First, you want to see which kernels are already installed on your system. On any Debian based distrobution (*buntu’s, Mint, etc.)

dpkg –list | grep linux-image

That should give you something like this:

rc  linux-image-2.6.31-14-generic  2.6.31-14.48Linux kernel image for version 2.6.31
ii  linux-image-2.6.31-20-generic  2.6.31-20.58 Linux kernel image for version 2.6.31
ii  linux-image-2.6.32-21-generic  2.6.32-21.32 Linux kernel image for version 2.6.32
ii  linux-image-generic                  2.6.32.21.22 Generic Linux kernel image

Now, let’s see which one you are currently running:

uname -mrs

Which will give you something like:

Linux 2.6.32-21-generic i686

Now, let’s remove the older, unused kernels. Keep in mind that it is wise to keep at least one older kernel in case something goes wrong with the current one.

sudo dpkg -P linux-image-2.6.31-14-generic

Make sure you replace the version number of the linux-image. That command will remove the older Linux kernel and all of its dependencies. Repeat that with all the kernels you wish to remove, but play it safe and don’t delete the one you are currently running!

In case your grub boot menu wasn’t updated like it’s supposed to, you can do:

sudo update-grub

For any

We will use a little progr “LibDBX”, you can download it from  http://freshmeat.net/projects/libdbx/ and then extract the .tat.gz file and cd into the directory in a terminal with

cd libdbx_1.0.4

Then we install it with

make

There. Now, to convert your .dbx files we do (still in the “libdbx_1.0.4″ directory):

./readoe -i “Outlook Express” -o ~/email

This converts any and all .dbx files in the “Outlook Express” directory and outputs the mbox files in the email directory (assuming you have created it beforehand)

To convert just one .dbx file, use readdbx instead of readoe.

Contacts

To get your contacts transferred, you will have to export them in Outlook Express as a .csv file, which can be imported by Thunderbird. Make sure there are no “ in the .csv file (you can edit it in a text editor), these will corrupt the file on import to Thunderbird. You can search and replace them.

Install nmap (apt-get install nmap). Now you can do a scan with

nmap -A -PN -T4 -p139,445 -n -v –script=smb-check-vulns –script-args safe=1 192.168.0.1/24 | grep -B 10 “\<Conficker\>.*\<INFECTED\>”

This tells nmap to search for the viruses on the 192.168.0.1/24 network (all addresses will be scanned) and then it tells “grep”  to only show results that include “Conficker” and “INFECTED”, otherwise you will have to wade through 249 results, which can be quite a tedious task.  There are a lot more uses for nmap, just a few of which scanning for Operating System (-O variable), port scans, etc. It’s also quite easy to tell it only to scan a select range of IP’s, “192.168.0.1-5/24″ will only do 1-5.

Results for the conficker scan came up like this:

Host 192.168.0.13 is up (0.00057s latency).

Interesting ports on 192.168.0.13:

PORT STATE SERVICE

139/tcp open netbios-ssn

445/tcp open microsoft-ds

Host script results:

| smb-check-vulns:

| MS08-067: CHECK DISABLED (remove ‘safe=1′ argument to run)

| Conficker: Likely INFECTED (by Conficker.C or lower)

If you add the -O option, it will include operating system details, but takes much longer to scan.

Installation basically consists of:

• sudo apt-get install ltsp-server-standalone openssh-server

and

• sudo ltsp-build-client

or  if your on a 64-bit system with 32-bit machines do

• sudo ltsp-build-client --arch i386

You will want edit the /etc/ltsp/dhcpd.conf file to set the server’s IP values:

• gksudo gedit /etc/ltsp/dhcpd.conf

Make sure the lines for domain-name-servers and routers match your network setup if you want to give the thin clients Internet access

Then restart the dhcp server with:

• sudo /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server restart

And do the following to update the SSH server:

• sudo ltsp-update-sshkeys

After that, you will be able to boot your first thin client. On older clients without a ¨Boot from network¨ option in the BIOS, you can use Etherboot or ROM-o-matic. Too write the image to floppy do

• cat filename.extension > /dev/fd0

This  basically all there is on the Ubuntu LTSP wiki page, although there are many more options as far as customization goes.

• Tracker running by default
• Fast user switching
• Deskbar applet on panel
• New OpenOffice.org 2.3
• AppArmor security by default
• Smooth shutdown splash

Screenshots

I’m downloading it right now to try out, hopefully it’s as good as past Ubuntu alpha releases. Hope they can implement a faster boot process as well as shutdown, combine all the configuration setting in a control panel and get a decent automated restricted drivers setup.

The official release notes at https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2007-August/000324.html

• Make Firefox aware of apt:// links that link to ubuntu packages that are installable simply by clicking on the link.

• Set up a more centralized wiki section for all things related to LTSP and Ubuntu thin clients, right now you have to dig through tons of stuff to find what you want.

• Make the Ubuntu wiki browsable in different languages. Right now their spread out across multiple domains not supported by Ubuntu. Someone should look into integrating them into one searchable wiki, although with a customizable search in the language/s that you know.

