I just thought I'd mention a couple of nice multiplatform network tools that I don't like to live without.
Wireshark/Ethereal: A very comprehensive network sniffer and protocol analyzer. (Wireshark is the current name for the product). It's free, open source, and supported on numerous Windows, Linux, and UNIX platforms. Get it at www.wireshark.org
NMAP: A simple to use but powerful network portscanning tool. Also free, also runs on just about every platform out there. I've found that I like the Windows-based frontend ZenMAP (which comes packaged with the product). Give an IP range, tell it what kind of scan to run, and let it rip.
NetCat: Beware, Symantec AV thinks this is a "hacking tool" and deletes it - which is totally ridiculous. NetCat is the swiss army knife of tools for power users. Basically, you run it on two hosts, and you can shove any kind of network traffic through it that you'd like. It _could_ be used as a hacking tool, but personally, I use it to do some lovely network cloning of Linux or UNIX hosts from one box to another. Tar a whole system up, pipe it into netcat on one side, pipe from netcat to untar on the other box. Spectacular!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Smoothwall Firewall
For those of you with an extra PC lying around (particularly an old junker), you might want to consider tossing out that Netgear or Linksys router in favor of installing Smoothwall (smoothwall.org).
Smoothwall is a very nice specialized Linux distribution built to install in just a few minutes and have a very configurable firewall/Point-to-point VPN solution with all the bells and whistles. All you need:
-An old PC (486 or better)
-256MB RAM
-2 NIC cards (or 1 + USB if your DSL/Cable modem is on the supported list for that)
-A couple of GB of hard disk space, if you like to log things
The distribution boots up and fires up a nice web-based configuration manager that allows for complete control of the system. I don't believe I've ever needed to use the command line for anything on my smoothwall, other than when it took a power hit and beat up the filesystem.
It also includes goodies (which are enabled with a checkbox)
-Caching Proxy Server
-Intrusion Detection
-DHCP
-Support for Dynamic DNS services
-Traffic graphing and trending
-Support for a DMZ on a 3rd network interface
For those needing a little better support, and a full L2TP/IPSEC VPN support, they do have a smoothwall corporate edition as well (smoothwall.net).
Beyond the filesystem issues after a power outage, the only problem I've had with my smoothwall box is that the power supply actually lit on fire (fortunately while I was standing there). I yanked the power supply and threw it outside (boy, did that smell bad), popped a new one in, and we were back up and running.
Smoothwall is a very nice specialized Linux distribution built to install in just a few minutes and have a very configurable firewall/Point-to-point VPN solution with all the bells and whistles. All you need:
-An old PC (486 or better)
-256MB RAM
-2 NIC cards (or 1 + USB if your DSL/Cable modem is on the supported list for that)
-A couple of GB of hard disk space, if you like to log things
The distribution boots up and fires up a nice web-based configuration manager that allows for complete control of the system. I don't believe I've ever needed to use the command line for anything on my smoothwall, other than when it took a power hit and beat up the filesystem.
It also includes goodies (which are enabled with a checkbox)
-Caching Proxy Server
-Intrusion Detection
-DHCP
-Support for Dynamic DNS services
-Traffic graphing and trending
-Support for a DMZ on a 3rd network interface
For those needing a little better support, and a full L2TP/IPSEC VPN support, they do have a smoothwall corporate edition as well (smoothwall.net).
Beyond the filesystem issues after a power outage, the only problem I've had with my smoothwall box is that the power supply actually lit on fire (fortunately while I was standing there). I yanked the power supply and threw it outside (boy, did that smell bad), popped a new one in, and we were back up and running.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Scriptomatic
Scriptomatic, for you who haven't heard of it, is a nice utility to generate WMI code (in a variety of languages) for Windows and Active Directory administration.
A quick hack to the code allows it to default to Perl code, which is my preferred implement of destruction.
My most common use is to have Scriptomatic generate a simple script for pulling all of the details from a user object in active directory. Copy and paste into something useful, and Scriptomatic has done all the heavy lifting for you, without having to remember all the syntax to do so.
I won't post a link here (ugly one deep in Microsoft's site), but a quick Google on scriptomatic will take you right there.
A quick hack to the code allows it to default to Perl code, which is my preferred implement of destruction.
