Selamat Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. Please forgive all my wrongdoings. I'm leaving. I'll be leaving for my hometown tomorrow. My mind beats me. He arrived there last week. So now I seem mindless try to finish some errands before tomorrow. Just got a bad news 2 days ago. My son has to undergo the 2nd operation after raya. Well, well..

*flashback*Last month, he went through the first one. The operation was about to get rid of small but infectious lump between his chin and his neck. I dont know the medical term for it nor I know what caused it. But I do know that it is getting harder, bigger and too painful for Nabil.

So, one morning, we checked in into a ward. The operation was supposed to be in the afternoon, so Nabil has been denied food and drink. I'm trying hard to divert his attention by playing or watching tv, while waiting. The Wonderpets just ended, meaning it's already 3pm, but we patiently waited for no avail. Then a nurse told us that the pediatric surgeon was handling some emergency case, so we have to expect some delay. I really didnt mind as he should know his priority better. 2 hours later, we had been brought to a counter outside the Operation Theatre(OT).

Nabil already felt the uneasiness. He didnt want to get hold nor seated. A few minutes later, one huge guy came out from the OT. He's the anesthesia specialist. We chatted for a while before he carried Nabil away from us. Nabil just could not stop screaming, and my wife could not stop crying. Last time he screamed, was at PASTI pre-school. Back then, my wife cried too. Now, while knowing risk was low, I still have to comfort her telling everything is gonna be ok. About 20 mins later, a nurse called us into the pre/post operation room as Nabil already started screaming in pain, after he woke up. We gently hold and persuaded him until we were back at the room. The misery didnt end there. He had to wait at least 6 hours before he can touch any food or drink for the anesthetia effect went off. He sobbed and sobbed until he's too weak and my wife put him to sleep.

A month later, the wound has not cure itself. After numerous time going in/out for follow-ups, the condition persists. During last appointment, the doctor advised us to go for 2nd operation. Life is like a wheel, you got your ups and downs, people say. Now, I feel like being down, and the wheel is not spinning and stucked forever. Even though it is not a major operation, we still feel helpless. For the parents, it's the journey that's more painful. I respect and pray for families that have to go a far more critical situation than mine. Despite the insurance coverage issue (since I'm leaving the company), I hope everything will go smoothly this time. As for my son, I wont hint him about the operation until the last minute. I dont want him to have a spoiled holiday, although my wife and I are holding our back, smiling in disguise.

The reduced-oil-price is not going to make me feel any better. I feel too tired to wait, quite worried to start anew. Let's hope for the best. Let's hope for the wheel to start spinning. God willing. Once again, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, have a good journey with beloved family and drive safely.

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Lain dicita, lain yang datang

Tanggal 16 Sept, 2008, di kala minda menyusuri blog dan berita terkini..menanti sesuatu..sekelumit perubahan..yang bakal menjadi tonggak negara..negara yang didalamnya keturunanku akan menumpang hidup..sementara menanti mati di bumi Allah.

Tapi dikejutkan pula dengan rekahan parti "engkau laksana bulan"..walaupun aku masih pasti ianya dapat di 'plaster' diperingkat atasan..kuharapkan tidak akan berakhir dengan kehancuran. Jika tidak, di mana lagi "silent communities" macam aku ni mau bersandar harap.

Masih terngiang-ngiang kata-kata Tok Guru, "..politik itu kotor, Islamlah yang menyucikannya.." Itulah antara asas yang terpacak dalam kepalaku bila cuba memahami cerita politik dalam negara. Walaupun aku hanya end-user(or shd I say end-voter) politik, aku tak suka diperkotak-katikkan, lebih-lebih lagi oleh parti politik kegemaranku. Walaupun aku memang lemah berhujah(even dengan diriku sendiri), tapi aku yakin barisan pemimpin dapat berhujah dengan sihat berteraskan ilmu dan pengalaman masing-masing.

Harapanku, biarlah diselesaikan secara berhikmah mengikut lunas2 Islam yang kita bawa. Selagi parti menjadi alat untuk Islam(dan bukannya parti memperalatkan Islam), selagi itulah sokonganku tidak bertepi.

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Holy goosh!

Feeling bored of the same old search engine? Then check this out. Cool eh!

EOT

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Qibla Locator

When was the last time you checked your Qibla. Thanks to Ibn Masud, now you can verify the Qibla everywhere you are connected. Utilizing the Google Map, I just can say "Thanks a bunch and Well Done". Just go to Qiblalocator.com for details.

