Thoughts from the abyss

I recently switched from using rsnapshot to trying out BackupPC as a backup utility. I like it well enough to start using it at my employer as well, so I figured I’d write a guide up on how to install it and use it on CentOS, since the RPMs are available from their testing repository.

The guide concentrates on using rsync as the primary backup medium, and also includes a section on using AutoMySQLBackup to dump MySQL backups. As always, I welcome all comments and criticism. Enjoy.

For whatever reason, I had a hard time finding how to add DNS search suffix lists to a dhcp client in Linux. So I’m adding it here, so I can easily find how to do so.

# vim /etc/dhclient-eth0.conf
supersede domain-name "domain1.com domain2.com domain3.com";

Save the file and restart the network.

# service network restart

Then cat the contents of /etc/resolv.conf and you should see the changes.

# cat /etc/resolv.conf
search domain1.com domain2.com domain3.com
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

For a long time, I’ve been using Amarok for my music player at both work and home. Since I switched my desktop at home back to CentOS from Fedora, though, I haven’t found an easy way to get Amarok installed back on it. I’ve been playing around with Songbirg tonight though, and I’m pretty impressed. I think I might have found my new music player. Installation is a breeze, because there’s nothing to compile. Just unzip, use, and enjoy.

Songbird is built on Mozilla technology and code, but it’s not one of Mozilla’s products. The reason I like it so far from what I see is because it has a similar menu and preference structure as Thunderbird and Firefox has. They have add-ons which can be easily installed, and it seems pretty fast. Since I already use Firefox, Thunderbird, and Sunbird, it’s easy to navigate around the menus if you already use Mozilla like products.

Check it out if you’re looking for a new music player. I just might have to switch from Amarok…no offense to Amarok. Amarok is an awesome and powerful music player, but, it’s a pita to get it installed on CentOS.

I had to use Zamzar today to convert a .pptx to a ppt and odp file. It worked well. I’m not sure I trust sending documents that contain personal or sensitive information out, but for something like a simple product presentation, I think it worked fine.

Upload the file, and then you can choose the type of conversion you want done, and then they e-mail you where to download the file after the conversion is done.

http://www.zamzar.com/

Title says it all. I now having /tmp /swap and /home encrypted on my laptop, as well as /tmp /swap /home and /srv (used for backing up laptop) on my desktop at home. Remember, no use encrypting your laptop if you’re backing it up in the same location without encryption.

Guide can be found here on this site: Encrypt /tmp /swap & /home.

Also, you can find it on the CentOS Wiki.