I wrote a howto a while back on how to setup windows vista with a ipv6 tunnel to tunnelbroker.net – this post can be found here http://larmeir.com/?p=354 . To follow up on this I host a Debian etch 5.0 server in my office that I use for troubleshooting network connections and as a backup system for my webserver. Below is how I setup the ipv6 tunnel:

#ip tunnel add he-ipv6 mode sit remote my.tunnel.broker.ip local 192.168.1.8 ttl 255
#ip link set he-ipv6 up
#ip addr add 2001:470:1f0e:4ee::2/64 dev he-ipv6
# ip route add ::/0 dev he-ipv6
#ip -f inet6 addr

Also, dont forget to check that the ipv6 kernel module is loaded:

~# lsmod | grep ipv6
ipv6                  235364  31 sit

If not then load it:

# modprobe ipv6

then test it

~# ping6 -c4 ipv6.google.com
PING ipv6.google.com(vx-in-x68.google.com) 56 data bytes
64 bytes from vx-in-x68.google.com: icmp_seq=1 ttl=56 time=116 ms
64 bytes from vx-in-x68.google.com: icmp_seq=2 ttl=56 time=117 ms
64 bytes from vx-in-x68.google.com: icmp_seq=3 ttl=56 time=116 ms
64 bytes from vx-in-x68.google.com: icmp_seq=4 ttl=56 time=116 ms

— ipv6.google.com ping statistics —
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3011ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 116.301/116.750/117.440/0.429 ms

Hopefully this will help somone with Debian when trying to get a ipv6 tunnel setup.

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Russian Scientist: UFO Crashed Into Meteorite to Save Earth – Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News – FOXNews.com

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What in the heck has this world come too? A student in Utah was forced to remove his kilt as his teacher said it could be misconstrued as “cross-dressing” – I can’t help but find this ridicoulus. Well, apparently principal Longshanks has to apologize to the student. You can read the whole story here: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/weird/dpg_School_Makes_Student_Change_out_of_Kilt_SAB_05172009_2492726

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You normally do not think of Texas as being a place for earth quakes, well yesterday we had a 3.3 magnitude quake near Forth Worth. you can read more about this here http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/last_event_states/states_texas.html – The USGS details are below:

Magnitude	3.3
Date-Time	Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 16:24:06 (UTC) – Coordinated Universal Time Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 11:24:06 AM local time at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	32.80N 97.09W
Depth	5.0 kilometers
Region	NORTHERN TEXAS
Distances	15 km (10 miles) ESE of Watauga, Texas 25 km (15 miles) ENE of Fort Worth, Texas 25 km (15 miles) W of Dallas, Texas 285 km (180 miles) NNE of AUSTIN, Texas
Location Uncertainty	Error estimate: horizontal +/- 9.0 km; depth fixed by location program
Parameters	Nst=11, Nph=11, Dmin=44.4 km, Rmss=0.86 sec, Erho=9.0 km, Erzz=0 km, Gp=92.8 degrees
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usgsba

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Working in the Technology industry, I hear alot of people asking about how to monitor their bandwidth accurately.  Most people (specially sharedhosters, gameserver admins, etc.) will use their control panels to monitor their bandwidth and this often leads to inaccurate results. In this article we will go over setting a basic mrtg bandwidth graph that can be monitored from a webpage on your server to help you keep track of your bandwidth usage. I have written the below howto as a guide to your installation on a RedHat ES 5.x or CentOS 5.x system. The link http://www.cyberciti.biz/nixcraft/linux/docs/uniqlinuxfeatures/mrtg/ was used as a guide regarding the snmpd.conf so if you have any doubts please check it out.

The best way to watch your own bandwidth is with iptables or snmp however in this article we are covering snmp only – If you want to have a better technical understanding of snmp you can read more about snmp protocal here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Network_Management_Protocol

Let’s get started

My server enviornment:  cat /etc/redhat-release
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 5.3 (Tikanga)

Our goals: Setup snmp and mrtg and have it monitor the bandwidth in 5 minute intervals with it publishing to a webpage.

