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Archive for April, 2010

Configuring LAMP on Ubuntu

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

LAMP is an acronym that defines a group of applications to provide basic web services. Those services are Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP. There are variants for Windows (WAMP), MacOS (MAMP) and Solaris (SAMP), along with a variety of instructions on how to install them. Any *AMP platform will allow you to run programs such as WordPress, phpBB, Joomla and many other applications like these.

So what really makes up LAMP?

Linux – Typically, any distribution will work. This article will focus on setting up the “AMP” portion of LAMP and assumes you already have Ubuntu up and running and thus have no need for the “L”.

Apache – Apache is one of the more common, if not most common, web servers on the Internet. The software is open source and maintained by the Apache Foundation. You could use other web server applications, but then that would not be LAMP.

MySQL – MySQL is a very powerful Open Source database server. It is owned and maintained by MySQL AB, which is owned by Sun Microsystems, which is now a subsidiary of Oracle.

PHP – PHP is a scripting language that helps to drive many of the web applications we all use. It provides for the ability to create logic and dynamic content in your web pages. It’s relatively easy to learn and a plethora of books exist that can teach you the basics quickly.

That’s the back story, let’s get to the install…

Tags: Apache, LAMP, Linux, MySQL, PHP, Ubuntu
Posted in System Administration, Ubuntu | 1 Comment »

Windows – Black Login Screen

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

Last night, we were patching our Windows Servers and had some strange behavior on one of the servers. The server would boot up fine, but when you arrived at the log in screen most of the screen was black. The cursor was visible, but foreground and background of text and field names were all black. Many attempts were made to log in and they all failed. The Event log on the server did not provide any clues as to what was causing the problem.

At first, I suspected the hard drive was full. Servers with IIS seem to be somewhat notorious for this happening if they are not watched closely. In this case, the server runs an application that uses IIS for management and client application connectivity. Since the server was on the network, I was able to connect to the local hard drive and cleaned up several GB of IIS and Application logs. I rebooted the server, fully expecting the issue to be gone. No luck there.

When all else fails, Google is your friend…

Tags: Black, Colors, Default, KB906510, Login, Microsoft, Support, Windows
Posted in System Administration, Windows | No Comments »

Ubuntu File Maintenance

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

Windows users frequently need to perform maintenance on their systems in order to ensure disk space is reclaimed. These tasks usually involve tasks like, deleting temporary files, removing uninstallers, clearing cache files, defragmenting, etc… While Ubuntu has many of these functions built in, or doesn’t cause them in the first place, it is sometimes necessary to do a little maintenance to clean things up.

I have dug up a few tasks that generally amount to clean up tasks in Ubuntu. It is worth noting that, unlike Windows, Ubuntu’s file system should not need to be defragmented. I have heard of a few tools that do something like defragmentation, but the general consensus is that you don’t need them.

Most of the cleanup that needs to be manually done revolves around the removal of old programs and the installer (aptitude) data. Most of this is kept, by design, so that if needed in the future it will be local instead of downloading the files again. But, if you need the disk space, here are a few cleanup items.

Clean Up Residual Config Packages
Clean Up Partial Packages
Remove Unnecessary Locale Data
Clean Up Orphaned Files
Extra: Clean Up Orphaned Files via Synaptic Package Manager

Whenever I have seen questions around recovering disk space, these are the common responses. Ready? Let’s do it!
Continue Reading…

Tags: deborphan, Disk Space, File Cleanup, Karmic, localepurge, Orphaned, Packages, Partial, Temporary Files, Ubuntu
Posted in System Administration, Ubuntu | 2 Comments »

Microsoft Patches – April 2010

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

It’s time to patch those servers and workstations again. I figured I’d take a preview of how big the workload was going to be. Lots of critical patches released this month. I’m sure I don’t need to get on a soapbox about patching your home computers as well…

