The software programs which come part of Puppy Linux are people that are specifically picked out to make certain resources are definitely not wasted while giving a productive unit. The programs which might be part of Puppy you won’t need to usually find using a distribution such seeing that Linux Mint or Ubuntu which might be geared towards more sophisticated systems but it does not mean they usually are any less practical.

There is programs in Puppy to manufacture a fully functional process, SeaMonkey which is usually a browser and email client and even more, which is centric by Mozilla (this makers of Safari and Thunderbird), for office productivity you could have AbiWord that is a light weight doc creater, GNUmeric on your spreadsheet software. Pburn is the best software for trimming, burning and copying media which enables it to also burn to help BluRay discs that’s not often you should see a program built into a lightweight supply.

You can mount and remove other programs with your system that you find that you do not use to regain space. Puppy Package Administrator (PPM) is usually a pretty straight-forward application giving you options looking for programs you would like to install on your digestive system. Users who utilized to more current desktops might complain a tad about lacking eye-candy when some sort of package is downloading the way it is opening some sort of terminal screen while using the download progress. The moment installed, PPM will you should definitely have all dependencies in order that the program running. Installing Opera cell phone browser was easy in addition to PPM even added it towards correct category, World-wide-web, for this event.

Conclusion

Overall Puppy is usually a quite responsive supply that tasks per se with being lean and as well specializes in a space which can turn an existing PC which is usually too slow running the latest type of Windows in a machine which might be easily used to browse the Internet, write emails and many more.

The looks might take some those who find themselves used to flamboyant desktops aback, but Puppy’s esthetics are excellent overall, even if it doesn’t appear like Linux Mint, bear in mind Puppy is designed for low resource programs.

I think Puppy Linux is excellent overall, my slight complaint would be the PPM which needs somewhat more polishing, the whole terminal window to indicate that the method is downloading is a small amount dated and just which has a simple pop in place progress bar could well be nicer and far more aesthetically pleasing.

Reboots usually are rare with Linux. Normally, they’re due to your kernel update as well as an environmental matter. But regardless in the reason, it’s crucial it revisit life quickly. One issue surrounding Linux of late is boot occasion. Some distributions have got a key attribute to attract consumers. Some have perhaps succeeded in hitting that magic 10-second variety. But which distributions start fastest? Let’s look.

NOTE: Console logins tend not to count.

1: Puppy Linux

Puppy Linux is just not the fastest-booting distribution within this crowd, but it’s one of several fastest. And what’s unique about it distribution is who’s will boot more rapidly than your normal OS, even when it’s booting through the Live CD. Naturally, some may assert, “It’s not a new full-blown OS”. Nevertheless it is. Although many watch Puppy more as being a rescue distribution, it’s a full-blown distribution which offers nearly every tool you want to do what you want to do.

average boot time: 26 seconds.

2: Linpus Lite desktop Edition

Linpus Lite Desktop Edition is surely an alternative desktop COMPUTER ITSELF featuring the GNOME desktop which has a few minor changes. Linpus is not a distribution you can use and try and tweak into any kind server OS — this can be desktop only. And although Linpus is equipped with everything you may use a desktop, you can definitely find some of your applications a little expired (such while Firefox 6. 0).

average boot time: 21 seconds.

3: Arch Linux

Arch Linux can be another lightweight submitting that aims to experience a lightning-fast boot occasion. This distribution concentrates on simplicity, minimalism, and elegant rule — so naturally it’s gonna boast quick start times. Although out of your box, Arch isn’t your fastest booting Linux around, it can always be tweaked enough to best the top. This distribution will depend on the pacman package manager and will be easy enough for the majority of users (not the newest newbies) to deal with.

average boot time: 18 seconds.

4: Slax

Slax is unique in that one could fully customize your distribution you acquire. Because of this specific, you can develop one seriously low fat desktop distribution that could boot nearly as quickly because you like. I managed to generate a distribution with Slax (paying attention only on distinct desktop needs pertaining to writing and artwork design) that not simply could serve us well, but could accomplish that quickly. To build your specific Slax download, visit the Slax Builder to start with. Believe it as well as not, it’s not that will difficult to create your individual Linux with Slax.

average boot time: 07 seconds.

5: Ubuntu 11.10

Ubuntu 11.10 will be the king of rapid boots. It was the 1st fully loaded desktop distribution that can claim the 10-second start time. And We’ve witnessed that start time firsthand. Your 10-second boot doesn’t call for seriously overpowered computer hardware, either. This magic number might be reached, without changes, on average hardware may buy off the tray. Even with your less-than-desired Ubuntu Oneness, you can get your desktop working, from cold start, in around 10 a few moments.

average boot time: 10 seconds.

On the mark…

Yes you might also make a case for one of the Google Chrome-like as well as Splashtop OSes which could have you working in three for you to five seconds, but that’s not the objective here. I wanted to focus on distributions that may be considered full a desktop. And although you possibly will not get the same results I did on your start times, there are always a good amount of tweaks to be generated to further improve your Linux computer’s desktop boot.

This document describes how to set up TrueCrypt with GUI on Ubuntu 7.10. TrueCrypt is a free open-source encryption software for desktop usage.

This howto is a practical guide without any warranty – it doesn’t cover the theoretical backgrounds. There are many ways to set up such a system – this is the way I chose.

