Tag Archives: Virtual

[Reviews]: Linux Mint 9 Isadora Review

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Linux Mint 9 Isadora is one of the best Ubuntu based distributions, a really cool distribution if you used Ubuntu 10.04 LTS you find out it has many things on common with Linux Mint Isadora with extra packages installed on it. before we go any further will list the release announcement and download options for it here

release announcement and download options so far it’s available to download with Gnome desktop on CD, DVD for different CPUs AMD, intel, 32 bit or 64 bit

Download

Using Isadora on virtual machine ” virtual box ” with this hardware specifications:

  • single core processor 2.1
  • 384 MB or RAM
  • 12 MB of Video memory

Same great look for linux Mint with green color, and many new wallpaper we mentioned it on this post

Featured improvements in this release: 30,000 applications catalogued and reviewable both online and in the new software manager, brand new incremental backup tool for both data and software selection, menu transparency and editable items, USB and Windows installers, 3 years support, look & feel improvements.

A lot of new features and software packages integrated with linux mint 9 isadora check this release announcement for more information.

Using live session on the virtual machine, so it’s not expected to know exactly if this good booting time or not. but overall working good.

a really cool backup tool for linux mint some kind like apttocd application, to backup specific packages installed on the machine and you can restore it later.

also improves linux mint main menu with extra look for transparent, and same other features usually see for 3d and cube and fading…

Awesome software manager a really cool organized way to pick your applications you would like to install, and optimized with different categories and subcategories. also you can add your own review on the listed applications there and make a vote for it.

Overall it’s a great distribution working great, and still waiting for FluxBox window manager version that will come from Linux Mint community soon.

That’s it for now  :)

[How To]: Create ISO file from CD-DVD using Terminal

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A quick How To For today create ISO file from CD or DVD using command line.

Usually I use this command to get an ISO image from Disk for operating system, for example I have Kubuntu 10.04 LTS on a Disk, and i want to use that image on my virtual machine, instead of keeping the CD inside my CD ROM all the time.

Also you can use it as a backup way to keep your files safe on ISO file. I am sure you will figure out many ways to use this command  for  :)

The process

Insert the disk

then open terminal,,, type

 dd if=/dev/dvd of=~/Kubuntu.iso

I am not sure what dd stand for ” destroy data “, ” delete ” according to wiki  :)

if : input file

of : output file for the image will be copied to

dvd : it’s a variable according to what’s the device name located on ” dev ” directory

to get more information about dd unix command follow this link

That’s it for now, If you have any questions please inform me.

dd

if=f/dev/cdrom of=~/cdrom_image.iso

[Books Directory]: 10 free Linux Administration Books

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10 free GNU/Linux Administration Books

Linux based distributions have a lot of different administration options and privilege options, Books listed here will help you with administrations privilege for different distributions debian, fedora, redhat, ubuntu, gentoo, opensuse, mandriva, …..

Also other books for security administrations, and files system directory hierarchy, software help you to secure you system, securing VPN servers,…

## so here we go…

1. Linux Administration Made Easy

This documentation will attempt to summarize the installation and configuration, as well as the day-to-day administrative and maintenance procedures that should be followed to keep a Linux-based server or desktop system up and running. It is geared to an audience of both corporate as well as home users. It is not intended to be a full overview of Unix operations, as there are several good texts available as well as on-line documentation which can be referred to in cases where more detailed information is required.

2. The Linux System Administrator’s Guide

The Linux System Administrator’s Guide, describes the system administration aspects of using Linux. It is intended for people who know next to nothing about system administration (those saying “what is it?”), but who have already mastered at least the basics of normal usage. This manual doesn’t tell you how to install Linux; that is described in the Installation and Getting Started document. See below for more information about Linux manuals.

3. Filesystem Hierarchy Standard

The filesystem standard has been designed to be used by Unix distribution developers, package developers, and system implementors. However, it is primarily intended to be a reference and is not a tutorial on how to manage a Unix filesystem or directory hierarchy.

4. Linux Administrator’s Security Guide

There are numerous definitions for “computer security”, and most of them are correct. Essentially computer security means enforcement of usage policies, this must be done since people and software have flaws that can result in accidents, but also because someone may want to steal your information, use your resources inappropriately or simply deny you the use of your resources.

5. Debian GNU/Linux System Administrator’s Manual (Obsolete Documentation)

This manual assumes the reader is familiar with using a Unix system and/or understands Debian User Reference Manual. Additional reading for System Administrator is Debian GNU/Linux Network Administrator’s Manual. Both of these are available from the Debian Documentation Project. Another useful book is “Linux System Administrator’s Guide” by Lars Wirzenius, available from Linux Documentation Project, http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/ .

