Passwordless root SSH Public Key Authentication on CentOS 6

Need to remote login to linux servers?

Create a public key and store it in the remote server. By default it is recognised as authorized_keys but this is fully configurable. The ssh-keygen generated the public key with RSA that is by default called id_rsa.pub

A well written article to do this can be found at Passwordless root SSH Public Key Authentication on CentOS 6

An alternative sshpass command as mentioned in January 31, 2014 Linuxpromagazine seems to force users to make the password visible. Good that this is no available in a default Centos 6, as this will help to maintain good password practices. I.e. do not have password kept where anyone can read it.

Top 10 Database Engines based on appearance in Internet

Ever wonder how to justify choice of database engines? Some have opted on comparison of specifications and limitation of the system. Now through manual use of ahem.."big data" we can see a list of top 10 database engines.

Among some of its criteria includes appearance in Google and Bing search engine. Frequency in technical discussion in Stack Overflow and DBA Stack Exchange. Then there are LinkedIn, Indeed and Simply Hired.

Information and table above above is from DB-Engines.com.

Backup Samsung S3 with KIES

Time to send the Samsung Galaxy S3 to the workshop as its difficult to charge despite changing several chargers. Problem: Need to wriggle the USB connection to charge.

Attempting to use KIES from Samsung.

A) Install KIES

Step 1. Download and install from http://www.samsung.com/my/support/model/GT-I9300RWDXME-downloads?downloadName=SW

Step 2. Update the KIES for PC (Final part of the installation above for 18 Nov 2013, version 2.6.1.13105_6_1 (See diagram below)

B) Run Backup

Step 1. Start Samsung KIES (not the LITE)

Step 2. Click the tab "Back up/Restore". Yes, they put a space between Back and up.

Step 3. Click "Select all items".

Step 4. Select which directory to store the backup. Click "Tools" ->Preferences ->Browse

Step 5. Click "Backup". Now they decided there is NO space between in this word.

Moodle support for Tin Can and SCORM 2004

If anyone have been said to implement SCORM 2004 engine, its never been highly compliant and Moodle is no exception. On Oct 2004, Moodle has officially abandoned further development of its SCORM 2004 engine. Details of its SCORM module can be found at
http://docs.moodle.org/24/en/SCORM_module

Surely lots of users will be in the lost or may drop SCORM development. Moodle News suggest the use of Tin Can SCORM for future development of learning objects. Moodle site suggest use of the SCORM cloud from Rustici Software where the SCORM Cloud plugin is free, but not the account.

The SCORM Cloud free trial account provides 100MB and 10 active registration (what does that mean?) at https://cloud.scorm.com/sc/user/PostSignUp

Following are helpful links to setup the SCORM Cloud

1. Getting the Moodle package
http://scorm.com/scorm-solved/scorm-cloud-features/app-integrations/moodle-integration/
2. Integrate with Moodle
http://support.scorm.com/entries/21366321-Installing-the-SCORM-Cloud-Moodle-Module

Manage log files from getting too big

Log files in Linux can be managed via the logrotate command (See man pages). If the log files start growing too big, it can be difficult to audit these log files.

Here is an example to create a new log file each week as the weekly cron (See man pages) service runs.

Following is an example where the cakephp application is installed. It will create a new file each week for 52 times before deleting the oldest file. Each file will be appended with a running number starting with "1". If the log file is missing, no errors will be printed/emailed and nothing will be done if the log file is empty.

Step 1: Create the configuration file

Create the file /etc/logrotate.d/cakephp with permission 644 (owned by root) and following contents;

/var/www/html/mymesyuarat/*/tmp/logs/*.log {
    weekly
    missingok
    rotate 52
    compress
    dateext
    delaycompress
    notifempty
    create 640 root root
    sharedscripts
}

Step 2: Ensure that the logrotate service is running.

The above configuration can be tested with the following command;

logrotate -s /tmp/logrotatestatus /etc/logrotate/cakephp

Maxis site not supporting Mozilla or Chrome

A sudden change in policy at Maxis, one of the main telco in Malaysia or is it just my network problem?

Either way, last Aug 2013, Maxis customer support just informed me to use Internet Explorer (IE) or they can help email my bills. They tried, but the bill never arrived.

Now in September, I still can't login to get my bills using Chrome or Firefox. But wait, I see an additional notice at their portal....interesting. I added a text bubble.

I guess they are expecting me to call them for help on my bills.

2 Sept. Just spoke to customer service. Seems their Firefox is able to login and the Firefox version 23.0.1 that I am using not current enough. Huh? Is there a newer version since as of today?

On Firefox version 23.0.1, have disabled pop-up blocker, block reported attack sites/web forgeries, nothing happens when I click the "login" button. Ran IE (finally) and the login button works. Still not working on Google Chrome and Firefox.

Anyone else with this problem?

Sony Tablet S

Sony finally released update for Sony Tablet S?

It says for US but am looking forward for its arrival.

https://blog.sony.com/2013/04/jelly-bean-for-xperia-tablet/

User Identities in Thunderbird

Thunderbird have see lots of changes but the basic features for email have been retained. One of this, is being able to choose different ways to compose a message before it is sent out.

Example case 1; I have different signatures for friends, customers, special clients and for the general use. Switching signatures is so easy.

Example case 2; Some sent emails must be save to my SPECIAL folder.

Example case 3: Some emails must contain a CC or BCC to specific persons.

Example case 4: When I replay some quote of previous email is at the top and some at the bottom.

We can get this done is a few simple steps (I list the general steps here);

Step 1: In TB, click Tools ->Account settings...
Select the Email account and set the default email settings for

Your name:
Email Address:
Reply-to Address:
Organization:
Signature Text:

Step 2: Strongly suggest to create a text file and place the signature and name. 
Use the option for
Attach the signature from a file instead (text, HTML, or image)

Step 3: Configure following settings;
Copies and folders
Composition & Addressing
Security

Step 4: Click the Email account (selected in step 1)
Click button Manage Identities...
Click Add...