EOT

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New pair of shoes

I had been wearing my office shoes for as long as I have been married. Yes, the pair was included in the 'hantaran' package. Since then, I brought them to the cobbler twice, until it was going to cost me more to repair than buying a new one. So, early this year, I bought a motorcycle and outdoor shoes to go with the bike, which I have been using in the office as well.

Apparently, as I was also looking for another job at that time, I promised myself not to buy a new pair of shoes until I get a new job. And guess what, I just bought myself a new pair of office shoes.

EOT

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Garbage truck, have you seen it? Uh oh! There's another one

My garbage truck comes to my house 3 times a week; Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday. I do not mind if they miss the Thursday or Tuesday schedule, since nothing much to be trashed out and my garbage can could hold up to 3 weekdays before I have to push and lock down the lid. But if they(or I myself) miss the Saturday round, things will got worse(and stinkier). The junk will always double during weekend. The diaper trash bag alone will fill up the can, and where should I dump the rest?
David J Pollay provides a good answers to that. This is the original article. Click more to read the copy.

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.

I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And he even threw in a one finger salute! I couldn’t believe it!

But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck™.” He said:

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.

So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.

So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”

I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time was Walter Payton. Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way: Tiger Woods, Nadia Comaneci, Muhammad Ali, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson, and Pele are just some of those players. And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way: Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King.

See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from the University of Florida, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.

So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck™, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.

The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their life.

What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here’s my bet: You’ll be happier. END

Dear blog,

It has been quite sometime since I last type to you. Its not because of you lack of features or anything (though I'm thinking getting my own domain and use wordpress hu hu). It is simply because your title read My First Sys Admin Blog, which I am no longer am. The passion to be working with system has never been halted. As long as I can pay my bill, and feed my family, I will try my best to stay on technical and learn, and share the blessed knowledge with others.

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Bedtime song - Sepohon kayu

Another memorable song, called "Sepohon kayu". Do you know that a lot of good things should be taught while they are in semi-conscious state, a stage just before they asleep. This is just one way how to build a strong base for a good muslim, as early as 3-4 years old. Why 3-4 years old? Because this is the stage where they are still not utilizing their full conscious mind capabilities and , and semi-conscious mind proven to be more effective in parenting your child. Sorry I could not find and reference to this, but I have read it somewhere. Well, its our children and it's up to us how to raise them, and for a moslem, there are clear guidelines to follow, God willing. "Anak-anak dilahirkan untuk berjaya, janganlah kita(ibubapa) menggagalkan mereka" - Datuk Dr Fadzilah Kamsah



Sepohon kayu, daunnya rimbun
Lebat bunganya serta buahnya
Walaupun hidup seribu tahun
Kalau tak sembahyang apa gunanya

Kami bekerja sehari-hari
Untuk belanja rumah sendiri
Walaupun hidup seribu tahun
Kalau tak sembahyang apa gunanya

Kami sembahyang fardu sembahyang
Sunatpun ada bukan sembarang
Supaya Allah menjadi sayang
Kami bekerja hatilah riang

Kami sembahyang limalah waktu
Siang dan malam sudahlah tentu
Hidup dikubur yatim piatu
Tinggalah seorang dipukul dipalu

Dipukul dipalu sehari-hari
Barulah dia sedarkan diri
Hidup didunia tiada berarti
Akhirat disana sangatlah rugi

Munsyid : Umam
ref: http://liriknasyid.com

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Bedtime song - Di pondok kecil

Here's one of my favorite bedtime song for my children, called "Di pondok kecil". Make sure you control the pitch, otherwise, you might give your children a nightmare instead.

dipondok kecil di pantai ombak
berbuih putih beralun-alun

disuatu hari ayah berkata
jaga adik mu ayahkan pergi jauh
ku pandang wajah ayah dahinya ku cium
air mata mengalir hatiku pilu

diam-diamlah sayang jangan menangis
doakan ayah semoga diterima
diam adik ku sayang jangan menangis
andai ayah gugur doakan dia syahid

selamat berjuangan ayah tercinta
kau pergi dulu ayah ke medan juang
ku iringi doa moga berjaya
beroleh kemenangan demi agama Islam

wahai abang ku kemana
ayah ku sayang ayah ku cinta ayah 2x

duhai adik ku sayang jangan bersedih
ayah mu pergi menyambut seruan Ilahi
tapi ingatlah adik ku pesanan ayah
berjuangan dan berkorban walau dimana jua

pada Mu Tuhan aku bermohon
dosa ayah ku minta diampunkan
berilah rahmat bantulah dia
untuk menegakkan agama Islam

