Joseph Zikusooka ~ Zik

A software engineer specializing in open source technologies | Very experienced in building and configuring UNIX/Linux systems and servers. Passionate about developing software applications and hardware for the smart home | Currently serving as the CEO of Jambula Labs and the project leader at JambulaTV, a smart home automation and entertainment platform - https://jambulatv.com | This blog focuses on the following areas: Linux How-Tos and Tutorials ::: IT Security News ::: Free and Libre Open Source Software ::: Smart Home Software ::: Digital Innovations in East Africa https://mastodon.social/@jzik | https://github.com/zikusooka

Author : Joseph Zikusooka

I am a software engineer and developer specializing in open source software. I have a solid experience building and configuring UNIX/Linux systems and servers. I am passionate about developing software applications and hardware for the smart home I am currently serving as the CEO of Jambula Labs and the project leader at JambulaTV, a smart home automation

Jambula OS Linux now offers support for Home Assistant

🚀✨ Exciting news for smart home enthusiasts! I have added support for Home Assistant Core installs & upgrades to Jambula OS (starting with version 2024.10.0) 🎉

⚙️ Jambula OS is a custom Linux operating system 🐧 designed specifically for SoC devices like the Raspberry Pi 5

⬇️ You can download it here: https://github.com/zikusooka/Jambula-OS/

🏡 Upgrade today and kickstart your journey to creating a private, offline smart home 💡hub!