Setting up snmp:

First we have to get snmp and its utlities installed. To do this we will use yum

yum -y install net-snmp-utils net-snmp

Now we will make sure that snmpd starts at boot time:

chkconfig –add snmpd

chkconfig snmpd on

We can then verify that it is properly setup by issuing this command:

# chkconfig –list | grep snmpd
snmpd           0:off   1:off   2:on    3:on    4:on    5:on    6:off

Start the snmpd daemon up:

/etc/init.d/snmpd start or service snmpd start

Make sure it is up and listening:

# netstat -anp | grep snmpd | grep LISTEN
tcp        0      0 127.0.0.1:199               0.0.0.0:*                   LISTEN      24465/snmpd

Configuring snmpd.conf:

the snmpd.conf is found /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf – there is a million options here but we will only modify what is necessary to get this working

We will go section by section:

first find this area and adjust it accordingly with your network address information – make sure and leave localhost as is – for the network part, add your networks cidr notation (you can get this from your dedicated server provider if you are not sure) :

####
# First, map the community name “public” into a “security name”

#       sec.name  source          community
#com2sec notConfigUser  default       public
com2sec local     localhost           public
com2sec mynetwork 10.0.0.200/30     public
####

Next, find this area and adjust it exactly as shown below:

####
# Second, map the security name into a group name:

#       groupName      securityModel securityName
group MyRWGroup v1         local
group MyRWGroup v2c        local
group MyRWGroup usm        local
group MyROGroup v1         mynetwork
group MyROGroup v2c        mynetwork
group MyROGroup usm        mynetwork
####

Then, move on the to next section and it configure it exactly as shown below:

# Make at least  snmpwalk -v 1 localhost -c public system fast again.
#       name           incl/excl     subtree         mask(optional)
#view    systemview    included   .1.3.6.1.2.1.1
#view    systemview    included   .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.1.1
view     all           included   .1

Now modify this section exactly as shown below:

####
# Finally, grant the group read-only access to the systemview view.

#       group          context sec.model sec.level prefix read   write  notif
#access  notConfigGroup “”      any       noauth    exact  systemview none none
access MyROGroup “”      any       noauth    exact  all    none   none
access MyRWGroup “”      any       noauth    exact  all    all    none

Find this section and modify it as you would like:

###############################################################################
# System contact information
#

# It is also possible to set the sysContact and sysLocation system
# variables through the snmpd.conf file:

syslocation www.elitepowerhost.com
syscontact Dustin Larmeir <dustin@larmer.com>

There is a great article on how to configure this that served as a point of reference for me that can be found here: http://www.cyberciti.biz/nixcraft/linux/docs/uniqlinuxfeatures/mrtg/mrtg_config_step_3.php

Now we need to restart the snmpd daemon:

/etc/init.d/snmpd restart or service snmpd restart

And now we need to test it:

# snmpwalk -v 1 -c public localhost IP-MIB::ipAdEntIfIndex
IP-MIB::ipAdEntIfIndex.10.8.118.194 = INTEGER: 2

When executing the snmpwalk command this should show all of your network addresses – if this returns them that means snmp is monitoring correctly. Now how the 10.x.x.x address was returned.

Installing mrtg

Use yum to install the mrtg package

yum -y install mrtg

Assuming your htdocs directory is in /var/www/html – you would create  a location to place the mrtg graphs:

mkdir -p /var/www/html/mymrtg/

Now you will setup the config for mrtg:

cfgmaker –global ‘WorkDir: /var/www/html/mymrtg’ –output /etc/mrtg/mymrtg.cfg public@my.fqdn.com

Note, it is best to your FQDN but you can use localhost as well. The FQDN is much cleaner though.

Making the mrtg index file:

indexmaker –output=/var/www/html/mymrtg/index.html /etc/mrtg/mymrtg.cfg

Making sure all the images files are where they should be:

cp -av /var/www/html/mrtg/*.png /var/www/html/mymrtg/

Testing it out:

env LANG=C /usr/bin/mrtg /etc/mrtg/mymrtg.cfg

now browse to your vhost.com/mrtg and you should now see your graphs!

Setting the graphs up as a cron job:

run crontab -e

and put this in the file:

*/5 * * * * env LANG=C mrtg /etc/mrtg/mymrtg1.cfg –logging /var/log/graphing.log

This will generate your graphs every 5 minutes and log it for you.

