BlueZucchini

Windows Security Software

2009-09-26T10:15:00.003-05:00

Over the last few months I've been asked several times what security software I use for my Windows host. I mostly run OS X / Unix, so I may not be the best source of information, but I'll give it a shot.

I sat down with my netbook running Windows XP and looked through everything I do security related. Most of this I don't notice on a day-to-day basis, so I was a little surprised how much there is.

Software:

Anti-virus: Avast (free for personal use)
Firewall: Sunbelt Personal Firewall (free for personal use)
Anti-spyware: Adaware Free and Spybot S&D. Both are free.
I started playing with Malwarebytes today. Based on the reviews, I would recommend it (again, it's free), but can't yet say for sure how good it is myself.

I also

only install necessary software,
read email in my browser instead of a fat-client (I use GMail) and
only use Internet Explorer when I absolutely must and I feel I can trust the site.

Not reading email in a fat-client means less chance of a virus (Google has malware detection built in) and I don't have to run anti-spam software (again, it comes with GMail).

I run Firefox as my primary browser with a couple plug-ins installed to enhance its security and improve my browsing experience:

NoScript blocks most scripts on a web page unless I explicitely allow them
Adblock Plus kills most of the ads on web pages
RequestPolicy allows me to control redirection and cross-site requests

None of these products is the necessarily the best product available, but the combination does seem to work and it's free other than the time to set it up, which was, surprisingly, not bad. It is quite a few packages to keep up to date.

On the otherhand you can pick up an Internet security suite (ISS) and just install one product. If you want to go this route, you might check out Checkpoint's ZoneAlarm Extreme Security. I have not used it, but have heard good things about it.

Norton 360 seems to be getting good reviews, but I haven't used one of their products since Norton became the entry point used by several viruses back around 2005. I find that Norton products do well in reviews but not on the end-user, real-world scoring (see CNet, where it scores four stars in the editors review and one and a half in the users reviews).

Formatting new hard drives in Leopard

2009-02-16T16:18:00.006-06:00

I've noticed lately that to get my external disks to work with OS X correctly I have to

open Disk Utility,
click on the disk (not the slice),
click Partition,
clear the partition table,
click Options and change the partition scheme to GUID (Thanks, Charles),
create a new single partition and create the new OS X journaled file system

If I don't do this the "underlying operation fails" when Disk Utility attempts to format the hard drive.

Hiding Mounted Drives in OS X

2009-02-16T16:11:00.003-06:00

To hide a mounted drive in OS X:

/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a V Time\ Machine
sudo killall Finder

To unhide a mounted drive in OS X:

/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a v Time\ Machine
sudo killall Finder

I'll have to try to make that pretty later.

Push Google Apps email to the iPhone

2009-02-03T10:47:00.003-06:00

Setup your MobileMe account in Google Apps

In a web browser log into email on your Google Apps account (not the management screen).
Click on Settings (top-right corner)
Switch to the Accounts tab
Add your MobileMe account to the "Send mail as" list
Set the radio button under "When receiving a message" to "Always reply from default address".
Stay in Settings for the next step.

Forward your Google Apps account to your MobileMe account

Switch to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab
Set "Forward a copy of incoming mail to" to your MobileMe email address and decide what you want to do with the mail that has been forwarded (I leave it in my inbox).
Click Save Changes

Configure MobileMe on your iPhone

Setup MobileMe push email on the iPhone (not covered here).
In the Account Info, SMTP settings (Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> "Your Account" -> Account Info -> SMTP), deactivate smtp.me.com.
Add a new server smtp.gmail.com. Put in your user name and password. Turn on SSL. Authentication should be Password, Server Port should be 587. Make sure this SMTP server is turned on.

Send a test message to your Google Apps account, verify that it gets pushed to the iPhone. Reply to the message. In the sending email account verify that the sending address is your Google Apps account.

Theming Windows

2009-02-03T10:34:00.003-06:00

(hey, if you've gotta run it, at least you can make it more attractive)

Find the correct version of uxtheme.dll. Best to Google for this as download locations come and go.
Download Replacer. I used the stable version. Unzip it, etc.
Run Replacer.
Drag the original uxtheme.dll file (c:\windows\system32\uxtheme.dll) onto the command window and hit Enter.
Drag the replacement uxtheme.dll file onto the command window and hit Enter.
Confirm you want to replace the file.
Download themes and install them. I like OpusOs (deviantart.com). To install it, download and unzip it, then doubleclick on the OpenOS visual style file. Changing the wallpaper is up to you.

