Tag: SysAdmin

Forensic SysAdmin

I had to adjust the default mail on a Moodle system that I switched from one domain to another. I changed it last in August of 2015 and apparently forgot how it worked. So today I am going to mention that forensic sysadmin work, or finding configuration files is a real challenge.

Yes, I have made copies of all of the configuration files and ended them in a TLA of my initials and yet when I ran locate I forgot or chose not to run updatedb and well, it isn’t in cron anymore as I rarely search for anything and it uses less power to not catalog repeatedly.

Having not found anything appropriate with my initials, although the file was actually there, I proceeded to work for hours on every single configuration setting in Moodle as well as every Moodle post on email I could stomach.

Nagging in the back of my mind was the fact that this year I eliminated ALL of the cruft on Moodle by simply starting it from scratch and as I kept a record of every change I made, I thought I could find it. I kept focusing on the OAuth configuration as I was using GMail.

Just before shutting the server off for the year, truly, I stopped to think through the architecture and realized I had to be using native Linux mail, that I always choose Postfix and a quick search indicated I was configured to use GMail’s less secure method of authenticated SMTP. I made the changes and everything worked great.

I held up this post to decide on how to explain what to do correctly. I had hoped for inspiration about documentation, or flow charting processes. The issue is that I simply don’t perform the same amount of sysadmin work I used to, which was enormous, so recalling all the bits and pieces and troubleshooting it, was more work than expected.

I am glad I did it, it reactivated a confidence in my skills and an awareness of troubleshooting steps and an entire plethora of interconnected systems that I would have forgotten about otherwise.

Tidying Up

Things I learned this week:

Windows

  1. Open Settings > System > Storage, and then click on Apps & Features.
  2. Under the Sort By dropdown, select Install Date.
  3. Go through and remove anything you don’t need. If an app is unfamiliar, search for it online to see if it’s something you need or if you can safely get rid of it. You can also search for it on Should I Remove It? (though we recommend skipping the Should I Remove It? application and just searching for the software’s name on the site).

This originated from Wirecutter’s post on 7 Steps to Tidying Your Digital Life

My favorite advice is to do one step and see what happens when you move forward.

Disclaimer: I did a couple of items.

Where did the Tidy Up vector lead? I learned how to actually delete other temp files on the same Storage Settings page and that would have been enough except that led me to notice an unchecked box labeled “Downloads Folder” and I wondered, when do I ever clean that out, and so I did a pretty good chunk and it reminded me that this process is one I used to do more frequently and like writing, just escaped me and now I turn back to it :)

The IP address conflicts with the WAN IP subnet. Please enter a different IP address.

I have been trying to configure my Netgear R6400, the DHCP scope and reservations, to setup my home network with some fixed addresses for my pihole and what not. And all I have been getting for quite a long time, is that frustrating error.

Netgear previously told me to wait for a new firmware update and that was an update or two ago and it never fixed it. And a great deal of the fixes such as remove yourself from assignment as the DNS server simply didn’t work for me.

Recently I updated to V1.0.1.62_1.0.41 and when I tried to update the configuration I received this message. Again. So I decided to try three different changes from the first Google search returns. The second one, simply click the setting under Internet Setup for DNS to “Get Automatically from ISP”, let it reboot, make all your DHCP assignments and scope changes and then set it back worked absolutely great.

YMMV

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