Spin Ink

attribution: This article was written by Barry O’Donovan and published on LinuxGazette.net. I have modified it from its original content and format to remove the anacron information, add a few commas, and correct the markup.

1. Introduction

The thing about backups is that they can just be a pain. Everyone knows just how important they are, but very few people actually take the time to perform proper backups. Even after they have felt the pain of losing all those important files.

In this article I am going to show you how to quickly set up your computer for simple, hassle-free, and transparent backups using only rsync and cron. The premise is simple: every night your computer will make an automatic mirror of all the files you wish to backup, and at chosen intervals these mirrors will be archived and kept for a specified period of time.

Before you get your hands dirty on actual implementation, you need to design your own backup policy. In section 3, I discuss what a backup policy should and should not be. I will then introduce the necessary background information on rsync and cron separately. Finally, I will put it all together leaving you with a simple but effective backup regime. (more…)

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It seems like it was so very long ago that I downloaded a copy of SuSE 9.2 and tried it out on my laptop, but in fact, it was just 1 year ago today. Since that fateful day, I have become a full time Linux user, and have helped countless others make the switch. This time last year, I was a ‘newb’ by anyone’s standards, with only a basic understanding of the Linux file system and its many commands. Now, many people look to me for help and guidance with their Linux issues. Many of these same people consider me to be a guru. While I am greatly flattered by this title, I know that I still have a very long way to go before I feel I deserve it. I would prefer to label myself as a ‘tweaker’. I define a ‘tweaker’ as someone who is never satisfied, a person who is plagued by an insatiable desire to understand and improve on everything around them. It is the biological need to know how things work on as many levels as possible and then see if they can make them better. (more…)

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So, you forgot your root password and would like to gain access to your system again. Don’t worry, all is not lost. You can use the SuSE Linux install cd to boot the ‘Rescue System’, reset the password and create a new one. Special thanks to Broch, whom originally posted this information on the SuSE Linux Forums. I decided his orignal post was nice for the Linux proficient, but a bit of a trial for newbies. I believe that anyone asking a newbie to use vi is a saddistic bastard. So without further adieu, here is Broch’s post, vi free and newbie friendly. (more…)

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Are you using Linux, but still going back to windows to put songs on your iPod? Well, you don’t have to use that infernal iTunes anymore! Amarok 1.4(currently in beta) now uses a new library, libgpod, for interfacing with iPods. This new library was originally baked into gtkpod, but was recently made self-contained and released as a separate project by the good folks from the gtkpod project.

(more…)

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Many people have had problems doing a network install of SuSE Linux. In this guide I hope to clear up some of this confusion by providing step-by-step instructions. There is more than one way to accomplish this task. I willl do my best to cover all the bases, but should I miss one, please leave a comment. I will cover the FTP/HTTP network install methods.

To do an FTP/HTTP network install of SuSE Linux, you will need a pretty fast network connection. A standard SuSE install is approximately 2.4GB’s. You can do a custom or minimal install(~675MB) and select more or less packages if you like. To get started you will need either the first install CD of SuSE or the boot.iso burnt to disc. (more…)

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If you are like me, then you want your machines to be as up-to-date as possible. I do not mean using alphas and betas up-to-date, that is just asking for trouble. I mean latest stable package up-to-date. While these packages are considered stable, they have not been through the same level of testing as those that were released with SuSE 10. As a result, you could run into application crashes and other random issues. I have been using this method regularly since suse 9.2 and I have not had any major issues with it, but you should still be aware that some problems may arise. I resolved the 2 issues I have had by just going back to the older version of the package.

This tutorial assumes that you know what YaST is, and that you have already completed the tutorial to add YaST Installation Sources. (more…)

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For SuSE users, this upgrade is pretty painless, unless you are a dialup user. Updating to KDE 3.5 from 3.4 will require a good 500MB download, so dialup users need not apply. That said, lets upgrade KDE.

The first step is to be sure you have a nice selection of repositories setup in your YaST Installation Sources. Technically, only the Supplementary KDE Source is required, but I suggest adding them all in order to get the most functionality. Once you have the additional YaST Installation Sources added, you are ready to begin the upgrade process.

1. Start YaST -> Software Manager (*Install and Remove Software for 9.3 and before)
2. Change the Filter drop-down menu from ‘Search’ to ‘Selections’
3. For both the “KDE Desktop Environment” and “All of KDE” selections, right click in the right hand pane and select ‘All in this list’ - > ‘Update if newer version available’
4. Click ‘Accept’ and wait for the installation to finish.

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The first step is to visit a SuSE mirror and save the SuSE rpm of Firefox 1.5 for your platform to your machine. This mirror has packages for SuSE 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, and 10.0 in PowerPC(ppc), 32, and 64bit flavors. Once downloaded, there are a few ways to install the rpm file. First, we will go over the command line method.

1. Open a Terminal window
2. Navigate to the directory where you saved the Firefox 1.5 rpm.
3. Type: ’su’ and then provide your root password
4. Type: ‘rpm -Uvh MozillaFirefox-1.5-0.1.i386.rpm’ (your filename may be different)

*Note* the ‘U’ is for upgrade, ‘v’ is for verbose, and ‘h’ will output the packages hash.

Another method for upgrading to Firefox 1.5 is with YaST is as follows:

1. Open your file manager of choice, I am using Konqueror
2. Navigate to the directory that contains the Mozilla Firefox 1.5 rpm
3. Right-click the rpm file, click ‘Actions’ -> ‘Install with YaST‘ and provide your root password

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While examining my server logs it occured to me that not all SuSE Linux users are irc users. Where do these people go to find more information on how to use SuSE Linux? I suspect that google and online forums are their main sources of support. So in an effort to provide more resources for this user base, I am going to do my best to cover the common tasks and questions we receive in the SuSE irc channel on freenode. First I plan to cover ‘how to upgrade Firefox to version 1.5′. If you have any suggestions for topics that you would like me to cover, please leave them in a comment on this entry. Below is a list of a few more articles about SuSE I have written.

• SuSE 10 For Windows Users
• Additional YaST Sources

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As I am sure many of us expected, Novell has decided to support KDE in all of their products after all. Holger Dyroff, Vice President of Product Management at Novell, declared that the company had “after consulting with its customers decided to continue to make both GNOME and KDE available in all Novell products.” And there was much rejoicing.

read more | Novell PR | digg story

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