• How to Install Any OS on a Physical Drive from Windows Using VMware Workstation (Linux, Windows, BSD)


    Uses: Install OS on physical drive Linux installation VMware Install Windows on physical drive Boot OS from physical drive VMware Workstation tutorial Linux virtual machine to physical disk Windows to Linux migration Dual boot OS installation Boot from external SSD Linux, Windows, BSD installation guide Physical drive boot OS........
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    If you just have 1 disk per node/testing/POC then you can reduce the overall disk usage during install as below: 1.) Click on "Options" on the HDD that you want to install to. 2.) Under "hdsize" Set the Maximum Size smaller than the disk size. In this example the disk is 60G and I set max size as 20G. This then........
  • How To Add Windows 7 8 10 11 to GRUB Boot List Dual Booting


    Many times just doing an update-grub may find Windows and add it to grub, but a lot of times it won't. Create Windows in a custom grub entry like below: sudo vi /etc/grub.d/40_custom menuentry "Windows 10" { set root='(hd0,0)' chainloader + 1 } Change Windows 10 to whatever you want to call it. For example if it was for Windows 11 you'd probably want to ca........
  • Linux custom kernel is huge solution


    You may have been expecting a normal sized kernel but if you don't disable these .config options you may have a kernel that is several gigabytes. CONFIG_SLUB_DEBUG=no CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO=no CONFIG_DEBUG_MISC=no Rebuild and you should find that the kernel is the normal and as expected size.........
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    When Is It Time to Leave Your VPS, VDS, and Dedicated Server Provider? Choosing the right hosting solution—be it Virtu........
  • How To Completely Disable ufw in Linux Ubuntu Mint Debian


    This is for the situation that you're doing other things that may conflict or have your own custom rules and ufw keeps overriding iptables. A lot of guides don't work, and even ufw reset does not work, because it still leaves the old ufw chains. Here is what works to disable ufw completely systemctl stop ufw systemctl disable ufw ufw disable rm -f /et........
  • System has not been booted with systemd as init system (PID 1). Can't operate. Failed to talk to init daemon. Ubuntu Debian Linux Solution Cannot reboot


    You are probably using some custom image or maybe this is some sort of container that didn't boot with systemd. The solution is to use "reboot -f" reboot -f This will force the system/OS/VM/container to reboot.........
  • Mint Ubuntu Linux Gnome Showing Home Directory on Desktop instead of Desktop Directory


    During a migration or other custom setup, it's possible you don't have a $HOME/Desktop and as a result the config file that controls this is set to just use your $HOME directory. This is controlled in the file: $HOME/.config/user-dirs.dirs As we can see below, Desktop, Downloads, Music and Pictures are set to $HOME. We can edit any of these as we like. # This file is written by xdg-user-dirs-update # If you want........
  • Internet Explorer Cannot Download File "Your security settings do not allow for this file to be downloaded." Security Settings Solution


    By default in most newer Windows installs, you will not be able to download files from "Internet" sites and you'll get this error "Your security settings do not allow for this file to be downloaded." Solution to Enable Downloads in IE Internet Explorer 1.) Go to Settings (button) -> Internet options -> Security (tab) 2.) Click "Internet" and then the "Custom Level" button. 3.) Find the following section and set D........
  • Linux grub not using UUID for the root device instead it uses /dev/sda1 or other device name solution


    You can read lots of posts about this issue but there is not much information about why this is the case or how grub determines the root= device name. Some even suggest modifying grub.cfg manually which is a disaster as the next kernel update will cause grub to revert back to the device name. For most people this won't be an issue but those using template system, automated deployments and working in embedded may run into this issue with custom embedded and created minimal kernel........
  • GRUB error: invalid arch-independent ELF magic. Solution How To Fix Linux Centos Ubuntu Mint


    I've seen this bizarrely happen on a newly partitioned and custom installed Linux install, particularly if you did not properly unmount before rebooting. You can find reports of it happening on various How to fix the error: invalid arch-independent ELF magic. You need to boot into Live/Rescue mode, chroot into your OS properly and then do a grub-install on each drive that nee........
  • Centos 7 not mounting /etc/fstab partitions