Linux, Python, Security, and Open Source Software TIPS

  • 💡 If you have SELinux enabled on your Linux system, you can view the context of an object as follows @opensuse @fedora #ZikTIPS #Sysadmin #SELinux #CLI #OpenSUSE #LinuxFor a file:ls -Z [FILE] e.g.ls -Z /etc/selinux/configFor a process:ps -eZ | grep [PROCESS_NAME] e.g.ps -eZ | grep apache2
  • 💡Get the inode number of a file using this simple command line on Linux @opensuse @fedora @archlinux ls -i [FILENAME] e.g.ls -i /etc/fstab#ZikTIPs #CLI #Fedora #OpenSUSE #Debian #opensource
  • 💡 Display a list of all users on a Linux system using the following command @opensuse @fedora @ubuntu #ZikTIPs #CLI #Fedora #OpenSUSE #Ubuntu #opensourcegetent passwd | cut -d ":" -f1
  • 💡 Quickly inspect the contents of a systemd unit file in Linux using the following command #ZikTIPS #CLI #Fedora #Ubuntu #Opensource@opensuse @fedora @debian systemctl cat [UNIT] e.g.systemctl cat sshd.service
  • 💡Display the active WiFi connection using the following command in Linux #ZikTIPs #CLI #WiFi #Opensource@NetworkManager @opensuse @fedora @debian nmcli connection show –activeNOTE: Works on distributions that use #networkmanager
  • 💡️On a Linux system, you can retrieve logging information for a specific service within a designated date range #ZikTIPS #CLI #Systemd #Opensource @fedora @opensuse journalctl -u [UNIT] -S [DATE-START] -U [DATE-END] e.g. journalctl -u sshd -S 2024-10-04 -U 2024-10-12
  • Python 3.13 has been released! It includes a better interactive interpreter, improved error messages, mobile platform support & an experimental JIT compiler #programming #opensource https://docs.python.org/3.13/whatsnew/3.13.html
  • 🚀✨ Exciting news for smart home enthusiasts! Jambula OS (version 2024.10.0) now supports Home Assistant Core installs & upgrades! 🎉 @jambula @home_assistant @raspberrypi ⚙️ Jambula OS is a custom Linux operating system 🐧 designed specifically for SoC devices like the Raspberry Pi 5⬇️ You can download it here: https://github.com/zikusooka/Jambula-OS/ #JambulaOS #RaspberryPi #HomeAssistant #SmartHome #Embedded #DIY #Opensource
  • 💡And like others have mentioned: To quickly see if you are affected by this bug, use the following Linux command @fedora @opensuse @ubuntu systemctl status cups-browsedIf systemd unit is active, stop and disable as follows:sudo systemctl disable –now cups-browsed#ZikTIPs #opensource
  • Attention Systems Administrators: A vulnerability (CVE-2024-47176 …) has been identified in the CUPS package used in various Linux systems. Please refer to the following link for the necessary remediation steps: https://www.evilsocket.net/2024/09/26/Attacking-UNIX-systems-via-CUPS-Part-I/ Also @redhat has a response on this and how to check if you are affected: https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/red-hat-response-openprinting-cups-vulnerabilities#evilsocket #vulnerability #Cups #Printing #Sysadmin #cybersecurity #Opensource
  • 💡 Search for webcams on a Linux system using the following command line @fedora @opensuse #ZikTIPS #CLI #Multimedia #Video #Audio #Opensourcev4l2-ctl –list-devices
  • Excited to share the latest update for Jambula OS, a custom tailored Linux operating system designed for SoC devices like the Raspberry Pi 5!@jambulatv @jambulaOS @michaelgraafhttps://github.com/zikusooka/Jambula-OS🚀 This update of Jambula OS (Version 2024.8) simplifies setup for:- 🌐 A wireless (WiFi) access point i.e. Internet Hotspot- 🔊 A multi-room music/audio server & client- 📺 A Free-To-Air DVB-T2 TV server- 📹 A USB webcam video streaming server#JambulaOS #Raspberrypi #DIY #Opensource
  • 💡️ Display the actual target path of a symbolic link in Linux#ZikTIPs #CLI #Opensourcereadlink -f [LINK]
  • A cheaper version of the Raspberry Pi 5 board is here! @jambulaOS #raspberrypi5 #DIY #embedded #Linuxhttps://www.raspberrypi.com/news/2gb-raspberry-pi-5-on-sale-now-at-50/
  • 💡️Quickly change the bluetooth name advertised by your Linux device such as a raspberrypi @debian @opensuse @fedora bluetoothctl system-alias "NEW-NAME"#ZikTIPs #Bluetooth #Raspberrypi #Opensource
  • 💡Remove or replace multiple occurrences of text with a similar pattern using the command line in Linuxsed /PATTERN*//g [FILE_PATH]Example:sed /systemd-network*//g /opt/my script.sh#ZikTIPs #SysAdmin #CLI #Opensource #opensourcesoftware
  • INTRO: #Introduction #Fediverse #FediHire#Linux #MastodonI am Zik, the guy behind those Linux TIPs. I am passionate about open source software on Linux. I spend a great deal of time on the command line writing shell and python scripts. I am also a buildroot aficionado & maintain Jambula OS Linux.My core strength: Linux/UNIX server management. I am currently available for part time remote work if you need that type of support. Checkout my GitHub repositories at:https://github.com/zikusooka
  • Heads up: If you recently upgraded to wpa_supplicant v2.11 and are now having issues with your WiFi connection especially on broadcom based boards such as the Raspberry Pi, you might want to disable handshake offloading as follows:"sudo modprobe brcmfmac feature_disable=0x82000"If you can connect again, then add it to your bootloader / grub settingsFor more details, see: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2302577https://iwd.wiki.kernel.org/offloading#WiFi #WPA3 #SAE #wpa_supplicant #raspberrypi #opensource
  • 💡 Get the DNS servers that are currently being used on your systemd based Linux PC #ZikTIPs #DNS #SystemD #CLI #Opensource @fedora @opensuse @debian resolvectl status [LINK]Example:resolvectl status wlan0
  • The latest microcontroller from the folks @RaspberryPi, the Pico 2 is here! https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-pico-2-our-new-5-microcontroller-board-on-sale-now/#RP2350 #PICO2 #PICO #RaspberryPi #DIY

How to install the latest Python 3 version on Linux using sources

Introduction

Python 3.11.0 was officially released on October 24 2022. However, most Linux distributions have not yet upgraded to the latest Python version i.e. Python 3.11.2 (released on February 8 2023). Please visit this page to see the most recent versions.

The jump from versions 3.10.X to 3.11.X brought with it significant changes and improvements to Python code. Among the improvements is that Python is now 10 – 60% faster than before. That’s a big and noticeable speed boost. So beyond the usual reasons for upgrades i.e. security etc, I really wanted this version on my Linux desktop as soon as the final release was made publicly available.

