We all need to take a break from ‘work’ once in while, often times I find myself playing a few rounds of Pokerth. Version 0.6 which was released on December 13th 2007, adds a few nice features, most notably the “Internet Game” with the dedicated PokerTH Server [You don't need to setup your own server to play with friends now - the functionality still exists if you wish to], as well as adding support for SCTP and IPv6.

PokerTH is a nicely polished game that’s addictively fun if you’re into todays craze of Texas Holdem. I generally find the PokerTh server slow, so I tend to just play local games with it, but without doubt it’s become my new solitaire/spider/tri-peaks replacement. When I do fancy the fun and challenge of competition I run Pokerstars through Wine.

So do you want to give it a try? :-)

We’re given two options for download, an installer or a zip archive. [libSDL is required - this should already be installed by default]

We’ll use the installer method here. Let’s grab the package:

wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/pokerth/PokerTH-0.6-linux-installer.bin?use_mirror=osdn

Now we need to make the bin file executable:

chmod +x PokerTH-0.6-linux-installer.bin

Then execute the file to start the bitrock installer:

./PokerTH-0.6-linux-installer.bin

Follow through the installer [Screenshots detailing the process below]

The installer will create a shortcut on your desktop, to play PokerTH click it. :-)

Here are a series of screenshots of PokerTH’s settings.

The installer also creates an uninstaller in its directory. If you wish to uninstall PokerTH, cd to its directory and execute the uninstaller.

cd PokerTH-0.6
./uninstall

PokerTH is released under GPL v2; the source is available <here> [Warning: Link is a Direct Download] / or visit the download page. If you have any issues or find any bugs they can be report on the forum, bug reports can also be filed with the bug tracker.

Have Fun

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Tags: games, Linux, PokerTH, pokerth

[urpmi and rpm] Installing and managing software via konsole in Mandriva.

Just about everywhere you’ve likely read apt-get <program_name> or yum <program_name> in various Howto’s. So how do we do it? Mandriva uses the urpmi command; the basic command is urpmi <program_name>. It functions virtually the same a Debian’s apt; solving the dependencies automatically.

The first thing we need to do is to set up the urpmi repositories. To do so; head over to Easy Urmpi and follow through the steps and Easy Urpmi will generate the command to enter into konsole to add the sources.

• Step 1: Select your Mandriva Version and Architecture and the Package Manager [urpmi]
• Step 2: Select a mirror for each source you want [You can also add a prefix to the media name which is optional]
• Step 3: Copy the output and paste [Shift + Insert] into Konsole as root.

For more info on the different software repositories see the Mandriva Wiki. The PLF [Penguin Liberation Front] sources are software that can not be included in the official Mandriva sources due to various reasons; for more info see the about page @ the PLF site.

The software management applications consist of urpmi, urpme, urpmf or urpmq, urpmi.addmedia and urpmi.removemedia.

urpmi

urpmi is the installation tool, it will install the package and all it’s dependencies

• urpmi <package_name>

To update the media and install all packages with newer versions use:

• urpmi --auto-update

A few useful flags are:

• --update : Use only update media to restrict the upgrades to security updates.
• --auto : Automatically installs dependencies without asking
• --auto-select: Automatically upgrades all packages which have newer versions. For example you can use –auto-update –auto-select
• --clean : Clears the rpm cache located at /var/cache/urpmi/rpms
• --noclean : Does not flush the rpm cache
• --fuzzy : Allows a fuzzy search on the package name, which will search for similar packages names and returns a list of possibilities.
• --help : To display the full list of options

You can also use urpmi to install packages and resolve dependencies for packages that you have previously downloaded or have urpmi retrieve the package from a website. Example:

• urpmi somefile.name.rpm [use either the full path to the rpm or run command from the directory which has the rpm]
• urpmi http://some.website/somefile.name.rpm

urpme

urpme is the software removal tool.

• urpme <package_name>

A couple useful flags are:

• --test : verify if the removal can be achieved correctly
• --force : force invocation even if some packages do not exist

urpmq | urmpf

urpmq and urpmf are search tools which can be used with regular user privileges. Use urpmf to find what packages contain a certain file and urpmq for all other queries.

urpmf examples:

• urpmf --provides firefox
• urpmf --filename firefox

urpmq will query the database for the exact package name you define. The --fuzzy flag will return all variations of the name queried. To understand the differences try the following commands and observe the output:

• urpmq xmm
• urpmq xmms
• urpmq --fuzzy xmms

A few useful flags for urpmq are:

• –fuzzy : returns results with similar names
• -i : displays a summary and description of the package [example: urpmq -i xmms ] | note: only works with full hdlists, not with synthesis
• --list-media : lists all known media

RPM

You’ll rarely use the rpm command as urpmi will likely do everything you need. In the rare case you do use the rpm command here are a few useful commands:

• rpm -qa [Lists all packages installed on your system | you can export the list for easier reading and searching: rpm -qa > package_list
• rpm -qi <package_name> [To display a summary and description of a package already installed]
• rpm -qpi somefile.name.rpm [To display a summary and description of a rpm package | either list the full path to the rpm file or work from the directory that contains the file]
• rpm -Uvh <package_name> [Install/upgrade a package, being verbose and displaying hash-marks as a progress indicator]
• rpm -q --changelog <package_name> [To display the change log for an installed package]
• rpm --help [To display the full list of options]

There are other ways of installing software that isn’t available through the Mandriva repositories, such as executing a bin file or rolling your own from a tarball but I’ll leave those for another post.

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Tags: Howto, Mandriva, rpm, urpmi

I ended the Realcrypt Howto with instructions about navigating a man page. It really deserves its own post, so I’m reposting the navigation commands here as well as expanding the topic.

When you’re not sure about the usage of a program, ‘Google is your friend’ but an even better friend generally is the programs man page [manual page]. It’s where you should always start your search. The documentation in the program’s manual is usually quite extensive and is likely all you’ll need. Man pages use a common layout – Name; Synopsis; Description/[Options]; Examples, See also.