Setup Mail.app with GMail iMap Quick Reference

2008-06-08T09:51:00.010-05:00

Server Settings:

Incoming Mail Server: imap.gmail.com, port 993 (SSL)

Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com, port 587 (SSL)

Mailbox Behaviors:

Store Draft Messages on the server: Yes

Store Sent Messages on the server: No

Delete Sent Messages when: Never

Store Junk Messages on the server: Yes

Delete Junk Messages when: Never

Move deleted messages to the trash folder: No

Store deleted messages on the server: No

Permanently erase deleted messages when: Never

Disable junk mail filtering if this is the only mail account.

Launchd gem server on Mac OS X

2008-06-04T08:00:00.007-05:00

I wanted to have gem server running on my Mac at all times to look up Ruby documentation easily. The following launchd script will start it when you boot

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
    
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>org.rubyforge.gem-server</string>
    
    <key>Disabled</key>
    <false/>
    
    <!-- <key>Program</key>
    <string>/usr/bin/gem</string> -->
    
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
      <string>/usr/bin/gem</string>
      <string>server</string>
      <string>--port=8000</string>
    </array>
    
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    
  </dict>
</plist>

I named the file org.rubyforge.gem-server.plist and saved it into /Library/LaunchDaemons. Once the file is created run

sudo launchctl load ./org.rubyforge.gem-server.plist

and connect to http://localhost:8000 in your browser to test that everything is working.

Quick note on generating an SSL cert for Apache2

2008-05-27T16:55:00.000-05:00

mkdir /etc/apache2/ssl

RANDFILE=/dev/random openssl req $@ -new -x509 -days 365 -nodes \
-out /etc/apache2/ssl/apache.pem \
-keyout /etc/apache2/ssl/apache.pem

chmod 600 /etc/apache2/ssl/apache.pem

2008-05-19T14:23:00.000-05:00

Copying the virtual machine:

Copy the Debian package directory in Finder.
In Terminal, cd into the package, rename all the files from <old_host_name>* to <new_host_name>*
Edit <new_host_name>.vmx
Replace instances of <old_host_name> with <new_host_name>
Drag the VM into the Virtual Machine Library
Start the VM

Fixing the new virtual machine:

Change the hostname (if appropriate)

vi /etc/hostname
Change the hostname to what you want the new hostname to be
Run hostname <new_host_name>, log out and back in if you want the change to take affect without rebooting.

Recover eth0 (this assumes you only have one Ethernet on the VM, you might have to tweak these instructions if you have more)

vi /etc/udev/rules.d/*_persistent-net.rules # (there should be only one file that matches)
Delete the line containing the old eth0 and its associated comment
Change eth1 to eth0 on the remaining line
Save your changes

Reboot

How to post pretty code on Blogger

2008-05-09T23:58:00.012-05:00

I've been trying to find an easy (lazy) way to post prettied code to Blogger. For my interests the majority of that code will probably be Ruby, Shell, maybe some AppleScript and Perl, but predominantly Ruby, so I wanted to use the Syntax GEM. I found quite a few suggests to use iframes posted on another hosting option, but that was too much work, plus I wanted the consistency and easy of modifying that CSS would give me. Next up was embedding CSS directly into my template. Two problems: 1. I'm lazy and I want to be able to easily change between the default Blogger themes when the mood strikes me and 2. I'd like to be able to use the same CSS on the rest of the BlueZucchini domain, not just in my blog (I almost have this working on Google Apps -- I'll post a follow-up entry once it's working). So I came up with the following.

