Enabling User Web Directories

I wanted to enable user web directories on the LAMP server. This thread in the Ubuntu forums held the answer:

sudo a2enmod userdir

I was then prompted to reload the server config with:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 force-reload

Now, I can use http://server/~username to access files in the /home/username/public_html directory.


NOTE: I found that the apachectl command referenced in the 2.2 docs is apache2ctl on this system.

LAMP Server

Just for grins, I'm repurposing an old PC as a LAMP server. Other than using Ubuntu 7.04, I'll be following the same steps outlined here, with one exception. At some point, the server install asks if I want to install LAMP, and I'll answer Yes this time.

(later that night)

No issues to report. The web server is responding. Now I just have to figure out how all of these things work.

UPDATE: Well, there was just one issue, I forgot that this is the PC that needs a keyboard.

Upgrading the Servers to 7.04

The Ubuntu upgrade page only lists two steps to upgrade a server, so I thought I'd try it over lunch. I'm starting with the Backup server. If that goes well, I'll move on to the File server.

Right off the bat, the first command gave an error:

Couldn't find package update-manager-core

However, this was solved easily by updating the package lists with apt-get update.

Step 2 has now begun, and it seems to be updating my repositories.

Now, it is asking for my confirmation to download and upgrade. Apparently, there is no turning back. Here goes!

I'm going to head back to work, and check back in the evening.

(later that day...)

I've only had to answer three questions. One asking about overwriting my ntpdate config file (no), asking to remove desupported packages (no), and looking for permission to reboot (yes).

And it seems to have come up fine. One down.

Brother Printer

My wife has a Brother MFC 3360C printer/fax/copier/scanner/bottle opener attached to her desktop machine and shared as our only printer. After a little searching, I found a mention of this site that explains how to install the driver. After following the directions to install the drivers, I modified the printer to point to the SMB shared printer. I didn't need to use the CUPS web interface as suggested.

That link is:

http://solutions.brother.com/linux/sol/printer/linux/cups_wrapper_install6.html

Next, I'll try this on the Xubuntu machine.

UPDATE: It worked OK on the Xubuntu machine, with one minor issue. I wasn't able to update the path to the Windows share using the browse control. Instead, I entered the URI in the form. Plus, I couldn't find a place to print a test page. Regardless, it works great now.

Ubuntu Desktop 7.04

I installed Ubuntu 7.04 in a dual boot configuration on my desktop over the weekend. It's going pretty well, as I've been able to install the audio and video codecs using Automatix2, install Picassa, VLC, Amarok, and other programs with the same tool, and connect to my network share. I setup my email with Thunderbird, and I've been using GIMP for image processing.

I need to find a decent bittorrent program (not bittornado), and get Juice installed (maybe).

Unfortunately, I still can't use my USB headphones.

Fun With Desktops - Xubuntu

I mentioned in the last post that I was planning to install Ubuntu on my desktop. Turns out that I would install Xubuntu first, on a different machine.

Somehow I talked my 12 year old daughter into it. She has the hand-me-down machine of the household: 600MHz processor with 192MB memory. While she has been running XP, it has been dog slow, and errors were beginning to pop up. It was time to reload XP, but I asked her for two weeks to try Linux, and she agreed.

Running from the LiveCD, Xubuntu was even slower than XP. But once the install was done, it ran great! She only runs about five things, so the setup was quick. We've been an open source family for applications for a while now, so she is already used to Firefox, Thunderbird, and GAIM (this is the most important app for her). After running the Automatix2 script, I had music and video working. I haven't shown her yet how to play music and videos, so we haven't picked any tools for that yet.

Her biggest issue was MS Office. Her classes use it at school, and she wants to be able to move documents back and forth. After installing Open Office, I found how to set the default file formats to the MS layout, so I'm hoping that works for her (we haven't tried this either).

The only other software I had to install was smbfs support so that she could access the family file server. apt-get install smbfs did the trick.

We're almost done with the two weeks, and I haven't heard one complaint or request yet.

Linux Desktop Update

As I threatened back in January, I've been looking at the next version of Ubuntu for my desktop. Version 7.04 is in beta right now, and I downloaded the Live CD for a spin.

One of the first things I hit was that it seems that I can run more than one program that needs audio at the same time, and they both work! I haven't seen any notes about this as a fix, so maybe it was addressed in 6.10. (I used 6.06 on my last desktop experiment.) Also, I've heard that the codec and plug in issues I mentioned have gotten easier to deal with, and my experience with the Live CD can back that up.

Once the final version comes out, I'll setup a double boot and try it out for a while.

BackupPC #7 - Epilogue

In part 6, I had backups running successfully from each machine - one Linux file server and three Windows clients. Before I call this project finished, there's one more thing I have to do.

I was looking at my Windows desktop, and noticed that I still have the 99GB Backup folder on the local drive. This is a backup of the file server, plus a few older files. But, before I delete this backup, I want to make sure that the new backup is working. So, it's time for a restore.

I had placed a file on the server earlier with the intention of deleting, then restoring it. I tried this tonight, and it worked without a hitch. Still, it will probably take me a little while to build up the nerve to actually delete the old Backup folder.

My only negative issue with BackupPC is that it seems that I have to store clear text passwords on the server, and keep shares open on the clients. It would be nice if the windows machines had an option such as rsync on Linux that would be more secure. (There probably is a better way to do it, but I don't know what it would be. Those with more experience are welcome to leave suggestions and hints.)