If you are like me and don’t like waiting for your favourite open-source program to be supported on your Linux distribution, here is how to install the latest Python 3 version on Linux using sources.

Before you begin, check the current version on your Linux system:

python  --version

Currently the version of Python on my Linux system is three (3) releases behind. So it is time for me to upgrade to the most recent version.

CAUTION: Due to the many dependencies on the currently installed Python common package, I highly recommend that you do not remove the existing version. Instead, we will install the latest version in an alternate location e.g. /usr/local

Prerequisites

Please ensure that your Linux system has the following packages installed:

On Ubuntu or Debian:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

sudo apt-get install autoconf automake gdb libffi-dev zlib1g-dev libssl-dev libncurses5-dev libgdbm-dev libnss3-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev

On Fedora or Rocky Linux:

sudo dnf groupinstall “Development Tools”

sudo dnf install openssl-devel libffi-devel bzip2-devel sqlite-devel

* You will also need wget which is generally included by default on most Linux distributions

Visit the Python downloads page for sources to get the direct link to latest Python source package. In this tutorial I will be using the XZ compressed source tarball i.e. Python-3.11.2.tar.xz

Download the latest Python package to a temporary directory:

wget  -c  -P /tmp  https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.11.2/Python-3.11.2.tar.xz

Unpack the Python 3 tarball:

tar xvf /tmp/Python-3.11.2.tar.xz -C /usr/src

Compile and build Python:

cd  /usr/src/Python-3.11.2

./configure  --prefix=/usr/local  --enable-shared  --enable-optimizations  --with-system-expat  --with-system-ffi

IMPORTANT: Ensure the prefix i.e. ‘/usr/local’ you use is different from that used by your Linux distribution otherwise you will overwrite the default Python 3 installation!

Optional: You can make some of your modules a permanent part of the Python interpreter. To do so, simply modify the file: Modules/Setup.local before running make. To see my my local setup, see the appendix.

sudo  make

TIP: you can add “– j $(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN)” to the make command in order to speed things up i.e. sudo make -j $(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN)

sudo  make  altinstall

Add the following export command to your shell initialization file:

Using Bash shell:

echo  “export  LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/usr/local/lib”  >>  ~/.bashrc

Then source the file for now:

source  ~/.bashrc

To verify if you now have the latest Python 3 (including pip installer) versions:

/usr/local/bin/python3.11 –version

/usr/local/bin/pip3.11 –version

Congratulations! You now have the latest Python 3 version on your Linux system.

NOTE: When your distribution eventually catches up, you can remove this installation by issuing the ‘make uninstall‘ command in the installation directory i.e. /usr/src/Python3.11

Appendix

Here’s my sample ./Modules/Setup.local file:

array -DPy_BUILD_CORE_MODULE arraymodule.c
_contextvars _contextvarsmodule.c
_struct -DPy_BUILD_CORE_MODULE _struct.c
_random _randommodule.c -DPy_BUILD_CORE_MODULE
_elementtree -I$(srcdir)/Modules/expat -DHAVE_EXPAT_CONFIG_H -DUSE_PYEXPAT_CAPI _elementtree.c
_pickle -DPy_BUILD_CORE_MODULE _pickle.c
_datetime _datetimemodule.c
_zoneinfo _zoneinfo.c -DPy_BUILD_CORE_MODULE
_bisect _bisectmodule.c
_asyncio _asynciomodule.c
_json -I$(srcdir)/Include/internal -DPy_BUILD_CORE_BUILTIN _json.c
unicodedata unicodedata.c -DPy_BUILD_CORE_BUILTIN
fcntl fcntlmodule.c
spwd spwdmodule.c
grp grpmodule.c
select selectmodule.c
mmap mmapmodule.c
_csv _csv.c
_socket socketmodule.c
termios termios.c
resource resource.c
_posixsubprocess  -DPy_BUILD_CORE_BUILTIN _posixsubprocess.c
audioop audioop.c
_md5 md5module.c
_sha1 sha1module.c
_sha256 sha256module.c -DPy_BUILD_CORE_BUILTIN
_sha512 sha512module.c -DPy_BUILD_CORE_BUILTIN
_sha3 _sha3/sha3module.c
_blake2 _blake2/blake2module.c _blake2/blake2b_impl.c _blake2/blake2s_impl.c
syslog syslogmodule.c
binascii binascii.c
zlib zlibmodule.c -I$(prefix)/include -L$(exec_prefix)/lib -lz
pyexpat expat/xmlparse.c expat/xmlrole.c expat/xmltok.c pyexpat.c -I$(srcdir)/Modules/expat -DHAVE_EXPAT_CONFIG_H -DXML_POOR_ENTROPY -DUSE_PYEXPAT_CAPI
_multibytecodec cjkcodecs/multibytecodec.c