6. Forensic Discovery

The target audience of the book is anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of how computer systems work, as well as anyone who is likely to become involved with the technical aspects of computer intrusion or system analysis. These are not only system administrators, incident responders, other computer security professionals, or forensic analysts, but also anyone who is concerned about the impact of computer forensics on privacy.

7. Best Practices for Managing Linux and UNIX Servers

Call it the Linux fallacy. It’s the conventional wisdom that says Linux/UNIX gives you lots of power and reliability in exchange for far more complex and costly systems management. But in fact Linux/UNIX shouldn’t be a tradeoff–as long as you also implement a set of proven best practices.

8. GNU/Linux Advanced Administration

The GNU/Linux systems have reached an important level of maturity, allowing to integrate them in almost any kind of work environment, from a desktop PC to the sever facilities of a big company.

9. COIT13146 Systems Administration

In the course Systems Administration.  It is an attempt to give you an overview of the course and more importantly of computing, Linux and Systems Administration.

Many students commented that they felt lost in the detail of Linux without having an overall picture of how it fits together.  Hopefully this chapter will go some way towards solving this problem, and will provide some sort of small map and compass so you have an idea of where you are and where you are going.

10. GNU/Linux Desktop Survival Guide

The aim of this book is to get you up to speed with GNU/Linux and to deliver a fun and productive environment. It guides you through the many different regions of a GNU/Linux system with a focus on getting your desktop environment to do what you want it to do. It is comprehensive with basic support for the user who installs and maintains the system themselves (whether in the home, office, club, or school). It provides insights and step-by-step procedures that deal with specific tasks in setting your system up and maintaining it. The book covers many of the core features of a GNU/Linux system and you will gain the knowledge to enjoy and use one of the most comprehensive and useful developments in the history of computing.

Distribution Release: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS released

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Great news, finally ubuntu 10.04 LTS version released, with other based relased for ubuntu such as Kubuntu, Xbuntu, check this release notes and download options for ubuntu.

Ubuntu main new features , release announcement, you can download for server edition, desktop edition, and netbook editon “Download”

[How To]: Get the best performance with SUN VirtualBox

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Sun virtualBox one of the best virtualization applications you can use to run multiple operating system in the same time, but it need some dependencies to get better performance in your operating system whatever the operating system is Ubuntu, Mandriva, Fedora, Centos, …… I am using it now on Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Swap, ” check your operating system Swap ”

really important because it used as same as your installed memory RAM, check this post for ubuntu Swap improvement, just make sure your swap size at least as same as your installed memory RAM.

for system setting you raise to the half memory you already have, for that if raised more than you have the Swap will help to keep you system stable.

also you can use multiple cores if you have multiple core processor. If you have a decent machine you can active full acceleration.

set the display memory depending in you graphics card performance, if you want to get 3d, 2d visualizations it might slow down the virtual machine.

that’s it for now.

Review : xPUD 0.9.2 Review light distribution

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xPUD 0.9.2 Review

xPUD distribution light wight distribution using simple web interface called plate user interface. this is a really good choice distribution to use if you want to get a quick access to internet or directories, multimedia files, document files, …..

You can install it in your USB, laptop, Notebook, Desktop, …  the good thing is the boot time really good booting time even in this review i was using it in my virtual machine “sun virtualbox”.

  • screenshots

main installed application mozilla firefox, mplayer, document reader, also you can get extra application using opt-get software center, it’s like synaptic package manager we using on ubuntu or mint distributions. you can find openoffice, skype, extra codecs for playing multimedia files, ….  all this application located on opt-get software center.

  • System requirement for this distribution

256MB RAM and 64MB free disk required.

also check the full video review “screencast” play in HD for better quality

To download xPUD 0.9.2 here

enjoy it, Thumb up if you like it  :)

Ubuntu 10.04 beta 1 Review

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Hello guys,

Already reviewed ubuntu 10.04 alpha 3 here, as you will see in this post a big difference between ubuntu 10.04 alpha 3 and beta 1 version, New default theme that mentioned on ubuntu fresh look post ….

Release notes & Download Release announcement

Hardware specification:

this is the hardware specification used to run this version of ubuntu 10.04

  • 1 core processor 2.1 Ghz
  • 1 GB of ram
  • 12 Mb of video memory

with this hardware spec it was working great guys, so i believe if you have a decent machine it will work better.

Installation process :

Installed on Virtual machine “sun virtualbox”

First Boot after completing the installation

“Close, minimize, maximize” button in the left side of the title bar

More option added to right click menu for sharing to ubuntu one, moving to and copy to even it’s  a file or folder

Pitivi default video editor

New look for Ubuntu software center

Yahoo is the default search engine for firefox 3.6, but it’s up to you can change it later to any other search engine

Terminal background color looks really good specially with this theme, also it’s up to you can change it later.