Munsyid : Nadamurni
Ref: http://liriknasyid.com
EOT

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Internet access, linux not ok, windows ok, *bsd ok

So what seemed to be a problem? Recently, within our network segment, guarded by pf firewall, somehow linux(redhat,fedora,*buntu) found difficulty in accessing the internet. Either the page is half loaded, or did not come out at all. It is not the browser; same result using wget. Obviously it is not the network; since XP and *BSD can go out. So, I suspect the pf is the mole. But since the pf owner is not around, and IT department could not be much of a help unless the problem affecting their segment, nothing much can be done. Plus I'm half system admin I used to be, too lazy to trace out the root cause now. Btw, here's the definition of problem based on ITIL concept(taken from wikipedia):

A problem is a condition often identified as a result of multiple Incidents that exhibit common symptoms. Problems can also be identified from a single significant Incident, indicative of a single error, for which the cause is unknown, but for which the impact is significant.

A known error is a condition identified by successful diagnosis of the root cause of a problem, and the subsequent development of a Work-around.

EOT

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Bila hati bersuara

Hati: apa barang bermuram durja
yoebaik: ntah la, I seemed lost
Hati: nape lak sesat2 ni, nampak cam ok jek
yoebaik: kat luar nampak cam ok, dalam hati sapa yang tau
Hati: tell me about it, I know better lah
yoebaik: kalu dalam IT, ko ni ibarat apa ek
Hati: I would call myself an operating system
yoebaik: Hehe palobang?!
Hati: true enough, and the brain would be the CPU
yoebaik: mmm ok and I guess the eyes is the webcam


Hati: suit yourself, ko empunya badan
yoebaik: betul ke aku punya badan, ingatkan pinjaman
Hati: who told you so?
yoebaik: the IPS a.k.a iman
Hati: the IPS yang nak kaput tu ke, bila nak upgrade?
yoebaik: man man la, ni salah satu sebab kemuraman ni
Hati: nak aku tolong ke?
yoebaik: orang slalu cakap, ikut rasa binasa, ikut hati mati, boleh caya ke ko ni?
Hati: aku bagi pandangan, ko process la sendiri
yoebaik: aku tanya ko, ko rasa aku bahagia ke?
Hati: define bahagia. gi tanya mr google
yoebaik: apa barang, orang tanya dia, dia suh google lak
Hati: ye la ye la, penah dengar tak orang kata beauty is in the eye of the
beholder, so sama la jugak, prosperity is in the heart of beholder.
yoebaik: Kalu camtu, ko la yang decide aku happy ke tak?
Hati: kalu orang happy kan kita selalu kata, senang Hati nampak, so aku senang,
ko senang la
yoebaik: apa yang aku kena buat untuk menyenangkan ko?
Hati: masa takde duit, dapat duit senang la
yoebaik: nanti cukup bulan duit takde balik, susah balik? mmm lagi?
Hati: masa ada problem, ko dapat settlekan, senang la aku
yoebaik: nanti ada problem lain lak, susah balik? mmm lagi?
Hati: masa takde rumah, nanti ada rumah, senang la aku
yoebaik: nanti tiba2 rumah terbakar, susah balik? mm lagi?
Hati: masa takde family, sekarang dah ada, senang la aku?
yoebaik: nanti kalu sume dah takde, susah balik?
Hati: apa yang ko nak ni?
yoebaik: yang tadi sume tu bersifat sementara. aku nak kebahagian yang
genuine, original, kebahagian yang sejati, yang hakiki, apa suggestion
ko?
Hati: ko ingat tak khutbah jumaat masa ko pegi bercuti kat Jakarta itu hari?
yoebaik: mmm susah nak jumpa khutbah yang can go straight to the heart.
Hati: ye la, khutbah berbentuk ceramah, bukan refer text, disampaikan dengan
ikhlas mesti la senang sampai kat aku. Macam program2 reality tv, kan
selalu dengar comment "anda sekadar menyanyi, tapi tak sampai kepada
saya", "It's a good performance, but I can't feel it, it just didn't work" etc.
yoebaik: pebende ko ngomel ni, cite la betul2.
Hati: imam tu cakap kat jemaah lebih kurang camni la "apakah kunci
kebahagiaan? jika benarlah bahagia itu disandarkan pada wang dan harta
yang banyak, maka jadilah Qarun orang yang paling bahagia dan dijadikan
contoh hingga sekarang. Tetapi akhirnya dia dilaknat oleh Allah. jika
benarlah bahagia itu disama-ertikan dengan mempunyai kuasa, maka orang
akan menggelar Firaun sebagai orang paling bahagia sepanjang zaman.
Sebaliknya, dia juga dilaknat Allah. Kunci kepada kebahagian yang hakiki
adalah dengan mendapat keredhaan Allah atas apa jua yang dikerjakan."
yoebaik: ooo ok, sorrylah cpu slow. so itu ke jawapannya?
Hati: daaa! apola ko ni, tiap2 malam dodoi anak dengan lagu sepohon kayu, alih2
ko yang kayu
yoebaik: pehal?
Hati: walaupun hidup seribu tahun, kalau tak sembahyang apa gunanya.
Walaupun hidup 30 tahun, kalu sume benda mengharapkan keredhaanNya,
baru la ada guna. Ko dengar sini betul2, ko tu hamba Tuhan, takde value
bai, so act like one! apa benda yang ko punya? Anak bini, kereta, umah,
even laptop ni sume pinjaman. Ko kejar la apa yang patut kat dunia as long as it is halal, tapi ultimatum nya di akhirat. Alih2 esok tergolek, ko rasa ko
dah ready nak gi next phase.
yoebaik: ye lah, sume orang takut mati
Hati: ko cakap je takut, tapi tak de preparation sgt pun aku tengok. Solat jangan
tinggal, pastu translate sume keje ko buat tu jadi ibadah, barulah
bertepatan dgn tujuan ko dijadikan.
yoebaik: ok kat mana nak start?
Hati: eden ni haa, bersihkan aku dulu, bukan tu ke ko punya azam tahun baru
aritu
yoebaik: camne tu?
Hati: Dah banyak kotoran degil kat aku ni. Ko bersihkan la sikit2 dengan
istighfar,zikir dgn nama2 Tuhan. Dulu kan selalu masa jem balik keje, ko
dengar nasyid kat ikim.fm tu:

ubat hati ada 5 perkaranya
yang pertama baca Quran dan maknanya
yang kedua solat malam dirikanlah
yang ketiga berkumpullah dengan orang soleh
yang keempat perbanyakkan berpuasa
yang kelima zikir malam berpanjanglah
salah satunya siapa bisa menjalani
moga-moga Allah taala mencukupi.

boleh la ni guna buat panduan, jgn dok dengar jek.
Apa2 yang ko buat pun, mesti persistent. Islam kan ajar kita, sikit2 tapi selalu lebih baik dari buat banyak2 tapi jarang2.
yoebaik: pastu?
Hati: pastu bukak balik la Al-Quran yang dah berbulan2 tak bukak, bagi satu cite
politik yang ko baca, ko patut cari 3 cite yang ada ilmu, 1 ilmu dunia, 2 ilmu akhirat, ilmu tu kan makanan jiwa, jangan asyik bagi makan perut je.
yoebaik: lagi?
Hati: buat yang tu dulu, kang kita sembang lagi
yoebaik: boleh ke aku buat ni?
Hati: hidup di dunia umpama air yang melekat di hujung jari, dimana akhirat itulah lautannya, nak tanak ko kena buat, ko kan hamba.
yoebaik: kalau ko umpama OS, aku harap ko jadi yang knowledge-based nyer OS cam opensource, bukan yang money-oriented nyer
Hati: Insyallah, ko jagala aku betul2, sambil2 tu baca ni

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As slim as Samsonite

We found it! Just to recap, my wife and I were on a quest for a laptop backpack, that does not look like a laptop backpack, and it must be slim, professional and feminine looking and comfortable yet protective. Previously, we wish we were in USA or at least in Singapore so that we could get a hold of Mobile Edge Slimline Paris. But last week, we were browsing in One Utama when we came across this piece from Samsonite. Took us half an hour to decide, and before you know it, its ours.



It can fit up to 15 inch notebook plus a mice and power adaptor. You still have enough space to spare for light stationaries, handphone charger, several 3 in 1 Milo sachets and perhaps 1 nasi lemak. Sorry, no more room for file holder(can help keep your house as paperless as possible). In addition, this slimsonite got 2 major external compartments and both with lockable zipper plus a free lock(I doubt the usefulness but since its already there...). The exterior design of this bag gives the owner a perfect fit on the back. I like ..