Enter the alternative email configuration. E.g. The alternative email signature.

Click OK, Close. You can continue to create as many identities as you like.
Click OK

DONE!
Try to send an email, click Write button.

Notice the "From" have a drop down list of all the different styles and configuration that you have created.

Using Handlerbars and JQuery in PhoneGap

Here is the very basic steps to use a template model in a PhoneGap application. I won't be going in details in this note.
"Those attending the PhoneGap class should incorporate the database as a practice. Thank you"

Ensure that the following steps have already been taken

1. Creating Android App with PhoneGap
2. Using Alert Pop-up

Step 1: Install the Handlebars and JQuery scripts

Download

1. Handlerbars from http://handlebarsjs.com
2. JQuery 1 from http://jquery.com/download/

Extract and copy the .js files to the Project's assets/www/lib folder

Step 2: Update the index.html

Replace the the contents within the body tags with the following;

 <h1>Hello PhoneGap</h1>  
  <script id="a-comment" type="text/x-handlebars-template">  
   <p><b>{{name}}</b> on {{date}}</p>  
   <ul>  
   {{#each comment}}  
   <li>{{description}}  
   {{/each}}  
   </ul>  
 </script>  
 <script src="lib/handlebars.js"></script>  
 <script src="lib/jquery-1.10.2.min.js"></script>  
 <script src="js/main.js"></script>  

Step 3: Update the js/main.js
Remove the initialize: function() and add following codes;

      renderHomeView: function() {  
      var today = new Date();  
      var dateTxt = today.getDate() +   
      "." + (today.getMonth()+1) +  
      "." + today.getFullYear();        
      var data = {  
      name: "I am the One",   
      date: dateTxt,  
      comment: [  
           { description: "walking with you."  
           },   
           { description: "eating together."  
           },  
           { description: "driving around town."  
           },  
      ] };  
   $('body').html(this.homeTemplate(data));       
   },  
   initialize: function() {  
        var self = this;  
        var source = $("#a-comment").html();  
     self.showAlert('This is how its done','Info');  
     this.homeTemplate = Handlebars.compile(source);  
     this.renderHomeView();  
   }  

Alert Pop-up in PhoneGap

Using the native notification or browser alert pop-up

This is a continuation from the Previous notes: Creating an Android App with PhoneGap and Eclipse
Purpose: Display the Alert pop-up before the application display its contents.

Step 1: Create the main.js
In the project's assets/www create js folder, then create a new text file and name it as main.js
Place the following contents in assets/www/js/main.js

 var app = {  
      showAlert: function (message, title) {  
    if (navigator.notification) {  
     navigator.notification.alert(message, null, title, 'OK');  
    } else {  
     alert(title ? (title + ": " + message) : message);  
    }  
      },  
   initialize: function() {  
        var self = this;  
     self.showAlert('This is how its done','Info');  
   }  
 };  
 app.initialize();  

Step 2: Load main.js from index.html
Edit index.html. Immediately after the body tag place the following 1 line.

 <script src="js/main.js"></script>  

Step 3: Test the application.
See previous posting on how to do this.

Creating an Android App with PhoneGap and Eclipse

This is the basics on creating a HelloWorld using PhoneGap, Cordova and Eclipse (provided by ADT).

I have downloaded and extracted:

1. Android Development Toolkit (ADT): adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20130729.zip
2. Phonegap kit: phonegap-2.9.0.zip

Note: ADT provides the Eclipse IDE.

In order to start development, an Android project is created in Eclipse.

Step 1: Create an Android Project
Open Eclipse (Its in the ADT/eclipse folder) and choose File ->New ->Android Application Project

Application Name: Hello World (This is the name that will appear in the Play Store)
Project Name: HelloWorld (This is the name used by Eclipse to separate each project)
Package Name: com.example.HelloWorld

Select the default option for the remainder screens.

Step 2: Insert the Android/PhoneGap Libraries
In the project, left click on assets and create a new folder: www

Open the extracted PhoneGap/lib/android folder and do the following;

1. Copy PhoneGap/lib/android/cordova.js to Project's assets/www folder
2. Copy PhoneGap/lib/android/cordova-2.9.0.jar to Project's libs folder
3. Copy PhoneGap/lib/android/xml folder to Project's res folder

In the Project's lib/cordova-2.9.0.jar right click and choose Build Path ->Add to Build Path

Step 3: Create the starting page

In assets/www folder, create the text file index.html with following contents

 <!DOCTYPE HTML>  
 <html>  
 <head>  
 <title>PhoneGap</title>  
  <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova.js">  
  </script>  
  </head>  
  <body>  
  <h1>Hello PhoneGap</h1>  
  </body>  
  </html>  

Step 4: Configure to load the index.html

Edit the Project's src/com.example.HelloWorld/MainActivity.java

Before the first import statement, add

import org.apache.cordova.*;

Change extends Activity 

to extends DroidGap

or to extends PhoneGap

Change setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

to

super.loadUrl("file:///android_asset/www/index.html");

Step 5: Configure Android specific configurations
Edit the AndroidManifest.xml (if unsure where, just place it before the Activity Application tag)

 <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE" />  
 <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />  
 <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_CONTACTS" />  
 <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_CONTACTS" />  

Edit the Activity tag by adding configChanges

 <activity  
  android:name="com.tboxmy.simpledisplay.MainActivity"  
  android:label="@string/app_name"   
  android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden|screenSize" >  

Step 6: Test the application
Right click the project name and choose Run As ->Android Application

Unless you have a fast machine with huge RAM, some waiting time is required for the Application to start, after the Android Emulator starts.

Cordova basic usage

Time to compile Phonegap using Cordova.
Basic commands;

1. Create an Android project called com.example.hello in folder hello.

cordova create hello com.example.hello 

2. Include Android platform for cordova. In the project folder, type;

cordova platform add android

3. Compile the project (some call this build). In the project folder, type;

cordova build

2. Start the android emulator with the compiled cordova project. In the project folder, type;

cordova emulate android

Install Android Emulator on Centos 6

Why would I want to have the Android Emulator? Well, I needed to test several custom Android  Packages and also develop apps for Android. This meant, I could keep testing the Android Packages without having to install on a physical Android phone such as the Sony Ericsson X10 or Samsung S3.