To read a programs man page: man {program-name}

Related commands are whatis and apropos: whatis searches the short man page descriptions in the whatis database and outputs a one line description. apropos searches the whatis database for strings.

whatis Usage:

• whatis gpg

Output:

• gpg (1) – OpenPGP encryption and signing tool
• gpg-agent (1) – Secret key management for GnuPG
• gpg-connect-agent (1) – Communicate with a running agent
• gpg-preset-passphrase (1) – Put a passphrase into gpg-agent’s cache

apropos Usage:

• apropos gpg

Output:

• applygnupgdefaults (8) – Run gpgconf –apply-defaults for all users
• gpg (1) – OpenPGP encryption and signing tool
• gpg2 (1) – OpenPGP encryption and signing tool
• gpg-agent (1) – Secret key management for GnuPG
• gpgconf (1) – Modify .gnupg home directories
• gpg-connect-agent (1) – Communicate with a running agent
• gpgparsemail (1) – Parse a mail message into an annotated format
• gpg-preset-passphrase (1) – Put a passphrase into gpg-agent’s cache
• gpgsm (1) – CMS encryption and signing tool
• gpgsm-gencert.sh [gpgsm-gencert] (1) – Generate an X.509 certificate request
• gpgsplit (1) – Split an OpenPGP message into packets
• gpgv (1) – Verify OpenPGP signatures
• gpgv2 (1) – Verify OpenPGP signatures
• keychain (1) – re-use ssh-agent and/or gpg-agent between logins
• radeonhd (4) – AMD GPG (ATI) R5xx/R6xx video driver

Less is a program that is used to view text files from the terminal | example: less letter.pdf . The viewing of Man Pages is done with Less. The key commands for Less are:

• Page Down = Spacebar or the ‘Page Down’ Key
• Page Up = b or the ‘Page Up’ Key
• Line Down = j or the ‘Down Arrow’ Key
• Line Up = k or the ‘Up Arrow’ Key
• Top of Document = g
• Bottom of Document = G
• Quit = q
• Search = / to search forward [example /keyfile ] |or| ? to search backward [ ?keyfile ]
• Repeat Search = n to repeat the search forward and N to repeat the search in the opposite direction
• Help = h | Will give you the full summary of Less commands. ;-)

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Tags: Linux, commands, usage, man, man pages, less, whatis, apropos,

Hopefully Part 1 and Part 2 of the Howto have given you a fairly good base and you have a comfortable understanding of how to utilize Realcrypt aka Truecrypt in Linux. Now you can modfiy the examples outlined and tailor them to your needs.

If you’ve decided to implement a Realcrypt volume utilizing both a normal and hidden volume for extra security there’s a caveat. Once you create the hidden volume you will _not_ be able to write to the normal volume without the possibility of damaging the hidden volume. Yes there is the -P [Protect Hidden] flag but it can’t be utilized with the method we set the volumes up. It really isn’t an issue though, as the purpose of using a hidden volume is that the outer volume acts as a believable decoy – It’s all about plausible deniability. If you’re ever forced to decrypt a volume you’ll simply open the outer volume; which to have any chance of believability you’ll need to have data stored in the that volume that looks sensitive, but is NOT data you actually want to hide. After you create the normal volume as outlined in Part 1 you’ll copy some sensitive looking data into the volume to serve as the decoy data. Once that’s completed, move onto Part 2 and create your hidden volume. You’ll access the hidden volume as shown in Part 2; Realcrypt differentiates between the normal and hidden volumes with the keyfile(s) [if used] and the password(s) assigned to each volume. If for example you did use a keyfile for your hidden volume you can shorten process of accessing the volume by providing the arguments instead of using sudo realcrypt -i and answering the prompts.

Example: sudo realcrypt -k mykey volume.tc safe

In the example you are providing the path to your keyfile [this is assume the key is in the base of the directory we're working from, otherwise you need to specify the complete path], the Realcrypt volume you wish to map [same as the keyfile specify the complete path if necessary] and the mount point. You’ll then only be prompted for the hidden volumes password.

If for example you chose not to us a keyfile, you’d use:

sudo realcrypt volume safe

and then enter the the hidden volumes password. There a multiple possibilities, I can’t cover them all but you should have the general idea.

Just remember the volumes are differentiated by their passwords and/or keyfiles. Use the hidden volume’s password(s) and/or keyfile(s) to access that volume. The only scenario where you will use the normal volume’s password(s) and/or keyfile(s) is if you are ever forced to hand over that information.

To speak further about protecting your Realcrypt volumes from others, I have these suggestions for your real world usage.

• Name your volumes so that they aren’t identifiable – use a file extension that can account for the large file size that won’t draw attention to the file ie. .iso .bin .nrg .img or no extension at all.
• Don’t use file extensions that’ll be a dead giveaway like .tc [the default extension in Windows] or have some .txt file that’s 100 MBs or greater.
• The same type of advice as in the first point applies to any keyfiles you use; don’t name it something obvious like mykey, safe.key etc..
• Store the keyfile in a different directory or even better, on removeable media.
• The volume itself could also be stored on removable media.

Realcrypt/Truecrypt also has a nice built in security feature that will help in concealing the volume, it does not update the time stamp of the file.

You should also take steps to protect your volumes and keys from loss or damage by backing them up. It is also highly recommended to backup the volume headers which contain the master key. If the volume header becomes damaged it will be impossible to mount. To backup the volume header ( realcrypt --backup-headers | --restore-header FILE [VOLUME] ). As an example the line below backs up the headers of volume.tc to the file volume_head_backup. :

sudo realcrypt --backup-headers volume_head_backup volume.tc

You would restore the headers with:

sudo realcrypt --restore-headers volume_head_backup volume.tc

Realcrypt will then ask which header to restore [normal or hidden].

