$5/month FreeBSD VPS experience (from March 2017 you can get it with $2.5/month)

A reader shout me an email asking if I can share my experience around FreeBSD VPS that I use. Well that topic is not a fancy thing. I think that kind of topic will give user ‘bias’ opinion but since its my blog and my other reader might be want to know too then I try my best to share it.

Purpose

The purpose of FreeBSD deployment in vps is based on experiment hobby. I use FreeBSD since 4.7 for email server (qmail, djbdns stuff). Another test for web server and php stuff also included.

Technology

I never care about which technology they use. Is it Xen or KVM. I’m cheapskate. I try the cheap one 🙂

Provider

RootBSD

RootBSD is my first FreeBSD vps provider. I use their cheapest package ($19.97/month). 512MB memory with 20GB storage. Setup is not instant. I used to get my account information in minimum 4 hours after they verify payment etc. I never use their support and that means good. Great service make me never get in touch with their technical support 🙂 . Reverse dns available from control panel. Payment is fix. No hourly rate and you must pay in front for their service.

Atlantic

Their ads show up when I open Facebook and I give them a try. They have $1/month package (round up, its 0.99 actually). 256MB memory and 10GB SSD. I use it for VPN server . They have 4 location (usa-east, usa-central, usa-west and canada-east). Email port blocked by default. You have to request to technical support to lift the restriction. Their FreeBSD limited to FreeBSD 10 at the moment. No custom iso supported.

Vultr

This provider is my favorite. At the moment provide 14 location and generous specs. By default they provide mainstream distribution such as CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian, Windows, CoreOS, FreeBSD 10 and more. You’ll get more distribution under 64 bit but you can choose 32 bit too. What I really like is their custom iso option. This mean you can install and experiment with many OS which not appear by default. So far I’ve tried :

Their cheapest price is $5/month 2.5/month and if you in limited budget you can use it hourly. Email port blocked by default and you need to contact support to remove the barrier.

Digital Ocean

This provider is my favorite when I looking for Singapore based location. Depend on my client need. But I ever see different network performance in same region. Same wordpresss based site located in same Singapore region and different IP (i think different server too) but very slow. My friend also report same experience. I choose to move slow server to USA location and so far it work well in term of network connectivity speed. Email port is not blocked by default which is good news for newbie who want to see their Zimbra server work or not. Digital Ocean recently support FreeBSD (FreeBSD 10.1) but still no custom iso. Their price also $5/month and hourly rate for minimal server (512MB, 20GB SSD). Yes, the storage is more 5GB than Vultr but memory is less 256MB than Vultr.

Uptime

At the moment the uptime is great for all provider. The longest one located in Digital Ocean server :

# uptime
03:38:37 up 366 days, 23:37, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

While Vultr follow

# uptime
03:39:53 up 51 days, 56 min, 1 user, load average: 0.16, 0.10, 0.08

Atlantic

# uptime
22:43:37 up 39 days, 19:04, 1 user, load average: 0.06, 0.03, 0.05

Yes, all of the server uptime currently match their deployment date.

In general my view about ‘cheap’ vps changed. I can deploy many server with low budget and spare the rest for balancing or backup purpose and Yes, it might use my favorite os ‘the power to serve’ 🙂

WordPress and Cpanel main domain

Last Cyber Friday 2014 I got chance to try namecheap hosting. Its shared hosting package that normally priced $9,88/year . The price is only for 1st year but worth to try since I only got it for $0,98. The price is very good but since people often neglect it I prefer to act vice versa. I’ll use this hosting package for my family blog.

Domain and Sub Domain

The blog itself consist from :

1. Main domain

2. 4 sub domain but my wife told me to only activate 3 sub domain.

Size

Size of family blog (main domain + all sub domain is around 500 MB) in zip format.

$ du -sh zip
508M    zip

Traffic

The traffic is not big :

– less than 100 uv (unique visitor) for main domain

– less than 1000 uv for all sub domain (my wife blog is more famous than my blog hahaha). More →

How to resolv looping error after change server

Hostingformula currently switch to cheap vps server. Old hosting provider using cpanel and everything went fine . Almost perfect in migration process except one thing.