I have written on this topic for Centos 64bits, before and seems like it still depends on 32bit libraries:

• http://tboxmy.blogspot.com/2012/04/installing-java-on-centos-6.html
• http://tboxmy.blogspot.com/2012/07/develop-android-apps-with-eclipse-on.html

A good reference for everything Android is at http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

Here are steps for Centos 6.4 (64bits), open up a terminal as root;

Step 1: Install Java development kit (JDK)
# yum update
# yum install java-1.7.0-openjdk-devel.x86_64

Verify installation with following command:
# javac -version

Step 2a: Install library for 32bits 
yum install glibc.i686 ncurses-libs.i686 libstdc libstdc++.i686 libzip.i686 SDL.i686 gegl.i686  mesa-libGL.i686

Note: Optional package to install: 
libX11.i686 libXrandr.i686

Step 2: Install the Android SDK and ADT
Get the latest Android ADT from the Android Developer site or use following:
wget http://dl.google.com/android/adt/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20130729.zip

This will provide us with (Size if 440MB):

1. Eclipse + ADT plugin
2. Android SDK Tools
3. Android Platform-tools
4. The latest Android platform
5. The latest Android system image for the emulator

Note: If you are in Malaysia and cant download because of Internet problem (Some day this will improve) and really have no other way of getting the ADT and JDK for Centos 6 64bits, just email me your contact details (e.g. address) and we can work something out.

Allow groups named devel to access development. Create the directory /opt/android and extract adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20130729.zip

# mkdir /opt/android
# useradd -m devel
# chown devel.devel /opt/android
# chmod g+rwsx,+t /opt/android
# unzip -d /opt/android/ adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20130729.zip

Step 3: Post installation.
What can we do after installation? Well, you can run the Eclipse IDE to develop application and there is also the Android Emulator (to test APK). Info on the Android Emulator can be found at http://developer.android.com/tools/devices/emulator.html

I suggest that you login as the devel user or a user with that group access to continue (Represented as $ in steps below).

Start Eclipse with
$ /opt/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64/eclipse/eclipse

Starting with the emulator
1. Listing the available emulators
$ cd /opt/android/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64/sdk/tools
$ ./android list targets

Available Android targets:
----------
id: 1 or "android-18"
     Name: Android 4.3
     Type: Platform
     API level: 18
     Revision: 1
     Skins: WSVGA, WVGA800 (default), WVGA854, WQVGA432, WQVGA400, WXGA800, QVGA, WXGA720, HVGA, WXGA800-7in
     ABIs : armeabi-v7a

2. Creating an instance of the emulator
Here it is called practiceandroid4.3 with the target id 1 (as above). Items in RED are optional. For further details see http://developer.android.com/tools/devices/managing-avds-cmdline.html
$ android create avd -n practiceandroid4.3 -t 1 --skin WVGA800
$ emulator -avd practiceandroid4.3


APK can be installed into the Android emulator
$ adb install bin/MyFirstApp-debug.apk


Trouble shooting:

• If there is a problem running Eclipse or the Emulator, try the Step 2a above.
• For error "./emulator: /lib/ld-linux.so.2: bad ELF interpreter: No such file or directory", ensure the step 2a is done.
• When upgrade Centos 6.3 to Centos 6.4 on Virtualbox, it hangs at the boot progress bar. Fix is at http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=6306

Install MCRYPT for Centos 6.3

MCRYPT is used to encrypt data. For example, user login passwords.

The EPEL repository provides for the mcrypt package.

Step 1: Download and install the files to support EPEL repository
wget http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/i386/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
wget  http://ftp.riken.jp/Linux/fedora/epel/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6
rpm --import RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6
rpm -i epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm

Step 2: Install mcrypt package

yum install php-mcrypt

Autoconfiguration ipv4 address

A funny thing happen on a newly installed MS Windows 8. After setting the fixed IP on the network interface (cable), it kept getting a an IANA ip of 196.254.x.x.

Although, the fixed IP was entered correctly, 10.x.x.x, the command ipconfig showed that it was still using the 196.254.x.x. Driving me mad, this don't happen on Linux as far as I know.

Resolve this by disabling the interface that is causing the problem.

At the command prompt as Admin follow the steps given below;

Step 1: Identify the interface name (Idx)
> netsh interface ipv4 show inter

Step 2: Disable the interface, replaceing the XXX below with the Idx found in Step 1.

> netsh interface ipv4 set interface XXX dadtransmit=0 store=persistent

Thanks to Lyngtinh

Install Clamav antivirus on Centos

Clamav is a much misunderstood software, at least from the response of people I know.

This is a follow up of previous posting http://tboxmy.blogspot.com/2011/06/open-source-software-antivirus-called.html

A simple to read manual can be found at
http://www.clamav.net/doc/latest/clamdoc.pdf

However, here are steps I took for the installation on Centos 6.3 and Centos 5.6

Step 1: Install required repository for clamav
http://tboxmy.blogspot.com/2013/06/install-yum-repo-for-centos.html

Step 2: Install the clamav software
yum install clamd clamav clamav-db

Step 3: Edit the configuration files with your own preferences
/etc/clamd.conf
/etc/freshclam.conf

Step 4: Test the scan with an example directory [/tmp/samples] and save the results in [output.scan]
clamscan -r -l output.scan /tmp/samples

You should notice a warning that the virus database is outdated.

Step 5: Update the virus database. Make sure the server has internet access, then type
freshclam

By default update is done daily, but can be changed by moving the /etc/cron.daily/freshclam to another cron folder.

Step 6: Schedule the scan with crontab
Use the command in step 4 as an example

Step 7: Manage how files detected as virus are handled

e.g. use perl-File-Scan-ClamAV

Install Yum repo for Centos

Adding additional source of packages (software) for Centos will greatly reduce the need to recompile OSS packages. Epel provides open source software that is free for use. This includes clamav, atop, cacti,

Here are step to add a common repository.

