So some of you may wonder how a crazy geek like me keeps in contact with everyone, so I figured I'd give you a little overview.
As you probably know, I am a Linux Geek and a Console Lover, so I'll cover my clients and integration methods after the main content.

Services

Email

First off we have email of course.
I gave up on traditional email clients a while ago since they are just inconvenient when I'm not always on one machine, and don't always have IMAP access to my server anyway.
For my Gmail, I of course use the normal Gmail web site.
For my mail for this domain, I have the Horde framework webmail setup on my server at home that retrieves my email via pop3 and processes it.
The home server also retrieves the mail from my yahoo and hotmail accounts, but I never actually use them so it just gets more spam to delete from them. :P

IRC

Next up we have IRC (Internet Relay Chat for the uninitiated).
I am usually on a variety of channels on the Gamesurge, Rizon, and Freenode IRC Networks under the nick of techiem2-r.
I also run my own private server that a couple friends drop into now and then. Contact me if you'd like the information.

Blogging

Now we move on to Blogging.
Well, you're here aren't you?
You probably notice I don't update this much. :P

MicroBlogging

Next up is that newfangled MicroBlogging thing.
I have Twitter and Identi.ca accounts here and here.

Instant Messaging

Last up we have good old Instant Messaging.
I have accounts on ICQ, AIM, YIM, MSN, Jabber, and Google Talk (GTalk uses the Jabber protocol), as well as on my own private Jabber server.
Contact me if you'd like to connect to me on any of them and I'll give you the information.

Notes

Well, I think that pretty much covers the services I'm usually on.
As you can see I'm pretty easy to get in contact with.

If I'm awake and have an internet connection, I'm probably monitoring my email, IRC Channels, IM networks, and MicroBlogs.
Drop me a line if you want to get in contact with me on any of them if you can't find me.
If you want to contact me on an IM network, make sure your auth request says something so I know who you are, and to be safe drop me an email first with your information.
I get LOTS of spam auth requests (such is the curse of having an ancient ICQ account), so I tend to automatically deny all requests if I'm not watching for someone. :P

Service Integration

Ok, now that we've covered all the services I'm always on, I'll cover a little bit of my integration setup.
As I said before, I'm a Console Lover. As with email, I gave up using traditional IM clients a while ago.

They simply are not convenient when you are not always on the same machine or at the same location, especially if the location you are at runs a restricted firewall that blocks IM connection attempts.
To solve this I use a wonderful setup consisting of GNU Screen, IRSSI, and Bitlbee.
You may have seen my wiki page (that really needs to be updated) about this.
Basically, GNU Screen is a multi-terminal emulator program. You log into your shell, launch screen, and then create however many terminal sessions you need in it.
I generally have six terminals.
One one of the terminals I run the IRSSI IRC Client.
One of the great features of Screen is that it allows you to detach it from the current shell and then reconnect to it from another one.
This means that as long as I have ssh access to my machine, I have access to my Screen session.

My in-home server runs the Bitlbee server.
Bitlbee is an IRC to IM Gateway server.
It runs like an IRC server and allows you to setup your IM accounts through it.
Then your IM contacts show up just like users in an IRC channel, and you can talk to them just like private messaging an IRC user.
This allows me to talk to all my irc channels as well as all my IM contacts from within IRSSI.

Identi.ca allows you to update your feed and receive updates from your subscriptions via a Jabber/XMPP account (such as Google Talk).
Identi.ca will also send your update on to your Twitter account for you.
So to update both Identi.ca and Twitter I simply send a message to my Identi.ca Jabber contact.
Any updates from my subscriptions are sent to my Google Talk Jabber account.

For receiving updates from my Twitter subscriptions, I have an account on Tweet.im that uses my Google Talk Jabber account.
This service allows you update your feed and receive updates from you subscriptions via a Jabber/XMPP account. I don't use it to update my feed since my Identi.ca account does that for me.

So I figured I'd try out this newfangled Twitter thing.
Maybe I'll update it a little more often than the blog. :P


http://twitter.com/techiem2

Update:
On identi.ca now too. :P

http://identi.ca/techiem2

I've switched to using my install of Dokuwiki that is on my other host.
I've changed the link in the sidebar to point there.
It has all the same content that was on the Twiki install here.