One flipside is it just has 3 years warranty. Well, I hope the bag will last longer than the notebook it carries. Last week I told Ayoi "if I dont go for the look, then I'll get myself a Samsonite". Guess what dude, I am wrong. This baby, in my view, sure looks stunning, and it's from Samsonite.

Disclaimer: I'm in no position of promoting any brand of bags. I'm just expressing my view of what a buyer would feel before and after they got themselves a bag.

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Nasi Goreng USA

yoebaik = yoe
orang jual nasi goreng - ojng

yoe: mmm nasi apa aa best.. nasi goreng USA ada bang?
ojng: takde la dik
yoe: nasi goreng daging masak merah ada?
ojng: yang tu ada la
yoe: ok, mintak nasi goreng daging masak merah satu ye
ojng: ok, itu je ke?
yoe: tambah telur mata satu la bang boleh?
ojng: orait
yoe: ?!

!EOT

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Changelog April 2008

A few bugs detected. Many things had been either fixed,ignored,or upgraded. Plus, many new experiments took place since February.

Government - positively fixed on 8th March with 5 state won by Opposition and denied 2/3 majority of Barisan Nasional in Dewan Rakyat.

Traffic jam - fixed with my new Honda Wave S 125. Automatically fixed a sleepy morning blues at the office.

Bugs detected, current office shoe not waterproof - to be replaced with a slipper or Waterproof Hi-Tec shoes. I went for the shoe.

Bugs detected, Redhat jacket is not waterproof (learn it a hard way) - to be replaced with infamous GIVI rain coat.

Boredom - fixed with a week trip to Indonesia. Request a status change from boredom to credit card headache.

Baby - upgraded to a toddler.

My Support Team - added 2 more executives, total up to 9 effective support personnels. A lot of things has been self cured. Still has a room for improvement. But sincerely, I'm proud of you guys. To be improved with a new Department Head(coming soon).

Annoying colleague,client - to be ignored until ermm (to be decided later)

Loving wife - equipped with company notebook, finally.

Inspiron 510m notebook with XP - upgraded RAM to 2GB, only to find the hibernation not working. Fixed with this patch. Thanks in advance(not tested yet).

Active request:
A notebook bag for wife (slimline paris from mobile edge is so tempting)
A house (hopefully by year end)
A new job (KIV aiyahh)

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P-r-o-d-u-c-t-i-v-i-t-y

I am no motivator to preach about productivity. But when instant messenger is banned as the main cause of low productivity, I think somebody somewhere is missing a bigger picture. It is like preventing a driver to have a passenger for a long ride. He still can drive a car with no problem but boredom. Somehow he will find another way to get freshen up(eg stop for a snack/ciggy), and that will eventually still slowing him down. We have to admit, under normal circumstances, different people has different productive time. You cannot expect them to give 100 percent focusing on the job from 9 to 5. This is not a NASCAR race.

And it is depends on the nature of the job. A good system administrator will spend almost all his time doing other things besides reading mail because almost all tasks have been taken care of automatically. All backups will go smoothly as scheduled with minimal user intervention. Any abnormal activities will be alerted via email or sms. And no one can simply say that he's not productive in doing his work. He's just doing his work a smart way, not the hard way as what productivity suggested.

It is depends also on how your boss see things. I remember one episode of Seinfeld, where George got an idea how to fool his boss. He drove his car early in the morning and parked it near his boss 's parking space, then went home by bus. His boss then noticed George's car every time he parked his car and when he wanted to return home. His boss thought that George is a morning person and loves working late. What he did not know that George was spending time somewhere else and produce zero output. It is unethical but it works(at least for George).

For me, as a Moslem, I am bound to the what religion says. It is now depends on how God see things. As a Moslem, everything I do, I do it for God. And God always watching me and that thought will keep me away for any wrongdoings in life, Insyallah. If I cheat in my job, I might fool my boss but then I'll have a problem with the God. And I am very sure I don't want to come to that. Live for Islam, Die for Islam, 1 vote for PAS.

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And then nagios asked "Hi servers, how are you today?"

There are quite a numbers of Network or Health Monitoring System. Being an opensource user I have shortlisted several of them; nagios, zabbix, zenoss, opennms. If you really need a quick one, choose zabbix, then you got yourself a car. If you got time, learn nagios. You'll be given an engine, then you have to choose the type of body, rear wheel drive or 4 wheel drive, how many doors do you want and so on, until finally you got yourself a car. OpenNMS has the enterprise look but like zabbix, quite dependant on SNMP but not as easy to install. Zenoss has gained a good position in term of ranking at sourceforge.net and currently is ranked at no 9. I might wanna try to look at this(and openNMS) later on but in the meantime, nagios, i choose you.

