Linux Czar

Several folks have asked me for 1.0.0 pre4 packages of Bcfg2.  So here are my builds:

http://linuxczar.net/code/bcfg2/

You can find the specs and other package bits here:

https://svn.linux.ncsu.edu/svn/clspackages/rpms/bcfg2/

Well?  The more or less official version is here:

kmodtool

It doesn’t work with Fedora 10/11 which has changed the format of uname -r ever so slightly.  (I actually like the change.)

So I’ve included what I am currently using with my experimentation with Fedora 11 in the FedoraKmod project.  So if folks are interested you can find it in the Git repo there.

Today I spent time with the Fedora 11 Preview release.  I wanted to setup some KVM VMs which I somehow have never done before and start testing configurations for the workplace.

I ran into trouble trying to get virt-manager to used bridged networking to PXE boot and install the VMs.  I also had trouble finding the right information from Google.  Finally, I stumbled across the below:

http://wiki.libvirt.org/page/Networking

Mainly, turn off NetworkManager and turn on the network services.  Configure your firewall with the following:

-A FORWARD -m physdev --physdev-is-bridged -j ACCEPT

Setup your bridged devices properly as described by altering the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-* files.

Suddenly, virt-manager was quite happy and gladly PXE booted / network installed our standard setup.  Quite nice.

Today’s fedorakmod git tree includes support for Yum 3.2.22.  Comparing package objects changed a bit so I needed to compare the RPM equality of packages from the yum repos against the installed packages a little differently.

If your [IT] upgrade plans include staffing a “war room” to handle the customer issues arising from the upgrade….you are doing it wrong.

The FedoraKmod project has a couple updates today.  I’ve added enough magic so that a package is easily built from the Git repository with “make srpm”.  I’ve also fixed a condition when a kernel was removed from the transaction set because not all of the required kmods were available that some kmods requiring that kernel were still left in the transaction.  Yum would install the kernel then anyway.

The Linux Czar has a secret life.  Okay, not really secret that I’m a classical musician and a bit of a British audiophile.  Mucking about with 2 channel hi-fi systems makes me happy.  It seems that most of my sysadmin friends are into photography…I think I’ve found a hobby that’s just as expensive if not more so.

Using a PC and Linux is a horrid, horrid way to listen to music.  It sounds like crap and is affected by all sorts of interference.  (That buzz when you download something?)  When Rythmbox decided to start popping loudly at the beginning and ending of each Ogg Vorbis the Linux Czar decided that he has had enough of bad sound at work.  Even at home with Fedora 10 verses RHEL 5 at work the new PulseAudio crap doesn’t seem to be able to process sound information fast enough with out having drop outs.  My Fedora box at home sounds like a cell phone call that’s about to lose the digital signal.  Choppy.

Enough!  I bought a Squeezebox Classic for use at work.  Watch for Logitech’s 10% off sales.  It seems to be one of those devices that has found the perfect mix of open and proprietary standards and software.  It has been a real joy to use.  The software the streams music from your PC works on Linux and really just about any platform with perl and mysql.  The streaming format is open and you can find extra plugins on the net.  The hardware decodes a number of formats including Ogg Vorbis and FLAC.  It plays flawlessly when I’m compiling code or just browsing LWN.

I have also thought about getting a headphone amp to go with the Squeezebox.  A set of speakers are probably a bit much for the office.  Turns out, the Squeezebox Classic’s headphone adapter is powered by a very weak internal amp.  The wiki admits this and suggests “low-end” headphones only.  Truly, the Grados I have at work are totally underpowered.  So a dedicated headphone amp is next on my list.  Tubes anyone?

So, there you have it.  The Linux Czar’s work Hi-Fi system in progress.

I run my own mail server.  I enjoy the extra flexibility and being able to SSH into my server with my screen session and mutt running.  No to mention all my custom filtering.  The problem being, I wanted Spamassassin to trust (more or less) the results from NCSU’s Puremessage spam tagging engine.  I wrote some custom spamassassin rules to do just that and wanted to share.

• spamassassin.cf

Discuss.

Well, there’s talk on the yum-devel list about removing the kernel module helper plugins from yum-utils.  This appears to include the plugin I wrote to support the Fedora Kmod standard which is now a bit out dated by the work in RPMFusion.  (Although, I still use it heavily with RHEL 5.)  Things don’t appear decided yet, but Fedora is not a friendly place for kernel modules.  Unfortunately, this seems to apply to standards and code that would make third party kernel modules easier to deal with as well.

In any case I now claim to be upstream for the FedoraKmod yum plugin. The Git repo is below and you can find a Git Web interface link on the right side navigation menu.  I should have a dedicated page up for it soon.

git clone git://linuxczar.net/fedorakmod.git

LinuxCzar.net has completed its move.  Enjoy!