My most common use is to have Scriptomatic generate a simple script for pulling all of the details from a user object in active directory. Copy and paste into something useful, and Scriptomatic has done all the heavy lifting for you, without having to remember all the syntax to do so.
I won't post a link here (ugly one deep in Microsoft's site), but a quick Google on scriptomatic will take you right there.
Nagios - NTray
Shameless plug here:
For users of the Nagios monitoring system, you can use NTray, the Nagios Tray icon for yourself.
Get it at www.nagiosexchange.org
Out of necessity, I wrote NTray myself using Perl with a GUI toolkit for Windows to enable all the functionality I wanted (and avoid making people hand-edit configuration files). I used Win32::GUI and the "GUI Loft" toolkit to make the configuration pages and menus and the nice system tray icon.
I'm not heavily maintaining NTray any more, mostly because Nagios is being phased out where I work... so if someone is interested in taking over ownership of the project, I'd be glad to share.
For users of the Nagios monitoring system, you can use NTray, the Nagios Tray icon for yourself.
Get it at www.nagiosexchange.org
Out of necessity, I wrote NTray myself using Perl with a GUI toolkit for Windows to enable all the functionality I wanted (and avoid making people hand-edit configuration files). I used Win32::GUI and the "GUI Loft" toolkit to make the configuration pages and menus and the nice system tray icon.
I'm not heavily maintaining NTray any more, mostly because Nagios is being phased out where I work... so if someone is interested in taking over ownership of the project, I'd be glad to share.
IBM model M
A short while ago I managed to wear out the left shift key on the last classic IBM "Model M" keyboard (mfg 1991) in my special stock, and I had to bring home the one I had hauled to work.
I used a cheap IBM keyboard from a NetVista for a short while, then discovered that a company was still manufacturing those lovely, noisy (buckling spring) keyboard.
http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/cus101usenon.html
For $59 bucks you can buy one for yourself.
Unfortunately, the one I hauled home from work didn't last too much longer either... so I'm hoping that my birthday gift will be another "Customizer 101".
Note: There's no "Flying Window" key on these things :P
I used a cheap IBM keyboard from a NetVista for a short while, then discovered that a company was still manufacturing those lovely, noisy (buckling spring) keyboard.
http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/cus101usenon.html
For $59 bucks you can buy one for yourself.
Unfortunately, the one I hauled home from work didn't last too much longer either... so I'm hoping that my birthday gift will be another "Customizer 101".
Note: There's no "Flying Window" key on these things :P
Online backup for the typical home user
With 2GB of storage for free and a nice simple client to use, Mozy (http://mozy.com/) has a very nice option for backing up data on your home workstation. Simply install the client, choose what to backup (it provides some hints and tips about this), choose network and performance options, and let it run.
To do a restore, simply visit their website, choose what you want to restore, and they can either package it up into a Zipfile for you (which you can download over an SSL-enabled website) or you can pay a few bucks to have them burn it on DVD and ship it to you.
For a few dollars ($4.95/month) you can get unlimited backup storage for a home PC. Quite a nice deal.
I've used this service for a while now, and it's worked very nicely for my home backup needs - it gets the backup done, and keeps the backed up data offsite. (I used to use a DLT to backup my data at home, but it was such a pain getting it down to a secured location like a bank box)
To do a restore, simply visit their website, choose what you want to restore, and they can either package it up into a Zipfile for you (which you can download over an SSL-enabled website) or you can pay a few bucks to have them burn it on DVD and ship it to you.
For a few dollars ($4.95/month) you can get unlimited backup storage for a home PC. Quite a nice deal.
I've used this service for a while now, and it's worked very nicely for my home backup needs - it gets the backup done, and keeps the backed up data offsite. (I used to use a DLT to backup my data at home, but it was such a pain getting it down to a secured location like a bank box)
XMing
If you're looking for a free alternative to WinaXe as a Windows XServer, I have to say I'm pretty impressed with XMing (http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming). It's a native Windows package, installs quickly and easily, and seems to perform nicely on a LAN.
It only took a minute or so to install and have running and displaying a full Gnome desktop from a Linux box on the LAN. Not a bad deal at all.
It only took a minute or so to install and have running and displaying a full Gnome desktop from a Linux box on the LAN. Not a bad deal at all.
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