Sunday 24 November 2013
Changing the colours
A small change on colours (and widths) to make the blog a bit more readable. Didn't realize earlier that it was so annoying to read it..
Messing around with Linux
A year and a half ago I tried to set up a Linux server. I had some problems with ethernet cards, and after a lot of back and forth the motherboard or the power went poof. Wasn't very happy at the time.
So, after a long time in which I couldn't do anything with it, I bought a new Corsair CX430, put together some old components that I have laying around from when I had a gaming machine (good times), and slap it all together.
It was time to get back into building the system, especially now that I had a week of work coming and wasn't going anywhere as my girlfriend was working. Last weekend I tried to install several Distros, all without success:
* Centos 6.2 wouldn't even start the installer
* Centos 6.4 wouldn't even start the installer
* FreeBSD will do the install, and then will not be able to load
* Open Suse will do the install (after a few tries) and then will not be able to load
* Debian 7.2 will do the install and then will not be able to load
Of all the one that put me closer (and it was easier) was the Debian installation. So this weekend I tried again.
I have never had a problem installing Windows in any machine. Install and then start working. That was it. Most of the distros that I tried are either general or server, so I really didn't expect that it was going to be as easy as installing a client OS. I expect that Ubuntu would not have given my problems either.
The first thing that I had to do is disconnect two of my three hard drives. For reasons to do with the boot loader and some esoteric something-or-other, both OpenSuse and Debian were getting their knickers twisted. Then I had to get a Debian Live CD to start it on fail safe mode so I could update the Bios of my Asus mobo (first time ever that I'm forced to update it), which thanks to flashrom was a breeze.
And then, finally, got Debian 7.2 installed. I haven't really used Linux in a long while (the first time was in the mid 90-s, when I installed Slackware'96 as a folder of my Win OS and managed to delete half of my Windows installation). So much easy to get the information you need now than it was then.
I discovered that, at least on Debian, the user that you create on the installation doesn't have sudo permissions. That strikes me as odd, as it is supposed to be the user for the administrator, so he doesn't have to use directly the root user. But, it is easy to set up.
Following was to be able to remote using ssh from my Mac to the server. As I had already selected the SSH package when installing Debian, it was very easy. Well, once I discovered that because I did not have a local DNS server, I had to use the IP.
Next part, get the server setup as local DNS provider. Which it was relatively simple using bind9. A few config files, a few head scratchers, forgetting to add the dns server in my Mac, ... and there it goes: Local DNS.
Now I have Git installed, Mercurial installed and is time to put Subversion. I like the idea of using a few different VCS (I am the admin of our TFS installation at work). Bugzilla, X-Planner and Jenkins. Just in time to start working on my Obj-C project (which I still have to see if I can make it compile on the server with Jenkins).
I must say that I am really excited with the idea of having a linux server running at home.
So, after a long time in which I couldn't do anything with it, I bought a new Corsair CX430, put together some old components that I have laying around from when I had a gaming machine (good times), and slap it all together.
It was time to get back into building the system, especially now that I had a week of work coming and wasn't going anywhere as my girlfriend was working. Last weekend I tried to install several Distros, all without success:
* Centos 6.2 wouldn't even start the installer
* Centos 6.4 wouldn't even start the installer
* FreeBSD will do the install, and then will not be able to load
* Open Suse will do the install (after a few tries) and then will not be able to load
* Debian 7.2 will do the install and then will not be able to load
Of all the one that put me closer (and it was easier) was the Debian installation. So this weekend I tried again.
I have never had a problem installing Windows in any machine. Install and then start working. That was it. Most of the distros that I tried are either general or server, so I really didn't expect that it was going to be as easy as installing a client OS. I expect that Ubuntu would not have given my problems either.
The first thing that I had to do is disconnect two of my three hard drives. For reasons to do with the boot loader and some esoteric something-or-other, both OpenSuse and Debian were getting their knickers twisted. Then I had to get a Debian Live CD to start it on fail safe mode so I could update the Bios of my Asus mobo (first time ever that I'm forced to update it), which thanks to flashrom was a breeze.
And then, finally, got Debian 7.2 installed. I haven't really used Linux in a long while (the first time was in the mid 90-s, when I installed Slackware'96 as a folder of my Win OS and managed to delete half of my Windows installation). So much easy to get the information you need now than it was then.
I discovered that, at least on Debian, the user that you create on the installation doesn't have sudo permissions. That strikes me as odd, as it is supposed to be the user for the administrator, so he doesn't have to use directly the root user. But, it is easy to set up.
Following was to be able to remote using ssh from my Mac to the server. As I had already selected the SSH package when installing Debian, it was very easy. Well, once I discovered that because I did not have a local DNS server, I had to use the IP.
Next part, get the server setup as local DNS provider. Which it was relatively simple using bind9. A few config files, a few head scratchers, forgetting to add the dns server in my Mac, ... and there it goes: Local DNS.
Now I have Git installed, Mercurial installed and is time to put Subversion. I like the idea of using a few different VCS (I am the admin of our TFS installation at work). Bugzilla, X-Planner and Jenkins. Just in time to start working on my Obj-C project (which I still have to see if I can make it compile on the server with Jenkins).
I must say that I am really excited with the idea of having a linux server running at home.
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