If you require any more information Truecrypt is very well documented – see http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/

As this blog is geared toward newer linux users; if you want to see the full list of user commands and flags for realcrypt type realcrypt -help or realcrypt -h in konsole, you can also view the man (manual) page typing man realcrypt. If you haven’t utilized a man page yet you will be unfamiliar with navigating around the page with Less; the keys are as follows:

• Page Down = Spacebar or the ‘Page Down’ Key
• Page Up = b or the ‘Page Up’ Key
• Line Down = j or the ‘Down Arrow’ Key
• Line Up = k or the ‘Up Arrow’ Key
• Top of Document = g
• Bottom of Document = G
• Quit = q
• Search = / to search forward [example /keyfile ] |or| ? to search backward [ ?keyfile ]
• Repeat Search = n to repeat the search forward and N to repeat the search in the opposite direction
• Help = h | Will give you the full summary of Less commands. ;-)

That concludes the Howto I hope you found it of help.

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Tags: Howto, Realcrypt, Truecrypt, Linux, Mandriva

Now that we’ve gone over the basics of using Realcrypt [or Truecrypt] in Part 1 of the Howto, we’ll move on to discover the true genius of a hidden volumes in Part 2. Using Realcrypt as outlined in Part 1 is more than adequate for storing your sensitive data, but for even better protection we can use the normal volume we created as a decoy and store our truly private data on a hidden volume with in it. I know you’re bound to ask; “Why the hell would I need or want to do that?”. Well, you don’t really; but it’s purpose is plausible deniability.

Before we move on to creating the hidden volume, let’s create a keyfile to protect it.

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ realcrypt –keyfile-create mykey
RealCrypt will now collect random data.

Is your mouse connected directly to computer where RealCrypt is running? [Y/n]:

Please move the mouse randomly until the required amount of data is captured…
Mouse data captured: 100%

Keyfile created.
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

For the example we called the keyfile mykey, you can call it whatever you like, but generally you shouldn’t name it something that will hint at its purpose, but for the purpose of the Howto will stick with that.

Now that we’ve created a keyfile we’ll use it for additional security for the hidden volume we’re going to create with in the volume [volume.tc] we created in Part 1. In order to create the hidden volume we’ll need to map volume.tc as shown below.

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -i
Enter volume path: volume.tc
Enter mount directory [none]:
Protect hidden volume? [y/N]:
Enter keyfile path [none]:
Enter password for ‘/home/altoptions/volume.tc’:## Enter the password you chose in Part 1

********************************************************************************

Now that it’s mapped we’ll issue the same command we used in Part 1 but add the type flag --type hidden as well as indicating the Realcrypt volume to skip the first two steps of the process. We could run through all the steps like we did in Part 1, but I’ve chosen to do it like this to demonstrate the usage of flags, which you can build on beyond this lesson.

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt --type hidden -c volume.tc
Filesystem:
1) FAT
2) None
Select [1]: 2

Enter volume size (bytes – size/sizeK/sizeM/sizeG): 50M

Hash algorithm:
1) RIPEMD-160
2) SHA-1
3) Whirlpool
Select [1]:##the default is 1 – just hit <enter>

Encryption algorithm:
1) AES
2) Blowfish
3) CAST5
4) Serpent
5) Triple DES
6) Twofish
7) AES-Twofish
8) AES-Twofish-Serpent
9) Serpent-AES
10) Serpent-Twofish-AES
11) Twofish-Serpent
Select [1]: 8

Enter password for new volume ‘volume.tc’:## enter your desired password For the HIDDEN Volume
Re-enter password::## re-enter the password

Enter keyfile path [none]:mykey
Enter keyfile path [finish]:

RealCrypt will now collect random data.

Is your mouse connected directly to computer where RealCrypt is running? [Y/n]:

Please move the mouse randomly until the required amount of data is captured…
Mouse data captured: 100%

Volume created.
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

Now that we’ve created the unformatted hidden volume, we need to map it and then format with ext3

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -i
Enter volume path: volume.tc
Enter mount directory [none]:
Protect hidden volume? [y/N]:
Enter keyfile path [none]: mykey
Enter keyfile path [finish]:
Enter password for ‘/home/altoptions/volume.tc’:##Enter the Password you chose
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

Let’s double check that the volume is mapped

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -l
/dev/mapper/realcrypt0 /home/altoptions/volume.tc
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

Now that we confirmed it’s mapped to realcrypt0 we can format it with ext3

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo mkfs.ext3 /dev/mapper/realcrypt0
mke2fs 1.40.2 (12-Jul-2007)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=1024 (log=0)
Fragment size=1024 (log=0)
12824 inodes, 51200 blocks
2560 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=1
Maximum filesystem blocks=52428800
7 block groups
8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group
1832 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
8193, 24577, 40961

Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (4096 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

This filesystem will be automatically checked every 38 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

Now we mount it like we did in Part 1, but we don’t need to create the safe mount point like we did in Part 1 because that directory already exists in our home directory.

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo mount /dev/mapper/realcrypt0 safe
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ cd safe
[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ ls -l
total 12
drwx—— 2 root root 12288 2008-01-16 00:13 lost+found/

********************************************************************************

As you can see from the ls -l output it’s a new volume, the my_safe directory we created in the normal volume isn’t listed.

Just like in Part 1, we need to create a directory within the volume that we can chown so that we can write to it as a normal user. We’ll differentiate it so that in the future we can easily tell if we’ve mounted the normal or hidden volume; we’ll name this directory my_secret_safe

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ sudo mkdir my_secret_safe
[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ sudo chown altoptions:altoptions my_secret_safe
[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ ls -l
total 13
drwx—— 2 root root 12288 2008-01-16 00:13 lost+found/
drwxr-xr-x 2 altoptions altoptions 1024 2008-01-16 00:15 my_secret_safe/
[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$

********************************************************************************

We’ve now successfully created the hidden volume, while the volume is mapped and mounted, we can read/write to the my_secret_safe directory like we can with any normal user directory and it will be encrypted/decrypted on the fly.

