ThinkBlog

I “upgraded” the webserver one last time on a major scale tonight. I’ve been working for the past few days (well, since the eighth, my last post) on migrating all the data from databases and webpages over to my newly-installed and upgraded Red Hat Linux 9.0 server. That’s running in my old Penguin full tower case, in my closet, with ethernet cables snaking around the bases of my walls from the den (the room where my Windows box, cable modem, and five-port hub sit atop one another in ascending order). Only two fans in the case right now though, and only one of those is an exhaust fan, so I downclocked it back to 466MHz for the time being. As such, I modified the front page to only show the past seven (7) posts, but have added a calendar and pagination function via the upgrade from b2 to b2evolution. I learned (quickly) how to set up Apache server and MySQL on Linux. For future reference, the trickiest part about that is setting up the root user with the mysql command:

# mysql -a root
mysql> SET PASSWORD FOR root@localhost=PASSWORD(’the_password_you_want’);

I’d forgotten this and it took me a solid hour to find it in the man pages. Goodness! Migration from b2 to b2evo was a snap as far as databases go, though, needing only to copy the folder from C:\mysql\data\* (on my WinXPpro box) to /var/lib/mysql/* (on the Linux box). I ran the install scripts but quickly realized it was going to take some serious hand-tweaking to get this to run the way I wanted it to. I had to delete the references to blog.header.php from b2 in my index.php file (the thing you’re looking at right now, yeah, that CSS template I hand tweaked over the course of a week and wasn’t about to toss away, tnx j00) and modify a few other variables. I didn’t discover the back-office (so-called) to the blog interface until after I’d gone in through phpMyAdmin (an EXCELLENT tool—I wouldn’t be using MySQL without it) to edit the appropriate table by hand (in this case, b2evo_blogs. Having gotten the main blog to interface with the MySQL tables and tweaking the permissions (so much chmod’ing through SSH from my WinXP box here folks) so that my counter, statistics, and RSS QOTD would work just so, I then proceeded to hit up the b2evo forums about how to change the format of the Archives and Categories lists; I’ve still not tweaked that to how I want it, but that’ll have to wait until after I get some real work done. Updated the templates for each of the subfolders in the site (”humor,” “mirrors,” and “essays,” thus far) and got the color and CSS settings on the calendar to work just so that it would squeeze into that little space and still be visible (note to self: “font-size: xx-small; font-style: ultra-condensed; font-weight: 100; color: #08C;”). Everything else looks good for now.

Setting up Samba was exceedingly difficult; the catch seemed to be in the “Local Security Policy” under Administrative Tools. Until I tweaked many of those settings, smbclient wouldn’t connect to my WinXP shares (this SMB setup is only enabled internally—nono 31337 hax0rz, kk?), and until I set “smbpasswd -a mike” via commandline on Linux, the Windows server acted like it had gotten slapped in the face every time it tried to connect. Ugh. But it’s so worth it: seamless integration, I can edit the website remotely through a locally mapped network drive, and download files through the firewall/server to my Windows box transparently. Now, that’s networking.

Having completed all that on the server-side, I shut down Apache and uninstalled—yes, uninstalled! ::gasp::—MySQL on the Windows box, then did a “regsvr /u iconv.dll” from Start -> Run… to be able to delete [C:\WINDOWS\System32\iconv.dll]. Why is that significant?

This is the whole point! All of it comes down to this! Check out this sequencing.
I bought a bunch of new Antec blue LED 80mm case fans to cool my new case because, well, I had a new case. This gave me the bright idea that I could eliminate noise by replacing my 6000RPM 60mm CPU fan with an 80mm case fan using an 80-to-60 adapter (c.f., the adapter by PC Toys), so I did that, which gave me the bright idea that I should go ahead and just overclock my machine now that I could safely and quietly. So now it’s running like an Athlon XP 1800+. The primary reason, the best reason I could see, for putting the new(er) Windows machine in a new case is so I could put the Linux stuff that had been previously retired to good use in the huge tower that’s very cumbersome to carry about (to Columbia and back, for instance). Even if I didn’t migrate cases, I would still want the mobility, and if the webserver were on a non-stationary system, well, that just wouldn’t work too well for those midnight blog-desires. Or something. AND!—upgrading systems gave me the perfect excuse to upgrade blog supporting web-ware! So I did. So if I’m going to move cases to have two machines, I need to reduce noise and heat by placing at least one out of sight and earshot; what better dampening place than my closet? (Especially with the winter months coming up, free cooling even when the rest of the place is toasty!) Hence, I went out and bought and learned how to use a Radio Shack crimper (thanks go to Jeff for the suggestion of where to buy), and crimped myself a couple of long CAT-5e cables from the leftovers my previous roommate donated to me from his previous job (thanks PJ!). Setting up this stationary, solitary, separate, firewalled server allowed me to migrate the entire webserver away from my Windows box onto something more stable. This, in turn, allowed me to shut down the Apache and MySQL services on this Windows box, which again, let me uninstall MySQL from my system. And that’s almost the end of the whole thing.