I forgot about cloudflare.

cloudflare-vps-looping

Yes. I forgot if I enable cloudflare for this domain and the result is bad. Looping error caused by www mapping that set automatically by cloudflare kill this blog.

Solution for this kind of error is simple :

1. Disable cloudflare for your domain by visit cloudlfare or

2. Visit cpanel, click Simple DNS setting and ‘delete’ any entry related to cloudflare (see picture above for example).

How to test if the problem disappear?

Problem left after this action is dns propagation. You can install vpn software like hotspotshield or related to try visit your blog / website again.

3. Use intodns to verify the dns change. If intodns told you right ip address then you’re on right track.

4. Patient. Other problem left is client dns. Since you can not force client to use google or opendns for resolve your new server the only option is be patient.

How to move Joomla website to VPS

A friend of mine that not seen for years contact me. He had problem with his school website. Headmaster give him order to take care their website that seem to abandoned by current holder. Every time they (school) contact him. No respond and no email. He ask me to see it and if possible solve it immediately.

Update : if you’re in hurry then you can use Fiverr service that will do the job ($5 per site). Click here to see the service.

After ask the website hosting representative we have clues where do we must start.

  1. Create official letter from school about domain ownership.
  2. Scan the letter and send it to hosting company

The process itself is not straightforward as current holder respond to hosting company email and the phone but not respond to us. After a month the progress finally move to right direction. Current holder not paid for hosting fee and that’s the reason for my friend. Contact hosting company and finally they approve account moving and switching.

Since the hosting company suspend the account for its late payment then the website is not accessible anymore and only display ‘account suspended’ message. My friend ask me if I can give him temporary place for their school. I agree to give him a space with exchange. I must do the transfer process myself. I like to see how to transfer joomla based website to vps.

Lets get start!

Backup Joomla Website

Fortunately my friend already download the backup file. Its tar.gz file (backup-11.15.2014_11-29-19_domain.tar.gz ).

Send Joomla backup file to vps

After copying the file to my laptop I initiate transfer using scp.

scp backup-11.15.2014_11-29-19_domain.tar.gz root@ipaddress:/root

the process depend on internet speed and file size. For my case, it took around 1 hour to upload 132MB of file.

Creating New Domain on VPS

I use Easyengine that I use in previous post for host wordpress. Joomla also created with php and utilize mysql. So I choose php+mysql website.

# ee site schooldomainname --mysql

The command will generate all required files including database plus its credentials at /var/www/schooldomainname/ee-config.php

To see database name, database user database password and database host created by easyengine you can use :

cat /var/www/schooldomainname/ee-config.php

Extract Joomla Backup on VPS

I use same VPS that powered by Vultr for WordPress. Time for extract backup file.

# mv backup-11.15.2014_11-29-19_schooldomainname.tar.gz /var/www/schooldomainname/

# cd /var/www/schooldomainname/

# tar xvzf backup-11.15.2014_11-29-19_schooldomainname.tar.gz

# ls
addons     cron          fp              httpfiles  meta  mysql             pds              psql_users.sql    resellerpackages  shell      sslkeys      userdata  vf
bandwidth  digestshadow  has_sslstorage  locale     mm    mysql-timestamps  proftpdpasswd    quota             sds               ssl        suspended    va
counters   dnszones      homedir         logaholic  mma   mysql.sql         psql             resellerconfig    sds2              sslcerts   suspendinfo  vad
cp         domainkeys    homedir_paths   logs       mms   nobodyfiles       psql_grants.sql  resellerfeatures  shadow            ssldomain  userconfig   version

Looks like this backup file created by my friend taken from cpanel backup wizard.

I just need to find out where joomla files and its database located.

Finding Joomla Files + Database

After search for while I can see where is the location of Joomla files. Its in :

homedir/public_html

Database file located in :

mysql

Move Joomla folder to Easyengine public folder

Next step is move joomla folder found from previous step to easyengine folder.

