems) on file and mail server_M but two other linux machines couldn't, nor could a remote windows laptop via VPN, (but that may be because the user's machine is "broken" but the timing is suspicious). Nor can he get to dovecot with his Thunderbird email client which may be related to the same upgrade. We've compared /etc/fstab on laptop_T which mounts the shares with no problem to that on laptop_D which doesn't. Same user, same share and they are identical in respect of mounting the shares but one works, one doesn't. As server_U is working after reinstallation, following much exploration, we reinstalled jessie 8.3 on server_M and committed to systemd to avoid potential progressive sysv-init problems we'd learned of during our investigation. After a reinstall of the system and subsequently samba (twice), we resorted to the maintainer's version of /etc/smb.conf and customised it for our setup. We tried to keep the configuration as vanilla as possible but there was no improvement in terms of access from the two debian machines. In comparing the /etc/smb.conf with that on server_U, we noticed that the winserver IP address on U was uncommented and gave its LAN IP (it is acting as the winserver for the workgroup). We edited server_M /etc/fstab to include the winserver IP and debian workstation_E saw the shares in file manager but the share didn't show up in df -h. The shares appeared to be unmounted but were accessible through Thunar(FM). We commented it out and access broke, uncommented it and it worked again. On laptop_D the IP "fix" didn't have any effect - won't mount and can't be seen. Sorry, brain disengaged. We edited server_M /etc/smb.conf to include the winserver IP NOT /etc/fstab At this point we're stuck which gives pause for reflection. These 4 servers have been running stable debian for over 10 years and apart from the odd hardware issue have been rock solid. Two of the machines have been replaced more than once over the years but the other two are the original boxes. Most upgrades were pretty seamless and if there were problems, a short burst of intensive exploration, trial and error, quickly resolved them. This nightmare of expanding problems has been going on for three days, since Monday afternoon. Never before have I questioned the decision to base our business (and our lives) on Debian and I remain a firm advocate. I also recognise that over successive releases, accommodating a plethora of configurations becomes harder and that at some point a step changes in the foundations of the system are required. I'm presuming that the transition to systemd from sysv-init was an essential step and understand that backwards compatibility becomes more challenging as time goes on. Whether this systemd transition is related to the remote connectivity with the servers and the samba issue, I don't know but this number of seemingly random but mission critical series of problems has shaken our confidence. Apologies if this sounds like a complaint, it
Re: debian vps hosting recommendation
On (11/04/07 16:18), Mark Hansen wrote: > Can anybody recommend a good, inexpensive, VPS hosting provider? > Checkout http://www.bluelinux.co.uk Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Woohooo! Dell + Linux
On (31/03/07 12:51), Andrei Popescu wrote: > But the example of Apache demonstrates that this is a non-issue. And > it's not me saying this. Have a look at > > http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/22/linux_v_windows_security/ > > and the entire report referenced there. Interesting... thanks Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: How to run fetchmail as daemon at startup
On (22/03/07 20:32), Greg Folkert wrote: > You are fooling yourself. Run them a one shot cronjob set to run every > 10-30 minutes. Much better use of resources on the machine. > > As I have said before, fetchmail WILL die or hang on you, when run in > daemon mode. I may have misunderstood but we've got three IMAP servers and they all collect email with fetchmail in daemon mode setup in /etc/fetchmailrc. In the last three years, I've not experienced the problems you indicate. extract: # /etc/fetchmailrc for system-wide daemon mode # This file must be chmod 0600, owner fetchmail # The default for this option is 300, which polls the server every 5 # minutes. # set daemon 300 set postmaster "postmaster" set properties "" Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: OT: sponge burning!
On (15/03/07 22:10), Roberto C. Sanchez wrote: > On Thu, Mar 15, 2007 at 08:49:28PM -0500, Ron Johnson wrote: > > On 03/15/07 19:18, Arnt Karlsen wrote: > > > > > > ..thru Cheney, Halliburton, KBR, etc. > > > > Do you *really* believe that? > > > Of course he does. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are just > profit-making ventures for Cheney. Nothing more. Sorry I just can't let this pass Justifications for the Iraq war: Weapons of Mass Destruction er no! Al-qaida links to Saddam Hussein ...er no! Iraq responsible for 9/11 ... er no! Bringing democracy and freedom to the Iraqi people er no! Follow the money; who gains? Military industrial complex (as Eisenhower warned in 1960 ..and he knew better than most). How much money are the arms manufacturers making? Global oil companies (a law is going through the Iraqi puppet government to carve up the oil, stealing it from the Iraqi people) Big business - non compete awards of huge government contracts and last but by no means least big media ... reality TV from Fox media et al. Wake up, look beyond Fox News and discover what's really going on in the world. It's not that the rest of the world hates America or its people. Many just abhor how the world has become a much more dangerous place as a direct result of British and American foreign policy. I am ashamed of our government; they failed to listen to their own intelligence agencies and encouraged the US in its disasterous exploits. They didn't finish what they started in Afghanistan before opening yet a second front; Churchill or Eisenhower would never countenance such a catastrophe. Neither Bush nor Blair have any miltary experience and it shows; nor do they have any perspective on history. The (greedy) lunatics really have taken over the asylum and we're all paying the price. I won't follow up on this because I don't think this is the appropriate forum to conduct such a debate. I just can't let such naivity pass. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Non-free software in the kernel (in the main section!)?
On (13/03/07 17:17), Michelle Konzack wrote: > Who use 2.6.8 today? -- > It is outdate since years and nobody care realy about it. Well it's still the standard kernel in sarge.. and my servers are running it. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: OT: suggestions for rugged portable computer
On (12/03/07 16:10), Roberto C. Sanchez wrote: > On Mon, Mar 12, 2007 at 03:44:46PM -0400, Douglas Allan Tutty wrote: > > I'm going to be travelling in semi-wilderness and would like to take a > > computer with me. Primarily for note-taking with vim, and when a > > Will you be travelling by vehicle (or by horse or otherwise mounted) or > will you be on foot and having to carry everything yourself? Perhaps it would be worth trying to get hold of a OLPC; they might appreciate someone giving it a real road test. http://www.laptop.org/ Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Groups, Permissions and /Share
On (10/03/07 11:12), Dave Walker wrote: > I have set up a nice big /Share directory on a separate HD, and would > like to create a document repository there accessible by all users. So > far only the root user can read, write and execute on the /Share > directory. What is the best way to accomplish this? > > I don't mind reading tutorials and other docs, but at this point in my > Debian education, they need to be suitability simple. Any links to > such material would be much appreciated. I put up some notes which covers this: http://clivemenzies.co.uk/help/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=8&id=33&Itemid=58 Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: apt-get upgrade
On (07/03/07 15:34), Robert Cates wrote: > Thanks for your replies, but I believe aptitude is a GUI application and > I forgot to point out that my machine is a server - no GUI, no KDE, no > Gnome. I have tried 'dpkg -i locales' but that didn't do the trick either: > dpkg: error processing locales (--install): > cannot access archive: No such file or directory > Errors were encountered while processing: > locales aptitude is what I use to keep our servers current and although it is interactive, it doesn't require X. You can also use it at the CLI as you would apt-get. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Configurable files and functions
On (02/03/07 10:37), Raquel wrote: > On Fri, 2 Mar 2007 12:33:11 -0600 > "Dave Walker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I am looking for an explanatory list of configuration files used > > in sarge 3.1. The information I am looking for would give the > > location (path), function (what the system uses it for), and > > whether the file can be successfully changed by editing. > > > > Does such a list exist? > > > > I have in mind such files as .bashrc and .bash_profile and I am > > sure there are many others that I will encounter. > > > > Is it time for me to buy a reference book containing this info? If > > so, which one? I do plan to upgrade to Etch as soon as it is the > > stable release, so if a book is available for sarge, would it be > > useful for etch? > > I'm not sure that such a list exists or could even exist. The > configuration files depend upon which packages you have installed so > it would be a different list for each machine. Some config files will sit in your home dir: $ ls -al otherwise system wide config files are in /etc/ Try $ ls -l /etc | grep conf for a start. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: CMS for server
On (02/03/07 15:18), Salvatore Iovene wrote: > On Fri, Mar 02, 2007 at 04:58:13AM -0800, Jordi wrote: > > I am considering to change to another CMS. The best for me are these: > > - Xoops > > - Joomla > > - e107 > > > > What do you use in your servers? Have you been using these in your > > servers? > > That's a very OT question, as it doesn't have anything to do with > Debian. Seems pretty on topic to me :) We're running Joomla! which works pretty well. I don't know the other two but we looked at a few before settling on Joomla!. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Mount CIFS share as user
On (01/03/07 10:26), Greg Vickers wrote: > I want to mount a Windows share using CIFS and an entry in my fstab like so: > //server/share /media/mnt cifs rw,user,noauto,workgroup=one,username=two Here's what I do: set up .smb_pass in each user's home dir cat .smb_pass username= password= use the cifs module (I usually use modconf but $ sudo modprobe -i cifs should do it). and put the following in /etc/fstab (having created the mount point): //server/sharename /mountpoint credentials=/home/cma/.smb_pass,uid=,gid=,file_mode=0660,dir_mode=0770 0 0 Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: http://picasaweb.google.com/talk2ram/HpProblems
On (26/02/07 19:40), ram wrote: > On 2/26/07, Clive Menzies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >On (26/02/07 18:30), ram wrote: > >> iam trying to install Debian on HP R class 9000 > >> but i dont see iam able to make success > >> can some one help me ot resolve this problem > >> > >> > >> http://picasaweb.google.com/talk2ram/HpProblems > >> > >> any solution for this problem > >> any help will be great > > > >I know you posted this before and got no response. It looks as though > >bootable media is not recognised. What are you trying to install? If > >sarge try the daily etch builds: > > > >http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ > > > > http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/hppa/iso-cd/debian-testing-hppa-netinst.iso > > > > Just want to ask you is, i have downloaded from daily snapshot > is this different what you have mentioned URL ? No. This looks like the right image AFAICT. You may want to check out: http://tldp.org/HOWTO/html_single/PA-RISC-Linux-Boot-HOWTO/#hardware In there it mentions this list if you encounter problems: [EMAIL PROTECTED] It may be worth posting there. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: http://picasaweb.google.com/talk2ram/HpProblems
On (26/02/07 18:30), ram wrote: > iam trying to install Debian on HP R class 9000 > but i dont see iam able to make success > can some one help me ot resolve this problem > > > http://picasaweb.google.com/talk2ram/HpProblems > > any solution for this problem > any help will be great I know you posted this before and got no response. It looks as though bootable media is not recognised. What are you trying to install? If sarge try the daily etch builds: http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: any recomendedations of documentation for half a dozen services.
