Xen is a virtual machine monitor (VMM) for x86-compatible computers. Xen can securely execute multiple virtual machines, each running its own OS, on a single physical system with close-to-native performance.
Xen Wiki
Xen (Wikipedia)
Xen FAQ
howto-install-windows-xp-vista-on-xen
A brief introduction to xen-tools (debian-administration.org)
Installing Xen 3.0 upon Debian Sarge
Blog dedicated to linux based systems, open source, free software and other computer related things...
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Gentoo Linux Distribution
Gentoo official page
Gentoo Linux Distribution (Wikipedia)
Gentoo Linux operating system is designed to be modular, portable, easy to maintain, flexible, and optimized for the user's machine. All tools and utilities are built from source code. For convenience, however, several large software packages are also available as precompiled binaries for various architectures via the Portage system.
It is a distro oriented to developers and network professionals. Gentoo at distrowatch
Gentoo Wiki
Packages Online Database.
INSTALLING
Downloading Gentoo
Installing Gentoo Handbook
Linux Gazette article about installing Gentoo
LIVE CD
HowTo build a LiveCD from scratch (Gentoo-Wiki)
IRC CHANNEL
#gentoo at irc.gnu.org
OTHER INTERESTING LINKS
Embedded Gentoo
Gentoo Development Guide
Gentoo Linux Distribution (Wikipedia)
Gentoo Linux operating system is designed to be modular, portable, easy to maintain, flexible, and optimized for the user's machine. All tools and utilities are built from source code. For convenience, however, several large software packages are also available as precompiled binaries for various architectures via the Portage system.
It is a distro oriented to developers and network professionals. Gentoo at distrowatch
Gentoo Wiki
Packages Online Database.
INSTALLING
Downloading Gentoo
Installing Gentoo Handbook
Linux Gazette article about installing Gentoo
LIVE CD
HowTo build a LiveCD from scratch (Gentoo-Wiki)
IRC CHANNEL
#gentoo at irc.gnu.org
OTHER INTERESTING LINKS
Embedded Gentoo
Gentoo Development Guide
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
File types and Debian packages
This article describes some file types (their extensions) and programs and debian or ubuntu packages to visualize those file types.
Audio Video Interleave File'
| File Extension | Program | Debian/Ubuntu package | File Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| .chm | xchm | xchm | Microsoft help files |
| .djvu | djview | djview / djvulibre-plugin | Djvu file format for documents (alternative to pdf) |
| .rar | unrar | unrar | Rar compressed file format |
| .flv | mplayer | mplayer | Flash video file format |
| xpdf | xpdf | Portable Document Format | |
| .doc | abiword | abiword | Microsoft Word document format |
| .gz | gzip | gzip | Compressed file using Lempel-Ziv coding (LZ77) algorithm |
| .bz2 | bzip2 | bzip2 | Compressed file using Huffman coding and Burrows-Wheeler compression algorithm |
| .avi | mplayer | mplayer | Audio Video Interleave File |
Monday, 18 June 2007
Ubuntu
Ubuntu Community FAQ
Ubuntu FAQ
Repository Components
Ubuntu Packages
Mark Suttleworth wiki
Mark Shuttleworth's blog
Ubuntu Forums
HowTo: Install Feisty on a bootable USB Flash drive
Ubuntu USB live
Persistence Bug Feisty
Get involved in Ubuntu
Becoming an Ubuntu Developer
Ubuntu development
Ubuntu paid work
Ubuntu bug tracker
Gutsy Release Schedule
Gutsy Tribe-1 CDs
Live Usb Pendrive Persistent
IRC CHANNELS
(at irc.gnu.org)
#ubuntu
#ubuntu+1
Ubuntu FAQ
Repository Components
Ubuntu Packages
Mark Suttleworth wiki
Mark Shuttleworth's blog
Ubuntu Forums
HowTo: Install Feisty on a bootable USB Flash drive
Ubuntu USB live
Persistence Bug Feisty
Get involved in Ubuntu
Becoming an Ubuntu Developer
Ubuntu development
Ubuntu paid work
Ubuntu bug tracker
Gutsy Release Schedule
Gutsy Tribe-1 CDs
Live Usb Pendrive Persistent
IRC CHANNELS
(at irc.gnu.org)
#ubuntu
#ubuntu+1
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Bash tips
http://builder.com.com/5100-6372_14-5827311.html
Customizing the bash command prompt
COMMAND REFERENCE
Linux Command Reference Index
Another command Reference
O'Reilly Command Reference
GNU/Linux Command Line Tools Sumary
Learning the Shell Tutorial
Changing X resolution
i.e:
now, to switch to 800x600 resolution we can exec:
or
wait for 5 secs and voila! resolution changed!
