Ikanez's Stash of How-To

Replace String in Unix

2011-12-27T07:14:00.000-08:00

To replace all instances of a string in a directory (subdirectories included) do:

Code:

perl -e "s/FIND/REPLACE/g;" -pi.save $(find path/to/DIRECTORY -type f)

The above will make a backup temp file of your original
If you do not want a temp file with the .save extension then do:

Code:

perl -e "s/FIND/REPLACE/g;" -pi $(find path/to/DIRECTORY -type f)

--------------------
Example:
You want to replace all instances of the word "design" with "dezine" in the directory /public_html/company/info

you can execute the command from document root as

Code:

perl -e "s/design/dezine/g;" -pi.save $(find public_html/company/info -type f)

or you can execute the command from public_html/company/ (a directory above) as:

Code:

perl -e "s/design/dezine/g;" -pi.save $(find info -type f)

------------------------------

The above commands will search all files (.gif, .jpg, .htm, .html, .txt) so you might see some error messages "Can't open *.gif", etc)

Simplified

To search just files of type, .htm without a backup file in the current directory only (no subdirectories) you could use:

Code:

perl -pi -e 's/design/dezine/g' *.htm

Taken from:
http://forums.devshed.com/unix-help-35/unix-find-and-replace-text-within-all-files-within-a-146179.html

Changing Windows Account password using Outlook

2011-12-27T06:35:00.000-08:00

http://theessentialexchange.com/blogs/michael/archive/2007/11/24/changing-user-passwords-with-outlook-2003-2007.aspx.

1) Call the helpdesk - the most likely scenario if you are not in a hosted environment

2) Use the control panel - most Hosted Exchange providers provide a function on a user's control panel enabling the user to change their password, using the functionality in item (3). Most large companies will implement a similar capability for their users. Small companies will likely need to implement item (3) directly or their helpdesk will do it (as in item 1).

3) Enable IISADMPWD - use KB 555071 to enable the use of a web page to allow changing the password of an active directory user.

How to remove the dreaded '^M' character in unix files

2011-11-14T13:18:00.001-08:00

While there are lots of ways to go about solving the issue, two methods that I find to my liking are:

1. Using 'tr'

tr -d '^M' < [input filename] > [output filename]

e.g; tr -d '^M' < opx_LOD_GEN_110_003110000.ini > test3.txt

2. Using vi editor.

:%s/(ctrl-v)(ctrl-m)//g

Simply type in the above in your vi editor to get the desired effect. And note that you have to press 'ctrl' AND 'V' and later 'ctrl' AND 'm'. It's not the same as the '^' and 'M' character.

Both of them worked for me.

Details can be found here:

1) http://www.tech-bits.com/index.php?View=entry&CategoryID=6&EntryID=54

2) http://www.devdaily.com/unix/edu/un010011/

Oracle Locks - ORA00054

2010-05-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

Most of the self-help website outthere would suggest that whenever you encounter the ORA-00054 error message; just go check the tables like DBA_BLOCKERS and the likes to weed out the root cause.

Well for typical users like me, every time I run the command "select * from DBA_BLOCKERS" the only reply I get from the DB would be something like "object does not exist".

Bummer.

That is until I found out that you actually had to run a script for all of those "DBA lock"-related table to be created.

Simply go to $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin directory and run catblock.sql script. And owh yeah - you might need to have admin privileges for this to work.

What does “> /dev/null 2>&1″ mean?

2010-04-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Taken from http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2006/06/06/what-does-devnull-21-mean/

I remember being confused for a very long time about the trailing garbage in commands I saw in Unix systems, especially while watching compilers do their work. Nobody I asked could tell me what the funny greater-thans, ampersands and numbers after the commands meant, and search engines never turned up anything but examples of it being used without explanation. In this article I’ll explain those weird commands.
Here’s an example command:
wibble > /dev/null 2>&1
Output redirection
The greater-thans (>) in commands like these redirect the program’s output somewhere. In this case, something is being redirected into /dev/null, and something is being redirected into &1.
Standard in, out, and error
There are three standard sources of input and output for a program. Standard input usually comes from the keyboard if it’s an interactive program, or from another program if it’s processing the other program’s output. The program usually prints to standard output, and sometimes prints to standard error. These three file descriptors (you can think of them as “data pipes”) are often called STDIN, STDOUT, and STDERR.
Sometimes they’re not named, they’re numbered! The built-in numberings for them are 0, 1, and 2, in that order. By default, if you don’t name or number one explicitly, you’re talking about STDOUT.
Given that context, you can see the command above is redirecting standard output into /dev/null, which is a place you can dump anything you don’t want (often called the bit-bucket), then redirecting standard error into standard output (you have to put an & in front of the destination when you do this).
The short explanation, therefore, is “all output from this command should be shoved into a black hole.” That’s one good way to make a program be really quiet!

MVNO: Through thick and thin

2010-03-03T11:16:00.000-08:00

The below article was taken from Silicon.com. Click here to read the actual article.

By Natasha Lomas, 27 October 2008 16:23

MVNO? That'll be an abbreviation - another pointless four letter one no doubt
Right and wrong. MVNO stands for mobile virtual network operator - and it refers to a rather intriguing slice of the mobile pie.

I'm listening
Building and operating a mobile network is an expensive business, not least because it requires radio spectrum, so the number of mobile network operators (or MNOs) is limited to, at most, a handful per market. For instance, the UK market has five: 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

Spectrum does not come cheap. The auction for 3G licences in the UK - way back in 2000 - ended with five companies shelling out a whopping £22.47bn for the privilege of flogging third-generation services to Brits. So the requirement for large capital expenditure to set up a mobile network goes some way to explaining why actual networks are not 10-a-penny.

But in many markets - especially in Europe and North America - there are more mobile services than networks and this is where virtual network operators come in.