How to use Linux GNOME terminal like a Pro

For most users work is typically done in a web browser like Firefox or Chrome. (BTW, if you are not using Mozilla’s Firefox, I can not emphasize enough why you should switch to this opensource browser)
For advanced users i.e. IT admins, software developers, most of their time may be spent in a terminal and on Linux most often gnome terminal

Like regular users who prefer to open multiple tabs in a browser, using tabs in a terminal is necessary for an advanced user if they are to be productive. However, it can get pretty tedious and boring having to open up multiple terminal tabs in every time you start your Linux desktop

Using the command line tool gnome-terminal this process can be automated. This tool allows you to open multiple gnome-terminal tabs like a pro i.e. At desktop startup, open several & different tabs each with its own specified directory path or run command. You can even log into a remote system, if you have setup to allow passwordless SSH connections.

Below is a basic example of gnome-terminal command in action

gnome-terminal --maximize --geometry=80x24+200+200 --display=:0 --tab-with-profile=DAY -t Local --working-directory=/projects --tab-with-profile=NIGHT -t Remote -e "ssh -t jambula@REMOTE \"cd /opt; bash\""

I use this in a script which is activated by a custom keyboard shortcut to start my day

How to monitor the presence of nearby WiFi devices using Icinga2

Introduction

I recently published a Python based plugin for Icinga and Nagios monitoring platforms that monitors the presence of wireless devices in the vicinity.

I really like the stability and reliability Icinga provides when it comes to monitoring the state of hosts or services. There are so many software applications that let you do this, including one I talked about a while back called trackerjacker: https://github.com/calebmadrigal/trackerjacker

Why this way?

At first trackerjacker seemed like what I needed to do this sort of thing, but after several months of testing one issue persisted. The performance hit whenever I started the process was huge. The server, would frequently slow down, as packet capturing and monitoring of WiFi devices took place. So I decided to ditch this tool, and write my own plugin.

I am already using icinga on the server, so I figured, rather than write another app for polling, why not use the existing and well performing icinga2 monitoring software. After all, I had done this with bluetooth devices earlier and presence detection was working so well.

Pre-requisites

You are running a Linux based server with Icinga2 monitoring software installed, configured and working properly. There are several articles about how to install and configure icinga2 including the official documentation at:
https://icinga.com/docs/icinga-2/latest/doc/01-about/

The heavy lifting i.e. scanning is done by the Wireshark based CLI tool ‘tshark’. Therefore, ensure that Wireshark is installed on your system. Also, a separate wireless interface that supports monitor mode is required

To capture packets as a non-root user, run the following command in your terminal:
sudo setcap cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin+eip $(which dumpcap)

If you’re still having trouble capturing packets as a non-root user, check out the following Wireshark wiki page:
https://wiki.wireshark.org/CaptureSetup/CapturePrivileges#Most_UNIXes

You will need to identify the MAC address of each wireless device you plan on monitoring. For phones for example, this information is in the Settings >> General >> About >> WiFi Address for iOS. For Android, go to Settings >> About >> Status >> Wi-Fi MAC address

NOTE: Some phones like the iPhone may have MAC randomization enabled, which makes it difficult to reliably monitor their presence status

Setup Icinga2 plugin

Download icinga2 monitoring plugin named ‘check_tshark’ from my Github page at:
https://github.com/zikusooka/icinga-nagios-plugins

