The Year of the Geek

More like 25 Years, but this is easier.

Upgrading from 10.4 Server to 10.5 Server

June 1st, 2009 by John Mahlman IV No comments »

As I’ve mentioned before, I manage 2 Apple Xservers and a lab full of Macs. When classes ended for the summer I decided to upgrade our Tiger server to Leopard. This was a task that I knew was going to be a lot of work especially because I was consolidating our old Dell web/mail/DNS into the Leopard machine. These computers were set up well before I came into the picture, and I was still learning new things about them as time went on. For example: I didn’t know that the old system (Wanda) ran another DNS on top of the university DNS. Confusing.

So, I decided to do this some time ago when I realized that every time the server would restart passwords would be locked out. This was an issue with the Kerberos setup in Tiger which was half broken by the time I got here. Long story short, I wanted to start over, so I did.

Upgrading from one system to another on a server s never an easy task, and Leopard was definitely no exception at all. I’ve upgraded Linux systems much easier than this. I decided to make the image in the lab one of the PowerPC G5s we have (the server is a G5). Here’s a fairly quick rundown of how I got everything to run like I wanted to.

Install 10.5 Server fresh selecting “Advanced Setup” from the choices offered. We’re going to be hosting a ton of services on here and I want to be able to configure every single one of them myself.
Install ALL updates available BEFORE SETTING ANYTHING UP! This is something I always do. it’s so much easier to start setting up the server after it’s completely updated. I don’t want to set up then have something break because the new update fucked it up and believe me, it happens. During this time I also updated XCode to 3.1.x so I can build anything with MacPorts when needed.
Next I needed to re-install or re-compile PHP5 so I had GD and MCRYPT. Instead of recompiling it I decided to install the Entropy PHP build which comes with all that jazz installed plus a few more things. All I have to do is disable the apple libphp5 plugin that comes wth Apache2. Done.
Next I installed the Autodesk Maya FlexLM license server. This was a bit annoying since there technically is no Leopard build from Autodesk. I decided to download the License server from Autodesk and go into the installer package and snoop around a bit. I found a conf file that I could edit to allow it to avoid checking for 10.5. That allowed me to install part of it, but the license server wouldn’t go. I finally just went into the package and took the launch daemon out and the library and just copied the files to their respective places in the system. Rebooted and it worked fine.
I decided to setup phpmyadmin as well as Webmin for administration. Webmin is great, I’m very used to it and it’s very lightweight. Phpmyadmin is obvious. I copied the folders to /etc and redirected the links in Apache using server admin and ran the setup scripts. I also installed the OS X Web-based open directory password changer while I was at it. All worked fine.
Next I did an rsync from the old webserver for the website. Copied everything over, dumped and restored the MySQL databases and users and voila! Web is back.
I rsync’ed the Mailman mailing lists from the old server. This was another issue. The data, archive, and list confs were all compatible; however, the symlinks on the copied lists were not working because they were still pointing to the old server model. I couldn’t really change the links without mailman complaining so I did some workin around this. First, I copied the archives from the old server to the new, this worked fine. I then exported the lists using server admin export AFTER I copied the lists from the old server. This gave me all mailing lists but nothing else, which is what I needed. I removed all the old lists and confs from the system but left the archives in place. I re-imported the lists that I exported from server admin and BING! All mailing lists recreated the links and all lists were back to their working state. Archives came over, user lists came over, and no complaining mailman.
After that was set I copied all of the DNS settings from the old server and put them in the new DNS. I also gave an updated list to Poly’s IS and disabled the now deprecated IDMI nameserver. Everything was now BXMC. This was about the time that I finally turned off Wanda, the old webserver, for good. Wanda will be reconfigured for Hans.
I enabled everything after I turned off Wanda; DNS, Firewall, DHCP, Web, Mail, etc. DHCP and Firewall were imported over from the Tiger install, so that was nothing.
I attempted to restore the open directory database from the Tiger backup. It wasn’t working, at all. I was getting frustrated because now I was thinking I had to put every user in by hand. I finally figured out that I was attempting to restore the LDAP database using the new kerberos realm and new LDAP searchbase. This won’t work because the backup is using the old one, they just won’t talk. I tried to restore using our old searchbase and realm and it worked! I did attempt to change the realm and searchbase with no success, so for now I’m leaving it at IDMI. No one will see this except myself and the systems so I could not care.
With OD working again I tested all logging into the wiki, website, lab machines, afp, etc. All worked after a password update (which all users will need to do unfrotunately).
The final bit was to get the NetRestore working on the server. I wrote about using NetRestore by Mike Bombich here, and how it reached EOL. I stated that I would continue to use it until it stopped working….well, it stopped. I was sad to see this actually, but our mac’s wouldn’t boot from the system anymore. They all failed for some unexplained reason. I decided to give the one Mike Bombich recommended a shot, DeployStudio. Installing DS was easy, just a simple pkg file. Setup was even fairly easy. I ran the server setup on the server and that’s really it. I used carbon copy cloner on a labmac to create an image (even though DS allows you to create one in the NetBoot screen, it didn’t work) and the NetRestore was back working. I actually would like the wrote more about DS in the future. I am very surprised with how well it works and the features it has built in. But that’ll be another story.

