To create a non-data DVD from videos in various file formats, such as MP4 files created on your HD camcorder for example, I found “devede” to be much easier to use than “tovid”. I attempted to install and run “tovid”, “tovidgui”, and “todiscgui” from Synaptic as well as from .deb files without much success. Surprisingly, the majority of problems I experienced was getting all the dependencies with other tools and applications straightened out. This was true for my Heron, Ibex, and Jaunty environments in one capacity or another.

I had much better success with Devede. I was able to pull my raw camcorder files directly from the SDHC card into Devede. Devede is available via Synaptic or Aptitude and is GUI based. While it doesn’t directly handle the burning chores, it does create ISOs with complete video layouts intact. One advantage to this decoupling between the conversion and burning applications is you can mount the ISO and play the video as a QA check prior to burning.

Once you’ve confirmed the disc layout works for you, you can simply right-click the ISO and commit to disc from within the Nautilus context menu, or use another application such as Brasero or K3b, also available via Aptitude / Synaptic.

RealVNC is not free for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users, but is still available for free personal use on Windows XP. UltraVNC appears to be the best free VNC product for Windows now, while TightVNC is the best version of VNC for linux in my opinion.

This article explains how to quickly install and configure a simple private computing cloud with secure conduits between nodes in an Ubuntu enterprise using OpenNebula.

• If you are installing on Jaunty, the required libraries are natively available for installation regardless of the role of the particular node.
• If you are installing on Ibex or Heron, add the following repo before installing, regardless of the role. The Intrepid repo below seems to work for Hardy as well. If Synaptic frequently prompts an error indicating an authentication failure for this repo, you can disable or remove the repo once the installation is complete. However, the preferred method is to install an PGP key for this repo allowing automatic updates and patches for the OpenNebula environment. As of the creation of this article, I was not able to find a PGP key for this repo.

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/opennebula-ubuntu/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main


• The following example assumes there are 3 nodes in this cloud.

-   Machine name Workstation01 is the front-end controller.
-   Machine name Workstation02 is a worker node.
-   Machine name Workstation03 is a worker node.


• To install the Nebula’s front-end controller, autogen an RSA public/private key pair, create a new “oneadmin” user and autostart the OpenNebula daemon on Workstation01 by performing the following single command:

user@Workstation01:/$ sudo apt-get install opennebula


• OpenSSH is used to secure the conduits between the nodes and may already be installed on this node. If it is not, the example here installs both the OpenSSH client and the OpenSSH server. Be sure to configure any local soft firewalls on each machine to allow port 22 traffic, as well as any routers or gateways between subnets.

user@Workstation01:/$ sudo apt-get install openssh-server openssh-client


• Using Workstation02 as an example, perform the following on each worker node to install the Nebula software, create a new “oneadmin” user and add it to the “libvirtd” user-group. Remember to install OpenSSH and configure firewalls on these worker nodes as well if it is not already present.

user@Workstation02:/$ sudo apt-get install opennebula-node
user@Workstation02:/$ sudo apt-get install openssh-server openssh-client


• You may also need to install KVM and manually start the libvirt daemon:

user@Workstation02:/$ sudo apt-get install kvm
user@Workstation02:/$ sudo /etc/init.d/libvirt-bin start


• Back at the front-end controller, add each node to the cloud using the following command. Be sure to pay careful ATTENTION to the onehost command output. The output contains customized instructions generated for each node you add using onehost:

user@Workstation01:/$ onehost add Workstation02 im_kvm vmm_kvm tm_ssh


• Per the output from the “onehost” command above, performing the following command on the front-end controller will also ensure each worker node is included in the known host list for future SSH connections:

user@Workstation01:/$ sudo -u oneadmin ssh Workstation02


• Per the output from the “onehost” command above, performing the following EXAMPLE command at the worker-node will establish the relationship with the front-end controller. Be sure to use the actual RSA key generated in your actual output. The key listed here if for example purposes only:

user@Workstation02:/$ sudo tee /var/lib/one/.ssh/authorized_keys < < EOT
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABIwAAAQEAydMzOY...WWvI/EyyyCun3kz+k3iDj3EIu1fQ== oneadmin@Workstation01
EOT


• Once you have completed all these steps on your worker nodes, you can view the current status by issuing the following command on the front-end controller:

user@Workstation01:/$ onehost list

See this article for more detailed configuration instructions and options.

By default, the keyseq CTRL-ALT-BS used to restart X has been disabled in Jaunty. Adding the following lines to /etc/X11/xorg.conf and restarting once manually will restore this functionality:

Section "ServerFlags"
    Option "DontZap" "false"
EndSection

or optionally, you can use keyseq RIGHTALT-PRTSCR-K

Do not install virtualbox-ose from the repos. Use the Debian package appropriate for your version of Ubuntu found at http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads instead, which offers USB support. As of the time of this article, OSE or repo versions do not offer such support.