Alternatively, you can clone the entire repository and check out my other plugins too:

git clone https://github.com/zikusooka/icinga-nagios-plugins

Copy the icinga2 plugin i.e. check_tshark to your icinga2 monitoring plugins directory e.g. /usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/

cp -v check_tshark /usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/

Configure Icinga2

Add new check and event command objects to icinga2 i.e. Add and save the following snippets to the file:
/etc/icinga2/conf.d/commands.conf

object CheckCommand "tshark" {
        import "plugin-check-command",

        command = [ PluginDir + "/check_tshark" ]

        arguments = {
                "-i"="$tshark_interface$"
                "-t"="$tshark_timeout$"
                "-a"="$tshark_address$"
        }
}
object EventCommand "wifi-tshark-status-event" {
  import "plugin-event-command"

  command = [ SysconfDir + "/icinga2/scripts/wifi-tshark-status-event.sh" ]

  env = {
    "HOSTALIAS" = "$host.display_name$",
    "HOSTADDRESS" = "$address$",
    "HOSTSTATE" = "$host.state$",
    "HOSTSTATEID" = "$host.state_id$",
    "HOSTSTATETYPE" = "$host.state_type$",
    "HOSTOUTPUT" = "$host.output$",
    "HOSTDISPLAYNAME" = "$host.display_name$",
    "LASTHOSTSTATE" = "$host.last_state$",
    "LASTEHOSTSTATEID" = "$host.last_state_id$",
    "LASTHOSTSTATETYPE" = "$host.last_state_type$",
    "LASTHOSTSTATECHANGE" = "$host.last_state_change$",
    "LASTHOSTCHECK" = "$host.last_check$",
    "LONGDATETIME" = "$icinga.long_date_time$",
  }

}

Add new host templates to icinga2 i.e. Add and save the following snippets to the file:
/etc/icinga2/conf.d/templates.conf

template Host "event-tshark-status" {
  max_check_attempts = 6
  check_interval = 30s
  retry_interval = 5s

  check_command = "tshark"

  enable_event_handler = 1
  event_command = "wifi-tshark-status-event"

  enable_flapping = 1
  flapping_ignore_states = ["Critical"]
}

Finally add the wireless devices you want to monitor to the hosts in icinga2 i.e. Add and save the following snippets to the file:
/etc/icinga2/conf.d/hosts.conf

NOTE: In addition to the MAC address, make sure you specify the WiFi interface used for monitoring

object Host "Phone_Zik" {
  import "event-tshark-status"
  vars.tshark_interface = "wlan1"
  vars.tshark_timeout = 10
  vars.tshark_address = "xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx"
}

object Host "Phone_Shushu" {
  import "event-tshark-status"
  vars.tshark_interface = "wlan1"
  vars.tshark_timeout = 10
  vars.tshark_address = "xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx"
}

Optional: Add Alert notification using MQTT

In order to send alerts whenever a WiFi device appears or disappears, you will need to set up a MQTT broker server. I personally use mosquitto on Fedora Linux. For detailed instructions on how to setup mosquitto on Fedora Linux, check out this how to: https://nullr0ute.com/2016/05/getting-started-with-mqtt-using-the-mosquitto-broker-on-fedora/

Since, we have already enabled event handling for our monitored devices in icinga2, all that is left is to add an event script that will be triggered by the HOST state of either UP or DOWN. Here’s an example:

Create the following script and make it executable:

cat > /etc/icinga2/scripts/wifi-tshark-status-event.sh <<ET
#!/bin/sh
# Variables
TSHARK_MAC_ADDRESS=$(echo "$HOSTOUTPUT" | grep -oP "(?<=\[).+?(?=\])")
MQTT_TOPIC_PRESENCE_TSHARK=Home/presence/$TSHARK_MAC_ADDRESS
MQTT_PUBLISH_CMD=/usr/bin/mosquitto_pub
MQTT_PUBLISH_OPTS="--quiet -h 127.0.0.1 -p 8883"
# Quit if type of state alert is 'SOFT'
[[ "$HOSTSTATETYPE" = "SOFT" ]] && exit 0

