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How to Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 in Microsoft 2008 R2 Hyper-V

September 30, 2011 By Michael O'Coners Leave a Comment

The following tutorial provides a road map to install and configure Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 in Microsoft 2008 R2 Hyper-V. This tutorial assumes you have an understanding of Hyper-V and Red Hat operating systems.

Create Virtual Machine in Microsoft Hyper-V

  1. Select your Virtual Host. Right click it then click New then Virtual Machine….
  2. Click Next at the Before you Begin (if you haven’t disabled this screen).
  3. Create a Name for your RHEL virtual machine and choose a location to store it.
  4. Select the memory allocation.
  5. Select a network connection that provides access to the Internet. Note that the Network Adapter will not work until after the Linux Integration Components are installed. As mentioned shortly you will get network access through the Legacy Network Adapter.
  6. Name the VHD file, confirm the location, and size.
  7. Select install an operating system from a boot CD/DVD and choose image file. (assuming install from ISO)
  8. Finish
  9. Upon virtual machine completion and before powering on the virtual machine to begin the install go into the virtual machine settings and select “Add Hardware” then select “Legacy Network Adapter”. Make sure to choose your connected network that has Internet access. You will need this for Red Hat Network (RHN) registration and yum updates should you decide to update your system. This can be removed later after you confirm your Network Adapter is working.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 Installation

  1. Connect to the console of the virtual machine you just created then power it on.
  2. Press Enter to select “Install or upgrade an existing system”.
  3. Choose whether or not you want to perform a media check. It’s always best to test to ensure your ISO or media source isn’t corrupt. I didn’t look into this at all but sometimes after the media check is performed you have to restart the install process. Seemed the restart was quicker than investigating why.
  4. At the Splash screen for RHEL press Enter for “Next”.
  5. Select your Language then press Enter for “Next”.
  6. Select your keyboard then press Enter for “Next”.
  7. Select the Basic Storage Devices then press Enter for “Next”.
  8. When you receive the Storage Device Warning select “Yes, Discard any data” then press Enter. This assumes a new virtual machine with no data on it.
  9. Assign a host name to this RHEL server. At this screen make sure to select “Configure Network” since the Legacy Network Adapter will be used for network access. Select “Edit” to modify System eth0. Ensure the connection is enabled so it’s active at boot. Do this by selecting “Connect Automatically”. By default IPv4 DHCP is enabled. Apply your changes, select “Close”, then press Enter to proceed.
  10. Select the time zone then press Enter for “Next”.
  11. Set the root password then press Enter for “Next”.
  12. Select “Use All Space” then press Enter for “Next”.
  13. Select Write changes to disk.
  14. Choose Basic Server installation then tab down to “Customize Now”. We will want to customize the software installed. Press Enter for “Next”.
  15. Select Desktops in the left pane. Then in the right pane select Desktop and Graphical Administration Tools.
  16. Reboot at the end of installation.

Post Installation Tasks

  1. At bootup you’ll be prompted with a series of tools you can execute to simplify post-installation settings. Select RHN Register. Registering your RHEL server will allow you to get critical updates, etc. Select Next. Enter your RHN credentials then Next. At system profile if everything looks good then Next. Next at Packages. Next to Send Profile. At Revew system select OK then Finish.
  2. Select Quit at the Tools menu.
  3. After a few moments you will find yourself at the RHEL login.

Installing Linux Integration Components v3.1

  1. Now it’s time to install the Linux Integrated Components from Microsoft. You can download them here http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26837. You will need version 3.1 since previous versions will not work with the kernel in RHEL 6. Download this to a location you can access in the next step.
  2. From your RHEL virtual machine console in Hyper-V select File then Settings. Select the DVD Drive under IDE Controller 1 then select the “Linux IC v3.0.iso” file you just downloaded. Click OK.
  3. Run the following commands from the RHEL command line now that the ISO is mounted in Hyper-V:
    1. mount /dev/cdrom /media

For 64-bit version of RHEL run these two commands

rpm –ivh /media/x86_64/kmod-microsoft-hyper-v-rhel6-60.1.x86_64.rpm
rpm –ivh /media/x86_64/microsoft-hyper-v-rhel6-60.1.x86_64.rpm
reboot