But what exactly are MVNOs?
In basic terms, an MVNO buys 'traffic' - wholesale minutes and texts, and potentially data - from an MNO and resells it to customers under a different mobile service brand. However, the definition of an MVNO can vary - and there are several different types of MVNOs in a kind of 'degrees and degrees' way.

For instance, some MVNOs handle the related wrap of services and processes - such as billing and traffic management - in-house, while others outsource that and just concentrate efforts on selling a branded service to the customer.

MVNOs are sometimes categorised as follows: 'full MVNO', 'thin MVNO' and 'service provider' - with a 'full MVNO' being one which sets up and runs its own infrastructure (with the exception of the radio network) and manages all related customer services and processes itself; while a service provider simply resells a service and outsources the other business processes.

An example of a full MVNO would be Virgin Mobile, the first MVNO in the UK market launching back in 1999 - which is also something of an exception in the MVNO world as it has many more subscribers (running to several million) than the average. The majority of MVNOs fall into the 'thin' or 'service provider' categories - and are more likely to have thousands of subscribers each.

One more thing to note here: there are also MVNEs - or mobile virtual network enablers - who are basically middlemen who oil the wheels of the relations between MVNOs and network operators, and may also provide services to MVNOs such as billing, admin, support etc.

Sounds complicated! So most MVNOs are small fry then?
Well they certainly can be - and when compared to the mobile operators most probably are. But the majority of MVNOs are not attempting to compete directly with operators - rather their business models aim to identify niches the big boys necessarily overlook owing to their mass-market focus.

What kind of niches are we talking about?
Well one way of being a successful MVNO is to identify a social group such as an ethnic minority to whom you can market uniquely tailored mobile services.

The more specialised and targeted the services of these MVNOs (often called 'ethnic MVNOs') the better - think: cultural references, minority languages - because their business opportunity is founded on anticipating and serving the needs of a particular social group. An example would be Calao Mobile in Belgium which offers mobile services to the country's Congolese community.

What about low cost calls? I think I've seen ads for MVNOs offering really cheap calls
There is often an element of low cost pricing (aka 'discount MVNOs') especially for MVNOs that tend to offer low cost international calls to a particular ethnic group's country of origin. But virtual operators in general have to find ways to make their businesses sustainable and simply offering low call costs over the long run can be a risky strategy because voice and text are increasingly looking like commodities in the mobile industry.

Undercutting the operators on cost alone is thus likely to be viable only for businesses large enough to bankroll a mobile arm to gain other brand-extension benefits. An example would be flat-pack furniture giant Ikea which recently launched an MVNO in the UK called Family Mobile that claimed to offer the lowest priced pay-as-you-go calls and texts in the country.

Of course not many MVNOs have the brand clout (and war coffers) of an Ikea or a Tesco - or a Virgin, which can also leverage other services in its arsenal (like fixed-line broadband) to attract customers with the promise of good value service bundles.

But scores of smaller players do thrive in this space by identifying very specific communities with a common interest or connection - even fans of a particular football club - and then tailoring services to them. Examples include low cost international calls, customer services in minority languages and easy access to relevant (paid-for) sports content.

Are there any other notable business models?
Well - as with the football club MVNO example mentioned above - another way of making a business work is to provide a particularly innovative/appealing service in addition to the basics of voice and text.

A good example of this is PosteMobile in Italy that offers mobile-banking services to BancoPosta customers - thus providing an attractive value-add service on top of everyday comms. PosteMobile has reportedly signed up hundreds of thousands of subscribers in its first year of operation so a bit of smart thinking clearly goes a long way to making a virtual operator business viable.

Blyk is another European MVNO with a twist: it provides mobile services for absolutely nothing. Of course there is a catch: in return for free voice minutes and texts, subscribers must be willing to receive several 'brand messages' per day - i.e. adverts.

However, the service is not open to just anyone. Only European residents between the ages of 16 and 24 can sign up so this MVNO works by monetising a youth demographic that's very attractive to advertisers.

Clever...
It seems so - Blyk claims to have signed up more than 100,000 subscribers in the UK in its first six months of operation.

But surely mobile operators are crazy to wholesale their network to companies which end up undercutting them. Why do they do it?
In many European states EC pressure has led to markets being opened up to MVNOs. But in the end this should not be viewed as just another diktat from Brussels designed to make mobile operators' lives a misery: in mature markets especially, MVNOs can be a clever way for operators to increase their market share and drive traffic over their networks - which is obviously good for business.

Moreover, MNOs are not above buying MVNOs in order to acquire their customers and grow their business - another reason virtual operators need to be smart and think sustainably to stave off acquisition by the big boys.

Anything else I need to know?
Remember MVNOs are local animals - their character and success varies considerably from market to market. Moreover, Europe is a particularly fertile ecosystem for them - being so mature in mobile terms - so globally there are many regions where MVNOs have yet to make a serious mark.

Hotbilling Concept

2010-01-03T08:59:00.000-08:00

The below article was taken from Hot Billing Concept by Advanced Multimedia System Design.

Prehistory
Darwin teaches us that far ancestors of billing systems were simple log files, or record books. All they could do automatically was regular information storage, "The client dialed in at 19:00 and disconnected at 21:00"; information retrieval was a less trivial procedure.
When computers left the developers' pools and migrated to the commercial land, logs had to be taught to detect account overdraft automatically, not at the end of the month. Billing systems of the newer generation were reptile guardians, timing a given delay, "This is the first day of the rest of your life!", and biting the connection off when the session timed out.

But the evolution went on. Cold-blooded billing systems could prevent a single-user debit account with a constant dollars-per-minute rate from overdraft; they failed if faced a herd of users exploiting a single shared account. Each user was allowed to "speak off" all the remaining money; and, at the end of the last conversation, the resulting account balance was not zero dollars zero cents but lower, and much lower...

The coming Ice Age made the next generation of billing systems turn warm-blooded, so that they no more grew torpid for all the allowed conversation time but tracked the conversation and account statement attentively, mercilessly terminating the call when no money was left.