Just to further differentiate the two volumes, we’ll use touch to create a text file we’ll call this time secret_test.txt.

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ cd my_secret_safe
[altoptions@desktop1 my_secret_safe]$ touch secret_test.txt
[altoptions@desktop1 my_secret_safe]$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r–r– 1 altoptions altoptions 0 2008-01-19 13:29 secret_test.txt
[altoptions@desktop1 my_secret_safe]$

********************************************************************************

To un-mount the volume, we’ll need to change directory out of the mounted volume which we did in the above step, then un-mount the volume, and then double check that no volumes are mapped.

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 my_secret_safe]$ cd ~
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -d
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -l
No volumes mapped
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

We’re done with the creation process, when you want to map and mount the hidden volume to use it regularly the process would be as follows

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -i
Enter volume path: volume.tc
Enter mount directory [none]: safe
Protect hidden volume? [y/N]:
Enter keyfile path [none]: mykey
Enter keyfile path [finish]:
Enter password for ‘/home/altoptions/volume.tc’:## enter the hidden volumes password
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

We differential between the normal and hidden volume by using the hidden volume password and the keyfile; if you don’t chose to use a keyfile or two – the volumes are differentiated by the password.

Let’s check the contents of the hidden volume

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ cd safe
[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ ls -l
total 13
drwx—— 2 root root 12288 2008-01-19 13:05 lost+found/
drwxr-xr-x 2 altoptions altoptions 1024 2008-01-19 13:29 my_secret_safe/
[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ cd my_secret_safe
[altoptions@desktop1 my_secret_safe]$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r–r– 1 altoptions altoptions 0 2008-01-19 13:29 secret_test.txt
[altoptions@desktop1 my_secret_safe]$

********************************************************************************

We’ll change directories and unmap the volume

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 my_secret_safe]$ cd ~
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -d
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -l
No volumes mapped
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

In review, the determining factor of whether the normal or hidden volume is mapped and mounted is by the issued password and/or keyfile. In our example we used just a password to protect the normal volume and with the hidden volume we used a password and a keyfile. To access the normal volume we’d go through the process of sudo realcrypt -i using just the password we created for that volume and for the hidden volume we use it’s password and keyfile for access. Once the volume is mapped and mounted we use the volume as a normal directory with Realcrypt encrypting and decrypting the contents on the fly, ummount/unmapping the volume when we’re done using it.

To finish off Part 2 of the Howto, we’ll mount the normal volume we created in Part 1 and look at it’s contents to demonstrate how access to which volume is determined by the passwords an/or keyfile(s).

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -i
Enter volume path: volume.tc
Enter mount directory [none]: safe
Protect hidden volume? [y/N]:
Enter keyfile path [none]:
Enter password for ‘/home/altoptions/volume.tc’:## enter the password for the normal volume
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ cd safe
[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ ls -l
total 13
drwx—— 2 root root 12288 2008-01-19 12:51 lost+found/
drwxr-xr-x 2 altoptions altoptions 1024 2008-01-19 12:52 my_safe/
[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ cd my_safe
[altoptions@desktop1 my_safe]$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r–r– 1 altoptions altoptions 0 2008-01-19 12:52 test.txt
[altoptions@desktop1 my_safe]$ cd ~
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -d
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -l
No volumes mapped
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

So as you can see from the output the normal volume was accessed by using the normal volumes password and their is no evidence of the hidden volume contained within it.

Cool eh?

That’s ends Part 2 of the Howto, the final instalment will be a summary of both parts, as well as an a bit of an editorial on best practises.

Continue to the Summary

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Tags: Howto, Realcrypt, Truecrypt, Linux, Mandriva

Truecrypt was rebranded Realcrypt on Mandriva to get around a licensing issue. This howto will apply to Truecrypt on any Linux distro, the only difference is the naming, so change it accordingly if you aren’t using Mandriva.

The howto will guide you through creating a normal volume with Realcrypt, formating it with ext3 so we can take advantage of unix file ownership allowing us to write to the volume as a normal user, mounting and un-mounting the volume. To keep things as simple as possible we’re going to work from the base of our home directory, you can modify the location, file names etc after you have an understanding of the process.

[All user inputs are identified by bold red font and comments are marked with "##" as well as being in bold black font in the following sections]

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -c
Volume type:
1) Normal
2) Hidden
Select [1]: 1

Enter file or device path for new volume: volume.tc
Filesystem:
1) FAT
2) None
Select [1]: 2

Enter volume size (bytes – size/sizeK/sizeM/sizeG): 100M

Hash algorithm:
1) RIPEMD-160
2) SHA-1
3) Whirlpool
Select [1]:##the default is 1 – just hit <enter>

Encryption algorithm:
1) AES
2) Blowfish
3) CAST5
4) Serpent
5) Triple DES
6) Twofish
7) AES-Twofish
8) AES-Twofish-Serpent
9) Serpent-AES
10) Serpent-Twofish-AES
11) Twofish-Serpent
Select [1]: 8

Enter password for new volume ‘volume.tc’:## enter your desired password
Re-enter password:## re-enter your desired password

Enter keyfile path [none]:## just hit <enter> we haven’t created a keyfile

RealCrypt will now collect random data.

Is your mouse connected directly to computer where RealCrypt is running? [Y/n]: ## hit <enter>

Please move the mouse randomly until the required amount of data is captured…
Mouse data captured: 100%

Done: 99.91 MB Speed: 7.08 MB/s Left: 0:00:00
Volume created.

********************************************************************************

We’ve now created an unformated volume, we’re going to map the volume so that we can format it with ext3 in the next section.

