<channel>
<title>Petter Reinholdtsen</title>
<description></description>
- <link></link>
- <atom:link href="index.rss" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/</link>
+ <atom:link href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/index.rss" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
<item>
- <title>Great book: "Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future"</title>
- <link>Great_book___Content__Selected_Essays_on_Technology__Creativity__Copyright__and_the_Future_of_the_Future_.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">Great_book___Content__Selected_Essays_on_Technology__Creativity__Copyright__and_the_Future_of_the_Future_.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:10:00 +0200</pubDate>
+ <title>Idea for storing LTSP configuration in LDAP</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_storing_LTSP_configuration_in_LDAP.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_storing_LTSP_configuration_in_LDAP.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
<description>
-<p>The last few weeks i have had the pleasure of reading a
-thought-provoking collection of essays by Cory Doctorow, on topics
-touching copyright, virtual worlds, the future of man when the
-conscience mind can be duplicated into a computer and many more. The
-book titled "Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity,
-Copyright, and the Future of the Future" is available with few
-restrictions on the web, for example from
-<a href="http://craphound.com/content/">his own site</a>. I read the
-epub-version from
-<a href="http://www.feedbooks.com/book/2883">feedbooks</a> using
-<a href="http://www.fbreader.org/">fbreader</a> and my N810. I
-strongly recommend this book.</p>
+<p>Vagrant mentioned on IRC today that ltsp_config now support
+sourcing files from /usr/share/ltsp/ltsp_config.d/ on the thin
+clients, and that this can be used to fetch configuration from LDAP if
+Debian Edu choose to store configuration there.</p>
+
+<p>Armed with this information, I got inspired and wrote a test module
+to get configuration from LDAP. The idea is to look up the MAC
+address of the client in LDAP, and look for attributes on the form
+ltspconfigsetting=value, and use this to export SETTING=value to the
+LTSP clients.</p>
+
+<p>The goal is to be able to store the LTSP configuration attributes
+in a "computer" LDAP object used by both DNS and DHCP, and thus
+allowing us to store all information about a computer in one place.</p>
+
+<p>This is a untested draft implementation, and I welcome feedback on
+this approach. A real LDAP schema for the ltspClientAux objectclass
+need to be written. Comments, suggestions, etc?</p>
+
+<blockquote><pre>
+# Store in /opt/ltsp/$arch/usr/share/ltsp/ltsp_config.d/ldap-config
+#
+# Fetch LTSP client settings from LDAP based on MAC address
+#
+# Uses ethernet address as stored in the dhcpHost objectclass using
+# the dhcpHWAddress attribute or ethernet address stored in the
+# ieee802Device objectclass with the macAddress attribute.
+#
+# This module is written to be schema agnostic, and only depend on the
+# existence of attribute names.
+#
+# The LTSP configuration variables are saved directly using a
+# ltspConfig prefix and uppercasing the rest of the attribute name.
+# To set the SERVER variable, set the ltspConfigServer attribute.
+#
+# Some LDAP schema should be created with all the relevant
+# configuration settings. Something like this should work:
+#
+# objectclass ( 1.1.2.2 NAME 'ltspClientAux'
+# SUP top
+# AUXILIARY
+# MAY ( ltspConfigServer $ ltsConfigSound $ ... )
+
+LDAPSERVER=$(debian-edu-ldapserver)
+if [ "$LDAPSERVER" ] ; then
+ LDAPBASE=$(debian-edu-ldapserver -b)
+ for MAC in $(LANG=C ifconfig |grep -i hwaddr| awk '{print $5}'|sort -u) ; do
+ filter="(|(dhcpHWAddress=ethernet $MAC)(macAddress=$MAC))"
+ ldapsearch -h "$LDAPSERVER" -b "$LDAPBASE" -v -x "$filter" | \
+ grep '^ltspConfig' | while read attr value ; do
+ # Remove prefix and convert to upper case
+ attr=$(echo $attr | sed 's/^ltspConfig//i' | tr a-z A-Z)
+ # bass value on to clients
+ eval "$attr=$value; export $attr"
+ done
+ done
+fi
+</pre></blockquote>
+
+<p>I'm not sure this shell construction will work, because I suspect
+the while block might end up in a subshell causing the variables set
+there to not show up in ltsp-config, but if that is the case I am sure
+the code can be restructured to make sure the variables are passed on.
