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.

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:

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:

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

Manual P2V with Linux

We recently had a situation wherein we were replacing a physical host
with a virtual machine (VM) instance.  Rather than simply install a
new VM and reapply software packages and configuration, the need was to
retain the existing installation.  To do so, we effectively cloned the

NIC Replacement in Linux

In the past, I've found it slightly annoying that if I needed to swap
out a network interface card (NIC), Red Hat distros of Linux would kindly
backup the interface configuration for that interface and generate a stub
DHCP configuration in its place.  This leaves the host potentially with

Fixing a Broken initrd in Linux

I recently had a situation where a host's disk controller failed.
The box would get partially through a BIOS post before throwing errors
about the failed controller and then fail to boot.  To resolve the
situation, we effectively replaced said controller.  This, however, lead

Fixing an Overly Eager chown in Linux

A while ago, someone asked me how to recover from a mistyped recursive
'chown' they performed.  They mistyped the path and it executed against
the root FS (/), though they caught it before it acted on everything.
Ideally, one would have a backup to recover from, however that wasn't

Process Memory Usage

Since resources on a host are finite, it can be useful to know the
impact of a process or processes on those resources.  In this instance,
we'll take a look at a process' use of memory.  Our details for this are:

Configuring iSCSI Initiators in Linux

In part 1, we worked through how to set up iSCSI targets in Linux
(the server side).  Here, in part 2, are my notes on how to set up the
initiators in Linux (the client side).  Our host details for this are
the same as part 1:

Configuring iSCSI Targets in Linux

Since I've already been looking into iSCSI on Solaris, I thought I'd look
to see what Linux has to offer.  While in comparison to Solaris I think
the Linux side could still mature a little, it still has potential and
a functional offering.  The following is part 1 of my notes detailing

Sending Messages to Users

Recently while working on a problem with someone else, I needed to have
them run a series of commands with specific options.  Since we were
both working remotely, it wasn't as simple as telling them to look
over my shoulder.  Though I tried telling them the commands over the

Enabling Local FS Quotas in Linux

Quotas allow you to limit the amount of space a user or group can use
and / or the number of files a user or group can create on a filesystem
(FS).  The following shows how to set up these quotas and the expected
user experience.  Our host details for this are:

Finding Open Files in Linux

Finding open files in Linux is quite similar to finding them in FreeBSD
and Solaris.  Here, we'll specifically identify open files on a particular
filesystem (FS) within a Linux environment.  Our host details this
time are:

Configuring NFS in Linux

As a follow up to 'Configuring NFS in Solaris', we turn to the same
in Linux.  Briefly, NFS (network file system) provides access to remote
filesystems which appear similar to local resources on client hosts.
The following focuses on simple NFS server and client configuration in

File Integrity Checks via Package DB

After a system has been installed, files tend to change over time.
These changes may be deliberate, part of normal host operation, the
result of an errant 'chmod', etc.  Tools like Samhain, AIDE, and Tripwire
(note 0) have been devised specifically to identify such changes which