On (21/02/07 23:39), Karl Goetz wrote: > > http://clivemenzies.co.uk/help/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=8&id=33&Itemid=58 > > This url seems to be timing out for me. Working here OK. Try http://clivemenzies.co.uk go to Self Help > File server Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: a dumb query? pls humor me
On (20/02/07 18:43), Roberto C. Sanchez wrote: > On Tue, Feb 20, 2007 at 09:34:36PM +0000, Clive Menzies wrote: > > > > The only reason you need to reboot is when the kernel is updated. > > Rebooting after a general upgrade will make no difference. > > > Nonsense. It will kill your uptime---the true measure of one's > geekiness :-) Ah! But I'm a mere aspirant quaking in the shadows of giants :) Although, I do have one server (a client's) just hitting 300 days. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: a dumb query? pls humor me
On (20/02/07 21:13), andy wrote: > Potentially a dumb query but I just don't know, and there doesn't seem > to be any documented discussion I can read, so pls humor me on this: > > after Etch has done its daily update via update mngr, is it generally > considered a wise thing to reboot the computer to check the take or can > one have a reasonably good degree of confidence that as far as is > reasonable to predict, all will be well? The only reason you need to reboot is when the kernel is updated. Rebooting after a general upgrade will make no difference. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: aptitude: recall broken packages
On (19/02/07 22:08), Florian Kulzer wrote: > Being broken (i.e. having an unfulfilled dependency, pre-dependency, or > conflict) is a property of the package itself and should not depend on > the package manager. The package manager, on the other hand, can help > you to resolve breakages that occur, for example, during an upgrade. > The thing to keep in mind with aptitude is that it will list packages as > broken if the currently scheduled actions would leave them in a broken > state; this does not mean that they are already broken at the moment. > > I think the following happened in your case: You made aptitude believe > (maybe inadvertently) that you wanted to upgrade or newly install > certain packages. This would have broken some packages so aptitude > pointed this out and probably offered several options to resolve the > resulting problems (e.g. by removing packages which conflict with the > new packages/versions). You then canceled all operations by running > "aptitude keep-all" (or its equivalent from the interactive menu) and > your system remained in the consistent (non-broken) state that it had > been in all the time. > > If you want to see again what aptitude wants to do to your computer you > can try "aptitude upgrade", "aptitude dist-upgrade" or "U" + "g" in > interactive mode. (Remember: "aptitude keep-all" is your friend when > things get scary.) > > To find out if you currently have any broken packages on your system you > can run > > aptitude search '~b' Thanks Florian This is very useful; I'm reasonably familiar with aptitude and have kept myself out of trouble, running sid, as a result. This is the second useful explanation you've posted recently on aptitude; you've helped my understanding and provided clear guidance to those who worry about aptitude removing half their system. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: any recomendedations of documentation for half a dozen services.
On (19/02/07 10:18), Roberto C. Sanchez wrote: > > exim4 > > Personally, I would recommend Postfix instead. If you choose Postfix, > there is tons of good documentation on the Postfix website. Hi Roberto I've always used exim since using debian, primarily because it is the default. Why would you recommend postfix? I've looked at it occasionally and I've done a few Ubuntu installs including on my workstation. However, I've felt reluctant to use it on servers on the basis of 'the devil you know'. When I first started using exim it was pretty bewildering and I bought the book in the belief that it is useful to know the default Debian MTA. Is there any likelihood that Postfix becomes the default? Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: any recomendedations of documentation for half a dozen services.
On (20/02/07 01:09), Karl Goetz wrote: > hi all > i'm about to deploy a network which will be using debian servers on its > backend (etch, hopefully) and about a hundred gnu/linux desktops. > > I'll be setting up a bunch of services, and was hoping people could > recommend specific help they used to go with the huge quantity of > goodness-knows-what-quality doco on the internet. > > cifs/smb > nfs > dhcp > dns > cups > avahi > exim4 > apache > " ssl I put up some notes with references for some of this stuff: http://clivemenzies.co.uk/help/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=8&id=33&Itemid=58 For cups checkout: http://excess.org/docs/linux_windows_printing.html Don't use nfs/avahi Apache works pretty much out of the box Other than that I tend to check out the README.Debian docs after installation Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Update Manager absurdity?- (FOLLOW-UP)
On (15/02/07 22:47), Celejar wrote: > Speaking of learning, you shouldn't be running 'du' and 'dpkg -l' with > sudo; they'll run just fine as a normal user. I think you'll find 'du' complains if you run as a normal user. The reason being, it needs to descend into directories to gather usage information and ordinary users won't necessarily have access. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: plase help me install printer debian-sarge
On (13/02/07 18:54), Tuani Panggabean wrote: > plase help me install printer debian-sarge. > speck printer Hp laser-jet 1320 > posision printer : ipaddress 192.168.10.9) > thanks > This document will help you: http://excess.org/docs/linux_windows_printing.html Although it refers to windows, the Cups printing info is applicable to your situation. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: RCPT TO problem
On (13/02/07 20:46), Marcelo Chiapparini wrote: > I am using sarge with Gnome and Evolution for emailing. I need to send > an email to a bunch o people (more or less 40 addresses). I've defined a > list in Evolution in order to accomplish this. But when I try to send > the email I get the following message: > > "Error while performing operation. > > RCPT TO failed: Requested action not taken: > insufficient system storage." > > The correspond to one of the address in the list. It > is not a problem with the address, but with the number of them in the > "To:" field... > > I will appreciate very much any help What's the output of $ df -h It sounds as though there may be a space problem in /tmp or /var? Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Release of Stable Etch
On (13/02/07 07:52), Victor Muchica wrote: > It will take its time, maybe march or april, DD are doing a great > work, trying to fix all the bugs. > Currently Im using testing on my Desktop PC. > > In the past some month ago I try to made an apt-get dist-upgrade, form > sarge to etch, but too many error, so I decided to made a new > instalation from the debian testing net install (120 +/- MB). I upgraded a sarge server running samba, dovecot, postgres, mysql etc. and apart from some issues relating to a specific version of php5 I needed to run SugarCRM, all went pretty smoothly. It's an internal server and so there are no great security issues. On balance, I'd say it's pretty close but I gather there are some issues relating to the 2.6.18 kernel. The d-i release team are keen to release RC2 but it's waiting on the final kernel. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: yet another newbie tutorial
On (12/02/07 10:21), Greg Folkert wrote: > On Mon, 2007-02-12 at 09:06 -0500, Roberto C. Sanchez wrote: > > On Mon, Feb 12, 2007 at 03:02:20PM +0100, Rakotomandimby (R12y) Mihamina > > wrote: > > > I wrote a "for dummies" tutorial on how to install Xen on sid. > > > http://www.asso-polyvalente.fr/workspaces/members/mihamina/public/xen-3-debian-sid > > > > > Could you please make it available as something like HTML? Or even > > anything that does not require a thrid-party application just to view > > it? > Look at the "printable" version. Works just fine. Ah yes, so it doesn't engage brain before emailing Thanks Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: OT: Etch/testing sources