NOTE: another way to change resolution is pressing ctrl+alt++ or ctrl+alt+- keys
NOTE: this command is very useful to change qemu X-windows resolution when it is bigger than your screen.
Listing file sizes in human readable form:
if you want to list them in a more readable way type:
NOTE: this "h" switch option also works with other commands like df, du, etc.
Obtaining an ISO file from a CDRom
You need to now what device your cdrom drive is associated to: (In this example will be /dev/sdX)
exec this command:
that makes a byte by byte copy from /dev/sdX device (our cdrom) to cdrom_image.iso file in 1000000 bytes size chunks.
NOTE: Change bs argument to suit your needs. That value has effect on the speed the copy is performed.
Customizing the bash command prompt
COMMAND REFERENCE
Linux Command Reference Index
Another command Reference
O'Reilly Command Reference
GNU/Linux Command Line Tools Sumary
Learning the Shell Tutorial
Changing X resolution
$xrandr #shows all available resolutionsi.e:
SZ: Pixels Physical Refresh
*0 1024 x 768 ( 271mm x 203mm ) *61
1 800 x 600 ( 271mm x 203mm ) 73
2 640 x 480 ( 271mm x 203mm ) 73now, to switch to 800x600 resolution we can exec:
$xrandr -s 1or
$xrandr --size 800x600wait for 5 secs and voila! resolution changed!
NOTE: another way to change resolution is pressing ctrl+alt++ or ctrl+alt+- keys
NOTE: this command is very useful to change qemu X-windows resolution when it is bigger than your screen.
Listing file sizes in human readable form:
ls -l # shows file sizes, usually in bytes.if you want to list them in a more readable way type:
ls -lhNOTE: this "h" switch option also works with other commands like df, du, etc.
Obtaining an ISO file from a CDRom
You need to now what device your cdrom drive is associated to: (In this example will be /dev/sdX)
exec this command:
dd if=/dev/sdX of=cdrom_image.iso bs=1000000that makes a byte by byte copy from /dev/sdX device (our cdrom) to cdrom_image.iso file in 1000000 bytes size chunks.
NOTE: Change bs argument to suit your needs. That value has effect on the speed the copy is performed.
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
Resizing partitions with GParted
GParted stands for Gnome Partition Editor
GParted is an industrial-strength package for creating, destroying, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the filesystems on them. This is useful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganizing disk usage, copying data residing on hard disks and mirroring one partition with another (disk imaging).
Supported Filesystems
Before using GParted we should check if it supports the filesystems we want to deal with:
Filesystems supported
More info about filesystems from Wikipedia.
Getting GParted
GParted is distributed within three ways, as source code, as live cd or as live usb.
I choose to download and use the live cdrom one: GParted Live CD.
So I download and burn it to a writable cd, and then boot my computer from this cdrom.
NOTE: When booting GParted live cd, my tft screen ends black. To solve that, press ctrl+alt+del. Then at console mode exec #Forcevideo and select a supported vesa video mode for the tft.
GParted is an industrial-strength package for creating, destroying, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the filesystems on them. This is useful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganizing disk usage, copying data residing on hard disks and mirroring one partition with another (disk imaging).
Supported Filesystems
Before using GParted we should check if it supports the filesystems we want to deal with:
Filesystems supported
More info about filesystems from Wikipedia.
Getting GParted
GParted is distributed within three ways, as source code, as live cd or as live usb.
