Archive of all blog posts, listing the most recent ones first
CentOS8 on AWS EC2 for SVN, NNTP
Moving from CentOS7 on bare metal to CentOS8 on AWS EC2: Setup NotesAMI:CentOS 8 Minimal(CentOS 8.2.2004) fromhttps://aws.amazon.comEC2 Instance size: * t3a.nano with 8gb turned out extremely slow, unusable; note 'a' means 'amd' *t3.nanowith 20gb turned out responsive, usable; Intel SkyLake chip. C
Zoom Support Issue Summary
My speakers don’t work, I can’t get any sound (usual checks – volume on your speaker icon at foot of page, check which speakers are selected)I was kicked out of the waiting room (try the link again)I can’t get into the meeting room (check your link, restart your computer)I can’t see where t
Responsive design not working on Blogger?
Google search reports an error about blogger site: Text too small to read...This happened to us here on this blog, not long ago. We were using one of Bloggers preset themes, which are designed to be responsive to various screen sizes, but it just wasn’t working correctly, and Google analytics was r
Fix Thunderbird after google complains "...sign in using your corporate mobile device..."
Locked Out of Thunderbird EMail by a Google Security RuleThe ProblemUsing a web browser to try to login to my G-Suite gmail account, I got this message: "We detected an unusual sign-in attempt. To make sure that someone else isn't trying to access your account, your organization needs you to sign in
Intentional Down Time - for Servers
This is an anti-trend post about internet servers and electricity. What if the assumption that servers should be always-on 24x7 is too simplistic? Could there be some amount of time that servers and their connected online businesses are intentionally offline during each month, that wou
How to Install Delphi somewhere other than C Program Files
Wondering how to install Delphi to a non-default path on your system? This tip is for you. Use the [Options] button in the first screenshot below. The [Options] button leads to the screen for putting in a different path.
PowerShell to Remove IIS Certificates
We were using this PowerShell syntax on a Windows Server Core where IIS Manager (inetmgr.exe) is not available. Nonetheless this is handy syntax for any Window server where you might be upgrading from an older version of the LetsEncrypt client to WACS.Objective:Delete all existing IIS Certificates
How to migrate varbinary UTF-8 data to varchar, going from MySQL to MSSQL
This post talks about converting theBitnami MediaWiki v1.34 on Ubuntufrom MySQL v8 database to Microsoft SQL Server 2017. The solution probably applies to any conversion ofvarbinary to varchar data from MySQL v8 to MSSQL2014, 2016 and 2017.The challenge is that these fields, TEXT.old_text and TEXT.
How to backup a remote Firebird SQL database using GBAK
The following BAT file may be of interest if your local machine is not too far away from the database server. It shows how to use the freeGBAKutility to backup a remote Firebird SQL database, with the destination file landing locally.This BAT syntax is for use on Windows.:: backup-sample.bat setlo
IIS for mobile dev: use WACS client to make LetsEncrypt https cert
Question: how to make a free trusted HTTPS certificate for use when developing mobile apps with IIS on a development system which is intentionally private?https://flic.kr/p/qJccKyShort answer: use the win-acme client with dns validationUPDATE January 2020"WACS" now supports some plug-ins to do DNS e
Install FirebirdSQL 2.5.8 on AWS EC2 CentOS 7
☑ Launch an EC2 instance from the AWS Marketplace -- look for "CentOS 7 (x86_64) - with Updates HVM" which issupported by CentOS, here. I used a t2.micro instance.☑ Make sure the AWS EC2 firewall ("security group") allows you to SSH in but no one else.☑Display CPU information to confirm what you
SConfig for Windows Updates works reliably on AWS EC2 Win2016 servers
Compared to usingSettings > Windows Updatesto install Windows updates onto Win2016 instances running on AWS EC2, I found that the command line sconfig works much better.sconfig[Enter]select menu choice6for Windows UpdateswaitRfor Recommended updates onlywaitSfor a Single updateetc. The menu choices
Windows, DataFlex support: delete obsolete Brother printer
Symtpom: cannot print to a shared printer from a custom DataFlex application.Yes, DataFlex is very old. It still works (April 2018).This command line syntaxworks great to reveal all Windows printers and their share names (tested on Windows 10 64-bit):wmic printer list briefWe had one Brother printe
