Apr 13, 2009

Fix: Slow updates in Ubuntu with a Sonicwall Firewall

While setting up a Ubuntu server, when we went to update, we were hit with painfully slow 4-kilobytes-per-second-updates. You know the feeling like when you're on freeway, but some slow cars just seem to block all the lanes. Yeah, ya feel us.

Turns out it was all in Sonicwall's Anti-spyware security services. The firewall was scanning every single bit sent through the network resulting in stomach wrenching slowness.

Solution:
Temporarily disable the Anti-spyware app for the IP of the host you're working on. If your host is 192.168.18.111, then add this IP to the exlusion list of your firewall and all should be fast again.

Quick tip:
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-select-fastest-mirror-in-ubuntu.html
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How to: Get Vmware Server for FREE & Install to Ubuntu 8.04

This post was quoted from Ubuntu's Documentation:

Ubuntu 8.04 (VMWare Server 2.0.0 Build 116503)

You can download it at http://www.vmware.com/go/getserver

  1. Get a serial number (displayed at the download page link received by email as part of the registration process)
  2. Download the tar.gz file
  3. Install the build package
  4. sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r`
  5. Unzip
  1. sudo ./vmware-install.pl
  2. Follow the settings displayed at your screen and don't change default values if not necessary. Be sure to add your normal username as VMware Server administrator

  3. Enter the serial number when prompted
  4. Vmware2 has a web interface. Browse with Firefox to http://localhost:8222.

  5. Log in with your normal username and password
Note: You can also access the web interface via SSL at https://localhost:8333. You will probably need to add this site to your SSL Exception sites on your browser.
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Apr 9, 2009

How to: Install Internet Explorer 6 without Internet

Today, I needed to install Adobe Acrobat 9 Lite, which requires IE6, on an offline Windows 2k machine. My catch 22 was that I had a machine without internet access and Microsoft does not let users, nor IT pros, fully download and install IE6. No IE 6 = no Acrobat for me. Luckily, there was a way around this, and by adding a few commands, we can have a fully distributable IE6 install.

  1. Go to your internet enabled machine
  2. Download the IE6 install file to c:\
  3. Type in Run (KEEP THE QUOTES)
  4. "c:\ie6setup.exe" /c:"ie6wzd.exe /d /s:""#E"
  5. Choose your OS
  6. Specify a path to download your files
  7. Copy to USB or CD and install on your target machine
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Apr 7, 2009

How to: Schedule Windows XP Shut Down FREE using Task Scheduler

From Microsoft's Website (edited):

To work around this problem, use Task Scheduler to schedule the computer to shut down at a specific time:
  1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Scheduled Tasks.
  3. Double-click Add Scheduled Task. The Scheduled Task Wizard starts.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Under Click the program you want Windows to run, click Browse.
  6. In the Select Program to Schedule dialog box, locate the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder, locate and click the Shutdown.exe file, and then click Open.
  7. Under Perform this task, specify a name for the task and how frequently you want this task to run, and then click Next.
  8. Under Select the time and day you want this task to start, specify a start time and date for the task, and then click Next.
  9. Type the user name and password to run this task under, and then click Next.
  10. Click to select the Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finishcheck box, and then click Finish.
  11. Click the Task tab.
  12. In the Run box, specify any additional parameters that you want to use with Shutdown.exe. To shutdown add the "-s" parameter without quotes. For more options, go into command prompt and type: shutdown.exe /h
  13. Click OK.
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