Chrooted SSH/SFTP Tutorial (Debian Lenny)

Since version 4.8, OpenSSH supports chrooting,
so no patches are needed anymore. This tutorial describes how to give
users chrooted SSH access. With this setup, you can give your users
shell access without having to fear that they can see your whole
system. Your users will be jailed in a specific directory which they
will not be able to break out of. I will also show how to use chrooted
SFTP.

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To take advantage of the excellent Linux development environment, you need to have the right tools. Here’s a rundown of some of the best ones out there and the features they have to offer.

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Linux is a great development environment. But without sound development tools, that environment won’t do you any good. Fortunately, plenty of Linux and/or open source development tools are available. If you’re a new user you might not know which tools are there, but worry not. Here are 10 outstanding tools that will help you take your development to another level.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: Bluefish

Bluefish is one of the most popular IDEs for Web development available. It can handle programming and markup languages, but it focuses on creating dynamic and interactive Web sites. Like many Linux applications, Bluefish is lightweight (using about 30% to 40% of the resources that similar applications use) and fast. Bluefish can open multiple documents at once (up to 3,500 documents, if needed). It includes project support, remote file support, search and replace (including regular expressions), unlimited undo/redo, customizable syntax highlighting for many languages, anti-aliased text in windows, and multiple encodings support, among other features.

One of Bluefish’s nice features is the Quickba, a user-defined toolbar that allows you to add buttons by right-clicking and choosing Add To Quickbar. You can add any HTML toolbar buttons to the Quickbar. Bluefish has a number of simple tools to help you add various elements to your code. Need a DHTML auto-submit select box? Easy. Choose Auto-submit Select Box from the DHTML drop-down and fill out the necessary items to add the element to your code. Bluefish has wizards for C, Apache, DHTML, DocBook, HTML, PHP+HTML, and SQL. If you develop your sites by hand, you should certainly be using Bluefish.

2: Anjuta

Anjuta is a free, open source IDE for the C and C++ languages. It’s easy to install (urpmi anjuta on Mandriva, for example) and offers such features as project management, application wizards, an interactive debugger, and a powerful source code editor (with source browsing, code completion, and syntax highlighting). The Anjuta team developed this powerful IDE to be easy to use and still meet all of your C and C++ programming needs.

Anjuta has a flexible and powerful user interface that allows you to drag and drop the tools in the layout to arrange the GUI nearly any way you like. And each user-configured layout is persistent for the project (so you can have different layouts for every project you have going). Anjuta also enjoys a powerful plug-in system that allows you to decide which plug-ins are active and which are not for each project. And like all open source projects, you can develop your own plug-ins for Anjuta. One of the most powerful tools in the Anjuta application is the project manager. This tool can open nearly any automake/autoconf-based project. This project manager doesn’t add any Anjuta-based information to the project, so your project can be maintained and developed outside of Anjuta as well.

3: Glade

Glade is a RAD (rapid application development) tool used to create GTK+ toolkit and for the GNOME desktop. Its interface is similar to that of The GIMP and can be customized and even embedded into Anjuta. Glade includes a number of interface building blocks, such as text boxes, dialog labels, numeric entries, check boxes, and menus, to make the development of interfaces quicker. Interface designs are stored in XML format, which allows these designs to be easily interfaced with external tools. Installing Glade is simple. For instance, when in Fedora, you can issue the command yum install glade3. Glade does not have as powerful a project manager as Anjuta, but you can create, edit, and save projects with Glade.

4: GCC

GCC is a GNU compiler that works for C, C++, Objective C, FORTRAN, Java, and Ada. It’s a command-line tool but is very powerful. Many IDEs have tools that are merely front ends for GCC. GCC is actually a set of tools. The most used are the compilers for C and C++ code. How does one tool compile for different languages? Simple: For C, you invoke the “gcc” command and for C++, you invoke the “g++” command. Two compilers in the same toolkit. And g++ is a compiler, not just a preprocessor. It will build object code from source code without using an intermediary to first build C code from C++ source. This creates better object code and gives you better debugging information.

