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Configuring Linux *

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Structure of Linux driver for single-board computer

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time5 min
Views273

Hello my name is Dmitry. Recently I wrote article "Building firmware for Orange PI i96 (Orange PI 2g-iot) from scratch" . If you haven't read it yat, I highly recommend. And there I noticed that in order to build firware on current kernel, I have to rewrite drivers wirh new archetecture "Device tree". In this article I have revelate how I do it.

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Building firmware for Orange PI i96 (Orange PI 2g-iot) from scratch

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time14 min
Views495

Hellow my name is Dmitry. Once I bought "Orange PI i96", but unfortunately producer not update it firmvere very long. Last firmwere kernel version is 3.10.62 but kernel current at time this article writing (russian version) is 6.5.1. And so I decide build my own firmware from scratch, and do it from sourse completely.

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Total votes 8: ↑7 and ↓1+6
Comments6

Wie ich ein einfaches Monitoring von Kanälen mit Benachrichtigungen an Slack ohne Erfahrung gemacht habe

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time3 min
Views547

Arbeiten im technischen Support brachte zusätzlich zu allen Aufgaben die Pflicht mit sich, die Kommunikationskanäle zu überwachen. Dies wurde über den Grafana-Dienst realisiert, der die erforderlichen Metriken aus Zabbix bezog. Da die Art der Arbeit jedoch bedeutete, dass man nicht immer an seinem Arbeitsplatz sitzt, kam mir die Idee, dies ein wenig zu automatisieren und Benachrichtigungen auf das Telefon oder zum Beispiel in einen Messenger zu erhalten, falls ein Kommunikationskanal ausfällt. Allerdings hatte ich keinen Zugriff auf das Zabbix-System und auch keinen erweiterten Zugriff auf Grafana.

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Total votes 5: ↑5 and ↓0+5
Comments0

Make first deb-src package by example cri-o

Reading time9 min
Views1.9K


Overview


Once every true-linux engineer gets a trouble: there is no any software in his distro or it's built without needed options. I am keen on the phrase: "Only source control gives you freedom".


Of course, you can build this software on your computer without any src-packages, directly (with simplification: configure, make, make install). But it's a non-reproducible solution, also hard for distribution.


The better way is to make distro-aligned package that can be built if needed and that produces lightly distributed binary-packages. It's about debian-source packages(debian,ubuntu,etc), pkgbuild (for arch), ebuild for gentoo, src-rpm for red hat-based, and many others.


I will use cri-o like a specimen.


Before reading the text below I strongly recommend to get familiarized with the official Debian policy manual placed here and debhelper manpage.


Also you will be required to setup some variables like DEBMAIL and DEBFULLNAME for proper data in changelog and other places.

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Total votes 1: ↑1 and ↓0+1
Comments2

How I gave my old laptop second life

Reading time16 min
Views2.9K

17-19 min read

Hi y'all, my name is Labertte and I use Arch btw.
Probably like every other Linux user, I'd like to buy a ThinkPad, put some lightweight distribution like Arch or Gentoo on it, and then go to Starbucks, get a soy latte and tell everyone that I use "linux". But I decided to go a little different route and give a chance to my old laptop that I was using about five or seven years ago.

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Total votes 2: ↑1 and ↓10
Comments4

PHDays 11: bootkit infection, sanitizers for the Linux kernel, the new face of OSINT, and phishing on official websites

Reading time3 min
Views1.5K

Positive Hack Days 11 will begin in a matter of weeks. This international forum on practical security will be held on May 18–19 in Moscow.

As per tradition, PHDays will have three big tracks dedicated to countering attacks (defensive), protection through attack (offensive), and the impact of cybersecurity on business. It is our pleasure to present the first talks.

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Total votes 1: ↑0 and ↓1-1
Comments0

Introducing into calamares bootloader

Reading time13 min
Views4.7K


Overview


Sometimes all of us need to make a graphical installer for one's own linux distro. It goes without saying that you are able to use a distro-specific installer like Anaconda for RedHat-based or DebianInstaller for debian-based. On the other hand Calamares is a graphical installer which is not aligned with only one package manager.


I want to share my experience how to make a universal install solution with GUI. I did not find any complete article about it, hence, I reinvented the wheel.

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Total votes 2: ↑2 and ↓0+2
Comments0

Enhancing security of containers in Linux

Reading time12 min
Views1.7K

In any history textbooks, the modern time has already been called the time of the next change of the industrial structure or the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). The main role, in this case, is given to information and IT systems. In an attempt to reduce the cost of IT infrastructure, unify and accelerate the process of developing IT solutions, humanity first invented "clouds" in order to replace traditional data centers, and then containers to replace virtual machines.

Clearly, containers appear more vulnerable from a security point of view. What are the advantages of containerization over virtualization? In fact, there are quite a lot of them:

the possibility of more flexible use of available resources (no need to backup them as in the case of virtual machines);

the ability to save resources (no need to spend them on many copies of the OS for each virtual machine);

no delays at startup (just start of the process is almost instantaneous compared to the time needed to load the virtual machine);

 the interaction between processes, even if isolated, is much easier to implement when needed than between virtual machines. That is how, by the way, came the concept of microservices, which has recently become very popular.