********************************************************************************
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -i
Enter volume path: volume.tc
Enter mount directory [none]:##Hit <enter>
Protect hidden volume? [y/N]:##Hit <enter>
Enter keyfile path [none]:##Hit <enter>
Enter password for ‘/home/altoptions/volume.tc’:##Enter the Password you chose and hit <enter>

********************************************************************************

Let’s check to make sure the volume was mapped. Issue the command below and you should see a similar output

*******************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -l
/dev/mapper/realcrypt0 /home/altoptions/volume.tc

********************************************************************************

Now we’ll format the volume with ext3

********************************************************************************
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo mkfs.ext3 /dev/mapper/realcrypt0
mke2fs 1.40.2 (12-Jul-2007)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=1024 (log=0)
Fragment size=1024 (log=0)
25688 inodes, 102396 blocks
5119 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=1
Maximum filesystem blocks=67371008
13 block groups
8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group
1976 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729

Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (4096 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

This filesystem will be automatically checked every 25 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.

********************************************************************************

Now that we’ve formated the volume we’ll create a directory in which we’ll mount the volume, then mount the volume, create a directory, and then take ownership of that directory. In the forth command below replace altoptions:altoptions with your user:group.
********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ mkdir safe
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo mount /dev/mapper/realcrypt0 safe
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo mkdir safe/my_safe
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo chown altoptions:altoptions safe/my_safe

********************************************************************************

Now we’ll change directories and check the ownership

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ cd safe
[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ ls -l
total 13
drwx—— 2 root root 12288 2008-01-16 10:58 lost+found/
drwxr-xr-x 2 altoptions altoptions 1024 2008-01-16 10:59 my_safe/

********************************************************************************

You’ve now successfully created a normal volume, formated the volume, created the safe directory to be the mount point, mounted the volume and created a directory within it that we took ownership of so that we can write to the volume as a normal user. While mounted, you can use your file browser and create/copy any data like you would in any normal directory.

To continue on the howto example a little further in konsole, we’ll change to the my_safe directory we created and took ownership of and create a file named test.txt. We’ll no longer need to use ’sudo’ as ownership of the directory is now our normal user account.

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 safe]$ cd my_safe
[altoptions@desktop1 my_safe]$ touch test.txt
[altoptions@desktop1 my_safe]$ ls -l
total 0
-rw-r–r– 1 altoptions altoptions 0 2008-01-16 11:00 test.txt

********************************************************************************

To un-mount the volume, we’ll need to change directory out of the mounted volume which we did in the above step, then un-mount the volume, and then double check that no volumes are mapped.

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 my_safe]$ cd ~
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo umount /dev/mapper/realcrypt0
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -d
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -l
No volumes mapped
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

We’re done with the creation process, when you want to map and mount the volume to use it regularly the process would be as follows

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -i
Enter volume path: volume.tc
Enter mount directory [none]: safe
Protect hidden volume? [y/N]:##Hit <enter>
Enter keyfile path [none]:##Hit <enter>
Enter password for ‘/home/altoptions/volume.tc’:##Enter the password you chose
[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$

********************************************************************************

Once you’re done using the volume, dismount and unmap it.

********************************************************************************

[altoptions@desktop1 ~]$ sudo realcrypt -d

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That’s it for part 1 of the Howto, in part 2 we’ll look at creating and using a keyfile as well as the process of creating and using a hidden volume .

Continue to Part 2 of the Howto 

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Tags: Howto, Realcrypt, Truecrypt, Linux, Mandriva

ies4linux is cool little project which provides a way run Microsoft’s Internet Explorer in Linux through wine. It provides IE 6, 5.5 and 5.01 as well as Adobe Flash and the option to install the Microsoft’s TrueType Corefonts; while the full IE 7 package can’t be supported through wine, the beta does provides support for the IE 7 rendering engine using the IE 6 user interface. There are some issues with the beta as well as a hack (available at the bottom of the ies4linux beta page) provided for proxy configuration for IE 7, but be sure to read about the known issues for all versions. Average user shouldn’t install IE 7, it’s mainly for the benefit of web developers.

So why does anyone want to install Internet Explorer in Linux?

Well there are a few reasons:

1. I can and it’s pretty cool
2. Accessing IE only sites – where User Agent Switcher doesn’t do the trick
3. Web Developers who need to test their sites with IE

So let’s get on with the install; we need to install the two dependencies wine of course and cabextract.

su
urpmi wine cabextract
exit

Then we need to setup wine which will create the .wine directory and all the associated files (registry etc.):

wine config

Once the basic configuration is done the wine configuration GUI is presented and you can configure wine further, the only thing that is required to set is the Audio Driver under the Audio Tab. [The default driver for most will be ALSA]

We’re now ready to install ies4linux.

Download the package:

wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz

Extract the package:

tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz

Change to the working directory:

cd ies4lin*

The newer versions of ies4linux use a qt or gtk GUI, but we’ll keep going in konsole by issuing the --no-gui flag. To view the full list of options use ./ies4linux --full-help . Using the command below ies4linux will install IE 6, 5.5, 5.01, Adobe Flash and the MS TTF Corefonts. The MS corefonts will come in handy for future program installs under wine as it is a necessity for some, so I suggest that they are installed.

Once completed you can run Internet Explorer by typing:

ie6 <or> ie55 <or> ie5

or launch IE via the desktop shortcuts.

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Tags: Linux, ies4linux, Internet Explorer, Howto, Mandriva

Solution for Google Earth Hanging on Mandriva 2008 with ATI video cards (Prior to ATI driver 8.44 — see note below)

There is an issue with libGL.so.1 from the ATI Library files with Google Earth. For anyone experiencing issues with Google Earth hanging on the splash screen with Mandriva, the solution suggested on the Mandriva forums is to “download the package at http://www.ground-impact.com/libGL.so.1.2 and to rename it as libGL.so.1. The package should be placed in the Google Earth directory.” Depending on how you installed Google Earth; the default directory is located in /usr/lib/googleearth if you installed it through urpmi or Mandriva’s GUI install (rpmdrake). If you installed Google Earth manually running the bin file, the likely directories would be either /home/google-earth or /opt/google-earth.

