Linux network setup

Because I always forget the syntax of this file....

The file controlling network IP address settings in linux is "/etc/network/interfaces" on Debian based systems - to set static IP addresses use the syntax below (first example is IPv6, next is standard IPv4)

iface eth0 inet6 static
address 2001:470:1f09:12e9::<host address>
netmask 64
gateway 2001:470:1f09:12e9::1 (or whatever your gateway is)

iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.0.5
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.1

Force a restart of the network with:

#ifup --force eth0

Adding a route for IPv6:

#route -A inet6 add 2001:470:1f09:12e9::/64 gw 2001:470:1f09:12e9::200

Another way to add a new route to linux that routes everything via 2001:470:96fb::1 (replace "add" with "del" to delete)

# /sbin/ip -6 route add ::/0 via 2001:470:96fb::1

Show current IPv6 routes:

# route -n -A inet6

The server used for resolving DNS is set in /etc.resolv.conf

Apache SSL setup

Generate CSR
A CSR needs to be sent to the CA (Certificate Authority - Verisign, Thawte, etc) for them to sign the key. Once it is signed you can import it into Apache to allow pages to be encrypted without the user being warned about  dodgy SSL certificate.  First you need to create a key file for the server

# openssl genrsa -out server.name.com.key 1024

Next you need to use this key to create the CSR

# openssl req -new -key server.name.com.key -out server.name.com.csr

You should be able to send the *.CSR file to a CA for them to sign using their "buy certificate" pages.

When you get the certificate back signed run a2enmod ssl to enable ssl in apache then edit the site in sites-enabled entering the correct key and cert files. Restart apache and it should be working.

Desktop software loadout

Stuff I use....

• Firefox web browser. I normally also load in most of these addons (nothing fancy)
  • Autopager (no more next page, next page, next page....)
  • Delicious (Bookmark manager - Seperate tags for the main work/home toolbars, but all loaded in the same account)
  • Download Them All (downloader, supports multi thread downloads, resumes etc)
  • Download Statusbar (minimalistic downloading, not using so much any more)
  • FireGPG - GPG encrypting plugin
• Encryption
  • GPG
  • Seahorse for GPG key management (linux)
• Skype
  • Shame it looks rubbish on Linux and they use a protocol that nobody else can link into! Rumors of Skype being released open source soon (heard Dec 2009)
• f-spot (Linux)
  • Photo management and upload to Flickr
• Dropbox
  • Paid for extra nice 50GB account and save all my photos etc online. Easy to access from anywhere and very nice sync between computers. Now has selective sync which is extra nice for laptops with small hard drives.
• Shrewsoft VPN (Linux & Windows)
  • VPN client that connects to our Netscreen SSG 140 at work.
• Multimon taskbar (Win) - shows only the programs on current screen on the taskbar
• Spacesniffer for analyzing hard drive space used
• Cropper for screenshots