Core Solutions for Microsoft Exchange 2013
Being in Microsoft Exchange class this week reminded me just exactly how much I love Unix and Linux.
That is all.
Ignition Coil
Last weekend, I replaced the ignition coil on my wife’s van. It was a lot like replacing the motherboard on a laptop.
- There are a lot of things in odd places only a contortionist could reach.
- Invariably, the thing you need to replace is in the hardest place to get to.
- The hardest part of the whole process is keeping up with all the screws and remembering where they go when you’re done.
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Windows 8.1 Pro Preview BSOD
I just got my first Blue Screen of Death from Windows 8.1 Pro Preview… and it only took me 3 hours.
I think it would look better if it had the fish from the start screen floating on top, upside down, and bloated. Here is the original fish startup screen:
Here is my mock-up of what I think the blue screen should look like:
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Setting Up Your First LXC container (to clone from)
Q: Why should I? Why not use a lxc template instead?
A: Because you’ll have to download the base packages every time. Then you’ll have to install other packages that aren’t in the base template (like wget and git).
Q: Why install puppet after I have the new container running?
A: Because puppet makes life better.
Q: Can’t you just modify the lxc template to do this instead of cloning a container all the time?
A: Yes, you could modify the lxc template to do some or all of these things. But that requires modifying the template and the templates come from the upstream vendor (Ubuntu), so I don’t want to fiddle with them.
Step 1: Install LXC
Use my Uninspiring and Un-Parameterized LXC puppet class to install LXC, set up DNS, and install lxc-templates… Or do it by hand.
Note: The puppet class assumes you *already* have a directory owned by root named ‘/home/lxc’. It’s in the README.md in the repo. Someday, I might parameterize it. But not today.
Step 2: Create the New Container
I’m using the name “ubuntu1204-template.” It will take a while to download all the base packages.
sudo lxc-create -n ubuntu1204-template -t ubuntu
Step 3: Install missing software
Start the thing and connect to it. If you used my uninspiring puppet module to install lxc for you, just ssh to it. Otherwise, use lxc-console -d ubuntu1204-template to connect to it.
sudo lxc-start -n ubuntu1204-template ssh ubuntu1204-template.lxc
Install wget, git, and puppet.
sudo apt-get install wget sudo apt-get install git
If you prefer the puppet that’s packaged with Ubuntu, just use apt-get install puppet. Last time I checked, it was puppet 2.7. Personally, I prefer puppet 3.2 from puppet labs:
wget http://apt.puppetlabs.com/puppetlabs-release-precise.deb sudo dpkg -i puppetlabs-release-precise.deb sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install puppet
Step 4: Setup User Access & Puppet
Set up your user. If you’re like me, you’ll quickly get annoyed logging in as ubuntu on your lxc systems.
- Add your new user.
- Give him sudo access.
- Change the password for the ubuntu user to something better or delete the user altogether.
Yes, you could do this step with puppet. Just git clone your puppet repo (you do have a puppet repo, right?) and set up the node just like you would any other.
Step 5: Enjoy
Enjoy your new cloneable lxc template machine. Get it up to your personal “baseline”, but don’t use it for actual work or anything. Keep it shut down. Just clone it whenever you need a new system, but you don’t want to star from scratch.
sudo lxc-clone -o ubuntu1204-template -n new-system-name
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Happy Sysadmin Day
To all my fellow sysadmins out there, Happy Sysadmin Day!