#cd /var/www/schooldomainname

# mv backup-11.15.2014_11-29-19_schooldomainname/homedir/public_html .
# mv tes/backup-11.15.2014_11-29-19_schooldomainname/mysql/schooldomainname.sql .

Edit configuration file of Joomla

The configuration file located in configuration.php . Edit $user, $password and $db .

#nano htdocs/configuration.php

save the file.

Import Joomla Database File

# mysql -udb_user -p db_name < schooldomainname.sql
Enter password:
#

Make Joomla website live

# ee site enable schooldomainame

Thats it. Try to reload it via web browser and everything load fine so far.

My friend happy with the migration process. The load speed is incredible and they can add their content again and if they like it then they can make their own server with Vultr.

Lesson learned :

  1. Never use personal email address as contact, billing etc for school domain. Always use school email address. Beside this touch make everything official also prevent future problem like my friend case.
  2. If possible use the longest period for registering school domain. Yearly renewed domain is not suitable for a school.

How to move wordpress to easyengine based vps

Its almost the end of year. Many offer came and out include hosting. My friend just have her hosting account expire and the reason why she not continue her hosting plan is cost. She got her hosting package last year for $10 (from facebook group). The package cover free domain + 12 month of hosting and when renewal process came she can afford it. Its $104 now. Ten times from previous invoice. She already knew it and try to find other solution to keep her blog alive.

She already red my post about utilize vps. Her blog is using wordpress and she want to try it after she see my other blog that load blazing fast. I told her about Vultr and she could try it for cheapest package.

I promise her to help the migration process in exchange she let me share the process for hostingformula.net reader (I won’t reveal domain name). Hope this useful for others.

Lets get start!

Backup WordPress

In general WordPress is PHP and MySQL application. To backup wordpress the step is quite simple.

1. Backup database

To see all database credentials see wp-config.php content and write it down to notepad or other equal application. I’m lucky the host provide ssh access. So I can use command line for quick access 🙂

# cat wp-config.php

This command will display the content of wp-config.php . If you just want to extract the database essentials use this command : (my assumptions that you already log in with ssh). More →

How to Install FreeBSD 10 32 bit on VPS

A reader send me an email. He ask about possibility of install FreeBSD 32 bit on VPS. He just confuse why Vultr not provide custom iso under 32 tab. He think Vultr not support it. I replied to him that he could test it himself. Upload iso file as usual and continue with installation. He not sure and ask me to try and if possible show the process in single post.

Well, I just remember myself when first time I learn install Redhat 6. I loss 4 month of worrying and afraid if fail. In reality it took 2 days for install FreeBSD 4.7 ( one day for download iso and burn it to CD and second day for read installation manual and applied it). I think Vultr is great one. They provide very flexible infrastructure and if I want to back to FreeBSD 4 I can do that too.

My student also free to experiment with their task only by using small 11 inch netbook. Remote to Vultr and free to test the configuration. Fast network and good CPU.

Lets get start!

Choose FreeBSD 10.1 Iso File

FreeBSD 10.1 was released and I want to try install FreeBSD 10.1 32 bit for this experiment.

There is two options available :

Since I’ll have a lot of bandwidth I use DVD version for upload it to custom isos list.

FreeBSD 10.1 iso in Vultr

Connect iso file in virtual iso section More →

Cheap Forex VPS Do it Yourself Server

One of my reader shout me an email about his problem. He get free forex vps from his broker after he met required deposit amount but he got disappointed with the quality. Its low end vps that running Windows 2003 and restrict him on EA usage. He don’t know how his broker monitor his vps but when he try to use his VPS running EA for another broker the connection get worst and he got warning. He must utilize the server only for the broker who give him vps not for others. He already search for cheap forex vps but still not sure which one he must choose. Lightweight vps he ever try is not run anti virus and very minimal installation. Only Windows 2003 with built in IE browser. To many networking problem and maintenance force him to abandon his server.

