PC-BSD 9.1 - Installation Comments

 v 0.2

17 Jan 13

I wrote recently about my initial look at PC-BSD 9.1.  I gave initial installation impressions and some general thoughts about what it felt like.  I did give a detailed explanation of getting it dual-booting with Debian Linux, and emphasised that you should use an nVidia video card for best results.  Here, I'll talk in a bit more detail about the installation process.

In point form, here are the steps I went through to get the installation completed.

• Reboot with Parted Magic
• Once it had booted, the CD was ejected.
• Started Gparted - tray retracted
• Shrunk my Debian Wheezy install - shrinking and moving partitions.  There was a warning when I moved a partition that this could render the system unbootable, however this only referred to the boot partition.
• Created a new Primary partition at the end (1.6 TB) to contain the BSD install.
• Took over an hour to do tasks.

• Rebooted in to Debian to make sure it worked.
• Booted with PC-BSD DVD.
• Default boot went into full screen graphical installer
• English
• Desktops - Customise - I chose all those desktops and components I wanted
• Disk - Advanced - I chose the disk, and selected the patition I wanted from the drop-down list.  CAREFUL, default is to gobble the entire disk.
• File system - ZFS because I have more than 2 gig memory AND I am 64 bit.
• Left the "install bootable MBR" so that it would install the boot loader to the start of the partition, as well as the initial part on the MBR
• IF you have multiple HDD AND you will use all of them, you have the option of configuring RAID
• Do you want to Encrypt your data?
• Mount point options
• Summary
• Start Installation

I found the PC-BSD installation screens quite straightforward, though you really do need to look and think about what you are doing.  If you make a mistake, you can always do the installation again - after all, for most of the time

There are a number of desktops that are available to be installed - they are all on the DVD.  The KDE desktop is the primary one - check which parts of the desktop you want installed.  As an example the KDE office Calligra is not installed by default.  You also have the choice of Gnome2, LXDE, XFCE, and then a host of "unsupported" desktops.

Along with the desktops, there are development, Hardware drivers (nVidia, HPLip) and Miscellaneous sections (Compiz, MythTV, VMWare and Virtualbox Guest additions) as well as a couple of other packages.  As I have said before, I would definitely want to use an nVidia video card because of its support in PC-BSD.

The ZFS file system seems to have a number of advantages when it comes to the subject of Jails, so I'm glad I installed that.  I was quite impressed that there was the option to set up a RAID array, so installing two or three identical disks could well be worthwhile.  I initially thought I might be able to do RAID 5, but I think there is only RAID 1,2 or 3.  Another great feature is being able to easily encrypt your data directories.  Excellent.



Still early days yet, but looking promising.  I have noted that using Dropbox and the like may have some limitations, but on the other hand, there are other things that can be done ...





Later ....

Citadel Groupware - Some Possibilities

v 0.3

23 May 12

I was thinking this morning that Citadel provides the possibility of some really interesting implementations.  It is easy to install (especially in Debian), and they provide up-to-date debs from their own repository.  You can even have it running in a Virtualbox instance.

I strongly recommend you install Citadel via a Debian install and use the Citadel repository.  I was using the Wheezy version which had severe flaws in Wiki and File rooms - fixed when I updated to the latest version.

Don't like how it looks?  Easy .. just adjust the CSS and have it look any way you like.  They give you the page structure on the website and a CSS example to use and modify.

It is easy to set up a secure (you get https out of the box) network of Citadel servers (don't forget, this is not a client, it is a series of SERVERS that you can view as localhost on your web browser on the same computer if you like) and have your own secure independent email network - share projects, share files all over https.  Use a dynamic DNS provider and you can have a mobile node that can make connection from a hotel and the network sharing is up and running again.

These are just a few thoughts, however I'm sure there are more uses.

In case you are wondering what I'm saying about an independent email network...  Out of he box, Citadel will send email to users of the independent system based on their username.  Consequently, if you simply connect two Citadel servers together, then you can share email between the servers directly within that network.  Add connect via https and you are up and away .....

Finally, what servers are included in Citadel?  Here is what I've worked out so far:

• Web server (webcit)  (http  https)
• Mail Server (SMTP POP3 IMAP)
• Calendar Server
• Jabber (IM) Server (XMPP)

Later....

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 1

v 0.2

 This post has grown significantly since I started, so I've had to split it up ...... here goes ..