5: Kdevelop

Kdevelop was created in 1998 to be an easy-to-use IDE for the KDE desktop. Kdevelop is now released under the GPL and is free to use. It’s plug-in based, so you can add and remove plugs to create the exact feature set you need. Kdevlop also includes profile support so that various sets of plug-ins can be associated with specific projects. Kdevelop supports 15 programming languages, with each having language-specific features. Kdevelop also offers an included debugger, version control system (Subversion), application wizard, documentation viewer, code snippets, Doxygen integration, RAD tools, Ctags support, code reformatting, QuickOpen support, and dockable windows and toolbars. One of the best things about Kdevelop is that it takes much of the low level tasks out of the hands of the users. Having to deal with make, automake, and configure can be cumbersome. Any good developer should know these tools, and Kdevelop includes an Automake manager to simplify their use. One other nice touch is that the output window of the complier is colorized, so it is easier to instantly see the difference between errors, warnings, and messages.

6: GDB

GDB isn’t really a developer tool, but it is a tool that most *NIX developers (and many Windows developers) consider a must-have. GDB is the GNU Debugger. This tool is issued from the command line and will give a developer instant feedback from within another program while it is executed. Say you create, complete, and release an application, only to hear there are problems. To help you find these problems you can start your program from the gdb utility, which will help you discover where the problems are. With GDB, you can do the following:

• Start your application specifying arguments, switches, or input that would affect its behavior.
• Cause your application to halt on specified behavior.
• Examine what has occurred when your application stops.
• Make changes to your program so you can test on the fly.

GDB is also very handy to have when doing bug reporting.

7: KompoZer

KompoZer is an easy-to-use WYSIWYG Web authoring tool that is aimed at the nontechnical user who wants to create a professional Web site without having to know HTML. KompoZer has a number of outstanding features. One of the best features is the ability to open a Web site from a URL, edit that site, and upload the edited site. This allows for simple updating of sites without having to edit HTML. Of course, you will need permission to upload to a site for this to actually work. This feature is also good for using other sites as templates. KompoZer shouldn’t be thought of as a beginner-only tool. Think of it as a free open source replacement for Microsoft FrontPage and Adobe Dreamweaver. And like its more costly alternatives, KompoZer can jump between WYSIWYG and code editing with a click of a tab.

8: Eclipse

Eclipse is a multi-language IDE, written in Java, with an extensive plug-in system to allow you to extend functionality.  Downloaded over 1 million times each month, Eclipse is one of the strongest forces in software development today. Eclipse is, in fact, the de facto standard for open source development. Probably the strongest aspect of Eclipse is the plug-in feature. In languages alone, Eclipse boasts 58 plug-ins. These aren’t spoken languages — they’re development languages. On top of the rich environment, Eclipse has a huge community and plenty of organizations offering training in the IDE (which even includes an Eclipse University.)

9: Make

Make is a Linux utility that can automatically determine which pieces of a larger program need to be recompiled. Once make determines what bits need to be recompiled, it issues the necessary commands to finish the action. Make is often used when installing applications from source, so developers of open source applications should have a strong understanding of the make tool and how it is used. If you plan on developing an application that can be installed from source, you will need to know how to create a makefile. This makefile describes the relationships among the various files of your application and includes the statements needed to piece them together. If you’re familiar with installing applications, you know the command string ./configure; make ; make install.

10: Quanta Plus

Quanta Plus is another HTML development tool, similar to Kompozer. Quanta Plus is capable of both WYSIWYG and hand coding and supports: HTML, XHTML, CSS, XML (and XML-based languages), and PHP. Quanta Plus features on-the-fly tag completion, project management, live preview, a PHP debugger, CVS support, and Subversion support (with a plug-in). Where Kompozer is aimed primarily at the nontechnical user, Quanta Plus is aimed at the more technical user who wants a good WYSIWYG editor.

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What are your tools?

What advice or opinions can you share based on your experience with the tools we’ve looked at here? Do you have a favorite open source IDE not included in this list?

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The right add-in can provide helpful features and make existing Office capabilities easier to use. Susan Harkins has rounded up a selection of handy add-ins for various Office applications.

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Add-ins are special COM files that extend the functionality of a program. In other words, they make your work simpler. Office’s popularity — and occasionally, its limitations — makes it a perfect candidate for add-ins. Microsoft provides a number of them, but most add-ins are third-party products, and many are free. Here’s a list of some of the most popular add-ins for Microsoft Office.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: Save as or print to PDF or XPS

Without a doubt, one of the questions I receive most often is how to save an Access report as a PDF file. Adobe Systems created the PDF format more than a decade ago. Because of its flexibility and universal appeal, it’s now an open standard.