    If you are doing a custom deployment and image, make sure that when you rsync'd or tar'd that you didn't mess up the symlnk of /etc/mtab to /proc/self/mounts ln --force -s /proc/self/mounts /etc/mtab Will fix this........
  • How To Upgrade Linux Mint 18.2 to 18.3 to 19.x and 20.x


    Linux Mint offers an easy and painless upgrade path through the last 3 versions, which means no more reinstalling to stay current with the latest version. The only catch is that you need the latest of each version, so for 18, you need 18.3 before you can go to 19, and then 19.3 (or latest), until you go to 20. However, it's really a small price to pay and on the machines we've tested, the upgrade went seamlessly each time (although sometimes video drivers/custom kernel modules l........
  • Docker Tutorial HowTo Install Docker, Use and Create Docker Container Images Clustering Swarm Mode Monitoring Service Hosting Provider


    The Best Docker Tutorial for Beginners We quickly explain the basic Docker concepts and show you how to do the most common tasks from starting your first container, to making custom images, a Docker Swarm Cluster Tutorial, docker compose and Docker buildfiles.........
  • Ansible Tutorial - Playbook How To Install From Scratch and Deploy LAMP + Wordpress on Remote Server


    1. Let's work from an environment where we can install Ansible on. If you are using an older version of Linux based on Mint 18 or Ubuntu 16, you may want to get the PPA and get the latest version of Ansible that way: sudo apt install gpg sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ansible/ansible sudo apt update........
  • Ubuntu/Debian Linux/Unix Howto Setup Install Syslinux Bootable USB with EFI and MBR from Command Line/CLI Terminal


    There aren't too many simple guides that show you how to use commands to setup your USB or other drive as a normal bootable drive where you can easily boot custom kernels or whatever OS you would like. 1. Get the tools we need: We install "syslinux" for MBR and "syslinux-efi" for EFI and "MBR" as we need a tool that embeds the actual MBR into our USB: sudo apt install syslinux syslinux-efi mbr........
  • bash how to hide username/customize prompt Linux Debian Redhat Ubuntu Solution


    Just edit your ~/.bashrc and add this at the very end: export PS1="realtechtalk.com" Then your prompt will look like this: bladeblox:uptime 08:47:14 up 48 min, 1 user, load average: 1.00, 1.07, 0.96 If you wanted a dollar sign at the end then you would change it like this: export PS1=&........
  • Wordpress overwrites and wipes out custom htaccess rules and changes soluton


    cat .htaccess RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule . index.php [L] I keep reading there is a "# BEGIN WordPress" and a "# END WordPress" in the wordpress htaccess above but there is clearly not. Even more strange is that my permissions are just 444 (read only). so i changed it........
  • Linux Mint Mate Customize the Lock screen messages and hide username and real name


    This is a security hole in my opinion and should be plugged by editing the lock screen ui layout: vi /usr/share/mate-screensaver/lock-dialog-default.ui #find these objects and set the visible property to false object class="GtkLabel" id="note-tab-label" object class="GtkLabel" id="auth-username-label> object class="GtkLabel" id="auth-realname-label"........
  • Using Microsoft's Group Policy Management Editor (GPME) To Change Default Permissions and Internet Explorer Security Settings


    The defaults in Windows 2016 server leave clients crippled so they can't even download basic files or software. But Group Policy Management Editor comes to our rescue! Use cmd or Powershell and run: gpme.msc Choose your domain/computer and then navigate like below and create a new menu entry for IE11 or whatever your version is. Don't be worried if the highest version is IE10 it means that it applies to IE10 AND above.........
  • SMF Forums / Simple Machines Forums Not Displaying Images Theme or Styles Properly using 127.0.0.1


    This is one thing that has me wondering about SMF. It is apparently a known issue but in the latest version and new install nothing looked right because it was using http://127.0.0.1 to find everything! How on earth would it ever do this or think it is normal? Excerpt of crazy html code it produces that causes the issue: ........
  • Apache htaccess Custom ErrorDocument not working properly for root home page 403 Error Issue and Solution


    So I have a domain "testdomain.com". Inside test domain.com's root is the following .htaccess: Options +FollowSymLinks -Indexes ErrorDocument 403 /launch/index.html Order Deny,Allow Deny From All Allow From 192.168.1.2 When you visit anything other than root things work fine. Eg. if you visit http://testdomain.com/somedirfile.html It will show the right error in /launch/........
  • Installing SSL Certificate with Chain Intermediary CA File