New menu to control your chat account what ever it’s ” pidgin or empathy” , controlling Gwibber, and ubuntu one

Gwibber works really good here , I faced many problem with using it on ubuntu 10.04 alpha 3 version. but it’s working great now even it’s a development version till now.

Sound preference with better control access menu.

Overall after the installation:

It was working really good, much better than the older version “alpha 3″

Ubuntu 10.04 beta 2 will release at 8th of April, and the final version will release 29th of  April.

with first installation on virtualbox with 16 mb of video memory it was working a little bit slower.


Please guys leave your feedback, try to install it in your machine and report any bugs you faced so the development community able to fix many bugs for next release.

Thanks guys,

Ubuntu 10.04 Beta 1 Released

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According to ubuntu 10.04 schedule, it was released yesterday, but Steve Langasek  announced that it will be delayed one more day to Friday March 19 ,

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2010-March/000695.html

Dear developers,

Owing to some late image rebuilds for a couple of critical issues that we
didn't want to leave our beta users subjected to, validation of 10.04 Beta 1
is still in progress.  This means that Beta 1 will not be released on
Thursday, March 18 as planned; it will be released tomorrow, March 19.

To help us release the beta with confidence tomorrow, please consider
participating in the ISO testing today, as described at
<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/ISO>.

Also, as you're going through ISO tests, please also help us fill in the
blanks on <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/Plymouth> so we can complete our
understanding of the remaining boot-time issues affecting Beta 1 and make
Beta 2 truly spectacular!

Thanks,
--
Steve Langasek
On behalf of the Ubuntu release team

Fixed a lot of bugs since alpha 3 version, improved nvidia graphics driver, ubuntu one syncing, new themes, we reviewed in ubuntu fresh look.

Will review it as soon I done download it.

also you can Download ubuntu 10.04 beta 1 from here

And more information, mirrors  Here

Virtualization on Linux

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It’s the best way to run multiple operating systems at same time on your running operating system, in this article I will talk linux virtualization only, but some of these application I will mention works on many operating systems such as “Linux, Macintosh,Windows, …”

Virtualization not just for these operating systems only, also virtualization works on mobile and pocket PCs and I will talk about that on other article.

  • Why I want to use virtual machines ?

It’s a really good way run multiple operating system at same time, I use it a lot to try new distributions release like this one I reviewed for ubuntu 10.04 alpha 3 Lucid I was using sun virtual box.

Some users want to use Windows and any linux distribution on same time, not for testing, with complete installation on virtual machine.

Used to use sun virtualbox, KVM, and Virtual machine manager.

1. Sun Virtual Box

VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). See “About VirtualBox” for an introduction.

Screenshot Download

2. VMWare including “VMware server and player”

VMWare is a commercial virtualization platform that currently offers two free products: VMWare Player and VMWare Server (the latter with a free renewable yearly license). VMWare Player can play virtual appliances that have already been created, whereas VMWare Server (which has a broader range of features) allows the creation of virtual machines. In general, VMWare Server is recommended unless you only need to play an appliance. (Appliances will also run in VMWare Server). Users that wish to run servers (or processes) that need to be available to a network from within the virtual machine should use VMServer. If you wish to install a new OS within a virtual machine (other than in an appliance), you will need VMWare Server.

http://www.vmware.com/

3. KVM

KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). It consists of a loadable kernel module, kvm.ko, that provides the core virtualization infrastructure and a processor specific module, kvm-intel.ko or kvm-amd.ko. KVM also requires a modified QEMU although work is underway to get the required changes upstream.

Information Download

4. Xen

The Xen® hypervisor, the powerful open source industry standard for virtualization, offers a powerful, efficient, and secure feature set for virtualization of x86, x86_64, IA64, ARM, and other CPU architectures. It supports a wide range of guest operating systems including Windows®, Linux®, Solaris®, and various versions of the BSD operating systems. More

http://www.xen.org/

5. QEMU

QEMU is a generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer.

When used as a machine emulator, QEMU can run OSes and programs made for one machine (e.g. an ARM board) on a different machine (e.g. your own PC). By using dynamic translation, it achieves very good performances.

When used as a virtualizer, QEMU achieves near native performances by executing the guest code directly on the host CPU. QEMU supports virtualization when executing under the Xen hypervisor or using the KVM kernel module in Linux. When using KVM, QEMU can virtualize x86, server and embedded PowerPC, and S390 guests.

http://wiki.qemu.org/Main_Page

6. Virtual machine manager

The “Virtual Machine Manager” application (virt-manager for short package name) is a desktop user interface for managing virtual machines. It presents a summary view of running domains, their live performance & resource utilization statistics. The detailed view graphs performance & utilization over time. Wizards enable the creation of new domains, and configuration & adjustment of a domain’s resource allocation & virtual hardware. An embedded VNC client viewer presents a full graphical console to the guest domain.

http://virt-manager.et.redhat.com/