XML Paper Specification (XPS) is an XML-based specification that supports device and resolution independence, developed by Microsoft. In other words, content isn’t at the mercy of the client’s browser and local settings.

Microsoft offers a free add-in for Office 2007, Microsoft 2007 Save as PDF or XPS. You might also try, PDF995, CutePDFWriter, and PrimoPDF.

2: MathType with Word

MathType is an interactive equation editor that creates mathematical notations in Word. It’s flexible enough to handle Web pages, desktop publishing tools, PowerPoint presentations, and more. It’s a must for anyone writing scientific, engineering, and mathematical papers.

Microsoft also offers Microsoft Math, an add-in that eases the task of creating graphs, performs calculations, and solves for variables in Word 2007.

3: Lookeen for Outlook 2003 and 2007

This search tool integrates into your local system to search all Outlook folders, including archived folders, and it’s quick! You can search mail, attachments, appointments, tasks, notes, and contacts, all at the same time.

4: Search Commands

Do you support frustrated users who can’t find commands and features in Office 2007? Install Search Commands on their local systems. This innovative add-in drops in a new tab that allows users to enter their own words to find commands. It’s easy to implement and it works great.

5: MZ-Tools

If you write your own VBA solutions, you need MZ-Tools. This customizable add-in has a number of features that will make the time you spend coding more productive and efficient:

• Write better code and find existing code faster.
• Apply default properties with a single click.
• Quickly document code by inserting custom headers into modules.
• Automatically add line numbers and error handlers to procedures.

6: Total Access Analyzer

Total Access Analyzer analyzes your Access database objects to expose hidden problems, forgotten objects, and more. It cross-references objects and creates data flow diagrams. Use this add-in to document your code, find missing objects and variables, and uncover scoping issues. Total Access Analyzer finds errors, suggests changes, and offers tips for improving performance. It’s a bit pricey, but developers who use it say it’s worth it.

7: SimplyVBA Global Error Handler

SimplyVBA Global Error Handler displays effective information about each error:

• The procedure and module where the error occurred
• A traceable iteration through the call stack to the error

VBA developers will appreciate this add-in’s robust error handling.

8: Office Live

Office Live lets you open (and save) documents in Office Live Workspace directly from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Mozilla Firefox users will need an additional plug-in. Be careful, though, as this is more than a simple add-in. It requires specific updates and will download and install them, if you haven’t already.

9: Personal Folders Backup

Outlook stores all your mail, calendar items, contacts, and so on in a PST file. If something happens to it, you could lose all of your correspondence, tasks, appointments, and contact information. Backing up this file is a vital part of any maintenance routine. Personal Folders Backup is an add-in that backs up PST files at regular intervals. (If you’re on Microsoft Exchange Server, this add-in probably isn’t necessary, as your administrator is backing up PST files.)

10: Mail Merge Toolkit

Merging documents is a huge feature with a few limitations. Mail Merge Toolkit extends the existing merge capabilities in Outlook, Word, and Publisher so you can:

• Personalize the subject.
• Attach files to messages.
• Send HTML or RTF messages, regardless of security settings.
• Send messages from Publisher in GIF format.

11: Mail Merge for PowerPoint

It’s hard to think of merging a PowerPoint presentation, but if you need that capability, you’ll appreciate PPTools Merge. This add-in merges data from Excel tab- or comma-delimited files into PowerPoint text boxes, pictures, notes, and hyperlinks. You can merge data, pictures, movies, sounds, and external text files. For instance, you could use this add-in to print award certificates for members of your audience at the end of your program instead of printing them later and mailing them.

12: Narration Timing Tweaker

PowerPoint lets you record an audio narration to enhance (or guide) a slide show. However, it’s a winner-take-all type of feature. If an event needs tweaking, you have to start from scratch and it’s difficult to get it right the first or even the second time. Narration Timing Tweaker allows you to fine-tune the narration portion of a slide show.

13: OLAP PivotTable Extensions for Excel 2007

There’s more to Excel 2007’s PivotTables feature than Excel lets on. This add-in extends the OLAP PivotTable Extensions to include Analysis Services cubes. It doesn’t actually offer more functionality, it just provides an interface to use what’s already there.

14: Access 2007 Developer Extensions and Runtime

The Access 2007 Developer Extensions and Runtime add-in helps developers get a solution to market. This add-in supplies tools for packaging, deployment, licensing, and distribution agreements.