1 Preparation

Set up a standard Ubuntu 7.10 system and update it.

2 Needed Packages

First we install some needed packages with the synaptic package manager.

• sun-java6-jre
• python-pexpect

You’ll see this window during the installation – mark the corresponding checkbox and proceed if you agree with the license agreement.

Afterwards check if all went well – open a terminal and enter.

java -version

The output should look like this:

java version “1.6.0_03″
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_03-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.6.0_03-b05, mixed mode, sharing)

3 Truecrypt

3.1 Installation

Open http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads.php within your browser and download the latest stable version for Ubuntu 7.10 (.tar.gz-file containing the .deb-package).

Afterwards unpack the .tar.gz-file, …

… switch to the folder with the unpacked files and install the .deb-package with the GDebi package installer (simply double click on the package). Click on “Install Package” to start the installation.

Enter the root password.

The package and its dependencies are being installed.

3.2 System Configuration

Please note, that the following steps (3.2.1 – 3.2.3) can be done automatically by the tcgui installer (step 4). Proceed if you have problems with the tcgui-installer or want to configure the system manually in the first place – otherwise go ahead with step 4.

3.2.1 Users & Groups

We have to add the group “truecrypt” to the system and afterwards we add the root-account and our user-account to it. The settings for users and groups are available in the gnome system menu.

Enter the root password.

Click on “Manage Groups“.

Click on “Add Group“.

Insert “truecrypt” (without the quotes) as name for the new group, mark the checkbox next to the root and your username and click on “OK“.

3.2.2 Sudo

Next we configure sudo in order that TrueCrypt is useable without a password query – open a terminal and enter:

sudo visudo

Add the following line:

%truecrypt ALL=(root) NOPASSWD:/usr/bin/truecrypt

It should look like this:

# /etc/sudoers
#
# This file MUST be edited with the 'visudo' command as root.
#
# See the man page for details on how to write a sudoers file.
# Defaults
Defaults        !lecture,tty_tickets,!fqdn
# Uncomment to allow members of group sudo to not need a password
# %sudo ALL=NOPASSWD: ALL
# Host alias specification
# User alias specification
# Cmnd alias specification
# User privilege specification
root    ALL=(ALL) ALL
# Members of the admin group may gain root privileges
%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL
%truecrypt ALL=(root) NOPASSWD:/usr/bin/truecrypt

To save the changes press CTRL+O (STRG+O on a german keyboard) and hit enter. Close the editor via CTRL+X (STRG+X on a german keyboard).

3.2.3 TrueCrypt Group

As a last resort we have to assign TrueCrypt itself to the new group that we created at step 3.2.1. Open terminal and enter:

sudo chgrp truecrypt /usr/bin/truecrypt

Afterwards we check if all went well – enter:

truecrypt -l

If you’re NOT asked for a system password and the output looks like this …

No volumes mapped

… all is fine.

4 TrueCrypt GUI (tcgui)

Tcgui provides a GUI that is similar to the windows GUI for truecrypt. It’s licensed unter the GPL.

4.1 Download

Open http://tcgui.tc.funpic.de/en/download.htm (http://tcgui.tc.funpic.de/download.htm for German users) within your browser and download the latest version (When I was writing this howto the latest version was 0.4).

Afterwards unpack the file.

4.2 Installation

Open a terminal, switch to the unpacked files and run the installer.

cd Desktop/tcgui-0.4/
sudo bash install.sh $USER

Note: Don’t replace $USER with your username – simply copy & paste the line.

Choose your language (german or english) and answer the following questions with no (n) – unless you haven’t realized step 3.2.1 till 3.2.3. After the installation finished you have to log out and back in to take the changes effect.

4.3 Access The GUI

The TrueCrypt GUI is available in the gnome applications menu.

Click on “Yes” if you agree with the warranty agreement.

The GUI appears – make yourself familiar with it.

Note: Please have a look at the readme in the tcgui-folder (on your desktop). Which functions are working without problems and which not is described at the end of the file – so you should read it before you you’re playing around with the GUI

4.4 Deinstallation

If you want to deinstall the TrueCrypt GUI open a terminal and enter:

sudo bash /usr/share/tcgui/uninstall.sh

Note: The group “truecrypt” will not be deleted and the changes in the sudo configuration will not be restored.

5 Links

TrueCrypt: http://www.truecrypt.org/
TrueCrypt License: http://www.truecrypt.org/license.php
TrueCrypt Linux manpage: http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/linux-manpage.php
TrueCrypt GUI (en): http://tcgui.tc.funpic.de/en/index.htm
TrueCrypt GUI (de): http://tcgui.tc.funpic.de/index.htm
Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/

Geubuntu 7.10 “Luna Nuova” is only the second release of the distro, which seems to trace Ubuntu’s release cycle. As the version number suggests, Geubuntu 7.10 is based on Ubuntu 7.10, from which it borrows the kernel and user conveniences like the restricted-drivers management utility.

Geubuntu is an installable live CD, but it can also be installed on top of an existing Ubuntu distro by installing specific packages from the Geubuntu mirror. Currently there’s only a 32-bit ISO available. To run Geubuntu on 64-bit hardware you’ll have to take the longer route of first installing a 64-bit version of Ubuntu and then getting Geubuntu packages that are compiled for 64-bit platforms.

