Being a UNIX/Linux user for years, one of the first things I usually need when administering a system is root access, or at least su to root to run certain commands, like update software, reconfiguration of network adapters, and so on.
By default, Mac OS X ships with the root user account disabled. You will need to follow a very specific set of steps (outlined here) in order to enable root access.
Since making “the switch” from Windows to Mac as my primary OS of choice, I have become a big fan of Cyberduck. I needed a fast and simple GUI method to edit and move files from Mac to my other UNIX systems. I have used WinSCP and PuTTY for years on Windows, so I really liked the idea of a GUI based SFTP tool. Cyberduck fits the bill (pun intended).
Here are some screenshots of Cyberduck:
One of my favorite open source tools for collecting and processing SNMP Traps is SNMPTT. I started my career in network management and systems management, and along with a good log management strategy, SNMP is a nice way to “trust but verify” when events happen on a system.
In an upcoming guide, I will put together a step-by-step tutorial for building SNMPTT on your server and prepare to collect traps, as well as provide a sample PHP page to display your traps.
When using Windows, it is nice to be able to simply right-click and pop open a command prompt, as opposed to Start — Run — cmd and pressing enter. Running cmd.exe still requires you to go to the exact folder you want to work in. Here are two ways to just right click on a folder to open a command prompt in that particular directory:
Easy Method:
Microsoft has a PowerToys utlity called CmdHere that gives you this functionality. Go here to download. For other cool MS PowerToys for Windows XP, go here.
Not Quite as Easy Method:
1. Open regedit (regedit.exe from the Run dialog box)
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\Folder\Shell
3. Right click on the right side and Create a new key called Command Prompt
4. Your default value should be “Open Command Prompt” (without quotes)
5. Create a new key called Command under the Command Prompt key
6. Your default value should be “cmd.exe /k pushd %L” (again w/o quotes)
Your context menu when you right click on any folder will now contain an option called “Open Command Prompt” which will open a command prompt in the selected folder.