I choose to download and use the live cdrom one: GParted Live CD.
So I download and burn it to a writable cd, and then boot my computer from this cdrom.
NOTE: When booting GParted live cd, my tft screen ends black. To solve that, press ctrl+alt+del. Then at console mode exec #Forcevideo and select a supported vesa video mode for the tft.
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Installing Qemu on Windows Vista
Qemu introduction from Wikipedia
QEMU emulates a full computer system, including a processor and various peripherals. It can be used to provide virtual hosting of several virtual computers on a single computer.
Accelerator
Qemu author, Fabrice Bellard, also wrote a Linux kernel module (with preliminary ports to FreeBSD and Windows) named KQEMU or QEMU Accelerator, which notably speeds up i386 emulation on i386 platforms. This is accomplished by running user mode code directly on the host computer's CPU, and using processor and peripheral emulation only for kernel mode and real mode code. KQEMU also supports a kernel emulation mode in which portions of kernel mode code run on the host's CPU
Qemu official page:
http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/
Qemu ported to Windows:
http://www.h7.dion.ne.jp/~qemu-win/
First we download a zip package:
qemu-0.9.0-windows.zip
Next unzip archives to a folder.
There are some clues at file README-en.txt, and a html manual at qemu-doc.html.
Qemu is now ready to be run:
so exec qemu-win.bat and a small linux test image "linux.img" is emulated.
NOTE: When a mouse cursor is missing, type Ctrl and Alt key together. Please use Alt
and Tab on WindowsMe.
NOTE: To exit from Linux, press Ctrl-Alt-2 keys together then you will see (qemu) prompt.
Then type quit:
Running Qemu:
I have downloaded a Ubuntu iso cdrom image: ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso
First I exec C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe to open a comand line window, and then:
Qemu gives this warning:
Could not open '\\.\kqemu' - QEMU acceleration layer not activated
To avoid this message, install qemu accelerator, which will improve qemu speed:
(NOTE: uninstall any previous version accelerator you have before installing this one)
Qemu accelerator Kqemu-1.3.0pre11
NETWORK SET UP FOR QEMU ON WINDOWS VISTA
Right now we don't have network available. We check at this doc for some clues: HowToNetwork-en.html
I have decided to use a TAP (virtual ethernet network interface) to have full internet access: TapWin32-en.html
First we need a VPN driver for windows: OpenVPN driver download page.
Download and install this program: openvpn-2.0.9-install.exe
Once installed go to Programs menu and then
-> OpenVPN -> Add a new TAP-Win32 virtual ethernet adapter
If all has gone fine, a tap device will appear at:
Control panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Manage networks
Remember the TAP interface name because it will be passed as an argument to qemu, i.e. in my computer is "Local area connection 2"
Now we have to establish a NETWORK SOFTWARE BRIDGE in windows vista.
Network bridge (Wikipedia)
A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model.
In our case the bridge will interconnect a real network interface with our TAP interface at data link layer, so both interfaces will share same IP address.
Howto set up a network bridge at windows xp and vista: Win XP network bridge set up.
Select both interfaces pressing ctrl key, and right click the mouse.
Select "Bridge connections" at the pop up menu and wait till network bridge will be completed.
After bridge completion gonna set up its network configuration:
right click at bridge icon -> properties -> Internet protocol version 4
If you have a dhcp server you can set bridge interface to automatically get its IP address.
I use a static network configuration at my LAN.
(change values to suit your network.)
To check the network at console window we can make some pings:
Time of truth arrives, we launch qemu:
at ubuntu guest system I configure the network with a free IP address on my LAN:
If you have Internet access through your LAN, you can now open a browser and surf on the Internet from inside your qemu guest system. :-)
More info about bridging:
hnw_bridge_install
hnw_understanding_bridge
OTHER INTERESTING LINKS
Qemu HowTo Floppy Cdrom
QEMU emulates a full computer system, including a processor and various peripherals. It can be used to provide virtual hosting of several virtual computers on a single computer.