Installing from the live CD requires about 1.5GB of disk space. The distro booted smoothly on all the computers I tried it on, including a 1.3GHz Celeron and two dual-core desktops, with a 2.0GHz E4400 and a 1.8GHz E6300. Geubuntu isn’t short on applications; some of the most used apps it includes are the Firefox Web browser, Pidgin instant messenger, Eclair and VLC media players, and the GIMP image editor. To keep its requirements low, Geubuntu bundles AbiWord word processor, Gnumeric spreadsheet, Orage Calendar, and the Thunar file manager instead of more resource-intensive office suites. If you want to install more apps you can use the Synaptic package manager.

Very usable desktop

The first thing you’ll notice about Geubuntu is its speed. Despite being based on Ubuntu 7.10, it runs well on older hardware like my Pentium Celeron 1.3GHz laptop. This is because Enlightenment isn’t as resource-hungry as Ubuntu’s default desktop environment GNOME, which Geubuntu doesn’t bundle.

Geubuntu boots into the visually stunning Sunshine theme created by its artist developer. The desktop sports panels at the top and bottom of the screen. To maximize the desktop real estate, the top panel folds over the top when not in use. The bottom panel, though minimal, is fully loaded with menu and application launchers, virtual desktop switcher, and applets like clock. I like its animated marquee-style auto-scrolling list of application launchers, which prevents the panel from taking too much space.

In addition to being visually stunning, Geubuntu’s Sunshine and Moonlight themes both have animated bits. Depending on the theme, a sun beam shines down from the sun or an Enlightenment logo appears on a large Moon and reflects in rippling water after regular intervals. Users can easily (and almost instantaneously) switch between the two themes at a click.

Of course this bling would be useless if it came at the price of usability. But that’s what I like about Geubuntu. It’s a stunning distro that’s also very usable, thanks to an assortment of components. Of note are two Xfce components, the Xfce panel and the Thunar file manager. These are complemented by bits and pieces from GNOME, such as the GNOME bar and applets like the network manager and the search applet.

Watch out for bugs!

The components that make this distro usable also introduce a few noticeable bugs, since they were not designed to interact with each other. And Enlightenment is still under heavy development and has several bugs of its own. Despite bundling Thunar file manager, Geubuntu relies on Enlightenment’s file manager, fm, for displaying desktop icons. However, you can’t mount or unmount removable devices or browse their files using their desktop icons; for that you need to use Thunar.

Also, when running Geubuntu from the live CD, the distro doesn’t log out without complaining that some task is taking too long to complete, giving you the option to either wait or continue with the logout. According to a post on the forums, it’s the Xfce panel that seems to be causing this and the developers are working on a solution. Strangely, once you’ve installed Geubuntu to the hard drive, it logs out without complaining.

This isn’t the only discrepancy between the live and installed versions of the distro. When I first installed it, the desktop didn’t display the top panel. I tried logging out, restarting the computer, killing and restarting the panels, but nothing worked. But reinstalling the distro brought back the panel.

Secondly, my PCMCIA wireless card, which worked from the live CD, didn’t work from the installed version. On the dual-core desktop, the distro picked up the wide-screen monitor and correctly booted into its 1440×900-pixel resolution. It failed however, to activate the wireless card, even after i installed the correct drivers via NDISwrapper. Also the splash screen that comes up while the distro boots is only visible when the distro boots from the disk. Live CD users get to stare at a blank screen during boot, which can be a little confusing for new users.

Some of the components under the Moonlight theme retain traces of the Sunshine theme, such as the semitransparent terminal window. If you run into any other errors, refer to the online documentation to check for a solution, if it’s a known bug.

Conclusion

Despite being a young distro with just two releases under its belt, Geubuntu delivers a visually stunning desktop without compromising functionality. As a double benefit, the components it uses to blend functionality with bling have modest hardware requirements. This makes the distro perfectly suitable for older computers.

Built atop Ubuntu, the distro has a solid, well-tested base. Its unique mix of components from desktop environments Xfce and GNOME on top of the under-development Enlightenment environment introduces several bugs, but the developers are working to iron these out, and have already tackled several between the first two releases. I’d recommend this distro to desktop users with aging hardware, and to users who haven’t tried Enlightenment before.

This document is a step by step guide for configuring Ubuntu 7.10 as a Samba Domain Controller with an LDAP backend (OpenLDAP). The point is to configure a server that can be comparable, from a central authentication point of view, to a Windows Server 2003 Domain Controller. The end result will be a server with an LDAP directory for storing user, group, and computer accounts. A Windows XP Professional SP2 workstation will be able to join the domain once properly configured. Please note that you do not have a fully comparable Windows domain controller at this time. Do not kid yourself, this guide only gets you a server with LDAP authentication. Of course this can be expanded to include slave servers to spread out authentication over multiple networks. Please also note that it took me approximately two and a half weeks to compile this information and get it working. The same functionality can be had in Windows in less than four hours (and this includes operating system installation). In my humble opinion the open source community will need to work on this side of Linux in order for it to be a true alternative to Windows.

Legal/Warranty/Etc…

This document is provided as-is with no implied warranty or agreement. I will not support other systems without compensation. This document is the property of Richard Maloley II. This document may be redistributed, copied, printed, and modified at will, however my name must remain as the original source. Legal action can and will be brought against any and all infractions of the terms.