Centos 5

Step 1: install and enable epel repo
rpm -Uvh http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/5/i386/epel-release-5-4.noarch.rpm

Centos 6

Step 1: install and enable epel repo
rpm -Uvh http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/i386/epel-release-6-5.noarch.rpm

Step 2: Enable priorities
yum install yum-priorities

Edit /etc/yum.repos.d/epel.repo
add under [epel]
priority=10

TinyMCE

One of the widely used WYSWIG for web forms is called TinyMCE. Currently it is at version 3.5.8 and version 4.0 is in Beta. Licensed as LGPL, it is available for download freely from tinymce.com website.

I like its highly configurable options. Some of these are listed at http://www.tinymce.com/wiki.php/TinyMCE3x:Buttons/controls

Here is how it looks like from the demo site.

Backup selected rows from MyMSQL database

Just needed a few rows of data, after confirmed its existence with

> select count (*) from `attendances` where `meeting_id`=82;

Using mysqldump

mysqldump --opt -uroot -p development attendances --where='meeting_id'=19700 > outputrows.sql

Reviewed the extensive contents then inserted back into the db.

OpenOffice.org templates to plan/schedule work

A great spreadsheet template to do planning for shift work. Its flexible and can be modified to suit different environments.

See http://templates.openoffice.org/en/node/9485

Should work for LibreOffice.

SCAM using Fedex and Coca-cola names

Be careful of scams on the internet such as the one that says you have won some money through a lucky draw. Extract of the contents, I have seen, is shown below.

Header contents of that email

Read an article on this at Ripoffreport.

Tables in Moodle appear without border lines.

Tables in Moodle 2 will tend to have this issue where users just can't get the grid lines to appear. Another description for this, is the border lines appear during editing, but is not displayed when it is saved and viewed as a normal content page.

The misleading choice was to right click and edit using "Table properties". Did not work in what ever combination that was made.

Following are steps that can be taken when creating a standard table from scratch in Moodle.

Step 1: Right click on the existing table. Choose Cell ->Table cell properties.
It does look like we are changing one cell, but bear with me to get this applied to the whole table.

Step 2: Choose the Advanced tab. Click on the Border color's colour selection box.

Step 3: Choose a colour. Better still click on Palette or Named tabs to choose a standard colour. Click Apply. In this example, Black or #000000 is choosen as the border line colour.

Step 4: At the dropdown box choose "Update all cells in table", click "Update".

Step 5: Save changes to the page where the table is added and view the table with the border lines.

Samsung S3's Android update March 2013

Just did an OTA update from Jan 2013 to Mar 2013.

Among changes known at this moment;

Lock screen security patch. Previously there is a 5 step hack to by pass the login for the lock screen.

Camera. The menu at sides now have transparent borders. Now missing 3 scene modes, which include the fireworks, backlit.

Faces of Clouds

Cloud is a big thing these last few months. Just to clear some terms that is of interest and where even so called IT experts are not able to agree on. This means, that its my personal view based on resources published by industry experts.

3 items are of interest. The first, is naming of a cloud based on its deployment. Second, clouds can further be classified based on services it provide to users. And lastly, a case study. Think of your plan to build a cloud and how it would be shaped.

A) A cloud is named based on its location or deployment.

1. Public - Applications, storage and services made available to the general public for free or for a fee.
2. Private - For a single organisation and decisions made centrally on resources.
3. Community - Shared infrastructure having several organisation with specific interest that is managed internally or by a 3rd party.
4. Hybrid - Combination of either Public, Private or Community, or all three.

B) A cloud can then be named based on its services.

1. IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service)
1. Users install own operating system and maintain its own patches, IP addresses. - Rackspace, Amazon EC2.
2. Users can leverage resources to sell as a service provider to their clients.
2. PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service)
1. Run your own application on a provider's platform
2. Develop on a provider's platform - Google AppEngine, Oracle Cloud Platform, OpenShift.
3. SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)
1. Full web application - E.g. Googledocs, SalesForce, Gmail
2. Web services (consumed by other web application) - GoogleMaps API, PayPal

C) A case study

How would you shape a cloud based on above (A) and (B) for following situation?

Lets say a government wants to setup a TeleHealth cloud. It allows any application for hospitals, clinics and government. Some of these applications are built and some bought. Geographically users are very dispersed throughout the country. 

A) Community

Why? Organisations apart from the Ministry of Health, clinics and hospitals would also include 3rd party resources for pharmaceutical, research, assets, payments.

B) PaaS

1. By providing one or two standard platforms, all development can be better managed. Deployed applications can be made to meet security and other standards set.
2. Many new applications/web services can be introduced by users. 

Yahoo on scheduled maintenance

Did you get any notification for this scheduled maintenance?

Dangers in copy and paste to CLI

A reminder for those who are trying to be smart and copy commands found on the internet or via unknown emails, the PASTE may contain dangerous commands.

See http://thejh.net/misc/website-terminal-copy-paste

WARNING, do not try the following if you do not understand dangers of hidden codes. Here below is an attempt to simulate that line to be copied.

Just copy the 1 line below and paste to the CLI, watch what happens.

/dev/null; clear; echo -n "Hello ";whoami|tr -d '\n';echo -e '!\nThat was a bad idea. Don'"'"'t copy code from websites you don'"'"'t trust!
Here'"'"'s the first line of your /etc/passwd: ';head -n1 /etc/passwd
git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/kup/kup.git

Howto troubleshoot Virtualisation with RHEVM

In the event to do troubleshooting, some of these were carried out for a recent RHEVM;

1. In the RHEVM Administration Portal, check out the events.
2. The command rhevm-log-collector collect download logs including from hypervisors to the /tmp folder. 
3. Collect only RHEVM logs rhevm-log-collector collect --no-hypervisors
4. Look at logs in /var/log/rhevm 
5. Need to check the RHEVM database? Try  pg_dump engine -U postgres -W -f /tmp/cu_rhevm.dump -F t
6. Check the multipath
7. Check configuration with rhevm-config --list

 Only item I do not see is the %TEMP%/manager_hostname/log as mentioned from the RHEV website.