On (12/02/07 07:02), Hodgins Family wrote: > > This puzzles me. I've been running etch/testing since shortly after > > Sarge went stable. I made sure to edit sources.lst to make sure it > > points to testing, and not etch, so I can continue to receive the > > latest packages after Etch goes stable. What happens to testing when > > it becomes Lenny? I expect there will be a bit of a bump initially, as > > everything since the freeze gets dumped into Lenny , but for those of > > us that are comfortable using the testing repo is there something > > extraordinary to be aware of now? > > > You might find this page interesting: > http://people.cornell.edu/pages/kk288/debian_choosing_distribution.html > > Keep scrolling down the page for some graphs that show "bumps" when > versions change. Good link thanks Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: OT: Etch/testing sources
On (12/02/07 13:31), Tyler Smith wrote: > This puzzles me. I've been running etch/testing since shortly after > Sarge went stable. I made sure to edit sources.lst to make sure it > points to testing, and not etch, so I can continue to receive the > latest packages after Etch goes stable. What happens to testing when > it becomes Lenny? I expect there will be a bit of a bump initially, as > everything since the freeze gets dumped into Lenny , but for those of > us that are comfortable using the testing repo is there something > extraordinary to be aware of now? If you're happy running testing, stick with your sources.list as is. AIUI intitally nothing dramatic will happen but as sid packages migrate to testing, it will diverge from etch. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: yet another newbie tutorial
On (12/02/07 15:02), Rakotomandimby (R12y) Mihamina wrote: > Hi, > I wrote a "for dummies" tutorial on how to install Xen on sid. > http://www.asso-polyvalente.fr/workspaces/members/mihamina/public/xen-3-debiansid Thanks for this, although the file seems to be corrupt; can you post it as plain text? Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Inability to configure printer
On (11/02/07 19:15), Patrick Wiseman wrote: > On 2/11/07, Ken Heard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >I tried today to add my only printer to CUPS from a P3 box running Etch. > >I first used CUPS's own installation wizard > >(http://localhost:631/admin). I answered all the questions about the > >printer faithfully. After providing the printer information I was asked > >for a user name and password, which I provided. > > CUPS typically expects 'root' and the root password, in my experience. Try > that instead of an ordinary username. Or add youself to the 'lpadmin' group and use your own user name and passwd. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Very disturbing feature in icedove
On (10/02/07 03:12), Arc Roca wrote: > Exploring my system, I decided to open Inbox with mutt > -f, and discovered that no message that I had deleted > had really been deleted. They were all there, from the > very first, in the same file Inbox. Invisible from > icedove interface (probably through tagging), but > clearly visible and present from mutt. Freaking!!! > > I would have expected this in a windows application, > but not in one of ours!!! > > I had implemented icedove in my system to make it > easier for other people to use, but I am going back to > mutt w/o doubt. Interesting... I use both mutt and icedove to access mail on an IMAP server and all works as expected. In addition the mailboxes are Maildir format. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Removing desktop environments
On (04/02/07 12:40), cga2000 wrote: > Is there a quick way to remove the gnome and KDE desktop environments > that won't mess up apt..? > > If possible I would prefer not to remove a few gtk-based apps such as > gpdf, gimp, and mozilla. > > The main objective is to be able to run full system backups that don't > take forever and fit on a single CD-RW. Use aptitude in interactive mode; it will allow you to make sure it won't remove things you want to keep before you commit. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: deborphan
On (03/02/07 15:34), Gerard Robin wrote: > Hello, > my processor is AMD turion 64 x2 TL50. > dist: etch. > > deborphan gives: > > libgmp3c2 > libpisync0 > libopal-2.2.0 > libident > libtextwrap1 > liblzo2-2 > libmagick9 > libc6-i386 > libieee1284-3 > libosp5 > libpt-plugins-v4l > libgnome-pilot2 > libjaxp1.2-java > libnm-glib0 > libsigc++-1.2-5c2 > libpt-plugins-alsa > libldap-2.3-0 > > can I remove merely this packages ? Yes you can. see man deborphan Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Getting started with Postgres or MySQL
On (31/01/07 19:17), David Baron wrote: > I have an openoffice spreadsheet from which I want to generate two related > tables. I have tried most everything installed. > > Stuff from OpenOffice will generate a database with table entries named by > the > first line in the spreadsheet. This can, indeed, be queried, sort of. > > I would like to get this data into a Postgres or MySQL database. Using > pgadmin3, I cannot get a connection connected. Does not accept my password. > Their docs cited Debian problems here and recommended md5 authorization. > Tried that. No avail. One can also simply say trust (localhost only). No > avail. > > How do I get started here? It's been a while since I set up postgres but I recall you have to edit: /etc/postgresql/pg_hba.conf: edit METHOD for # All other connections by UNIX sockets local all all md5 There are also issues in terms of setting at a user with the requisite permissions; I think you need to create a new user with privileges I found it easier to do some of this setup (of users and premissions) staff using psql on the server. You might also want to look at phppgadmin which is quite good for setting up users and permissions. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Nvidia 7900GO
On (31/01/07 09:57), debian wrote: > does anybody knows what drivers i have to use for my laptop (dell xps) ? > videocard is nvidia 7900 go but nvidia does only have drivers for > windows. This has been addressed several times in the archives but here it is again: On (26/09/06 11:46), Wackojacko wrote: > I run nvidia graphics drivers on my AMD64 3200+, in both 64 bit and 32 > bit sid, so they definitely work. > > Here's what I do. > > ~apt-get install module-assistant nvidia-kernel-source > ~m-a prepare (sudo or root) > ~m-a a-i nvidia (sudo or root) > ~dpkg -i /usr/src/nvidia-kernel-moduleX.deb (sudo or root) > ~apt-get install nvidia-glx (sudo or root) > > Restart X. It works for me... every time :) Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: does apt-setup exist?
On (29/01/07 20:24), Michael Fothergill wrote: > OK I ran apt-get install base-config > > base-config supposedly doesn't exist, but something called locales does. > Sounds Spanish. has anyone used it? locales is to set your geographic/language set and won't give you apt-setup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ apt-cache show locales Package: locales Priority: standard Section: libs Installed-Size: 9848 Maintainer: GNU Libc Maintainers Architecture: all Source: glibc Version: 2.3.6.ds1-10 Replaces: base-config, lliurex-belocs-locales-data Depends: glibc-2.3.6.ds1-1, debconf | debconf-2.0 Conflicts: base-config, belocs-locales-bin, belocs-locales-data Filename: pool/main/g/glibc/locales_2.3.6.ds1-10_all.deb Size: 4003110 MD5sum: 90cf744e58a8f4983e95de0967b43090 SHA1: ca40aa501b73c3021dad2c15b70dcdb6fbfcccaf SHA256: d45202d6e7453f3ca5c3664b99f470f002208843c77523ed1462e34ec2172fae Description: GNU C Library: National Language (locale) data [support] Machine-readable data files, shared objects and programs used by the C library for localization (l10n) and internationalization (i18n) support. . This package contains the libc.mo i18n files, plus tools to generate locale definitions from source files (included in this package). It allows you to customize which definitions actually get generated. This is a savings over how this package used to be, where all locales were generated by default. This created a package that unpacked to an excess of 30 megs. Tag: admin::configuring, devel::i18n, implemented-in::c, role::app-data, role::program, scope::utility Task: bosnian, british, croatian, norwegian, romanian, swedish, turkish Regards Clive www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: After Sarge->Etch update: Computer doesn't boot. Wife unhappy.