Notes about IISNode, NodeJS, Stripe, WebHub integration
StripeCreate your ecommerce payment gateway account atstripe.com.IISNodeIISNodelets you use NodeJS together with IIS in a way that makes it reasonably convenient to serve the static files over IIS yet have NodeJS respond for selected URLs.Download fromIISNode Releases. Install. You will end up with
AWS EC2: Mounting a separate set of S3 disks for each Windows user
CloudBerry Labs CloudDrivelicensed on a Windows server might seem expensive, but it depends on how large the disks are that you need, how frequently you need to access the files, how large the files are, and how complex the privacy/security issues are between users.This idea might help someone who i
AWS EC2 with QuickBooks 2018: Medium IE Security required
Regarding error message, "Internet Security Levels Are Set Too High," in QuickBooks Desktop 2018, running on Win Server 2018 on AWS EC2, how can IE be made compatible?[ Intuit erased my 25-Nov-2017 post on their forum. Thanks to google cache, I am reposting my original question plus a summary of my
CentOS Scrub Example: wipe files off usb disks, clearing free space
Alert: the syntax on this page is for a particular usb disk plugged into a CentOS server. You will need to edit the paths very carefully to avoid erasing the wrong data on your system !Scrub Manual PageNote: if you tried option -p and got the "wrong type of file" error, like this,# scrub -p dod /me
TP-Link TL-MR3020 pocket router: custom subnet using cat-5 wired input
I have been a fan of the TP-Link nano routers since first seeing a tiny one for sale on a shelf in an electronics superstore in Singapore.This is the third one I have used, purchased in November 2017:Model TP-MR3020This new model has way more features ..... and took much longer to configure due to t
Batch Convert Slides from TIF to JPG then rename files
I have been using a free utility, TIFF to JPG, to convert digital slides scanned by an Epson 850 scanner using SilverFast software.The utility does local batch conversions, offline. The utility is fast, easy to use, and itlives here on tifftojpg.com.The only problem with the conversion, for me, is
IIS in Windows 10 VirtualBox guest has VirtualPath on Ubuntu 16.04 VirtualBox host
"Connect as"... lets IIS in VirtualBox Guest deliver files from a ZFS disk on Ubuntu 16.04 VirtualBox host( artwork credit toTheo Junior)This is the system:Host Operating System: Ubuntu 16.04 LTSVirtualBox is installed on this host.Guest Operating System: Windows 10 ProMicrosoft IIS is running in th
Solved: low-graphics mode on Ubuntu 16.04 with amdgpu-pro on Dell Precision 7510
Problem: stuck in thewell-documented loopwith error message "The system is running in low-graphics mode" on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on a bare metal Dell laptop.This started for me when my Ubuntu 16.04 system froze. After restart, I tried to install system updates via the "Ubuntu Software" GUI. That seeme
Error Code 0x800700c1 on IIS on Windows 10 Pro
Alert on June 13, 2017New App Pool unexpectedly defaults itself to Win32When you use IIS Manager to make a newApplication Pool, itdefaults to win32 not win64on Windows 10 Pro. This, of course, leads to IISServer Error 500with Error Code 0x800700c1, if you are in fact loading custom win64 ISAPI exte
Windows Server 2016 Nano - In Practice on AWS EC2
I have decided NOT to use Windows Server 2016 Nano at this time. The following explains what I got working, and where I got stuck.I wanted to run custom Windows services compiled with Delphi for win64, and have them serve dynamic web content through IIS using a custom ISAPI extension, as I do on Win
Delphi Win64: Visual Elements including Start Menu Tiles
This is a summary of what is needed to make a native Windows desktop EXE (compiled with Delphi or any compiler other than Visual Studio) appear withscaled logos and iconsthroughout Windows, especially in theStart Menuand inFile Explorer.1. The ICO file.This factoid is based on the Main Icon Group in
Windows 10 upgrade success after error 0x80070070 - 0x2000C
This post documents one way to successfully get past error 0x80070070 - 0x2000C with the Windows 10 upgrade process. Your mileage may vary.First, the problem. I used theMedia Creation tool to make an ISOand cleared enough disk space that the installation from ISO was willing to proceed. I had sta
Using OpenSSL on Windows to Sign a File Upload Policy for AWS S3
