We just upgraded a production asterisk VoIP system that had been in service for several years, running on Ubuntu server 9.04 and asterisk 1.4 to a new debian squeeze install, which brings a long asterisk 1.6. The reason was to get back to an OS that could be maintained and updated again, since Unbuntu 9.04 is out of support now. There were one or two bumps in the road along the upgrade path – especially the subject line read more>>
December 31, 2011
November 1, 2011
dpkg: error processing mysql-server-5.1
We experienced this unexpected error setting up a new MySQL server. The server was a xen virtual machine, and the solution was not what you might expect! Here’s what we found: We recently had to set up a replacement MySQL server for a client on an existing xen virtual server, to replace an old and very full MySQL installation. For starters we created a brand new domU using the following: xen-create-image --hostname myhostname read more>>
October 23, 2011
Failed HDD Data Recovery
A recent client was using a single box to do quite a bit of work in a busy small business. The system had a well-managed 4-disk raid array, and ran half a dozen xen virtual machines. A separate small HD carried the OS (Ubuntu Server headless), a small intranet LAMP server, and some configuration data. The whole machine starting freezing intermittently, and so we took a look. Read on for what transpired… At this stage the source of the read more>>
July 24, 2011
Migrate MySQL database from windows to linux
mysqldump is a quick and robust way to move reasonably-sized databases from one MySQL server to another, and in my experience works fine under certain conditions, but moving from windows to linux can be a problem due to case sensitivity. (more…)
May 18, 2011
Cut your email inbox down to size!
How to eliminate all those SysAdmin Log Emails
If you have to administer production servers, your inbox probably fills up fast with emailed log reports, and you may struggle to review logs in a timely fashion. Here’s a way to clean up your inbox and keep current with your log reviews, while doing some recycling!
Hint: dust off that old laptop you never got round to listing on Ebay! (more…)
May 11, 2011
Open source Canadian Payroll library for Java
This is a Java wrapper for the Canadian Payroll python library available from http://cdnpayroll.gemlog.ca/ . It requires this library to be available on the CLASSPATH or system PATH. This library also depends on Douglas Crockford’s JSON library for Java, available from https://github.com/douglascrockford/JSON-java . API To use this library, a calling program must create a CdnPayrollInput object, and supply (at least) a salary, pay read more>>
April 25, 2011
Windows XP guest on Virtual Box BSOD
Virtual Box is a great virtualization tool and recent versions provide excellent support for running headless on a production server. But moving an XP virtual box guest instance to another server can cause problems booting the instance. I recently had to relocate a highly customized Windows XP guest to a new Virtual Box server for a client. On first boot I got a BSOD flash up for a fraction of a second – not long enough to read anything read more>>
March 8, 2011
Employee Time and Attendance Software
Guest Article by Greg Covey When it comes to tools to add to your business, there are many choices that are available but having an employee time and attendance software will save you money. Yes if you have employees that work by the hour, then it is important that you keep up with their time and attendance accurately. It is almost impossible to keep up with time and attendance by hand unless that is all you have to do and that is why we read more>>
February 26, 2011
Small Business Dashboard (Nagios)
Time, hands and thoughtful eyes are always in short supply in the typical small business environment, so it makes sense to automate what you can, and work on the rest. Just imagine if you could have an auto-pilot to let you know when things like these need your attention: Count of sales calls by rep Customer activity Sales funnel performance Support call backlog Here’s a way to put together a dashboard to monitor everything from soup read more>>
February 19, 2011
Tunnel MySQL over VTun (How To)
Accessing MySQL securely over untrusted networks can be tricky to configure and needs care for obvious reasons. I recently set this up for a client, and here’s a brief how to of what I did. Assumptions: Some flavour of debian is running at both at both ends (but with some changes this should be usable on your preferred OS) You have root access at both ends MySQL is installed and working for local connections at the server read more>>
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