Migrate users from one Linux machine to another

Have you ever had a need to migrate current running Linux users from installation to another? That would be a simple task if the user count was low. But  what happens when the user count is in the hundreds? What do you do then? If you’re not using LDAP, you know you will have to migrate the users’ data, passwords, etc from the old machine to the new. Believe it or not, this is just a matter of a few commands – not necessarily simple commands, but it’s not as complex as you would think.

In this article I am going to show you how to make this migration so your Linux users do not loose their data and their passwords are all retained.

What we migrating

The list is fairly simple:

• /etc/passwd - Contains information about the user.
• /etc/shadow - Contains the encrypted passwords.
• /etc/group - Contains group information.
• /etc/gshadow - Contains group encrypted passwords.
• /var/spool/mail - Contains users email (the location will depend upon the mail server you use).
• /home/ - Contains users data.

Unfortunately these files can not simply be copied from one machine to another – that would be too easy.  Just make sure you enter the following commands correctly.

Set up a Linux VPN Server with Gadmin-VPN-Server

here are so many reasons why a VPN Server makes perfect sense. For one, anyone with the credentials and the address can then gain access to the internal network from an external source. This enables users to work remotely and still have access to resources they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. There are obviously plenty of ways to set up a VPN server, but one of the most user-friendly means of setting up a VPN server on Linux is with the help of the Gadmin-VPN-Server tool.

The Gadmin tools are a set of GUI administration tools that allow for easy administration of various services, systems, and applications that would otherwise be challenging for the average user. One of those tools that is exceptionally helpful to have is the VPN Server tool. Let’s install it and set up an VPN

Running MDT 2010 Update 1 with Linux

If you ask Microsoft, it’s absolutely impossible to run MDT (Microsoft Deployment Toolkit) without an Windows Server. However, all you really need is a PXE-boot solution that provides support for booting ISO-files. Here’s a guide how you could do it running Debian on the server. Just remember the clients you deploy with MDT will still be Windows only. This is quite useful if you want to place a small Linux NAS close to the clients at a satellite office to save bandwidth without hosting a full scale server.

This guide assumes that you already have a Linux server running. This guide has been written using Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 ‘Squeeze’. We also assume your network has a DHCP server you have control over.

If you need help to setup Debian, please refer to other available guides on the internet.

Install and Configure Samba

We will use Samba as a file server for the MDT distribution share.

To install it run the command:

Download Registry Edits for Windows XP "Tweaks and Tips"

To use the VBS Files: Download .vbs file and save it to your hard drive (you may want to right click and use Save Target As).  Double
click  the vbs file. You will be prompted when the script is done.

NOTE: If your anti-virus software warns you of  a "malicious" script, this is normal if you have "Script Safe" or similar technology enabled.  These scripts are not malicious, but they do make changes to the System Registry.Disclaimer:  These registry edits and script files are presented "as is".  Every effort has been made to ensure the files work as stated.  I assume no responsibility for your use of these files.

click on read more.....

Steps for configuring RAID volumes on various RAID cards

Creating & Managing the RAID volumes on Adaptec 2120S RAID card

1. Ensure that all the HDD’s are connected properly in their respective slots (In case of HS).

2. In the POST ensure that the Adaptec 2120S RAID card is getting sensed.

3. Enter the ARC utility by pressing Ctrl+A when the Adaptec message appears in POST.

4. Once its is inside the Adaptec BIOS you will see a blue-background screen appears with the

title Adaptec 2xx0S with different menu’s Use the “Disk Utilities” menu item to examine the drives showing as available to the system. If any seem to be missing, power the system down and inspect the hardware connections.

5.RAID Controller “ SCSI Select “ Utility. Press < ENTER > once the desired Array Configuration

Utility is highlighted by default.

Note: If more than one controller of the Adaptec SCSI RAID 2120S/2200S family is installed, the

first screen will show the controllers present. Highlight the controller you wish to use and press <

ENTER > to get to the screen in this step.

6. The “ Array Configuration “ Utility screen appears. Using the arrow keys, highlight “ Initialize

Drives “, then press < ENTER >.

Note: All drives being used in an array or volume must be initialized.

7. Using the arrow keys again, highlight the drives to be used for the RAID , press ‘Insert key’ when a desired drive is highlighted. Selected drives will be displayed in the box on the right side of the display. When the desired drives are on the right side, press < ENTER > to continue.

8. A red warning box appears. now Press Y, & then < ENTER > to continue(This is asking for a

confirmation to destroy all the data on the drives). The system will initialize the selected drives,

in a few seconds.

HowTo: Speed Up Linux Software Raid Building And Re-syncing

It is no secret that I am a pretty big fan of excellent Linux Software RAID. Creating, assembling and rebuilding small array is fine. But, things started to get nasty when you try to rebuild or resync large size array. You may get frustrated when you see it is going to take 22 hours to rebuild the array. You can always increase RAID resync performance using the following technique.

Recently, I build a small NAS server running Linux for one my client with 5 x 2TB disks in RAID 6 configuration for all in one backup server for Mac OS X and Windows XP/Vista clients computers. Then whey I cat /proc/mdstat it reported that md0 is created and resync is in progress. The resync speed was around 4000K/sec and resync will complete in approximately in 22 hours. I wanted to finish this early.

/proc/sys/dev/raid/{speed_limit_max,speed_limit_min}

The /proc/sys/dev/raid/speed_limit_min is config file that reflects the current "goal" rebuild speed for times when non-rebuild activity is current on an array. The speed is in Kibibytes per second, and is a per-device rate, not a per-array rate . The default is 1000.

List: Linux Compatible USB Wireless Adapter (WUSB)

I am in the process of up grading my computer. Where can I get a list of the WUSB for Linux?


Wireless USB adapters are pretty popular for desktop and laptop usage in home. It is capable of sending 480 Mbit/s at distances up to 3 meters and 110 Mbit/s at up to 10 meters. Newer N series can work at 270Mbit/s at up to 300 meters. However, 50-100 meters are acceptable ranges. Unfortunately, finding Linux compatible USB wireless adapter is a big challenge due to driver issues. Over a past few years, I've used and installed various USB wireless adapters and created my own small HCL for it. In this quick blog post I will list all working USB wireless adapter.

Buffalo WLI-UC-G300N

Buffalo's Wireless-N WLI-UC-G300 compact USB 2.0 adapter is fully compatible with Linux. Currently I'm using this device with Ubuntu Linux 10.4
and it works out of box. No driver installation is required. Simply add your wireless WPA2 password and you will be hooked up to wireless network
. The driver in latest version of Ubuntu kernel is broken and you need to install the driver from source code. (Driver Link for RT2870)