DocsThe authoritative reference for uploading files directly from a web browser to an Amazon S3 bucket ishere on Amazonand a nice example with further tips ishere, since 2008.This post concerns the steps 1-2-3-4 for signing the policy, and doing it with OpenSSL.exe at a Windows cmd prompt.1.Encode t
How to Set Up and Serve Private Content using Amazon S3 and CloudFront
Here are my notes regarding anexcellent post by Mark S. Rasmussenabout Serving Private Content using Amazon S3 and CloudFront. He uses Dot Net and C# for the steps. By now, the browser-based AWS console has sufficient features to let us do this without compiling anything in C#. These notes follow
CentOS 7 Firewalld Cheat Sheet
CentOS7 Firewalld Cheat Sheet # systemctl status firewalld # cd /etc/firewalld/zones #firewall-cmd --reload Links: http://www.certdepot.net/rhel7-get-started-firewalld/ http://www.tecmint.com/configure-firewalld-in-centos-7/
CentOS7 VNC server notes
CentOS 7: VNC Server Cheat Sheet This is for tigervnc-server. Your port number might not be 1. 1 is used as an example only. # systemctl enable vncserver@:1.service # systemctl start vncserver@:1.service Docs: https://www.howtoforge.com/vnc-server-installation-on-centos-7
VboxManage: steps to create a headless Win2012 guest on CentOS7 host
VirtualBox syntax for creating a headless Win2012 guest on a CentOS7 hostThe virtual machine name is "Cindarella". The user owning the files isvboxadmin.To check your possible operating system types:vboxmanage list ostypesMake a VDI drive, 120gbVBoxManage createhd --filename /home/vboxadmin/vboxes/
Install requirements for building WendzelNNTPd v2.0.3 from source on CentOS7
This is about theNNTP server from Steffen Wendzel.I used this path:/usr/lib64/WendzelNNTPd-OSE and the documentation says to use this path:/var/lib64/WendzelNNTPd-OSE.Download the archive from github and decompress it to a path of your choice -- or -- even easier -- use a subversion client to get t
Allow NNTP through CentOS7 firewalld
How to Allow Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) on CentOS7 (firewalld)If you want to run anNNTP serveron CentOS7, you will need to add a service definition for the firewall, and then allow the traffic.# cd /etc/firewalld/services# vi nntp.xml
CentOS 7 host for VirtualBox virtual machines
Just some helpful links for a new CentOS 7 installationpasswd root/generate great random passwordCentOS 7 Firewalld "d for daemon":get-started basicsInstall wget if you just did a CentOS 7 minimal install:yum Install wgetYou will need at least one user who will be a member of the vboxusers group whi
PowerShell on Win2012 Essentials
Use the existing shortcut in TileLand or create your own shortcut to PowerShell on the desktop. Then Run (PowerShell) As Administrator and paste in this command in order to be able to run other scripts... Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted Increase Font Size Menu:Properties
Allow vsftpv pasv ports in firewalld on CentOS 7 (RHEL7)
Although quite a few pages say that you can get vsftpd pasv support by just adding the ftp service to the new firewall daemon (firewalld) on CentOS 7, that has not been my experience at all, at least not when using FileZilla on Windows as the client. For some reason, the built-in ftp service does n
Windows 7 Remote Desktop Solved Immediate Disconnect
System info:Windows 7 Home Premium -- upgraded to Windows 7 Pro64-bitSymptom: after successful login, remote desktop session was disconnected. This was the situation since the initial install, and in spite of many attempts to fix the problem.This turned out to resolve the problem for me:1. Upgrade
Virtualizing Windows on Physical Hardware into VirtualBox
The Path to Success: Physical Server converted to VirtualBoxSysInternalsDisk2VHDis great as long as you use VHD format NOT VHDX ! ! ! Avoid VHDX if you want to use the resulting image in VirtualBox!!! This holds true until you see that VirtualBox fully supports VHDX format. Right now - October 20
Inexpensive upgrade from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 8.1 Pro
These links may be helpful to you if you have access to a Windows 8 product key, from MSDN or purchased via postcard.NB: you should start from system running a legal,activatedcopy of Windows 7. If it has not been activated, you will go through may steps and then get an error message that the downlo
How to get CompareExchange128 support in VirtualBox
The goal was to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 Pro then Windows 8.1. This overview in gizmag is good - the link to get the upgrade assistant still works - but - if you are using VirtualBox with a Windows guest that has been in use for a long time, there is a good change that
