Managing Firefox Sidetab

In the recent upgrade to Firefox version 32.xxx, the sidetab bar appeared when using the Delicious bookmarks addon. Steps shown are for disabling and enabling display of the sidebar.

So whats a sidebar? Its just displays and application/addon in a column next to the web pages being viewed. Delicious and Facebook are example of addon that uses Sidebars.

Disable the sidebar

Step 1. Disable sidebar
At the top of the sidebar, click on the gear.
Uncheck the "Show sidebar".
Done

Enable sidebar
Step 1. Add Sidebar item to the Firefox menu.
Click on the Firefox menu, choose "Customize"

In the Additional Tools and Features window, drag "Sidebars" icon to the menu. Click "Exit Customize"

Step 2. Turn on Sidebar.
Click on Firefox menu, choose Sidebars.

Click on the Application available for Sidebars. In this case its the Delicious bookmarks.

Done.

Linux security checklist

The Anonymous is announcing an attack on www.malaysia.gov.my, which is a central portal to reach all other Malaysian Government portals. This is reported by F-Secure Corporation and theStar, 14 Jun 2011. Makes you wonder why Anonymous would want to do that.

Follow up from my previous post, I realise that many Linux Admins out there do not have a Security Checklist for their web application. I am sharing the following checklist here as it provides a standard security consideration for almost all web application on Linux or LAMP stack. It is by no means the only security guide, please apply all other security concerns specific to your needs and you can then sleep better at night.

Check List for Web Application (deployment)

Category	Item	Notes
Logins
A.1	Operating system -Administrator password is secured and recorded as only accessible by ONE administrator -All login's are done as normal user -Normal users with access to Administrator priviledges are recorded. Access should be via SUDO. -All logins are recorded
A.2	Application -All users to have secured logins -Administrator logins are assigned to specific individuals and listed -Web based self registered user must have email and spam prevention facilities -Lock down on Web server's user/application access -Default access and password for all administrator applications must be secured. This includes the main application, phpmyadmin, firewall.
A.3	Database -Each application to have a specific user and password access. This user cannot access other databases. -Administrator access is with secured password. Assignment to specific individuals must be recorded.
Services
B.1	Disable unnecassary services -Firewalls must be enabled to restrict external access to only the approved application (via port numbers). -Identify every services running. Disable those not in use. -Remote access must be via encrypted protocols -Disable local email server (e.g. sendmail) from runnin/listening continuously. Or use external email server. -Email servers controlled to allow access to specific application and directories. -Anti-virus if implemented, must have patches and pattern updates kept to the most recent.
B.2	Create a base point of security -A penetration test must be carried out. The type and complexity is based on the specific application. -Establish an integrity check point
B.3	Tell them you do not allow access -Place warning messages to all points of access. E.g. motd and issue.net
B.4	Logging -Log activities to separate files for operating system and application. -Make logs available to a centralised log server.
B.5	Backup -Establish a backup plan. -Implement a backup process
B.6	Create a boot disk and rescue of the Linux
B.7	System updates -Disable the automatic system updates. Updates should be installed only after it is verfied working with the application. -Periodically check with security issues, respective application security notices and update as needed.
Physical
C.1	Physical Access -Ensure only authorised personel can access to the server. -A record of physical access is maintained.
C.2	Storage Media -All storage media is tagged. -Storage location and transportation is secure and recorded.
C.3	Security Policy -Ensure the document is readily available to authorised users.

Checklist for Web Application (Deployment) by Nicholas A. Suppiah is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.blogger.com/profile/06749525177696246387.

Firefox 2 could not display Joomla! popups

The problem
I have just update Firefox (via Ubuntu Gnome update tools). Problem occured when I tried to edit my web content using Joomla 1.0 and the text editor choosen was;
TinyMCE result: The editor menu buttons dont appear at all
JoomlaFCK result: The pop up box for links, anchor, insert image and others appear blank

In previous Firefox 2.0.0.12, things look fine for TinyMCE and JoomlaFCK editor.

I am using Firefox 2.0.0.13 on Ubuntu 7.10:
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1.13) Gecko/20080325 Ubuntu/7.10 (gutsy) Firefox/2.0.0.13

Solution
Upgrade to Firefox 2.0.0.14 or newer. Firefox 3 at the moment is still in beta, so I decided to give it a pass for now.

PHP commands to connect with MySQL

PHP and MySQL class just end over a 3 day duration. The syllabus covers the basic PHP command structures. This included variable usage, loops, conditional, user defined functions, pre-defined functions and database connectivity. A quick way to learn connectivity with MySQL is to already be familiar with SQL and relational database.

What is there to know about the database? I have a checklist below for learners to use

1. Database
1. Creating
2. Deleting
3. Selecting/Using a database
2. Field types and their use
1. Numerical - int, float
2. Strings - char, varchar, text
3. Time - date, timestamp
   
3. Tables
1. Creating
2. Deleting
3. Altering tables
4. Records
1. Inserting records
2. Deleting records
3. Editing records
4. Retrieving records

Once the SQL syntax is known, the next step is to use PHP to execute the SQL commands on the MySQL database server. Among the basic commands that can be use is listed below:

1. mysql_connect( ) - Open connection to a MySQL database server
1. Description: returns FALSE if fail
   resource mysql_connect ([ string $server [, string $username [, string $password [, bool $new_link [, int $client_flags ]]]]] )
2. mysql_query( ) - Send SQL commands to MySQL database server
   
1. Description: returns FALSE on error
   resource mysql_query ( string $query [, resource $link_identifier ] )
   
3. mysql_select_db( ) - Determine which database name to use on the MySQL database server
   
1. Description: returns TRUE or FALSE
   bool mysql_select_db ( string $database_name [, resource $link_identifier ] )
   
4. mysql_fetch_array( ) - Retrieve a record as an array
   
1. Description: returns FALSE if no more records
   array mysql_fetch_array ( resource $result [, int $result_type ] )
   
5. mysql_close( ) - Close a MySQL database connection
1. Description: returns TRUE of FALSE
   bool mysql_close ([ resource $link_identifier ] )

That is all for now. I will write more in coming postings on PHP use with MySQL.