ZenOss Core 4 – Installation

Zenoss Core 4 Installation

[1/24/2014: Post has been updated to reflect configuration with CentOS 6.5 and Zenoss Core 4.2.4] 
This is a sample installation guide for Zenoss Core 4. The single server installation closely aligns with the official Zenoss Core Installation Guide, but it also differs in some areas, and has a little more "glue".
The following components were used for this guide:

· CentOS

· Zenoss Core

· MariaDB

1. Hardware Requirements
You should meet these minimum hardware requirements for a single-server installation of Zenoss 4 Core (up to a 1000 devices):

Deployment Size	Memory	CPU	Storage
1 to 250 devices	4GB	2 cores	1 x 300GB (10K RPM or SSD)
250 to 500 devices	8GB	4 cores	1 x 300GB (10K RPM or SSD)
500 to 1000 devices	16GB	8 cores	1 x 300GB (15K RPM or SSD)

2. Operating System
My solution will be using the CentOS-6.5-x86_64-minimal.iso image. The aim of this image is to install a very basic CentOS 6.5 system, with the minimum number of packages needed to have a functional system. This post won't document the install process for CentOS 6 considering each environment (and associated requirements) is different. The main stages of the OS installation consist of language, storage, hostname, network, timezone, and the root password. 
Note: All commands are run within the context of the root account unless otherwise specified.
Make sure to update the system after the initial boot post install.

# yum -y update

I also install the following packages that are not included by default.

# yum -y install file ntp vim-enhanced man man-pages wget traceroute yum-utils

# hosts file
It's recommended to add a hostname entry (FQDN and short), of the local computer, to the hosts file. You can update the entry manually (via text editor), or run the following set of commands:

# ipv4addr=$(ip -f inet addr show dev eth0 | sed -n 's/^ *inet *\([.0-9]*\).*/\1/p')

# printf "$ipv4addr\t$(hostname -f)\t$(hostname -s)\n" >> /etc/hosts

# unset -v ipv4addr

Verify the entry.

# cat /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4 localhost4.localdomain4

::1 localhost localhost.localdomain localhost6 localhost6.localdomain6

10.1.206.43 zenoss.corp.example.com zenoss

# SELinux
Zenoss documentation states the requirement that SELinux be disabled. We can accomplish this by changing the SELINUX value to disabled in the /etc/sysconfig/selinux file. Modify the file with your text editor.

# vim /etc/sysconfig/selinux

# This file controls the state of SELinux on the system.

# SELINUX= can take one of these three values:

# enforcing - SELinux security policy is enforced.

# permissive - SELinux prints warnings instead of enforcing.

# disabled - No SELinux policy is loaded.

SELINUX=disabled

# SELINUXTYPE= can take one of these two values:

# targeted - Targeted processes are protected,

# mls - Multi Level Security protection.

SELINUXTYPE=targeted

Reboot the computer for the change to take effect.
After logging in after the reboot, verify SELinux is disabled. Run the following command:

# sestatus

SELinux status: disabled

# Network Time Protocol (NTP)
Time synchronization is an often overlooked, but a very essential, configuration step for new server deployments. In my configuration, I will have my zenoss server sync with an Active Directory domain controller (which holds the PDC emulator FSMO role) on my private network. We will need to modify the ntp.conf file with a text editor and start the NTP daemon process, and also set it for autostart at boot time. Notice I "comment out" the default public pool.ntp.org virtual cluster servers. You may want to leave these enabled if you don't have a particular time source to sync with.

# vim /etc/ntp.conf

...

# Permit all access over the loopback interface. This could

# be tightened as well, but to do so would effect some of

# the administrative functions.

restrict 127.0.0.1

restrict -6 ::1

# Hosts on local network are less restricted.

#restrict 192.168.1.0 mask 255.255.255.0 nomodify notrap

# Use public servers from the pool.ntp.org project.

# Please consider joining the pool (http://www.pool.ntp.org/join.html).

#server 0.centos.pool.ntp.org

#server 1.centos.pool.ntp.org

#server 2.centos.pool.ntp.org

# Use internal NTP Server (AD/DC01)

server 10.1.206.11 iburst

#broadcast 192.168.1.255 autokey # broadcast server

#broadcastclient # broadcast client

#broadcast 224.0.1.1 autokey # multicast server

#multicastclient 224.0.1.1 # multicast client

#manycastserver 239.255.254.254 # manycast server

#manycastclient 239.255.254.254 autokey # manycast client

...

Start the NTP daemon.

# service ntpd start

Starting ntpd: [ OK ]

Set the NTP daemon for autostart at boot time and verify.

# chkconfig ntpd on; chkconfig --list ntpd

ntpd 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off

We can verify the NTP status by running the following command:

# ntpq -pn

remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter

=================================================

*10.1.206.11 199.180.253.191 3 u 42 64 377 0.429 -69.204 58.561

# Firewall
Zenoss requires the following ports be open on the host firewall:

Port	Protocol	Direction	Description
11211	TCP/UDP	inbound	memcached
8080	TCP	inbound	Web interface
514	UDP	inbound	syslog
162	UDP	inbound	SNMP Traps
25	TCP	inbound	zenmail

Add the rules. It is recommended to add each rule with the iptables command, but I prefer to modify the /etc/sysconfig/iptables file directly with a text editor.

# vim /etc/sysconfig/iptables

# Firewall configuration written by system-config-firewall

# Manual customization of this file is not recommended.

*filter

:INPUT ACCEPT [0:0]

:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]

:OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0]

-A INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -p icmp -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 11211 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m udp -p udp --dport 11211 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 8080 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m udp -p udp --dport 514 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m udp -p udp --dport 162 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 25 -j ACCEPT

-A INPUT -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-host-prohibited

-A FORWARD -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-host-prohibited

COMMIT

Restart the firewall service for the changes to take effect.

# service iptables restart

iptables: Flushing firewall rules: [ OK ]

iptables: Setting chains to policy ACCEPT: filter [ OK ]

iptables: Unloading modules: [ OK ]

iptables: Applying firewall rules: [ OK ]

# Oracle Java 6
From a client computer, browse to Oracle's Java Downloads and grab the latest Java Version 6 Linux x64 RPM file.
Transfer the file to the Zenoss server. The command/utility will vary depending on what client OS you're using. I recommend WinSCP or PSCP if using a Windows client. From a Linux or Mac OS X client, we can use the scp command. The following command will copy the file to root's home directory on the destination Zenoss server:

$ scp jre-6u45-linux-x64-rpm.bin root@10.1.206.43:

Back in our terminal for the Zenoss server, we now need to make the binary file executable.

# cd ~

# chmod u+x ./jre-6u45-linux-x64-rpm.bin

Install the Oracle Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

# ./jre-6u45-linux-x64-rpm.bin

Unpacking...

Checksumming...

Extracting...

UnZipSFX 5.50 of 17 February 2002, by Info-ZIP (Zip-Bugs@lists.wku.edu).

inflating: jre-6u45-linux-amd64.rpm

Preparing... ########################################### [100%]

1:jre ########################################### [100%]

Unpacking JAR files...

rt.jar...

jsse.jar...

charsets.jar...

localedata.jar...

plugin.jar...

javaws.jar...

deploy.jar...

Done.

Add the JAVA_HOME variable statement to the end of the system BASH profile file.