All of the above led to the very rapid development of container technologies, despite the recurring problems with the security of already deployed container cloud systems, their hacks, and data leaks. Accordingly, the work on strengthening container security is also continuing. This is what will be discussed further in this article.

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Total votes 3: ↑3 and ↓0+3
Comments0

Data Recovery from LVM Volumes in Linux

Reading time5 min
Views12K
Would you like to know how to use the LVM technology in Linux? How to create an LVM volume, how to configure and mount it in your operating system, how to add and remove disks, and how to recover the information you have accidentally deleted? In today’s article, you will find all of that – and even more.

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Total votes 15: ↑3 and ↓12-9
Comments7

Using kconfig for own projects

Reading time4 min
Views9.1K

Intro


Every Linux professional write scripts. Someеimes light, linear. Sometimes complex script with functions and libs(yes, you can write your bash-library for use in other scripts).


But some of the scripts need a configuration file to work. For instance, I wrote a script that builds the ubuntu image for pxe, and I need to change the build process without build-script changes. The best way to resolve this task is to add configuration files.

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Total votes 2: ↑2 and ↓0+2
Comments6

Boot Ubuntu via http/ftp server with pxe(diskless boot)

Reading time5 min
Views20K

Intro


PXE is a great solution for booting a diskless computer (or a computer without an OS installed). This method is often used for terminal stations and OS mass installation.


Stock ubuntu (16.04) in pxe-mode can mount rootfs only from NFS. But this is not a great idea: any difficulties with the network/NFS server and the user gets problems.


In my opinion, it's best to use other protocols, such as http/ftp. Once booting, you will have an independent system

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Total votes 6: ↑6 and ↓0+6
Comments3

External Interrupts in the x86 system. Part 2. Linux kernel boot options

Reading time14 min
Views8K

In the last part we discussed evolution of the interrupt delivery process from the devices in the x86 system (PIC → APIC → MSI), general theory, and all the necessary terminology.


In this practical part we will look at how to roll back to the use of obsolete methods of interrupt delivery in Linux, and in particular we will look at Linux kernel boot options:


  • pci=nomsi
  • noapic
  • nolapic

Also we will look at the order in which the OS looks for interrupt routing tables (ACPI/MPtable/$PIR) and what the impact is from the following boot options:


  • pci=noacpi
  • acpi=noirq
  • acpi=off

You've probably used some combination of these options when one of the devices in your system hasn't worked correctly because of an interrupt problem. We'll go through these options and find out what they do and how they change the kernel '/proc/interrupts' interface output.

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Total votes 2: ↑2 and ↓0+2
Comments0

Porting packages to buildroot using the Zabbix example

Reading time16 min
Views4.6K


The basics of porting


Originally, Buildroot offers a limited number of packages. It makes sense — there is everything you need, but any other packages can be added.


To add a package, create 2 description files, an optional checksum file, and add a link to the package in the general package list. There are hooks at different stages of the build. At the same time, Buildroot can recognize the needed type of packages:

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Total votes 2: ↑2 and ↓0+2
Comments0

How I fix cups-printing in Buildroot

Reading time7 min
Views2.2K

image


Intro


Like I said earlier in previos articles, Buildroot is a great system for embedded Linux development. But sometimes strange things can happen.


Once upon a workday, I got the following task: add printing system in firmware (Kraftway terminal Linux next generation). Ok, so I had to add cups + cups filter and to build firmware. I set a postscript-printer and got an error "Filter failed". Trivial tasks turned into serious work.


In this article, I wrote my own way of solving this problem. It may be useful for other developers and IT-specialist and, also, for a deeper understanding of the Buildroot.


If you are a Buildroot beginner, I recommend reading my previous articles.


Update 1 may 2020


Revisioned versions of this patches applied to master.

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Total votes 2: ↑1 and ↓10
Comments0

buildroot — my own experience with multi-platform distro creation

Reading time5 min
Views5.5K

Introduction


In my previous article (Monitor linux) I wrote, what is this distro and how it works. Now i will write how to do it. It's may be interesting for everyone, who want to study buildroot.


Target goals


The result we get from article is the following:


  • Firmware (non-volatile image with restorable config)
  • Easy management via web-interface
  • Cross-platform (qemu x86_64, arm-based SBC like rasberry 4, beagle bone black and asus tinker board)
  • Support without extra effort
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Total votes 8: ↑6 and ↓2+4
Comments2

Cool WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) tips and tricks

Reading time3 min
Views4.4K
It's no secret I dig WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) and now that WSL2 is available in Windows Insiders Slow it's a great time to really explore the options that are available. What I'm finding is so interesting about WSL and how it relates to the Windows system around it is how you can cleanly move data between worlds. This isn't an experience you can easily have with full virtual machines, and it speaks to the tight integration of Linux and Windows.

Look at all this cool stuff you can do when you mix your peanut butter and chocolate!

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Total votes 5: ↑3 and ↓2+1
Comments1
1

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