+I expect that can be solved with some testing. :)</p>
+
+<p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
+please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
</description>
</item>
<item>
- <title>Kerberos for Debian Edu/Squeeze?</title>
- <link>Kerberos_for_Debian_Edu_Squeeze_.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">Kerberos_for_Debian_Edu_Squeeze_.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:20:00 +0200</pubDate>
+ <title>jXplorer, a very nice LDAP GUI</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/jXplorer__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/jXplorer__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Fri, 9 Jul 2010 12:55:00 +0200</pubDate>
<description>
-<p><a href="http://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20100413-kerberos/">Yesterdays
-NUUG presentation</a> about Kerberos was inspiring, and reminded me
-about the need to start using Kerberos in Skolelinux. Setting up a
-Kerberos server seem to be straight forward, and if we get this in
-place a long time before the Squeeze version of Debian freezes, we
-have a chance to migrate Skolelinux away from NFSv3 for the home
-directories, and over to an architecture where the infrastructure do
-not have to trust IP addresses and machines, and instead can trust
-users and cryptographic keys instead.</p>
-
-<p>A challenge will be integration and administration. Is there a
-Kerberos implementation for Debian where one can control the
-administration access in Kerberos using LDAP groups? With it, the
-school administration will have to maintain access control using flat
-files on the main server, which give a huge potential for errors.</p>
-
-<p>A related question I would like to know is how well Kerberos and
-pam-ccreds (offline password check) work together. Anyone know?</p>
-
-<p>Next step will be to use Kerberos for access control in Lwat and
-Nagios. I have no idea how much work that will be to implement. We
-would also need to document how to integrate with Windows AD, as such
-shared network will require two Kerberos realms that need to cooperate
-to work properly.</p>
-
-<p>I believe a good start would be to start using Kerberos on the
-skolelinux.no machines, and this way get ourselves experience with
-configuration and integration. A natural starting point would be
-setting up ldap.skolelinux.no as the Kerberos server, and migrate the
-rest of the machines from PAM via LDAP to PAM via Kerberos one at the
-time.</p>
-
-<p>If you would like to contribute to get this working in Skolelinux,
-I recommend you to see the video recording from yesterdays NUUG
-presentation, and start using Kerberos at home. The video show show
-up in a few days.</p>
+<p>Since
+<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html">my
+last post</a> about available LDAP tools in Debian, I was told about a
+LDAP GUI that is even better than luma. The java application
+<a href="http://jxplorer.org/">jXplorer</a> is claimed to be capable of
+moving LDAP objects and subtrees using drag-and-drop, and can
+authenticate using Kerberos. I have only tested the Kerberos
+authentication, but do not have a LDAP setup allowing me to rewrite
+LDAP with my test user yet. It is
+<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/j/jxplorer.html">available in
+Debian</a> testing and unstable at the moment. The only problem I
+have with it is how it handle errors. If something go wrong, its
+non-intuitive behaviour require me to go through some query work list
+and remove the failing query. Nothing big, but very annoying.</p>
</description>
</item>
<item>
- <title>På vegne av vanvitting mange, Aftenposten!</title>
- <link>P___vegne_av_vanvitting_mange__Aftenposten_.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">P___vegne_av_vanvitting_mange__Aftenposten_.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Sat, 6 Mar 2010 21:15:00 +0100</pubDate>
+ <title>MS Word krøller det til for politiet?</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MS_Word_kr__ller_det_til_for_politiet_.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/MS_Word_kr__ller_det_til_for_politiet_.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Thu, 8 Jul 2010 14:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
<description>
-<p><a href="http://fotball.aftenposten.no/incoming/article163000.ece">Aftenposten
-melder</a> på forsiden av webavisen sin at de tror Erling Fossen
-provoserer nordlendinger med sine uttalelser på
-fotballtinget. Jeg er utflyttet nordlending, og må innrømme at jeg
-ikke kjennet så mye som et snev av provokasjon fra denne litt morsomme
-uttalelsen til Hr. Fossen. Lurer på om Aftenposten har noen kilder
-utenom redaksjonen for sin påstand om at nordledinger er provosert av
-Hr. Fossen. Må innrømme at jeg tviler på det.</p>
-
-<p>Det hele bringer tankene tilbake til Sture Hansen i Hallo i Uken.</p>
+<p>De siste dagene har Aftenposten
+<a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article3718597.ece">fortalt</a>
+<a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article3724249.ece">hvordan</a>
+politet har brukt skriveverktøy som ikke håndterer arabisk tekst og
+tekst som skal skrives fra høyre mot venstre når de har laget
+løpeseddel for å be om informasjon fra publikum. Resultatet har vært
+en uleselig arabisk-bit på løpeseddelen. Feilen har oppstått når
+teksten har blitt "kopiert inn i programvare som ikke har støtte for
+språk som skrives fra høyre mot venstre", og jeg er ganske sikker på
+at det er snakk om Microsoft Office i dette tilfellet. Er det slik at
+MS Office i norsk språkdrakt ikke har støtte for tekst som skal
+skrives fra høyre mot venstre? Jeg tror alle utgaver av
+OpenOffice.org har slik støtte, og det er jo ikke veldig vanskelig å
+la slik støtte finnes i alle utgaver av et program hvis støtten først
+er utviklet. Aftenpostens melding får meg til å undre om problemet
+ville vært unngått hvis politiet brukte OpenOffice.org i stedet for MS
+Office.</p>
+
+<p>Mon tro om det er flere eksempler på at MS Office har ødelagt for
+offentlig myndighet?</p>
</description>
</item>
<item>
- <title>After 6 years of waiting, the Xreset.d feature is implemented</title>
- <link>After_6_years_of_waiting__the_Xreset_d_feature_is_implemented.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">After_6_years_of_waiting__the_Xreset_d_feature_is_implemented.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Sat, 6 Mar 2010 18:15:00 +0100</pubDate>
+ <title>Lenny->Squeeze upgrades, apt vs aptitude with the Gnome desktop</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__apt_vs_aptitude_with_the_Gnome_desktop.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Lenny__Squeeze_upgrades__apt_vs_aptitude_with_the_Gnome_desktop.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Sat, 3 Jul 2010 23:55:00 +0200</pubDate>
<description>
-<p>6 years ago, as part of the Debian Edu development I am involved
-in, I asked for a hook in the kdm and gdm setup to run scripts as root
-when the user log out. A bug was submitted against the xfree86-common
-package in 2004 (<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/230422">#230422</a>),
-and revisited every time Debian Edu was working on a new release.