Special Items of Interest

* My hostname during the installation was set to: dc01-ubuntu
* My fully qualified domain name will be: dc01-ubuntu.example.local
* After the installation my /etc/hostname was changed to: dc01-ubuntu.example.local
* After the installation my /etc/hosts was changed so that the line 127.0.1.1 contained “dc01-ubuntu dc01-ubuntu.example.local” to ensure no issues with name resolution.
* My LDAP domain is: example.local
* This translates to a Base DN of: dc=example,dc=local
* All passwords used are “12345″ to keep things simple.
* I am not using TLS or SSL for my LDAP directory. Too much work for this tutorial.
* The user I created during the installation is: sysadmin
* The password I assigned during the installation is: 12345
* This local user will be used for all configuration purposes.

Assumptions

* Ubuntu Server 7.10 is installed.
* No other software was installed during the OS install!
* After installation you enabled all the repositories in /etc/apt/sources.list
* You fully updated your system

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
reboot

* You configured a static IP address. For me I used the following information:

address 192.168.0.60
gateway 192.168.0.1
netmask 255.255.255.0

* You edited your /etc/hosts file so that your hostname and fully qualified domain name are on the line 127.0.1.1

127.0.1.1 dc01-ubuntu dc01-ubuntu.example.local

* You installed the OpenSSH Server.

apt-get install openssh-server

* You did not set a password on the root account. All commands will be run with sudo or by opening a root shell.

sudo bash

* Currently you do not have any other software running nor do you have any other users on the system.

Step 1: Install WebMin

We will be installing WebMin. Why? I like to use it to configure some things. This step is techinically optional but I feel as though it greatly simplifies administration of the server in the future.

# Download the WebMin package from their website.

wget http://superb-west.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/webadmin/webmin_1.380_all.deb

# Install pre-requisite software.

apt-get install openssl libauthen-pam-perl libio-pty-perl libmd5-perl libnet-ssleay-perl

# Install WebMin

dpkg -i webmin_1.380_all.deb

# If the installation is successful you will see a message similar to this:

“Webmin install complete. You can now login to https://dc01-ubuntu.example.local:10000/
as root with your root password,
or as any user who can use sudo to run commands as root.”

Step 2: Install OpenLDAP

For our LDAP server we will be using the very flexible OpenLDAP Server (slapd).

# Install the software.

apt-get install slapd ldap-utils migrationtools

# Answer the on-screen prompts with:

Admin password: 12345
Confirm password: 12345

# We need to configure OpenLDAP now.

dpkg-reconfigure slapd

# Answer the on-screen prompts with:

No
DNS domain name: example.local
Name of your organization: example.local
Admin password: 12345
Confirm password: 12345
OK
BDB
No
Yes
No

# Restart OpenLDAP.

/etc/init.d/slapd restart

Step 3: Install SAMBA

We will be using SAMBA for some main functions in this tutorial. In order to configure OpenLDAP correctly we must first install SAMBA.

# Install the software.

apt-get install samba smbldap-tools smbclient samba-doc

Step 4: Configure OpenLDAP for use with SAMBA

In order to use LDAP and SAMBA we need to configure the /etc/ldap/slapd.conf file.

# Copy the samba.schema file to the OpenLDAP schema directory.

cp /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/examples/LDAP/samba.schema.gz /etc/ldap/schema/

# Unzip the file.

gzip -d /etc/ldap/schema/samba.schema.gz

# Open the /etc/ldap/slapd.conf file for editing.

vim /etc/ldap/slapd.conf

# Add the following lines to the document where the other “include” lines are:

include         /etc/ldap/schema/samba.schema

include         /etc/ldap/schema/misc.schema

# Change the line:

access to attribute=userPassword

# to:

access to attrs=userPassword,sambaNTPassword,sambaLMPassword

# Restart OpenLDAP:

/etc/init.d/slapd restart

Step 5: Configure SAMBA

Now we need to configure SAMBA. This includes configuring the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.

# Open up the SAMBA directory.

cd /etc/samba/

# Backup the samba configuration file.

cp smb.conf smb.conf.original

# Open the samba configuration file for editing.

vim smb.conf

# Make the following changes throughout the file:

workgroup = EXAMPLE
security = user
passdb backend = ldapsam:ldap://localhost/
obey pam restrictions = no
#######################################################################
#COPY AND PASTE THE FOLLOWING UNDERNEATH "OBEY PAM RESTRICTIONS = NO"
#######################################################################
#
#	Begin: Custom LDAP Entries
#
ldap admin dn = cn=admin,dc=example,dc=local
ldap suffix = dc=example, dc=local
ldap group suffix = ou=Groups
ldap user suffix = ou=Users
ldap machine suffix = ou=Computers
ldap idmap suffix = ou=Users
; Do ldap passwd sync
ldap passwd sync = Yes
passwd program = /usr/sbin/smbldap-passwd %u
passwd chat = *New*password* %n\n *Retype*new*password* %n\n *all*authentication*tokens*updated*
add user script = /usr/sbin/smbldap-useradd -m "%u"
ldap delete dn = Yes
delete user script = /usr/sbin/smbldap-userdel "%u"
add machine script = /usr/sbin/smbldap-useradd -w "%u"
add group script = /usr/sbin/smbldap-groupadd -p "%g"
delete group script = /usr/sbin/smbldap-groupdel "%g"
add user to group script = /usr/sbin/smbldap-groupmod -m "%u" "%g"
delete user from group script = /usr/sbin/smbldap-groupmod -x "%u" "%g"
set primary group script = /usr/sbin/smbldap-usermod -g "%g" "%u"
domain logons = yes
#
#	End: Custom LDAP Entries
#
#####################################################
#STOP COPYING HERE!
#####################################################