This guide is intended for those using Redhat,Fedora,Centos and I have added some steps to fit my needs. This steps works for me but I am not responsible for what you are going to do to your system. Like any other system admins, you should always have and setup a test server before put it into production.

refer http://nagios.sourceforge.net/docs/3_0/quickstart-fedora.html for original quickstart documentation

Introduction

This guide is intended to provide you with simple instructions on how to install Nagios from source (code) on Fedora and have it monitoring your local machine inside of 20 minutes. No advanced installation options are discussed here - just the basics that will work for 95% of users who want to get started.

These instructions were written based on a standard Fedora Core 6 Linux distribution.

What You'll End Up With

If you follow these instructions, here's what you'll end up with:

* Nagios and the plugins will be installed underneath /usr/local/nagios
* Nagios will be configured to monitor a few aspects of your local system (CPU load, disk usage, etc.)
* The Nagios web interface will be accessible at http://localhost/nagios/

Prerequisites

During portions of the installation you'll need to have root access to your machine.

Make sure you've installed the following packages on your Fedora installation before continuing.

* Apache
* GCC compiler
* GD development libraries
* RRDtool

You can use yum to install these packages by running the following commands (as root):

# yum install httpd
# yum install gcc
# yum install glibc glibc-common
# yum install gd gd-devel gd-progs
# yum install rrdtool

1) Create Account Information

Become the root user.

# su -l

Create a new nagios user account and give it a password.

# /usr/sbin/useradd nagios
# passwd nagios

Create a new nagcmd group for allowing external commands to be submitted through the web interface. Add both the nagios user and the apache user to the group.

# /usr/sbin/groupadd nagcmd
# /usr/sbin/usermod -G nagcmd nagios
# /usr/sbin/usermod -G nagcmd apache

2) Download Nagios and the Plugins

Create a directory for storing the downloads.

# mkdir ~/downloads
# cd ~/downloads

Download the source code tarballs of both Nagios and the Nagios plugins (visit http://www.nagios.org/download/ for links to the latest versions). At the time of writing, the latest versions of Nagios and the Nagios plugins were 3.0rc1 and 1.4.11, respectively.

# wget http://osdn.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/nagios/nagios-3.0rc1.tar.gz
# wget http://osdn.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/nagiosplug/nagios-plugins-1.4.11.tar.gz

3) Compile and Install Nagios

Extract the Nagios source code tarball.

# cd ~/downloads
# tar xzf nagios-3.0rc1.tar.gz
# cd nagios-3.0rc1

Run the Nagios configure script, passing the name of the group you created earlier like so:

# ./configure --with-command-group=nagcmd

Compile the Nagios source code.

# make all

Install binaries, init script, sample config files and set permissions on the external command directory.

# make install
# make install-init
# make install-config
# make install-commandmode

Don't start Nagios yet - there's still more that needs to be done...

4) Customize Configuration

Sample configuration files have now been installed in the /usr/local/nagios/etc directory. These sample files should work fine for getting started with Nagios. You'll need to make just one change before you proceed...

Edit the /usr/local/nagios/etc/objects/contacts.cfg config file with your favorite editor and change the email address associated with the nagiosadmin contact definition to the address you'd like to use for receiving alerts.

# vi /usr/local/nagios/etc/objects/contacts.cfg

5) Configure the Web Interface

Install the Nagios web config file in the Apache conf.d directory.

# make install-webconf

Create a nagiosadmin account for logging into the Nagios web interface. Remember the password you assign to this account - you'll need it later.

# htpasswd -c /usr/local/nagios/etc/htpasswd.users nagiosadmin

create a file called .htaccess in /usr/local/nagios/sbin containing:

AuthUserFile /usr/local/nagios/etc/htpasswd.users
AuthName "Welcome To Nagios"
AuthType Basic
Require valid-user

Restart Apache to make the new settings take effect.

service httpd restart

6) Compile and Install the Nagios Plugins

Extract the Nagios plugins source code tarball.

# cd ~/downloads
# tar xzf nagios-plugins-1.4.11.tar.gz
# cd nagios-plugins-1.4.11

Compile and install the plugins.

# ./configure --with-nagios-user=nagios --with-nagios-group=nagios
# make
# make install

7) Start Nagios

Add Nagios to the list of system services and have it automatically start when the system boots.

# chkconfig --add nagios
# chkconfig nagios on

Verify the sample Nagios configuration files.