For 32-bit versions of RHEL run these two commands

rpm –ivh /media/x86/kmod-microsoft-hyper-v-rhel6-60.1.i686.rpm
rpm –ivh /media/x86/microsoft-hyper-v-rhel6-60.1.i686.rpm
reboot

Special Notes

You may notice that you can no longer mount a cdrom after running the RPM installs. There’s some fine text in the Linux Integration Services v3 Read Me.pdf file that can be downloaded here – http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26837

To mount an ISO file in the virtual machine, the following command must be run before executing the mount command:

# insmod /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/ata/ata_piix.ko

Alternatively, copy the ISO file into the virtual machine and mount it using the -o loop option.

Filed Under: Hyper-V, Red Hat Tagged With: , ,

Improving Communication with Blackberry Messenger Groups

September 24, 2011 By Michael O'Coners 1 Comment

Blackberry Messenger Groups provide a powerful, but often overlooked, method of communication. Of all the Blackberry applications Blackberry Messenger has always been one of my favorites. Blackberry Messenger provides excellent chat capabilities between contacts and has always been very reliable. Unfortunately many organizations never use one of Blackberry Messenger’s most powerful features – Blackberry Groups. Here’s a brief overview of Blackberry Messenger groups as provided by Blackberry support documents:

You can use the BlackBerry® Groups feature of BlackBerry® Messenger to create or join a group of people that you want to stay connected with, such as family, friends, or co-workers.

You can share pictures, lists, and appointments with the members of your group. You can also chat with members and comment on shared items. A group can contain up to 30 members and can include members who are not part of your BlackBerry Messenger contacts.

The groups that you belong to are listed on the contact list screen of BlackBerry Messenger. You can also add a shortcut icon for the group to the Home screen of your BlackBerry device so that you can quickly access the group.

Depending on your wireless service provider or organization, this feature might not be supported.

Setting up groups is easy and any time you need to collaborate with multiple team members I highly recommend setting one (or more) up.

Here’s how:

1.            On the Home screen or in the Instant Messaging folder, click the BBM icon.

2.            On the contact list screen, press the Menu key.

3.            Click Create New Group.

4.            Name the group appropriately (Spaces are accepted)

5.            Type the group description

6.            Click Create Group.

Instructions for inviting contacts to join your group are available from the BlackBerry Help Center.

Common Uses:

Here are some examples of the many ways to use groups:

  • Emergency Response teams
  • Information Technology support teams
  • Sales teams
  • Small businesses (all employees)
  • Field Technicians
  • Engineering groups
  • Business units or departments
  • Collaboration groups

More Information:

Blackberry Group Basics
http://docs.blackberry.com/en/smartphone_users/deliverables/13195/Group_basics_title_841303_11.jsp

Managing Group Members
http://docs.blackberry.com/en/smartphone_users/deliverables/13195/Members_title_881182_11.jsp

Filed Under: Blackberry Tagged With:

How I Value Technical Certifications

September 18, 2011 By Michael O'Coners Leave a Comment

As an engineer I had to evaluate whether or not a technical certification would be of value to me. Much like buying into an investment I had to ask myself if I’d see a return. As the owner of a technology company I now have to evaluate whether or not an individual would be of value to me and the team. An individual in this case must be able to produce a return just like an investment. For after all, they are an investment.  This leads me to the crux of this article. How do I value technical certifications as both an engineer and a business owner?

*When evaluating an individual there are many things to observe. For this article I’m going to skip over the long list a human resources expert would give you and focus on certifications only.

Before delving into the value of certifications I’d like to first offer up my opinion on the current state of technical certifications. Over the past 15 years technical certification tests haven’t changed much. Candidates report to a testing center and after proving their identity sit at a computer and take a 60-100 question test. The biggest advancement in 15 years is the use of “simulators” within the test engine. Simulators offer up a much more hands-on testing of skills compared to the very old style multiple choice questions. The biggest problem with certification exams like this is the massive explosion of testing material geared towards simply memorizing all the answers. Candidates can purchase their particular test and memorize all the answers. It’s important to keep in mind that these methods aren’t supported or sponsored by the vendor responsible for the certifications but rather originate from oversees testing centers in Pakistan, etc. who basically record all the test engine output, package it in a usable format, and then sell them for $60-125 per test. Ultimately this leads to what’s called “papering” a certification test. Papering a test simply means you passed the certification without actually obtaining the knowledge to have passed “legitimately”.