-Today, this finally paid off.</p>
-
-<p>The framework for this feature was today commited to the git
-repositry for the xorg package, and the git repository for xdm has
-been updated to use this framework. Next on my agenda is to make sure
-kdm and gdm also add code to use this framework.</p>
-
-<p>In Debian Edu, we want to ability to run commands as root when the
-user log out, to get rid of runaway processes and do general cleanup
-after a user. With this framework in place, we finally can do that in
-a generic way that work with all display managers using this
-framework. My goal is to get all display managers in Debian use it,
-similar to how they use the Xsession.d framework today.<p>
+<p>Here is a short update on my <a
+href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing/">my
+Debian Lenny->Squeeze upgrade testing</a>. Here is a summary of the
+difference for Gnome when it is upgraded by apt-get and aptitude. I'm
+not reporting the status for KDE, because the upgrade crashes when
+aptitude try because of missing conflicts
+(<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/584861">#584861</a> and
+<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/585716">#585716</a>).</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the upgrade test script, dpkg -l is executed to get a
+complete list of the installed packages. Based on this I see these
+differences when I did a test run today. As usual, I do not really
+know what the correct set of packages would be, but thought it best to
+publish the difference.</p>
+
+<p>Installed using apt-get, missing with aptitude</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+ at-spi cpp-4.3 finger gnome-spell gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs
+ libatspi1.0-0 libcupsys2 libeel2-data libgail-common libgdl-1-common
+ libgnomeprint2.2-data libgnomeprintui2.2-common libgnomevfs2-bin
+ libgtksourceview-common libpt-1.10.10-plugins-alsa
+ libpt-1.10.10-plugins-v4l libservlet2.4-java libxalan2-java
+ libxerces2-java openoffice.org-writer2latex openssl-blacklist p7zip
+ python-4suite-xml python-eggtrayicon python-gtkhtml2
+ python-gtkmozembed svgalibg1 xserver-xephyr zip
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Installed using apt-get, removed with aptitude</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+ bluez-utils dhcdbd djvulibre-desktop epiphany-gecko
+ gnome-app-install gnome-mount gnome-vfs-obexftp gnome-volume-manager
+ libao2 libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-core5 libbind9-50
+ libbluetooth2 libcamel1.2-11 libcdio7 libcucul0 libcurl3
+ libdirectfb-1.0-0 libdvdread3 libedata-cal1.2-6 libedataserver1.2-9
+ libeel2-2.20 libepc-1.0-1 libepc-ui-1.0-1 libexchange-storage1.2-3
+ libfaad0 libgd2-noxpm libgda3-3 libgda3-common libggz2 libggzcore9
+ libggzmod4 libgksu1.2-0 libgksuui1.0-1 libgmyth0 libgnome-desktop-2
+ libgnome-pilot2 libgnomecups1.0-1 libgnomeprint2.2-0
+ libgnomeprintui2.2-0 libgpod3 libgraphviz4 libgtkhtml2-0
+ libgtksourceview1.0-0 libgucharmap6 libhesiod0 libicu38 libisccc50
+ libisccfg50 libiw29 libkpathsea4 libltdl3 liblwres50 libmagick++10
+ libmagick10 libmalaga7 libmtp7 libmysqlclient15off libnautilus-burn4
+ libneon27 libnm-glib0 libnm-util0 libopal-2.2 libosp5
+ libparted1.8-10 libpisock9 libpisync1 libpoppler-glib3 libpoppler3
+ libpt-1.10.10 libraw1394-8 libsensors3 libsmbios2 libsoup2.2-8
+ libssh2-1 libsuitesparse-3.1.0 libswfdec-0.6-90 libtalloc1
+ libtotem-plparser10 libtrackerclient0 libvoikko1 libxalan2-java-gcj
+ libxerces2-java-gcj libxklavier12 libxtrap6 libxxf86misc1 libzephyr3
+ mysql-common swfdec-gnome totem-gstreamer wodim
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Installed using aptitude, missing with apt-get</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+ gnome gnome-desktop-environment hamster-applet python-gnomeapplet
+ python-gnomekeyring python-wnck rhythmbox-plugins xorg
+ xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-evdev
+ xserver-xorg-input-kbd xserver-xorg-input-mouse
+ xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-video-all
+ xserver-xorg-video-apm xserver-xorg-video-ark xserver-xorg-video-ati
+ xserver-xorg-video-chips xserver-xorg-video-cirrus
+ xserver-xorg-video-dummy xserver-xorg-video-fbdev
+ xserver-xorg-video-glint xserver-xorg-video-i128
+ xserver-xorg-video-i740 xserver-xorg-video-mach64
+ xserver-xorg-video-mga xserver-xorg-video-neomagic
+ xserver-xorg-video-nouveau xserver-xorg-video-nv
+ xserver-xorg-video-r128 xserver-xorg-video-radeon
+ xserver-xorg-video-radeonhd xserver-xorg-video-rendition
+ xserver-xorg-video-s3 xserver-xorg-video-s3virge
+ xserver-xorg-video-savage xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion
+ xserver-xorg-video-sis xserver-xorg-video-sisusb
+ xserver-xorg-video-tdfx xserver-xorg-video-tga
+ xserver-xorg-video-trident xserver-xorg-video-tseng
+ xserver-xorg-video-vesa xserver-xorg-video-vmware
+ xserver-xorg-video-voodoo
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Installed using aptitude, removed with apt-get</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+ deskbar-applet xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-core
+ xserver-xorg-input-wacom xserver-xorg-video-intel
+ xserver-xorg-video-openchrome
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>I was told on IRC that the xorg-xserver package was
+<a href="http://git.debian.org/?p=pkg-xorg/xserver/xorg-server.git;a=commit;h=9c8080d06c457932d3bfec021c69ac000aa60120">changed
+in git</a> today to try to get apt-get to not remove xorg completely.