How to install latest s3cmd release candidate on CentOS
The s3cmd utility is a great way to transfer files to/from Amazon S3 buckets from CentOS Linux. Unfortunately, yum install s3cmd gives a very old version 1.0 and you may well need the newer version.Note! CentOS7 (RHEL7) installs a much newer version so there is no need for all this trouble. Just
Easy way to setup custom CentOS 6.5 firewall
Note! ForCentOS7, look for documentation on the new firewalld method of setting up your firewall!The rest of this applies toCentOS 5.x and 6.x.Many sites give information either about advanced use of iptables or beginner use of CentOS Setup to configure a firewall.This article is for intermediate le
Firebird SQL 32-bit client library install on 64-bit CentOS 7
The use-case for this is wanting to run a custom 32bit utility developed in Lazarus with FreePascal, using Interbase Objects for the Firebird SQL connectivity. (As of August 2014, IBObjects worked 32-bit for Linux but not 64-bit. That has since changed.) This particular utility needed to be depl
Firebird SQL Client Library install on CentOS 5 in 2014
August 2014 This is how I was able to install version 2.1 of the 32bit Firebird client library (libfbclient.so) on a 32bit CentOS 5 server.NB: if you are not running as root, you will need to add 'sudo' before most of these commands.First, this is where you can check for the latest available Firebir
VirtualBox: CentOS Host, Windows Guests: VNC, FTP, no-RAID
CentOS 6.5 install from USBInstalling from USB worked for me. It seemed much more complicated than installing from DVD so if you have a choice, go with an ISO burned to a DVD.I was making my USB image on Windows not Linux. So these comments are for Windows users in terms of preparing the USB image
usb file transfer to Bauhn HDC-08 Android tablet
This information is for people who want to transfer files between their Windows computer and theirBauhn HDC-08 Android tablet(e.g. purchased at Aldi) and/or develop Android apps using this tablet.1. In settings, you toggle ONDeveloper Optionsby dragging the blue switch (top right of screen) to ON (e
Boot-It Bare Metal: resize drive c for Win7
Some notes about decisions when usingBoot-It Bare Metalfrom Terabyte Unlimited.Objective: backup everything then resize drive C to make more space for Windows 7 64-bit. Window7 used up all of 40gb but there was enough space on the internal hard disk to make "D" smaller and "C" larger.The core steps
Configure custom Morfik app with IIS6 and Firebird
Here are some notes for configuring a Morfik application (DLL) which was in this case compiled with Embarcadero Delphi and using a Firebird SQL database.IIS6 ConfigurationIIS6 needs a web site for each projectI will assume you know how to make a webiste. Point the home directory to the folder contai
Convert Win2003 Physical Server to VirtualBox
How to Convert a Physical Win2003 Server to a VirtualBox EquivalentWARNING: do not bother doing this if you have an OEM license on the physical server because you will not be able to get in to the virtual machine because you will not be able to activate the license unless you are running with the or
Chasing Googlebot complaint about Server error: Connection reset
Google Help for Server error: Connection Resetends with this intriguing advice, "If the problem persists, check with your hosting provider."Yeah but what if you ARE the hosting provider? What exactly are you looking for, and where?One useful step was to turn on theEvent Viewer loggingof ALL reasons
How to Block 360Spider (the web robot)
360Spider was once again TOO demanding I draw the line at webrobots that frequently morph their user agent names. Spider360 really got out of control today. Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; zh-CN; rv:1.8.0.11) Gecko/2007 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows
20+ years later: Eudora to Thunderbird
I was a die-hard Eudora user (on Windows).I used every version from Eudora 1.0 through 7, then Eudora OSE on Windows 7 64-bit (great to have Unicode support).... all good.But eventually I had to admit that Eudora OSE was TOO SLOW. Way too slow. Many seconds to open a message, many seconds to selec
Eudora : digital signing, encryption, old/new issues