Additional references: http://www.howtoforge.com/virtualization-with-kvm-on-a-centos-6.2-server

Installing JDBC on MS Windows 7

Basics on getting data from remote MySQL database requires installation of a Java driver.

The JDBC drivers is provided through the current Connector/J 5.1. This is a type 4 driver and works for MySQL 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 5.5. MySQL reference for the driver can be found at http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19957-01/mysql-refman-6.0/connectors-apis.html#connector-j-versions

Step 1. Ensure JDK 1.6 or 1.7 is already installed.
At the command prompt check the version, see below example where it was installed in C:\Program Files\Java\jre7


> java -version
java version "1.7.0_03"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_03-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 22.1-b02, mixed mode, sharing)



Step 2. Download the driver from Maven2 project.
Download from http://mirrors.ibiblio.org/maven2/mysql/mysql-connector-java/5.1.19/
the file mysql-connector-java-5.1.19.jar

And save to C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\

Step 3. Tell Java where to find the driver
Click on Start ->Control Panel ->System
On the left menu choose, Advanced system setting
Choose Environment variables, in the System variables box click on CLASSPATH and choose Edit.
At the end of the text box, append a semi colon followed by location and the name of the drivers, e.g.

;C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\lib\mysql-connector-java-5.1.19.jar

Choose Ok until all boxes are closed.
If you have any command prompt or Java application, they need to be restarted.

Useful information in order to use the driver;

1. The classname: com.mysql.jdbc.Driver
2. The connection string: jdbc:mysql://server-name:server-port/database-name
3. Username and password to the database
4. Default port 3306

OpenOffice / LibreOffice Base

Step 1. Add the classpath
Open Writer and in the menu choose
Tools ->Option ->Java
Click on the JRE installed; Click Classpath ->Add Archive
Choose location of the driver (In this case C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\lib\mysql-connector-java-5.1.19.jar), click OK until all windows are closed.

Step 2. Close all OpenOffice / LibreOffice applications.

Test using the OpenOffice / LibreOffice Base

Android 4.1.2 on Samsung S3

Update from Android 4.1.1 to 4.1.2 on Samsung S3 was straight forward. There were not many noticeable changes so I am listing what were the initial encounters;

1. Pull down Notification bar have 2 new buttons
1. AllShare cast - to share the screen with other S3 devices. Yet to get a chance to test it.
2. Multi window - Allow a menu on the left side of the screen to appear with a list of apps. Two of these apps can be dragged to the screen and viewed at the same time. One app appears at top half and the other at bottom half. Click the horizontal bar at the centre and there are options to switch both app locations or to use the full screen.
2. Pull down Notification bar doesn't have the Sync button - Looks like have to sync emails and calendars manually from the settings as the "Auto Sync" button is lost. If you really have the battery and want to leave the sync on, try editing Notification bar or follow this; Left button, choose "System settings" ->"Data Usage". Left button, choose "Auto sync data".
3. Edit buttons on Notification bar - Default install have omitted the Sync button, but it can be added back to the Notification bar. To add or remove buttons, Click the Menu button (Left button), Choose "System settings" ->"Display" ->"Notification Panel". Drag additional buttons from the Available Buttons bar into empty spaces in the Notification panel bar.
4. Keyboard includes a predictive feature that I could only disable when it appeared the first time I tried to use the keyboard. This include words from all the Facebook, ChatOn, social networking tools. I do not see the option to change the settings anywhere.
5. Chrome web browser is included. If you use Chrome on your desktop, and signed in, the same apps open and saved bookmarks can be seen on the S3.
6. The Gallery app provides 3 different views to show photos in an Album. In Gallery, choose the top right corner button to switch views.
7. Coming soon...

Getting started with Symfony2 - Part 1

After installing Symfony 2.1 and going through the documentations, everything seems simple enough. To start developing an application from scratch, first create a project, next create a Bundle and start adding codes.

Several assumptions;

1. Installation was done as in my previous posting, including creating the project called mysymfony.
2. The Bundle is called HelloBundle in Sample. All Bundle names must end with the word Bundle.
3. All Bundles will be under the vendor named "Sample".

Here are steps to create and delete a Bundle.

A. Create a Bundle
Step 1: Generate the Bundle

cd mysymfony

php app/console generate:bundle --namespace=Sample/HelloBundle --format=yml

Respond to the wizard's questions;

1. [Enter]
2. HelloBundle
3. [Enter]
4. [Enter]
5. [Enter]
6. [Enter]
7. [Enter]
8. [Enter]

Step 2: Create the routing.
Still in the symfony directory, edit the file src/Sample/HelloBundle/Resources/config/routing.yml

hello:
    pattern:  /hello/{name}
    defaults: { _controller: SampleHelloBundle:Hello:index }

Step 3: Create the controller file.

vi src/Sample/HelloBundle/Controller/HelloController.php

namespace Sample\HelloBundle\Controller;

use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\Controller;

class HelloController extends Controller
{
    public function indexAction($name)
    {
        return $this->render('SampleHelloBundle:Hello:index.html.twig', array('name' => $name));
    }
}
Step 4: Create a view template

vi src/Sample/HelloBundle/Resources/views/Hello/index.html.twig

{% extends '::base.html.twig' %}
{% block body %}
Hello {{ name }}!
{% endblock %}

Step 5: Access the final application

In a web browser, enter the location or URL as

http://localhost/mysymfony/web/app.php/hello/malaysia

---

B. Delete a Bundle
Step 1: Delete the Bundle directory
rm -rf src/Sample/HelloBundle/

Step 2: Remove Bundle routing in /app/config/routing.yml
Example, delete

sample_hello:
    resource: "@SampleHelloBundle/Resources/config/routing.yml"
    prefix:   /

Step 3: Remove Bundle from app/AppKernel.php
Example, delete

new Sample\HelloBundle\SampleHelloBundle(),

Step 4: Clear Symfony cache

php app/console cache:clear 

or

php app/console cache:clear --env=prod --no-debug


Note to self: No promises when Part 2 will be published.

