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Learning OpenStack Networking (Neutron) 2nd Edition

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Will Foster

I’ve recently had the pleasure of editing/reviewing the new second edition OpenStack Neutron book by James Denton. It’s published by Pakt Publishing who has also published a few other OpenStack-related books, including one by Dan Radez on OpenStack Essentials.

OpenStack Neutron is one of more mystifying components of OpenStack and James does a great job of dispelling the complexity in easy-to-read examples and real world usage. While the focus is on Ubuntu-based distributions the concepts and takeaway is universal. You can order from Amazon pre-order or from Packt Pub today.

Posted in open source, sysadmin | Tagged book review, neutron, open source, openstack | Leave a comment

Funcamp Open Source Game Servers

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Will Foster

Recently I posted guides around playing actively maintained free/Open Source games like Enemy Territory: Legacy, or Urban Terror. I’ve set up a few game servers for the general public in my free time and I’ll list them here along with details and statistics. All of these games are free to play and run natively on Linux (and also Windows and OSX) and aren’t very demanding on your computer resources. Continue reading →

Posted in gaming, open source | Tagged enemy territory, funcamp, gaming, linux gameservers, linux gaming, open source, public, urban terror | Leave a comment

Play Enemy Territory Legacy! (Linux, Mac, Windows)

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Will Foster

In my previous post about Enemy Territory I mentioned an active, maintained fork of this infamous Splash Damage WWII RPG-shooter from the mid-2000’s. I found time to install, play and setup servers for Enemy Territory: Legacy – If you’re looking for a fun, free Open Source class-based FPS this is it. Continue reading →

Posted in gaming, open source | Tagged enemy territory legacy, enemy territory legacy linux, FPS, free, games, gaming, how to install ET legacy linux, install enemy territory on linux, linux gaming, open source | 2 Comments

Rate Limiting and Multicast on Dell Force10 Switches

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Will Foster

Sometimes it’s hard finding extensive, easily digestible documentation on FTOS running on the Dell Force10 switch platform. Recently we had to apply simple rate limiting against ports generating more bandwidth than they should but not get too in the weeds with QoS policies. Also, we’ve needed to enable controls to throttle multicast traffic. I hope this information proves useful for someone else. Continue reading →

Posted in open source, sysadmin | Tagged dell, force10, ftos, multicast, networking, rate limiting, switch, sysadmin | 2 Comments

Batchelor’s Breakfast (Fried Egg, Salmon, Toast)

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Will Foster

Here’s a really easy, quick breakfast tip that requires hardly any time and preparation. I dare call it a recipe because it’s so easy to make, but perhaps some folks haven’t thought of it. I usually eat this once or twice a week for breakfast – one normally or two if I’m extra hungry. Today we’ll be making two because it’s that kind of morning. This normally feeds two reasonable people, Let’s get started. Continue reading →

Posted in food | Tagged batchelor, cooking, eggs, home cooking, quick | Leave a comment

Urban Terror: Fun, Free FPS Game

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Will Foster

Urban Terror is a free first person shooter based on the Open Source Quake III engine that advertises itself as a “Hollywood tactical shooter.” It’s native for Linux, Mac and Windows like Enemy Territory, but uses realistic weapons, damage models and terrain. It’s been in active development since 1999. Here’s how to get started. Continue reading →

Posted in gaming, open source | Tagged free FPS, gaming, linux, linux gaming, open source, urban terror | 1 Comment

Play Enemy Territory! (Linux, Mac, Windows)

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Will Foster

Enemy Territory is a free, Open Source multi-player first-person shooter video game set during World War II. It was created in 2003 by Splash Damage and runs great on low-end hardware. It features a well-designed class and progression system. I’ve run an Enemy Territory server for quite some time, you can download the game and play it for free on my server or others online. Continue reading →

Posted in gaming, open source | Tagged enemy territory, gaming, linux, linux gaming, open source, retro gaming | Leave a comment

Create vsftpd Users the Easy Way

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Will Foster

The FTP protocol has been around a long time, some of us remember using it fondly while others might shudder at the very mention of its name. The fact remains it’s not going away, and it does what it’s supposed to do very well: lightweight file transfer. Wrap this with TLS and it’s a fairly secure, cross-platform way of remote file transfer. A simple, lightweight but feature-filled FTP daemon I prefer is VSFTPD, but managing virtual users is still a manual process. I’ve written a simple user creation tool to make virtual users. Let’s get started. Continue reading →

Posted in open source, sysadmin | Tagged automation, ftp, linux, open source, sysadmin, vsftpd | Leave a comment

Vegetarian Zucchini Pasta

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Will Foster

This is a traditional Neapolitan recipe for vegetarian zucchini pasta popular in 19th century Napoli. It’s simple, quick and delicious. Total cost is around 6€, feeds two and takes around 30minutes. Prices listed are for Dublin, Ireland. Let’s get started. Continue reading →

Posted in food | Tagged cooking, neopolitan, pasta, recipe, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Take Control of your Email with Mutt, OfflineIMAP and Notmuch

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Will Foster

I’ve been an avid user of the Mutt email client for quite some time, preferring it to GUI clients or web for its speed, hotkey-everything approach, and integration with vim that compliment my daily workflow. Still, I found search functionality lacking compared to Thunderbird or other GUI clients. Mutt has built-in, powerful regex search but I sought something more intuitive – I could never remember the arcane syntax for it to be timely but I didn’t want to bother with a cumbersome GUI for searching and indexing. Here is how I combined Mutt, OfflineIMAP and Notmuch into a powerful email/search system to take back my inbox. Continue reading →

Posted in open source, sysadmin | Tagged email, gmail offlineimap mutt, linux, mutt, neomutt offlineimap linux, notmuch, notmuch mutt offlineimap, offlineimap, productivity, sysadmin | 14 Comments

Stout-basted Toulouse Sausages and Vegetables

Posted on August 29, 2015 by Will Foster

This is a more experimental recipe for seasoned French Toulouse sausages tossed in Siren Brewing Broken Dreams stout. The sweetness and consistency of the stout contrasts well with the assortment of spices and the strong taste of Toulouse sausages. This feeds two, takes 20minutes and cost me about €8 in Dublin, Ireland. The stout we used cost more than all the ingredients however. Let’s get started. Continue reading →

Posted in food | Tagged beer, cooking, recipe, stout, toulouse sausages | 1 Comment

Automating Dell iDRAC Administration with Racadm

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Will Foster

Managing more than a handful of Dell servers becomes cumbersome using the iDRAC web interface. This is especially painful with several hundred servers or more. Luckily Dell provides CLI tools you can use with XML templates to automate provisioning and administration for you. Continue reading →