# Publish status via MQTT
if [[ "$HOSTSTATE" = "UP" ]];
then
$MQTT_PUBLISH_CMD $MQTT_PUBLISH_OPTS -t "$MQTT_TOPIC_PRESENCE_TSHARK" -m "Home"

else
$MQTT_PUBLISH_CMD $MQTT_PUBLISH_OPTS -t "$MQTT_TOPIC_PRESENCE_TSHARK" -m "Away"
fi
ET
 
chmod 755 /etc/icinga2/scripts/wifi-tshark-status-event.sh

To check your configuration and that all syntax is correct; run the following command:

icinga2 daemon -C

If all’s OK, restart icinga2 as follows:

systemctl restart icinga2

Conclusion

Next, log into your icinga2 web interface (if you have this setup) and ensure your devices are reporting correctly.

In order to monitor alerting via MQTT run the following command in a terminal:

mosquitto_sub -v -h JambulaTV -p 8883 -t "JambulaTV/#" --insecure  | grep presence

That’s all for now. Until next time!

How to automatically backup your data to an external USB disk on Linux

Introduction

One of the most critical roles that any Systems Administrator must perform on a regular basis is that of running backups for an organization. These days, most big and medium sized offices use Network Attached Storage servers to quickly perform backups on their networks. However, for small offices with limited IT budgets, a DIY solution which uses a simple USB external hard drive is a viable option.

In this setup, the resident “IT guy” is assigned the task of backing up data. This could be from a handful of desktops/laptops, or a central backup server. However, the problem with this setup is that they often will forget to plug in the disk or even initiate the manual backup process, leading to a very unreliable backup scheme.

In this article, I will guide you on how to set up a cheaper, reliable and automated backup scheme. All the operator has to do is to plug in the USB external hard disk any time, and the backup process commences immediately.

This solution takes advantage of a bash script that is triggered once the USB hard disk is inserted into the computer desktop or laptop’s USB ports. The trigger mechanism is handled by udev rules via a systemd unit as will be shown below.

Prerequisites

Operating system: Linux
Desktop: GNOME – mainly for notification purposes
Username: erica (Must have permissions to run ‘sudo’)
Data: /home
Partition is NOT encrypted. See ‘cryptsetup’ tool

Create the following backup script. Save it and make it executable:

vim /opt/backup_2_usb_disk.sh
chmod 755 /opt/backup_2_usb_disk.sh

#!/bin/sh
# Variables
NORMALUSER=erica
VOLUMENAME=BACKUP
USB_DISK_PARTITION=$USB_DISK_PARTITION1
MOUNTPOINT=/run/media/$NORMALUSER/$VOLUMENAME
RSYNC_OPTIONS="-aAXvH”
# Excludes 4 /home
EXCLUDE_FILE_4_HOME_DIR=/tmp/exclude_dirs_in_home_dir
EXCLUDE_DIRECTORIES_IN_HOME_DIR="Videos"
NOTIFY_CMD=/usr/bin/notify-send 
NOTIFY_ICON=/usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/devices/media-zip-symbolic.svg
NOTIFY_TITLE=""


# Functions
notice () {
su -l $NORMALUSER -c "$NOTIFY_CMD -i $NOTIFY_ICON $NOTIFY_TITLE '$@'"
}

disable_automount () {
su -l $NORMALUSER -c "dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.media-handling automount false"
su -l $NORMALUSER -c "dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.media-handling autorun-never true"
}

sync_data () {
sudo rsync $RSYNC_OPTIONS --delete "$1" "$2"
}

mount_partition () {
# Create mountpoint if it does not exist
[ -d $MOUNTPOINT ] || mkdir -p $MOUNTPOINT
# Mount drive
mount $USB_DISK_PARTITION $MOUNTPOINT
STATUS_MOUNT=$?
if [ "$STATUS_MOUNT" != "0" ];
then
notice "ERROR: mount $USB_DISK_PARTITION $MOUNTPOINT failed"
exit 1
fi
}

backup_thinkpad () {
# Create backupdir directory
[ -d $MOUNTPOINT ] || mkdir $MOUNTPOINT