Another consideration is Windows Server 2003 end of life that will happen on July 14, 2015. While newer version need more requirement that mean more money when you deploy newer Windows server. Yes, according to Microsoft Technet the requirement for Windows 2003 server is quite low (x86 based computer need 256 MB recommended minimum and 512 MB minimum for x64 based computer). I think that the only consideration why many forex vps provider out there still deploy this version.

Since he only need stable and cheap vps server for his forex activity he want me to give my opinion. Is he can build his own forex vps server that also easy to use like Windows. I agree to answer and promise him to make a post for his question when time permit. After 2 weeks when I have time I start test possibility of using other operating system other than Windows as Forex vps. I came with conclusion : Yes, he can. He can build his own server and I think the server is stable too. More →

How to install Oracle Linux in VPS using custom iso

I used to use CentOS for linux based server, second option is Ubuntu server. Both option taken with consideration about their support. CentOS is free and always came out after Linux Redhat. Ubuntu also free and have their LTS policy that make feel confident deploying it to my server. The problem with CentOS is me actually. I must wait for long time till I get it released but it’s worth. Today, my friend who study in Europe ask me about Oracle Linux. I never know about it and I feel curious. Beside official support of software that required specific OS like HHVM that support Ubuntu server that make me choose Ubuntu server for smooth installation of HHVM then I’ll use CentOS first.

Same principle applied for Oracle Linux. Since Oracle own this OS then I think they have great support related to their product such Oracle database. Other sight I get from their release is not long after Linux Redhat released I see it (Oracle Linux) also come with their version.

In this post I’ll explore how to install oracle linux in vps using custom iso. Oracle linux version 6.6 that released on Oct 21 2014.

Preparation

Upload oracle linux iso

I use vultr for this post. They provide custom iso facility that enable me for use iso link.

Using oracle linux iso file from here and upload it to Vultr.

How to install Oracle Linux in VPS using custom iso : upload custom iso of Oracle linux

More →

How to recover email service (google apps) after downtime

One of our friend domain is down due to web hosting problem. Main domain of hosting service is not renewed at proper time and the contact person is not responding. Two things that need to get recovered:

1. Domain and email service

2. Website file and database

Since we don’t know where is the main host reside then nearest option we have is recover email service that fortunately using google apps. Another fortune we have is domain access is in my control so I can recover it quickly. Here the steps :

Update name server to new one

Since the domain registrar is namecheap I can easily use namecheap nameserver. Simply by click :

Domain Name -> Transfer DNS to Us

Change MX record to Google Apps setting

Click Host Management -> Mail Settingssetting google apps record on namecheap

Pick “User” and Choose “automatically set MX records necessary for Google Apps Email.

Save changes.

Click Save changes one more time.

choose mx record to point only for google apps

At this time namecheap will update mx record and user can relax now. Waiting for propagation time (maximum 3 x 24 hours).

You also able to verify setting by using intodns service.

Enter domain name and click report button. Pay attention for result, specially on MX section. If you also see like this one then everything is fine.

mx record result viewed from intodns side

Another work to do after this work is pointing A record to my vps for temporary service.

Fix hatom error (missing author, entry-title and updated) in live-wire wordpress theme

Another theme is need to fix after emphaino case. This time hatom error came to live-wire theme.

Quick fix for error :

1. Open Admin dashboard

2. Click Appearance -> Editor

Choose content.php

Fix missing:updated error and missing:author

find :

<?php echo apply_atomic_shortcode( ‘byline’, ‘<div class=”byline”>’ . __( ‘Published by [entry-author] on [entry-published] [entry-comments-link before=” | “] [entry-edit-link before=” | “]’, ‘live-wire’ ) . ‘</div>’ ); ?>

change into :

<span class=”vcard author post-author “><span class=”fn”><span class=”post-date updated”><?php echo apply_atomic_shortcode( ‘byline’, ‘<div class=”byline”>’ . __( ‘Published by [entry-author] on [entry-published] [entry-comments-link before=” | “] [entry-edit-link before=” | “]’, ‘live-wire’ ) . ‘</div>’ ); ?></span></span></span>

Fix missing:entry title error

find :

<?php echo apply_atomic_shortcode( ‘entry_title’, ‘[entry-title]’ ); ?>

change into :

<span class=”entry-title”><?php echo apply_atomic_shortcode( ‘entry_title’, ‘[entry-title]’ ); ?></span>

Click Update File.