That was the way, hard and cruel, to the modern orthodrade concept of hot billing.
Habits and inhabitance area.
Hot billing is an AAA (authentication, authorization and accounting) approach compliant to the following conditions:
required - the NAS (network access server) is always (with a certain given precision) informed if the subscriber's account is overdrafted;
sufficient - the NAS (network access server) is always (with a certain given precision) informed when, according to the current balance and current expenses-per-minute, the subscriber's account will be overdrafted.

You might suggest an even stronger condition, "the NAS is always informed about the current account balance"; but this is not a necessary condition, neither a convenient facility for successful "hot-billed" public access network (for instance, a commercial telephone network) deployment.

Hot billing requires the NAS to exchange with the AAA server regularly, either at a given minimal frequency or when new relevant information appears at any side (the latter case implies that the AAA server directly initiates session termination). If an asymmetric protocol (such as RADIUS) is used and one of the sides (usually the AAA server) cannot trigger data exchange, the AAA client issues AAA requests every N seconds. The resulting network traffic overhead (rather small in comparison with the "billed" voice or HTTP traffic) is richly covered with the following benefits:

logical separation of account possessor and account beneficiary - for instance, the employer may manage a common account for all his employees rather than open a personal account for each one. Our experience shows that AMSD® BillingSystem™ is capable of handling up to 1000 subscribers (PINs) with a single account.
immediate ("right now" or precisely scheduled) application of updates to a tariff plan (pricing policy).
immediate lockout of a certain subscriber (if a certain PIN+password pair is suspected to be stolen);
payment procession during an active session, so that a subscriber could, for instance, type the activation code of a new debit card after a warning signal ("You have one minute left!").

Unix Sort

2009-08-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

One of the most helpful webpages when it comes to how-to in using the sort command.

Click me!

(ok, so it wasn't a lot. but it does lead you to a good direction doesn't it.)

When your video can't play

2009-05-20T07:37:00.001-07:00

I've had this problem (ok,..so I usually write a how-to when I got a problem to fix) whereby my recently acquired laptop (my last one was stolen..#uck#n thieves..) was not able to play any movies at all.

Talk about NOT being able to play movies on your laptop! Such blasphemy! Ok, so I know that you're not even suppose to go around and watch a movie using your company's property, but I mean come on..who does'nt?

Anywho, after months of surviving without my own able-to-watch-laptop (I've been using my wife's since then :P ), recently I found this comments which attributed my problem to a DirectDraw problem. Full coverage of that thread here : System freezes when trying to play ANY movie

So after disabling the hardware accelaration on my laptop - I could play them movies again! Yippee!

Time to watch some episodes of the X-Men cartoon (the one that usually airs at 7pm back then) that I've been downloading.

SS7 Architecture

2009-01-19T09:48:00.000-08:00

Below is a picture depicting the SS7 architecture.

With SS7, a packet data network overlays and controls the operation of the underlying voice networks, signaling information is carried on an entirely different path than voice and data traffic. Signaling in essence does not take a lot of time, hence it is possible to multiplex many signaling messages over one channel - and that's why the signaling system is a packet network.

SS7 entire architecture performs out-of-band signaling (in which conversation and signaling take over different paths). It (the architecture) defines the procedure for the setup, ongoing management, and clearing of a call, and it enables the passing along of customer-related information that helps in routing calls.

The key components of SS7 are:

1. SSP:Service-switching points
Them switches that originate and terminate calls. It serves as the source and destination point for the SS7 messages

2. STP: Signal transfer point
Responsible for translating the SS7 messages between the appropriate nodes and databases. Notice the redundancy of links in the diagram.

3. SCP: Service control points
The network element that interfaces with SCP and STP. It is the network element that contains the network configuration and call-completion database, which means it contains the service logic to act on the types of calls and features the users are requesting. It contains the service logic, basically the softwares and databases; which enables it to handle the management of calls.

SS7 enables a telephone company to offer one database to several switches, thereby freeing up switch capacity for other functions, and this is what makes it the foundation for intelligent network (IN) and advanced intelligent network (AIN).

SQLplus basics

2008-11-23T20:11:00.000-08:00

Several useful commands.

Basic Retrieval from single table
SELECT [DISTINCT] display_fields
FROM tables
WHERE field_conditions
ORDER BY field_name [ASC | DESC];

e.g: select * from MethodParameter;
e.g: select * from MethodParameter where NAME=DUNHAM;

Delete the whole content of table
DROP TABLE tablename;

e.g: drop table MethodParameter;

Delete one or more records from a table
DELETE FROM table_name
WHERE record_retrieval_conditions;

e.g: delete from MethodParameter where NAME='DUNHAM BUSH';

Not enough disk space

2008-11-23T07:39:00.000-08:00

Should you ever see these types of message, there are several 'must-know' unix commands that can be used in order to start investigating.

1. du | sort -n : lists all file usage from smallest to largest.
2. df -k -b : see how much allocation is used in the directory.

For more help, go to links below:-

1. An IT-admin guide to clearing up disk space
2. df unix command definitions and usage
3. du unix command definitions and usage

How to kill a Unix process

2008-11-16T18:35:00.000-08:00

From http://www.ncl.ac.uk/iss/unix/unixhelp/kill.html and http://www.decf.berkeley.edu/help/unix/kill.html

If you are logged in to a Unix system and your session "hangs" or "freezes" (i.e. nothing happens for a long time and it does not respond to Ctrl/Q Ctrl/C or Ctrl/D), you can attempt to unfreeze it yourself by "killing" the process which has stopped your session.

You can also use Ctrl/Z to get out of a process in UNIX.

