Securing PWM

In last week’s post we set up PWM insecurely. In this post, we are going to secure it down and install mysql to store the reset questions. This guide assumes you have this CentOS 7 server publicly accessible with ports 80 and 443 available to the entire world. First, we will need to install mysql, […]

Password management portal for end users

We in IT have heard it often, the #1 request coming into help desk ticket systems is password resets, account lockouts, and the like. PWM is a password reset web application written in Java for use with LDAP directories. You can configure it to work with Active Directory, OpenLDAP, FreeIPA, and others. There are already […]

Avoiding Catastrophic Failure

You may have already heard the news about Delta Airlines catastrophic failure. Ars Technica reports the true cause of the failure – routine maintenance of the power generators. While it may be a little presumptuous or high on the bragging scale to have only one datacenter to house your entire infrastructure – this is not […]

The future without Microsoft Office products 

I recently submitted a proposal to remove Microsoft Office from off my network and switch to Google Apps for Work and LibreOffice. This would incur a cost savings of ~$17.50 per user per month (GAFW $5 plan versus Office 2016 Professional Plus, Corporate, Open License, License Only). Some may argue that there are better license […]

Why I went with Puppet over other CMEs

Configuration management engines (CME) have increased in popularity over the past several years. When I evaluated all the potential options, I needed one to be free in cost, work on Mac and Windows, and be easy to set up and use. At the time, only Chef, CFEngine, and Puppet had Windows clients so I tested […]

Access Samba shares from Chromebook

Chromebooks are cloud focused. Many Chromebooks come with very limited storage in hopes you would be storing everything in the cloud. While this is a great habit to practice, in all reality, how likely are you to store 2tb of data in the cloud? Not many cloud providers even offer plans for that much storage.

Cloud computing cost analysis

Having a server in the cloud scared me at first. It wasn’t the fact that being in a multi-tenant environment posed the possibility of others gaining access to my code/files – it was the cost that scared me. Not knowing if I was getting the best deal always plagued my mind. Especially since electricity, a/c, […]

Wayfinding with RPi

A few years ago I was tasked at looking at solutions for digital, static wayfinding. While there are some cool solutions available now for free with minimum setup, none of these were available to me. We currently were locked in with a digital signage company that charged $7,000/year for generating 640×480 graphics with events that […]

Linux, nginx, MySQL 5.7, and PHP 7 (LEMP) on AWS with free SSL

A stack is a group of software that creates a foundation to build upon. The LEMP stack is a web software stack which allows for delivering web applications. It is one of the most common of the web stacks to deliver a PHP application. LEMP uses a Linux kernel, Nginx for the webserver, MySQL or […]

Blame as a service (BlaaS)

Today I am pleased to announce a new offering – Blame as a Service (BlaaS). With the ever increase of SaaS offerings and cloud providers with high resiliency and low downtime, there will be the inevitable glitch or hiccup whenever a CEO views your team’s area of responsibility. With the recent passing of Murphy’s Law […]

The greatest story ever told

The greatest story ever told is how an Almighty God came down to earth, lived a perfect life, and offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world (past, present, and future). This is what the Easter weekend represents. There is a penalty for sin which must be paid. Jesus paid that […]

WiFi Captive Portal

A captive portal is a piece of software that prompts for user interaction before allowing the client to access the internet or other resources on the network. It is a combination of a firewall and a webserver. In this tutorial, I will explain how to create an open WiFi network. Before deploying an open WiFi […]

How to get users to switch from X to X and use it

There are many free, open source programs available which are equal (if not better) than paid counterparts, but the biggest hurdle to overcome is getting people to switch. It is imperative that you remember what caused you to switch and realize the two reasons for change:   “You change for two reasons: Either you learn […]

Understanding the cloud

It’s 2016, the cloud computing has been around for nearly two decades, but there still seems to be a lack of knowledge in what cloud computing actually is and how to do it. In diagrams, a cloud is the typified icon of the equipment of which you do not control; however, to those in the […]

VoIP Troubleshooting Checklist

Voice over IP is very robust and reliable when set up properly. There are only four key areas to set up and check for issues. I have compiled the below list as things to check when an issue occurs. All of the steps are pretty basic and are known by every VoIP professional; however, it […]