"My name is Legion: for we are many." (Mark 5:9, KJV)

No, this isn't a sermon. Legion is my new virtual machine server.

So I finally did it. I broke down and built my new virtual machine server.
I'd been meaning to for quite a while, but other things consumed my time and money.
However, recently the old IDE hard disks in the virtual machine server and fileserver have started dying off on me. I'd also been having some problems with the network services virtual machine not responding when I'd have it do heavy work such as trying to update portage. This appeared to be an issue with the host machine.
Those factors combined with me having the money to spare inspired me to finally build a new vm server.
Continue reading ""My name is Legion: for we are many.""

I realized that the .bash_profile I created was broken and would loop infinitely if the keyfile was not found.
This kind of defeats the purpose.
My new version checks for the existence of the key first before trying to mount the partition and drops to a normal environment if it's not found.
Here's the updated version:

if [ -f fs/YourDesiredMountName/devicenameyouwant.key ]
then
sudo /sbin/cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda5 devicemapnameyouwant --key-file /fs/YourDesiredMountName/devicenameyouwant.key
sudo mount /dev/mapper/devicemapnameyouant /home/youruser
cd
source .bash_profile
clear
else
[[ -f ~/.bashrc ]] && . ~/.bashrc
fi

Anyone that carries confidential data around on their laptop has probably considered encryption at some point or other.

However, the typical methods seem to generally entail either manual mounting of your encrypted volume (a pain) or volumes that automount when you login based on your login information (not exactly secure as anyone who forces you to login will have access).

So what I have done is to set up an encrypted volume that mounts using a keyfile that is stored on my flash drive.

The volume will automatically mount when I login IF the flash drive with the keyfile on it is plugged in.

If not, the volume will fail to mount and I will be logged in with a standard non-encrypted home directory (that obviously should not have any sensitive data stored on it).

The volume could still be mounted manually using the password if desired.

Obviously there are other ways to do this, but this works for me. :)

So here we go:

Step 1: Setup your flash drive to have a static device so you can work with it more easily.

First off, plug in your flash drive.

Once the device settles (check dmesg), run (with the path to your flash drive's partition of course):

udevinfo -p /sys/block/sdd/sdd1 -a > ~/flashdrive.txt

Now open up the text file to view the information about your drive.

Somewhere in the output you should see a section like the following:

looking at parent device '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb1/1-6':
KERNELS=="1-6"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb"
DRIVERS=="usb"
ATTRS{configuration}==""
ATTRS{bNumInterfaces}==" 1"
ATTRS{bConfigurationValue}=="1"
ATTRS{bmAttributes}=="80"
ATTRS{bMaxPower}==" 98mA"
ATTRS{urbnum}=="463"
ATTRS{idVendor}=="0457"
ATTRS{idProduct}=="0151"
ATTRS{bcdDevice}=="0100"
ATTRS{bDeviceClass}=="00"
ATTRS{bDeviceSubClass}=="00"
ATTRS{bDeviceProtocol}=="00"
ATTRS{bNumConfigurations}=="1"
ATTRS{bMaxPacketSize0}=="64"
ATTRS{speed}=="480"
ATTRS{busnum}=="1"
ATTRS{devnum}=="14"
ATTRS{version}==" 2.00"
ATTRS{maxchild}=="0"
ATTRS{quirks}=="0x0"
ATTRS{authorized}=="1"
ATTRS{product}=="USB Mass Storage Device"
ATTRS{serial}=="YourDeviceSerial"

The last line with the serial number is the one we care about.

Copy that line somewhere and then open up a udev rules file.

I use /etc/udev/rules.d/10-local.rules for my local rules to be processed before the other udev rules.