I'm a fan of Debian Linux.  Whilst Ubuntu is fine, Debian just sits right with me.  Same with Virtualbox.  I have had a Debian Squeeze virtual machine on my laptop and desktop for some time and thought I'd explore a bit further. 

One thing I did recently was to explore the concept of using a Debian VM as an encrypted volume.  Whilst there are some other means of encrypting files and partitions, I've found it is quite effective to install a Debian encrypted VM and use that.  It is quite straight-forward, as I described in an earlier post installing to an old laptop. Free and neat.

What I have been thinking of recently, though, is exploring Wheezy (Debian Testing) and the new Gnome.  I'd been hearing a few things about it that disturbed me, and I have been eager to explore a bit, since I have shown a few people Debian recently, and they love it.  Gnome in Squeeze is quite easy for them and I've been wondering how they would fare.


Wheezy Netinstall

First, how do you find an ISO to install?  Easy - search on "debian installer" and it will take you to the page from which to download a "netinstall" image.

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/

You can see from this that this is the link to the "i386" image.

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso

Now, what is a "Netinstall" iso image?  It is a Debian Installer cd image that will install a base Linux system onto your computer from which it then connects to a Debian Repository to download the remaining files to produce a complete system.  Note, you need to be connected to the Internet when you use the Netinstall image - I guess that is .. er .. why it is called "Netinstall".

Virtualbox

Given that Virtualbox is free and available for all common platforms, I've found it most useful.  I can run a copy of the same Linux VM on both my Windows desktop and my Mac Laptop. 

For those who don't know, Virtualbox started as a private, open-source project many years ago before being bought by Sun, who continued developing it, before in turn being bought by Oracle who have thankfully kept the project going.  The latest can be downloaded from http://virtualbox.org  .  You will need both the version for your platform, and the guest additions (which install into virtualbox easily).

Preparing Virtualbox for Gnome 3

I have two Wheezy VMs - one for Gnome and one for Xfce desktops, to see what is available and how best to tailor Wheezy for what I want, however I used the same recipie for both VMs.  It is pretty straight forward to prepare a VM in Virtualbox, and you can always read the documentation or Google for some pointers, so I'll only cover the particulars of my install.

• I started the new Gnome VM by calling it WheezyGnome - Virtualbox immediately figured it was going to be a Linux VM.  
• I created an expanding volume, max 15 gig
• In the Display section, I gave it 128 meg of video memory and ticked the 3d acceleration

Gnome 3 needs 3d acceleration to give you the best "experience" otherwise it starts in a fall-back mode.  When you first install any Linux distro with Gnome 3, you will need to start the fall-back mode until you have installed the "Guest Additions" to the VM.

Next ...

Next I'll talk about how I got Gnome 3 up and running in Wheezy ...



Later .....

Bitcoin - Some Thoughts

v 0.2

A couple of weeks ago, I chanced on a reference to "Bitcoin", perhaps in a Slashdot article.  I remembered that I'd seen something about it a few months ago and started to read some more.  Whilst it took me some time to "get my head around it" what developed was an interesting comparison with conventional money concepts.

Gold is next to indestructible and whilst you can find some, there is still a finite supply and it cannot be counterfeited.  Gold is gold.  By itself, gold is worthless - just metal - though useful for some industrial applications.  Gold's value comes from our collective decision to have faith that someone will provide us with trade for it.  It has developed into a universal currency because we have decided that it is reliable as a medium of exchange.

Bitcoin is the digital equivalent of gold. It is run by an open-source peer-to-peer network.  It can be transferred by email and that transfer registered with the network.  It has finite supply and can be manufactured (or mined) in accordance with the rules set by the network, and as a reward for taking part in the network.  As time goes on, and the supply approaches the pre-determined limit of 21 million bitcoins, then it becomes harder to manufacture a bitcoin, and reward for participating in the network will move to transfer fees.

Is Bitcoin destined to become the defacto currency?  Perhaps, perhaps not.  Whilst it has no intrinsic value, it is certainly secure and a convenient way to transfer funds over the internet.  As more people accept bitcoins, I can see that its use could easily develop such that people simply use bitcoins as normal currency and never bother to convert back to conventional currency.  Certainly over the last six months, the value of a bitcoin has rocketed from a few US cents, to nearly US $10.  Now, this rise in its value is almost certainly driven largely by speculation, and we've all seen what wreckage a "bubble" leaves behind.  HOWEVER, as a medium of exchange, a bitcoin has value and in the short term, I see people buying some bitcoins, sending them as payment and the merchant cashing them in.  As confidence builds, then people other than speculators will have more confidence to keep their bitcoins in their digital wallets for spending.

