Configuring NFS in SmartOS

In the past, I've written up configuring NFS in Solaris, FreeBSD,
and Linux. Now I'll turn my focus to SmartOS. Briefly, NFS
(network file system) provides access to remote filesystems which
appear similar to local resources on client hosts. The following

Intro SmartOS Setup pt 4

Following up from part 3, where we installed and configured our SmartOS
host (cn40), we now get to start checking out handling and management
of SmartOS OS VMs (SOSVMs). Jumping in where we left off in part 3, we
start with the configuration for our image repository hosted on "serv1"

Intro SmartOS Setup pt 3

In part 1, I detailed our general expectations and in part 2, our services
infrastructure VM (IVM) was configured. Here in part 3, we finally get to
check out our first SmartOS IVM and compute node, "cn40". The VirtualBox
(VBox) configuration for "cn40" is:

Intro SmartOS Setup pt 2

In part 1, I detailed the general expectations, layout, and router
infrastructure VM (IVM) for our SmartOS sandbox environment. In part 2,
we move on to our services IVM, "serv1". To recap, "serv1" will host
a name server, web server, and time server for our SmartOS compute nodes

Intro SmartOS Setup pt 1

For a while now, I've wanted to check out Joyent's SmartOS but until
recently, simply didn't have the time. This series of posts details my
initial setup and testing of SmartOS. (To jump straight to SmartOS within
VirtualBox (VBox), see part 3.) For better or worse, I really enjoy

Repartitioning Contiguous Space in Linux

As a follow up to the same under Solaris, I thought I'd detail
repartitioning in-use, contiguous space in Linux. To recap the
situational setup, a filesystem (FS) has run out of space and the data
contained on it couldn't be removed or compressed to free up space.

Repartitioning Contiguous Space in Solaris

Recently, a system owner aked me for help because they had run out of space on one of their filesystems (FS). As a result, this was causing problems with the application they had running. Unfortunately, this FS was being used for database files so we couldn't just remove or

Configuring AutoFS in FreeBSD

As a follow up to AutoFS in Linux, this post details simple usage of
AutoFS under FreeBSD, as controlled by 'amd'.  The purpose of AutoFS is
to mount volumes as they are needed and unmount them when they are not
in use.  The same setup I used in the Linux write up is presented here,

Configuring AutoFS in Linux

This post details simple usage of AutoFS under Linux.  The purpose of
AutoFS is to mount volumes as they are needed and unmount them when
they are not in use.  This is useful for sharing out home directories,
documentation, or applications to clients from a NAS cluster as well

Remounting Part of an FS Elsewhere

The following details loopback file system (FS) mounts. These allow one to effectively mount a portion of an FS elsewhere, providing access to the underlying sub-tree(s) via alternate pathnames wherein a symlink may not be appropriate. Our host details are:

new utility: timetrans.pl

I've posted a new utility, timetrans.pl, to the Tools page.  The following are both the "help" and "sample usage output" for timetrans.pl:

somehost [0] timetrans.pl -h

vSphere 5 Lab Setup pt 7

Continuing from part 6, we now come to the point where we can power on our
VMs .  Still using “dstor.lab.none” as a stand in for “dstor0”,
right-click on the VM within the vSphere client and select “Open
Console”:

vSphere 5 Lab Setup pt 6

In part 5, we created our infrastructure VMs, now we'll take care
of additional VM configuration and adding our boot ISOs to our local
datastore on pesx0.  Picking up where we left off in part 5, in the
left pane, select dstor0 (dstor.lab.none will stand in in the following)

vSphere 5 Lab Setup pt 5

Continuing from part 4, now that our network infrastructure on pesx0 is
setup, we can start creating our infrastructure VMs.  You have a variety
of ways of creating a new VM.  With the ESXi host selected (only thing
selected at this point?) on the left pane,  you could click the “New

vSphere 5 Lab Setup pt 4

In part 3, we installed the physical ESXi host (pesx0) and performed
minimal configuration tasks.  In this post, we'll be managing pesx0
through the Windows-based vSphere client which is loaded on fenster.
(fenster is the Windows 2008 management VM that we setup in part 2.)

vSphere 5 Lab Setup pt 3

In part 2, the management workstation host (glados) and its components
were configured.  This post details the installation and initial setup of
the physical ESXi host (pesx0).  I was hesitant to include the following
as a separate post since it is mostly just the installation process of

vSphere 5 Lab Setup pt 2

Continuing from part 1, this post details the configuration on the
management workstation host (glados) and its 2 components, the generic
infrastructure host (lns1) and the management client (fenster).
Our details for this are:

vSphere 5 Lab Setup pt 1

Recently, I decided to setup a vSphere 5 lab at home to help me prepare
for taking the VCP 5 exam.  Its purpose is basically to provide me a
setup to get better acquainted with certain vSphere features and maybe
testing of various fault / resolution scenarios.  This post is to help me

Extracting Individual Files from an Archive

Too often, I only need a single file or a couple of files from an archive.
One answer to this is to just extract the entire archive so that I can
get to those particular files.  The more precise answer is to simply
extract only those files that I need and place them where I want them.

Fixing an Overly Eager chmod in Linux

A while ago, someone asked me how to recover from a mistyped recursive
'chmod' they performed.  Similar to the write-up on an "overeager chown",
they mistyped the path and it executed against the root FS (/).  Ideally,
one would have a backup to recover from, however that wasn't an option