15: Blueprint for Outlook

Printing is a bit limited in Outlook, even Outlook 2007. Blueprint for Outlook adds a few printing features that Outlook ought to offer but doesn’t. You can print a single page or selected text, quickly automate a custom print task, or print an attachment.

16: CrossEyes for Word

If you work with long documents, you know that formatting can take on a life of its own. CrossEyes demystifies Word’s formatting codes so you can identify problems and resolve them.

17: Microsoft Outlook SMS

With the help of Microsoft Outlook SMS, you can send SMS text messages through most Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) mobile phones, connected to a PC using Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007. You enter the message in an Outlook-type message form and then send that message to a mobile phone without third-party software or a subscription to a mobile network service if you connect the phone to a PC.

18: AddInSpy

Use AddInSpy to develop new add-ins for Office and to troubleshoot existing Office add-ins. Although Microsoft offers this free download through Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN), it doesn’t support it. Despite that, it’s one of my favorites.

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What’s missing?

Do you have a favorite add-in that didn’t make this list? Share your recommendations for products you like or your opinion about the ones included here.

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Installing Linux is not a complex task, you only need to follow some instructions and have basic understanding of how computer software and hardware work. Also you should be ready that documentation will be different from what you already might have seen. It means that it may be less colorful, more technical, and have different terminology. That’s Ok. What you need is only to follow the doc and try to understand it – like thousands of people.

The first step you may want do to is to install the Linux and try how it works. If you are a software developer, like the most of my site readers, you may know that server site PHP scripts are executed by the web server. In most of the cases ( http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2009/02/18/february_2009_web_server_survey.html) it is a Linux-like server with Apache. Because of these I will show how to quickly install and configure Debian Linux server with Apache and MySQL. Experimenting with a real hard disk, especially with the hard disk of your primary computer, usually is a bad idea. I recommend using some virtualization software (Virtual PC, VirtualBox, or VMWare) to install the Debian Linux on the virtual machine.

Why Debian? Because Debian is a popular Linux distribution vendor and has small install image file. I’ve tried to install Debian with Virtual PC, VirtualBox and VMWare and have different results on different PC. Virtual PC cannot run the Debian installer on my notebook; VirtualBox does not work on my Vista desktop. I’ve test VMWare Server only on my notebook and it works well, however its GUI is a little bit complex.

So let’s start from downloading the Debian businesscard installation image and virtual machine manager:

• Debian businesscard ISO: http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/
• VirtualBox: http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
• VMWare Server: http://www.vmware.com/products/server/
• Virtual PC: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/virtualpc/default.mspx

Create a new virtual machine with 256 Mb of memory and 5 Gb for dynamically expanded hard disk. Then mount downloaded ISO image in DVD drive of the newly created virtual machine and start it.

You can read more details about how to run Debian on different virtual machines in Debian Wiki:
http://wiki.debian.org/SystemVirtualization.

The first Linux screen you will see is an installation Welcome screen where you can select type of the installation and some other options. You really do not need to select something except the default option from the start, but what you really need to do is to open the Debian installation guide
(http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/). In the installation guide you can read a lot of useful info, but if you want to jump to installation itself you can go to “Chapter 6. Using the Debian Installer” (http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch06.html.en). Read the introduction with attention – it contains general concepts of how the installer works.

Most of the questions the installer asks require you to select one option from several possible options. In most of these questions the default suggestion is good enough to select it. I only changed the following options:

• Computer name: web-server
• Root password: type something you can remember
• Full name for the new user: user
• Username for your account: user
• Choose a password for the new user: type something you can remember
• Choose software to install: Web server, SQL database.

You may also need to specify computer IP address if your network does not have DHCP configured.

Slideshow of installation questions are shown by the installer (I just press the Enter key on almost all of them):

<script src="http://www.alexatnet.com/files/jquery.cycle.min.2.62.js" type="text/javascript"/><script type="text/javascript">
$(window).load(function () {
$('#debian-install').cycle({
speed: 'fast',
timeout: 3000,
pager: '#debian-install-nav'
});
});

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How To Install VMware Server 1.0.x On An Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop

This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on how to install VMware Server
1.0.x (1.0.8 at the time of this writing) on an Ubuntu 8.10 desktop
system. This is for those who prefer VMware Server 1.0.x over VMware
Server 2.

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