To change the hostname from the command prompt, type:
sudo bash
Enter account password, then type:
/bin/hostname newhostname
After installing Ubuntu 9.10 - without the GUI (X11), I needed to configure the network settings - IP, DNS etc.
To configure network settings you need to edit the /etc/network/interfaces file.
From a command prompt, type:
sudo bash
Enter the account password.
Edit the /etc/network/interfaces file. Type:
vi /etc/network/interfaces
A normal DHCP setting will look like:
# The primary network interface - use DHCP to find our address
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
To change to a static address, re-configure the file:
# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.3.90
gateway 192.168.3.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.3.0
broadcast 192.168.3.255
After entering all the details you need to restart networking services using the following command:
/etc/init.d/networking restart
To set up DNS:
Add the hostname and IP addresses to the file /etc/hosts
To save the file, hit ESC, then type:
:wq!
Likewise Open simplifies the configuration needed to authenticate a Linux machine to an Active Directory domain. The package is based on winbind and integrates Ubuntu authentication into an existing Windows network.
Tested on: Ubuntu 9.10 / 9.04 - both installs did not run desktop GUI - (X11).
NB. The below commands should be run as root or with sudo commands. To get root, type:
sudo bash
Then enter the root account password.
To install the package, type:
apt-get install likewise-open5
After the install has completed, it’s time to join the domain. To successfully join, the following is required:
1. Access to an AD user with rights to join the domain.
2. The Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the domain you want to join.
3. DNS must be set up correctly on the domain.
Type the following command to join the domain:
domainjoin-cli join example.com Administrator
Where example.com is your domain name and Administrator is the user name of the account with the rights to join the domain.
After joining the domain, you must reboot before trying to authenticate with a domain user. Type:
reboot
** If you receive the error:
The configuration stage ‘open ports to DC’ cannot be completed automatically.
Please manually perform the following steps and rerun the domain join:
Some required ports on the domain controller could not be contacted. Please
update your firewall settings to ensure that the following ports are open to
dc.domain.com:
88 UDP
389 UDP
464 UDP
123 UDP
Make sure the Windows Time service is running on the domain controller.
After successfully joining to the Active Directory domain you can authenticate using any valid AD user. To login you will need to enter the user name as ‘domain\username’. For example to SSH to a server joined to the domain enter:
ssh ‘example\username’@hostname
To leave the domain, type:
domainjoin-cli leave
For more info on this package, search - Likewise Open. The homepage has the changelog and
more up to date instructions and troubleshooting tips.
6.5.6944 : Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 RTM - Released October 2003
6.5.7226 : Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP1 - Released May 2004
6.5.7638 : Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 - Released October 2005
To logoff a SSH session in Putty hit Ctrl + d
If you don’t have console access to your ESXi host but have SSH connectivity, use the following commands to restart and shutdown the host.
To shutdown type :
poweroff
The reboot command usage is as follows :
Usage: reboot [-d<delay>] [-n<nosync>] [-f<force>]
Options:
-d delay interval for rebooting
-n no call to sync()
-f force reboot(don’t go through init)
EG. reboot -d 0 -f (force reboot now - no delay)
By default, SSH communications are disabled on ESXi. It can be easily enabled by accessing the service console - which is hidden on the free edition.
1. From the server’s console - Grey and Yellow screen, hit ALT + F1 to access the console.
2. Type: unsupported
You will not be able to see the input of this command. If you input the command correctly, you will see the Tech Support Mode warning and the password prompt.
3. Enter the root password
You won’t be able to see the input of this command either. If the password is entered correctly you will be dropped to the command line prompt: ~ #
4. The inetd.conf file has to be modified to enable SSH. To edit the file type:
vi /etc/inetd.conf
Use the down arrow key to scroll through the file. Look for the line that starts with “#ssh”.
5. Remove the “#” by pressing the “x” key when the cursor is on the character - #.
6. Hit ESC and type in :wq! to save the file and exit vi.
If a mistake is made, press ESC and type in :q! to quit vi without saving the file.
7. Now that SSH has been enabled, the management services have to be restarted. To do this type :
/sbin/services.sh restart
8. Hit ALT + F2 to return to the home screen - Grey and Yellow Display screen.
Many Linux admin tasks can be carried out without access to the server console by installing a package called openssh-server. Programs such as Putty can be used to connect to port 22 (SSH) after installing this package.
NB. this has been tested on version 9.04 & 9.10 - without GUI (X11).
If OpenSSHServer wasn’t installed when the system was built, type the following commands to install the default package:
sudo bash
type account password.
Then type:
apt-get update
apt-get install openssh-server
Now open Putty, enter the server name or IP address and choose port 22, with SSH as the connection type.
A security alert will be raised by Putty the first time you access the system by IP or Hostname, choose to trust the host or not…
Log in with a valid username and password to continue.
From time to time you need to troubleshoot your mail server. A telnet test can help to test connectivity to smtp port 25.
from a command prompt in windows, type:
telnet mailservermail 25 (for internal tests - EG. telnet exchangeserver 25) or for an external test :
telnet mail.mydomainname.com 25
Then type the following commands to send a mail:
helo domain name (EG. helo mydomainname)
mail from: email@address.com
rcpt to: someone@address.com
data
Subject: test message
When finished, hit ENTER twice, then type:
.
quit
The minimum level you can set through the ESM GUI is 15 minutes. This value can be further tweaked by changing the ScheduleAccelerator registry value.
NB. The connector is only available on Windows Small Business Server 2003.
Follow the below steps to decrease the value:
1. Locate and select the following registry subkey:
“HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/SmallBusinessServer/Network/POP3 Connector”
2. On the “Edit” menu, point to “New”, and then click “DWORD Value”.
3. Type: ScheduleAccelerator as the entry name.
5. On the “Edit” menu, click “Modify”.
6. In the “Value data” box, type the value that you want, then click “OK”.
To determine the polling interval, the value that is configured on the “Scheduling” tab in the ESM GUI is divided by the value that you type into the ScheduleAccelerator entry.
EG. if a 15 minute interval is specified in the ESM GUI and you set the value of the ScheduleAccelerator entry to 3, the connector will poll every five minutes.
7. Quit Registry Editor