On (29/01/07 09:57), Dan H. wrote: > Zach wrote: > > Do you research der physik? Maybe you installed a new kernel or before > > you did not use initrd and now it is expecting to find the initrd > > entry in your boot loader but you don't have it. Try a rescue disk and > > then mount your root filesystem with chroot. Also can try at boot > > prompt "root=/dev/hda2" for example where your root partition lives. > > Like I said, it sometimes works and sometimes fails. So there can't be > anything systematically wrong. Sounds as though it could be a module loading problem. Look in /etc/modules and make sure any disk modules such as ide_disk ide_core etc. are in there. To check which modules are relevant, when the system is up and running try: $ cat /proc/modules look in there for all the disk related modules and put them in /etc/modules Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: AAARGH! I mean, Aptitude problems
On (25/01/07 23:53), Jim Hyslop wrote: > OK, I seem to have got myself into a bit of a pickle here. I tried to > install MySQL 5. Now, because of the various dependencies, installing > MySQL 5 requires the latest version of a particular package which > conflicts with my kernel (package: kernel-image-2.4.27-2-386). > Therefore, aptitude has flagged my kernel as being broken, and must be > removed. I DON'T THINK SO!!! > > How can I tell aptitude to fix the broken dependencies, but it MUST NOT > TOUCH the kernel image? In aptitude search for the broken packages (/ ~b) and install all the things it's trying to remove by hitting +. That should get you back to where you started. For future reference Ctl+u will take you back progressively to your starting point but only while you're in aptitude. If you come out it won't work. > Actually, I guess if I want to install MySQL 5 I'm going to have to > update my kernel, right? Probably. I presume this is a sarge box. I'm running Mysql4 on a sarge box and so can't advise on that. You could check out backports. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: does debian can install on HP R Class 9000 Servers
On (25/01/07 19:08), ram wrote: > I have old Servers, which i can not sell, not some one intrested to Buy > > so i want to use for linux testing, can some one tell me > > is debian can install on HPR class 9000 Servers > > if yes, where can i get the CD and install proceedure Googling on HP R class 9000 debian install produced this: http://tldp.org/HOWTO/html_single/PA-RISC-Linux-Boot-HOWTO/ I installed woody (the previous stable version of Debian) on a couple of HP LHPro servers and although a bit of a learning experience worked out OK. I suggest you download the appropriate sarge iso and try it :) Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Free PR for Debian
Hi I spotted this in Linux Today and posted an entry. It is an opportunity to give Debian some media exposure: BBC NEWS: BATTLE OF THE OPERATING SYSTEMS "Tell us in 100 words or less, why you are such a supporter of your chosen operating system and what features you love about it..." COMPLETE STORY: http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,2yn4,1,gue2,jpt1,8zfc,fvsy Just a thought Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Lost lots of volume suddenly - help?!
On (18/01/07 16:50), Julian Gilbey wrote: > Any suggestions on this one: I'm running ALSA (with ESD) and between > turning my computer off yesterday and switching it on today, the > output volume has been decimated. I need to change the master volume > and program output volume (in eg, xmms, alsaplayer) to close to 100% > to hear anything, and then it starts squealing. > > I've checked the hardware - nothing obvious, and Windows (dual-boot > machine) still seems to work fine, so I'm suspecting some software > setting. > > I'm running testing (etch); any suggestions please? > > Thanks! Re-running alsaconf will normally sort such problems. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: SMTP server
On (17/01/07 15:29), Greg Folkert wrote: > On Wed, 2007-01-17 at 00:08 -0500, Grok Mogger wrote: > > Hope no one minds if I hijack this thread. =) > > > > I just read through all the responses and was surprised to see > > three people using postfix, one using exim4, and none using > > sendmail. > > > > I've heard so much about sendmail that I thought it was the de > > facto standard. I considered exim4 "that other MTA", and I have > > never even heard of postfix until now. > > > > Could someone please briefly tell me the differences between the > > three in a nutshell? And maybe recommend one for a newbie to > > setup just as an experiment / learning experience? (From this > > thread, it sounds like postfix would be the choice in that > > regard, but can't hurt to ask) > > Sendmail... ICK. Worst MTA ever. Seems to have finally gotten the > exploits under control, these past few years. Flexible, archaic config, > even though I used it for ~10 years > > Postfix... 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. Flexible. Works well > enough. Documented well. > > I use exim4 for mass deployment. Especially with the tiny little files > Debian uses, vs. the one big hyarge file. Exceptionally flexible, can > make it do things the author never intended it to do easily. Works with > many many many add-ons, Exceptionally well documented (and Philip is > religious about it too), very good on resources, stock Debian setup > works with many things including MDAs galore. Exim is easy to config, > allows for virtual functions so very easy to use, I just can't go on > about the wonderfulness of it. I've seen a lot of posts recently on the virtues of postfix and even a suggestion that it should be the default for Debian. I've used exim consistently since starting with Debian have no desire to use anything else. For newbies it works pretty much out-of-the-box and yet is highly configurable for more complex situations. In short, I share Greg's enthusiasm for exim4 Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Partitioning problem on ACER ASPIRE 5672WLMi during installation process
On (17/01/07 03:57), glycerin wrote: > I I try this way the guided partitioning try to use all my disk and in > the other steps there isn't a way to use a manual partiotioning. > > Any other advice? > > On (16/01/07 17:06), Gabriele Cicala wrote: > > > I while I try to install Debian Etch using the actual net-installation > > > CD I encounter some problem for the partition already present on the > > > laptop. > > > This machine is a dual-boot computer with windows and another Debian > > > installation that I want to re-install. None of these partiotion is > > > visible when I try to set the manual partitioning but I have to choose > > > between the guided partition or else to use the entire disk. > > > > > > Is there a work-around? > > > > > > The ata_piix module is loaded. oops sorry... ignore previous post! brain not in gear :) If the module is loaded I'm not sure where to go from here: File an installation report giving detail of the steps you took and the problems you've encountered Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Partitioning problem on ACER ASPIRE 5672WLMi during installation process
On (17/01/07 03:38), glycerin wrote: > I've tryed this way but nothing is possible. > I didn't find anything where I can set the partition manually and > preserve the old one. > > Any new advice? What medium are you using to boot? If sarge (3.1) try typing expert26 at the boot prompt; this should give you the option to load particular modules to handle the SATA disk. Alternatively, you could download etch (soon to be stable release) and try with that; it deals with later hardware better: http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/etch_di_rc1/i386/iso-cd/debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso HTH Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Partitioning problem on ACER ASPIRE 5672WLMi during installation process
On (16/01/07 17:06), Gabriele Cicala wrote: > I while I try to install Debian Etch using the actual net-installation > CD I encounter some problem for the partition already present on the laptop. > This machine is a dual-boot computer with windows and another Debian > installation that I want to re-install. None of these partiotion is > visible when I try to set the manual partitioning but I have to choose > between the guided partition or else to use the entire disk. > > Is there a work-around? > > The ata_piix module is loaded. If you choose guided partitioning, you still get a chance to make manual adjustments before writing the partition table. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: x don't start in debian
On (16/01/07 11:49), [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I installed debian 3.1r4 debian on my PC, which has 1Ghz amd duron > processor. Then I executed commands: > > aptitude install xfree86-common > and it seemed to be installed > > aptitude install xserver-xfree86 > and it seemed to be installed too > > after these two commands I wrote start X in command prompt in all > possible forms(startx, start X, startX, start x),but > > ...tadaa, it didn't start any graphical interfece First you could try as root or sudo: # dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86 It will ask various questions about your hardware configuration; you need to have to hand info about monitor spec etc. If startx doesn't work after that, look in /var/log/XFree86 (I run xorg and can't remember exactly the the name/location. Look for lines starting {EE} that is where X is having a problem - it could be mouse screen etc. Google around for X on your hardware for clues and then repeat dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86 Once you've done that you may get an X environment but without a window manager. Depending on your preference: # aptitude install [kde|gnome|xfce|fluxbox|etc] If you are fairly new to all this I'd go for gnome or KDE, later you may want to try someting faster/lighter. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Gnome
On (11/01/07 18:50), Jerome BENOIT wrote: > my laptop have a small LCD screen, and I found the defaults fonts, > bars and icons too large: what is the best way to reduce theirs size > (and thus to enlarge my screen) ? You need to check your screen resolution: Go to: System > Preferences > Screen Resolution You should be able to choose a higher resolution from the drop down. However, if you're already on the highest res available you probably need to reconfigure X $ sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg It helps to have some information of your screen's capabilities and parameters when doing this. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: exim4
On (11/01/07 09:14), Andrew Critchlow wrote: > Does exim4 not accept any client connections such as pop3/imap/web > interface or do you have to install 3rd part applications for this > functionality? For pop3 connections to download mail you need something like fetchmail or getmail which passes messages to exim to deal with. To connect to an IMAP server to read your mail you need a mail client (and exim4 has no role to play in the process) To access webmail you need a browser. If however you are talking about setting up pop3/imap/web servers exim does play a role but in conjunction with server packages such as dovecot/squirrelmail for example > > I am busy learning exim4 for a competition where I may get asked > common configuration tasks, does anyone know of the common > configuration tasks? On installation exim asks questions about your mail setup Try as root/sudo: # dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config There's a lot of documentation on your system: $ locate exim4 | grep doc I put some notes on setting up an IMAP server here: http://clivemenzies.co.uk/help/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=8&id=34&Itemid=59 Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: light-weight rescue live CD?