This should be all you need to monitor your own bandwidth graphs, there are many different options you can modify with this system so researching into it further would be worth your time! Ill write a howto on Debian soon.

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Occasionally when you are migrating virtual machines (when using Vmware, Hyper-V, XEN, etc.) in a datacenter enviornment a router can get stuck with old ARP entries.  Removing and republishing the route can do this for you, however the fastest way from a Linux server to clear old ARP entries is arping if you do not have direct access to the routers or do not want to contact support. Generally, running a arping from the affect ip address will remove the old entry and reannounce ARP properly.  Below is a example command to remove a bad ARP entry:

arping 100.37.111.161 -I eth1 -s 100.37.111.166

In the above example command, the first address would be the network gateway, the  -I syntax indicates the interface used, and the -s would be the affected ip address that contains old ARP entries.

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I am lucky in that I get to work in the most cutting edge areas of the hosting industry thus getting to see the latest and greatest technologies and work on them everyday. One of the areas where the envelope is being pushed is virtualization. I work daily with Hyper -v, Vmware ,  OpenVZ &Virtuozzo, Sun virtualbox and Xen.  Below, I will give a short summary of each one.

1. Microsoft Hyper -V – Microsoft Hyper -v is a newcomer to the virtualization arena. Based upon my experiences with it it, it is very fast, has a very easy to use gui and excels at running windows virtual machines. I think the biggest benefit to those who wish to use thi sproduct is the licensing aspect of it. If you install windows 2008 64bit datacenter edition with hyper -v you will have free licensing of windows guests. For those of us who know how much M$ licensing costs, this is a huge bonus. On the downside, Linux support is not so good and it does not support smp on Linux guests and the only supported non-windows OS is Suse Enterprise (sorry redhat). Will redhat work? Definitely but if it breaks, good luck getting support. Another thing to note with this product is that your system must support intel virtualization technology. If it doesn’t, hyper -v will not start at all.

2. VMware – VMware is one of my favorites, so I may not be quite fair with this one. VMware has multiple products including ESX, ESX-i and VMware server and workstation and can run on Linux or Windows. ESX is a enterprise hypervisor that require intel virtulization to be enabled. It runs on a redhat 4.x base that is stripped to the core ( too much in my opinion) Tools like ethool and others are completely missing from this OS. The system itself is controlled by the vmware infastructure client which is very intuitive and super easy to use.  VMware ESX-i is the non enterpise free version of ESX and has a strip down of features but is also good. My favorite is VMware server, which is a free virtualization server that can be ran on any host with sufficient resources. What I like about this particular product is the easy to use web interface,  the ability to use the virtual infastructure client with it, and it is a great platform for somone to experiment if you are learning a new skill or OS. etc – VMware will run almost anything, and is the most felixible virtualization platform there is.

3. OpenVZ & Virtuozzo – I bundled these together because OpenVZ is the open source and free version of Virtuozzo. Virtuozzo is a enterprise level virtualization solution from parallels that supports Linux or Window but both. I have rarely seen the Windows version used in my enviornment so I dont know s mcuh about it. The Linux version on the other hand, I am very familiar with.  The Linux products runs guest virtual machines called VE’s ( virtual enviornments) and they are essesntially virtual containers that share the same kernel as the host server. For Linux virtualization, this solution is the fastest, however certain software can be very difficult to install as the VZ kernel is custom built  custom compiled kernel modules have to be used.  The gui for virtuozzo is too complex in my opinion and has a large leraning curve. Licensing is also expensive. This virtualization solution is great for hosting sites etc. OpenVZ has no gui but has 3rd party products that can be purchased through other vendors to give you virtuozzo capabilities for much cheaper. These products do not require intl virtualization technology and can be run on any host with sufficient resources.

