Category Archives: SysAdmin

SOLVED: tt-rss Update Deamon Not Running after Update

I solved the problem where after an update tt-rss displayed a red box “Update Deamon not Running” [regrets for not having a screen shot of that].

What I found, and I am sure it is in the documentation is that in the tt-rss/lock directory, there are two files: update_deamon.lock and update_deamon.stamp and mind had significantly different time stamps [ ls -l * ], one immediately after the update. I deleted them both and restarted my httpd.service and the deamon ran successfully after that.

I would post this on a support forum or upvote wherever I found it; however, I just took a quick look around for an error log and lock files to warm up my awareness of key issues prior to checking those. Yeah me!

Moodle 3.6 Log Problems

I am having backup problems, and was troubleshooting other issues earlier in the year, and my resolution at the semester was to export all the classes, create a clean database and reload the classes thereby getting rid of any cruft issues from a not-as-old-as-one-might-think Moodle setup.
The day started easily but I kept getting a nagging feeling that the classes were to large and found a mdl_log table in the database with entries from years ago and quite a large number of them. Apparently Moodle upgraded and did not remove the old log. So I used TRUNCATE and emptied the table. Of course I had researched the table and implications, backed up the database and so forth.
I then changed the log retention date to 2 days and ran cron repeatedly and was unable to trim the mdl_logstore_standard_log file at all and it was huge as well. I finally used TRUNCATE on that file as well.
I am a week along and the log files are running fine, no logs are appearing in the old table and I am hopeful the current logs are being pruned in accordance with the configuration.
I still haven’t resolved the backup issues and I am sure I have something else in the database and I pass on the obvious lesson that a Moodle site should be completely rebuilt annually, or on some regular schedule, to ensure that old data/tables are pruned or removed effectively.
If I could just resolve the backup stretching out as well as the backups in some, but not all, classes being retained I would have this system under control. Soon though.

Moodle Automated Backup Problems

I am back to troubleshooting, yet again, the problem of Moodle backups taking forever and a day. An actual day, for very small courses.

A second problem occurring with the automated backups is that the old backups are not being purged so the file system is filling up with them rather than purging/pruning them. I am solving the problem at present by a weekly manual clean up.

I could simply pour over the forums for an answer, which has not produced results. I could look at tables/records in the actual database for anomalies and that strikes me as time consuming. Or I could wait until the semester break in two weeks and backup and export each class and all the information and create a brand new instance of Moodle and restore the classes into that and see if that leaves the cruft and problems behind.

I am going with that alternative in the interests of cleaning up any other problems I am not yet aware of that affect other areas including performance.

Will post my results.

Tiny Tiny RSS: Building my own RSS Reader

ttrssI finally setup my TinyTinyRSS server following the guidelines on LifeHacker outlined in this article.  The original plan, when Google Reader shut down, was to have my own RSS server and not be beholden to someone disappearing.

Next on the list is to find a bookmarking tool that wouldn’t go away.

While I have the basic system setup and am going for coffee now I have a few things to still look at:

The feature set – read more about them here, the Android app, the Chrome extension, and more third-party supported apps.

I haven’t set it up for auto update.  I am running the PHP update script in a terminal window for now.  I think I may simply use the client to update itself by setting it as a pinned tab, it would update every 30 minutes then.

Open up your config.php file in a text editor, and scroll down “SIMPLE_UPDATE_MODE” and change its flag from “false” to “true.” This will make TTRSS update your feeds for you every 30 minutes (by default, you can change this in the Preferences) as long as you’re logged in. Set it as a pinned tab, and you’ll never have a problem.

And I have the final sheet of items I may look at someday, depending on whether I actually switch in the next 7 days from Feedly to it.

Additional Reading

That One Privacy Site

This is a solid site and well referenced on the Internet for those looking for information on VPNs.  From the author of That One Privacy Site:

There are some other good resources that cover privacy based topics quite well, but when I started down the path of retaking my own privacy, there was very little unbiased and reliable information with regard to VPNs.

I started researching data about VPN services for my own knowledge, then posted the information online in the hopes the Internet might find my work useful for themselves.  Through the positive feedback and assistance those in the community offered, I’ve been able to take this step into compiling all of my related work in one location and moving away from the Google Spreadsheet that it was originally created on.

Please enjoy my Simple VPN Comparison Chart, Detailed VPN Comparison Chart, VPN Reviews, and Commentary on how to choose the best VPN (for you).  Please also take a moment to read the FAQs!

(I plan to add more content as time goes by, but for now the site focuses mainly on my VPN Comparison Project).