On (10/01/07 23:13), Douglas Tutty wrote: > I'm running Etch amd64 and this is my first box without a floppy drive. > On previous boxes I've used Woody's boot floppies and some extra > utilities disks I've made to cobble together a text-mode rescue setup on > a ram disk. I found Debian From Scratch pretty useful: http://people.debian.org/~jgoerzen/dfs/html/ someone also mentioned grml which is good. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Eudora -> Evolution how?
On (10/01/07 21:39), Andrew M.A. Cater wrote: > I've a colleague on the phone now: he wants to transfer Eudora mail > archives from a Windows partition -> Evolution under Debian - Testing. > > This will make his wife and his world Windows free for the most part :) I can't recall exactly how I did this for a client recently but they had Eudora on OSX and I exported from Eudora to something like a .csv format and then imported the resulting files into Thunderbird. Check out what formats are available for Eudora to export and what Evolution can import. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Newbie question: Exim - trouble receiving incoming emails
A useful function is # dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Etch stable - when?
On (08/01/07 12:21), Angela Gavazzi wrote: > Does anybody here know something more new than the informations from the > debian site? > > > July 24th, 2006 > The Debian project confirms December 2006 as the date for the next release of > its distribution which will be named Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 alias 'etch'. This > will be the first official release to include the AMD64 architecture. The > distribution will be released synchronously for 11 architectures in total. > > > > It's Januar 2007 now... I'm not sure anyone can give you an answer although you'll no doubt get some opinion from those better informed than I. Etch is now frozen and consequently will be released once all the release critical bugs are fixed. FWIW I installed a server with etch (i386) yesterday and so far seems pretty rock solid; as long as the machine isn't exposed to the internet and your machine isn't mission critical, you may want to upgrade sooner. In Debian speak 'it'll be released when it's ready' :) Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: www.debian.org down?
On (08/01/07 02:33), Paul Scott wrote: > mirrors to install packages but not to the web site. Works fine here. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: acroread on amd64
On (02/01/07 16:57), Michael Perry wrote: > Jerome BENOIT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]: > > I have just subscribe to the debian-amd64 list. > > > > I have at list tow motivations: > > 1] indeed evince is very nice, but unfortunately some slides of mine > > are not exhibited properly with evince, which appear to be slower > > the acrread; > > 2] I would like to install mime 32bit Maple on my new amd64 box: > > if can install acroread then I hope to be able to install it. > > > >> On Tue, Jan 02, 2007 at 05:23:59AM +0800, Jerome BENOIT wrote: > >>> does anyone succeeded to run properly acroread on Etch amd64 box ? > >>> > >>> I have follow the instruction in > >>> > >>> http://wiki.debian.org/DebianAMD64Faq > >>> > >>> but I get Pango critical messages: > >>> in fact it seems that the wrong Pango library is called (the 64bit > >>> instead of the 32bits). > >>> > >>> Thanks in advance, > >>> Jerome > > Hi- > > Since the Debian AMD64 is "pure", you will need to either use a gnome > based PDF reader or install a chroot environment for Debian that can run > a variety of other applications. I've done this before and its not too > difficult to get done. The AMD64 list can help you out quite a bit; but > just to cut through things a bit; I've compiled and installed mplayer, > acroread, 32bit firefox, and others. A good starting point is: > > http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/356 I may have missed something in this thread but I run a 32 bit chroot but only for realplayer (although I used to run OOo and Flash in the chroot). xpdf works well here and doesn't require much in the way of dependencies. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Unable to kill print job
On (02/01/07 09:03), Mike McCarty wrote: > Using Debian with GNOME and CUPS. We had a printer which we > physically uninstalled, but left the queues in place. Then, > accidentally, queued a job for the old printer. Now, we can't > kill the print job from GNOME's print manager tool, which > simply hangs for minutes. Even trying just to close the window > does not make it "go away". It need a "forced close" (presumably > a kill -9). > > Do I need to switch to command-line to kill the job? You could try http://localhost:631 in a browser and login as root; select 'jobs'; it should let you remove them from there. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: /tmp is looking full but du doesn't show why
On (02/01/07 09:20), Douglas Tutty wrote: > On Tue, Jan 02, 2007 at 12:05:15PM +0000, Clive Menzies wrote: > > Hi > > > > I've noticed my /tmp directory filling up and thought I ought to check > > out why using du > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ df -h /tmp > > FilesystemSize Used Avail Use% Mounted on > > /dev/mapper/alpha-tmp > > 432M 332M 77M 82% /tmp > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ sudo du -h --max-depth=1 /tmp > > 12K /tmp/lost+found > > 1.0K/tmp/.X11-unix > > 1.0K/tmp/.ICE-unix > > 1.0K/tmp/orbit-clive > > 1.0K/tmp/ssh-GKkECA3953 > > 3.0K/tmp/gconfd-clive > > 5.0K/tmp/plugtmp > > 112K/tmp/svpp3.tmp > > 324M/tmp > > > Du shows how much space is used by directories. Your listing suggests > that there's a lot in /tmp itself not in lower directories. Try ls -al Thanks Doug and David Back to the man pages for me :) Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: /tmp is looking full but du doesn't show why - SOLVED
On (02/01/07 12:05), Clive Menzies wrote: > Hi > > I've noticed my /tmp directory filling up and thought I ought to check > out why using du > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ df -h /tmp > FilesystemSize Used Avail Use% Mounted on > /dev/mapper/alpha-tmp > 432M 332M 77M 82% /tmp > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ sudo du -h --max-depth=1 /tmp > 12K /tmp/lost+found > 1.0K/tmp/.X11-unix > 1.0K/tmp/.ICE-unix > 1.0K/tmp/orbit-clive > 1.0K/tmp/ssh-GKkECA3953 > 3.0K/tmp/gconfd-clive > 5.0K/tmp/plugtmp > 112K/tmp/svpp3.tmp > 324M/tmp > > Am I missing something obvious? Apologies for the noise - du doesn't show files only directories and I have: -rw--- 1 clive clive 337007035 2007-01-02 11:42 FlashX8Lk0X Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
/tmp is looking full but du doesn't show why
Hi I've noticed my /tmp directory filling up and thought I ought to check out why using du [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ df -h /tmp FilesystemSize Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/mapper/alpha-tmp 432M 332M 77M 82% /tmp [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ sudo du -h --max-depth=1 /tmp 12K /tmp/lost+found 1.0K/tmp/.X11-unix 1.0K/tmp/.ICE-unix 1.0K/tmp/orbit-clive 1.0K/tmp/ssh-GKkECA3953 3.0K/tmp/gconfd-clive 5.0K/tmp/plugtmp 112K/tmp/svpp3.tmp 324M/tmp Am I missing something obvious? Thanks Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: insurance software
On (28/12/06 14:59), Manuel Souto Pico wrote: > Hello, > > I'm looking for some free software for insurance business. A friend of > mine is going to migrate all his client's data to a new (commercial) > application, but before he does I'd like to make him consider other > (free) options, if there are any (which might be unlikely, give that > this is a rather specific business area). > > I'd be very grateful for any information you could provide. > > Thanks a lot and Happy New Year, Manuel I think you will struggle to find a direct replacement for proprietry insurance systems but more information might help. Is this life or general insurance and what does he want to do with the information? A database or PIM application may do what he wants but it will require time and effort to learn/develop a solution. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: New User Information Request
On (20/12/06 15:30), Laura J. Portscheller wrote: > I am very new to linux. I have used it to a minimal extent and like > it, but have no experience in system administration and all the many > technical matters involved with it. I want to install linux on my > laptop and want to make sure that there are no compatibility problems > with your product. I first tried to install fedora core 6 and it > would not operate properly, even with the attempts to resolve the > matter by very experienced users. I wanted to make sure that your > product will be completely compatible with my computer. I have a new > HP dv9000 17 inch widescreen laptop with 2 100GB hard drives, and > nvidia gforce praphics card, bluetooth, and an AMD processor. Thanks The easiest way to verify that your laptop will run debian is, download a knoppix or ubuntu live CD and if they work you will be able to install debian: http://www.knoppix.org/ http://www.ubuntu.com/ nvidia cards are fairly well supported Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Palm III xe
On (18/12/06 18:58), Rob Wright wrote: > I'm new to Debian, so please forgive me if this has been beaten to death. > Through Red Hat, Fedora, and OpenSuSE I've not been able to get my old > Palm IIIxe to connect and ultimately sync. This is something I was really > hoping to be able to do with Debian but I'm beginning to wonder if it's > possible at all. > > I have the original serial syncing cradle, with an USB adapter. Using the > serial connection and KPilot, the Palm acts like it's talking to kpilot and > tells me it's connecting and cleaning up but it's unable to sync, which is > farther than I've gone with anything else. That's using the configuration > wizard in kpilot, and autodetecting. Using the usb adapter gets me no > connection at all and the "unable to connect" message on the Palm itself. > > I've told kpilot to use /dev/ttyS0 directly, and I've linked /dev/ttyS0 > to /dev/pilot and tried it that way with no luck. > > I've found TONS of information through Google over the last year or two, but > nothing that actually works. Is it possible to sync up this thing with Linux > or have I been tilting at windmills? Assuming it is possible (I believe that > ultimately anything with Linux is possible given enough effort) can someone > point me to a dangerously simple and clear cut method for doing so? > > I have Etch installed, as of last Thursday. I use jpilot and for USB I suspect you need to use something like /dev/ttyUSB1 (0,2 or whatever). Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: What is the best way to install Samba
