February 5, 2012
by Luis Ventura
0 comments

OpenMediaVault Virtual Machine Is Now Available

OpenMediaVault is a Linux based network-attached storage server or NAS distribution started by a Volker a FreeNAS developer. At the moment OpenMediaVault is a work in progress so take that into consideration before entrusting it with your data. So far OpenMediaVault supports: SSH, (S)FTP, SMB/CIFS, FTP, rsync, NFS, DAAP media server, RSync, BitTorrent client, iSCSI, and software RAID to name a few.

Virtual Machine Specs:

  • Dual CPUs
  • 512MB RAM
  • 1 x 10GB hard drive
  • 1 x 50GB hard drive
  • One network adapter (NAT)

OpenMediaVault is a work in progress meaning that version number will change from the time the virtual machines were uploaded, in order to keep the virtual machines up to date use the built-in update feature found in OpenMediaVault.

Downloads:

OpenMediaVault 0.2.x Virtual Machine 32-bit
MD5 hash
SHA1 hash

OpenMediavault 0.2.x Virtual Machine 64-bit
MD5 hash
SHA1 hash

You can learn more about OpenMediaVault by visiting OpenMediaVault.org

December 2, 2011
by Luis Ventura
2 Comments

CentOS 6 Has No Network Connectivity ?

This is for those of you who are new to CentOS.

By default CentOS 6 will not configure network interfaces on a new installation which means the host will have no network connectivity, we can correct this inconvenience with little effort. Of course this means the user(you) is left with the decision to configure the network interface(s) with either a static or dynamically assigned IP addresses.

First of all we need to see the contents of the ifcfg-eth0 file.

cat /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
DEVICE=”eth0”
HWADDR=”MAC Address”
NM_CONTROLLED=”yes”
ONBOT=”no”

The output above indicates eth0 is disabled, this is when you either opt to set a static IP or dynamically assigned IP.

With the text editor of your choice open the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 and edit as indicated below.

vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

DHCP Configuration

DEVICE="eth0"
HWADDR=MAC Address*System MAC*
NM_CONTROLLED="no"
ONBOOT="yes"
BOOTPROTO="dhcp"
  • DEVICE=”eth0″ – Name of Network Interface.
  • HWADDR=MAC Address*System MAC* – MAC address of Network Interface.
  • NM_CONTROLLED=”no” – Network Manager should disable since it’s unnecessary in this configuration.
  • ONBOOT=”yes” – – Means the NIC will be started during boot.
  • BOOTPROTO=”dhcp” – Instructions the OS to find a DHCP server from which to obtain an IP address. The DHCP server will assign all necessary network information including IP address, Netmask, Gateway and DNS server.

Restart the network service.

/etc/init.d/network restart

or

service network restart

Static Configuration

DEVICE="eth0"
HWADDR=MAC Address*System MAC*
NM_CONTROLLED="no"
ONBOOT="yes"
BOOTPROTO="static"
IPADDR=192.168.x.x.
NETMASK=255.255.255.0.
  • DEVICE=”eth0″ – Name of Network Interface.
  • HWADDR=MAC Address*System MAC* – MAC address of Network Interface.
  • NM_CONTROLLED=”no” – Network Manager shoudl be disable since it’s unnecessary in this configuration.
  • ONBOOT=”yes” – Means the NIC will be started during boot.
  • BOOTPROTO=”static” – IP configuration will be static.
  • IPADDR=192.168.x.x – System IP address.
  • NETMASK=255.255.255.0 – Network Mask.

Gateway Configuration

*DHCP Users should ignore this step.

In order to add a Gateway to our system we need to edit /etc/sysconfig/network.

In order to add the network gateway edit /etc/sysconfig/network and add GATEWAY=192.168.x.x.

NETWORKING=yes
HOSTNAME=localhost.localdomain
GATEWAY=192.168.111.1

DNS Configuration

*DHCP Users should ignore this step.

Now we add the DNS server(s) for our host. Edit /etc/resolv.conf and add nameserver 192.168.x.x.

nameserver 192.168.111.1

Restart the network service. This will make sure the changes take effect.

/etc/init.d/network restart

or

service network restart

As stated by

  • Cam

    • it is a good idea to have console access to the server in case you lock your self out it.

    November 7, 2011
    by Luis Ventura
    0 comments

    Split Files With 7-Zip

    For some reason I don’t see many people making use of the file spliting option in the 7-Zip File Manager. By spliiting I mean dividing a larger file into multiple smaller files, later those files can be restored in to its original state. Splitting files is useful in the case where large files have to be distributed but without the risk of having a large file download fail which would mean starting all over again.

    This post assumes 7-Zip is already installed.

    Benefits:

    • Did I say no cost, 7-Zip is free.
    • File sharing sites that impose limits on the size of the files users can upload.
    • Areas where poor Internet connectivity are common.
    • For example, a 1GB file is split into 4 x 250MB files. In the event of an interruption it would takes less time to restart a failed 250MB download than it would be for 1GB download.
    • Better chance of downloading files without the risk of corruption.
    • Compression or no compression can be specified.

    Downside:

    • Some people might not understand the 7-Zip File Manager interface at first.

    Some files are not worth compressing since they are already compress like in the case of media files, text files on the other hand should definetely be compressed.

    When manually entering the the size of the resulting split place the “M” after the number.

    File Splitting

    7-Zip File Manager can be easily accessed from the Context Menu by right clicking on the file you wish to work with. Click on Add to archive….

    For testing purposes I make use of 10GB file, I could go with the default split options but I rather specify my own size. In the Split to volume, bytes: box I entered 500M which means the 10GB file with be split in to 21 x 500MB. And click on OK.

    Depending on the type of compression selected(or none) the process may take a considerable amount of time.

    The result is one 10GB file split in to 21 Files.

    File Restore

    Restoring the split files in to its original format is straight forward. Select all files and click on 7-Zip > Extract files…

    You can either change the path where the resulting file will extracted to or go with the defaults, when done click on OK.

    Depending on the size of the file be prepared to wait for the file to be decompressed and put back together.

    Hopefully, this tutorial will proved useful. Leave a comment if necessary just understand that it may take some time before I can answer.

    October 21, 2011
    by Luis Ventura
    0 comments

    Work With The Right Tools

    Breaking from the habit, I am posting about a different topic.

    Save your self the regret and buy the right tools for the job. If you are planning to pry open an enclosure then I recommend you spend the extra money and buy your self a Spudger. Don’t be cheap and try to use a flat-head screw driver otherwise you might damage the plastic.

    Just in case any one wonders why would I buy a spudger for, my little sister asked me to see what was wrong with her Sony PSP(games would not load). Turns out the UMD drive is to blame, in certain situations the UMD Drive can become damaged when dropped.

    Now, I am just waiting the replacement UMD drive I bought from China to arrive. Despite being in hands of an 8 year old and after three years of service the PSP has no cosmetic damage and until this moment this is the only major problem. BTW: I bought the Spudger from Amazon.

    Added some pictures for you enjoyment.