    Some of the cheaper or newer SSL suppliers will require this to work properly (otherwise you may be prompted that the cert is invalid when it's not the case but it will certainly scare off your users!). In the Apache vhost conf for the domain here is what you add: SSLCACertificateFile /path/to/your/cafile.pem Here is a full example of an SSL Vhost config in Apache using a CA Certificate file ........
  • Migrate Centos 7 from Single HDD to mdadm RAID 10 array:


    Done on Centos 7.3 very important as clearly based on older guides it was a lot easier and more simpler! Hint do not use grub2-install! If you have trouble booting after this check this CentOS mdadm RAID booting/fixing guide. One huge caveat if you are an oldschool user or sysadmin who has avoided UEFIbooting The nor........
  • Centos 7 Cudaminer Nvidia setup guide


    I am using a GTX 1060 but replace the download for the driver with the correct/current version for your particular card by visiting: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us yum install automake curl openssl-devel libcurl-devel gcc gcc-c++ yum -y install kernel-devel-`uname -r` yum -y install unzip #the........
  • Apache Log Error Message when starting


    Usage: geoiplookup [-h] [-?] [-d custom_dir] [-f custom_file] [-v] [-i] [-l] Usage: geoiplookup [-h] [-?] [-d custom_dir] [-f custom_file] [-v] [-i] [-l] grep: Address: No such file or directory grep: not: No such file or directory grep: found: No such file or directory sh: -c: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `|' sh: -c: line 1: `|cut -d ',' -f 2' ........
  • How to modify HTML/Themeforest Themes to work in any path statically using unix/linux's sed command


    For themes and custom CMS setups, the typical HTML theme is not ready to go at all but here are some common sed commands (search and replace that will get most of them working without breaking as you'd expect). The problem is that often the theme directory will be separate from the content and this will break the relative paths that these themes use. sed -i s/'href="'/'href="/themes/yourtheme/'/g index.html sed -i s/'src="'/'src="/themes/y........
  • Debian Linux Ubuntu Mint connect to pptp from terminal bash shell


    apt-get install pptp-linux echo "yourvpnusername * yourpasspass *" >> /etc/ppp/chap-secrets vi /etc/ppp/peers/provpnaccounts.com enter (ignore the lines): ============ pty "pptp server.provpnaccounts.com --nolaunchpppd" name testuser #remotename PPTP require-mppe-128 file /etc/ppp/options.pptp ==========........
  • How to install grub on virtio KVM with Linux


    I messed up the bootloader by accident on a standard Centos 6.3 install because I turned the /dev/vda1 boot partition into an mdadm raid 1. This was all done correctly aside from one point Ididn't realize was an issue metadata=00.90 is the only thing that will allow you to boot (otherwise grub won't work and you won't boot). So the next step is rescue mode from a CD right? The problem you will find is that grub does not detect your hard drives, this is Ibelieve is be........
  • Directadmin compile error solution cc: Internal error: Killed (program cc1)


    cc: Internal error: Killed (program cc1) Please submit a full bug report. See for instructions. make: *** [ext/fileinfo/libmagic/apprentice.lo] Error 1 make: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs.... Stopping crond: ........
  • Postfix how to secure outgoing authenticated e-mails for privacy and hide the IP address, mailer and other things


    The most common solution is to use the /etc/postfix/header_checks but this is a big problem. Why is header_checks a problem? Because it does it to all mail whether incoming or outgoing and whether authenticated or not. We of course want as much header information for incoming as we can get for many reasons but many organizations want to secure and make their mail clients as secure as possible. I adapted this solution to the client's custom config, they are configur........
  • Samsung Galaxy Note Upgrade/Update Experience from 4.0.4 with aftermarket ROMs


    It really seems that 4.4.4 is not ready or stable for the i717 yet and this makes sense since it takes a lot of work/development and testing to get the factory stock ROMs working well. In the end I used the 4.1.2 based Blackstra BlackJelly because it was fast, stable and just works and feels great. The aftermarket support is great but many devs are focussed on adding features and customization that most of us don't want or need rather than getting things smooth and stable.........
  • .htaccess mod_rewrite preserve access to custom query string solution