# echo 'export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/default' >> /etc/profile

"Dot" source the system BASH profile file to add the JAVA_HOME variable to the current shell environment.

# . /etc/profile

Verify the variable is set and that Java is installed correctly.

# echo $JAVA_HOME

/usr/java/default

# java -version

java version "1.6.0_45"

Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_45-b06)

Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 20.45-b01, mixed mode)

3. Database
My solution diverges from the official Zenoss documentation. I prefer to deploy MariaDB instead of the standard MySQL server. MariaDB is an enhanced, drop-in replacement for MySQL. Visit theMariaDB website for more information.
Let's first add the MariaDB repo to our local YUM configuration.

# cat >> /etc/yum.repos.d/MariaDB.repo << EOF

> [mariadb]

> name = MariaDB

> baseurl = http://yum.mariadb.org/5.5/centos6-amd64

> gpgkey=https://yum.mariadb.org/RPM-GPG-KEY-MariaDB

> gpgcheck=1

> EOF

Verify.

# cat /etc/yum.repos.d/MariaDB.repo

[mariadb]

name = MariaDB

baseurl = http://yum.mariadb.org/5.5/centos6-amd64

gpgkey=https://yum.mariadb.org/RPM-GPG-KEY-MariaDB

gpgcheck=1

Then also verify the repository is enabled.

# yum repolist

Loaded plugins: fastestmirror

Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile

* base: mirror.nwresd.org

* extras: mirrordenver.fdcservers.net

* updates: yum.phx.singlehop.com

mariadb | 1.9 kB 00:00

mariadb/primary_db | 15 kB 00:00

repo id repo name status

base CentOS-6 - Base 6,367

extras CentOS-6 - Extras 14

mariadb MariaDB 9

updates CentOS-6 - Updates 373

repolist: 6,763

Let's now install the required packages.

# yum -y install MariaDB-server MariaDB-client

After MariaDB has been installed, modify the MariaDB server.cnf configuration file with some recommended settings from Zenoss.

# vim /etc/my.cnf.d/server.cnf

...

# this is read by the standalone daemon and embedded servers

[server]

# this is only for the mysqld standalone daemon

[mysqld]

max_allowed_packet=16M

innodb_buffer_pool_size=256M

innodb_additional_mem_pool_size=20M

# this is only for embedded server

[embedded]

...

Start the MariaDB server.

# service mysql start

Starting MySQL.. SUCCESS!

Verify MariaDB is set for autostart at boot.

# chkconfig --list mysql

mysql 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off

4. Zenoss Core
From a client computer, browse to the Zenoss Core site and grab the latest Zenoss Core 4 RPM package for RHEL/CentOS 6 64-bit (v4.2.4 at the date of this post).
Transfer the file to the Zenoss server. The command/utility will vary depending on what client OS you're using. I recommend WinSCP or PSCP if using a Windows client. From a Linux or Mac OS X client, we can use the scp command. The following command will copy the file to root's home directory on the destination Zenoss server:

$ scp zenoss_core-4.2.4-1897.el6.x86_64.rpm root@10.1.206.43:

Back in our terminal for the Zenoss server, install the Zenoss dependencies repositories.

# rpm -Uvh http://deps.zenoss.com/yum/zenossdeps-4.2.x-1.el6.noarch.rpm

Retrieving http://deps.zenoss.com/yum/zenossdeps-4.2.x-1.el6.noarch.rpm

Preparing... ########################################### [100%]

1:zenossdeps ########################################### [100%]

Verify the repositories are enabled.

# yum repolist

Loaded plugins: fastestmirror

Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile

* base: mirror.nwresd.org

* extras: mirrordenver.fdcservers.net

* updates: yum.phx.singlehop.com

repo id repo name status

base CentOS-6 - Base 6,367

extras CentOS-6 - Extras 14

mariadb MariaDB 9

updates CentOS-6 - Updates 373

zenossdeps-repo Zenoss Dependencies - Base 18

zenossdeps-update-repo Zenoss Dependencies - Updates 0

repolist: 6,781

It's now time to install the Zenoss Core 4 package (and dependency packages).

# cd ~

# yum -y --nogpgcheck localinstall zenoss_core-4.2.4-1897.el6.x86_64.rpm

# memcached, rabbitmq-server, snmpd
Set the services to start automatically at boot, and also interactively start them.

# for svc in memcached rabbitmq-server snmpd; do chkconfig $svc on; service $svc start; done

# Start Zenoss
Run the following command to start Zenoss:

# service zenoss start

At this stage, Zenoss should be ready from a functional perspective. We now need to focus on securing the Zenoss server. 
5. Post-Install
The auto-deploy script offered by Zenoss runs a separate script that secures your Zenoss installation. Since we chose to do a normal install, we will have to manually fetch (and execute) the script. 
Switch to a login shell for the zenoss user.

# su -l zenoss

Verify the zenoss user shell. As a side note, that's an "interesting" UID number for the zenoss user. :-)

$ id

uid=1337(zenoss) gid=500(zenoss) groups=500(zenoss)

Download the secure_zenoss.sh file from GitHub.

$ wget --no-check-certificate https://raw.github.com/osu-sig/zenoss-autodeploy-4.2.3/master/secure_zenoss.sh

Before we run the script, let's get the default passwords for the zenoss user in the global.conf file.

$ egrep 'user|password' $ZENHOME/etc/global.conf | grep -v admin

zodb-user zenoss

zodb-password zenoss

amqpuser zenoss

amqppassword zenoss

zep-user zenoss

zep-password zenoss

Give the secure_zenoss.sh script the execute permission.

$ chmod u+x secure_zenoss.sh

Run the secure_zenoss.sh script. I opted not to change the MySQL (MariaDB) root password at this time. We will be performing that task in the next section.

$ ./secure_zenoss.sh

Restricting permissions on /opt/zenoss/etc/*.conf*

Assigning secure password for global.conf:zodb-password

Assigning secure password for global.conf:amqppassword

Assigning secure password for global.conf:zep-password

Assigning secure password for global.conf:hubpassword

Assigning secure password for hubpassword:admin

MySQL is configured with a blank root password.

Configure a secure MySQL root password? [Yn]: n

Forcing zeneventserver to only listen on 127.0.0.1:8084

Let's verify the passwords have been modified for the zenoss user in the global.conf file.

$ egrep 'user|password' $ZENHOME/etc/global.conf | grep -v admin

zodb-user zenoss

zodb-password 18zmcTgYsA+AjczljwQd

amqpuser zenoss

amqppassword 18zmcTgYsA+AjczljwQd

zep-user zenoss

zep-password 18zmcTgYsA+AjczljwQd

hubpassword 18zmcTgYsA+AjczljwQd

We will also need to modify the password in the zodb_db_main.conf and zodb_db_session.conf files to match the value set for the zodb-password property in the global.conf file. 
First, get the current configuration of these two files.

$ tail -n +1 $ZENHOME/etc/zodb_db_{main,session}.conf

==> /opt/zenoss/etc/zodb_db_main.conf <==

<mysql>

host localhost

port 3306

user zenoss

passwd zenoss

db zodb

</mysql>

==> /opt/zenoss/etc/zodb_db_session.conf <==

<mysql>

host localhost

port 3306

user zenoss

passwd zenoss

db zodb_session

</mysql>

Run the following commands to perform a substitution of the passwd property value for each of the files:

$ zodbpw=$(grep zodb-password $ZENHOME/etc/global.conf | awk '{print $2}')

$ sed -i.orig "5s/zenoss/$zodbpw/" $ZENHOME/etc/zodb_db_{main,session}.conf

$ unset -v zodbpw

Verify the modification was successful.

