Learn how to use Cask with Homebrew for easy installation of macOS applications, saving time and simplifying setup processes for your favorite apps.

Cask

I did a clean installation of my laptop this weekend, rather than go through the list of apps I had installed and do a manual installation of each one using the “Download and drag” method I decided to use Cask↗ . Cask is a Homebrew↗ package which automates to the download and install part. Here is pretty much my entire installation process …. Cask 1/1 ruby -e “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/go/install)" brew doctor brew install caskroom/cask/brew-cask brew cask install google-chrome brew cask install dropbox brew cask install google-drive brew cask install sublime-text brew cask install github brew cask install spotify brew cask install libreoffice brew cask install virtualbox brew cask install skype The only downside is that it installs the packages into the users Application directory which set my OCD off, it was quickly remedied though by simply moving the link once I had installed everything I needed. ...

May 26, 2014 · 1 min · Russ Mckendrick
Explore Sysdig, the versatile tool for system-level exploration on Linux, offering insights into server state and activities for troubleshooting and security.

Sysdig

Sysdig↗ looks like it could be a useful addition to a sysadmins list of tools, it is described as; Sysdig is open source, system-level exploration: capture system state and activity from a running Linux instance, then save, filter and analyze. Think of it as strace + tcpdump + lsof + awesome sauce. With a little Lua cherry on top. It’s easy to install↗ …. Sysdig 1/1 curl -s https://s3.amazonaws.com/download.draios.com/stable/install-sysdig | sudo bash …. and even easier to run …. ...

May 25, 2014 · 1 min · Russ Mckendrick
Launching DevOps-SysAdm.in on Tumblr, a curated hub for DevOps and sysadmin resources. Find out why Tumblr was the chosen platform and how to contribute.

DevOps-SysAdm.in

I had registered the domain DevOps-SysAdm.in↗ with the intention of creating a second Jekyll based site which was going to be a link dump for stuff. Instead I decided to use Tumblr↗ as that seemed alot less hassle. So go on, head over & follow↗ . Also, you can submit stuff↗

May 18, 2014 · 1 min · Russ Mckendrick
Highlighting the critical need for server security with personal experiences of port scans and brute-force attacks, and how Fail2Ban provided protection.

Hackers

Since I have been playing with Docker for the past few weeks I have had more servers on-line. I don’t have a static IP address at home so while I have a jump host setup I found I was still being port scanned and brute forced. I only caught a sniff of it in the logs while looking at another problem, even though password authentication is disabled and I only use keys I decided install Fail2Ban↗ to start blocking people, just in-case. As I use Puppet↗ I installed a module and enabled it. Since then I have been flooded with emails !!! ...

May 10, 2014 · 1 min · Russ Mckendrick
Revisiting classic albums from Jellyfish, The Wannadies, and Spacehog, exploring the enduring appeal of these musical gems from my collection.

It’s Been A While

Been listening to some old albums this past week, some I haven’t heard for years, such as …. Jellyfish — Bellybutton↗ The Wannadies — Be a Girl↗ Spacehog — Resident Alien↗ https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:album:6vOmA5zWeFeKvuRBxaO59↗ …. think I will revisit some more this week.

May 5, 2014 · 1 min · Russ Mckendrick
Enhance your Docker experience with Puppet-managed containers, featuring a suite of trusted builds for databases and PHP environments on the Docker Index.

Yet More Docker

Since my last post about Docker I have been playing a lot more, rather than use a GUI like Shipyard↗ I decided to use @garethr’s excellent Puppet Module↗ to manage and deploy my containers. This allowed me to take a better look at the builds I had over at the Docker Index↗ . The following is a list of builds I have deployed so far ….. General Containers Base↗ — Base build for use with other Docker build Jump Host- Build which can be used as a SSH jump host Database Containers MySQL 5.5 — Build which runs MySQL 5.5 MySQL 5.6 — Build which runs MySQL 5.6 PHP Containers Apache & PHP 5.4 — Build which runs Apache with PHP 5.4 Apache & PHP 5.5 — Build which runs Apache with PHP 5.5 NGINX & PHP 5.4 — Build which runs NGINX with PHP 5.4 & PHP-FPM NGINX & PHP 5.5 — Build which runs NGINX with PHP 5.5 & PHP-FPM See the GitHub Repo↗ and my Docker Index Profile↗ for more information. ...

May 4, 2014 · 1 min · Russ Mckendrick
Deploy a stable Docker setup on CentOS with Shipyard for container management, using Puppet for installation and Supervisor for high availability.

Deploying a Stable Docker Setup on CentOS with Shipyard

Been playing with Docker↗ again this weekend, this time rather than just doing for the sake of doing it I went for something a little more stable. I started off by creating a new DigitalOcean↗ droplet with the latest CentOS installed to run as a base. I then installed docker using the Docker Puppet Module↗ . So now I had Docker installed now what? I looked at some PaaS services, a bulk of them require Ubuntu (which I simply don’t do on servers), however Shipyard↗ looked good. It was simple to install; ...

April 27, 2014 · 2 min · Russ Mckendrick
Streamline Magento installations with n98-magerun, a handy command-line tool, for efficient setup and deployment of Magento with sample data.

Quick Magento Installation

As part of work I have to install Magento with its sample data a lot for proof of concepts, while the installation is simple it can quickly become a chore. Because of this I have started to use n98-magerun↗ . It can be installed using the following commands; Quick Magento Installation 1/2 curl -o n98-magerun.phar https://raw.github.com/netz98/n98-magerun/master/n98-magerun.phar chmod +x ./n98-magerun.phar cp ./n98-magerun.phar /usr/local/bin/ n98-magerun.phar self-update Once installed you can do clean installation by running the following command where you would like Magento to be installed; ...

April 19, 2014 · 1 min · Russ Mckendrick