If you’ve enjoyed this blog, please consider picking up a copy of my Ubuntu book, Instant Ubuntu. Thanks for visiting! I recently deployed a new server to host this and my other websites. Because this is a public facing server, part of this deployment includes securing the accessible ports. To secure SSH I generally limit… Read More »
Configure Automatic Updates : Ubuntu Server Ubuntu Server allows you to activate automatic updates during the initial installation process. This setting configures your system to automatically download and install security updates. This system is configurable and this tutorial will outline how to enable it if you hadn’t previously, disable it if you no longer want… Read More »
Tunnel SSH over SSL Have you ever found yourself behind a restrictive firewall that only allows outbound http(s) traffic, but you need to SSH out? Perhaps you’ve tried running SSH on port 443 (https) but those connections have been denied as well. In this post I’ll outline how to configure stunnel on an SSH server… Read More »
By now you’ve probably heard about my new book, Instant Ubuntu. If you haven’t yet picked up a copy, you’ll be happy to hear that I’ve teamed up with Packt Publishing to organize a giveaway! Three lucky winners stand a chance to win a copy of the eBook. Keep reading to find out how you… Read More »
I’m often surprised at the obscure ways that people find my site through Google searches. Looking through my traffic statistics I find that one of the most popular methods used to find my blog is by searching for the term “ubuntu kernel version”. I would not have expected that to be a popular search term,… Read More »
I’m very happy to announce the availability of my new book, “Instant Ubuntu“! I spent most of the summer working on this and I’m very happy to finally see it published. This book is written for those brand-new to Ubuntu. The book includes step-by-step installation instructions, a tour of the Unity desktop and an outline… Read More »
I’ve started a new blog that I’d like to announce called Into the Salt Mine. This blog will focus solely on using the suite of free software applications developed by Salt Stack. This includes configuration management, remote execution, cloud provisioning and more. The goal is to provide regular tips and updates on managing systems using Salt and… Read More »
Well I’m almost a week into my return to Ubuntu and there are a few more tweaks that I’ve discovered I like to make. One of these is auto-hiding the Unity Launcher bar along the left side of the display. Perhaps it’s based on doing the same thing with my OS X installation on my… Read More »
As a system administrator I’m always on the lookout for new systems and tools to make my life easier. As the saying goes, “a good admin is a lazy admin.” Any day I can find a new tool to improve the efficiency in which I’m able to manage my machines is a good day. To… Read More »
Enable Two Finger Scrolling I installed Ubuntu 12.10 on my Lenovo T510 this evening after a very long hiatus. It’s only been a couple of hours but I am impressed with how polished everything seems to be. I have run into one little annoyance though, and that inspired the first post in quite a long… Read More »