$ tail -n +1 $ZENHOME/etc/zodb_db_{main,session}.conf

==> /opt/zenoss/etc/zodb_db_main.conf <==

<mysql>

host localhost

port 3306

user zenoss

passwd 18zmcTgYsA+AjczljwQd

db zodb

</mysql>

==> /opt/zenoss/etc/zodb_db_session.conf <==

<mysql>

host localhost

port 3306

user zenoss

passwd 18zmcTgYsA+AjczljwQd

db zodb_session

</mysql>

Exit out of the shell for the zenoss user to return to the root user shell.

$ exit

logout

# MariaDB
The interactive mysql_secure_installation command improves the security of your MariaDB installation. It will allow you to set your MariaDB (MySQL) root password as well as other security related operations.

# mysql_secure_installation

The password for the MariaDB database zenoss user will also need to be set to "sync up" with the previous password modifications. We will use the value set for the passwd property in thezodb_db_* config files.

# mysql -u root -p

Enter password: <mysql_root_password>

Welcome to the MariaDB monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.

Your MariaDB connection id is 234

Server version: 5.5.34-MariaDB MariaDB Server

Copyright (c) 2000, 2013, Oracle, Monty Program Ab and others.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

MariaDB [(none)]> SET PASSWORD FOR 'zenoss'@'localhost' = PASSWORD('18zmcTgYsA+AjczljwQd');

Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

MariaDB [(none)]> \q

Bye

Restart the MariaDB server.

# service mysql restart

Shutting down MySQL. SUCCESS!

Starting MySQL.. SUCCESS!

# RabbitMQ
The following script will ensure the proper Zenoss credentials/permissions are set for the AMQP entities. 
Create the set-rabbitmq-perms.sh script file.

# vim set-rabbitmq-perms.sh

Enter the following information (exclude the line numbers), then save the file:

001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025

#!/usr/bin/env bash set -e VHOSTS="/zenoss" USER="zenoss" PASS="grep amqppassword \$ZENHOME/etc/global.conf | awk '{print \$2}'" if [ $(id -u) -eq 0 ] then RABBITMQCTL=$(which rabbitmqctl) $RABBITMQCTL stop_app $RABBITMQCTL reset $RABBITMQCTL start_app $RABBITMQCTL add_user "$USER" "$(su -l zenoss -c "$PASS")" for vhost in $VHOSTS; do $RABBITMQCTL add_vhost "$vhost" $RABBITMQCTL set_permissions -p "$vhost" "$USER" '.*' '.*' '.*' done exit 0 else echo "Error: Run this script as the root user." >&2 exit 1 fi

Give the script file the execute permission.

# chmod u+x set-rabbitmq-perms.sh

Run the script.

# ./set-rabbitmq-perms.sh

Stopping node rabbit@zenoss ...

...done.

Resetting node rabbit@zenoss ...

...done.

Starting node rabbit@zenoss ...

...done.

Creating user "zenoss" ...

...done.

Creating vhost "/zenoss" ...

...done.

Setting permissions for user "zenoss" in vhost "/zenoss" ...

...done.

Restart the rabbitmq-server daemon.

# service rabbitmq-server restart

Restarting rabbitmq-server: SUCCESS

rabbitmq-server.

Restart Zenoss.

# service zenoss restart

# Verification
Verify all Zenoss daemons are running.

# su -l zenoss -c 'zenoss status'

Daemon: zeneventserver program running; pid=10564

Daemon: zopectl program running; pid=10662

Daemon: zenrrdcached program running; pid=10667

Daemon: zenhub program running; pid=10730

Daemon: zenjobs program running; pid=10777

Daemon: zeneventd program running; pid=10831

Daemon: zenping program running; pid=10907

Daemon: zensyslog program running; pid=11035

Daemon: zenstatus program running; pid=11026

Daemon: zenactiond program running; pid=11064

Daemon: zentrap program running; pid=11185

Daemon: zenmodeler program running; pid=11196

Daemon: zenperfsnmp program running; pid=11222

Daemon: zencommand program running; pid=11254

Daemon: zenprocess program running; pid=11282

Daemon: zredis program running; pid=11283

Daemon: zenjmx program running; pid=11410

Daemon: zenwin program running; pid=11600

Daemon: zenwinperf program running; pid=11758

Daemon: zeneventlog program running; pid=11910

If the proper permissions have been set for the RabbitMQ zenoss vhost(s), then the following queues should be listed:

# rabbitmqctl -p /zenoss list_queues

Listing queues ...

celery 0

zenoss.queues.zep.migrated.summary 0

zenoss.queues.zep.migrated.archive 0

zenoss.corp.example.com.celeryd.pidbox 0

zenoss.queues.zep.rawevents 0

zenoss.queues.zep.heartbeats 0

zenoss.queues.zep.zenevents 0

zenoss.queues.zep.signal 0

zenoss.queues.zep.modelchange 0

...done.

6. Web Interface Setup Wizard
After the preceding steps have been completed, you are ready to start the Setup Wizard for the initial configuration of customizing Zenoss for your environment. On your client computer, open a web browser and type http://zenoss.corp.example.com:8080 (or http://10.1.206.43:8080) in the address field.

Taken From: http://binarynature.blogspot.pt/2012/11/zenoss-core-4-installation.html

Create an Cisco ASA VM - VMware

Create a Cisco ASA VM in VMware Fusion

DISCLAIMER: The information provided herein is for general informational and educational purposes only. 
This post provides a solution on how to create a Cisco ASA device in VMware Fusion for the Mac. Why do this? Well, the most documented method to integrate the Cisco ASA with GNS3 is by having it run on the QEMU hypervisor. Since VMware Fusion 6 can integrate with GNS3 (check out my previous post), we now have another hypervisor option to bring the Cisco ASA into the GNS3 environment. 
The following components were used for this tutorial:

· Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks)

· VMware Fusion 6.0

· Fedora 20 LXDE Spin (32-bit PC Edition)

· Cisco ASA 8.4(2) image file

1. Create the ASAVM directory
This will be the working directory for our project. You can create the folder (directory) in the GUI, but I will use the command line method in my example. Run the following command from Terminal:

$ mkdir $HOME/Documents/ASAVM

2. Copy/Move the Cisco ASA image file to the ASAVM directory
Again, feel free to copy/move the file in the GUI, but I will use the command line method. In my example, I will copy the file from myDownloads/Labs directory to the Documents/ASAVM directory. Run the following command from Terminal:

$ cp $HOME/Downloads/Labs/asa842-k8.bin $HOME/Documents/ASAVM

3. Create the repack.v4.1.sh script file
Web forum member dmz is the author of the script that allows us to run the Cisco ASA 8.4(2) software on virtualization hypervisors. The script essentially unpacks the original ASA software binary file, performs patch operations, and repacks the files (and optionally creates a bootable ISO image file). Many thanks to dmz for providing the script as I'm sure this was a very difficult process to reverse engineer and debug. Visit the web forum post at 7200emu.hacki.at for more information. 
Create the repack.v4.1.sh script file with the nano text editor. Run the following command from Terminal:

$ nano $HOME/Documents/ASAVM/repack.v4.1.sh

Copy the code from GitHub and paste (command + v) the contents into the text editor window.