+No idea when it hits Squeeze, but when it does I hope it will reduce
+the difference somewhat.
</description>
</item>
<item>
- <title>Digitale bøker uten digitale restriksjonsmekanismer (DRM) bør få mva-fritak</title>
- <link>Digitale_b__ker_uten_digitale_restriksjonsmekanismer__DRM__b__r_f___mva_fritak.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">Digitale_b__ker_uten_digitale_restriksjonsmekanismer__DRM__b__r_f___mva_fritak.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Wed, 3 Mar 2010 19:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
+ <title>Caching password, user and group on a roaming Debian laptop</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Caching_password__user_and_group_on_a_roaming_Debian_laptop.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Caching_password__user_and_group_on_a_roaming_Debian_laptop.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Thu, 1 Jul 2010 11:40:00 +0200</pubDate>
<description>
-<p>Den norske bokbransjen har
-<a href="http://www.digi.no/823912/nei-til-moms-paa-e-boker">bedt om at
-digitale bøker må få mva-fritak</a> slik papirbøker har det, og
-<a href="http://www.digi.no/836875/moms-paa-alt-digitalt-innhold">finansdepartementet
-har sagt nei</a>. Det er et interessant spørsmål om digitale bøker
-bør ha mva-fritak eller ikke, og svaret er ikke så enkelt som et ja
-eller nei.
-<a href="http://www.digi.no/836925/norske-e-boker-truet-av-moms">Enkelte
-medlemmer</a> av bokbransjen truer med å droppe den planlagte
-lanseringen av norske digitale bøker med digitale restriksjonsmekanismer
-(DRM) som de har snakket om å gjennomføre nå i vår, og det må de
-gjerne gjøre for min del.</p>
-
-<p>Papirbøker har mva-fritak pga. at de fremmer kultur- og
-kunnskapsspredning. Digitale bøker uten digitale
-restriksjonsmekanismer (DRM) fremmer kultur- og kunnskapsspredning,
-mens digitale bøker med DRM hindrer kultur og kunnskapsspredning.
-Digitale bøker uten DRM bør få mva-fritak da det er salg av bøker på
-lik linje med salg av papirbøker, mens digitale bøker med DRM ikke bør
-få det da det er utleie av bøker og ikke salg.</p>
-
-<p>Jeg foretrekker å kjøpe bøker, og velger dermed å la være å bruke
-DRM-belastede digitale bøker. Vet ikke helt hva jeg ville være villig
-til å betale for å leie en bok, men tror ikke det er mange kronene.
-Heldigvis er det mye bøker tilgjengelig uten slike restriksjoner, og
-de som vil ha tak i engelske bøker kan laste ned bøker som er
-tilgjengelig uten bruksbegresninger fra <a href="http://www.archive.org/">The
-Internet Archive</a>. Der er det pr. i dag 1 889 313 bøker
-tilgjengelig. De er tilgjengelig i flere formater. Besøk
-<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/texts">oversikten over tekster
-der</a> for å se hva de har.
+<p>For a laptop, centralized user directories and password checking is
+a bit troubling. Laptops are typically used also when not connected
+to the network, and it is vital for a user to be able to log in or
+unlock the screen saver also when a central server is unavailable.
+This is possible by caching passwords and directory information (user
+and group attributes) locally, and the packages to do so are available
+in Debian. Here follow two recipes to set this up in Debian/Squeeze.
+It is also possible to set up in Debian/Lenny, but require more manual
+setup there because pam-auth-update is missing in Lenny.</p>
+
+<h2>LDAP/Kerberos + nscd + libpam-ccreds + libpam-mklocaluser/pam_mkhomedir</h2>
+
+This is the traditional method with a twist. The password caching is
+provided by libpam-ccreds (version 10-4 or later is needed on
+Squeeze), and the directory caching is done by nscd. The directory
+lookup and password checking is done using LDAP. If one want to use
+Kerberos for password checking the libpam-ldapd package can be
+replaced with libpam-krb5 or libpam-heimdal. If one is happy having a
+local home directory with the path listed in LDAP, one can use the
+pam_mkhomedir module from pam-modules to make this happen instead of
+using libpam-mklocaluser. A setup for pam-auth-update to enable
+pam_mkhomedir will have to be written until a fix for
+<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/568577">bug #568577</a> is in the
+archive. Because I believe it is a bad idea to have local home
+directories using misleading paths like /site/server/partition/, I
+prefer to create a local user with the home directory in /home/. This
+is done using the libpam-mklocaluser package.</p>
+
+<p>These packages need to be installed and configured</p>
+
+<blockquote><pre>
+libnss-ldapd libpam-ldapd nscd libpam-ccreds libpam-mklocaluser
+</pre></blockquote>
+
+<p>The ldapd packages will ask for LDAP connection information, and
+one have to fill in the values that fits ones own site. Make sure the
+PAM part uses encrypted connections, to make sure the password is not
+sent in clear text to the LDAP server. I've been unable to get TLS
+certificate checking for a self signed certificate working, which make
+LDAP authentication unsafe for Debian Edu (nslcd is not checking if it
+is talking to the correct LDAP server), and very much welcome feedback
+on how to get this working.</p>
+
+<p>Because nscd do not have a default configuration fit for offline
+caching until <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/485282">bug #485282</a>
+is fixed, this configuration should be used instead of the one
+currently in /etc/nscd.conf. The changes are in the fields
+reload-count and positive-time-to-live, and is based on the
+instructions I found in the
+<a href="http://www.flyn.org/laptopldap/">LDAP for Mobile Laptops</a>
+instructions by Flyn Computing.</p>
+
+<blockquote><pre>
+ debug-level 0
+ reload-count unlimited
+ paranoia no
+
+ enable-cache passwd yes
+ positive-time-to-live passwd 2592000
+ negative-time-to-live passwd 20
+ suggested-size passwd 211
