inside the mind of a linux admin

synergy: How to enable crypto (encryption) and generate SSL certificate

The newer Linux versions of the popular mouse/keyboard sharing application “synergy” now has built in encryption. Here’s how to configure it: Just simply passing the –enable-crypto flag on your synergy server without having a proper SSL certificate will result in the inability to connect to clients and generate an error message similar to this in […]

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Change Number Pad Delete (dot) key from a comma in Ubuntu Linux

I recently purchased a new keyboard and updated to the latest Ubuntu, I’m also an avid user of the number pad for quick input when dealing with spreadsheets or accounting. I found that my num pad’s delete key (“.”) was outputting a comma (“,”) instead. Pretty annoying? I agree, but this can be very easily […]

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How to revert back to X11 / Xorg from Wayland

Wayland is intended as a “simpler replacement for X”, and is getting quite a bit of hype around the Linux community. So much so, that it’s the default in the latest versions of Fedora, GNOME, KDE and others. While Wayland may be the future, it really is in future. At least for Ubuntu 17.10. The […]

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Touchpad stops working after sleep + resume (Fedora 26 on Dell XPS)

After recently upgrading my Dell XPS 13 w/Touchscreen to Fedora 26, the touchpad suddenly stopped working upon resuming from sleep mode. It was reproduced 100% of the time, and required a complete restart in order to get the touchpad working again. There have been several forum posts and bug reports regarding others experiencing these exact […]

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Fun with fsck on Fedora – avoiding mounted partitions and handling LUKS encrypted ones

I run Fedora on a few of my machines, and inevitably over the course of time the filesystem will need to be repaired because of orphaned inodes, wrong free byte counts, etc. Typically when EXT4 errors are detected during boot, Fedora will detect this and offer to drop you into “Emergency mode” or continue. example: […]

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How to install CSF Firewall on CentOS 7

ConfigServer (CSF) is advanced open-source firewall for Linux. If you are like me, I don’t really care much for the native firewalld that’s included with RHEL7 releases, and I’ve used APF for years which is basically just a frontend for iptables. Here’s instructions on how to install it: 1. Disable firewalld systemctl stop firewalld systemctl […]

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ScreenCloud: Troubleshooting missing Python modules after updates

One of my favorite tools that I find myself using quite often is called “ScreenCloud“. It allows you to quickly select any area of your workspace, create an sized screen shot, and then upload it or export it off to their server, your Dropbox account or an SFTP server. If you’ve recently performed upgrades, either […]

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Optimizing a previously large and bloated git repository

In a déjà vu scenario of a previous blog post I authored in 2012 called Source control != File System, I ranted about why binaries do not have any place in a source controlled repository. Fast forward nearly 4 years later, and I’ve once again encountered a repository that was filled with network device firmware […]

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mod_python failing to compile due to bug in connobject.c

I recently recompiled PHP on a server I own to upgrade it to the latest version. This particular server runs cPanel, which usually makes this otherwise tedious process much simpler. However, when recompiling mod_python it errors out with this message: touch connobject.slo connobject.c: In function '_conn_read': connobject.c:142: error: request for member 'next' in something not […]

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My Lenovo laptop thinks the pipe key is a > character

So, those that know me know I have a few laptops. I’m no stranger to technology. Imagine my chagrin when I try piping a linux command to grep and my output comes out like so: ps uawx > grep X I know that the ps command thinks it is superior to grep, but seriously. WTF […]

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