As a Linux/Unix server administrator I ran into an occasion where I had to automate the file transfer via ftp to a remote server. I had to create a shell script to automatically login to the remote ftp server and then upload the file. I then schedule this script to run daily through a...
Read more »
How to automate ftp login and file transfer
Auditing the cron jobs scheduled on the Unix or Linux server.
I have recently taken ownership of a Solaris 5.9 server and am in the process of migrating the applications over to a recent release. I decided to audit the applications and configuration of all the apps installed. One of the very long list of items I needed to figure out is the cron job,i.e....
Read more »
Google maps street view car in Toronto, Ontario
I was on my way to work this morning driving west on the 407 in Richmond Hill. As I got towards Leslie Avenue, a mid size green coloured card speed down the ramp from Leslie onto the 407. The car cut across 3 lanes and ended up direclty in front of me. It was...
Read more »
How to backup and compress a folder in one step, using tar and gzip.
If disk space is limited on your Linux or Unix server and you wish to backup a folder or file that is larger than the available free space. Then creating a compressed archive in one step may be the only option, not to mention that it is also faster. tar cf – folder_name |...
Read more »
How to change Red Hat Linux to boot to command line mode from Gnome.
Changing the default runlevel of the Red Hat Linux server can switch the bootup from Gnome to command line mode. You can make the changes consitent by editing the /etc/inittab file. Change the line id:5:initdefault: to id:3:initdefault: The number 5 specifies the graphical login mode. Changing this value to 3 will boot the system...
Read more »
How to upgrade or downgrade ScreenOS using either the WebUI or CLI
I tried uploading the Juniper 5GT screenOS file name ns5gt.6.2.0r2.0 via the WebUI interface. But it kept failing with the error message “File too big or empty”. I then had to upgrade the screenOS or firmware through the command line interface of CLI. I downloaded the TFTP server for Windows from Solar Winds, it...
Read more »
Gnome desktop will not start via the Red hat Linux server console.
I received an error when loggin onto the Gnome desktop via the server console. The server is running Red Hat Enterprise Linux ver 4. I’m able to logon to the server via the command line without any issue. All services were started and in working order. Below is the error message. Your session only...
Read more »
How to install and initialize telnet on Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Fedora Core Linux.
Telnet is a very old communication protocol, it is not secure because the password authentication is transmitted in clear text. SSH is a secure protocol and is the replacement for telnet. Red Hat recommends that you use SSH to connect to the server, which is why Telnet is disabled by default. This is why...
Read more »
How to create a new logical volume in Red Hat Enterprise 5 Linux.
(1) Click on System – Administration – Logical Volume Manager. (2) Expand Uninitilized Entities on the left window by clicking on the arrow next to it. You will now see the available physical disk partitions if there is any. For example /dev/sda or /dev/sdb, sda and sdb are two physical disk drives. (3) Display...
Read more »
How to change the shell in Linux or Unix.
Linux and Unix have a vairety of shells. A shell is a program that provides the text interface, it reads the interactive or non interactive commands, interprets and executes the instructions. Depending on your version of Linux or Unix, a number of shells may be available. The default shell for Linux is bash. Here...
Read more »
Errors regarding libXp.so.6 in linux
I received errors regarding libXp.so.6 launching the Fame 9.3 release 3 on Redhat Enterprise Linux 5. Error while loading shared library libXp.so.6 Cannot open shared object file. No such file or directory. This error occurs because the library libXp.so.6 is not installed. This occurs on newer Red Hat based distributions where libXp.so.6 has become...
Read more »
TOP and TOPAZ are Unix, Linux and AIX utilities that provides real time display of top cpu using processes.
As a server/systems administrator you will find the TOP utility very useful to determine top cpu using processes. TOP is the utility for Linux and most Unix operating systems. IBM Aix has it’s own version which does the same job, it is called Topaz. Top can be download from unixtop.org, the documentation are also...
Read more »
How to remove the Windows Genuine Advantage Notification.
I ran the windows update on my XP computer, it downloaded and installed KB905474. This instaled the Windows Genuine Advantage Notification on my Windows XP computer. Now eveyrtime after I reboot my computer the warning message keeps popping up in my screen asking me to check my license registration on line. I know I...
Read more »
Determine the disk usage of a file system in Linux or Unix.
As a server administrator you will find that the df commad is very useful to find out the disk usage of a file system in Unix or Linux. Depending on the variant of Linux or Unix, the df command also may/not display the usage of all mounted folders. Below are some examples. df Filesystem...
Read more »
How to determine the folder size in Unix or Linux.
The du command displays disk usage for each file or folder. You can use this command to find the size of a folder in Unix or Linux. Below are some examples. du -s /home/andrew 19112204 /home/andrew The above command displays the size of the folder /home/andrew. The option -s displays a summarized size, or...
Read more »