# Comment out the line:

invalid users = root

# Add the following line:

logon path =

# Restart SAMBA.

/etc/init.d/samba restart

# Give SAMBA the “admin” password to the LDAP tree.

smbpasswd -w 12345

Step 6: Configure the SMBLDAP-TOOLS package.

We will be using the smbldap-tools package to populate our directory, add users, add workstations, etc… But, the tools need to be configured first!

# Open up the examples directory.

cd /usr/share/doc/smbldap-tools/examples/

# Copy the configuration files to /etc/smbldap-tools:

cp smbldap_bind.conf /etc/smbldap-tools/
cp smbldap.conf.gz /etc/smbldap-tools/

# Unzip the configuration file.

gzip -d /etc/smbldap-tools/smbldap.conf.gz

# Open up the /etc/smbldap-tools directory.

cd /etc/smbldap-tools/

# Get the SID (Security ID) for your SAMBA domain.

net getlocalsid

This results in (example): SID for domain DC01-UBUNTU is: S-1-5-21-949328747-3404738746-3052206637

# Open the /etc/smbldap-tools/smbldap.conf file for editing.

vim smbldap.conf

# Edit the file so that the following information is correct (according to your individual setup):

SID="S-1-5-21-949328747-3404738746-3052206637" ## This line must have the same SID as when you ran "net getlocalsid"
sambaDomain="EXAMPLE"
ldapTLS="0"
suffix="dc=example,dc=local"
sambaUnixIdPooldn="sambaDomainName=EXAMPLE,${suffix}"
userSmbHome=
userProfile=
userHomeDrive=
userScript=
mailDomain="example.local"

# Open the /etc/smbldap-tools/smbldap_bind.conf file for editing.

vim smbldap_bind.conf

# Edit the file so that the following information is correct (according to your individual setup):

slaveDN="cn=admin,dc=example,dc=local"
slavePw="12345"
masterDN="cn=admin,dc=example,dc=local"
masterPw="12345"

# Set the correct permissions on the above files:

chmod 0644 /etc/smbldap-tools/smbldap.conf
chmod 0600 /etc/smbldap-tools/smbldap_bind.conf

Step 7: Populate LDAP using smbldap-tools

Now we need to populate our LDAP directory with some necessary SAMBA and Windows entries.

# Execute the command to populate the directory.

smbldap-populate -u 30000 -g 30000

# At the password prompt assign your root password:

12345

# Verify that the directory has information in it by running the command:

ldapsearch -x -b dc=example,dc=local | less

Step 8: Add an LDAP user to the system

It is time for us to add an LDAP user. We will use this user account to verify that LDAP authentication is working.

# Add the user to LDAP

smbldap-useradd -a -m -M ricky -c “Richard M” ricky

# Here is an explanation of the command switches that we used.

-a allows Windows as well as Linux login
-m makes a home directory, leave this off if you do not need local access
-M sets up the username part of their email address
-c specifies their full name

# Set the password the new account.

smbldap-passwd ricky
# Password will be: 12345

Step 9: Configure the server to use LDAP authentication.

The basic steps for this section came from the Ubuntu Forums (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=597056). Thanks to all who contributed to that thread! Basically we need to tell our server to use LDAP authentication as one of its options. Be careful with this! It can cause your server to break! This is why we always have a backup around.

# Install the necessary software for this to work.

apt-get install auth-client-config libpam-ldap libnss-ldap

# Answer the prompts on your screen with the following:

Should debconf manage LDAP configuration?: Yes
LDAP server Uniform Resource Identifier: ldapi://127.0.0.1
Distinguished name of the search base: dc=example,dc=local
LDAP version to use: 3
Make local root Database admin: Yes
Does the LDAP database require login? No
LDAP account for root: cn=admin,dc=example,dc=local
LDAP root account password: 12345

# Open the /etc/ldap.conf file for editing.

vim /etc/ldap.conf

# Configure the following according to your setup:

host 127.0.0.1
base dc=example,dc=local
uri ldap://127.0.0.1/
rootbinddn cn=admin,dc=example,dc=local
bind_policy soft

# Copy the /etc/ldap.conf file to /etc/ldap/ldap.conf

cp /etc/ldap.conf /etc/ldap/ldap.conf

# Create a new file /etc/auth-client-config/profile.d/open_ldap:

vim /etc/auth-client-config/profile.d/open_ldap

# Insert the following into that new file:

[open_ldap]
nss_passwd=passwd: compat ldap
nss_group=group: compat ldap
nss_shadow=shadow: compat ldap
pam_auth=auth       required     pam_env.so
 auth       sufficient   pam_unix.so likeauth nullok
 auth       sufficient   pam_ldap.so use_first_pass
 auth       required     pam_deny.so
pam_account=account    sufficient   pam_unix.so
 account    sufficient   pam_ldap.so
 account    required     pam_deny.so
pam_password=password   sufficient   pam_unix.so nullok md5 shadow use_authtok
 password   sufficient   pam_ldap.so use_first_pass
 password   required     pam_deny.so
pam_session=session    required     pam_limits.so
 session    required     pam_mkhomedir.so skel=/etc/skel/
 session    required     pam_unix.so
 session    optional     pam_ldap.so