Save (control + o) the file, press the enter key to confirm, then exit (control + x) the nano text editor. 
4. Verify the contents of the ASAVM directory
We should have two files in the ASAVM directory. Run the following command from Terminal to verify:

$ ls -lh $HOME/Documents/ASAVM

total 49160

-rw-r--r-- 1 marc staff 24M Jan 8 18:50 asa842-k8.bin

-rw-r--r-- 1 marc staff 4.2K Jan 8 18:51 repack.v4.1.sh

5. Create the Fedora Linux virtual machine (VM)
Why do we need to create a Linux VM? The repack.v4.1.sh script needs to be run in Linux in order to complete the required operations for the creation of the bootable Cisco ASA ISO image file. 
Create the Fedora Linux VM with the following steps:

1. Open the VMware Fusion application.

2. Select File -> New... from the menu.

3. Select Install from disc or image.

4. Click the Continue button.

5. Click the Use another disc or disc image... button.

6. Navigate to and select the Fedora-Live-LXDE-i686-20-1.iso disc image.

7. Click the Open button.

8. Click the Continue button.

9. On the Choose Operating System screen, select Linux -> Fedora.

10. Click the Continue button.

11. Click the Finish button.

12. Click the Save button to save the virtual machine in the default Virtual Machines folder.

The Fedora Linux virtual machine will now automatically boot into the live disc environment which runs in the virtual machine's vRAM, rather than loading from the virtual hard disk drive. 
6. Set the password for the liveuser
We are currently logged in as the liveuser standard user account. The user account has no password by default, so we will set a password for it. This step is a prerequisite for upcoming tasks. Run the following command from LXTerminal:

[liveuser@localhost]$ passwd

Changing password for user liveuser.

New password: Pa$$worD1

Retype new password: Pa$$worD1

passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

7. Start the SSH Server
Our next task is to start the SSH Server daemon as we will need to enable remote access to the Linux VM. Run the following command fromLXTerminal:

[liveuser@localhost]$ sudo systemctl start sshd.service

...

[sudo] password for liveuser: Pa$$worD1

Verify the daemon process has started and is running. Run the following command from LXTerminal:

[liveuser@localhost]$ pgrep -a sshd

1792 /usr/sbin/sshd -D

8. Download and install software packages
A couple of packages will need to be installed for the repack.v4.1.sh script to be able to create the bootable Cisco ASA ISO image file. Run the following command from LXTerminal:

[liveuser@localhost]$ sudo yum -y install vim-common mkisofs

...

Installed:

vim-common.i686 2:7.4.027-2.fc20

Dependency Installed:

vim-filesystem.i686 2:7.4.027-2.fc20

Complete!

Verify the packages have been successfully installed by running the following command from LXTerminal:

[liveuser@localhost]$ type xxd mkisofs

xxd is /bin/xxd

mkisofs is /bin/mkisofs

9. Get the IP configuration for the Fedora Linux VM
Your virtual machine will likely have a different dynamic IP address, so make sure to substitute the value in upcoming examples. Run the following command from LXTerminal:

[liveuser@localhost]$ ip addr | grep global

inet 192.168.217.145/24 scope global dynamic eno16777736

10. Transfer files from the Mac host to the Fedora Linux VM
Now that we have the IP address for the Linux VM guest, we can establish a scp connection and transfer the files from our Mac host to the remoteLinux VM guest. Run the following commands from Terminal:

$ cd $HOME/Documents/ASAVM

$ scp * liveuser@192.168.217.145:Documents

The authenticity of host '192.168.217.145 (192.168.217.145)' can't be established.

RSA key fingerprint is 62:38:a6:32:6b:d4:90:4a:7c:d8:10:b3:0c:85:d1:a5.

Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes

Warning: Permanently added '192.168.217.145' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.

liveuser@192.168.217.145's password: Pa$$worD1

asa842-k8.bin 100% 24MB 24.0MB/s 00:01

repack.v4.1.sh 100% 4308 4.2KB/s 00:00

11. Create a SSH session to the Fedora Linux VM
Instead of continually entering commands in LXTerminal, within the virtual machine console, we will now simply establish a ssh session and enter the commands in our local Mac Terminal application. Run the following command from Terminal:

$ ssh liveuser@192.168.217.145

liveuser@192.168.217.145's password: Pa$$worD1

12. Run the repack.v4.1.sh script on the Fedora Linux VM (via SSH)
Run the following commands from Terminal:

[liveuser@localhost]$ cd $HOME/Documents

[liveuser@localhost]$ chmod +x repack.v4.1.sh

[liveuser@localhost]$ sudo ./repack.v4.1.sh ./asa842-k8.bin

[sudo] password for liveuser: Pa$$worD1

Repack script version: 4.1

Detected syslinux/cdrtools - ISO will be created

1359344+0 records in

1359344+0 records out

1359344 bytes (1.4 MB) copied, 2.4332 s, 559 kB/s

23697936+0 records in

23697936+0 records out

23697936 bytes (24 MB) copied, 97.922 s, 242 kB/s

/tmp/tmp.OFsCQZsGYc /home/liveuser/Documents

gzip: /home/liveuser/Documents/asa842-initrd-original.gz: decompression OK, trailing garbage ignored

114476 blocks

114476 blocks

114476 blocks

/home/liveuser/Documents

/tmp/tmp.KctycopD9w /home/liveuser/Documents

I: -input-charset not specified, using utf-8 (detected in locale settings)

Size of boot image is 4 sectors -> No emulation

21.05% done, estimate finish Wed Jan 8 22:46:41 2014

42.01% done, estimate finish Wed Jan 8 22:46:41 2014

63.01% done, estimate finish Wed Jan 8 22:46:41 2014

83.97% done, estimate finish Wed Jan 8 22:46:41 2014

Total translation table size: 2048

Total rockridge attributes bytes: 0

Total directory bytes: 2048

Path table size(bytes): 26

Max brk space used 0

23823 extents written (46 MB)

/home/liveuser/Documents

13. Verify the result
Four new files have been created in the directory. Run the following command from Terminal to confirm:

[liveuser@localhost]$ ll -h

-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 23M Jan 8 22:46 asa842-initrd.gz

-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 23M Jan 8 22:46 asa842-initrd-original.gz

-rw-r--r--. 1 liveuser liveuser 24M Jan 8 22:20 asa842-k8.bin

-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 1.3M Jan 8 22:44 asa842-vmlinuz

-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 47M Jan 8 22:46 asa.iso

-rwxr-xr-x. 1 liveuser liveuser 4.3K Jan 8 22:20 repack.v4.1.sh

We are finished with the interactive Linux portion, so close the ssh session to the the Fedora Linux VM. Run the following command fromTerminal:

[liveuser@localhost]$ exit

logout

Connection to 192.168.217.145 closed.

