ERROR: YUM -- Unfinished Transactions Remaining..

Linux is not perfect. Chances are when installing packages from repositories, some error will show up -- more commonly the conflict between packages. This prevents the install or update of the packages due to the conflicts. On rare occassions, there would be times when yum may...

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TIP: Taking Advantage of Virtual Hot Add Technology

As a system administrator, I could say virtualization is one of the best things that happened since sliced bread. This of course is in terms of utilization and the thin provisioning mechanism it entails. What usually happens is that, the guest operating system is tricked into...

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ERROR: TOO MANY USER/GDI objects are being used..

Multi-tasking is a function of the computer.. Humans (to a certain degree) are not capable of multi-tasking. It was handed a "busted" verdict when a subject was made to drive while being on the phone on an interview on the show Mythbusters. The subject miserably failed. Studies...

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TIP: PHP Install/Upgrade "Sanity Check"

I used to be a meticulous configure, compile and make installer of packages -- the old school Linux way of doing things. I customize to take advantage of the CPU optimizations to squeeze every bit of performance from the processor and any of the available resources the server has. And usually, the source is more updated than the pre-packaged binaries...

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TIP: Linux Virtual Machine Performance Tweaks

The advent of virtualization, changed many rules of technology -- what may apply to the physical world could be detrimental to its virtual equivalent. This is likewise true in terms of performance. Optimizing the performance of one virtual machine impacts the performance of...

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FAQ: Cloned Linux Virtual Machine with Boot Errors

Q. While working on a few cloned RHEL virtual machines just a few days ago, I encountered a weird error that almost stopped me dead on my tracks. I was expecting the tasks to be a breeze since cloning via virtual machine templates is as easy as click, click, click. As it turned...

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HOW-TO: Migrate Sickbeard to its Bricky Fork

The demise and take down of most Usenet premium providers left most of its followers with lesser and lesser options by the day. Not only its followers feel the grunt as a result, but its service dependent software as well. One of the end services I use myself is Sickbeard. Sickbeard...

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INFO: RHEL Cluster -- Luci Installation Error

I have had the chance of administering and maintaining several implementations of Red Hat Cluster, but I never really had the chance to build one from scratch. So a chance presented itself recently and I bumped into several unforgettable experiences along the way. It roused my inquisitive nature and fruitful learnings were gleaned off the obstacles....

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INFO: Plants VS Zombies 2 FREE!

Were you addicted to "Plants vs Zombies"? Or are you aware that it even exists? If this is the first time you have heard about it, it's about time as the game is free. The game could be downloaded off the apple store for free! The screenshot below will tell you that I'm not...

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HOW-TO: Monitor Hard Drive Health

If there is one thing I know for sure as a system administrator -- it is disaster strikes when you least expect it. This is true for just about every aspect of the sysad job. But this is likewise very true for life outside the professional arena. Your computer can have a disaster...

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HOW-TO: Kill Zombie Processes with Parent ID (PID) of 1

As a system administrator, we are often briefed on the careful use of the "kill" command. Indeed to use this command, you need to know what you're doing.. you really really need to know what you're doing. Seasoned system administrators would often talk about the first time they used this command and the racing heart rate before hitting the execute...

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INFO: NetApp iSCSI to VMware Virtual Infrastructure

iSCSI, the implementation of the SCSI protocol over internet packets, is one of the cheapest (if not the cheapest) forms of connectivity to an external storage. It is a form of transmitting data from host to storage, and back, over the IP network. It is cheap since putting up...

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HOW-TO: Prep Work for Linux P2V (Physical to Virtual)

Virtualization is the technology trend that is "in" nowadays. It is debatable whether the money you save in hardware costs (and other variable costs) can equate or best the savings of whatever virtualization technology deployed or implemented. But that is beyond the point of...

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INFO: Root Backdoor to VMware ESXi Host

Administering the virtual infrastructure has been the focus of my administrative tasks as of late. It has been a challenge learning and understanding the technology at first. It comes with the same set of rules that govern physical machines, as well as extended technology (and imagination) -- really giving meaning to the acronym elastic sky x (or ESX)....

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