Testing again via google webmaster snippet tools and voila, everything fine now.

How to fix hatom error in google webmaster tools : emphaino theme case

I used to visit google webmaster tools for checking error related to my blog. Update new theme, changing hosting, domain propagation sometime went bad after sometime. Google webmaster tools is my friend to detect such error.

When I log in to google webmaster tools I found “exclamation mark” next to “search appearance” of this domain.

hatom_wordpress1

Further click lead me to structured data error.

Wow, 191 item with error.

hatom_wordpress2

Click the number give me ore detail error about blog post that affected with that error.

hatom_wordpress3

Further check using richsnippets tools give me exact error.

hatom_wordpress4

Its seem that I only need to fix ‘updated’ error section. Raymondware give great explanation about other error that might encounter.

Solution :

Login to wordpress admin page :

1. Click Appearance -> Editor

By default you need to look for single.php and see the content.

Looking for ‘date’ section and wrap it with class “post-date-updated”. Unfortunately in my case ( I use Emphaino theme) I must digging more to find relevant php file that contain the target. Its in ‘content-single.php”.

hatom_wordpress5

Change :

<?php emphaino_posted_on(); ?>

Into :

<span class=”post-date updated”><?php emphaino_posted_on(); ?></span>

Save and retry look it up from richsnippet tools.

hatom_wordpress6

The error is gone now 🙂

Softaculous Tips for WordPress Installation

wordpress_tips1Common problem that exist for ‘hack attack’ on wordpress are :

1. Old wordpress version

2. Using old theme

3. Using old plugins

Those 3 factors combined together and lead to ‘unstable’ self hosting wordpress.

Newest wordpress offer automatic upgrade for the version but you must do the rest (upgrading theme and plugins).

Those issue corrected by Softaculous. If you want to install new blog I suggest you to use these settings :

1. Database name : enter your blog name as component. ex, if your blog is about flower then fill flowerdb or mydbflower. It will save you from headache in the future.

2. Table prefix : enter shortname of your blog, ex: flo_ . Don’t use wp_ .

3. Use strong password. You can click ‘key’ icon next to admin password input.

4. Use advanced option. Make sure to check 3 options (auto upgrade, auto upgrade wordpress plugin and auto upgrade wordpress theme).

Using that setting will give you ‘health’ wordpress that give you long run blogging platform without worrying about late update action.

How about existing blog?

I’ll create separate post to explain it in step by step mode.

stay tune!

How to Install Gitlab on VPS for $10 budget under 5 minutes

Update : the title no longer valid since Vultr lowering the price in half. Yes,  for 2GB memory you’ll need $10/month plan.

Yes. The title is taken from email subject 🙂

After I help my friend set spf record for his gitlab I got email from a friend who has a computer course. His student around 400 and he want to give ‘collaboration’ feel to their programming curriculum. He ask me to help him install gitlab with $20 $10 budget.

I told him to use free github.com account or free gitlab.com account but he refuse. He also want his staff has control for their server. I give him a few reference from internet but he got confuse and already dizzy at the first time he saw console 🙂

Due to distance problem I decide to use vps from vultr than using his server. (Actuallly the server is connected to internet using adsl and only fast access via lan connnection that make me worry about the performance.).

Choose provider

Based on gitlab ce (community edition) requirement I need vps that match :

CPU : 2 cores

Memory : 2GB ( for up to 500 user)

Storage : > 20 GB and SSD preferred.

Latency : closest one to my country (check via ping, the lower respond than the connectivity is great).

Based on that requirement I choose $15 $10 package from vultr.