Login to the system where your session is frozen
Type the command:

w usid

where usid is your own username. This will produce a line of output for each login something like this:
  9:53am  up 82 day(s), 15:58,  132 users,  load average: 6.50, 6.25, 5.70
User     tty           login@  idle   JCPU   PCPU  what
nabc     pts/160       9:12am                      -csh
nabc     pts/166       9:53am                      w nabc
Note the contents of the tty column for the frozen login -- in this example attached to pts/160.
Type the command

ps -t tty

where tty is the tty designation noted above. For example
ps -t pts/160

The output will be something like
   PID TTY      TIME CMD
20865 pts/160  0:00 elm
18986 pts/160  0:00 csh
Note (under PID) which of your processes issued the command which is now "hung".
Type the command
kill -KILL xxxxx

where xxxxx is the process number (PID) of the frozen process. For example
kill -KILL 20865

Or you could just type ps -u , which will give you the pid of all the processes running/hang; and just kill them one by one whichever you like. The kill command is kill -9 .

A little explanation on that -9 thing and kill.

     The `kill' command

   Sometimes a process will ignore both of these keystroke-generated
   signals.  This will happen when a process has been `backgrounded'
   or `submitted', in which case you can use the `kill'  command  to
   abort  it.  It may also happen when your terminal is frozen in an
   unresponsive state, in which case it may  be  necessary  to  kill
   your  login process (i.e. log you out) just to return your termi-
   nal to a sensible state.

   The `kill' command has the general form "kill -N PID", where  you
   replace  `PID'  with  a process identification number and replace
   `N' with a `signal' number.  Usually, `N' will  be  `1'  and  the
   PID,  if  you  do not already know it, can be learned through the
   `ps' command as described below.  This command causes the speci-
   fied signal to be sent to the specified process.

   Signal numbers

   Signal number `1', a `hangup' signal, is recommended  because  it
   should kill the process and, if it is an editor, save the buffer.
   Signal number `9', a `kill' signal, is the surest way to  kill  a
   process  and  is  recommended only as a last resort since it will
   not save editor buffers.

   You may wish to note that the interrupt and quit (keystroke) sig-
   nals  mentioned  above  can be sent to a process by replacing `N'
   with `2' and `3', respectively.  There are 15  different  signals
   that  can be sent to a process via `kill'.  Each of them conveys
   slightly different information but generally causes death, whence
   the name of the command.

Unix 'Basename' command

2008-10-27T01:54:00.000-07:00

The basename utility deletes any prefix ending in / and the suffix (if present in string) from string, and prints the
result on the standard output. It is normally used inside substitution marks (``) within shell procedures.

Syntax

basename [string] [suffix]

string - the leading part of the path name or sting

suffix - additional remaining portion of name that if matches will be removed

Examples

basename myfile.txt .txt - Takes the basename of myfile.txt and strips the .txt portion and then just displays myfile.

credits to: http://www.computerhope.com/unix/ubasenam.htm

How to Transfer a File into a Remote Desktop with shitty VPN connection

2008-08-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

Few days back I was in this situation where by I had to transfer some files over to a remote desktop (aka the client's server). The shitty part I can't send files over through any websites or webmail; they've banned it all. No FTP softwares and the worst thing is, every time my manager sends them email with the attached packages; them packages are not sent through. Don't know where it got filtered..our site or theirs (I assume it's their's). Some thoughts are given also on mapping my drives so that it'll be accessible at the remote desktop; but some people have that said (read other blogs) the method only works if the remote desktop is not using Win2k and below. So again...i hit a wall.

Anyhow, that's where this trick comes in. In essence you turn your file into something readable (read ASCII) and copy and paste the text over the remote desktop. One thing to note though is that not everything can be easily read by the notepad. Introducing 'uuencode'. This piece of command in UNIX is able to encode anything into an ASCII equivalent - making sure that you can copy and paste it over the remote desktop. In my case, my original package is in a UNIX server over in Helsinki, in our company's VPN. The client, uses their own VPN. Below are the steps to do just that.

1. Get all of the files into one folder (if you wanna transfer a bunch of files).
2. tar -cvf .tar
3. gzip .tar
4. uuencode .tar.gz .tar.gz > .out
5. get the .out onto your local Windows environment.
6. open the .out using Notepad or any word editor.
7. open a file (using vi) in the client's UNIX environment. Name it .out
8. paste the content of .out in local environment to .out in client's UNIX environment.
9. uudecode -o .tar.gz .out
10. tar -xvf

You should be seeing back your files in the folder in Step 1. Take note that it is advisable to only transfer files having the size of 2Mb and below.

The UNIX tr command

2008-07-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

$> tr ',' '\012' <> return.txt

tr is the program doing the work.
',' is the character I want to replace (in this case a comma).
'\012' is the octal value for a newline in UNIX.
comma .txt is the file I am reading from.
return.txt is the new file I am saving my changes to.

from : http://www.flashcodersny.org/wordpress/?p=19

Microsoft Office Sharepoint 2007 screencasts

2008-07-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

Learning Sharepoint for beginners is quite tough. Luckily in this day and age, there's screencasts. Here I share some links I picked up when I was doing my practical at a networking company. Back then I had to set up a portal using Sharepoint 2007 - so these screencasts here was kinda like my point of reference since no one in the company I worked at has ever set up a portal using MOSS 2007 before. Enjoy!