4. Sun Virtualbox - This product is not widely used at this time, and I personally do not find it suited for a server room in it’s current capacity, but it is very cool still. I use this on my laptop to fire up practice virtual’s for education purposes. This product has a nice, very easy to use gui but doesnt seem to have the tools available for a server enviornment.  It does not require intel virtulization technology.  Check it out here

5. Xen – there are many products out there revolving around the Xen core. Xen is a very powerful, felixible virtualization solution that can be run with or without intel virtualization technology ( though benfits in speed are gained with it) Xen can run just about anything like vmware, however I have heard that windows guests do not perform nearly as quickly as they do on other virtulization solutions. Xen runs on a customer Linux kernel and is a very high performance option.

In closing – Some people may completely disagree with my assessment above and that is ok, there is many different products out there and it is best to use the one you are most comfortable with! I hope that my small post brings to light some details on these products.  If you have any questions please comment! – Dustin

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I recently had a toothache caused by a cavity, and I was in horrible pain. I will post some stuff below that will help however these should not be taken as medical advice as I am not a doctor so I am not responsible for anything that may result from these treatments:

Note these treatments below were sent to me by a friend in India via an Ayurvedic Doctor.

Useful Herbs in the Treatment of Toothache

1 Asafetida (Ferula fetida)

Asafetida is an excellent and fast-acting remedy for toothache problems. Its rich mineral and vitamin contents increase the strength of the teeth and enable them to bear the pain.

2 Clove (Syzygium aromaticum)

Clove has the best astringent and antiseptic properties among all teeth remedies. Clove oil reduces the pain greatly and also fights against the germs in cavities. Clove oil is an important ingredient in many toothpastes. Even dentists apply a material with clove oil as a vital ingredient when filling cavities.

3 Onion (Allium cepa)

Onion may give bad odor temporarily, but in the long run it is very beneficial to dental hygiene. Onion can fight against the germs that accumulate on the teeth and hence prevent future problems with the teeth. People chomping on one raw onion a day are protected from toothache, apart from various other health benefits.

Dietary Treatments for Toothache

Since dental problems are due to imbalances of the kapha dosha, it is necessary to bring the kapha back to normal. To do this, the following points must be obeyed: -

- Sweet foods must be strictly avoided. These will increase kapha in the mouth, which will help the breeding of microorganisms. This causes cavities in the mouth, leading to toothache.

- Do not consume chocolates and sugary foods at night. Their particles will remain in the interspaces of the teeth even if you think you have brushed properly.

- Foods that have bitter, pungent and astringent tastes are good for keeping toothaches in check. These foods can kill the microorganisms settled in the cavities.

- Foods that have good vitamin C content are also good for the teeth. Thus amalaki, tomatoes, green leafy vegetables and citrus fruits must be included in the diet.

- Dental hygiene is a must. You must gargle after every meal and also floss before retiring to bed. Use a toothpick to remove any embedded food particles from the cavities.

Ayurvedic Treatments for Toothache

In case of toothache, a paste of several beneficial herbs is prepared. This is used as a tooth powder and used instead of toothpaste.

The Irimedadi taila is also used for application on the teeth. Regular use of this oil solves most dental problems.

In case the toothache is accompanied with gingivitis, then the following medications are prescribed:-
- A decoction of Triphala and Cyprus is used for gargling.

- A mixture of licorice is prepared in ghee and honey. This is applied on the teeth.

- Tablets of guduchi and mauktik kamadugha are prescribed twice a day for fifteen days.

Home Remedies for Toothache

Toothache home remedies and natural cures:

Remedies for Tooth ache using Garlic
——————————

Among the most effective home remedies for toothache is garlic. A clove of garlic with a little rock salt should be placed on the affected tooth. It will relieve the pain and, sometimes, may even cure it. A clove should also be chewed daily in the morning. It will make the cure teeth making it strong and healthy.

Toothache relief using Onion
—————————-

Latest research has confirmed the bactericidal properties of onion. If a person consumes one raw onion every day by thorough mastication, he will be protected from host of tooth disorders. Chewing raw onion for three minutes is sufficient to kill all the germs in the mouth. Toothache is often allayed by placing a small piece of onion on the bad tooth or gum.

Remedies for Tooth ache using Lime
———————————-

Lime, as a rich source of vitamin C, is useful in maintaining the health of the teeth and other bones of the body. It prevents decay and loosening of the teeth, dental caries, toothache, and bleeding of the gums
Toothache cure using Wheat Grass

The juice of wheat grass acts as an excellent mouthwash for tooth decay and cures toothaches. Wheat grass can be chewed with beneficial results. It draws out toxins from the gums and thus checks bacterial growth.