# Start of backup
notice "Backup Started"

# /home
echo $EXCLUDE_DIRECTORIES_IN_HOME_DIR | tr " " "\n" > $EXCLUDE_FILE_4_HOME_DIR
sleep 3
rsync $RSYNC_OPTIONS --delete --exclude-from=$EXCLUDE_FILE_4_HOME_DIR /home/ $MOUNTPOINT/home/
rm -f $EXCLUDE_FILE_4_HOME_DIR

# other partitions
}

umount_partition () {
umount $USB_DISK_PARTITION
STATUS_UMOUNT=$?
if [ "$STATUS_UMOUNT" != "0" ];
then
notice "ERROR: umount $USB_DISK_PARTITION failed"
exit 1
fi
}

enable_automount () {
su -l $NORMALUSER -c "dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.media-handling automount true"
su -l $NORMALUSER -c "dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.media-handling autorun-never false"
}


# Process the following routines
disable_automount
mount_partition
backup_thinkpad 
umount_partition
enable_automount 

# Notice of completion
sleep 10
notice "Backup completed successfully"

Start/Stop service

Create the systemd unit file:
/etc/systemd/system/backup-usb-disk.service and add the following:

[Unit]
Description=USB Portable Drive

[Service]
User=root
Type=oneshot
Environment=DISPLAY=:0
ExecStart=/opt/backup_2_usb_disk.sh

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

NOTES:
Reload systemd daemon i.e. ‘systemctl –system daemon-reload’
It is not necessary to enable or start the above unit at this time
since that will be done by the udev rule below.

UDEV rules

Create the udev rules file: /etc/udev/rules.d/97-backup-usb-disk.rules and add the following:

ACTION=="add", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bc2", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2400", SYMLINK+="disk/by-id/$env{ID_NAME}_$env{ID_SERIAL}", RUN+="/usr/bin/systemctl start backup-usb-disk.service"

ACTION=="remove", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bc2", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2400", RUN+="/usr/bin/systemctl stop backup-usb-disk.service"

NOTES:
To find your USB disk Vendor and Product ID, run the command:

udevadm info -a -p $(udevadm info -q path -n /dev/sdX) | grep -B2 -i -e idvendor -e idproduct


Change ‘X’ to suit your setup
Run the command ‘udevadm control –reload’ to reload the rules

Conclusion

That’s it! Now when ever, the USB external disk is plugged into the USB port, the backup script will be triggered. You can extend the above mentioned backup script to not only back up other partitions beyond just the /home in our example, but also email the operator whenever the process completes.

Why installing open source packages using sources is cool and how to start today

Until you start installing packages on Linux/UNIX systems using sources, you will always be very dependent on your distribution or vendors to stay up to date.

Installing from sources may not be for everyone, but I recommend it for novice and advanced Linux/UNIX users alike, as it offers tremendous benefits:

  1. Ability to fine tune the package according to your needs
  2. You almost always end up with a much faster application
  3. You get the latest security updates immediately
  4. You learn a whole lot

So how do you install from sources?

  • Download the package from URL upstream

The package may be in several forms: PACKAGE.tar.gz, PACKAGE.tar.bz2, PACKAGE.xz, or clone from a github repository i.e. git clone [URL]

  • Unpack the package inside your sources directory e.g. /usr/src:
    tar zxvf PACKAGE.tar.gz -C /usr/src
    tar jxvf PACKAGE.tar.bz2 -C /usr/src
    tar xvf PACKAGE.tar.xz -C /usr/src

  • IMPORTANT: Read the following two files if available: README (or README.md) and INSTALL. I can not stress how important it is to read the above files. The package
    maintainer will usually include notes on how to compile and install the package

  • Change to source directory of the package
    cd /usr/src/PACKAGE-VERSION/

  • Compile
    ./configure

  • Install
    make && make install

Thats it! If all went well especially during the make, you should be able to run your package. Sometimes, the configure command will specify that
a dependency is missing. You will need to install it before you proceed. This is why it is important that you read the README and INSTALL files.