Download the file:

Rename the file:

Update the file name database:

Search for the googleearth directory:

Move the file to the googleearth library (modify the path if your installation is elsewhere):

Change the ownership and group to root (again modify the path if necessary)

Kill sudo:

Test Google Earth:

Note: Since ATI driver 8.44 this isn’t necessary, Google Earth will actually crash if you’ve already applied this method, simply rename libGL.so.1 to something like libGL.so.1.old and Google Earth will function properly.

This was the case on my laptop. Unfortunately, the old desktop equipped with an AGP ATI 9550, which I posted this from is have issues with the new driver and is defaulting to mesa – I’m currently looking for a fix. :P

–update: We’ll after reinstalling the fglrx drivers a few times, Mesa moved out of the way and everything seems back to normal now.

fglrxinfo

OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Radeon 9550 / X1050 Series
OpenGL version string: 2.1.7170 Release

While this maybe outdated for those using the latest updates, it still may server some purpose for anyone sticking with older packages because of the previous paragraph. I had the article typed up already, so I posted it … I then upgraded the packages today and it’s apparently irrelevant now.

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Tags: Howto, fix, ATI, Mandriva, Google Earth, Linux

Yesterday, I wrote a little something about using Moblock in Mandriva. Today’s article is a little bit of a followup, but a ’slightly’ different path to the same goal.

If for whatever reason you can’t use or don’t want to use Moblock; you can modify the ‘quick and dirty’ script from yesterday to keep and maintain an updated blocklist, which you can import into your p2p/torrent client and achieve the same results. There are a multitude of clients available, that have a peerblocker/blocklist plug in, the top three in my opinion would be Deluge, Ktorrent and Azureus – my preference is deluge.

I’m no expert at linux [or bash scripting :P], I consider myself an average user that can generally get things done through sheer determination. I started this blog merely as an effort to be of help to people from my level to a pure beginner, as well as using the opportunity to help increase my comprehension through helping others. So I took the time to comment the script [which is best practise] so that even a new user would understand what it was doing [I wouldn't run a script unless I understood what it was exactly doing - especially with root privileges], the other benefit of doing this is it makes it easy for a new user to see and understand the commands and gives the user a easy starting point to modify the script to their needs. To achieve the goal of just maintaining an up-to-date blocklist to import into a p2p/torrent client, let’s look at the script and modify it according.

The first part of the script isn’t a necessity, it checks to see if the directory relied on by the script is available, if not it creates it. Do to the fact that the script is run with root privileges, the ownership of the directory and contents will be root with read access to everyone else. If you don’t want the ownership to be root, you can create the directory before hand with:

mkdir ~/Documents/blocklists

or change ownership afterwards with chown:

sudo chown -R <your login name> ~/Documents/blocklists

or if you wish to use an alternate directory, edit the directory check according [or omit that section completely], create the working directory you wish to use and edit the working directory listed directly under the following line of the script < #change to working directory > to reflect the directory you chose.

Wget will work from the Home directory of the user unless we change to the directory we wish to use, so we need the , < #change to working directory > line to keep things nice and tidy. So we’ll keep those lines [change the directory according and be sure to create the directory before hand if you chose to use something different] otherwise we use the lines as is:

#change to working directory
cd ~/Documents/blocklists

It’s always best practice to backup old files; say for example the snowman mirror of level1 has exceeded it’s limit for the day, it won’t fetched and the most important blocklist won’t be included in your merged blocklist. If that’s the case if you have a backup, you can easily revert to the old blocklist until you can retrieve the updated level1. So we need to keep the following lines of the script:

#Backup old p2p file
cp guarding.p2p guarding.p2p.backup

If you decided on a different directory, there aren’t any changes here as you’ll be in the correct working directory where guarding.p2p will be stored with the change you made int he step above.

Now we need to download the blocklist, you can include or exclude any lists you want:

#Download Bluetack blocklists
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/ads-trackers-and-bad-pr0n.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/bogon.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/dshield.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/edu.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/hijacked.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/iana-multicast.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/iana-private.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/iana-reserved.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/level1.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/level2.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/level3.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/Microsoft.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/rangetest.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/spider.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/spyware.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/templist.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/trojan.gz

The next step is to extract the blocklists:

#Extract blocklist
gunzip ~/Documents/blocklists -r -v

If you’ve decided on a different working directory, you’ll need to reflect that change to let gunzip know where the files reside that you want to extract.

Now we need to combine all the lists into one file [Omit any from the list you don't choose to use]:

cat level1 level2 level3 ads-trackers-and-bad-pr0n bogon dshield edu hijacked iana-multicast iana-private iana-reserved rangetest spider spyware trojan Microsoft templist >guarding.p2p

Because we aren’t using Moblock we don’t need to backup the the guarding.p2p file in /etc or copy the updated p2p file to /etc; so we don’t need either of the two following lines of the script.

To keep things clean let’s remove the extracted lists for two reasons, 1. we’ve now combined them into guading.p2p and don’t require them any longer, and two if we don’t remove them gunzip will ask for permission to overwrite the files as written [Again omit any lists you aren't using]:

#Cleanup individual blocklists
rm level1 level2 level3 ads-trackers-and-bad-pr0n bogon dshield edu hijacked iana-multicast iana-private iana-reserved rangetest spider spyware trojan Microsoft templist

That’s it for the script, if we combine everything that’s left we end up with:

#!/bin/bash
# Update Blocklist

#change to working directory
cd ~/Documents/blocklists
#Backup old p2p file
cp guarding.p2p guarding.p2p.backup
#Download Bluetack blocklists
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/ads-trackers-and-bad-pr0n.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/bogon.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/dshield.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/edu.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/hijacked.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/iana-multicast.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/iana-private.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/iana-reserved.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/level1.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/level2.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/level3.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/Microsoft.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/rangetest.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/spider.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/spyware.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/templist.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/trojan.gz
#Extract blocklist
gunzip ~/Documents/blocklists -r -v
#Combine blocklists into p2p file
cat level1 level2 level3 ads-trackers-and-bad-pr0n bogon dshield edu hijacked iana-multicast iana-private iana-reserved rangetest spider spyware trojan Microsoft templist >guarding.p2p
#Cleanup individual blocklists
rm level1 level2 level3 ads-trackers-and-bad-pr0n bogon dshield edu hijacked iana-multicast iana-private iana-reserved rangetest spider spyware trojan Microsoft templist

We also no longer need to run the script with root privileges because we’re doing all steps in our home directory.