http://blog.sharepointhosting.com/Downloads/SharePoint-Tutorials.aspx

the contents are:-

Administration & User Management Change a SharePoint User's e-mail address
Administration & User Management Change SharePoint User's Password
Administration & User Management Create a new SharePoint Site Collection Administrator
Administration & User Management Create a New SharePoint User
Administration & User Management Create a new site column
Administration & User Management Create SharePoint Security Group
Administration & User Management Create SharePoint Sub Site
Administration & User Management E-mail enable a Discussion Board
Administration & User Management Install the Site Admin SharePoint Application Templates
Blogging 5 SharePoint Blog Customization Tutorials on Amazon ads, Google Analytics, Blog Comments and Mobile Phone Access
Blogging 5 SharePoint Blog Customization Tutorials on Anonymous Access, Anonymous Comments, e-mail enabling, and managing blog posts
Blogging 5 SharePoint Blog Customization Tutorials on general administration, logging on for the first time, and selecting a blog theme
Blogging 5 SharePoint Blog Customization Tutorials on posting directly from Word 2007, adding categories, general blog management and navigation
Blogging Approve another user's SharePoint Blog Post
Blogging Configure the Google AdSense Referal Program on your SharePoint Blog
Blogging Create a SharePoint Blog Posting
Blogging Create new blog post cateogires
Blogging Edit Blog Categories
Blogging Set up AdSense Advertisements on your SharePoint Blog
Configuration Change SharePoint Navigation to a Site Tree View
Configuration Create a SharePoint InfoPath form Library
Configuration Create a SharePoint Meeting Site
Configuration Create SharePoint Sub Site
Content Management Add Documents to a SharePoint site
Content Management Add Links to a SharePoint list
Content Management Create a Document-specific SharePoint Alert
Content Management Create a MOSS slide lirbary
Content Management Create a SharePoint Announcements List
Content Management Create a SharePoint Calendar Appointment
Content Management Create a SharePoint Document Library
Content Management Create a SharePoint Document Work Space
Content Management Create a SharePoint Gantt Project Management Chart
Content Management Create a SharePoint Links List
Content Management Create a SharePoint Wiki Document
Content Management Create SharePoint Picture Library
Content Management E-mail documents into your SharePoint site
Content Management How to delete a meeting site
Content Management Restore Deleted Items as Site Collection Administrator
Content Management Use the Send to Command
Content Management Work with the Gantt Chart
Content Management Work with the SharePoint Recycle Bin
Customization Add a Webpart
Customization Change the SharePoint Site Image
Customization Change the SharePoint Site Title and Description
Customization Change Themes
Customization Create a SharePoint Calendar
Customization Create a SharePoint Contacts List
Customization Create a SharePoint CRM Application
Customization Create a SharePoint Discussion Board
Customization Create Wiki Library
Customization Edit the QuickLaunch
Customization Enable Document Versioning
Customization How to customize a Meeting Workspace
Customization How to remove the Quick Launch Menu
Customization Modify a view with a site column
Customization Remove Navigation Inheritance
Customization Top Link Bar (tabbed) Navigation Options
Security Add SharePoint Site to your Trusted Sites in Internet Explorer
Security Add Users to a SharePoint Security Group
Security Manage Access Requests
Security Remove Permission Inheritance from subsite
Security Restore Permission Inheritance
Security Sign in as a different user
SharePoint Designer Create 5 step workflow
SharePoint Designer Create a new Workflow with SharePoint Designer
SharePoint Designer Edit a workflow
SharePoint Designer ELSE IF statements - conditional branching in Workflows
SharePoint Designer How to backup your site with SharePoint Designer
SharePoint Designer Open a SharePoint Site with SharePoint Designer

HOW TO: Apply Local Policies to All Users Except Administrators on Windows Server 2003 in a Workgroup Setting

2008-07-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

This article describes how to apply local policies to all users except administrators on a Windows Server 2003-based computer that is in a workgroup setting.

When you use a Windows Server 2003-based computer in a workgroup setting (not a domain), you may have to implement local policies on that computer that can apply to all users of that computer, but not to administrators. This exception permits the administrator to retain unlimited access and control of the computer, and also permits the administrator to restrict the users who can log on to that computer.

The Windows Server 2003-based computer must be in a workgroup setting for this procedure to work. In this situation, the domain policies cannot overwrite the local policies because the domain policies do not exist. Microsoft recommends that you make backup copies of all the files that you edit during this procedure.

ripped from : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325351/en-us#appliesto

Group Policy application rules for domain controllers

2008-07-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

Domain controllers pull some security settings only from group policy objects linked to the root of the domain. Because domain controllers share the same account database for the domain, certain security settings must be set uniformly on all domain controllers. This ensures that the members of the domain have a consistent experience regardless of which domain controller they use to log on. Windows 2000 accomplishes this task by allowing only certain setting in the group policy to be applied to domain controllers at the domain level. This group policy behavior is different for member server and workstations.

ripped from : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/259576/en-us#appliesto

Managing Policy in Active Directory

2008-07-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

Apply Local Policies to All Users Except Administrators in a Workgroup Setting

To implement local policies to all users except administrators, follow these steps:

1. Log on to the computer as an administrator.

2. Open your local security policy. To do this, do one of the following:

• Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc, and then press ENTER.

-or-

• Click Start, click Run, type mmc, press ENTER, add the Group Policy Object Editor, and then configure it for the local security policy. If the removal of the run command is one of the policies that you want, Microsoft recommends that you edit the policy by means of Microsoft Management Console (MMC), and then save the results as an icon. Then, you do not need the run command to reopen the policy.

3. Expand the User Configuration object, and then expand the Administrative Templates object.

4. Enable whatever policies that you want (for example, Desktop for "Hide My Network Places" or "Hide Internet Explorer Icon on Desktop").

NOTE: Make sure that you select the correct policies; otherwise, you may restrict the ability of the administrator to log on to the computer (and to complete the necessary steps to configure the computer). Microsoft recommends that you record any changes that you make (you can also use this information for step 10).

5. Close the Gpedit.msc Group Policy snap-in. Or, if you use MMC, save the console as an icon to make it accessible later, and then log off the computer.

6. Log on to the computer as an administrator.
You can verify in this logon session the policy changes that were made earlier, because, by default, the local policies apply to all users, which includes administrators.

7. Log off the computer, and then log on to the computer as all of the other users for this computer for whom you want these policies to apply. The policies are implemented for all of these users and the administrator.

NOTE: Any user account that is not logged on to the computer at this step cannot have the policies implemented for that account.