Once the proper version of VirtualBox is installed, and you have created a client OS that requires USB support, do the following:

• Perform graceful shutdowns of any client OS instances
• Backup your /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh script

$ sudo cp -p /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh.orig

• Edit your /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh script’s do_start() function to include the following code at the very end of the function declaration:
  #
# Magic to make /proc/bus/usb work
#
mkdir -p /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs
domount usbfs "" /dev/bus/usb/.usbfs usbfs -obusmode=0700,devmode=0600,listmode=0644
ln -s .usbfs/devices /dev/bus/usb/devices
mount --rbind /dev/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb
• Now run the script - $ sudo /etc/init.d/mountdevsubfs.sh start
• Restart the udev service - $ sudo /etc/init.d/udev restart
• Make your user ID part of the vboxusers group - $ sudo usermod -G vboxusers -a `whoami`
• Logout and back in again
• Plug the USB device into the host machine
• Run VirtualBox but do not start the virtual machine yet
• Highlight the virtual machine, and choose SETTINGS -> USB to create a new filter for the USB device
• Start the virtual machine and under the DEVICES menu, select USB DEVICES to enable / disable individual USB devices

• Install http://brianhiggins.com/downloads/fuji_docuprint_c525.deb
• Press and hold CONTINUE button on printer to print current config
• SYSTEM -> ADMINISTRATION -> PRINTING
• Click NEW -> NETWORK PRINTER
• Enter IP address of printer from printed sheets (socket://10.1.1.30)
• CHOOSE DRIVER -> FX -> DOCUPRINT C525A
• MEMORY = 64MB
• OPTIONAL TRAY MODULE = 250 SHEET FEEDER
• NAME = Dell1320c
• Click [APPLY]
• Right-click new printer, select PROPERTIES -> SETTINGS
• Change DEVICE URI from “socket://10.1.1.30″ to “lpd://10.1.1.30″
• *** Alternate option of “socket://10.1.1.30:9100″ for faster printing, but lpd:// works better for me.
• Under INSTALL OPTIONS, set OPTIONAL TRAY MODULE to 250 SHEET FEEDER
• Under PRINTER OPTIONS, set PAPER SOURCE to TRAY 1 (250 SHEETS)
• *** Alternate option of setting the MEDIA SIZE to A4 or A5, but LETTER 8.5×11 seems to work well for me.
• CUPS Admin available at http://localhost:631
• Printer Admin available at http://10.1.1.30

• $ sudo apt-get install apache2
• $ sudo apt-get install php5
• $ sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5
• $ sudo apt-get install mysql-server
• $ sudo apt-get install php5-mysql
• $ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
• $ sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin
• http://localhost/ maps to /var/www
• config.inc.php can be found in /etc/phpmyadmin

Here is a little student film called “Nameless” by Bess Selje’s Wrath Productions, shot at one of our Wisconsin properties last winter. Mr. Grant, the painted draft horse, is still growing and has put on even more weight since this video.

• Load “loop” module:

$ sudo modprobe loop

• Create a mount point:

$ sudo mkdir /media/myMountPoint

• Mount the ISO to the new mount point:

$ sudo mount myISO.iso /media/myMountPoint/ -t iso9660 -o loop

• Unmount the ISO when no longer needed:

$ sudo umount /media/myMountPoint

• Remove the mount when no longer needed:

$ sudo rmdir /media/myMountPoint

In the example here, I have a laptop display of 1280×768 on the left, and a 1440×900 LCD monitor on the right with an even plane between the two. Between these two displays, the largest HEIGHT is 900, one of two dimensions that will be required in the VIRTUAL setting outlined below. The WIDTH however is figured as the sum of the two individual displays, or 1280+1440=1720 for the second virtual dimension required below.

• Plug in all monitors, power them up and reboot.
• Backup your xorg.conf in case you need to recover your configuration.

$ sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.orig

• Document the currently detected settings of your displays, specifically the names and dimensions for each.

$ xrandr -q >~/Desktop/xrandr.output

Here is a modified /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, highlighting in boldface the elements that were added or altered to support dual displays specifically.

---

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Option “monitor-VGA” “lcddisp”
Option “monitor-LVDS” “laptop”
EndSection

Section “Monitor”
Identifier “lcddisp”
EndSection

Section “Monitor”
Identifier “laptop”
Option “LeftOf” “lcddisp”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “Default Screen”
Monitor “lcddisp”
Device “Configured Video Device”
SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
Modes “1280×768″ “1440×900″
Virtual 2720 900
EndSubsection
EndSection

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier “Default Layout”
Screen “Default Screen”
InputDevice “Synaptics Touchpad”
EndSection


---

• While all the boldface elements above are critical, you may use different values such as “RightOf” instead of “LeftOf” depending on how your display are physically arranged on your desk.
• The two values for the VIRTUAL element are the HEIGHT and WIDTH values calculated at the beginning of this article, again whereas the HEIGHT is simply the largest value of either of the two displays while the WIDTH is the sum of the two displays. This actually creates a single rectangular virtual display in which Ubuntu arranges your logical displays.
• Restart your X session. (Logout / Login, Restart, or CTRL-ALT-BS)
• Using the output from the command “xrandr -q” above, configure the position of the logical displays inside the new virtual display you created in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. In this example, I set the external display to the right (at pixel 1440) on the same horizontal plane (at pixel 0) as the laptop display.

$ xrandr --output VGA --pos 1440x0

• See this article for more details