On (18/12/06 12:03), michael wrote: > On 18 Dec 2006 11:24:55 -0800, schmity wrote > > Ok I have my debian machine connected to a XP machine through a router. > > I have made several attemps to install samba using apt-get and I > > have modified the smb.conf on several occations. My first thought > > was to start with a fresh reinstall of Samba so that I could start > > with the original smb.conf file, but a simple apt-get remove -> apt- > > get install does not replace the original smb.conf file. I am lost > > on this one. > > > > Questions, > > > > Do I need a static IP? and if so How? > > How do I start with a fresh installation of Samba? > > How can I find out what I have installed using apt-get? > > # apt-get --purge remove samba > # aptitude purge samba > > Either of these should wipe out samba for you. > Static IP is probably your best bet, although I think you can > get away with having your samba server on a dynmanic IP since > it will broadcast itself to your XP machine. > > # dpkg -l > # dpkg --get-selections > > These will tell you whats installed on your system. > You may want to also check out: > > http://www.tldp.org > > Has some good docs on networking and samba, amongst others. > * http://www.math.temple.edu/computing/samba.html) Might help Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: spamassassin + exim4 problem
On (14/12/06 11:57), Paul wrote: > Hi all, > > I am running debian stable and am having problems with spamassassin + > exim4. > > I followed this tutorial to set SA (spamassassin) and exim4 up : > http://koivi.com/exim4-config/ > > Mail scanned by exim (using SA) seems to ignore my settings in /etc/ > spamassassin/local.cf > > Why would it be doing this? I can't answer your question directly but I made some notes on setting up a mail server with sa-exim, spamassassin and clamav... I found some useful links http://clivemenzies.co.uk/help/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=8&id=34&Itemid=59 Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Setup a printer on debian linux
On (08/12/06 11:38), Mathieu Malaterre wrote: > On 12/8/06, Clive Menzies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >Although this talks about windows/samba printing, I've found it a useful > >reference for setting up printers generally: > > > >http://excess.org/docs/linux_windows_printing.html > > This is definitely a better document than those I have found, but it > starts with the very same statement that is not correct any more (or > at least is deprecated): > Yes. I ignore a fair amount of it but it's useful nonetheless. Things do move quite quickly rendering some documentation obsolete. I tend to stick to using the cups web interface for setting up printers. That way the process is common to all machines irrespective of the environment - on servers, I use lynx. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Setup a printer on debian linux
On (07/12/06 15:14), Mathieu Malaterre wrote: > Hi there, > > I am looking for an up to date documentation on how to setup a > printer under a debian/testing system .I am reading for example, that > one should not anymore install foomatic-filters-ppds (which use to > contain the ppd file for my printer), so I am guessing this is also a > bad idea to download the ppd file from linuxprinting.org: > > http://wiki.debian.org/PrinterDriverPackagesSuggestedChanges > > According to this post: > > http://lists.freestandards.org/pipermail/printing-user-general/2006/008550.html > > Those ppd files can be magically created for you...unfortunately I > could not find any documentation for this new way of setting up a > printer. > Although this talks about windows/samba printing, I've found it a useful reference for setting up printers generally: http://excess.org/docs/linux_windows_printing.html Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: recommended Debian package for burning CDs...
On (06/12/06 19:27), Michael Fothergill wrote: > Dear Debian folks, > > What is the recommended Debian package for burning CDs (and DVDs)? > > On Fedora I think I have been using Nautilus. I like cdrbq - it's a GTK program and is pretty intuitive (one I realised the cdrom is /dev/hdc) Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: aptitude --mind-your-own-business option?
On (05/12/06 14:43), Florian Kulzer wrote: > I cannot predict what the future will bring. I can say, however, after > using aptitude on two Sid systems for almost a year and doing > "dist-upgrade" nearly every single day, that aptitude seems to be a lot > less dangerous than what has been claimed by some people. (This is not > directed at you, Mike, I am just getting a bit fed up with the > aptitude-related fear mongering that I have seen on this list recently.) I'll second that; moving from stable to sid some three years ago, aptitude and apt-listbugs have kept me out of trouble on my main production workstation and other systems on the same box. Aptitude has also come a long way over that period with suggested fixes for broken dependencies etc. I've used the graphical front ends such as Synaptic but they don't see to give the same level of control. It just takes a little time to get used to it :) Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: dedicated debian hosting
On (02/12/06 09:50), Tom Allison wrote: > Can anyone direct me towards debian based dedicated server hosting > companies? > > I might be interested in other levels of hosting, but I might need more > root-level access than some configurations would permit. Checkout: http://www.blackcatnetworks.co.uk Simon Huggins, Director, is a Debian maintainer Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: spam filter easy install
On (20/11/06 09:40), Anthony Campbell wrote: > Probably easiest to download the tarball from the above source; it will > provide the documentation, which is pretty good. > > Spamprobe can be run from procmail, which is I do myself. I know people > do run it in conjunction with other filters but I'm no expert and I know > nothig about IMAP. You could post a query on the spamprobe mailing list > (details in the docs) and Brian Burton will no doubt tell you (I think > he does use IMAP). > > I like spamprobe because it's pretty easy to set up and catches most > spam after training with virtually no false positives. Thanks I tried the deb package on a production mail server and it interfered with normal deliveries; so I'll take your advice but probably set up a test mail server to try it out. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: spam filter easy install
On (19/11/06 17:23), Anthony Campbell wrote: > I like spamprobe better than spamassassin. There is a deb package but > I've always compiled and installed my own in /usr/local. It has a > mailing list where the author answers questions helpfully. > > See spamprobe.sourceforge.net. Hi Anthony Although my spamassassin does a reasonable job, the spamprobe project looks interesting and I'd like to give it a try. Our mail is run on a local IMAP server; do you think I can run spamprobe alonside the existing spamassassin set up or will they conflict? I also had a trawl around for some sort of howto; can you point me to something? Thanks Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: spam filter easy install
On (19/11/06 13:14), Richard Lyons wrote: > Can anybody point me to a reliable way to install basic spam filtering on a > fresh etch install? > > I have again tried spamassassin, using the notes at > http://www.spencerstirling.com/computergeek/email.html to help with the > installation, but have had to purge spamassassin and clamav and all related > packages as all mail became blocked and the error messages in exim4/paniclog > were more than I could deal with. (I did google for help on the specific > error messages, but only managed to substitute different errors... I also > tried switching off the virus filtering but still got nowhere.) I have also > tried http://trekweb.com/~jasonb/articles/exim4_courier/index.html > and http://marc.merlins.org/linux/exim/sa.html and others in the past, but > never done better than prevent all incoming mail or slow the server to a > crawl. Somebody must have found a way to do this. > > So, I have a huge quantity of spam coming in, and can see no way to stem the > tide. Is there a guaranteed method to get this or any other spam filter to > run without needing to spend days learning the intricacies of the email > system and fine-tuning innumerable config files? I have exim4, courier imap > (and I access them via mutt, other users use squirrelmail). I really am > tired of deleting hundreds of "best for your health" etc, so any help would be > gratefully received. I put up some notes on a mail server with a section on sa-exim/clamav setup.. may be some help: http://clivemenzies.co.uk/help/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=8&id=34&Itemid=59 Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: too new phpmyadmin security update
On (16/11/06 12:01), Serban Udrea wrote: > After one of the latest updates I made on a debian sarge box I got the > following version of phpmyadmin: > > 2.6.2-3sarge3 > > Nevertheless, the latest security advisory regarding phpmyadmin i received > by email mentions just version: > > 2.6.2-3sarge2 > > and there was also nothing to find about version 2.6.2-3sarge3 on the web > pages at www.debian.org. > > I am a little bit uneasy because of the version mismatch. Has anyone a clue > why I may have got a different, apparently newer version of phpmyadmin? I have the same; I assume it's because the security patches are ahead of the advisories. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: exim4: how to handle other addresses on my ISP?