8. Log on to the computer as an administrator.

9. Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Folder Options. Click the View tab, click Show Hidden Files and Folders, and then click OK so that you can view the Group Policy hidden folder. Or, open Windows Explorer, click Tools, and then click Folder Options to view these settings.

10. Copy the Registry.pol file that is located in the %Systemroot%\System32\GroupPolicy\User folder to a backup location (for example, to a different hard disk, floppy disk, or folder).

11. Open your local policy again by using either the Gpedit.msc Group Policy snap-in or your MMC icon, and then enable the exact features that were disabled in the original policy that was created for that computer.

NOTE: When you do this, Policy Editor creates a new Registry.pol file.

12. Close your policy editor, and then copy the backup Registry.pol file that you created in step 10 back into the %Systemroot%\System32\GroupPolicy\User folder.

When you are prompted to replace the existing file, click Yes.

13. Log off the computer, and then log on as an administrator.

You can verify that the changes that were originally made are not implemented for you because you have logged on to the computer as an administrator.

14. Log off the computer, and then log on as another user (or users).

You can verify that the changes that were originally made are implemented for you because you have logged on to the computer as a user (not an administrator) to that computer .

15. Log on to the computer as an administrator to verify that the local policy does not affect you as the local administrator to that computer.

Restore Original Local Policies

To reverse the process described in the "Apply Local Policies to All Users Except Administrators" section of this article, follow these steps: 1. Log on to the computer as an administrator.

2. Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Folder Options. Click the View tab, click Show Hidden Files and Folders, and then click OK so that you can view the Group Policy hidden folder. Or, open Windows Explorer, click Tools, and then click Folder Options.

3. Move, rename, or delete the Registry.pol file from the %Systemroot%\System32\GroupPolicy\User folder.

Another default Registry.pol file is created by the Windows File Protection system after you log off from or restart the computer.

4. Open the local policy. To do this, click Start, click Run, and then type gpedit.msc. Or, click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then load the local security policy. Then, set all of the items that are set to either disable or enable to not configured to reverse any policy changes that were implemented to the Windows Server 2003 registry as specified by the Registry.pol file.

5. Log off the computer as an administrator, and then log on to the computer again as an administrator.

6. Log off the computer, and then log on to the computer as all of the users on the local computer so that the changes can be reversed on their accounts too.

This article was written by waver from the sadikhov forum.

How to set account lockout policies in Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003

2008-07-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

To help secure your network, you can use account lockout policies for domain accounts or for local user accounts. An account lockout policy is a Microsoft Windows security feature that locks a user account if a designated number of failed logon attempts occur within a specified time frame. These variables are based on security policy lockout settings. You cannot log on to the network through a locked account until the lockout period has expired.

In Microsoft Windows 2000 and in later versions of Windows, you can configure account lockout policies in the Active Directory directory service. To configure account lockout policies in Windows 2000, use the ADSI Edit snap-in to edit Active Directory and to change the PwdProperties attribute in the domain naming context. When you make this change on one domain controller, the change is replicated to all other domain controllers on your network.

ripped from : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885119/en-us#appliesto

How To Reset User Rights in the Default Domain Group Policy in Windows Server 2003

2008-07-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

This article describes how to reset user rights in the default domain Group Policy object (GPO) in Windows Server 2003. The default domain GPO contains many default user-rights settings. Sometimes, if you change the default settings, unexpected restrictions may be put on user rights. If the changes are unexpected or if the changes were not recorded so that you do not know which changes were made, you may have to reset the user-rights settings to their default values.

This situation may also occur if you manually rebuild the contents of the Sysvol folder, or if you restore it from a backup by using the steps that are included in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/253268/EN-US/

How To Create a System Policy Setting in Microsoft Windows Server 2003

2008-07-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

This step-by-step article describes how to create System Policy settings for down-level client computers in a Windows Server 2003 domain. In a Windows Server 2003 network, you can use Group Policy settings to configure and control Windows Server 2003-based computers, Windows 2000-based computers, and Microsoft Windows XP Professional-based computers. However, to configure Microsoft Windows NT 4.0-based client computers, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition-based client computers, and Microsoft Windows 98-based client computers, you must use System Policy settings. System Policy settings are different from Windows Server 2003 Group Policy settings in that they overwrite registry settings on the client computer with persistent changes. This behavior is known as "tattooing."

ripped from : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318753/EN-US/

Appending to Perl's @INC array

2008-07-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

The @INC array is a list of directories Perl searches when attempting to load modules. To display the current contents of the @INC array:

perl -e "print join(\"\n\", @INC);"

The following two methods may be used to append to Perl's @INC array:

1. Add the directory to the PERL5LIB environment variable.
2. Add use lib 'directory'; in your Perl script.

For more information, read the perlrun manpage or type perldoc lib.

ripped from : http://www.brandonhutchinson.com/perl_inc.html

Using Pointer in C

2008-07-01T01:52:00.000-07:00

Now this is not your definitive guide to using pointer, it's more of a "i hope i won't forget this" kinda guide intended for yours truly.

To use pointer, you need to make sure you have 3 things:-

1. The pointer must be declared and allocated.
2. The pointee must be declared and allocated.
3. The pointer (1) must be initialized so that it points to the pointee (3).

Example;

int *p //step 1.
int i //step 2.

p = &i; //step 3.

*p = 42 //now you can use...

The important thing to remember is that when you declare something as a pointer - like p for instance, the value in p would be an address pointing to somewhere; so if let say you'd do a printf of p - you'll be shown the address of i, not the value of i.

ClearCase Training

2008-06-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a few commands I learned during the training. Just jottin' it down here for reference.