Patch #	Affected	Reference KB	Microsoft Rating
Patch #	Affected	Reference KB	Microsoft Rating	MS10-019	Vulnerabilities in Windows Authenticode Verification
Authenticode	KB 981210	Severity: Critical		MS10-019
MS10-020	Vulnerabilities in SMB Client (Replaces MS10-006 )
MS10-020	SMB Client	KB 980232	Severity: Critical
MS10-021	Privilege Elevation Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel (Replaces MS10-015 )
MS10-021	Windows Kernel	KB 979683	Severity: Important
MS10-022	Vulnerability in VBScript Engine
MS10-022	VBScript	KB 981169	Severity: Critical
MS10-023	Vulnerability in Microsoft Office Publisher (Replaces MS08-027 MS09-030 )
MS10-023	Publisher	KB 981160	Severity: Important
MS10-024	DoS Vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange and SMTP Service
MS10-024	Exchange, SMTP Service	KB 981832	Severity: Important
MS10-025	Vulnerability in Micorsoft Windows Media Services
MS10-025	Windows Meida Services	KB 980858	Severity: Critical
MS10-026	Vulnerability in Microsoft MPEG Layer 3 Codec
MS10-026	MPEG Layer 3 Codec	KB 977816	Severity: Critical
MS10-027	Vulnerability in Windows Media Player (Replaces MS07-047 )
MS10-027	Windows Media Player	KB 979402	Severity: Critical
MS10-028	Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Visio (Replaces MS09-062 MS09-005 )
MS10-028	Windows Media Player	KB 980094	Severity: Critical
MS10-029	ISATAP Spoofing Vulnerability
MS10-029	ISATAP	KB 978338	Severity: Moderate

Credit: The SANS Internet Storm Center puts together a reference of the patches every month. I frequent their site for extra details when I am compiling my patch list.

Tags: Microsoft, Patches, Security, Updates
Posted in System Administration, Windows | No Comments »

Fun With Windows – RDP & Passwords

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

After purchasing an iPad, I set up VirtualBox and installed iTunes to do my syncing. The plan was that I would share my music from my Ubuntu box to the Virtual Machine. Two problems immediately presented themselves: I could not charge my iPad and the sync speed was very slow.

So I changed the plan and recycled an old computer and installed Windows XP. I don’t want to have multiple keyboards and mice on my desk. Nor do I want to have to stop what I’m doing and switch screens should I need to make a change on the XP box. To get around this, I set up Remote Desktop and went back to Ubuntu and tried to log in. The connection was fine, however I received a message “Unable to log you on because of an account restriction.” Specifically, this Microsoft KB covers the details: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303846

The account restriction specifically relates to a security setting in XP that requires accounts using Remote Desktop to have a password. In short: No password, No Access. I’m not one to complain about good security, remote access with no password is a bad idea – regardless of the OS you are using. I switched screens and did the usual CTRL-ALT-DELETE to change the password. Since the computer is not on the domain, I did not get a password change box. The next attempt was to use the Control Panel, since I did not have a mouse connected I was not able to change the password there either. Last stop: Command Prompt! Microsoft includes a great set of command line tools that can be used to replace many of the graphical wizards they provide. In this case the net utility will do the job.

net user <username> <newpassword>

Once my password was reset, I was able to connect my remote desktop, no problems.

Now I need to do Windows Updates, here’s the count as of today:

72 Post Service Pack 2 Updates
Service Pack 3
24 Post Service Pack 3 Updates (including IE8)
3 Post IE Updates

All told, probably about 3 hours of downloading, installing and rebooting. I am now very glad that I don’t have to switch screens to check on it every 20 minutes.

Tags: Account Restriction, Command Line, Microsoft, Password Change, RDP, Remote Desktop, Unable to log you on, Windows, XP
Posted in System Administration, Windows | No Comments »

It Is What It Is

Archive for April, 2010

Configuring LAMP on Ubuntu

Ubuntu File Maintenance

Microsoft Patches – April 2010

Fun With Windows – RDP & Passwords

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