Toothache cure using Asafoetida
——————————-

The use of asafoetida has been found useful in curing toothache. It should be pestled in lemon Juice and slightly heated. A cotton swab should be soaked in this lotion and placed in the cavity of the tooth. It will relieve pain quickly.
Toothache relief using Bay Berry

A paste of the bark of bay berry should be made with vinegar. This paste, applied on the affected tooth, will relieve the toothache. It can also be applied beneficially on the gums for strengthening them.
Toothache home remedy using Clove

Another home remedy for toothache is in the use of clove, which reduces pain. It also helps decrease infection due to its antiseptic properties. Clove oil, applied to a cavity in a decayed tooth, also relieves toothache.
Remedies for Toothache using Pepper

A mixture of a pinch of pepper powder and a quarter teaspoon of common salt is an excellent dentrifice. Its daily use prevents dental cavities, foul breath, bleeding from the gums, painful gums, and toothaches. It cures the increased sensitiveness of the teeth. A pinch of pepper powder mixed with clove oil can be put on the cavities to alleviate the toothache.

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This swine flu issue has gotten way out of hand, so I will share the experiences of someone living at ground zero of the swine flu (Texas).  The swine flu is a recently discovered form of flu that originated from Mexico and has now made it’s way into the United States. For those of you who are not familiar with it, you can go here http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/ and this will tell you everything you ever wanted to know. There are alot of conpiracy theories about this flu ( a google search will provide millions of these) and the media is working to drive all of the world into a panic using terms like pandemic. Yet, I have not seen any indications this is anything more than a strong flu. I understand that many people have died in Mexico and my hearts sincerely go out to their families, however this is mostly a failure of their socialized healthcare and the lack of a government willing to take care of it’s people. In America, a few people have died but so far, almost every case has been of a individual that already had underlying medical conditions ( which could cause a normal flu to kill them) The hysteria is so out of control where I live that my apartment complex put swine flu notices on our doors stating to take care of ourselves with guidelines from the CDC and multiple schools have been closed for a week for disinfecting during the incubation period. My questions is, after 7 days then what? Are we going to close schools everytime a kid gets sick? I think people are grossly overeacting here. Yes, the flu is very serious and not something to toy with, but we must move on!  I am certainly hoping that this will not turn into a pandemic as I do not want to see people harmed. There is one thing that runs in the back of my mind though regarding this, and that borders on conspiracy. This could be a dry run for terrorist testing goverment response in the event a biological agent has been used. That scares me as this flu almost seems to be genetically engineered based on the mix of components. Anyway, I hope none of us has to experience this awful crap.

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I understand that this script will not meet every server’s needs and is not the most advanced script out there,  however it is a great concept of how to tar and gzip files up for backup to a offsite ftp server. Hope this helps somone!

#!/bin/bash

########################
#Setup script variables#
########################

DATESTAMP=”`date ‘+%d%m%Y’`”
HOST=’yourftpsite’
USER=’yourftpuser’
PASSWD=’yourftppassword’
FILE0=’mysqlbackup.tar.gz’
FILE1=’homebackup.tar.gz’
BACKUP=’/backup’
HOME=’/home’
MYSQL=’/var/lib/mysql’

########################
#Create backup archives#
########################

# Stop mysql
/etc/init.d/mysqld stop
sleep 15

# Load increase warning
wall **High Load – System backup underway for the next few minutes**

# Backup databases
cd $BACKUP
tar cvzf $DATESTAMP.$FILE0 $MYSQL

# Start mysql
/etc/init.d/mysqld start
sleep 10

# Backup web content
cd $BACKUP
tar cvzf $DATESTAMP.$FILE1 $HOME

################################################
#FTP generated backups to offsite backup server#
################################################

# Upload the files
ftp -n $HOST <<END_SCRIPT
quote USER $USER
quote PASS $PASSWD
put $DATESTAMP.$FILE0
put $DATESTAMP.$FILE1
quit

# End

END_SCRIPT
exit 0

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