I uninstalled MySQL for one simple reason: that one little ~850KB file, iconv.dll. That’s it. That’s the only real reason. All the other stuff just kind of came along for the ride, because it seemed like the next logical step. But the reason I bought a new case, new crimper and RJ-45 terminators, new case fans, 80-60 adapter; the reason I crimped the wires, overclocked the machine, set up Samba, set up Apache & MySQL & b2evo, the reason I upgraded the blog, the reason I ended up rearranging and cleaning up parts of my apartment due to all this shuffling of computer parts—is because of Gaim.

That’s right. Gaim. The best instant messenger client available on the net. MySQL installs on its Windows servers a certain iconv.dll, which conflicts with the GTK+ 2.0 for Win32 iconv.dll, which is not installed in the %SystemRoot% directory (so it basically gets pre-empted). Well, without the use of this particular GTK+ 2.0-supplied iconv.dll, Gaim won’t run. Read about the bug report I filed on SF here. So it began, those two or three weeks ago … and it ends with a happily upgraded and overclocked two systems that are both running better than before. All because of Gaim. So! Don’t ever let anyone tell you that it’s not the best IM client out there!

Or, maybe I just need not be so über-OCD. Ah well. It’s all good fun. Now I just have to buckle down and focus full-heartedly on school and extracurricular mess, since I’ve been dividing my time so irresponsibly.

Uh, did I mention I just ordered an unlocking kit … ?

I “upgraded” the webserver one last time on a major scale tonight. I’ve been working for the past few days (well, since the eighth, my last post) on migrating all the data from databases and webpages over to my newly-installed and upgraded Red Hat Linux 9.0 server. That’s running in my old Penguin full tower case, in my closet, with ethernet cables snaking around the bases of my walls from the den (the room where my Windows box, cable modem, and five-port hub sit atop one another in ascending order). Only two fans in the case right now though, and only one of those is an exhaust fan, so I downclocked it back to 466MHz for the time being. As such, I modified the front page to only show the past seven (7) posts, but have added a calendar and pagination function via the upgrade from b2 to b2evolution. I learned (quickly) how to set up Apache server and MySQL on Linux. For future reference, the trickiest part about that is setting up the root user with the mysql command:

# mysql -a root
mysql> SET PASSWORD FOR root@localhost=PASSWORD(’the_password_you_want’);

I’d forgotten this and it took me a solid hour to find it in the man pages. Goodness! Migration from b2 to b2evo was a snap as far as databases go, though, needing only to copy the folder from C:\mysql\data\* (on my WinXPpro box) to /var/lib/mysql/* (on the Linux box). I ran the install scripts but quickly realized it was going to take some serious hand-tweaking to get this to run the way I wanted it to. I had to delete the references to blog.header.php from b2 in my index.php file (the thing you’re looking at right now, yeah, that CSS template I hand tweaked over the course of a week and wasn’t about to toss away, tnx j00) and modify a few other variables. I didn’t discover the back-office (so-called) to the blog interface until after I’d gone in through phpMyAdmin (an EXCELLENT tool—I wouldn’t be using MySQL without it) to edit the appropriate table by hand (in this case, b2evo_blogs. Having gotten the main blog to interface with the MySQL tables and tweaking the permissions (so much chmod’ing through SSH from my WinXP box here folks) so that my counter, statistics, and RSS QOTD would work just so, I then proceeded to hit up the b2evo forums about how to change the format of the Archives and Categories lists; I’ve still not tweaked that to how I want it, but that’ll have to wait until after I get some real work done. Updated the templates for each of the subfolders in the site (”humor,” “mirrors,” and “essays,” thus far) and got the color and CSS settings on the calendar to work just so that it would squeeze into that little space and still be visible (note to self: “font-size: xx-small; font-style: ultra-condensed; font-weight: 100; color: #08C;”). Everything else looks good for now.