Clearcase training : 11/6/2008
================================

Branch creation
===============

ct mkbrtype
ct branch element

1. mkview
ct mkview

2. setview
ct setview

ct catcs (to view your config spec/where you are at)

ct edcs (to configure your config spec. the config spec works to point you to ur newly created branch)

ct lstype -kind brtype (to see the branches that have been created)

ct lsco (lists all the checked out elements. don't forget to check in the directory tht u are in when u r done )

ct rmtype -rmall brtype:

ct lshist (lists history) <-- a good command would be ct lshist| grep

ct rmview

ct rmver

ct rmbranch <---you can refer about this using the ct lshist command.

ct mkelem -eltype directory (another way to cr8 folder)

ct rmlabel

ct rmtype rmall lbtype

How to use diff in UNIX

2008-05-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

The following were taken from http://www.unixtutorial.org/2008/02/compare-text-files-using-diff/.

All credits goes to them.

If you need to compare two text files in Unix, you're mostly likely to use the diff command.

Today I'll talk about the simplest scenario: you want to compare two files and understand if there are any differences.

Suppose you have two files in /tmp directory:
/tmp/1.txt:

aaa
bbb
ccc
ddd
eee
fff
ggg

and /tmp/2.txt:

bbb
c c
ddd
eee
fff
ggg
hhh

I have deliberately created them so short and simple - this way it's easier to explain how the comparison works. If there are no differences between the files, you will see no output, but if two text files are indeed different, all the text mismatches will be highlighted using the standard diff output:

$ diff /tmp/1.txt /tmp/2.txt
1d0
<> c c
7a7
> hhh

Lines like "1d0" and "3c2" are the coordinates and types of the differences between the two compared files, while lines like "<>" and "> hhh" are the differences themselves.

Diff change notation includes 2 numbers and a character between them. Characters tell you what kind of change was discovered:

d - a line was deleted
c - a line was changed
a - a line was added

Number to the left of the character gives you the line number in the original (first) file, and the number to the right of the character tells you the line number in the second file used in comparison.

So, looking at the two text files and the diff output above, you can see what happened:

This means that 1 line was deleted. <>
1d0
<>

And this means that the line number 3 has changed. You can see how this confirms that in the first file the line was "ccc", and in the second it now is "c c".

3c2
<> c c

Finally, this confirms that one new line appeared in the second file, it's "hhh" in the line number 7:

7a7
> hhh

That's all you need to know to start playing with text comparisons yourself.

And that's how you do it. It's nice, but not as useful if you have like a thousand line of difference to look at. At times I'd prefer to use the plugin "Compare" in Notepad++. It's easier on the eyes.

Finding files in UNIX

2008-05-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

The following guide is a direct rip-off from this website: http://www.hccfl.edu/pollock/Unix/FindCmd.htm

All credits goes to him.

The find command is used to locate files on a Unix or Linux system. find will search any set of directories you specify for files that match the supplied search criteria. You can search for files by name, owner, group, type, permissions, date, and other criteria. The search is recursive in that it will search all subdirectories too. The syntax looks like this:

find where-to-look criteria what-to-do

All arguments to find are optional, and there are defaults for all parts. (This may depend on which version of find is used. Here we discuss the freely available GNU version of find, which is the version available on YborStudent.) For example where-to-look defaults to . (that is, the current working directory), criteria defaults to none (that is, show all files), and what-to-do (known as the find action) defaults to -print (that is, display found files to standard output).

For example:

find

will display all files in the current directory and all subdirectories. The commands

find . -print
find .

do the exact same thing. Here's an example find command using a search criteria and the default action:

find / -name foo

will search the whole system for any files named foo and display them. Here we are using the criteria -name with the argument foo to tell find to perform a name search for the filename foo. The output might look like this:

/home/wpollock/foo
/home/ua02/foo
/tmp/foo

If find doesn't locate any matching files, it produces no output.

The above example said to search the whole system, by specifying the root directory (/) to search. If you don't run this command as root, find will display a error message for each directory on which you don't have read permission. This can be a lot of messages, and the matching files that are found may scroll right off your screen. A good way to deal with this problem is to redirect the error messages so you don't have to see them at all:

find / -name foo 2>/dev/null

SunOS make

2008-05-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

Got this problem when trying to run the correlation lab exercise.

Apparently there are many types of make available out there depending on the distro.

I'm using SunOS. It seems they don't have make. They call it 'sun make'.

Geez..

Yum Lock? - solved!

2008-04-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

Yum lock refers to a problem when you can initiate yum since somewhere in your system yum seems to be running.

I recently got this problem when I tried to install mplayer - it seems that yum is trying to constantly update my system although the yum update itself is stopped.

So what I did was I deleted the file yum.pid from the /var/run.

It practically solved the problem.

Although I would suggest others who encountered the same problem to first read this before trying anything. Good reading material I'd say!

FYP part 4 - NFS Mapping

2008-04-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

Setting of NFS Mapping to allow read/write

1. Click MAPPING. Refer to Figure 3.12.

2. Click Universal Account. Refer to Figure 3.13.

3. Refer to Figure 3.14 and set the following setting. Press Close.

4. Go to Group Name to GID Mapping. Click New. Use the setting in Figure 3.16. The user root (in embedded Linux) GID is 0.

5. Click OK. Then close window to go to the original screen. Apply the changes now.

6. Restart the server.

7. Mount/Remount the folder on IXP1200.

8. Check folder permission to see whether it's working or not. The permission should read root instead of a random port number.

How to set your Streamyx modem into a router

2008-04-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

This a neat trick that I've learned just now. Well for the record though, the "trick" has been around for the longest of times, it's just a thing that I've recently learned however.

When you subscribe for a Streamyx broadband account, you'll be given a modem and some other stuff. The ADSL modem can be used as just that, a modem; or be converted into a router - which it truly is meant for in the first place.

There are many benefits that you can gain by turning a modem into a router. One of the advantage is that you can turn your new found router into a DHCP router, set up NAT, and thus later you can have as many PC as your subnet allow to connect to the internet using your single Streamyx account.

