My first puppet forge contribution: redis_server
Filed under: projects, tech | Tags: github, puppet, redis, tech, travis-ci
Leave a Comment Today I contributed my very first puppet module back to the community! thomasvandoren/redis is a puppet module to install, configure, and manage redis. It is by no means finished, but it is working. I didn’t see any other redis modules in puppet forge, so I thought I would share this one.
I also, for the first time, configured the repo to build in travis, which is an awesome free CI system for open source repos on github. I have about half of the test script running in travis right now. I’ll have to reflect on travis in another post; suffice it to say it is an awesome service!
Update 2012-05-18: the module has been renamed to the much more simple: redis.
Fixing Master Boot Record on Windows 7
Filed under: tech | Tags: bootrec, bootrec.exe, dual boot, fixmbr, master boot record, tech, windows, windows 7
Leave a Comment I recently removed the linux partition from my desktop. I had a linux partition, but it made sense to just use one windows partition and run linux in a vm.
Removing the partition is not a big deal. I just used the Windows Disk Management tool to remove the linux partition and expand the windows partition accordingly. I tried to fix the master boot record before rebooting, since GRUB was no longer required. Upon restart, however, I was met with a vague partition error followed by the grub restore prompt.
To remedy this problem so that windows would boot:
- Boot from Windows 7 install disk.
- Try Startup Repair (though it probably won’t work) in ‘Repair your computer’ > ‘System Recovery Options’.
- Reboot – if it still doesn’t work, return to ‘System Recovery Options’ menu.
- Open command prompt.
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bootrec.exe /fixmbr
- Reboot – it should boot directly to Windows 7.
Sources
Monitoring RabbitMQ Queues with Zabbix
Filed under: tech | Tags: amqp, monitoring, rabbitmq, rabbitmq-server, tech, zabbix
Comments (2) Recently I setup some monitoring on a RabbitMQ server using Zabbix. This process is by no means difficult, but I thought it was worth sharing.
I was looking for a solution that did not require additional plugins or packages, but would perform well. Some useful tools for monitoring include: the Management Plugin for RabbitMQ – works well, but provides more info than I needed; SNMP Statistics Plugin which looks promising; and the method below.
This assumes a zabbix server and agent(s) are setup, and a basic knowledge of zabbix.
Zabbix User Parameters
These user parameters pull all of the queue and exchange information out of rabbitmqctl for a particular queue and exchange.
I created a new file, /etc/zabbix/zabbix.conf.d/rabbitmq-server-stats.conf, which looked like the one below. It assumes rabbitmqctl is at /usr/sbin/rabbitmqctl.
After making the changes, bounce (restart) the zabbix-agent service on the rabbitmq server box.
Sudo Permissions
The parameters won’t work until the zabbix group is granted non-password sudo access. I chose to add a new file at /etc/sudoers.d/rabbitmqserverstats.
I added the following line to the end of /etc/sudoers:
/etc/sudoers.d/rabbitmqserverstats contains:
And with that, Zabbix should be able to monitor the some-queue and some-exchange statistics.
Update: Posted to RabbitMQ Server Stats template on ZabbixTemplates.com.
Related Sources
Jenkins Windows Slave with Git
Filed under: tech | Tags: cygwin, git, jenkins, jenkins slave, msysgit, ssh, tech, windows, windows slave
Leave a Comment There are some articles out there about setting up Jenkins slaves on Windows. This is one more, with a bunch of information about configuring Git. The documentation for setting up Git to work well with Jenkins is surprisingly sparse and the process is extremely frustrating (in my experience). Hopefully this will help!
* This assumes some master Jenkins service is setup with the Git plugin and has network access to the Windows box that is becoming a slave.
Setup Jenkins Slave
- Goto Jenkins master.
- Select ‘Manage Jenkins’ > ‘Manage Nodes’.
- Select ‘New Node’.