RequirementsNo matter which email solution you use, you will need a certificate.Comodogives a free one. Alert! Chrome fails! Must use IE or Firefox with Comodo's system.cacert.orgalso offers free email (and also free ssl certificates) BUT as of right now (December 2012) I have been unable to use the
Amazon EC2 with Windows
Notes and RemindersUnlike Win2003 instances on EC2, Win2008 boots with only a drive c - 30gb minimum size.On Win2008 RC2, attached volumes are not online by default. Manually tell each one to come online and thereafter they keep working.Win2008 diskpart sansTo flush files prior to detach of a volume
How to configure AVG 2012, Outlook 2010 and google business mail (gmail)
AVG offers an email scanning feature. There is anFAQ pagethat supposedly documents how to use this with Outlook, but as far as I can tell, POP3 works and SMTP does not work. This post explains how to configure things so that AVG scans incoming emails and is not involved in sending outgoing emails.E
Windows Servers: Monitoring and Rebooting remotely
Dear Overworked Server Admins,In this article, I put together a couple of shareware utilities that seem (to me) to be indispensable for Windows servers in remote data centers.For server monitoring, Servers Alive fromhttp://www.woodstone.nu/salive/index.phphas been a lifesaver for many years. The fre
SendMail under CentOS 6.2
I wanted a dedicated mail server that would handle outgoing messages from web applications on the same subnet.1. yum remove postfixpostfix is the mail server installed by default with CentOS 6.2If in doubt that you have postfix using up port 25, use these instructions to see what is running on port
Installing Firebird 2.5 64-bit on CentOS 6.2
Media: burn DVD with disk #1 of CentOS 6.2 installerBootto the DVDDuring installation, from the radio button list, selectDatabase Server(and later turn off the 4 default database choices)Unselect a few things that seem unnecessary, like debugging features and phpSelect all the Desktop options, plus
Paradox export to Firebird SQL Import (without DataPump utility)
Requires:1. Dezign Pro for Databases v4 or later2. Paradox 7 for WindowsSteps:1. Use Dezign to IMPORT the table structure from the Paradox database (which is a folder). You can select all or some tables. Do not have Paradox open against the same folder while you do this, otherwise Dezign will load
Toshiba 5205 S705 key during startup
The key to press to toggle the choices of startup media is [F12] on the Toshiba laptop, series 5205-S705. For example, if you want to boot by CD, you press [F12] and then use the arrow keys to go [right] by a couple of icons, and then [Enter] to select the icon that looks like a single CD disk.The
Why I hate OS patches on Win2003 and Secrets for Coping
Why I hate Windows patches on Windows 2003 Server x86For me, they require manual installation EVERY month on EVERY servergetting to the only important thing on the download page, the BLUE DOWNLOAD BUTTON, often requires a PageDown keypress followed by many seconds waiting for remote control software
firefox4 with Selenium IDE
Problem Report Download link for the latest Selenium IDE for Firefox Save it to a file and then use the Firefox add-on manager to INSTALL FROM A FILE, select the file, and bingo. It does work. Phew.
Install 7Zip on CentOS 5.5
We will useYum.Because 7Zip is not automatically included in CentOS 5.5, we have to add the repository and then install it.ReferenceDownload the i386 rpm file onto the 64-bit Opteron server becauseuname -ireported i386. That was a surprise.* Install DAG's GPG key* Install the packageThen yum can be
CentOS: vsftpf with virtual users setup
CentOS 5.5, CentOS 6 and CentOS7 include vsftpd, theVery Secure FTP Daemon. Here we talk about how to set it up with virtual users, i.e. WITHOUT making a local login for each person. One of many use cases is to enable a set of users who will end up working on web site content, so 1-to-1 ftp to web d
Windows 7: how to restart when no restart choice provided
Some-but-not-all configurations of Windows 7 do not include a RESTART choice for users, under the Start button.Use [Ctrl] [Alt] [End] to trigger an alternate set of choices (that works within Remote Desktop). In the corner of the screen, you will find a red power button, and that button has a Restar
Network: connect from Win2003 to Windows 7 shared folders
Buried ona technet forumis a very important fact: you can get System Error 58 when trying to connect to a share on a Windows 7 computer, and the only cure is to REBOOT the Windows 7 machine, even though it may seem that the problem is on the other computer.In my case, Windows 2003 would not connect.