We’ll need to create a directory to keep our scripts in, I use ~/Documents/my_scripts , but you can chose any directory you like and modify the following line according:

mkdir ~/Documents/my_scripts

Changed to that directory [or modify if needed]:

cd ~/Documents/my_scripts

Create the script file with touch [we'll call it blocklist_update]:

touch blocklist_update

Open kwrite [or your preferred editor to paste the script it]:

kwrite blocklist_update

Copy and paste the script text into the file and save, then we need to make the file executable:

chmod +x blocklist_update

To execute the script, 1. change to its directory [ie. cd ~/Documents/my_scripts ] or 2. use the full path or 3. set the directory to the $PATH. The example of the easy way would be:

cd ~/Documents/my_scripts

./blocklist_update

or option two

~/Documents/my_scripts/./blocklist_update

The third option is for another day. ;-)

Now the only other thing you need to do is to set our p2p/torrent client to use the created blocklists by entering the path to the blocklist. Deluge will update the blocklist every time deluge is started so it’ will automatically catch the updated list, with Ktorrent, you’ll need to update the blocklist from within Ktorrents settings whenever you update the guarding.p2p file, it’s been so long since I used Azureus, I don’t remember if the peerblock plugin automatically updates the list or not; but if you’re using it I’m sure you’ll know what steps to take if any.

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Tags: p2p, moblock, blocklists, filesharing, linux, Howto

Moblock truly is a requirement for every *nix user that partakes in P2P. Unfortunately the Moblock package from Mandriva’s repositories isn’t all it should be in my opinion. It utilizes the new binary p2p lists – .p2b files from blocklist.org, which I’m not sure if they’re currently active after letting the domain expire in July 07 then having DNS issues later in the year, it’s easier to migrate over to bluetack’s blocklists.

Note: You need to have installed sudo and configured your account as sudoer before you continue; instructions are available here.

I made a quick and dirty script to update moblock and made a few changes to moblocks config file, as well as deleting the created cron job set by the package. This script is really basic, but does exactly what it needs to do – stops moblock, updates the blocklist, complies them into a p2p text file, backups the current blocklist, and moves the new blocklist into /etc, restarts moblock, and runs tail. The script is as follows:

#!/bin/bash
# Update Moblock

#Directory check, if not make directory
if [ -d $HOME/Documents/blocklists ]
then
echo “Directory exists”
else
mkdir $HOME/Documents/blocklists
echo “Created Directory”
fi
#Stop moblock
/etc/rc.d/init.d/moblock stop
#change to working directory
cd ~/Documents/blocklists
#Backup old p2p file
cp guarding.p2p guarding.p2p.backup
#Download Bluetack blocklists
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/ads-trackers-and-bad-pr0n.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/bogon.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/dshield.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/edu.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/hijacked.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/iana-multicast.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/iana-private.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/iana-reserved.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/level1.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/level2.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/level3.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/Microsoft.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/rangetest.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/spider.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/spyware.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/templist.gz
wget http://www.bluetack.co.uk/config/trojan.gz
#Extract blocklist
gunzip ~/Documents/blocklists -r -v
#Combine blocklists into p2p file
cat level1 level2 level3 ads-trackers-and-bad-pr0n bogon dshield edu hijacked iana-multicast iana-private iana-reserved rangetest spider spyware trojan Microsoft templist >guarding.p2p
#Backup /etc/guarding.p2p
cp /etc/guarding.p2p /etc/guarding.p2p.backup
#copy new/updated blocklist file to /etc
cp guarding.p2p /etc/
#Cleanup individual blocklists
rm level1 level2 level3 ads-trackers-and-bad-pr0n bogon dshield edu hijacked iana-multicast iana-private iana-reserved rangetest spider spyware trojan Microsoft templist
#Restart moblock
/etc/rc.d/init.d/moblock restart
/etc/rc.d/init.d/moblock restart
#Start tail for moblock log file
tail -f /var/log/moblock.log

Let’s make a directory to save the script in, open konsole and enter:

mkdir ~/Documents/my_scripts

We’ll change directories and create a file to save the script in:

cd ~/Documents/my_scripts

touch moblock_up

kwrite moblock_up

Copy and paste the script text into the file and save, then we need to make the file executable:

chmod +x moblock_up

All Bluetack’s blocklist are included in the script so you can remove the ones you don’t need to use or leave exactly as is. [note:] as HTTP is allowed in the moblock config file, you don’t need the ads-trackers-bad-pr0n and spider lists. Remove whatever you don’t feel is necessary (ie. edu – is you don’t wish to block it.

Do we need to make a few alterations to moblocks config file. But let’s first back it up:

sudo cp /etc/sysconfig/moblock /etc/sysconfig/moblock.backup

Now let’s edit the file:

kdesu kwrite /etc/sysconfig/moblock

and change the following:

LIST_TYPE=”-p”
LIST=”/etc/guarding.p2p”

URL=$HOME/Documents/blocklists/
BLOCKLIST=”guarding.p2p”
ALLOWLIST=”"

Close kwrite and save the file. [note] the second half highlighted by itailics isn’t necessary as we’re going to delete the cronjob anyway. ;-)

Backup the cronjob if you wish to your home directory:

mkdir ~/Documents/blocklists/old_cronjob

cp /etc/daily.cron/moblock ~/Documents/blocklists/old_cronjob/

then you can remove the cronjob

sudo rm /etc/daily.cron/moblock

We’re still in the directory the script is in, execute it with:

sudo ./moblock_up

Moblock is now blocking connections to the IP rangesfrom guarding.p2p and you’re seeing the output from the moblock logfile in konsole. Now you can run the script when you want to update moblock [once a week is good enough].