Accelerator
Qemu author, Fabrice Bellard, also wrote a Linux kernel module (with preliminary ports to FreeBSD and Windows) named KQEMU or QEMU Accelerator, which notably speeds up i386 emulation on i386 platforms. This is accomplished by running user mode code directly on the host computer's CPU, and using processor and peripheral emulation only for kernel mode and real mode code. KQEMU also supports a kernel emulation mode in which portions of kernel mode code run on the host's CPU
Qemu official page:
http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/
Qemu ported to Windows:
http://www.h7.dion.ne.jp/~qemu-win/
First we download a zip package:
qemu-0.9.0-windows.zip
Next unzip archives to a folder.
There are some clues at file README-en.txt, and a html manual at qemu-doc.html.
Qemu is now ready to be run:
so exec qemu-win.bat and a small linux test image "linux.img" is emulated.
NOTE: When a mouse cursor is missing, type Ctrl and Alt key together. Please use Alt
and Tab on WindowsMe.
NOTE: To exit from Linux, press Ctrl-Alt-2 keys together then you will see (qemu) prompt.
Then type quit:
(qemu) quitRunning Qemu:
I have downloaded a Ubuntu iso cdrom image: ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso
First I exec C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe to open a comand line window, and then:
>cd <qemu-directory-path>
>qemu -L . -m 512 -cdrom ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso
| Option | Value | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| -L | bios path | in our example actual directory "." | -m | available memory | Default is 128 meg, I set it to 512 |
| -cdrom | iso cdrom image path | Iso image to emulate a cdrom |
Qemu gives this warning:
Could not open '\\.\kqemu' - QEMU acceleration layer not activated
To avoid this message, install qemu accelerator, which will improve qemu speed:
(NOTE: uninstall any previous version accelerator you have before installing this one)
Qemu accelerator Kqemu-1.3.0pre11
NETWORK SET UP FOR QEMU ON WINDOWS VISTA
Right now we don't have network available. We check at this doc for some clues: HowToNetwork-en.html
I have decided to use a TAP (virtual ethernet network interface) to have full internet access: TapWin32-en.html
First we need a VPN driver for windows: OpenVPN driver download page.
Download and install this program: openvpn-2.0.9-install.exe
Once installed go to Programs menu and then
-> OpenVPN -> Add a new TAP-Win32 virtual ethernet adapter
If all has gone fine, a tap device will appear at:
Control panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Manage networks
Remember the TAP interface name because it will be passed as an argument to qemu, i.e. in my computer is "Local area connection 2"
Now we have to establish a NETWORK SOFTWARE BRIDGE in windows vista.
Network bridge (Wikipedia)
A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model.
In our case the bridge will interconnect a real network interface with our TAP interface at data link layer, so both interfaces will share same IP address.
Howto set up a network bridge at windows xp and vista: Win XP network bridge set up.
Select both interfaces pressing ctrl key, and right click the mouse.
Select "Bridge connections" at the pop up menu and wait till network bridge will be completed.
After bridge completion gonna set up its network configuration:
right click at bridge icon -> properties -> Internet protocol version 4
If you have a dhcp server you can set bridge interface to automatically get its IP address.
I use a static network configuration at my LAN.
(change values to suit your network.)
IP 192.168.0.5
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.129
DNS1 194.179.1.100
DNS2 194.179.1.101To check the network at console window we can make some pings:
ping 192.168.0.5
ping 192.168.0.129 (checking gateway)Time of truth arrives, we launch qemu:
qemu -L . -m 512 -cdrom ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso -net nic -net tap,ifname="Local area connection 2"
at ubuntu guest system I configure the network with a free IP address on my LAN:
IP 192.168.0.10
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.129
DNS 194.179...
pings work:
ping 192.168.0.10
ping 192.168.0.5
ping 192.168.0.129 (checking the gateway)
If you have Internet access through your LAN, you can now open a browser and surf on the Internet from inside your qemu guest system. :-)
More info about bridging:
hnw_bridge_install
hnw_understanding_bridge
OTHER INTERESTING LINKS
Qemu HowTo Floppy Cdrom
Friday, 8 June 2007
Debian GNU/Linux Distribution
Debian GNU/Linux is an complete Operating System based on the Linux kernel(there are also other platforms available).