So this entire process took me 4 fresh installs on a lab machine before I got the image the way I wanted it (about 4-5 days). It took 45 minutes to copy the image from the external hard drive to the server, and took about 3 days of tweaks to get everything running smoothly. The entire experience was pretty painless, but it kept me busy for the entire time. I will be re-imaging the secondary server again (it was upgraded to Leopard before the main server last summer) so that I will now have everything fresh and clean for the next semester. Here’s a nice shot of server admin with everything running nicely:-)

If anyone reads this and needs help with a server setup and/or upgrade from Tiger to Leopard please feel free to comment or ask me any questions about it because I’ve seen every issue now with the server and I now know how to get around a lot of things with it.

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Posted in Software, Work

Tags: leopard macosx server update Work xserve

Windows 7 RC1 Update

May 11th, 2009 by John Mahlman IV 2 comments »

I updated my Windows 7 install to build 7100 (RC1). Some minor changes have been made on the outside. More themes are available, more sounds, different login screen background, yadda yadda.

As for the performance, I don’t notice too much of a change really.

Because Microsoft disallows upgrades from 7 Beta to 7 RC1 I had to wipe the drive and start over, no big deal though since I don’t use my Windows partition for much more than Steam.

My opinions still stand, Windows 7 seems to be very solid and visually appealing. I you’re one of those people who still run XP and were weary of switching to 7 instead of Vista (I was), I’d suggest you upgrade it if your hardware is up to snuff. Yeah, I think it’s really that good.

2 comments »

Posted in Software

Tags: update windows

My Impressions on Windows 7

May 6th, 2009 by John Mahlman IV 4 comments »

With Windows 7 RC1 being released to the public soon (not just developers) I thought I’d write a little something about my impressions of Windows 7 since I’ve been using it.

A few months ago Windows 7 build 7000 came out, I signed up for the beta and downloaded it. I figured I’d give it a shot. I had been using Windows XP on my MacBook Pro for a bit and I wasn’t really into Vista much so I decided, what the hell. I installed the 32-bit version on my computer (I know my laptop is 64-bit but there’s a weird issue with installing 64-bit windows on this version of the MBP, can be fixed but didn’t know at the time) and began using it.

The first thing I noticed was the look and feel of the OS. It’s very aesthetically pleasing; much nicer than XP and a small step up from Vista. I noticed that the taskbar at the bottom was now like the dock in OS X, programs show up there when running (icon only) and you can “pin” the icon there permanently for later use; also, if you mouse over the icon you get a small snapshot of the window or program running, clever. Windows 7 ups the graphics a bit in some visual effects which drastically challenges your graphics card at times, but of course the effects can be disabled; however, I only noticed this issue with it when attempting to run Windows 7 in Parallels (note to self, don’t try again).

Another thing I noticed about 7 is that it’s fairly speedy and responsive. After installing my MBP drivers on the system the computer runs very nicely; no hiccups, no glitches, no lockups, very solid. I began testing some small duties on it after a bit: typing, searching, surfing, etc. I have yet to install and heavy programs like Premiere Pro or Photoshop yet, but that’s only because I don’t need to…I use Mac OS for that. The main use of my Windows install is for Steam. I installed steam and Left 4 Dead (among other games) and the games play fine. I have had only one lockup playing Left 4 Dead and I don’t think t was a Windows issue. The game loads FAST so I have no complaints about that.

I’ve also been using the latest Windows Media Player on it; another program which I used to avoid at all times. The new WMP is pretty nice; it plays what I want it to play, and it looks better. I even like how it organizes your music when loaded up with album art.

One surprising thing I was very happy to find was when I was repairing my girlfriend’s Sansa View media player. In Windows XP you can load it up like a regular drive, or using windows media player, it only gives the option to open or play, thats really about it. I was shocked to see that when I plugged the player into Windows 7 it gave me a window with the correct product, the ability to update the firmware, sync pics music and videos, play, etc. This made me very happy to see it had built in Sansa support (and if it didn’t at first it downloaded it from the internet!). It made it so much easier to fix the player and organize the music on the player.