+ check-files passwd yes
+ persistent passwd yes
+ shared passwd yes
+ max-db-size passwd 33554432
+ auto-propagate passwd yes
+
+ enable-cache group yes
+ positive-time-to-live group 2592000
+ negative-time-to-live group 20
+ suggested-size group 211
+ check-files group yes
+ persistent group yes
+ shared group yes
+ max-db-size group 33554432
+ auto-propagate group yes
+
+ enable-cache hosts no
+ positive-time-to-live hosts 2592000
+ negative-time-to-live hosts 20
+ suggested-size hosts 211
+ check-files hosts yes
+ persistent hosts yes
+ shared hosts yes
+ max-db-size hosts 33554432
+
+ enable-cache services yes
+ positive-time-to-live services 2592000
+ negative-time-to-live services 20
+ suggested-size services 211
+ check-files services yes
+ persistent services yes
+ shared services yes
+ max-db-size services 33554432
+</pre></blockquote>
+
+<p>While we wait for a mechanism to update /etc/nsswitch.conf
+automatically like the one provided in
+<a href="http://bugs.debian.org/496915">bug #496915</a>, the file
+content need to be manually replaced to ensure LDAP is used as the
+directory service on the machine. /etc/nsswitch.conf should normally
+look like this:</p>
+
+<blockquote><pre>
+passwd: files ldap
+group: files ldap
+shadow: files ldap
+hosts: files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4
+networks: files
+protocols: files
+services: files
+ethers: files
+rpc: files
+netgroup: files ldap
+</pre></blockquote>
+
+<p>The important parts are that ldap is listed last for passwd, group,
+shadow and netgroup.</p>
+
+<p>With these changes in place, any user in LDAP will be able to log
+in locally on the machine using for example kdm, get a local home
+directory created and have the password as well as user and group
+attributes cached.
+
+<h2>LDAP/Kerberos + nss-updatedb + libpam-ccreds +
+ libpam-mklocaluser/pam_mkhomedir</h2>
+
+<p>Because nscd have had its share of problems, and seem to have
+problems doing proper caching, I've seen suggestions and recipes to
+use nss-updatedb to copy parts of the LDAP database locally when the
+LDAP database is available. I have not tested such setup, because I
+discovered sssd.</p>
+
+<h2>LDAP/Kerberos + sssd + libpam-mklocaluser</h2>
+
+<p>A more flexible and robust setup than the nscd combination
+mentioned earlier that has shown up recently, is the
+<a href="https://fedorahosted.org/sssd/">sssd</a> package from Redhat.
+It is part of the <a href="http://www.freeipa.org/">FreeIPA</A> project
+to provide a Active Directory like directory service for Linux
+machines. The sssd system combines the caching of passwords and user
+information into one package, and remove the need for nscd and
+libpam-ccreds. It support LDAP and Kerberos, but not NIS. Version
+1.2 do not support netgroups, but it is said that it will support this
+in version 1.5 expected to show up later in 2010. Because the
+<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/sssd.html">sssd package</a>
+was missing in Debian, I ended up co-maintaining it with Werner, and
+version 1.2 is now in testing.
+
+<p>These packages need to be installed and configured to get the
+roaming setup I want</p>
+
+<blockquote><pre>
+libpam-sss libnss-sss libpam-mklocaluser
+</pre></blockquote>
+
+The complete setup of sssd is done by editing/creating
+<tt>/etc/sssd/sssd.conf</tt>.
+
+<blockquote><pre>
+[sssd]
+config_file_version = 2
+reconnection_retries = 3
+sbus_timeout = 30
+services = nss, pam
+domains = INTERN
+
+[nss]
+filter_groups = root
+filter_users = root
+reconnection_retries = 3
+
+[pam]
+reconnection_retries = 3
+
+[domain/INTERN]
+enumerate = false
+cache_credentials = true
+
+id_provider = ldap
+auth_provider = ldap
+chpass_provider = ldap
+
+ldap_uri = ldap://ldap
+ldap_search_base = dc=skole,dc=skolelinux,dc=no
+ldap_tls_reqcert = never
+ldap_tls_cacert = /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
+</pre></blockquote>
+
+<p>I got the same problem here with certificate checking. Had to set
+"ldap_tls_reqcert = never" to get it working.</p>
+
+<p>With the libnss-sss package in testing at the moment, the
+nsswitch.conf file is update automatically, so there is no need to
+modify it manually.</p>
+
+<p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
+please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
</description>
</item>
<item>
- <title>Debian Edu / Skolelinux based on Lenny released, work continues</title>
- <link>Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Lenny_released__work_continues.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">Debian_Edu___Skolelinux_based_on_Lenny_released__work_continues.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:15:00 +0100</pubDate>
+ <title>LUMA, a very nice LDAP GUI</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/LUMA__a_very_nice_LDAP_GUI.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
<description>
-<p>On Tuesday, the Debian/Lenny based version of
-<a href="http://www.skolelinux.org/">Skolelinux</a> was finally
-shipped. This was a major leap forward for the project, and I am very
-pleased that we finally got the release wrapped up. Work on the first
-point release starts imediately, as we plan to get that one out a
-month after the major release, to include all fixes for bugs we found
-and fixed too late in the release process to include last Tuesday.</p>
-
-<p>Perhaps it even is time for some partying?</p>
-
-<p>After this first point release, my plan is to focus again on the
-next major release, based on Squeeze. We will try to get as many of
-the fixes we need into the official Debian packages before the freeze,
-and have just a few weeks or months to make it happen.</p>
+<p>The last few days I have been looking into the status of the LDAP
+directory in Debian Edu, and in the process I started to miss a GUI
+tool to browse the LDAP tree. The only one I was able to find in