It is developed in an open way by volunteers all over the world.
Debian (from Wikipedia)
DEBIAN DISTRIBUTION PHILOSOPHY AND GOALS
These documents describe Debian philosophy.
Debian Manifiesto
Debian Social Contract - Describes Debian Goals.
Debian Free Software Guidelines - Requirements software has to accomplish to be accepted as Debian Free Software.
Debian currently provides over 26000 software packages, and targets eleven hardware architectures.
Ubuntu distro and others like Damn Small Linux, Knoppix, Xandros, etc are Debian based distributions.
DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURE
Debian has three main branches: unstable (sid), testing and stable.
The stable one is suited for server environments. Packages at this version are frozen, and there are only security updates. (Debian Security Faq)
Usually newer software package versions are added to the unstable branch. If no serious bugs are found, after some time, the package migrate to testing branch (its dependencies also have to be in the testing branch).
Stable branch regularly receive security updates. Using Debian Sid (unstable) means that you have the latest package versions at the cost of stability and security.
Debian repositories are separated into several categories:
DEBIAN PACKAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
APT (Advanced Packaging Tool) is the Debian Package Management System. It is a user interface to some libraries that deal with software installation.
It comprises a set of tools. e.g: apt-get, apt-cache, apt-cdrom, ...
APT tracks dependency problems, performing installation and removing of packages in the most suitable order. When you install a package APT automatically installs all required dependencies. APT allows installing packages via network.
Apt, Aptitude, Dpkg Reference Article.
DEBIAN PACKAGE DEVELOPMENT
Documentation about creating and maintaining Debian packages.
Developer manuals
Debian New Mantainers' Guide
OTHER DEBIAN RELATED LINKS
Debian Wiki
Debian Reference (debian.org)
Debian FAQ
Getting support for Debian GNU/Linux.
Debian package list
Debian Forums
Debian Administration
IRC
#debian irc channel at irc.gnu.org server.
It is developed in an open way by volunteers all over the world.
Debian (from Wikipedia)
DEBIAN DISTRIBUTION PHILOSOPHY AND GOALS
These documents describe Debian philosophy.
Debian Manifiesto
Debian Social Contract - Describes Debian Goals.
Debian Free Software Guidelines - Requirements software has to accomplish to be accepted as Debian Free Software.
Debian currently provides over 26000 software packages, and targets eleven hardware architectures.
Ubuntu distro and others like Damn Small Linux, Knoppix, Xandros, etc are Debian based distributions.
DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURE
Debian has three main branches: unstable (sid), testing and stable.
The stable one is suited for server environments. Packages at this version are frozen, and there are only security updates. (Debian Security Faq)
Usually newer software package versions are added to the unstable branch. If no serious bugs are found, after some time, the package migrate to testing branch (its dependencies also have to be in the testing branch).
Stable branch regularly receive security updates. Using Debian Sid (unstable) means that you have the latest package versions at the cost of stability and security.
Debian repositories are separated into several categories:
- main contains the main Debian repository.
- contrib contains software deployed under a free license but with non-free dependencies.
- non-free software that does not adhere to Debian free software guidelines.
DEBIAN PACKAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
APT (Advanced Packaging Tool) is the Debian Package Management System. It is a user interface to some libraries that deal with software installation.
It comprises a set of tools. e.g: apt-get, apt-cache, apt-cdrom, ...
APT tracks dependency problems, performing installation and removing of packages in the most suitable order. When you install a package APT automatically installs all required dependencies. APT allows installing packages via network.
Apt, Aptitude, Dpkg Reference Article.
DEBIAN PACKAGE DEVELOPMENT
Documentation about creating and maintaining Debian packages.
Developer manuals
Debian New Mantainers' Guide
OTHER DEBIAN RELATED LINKS
Debian Wiki
Debian Reference (debian.org)
Debian FAQ
Getting support for Debian GNU/Linux.
Debian package list
Debian Forums
Debian Administration
IRC
#debian irc channel at irc.gnu.org server.