Usability Fedora vs Windows

I’m writing this post sitting in a train, connected to the internet via UMTS. The device is a Huawai E220 HSDPA modem connected via USB. Guess who is the winner? Procedure to get the device running on Fedora (first time usage): Plug in the device on any USB port Enter the PIN in the pop-up Enjoy mobile Internet connection Steps: 3 Time: approx. 5sec. Procedure on Windows XP (first time usage): Decide on what USB port you will plug in ….Read More

Spacewalk 1.2 released -> PostgreSQL Support quite ready -> First analysis

Today, Spacewalk – the upstream project of the RHN satellite – released version 1.2. One of the promises the developers made was better support of PostgreSQL. It seems that lot of stuff is now working. As I promised, I’m going to examine whats working and whats not. I’ll file every single bug I’ll find, please do the same in a polite manner. First impression Installation and first sync of yum channels works like PostgreSQL support was there from the first ….Read More

RHEL6 is released!

RHEL6 was just released at 2010-11-10 20:09:50 CET. Quoting Red Hat press relase: Today, we delivered Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 to the market. @Red Hat: you are so mean! Next time inform your fellows one day in advance to give your fellows the chance to fill the fridges with champagne! I did not checked (yet) the differences between beta 2.1 and GA. I guess the differences are at a minimum. The odd thing is: It seems not be available ….Read More

Joining the Fedora doc and trans-de Teams

The history Since 1994 I’m a Linux enthusiast. In the year 2000 I was installing the first commercially used Linux Systems in Switzerland’s airline industry. Since then I worked in different companies mostly in the outsourcing business. From 2001 to 2003 I was also contributing some German translations for KDE, as well as writing two Docbook SGML documentation for TLDP. The current Since approx. two years I’m working mostly with Red Hat’s RHEL and its derivatives such as CentOS. Later ….Read More

Upgrading RHN Satellite from 5.3 to 5.4, experiences and hints

As I wrote in my previous post I’ll let you know about my experiences. The most important message is: It is easy to upgrade your Satellite from 5.3 to 5.4, if you have an eye on certain things. Everyone that plans to use RHEL6 and manage it with a Satellite server needs this upgrade, due to the fact that RHEL6 comes with SHA-256 checksums on its RPM packages. Who needs this upgrade? Any company that plans to use RHEL6 which ….Read More

RHN Satellite 5.4, first analysis

First of all: Where is the Red Hat Press release? Nada, nothing, nichts (yet)…. History As I wrote in my previous post, I’ll keep you posted with my latest findings. In another post, I was speculating about the upstream version. Now, Sat540 seems to be based on Spacewalk 1.2 which is not yet released. I was quite puzzled about that fact. Usually upstream (Fedora) projects are ahead of its commercial counterparts, this time it seems to be the other way ….Read More

Deploying RHEL as ESX guests – Kickstarting or using ESX templates?

Some time ago I asked my self the question if it is better to kickstart systems or working with ESX templates when deploying RHEL as ESX guests. I also had some discussions with friends working in the same industry. I tried it and came to the following conclusion: Kickstart the systems is the way to go. Pros: Kickstarted Systems are already up-to-date after installation. Proper SSH host keys. Using ESX templates ends up in having identical SSH host keys, from ….Read More