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Time for time

Windows PC’s in a workgroup can use MS time servers. In an AD environment though they only use the AD server automatically. So the AD server must have legit time. And there’s no obvious way to set time there either.

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:”address.of.ntp” /syncfromflags:manual /reliable:yes /update

Props here.

Now for your Linux systems you’ll need ntp.

  • yum install ntp
  • echo ‘server address.of.ntp’ > /etc/ntpd.conf
  • echo ’30 * * * * root /usr/sbin/ntpd -q -u ntp:ntp’ > /etc/cron.d/ntpd
  • service ntpd start

For ESXi, go to the host’s configuration page in vclient for the host, then select ‘Time Configuration’ from the ‘Software’ item group and configure as necessary.

That is all.

2012 01 24 admin IT Comments (0) Permalink

OpenLDAP 2.4 config

The folks running openldap made some radical changes in how the backend conf is setup starting in 2.3, and now set as default in 2.4. The configuration and longevity of Centos 5 meant that a typical installation didn’t see that change as the Centos 5 packages iirc were still 2.2, and in any case still provided the  legacy /etc/openldap/slapd.conf file in lieu of the cn=config data structure.

While the specifications for the structure, and the parameters are very well documented, it’s a high-level abstract, and no actual implementation guides are directly given. That’s what this HOWTO note aims to address.

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2012 01 06 admin IT Comments (0) Permalink

Dagum Hippies

Java on Linux: OpenJDK does not work for production use, full stop.

Least-painful method for Centos 6.x from here:

  1. Install system + updates
  2. wget rpm bin from Mr. Ellison’s cookie jar
  3. Magic sauce is this:

/usr/sbin/alternatives –install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/default/bin/java 20000

You can even do this after a tomcat6 install. Though you might have to do #3 afterwards anyways if OpenJDK is rolled in the deps from yum install tomcat6.

Also, to find what package you actually need, this can be helpful:

yum list available | grep package

2011 12 12 admin IT Comments (0) Permalink

WebDav for Windows

Another can’t believe nobody’s had this particular problem before. Anyways, lots of notes consolidated.

Windows (XP and newer) insists on Digest Auth for DAV even with SSL. httpd can not do digest if you’re delegating auth to a module, eg mod_ldap.

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters\BasicAuthLevel=1

Windows also caps file size at 50MB.

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters\FileSizeLimitInBytes=0xffffffff

Win7 Robocopy adds /MT:xx switch for multi-threading.

2011 10 27 admin IT Comments (0) Permalink

Cause sticky notes don’t work

Cloud backed sticky notes that are taggable and cross platform and AES-256 encrypted. Todo. Meanwhile…

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2011 10 27 admin IT Comments (0) Permalink

Ides of March, p1

The title was appropriate when drafted, as it is now subjected to the fluidity of a dynamic calendar, it shall stay. The gross negligence of the journalism profession is categorically well-documented, so to say that any one particular incident is the proverbial tipping point is rather unnecessary. So rather than castigate them further than their systemic ineptitude is so richly deserving of, I would prefer instead to point out more pressing issues indirectly raised in wake of their obfuscation.

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2011 03 22 admin Mud box Comments Off on Ides of March, p1 Permalink

Srs Bzns Lawlz

Yes we have no bananas. When queried about recently inexcusable logistics issues, the vendor in question replied with “yes yes they will be there soon”. As a result much drama ensued, and the broader hierarchy has yet to acknowledge culpability in triggering the subsequent fail-cascade.

Similarly, a major enterprise in the process of engaging an arch-rival in a target-leveraged merger used that occasion to liquidate all their existing partner networks that enabled customer usage by the principal party, and announced a ‘new strategic venture’ with all the same partners to take effect after a lengthy hiatus with a net effect of severely impacting customers’ ability to generate revenue for the innovators.

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2010 12 15 admin IT Comments Off on Srs Bzns Lawlz Permalink

Found Newman

I loath drama. Lawlz is fine, drama is not fine. It’s either annoying or stupid or arrogant or all of the above. Obsessing over dramas is also annoying. However, this one exception is most definitely worth it. The Lost finale has an interesting portrayal frankly far better and more poignant than most anything else out there. You can skip through the whole series, and most of the finale, all you need is about the last 45 minutes or so. It gives probably one of the best nutshells to ponder on where and why q’s to life, but the cross/back-flashes remind you to ponder what now really is.

The “why are you here” – “better question why are you here” could very well be a lot closer to the way it works than we may give it credit. At least it tracks with the notion of a persistent consciousness. There’s an intrinsic assumption, that based on a finite now, then must be a discretely different, with a distinct cognitive state change. If the cognitive state though is (for all intents) formed at whatever point into a static state, then the assumption is that the sensory mechanisms are what vary. Of course those are highly contextual as well. A tangent here: at least at shuttle orbital elevations, actual gravity is not massively reduced, instead the ‘true’ context is one of inertial equilibrium in a reduced friction environment. Returned to the philosophical realm, do we have a methodology for logical evaluation of our sensory limitations?

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2010 05 23 admin Soap box Comments (0) Permalink

Virtual poasting

Management industry-wide will from time to time acknowledge the lack of recognition of the efforts of IT – eg nobody notices when things work, only when they don’t work – but more seldomly do they acknowledge the hidden costs of operations. This leads to screwy virtual and real accounting within IT, and a mindset bordering on irrationality. The naivety of the of the open-source anarcho-advocates have unfortunately exacerbated that by creating a critical mass of thinking of “assets without investment”. This is hubris and miscommunication, but the opposing parties tend to be so intractable, irrational, and ignorant as to make arguing it both volatile and futile. But I digress…

Small businesses are among those at the highest risk and likelihood from the DR ‘coffin corner’, eg the confluence where loss of resources and expense of investment combine into a double-negative penalty. There’s a number of different ways that this can be accomplished, but here’s some basic points for reference.

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2010 05 21 admin IT Comments (0) Permalink

Add new title here

“Yeah, updates would be nice. Sure-sure.” lulz.

What I can do is make this a running journal of fixing the impossible on whatever subject.

Update the First is how to rock your way through the stone age with an Avaya Merlin Magix PBX. “Call us and we’ll set it up remotely” they say. Should have been obvious (how does one remote into a PBX not yet provisioned?).

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2010 05 20 admin IT Comments (0) Permalink