+Debian/Squeeze and Lenny is
+<a href="http://luma.sourceforge.net/">LUMA</a>, which has proved to
+be a great tool to get a overview of the current LDAP directory
+populated by default in Skolelinux. Thanks to it, I have been able to
+find empty and obsolete subtrees, misplaced objects and duplicate
+objects. It will be installed by default in Debian/Squeeze. If you
+are working with LDAP, give it a go. :)</p>
+
+<p>I did notice one problem with it I have not had time to report to
+the BTS yet. There is no .desktop file in the package, so the tool do
+not show up in the Gnome and KDE menus, but only deep down in in the
+Debian submenu in KDE. I hope that can be fixed before Squeeze is
+released.</p>
+
+<p>I have not yet been able to get it to modify the tree yet. I would
+like to move objects and remove subtrees directly in the GUI, but have
+not found a way to do that with LUMA yet. So in the mean time, I use
+<a href="http://www.lichteblau.com/ldapvi/">ldapvi</a> for that.</p>
+
+<p>If you have tips on other GUI tools for LDAP that might be useful
+in Debian Edu, please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
+
+<p>Update 2010-06-29: Ross Reedstrom tipped us about the
+<a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/g/gq.html">gq</a> package as a
+useful GUI alternative. It seem like a good tool, but is unmaintained
+in Debian and got a RC bug keeping it out of Squeeze. Unless that
+changes, it will not be an option for Debian Edu based on Squeeze.</p>
</description>
</item>
<item>
- <title>Danmark går for ODF?</title>
- <link>Danmark_g__r_for_ODF_.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">Danmark_g__r_for_ODF_.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
+ <title>Idea for a change to LDAP schemas allowing DNS and DHCP info to be combined into one object</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_a_change_to_LDAP_schemas_allowing_DNS_and_DHCP_info_to_be_combined_into_one_object.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Idea_for_a_change_to_LDAP_schemas_allowing_DNS_and_DHCP_info_to_be_combined_into_one_object.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:35:00 +0200</pubDate>
<description>
-<p>Ble nettopp gjort oppmerksom på en
-<a href="http://www.version2.dk/artikel/13690-breaking-odf-vinder-dokumentformat-krigen ">nyhet fra Version2</a>
-fra Danmark, der det hevdes at Folketinget har vedtatt at ODF skal
-brukes som dokumentutvekslingsformat i Staten.</p>
-
-<p>Hyggelig lesning, spesielt hvis det viser seg at de av vedtatt
-kravlisten for hva som skal aksepteres som referert i kommentarfeltet
-til artikkelen og
-<a href="http://www.version2.dk/artikel/13693-er-ooxml-doemt-ude-her-er-kravene-til-en-offentlig-dokumentstandard">en
-annen artikkel</a> i samme nett-avis. Liker spesielt godt denne:</p>
-
-<p><blockquote> Det skal demonstreres, at standarden i sin helhed kan
-implementeres af alle direkte i sin helhed på flere
-platforme.</blockquote></p>
-
-<p>Noe slikt burde være et krav også i Norge.</p>
+<p>A while back, I
+<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_new__LDAP_schemas_replacing_RFC_2307_.html">complained
+about the fact</a> that it is not possible with the provided schemas
+for storing DNS and DHCP information in LDAP to combine the two sets
+of information into one LDAP object representing a computer.</p>
+
+<p>In the mean time, I discovered that a simple fix would be to make
+the dhcpHost object class auxiliary, to allow it to be combined with
+the dNSDomain object class, and thus forming one object for one
+computer when storing both DHCP and DNS information in LDAP.</p>
+
+<p>If I understand this correctly, it is not safe to do this change
+without also changing the assigned number for the object class, and I
+do not know enough about LDAP schema design to do that properly for
+Debian Edu.</p>
+
+<p>Anyway, for future reference, this is how I believe we could change
+the
+<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dhc-ldap-schema-00">DHCP
+schema</a> to solve at least part of the problem with the LDAP schemas
+available today from IETF.</p>
+
+<pre>
+--- dhcp.schema (revision 65192)
++++ dhcp.schema (working copy)
+@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@
+ objectclass ( 2.16.840.1.113719.1.203.6.6
+ NAME 'dhcpHost'
+ DESC 'This represents information about a particular client'
+- SUP top
++ SUP top AUXILIARY
+ MUST cn
+ MAY (dhcpLeaseDN $ dhcpHWAddress $ dhcpOptionsDN $ dhcpStatements $ dhcpComments $ dhcpOption)
+ X-NDS_CONTAINMENT ('dhcpService' 'dhcpSubnet' 'dhcpGroup') )
+</pre>
+
+<p>I very much welcome clues on how to do this properly for Debian
+Edu/Squeeze. We provide the DHCP schema in our debian-edu-config
+package, and should thus be free to rewrite it as we see fit.</p>
+
+<p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
+please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
</description>
</item>
<item>
- <title>Automatic Munin and Nagios configuration</title>
- <link>Automatic_Munin_and_Nagios_configuration.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">Automatic_Munin_and_Nagios_configuration.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:15:00 +0100</pubDate>
+ <title>Calling tasksel like the installer, while still getting useful output</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Calling_tasksel_like_the_installer__while_still_getting_useful_output.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Calling_tasksel_like_the_installer__while_still_getting_useful_output.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:55:00 +0200</pubDate>
<description>
-<p>One of the new features in the next Debian/Lenny based release of
-Debian Edu/Skolelinux, which is scheduled for release in the next few
-days, is automatic configuration of the service monitoring system