    I struggled with this for awhile because sometimes you have rewritten URLs that you want to pass a query string but most of the info and examples do not support this. Take a typical example like this: RewriteRule ^(.*)-(.*)-(.*) /?module=$3&id=$2 You need to add the QSA flag to make it work like below: RewriteRule ^(.*)-(.*)-(.*) /?module=$3&id=$2 [QSA] The QSA preserves the original query string but also appends it wit........
  • 2CO/2Checkout Howto Enable IPN/Notification Setup & Script Info


    https://www.2checkout.com/documentation/notifications/order-created It shows all the parameters that get passed so you can make a simple script to process it. To enable 2CONotifications you need to do the following: Login Browse to the top right to an icon that looks like a "circle with horizontal lines inside" - Notifications. Enter the appropriate URL for your IPN/Notification processing script (........
  • 2CO/2Checkout how to create recurring payment subscription button dynamically


    It was hard to find this as I find most online payment processors don't just put the basic information in plain view. Remember to set your sid (your seller id). The below can easily be turned into a scripted PHP template to integrate into your own custom or existing payment solution. http://help.2checkout.com/articles/How_to/How-to-Sell-Recurring-Products-with-2Checkout/........
  • Asterisk iptables block bruteforce attacks howto with fail2ban


    yum -y install fail2ban vi /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf [asterisk-tcp] enabled = true filter = asterisk action = iptables-multiport[name=asterisk-tcp, port="5060,5061", protocol=tcp] sendmail-whois[name=Asterisk, dest=you@example.com, sender=fail2ban@example.com] logpath = /var/log/asterisk/messages maxret........
  • Wordpress Custom Menu Limit Fix/Solution


    This is usually solved by two variables alone: max_input_vars=5000 memory_limit=256M Now you should be able to have unlimited amounts of custom menus in Wordpress.........
  • GoDaddy How To Register and Create/Use Your Own DNS Name Servers


    http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/668/registering-your-own-nameservershosts?pc_split_value=1 Log in to your GoDaddy Account. Click on "My Account" at the top left. Click on "Domains". Click on the "Launch" button for the domain you want to create the nameservers for. Find........
  • css custom table class howto


    table.custom { border-collapse: collapse; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; border-color: black; font-size: 11px; } table.custom td { border-collapse: collapse; border-style: solid; border-color: black; &........
  • How to wipe/erase hard drives clean so data cannot be recovered for privacy reasons


    This is something many people and especially businesses worry about, or at least they should. Before throwing away a hard drive, returning a hard drive, or especially Warrantying/RMAing it, you should wipe the drive. Linux provides the "shred" and "dd" utlities which work quite well. It seems even a single pass is good enough but by default shred will do 3 passes. Here's an example of using shred in Linux (I use a custom made distribution from........
  • Linux/Debian shutdown/reboot without going through init force


    -bash-3.1# shutdown -rn now Connection to localhost closed by remote host. Connection to localhost closed. Sometimes I work with embedded systems/custom kernels without any of the fancy init scripts and other common Linux basics that most would expect. This means that often the "reboot" command (which uses an init script) will never work, not only that but it will hang the server and a manual power cycle or reboo........
  • Nearly 100% CPU Usage from processes called dma0chan0 dma0chan1 dma0chan2 dma0chan3


    Inever started these processes but they are from a custom based bootable Linux I've made and I've never seen this behavior on other machines or even with the same machine using different kernels. These processes seemed to spawn on their own and I have no idea why and even worse why the CPU usage is so high? Here's the output from top: 907 extaudit 30 10 0 0 0 R 90.7 0.0........
  • Setup PXE Boot using Centos and dhcpd, tftp and syslinux


    This is something I often setup for clients because it's very helpful for people in datacenters, this allows custom OS installs on demand, you can customize it more by using kickstart etc.. but here's a base I use before customizing more: This little script below will install everything you need to get booting by PXE Linux. It also assumes you set a local IP (be sure not to overwrite your existing IP) on eth0:0 (note the :0) as 192.168.1.10 and it........
  • Thunderbird How-To Copy/Backup/Restore Accounts and Settings to Another Computer