Now Windows 7 isn’t completely without it’s problems. While the interface is beautiful it does do some work on your graphics card at times. I have an ATI Radeon x1600 with 256MB video memory in my MBP, the graphics did hang sometimes (not too much) but it was definitely doing something. It might also be about the drivers, ATI has released some Windows 7 beta drivers, but again they are only beta. Another thing I noticed was that I couldn’t install some programs; MacDrive and Symantec EndPoint Protection. This is possibly the case in Vista also, but it did kinda suck that it wouldn’t install them. The system also still complains a lot about security issues which gets annoying after a bit, but you can decrease the sensitivity of the annoyances to a certain extent.

So, the good definitely outweighs the bad here and I’m looking forward to seeing Windows 7 when it’s complete. I believe that if this beta is this good, then Windows 7 has a damn good change of being “the next XP.” Overall, I’m very happy with Windows 7 and I’m very happy to see a Microsoft OS that functions well and is easy on the eyes.

Note: I am running Windows 7 build 7000, I have not installed 7100 or RC1. I may have to update if anything changes with later builds, but for now I’ll leave it at this.

4 comments »

Posted in Technology

Tags: reviews software Technology

New Domain!

May 4th, 2009 by John Mahlman IV No comments »

Welcome to the new home of The Year of the Geek!

As per a very special May Day sale on DreamHost I now have a domain and permanent home for my site. So now I will actually want to update more, hopefully;-)

Go DreamHost and your kick ass sale!

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tags: domain

eMachine Computer Repair Job

January 27th, 2009 by John Mahlman IV 9 comments »

A few weeks ago I picked up a quick freelance job from one of the cab drivers who drives me home often. He had a computer he wanted me to take a look at and attempt to upgrade for him. He doesn’t want to spend more than $200, and he just wants basic things done to it, nothing major to me. He drops off the machine and to my surprise it’s an old HP Pavilion mini-tower. I take it in and stare and it and realize that this is not really worth it; it holds a maximum of 512MB of PC100 RAM, it has a 20GB hard disk, and it’s only got a Pentium Celeron 667 in it. I let him know this thing is basically worthless and he informs me that a friend of his has given him a newer eMachines computer. I tell him I’ll take a look at it.

The machine is an eMachines T3092 with an Athlon XP 3000+ processor, 512MB DDR RAM, 160GB hard disk, CD-ROM and DVD-R. It’s got onboard nVidia gforce 4 video and sound, and it actually works fairly well. He wants the maximum amount of RAM (2gb) and a fresh install of XP, nothing really major.

Step 1: Order RAM

Easiest part, right? I order 2GB PC2700 RAM from New Egg for $54 and have it shipped to me at work. It ships from Edison, NJ…about 30 mins away. It takes 5 days to reach me. This is annoying to me because I could have used 2 of those days (the weekend) to install and test the RAM. Why would this have been important to me? See below…

Step 2: Install RAM

I install both 1GB sticks, computer boots, I rejoice. While working a bit I notice some issues. Freezing, slow loading, and finally blue screens. This is not good. I’m thinking it’s a driver issue because of the new RAM. I reinstall the chip-set drivers and still blue screens. Finally I run Memtest on the RAM, right away both sticks come up with errors.

Step 3: Test RAM

I pop out 1 stick and test only one. Same deal, red flags like China. I pop that stick out and test a stick that I know to be 100% working, one from a computer that is used all the time. Memtest: CHINA! What next?

Step 4: Begin Google and BIOS

Looking through the BIOS for memory settings; speed, voltage, etc. Nothing to change that would help. Google brings some light on this; many people have the same issue, works with 512MB but nothing more. Some people say it’s the power supply unit (PSU), some had RAM issues. Since I know it’s not the RAM, it might be the PSU. That’s my next stop, testing a better PSU than the Bestec that’s in there. Many people on forums complain that the PSUs in eMachines are crap, and they tend to burn out boards, RAM, or just don’t give enough voltage. Hopefully it’s the PSU.

If after I test the PSU tonight it does the same thing it’s time to get a new motherboard for this guy. Now, keep in mind he wants me to try to stay below or as close to $200 as possible, at this point I’ve been VERY generous with costs only charging him 50% of my normal labor costs. If he needs a new motherboard I need to eBay it because no one has them in stock. The price on eBay with shipping is approximately $60, the same price as the RAM. I told him I can either get a new motherboard or he can stick with the 512MB RAM for now. Only issue with the latter, he has to pay for th 2GB RAM still, it’s not returnable, and I only bought the brand I bought because it was well rated, has a lifetime warranty, and was cheaper than the other more known brands. He wanted me to save him money, so I did. Now it might bite him in the wallet.