Remember when you restart your PC to restart moblock with (when you want it running/active):

sudo /etc/rc.d/init.d/moblock restart

and then tail the logfile to confirm moblock is actively blocking:

sudo tail -f /var/log/moblock.log

As of today, using all the available blocklist from Bluetack; Moblock should be blocking 337155 ranges. To test or to see moblock in action, open a new shell session in konsole and paste the following:

ping -c4 gmail.com

In the session showing the tail of the moblock logfile, you’ll see:

Blocked OUT: Google Inc,hits: 1,DST: 72.14.253.83
Blocked OUT: Google Inc,hits: 2,DST: 72.14.253.83
Blocked OUT: Google Inc,hits: 3,DST: 72.14.253.83
Blocked OUT: Google Inc,hits: 4,DST: 72.14.253.83

Another example:

ping -c4 76.246.137.0

Tail of the Moblock logfile will show:

Blocked OUT: NBC INC-070731163231,hits: 1,DST: 76.246.137.0
Blocked OUT: NBC INC-070731163231,hits: 2,DST: 76.246.137.0
Blocked OUT: NBC INC-070731163231,hits: 3,DST: 76.246.137.0
Blocked OUT: NBC INC-070731163231,hits: 4,DST: 76.246.137.0

+ additional notes+If you’re using all the available blocklist, as you can see above google is listed in the spider blocklist. Therefore your SSL POP/SMTP access will be blocked, either stop moblock, fetch your gmail through your email client (Web Access is already whitelisted and will not be blocked) and then restart moblock (commands listed below); or add the ports to the whitelist in /etc/sysconfig/moblock.

You can stop moblock with:

sudo /etc/rc.d/init.d/moblock stop

Start and Restart with:

sudo /etc/rc.d/init.d/moblock start

sudo /etc/rc.d/init.d/moblock restart

This is a work in progress, suggestions and comments are always welcome. ;-)

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Licence.

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Tags: Howto, Linux, Mandriva, moblock, p2p

Stream your music easily with GNUMP3d.

Install GNUMP3d with:

sudo urpmi gnump3d

Now we just need to edit a few things in the config file:

[located @ /etc/gnump3d/gnump3d.conf].

Lets create a backup of the original config file withthe following command in konsole:

sudo cp /etc/gnump3d/gnump3d.conf /etc/gnump3d/gnump3d.conf_backup

There are few things that need to be changed in the config file; set the root directory that your music is located in, the user name, access port and restrict access by IPs (and/or also create a password file in the music directory).

We’ll need root privileges to edit the config file so start kwrite with the following command in konsole:

kdesu kwrite /etc/gnump3d/gnump3d.conf

Find and replace the following in the config file:

root = /home/mp3 [replace /home/mp3 with the correct path for your music directory]

user = gnump3d [replace gnump3d with user that owns the music files]

<optional> port = 8888 [Replace 8888 with any port you wish]

<optional> allowed_clients = all [Replace all with the IP address or Ranges you wish to restrict access to]

The server needs to be restarted for the changes to take effect, issue the following command in konsole:

sudo /etc/init.d/gnump3d restart

<optional> Create a password file in the music directory named .password using the following format username:password example: gnump3d:music [note: the password file has to be readable to the user the server is running as]. Once the password file is set, users will be required to enter the user name and password to access the web interface. The user name, password will not be required to play any of the m3u once they’re downloaded.

The last thing we’ll need to do, is to allow lan traffic thru the designated port in shorewall. [ add 8888/tcp to other ports under the advance section of the firewall setup in the Control Center] No other action is required assuming we aren’t allowing wan access; if that is desired; port forward the designated port in your router.

Enjoy Streaming your tunes ;-)

Screenshots:

Now Playing

Browse By Tag

Music Tab

Search Results

Streaming to Amarok

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Licence.

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Tags: GNUMP3d, Howto, Linux, Music, Streaming, Apps, Software, FOSS, Open Source

Quick and easy way of setting up sudo in Mandriva. Enter the following in konsole – substituting your login name in the third line instead of name:

su

urpmi sudo

Once installed enter the following:

echo ‘name ALL=(ALL) ALL’ >> /etc/sudoers

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Tags: mandriva, linux, sudo, sudoer, howto

Both Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are available from Project Gutenberg as text or html. I’ve converted those documents into PDFs (with Chapter Bookmarks) using OpenOffice for easier reading and better portability.

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

More eBooks coming in the coming months

If you have a request leave a comment below and I’ll add it to my to do list.

Happy Reading :-)

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Tags: eBooks, Jane Austen, PDF, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Project Gutenberg

Both The World of the Worlds and The Island of Doctor Moreau are available from Project Gutenberg as text or html. I’ve converted those documents into PDFs (with Chapter Bookmarks) using OpenOffice for easier reading and better portability.

The World of the Worlds – H.G. Wells

The Island of Doctor Moreau – H.G. Wells

Next weeks eBooks will feature Jane Austin.

If you have a request leave a comment below and I’ll add it to my to do list.

Happy Reading :-)

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Tags: eBooks, H.G.Wells, PDF, The World of the Worlds, The Island of Doctor Moreau, Project Gutenberg

Both Animal Farm and 1984 are available from Project Gutenberg as text or html. I’ve converted those documents into PDFs (with Chapter Bookmarks) using OpenOffice for easier reading and better portability.

Animal Farm – Orwell

1984 – Orwell

Next weeks eBooks will feature H.G. Wells.

If you have a request leave a comment below and I’ll add it to my to do list.

Happy Reading

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Tags: 1984, Animal Farm, eBooks, George Orwell, PDF, Project Gutenberg