14. Transfer the asa.iso file from the Fedora Linux VM to the Mac
Run the following command from Terminal:

$ scp liveuser@192.168.217.145:Documents/asa.iso $HOME/Documents/ASAVM

liveuser@192.168.217.145's password: Pa$$worD1

asa.iso 100% 47MB 23.3MB/s 00:02

Verify the asa.iso file has been transferred to the local Mac file system. Run the following command from Terminal:

$ ls -lh $HOME/Documents/ASAVM

total 144456

-rw-r--r-- 1 marc staff 47M Jan 13 18:04 asa.iso

-rw-r--r-- 1 marc staff 24M Jan 13 17:48 asa842-k8.bin

-rw-r--r-- 1 marc staff 4.2K Jan 13 17:50 repack.v4.1.sh

The use of the Fedora Linux VM is complete. We can now shut down the Fedora Linux virtual machine in VMware Fusion.

15. Create the Cisco ASA virtual machine (VM)
We are ready to create the base Cisco ASA VM with the following steps:

1. Open the VMware Fusion application.

2. Select File -> New... from the menu.

3. Select Install from disc or image.

4. Click the Continue button.

5. Click the Use another disc or disc image... button.

6. Navigate to and select the asa.iso disc image.

7. Click the Open button.

8. Click the Continue button.

9. On the Choose Operating System screen, select Linux -> Other Linux 2.6x kernel.

10. Click the Continue button.

11. Click the Customize Settings button.

12. Name the virtual machine package as ASAVM.

13. Click the Save button to save the virtual machine in the default Virtual Machines folder.

16. Edit the virtual hardware for ASAVM
Make the following modifications in the Settings window: 

Component	Value
Processors	1 processor core
Memory	1024 MB
Network Adapter	Bridged Networking: Ethernet1
Network Adapter 2	Custom: Private to my Mac
Hard Disk (IDE)	0.50 GB
CD/DVD (IDE)	asa.iso
Sound Card	Remove Sound Card
USB & Bluetooth	Remove USB Controller
Printer	Remove Printer Port

# 16.1 Virtual Network Adapters
I've only tested Bridged Networking with a wired (i.e., no Wi-Fi) Ethernet connection. As newer Mac laptops don't have a physical Ethernet port, the StarTech USB31000S (Black) | USB31000SW (White) is a viable solution. For my labs that use a Cisco ASA as an Internet edge device, I define the first virtual network adapter as the logical outside interface that connects to the physical network.

The virtual machine includes a single virtual network adapter by default. On the main Settings screen for the virtual machine, click the Add Device... button to add another Network Adapter device.

The second virtual network adapter will be set to Private to my Mac (VMnet1). For my labs that use a Cisco ASA as an edge device, I define the second virtual network adapter as the logical inside interface that connects to the virtual GNS3 network.

# 16.2 Virtual Hard Disk
Set the values for the following attributes of the virtual hard disk:

· Disk size: 0.50 GB

· Bus type: IDE

· Check Pre-allocate disk space

· Uncheck Split into multiple files

· Click the Apply button.

17. Edit the ASAVM configuration file
Close the VMware Fusion application before executing the steps in this section. 
Some settings can't be configured with the GUI, so we will need to directly edit the ASAVM .vmx (virtual machine configuration) file. My ASAVM virtual machine is located in the default VMware Fusion folder (directory), so I would edit the file with the following command from Terminal:

$ nano $HOME/Documents/Virtual\ Machines.localized/ASAVM.vmwarevm/ASAVM.vmx

# 17.1 Virtual Network Adapters
As you recall, we have two virtual network adapters configured for ASAVM. An issue is the model type is incorrect, so the Cisco ASA software won't recognize them upon boot. We can rectify this with the following steps:

· Locate the line with the ethernet0.present = "TRUE" statement.

· Insert a line directly below it with the ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000e" statement.

...

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000e"

ethernet0.connectionType = "custom"

ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"

ethernet0.addressType = "generated"

ethernet0.linkStatePropagation.enable = "TRUE"

...

The previous steps will need to be repeated (substitute the vNIC index number) for every virtual network adapter attached to the virtual machine. So to complete my configuration, I would also insert the statement for my second virtual network adapter.

...

ethernet1.present = "TRUE"

ethernet1.virtualDev = "e1000e"

ethernet1.connectionType = "hostonly"

ethernet1.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"

ethernet1.addressType = "generated"

...

# 17.2 Virtual Serial Port
Just like with a physical Cisco ASA appliance, we can connect to our ASAVM with a console port connection. This is very similar to how we interface with our virtual routers in GNS3 (Dynamips). The following steps will create a virtual serial port that will allow us to emulate a console port connection via telnet.

· Locate the line with the serial0.present = "FALSE" statement.

· Change the value from FALSE to TRUE to enable it.

· Add some more statements to define the properties of the virtual component.

...

serial0.present = "TRUE"

serial0.yieldOnMsrRead = "TRUE"

serial0.fileType = "network"

serial0.fileName = "telnet://127.0.0.1:3456"

...

We are finished configuring the .vmx file, so lets save (control + o) the file, press the enter key to confirm, then exit (control + x) the nano text editor. 
18. Start ASAVM
Reopen the VMware Fusion application and start the ASAVM virtual machine. Press the enter key at the boot: prompt, within the ASAVM virtual console, to load the ASA.

19. Virtual console port connection to ASAVM
Remember we need to emulate a console port connection via telnet, so enter the following command from Terminal:

$ telnet 127.0.0.1 3456

20. Lab integration
Your virtual machine should be up and running, but a network device serves little purpose unless it's actually connected to a network. Check out my Implement a Multivendor OSPF Lab with GNS3 and VMware Fusion post for a practical example.

Posted 14th January by Marc Weisel

Labels: Cisco GNS3 Linux Mac SSH VMware

Taken From: http://binarynature.blogspot.pt/2014/01/create-cisco-asa-vmware-fusion.html

More Info at: http://7200emu.hacki.at/viewtopic.php?t=9074

Introduction to the Z File System (ZFS) - Linux

An Introduction to the Z File System (ZFS) for Linux

ZFS is commonly used by data hoarders, NAS lovers, and other geeks who prefer to put their trust in a redundant storage system of their own rather than the cloud.  It’s a great file system to use for managing multiple disks of data and rivals some of the greatest RAID setups.

Photo by Kenny Louie.

What is ZFS and Why Should I Use it?

The Z file system is a free and open source logical volume manager built by Sun Microsystems for use in their Solaris operating system.  Some of its most appealing features include:

Endless scalability

Well, it’s not technically endless, but it’s a 128-bit file system that’s capable of managing zettabytes (one billion terabytes) of data.  No matter how much hard drive space you have, ZFS will be suitable for managing it.

Maximum integrity

Everything you do inside of ZFS uses a checksum to ensure file integrity.  You can rest assured that your files and their redundant copies will not encounter silent data corruption.  Also, while ZFS is busy quietly checking your data for integrity, it will do automatic repairs anytime it can.

Drive pooling

The creators of ZFS want you to think of it as being similar to the way your computer uses RAM.  When you need more memory in your computer, you put in another stick and you’re done.  Similarly with ZFS, when you need more hard drive space, you put in another hard drive and you’re done.  No need to spend time partitioning, formatting, initializing, or doing anything else to your disks – when you need a bigger storage “pool,” just add disks.

RAID

ZFS is capable of many different RAID levels, all while delivering performance that’s comparable to that of hardware RAID controllers.  This allows you to save money, make setup easier, and have access to superior RAID levels that ZFS has improved upon.