# /usr/local/nagios/bin/nagios -v /usr/local/nagios/etc/nagios.cfg

If there are no errors, start Nagios.

# service nagios start

8) Modify SELinux Settings

Fedora ships with SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux) installed and in Enforcing mode by default. This can result in "Internal Server Error" messages when you attempt to access the Nagios CGIs.

See if SELinux is in Enforcing mode.

getenforce

Put SELinux into Permissive mode.

setenforce 0

To make this change permanent, you'll have to modify the settings in /etc/selinux/config and reboot.

Instead of disabling SELinux or setting it to permissive mode, you can use the following command to run the CGIs under SELinux enforcing/targeted mode:

# chcon -R -t httpd_sys_content_t /usr/local/nagios/sbin/
# chcon -R -t httpd_sys_content_t /usr/local/nagios/share/

For information on running the Nagios CGIs under Enforcing mode with a targeted policy, visit the NagiosCommunity.org wiki at http://www.nagioscommunity.org/wiki.

9) Login to the Web Interface

You should now be able to access the Nagios web interface at the URL below. You'll be prompted for the username (nagiosadmin) and password you specified earlier.

http://localhost/nagios/

Click on the "Service Detail" navbar link to see details of what's being monitored on your local machine. It will take a few minutes for Nagios to check all the services associated with your machine, as the checks are spread out over time.

10) Other Modifications

Make sure your machine's firewall rules are configured to allow access to the web server if you want to access the Nagios interface remotely.

Configuring email notifications is out of the scope of this documentation. While Nagios is currently configured to send you email notifications, your system may not yet have a mail program properly installed or configured. Refer to your system documentation, search the web, or look to the NagiosCommunity.org wiki for specific instructions on configuring your system to send email messages to external addresses. More information on notifications can be found here.

11) You're Done(Well, I'm not)

Congratulations! You sucessfully installed Nagios. Your journey into monitoring is just beginning. You'll no doubt want to monitor more than just your local machine, so check out the following docs...

* Monitoring Windows machines
* Monitoring Linux/Unix machines
* Monitoring Netware servers
* Monitoring routers/switches
* Monitoring publicly available services (HTTP, FTP, SSH, etc.)

12) Beautify it a lil bit

Download nuvola style front-end from nagiosexchange.org.
Browse also for some other interesting logo package available there.
Previously, I used whiteline.zip and extract it into /usr/local/nagios/share/images/logos
# mkdir /usr/local/nuvola
# cd /usr/local/nuvola
# tar -zxvf ~/downloads/nagios-nuvola-1.0.3.tar.gz

Backup(just in case)
# cp /usr/local/nagios/share /usr/local/nagios/share.old
# cp -rf html/ /usr/local/nagios/share
edit /usr/local/nagios/share/config.js to make sure cgi-bin pointing to the right path and some other option

Done.

13) Replace nagios logo with your custom logo in statusmap

make sure you have install gd-progs package
turn your logo into gif or png format(eg mine.gif) and put it in /usr/local/nagios/share/images/logos
# cd /usr/local/nagios/share/images/logos
use pngtogd2 tool or giftogd2 tools to convert it into gd2 format
# ls -al mine.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1536 Jan 24 12:24 mine.gif

# giftogd2 mine.gif mine.gd2 1536 1

backup old and replace with new logo
# cp nagios.gd2 nagios.gd2.old
# cp mine.gd2 nagios.gd2

Done.

14) Nagiosgraph

http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/feature/19843.html provides good details
# cd /usr/local/
# tar -zxvf ~/downloads/nagiosgraph-0.9.0.tgz
read the INSTALL file carefully
you might need to create nagiosgraph.log and /var/spool/perfdata.log
and can manipulate the data like in serviceextinfo.cfg like:

define serviceextinfo {
service_description PING
hostgroup MYHOSTGROUP
notes_url show.cgi?host=$HOSTNAME$&service=$SERVICEDESC$&db=ping,losspct&db=ping,rta
icon_image graph.gif
icon_image_alt View graphs
}
so it gives a clearer picture by separating the data in 2 different graph

any problem refer here:
http://nagiosgraph.wiki.sourceforge.net/errors_and_troubleshooting

15) SMS Notification

download smstools and buy GSM Modem Wavecom 1306b

Now there's your car.