-Nagios. The previous release had automatic configuration of trend
-analysis using Munin, and this Lenny based release take that a step
-further.</p>
-
-<p>When installing a Debian Edu Main-server, it is automatically
-configured as a Munin and Nagios server. In addition, it is
-configured to be a server for the
-<a href="http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/SiteSummary">SiteSummary
-system</a> I have written for use in Debian Edu. The SiteSummary
-system is inspired by a system used by the University of Oslo where I
-work. In short, the system provide a centralised collector of
-information about the computers on the network, and a client on each
-computer submitting information to this collector. This allow for
-automatic information on which packages are installed on each machine,
-which kernel the machines are using, what kind of configuration the
-packages got etc. This also allow us to automatically generate Munin
-and Nagios configuration.</p>
-
-<p>All computers reporting to the sitesummary collector with the
-munin-node package installed is automatically enabled as a Munin
-client and graphs from the statistics collected from that machine show
-up automatically on http://www/munin/ on the Main-server.</p>
-
-<p>All non-laptop computers reporting to the sitesummary collector are
-automatically monitored for network presence (ping and any network
-services detected). In addition, all computers (also laptops) with
-the nagios-nrpe-server package installed and configured the way
-sitesummary would configure it, are monitored for full disks, software
-raid status, swap free and other checks that need to run locally on
-the machine.</p>
-
-<p>The result is that the administrator on a school using Debian Edu
-based on Lenny will be able to check the health of his installation
-with one look at the Nagios settings, without having to spend any time
-keeping the Nagios configuration up-to-date.</p>
-
-<p>The only configuration one need to do to get Nagios up and running
-is to set the password used to get access via HTTP. The system
-administrator need to run "<tt>htpasswd /etc/nagios3/htpasswd.users
-nagiosadmin</tt>" to create a nagiosadmin user and set a password for
-it to be able to log into the Nagios web pages. After that,
-everything is taken care of.</p>
+<p>A few times I have had the need to simulate the way tasksel
+installs packages during the normal debian-installer run. Until now,
+I have ended up letting tasksel do the work, with the annoying problem
+of not getting any feedback at all when something fails (like a
+conffile question from dpkg or a download that fails), using code like
+this:
+
+<blockquote><pre>
+export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+tasksel --new-install
+</pre></blockquote>
+
+This would invoke tasksel, let its automatic task selection pick the
+tasks to install, and continue to install the requested tasks without
+any output what so ever.
+
+Recently I revisited this problem while working on the automatic
+package upgrade testing, because tasksel would some times hang without
+any useful feedback, and I want to see what is going on when it
+happen. Then it occured to me, I can parse the output from tasksel
+when asked to run in test mode, and use that aptitude command line
+printed by tasksel then to simulate the tasksel run. I ended up using
+code like this:
+
+<blockquote><pre>
+export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+cmd="$(in_target tasksel -t --new-install | sed 's/debconf-apt-progress -- //')"
+$cmd
+</pre></blockquote>
+
+<p>The content of $cmd is typically something like "<tt>aptitude -q
+--without-recommends -o APT::Install-Recommends=no -y install
+~t^desktop$ ~t^gnome-desktop$ ~t^laptop$ ~pstandard ~prequired
+~pimportant</tt>", which will install the gnome desktop task, the
+laptop task and all packages with priority standard , required and
+important, just like tasksel would have done it during
+installation.</p>
+
+<p>A better approach is probably to extend tasksel to be able to
+install packages without using debconf-apt-progress, for use cases
+like this.</p>
</description>
</item>
<item>
- <title>Sikkerhet, teater, og hvordan gjøre verden sikrere</title>
- <link>Sikkerhet__teater__og_hvordan_gj__re_verden_sikrere.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">Sikkerhet__teater__og_hvordan_gj__re_verden_sikrere.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:35:00 +0100</pubDate>
+ <title>Vinmonopolet bryter loven åpenlyst - og flere planlegger å gjøre det samme</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Vinmonopolet_bryter_loven___penlyst___og_flere_planlegger____gj__re_det_samme.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Vinmonopolet_bryter_loven___penlyst___og_flere_planlegger____gj__re_det_samme.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
<description>
-<p>Via Slashdot fant jeg en
-<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/29/schneier.air.travel.security.theater/index.html">nydelig
-kommentar fra Bruce Schneier</a> som ble publisert hos CNN i går. Den
-forklarer forbilledlig hvorfor sikkerhetsteater og innføring av
-totalitære politistatmetoder ikke er løsningen for å gjøre verden
-sikrere. Anbefales på det varmeste.</p>
-
-<p>Oppdatering: Kom over
-<a href="http://gizmodo.com/5435675/president-obama-its-time-to-fire-the-tsa">nok
-en kommentar</a> om den manglende effekten av dagens sikkerhetsteater
-på flyplassene.</p>
+<p><a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/06/16/nyheter/innenriks/streik/arbeidsliv/12157858/">Dagbladet
+melder</a> at Vinmonopolet med bakgrunn i vekterstreiken som pågår i
+Norge for tiden, har bestemt seg for med vitende og vilje å bryte
+sentralbanklovens paragraf 14 ved å nekte folk å betale med
+kontanter, og at flere butikker planlegger å følge deres eksempel.