Although the above methodology is questionable I will say that the same resources do come in handy for candidates wanting to confirm they truly know the material. I personally wish more vendors would create top-level certifications similar to the Cisco CCIE and Juniper equivalent. These two top-level certifications provide a proctored lab exam where candidates must prove they know material. Given their own network equipment and a lab book with design requirements candidates must design a solution according to specifications set forth in the lab book. There is no way to “paper” a test like this and it does prove a candidate knows what they are doing as it pertains to a certification checklist. It does not however prove that the engineer is “good” at what they do. It only proves they know what they are doing. Being “good” at what they do will always be left to personal qualities, references, experience, and the interview process.

My point for explaining this is as follows. A certification will only be as good as the candidate who holds it. I know CCNA-level engineers who are far smarter and knowledgeable than a CCNP. I know some people who have no Cisco certifications but they could hang with Cisco CCIEs. So after I’ve just said all this you may be wondering how I value a certification if the certification is only as good as the beholder.

I value certifications as more of a personality gauge than I do a technical gauge. An individual with legitimate (not paper) certifications prove several things to me:

  • The candidate has a strong desire to prove what they know
  • They seek recognition
  • They value achievement milestones
  • They value structured learning
  • They are taking an active effort to improve themselves
  • They want to grow as a person and engineer

When I receive a resume from a candidate with 15 years of experience and no certifications it’s a big negative and very often the resume goes straight to the trash. It’s not to say they aren’t a good engineer but they often end up lacking one or more of the above qualities. All too often I hear them complain that “I don’t need them”. This is code for “I’m too good for certifications”, or “I’m afraid I could fail at certifications when somebody who knows half as much has them”. Some candidates might have worked in the private sector and never had a “need” for them. One could argue they lack the qualities mentioned above as well. As a mentor I always suggest the achievement of certifications on any candidates behalf.

If you come across a candidate with no certifications always ask why they don’t have them. Sometimes life just happens and candidates don’t have the money for it or they have a family and kids. Obstacles like this make it very difficult to work on certifications. But even with these obstacles certifications are obtainable. Just look at what single moms do in a day and ask yourself if you don’t have the time.  

In conclusion I’ll say that there are a lot of really good people without certifications and there are a lot of less talented people with lots of certifications. But, when it comes time to evaluate between two good candidates the one with the certifications most often has the edge. Good personal qualities are a lot harder to find in a candidate than technical skills. So for anybody out there looking for a job and growing your career my advice to you is to get those certs. Remember when you were told to eat all your food because people were starving in some foreign land? Well now you have people in foreign lands starving for your job and it could be you looking for food.

Filed Under: Decisions for Business Tagged With: ,

Well Worth the Wait – Blackberry Bold 9900 Review

September 5, 2011 By Michael O'Coners 1 Comment

The long awaited Blackberry Bold 9900 (T-Mobile) was well worth the wait. Before I go into a non-technical review I’m going to give you some background on what I expect from a phone and how I use it. As the owner of a technology company I need reliable service and rock solid performance. On top of that I need access to secure business communications. Cool gizmos and gadgets are optional but not required. I use the phone extensively throughout the day and I put a phone through lots of heavy use. The Blackberry Bold delivers on all of the above.

So let’s start with the bad and wrap up with the good. Note that I’m not going to delve into technical review details. This is all about usability from an end user (me) perspective.

The Bad

The Blackberry Bold 9900 has some quirky default configurations. First, “auto answer from holster” is enabled. I don’t know how many people want to answer their phone blindly but I doubt there are many. I can’t find a single person who doesn’t want to see who is calling them before answering these days. Luckily this is easily disabled by going to Options – Call Management – In-call Settings. Change “Auto Answer Calls” to Never.

The depth of applications isn’t as deep as the iPhone or Android – but it’s getting much better. However, for business applications I don’t have any problems finding applications for Blackberry that you won’t find for Android and iPhone, such as great encryption software. Once again, if looking for games go get a phone designed for gaming.