To use the Ruby code below you will need to install a couple GEMS and be on a Mac. If you're on Linux or Windows you'll have to figure out what methods to use to get at your clipboard, but it shouldn't be that hard to modify to work. On OS X run

sudo gem install syntax
sudo gem install rb-appscript

Create a CSS file and post it to a public web site, here's mine:

pre {
  margin:      5%;
  border:      1px solid white;
  padding:     1ex 1ex 1ex 1ex;
  overflow-x:  auto;
  background:  #0B1021;
  font-style:  monospace;
  font-size:   10px;
  font-weight: normal;
}

.attribute { color: #009900; }
.char      { color: #F00000; }
.class     { color: #FF6410; font-weight: bold; }
.comment   { color: #0000FF; }
.constant  { color: #81A6CE; }
.escape    { color: #6A5ACD; }
.expr      { color: #2222CC; }

.global    { color: #11AA44; }
.ident     { color: #CFD72C; }
.keyword   { color: #FBBF26; }
.method    { color: #FF6410; }
.module    { color: #A020F0; font-weight: bold; }
.number    { color: #CDF636; }
.punct     { color: #E7F8F8; }
.regex     { color: #61CE3C; }
.string    { color: #3AAE3A; }
.symbol    { color: #81A6CE; }

Add the following line to your Blogger template just before the /head tag:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="<uri_to_css>"></link>

To post code, copy the code you want syntax highlighted into your clipboard and then run the following script

#!/usr/bin/env ruby -wKU

require 'rubygems'
require 'syntax/convertors/html'
require 'appscript'
require 'osax'

include Appscript
include OSAX

code = osax.the_clipboard
converter = Syntax::Convertors::HTML.for_syntax "ruby"
osax.set_the_clipboard_to(converter.convert(code))

This will create the syntax highlighted HTML and put it into your clipboard. From there just post it directly into a blog posting and that should be it.

Flush the DNS cache on Leopard

2008-05-08T22:02:00.004-05:00

In terminal run:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

Notes on FasterCSV on Ruby

2008-05-08T09:13:00.018-05:00

This will automatically parse the first line as headers and allowed named (hash-like) access to the fields within each row (instead of numbered, array-like access).

#!/usr/bin/env ruby -wKU

require 'pp'
require 'rubygems'
require 'fastercsv'
              
FasterCSV.foreach('/path/filename', :headers => true) do |row| 
  row.headers.each do |field| 
    printf("%-20s:\t%s\n", field, row.field(field))
  end
  puts "=" * 50
end

Fixing permissions after installing Ruby on Rails on OS X per the Hivelogic instructions

2007-08-03T12:49:00.014-05:00

My more conservative umask (0027) causes a permissions problem during the installation of Ruby on Rails when following the instructions posted by Dan Benjamin on Hivelogic. You can find the install here. IMO this is the best way to get Rails installed on your Mac.

Anyway, here's what I did to correct the problem:

cd /usr/local/lib/ruby
sudo find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find . -type f -perm 640 -exec chmod 644 {} \;
sudo find . -type f -perm 750 -exec chmod 755 {} \;

Alternatively, I could just remember to change my umask before installing, but I always seem to forget.

How To Flush the DNS Cache on OS X (Tiger)

2007-08-01T13:54:00.002-05:00

In terminal run:

sudo lookupd -flushcache

Alternatively, you can download this little app here that will give you a graphical application to do the same thing.

New AppleScript added - Party Shuffle for LaunchBar

2007-07-06T15:39:00.000-05:00

It can be found here. Download it and take if for a spin. Let me know what you think.

Disabling Dashboard in Mac OS X

2007-07-06T08:24:00.001-05:00

To disable Dashboard:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled \
-boolean YES && killall Dock

To enable Dashboard:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled \
-boolean No && killall Dock

Drain Cleaner

2007-07-03T19:50:00.000-05:00

Pour 0.25 cup Baking Soda, followed by 1 cup vinegar into drain. Cover. Wait 15-20 minutes, uncover and flush with very hot water.

Always verbose booting your Intel Mac

2007-07-03T13:28:00.001-05:00

In Terminal:

Turn verbose booting on: sudo nvram boot-args="-v"
Turn verbose booting off: sudo nvram boot-args=

Exchange Public Folders in Mail.app

2007-06-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

I don't need them and they take up disk and annoy me, so I symlink them off to /dev/null. Here's how to do this in Terminal (be sure to shutdown Mail.app first):

# you'll need to set account and host to the appropriate
# settings for your environment
account=me@example.net
host=owa.example.net
cd ~/Library/Mail/Exchange-${account}@${host}
rm -rf Public\ Folders
ln -s /dev/null Public\ Folders

That's it.