Add the following to your rules file:

KERNEL=="sd*", ATTRS{serial}=="YourDeviceSerial", SYMLINK+="YourDesiredDevName"

Now udev should create /dev/YourDesiredDevName when the flash drive is plugged in (you may have to restart udevd for this to take effect)

Step 2: Setup autofs to automount your flash drive somewhere
I know this could be done differently, or manually, but I've come to really like autofs. smile

In your /etc/autofs/auto.fs files (or wherever you define your mounts) add:

YourDesiredMountName -fstype=vfat :/dev/YourDesiredDevName

This next step may or may not be required, but I do it to make my life easier.

Supposedly autofs can create ghost directories for the mount points so the directories will always show up, but it has never worked for me.

To make my life easier, I have a /fs directory that contains symlinks to the actual autofs mount directories.

This gives me a nice easy way to access the mounts and to make autofs mount them on demand.

ln -sf /mnt/auto/YourDesiredMountName /fs/YourDesiredMountName

Step 3: Setup the encrypted partition.
Obviously you could do with with an encrypted volume file instead of an actual partition.

If you do the steps are a little different.

I used the information from http://www.linuxfreax.net/doku.php?id=wiki:cryptsetup-luks for this part.

The page is actually talking about using a volume file instead of a partition, so I did things a tad differently.

Setup the Partition
cryptsetup -v -y luksFormat /dev/sda5

Open the partition as a device
cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda5 devicemapnameyouwant

Create a filesystem on it
mke2fs -j /dev/mapper/devicemapnameyouwant

Mount it
mount /dev/mapper/devicemapnameyouwant /home/youruser

Generate a keyfile
head -c 1000 < /dev/urandom | uuencode -m - | grep -v begin | head -c 32 >/fs/YourDesiredMountName/devicenameyouwant.key

Add the keyfile to the device
cryptsetup luksAddKey /dev/sda5 /fs/YourDesiredMountName/devicenameyouwant.key

Unmount it
umount /home/youruser

Step 4: Setup Sudoers
Normal users cannot run mount, unmount, cryptsetup, etc. so we need to allow the user to run the appropriate commands

Edit your /etc/sudoers to add:

youruser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /sbin/cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda5 devicemapnameyouwant --key-file /fs/YourDesiredMountName/devicenameyouwant.key
youruser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /bin/mount /dev/mapper/devicemapnameyouwant /home/youruser
youruser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /bin/umount /home/youruser
youruser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /sbin/cryptsetup luksClose devicemapnameyouwant

Step 5: Setup .bash_profile in non-encrypted /home/youruser
This will open the device with the keyfile and mount your home directory.

After mounted it runs cd to reswitch to your home dir.

If you don't do this the directory list does not update properly and ls will show the unmounted information.

sudo /sbin/cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda5 devicemapnameyouwant --key-file /fs/YourDesiredMountName/devicenameyouwant.key
sudo mount /dev/mapper/devicemapnameyouwant /home/youruser
cd
source .bash_profile
clear

Step 6: Setup .bash_logout and .bash_logout_stage2 in encrypted /home/youruser
Now we setup the user to unmount their home directory and close the encrypted volume when they logout.

Mount the volume to the home directory (you don't need to Open it if it's already open)

/sbin/cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda5 devicemapnameyouwant --key-file /fs/YourDesiredMountName/devicenameyouwant.key
mount /dev/mapper/devicemapnameyouwant /home/youruser

Setup the .bash_logout to copy .bash_logout_stage2 to /tmp and execute it when you log out.

cp .bash_logout_stage2 /tmp
cd /tmp
exec sh /tmp/.bash_logout_stage2

Setup .bash_logout_stage2 to kill all remaining process of your user (except for sh, since that's running the scripts), unmount the home directory, close the luks volume, and delete itself

echo "Pausing for processes to close"
sleep 5
echo "Killing all leftover processes"
kill -9 `ps -u youruser | grep -v '[ ][s][h]' | grep -v PID | grep -o '^[ ]\{0,4\}[0-9]\{1,5\}'`
sleep 1
sudo /bin/umount /home/youruser
sudo cryptsetup luksClose devicemapnameyouwant
rm /tmp/.bash_logout_stage2

Note that the logout scripts will run anytime you do a shell logout.

There should probably be something that checks to make sure it is your last login shell before running the stage2 so you don't accidentally kill yourself by logging out of an extra terminal/screen session/etc.