How to add a printer in Linux using the command line (CLI)

Managing printers in Linux has become easier lately. With just a few clicks in your GNOME, KDE, UNITY, or other desktop, you could be printing away in just seconds. But what about the command line Interface? Here too, a simple command is all you need, and in a few steps your printer should be setup

Before you start, ensure that the CUPS package is installed on your Linux system and if not, install it using your package manager e.g. For Redhat based systems:

dnf install cups

Alternatively, you may download CUPS and PPD files direct from the CUPS website at: https//www.cups.org/

1. Find the Postscript Printer Description (PPD) file for your printer. Typically installed with the cups package and stored under: /usr/share/cups/model/. Also look under /usr/share/ppd/cupsfilters

2. Run the command lpinfo -l to get a list of available printers and drivers i.e. device-uri

3. Add your printer using the following command:

lpadmin -p “HP-LaserJet-CM3530-1” -D “Human Resources Department” -P /usr/share/ppd/cupsfilters/HP-Color_LaserJet_CM3530_MFP-PDF.ppd -E -v file:///dev/PRINTER_PATH

-v represents the device-uri as seen in step 3. For a detailed explanation of the options, type: man lpadmin

How to receive Linux server alerts on your phone via WhatsApp

In my last article, I wrote about how to receive Linux server alerts on your phone via telegram. While telegram has a rich feature set, it is still not as popular as whatsapp at least in most regions. Almost, everyone I know is using whatsapp. With the recent addition of end-to-end ecryption, I’ve since relaxed my negative opinions of this service. Therefore, I decided to write a follow-up to my previous article, and show you how to get alerts from your Linux server via whatsapp. I will not delve into the setup of icinga2, however, once you are able to send messages to whatsapp, things should be pretty much self explanatory.

Thanks to Tarek Galal, who wrote a python library called yowsup to interface with whatsapp API.

First install it as follows:

pip install yowsup2

If installation fails, ensure that your have installed all the required dependencies on your Linux box which include python2.6+, python-dateutil, argparse,readline, pillow. If you intend to use encryption, you will need to install protobuf, pycrypto, python-axolotl-curve25519

Yowsup comes with a command-line tool appropriately named; yowsup-cli. For a full understanding of its usage, please visit the yowsup-cli wiki

Registration

As expected, you will need to register your phone. This can be done simply as follows:

yowsup-cli registration -d -E android -m 641 -n 10 -p 256XXXXXXXXX -C 256 -r sms

The arguments explained:
-d For debugging
-E This is the environment. Specifically set this to android. The default will cause you to run into ‘no_route’ errors.
-m This is the MCC for your country. In my case 641 is for Uganda. Use the site: http://mcclist.com/mobile-network-codes-country-codes.asp to locate yours
-n This is the MNC for your Telecom provider. Again, use the site: http://mcclist.com/mobile-network-codes-country-codes.asp to locate yours
-p This is your phone number. Include the country code specified in next option -C
-C This is the country telephone code. In my case 256 is for Uganda.
-r (sms|voice) This is method by which pin code will be sent to you

If execution of the above command is successful, you will receive, either a text message or voice call with the PIN code. Use this code to complete the registration process as follows:

yowsup-cli registration -d -E android -p 2567XXXXX -C 256 -R PIN-CODE

The arguments are similar to above, except for:
– R which allows you to register using the provided PIN-CODE

Once the command above has been executed successfully, the results displayed will look like the following

kind: free
pw: dfggHHSGGdIcdddRN567gjy=
price: US$0.99
price_expiration: 147567899
currency: USD
cost: 0.99
expiration: 4444444444.0
login: 256XXXXXXXXXX
type: new

Take note of the 2 fields: pw and login

Sending Messages

You should now be able to send messages using the command line. Test sending as follows:

yowsup-cli demos -d -l "256XXXXXXXX:dfggHHSGGdIcdddRN567gjy=" -s 256XXXXXXXXX "This is a test – Hello World"

The arguments explained:
-d For debugging
-l login. Enter in format [login:password]
-s The recipient’s phone number

At this point your recipient should be able to receive your message.

For monitoring with icinga2, you will need to create a script using the above command for sending messages. Make it executable and place it in location of your scripts. From, here, setup of icinga2 is like any other as shown in my previous article.

If you need more assistance or are interested in Linux and Open Source stuff, follow me @jzikusooka.

Scroll to top