Here’s my biggest gripe. And this gripe isn’t even related to actual phone use but rather the charging design. All my previous Bolds could be holstered and have the charger plugged into the wall. The 9900 has to be unholstered or slightly pulled out of the holster to charge it. This is a very annoying quirk because your Blackberry and its holster are made for each other (you Blackberry users know what I mean) and taking them apart to charge them just isn’t a natural thing.

The Good

The 9900 boots so much faster than previous versions. I can remember waiting over 5 minutes for the Bold to boot and it would drive me crazy. Now it boots in less than a minute and it’s noticeably much faster.

The balance between touch screen and keyboard is perfect. My fingers flow between either as I learn which method is faster. The flexibility to choose between either is actually quite usable. Prior to this I thought it seemed overly redundant but after using it for a few weeks it’s a well-balanced feature. This phone deserves an accolade just for the keyboard itself. When typing on this keyboard I can type paragraphs at a time with ease without having to use abbreviated words over and over. This is great when you need to compose a professional email without chopped up, misspelled words. Hands down the built in keyboard is far better than any touchscreen keyboard on the Android or iPhone. The disadvantage to such an easy to use and reliable keyboard however, is you sacrifice screen real estate. The screen real estate is smaller than an iPhone but the screen quality is just as good. The screen is beautiful.

The phone itself is rock solid and almost feels ruggedized. When I first pulled the battery to test usability I was quite impressed. I didn’t feel like I was going to break the battery cover like other phones. The size of the phone is thinner but slightly larger (wider) than previous and fits great in the hand. This comes in handy for single handed Blackberry Messaging, texting, email, etc.

Installing applications is easy with Blackberry App World. No problems there. Using T-Mobile’s 4G network I’ve been able to download applications quickly and easily.

I haven’t had any trouble with dropped calls. That’s not to say I haven’t had them but nothing outside of normal dropped calls while traveling long distances roaming from tower to tower. Calling reliability has been excellent.

Internet speeds are noticeably faster. One complaint I’ve always had with the Blackberry was slow Internet performance. Although it’s greatly improved it’s still not where I would like to see it – but no complaints so far.

Blackberry devices have always had great battery life. The 9900 continues with that tradition but I’m guessing because of the additional horsepower and better screen as well as touch screen technology the battery life has taken a bit of a hit. On a very heavy day of phone call usage I do find myself approaching low battery levels in “the red”. Granted this was a lot of talk time but with previous versions I never got in the red after a full day’s use. The standby battery life continues to impress. When holstered I can go weeks without charging.

The built-in 5 megapixel camera takes great pictures for a phone. I do hear complaints from many people about how disappointing a 5 megapixels camera is when other phones have 10 megapixels but come on…. It’s a phone! I’m not buying my phone so I can be a photographer or take high quality home movies. I’ve got work to do on my phone. Once again, for me it’s a rock solid business class phone. And besides, for non-professional pictures and video recording it works great. My on the fly videos turn out great. If I want to take HD quality pictures and video I’ll break out my digital camera which was designed for such things.

On top of all these other features, businesses can much more affordably utilize Blackberry Enterprise features.  You can now get the free Blackberry Enterprise Express server to keep your workforce productive at a very low cost while providing excellent security features to your phones. For example, one of our client’s employees lost their phone in Paris. With a few mouse clicks we wiped the phone remotely. With a few mouse clicks her new phone was added to the server and she was “in sync” again. Blackberry offers wonderful business class tools.

The End Result

The Blackberry Bold 9900 is a great business class phone that offers many of the features that take the edge off “business only”. It’s rugged and dependable while providing usability that is fluid to the end user making it easy to use and navigate – especially with one hand. The navigation is top of class and far surpasses iPhone and Android. It’s the best phone I’ve ever had thus far but no phone is perfect so aside from some of the quirks I’m giving it 4.75 out of 5 stars. I would have given it 5 out of 5 if it weren’t for the battery charging issue with the holster.

More Information

Blackberry Bold 9900/9930 (United States)
http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberrybold.jsp

T-Mobile (Please don’t let the AT&T disaster go through)
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Phones/cell-phone-detail.aspx?cell-phone=BlackBerry-Bold-9900-4G-Black

Filed Under: Blackberry Tagged With:

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