+Jeg synes det er hårreisende hvis de slipper unna med et slikt
+soleklart lovbrudd, og lurer på hva slags muligheter jeg vil ha hvis
+jeg blir nektet å handle med kontanter. Jeg handler i hovedsak med
+kontanter selv, da jeg anser det som en borgerrett å kunne handle
+anonymt uten at det blir registrert. For meg er det et angrep på mitt
+personvern å nekte å ta imot kontant betaling.</p>
+
+<p><a href="http://www.lovdata.no/all/tl-19850524-028-003.html#14">Paragrafen
+i sentralbankloven</a> lyder:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<p>§ 14. Tvungent betalingsmiddel</p>
+
+<p>Bankens sedler og mynter er tvungent betalingsmiddel i Norge. Ingen
+er pliktig til i én betaling å ta imot mer enn femogtyve mynter av
+hver enhet.</p>
+
+<p>Sterkt skadde sedler og mynter er ikke tvungent
+betalingsmiddel. Banken gir nærmere forskrifter om erstatning for
+bortkomne, brente eller skadde sedler og mynter.</p>
+
+<p>Selv om en avtale inneholder klausul om betaling av en
+pengeforpliktelse i gullverdi, kan skyldneren frigjøre seg med tvungne
+betalingsmidler uten hensyn til denne klausul.</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Det er med bakgrunn i denne lovet ikke tillatt å nekte å ta imot
+kontakt betaling. Det er en lov jeg har sans for, og som jeg mener må
+håndheves strengt.</p>
</description>
</item>
<item>
- <title>Opphavet til Skolelinux-prosjektet</title>
- <link>Opphavet_til_Skolelinux_prosjektet.html</link>
- <guid isPermaLink="true">Opphavet_til_Skolelinux_prosjektet.html</guid>
- <pubDate>Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:50:00 +0100</pubDate>
+ <title>Officeshots taking shape</title>
+ <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Officeshots_taking_shape.html</link>
+ <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Officeshots_taking_shape.html</guid>
+ <pubDate>Sun, 13 Jun 2010 11:40:00 +0200</pubDate>
<description>
-<p>De færreste er klar over at Skolelinux-prosjektet kom som et resultat
-av en avgjørelse på årsmøtet i
-<a href="http://www.nuug.no/">NUUG</a> i 2000-06-29, der Håkon Wium
-Lie, da varamedlem i styret, tok på seg oppdraget om å starte et
-initiativ kalt "Teach the Teacher", som skulle være et initiativ for
-å få fri programvare og unix-lignende operativsystemer inn i Skolen.
-Tanken var at en måtte starte med lærerne for at ungene skulle få
-mulighet til å møte en bedre IT-hverdag. Jeg var tilstede på
-møtet, og hadde sans for ideen, men intet skjedde. På vårparten
-2001 ble det arrangert en demonstrasjon i anledning at First Tuesday
-hadde invitert Microsoft til et møte for å fortelle om fremtidens
-Internet. Dette provoserte endel av oss, og EFN og NUUG tok initiativ
-til å arrangere
-<a href="http://www.digi.no/60982/first-tuesday-mote-med-microsoft-protest">en
-demonstrasjon utenfor lokalene 2001-05-21</a>. Blant de som sto bak
-demonstrasjonen var Vidar Bakke fra NUUG og Håkon W. Lie fra EFN.
-Etter demonstrasjonen arrangerte Håkon en fest hjemme hos seg der alle
-som hadde vært aktive i demonstrasjonsplanlegging og gjennomføringen
-deltok. Før festen var jeg blitt lei av å vente på at Håkon skulle ta
-initiativ til "Teach the Teacher", og for å forsøke å få litt fremgang
-besteme jeg meg for å benytte anledningen hos Håkon til å snakke om
-behovet for å hjelpe skolene i gang med bedre datasystemer bestående
-av fri programvare og unix-lignende operativsystemer. Flere var
-interessert, og Knut Yrvin tenkte på ideen. Han
-<a href="http://developer.skolelinux.no/brev/2001-06-28-invitasjon-skolelinux.txt">ropte
-sammen</a> til et stiftelsesmøte i prosjektet i sin arbeidsgivers
-Objectwares lokaler ved Ullevål stadion 2001-07-02, og jeg ble med.
-Resten er historie. :)</p>
+<p>For those of us caring about document exchange and
+interoperability, <a href="http://www.officeshots.org/">OfficeShots</a>
+is a great service. It is to ODF documents what
+<a href="http://browsershots.org/">BrowserShots</a> is for web
+pages.</p>
+
+<p>A while back, I was contacted by Knut Yrvin at the part of Nokia
+that used to be Trolltech, who wanted to help the OfficeShots project
+and wondered if the University of Oslo where I work would be
+interested in supporting the project. I helped him to navigate his
+request to the right people at work, and his request was answered with
+a spot in the machine room with power and network connected, and Knut
+arranged funding for a machine to fill the spot. The machine is
+administrated by the OfficeShots people, so I do not have daily
+contact with its progress, and thus from time to time check back to
+see how the project is doing.</p>
+
+<p>Today I had a look, and was happy to see that the Dell box in our
+machine room now is the host for several virtual machines running as
+OfficeShots factories, and the project is able to render ODF documents
+in 17 different document processing implementation on Linux and
+Windows. This is great.</p>
</description>
</item>
projects / homepage.git / blobdiff