More →

How to add spf record for subdomain on cpanel (gitlab case)

This is a long time draft that I thought already publish till I update some wordpress plugin. My friend who open software house came send me private message. He ask me if I have an idea why his email not delivered. He install a software called gitlab. This software basically manage operation of git from web based application.

After login to his server I realize that his vps provider blocked port 25. This port is designed for send email. To overcome this issue just open a ticket and told them about the problem. Attach the output of this command :

mailq

After few minutes (almost one hour) ticket responded and port unblocked. Now I see email arrive to mailbox.

More →

What I got inside my VPS

#  cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep processor
processor    : 0
processor    : 1
processor    : 2
processor    : 3

I got 4 processor.

# free -m
total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          2048        347       1700          0          0         99
-/+ buffers/cache:        247       1800
Swap:         2048          0       2048

I got memory 2GB and also 2GB for swap.

# cat /proc/user_beancounters
Version: 2.5
uid  resource                     held              maxheld              barrier                limit              failcnt
112:  kmemsize                 28933925             30662656            975175680           1073741824                    0
lockedpages                     0                 1008               262144               262144                    0
privvmpages                197953               295114  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
shmpages                    16658                57806  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
dummy                           0                    0  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
numproc                        59                  132  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
physpages                   88832               241468                    0               524288                    0
vmguarpages                     0                    0                    0  9223372036854775807                    0
oomguarpages                56353                57070                    0  9223372036854775807                    0
numtcpsock                      7                   14  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
numflock                       24                   32  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
numpty                          1                   10  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
numsiginfo                      0                   30  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
tcpsndbuf                  150880               683328  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
tcprcvbuf                  114688              4167240  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
othersockbuf               168776               395968  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
dgramrcvbuf                     0                 4624  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
numothersock                  134                  171  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
dcachesize               19465689             22209127            487587840            536870912                    0
numfile                       543                 1105  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
dummy                           0                    0  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
dummy                           0                    0  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
dummy                           0                    0  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0
numiptent                      20                   20  9223372036854775807  9223372036854775807                    0

It means I got OpenVZ

# df -H
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/simfs       11G  1.5G  9.3G  14% /
none            1.1G  4.1k  1.1G   1% /dev
none            215M  1.1M  214M   1% /run
none            5.3M     0  5.3M   0% /run/lock
none            859M     0  859M   0% /run/shm
none            105M     0  105M   0% /run/user

Means I have 11GB space.

# dd if=/dev/zero of=sb-io-test bs=1M count=1k conv=fdatasync
1024+0 records in
1024+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 15.2927 s, 70.2 MB/s

versus SSD vps hosting

# dd if=/dev/zero of=sb-io-test bs=1M count=1k conv=fdatasync
1024+0 records in
1024+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 6.14146 s, 175 MB/s

Bigger result with short time mean better HD.

# swapon -s
Filename                Type        Size    Used    Priority
/dev/null                               partition    2097152    0    -1

Mean swap enable on my vps.

 

 

 

 

Using Gparted for VPS Disk Partition : Install slackware in vps using custom iso case

Install slackware in a vps is assignment I create for student. The challenge is rather different than install others (BSD or Linux distro) operating system. Yes, create partition is a must in this work. If Ubuntu or CentOS or OpenSUSE provide easy way to create partition then Slackware is strict.

The minimal solution is still the same. Create swap and native but you must use command line tools like cfdisk or fdisk. One of my student admire if he did different way to accomplish the job. He use Gparted to create the partition followed by Slackware installation.

I think his way might be useful for others who want to achieve the same target : install slackware in vps.  So, here the steps I try to recreate for that aim.

Preparing Gparted & Slackware ISO

I use vps provider that let me use custom iso like Vultr. After login then click ‘My ISO’ to upload the iso.

I use Gparted from Jaist mirror.

For Gparted 0.20.0-2 iso file (x64) click here.

I also use Slackware 14.1 iso from Slackware mirror.

Both of iso use 64 bit version.

Enter location of iso file then upload.