Installing ZFS

Since we’re only covering the basics in this guide, we’re not going to install ZFS as a root file system.  This section assumes that you’re using ext4 or some other file system and would like to use ZFS for some secondary hard drives.  Here are the commands for installing ZFS on some of the most popular Linux distributions.

Solaris and FreeBSD should already come with ZFS installed and ready to use.

Ubuntu:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:zfs-native/stable
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install ubuntu-zfs

Debian:

$ su -
# wget http://archive.zfsonlinux.org/debian/pool/main/z/zfsonlinux/zfsonlinux_2%7Ewheezy_all.deb
# dpkg -i zfsonlinux_2~wheezy_all.deb
# apt-get update
# apt-get install debian-zfs

RHEL / CentOS:

$ sudo yum localinstall --nogpgcheck http://archive.zfsonlinux.org/epel/zfs-release-1-3.el6.noarch.rpm
$ sudo yum install zfs

If you have some other distribution, check out zfsonlinux.org and click on your distribution under the “Packages” list for instructions on how to install ZFS.

As we continue with this guide, we’re going to use Ubuntu because that seems to be the #1 choice for Linux geeks.  You should still be able to follow along no matter what, as the ZFS commands won’t change across different distributions.

Installation takes quite a while, but once it’s finished, run $ sudo zfs list to make sure it’s installed correctly.  You should get an output like this:

We’re using a fresh installation of Ubuntu server right now, with only one hard drive.

Configuring ZFS

Now, let’s say we put six more hard drives into our computer.

$ sudo fdisk -l | grep Error will show us the six hard drives we just installed.  They’re currently unusable since they don’t contain any kind of partition table.

As we mentioned earlier, one of the nice things about ZFS is that we don’t need to bother with partitions (although you can if you want to).  Let’s start by taking three of our hard disks and putting them in a storage pool by running the following command:

$ sudo zpool create -f geek1 /dev/sdb /dev/sdc /dev/sdd

zpool create is the command used to create a new storage pool, -f overrides any errors that occur (such as if the disk(s) already have information on them), geek1 is the name of the storage pool, and /dev/sdb /dev/sdc /dev/sdd are the hard drives we put in the pool.

After you’ve created your pool, you should be able to see it with the df command or sudo zfs list:

As you can see, /geek1 has already been mounted and is ready to use.

If you want to see which three disks you selected for your pool, you can run sudo zpool status:

What we’ve done so far is create a 9 TB dynamic stripe pool (effectively, RAID 0).  In case you’re not familiar with what that means, imagine we created a 3 KB file on /geek1.  1 KB would automatically go to sdb, 1 KB to sdc, and 1 KB to sdd.  Then when we go to read the 3 KB file, each hard drive would present 1 KB to us, combining the speed of the three drives.  This makes writing and reading data fast, but also means we have a single point of failure.  If just one hard drive fails, we will lose our 3 KB file.

Assuming that protecting your data is more important than accessing it quickly, let’s take a look at other popular setups.  First, we’ll delete the zpool we’ve created so we can use these disks in a more redundant setup:

$ sudo zpool destroy geek1

Bam, our zpool is gone.  This time, let’s use our three disks to create a RAID-Z pool.  RAID-Z is basically an improved version of RAID 5, because it avoids the “write hole” by using copy-on-write.  RAID-Z requires a minimum of three hard drives, and is sort of a compromise between RAID 0 and RAID 1.  In a RAID-Z pool, you’ll still get the speed of block-level striping but will also have distributed parity.  If a single disk in your pool dies, simply replace that disk and ZFS will automatically rebuild the data based on parity information from the other disks.  To lose all of the information in your storage pool, two disks would have to die.  To make things even more redundant, you can use RAID 6 (RAID-Z2 in the case of ZFS) and have double parity.

To accomplish this, we can use the same zpool create command as before but specify raidzafter the name of the pool:

$ sudo zpool create -f geek1 raidz /dev/sdb /dev/sdc /dev/sdd

As you can see, df -h shows that our 9 TB pool has now been reduced to 6 TB, since 3 TB is being used to hold parity information.  With the zpool status command, we see that our pool is mostly the same as before, but is using RAID-Z now.

To show how easy it is to add more disks to our storage pool, let’s add the other three disks (another 9 TB) to our geek1 storage pool as another RAID-Z configuration:

$ sudo zpool add -f geek1 raidz /dev/sde /dev/sdf /dev/sdg

We end up with:

The Saga Continues…

We’ve barely scraped the surface of ZFS and its capabilities, but using what you’ve learned in this article you should now be able to create redundant storage pools of your data.  Check back with us for future articles about ZFS, see the man pages, and search around for the endless niche guides and Youtube videos covering ZFS functions.

Taken From: http://www.howtogeek.com/175159/an-introduction-to-the-z-file-system-zfs-for-linux/

Huawei Switches Crash Course

Serial Connection
- Connect the Roll Over cable to the console port (RS232)
 
- Open Putty / Hiperterminal

- Configure the serial connection with following parameters:
    - Bits per Second: 9600
    - Parity: None
    - Stop Bits: 1
    - Flow Control: None

Clear Configuration (if the equipment is used)

- Connect the rollover cable to the console port

- Remove the power cable

- Reconnect the power cable
 
<Quidway>

Starting......

*******************************************
*                                         *
*   Quidway S3026G BOOTROM, Version 160   *
*                                         *
*******************************************

Copyright(C) 2000-2004 by HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD.
Creation Date   : Nov 03 2004, 18:41:59
CPU Type        : MIPS
CPU Clock Speed : 150MHz
Memory Size     : 64MB

Initialize LS66LTSU.......................OK!
SDRAM selftest............................OK!
FLASH selftest............................OK!
CPLD selftest.............................OK!
Switch chip selftest......................OK!
Switch SDRAM selftest.....................OK!
PHY selftest..............................OK!
Please check port leds..............finished!

The switch Mac is: 00E0-FC72-1912

Press Ctrl-B to enter Boot Menu...  0
Password:

             BOOT  MENU

1. Download application file to flash
2. Select application file to boot
3. Display all files in flash
4. Delete file from flash
5. Modify bootrom password
0. Reboot

Enter your choice(0-5): 4

No.    File Name                           
=================================================
1 *    S3026EFGTC-PWR-VRP310-r0036-32-a.bin
2      wnm2.2.2-0004.zip
3      snmpboots
4      vrpcfg.txt
Free space: 3938304 bytes
The current application file is S3026EFGTC-PWR-VRP310-r0036-32-a.bin

Please input the file number to delete: 4

Show the Running Config
display current-configuration

Show the Startup Config
display saved-configuration

Show the Startup Config
display current-configuration

Global Configuration Mode (Privileged Mode)
system-view

Undo Config. Commands
undo xxxxxx    ! equivalent to "no" in cisco

Change Hostname
sysname Huawei

Disable Spanning Tree (does not play well with cisco)
stp disable

Show a Vlan(s)
display vlan 1    ! show a vlan
display vlan       ! show vlans

Management Interface and Default Gateway
interface vlan-interface 1        ! managment vlan
ip address 1.1.1.1 255.0.0.0    ! management ip
undo shutdown                      ! activate the interface
ip route-static 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 129.102.0.2    ! default gateway

display ip routing-table          ! verify the default route

System View Password
password simple 20030422    ! plain text password
or
password cipher 20030422    ! encripted password

undo password                     ! remove password

Console Password
user-interface aux 0    
authentication-mode password
user privilege level 3