I'm open to suggestions!


And there you have it!

If you did everything right, when your user logs in the encrypted device should mount to /home/youruser if your flash drive is plugged in.

If the drive is not plugged in, you will get whatever /home/youruser you have setup on the base system.

This article is also saved on the wiki: http://www.techiem2.net/cgi-bin/twiki/bin/view/Main/HowToLuksAutoHome

Merry Christmas to all!

I got tired of having to tweak and run script to change the USB mode whenever I wanted, so I tossed together a quick pygtk program to do it for me. :)
The script currently supports 5 options:

Default Mode (device + usb0) - this is the mode the Freerunner is in my default.
USB Host Mode - this switches the Freerunner to USB Host mode but doesn't change the power settings.
USB Host Mode providing power - This switches the Freerunner to USB Host mode and supplies power to the device.
USB Host Mode with external power (500mA) - This puts the Freerunner into USB Host mode and enables fast charging via USB at 500mA (this is for if you have made a custom cable to power both your Freerunner and the device)
Force USB Charge Mode (500mA) - This forces the Freerunner into fast charge mode via USB at 500mA.

The script has the code in it for the USB Mass Storage Device mode, but it is currently commented out as my Freerunner does not have a kernel with the proper modules so I cannot test it.
The archive is available at http://www.techiem2.net/files/usbmode.tar.gz.
The archive contains two files.
usbmode.py is the pygtk application.
usbmode.desktop is a desktop file to go in /usr/share/applications.
The desktop file looks for the script in /usr/bin and is configured to display on the screen and on the bar (the space at the bottom where the installer shows - this area can hold 3 items it seems).

Screenshot below.

Enjoy!

Mark II

Ok, as you probably know by now I'm a Gentoo geek and immediately setup my new ZaReason UltraLapSR with Gentoo.

Since my UltraLapSR has a discrete video card, it's only fitting that I should bling it out to show off the power of my laptop and Compiz-Fusion to people. :)

I'm not going to go into all the details of the Gentoo setup here (I will probably put some notes about it on the twiki at some point).

What I am going do to here is show you how I have XFCE/Compiz-Fusion setup, complete with pretty screenshots of course. :)

Now on my home machine, I run Fluxbox for pure speed.

On my laptop however, I like to run XFCE for several reasons.

1. It's lightweight but still a full featured environment.
2. The GUI auto-mounting/unmounting/file management is nice for quick jobs.
3. It's pretty, thus giving my coworkers something to envy when they see my laptop.
4. I can bling it out with Compiz-Fusion and really blow them away. :)

So here's an overview of how I have XFCE/Compiz-Fusion setup on my UltraLapSR.

(Warning: Several Images)
Continue reading "Blinging out my UltraLapSR"

I decided that it was time to buy myself a laptop since the one I have from work is a bit underpowered for my uses.

Naturally I decided that I wanted to buy a laptop with Linux preloaded.

After looking around and comparing prices and available options at a few different places that sell that Linux preloaded or No-OS laptops, I decided to go with ZaReason.

While they may not be the cheapest option, their prices are very reasonable.

Also, the more I read about this small company, the more I respect them.

Having made my decision, I started the process of deciding which laptop to get.

I wanted a combination of power and portability.

After looking over the options, the UltraLapSR seemed to be the best fit for me.
Continue reading "ZaReason UltraLapSR Introduction/Review"

Ok, so I read this article about why the Everex $200 PC being sold at Wal-Mart is a bad deal (fyi, it's also sold at ZaReason).

However, I see the issue a bit differently than he does.
Continue reading "Response to "Why Wal-Mart Linux PC Is A Bad Deal" article"

I finally got the TWiki from my local home server cloned here.
I will be doing all my edits on my home copy.
The home server is set to sync the TWiki there with this one 4 times a day.
The link is in link box.
Enjoy!

Mark II

Linux is 16 today!

So you wonder what the lair of a crazy geek like me looks like?

Enter here if you dare!

Mark II

The Tux500 Project aims to raise enough funds to sponsor an Indy 500 car in the name of Linux.
See the official Tux500 Site and the Lxer overview.