Installing Symfony2 on Centos 6

Symfony2 framework looks like it provide many useful development tools.

All following codes require access to internet to download the respective files.

Pre installation check list for Symfony2.1.

1. Installed and running Apache httpd
2. Installed php 5.3 or higher
3. Installed GIT 1.7 or higher

Install PHP
Lots of resources available online.

Ensure additional php packages are installed, including

• php-cli
• php-intl
• php-mysql (if you use MySQL database)
• php-gd
• php-pecl-apc
• php-mbstring

Check that /etc/php/ini timezone is edited.
Example;
date.timezone = "Asia/Kuala_Lumpur"

Install GIT

sudo yum install git-core

Install Composer for PHP

cd /var/www/html

curl -s https://getcomposer.org/installer | php


Install Symfony2.1
Step 1: Download from http://symfony.com/download and extract


tar xvzf Symfony_Standard_Vendors_2.1.6.tgz

Read the text file Symfony/README.md

cp composer.phar Symfony

Step 2: Basic configuration



Step 3: Create your first Symfony2 project

cd /var/www/html/Symfony

php composer.phar create-project symfony/framework-standard-edition /var/www/html/mysymfony 2.1.6

Where

• create-project is the command to create a project with 3 arguments
• symfony/framework-standard-edition is the framework to be installed
• /var/www/html/mysymfony is the new directory or project name to be created and installed with base project files
• 2.1.6 is the version

Use a web browser to check installed project at

http://localhost/mysymfony/web/config.php

If there is an error, please fix before continuing. I received 2 errors to fix the directory permission for app/cache and app/logs

chown -Rf apache.apache app/logs app/cache


Note: I found following discussion useful

http://forum.symfony-project.org/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=45892

What you should not do for your online portal

At any time if you have launched a portal accessed publicly, its a bad idea to have links showing Minta Maaf.

Just found this on the Malaysian Road Transport Department Portal on  5 Jan 2013.

If its not ready, no need to put it online, right? Just my Opinion.

The link kept directing to http://www.jpj.gov.my/mintamaaf for most of the options I picked.

Statistics on OSS

From time to time, the use of OSS needs justification. What better then information based on open source development model. This includes;

1. Large number of contributors
2. Frequency of updates (commits)
3. Lines of codes

I found such info from Ohloh.net. Example for HTTP Server from Apache is at http://www.ohloh.net/p/apache

Upgrade Sony Tablet S to Android 4.0.3 rel5

Just received notice of an upgrade. Current Android is 4.0.3 rel 1.

Info on updates is at http://www.sony-asia.com/support/faq/528949

Speedtest via Digi

Speedtest.net results for Digi on SE Xperia X10i with Android 2.3.3

Subscribed to Digi unlimited
[1st round] on 6 Dec 2012
Download: 558kbps, Upload: 377kbps
Ping 99ms

[2nd round] on 6 Dec 2012

Download: 1658kbps, Upload: 372kbps
Ping 90ms


Hmmm...

Centos Linux and 7z

Files with the extension of .7z indicates its a 7-zip compressed files in unicode format. To access files within the 7z, you will need to uncompress or extract the 7z file. By default, compression uses LZMA or Lempel–Ziv–Markov chain algorithm, which is an algorithm used to perform lossless data compression.

The program used to access 7z files;

1. Windows: 7-zip
2. Centos Linux: p7zip

Main differences of 7z and tar, is that 7z is meant to be more portable. This includes dropping of the user/group permission of files. I will demonstrate based on Centos 6.

A. Creating a 7z file
Step 1: Installing p7zip
yum install p7zip

Step 2: Compress files in directory named "examples" into the file myfiles.7z
7za a myfiles.7z

Step 3: List files within myfiles.7z
7za l myfiles.7z

Example output as below (note - no user/group info)

7-Zip (A) [64] 9.20  Copyright (c) 1999-2010 Igor Pavlov  2010-11-18
p7zip Version 9.20 (locale=en_US.UTF-8,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,4 CPUs)

Listing archive: scripts.7z

--
Path = scripts.7z
Type = 7z
Method = LZMA
Solid = +
Blocks = 1
Physical Size = 4319
Headers Size = 365

   Date      Time    Attr         Size   Compressed  Name
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2012-12-04 09:17:15 ....A          179         3954  examples/svn-auth-users
2012-12-04 09:17:15 ....A           35               examples/tboxmy.sh
2012-12-04 09:17:15 ....A         1004               examples/menusnapshot.sh
2012-12-04 09:17:15 D....            0            0  examples 

------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------

                                  1218         3954  3 files, 1 folders

Optional steps;
Verify 7z file
7za t myfiles.7z


B. Extracting a 7z file

Step 1: Extract to current directory
7za e myfiles.7z

Contributing to Libreoffice

well, Patching of Libreoffice is a commitment from a wide range of users. Below is a response of a contributor on how he contributes. =======
When I work, I frist create a branch out of a point in master (preferably a oen that build nicely :-) ) so nwo I'm on branch 'foo' for example. I code my patch, then I submity it to gerrit via git push origin foo:refs/for/master then I checkout out master again... and keep going... When the review comes and modification to my patch are needed, I checkout out the branch foo again... the I make the modifications and 'amend' the commit (which _is_ the commit I pushed to gerrit) and then push it again using the same command. rince and repeat until the patch is ready... then I let gerrit cherry pick it on top of master.. if ok, then I can delete the foo branch locally if the cherry pick failed because of a conflict... I fetch ./g fetch and then rebase foo : git rebase origin/master (while being on the foo branch) since the cherry pick from gerrit failed, that rebase should exibit some conflict, with I resolve using git mergetool then one can re-push the patch to gerrit, again using the same command as above.. rince and repeat until the cherry pick from gerrit works If one has commit right, then the last phase can be dealt by bringing the patch to master locally and simply pushing to master

Change MySQL database directory

Why do I need to change MySQL database directory or location?