- Give it a name that identifies the computer, select ‘Dumb Slave’, and ‘Ok’. Some example settings:
- Name: win7-thomas
- # of executors: 4 (one executor per cpu is not a bad ratio)
- Remote FS Root: c:\Jenkins\Slaves
- Labels: windows blackberry (this box is good for building the blackberry projects and is a windows box)
- Usage: Utilize this slave as much as possible
- Launch method: Launch slave agents via Java Web Start
- Availability: Keep this slave on-line as much as possible
- After saving the new node, open it from the ‘nodes’ screen, and select ‘Launch’.
- Save the slave-agent.jnlp in a decent folder (like c:\Jenkins).
- Open the slave-agent.jnlp. Double clicking worked for me, but you might need to use something like:
- javaws http://jenkins-hostname/computer/win7-thomas/slave-agent.jnlp
- Or, one of the other suggestions Jenkins shows.
- This should popup a window that says ‘Connected’. Goto ‘File’ > ‘Install as Windows Service’.
- Once you have completed this install, you should see ‘Jenkins Slave’ among the running services.
- It might make sense to change the user that runs the service to something other than the SYSTEM user. Once changed, you will need to Stop and Restart the service.
- Reboot. Make sure that ‘Jenkins Slave’ is started automatically at startup.
- When you create a new project, make sure that its labels indicate this slave’s name or labels.
Setup Git
- To run commands as the SYSTEM user, you can use psexec.exe from SysInternals.
- From an Administrator cmd.exe prompt, psexec -i -s cmd.exe will open a new shell as the SYSTEM user.
General Advice when Setting Up Git
- Define a HOME env var equal to %USERPROFILE%.
- Create passphrase-less rsa keys and put them in %HOME%/.ssh. These keys should be setup on whatever server hosts the Git repos. In GitHub, for example, you would need to add the keys to your account.
- Do an initial ssh git@github.com to add GitHub to the known_hosts.
- Get rid of any GIT_SSH env vars if using the default ssh client for auth (as opposed to plink.exe, etc). GIT_SSH=c:\…\plink.exe may exist if you have previously used putty/pageant/TortoiseGit/etc to access Git repos.
- ssh git@github.com (or wherever your repo is) is very useful for debugging. One to three -v flags (i.e. ssh -vv git@github.com) may be added to help debug the connection process.
- Set the %HOME%/.ssh/config to specify which authentication to use:
Host github.com
User git
Hostname github.com
PreferredAuthentications publickey
- If you see the following error message and your files do have the correct perms (0600), then you are suffering from a bug in the msysgit ssh executable. Unix permissions (0644) don’t map to NTFS ACLs. Msys just fakes the behavior of chmod, but it can’t fake a chmod to a restrictive enough permissions set. Steps to fix are below.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @ WARNING: UNPROTECTED PRIVATE KEY FILE! @ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Permissions 0644 for '/path/to/key' are too open. It is recommended that your private key files are NOT accessible by others. This private key will be ignored. bad permissions: ignore key: /path/to/key
- Assuming cygwin is installed at c:\cygwin and msysgit is installed at c:\progra~1\Git, this will replace the ssh executable in msysgit with the one from cygwin, which recognizes file perms:
@rem From an Administrator cmd.exe @rem This works for 32bit Windows. Adjust accordingly for 64bit. c: ren "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\ssh.exe" "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\ssh.bak.exe" copy "C:\cygwin\bin\ssh.exe" "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\ssh.exe" copy "C:\cygwin\bin\cyg*.dll" "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\"
Some Sources
Five python tips
I have been using python at work for the last year, and had fooled around with it for five years prior to that. I am by no means an encyclopedia of python knowledge, but here are a few pointers that were not obvious to me when I was getting started.
1. Use contextlib.closing to avoid leaking file pointers.
2. Use OptionParser (< 2.7) or ArgumentParser (>= 2.7) for easy access to command line options and arguments.
3. Use pickle to write/read data structures to/from file for easy persistent storage.
4. Use subprocess to make shell calls. This is especially useful when writing utility scripts that need to make bash calls (for example)!