    The best way is to use rsync, I've set it up so it doesn't copy unnecessary files, or at least ones I'm sure aren't needed. Here is the rsync command Iused (adapt to your specific Thunderbird profile location): rsync -hazv user@remotehost.com:/home/user/.thunderbird/sbrer.default/* /home/user/.thunderbird/4nyb0.default/ --exclude=global* --exclude=Cache --exclude=ImapMail --exclude=Mail This is a great way to get your e-mail accounts going on a new c........
  • pcnet32: eth0: transmit timed out, status 97fb, resetting - NIC card problem solution


    I've encountered this problem before and I believe it may affect other drivers (I could test but I don't have time). This was happening on my custom Linux system with the pcnet32 driver. pcnet32: eth0: transmit timed out, status 97fb, resetting (and some other kernel module tracing in dmesg) Basically it means the card is connected (it shows connected in full duplex etc.. and recognized if the cable is disconnected too) but no packets can be sent or received........
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    This is a "pro" feature I guess so you don't have to see the ugly GRUB screen but if you're having boot problems or trying to update/customize your system it can be frustrating.You have to do some Googling to find out that you have to hold shift to see the GRUB2 menu. You have to hold shift before GRUB2 loads and you will see it........
  • Use Mozilla Firefox, not Internet Explorer - You'll be glad!


    Use Mozilla Firefox, not Internet Explorer - You'll be glad!Hey guys, I just thought I'd recommend that everyone switch to Mozilla Firefox as their web browser. You can find it at http://mozilla.org It is free and it is much better than IE. It has a built-in popup blocker which works great and most importantly, it doesn't have a million critical security flaws which could compromise your security such as passwords for on-line banking etc..........
  • Tyan S2735-8M Maximum Hard Drive Limit/Not Working/Doesn't work with 1TB 1000GB hard drives


    Inever saved any of the logs, but basically no matter what OS (Linux)I used, I could not get my 1000GB hard drive to work (Seagate SATA). The BIOS recognizes the drive and fdisk -l shows the hard drive as it should. The tricky thing is that different OS's will give you different results, but don't be fooled. You can't use these larger drives for long. Iwas getting all kinds of seek/IOerrors and also messages that the port could not be read.........
  • iPhone Create Silent/Free Custom Ringtone jailbroken/jailbreak iPhone


    As shown below you can find ringtones in the "/private/var/stash/Ringones*" directory of your iPhone. Different reports have said that the .m4r format is really an MP4 file and some have said AAC and some also say "it's the same as the M4A" format. Whatever the case is, one easy way is to install the silent theme from Cydia and copy that into your ringtones directory. /private/var/stash/Ringtones.sh7cLj root# ls Alarm.m4r ........
  • Why Apple should thank the jailbreakers and not patch/stop the jailbreaking exploits


    First of all, the iPhone is crippled in many ways, but most of my complaints about functionality have been addressed through the jailbreak, Ican run apps in the background of my choosing, I can install a terminal, acccess my phone through SSH and SCP and so much more. It even addresses the 15 minute e-mail problem, I installed a program called "PushMod" and now set the checking time to just 1 minute. Apple should really thank the developers for this gift, it ma........
  • iPhone 3GS Jailbreak Information & Benefits


    Truly, the only way to unleash the capabilities and customization abilities of iPhone are to jailbreak, it's not just for hackers anymore. A few days ago someone by the named of "geohot" released a single click application called "purplera1n", which does the entire operation smoothly and seamlessly. In our case, the first time it went as far as "done, wait for reboot" on our Windows machine and for minutes we waited and saw the pic on the iPhone w........
  • iPhone 3GS 32GB "Harsh Review"


    Yes, Iadmit I finally got bitten by the hype as much as I can usually see through it all. Keep in mind this review is of the "stock" phone, no jailbreaking yet which is what really unleashes the customizability and whyI bought iPhone. I had better things to say about this phone before buying it, and it is a great phone, perhaps the best on the market by far, if not because of the Mac OS port onto the iPhone and all the apps, etc, etc. With that said........
  • Apple iPhone 3GS and predecessors are leading a revolution


    As much of a computer nerd as Iam, I'm usually a late adopter to technology for a few reasons. Ifeel most new hyped technologies and electronics are mainly fads, and I'm also cheap. Adopting later means you avoid the bugs, kinks and most importantly pay the lowest price, that's me being cheap again :) I never read much about the iPhone but Isaw all the hype around it and until recently I wasn't a big fan of anything Apple until a few years ago I realize........
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