The guide below is ripped-off from here

TM Net Streamyx ZTE ZXDSL 831 ADSL Modem
The ZTE ZXDSL 831 is a modem/router supplied by Telekom Malaysia when you subscribe to TM Net Streamyx packages that come with modem.

It works as a modem by default but you can configure it to become a router.

In router mode, you don’t need to dial to login to Streamyx anymore. The router will dial it for you automatically.

Configure to Router mode

Login to http://192.168.1.1 with the username and password (Case sensitive).

username : ADSL
password: expert03

Note: “03" read “zero three”.

OR,

username : ZXDSL
password: ZXDSL

Note:
If you cannot logon using the user name and password combinations provided above, you may need to reset the modem by long-pressing the ‘reset’ button to the default factory setting.

When logged in, click on the WAN tab.

Under the WAN tab, select PPP and then select ADD to add in a new PPP configuration as follow:

PPP Interface = ppp-0
ATM VC = aal5-2 or equivalent ( VPI=0, VCI=35 setting)
Interface Sec Type = Public
Status = Start
Protocol = PPPoE
Use DHCP/DNS = Enable
Security Protocol = PAP
Login Name = yourname@streamyx
Password = your password
Under the Services tab, select NAT, and set it to Enable.
Under the Services tab, select IP Filter, make sure the Public and Private is set to Accept, and this would allow the modem to access the Net.

After that, click on “Admin” and then “Commit” and then “Reboot”.
Set every PCs TCP/IP in your LAN to point to the modem as the gateway.

IP Address = 192.168.1.x ( where x ranges from 2-254)
Subnet mask = 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway = 192.168.1.1.

Preferred DNS Server = 202.188.0.133
Alternate DNS Server = 202.188.1.5
Once it’s done you should check your Internet connectivity by loading your favourite website.

FYP - part 3: Setting up NFS

2008-03-28T03:24:00.000-07:00

15/8/2007

Implementing NFS Server in Windows XP

1. Just open up the installer and install away.

2. Read the manual to learn how to set the configuration.

Implementing NFS Client in IXP1200

1. To enable the client, a daemon and portmapper need to be activated first. This is done by typing ifup command:

ifup

ifup 10.1.1.2 255.255.255.0

2. To mount the virtual drive, use the mount command:

mount -t nfs -o nfsvers=2 : /

mount -t nfs -o nfsvers=2 10.1.1.1:/nfsdir /nfs

3. To view the directory, just type cd nfs to go into the directory, and dir nfs to view whats inside the directory.

4. If in any case you coulndt see anything, or theres no effect - perhaps you are in the wrong place to begin with.

5. The nfs folder is situated in the most upper domain, above the root folder itself. Type "cd.." to get to upper domain.

6. If you can see the nfs folder - then it's a success.

FYP - part 2: Setting up TFTP server

2008-03-28T03:06:00.000-07:00

8/8/2007

Step 2 : Setting up TFTP Server on Windows XP (Host)
======================================================

1. Extract the tftpd32.280.zip file.

2. Run the application.

3. Make sure the IP setting on the PC is OK

4. Go to IXP1200, and fill in the details such as below.

Err..rr..it didn’t work. Checking for connectivity

And what about the error message at tftp server
“Connection received from 10.1.1.2 on port 1034 [08/08 17:25:04.666]
Read request for file . Mode octet [08/08 17:25:04.666]
Error EACCESS on file /tftpboot/zImage. Ext error The directory name is invalid. [08/08 17:25:04.706]”

Finally, after several long minutes of hard thinking - i found the solution~

Go to Base Directory. Browse to the folder that holding your tftproot folder.

..and the result is...

Great success!! I like!!!

**note: somehow you have to put the tftproot folder at "c:\tftproot" or else ot wouldnt work. go figure.

***note: and remember, login = root, password = ixp1200.

Basic Shell Scripting

2008-02-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

This is a basic shell scripting tutorial i got off the Net. Credit goes to the writer. By the way, the site i ripped this off was at

http://more-shell.blogspot.com/2007/03/easy-shell-scripting.html

Easy Shell Scripting

By Blessen Cherian

Shell scripting can be defined as a group of commands executed in sequence. Let's start by describing the steps needed to write and execute a shell script:

Step 1: Open the file using an editor (e.g., "vi" or "pico".) vi Firstshellscript.sh

Step 2: All shell scripts should begin with "#!/bin/bash" or whatever other shell you prefer. This line is called the shebang, and although it looks like a comment, it's not: it notifies the shell of the interpreter to be used for the script. The provided path must be an absolute one (you can't just use "bash", for example), and the shebang must be located on the first line of the script without any preceding space.

Step 3: Write the code that you want to develop. Our first shell script will be the usual "Hello World" routine, which we'll place in a file called 'Firstshellscript.sh'.

#!/bin/sh
echo "Hello World"

Step 4:The next step is to make the script executable by using the "chmod" command.

chmod 744 Firstshellscript.sh
or chmod +x Firstshellscript.sh

Step 5: Execute the script. This can be done by entering the name of the script on the command line, preceded by its path. If it's in the current directory, this is very simple:

bash$ ./Firstshellscript.sh
Hello World

If you want to see the execution step-by-step - which is very useful for troubleshooting - then execute it with the '-x' ('expand arguments') option:

sh -x Firstshellscript.sh
+ echo 'Hello World'
Hello World

My Final Year Project - Implementing Cygmon

2008-02-17T05:07:00.000-08:00

My final year project was about implementing Netbind (an application from Comet Group of Columbia University) in IXP1200.

This a brief guide on how I implemented Cygmon in order for it to load up the embedded linux into IXP1200.

Part 1: Implementing Cygmon into IXP1200

1. Connect to IXP1200 via Hyper Terminal
2. Use the normal setting.
3. Open up command prompt. Use the pic below as a guide.

4. Done transfering.
5. To check, connect back to IXP 1200.
6. At boot manager, press c.
7. You should a fourth option, Cygmon.
8. The end.