5. Simplify unittesting with mock objects. Be careful about using the built in methods on Mock objects, though. A spelling error will get invoked as a ‘mock’ call to the object instead of throwing an AttributeError.
There are tons of other useful modules and third party libraries out there. Feel free to suggest them in the comments!
Six Days in New York City!
Filed under: travel | Tags: drag shows, musicals, new york, travel
Leave a Comment I found a cheap mid-week flight to New York City a few weeks ago on Kayak. I have used Kayak fairly often in the last year or two, and I have always been impressed! I am especially excited for the new Hacker Fares feature.
Enough about Kayak, though, I will be in the Big Apple! I already have a ticket to see Follies with Bernadette Peters on my first day. I also have a list of potential drag shows and gay bars to visit. Needless to say, this will be a vacation more of the adventure/extravaganza flavor (rather than relaxing).
Suggestions are welcome and encouraged.
Broadway!
Eurotrip – Four day in Paris
Paris was spectacular! The weather was a bit drizzly, but I did get one full day of sunshine as I made my way through a four day whirlwind tour of monuments and museums.
The first museum I visited was the Louvre. It is huge. I cannot believe how big the building itself is! I spent several hours there, and it was incredible. The Mona Lisa was flocked by tourists and heavily guarded. I was surprised how many people were just flocking to the famous works listed in the map…
I also went to the Musee d’Orsay. I was impressed with all of the work I saw, but I found Monet’s paintings particularly interesting. The clarity of his painting (out of chaos) impressed me the most.
To keep my religious bearings, I visited Sainte Chapelle, Notre Dame, and Sacré Coeur. They were all very impressive. The Sacré Coeur has a pretty amazing view of Paris, especially at night.
The Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, and the catacombs also got some of my time. The Eiffel Tower was an impressive piece of architecture, but it seems a bit out of place compared to its surroundings. The catacombs were very creepy! I could not believe how many bones were down there. It definitely made me cringe.
All in all, Paris was a great experience. I feel like I got a quick revue of the city and its culture (including the nightlife). But I will have to return someday to see the many things I missed.
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- A carving on the way to the catacombs...
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- Sacre Coeur on Montmarte
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- Notre Dame
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- Inside Sainte Chapelle
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- Arc de Triomphe
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- Eiffel Tower
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- Louvre Pyramid
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- Original Louvre Moat
Eurotrip – Five Days in Barcelona
I had an exciting five days in Barcelona. The weather was nice, the time changed (to DST), I saw some great Gaudi buildings, and ate some amazing food.
My hostel was located on the south side of the Eixample neighborhood, in the middle of huge clothing stores and near La Rambla. La Rambla (sometimes referred to as the plural Las Ramblas) is a long street full of human statues and performers, souvenirs, restaurants, bars, and animals. There are actually lizards, hamsters, and a variety of other potential pet animals for sale right on the street! There seemed to be a Zara on just about every other street corner. I guess it is quite popular in Barcelona…
The Guadi buildings around the city are epic. There was one near my hostel. The Barcelona Cathedral was also epic. It is full of beautiful wood sculptures. The cathedral itself was rather dark, being that it is all stone, but the details were what impressed me the most. I enjoyed that it was stone and wood after seeing so many marble cathedrals in Italy.
One afternoon I walked to the Parc de la Ciutadella. It is an incredibly well kept park with ponds, fountains, and a maze of walking/running paths. It was a great place to bask in the Spanish sun. Next to the park is the Barcelona Zoo. It has been a long time since I have visited a zoo, and I forgot how fun it could be. They had a Komodo Dragon. Its tongue looked like it was a foot long!
The nightlife in Barcelona was quite different than anything I have ever experienced before. People go out for drinks at midnight and then go dancing at 3am. The sun was coming up when I left dance club on Sunday morning… needless to say I slept through most of the morning and early afternoon.
Overall I really enjoyed my time in Barcelona. I was able to see some art and architecture, shop for trinkets, people watch, dance all night, and eat Paella. I will probably have to visit again; I had a lot of fun.
