Printing from DOS within a thin client session

This assumes you are already able to print with your thin clients in Server 2003 terminal server sessions, and need to add printing for a DOS application. DOS will see the remote printer as LPT1.

1.  Share the printer from the terminal server and give it a legal DOS name. (e.g. TEST1)
2. Create a batch file in the user’s startup menu, startup folder. (e.g. DOSPRINT.CMD)
   NET USE LPT1: /delete
   NET USE LPT1:\\SERVERNAME\TEST1 /PERSISTENT:YES

When the user logs in the printer should now be mapped every time. This worked perfectly for users with Okitdata dot matrix printers connected to the parallel ports of ThinStation computers connecting to Windows Server 2003 over the internet.

Webmin and phpmyadmin on Ubuntu Dapper

Here are quick and dirty instructions for installing webmin and phpmyadmin. This is adapted from here.

Webmin

Go to http://www.webmin.com/ and download the latest version of webmin in tar.gz format.

Once downloaded, extract it (filename may vary depending on the version you download):

tar xvfz webmin-*.tar.gz

Move into the directory:

cd webmin-*

Run the set-up program:

sudo ./setup.sh /usr/local/webmin

You can use the default settings for this, or change them if you know what you’re doing. Be sure to set a password you can remember.

phpMyAdmin for MySQL management

Go to http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/index.php and download the latest stable release of phpMyAdmin in tar.gz format. Save it to /usr/src.

Extract:

cd /usr/src

tar xvfz phpMyAdmin-*.tar.gz

mv phpMyAdmin-* phpmyadmin

Move into that directory:

cd phpmyadmin/

Create a new configuration file:

cp config.sample.inc.php config.inc.php

Change the authentication mode to http

nano config.inc.php

Change this line:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'cookie';

…to this line:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'http';

Save the file.

Back in the command line, we need to set the root password, because by default, there isn’t one!

mysql -u root

You’ll then enter the MySQL console. Enter the following:

UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('newpasswordhere') WHERE User='root';

This will set the root password. Now flush the privileges:

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Now exit:

exit

Now, we want phpMyAdmin accessible on the server ‘globally’. So that it doesn’t matter what address we’re using, we’ll still be able to access it.

In Webmin, under Apache Webserver: 1. Select “Default Server” 2. Aliases and Redirects 3. Under “Document directory aliases” enter /phpmyadmin/ into the first text box, and /usr/src/phpmyadmin/ into the box to the right of that one.

Save, and in the Terminal restart apache:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

nano apache2.conf

add this in the appropriate place:

Options Indexes MultiViews
AllowOverride All
Order allow,deny
Allow from all

Go to http://yourdomain.com/phpmyadmin/

Login in using “root” and the password you set in the MySQL console.

You can do any MySQL configuration here. For me, I restored my Typo database for this blog from a backup.

Improving the OSX interface

I saw a netcast on Democracy with Leo Laporte and Merlin Mann, where Merlin showed how uses Quicksilver, SpiritedAway, OSX dock hiding, and Menushade to simplify his interface. I gave those things a try and I really like it. It’s nice and simple like a mac is supposed to be, but when you add Quicksilver to the mix, it is the most powerful and efficient (non-distracting) computer I’ve ever used. A 4 year old Powermac no less. Actually I did the same to my old iBook and it’s now a close second.

Merlin also details a lot of it on his web site, 43folders.com, which is one of my favorites.

Adding KDE to Ubuntu

I decided to try KDE on my laptop. Easy as one command: apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

KDE/Kubuntu has gotten better, or my taste has changed. I like it a lot better than I did in the past. We’ll see how it goes. If they just wouldn’t name all the apps starting with “k”. I find it really annoying. It’s worse than “i”.