# Backup the /etc/nsswitch.conf file:

cp /etc/nsswitch.conf /etc/nsswitch.conf.original

# Backup the /etc/pam.d/ files:

cd /etc/pam.d/
mkdir bkup
cp * bkup/

# Enable the new LDAP Authentication Profile by executing the following command:

auth-client-config -a -p open_ldap

# Reboot the server and test to ensure that you can still log in using SSH and LDAP.

reboot

Step 10: Install BIND (DNS Server)

Because we are going to be a domain controller and source for authentication it makes sense to also have some DNS services available. Please note that if you have multiple servers at your disposal it is recommended to install a seperate DNS server as well so we have two to look at.

# Install the software.

apt-get install bind9

Step 11: Configure our primary DNS Zone using WebMin

We now want to create our DNS zone so that we are in charge of it and can make use of it. I prefer using a GUI to do this as opposed to editing the zone files.

In a web browser navigate to: https://192.168.0.60:10000 (Please use the IP address that YOU assigned to your server.)
Login as “sysadmin” and “12345″.
Servers > BIND DNS Server
Under “Existing DNS Zones” click “Create master zone”.

Zone type: Forward (Names to Addresses)
Domain name / Network: example.local
Records file: Automatic
Master server: dc01-ubuntu.example.local
Email address: sysadmin@example.local

Click “Create” button.

Click “Apply Changes” button.

Click “Address (0)” at the top.

Name: dc01-ubuntu
Address: 192.168.0.60
Click “Create” button
Click “Return to record types”

Click “Apply Changes” button.

Step 12: Configure the server to use itself for DNS

DNS doesn’t do a whole lot of good if we don’t use it. In this section we point our /etc/resolv.conf file to ourselves. I also recommend leaving in a known working DNS server as the seconday source just in case something screws up. In some of my trials I did notice that the server would hang trying to start BIND9.

# Open the /etc/resolv.conf file for editing.

vim /etc/resolv.conf

# Add the following lines to the beginning of the file:

search example.local
nameserver 192.168.0.60

# Reboot the server to ensure that DNS is working correctly.

reboot

Step 13: Add a workstation account to LDAP

This tutorial is meant to create an opensource domain for Windows XP Professional client (and Linux clients) to authenticate against. Therefore we will add a workstation account for the Windows XP Professional workstation that we will be joining to the domain.

# Execute the command:

smbldap-useradd -w client-winxp

* “client-winxp” is the hostname of the computer that you will be adding to the domain. This must be very specific!

Step 14: Configure your Windows XP Professional Client

Now I will walk you through configuring your Windows XP Professional workstation so that it will join the domain.

# Assumptions:

* This is a vanilla installation of Windows XP Professional SP2.
* The computer name was set during installation to be: client-winxp
* The Administrator password assigned is: 12345
* All other installation options have been left at their default settings.
* After the installation the following occurred:
* The only user account on the computer in use was “Administrator”
* All available Windows Updates were installed.
* A static IP address was assigned with the following information (for my setup only!)

IP Address: 192.168.0.61
Gateway: 192.168.0.1
Netmask: 255.255.255.0
DNS: 192.168.0.60
Search domain: example.local

# Join the workstation to the domain.

* Log into the computer as Administrator.
* Right click “My Computer” and click “Properties”.
* Click the tab “Computer Name”.
* Click the button labeled “Change”.
* At the bottom click the radial button labeled “Domain”.
* In the box type the word “example” without quotes!
* Click the “OK” button.
* At the password prompt enter “root” for the user and “12345″ for the password (substitute the password for what you assigned to your root user earlier!).

It should say “Welcome to the example domain.”
* Click “OK”.
* Click “OK” again.
* Click “OK” again.
Restart the workstation.

# Log in with your test user (“ricky”) from earlier.
Try logging into the Windows XP workstation (after selecting the domain from the drop down box) using our test user. It should work without issue!

# Notes
Please note that this is basic authentication right now. You’re on your own if you wish to add logon scripts, mapped drives, etc…

Step 15: (Optional) Install Apache2 and PHPLDAPAdmin

A nice way to view and modify your LDAP tree is with a GUI. PHPLDAPAdmin is one that many people recommend so I will show you how to install it and use it.

# Install the software.

apt-get install apache2 phpldapadmin

# Open the file /etc/apache2/httpd.conf for editing:

vim /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

# Add the following line to the top of the file. This prevents an annoying error message from Apache2.

ServerName dc01-ubuntu.example.local

# Restart Apache2

/etc/init.d/apache2 restart

# Copy the PHPLDAPAdmin folder into the main web site directory. This is the lazy way of doing things. This way we don’t need to create a virtual server, we just access PHPLDAPAdmin by going to: http://192.168.0.60/phpldapadmin/

cp -R /usr/share/phpldapadmin/ /var/www/phpldapadmin

There you have it! A full Ubuntu LDAP and SAMBA Domain Controller in 15 easy steps.