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- Guadi building near my hostel
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- Sculpture in the port... what is he doing!?
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- Arches by the port
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- Barcelona Cathedral
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- Ajuntament
Eurotrip – Four Days in Firenze
Filed under: travel | Tags: art, europe, eurotrip, firenze, florence, travel, wine
Comments (2) I had an absolutely wonderful time in Florence! It is clearly a city for tourists, but the museums and landmarks are, none-the-less, magnificent. I was completely exhausted every night from walking around the small city and its museums. I probably gained five pounds just from eating the gelato every day, but it was totally worth it!
I went to the Galleria dell’Accademia to see the David statue. The statue itself is unbelievable. The intricacies of the sculpture impressed me the most, especially because it is 17 feet tall. Aside from David, there is a plethora of other sculptures and paintings in the Galleria dell’Accademia. I found it interesting that a significant number of artist from the last few centuries came from and worked in Florence (one statistic said 300 out of the 1000 most important artists were from Florence).
I spent one afternoon in the Galleria degli Uffizi. It seems like I could have spent all four days in the Uffizi and not seen everything. Its collection is only outnumbered by the Vatican itself! Nevertheless, I did see the Birth of Venus, which was incredible. For me, it seemed quite different from most of the other paintings in the Uffizi. I will let the experts speak to its magnificence, but I will say that all of the sculptures and painting were utterly amazing.
The second day, after seeing David and then walking around the Boboli gardens (an incredible place), I walked up to Piazzale Michelango. From there, I was able to get a great panoramic view of Florence. It also happened to be sunset, which made the view spectacular! The sun slowly descended behind a hill above Florence. I took several pictures of the sunset, but none quite capture the beauty and intensity of it. I have never seen anything so beautiful.
On my third day, I booked a whirlwind tour of Tuscany. In twelve hours I saw three places: San Gimignano, Siena, and a farm in the Chianti region. With about three or so hours in each location, I only got a brief introduction.
San Gimignano is a medieval walled town that is in remarkable condition considering it is 700 years old. It is known for having towers. Now there are only 14, but at one point it had something like 72 towers. I was able to climb to the top of one of the towers in the center (seen in the photo below). It provided a great view of the Tuscan landscape.
Siena is a beautiful town. It is an UNESCO world heritage site. I had lunch there before seeing the huge cathedral, Santa Maria della Scala. I was able to climb to the top of the panoramico for another great view of the Tuscan landscape. The cathedral itself is very ornate. It is made of white, pink, and black marble. It was hard to look at because it was so bright with the sun shining off of it. Inside there were tons of sculptures on the walls, ceiling, and floor by famous artists like Michelangelo. I also was able to snap some photos of the Piazza del Campo, which had about eight thousand tourists milling around it.
The tour concluded at the Casanova organic farm in the Chianti region. The farm produces wine, balsamic vinaigrette, olive oil, truffle oil, and a few other things. We were able to try two red wines, two dessert wines, 8 year old balsamic vinaigrette, 30 year old balsamic vinaigrette on ice cream, olive oil, truffle oil, and honey. It was all very very good. I was also able to see the sunset from the farm, which was incredible (photo below).
Overall, I sincerely enjoyed my time in Florence. It is certainly not a place that I would like to live as it is heavily geared towards tourists, but it is a place that I would like to visit again. There are so many incredible landmarks and museums that it was hard to see everything in four days. With such great sights and food, it is no wonder that so many people go there!
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- View from Ponte Vecchio
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- The bronze replica of David in Piazzale Michelangelo
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- Basilica of Santa Maria Novella
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- Inside Il Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore
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- View from the top of Il Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore
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- From inside the amazing Boboli Gardens
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- Sunset on Firenze from Piazzale Michelangelo
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- The medieval San Gimignano in Tuscany
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- View from panoramico of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena (Tuscany)
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- Santa Maria della Scala in Siena (Tuscany)
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- Sunset on the organic farm Casanova in the Chianti region (Tuscany)
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