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[Keith] Welcome to A Couple Of Admins Podcasting. I'm Keith Albright

[Rich] and I'm Rich Niemeier.

[Ted] and I'm Ted Miller.

[Steve] and I'm Steve Murawski.

[Keith] This is Episode 21 recorded on October 24, 2007.

Chit-Chat - What's going on with you?

[Steve]
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[Rich]
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[Ted]
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[Keith]
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Housekeeping Items

[Rich]
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[Ted]
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[Steve]
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[Keith]

  • Battling some Wiki Spam. Going back to my discussion about security on stuff. Someone is able to create pages on the wiki and I figured out how they did it. Not sure if I have it fixed yet, but working on it. SPAM HTML was using U of Wisconsin to host pages....anything you want to fess up Steve?
  • Quick correction/update from a couple shows ago. I talked about the new Lotus Symphony application suite and stated it was not Open Office....well, it is. It is based on the Open Office application suite. I had incorrectly assumed, given the Lotus name involved, that it was a new version of the original Lotus SmartSuite? which was a direct competitor to Office. Lotus 123, Ami Pro, and Freelance Graphics...I had to look that up since I'm getting so old. Last released in 2002, according to Wikipedia.....
  • LinkedIn Social engineering....kinda. So, I was reviewing my links on LinkedIn and I get a notice that someone (former co-worker) has new connections. I click to see his profile and notice the picture doesn't exactly look like him. I had been noticing that this guy was always adding connections in the pharmaceutical field and I kept wondering if he was interviewing and looking to change jobs. Well, it turns out it's not him. I scrutinize the guys profile and realize it's not him. Even worse, I am the idiot that had the wrong person and sent him the connection invite and he just accepted.

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Listener Feedback

'''From Steve...No, not that Steve. This on is Steve from Port Augusta, South Australia, Australia who posted a pin on the Frappr map and said 'Great show guys'. Thank you very much Steve.

From listener Jed Reynolds.... I can't help you with MS SQL or w32 server imaging techniques. I've been running MySQL? replication which is pretty easy to configure, but I've had to figure out how to deal with replication lag for a high-performance web app.

Something that my co-admin is developing is a set of Linux server configurations in CFEngine?. We start off with a KickStart? script for our CentOS? servers, and part of that installation provides CFEngine?. The rest of the configuration is done entirely scripted thru CFEngine?--crontabs, ssh keys, additional packages, and whatever source control checkouts we need. CFEngine? also runs on w32 environments, and can config registry keys. We're not CFEngine? enabling our w32 servers, we'll just image those.)

A while ago I considered using Xen instances for saving copies of server configurations. That would be cool if I had like, tonnnnns of disk space and was able to downtime servers more often, but I have had neither. Using LVM snapshots, that would be a pretty economical method of capturing a server. Lots of servers I run, however, are very data intensive, and separating out the data set from the OS and configuration takes a lot of time. I can see that if I had a SAN and lots of chocolate coated terrabytes, I'd be snapping system images left and right.

We're finding that CFEngine? allows us to maintain essentially a "live configuration" install script. VM snapshots, hard drive images and old full backups often are more out of date than in date. But if you get into the habit of publishing your system changes via CFEngine? (and you can get into the habit when you repeatedly get your server changed reverted by CFEngine?), the next Kickstart install of a node will get the contemporary configuration. Depending on disk image sizes, I find that doing a scripted reinstall can be much faster than an image restore, especially if the RPMs? you're installing from are available on the LAN rather than on CD.

I also really like--and no longer fear--from scratch installs anymore. So often, server settings are undocumented and lost--very fragile. We're to the point that -- sinc everything in Linux is rc-file oriented, I can recreate system settings preciesly during a reinstall. If something gets hacked or I lose a disk array, I'm almost back in action as soon as I can get it to boot from an CentOS? install CD.

And the last thing to consider, is that if you're the type of admin that comments shell scripts, comments in CFEngine? config files can be thought of as system documentation. A wiki might be more accessible, however :-)

Jed

KEITH?

  • Kickstart is basically an installation answer file.
  • CentOS? if you are not familiar with it is essentially Red Hat Enterprise Linux. As they put it: CentOS? is an Enterprise-class Linux Distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor.
  • LVM is the Logical Volume Management feature within Unix/Linux. It allows for mirroring volumes, create RO/RW snapshots of volumes, etc.

News Items
Windows update glitch stumps Microsoft sleuths

-Microsoft is still scratching its head over a mystery that has some users reporting that settings within Windows Vista’s Automatic Updates feature are changing on their own.
-after this month’s Patch Tuesday when users began reporting patches were installed automatically and their systems rebooted even though they had specifically disabled automatic installation.
-It is unclear whether the glitch also affects other versions of Windows, namely XP, and Microsoft is not saying. It is also unclear whether corporate users tapping into Windows Software Update Services (WSUS) were facing similar issues.
-Microsoft is collecting log files from affected users....all the logs collected show that the machines were already set to “install updates automatically”...
-glitch follows on the heels of user complaints that Windows Update was conducting updates on user's machines without their knowledge or approval

[Keith] I had a weird WSUS glitch today. I fire up my desktop and had updates available. I didn't approve any. Windows Desktop Search ready to install.....Not an update, full install. Whole bunch of updates released on 10/23 and were approved for all groups in WSUS. I didn't do it.

[Rich]

[Ted]

[Steve] I had the same experience. I RDP'd into one of my servers and Windows Desktop Search was just waiting for me to approve the install. There were two other updates that were approved, without my action - .Net 1.1 SP 1, and .Net 3.0.