Bash hash command

2007-06-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

The other day I got some strange results when running Ruby on the terminal prompt on my Mac. I had previously run 'ruby' in the terminal session, then compiled and installed a more recent version of Ruby and installed it into /usr/local/bin. I then updated my path (export PATH=...) to put the version in /usr/local/bin ahead of the version in /usr/bin and ran 'which ruby' to be sure I had the right pathing set up. It came back as expected. Then I ran 'ruby --version' and got and unexpected result; the version number was the one for the copy in /usr/bin. I then ran '/usr/local/bin/ruby --version' and got the version number I expected. I brought up another terminal session (cmd-n) and ran the same commands and this time I got the version number I expected. I've included a screen shot of some of the testing I did to help clarify my description.

I finally tracked down what caused this weirdness. It turns out BASH hashes each command and it's location to speed up subsequent executions. If you change your path, BASH will still look to the location stored in the hash command table. The key to reading this table is the hash command. By itself it will give you the number of times each command in the hash has been executed. There are other parameters, but the one that would have helped me is 'hash -d ruby', which would have removed the ruby entry from the hash table or 'hash -r', which would have cleared the hash table completely.

From HP.com: How to clean the print path on my laser

2007-05-24T22:18:00.001-05:00

Cleaning the print path
Use this process if toner specks or dots appear on printouts. This process produces a transparency with toner debris, which should be discarded.

NOTE: This process requires a transparency to remove dust and toner from the print paper path. Do not use bond or rough paper. Make sure that the transparency used is rated for laser printers and meets media requirements for the printer. If transparency film is unavailable, use paper. If paper must be used, perform the procedure two or three times to ensure proper cleaning.
Use the following steps to clean the print path.

Make sure that the printer is idle and that the Ready light is on.

Load a transparency in the priority input tray.

Print a cleaning page using one of the following methods:

Open the HP Toolbox: On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to HP LaserJet 1150 or HP LaserJet 1300, and choose the HP toolbox. The HP toolbox opens in a Web browser: Click the Troubleshooting tab, and then click Print Quality Tools. Select the cleaning page.

-OR-

On the printer control panel, press and hold the Go button until all three lights come on (about ten seconds). When all three lights come on, release the Go button.

NOTE: The cleaning process takes approximately two minutes. The cleaning page stops periodically during the cleaning process. The three lights on the printer blink until the cleaning process is complete. Do not turn the printer off until the cleaning process has finished. It might be necessary to repeat the cleaning process several times to thoroughly clean the printer.
Discard the transparency.

Using Screen as a Serial Console

2007-05-22T14:49:00.000-05:00

To use screen on the mac to connect to a Keyspan serial port to USB adapter as you would with tip on a Sun host, you can use screen as follows:

screen /dev/tty.KeySerial1 57600

This assumes that you want to connect to the first Keyspan serial port, increment KeySerial1 to KeySerial2 to connect to the second, etc. and that you want to connect at 57600 baud.

Things to do after installing Ubuntu in VMware

2007-05-14T22:48:00.000-05:00

If a cloned instance run

sudo echo "eth0 mac `ifconfig -a | grep -i hwaddr | cut -d " " -f 11` arp 1" > /etc/iftab

Memory: 128M
Ethernet: whatever is appropriate for this server
CD-ROM:

Disconnected
Automatically detect physical CD-ROM

Sound adapter: Disconnected
Shared Folders: Disabled

Things to do after installing Ubuntu server

2007-05-12T22:01:00.000-05:00

sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list
# deb cdrom ...

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo reboot
sudo apt-get install wget
sudo apt-get install unattended-upgrades
sudo apt-get install ruby
sudo apt-get install screen
sudo apt-get install openssh-client
sudo apt-get install openssh-server

sudo vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Protocol 2
PermitRootLogin no
AllowUsers user1 user2

Add show_ip to init.d (see previous post).

vi ~/.bashrc
set -o vi
unalias ls
alias ls="ls -F --color=never"
PS1='
[${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u@\h] \w
'

sudo reboot

Show IP Script

2007-05-12T21:58:00.005-05:00

Here's a quick script that sticks the IP address in the login prompt. I use it for Linux VMs so I don't have to log into them to get the IP address to connect to the VM from my host OS.

#!/bin/sh
addy=`/sbin/ifconfig eth0 | grep -i "inet addr" | cut -d':' -f2 | cut -d' ' -f1`
echo ${addy} ' \l' > /etc/issue

Then run:

sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/show_ip
sudo ln -s /etc/init.d/show_ip /etc/rc2.d/S99zz_show_ip