If all you want to do is share data between your Linux box and the BlackBerry, no sweat. The 2GB Micro SD storage I inserted in my 8800 is available to my Linux system just like any other USB storage device. When I connect the USB cable to the BlackBerry, I simply say yes when Ubuntu asks if I want to enter Mass Storage Mode, and I can copy music and photos to the phone. I have run into a problem getting the audio for videos that were created with Kino to work correctly, but other than that, moving data back and forth between the PDA and the desktop “just works.”The Barry and OpenSync projects aim to provide a little more functionality than just moving data. According to its home page, the Barry project “is a GPL C++ library for interfacing with the RIM BlackBerry Handheld. It comes with a command-line tool for exploring the device and a GUI for making quick backups. This project’s goal is to create a fully functional syncing mechanism on Linux.” Release 0.11, which I’ve been playing with the past week, goes a long way toward meeting those goals. With it, you can explore, backup and restore, and — with a little help from OpenSync — sync databases. There is, however, some assembly required.

If you’re not willing to get your hands dirty by downloading and building software executables in their early stages of development, and working from the CLI once you do, then the Barry/OpenSync combo is not ready for you just yet. If you are, heed this advice: back up your BlackBerry before you begin, because it’s possible you could lose some data.

If you’re willing and able to take the risks, you can get in on the fun and functionality ahead of the curve. The buzz on the Barry developers mailing list indicates that work is already underway to provide Barry as an Ubuntu package, as it already is on Mandriva, so it shouldn’t be long before everyone can simply install the executables and leave the building and testing processes to developers.

I won’t walk you through the installation of each of the components, but I will tell you which ones I used and where I found them. Implementation details will vary with your distro, of course. Here’s what you need:

• opensync-0.22 packages
• libusb-4.4.5
• barry-0.11

Install the OpenSync packages first, because you’ll need them in order to compile Barry. Make sure that not only OpenSync is release 0.22 — there are earlier and later releases, but you need 0.22 to work with Barry — but that any plugins you install match the 0.22 release number of OpenSync.

Before you compile Barry, be sure to specify --enable-opensync-plug-in when you run the configure script, as per Barry’s detailed installation help.

Exploring the BlackBerry with btool

The first time you connect your BlackBerry and Linux machine with a USB cable, you’ll get a screen on the PDA whining about an insufficient amount of current to charge the device. You can safely ignore that; you won’t be short of power for long. In fact, after entering the btool command, you’ll have all the power you need to charge the phone via USB.

You can enter btool -h for a complete list of options. If you enter btool -t, for example, you’ll get a list of all the databases Barry finds on your BlackBerry. There were about 75 on my 8800. Barry can’t presently parse all of them, but the most important ones are there, as entering btool -S reveals:

Supported Database parsers:
   Address Book
   Messages
   Calendar
   Service Book
   Memos
   Tasks
   PIN Messages
   Saved Email Messages
   Folders

Supported Database builders:
   Address Book

You can explore any of the databases on the BlackBerry, not just those with parsers, by dumping their records to the console. To see what’s in Browser Folders, for example, simply enter btool -d 'Browser Folders' at the command line. btool will reply with something like this:

Blackberry devices found:
Device ID: 0×8063860. PIN: 666d6a66, Description: RIM 8800 Series Colour GPRS Handheld
Using device (PIN): 666d6a66
Raw record dump for record: 805f8a8
    00000000: 06 00 26 00 40 02 44 01 01 00 02 e6 17 8a 00 14  ..&.@.D………
    00000010: 00 00 81 d6 e2 b7 60 00 0d 57 41 50 20 42 6f 6f  ……`..WAP Boo
    00000020: 6b 6d 61 72 6b 73                                kmarks

Raw record dump for record: 805f8a8
    00000000: 06 00 2d 00 40 02 44 01 02 00 88 2a 69 2c 00 1b  ..-.@.D….*i,..
    00000010: 00 00 81 d6 e2 b7 60 00 14 42 6c 61 63 6b 42 65  ……`..BlackBe
    00000020: 72 72 79 20 42 6f 6f 6b 6d 61 72 6b 73           rry Bookmarks

Of course, raw data like this is more important to developers than to ordinary users, so let’s move on to more user-friendly things, such as the backup and restore utility.

The GUI backup application included with Barry is simple and effective. Note: Barry has a configure option to build the GUI, but it was built by default on my install. If it’s not on yours, rerun the configure script and add the --enable-gui option, then rebuild.

Start by entering barrybackup at the command line, wait a second until it finds your device and displays its PIN number, and when it does, click on Save. You can edit the list of databases that the app will either save or restore by selecting Edit -> Config from the option menu to display the pop-up window in Figure 1, from which you can edit either list.

After selecting Save, I watched the Progress bar slide across the screen and the database names scroll past in the Database text box until the process was complete. I then immediately tested the Restore function.

When you click Restore, you’re presented with a list of all the saved backups Barry finds in the .barry/backup/PINNUMBER directory, where PINNUMBER is the PIN of the device you’re working with. After clicking Restore, I watched as database names appeared, were deleted on the BlackBerry, then restored from my desktop. All went well until I came to the Time Zones table, when I started to see “usb_bulk_restore” errors. The cure was simply to install release 4.4.5 of libusb. Since doing so, I’ve seen no more of these errors.