By default, ping, tracert, and telnet are
at visit level (0); display and debugging are
at monitoring level (1); all the configuration
commands are at configuration level (2);
and FTP, XMODEM, TFTP and commands for file
system operations are at management level (3).

set authentication password simple <password> ! plain text password
or
set authentication password cipher <password>  ! encrypted password

display user-interface    ! validate the password authentication

Telnet/SSH Password
user-interface vty 0 4
authentication-mode password
user privilege level 3

By default, ping, tracert, and telnet are
at visit level (0); display and debugging are
at monitoring level (1); all the configuration
commands are at configuration level (2);
and FTP, XMODEM, TFTP and commands for file
system operations are at management level (3).

set authentication password simple <password> ! plain text password
or
set authentication password cipher <password> ! encrypted password

display user-interface    ! validate the password authentication

Configure a Vlan on an Acess Port (unttaged)
interface Ethernet 0/1
  port access vlan

Configure a Vlan on an Range of Acess Ports (unttaged)
vlan 20                                             ! add vlan to the vlan DB
  port Ethernet 0/1 to Ethernet 0/23   ! range of access ports to add to the vlan

 
the switch automatically does the following:
<..>
interface Ethernet0/1
  port access vlan 10    ! configure a vlan on an access port
...
interface Ethernet0/23
  port access vlan 10    ! configure a vlan on an access port
<..>

Configure a Trunk Port (tagged)

interface Ethernet 0/24
  port link-type trunk                 ! define the port as trunk
  port trunk permit vlan all          ! permit all vlans
  description *** Uplink IF ***   ! port description

Save the Running Config

save

This will save the configuration in the flash memory.
The switch configurations will be written to flash.
Are you sure?[Y/N]
Now saving current configuration to flash memory.
Please wait for a while...
Save current configuration to flash memory successfully

LABNARIO - An AWSOME page with lots of tutorials about Huawei Networking is labnario, you should really check it out:

• http://labnario.com/

Cisco to Huawei Mapping 
Base: http://lifeoflogs.blogspot.pt/2011/04/cisco-vs-huawei-essential-command.html

CISCO                                --> HUAWEI

ping                              --> ping
traceroute                     --> tracert
show                            --> display
show interfaces              --> display interface
Show ip route                 --> display routing-table
show ip interface            --> display ip interface
show version                  --> display version
show ip bgp                   --> display bgp routing-table
show clock                     --> display clock
show port                      --> display port-mapping
show flash                     --> dir flash: (on user view mode)
show logging                  --> display logbuffer
show snmp                    --> display snmp-agent statistics
show frame-relay pvc      --> display fr pvc-info
show users                    --> display users
show terminal length       --> screen-length disable
                                        undo screen-length disable
enable                          --> super
disable                          --> super 0 (number is privilege level from 0 to 3, where 3 is default and equivalent to “enable” on Cisco)
conf t                           --> system-view
exit                              --> quit
end                              --> return
show policy-map interface --> display qos policy interface
send -                           --> send (on user view mode)
show running-config         --> display current-configuration
show startup-config         --> display saved-configuration
write erase                     --> reset saved-configuration
write mem                      --> save
clear counters                --> reset (on user view mode)    
clear interface                --> reset counters interface
telnet                           --> telnet
enable secret                 --> Super pass cipher (system mode)
clock                            --> clock
no                                --> undo
debug / no debug            --> debugging / undo debugging
copy running-config         --> Save safely
terminal monitor              --> terminal monitor
terminal length                --> screen-length disable
                                         undo screen-length disable
terminal no monitor          --> undo terminal monitor
clear counters                -->    reset counters interface
clear interface                -->    reset counters interface
clear crypto                   -->    ipsec sa
                                            ike sa
clear access-list counters -->    reset acl counter all
reload                           -->    reboot
shutdown                      -->    shutdown
boot                             -->    boot bootrom
Aaa                              -->    hwtacacs scheme
tacacs-server                -->    hwtacacs scheme
snmp-server                  -->    tftp-server (in conf command)
router bgp                     -->    bgp
Router rip                      -->    rip
clear ip cef                    -->    reset ip fast-forwarding
clear ip route *              -->   reset ip routing-table statistics protocol all
Clear ip bgp                   -->    reset bgp all
Show tech                    -->    display diagnostic-information
Sh ip nat translation       -->    display nat session
Show Controller             -->    display controller
show dsl int atm 0         -->    display dsl status interface Atm 2/0
show atm pvc                -->    display atm pvc-info
debug pvc nego             -->    debug atm all
sho crypto isakmp sa      -->    display ike sa
sho crypto isakmp key     -->    display ike peer
sho crypto isakmp police  -->    display ike proposal

Fix ‘File Path Too Long’ Error – Windows

How to Fix ‘File Path Too Long’ Error While Copying, Deleting or Opening Files, Without Using Third Party Applications

This is an error you might have experienced more at work than at home. You decided to copy a file or take a backup of it to another location or drive, you browse to the source location and starts copying. But you get this error, instead.

Why does it come?

There is a pre-defined character limit beyond which you cannot name a file or folder, and it varies from one OS to another. Mostly it varies between 256 and 260 characters. This is the character limit for a file name, which excludes the file path under which it is located, like “C:\Documents and Settings\Test User\Desktop\test file.txt”. But, when you copy a file from one location, it takes into account the entire file path. So, if the file is residing under a folder which is too deep or too long, that has a length beyond the set-limit, you will get errors like the ones shown above.

How do I know that the file path length is causing the issue?

• One way you will know is definitely from the error messages similar to the ones above which clearly mentions the problem.
• Some other times, it won’t. You will simply get a message saying ‘Cannot Copy’ in the title.
• Or, some other times, the files won’t open properly. They would open and close instantly without giving any errors.
• Also when you right-click such files, the number of options available in the right-click menu would also be limited compared to other files.

All these are caused by those incredibly long file paths.

So, how can I copy the files or fix this issue?

There are a couple of ways you can fix this easily without the use of any 3rd party applications.

1. Check the folder path, and shorten some of the folder names in between thereby reducing the file path length. You don’t necessarily need to put the folder name as ‘Mission Impossible Three’ when you can still recognize it as ‘MI 3.’
2. The main thing many people miss when they save a file or folder their Desktop is that the actual path to that folder in desktop is either ‘C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Desktop’ or ‘C:\Users\%username%\Desktop’ depending on your OS. So as you can see, its already longer than you thought it is. Go to Start — Run and type ‘cmd‘ and press OK, or click start/press windows key and type ‘Command Prompt‘. Once in the command prompt window, type the following command :

subst V: “C:\TheRidiculouslyLongFolderName

WhichYouDontNeedAtAll” ,

where

subst = substitute command

V = a drive letter of my choice, you can select your own.

C:\TheRidiculouslyLongFolderNameWhichYouDontNeedAtAll = the file path you want to shorten. Change it according to your situation.

So, basically this command would convert the entire folder path you provide in the command, into a single temporary drive letter, like V in this case, which gets created in My Computer. Now all you need to do is, go to the My Computer, and open the V drive, and copy the data from there.

Note : To remove the new drive from My Computer, go to Command Prompt again and type subst V: /d

There you have it, try this the next time you get the error, and see how it goes. If you are still confused, let me know in the comments section below.