Time will tell.


Next post, I'll talk about my experimentation taking part in the network and setting up a mining test.



Later ........

Finding Emacs - Ccrypt Encryption and Default Load Path

v 0.1

I was spending some time poking around some Emacs information and came across this page explaining how to use ccrypt to automatically encrypt files.

http://myridia.com/dev_posts/view/638

It showed the location for obtaining ccrypt and the emacs " el " file to use it.

http://ccrypt.sourceforge.net/


The important point I gained from the article was that the " .emacs.d " directory is the default load path for emacs, so just placing the " el " files in this directory means they are automatically readable by emacs on startup.


... Later

Finding Emacs - An Intermission

I've been having fun working through what Emacs is all about over the last few months.  It is interesting to see what makes it so popular, and since I've also been a fan of VI and VIM, the comparison has been interesting.

Whilst I still think that knowing Vi is essential (it is ALWAYS available for a strange system), Emacs has an irresistible attraction - being built upon a lisp interpreter opens up all sorts of possibilities.  I am firmly sold on Orgmode, and my blog posting of using it with gpg for encryption, whilst basic shows the possibilities.  Symmetric encryption with gpg also makes one wonder why bother with other utilities ....

The thing of beauty that is Emacs is that it is available for whichever platform you use, it is extensive and the effort required to learn it will be repaid many times over in a lifetime.  The term "core competency" comes to mind.

Another thing I've come to accept is that Emacs requires effort to learn.  There is no really easy way.  First do the tutorial, perhaps look at a few websites, but READ the MANUAL.  Let the brain think about it and move on from there.  You cannot learn the piano in a week.

On Windows, if you want to use Emacs, then load Cygwin for any supporting binaries.  Cygwin is just essential.

In a way, the whole thing rather mirrors my journey learning Linux.  At first it was strange, and I bought a boxed set of SuSe Linux about 10 years ago, then I used Red Hat for a while and then Slackware (what a wonderful system).  Finally I settled on Debian.  Only today I was looking at a Windows setup and thinking how much easier Debian was to deal with.

About a year ago, I did a couple of posts about Debian Squeeze as it was then.  There were a few problems as could be expected of it at that stage in its development, however now it is days away from becoming the new Debian Stable.  It is a wonderful system.  Like Emacs, the effort expended in learning Debian Linux is repaid many times over.

But then, like so many things in life, we cannot appreciate these things until we have undertaken the journey.


Later.....

Finding Emacs - A Personal Information Manager Part 1

Over previous posts, I've been building Emacs capabilities.  It occurred to me that I had a secure information manager that I could take anywhere with me and that I could recover anywhere.

Here are the components.

• Emacs
• My Encryption post
• My Orgmode Outlines post
• DropBox

Use an Orgmode outline to structure your data - save it using encryption previously described and then copy it to Dropbox.  Secure, and you can re-create the information on ANY platform with nothing but the knowledge it can be done, this Blog, and Dropbox.

Sounds good to me.




later .......

Finding Emacs - Encryption

v 0.3

It is quite easy to use encryption with Emacs.  Ensure you have gpg installed - under Windows, you can either install gpg for windows, or install it through Cygwin.  Under OSX and Linux, gpg will most probably already be installed.

So, if you have Windows, download and install gpg for windows or install Cygwin with gpg

In any event, add these lines to your " init.el " file


;; Encryption - symmetric gpg
(require 'epa)
(epa-file-enable)

• Any file with the ending " .gpg " will be taken as encrypted.
• When you open or save such a file, you will be asked for a password.
• If you use orgmode, then a file of the format " filename.org.gpg " will be taken as ormode and encrypted.

This will result in a symmetric encryption scheme - you will need to provide the password to open the file, and the password twice to encrypt it.  That is it.

Update 28Jan11

After having not used "Aquamacs" and my Mac laptop for some time - because I was at home rather than at work - I discovered that using Aquamacs with "gpg" encrypted files as above brought up the MacGPG interface (which is rather nice).  SO, if trying to use encryption on the Mac doesn't "just work", then you might want to go to MacGPG at sourceforge and download their binary (1.4.9 is the version I've been using).  Apologies for any frustration.

Have you been certified to be let out unsupervised?