Install slackware in vps using custom iso : choose slackware iso location

More →

Find out uptime of VPS

My friend send email asking for command line. His boss don’t believe on uptime report  he made. He told me that he got the report from 3rd party that manage the server.  He want to know it and will show the result to his boss.

As far as I know the command for checking are :

1. uptime

# uptime
04:17:02 up 82 days, 23:34,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

2. w

# w

04:17:05 up 82 days, 23:34,  1 user,  load average: 0,00, 0,00, 0,00
USER     TTY      FROM              LOGIN@   IDLE   JCPU   PCPU WHAT
root     pts/0    36.68.204.105    04:16    0.00s  0.03s  0.02s w

As usual for more detail or option available using man.

# man uptime

UPTIME(1)                     Linux User’s Manual                    UPTIME(1)

NAME
uptime – Tell how long the system has been running.

SYNOPSIS
uptime
uptime [-V]

DESCRIPTION
uptime  gives  a one line display of the following information.  The current time, how long the system has been running, how many users are cur-
rently logged on, and the system load averages for the past 1, 5, and 15 minutes.

This is the same information contained in the header line displayed by w(1).

FILES
/var/run/utmp  information about who is currently logged on
/proc     process information

AUTHORS
uptime was written by Larry Greenfield <[email protected]> and Michael K. Johnson <[email protected]>.

Please send bug reports to <[email protected]>

SEE ALSO
ps(1), top(1), utmp(5), w(1)

Cohesive Systems                  26 Jan 1993                        UPTIME(1)

If you want to print it you might want to export it first.

# man uptime > uptime.txt

If you have vps or dedicated server then you can compare it versus confirmation email from provider.

How to install OpenSUSE 13.1 Server in VPS using custom iso

Today, my class will be discuss on how to install Zimbra Collaboration Suite. One of my student want to try it using different OS. As we don’t have access for Linux Suse Enterrprise Server 11 then we’ll try it on OpenSuse 13.1 . I never try it beside using Ubuntu but it won’t hurt right 🙂 . VPS is ready for such action.

I start by install OpenSUSE 13.1 server using VPS that support custom iso with these details :

  1. Location : Frankfurt
  2. Memory : 1GB (lowest memory available is 768 but I’ll try 1 GB)
  3. HD : 20 GB
  4. Technology : KVM
  5. Price : $7/mo

Lets get start!

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How to Install DragonFlyBSD in VPS using custom iso feature

Distrowatch told me about newest version of DragonFlyBSD (3.8.0) . This version also in my waiting list as I know this BSD variant since beginning. When DragonFlyBSD begin using ports  aka dports to their software installation management then I’m happily use this version as server.

For documentation process when I delegate installation process for my staff I create this simple guide.

Of course its VPS based as we try to minimize physical server for our company 🙂

Create temporary iso location

DragonFlyBSD provide .iso.bz2 link and I have to convert it to .iso first. The idea is create temporary location for iso file and use it for Vultr custom iso.

I think my lowendspririt vps is good place to hold temporary image.

$ ssh [email protected] -p 17020
[email protected]’s password:
Welcome to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (GNU/Linux 2.6.32-042stab084.17 i686)

* Documentation:  https://help.ubuntu.com/
Last login: Mon Jun  9 13:23:09 2014 from 36.68.189.115
# cd /var/www/oteos.com/htdocs/
# wget -c http://avalon.dragonflybsd.org/iso-images/dfly-x86_64-3.8.0_REL.iso.bz2
–2014-06-10 10:17:20–  http://avalon.dragonflybsd.org/iso-images/dfly-x86_64-3.8.0_REL.iso.bz2
Resolving avalon.dragonflybsd.org (avalon.dragonflybsd.org)… 2001:470:1:43b:1::72, 199.233.90.72
Connecting to avalon.dragonflybsd.org (avalon.dragonflybsd.org)|2001:470:1:43b:1::72|:80… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 200 OK
Length: 208704827 (199M) [application/x-bzip2]
Saving to: `dfly-x86_64-3.8.0_REL.iso.bz2′

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