On (15/11/06 01:39), Chris Metzler wrote: > 1. I have a machine with no domain of its own, in the sense that I > haven't registered a domain or anything like that. My ISP is > speakeasy.net. Outgoing email goes to a smarthost. Incoming email > is pulled in by fetchmail and handed off to exim4. > > 2. Various users on this machine have email adresses registered with > the ISP of the form [EMAIL PROTECTED] When one of my > local users sends an outgoing email, exim4 appends "@speakeasy.net" > to the local username. > > 3. Likewise, if you were to send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED], > fetchmail on my machine should eventually grab it and pass it to exim4 here. > This apparently means that when I've configured exim4 using dpkg- > reconfigure, I need to tell exim4 that "speakeasy.net" should be added to > the list of domains for which this machine should consider itself the final > destination. If I don't do that, then when exim4 receives from fetchmail > an email for [EMAIL PROTECTED], exim4 immediately passes that > email back on to the ISP's smarthost (because we aren't a final destination > for "@speakeasy.net"), and around and around we go. > > 4. But if I do that -- if I tell exim4 that "speakeasy.net" should be > added to the list of domains for which this machine should consider itself > the final destination, then that means I'm unable to send email to other > users of this ISP that have nothing to do with my machine (since they all > have addresses like [EMAIL PROTECTED]). Right now, if I > send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED], exim4 notes that it's > been told that *I'm* the end destination for email to the domain > speakeasy.net, and cheerily reminds me that there's no one on this > machine by that username. I remember encountering this problem and puzzling over it for some time. I seem to recall it was something to do with the local part corresponding to users. If x is a local user [EMAIL PROTECTED] mails are delivered locally; if not they go out to the smarthost. I've set up a number of machines since then and they just seem to work. What is the output of: $cat /etc/exim4/update-exim4.conf.conf it may give a clue as to where the problem lies. FWIW I didn't have to rewite headers or the like. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 updated
On (10/11/06 08:31), Raquel wrote: > If that machine is connected to the Internet and you have been doing > "aptitude update" and "aptitude dist-upgrade" then you're altready > there. Question, is "aptitude dist-upgrade" necessary for a point release? Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Boot problem
On (10/11/06 12:14), Roelof Wobben wrote: > Oke, > > I understand how to fix it. > > But can't i be done with the boot-only cd from Sarge. > I have used this one to download and install Sarge. > > I want to use lilo instead of grub. I'm not sure if you can get to grub from the sarge disk but if you can and get booted, then you should be able to install lilo. I haven't used lilo for a long time and can't help you on that. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: boot problem
On (10/11/06 10:35), Roelof Wobben wrote: > I have installed Debian Sarge on the second hard disk of my computer. > Because lilo couldn't see windows , which is installed on the first disk, I > couldn't start Windows. > So i did a mbr repair of the mbr. > > But now i don't know how to het into Debian to change lilo so i can work > with them together. > > My harddisk looks like this : > > 1e disk : windows > 2e disk : My documents and Debian. > > My question is : > How can i come back in Debian so i can work with it. You'll need a live CD with grub on it; Debian From Scratch is quite good for this sort of thing: http://people.debian.org/~jgoerzen/dfs/html/ It will enable you to boot from the CD and if you press 'c' at the grub menu you get into the first stage of grub. you then need to pass something like: > root (hd1,x-1) //x is the debian partition so if it's on hdb6 this parameter should be hd1,5 > kernel /vmlinux root=/dev/hdbx //x = the partition where your debian system is > initrd /initrd.img > boot If all goes well it should boot you into your debian system. Once in there, do as root or sudo: # grub-install /dev/hda which should pick up the windows system and install grub on the MBR You can then reboot (without the live CD) and you should be presented with a grub menu giving you the choice of Windows or Debian. Getting one's head around grub is a bit of a challenge but well worth the effort: http://www.linuxselfhelp.com/gnu/grub/html_chapter/grub_1.html Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: schroot help needed
On (10/11/06 09:53), Lubos Vrbka wrote: > could anybody please show me how to setup schroot so, that it > automatically bindmounts the /dev, /tmp and /home directories inside the > chroot when it is entered? until now i was using permanent bind mount in > my fstab. however, having the directories bindmounted only when the > chroot is used seems to be a better idea. this should be possible in > schroot, but i can't figure out how to set it up. probably > schroot/exec.d/10mount needs to be somehow modified (or maybe some other > file) but i don't know how. manpage is not of particular help for me in > this respect :( I've only done this setting up a chroot to run 32bit applications on a 64bit system but it should be equally applicable to your situation. >From the amd64 howto: http://alioth.debian.org/docman/view.php/30192/21/debian-amd64-howto.html To run an application inside the chroot you will need some parts of your 64bit system tree inside the chroot. This can be achieved with a bind mount. In this example we will bind /tmp to the chroot for the X11 sockets which are in /tmp, and bind /home to access the home directories from within the chroot. You may also want to mount the /dev, /proc and /sys filesystems within the chroot. Edit your fstab and add the required paths: # sid32 chroot /home /var/chroot/sid-ia32/home nonebind 0 0 /tmp/var/chroot/sid-ia32/tmp nonebind 0 0 /dev/var/chroot/sid-ia32/dev nonebind 0 0 /proc /var/chroot/sid-ia32/proc nonebind 0 0 Then mount them: mount /var/chroot/sid-ia32/home mount /var/chroot/sid-ia32/tmp mount /var/chroot/sid-ia32/dev mount /var/chroot/sid-ia32/proc You will also need to set up the relevant users in the chroot. Copy your /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow and /etc/group files to the chroot, or add the users manually to the passwd/shadow of your chroot. It is also possible to hard link the files when they are on the same partition. Just make sure the user exists also in the chroot. To avoid locale problems you might also want to set up /etc/environment. WARNING! Remember that if you bind your home directory and delete your chroot, all your personal data will be lost. So do not forget to umount your home before eventually erasing a chroot. Please note that if you are using schroot there are chances you can avoid binding directories and copying or hard linking files. Check schroot manpage and modify /etc/schroot/setup.d/10mount to match your needs. HTH Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: A Question About Aptitude
On (04/11/06 05:51), Russell L. Harris wrote: > I am running a fresh install (two weeks ago) of Etch, and I have been > using synaptic to install and update packages. > > As a result of discussions on this thread, I just ran aptitude. > > Aptitude tells me that there is a broken package, and suggested that, > because of dependency problems, I remove exim4, exim4-base, > exim4-daemon-light, ftp, netbase, nfs-common, ntp, ntp-simple, ntp-date, > openbsd-inetd, pidentd, telnet and I install nbstmp. > > What is going on here? It appears to me that it is aptitude which needs > to be uninstalled. I suspect that the operation proposed by aptitude > would render my installation unusable and likely irreparable. My > inclination is to trust synaptic. Your inclination is probably right but it isn't aptitude's fault. If you consistently use aptitude it won't try to remove things arbitrarily. The problem arises when you've used another package management system; aptitude hasn't been involved on tracking the dependencies and consequently make what appears to be arbitrary decisions. However, if you use the 'examine' function when things break you can tab through various options to set things straight; it does however, require some patience and understanding to work your way through the problems. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: A Question About Aptitude
