Don Forbes

bigdump.php

Don — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:14:56 +0000

Alexey Ozerov has written a very useful tool that solves a very common problem that many system administrators and web developers have seen. Make a note of this, as it’s a nice tool to add to your toolbox.

Problem: You can’t upload a database dump and import using phpMyAdmin because of limits of some kind, timeouts, or file size limitations.

Solution: Bigdump.php Upload the script. Make necessary script username/db name changes. Place the sql dump. Run script from browser.

Attachments and the Gmail app for BlackBerry

Don — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:40:49 +0000

Interestingly enough, the Google Gmail app for Blackberry devices does not allow at this time for the *sending* of attachments; viewing/saving however works nicely. I’d be curious to know the technical reasons for this limitation, I would guess it would be something to do with the fact the application would need directory access to the Blackberry filesystem for selection.

New BlackBerry Curve 8330

Don — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:15:45 +0000

Previously I had the LG enV on Verizon’s service. Â Many phones later, I decided to get a smart phone with my upgrade. Â The BlackBerry CurveÂ was my choice. Â Upon getting used to the keyboard, which at first seemed a bit small, (really not) I found my love for this amazing device. Â Without a question, I consider myself a power user. Â A week later, I don’t why I waited so long to get smart phone. Â Now, completely connected, all the time, I feel much better about my work, and my ability to be reached. Â I surprise myself daily with just what I can do remotely. Â I now see why it’s called the CrackBerry. Â If admitting is the first step; Yes. Â I am addicted. Â I’ve got a problem,… and I love it.

PCI Compliance – Disabling SSL v2

Don — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:13:09 +0000

If your ecommerce application is taking credit card numbers and you’re hosting with a reputable host, most likely you’re familiar with becoming PCI Compliant.Â Without going into much debate over the policies behind the requierments and motives, one of the things that you must do is disable SSL version 2, which has multiple documented vulnerabilities.Â You can do so, assuming you’re using Apache with the following:

SSLProtocol ALL -SSLv2
SSLCipherSuite HIGH:!SSLv2:!ADH:!aNULL:!eNULL:!NULL

Moderation requests for my unmoderated list

Don — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:14:40 +0000

I have a status list.Â All the systems I manage, I’ve configured root’s mail to be directed to this list.Â The list is completely unmoderated because of the sheer number of systems send mail to it.Â The *problem* was that as list owner, I was receiving moderation requests for system messages.Â The key here is exactly what the moderation message tells you: “the message has an implicit destination”.Â If Mailman doesn’t detect the list address in the To or Cc, by default, it gets flagged for moderation.Â System aliases don’t by nature work.Â Privacy Options –> Recipient filters –> “require_explicit_destination” to “No”.

Got Goat?

Don — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:32:46 +0000

Augie does a nice job of explaining our “addiction” to the Goat.See you there!

Additional Googe Apps MX Records

Don — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:40:08 +0000

Google Apps (http://google.com/a) has added additional MX records to be added to zone files. Below is the records, with priorities, in order, in plain text. Easy to copy/paste. Technically, priorities can be different as long as they match the correct Value and are in the order determined by the provider, however these are the priorities Google suggests.

MX 10 aspmx.l.google.com
MX 20 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
MX 20 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
MX 30 aspmx2.googlemail.com
MX 30 aspmx3.googlemail.com
MX 30 aspmx4.googlemail.com
MX 30 aspmx5.googlemail.com

A summary, according to man

Don — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:19:48 +0000

#man less

LESS(1) LESS(1)

NAME
less – opposite of more

Extasy! (err, rather XTC Radio, that is)

Don — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:56:57 +0000

http://www.xtcfm.net/ Is seriously addicting.

xfs fs creation optimization

Don — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:07:49 +0000

mkfs.xfs -d agcount=4 -l size=32m /dev/sdx

Pass noatime,nodiratime,osyncisdsync to your fstab and mount. -l size=32m, tells mkfs.xfs to configure your filesystem so that it has a 32 MB metadata journal. In my situation, it is important while under heavy load the journal will not fill up; or less of a possibility that it would. agcount minimizes the number of allocation groups that are created, which improves performance in high performance servers. Note; too many of these groups add filesystem overhead.

I used this in a “backup scenario”. If you’re doing a RAID setup, rules change and this creation will probably *not* be the correct one to use; it’s all dependent on your usage intentions/RAID type/number of drives, etc.