Joe Brockmeier, Author at ServerWatch https://www.serverwatch.com/author/joe-brockmeier/ ServerWatch is the leading IT resource on all things server. Tue, 26 Sep 2023 03:32:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2 How to Add Users and Aliases in Postfix https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/adding-users-and-aliases-for-postfix/ Wed, 31 May 2023 14:50:00 +0000 https://www.serverwatch.com/2020/09/14/adding-users-and-aliases-for-postfix/ Postfix is a great mailer, but if you’re new to administering Postfix, finding your way around can be difficult. For example, just finding information on adding users to a Postfix system can be quite a trial. In part, this is because Postfix can be set up in a number of ways. Some installations use Postfix […]

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]]> Keep Configs Under Control With Etckeeper https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/keep-configs-under-control-with-etckeeper/ Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.serverwatch.com/2020/09/14/keep-configs-under-control-with-etckeeper/ If Unix-like systems were being designed today, they probably would have been planned with some sort of revision control for configuration files. But the system of keeping plain-text configuration files under /etc was designed in a simpler time. Times have changed, and we need a little assistance in keeping up. If you’re managing a set […]

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]]> Use s3cmd for Managing Amazon S3 Storage from the CLI https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/use-s3cmd-for-managing-amazon-s3-storage-from-the-cli/ Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.serverwatch.com/2020/09/14/use-s3cmd-for-managing-amazon-s3-storage-from-the-cli/ Amazon S3 storage is dirt cheap. Whether it’s for work or personal use, S3 makes for a great repository for backups and other data you want to store. But most admins want a way to interact with S3 that doesn’t involve dealing with the Web-based interface. If you’re looking to script backups or other operations, […]

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]]> Give Yourself a Menu in Vim https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/give-yourself-a-menu-in-vim/ Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.serverwatch.com/2020/09/14/give-yourself-a-menu-in-vim/ This week, I have a quick couple of tips for Vim users that should make life just a little bit easier when using Vim in command mode and completing filenames. By default, when you use Vim you can type the first letter or first few letters of a command, and you’ll be able to cycle […]

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]]> User Limits Made Easy https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/user-limits-made-easy/ Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.serverwatch.com/2020/09/14/user-limits-made-easy/ One of the tools admins have at their disposal on Linux to set hard and soft limits for users is the pam_limits module. Basically, pam_limits sets parameters on system resources on a per-user (or per-group) basis. Using these tools, you can limit everything, from the maximum number of files a user can have open to […]

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]]> A Look at the Compgen Bash Builtin https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/a-look-at-the-compgen-bash-builtin/ Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.serverwatch.com/2020/09/14/a-look-at-the-compgen-bash-builtin/ Many features that come with Linux and other Unix-type systems are non-obvious and almost indiscoverable. To put it another way, unless someone points out a feature or you RTFM a lot, you’ll miss a wealth of features under the surface. One feature I’d been missing for years is compgen, a GNU Bash builtin that shows […]

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]]> Kill Processes Quickly With Slay https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/kill-processes-quickly-with-slay/ Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.serverwatch.com/2020/09/14/kill-processes-quickly-with-slay/ Any system administrator worth his or her salt knows kill and pkill. But for a quick, clean kill, there’s slay. If you must kill all processes by a user–whether it’s because the user is running malicious processes, the user is being removed from the system, or any other reason–slay is the hands-down fastest way to […]

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]]> Check WordPress for Exploits https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/check-wordpress-for-exploits/ Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.serverwatch.com/2020/09/14/check-wordpress-for-exploits/ Whether you use WordPress for your personal blog, or your organization uses it for its entire Web site, ensuring its security is a good thing. One tool that can help secure WordPress is the the Exploit Scanner plugin. WordPress is one of the most popular CMSes, which means it is among the more commonly exploited. […]

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]]> Try collectlfor System Monitoring https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/try-collectlfor-system-monitoring/ Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.serverwatch.com/2020/09/14/try-collectlfor-system-monitoring/ Most Linux system administrators are familiar with sar for collecting system status data. However, there’s a few ways that sar shows its age and doesn’t quite live up to expectations. If you’re looking for a newer utility that also handles NFS, Slab data and sub-second intervals, collectl may better fit the bill. When it comes […]

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]]> Monitor Progress with Pipe Viewer https://www.serverwatch.com/guides/monitor-progress-with-pipe-viewer/ Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.serverwatch.com/2020/09/14/monitor-progress-with-pipe-viewer/ One of the most frustrating things when doing system administration is having no idea how long a process will take to finish or how much progress it’s made. To get a better look at what’s going on, try the Pipe Viewer utility. For sys admins, running a process can feel like driving cross-country without a […]

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