Cron Job Reminders

Lately I have found that I need a better system of reminding myself about time sensitive tasks. So after some searching and testing, I have found this solution. The solution is a Cron Job with the notify-send tool. This is particularly useful using Gnome 3.

First run the command crontab -e to in a terminal to edit your cron jobs.

You should now be using VI to edit your Cron Jobs.

Press i you are now in insert mode

Then add a line similar to the one below.

0-30/10 13 * * 1-5 DISPLAY=:0.0 notify-send Test “Hello”

The above line adds a notification entitled Test with the message Hello.  It also starts notifying you ever 10 minutes from 1:00PM to 1:30PM daily.  Just delete the line if you do not want it to continue.

Then save and exit, your VI session. Press Esc then type :wq and press Enter.

SSH Tunnel

The other day I came across the need to setup an SSH Tunnel for remote management.  The idea of using an SSH tunnel is that the data going through the tunnel is encrypted.  So an extra layer of security.

This post assumes you know how to do basic networking, setup an ssh server, and reasonable computer skills.

First step is to setup an SSH server within the network you want to tunnel into.

Second allow for the SSH server to be connected to from the outside.

Now the fun begins:

Get outside of your network.

Install an ssh client

Now lets pretend you want to tunnel in and connect to your internal web server.

In a terminal window type the below command.

ssh -L 80:internalwebserver:80 -l username sshserver

Once you enter your password, go to your web browser and go to http://localhost

You should have been directed to your internal web server.

Congratulations you have setup your first successful SSH Tunnel.

Grub 2 Set Default Boot Option

Here is something I found the need to do the other day.  I needed to change the default option on my grub 2 setup.

First you will need to know the menu item title you want to set grub 2 to boot to.

Open the /etc/grub2.cfg file to get a look at your grub menu items.

su -c 'vi /etc/grub2.cfg'

Do not make changes.

Look for entries like the line below…

menuentry 'Fedora Linux, with Linux 3.1.6-1.fc16.x86_64' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {

The 'Fedora Linux, with Linux 3.1.6-1.fc16.x86_64' is an example of a menu item title.

Now copy the menu item title you want grub 2 to use as the default, and use it in the command below.

su -c 'grub2-set-default "menu title item"'

or as an example

su -c 'grub2-set-default "Fedora Linux, with Linux 3.1.6-1.fc16.x86_64"'

Now restart and it should boot to the menu option you chose.

Basket on Fedora Core 16

Getting BasKet Note Pads installed on a build of Fedora Core 16 seemed impossible at first and then I found an rpm package for it.  Below is a link to that rpm package.  Just run it and go through the install motions.

http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/epel/5/i386/basket-1.0.3.1-8.el5.i386.rpm

Syncing Google Calendar with Gnome 3 Calendar

I have been using Gnome 3 for a bit now and while I like the look of the calendar, it seemed to be missing an important feature, import my Google calendar. After doing some looking I found an easy way to do this. I have listed the steps I took below.

Note: My current distro is OpenSuse 12.1

Step 1. Open Evolution(No, it doesn’t need to stay open)

Step 2. Open the Calendar Section

Step 3. Click File –> New –> Calendar

Step 4. At New Calendar menu set Google as the type.

Step 5. Fill out the rest of New Calendar accordingly(example below)

Step 6. Click Retrieve List and pick the calendar you want(you will be asked for Google password)

Step 7. Change Refresh time to something reasonable and click Apply.

Step 8. Close evolution, you will no longer need it.

Enjoy

Linux Turn Off System Bell

I spent some time working at the console of my linux machine and not to long in I about went crazy with the beeping.  I tab the wrong command, or backspace one too many times and BEEP!  Anyways, below is a way I found that does not require a reboot.  The below command sets the length of the beep or system bell to 0.  So no beep.

setterm -blength 0

OpenSuse 12.1 Remove Google Chrome Repository

I have to say I am a fan of Google Chrome as a web browser, but I am not a fan of it adding an invalid repository on my OpenSuse machine.  I get tired of seeing this error: “Repository ‘google-chrome’ is invalid.“.  So I went ahead and removed the repository.  Below I listed a quick how-to on the process.  It is pretty simple.

Remove Google Chrome Repository

1. Open Terminal and become root(be careful)
     su -
2. List your repositories (looking for google-chrome)
     zypper repos
3. Remove the Google Chrome repository
     zypper removerepo google-chrome
4. Insure repository is gone
     zypper repos

VMWare Workstation 8 on OpenSuse 12.1 64bit

First Download VMware Workstation 8.0.1 from VMWware.

Once downloaded open a terminal and switch to root (be careful)
su –

Change directory to the directory containing the installer

Now change permissions on the installer file so that it is executable
chmod 755 VMware-Workstation-Full-8.0.1-528992.x86_64.bundle

Now execute the installer
./VMware-Workstation-Full-8.0.1-528992.x86_64.bundle

Once the installer finishes install gcc, make, and Kernel-Source
zypper install gcc
zypper install make
zypper install kernel-source

Now open VMWare Workstation 8.0.1
(reboot may be needed)

VMWare Workstation 8 on OpenSuse 11.4 64bit

First Download VMware Workstation 8 from VMWware.

Once downloaded open a terminal and switch to root (be careful)
su -

Change directory to the directory containing the installer

Now change permissions on the installer file so that it is executable
chmod 755 VMware-Workstation-Full-8.0.0-471780.x86_64.bundle

Now execute the installer
./VMware-Workstation-Full-8.0.0-471780.x86_64.bundle 

Once the installer finishes install gcc and Kernel-Desktop
zypper install gcc 
zypper install kernel-desktop 

Reboot your computer
Now open VMWare Workstation 8

BackTrack 5 on Samsung Captivate

If you have a Samsung Captivate and you are geeky, putting BackTrack 5 Linux on it is a must.  I have posted a link below on the how-to I used to put it on my Samsung Captivate.  Putting BackTrack on your phone allows you to have a real linux terminal on your phone.  Plus you can do things like “nmap 192.168.1.0/24”.  I warn you though, you are going to need root access and some knowledge about your phone.  Enjoy.

http://www.backtrack-linux.org/forums/backtrack-5-how-tos/40719-installing-bt5-arm-samsung-galaxy-s-captivate.html