1. Current disk is out of space
2. Current partition is out of space
3. There is a better filesystem to improve disk IO performance.

Steps to do this on Centos 6 with SELinux enforced.

Step 1: Stop MySQL server

Step 2: Create the new directory

A new directory can be created in the new disk or partition.

Step 3: Copy existing database to new location

 mv /var/lib/mysql/* /srv/mysql/

Step 4: Configure MySQL server

Edit /etc/my.cnf with following

datadir=

socket=

[client]

socket=

Save and close the file.

5. Configure SELinux to allow new database

View current settings

setstatus

ls -lZ /var/lib/mysql

ls -lZ

Edit settings with e.g. as /media/server/mysql

semanage fcontext -a -t mysqld_db_t "/media/server/mysql(/.*)?"

OR

chcon -R -t mysqld_db_t /media/server/mysql

restorecon -Rv /media/server/mysql

Check settings are in the config file

grep -i mysql /etc/selinux/targeted/contexts/files/file_contexts.local

6. Start up MySQL

I had to reboot the server and change selinux to permissive for all this to work.

Linux welcome messages

Securing the Linux terminal includes telling users that they may not access the system without authorisation.

Edit following files for this purpose;

1. /etc/motd
2. /etc/issue
3. /etc/issue.net

For items 2 and 3, they only work if you are connected at the terminal or have client server setup. Those using SSH, messages can be set to point to item 3 in the configuration file /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Howto Yii 1, a PHP framework

This framework seemed worth while to test out. Steps to get started is as follows;

Step 1: Install the framework.
From the www.yiiframework.com site, follow the instructions for pre-requisite to install the Yii framework. Typically you will need

1. Apache web browser
2. PHP 5.1 and newer
3. PHP PDO
4. A database

Download Yii-1.1...tar.gz (in tar.gz format) from http://www.yiiframework.com/download/
Extract the tar.gz file to the web folder /var/www/html/yii1

It is also a good point to download the Yii-docs-1.1...tar.gz and extract it to follow its references and tutorials in PDF.

Step 2: Create the skeleton of a new web app.
At the prompt, access the framework's directory /var/www/html/yii1/framework

Type the following:
./yiic webapp ../testdrive

or in windows
yiic webapp ..\testdrive

Open a web browser and access the testdrive application
http://localhost/yii1/testdrive

Step 3: Configure the timezone for the web app.
If an error on the timezone appears, complete following steps

vi /var/www/html/yii1/testdrive/protected/config/main.php

Just before the last line, add the timezone.


'timeZone'=>'Asia/Kuala_Lumpur',
);

Access the testdrive application with the web browser, the error on timezone is gone. It does inform users the following;


You may change the content of this page by modifying the following two files:

View file: C:\Program Files\www\yii1\testdrive\protected\views\site\index.php
Layout file: C:\Program Files\www\yii1\testdrive\protected\views\layouts\main.php



Step 4. Understanding the structure
It is good to know the directories built for the testdrive web application under /var/www/html/yii1/testdrive. From here on, I will refer to the directory /var/www/html/yii1/testdrive as

/index.php
/index-test.php
/assets/  <=Empty
/css/  <=Contains 5 basic CSS files and a bg.gif file
/images/  <=Empty
/protected/  <=This is where your coding goes
/themes/  <=Several directories that is empty

Step 5. The database, mysql
Create a database named yii_testdrive, and load in the SQL from
/protected/data/schema.mysql.sql

By default it has the SQLLITE as its database, edit the file /config/main.php and comment out the following lines


'db'=>array(
'connectionString' => 'sqlite:'.dirname(__FILE__).'/../data/testdrive.db',
),

Uncomment the mysql lines below it and edit the database connection


'db'=>array(
'connectionString' => 'mysql:host=localhost;dbname=yii_testdrive',
'emulatePrepare' => true,
'username' => 'root',
'password' => '',
'charset' => 'utf8',
),



Step 6. Generating the pages based on the database

Uncomment the GII web-based code generator and change the default password to MyPassword


'gii'=>array(
'class'=>'system.gii.GiiModule',
'password'=>'MyPassword',
// If removed, Gii defaults to localhost only. Edit carefully to taste.
'ipFilters'=>array('127.0.0.1','::1'),
),



Open a web browser and point to the gii resource
 http://localhost/yii1/testdrive/index.php?r=gii

A login page appears, type the password as
MyPassword

You are then presented with the following to auto generate codes based on your database.

1. Controller Generator
2. Crud Generator
3. Form Generator
4. Model Generator
5. Module Generator

Thats all for now...will continue when time permits.

Howto Install OpenSIS on Centos 6

Step 1: Retrieve the package
Download from http://sourceforge.net/projects/opensis-ce/files/latest/download
Extract opensis-ce to /vcar/www/html

Step 2: Launch web installer
Start mysqld and httpd (apache web server). Open a web browser and point to the address

http:///opensis-ce/install

Follow onscreen instructions to install database and sample database.

Installing Plone 4 on Centos 6

Plone 4 is based on Python and Zope and provides its own little database.

Installation on Centos 6.3 was pretty straight forward in the standalone mode. Alternative, mode is as ZEO Cluster or a single running instance.

Step 1: Download the Unified installer (comes with Python and Zope) for Plone.

Download from Plone.org (https://launchpad.net/plone/4.2/4.2.1/+download/Plone-4.2.1-UnifiedInstaller.tgz) with a file size of approx 50MB.