Setting up Samba was exceedingly difficult; the catch seemed to be in the “Local Security Policy” under Administrative Tools. Until I tweaked many of those settings, smbclient wouldn’t connect to my WinXP shares (this SMB setup is only enabled internally—nono 31337 hax0rz, kk?), and until I set “smbpasswd -a mike” via commandline on Linux, the Windows server acted like it had gotten slapped in the face every time it tried to connect. Ugh. But it’s so worth it: seamless integration, I can edit the website remotely through a locally mapped network drive, and download files through the firewall/server to my Windows box transparently. Now, that’s networking.

Having completed all that on the server-side, I shut down Apache and uninstalled—yes, uninstalled! ::gasp::—MySQL on the Windows box, then did a “regsvr /u iconv.dll” from Start -> Run… to be able to delete [C:\WINDOWS\System32\iconv.dll]. Why is that significant?

This is the whole point! All of it comes down to this! Check out this sequencing.
I bought a bunch of new Antec blue LED 80mm case fans to cool my new case because, well, I had a new case. This gave me the bright idea that I could eliminate noise by replacing my 6000RPM 60mm CPU fan with an 80mm case fan using an 80-to-60 adapter (c.f., the adapter by PC Toys), so I did that, which gave me the bright idea that I should go ahead and just overclock my machine now that I could safely and quietly. So now it’s running like an Athlon XP 1800+. The primary reason, the best reason I could see, for putting the new(er) Windows machine in a new case is so I could put the Linux stuff that had been previously retired to good use in the huge tower that’s very cumbersome to carry about (to Columbia and back, for instance). Even if I didn’t migrate cases, I would still want the mobility, and if the webserver were on a non-stationary system, well, that just wouldn’t work too well for those midnight blog-desires. Or something. AND!—upgrading systems gave me the perfect excuse to upgrade blog supporting web-ware! So I did. So if I’m going to move cases to have two machines, I need to reduce noise and heat by placing at least one out of sight and earshot; what better dampening place than my closet? (Especially with the winter months coming up, free cooling even when the rest of the place is toasty!) Hence, I went out and bought and learned how to use a Radio Shack crimper (thanks go to Jeff for the suggestion of where to buy), and crimped myself a couple of long CAT-5e cables from the leftovers my previous roommate donated to me from his previous job (thanks PJ!). Setting up this stationary, solitary, separate, firewalled server allowed me to migrate the entire webserver away from my Windows box onto something more stable. This, in turn, allowed me to shut down the Apache and MySQL services on this Windows box, which again, let me uninstall MySQL from my system. And that’s almost the end of the whole thing.

I uninstalled MySQL for one simple reason: that one little ~850KB file, iconv.dll. That’s it. That’s the only real reason. All the other stuff just kind of came along for the ride, because it seemed like the next logical step. But the reason I bought a new case, new crimper and RJ-45 terminators, new case fans, 80-60 adapter; the reason I crimped the wires, overclocked the machine, set up Samba, set up Apache & MySQL & b2evo, the reason I upgraded the blog, the reason I ended up rearranging and cleaning up parts of my apartment due to all this shuffling of computer parts—is because of Gaim.

That’s right. Gaim. The best instant messenger client available on the net. MySQL installs on its Windows servers a certain iconv.dll, which conflicts with the GTK+ 2.0 for Win32 iconv.dll, which is not installed in the %SystemRoot% directory (so it basically gets pre-empted). Well, without the use of this particular GTK+ 2.0-supplied iconv.dll, Gaim won’t run. Read about the bug report I filed on SF here. So it began, those two or three weeks ago … and it ends with a happily upgraded and overclocked two systems that are both running better than before. All because of Gaim. So! Don’t ever let anyone tell you that it’s not the best IM client out there!

Or, maybe I just need not be so über-OCD. Ah well. It’s all good fun. Now I just have to buckle down and focus full-heartedly on school and extracurricular mess, since I’ve been dividing my time so irresponsibly.

Uh, did I mention I just ordered an unlocking kit … ?