Taken From: http://vimalsuresh.com/2013/08/08/how-to-fix-file-path-too-long-error-while-copying-deleting-or-opening-files-without-using-third-party-applications/

More Details on “subst”, can be found at:

• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb491006.aspx
• http://www.computerhope.com/substhlp.htm

Beginner’s Guide to IPTables (Linux Firewall)

The Beginner’s Guide to iptables, the Linux Firewall

Iptables is an extremely flexible firewall utility built for Linux operating systems. Whether you’re a novice Linux geek or a system administrator, there’s probably some way that iptables can be a great use to you. Read on as we show you how to configure the most versatile Linux firewall.

About iptables

iptables is a command-line firewall utility that uses policy chains to allow or block traffic. When a connection tries to establish itself on your system, iptables looks for a rule in its list to match it to. If it doesn’t find one, it resorts to the default action.

iptables almost always comes pre-installed on any Linux distribution. To update/install it, just retrieve the iptables package:

sudo apt-get install iptables

There are GUI alternatives to iptables like Firestarter, but iptables isn’t really that hard once you have a few commands down. You want to be extremely careful when configuring iptables rules, particularly if you’re SSH’d into a server, because one wrong command can permanently lock you out until it’s manually fixed at the physical machine.

Types of Chains

iptables uses three different chains: input, forward, and output.

Input – This chain is used to control the behavior for incoming connections. For example, if a user attempts to SSH into your PC/server, iptables will attempt to match the IP address and port to a rule in the input chain.

Forward – This chain is used for incoming connections that aren’t actually being delivered locally. Think of a router – data is always being sent to it but rarely actually destined for the router itself; the data is just forwarded to its target. Unless you’re doing some kind of routing, NATing, or something else on your system that requires forwarding, you won’t even use this chain.

There’s one sure-fire way to check whether or not your system uses/needs the forward chain.

iptables -L -v

The screenshot above is of a server that’s been running for a few weeks and has no restrictions on incoming or outgoing connections. As you can see, the input chain has processed 11GB of packets and the output chain has processed 17GB. The forward chain, on the other hand, has not needed to process a single packet. This is because the server isn’t doing any kind of forwarding or being used as a pass-through device.

Output – This chain is used for outgoing connections. For example, if you try to ping howtogeek.com, iptables will check its output chain to see what the rules are regarding ping and howtogeek.com before making a decision to allow or deny the connection attempt.

The caveat

Even though pinging an external host seems like something that would only need to traverse the output chain, keep in mind that to return the data, the input chain will be used as well. When using iptables to lock down your system, remember that a lot of protocols will require two-way communication, so both the input and output chains will need to be configured properly. SSH is a common protocol that people forget to allow on both chains.

Policy Chain Default Behavior

Before going in and configuring specific rules, you’ll want to decide what you want the default behavior of the three chains to be. In other words, what do you want iptables to do if the connection doesn’t match any existing rules?

To see what your policy chains are currently configured to do with unmatched traffic, run theiptables -L command.

As you can see, we also used the grep command to give us cleaner output. In that screenshot, our chains are currently figured to accept traffic.

More times than not, you’ll want your system to accept connections by default. Unless you’ve changed the policy chain rules previously, this setting should already be configured. Either way, here’s the command to accept connections by default:

iptables --policy INPUT ACCEPT
iptables --policy OUTPUT ACCEPT
iptables --policy FORWARD ACCEPT

By defaulting to the accept rule, you can then use iptables to deny specific IP addresses or port numbers, while continuing to accept all other connections. We’ll get to those commands in a minute.

If you would rather deny all connections and manually specify which ones you want to allow to connect, you should change the default policy of your chains to drop. Doing this would probably only be useful for servers that contain sensitive information and only ever have the same IP addresses connect to them.

iptables --policy INPUT DROP
iptables --policy OUTPUT DROP
iptables --policy FORWARD DROP

Connection-specific Responses

With your default chain policies configured, you can start adding rules to iptables so it knows what to do when it encounters a connection from or to a particular IP address or port. In this guide, we’re going to go over the three most basic and commonly used “responses”.

Accept – Allow the connection.

Drop – Drop the connection, act like it never happened. This is best if you don’t want the source to realize your system exists.

Reject – Don’t allow the connection, but send back an error. This is best if you don’t want a particular source to connect to your system, but you want them to know that your firewall blocked them.

The best way to show the difference between these three rules is to show what it looks like when a PC tries to ping a Linux machine with iptables configured for each one of these settings.

Allowing the connection:

Dropping the connection:

Rejecting the connection:

Allowing or Blocking Specific Connections

With your policy chains configured, you can now configure iptables to allow or block specific addresses, address ranges, and ports. In these examples, we’ll set the connections to DROP, but you can switch them to ACCEPT or REJECT, depending on your needs and how you configured your policy chains.

Note: In these examples, we’re going to use iptables -A to append rules to the existing chain. iptables starts at the top of its list and goes through each rule until it finds one that it matches. If you need to insert a rule above another, you can use iptables -I [chain] [number] to specify the number it should be in the list.

Connections from a single IP address

This example shows how to block all connections from the IP address 10.10.10.10.

iptables -A INPUT -s 10.10.10.10 -j DROP

Connections from a range of IP addresses

This example shows how to block all of the IP addresses in the 10.10.10.0/24 network range. You can use a netmask or standard slash notation to specify the range of IP addresses.

iptables -A INPUT -s 10.10.10.0/24 -j DROP

or

iptables -A INPUT -s 10.10.10.0/255.255.255.0 -j DROP

Connections to a specific port

This example shows how to block SSH connections from 10.10.10.10.

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport ssh -s 10.10.10.10 -j DROP

You can replace “ssh” with any protocol or port number. The -p tcp part of the code tells iptables what kind of connection the protocol uses.  If you were blocking a protocol that uses UDP rather than TCP, then -p udp would be necessary instead.

This example shows how to block SSH connections from any IP address.

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport ssh -j DROP

Connection States

As we mentioned earlier, a lot of protocols are going to require two-way communication. For example, if you want to allow SSH connections to your system, the input and output chains are going to need a rule added to them. But, what if you only want SSH coming into your system to be allowed? Won’t adding a rule to the output chain also allow outgoing SSH attempts?

That’s where connection states come in, which give you the capability you’d need to allow two way communication but only allow one way connections to be established. Take a look at this example, where SSH connections FROM 10.10.10.10 are permitted, but SSH connections TO 10.10.10.10 are not. However, the system is permitted to send back information over SSH as long as the session has already been established, which makes SSH communication possible between these two hosts.

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport ssh -s 10.10.10.10 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT

iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --sport 22 -d 10.10.10.10 -m state --state ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT

Saving Changes

The changes that you make to your iptables rules will be scrapped the next time that the iptables service gets restarted unless you execute a command to save the changes.  This command can differ depending on your distribution:

Ubuntu:

sudo /sbin/iptables-save

Red Hat / CentOS:

/sbin/service iptables save

Or

/etc/init.d/iptables save

Other Commands

List the currently configured iptables rules:

iptables -L

Adding the -v option will give you packet and byte information, and adding -n will list everything numerically. In other words – hostnames, protocols, and networks are listed as numbers.

To clear all the currently configured rules, you can issue the flush command.

iptables -F

Taken From: http://www.howtogeek.com/177621/the-beginners-guide-to-iptables-the-linux-firewall/