Linux

Linux installation, administration, configuration related articles

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| 3 min read
The command "setfacl" refers to Set File Access Control Lists and "getfacl" refers to Get File Access Control List. Each file and directory in a Linux filesystem is created with a specific set of file permissions for its access. Each user can have different set of file access permissions. The permissions can be set using the setfacl utility. In order to know the access permissions of a file or directory we use getfacl. The getfacl command displays the access permissions of files and directories with file name, owner, group and the ACL's(Access Control List). When we create a directory it is created with a default set of access permissions and by using getfacl we will be able to see the access rights.
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| 6 min read
There are a few common performance mistake that are commonly found in most Drupal sites. Here are the list of the Top 10 Performance Mistakes in Drupal that can easily be addressed by a simple change in settings or the addition of a module. The easiest way to solve performance problems in Drupal would be to prevent them in the first place. Contact us for a free consultation on how to build your Drupal website right.
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| 5 min read
”rsync” is an open source utility in Linux/Unix primarily used for synchronising files/directories over the networks. You can also use it to backup/copy folders between machines. It is particularly made use of to while administering servers connected to the internet. The term “rsync” itself refers to “remote-synchronise”.
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| 3 min read
Most of us must be familiar with the names 'dig' and 'whois'. If not, these are two commands used to find the details of domains. You just have to type in dig domainname or whois domainname to get a comprehensive set of info on the domain. What if you have not just one or two domains to check about. How about a 1000 domains and you want to know the details of each?
Zyxware default image1
| 4 min read
Zyxware is happy to announce the arrival of the latest release of Ubuntu - version 11.04, code named Natty Narwhal. The ISO images of this new release are now available on request from our CD shop and ready to be shipped throughout India. The new release introduces a radical new shift from previous versions of Ubuntu with the inclusion of the new Unity interface replacing the previous time tested Gnome Desktop Environment. Some other notable changes in the new release are the inclusion of Libre Office and Firefox 4. For more info on the other notable changes available in the new Ubuntu, please check out changes. You can order the Ubuntu 11.04 | Natty Narwhal CD through our Request CD Program.
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| 3 min read
If you install sendmail on your desktop and have not configured your system correctly you will very likely come across this problem. Ubuntu boot up slows down considerably and stops for a long time at the "Starting Mail Transport Agent (MTA) sendmail" line. This is because sendmail is trying to resolve your host and times out failing to do so. You can fix this problem easily by making a few changes in to yours hosts file.
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| 2 min read
Rar used to be a favorite compression format when the compressed files were to be split into multiple pieces to fit into legacy external storage devices like Floppy, Zip disk, CD etc. WinRAR is a popular GUI application that can rar and unrar files in the rar format. If however you come across rar files that are split into multiple parts then you can extract and combine them as follows
Zyxware default image1
| 2 min read
Setting up Malayalam on Ubuntu or for that matter any other GNU/Linux distribution like Fedora, Mandriva has been progressively getting easier thanks to the wonderful effort of the free software community going by the name "Swathanthra Malayalam Computing" or SMC in short. Most of the patches and tweaks have gone upstream to the OS trunks and most distros are already Malayalam capable. A few minor tweaks are required to set up reading and writing in Malayalam in the latest version of Ubuntu 8.10 - Intrepid Ibex
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| 4 min read
We recently had to install GNU/Linux on 40 computers at the regional Police Training College(PTC), Trivandrum. This was part of a Free Software Training Program that PTC is conducting currently for police personnel in Kerala. Zyxware was proudly part of this initiative both in training and in setting up GNU/Linux GNU/Linux on all 40 computers in the training lab. We had also prepared Linux Mint cds to be given to the trainees given their non-technical backgrounds.
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| 4 min read
Recently we had to provide support on a Red Hat Server where there were hundreds of users and the user directories organized into hierarchies. Normally we change to a users directory using cd ~username. We had some extra time on our hands and wanted to play with the /etc/passwd file and tried to use awk to do the same thing. The following one liner will do this the hard way :-)
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| 3 min read
If you use GNU/Linux as your development environment then you inevitably has to use the find command at some point of time. A very common need while developing web applications is to search for the occurrences of a given string in files, very often with different extensions, under a given project. The command 'find' is a very powerful search utility that can be wielded according to our convenience and can be used in this scenario.
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| 3 min read
Debian is a computer operating system composed entirely of free and open source software. The primary form, Debian GNU/Linux, is a popular and influential Linux distribution. An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your computer run. Debian uses the Linux kernel (the core of an operating system), but most of the basic OS tools come from the GNU project; hence the name GNU/Linux. (Source www.debian.org) . Debian is known for strict adherence to the Unix and free software philosophies as well as using open development and testing processes. Debian can be used as a desktop as well as server operating system.
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| 3 min read
If you have noticed a drastic slowdown in your DSL internet connection after you upgraded to Ubuntu Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04) then it might not be that your ISP is entirely to blame. It could be settings on your PC that is slowing things down. We had a problem in our office where Ubuntu PCs were getting only around 80Kbps as opposed to 2Mbps from Windows machines. After troubleshooting and playing with some configuration parameters we got the Ubuntu Machines up to the same level as the Windows PCs
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| 3 min read
After a long 3 months since the release of Ubuntu Hardy heron, we have managed to download the complete Ubuntu Repository for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. The full set of Ubuntu Repository DVDs (set of 5 DVDs) is now available and you can order it through our RequestCD Program. If you get the complete Ubuntu Repository on DVDs you do not have to have an internet connection to install any package that is normally available through Synaptic Package Manager.
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| 2 min read
Matrix Screensaver is a very popular screensaver based on the digital rain shots (moving text) in the blockbuster movie trilogy - The Matrix. This is available as a screensaver in popular GNU Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora and Debian with their default installations. But the default Matrix Screensaver that comes with these distributions contains only falling English alphabets. Now Santhosh Thottingal of SMC (Swathanthra Malayalam Computing) has modified this for Indic scripts and has made it available for everybody.
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| 3 min read
One of our customers recently brought an Acer Aspire 3002NLC Laptop to install Ubuntu and to configure the laptop as a Samba server for his home networking. There was one more thing that he wanted to us to configure - that was internet through the Reliance Datacard. The card provided was ZTE MC315. Installing Ubuntu and configuring the rest of the applications were easy but the reliance datacard installation took some time. But once we figured it out, the steps involved were very simple.
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| 3 min read
The much awaited Long Term Support (LTS) version of Ubuntu - version 8.04 codenamed Hardy Heron was released on April 24th. We now have the CDs and DVDs for the different flavors of Ubuntu 8.04 available at Zyxware. You can drop by our office to write a copy for yourselves or you can use the RequestCD Service to order the CDs and DVDs online.
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| 2 min read
Ubuntu can be installed on a USB flash thumb drive and such a drive can be used just like a Live Ubuntu CD except that it would be faster and that you can save changes back into the pen drive. The process is easy but you can save yourself the hassle of doing that order for yourselves a fully working Ubuntu Live USB Pen Drive from us.