This is a HOWTO for installing Logger, a Linux-based logging utility, and taking control of your system logs. System logs can be overwhelming and are most often overlooked; many users simply do not know what to do with them or how to maintain them. Log maintenance can be a daunting task, especially if Web or mail server applications are also involved in the maintenance schedule. My goal here is to provide a simple methodology that anyone running Linux can use.

Have you ever dreamt about booting Linux in less than one minute? Now this dream can come true: in less than 40 seconds after pressing the power button, you will have a perfect fully-functional operating system, exactly as you left the last session. Even better than you thought, right? Now you could say: "Crazy boy - I don't believe you!" Well then, check it out for yourself.

In this article, I describe a simple rule-based DoS attack-prevention shell script. However, the proposed shell script is not a perfect tool for preventing DoS attacks, but a powerful tool for alleviating DoS attacks overheads of the Linux servers significantly.

“Everything is a file in Linux” is an oft repeated statement. What this basically implies is that all the devices (Hard disks,CD ROMs, Floppy Disks, USB Sticks,etc) are all treated as files. Just to explain this a bit more ,let us consider the C function write(f,&buf,len) . You must have used this function to write len bytes of data contained in buf to a file whose File Descriptor is given by f. Linux allows you to use the same function to write to a floppy (in the simplest of cases) as well. This is because everything capable of input and output is treated as a file in Linux. This is one of the two major abstractions in Linux, the other being a Process.

The MySQL database is unique in that it offers multiple storage engines. The SQL parser and front end interfaces are separate from the storage engines. This lets you choose the low level table format that suits your application best.

If you need a solution to control email relaying, a program called Exact may be just what you need. Exact stands for EXperimental Access Control Thing. It is a POP-before-SMTP daemon that integrates with most email systems. Before getting into the details of setup and configuration, it is worth spending a little time discussing the somewhat esoteric problem it solves.

Did you know that a freshly installed Linux server can be hardened in less than 10 minutes? Here’s how!

FreeNAS, an open source NAS server, can convert a PC into a network-attached storage server. The software, which is based on FreeBSD, Samba, and PHP, includes an operating system that supports various software RAID models and a Web user interface. The server supports access from Windows machines, Apple Macs, FTP, SSH, and Network File System (NFS), and it takes up less than 16MB of disk space on a hard drive or removable media.

This article is an introduction to the installation and deployment of Ruby on Rails.

The Web site hosting business has become more competitive in recent years. If you can find a better hosting deal, you may be able to save money by switching hosting providers. But what's the best way to move your Web site? What if you have a virtual private server (VPS) hosting several domains? What about PHP and your SQL data? The thought of moving may be daunting, but moving servers is not difficult if you plan properly. Here's how.

The ubiquitous Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python (LAMP) combination
powers many interactive web sites and projects. When demand exceeds the
capabilities of a single server, the database is typically moved to a different
server to spread the workload. When demand exceeds a two server solution, it's
time to think cluster.

This tutorial really should be titled "How to get your
Debian server off the ground as quickly as possible", since it's based on
minimal Debian Linux (stable) install.

Here you'll be able to get your box secured very quickly, and then get the
services running with minimum hassle and pain.

These instructions assume an i386 to i686 system (32 bit) with, an "always on" LAN or broadband connection configured "DHCP" and at least 10 GB of free disk space for the Fedora partition. Instructions for dual booting Windows and Fedora are included.

These instructions assume an i386 to i686 system (32 bit) with, an "always on" LAN or broadband connection configured "DHCP" and at least 10 GB of free disk space for the Fedora partition. Instructions for dual booting Windows and Fedora are included as well as as a section on setting up an nVidia GeForce graphics card. For the most part the steps should be followed in the order that they were written as certain programs should be installed and certain configurations made in order to facilitate later steps. However after the base installation is complete additional user selected program installations are, of course, optional.

I receive a great deal of mail as a result of this HOWTO, much of it asking me to solve various LAMP-related problems. Please bear in mind that the money that puts food on my family's table comes from the consultancy work that I do. If you would like help with any of the points discussed in this article, mail me and tell me what that help is worth to you. Quote any amount you like, and if I'm able to help you out, you can make a PayPal donation by way of thanks. Fair enough?