On (03/11/06 17:06), cothrige wrote: > Unfortunately I have not gotten listbugs working yet. It exits with > an error and some complaint about a proxy. I will have to look into > its configuration, I use no proxy and so can't imagine what the > trouble is. I should have copied the error and so I could look more > easily, but I can do that on the next upgrade. Ahh! You've been bitten :) edit /etc/apt/apt.conf in there, there is a line that has something like: blah blah proxy= false just remove it leaving the first line > > Thanks again, You're welcome :) Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: A Question About Aptitude
On (03/11/06 12:47), cothrige wrote: dd> * Clive Menzies ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > Hmmm. Sounds like perhaps 'aptitude upgrade' is a little safer for > the newbie. Would you agree? I think I will stick with that for now, > and perhaps start using the UI for installing individual packages as I > find I need them. > Yes. Although perversely when I moved from dselect (aptitude predecessor) I always used the interactive mode; it's only recently that I started using the CLI Others have mentioned Synaptic, I found when playing with Ubuntu it was very easy to use but it seemed to do strange things and I inevitably use aptitude to upgrade and install. Aptitude is a steeper learning curve but well worth the effort. If you like a 'clean' system, deborphan is worth getting to know; it will highlight redundant libraries (and other packages) which you can then purge from the system with aptitude: $ sudo aptitude purge libx liby etc. > > As a matter of course, you should install apt-listbugs so that you will > > be warned of any bugs that could cause you a problem. > > Yes, I need to do that. I tried a while back when it and listchanges > were recommended, but listbugs would not install. Something about it > not being on the server. I will definitely try again now that I am > thinking of it. BTW, with listchanges I get a screen of information > after downloading of the packages is done, and then I receive an > email. Will that work similarly, and apt-listbugs as well, if I were > to use the UI? Just a curiosity for possible future reference. Yes there was a problem with a recent listbugs upgrade; I recall I held off upgrading for a while and then got bitten (in a very minor way). I never bothered with listchanges (I figured a change in functionality in any package isn't going to stop me upgrading) but I understand from what I've read on the list, they coexist perfectly well. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Removing redundant kernels
On (03/11/06 13:12), michael wrote: > On Fri, 03 Nov 2006 17:24:23 +, Peter Hillier-Brook wrote > > Following updates I find I have several redundant kernels and > > corresponding entries in GRUB. Is there a preferred method of > > removing these, once I have established stability with later > > versions, or is my first thought of 'rm'ing the relevant files and > > editing menu.lst good enough? > > I have a similar problem: > > I have an etch box with custom compiled kernels from kernel-package. > I've installed a bunch with dpkg -i and used apt to remove them. > But dpkg still shows them in the the list of packages. > For example: > > host:~# dpkg --get-selections |grep linux-image > linux-image-2.6.16-2-k7 purge > linux-image-2.6.17 purge > linux-image-2.6.17-2-486purge > linux-image-2.6.17-2-686install > linux-image-2.6.17-2-k7 purge > linux-image-2.6.17etalon-k7 purge > > Is there a way to remove the packages marked "purge"? Caveat: do not purge the kernel you're running that said: $ uname -a //will show you the kernel you're running $ sudo aptitude install linux-image-2.6.17-2-686 when finished reboot, $ uname -a //will show you the kernel you're running $ sudo aptitude purge linux-image-2.6.16-2-k7 linux-image-2.6.17 linux-image-2.6.17-2-486 linux-image-2.6.17-2-k7 linux-image-2.6.17etalon-k7 $ sudo aptitude clean //to clean the package cache apt(itiude) will sort the menu.lst Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Removing redundant kernels
On (03/11/06 10:06), Andrew Sackville-West wrote: > > You'd be well advised to use the package management system to remove the > > kernels. Personally, I use aptitude. Having checked which is your > > running kernel, go into aptitude, and mark for removal those you want > > rid of. If you mark the with '_' both the package and the configuration > > files are purged. > > > > I did this on my server using aptitude and it didn't work. I '_' purged > two kernels that had been install with aptitude but it left the actual > kernels and initrds and configs in /boot. I had to rm them manually. > > hunh. I better look into that more as I know that's not proper behavior. That's not something I've ever experienced. You didn't install these kernels manually using 'dpkg -i' by any chance? Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Removing redundant kernels
On (03/11/06 17:24), Peter Hillier-Brook wrote: > Following updates I find I have several redundant kernels and > corresponding entries in GRUB. Is there a preferred method of removing > these, once I have established stability with later versions, or is my > first thought of 'rm'ing the relevant files and editing menu.lst good > enough? You'd be well advised to use the package management system to remove the kernels. Personally, I use aptitude. Having checked which is your running kernel, go into aptitude, and mark for removal those you want rid of. If you mark the with '_' both the package and the configuration files are purged. Regards Clive_ -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: A Question About Aptitude
On (03/11/06 10:14), cothrige wrote: > In doing this, and reading various documentation, I found references > to 'U' marking packages upgradeable. I also saw the listing for > "Upgradable Packages" and so I started nosing around in there, > thinking that perhaps I would use 'U' to select this entire list. To > get some points of comparison I had tested out 'aptitude upgrade' and > 'aptitude dist-upgrade' just to see what would be changed, and only > gdm-themes appeared there with one removal. In the 'Upgradable > Packages' section of aptitude there are many packages listed, > including emacs, gdm, cron, exim4, many libraries and so on. Now I am > confused. Why are there so many packages being listed as "upgradable" > and yet don't get upgraded when running 'aptitude upgrade'? What > exactly is the difference between these two lists of packages > available upgrading? When you 'aptitude upgrade' aptitude will upgrade those packages for which all the dependencies are resolved and won't break anything. When you use aptitude interactively and press 'U', you will see every package that can be upgraded to a higher version. However, it will also alert you to any 'broken' packages due to dependency problems and gives suggestions as to how to resolve them. As a matter of course, you should install apt-listbugs so that you will be warned of any bugs that could cause you a problem. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: laptop install and drivers
On (03/11/06 08:56), ChadDavis wrote: > On 11/3/06, Clive Menzies <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >If you have a wired ethernet connection, I wouldn't worry about the > >wireless card until you've completed the install. You can then have the > >advantage of an x-window environment to get wireless sorted - it can be > >a bit tricky. > > > >If your kit is fairly recent then you may need the etch (testing) or > >sid(unstable) .iso. Either of those should recognise your NIC if sarge > >(stable) doesn't. I would use the netinst.iso which is typically less > >than 150Mb; once you do the basic install all the remaining packages are > >downloaded off the net as you need them. > > > >Check out the fine installation manual for your architecture. > > > If I go with the testing or unstable version, how unstable is the system? > This is intended to be a work machine, so I can't really afford to suffer > many crashes. Until you're used to debian, you're better off with stable but many people once they are comfortable with the debian way of doing things will use sid on their main workstation (not servers). In relative terms, testing and unstable are fairly stable; I've been using sid for three years having spent a few months on stable but got frustrated with the age of some of the packages. However, an understanding of aptitude and having apt-listbugs installed, greatly reduces the risk of breakage. Etch will be the next stable (probably in December) and so it is getting close to being stable enough for a release candidate. Consequently, the risk of breakage is greatly reduced. On balance, I'd recommend etch and sticking with it once it becomes stable until you feel compelled/drawn to try sid. I suspect the install will be easier than sarge. Regards Clive -- www.clivemenzies.co.uk ... ...strategies for business -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]