See http://plone.org/products/plone/releases/4.2.1

Step 2: Install dependency files.
Most of these are already installed if Centos was installed with the development tools.
Add the RPMForge repo;

wget http://pkgs.repoforge.org/rpmforge-release/rpmforge-release-0.5.2-2.el6.rf.i686.rpm
rpm -ivh rpmforge-release-0.5.2-2.el6.rf.i686.rpm

yum install gcc gcc-g++ make tar bzip2 gzip
yum install readline libgsf
yum install wv

If there is problem with the wv package, download wv from EPEL or http://wvware.sourceforge.net and install with RPM.

rpm -ivh wv-1.2.7-2.el6.i686.rpm


Step 3: Extract & Install Plone
Enter the directory with the UnifiedInstaller (Download directory).

tar zxvf Plone-4.2.1-UnifiedInstaller.tar.gz
cd plone-4.2.1
./install.sh standalone
cd /usr/local/Plone/zinstance

Identify which port (default 8080) will be used for Plone. If needed, change the port then apply changes by typing

bin/buildout

Step 4: Start/Stop Plone
The Plone server can be started or stop with following command (replace the word start)

/usr/local/Plone/zinstance/bin/plonectl start

Step 5: Access Plone
Open a web browser (e.g. Firefox, Chrome) and enter following URL address;

http://localhost:8080

Default password is found in the file /usr/local/Plone/zinstance/adminPassword.txt

Create a Plone instance, then read the instructions at the main page of the Plone instance.

Additional notes:
Install following packages;

• Openoffice.org or libreoffice (headless) for better document conversion
• msttcorefonts for better formatting compatibility, see previous post. 

References: http://plone.org/documentation/manual/installing-plone/installing-on-linux-unix-bsd/referencemanual-all-pages

PostgreSQL 9.2 improves

Latest PostgreSQL will support 64 cores, or 3x its current capability. Transactions per second increased to about 350,000 is over 4x its current speed.

Not bad for OPEN SOURCE!

see
http://www.databasejournal.com/features/postgresql/postgresql-9-2-open-source-database.html

Howto install Alfresco 4, the Community edition on Centos 6

Alfresco provides some very interesting functions. This includes support for networking with CIFS, WebDav and IMAP.

See https://www.alfresco.com/products/platform

Check following have been done.

1. Linux must be 64bit. Why? they only provided Alfresco for Linux on 64 bits, thats why.
2. Install LibreOffice (yum install libreoffice libreoffice-headless), version 3.4.5.2 was installed
3. Install MySQL (yum install mysql-server), in my case version 5.1.61 was installed.

Following are steps that I have taken to install Alfresco 4 on Centos 6.

Step 1. Create the database
At the CLI, login to MySQL and create database named "alfresco"

# mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE alfresco;
\q

Step 2. Start LibreOffice as headless

soffice "-accept=socket,host=localhost,port=8100;urp;StarOffice.ServiceManager" \
 -nologo -headless



Step 3. Get the software and install

Download from http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Download_and_Install_Alfresco
Double click on the file alfresco-community....bin and follow the onscreen instructions.

I choose the "Easy" method, and included the "Share"

Alternatively, installation can be done at the Linux CLI, just switch to root user, go to the directory where the file was downloaded and type
# ./alfresco-community-4.0.x-installer-linux-x64.bin ---mode text

Step 4. Start Alfresco, based on the Tomcat server port of 8080.

Alfresco started automatically, but is needed, got the the /opt/alfresco folder and type
alfresco.sh start

Access the application with a web browser and the following URLs/

http://localhost:8080/alfresco

and http://localhost:8080/share

References:
http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Download_and_install_Alfresco_in_Linux
http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/05/alfresco-installation-guide-for-linux/

Howto add menu to Gnome

Centos 6.3 defaults with the Gnome desktop. After installing / creating a custom application, how do you add it to the start menu?

Answer: Install alacarte

Step 1: Install Alacarte

# yum install alacarte

Step 2: Add the new program as a menu item.

Click System ->Preferences ->Main Menu
Choose the menu and add the new item.

Kubuntu - USB disk does not mount

Followup from the Kubuntu 10.04 installation, for those who have opted to stay on with Kubuntu 10.04, mounting of USB disk is done manually or alternatively, install usbmount.

Using the Package Manager or at the command line, install the following packages

1. usbmount
2. pmount

Additionally, if you have NTFS (windows default file system, install the following package

1. ntfs-3g

Logout, then log back in and plug-in the USB disk (or thumb drive). Dolphin should pop up saying it detected the disk. The USB disk are mounted by default in the /media folder with the name of the partition.

Stop 114a

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Internet_Blackout_Day_%282012%29

Direct Apache access to SSL ports

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) provides an encrypted network connection and is seen to use the HTTPS protocol in the URL. To ensure that the web server only servers HTTPS, the following needs to be enabled before the HTTPS VirtualHost tag.



RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}:443%{REQUEST_URI}

What it means? turn off https if its https, then change the url to always use https.

Actually, you can put a lot more between the VirtualHost tag. E.g. choice of error pages to server and limiting which domain/IP address that can access the contents.

Screen capture your Android phone

On the Xperia X10i with Android 2.3, and most other Android phones, you can screen capture for purpose of troubleshooting, development, presentation and article writing. Here is listed the instructions on MS Windows 7.

Step 1: Install the Android SDK.

Step 2: Switch the X10i debug.
Click "left" button, choose "Settings" ->"Applications" ->"Development".

Click to Check "USB Debugging".

Step 3: Plug USB cable between X10i and PC.
If asked to charge, choose that option.

Step 4: On the PC, start the Dalvik Debug Monitor (DDMS)
Click the Windows "Start" button, and type following and press "Enter" key.

cmd

Switch to the android directory and type following and press "Enter" key.

tools\ddms.bat

Ensure that you choose your phone from the left list. In my case its written as "XXX [SonyEricsson:X10i]". From the top menu of DDMS, click "Device" ->"Screen capture..."

Step 5: Capture the screen on the Android device (X10i)

On the X10i, select the screen to be captured (or saved).

Then on the PC, the DDMS should show the same screen as the Android, click "Copy". Start the graphics software such as GIMP or MS Paint and "paste" the screen capture. Save as the filename of your choice.

I have not used the "Save" button on DDMS, so I can't say where it saves to.