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Installing rrdtool using yum

Between apt-get, up2date, yum or smart and a few more, which one is the best?. Actually I dont have favorite package manager. I just use whatever the server already has on board. If on Ubuntu, apt-get is more than enough. Right now I'm working on Centos 5 that need rrdtool package. By default, the yum repository configuration on Centos 5 does not have rrdtool in it. Thanks to dag wieers for his remarkable effort. Although he had some issue with yum developers previously. Nothing much I can help over there, so back to work.

Well, now create a file called dag.repo in /etc/yum.repos.d/ just like below

[root@yoebuntu yum.repos.d]# cat dag.repo
[dag]
name=Dag RPM Repository for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
baseurl=http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el$releasever/en/$basearch/dag
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages/RPM-GPG-KEY.dag.txt
enabled=1
[root@yoebuntu yum.repos.d]#

and then
[root@yoebuntu yum.repos.d]# yum install rrdtool

reference

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Note to self: Perl Module Installation using CPAN

First approach:
[root@svr rrdtool]# perl -MCPAN -e shell

cpan shell -- CPAN exploration and modules installation (v1.61)
ReadLine support available (try 'install Bundle::CPAN')

cpan> install Time::HiRes
CPAN: Storable loaded ok

Makefile:91: *** missing separator
then set the environment variable LC_ALL to "C" and retry
from scratch (re-run perl "Makefile.PL").
(And consider upgrading your Perl.)
(You got this message because you seem to have
an UTF-8 locale active in your shell environment, this used
to cause broken Makefiles to be created from Makefile.PLs.)
Makefile:91: *** missing separator. Stop.
Deng!


To search for module while in the shell:
cpan> i /HiRes/
Or if you know the exact name of the modules, can install it straight away:
[root@svr rrdtool]# perl -MCPAN -e install 'Time::HiRes'

To check the installed modules:
[root@svr4 nagios]# perl -e 'use Time::HiRes;'
Can't locate Time/HiRes.pm in @INC -- meaning the modules is not(yet) installed

For manual installation:
Go search for the module at here, then:

[root@svr rrdtool]wget http://search.cpan.org/CPAN/authors/id/J/JH/JHI/Time-HiRes-1.9711.tar.gz
[root@svr rrdtool] tar -zxvf Time-HiRes-1.9711.tar.gz
[root@svr rrdtool] cd Time-HiRes-1.9711
[root@svr Time-HiRes-1.9711] perl Makefile.PL
[root@svr Time-HiRes-1.9711] make
[root@svr Time-HiRes-1.9711] make test
[root@svr Time-HiRes-1.9711] make install

Back to the error, google brought me to perl monks website

"RH9 caused more than a few problems for me with a number of modules until I edited my /etc/sysconfig/i18n file. Here's mine:

#LANG="en_US.UTF-8"
LANG="en_US"
SUPPORTED="en_US.UTF-8:en_US:en"
SYSFONT="latarcyrheb-sun16"

It looks like some modules (like CPAN!) don't like that UTF-8. If you don't want to monkey with your system-wide locale setting, just type "export LANG=en_US" and then try your install again."

So i did just that.
Test the module again:
[root@svr4 Time-HiRes-1.9711]# perl -e 'use Time::HiRes;'
[root@svr4 Time-HiRes-1.9711]#

No error means the modules is there.

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Half the man I used to be

Do you know that this year all muslim will be celebrating 2 Awal Muharram(Islamic New Year)? Yes, the first one will be on January 10th and the second one fall on December 29th. When talking about new year, everybody will start asking others on new year's resolution(if any). For me, every year(modern or islamic) I have set my new year's resolution, and it is often influenced from what had happened in the year before that.

I know i need to change, but in what area? A few weeks back, with the career-related issues, I somehow realize that I already changed. I'm too much focused on the outside, but unaware that the inside of me almost dried out. Yes, I'm off balanced, I'm lack of spiritual filling. My soul is hunger for knowledge.

I remembered that the most harmonious time in my life will be when I am 17 years old. Back then, commonly both my mind and my soul would be fed, resulting in "ketenangan jiwa and kemanisan iman". That's the catch I'm hoping for this year. Balance out the need for life without forgetting the after-life. First thing first, get rid of black dots in my heart. Then feed it with knowledge regularly. Perkenankanlah permintaan hambaMu ini ya Allah.

"Ya Tuhan kami, janganlah Engkau pesongkan hati kami, sesudah Engkau memberi petunjuk kepada kami, dan kurniakan kepada kami limpah rahmat dari sisiMu, sesungguhnya Engkaulah Tuhan yang melimpah-limpah pemberiannya. Amin."

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