Link: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/101807-windows-update-glitch.html Link: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9043299&intsrc=hm_list

Comcast admits 'delay,' saying it's temporary''

Wednesday, October 24, 2007
PETER SVENSSON
The Associated Press
-"Comcast Corp. on Tuesday acknowledged "delaying" some subscriber Internet traffic, but said any roadblocks it puts up are temporary and intended to improve surfing for other users."
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[Keith]

[Rich]

So, which users get preference? Is it Just peer to peer being blocked. Publish your critia so i can decide if I want to use your service.

[Ted]

[Steve]

Link: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1193194506100060.xml&coll=7#continue

New PDF Attack Making the Rounds

-by Paul Thurrott, thurrott@windowsitpro.com
-"With today's OSs? providing more security controls than ever, malicious

hackers are turning to unpatched applications as a way to infiltrate users' systems. This week, a malicious PDF document that exploits security flaws in Adobe's popular Adobe Reader and Acrobat software, and in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, is making its way across the Internet, threatening to compromise PCs? around the globe"

[Keith]

[Rich]

[Ted]

[Steve]

Link: http://

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Steve's Topics

  • PowerShell Basics
    ->-The command line
    -->-Most of your standard MS-DOS/CMD.EXE commands work (some are "aliased" to new PowerShell Commandlets)
    -->-Interactive scripting environment
    -->-Shell History
    -->-Access to the .Net Framework
    ->-Commandlets
    -->-Verb-Noun
    -->-Aliases
    -->-Pipeline
    -->-Command Completion (MoW?'s PowerTab?)
    -->-Exporting Data (CSV/XML/Text File)
    -->-Formating Data (Format-List, Format-Table, Sort-Object)

Rich's Topics

-What is it?
-(Steve - I've seen the home version at Best Buy. It's a sort-of-thin-client solution. The home version works with Windows XP)
->- It seems to have Hardware that is put in a PCi slot and then rebroadcasts the desktop.
-They don't like it being referred to as terminal services.
-What about licensing?? I am pretty sure Microsoft does want then sharing an XP desktop or for that matter the Office Suite.
-Link: http://www.ncomputing.com/ncomputing/company/contactus.php?form_type=find_reseller
-No real news just an observation.
-Microsoft Windows XP SP3? beta
-PCmag?
-Link: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2200761,00.asp
  • 'Writer of the UK IT Crowd , Graham Linehan has advise for US producers
-It was an interesting read to see the writers view on what he thinks the US can or cannot do with the 'IT Crowd'
-He also had some advice to the US producers.
-Link:
Note: mention "The Back Room Tech" Blog
link:http://thebackroomtech.wordpress.com/
Note to Keith article he should read from Network World.
Title: Noncertified IT pros earn more than certified counterparts: survey
link:http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/101607-noncertified-it-pros-better-paid.html

Ted's Topics

  • Topic 1
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-Link: http://
  • Topic 2
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-Link: http://
  • Topic 3
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-Link: http://
  • Topic 4
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-Link: http://

Keith's Topics

  • The Gateway Story Continues
-Gateway has sold off it's Professional line of PC's to Micron PC. All educational, Government, and business sales are now through MPC - Micron PC Corporation.
-I probably should have returned the calls from my Gateway rep after the takeover announcement instead of waiting until I was purchasing PC's and went to the Gateway website and couldn't find anything more than home PC's.
-They'll sell Gateway branded PC's for 12 months.
-Link: http://www.gateway.com/about/news_info/transition.php
-Link: http://pro.mpccorp.com/
  • Desktop Search
-I'm modifying existing website code and, since I didn't write it, I'm trying to unravel the calls, etc. So, I search for specific strings and I'm getting no responses for these strings within files...even though I know they exist.
-Turns out on XP & 2003 Microsoft changed search to exclude any non-registered files types. So, even though I put *.* in the mask for filename, it ignored the ASP files.
-Didn't work for me, still won't search .ASP files....even if I put *.ASP in the file mask.
-Maybe this is why MS auto approved the Windows Desktop Search for me????
-Link below is for a fix from the IntelliAdmin? site.
-Link: http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/04/fix-broken-search-feature-in-windows.html
  • New Ubuntu release - Gutsy Gibbon
-I did a live boot and poked around a bit. I need to get this loaded on a box at home.
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-Link: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
  • Mac OS X Leopard releases this Friday, October 26th
-Unfortunately, I do not have a Mac worthy of this upgrade, so I'll have to sit and pine for the beauty of the newest Apple creation.
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-Link: http://www.apple.com/macosx

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Website Picks

Rich - http://www.flixxy.com/car-trouble.htm Just a funny video.

Steve - http://

Ted - http://

Keith - http://www.tomshardware.com/us/
Toms Hardware Guide. Great resource for CPU comparisons and other hardware benchmarks. Bonus Link: Listen to podcasts over your phone.

Last Call

Anyone....Anyone....Buehler.....Buehler....

Closing

All right, well that is it for the show. For listener feedback; you can email us at Feedback [at] acoupleofadmins.com or post a comment on the main site at ACoupleOfAdmins.com. If you use iTunes, you could write a review. If you just want to show us your listening, drop a pin on the Frappr map...there's a link on the show site.

Lastly, you can drop any show ideas or topic requests on the wiki. There is a link to the wiki on the main show site. If you would like to participate in the show; either through an interview, a segment contribution, or any other way, please let us know. We are also a member of the Techpodcast and the Blubrry networks. Check out some other great shows by going to Techpodcast.com and Blubrry.com....That's Blubrry without the E's

Thanks everyone.