• Speed up boot. Supposedly this was worked on for dapper and feisty, but is it just me or is there not much of a big diff? There is a lot of junk that starts at boot that isn’t neccesary for most people. Ubuntu should atomatically detect what is required by the computer and leave disabled anything that will not work anyways or is not critical, which bring us to the next point…

• A centralized control panel which also includes something like “bum” to cutomize in a more detailed way what runs at boot. The default “services” app that is included now does not give you very much choice and options. Either improve it or replace it with something better.

There are a lot more issues, but these are the ones that tick me off the most at the moment…

The last time I blogged about LTSP I was using Edubuntu. Now I did a fresh install of Ubuntu and then installed LTSP. This HOWTO is mostly inspired by the Ubuntu Wiki page. Since Ubuntu 8.04 you can use the Alternative installer CD and install Ubuntu together with LTSP. This HOWTO should work on any of the latest Ubuntu’s, make sure you check out my latest HOWTO here.

To install LTSP and the thin client manager on Ubuntu, do the following in a terminal:

sudo apt-get install ltsp-server-standalone openssh-server thin-client-manager-gnome

Now create your LTSP environment on the server with: (Takes about 45min@55kbps, 100MB dowload)

sudo ltsp-build-client

Edit the /etc/ltsp/dhcpd.conf file to set the server’s IP values:

gksudo “gedit /etc/ltsp/dhcpd.conf”

Make sure the lines for domain-name-servers and routers match your actual network setup if you want the thin clients to have Internet access. Then restart the dhcp server with:

sudo /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server restart

And update the SSH server:

sudo ltsp-update-sshkeys

After that, you will be able to boot your first thin client.

Server Maintenance

If the thin clients seem to be having trouble, remove the whole thin client environment with:

sudo rm -rf /opt/ltsp/*

and then re-install it :

sudo ltsp-build-client

Use this if the above doesn’t work http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=195956

Thin client configuration

Fine-tuning thin client configuration. More details and options here http://doc.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/handbook/C/ltsp-client.html

Usually, thin clients on an ubuntu thin client network should work fine out of the box. Occasionally, you would want to fine-tune settings on a client, or alter the settings slightly, either to increase performance, compatibility, or to enable or disable certain features.

Thin client configuration settings are stored in a file called “lts.conf”. It has a strange location, since it has to be accessable to the clients while they boot up. This file is located at “/opt/ltsp/i386/etc/lts.conf”. Edit it with:

gksudo “gedit /opt/ltsp/i386/etc/lts.conf”

and add or modify the entries there. Here you can find additional options to add to this file. Here for USB printers on a thin client.

Booting PXE

If you don’t have bootable Network cards, you can make floppy’s that boot off the server. Alternatively you can also install Etherboot on a USB key, Hard Drive or CD.

Step 1

First identify what network interface card you have in your system.

This can easily be done by booting an Ubuntu live cd on the client and running in a terminal. (low memory machines will need to either open the case and read the chip details on the nic, or try to pause the boot display (use the pause key) and read what the pci device ids are for your network card)

lspci | grep Ethernet

I get the following output from various system I have:

ubuntu@linux4dummies:~$ lspci | grep Ethernet

00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 7c)

Your output will look similar.

If you want to use a floppy to boot your clients continue, to boot from the hdd or a cdrom, go to https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/LTSPBootingClientsWithoutPxe

Step 2 – Floppy Boot

Now we need to go to http://www.rom-o-matic.net/5.4.1/ to generate a boot image for the network interface.

For a boot floppy disk image select .zdsk, (To make a boot floppy)

You will now need to select the correct network driver. i.e.:

for Realtek 8139 = rtl8139: rtl8139

Next select configure.

Make sure PXELOADER_KEEP_ALL is ticked, and it is a good idea to also tick POWERSAVE, ALLMULTI, MULTICAST_LEVEL1, MULTICAST_LEVEL2, and DOWNLOAD_PROTO_TFTM

When done, click get rom

The .zdsk file is a raw floppy image – on Linux you can copy it to a floppy like this:

cat eb-5.4.2-****.zdsk > /dev/fd0

Looks to be a bit more high end than the E1501N, therefore also at a higher price, starting at $774, which isn’t bad considering the specs and that it has Ubuntu for an OS.

Seems like Dell isn’t giving up on Ubuntu for a while yet and hopefully never…

Setting it up was a piece of cake, I just upgraded it first, installed some additional apps like Thunderbird and then did the following:

Update and upgrade the server:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

Remove the old thin client server enivorment:

sudo rm -r /opt/ltsp/i386

Build a new one:

sudo ltsp-build-client

Start the DHCP server, (won’t work without this):

sudo /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server restart

And it was up and running. Then I made some users I made boot floppies from Rom-o-matic, and booted the thin clients and logged in.

That’s all there’s to it. The only problems I’ve encountered so far are related to printing, with it causing the server to stall at times, but as that mean old printer is 12 years old, I’ll have to forgive it.

Here is a nice review of Edubuntu by Carla Schroder.

Next time, I plan to post on how to set up a decent backup plan with rsync or tar.