Tech Tidbits

Started getting this error on my Apache server after updating some css/php pages with some errant program. Still have not found which program was causing the error, but big as life, this was in the code for a multitude of pages…

<code><link href=”*” rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css”></code>

I was looking everywhere for what could be causing the error. Even tried moving html and php pages over from other sites that were not showing the error in the Apache error log. They seemed to work, so then the fact that it kept referring to “can’t map something to a file” got me started looking line by line for all file references.

Seems that the upgrade for the server has been on my list for at least a year. Finally got around to this as a heavy load for web service is about to arrive again. After finding a new motherboard for my desktop, which let me move to a quad processor machine running Windows 7, my next stop was to replace the power hungry server that was running web and mail services for several domains.

My initial plan was to take the old motherboard from my desktop and use that, but the server software would not install – period! Even tried all the tweaks that the OS/2 User Group could come up with. That was going to be a 2.4Ghz machine with 1.5G of memory. Alas, that was not going to work.

Tried an older motherboard that we had used in my classroom, but just could not get that speed demon out of my mind. Finally, at the nudging of my OS/2 buddies, decided to run everything on a variant of OS/2 called “eComstation” or “eCS” on that fast motherboard. The software was sitting here, since I changed my desktop from eCS to Windows XP, so it wasn’t like having to buy some software. eCS has all the same services, except for the actual “server” software, but would run all the applications needed for the web and mail services.

Sure glad I decided to get some mind-melding from the OS/2 community, because I was on my way to a box that probably would have been slower than what it replaced.

After the install, updates and necessary testing, “warp2″ is on line serving web pages and sending and receiving emails. Hopefully the electricity bill will show an almost immediate drop.

Welcome to warp2!

Copying everything over almost works!

Weasel by Peter Moylan works and works well in the OS/2 world, but after ‘xcopying’ everything from the old server to the new would not work. Changed the router to point all traffic to the new server, and incoming mail worked like a charm. The same could not be said for retrieving mail.

Got down to doing the telnet thing [telnet xxx.yyy.zzz.aaa 110] and attempting a login to see if there was any mail. It failed every time, and it did not matter what account or domain I was using.

Found It!

The answer is that you have to allow the local address(es) (after all, I was attempting to retrieve email from a local machine) that Weasel will talk to. Now that I have this resolved, time to let it run out of the rack for a day, then BAM! and shutdown the old energy hog.

Found this note in the “Readme” for MPTS…
Occasionally, the MPTS configuration utility won’t let you reconfigure (open MPTS) due to Locked Files.

The following message will appear:

You have re-installed MPTS. Locked files will not allow you to start MPTS.
You must exit MPTS, shutdown, and restart your workstation before you can start MPTS.

Chances are, that if you got the message, and have not re-installed MPTS, then what you have to do is rename or delete the file IBMLANLK.LST, found in the \OS2\INSTALL directory on the boot drive (I prefer the rename option, which would let me get back to the original condition). Once you have renamed the file, you will be able to start MPTS. DON’T delete this file if you have re-installed MPTS and haven’t gotten around to doing a shutdown and boot on the same boot drive.

Tired of having to “Load Images” or accept images from a site? There is a solution that is not very hard to implement. The following procedure will accept or display all remote images by default. Follow the steps exactly to avoid damaging your Thunderbird configuration. Selecting the wrong entry to edit could make a total mess of your Thunderbird.

1. Open Thunderbird
2. Select the Tools dropdown menu at top of screen
3. Select Options
4. At the top of the Options window, select Advanced
5. Select Config Editor which will take you to an about:Config window
6. In the “Filter:” box, type mailnews which will filter the file and give you all the lines that have “mailnews” in them
7. Scroll down to the line that says mailnews.message_display.disable_remote_image
8. Click on (highlight) that line
9. Observe that the value for this Preference Name is “true”, which means that remote images are disabled
10. Double-click the line to change the value OR right-click and select “Toggle”
11. Verify that value is now “false”, which means that the display is NOT disabled
12. Close the about:Config window
13. Close the Options window
14. Restart Thunderbird

The next time an email with remote images is in your inbox, there won’t be that little question at the top of the email asking “Load Images” or “Check here to always load…” After you know this is working, you might want to go through your Address Book and clear out all those entries you no longer need, especially if you put them in your Personal Address Book (which is where they went by default). It was possible to create a new Address Book, and rather than clicking on the “Check here to always…” line, if you right-clicked, you got a popup window, with a dropdown where you could select the Address Book that would be used.

No, I’m not talking about your mental state. It’s just that an article in eWeek got my interest, when they posted the top 10 certifications for IT people. You can read the full article in eWeek here, but what follows is my review of what’s hot to have.

1. PMP (Project Management Professional) from Project Management Institute – Shows knowledge and skills to manage projects to conclusion, on-time, on-budget and with the resources available
2. MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) from Microsoft (of course) – All about showing you have skills in implementation, design and admin of Windows 20XX Server and other MS server technologies.
3. A+ from CompTIA (this is not a grade, but an actual certification) – Shows that you have vendor-neutral tech support skills for installing networks and conducting maintenance and troubleshooting.
4. CNAA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) from Cisco – This certification shows that you have skills in the installation, configuration, network protocola, wireless, security and in troubleshooting medium-size networks, both routed and switched.
5. MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) – Shows that you have a wide range of expertise and skills using Microsoft technologies.
6. Network+ from CompTIA – Another vendor-neutral certification that shows you have competency in the management, maintenance, troubleshooting, installation and configuration of basic network infrastructures.
7. CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) from ISC (International Informaiton Systems Security Certification Consortium) – Shows that you have a common body of knowledge in comprehensive systems security.
8. MCSA (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator) from Microsoft – Shows that you have demonstrated expertise in MS systems, troubleshooting networks in Windows Server environments.
9. ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) from the ITIL Certification Management Board – Shows that you have knowledge of IT operational best practices, with three tiers of ITIL available.
10. Security+ from CompTIA – Shows demonstrated knowledge of system security, network infrastructures, access control processes and organizational security procedures.

There you have it. If you check out the entire article, you will find out how many job openings there happen to be as of March 13, 2010. There was also a companion article in channelinsider that covered “Tech Certifications That Pay the Best Salary.” You might be surprised!