Barry aims to provide the infrastructure for more advanced, user-friendly applications that can be developed by others. It includes a couple of sample applications to demonstrate. One allows you to enter new contact information, and the other new calendar entries. They work well, but a full-blown app that would allow you to not only add, but edit or delete existing entries, would really be useful.

Synchronicity

Probably the most sought-after feature Barry provides is synchronization. I wasn’t familiar with the synchronization process before I began exploring BlackBerries and Linux, so the concepts of groups, members, and device plugins were new to me in this context.

The synchronization process acts on a group of devices. Before I could actually sync something, I needed to define a group, its members, and the plugin required for each member. When I installed the OpenSync packages, I also installed a tool to do all those things called msynctool, as well as plugins for Evolution and Google Calendar. Both msynctool and the plugins come from the OpenSync project, but are separate downloads. Msynctool runs from the CLI, and it includes a helpful man page; I recommend entering man msynctool if synchronization is new to you.

Create a group and its members is easy:

msynctool --addgroup Blackberry
msynctool –addmember Blackberry barry-sync
msynctool –addmember Blackberry evo2-sync
msynctool –showgroup Blackberry

The last command reported that the Blackberry group contained two members, but that the first one was not yet configured, which I had to do before I could sync. Still using the msynctool tool, I entered msynctool --configure Blackberry 1, where the 1 represented the barry-sync plugin. That opened the default text editor — nano if you’re using Ubuntu 7.10 and haven’t changed the symbolic link at /etc/alternatives/editor to point to another editor — which allowed me to edit the default configuration for the BlackBerry and insert its actual PIN number in place of the default.

If you prefer to use an editor other than the default on your distro, you can accomplish the same thing outside of msynctool simply by editing ~/.opensync/group1/1/barry-sync.conf.

Finally, it was time to sync the BlackBerry and my Evolution contact files. All I had to do was enter the command msynctool --sync Blackberry, then answer a single question about which plugin should rule when duplicate contacts were found. That was it; I was in sync at last.

If all of this sounds too geeky for you, don’t despair. Help is coming for both installation and use. With a working framework in place, thanks to OpenSync and Barry, GUIs are on their way, in the form of the kitchensync project at KDE.org, for example, or, if you’re a GNOME user, the multisync-GUI tool from the OpenSync project.

Shop @openSUSE Store

Anyone wants to make a gift for me …. let me know, I’ll send you my postal address :-p Happy Christmas to everyone out there.

Features:

• Symbian60 2nd and 3rd Edition support
• Portrait support (Landscape soon)
• Most Icons are replaced by Tango equivalents
• Contains Icons for 3rd party applications
• Custom graphics using the Tango color palette
• Total replacement of all widget elements such as popups, tabs, scrollbars, clock fonts and others
• Music Player Skin (Not on 3rd party music players bundled with some phones)
• Free to download and use
• Free Open Source Software

Grab the .SIS installer from Martin’s website and have fun. Since I am a Windows Mobile 6 Pro user I cannot run it, but would if I had a Symbian S60 mobile. Also check out the openSUSE theme for your Symbian mobile here.

OpenID has arisen from the open source community to solve the problems that could not be easily solved by other existing technologies. OpenID is a lightweight method of identifying individuals that uses the same technology framework that is used to identify websites. As such, OpenID is not owned by anyone, nor should it be. Today, anyone can choose to be an OpenID user or an OpenID Provider for free without having to register or be approved by any organization, being not proprietary and completely free. OpenID eliminates the need for multiple usernames across different websites, simplifying your online experience.You get to choose the OpenID Provider that best meets your needs and most importantly that you trust. At the same time, your OpenID can stay with you, no matter which Provider you move to.

For businesses, this means a lower cost of password and account management, while drawing new web traffic. OpenID lowers user frustration by letting users have control of their login.For geeks, OpenID is an open, decentralized, free framework for user-centric digital identity. OpenID takes advantage of already existing internet technology (URI, HTTP, SSL, Diffie-Hellman) and realizes that people are already creating identities for themselves whether it be at their blog, photostream, profile page, etc. With OpenID you can easily transform one of these existing URIs into an account which can be used at sites which support OpenID logins.OpenID is still in the adoption phase and is becoming more and more popular, as large organizations like AOL, Microsoft, Sun, Novell, etc. begin to accept and provide OpenIDs. Today it is estimated that there are over 160-million OpenID enabled URIs with nearly ten-thousand sites supporting OpenID logins.Currently work is underway developing OpenID Authentication 2.0, which will use the Yadis service discovery protocol. OpenID is now developing into a much more complete framework that will support other identity services besides authentication and is been made a high priority in Firefox 3 browser.

Here are some places you can visit to see where you can use your OpenID to log in today:

• myOpenID Site Directory
• The OpenID Directory

I am quite sure that Web 3.0, if I may say so, will include OpenID as it’s authentication and ID management backend. So, then what happens to IBM and Novell backed Higgins … or are they collaborating?

Interested what goes behind the curtain when it comes to all those legality issues going around with free and open source world? Then check out a post here to see the Top 10 list of legal issues compiled by Mark Radcliffe from Law and Life: Silicon Valley blog.