Ideas, blog, etc.
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Puppet with Windows
Using Puppet on Windows workstations can be a challenge. The different architectures (x86 and x86_64) can have an impact on declaring packages. I have decided to ignore 32 bit systems and treat all as 64 bit - after all, it is 2016 and 32 bit should not be deployed.
Since everything is stored in the registry (and I am no registry expert), I …
Puppet as a GPO replacement
When you have a mixed client workstation environment (Windows, Linux, Mac) using GPOs only covers a portion of the environment. Sure, there are some AD plugins for Mac and Linux to let them read and apply those settings, however, those tools cost an exuberant amount of money compared to the open source version Puppet.
I haven't scratched the…
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 them all out. Puppet came the victor for se…
Learn GNU/Linux the easy way
Let's face it, Linux is a kernel and no matter what distribution you use, it is all the same. You have a repository of packages, you get a package manager to manage your packages, you get a desktop environment, and you get freedom to tinker down to the lowest level of the kernel to configure things like IP routing and forwarding.
Differences…
Why I can't use Ubuntu on Production Servers
Do not get me wrong - I use Ubuntu and try to contribute to bugs (making and fixing). In fact, I am testing out 16.04 on my Chromebook and work computer right now (Fedora 23 is on my Home Desktop). However, I can't find myself placing an Ubuntu server in production for one simple reason:
Security
While Ubuntu has a good security team,…
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.
Today marks a milestone - Read more → 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, and hardware maintenance were never facto… 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 640x480 graphics with events that showed up in our … Congratulations, you have installed X! Here are 5 things to do right now: This post is mainly a response to all of those 10 things to do after install… I messed up on the post this week. It had a previous date when I clicked submit. I wrote an article on the next generation web stack (LEMP) with SSL. To view that article click here.Cloud computing cost analysis
Wayfinding with RPi
5 Things to do after installing X
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