Sony notebook: BIOS to enable virtual computer
[F2] to get into the bios. Reference http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=C93629&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_KNOWLEDGEARTICLES_1_1&dialogID=149478535&stateId=1%200%20149486959Advanced screen lets you toggle virtual technology support within the Intel
How to open port 5938 for TeamViewer on Windows XP
Go intoStart > Control Panel > Windows Firewall.You should see an interface like this, with the firewall being either ON or OFF. For security, it should be ON.The next step is to add an exception to enable the use of port 5938.On theExceptionstab, use [Add Port]. Enter the following information:Na
Surviving with a 4gb OS partition for Windows 2003 Server
Yes it is possible to run with 4GB as the partition size that c:\windows lives on.One very important tip is to MOVE the service pack files by editing the registry,according to these instructionsKB 271484The key is to delete all unnecessary files on a regular basis.We use an in-house utility called P
How to get into your own router
These instructions are for Windows users.0. Make sure your computer is physically connected to your router.1. Go to a command prompt2. Run IPCONFIG /All [Enter]3. Look for the ip number listed as your gateway. The most common number is 192.168.0.1If you have more than one adapter (e.g. CAT-5 cable p
Budget travel: London Heathrow to Eurostar in Ashford UK
Say you want to take advantage of theEurostar trainfrom London to Europe, how do you get from Heathrow to the train? Aside from booking a limo, if you want to use public transportation, take the Underground(details here)to Kings Cross / St. Pancras Station, for 4 GBP, and then take National Rail th
IIS6 config for anonymous access
This error message on Windows 2003 Server:HTTP Error 401.1 - Unauthorized: Access is denied due to invalid credentials.This problem can be cleared up by resetting the password for the IUSR account (Control Panel > Administration > Computer Management > Local Users) and then putting that same passwor
How to move VirtualBox snapshots
You cannot do it using the VirtualBox GUI. But if you are not afraid of editing an XML file, you can easily change the location of existing snapshots, then move the files in question, and it works. Of course you should do this when VirtualBox is not running.
Redirection 302 for IE versus Firefox
IE is quite happy to process a LOCATION: url within the http prologue regardless of the presence/absence of Content-Type and Content-Length, but Firefox requires Content-Type and Content-Length.HTTP/1.1 302 FoundConnection: closeDate: Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:47:24 GMTServer: Microsoft-IIS/6.0Content-Typ
Toshiba 5205-S706 Laptop: cleaned cooling fan
Over the weekend, I took apart my Toshiba 5205-S706 Satellite Pro laptop to clean the cooling fan. That was a bit of a project!It was very difficult to remove the keyboard. As we found out eventually, the problem was some sticky tape which was Very Sticky.It was necessary to remove the screws per th
Recycle IIS AppPool from command line
Here is a BAT file for recycling the IIS AppPool from the command line, i.e. without needing to run IIS Manager. You may need to adjust the path to Windows and the name of the AppPool. The program this uses, cscript.exe, is included with Windows.cscript.exe c:\windows\system32\iisapp.vbs /a Default
Content-length refers to the payload
Of possible interest to new ISAPI programmers: In the HTTP spec, the content-length refers to the length of the data AFTER the prologue and NOT INCLUDING the prologue, the prologue being the part with 200 OK, Content-Type and Content-Length and being separated from the payload by two CRLF pairs.
Error message in IE: The XML page cannot be displayed
Environment:Windows XPIE 6Complete error message in Internet Explorer:The XML page cannot be displayedCannot view XML input using XSL style sheet. Please correct the error and then click the Refresh button, or try again later.Access is denied.Technical NotesThe XML file had a style sheet. The URL fo
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