New Blog – GitHub Pages and Jekyll

30 December 2017 by

New Blog!

I’ve decided to make more effort sharing what I learn, so I’ve created a new blog: https://adamrushuk.github.io

Why?

Over the past year or so I’ve increasingly found myself on GitHub. Mainly looking at code, but also content served up on GitHub Pages; typically sites ending github.io.

I’ve been meaning to get back into blogging, so thought I’d give GitHub Pages a go and see how it compares to using WordPress.

A few clicks later and I arrived on the GitHub Help pages, and noticed Jekyll mentioned: https://help.github.com/categories/customizing-github-pages/

I’d never even heard of Jekyll before, so time for some Google-Fu!

What?

Looks like Jekyll generates static content, and also integrates directly with GitHub:

How?

So now I’ve got a vague idea of what Jekyll is, I need to choose a theme and do some testing on GitHub. The Minimal Mistakes theme looks popular and is still being actively developed: https://github.com/mmistakes/minimal-mistakes/pulse

There’s even a great install guide that looks easy enough to follow: https://mmistakes.github.io/minimal-mistakes/docs/quick-start-guide/

Let’s give this a go then!

Here’s the steps I took:

  1. Forked the Minimal Mistakes theme, then renamed the repo to adamrushuk.github.io
  2. Confirmed the default theme was showing as expected: https://adamrushuk.github.io

  3. Cloned my new repo: git clone [email protected]:adamrushuk/adamrushuk.github.io.git
  4. Added the original repo as an upstream remote: git remote add upstream https://github.com/mmistakes/minimal-mistakes.git
  5. Removed the following folders and files:
    .editorconfig
    .gitattributes
    .github
    /docs
    /test
    CHANGELOG.md
    minimal-mistakes-jekyll.gemspec
    README.md
    screenshot-layouts.png
    screenshot.png
  6. Updated information in _config.yml.
  7. Committed all changes with an “Initial commit” message: git commit -am “Initial commit after fork”
  8. Pushed the changes to GitHub: git push
  9. After about 1 minute the changes were reflected online:

  10. Went through the awesome step-by-step guide that details the many configuration options available: https://mmistakes.github.io/minimal-mistakes/docs/configuration/
Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: ,

Virtualisation Podcasts – Keeping your finger on the Pulse

16 July 2016 by

For many years I’ve found listening to Podcasts a great way to keep up-to-date with Virtualisation and Technology.

It all started with the VMware Communities Roundtable podcast, where I quickly realised the commute to work didn’t have to be “dead time”.

Here’s my current list of Virtualisation and Tech podcasts:

  1. Packet Pushers Datanauts
  2. Speaking in Tech
  3. In Tech We Trust Podcast
  4. The Cloudcast (.net) – Weekly Cloud Computing Podcast
  5. The Full Stack Journey
  6. Virtually Speaking Podcast
  7. The Geek Whisperers
  8. VMware Communities Roundtable
  9. Cloud Insiders
  10. vChat (MP3 VERSION) – The Latest in Virtualization and Cloud Computing
  11. The Data Center Insiders Podcast: Virtualization | Cloud Computing | Enterprise IT | VMware | EMC

The best Podcast app I’ve found to date is Overcast, as it has very useful features including Voice Boost and Smart Speed, Playlists, and a great UI.
Oh yeah, and it’s free!

I’ve you want to quickly import the above podcasts, download and import my OPML file here: overcast-adam-rush

Filed Under: Misc, Mobile, VMware Tagged With:

Initiate Siri using Ford Sync without touching iPhone

4 March 2013 by

Scenario

You have set up your iPhone to work with Ford Sync over via Bluetooth, and you can make/receive calls fine.

However, to use Siri over Bluetooth, you have to physically hold down the Home button of your iPhone; you cannot do this using the Ford Sync voice control paddle on the steering wheel.

Solution

  1. Activate the Voice Control paddle on your steering wheel.
  2. Say “Dial Mobile Name”.
  3. After a short while, you will hear the “Siri beep”, and it seems you have to be quite quick to say something, else Siri will cancel itself.
  4. You can give Siri any normal command and it will work over Bluetooth fine. (I have found the volume is quieter than normal for some reason).

I can’t find any mention of this feature anywhere online, so I can only assume it is unsupported. Still, it works, so it’s a great workaround until something better comes along 🙂

Some other useful links:

Filed Under: Misc, Mobile Tagged With:

Open HP System Management Homepage and HP Version Control Agent without shortcuts

21 February 2013 by

Usually, there will be a shortcut on the desktop (and in All Programs) to open the HP System Management Homepage, but here’s the URLs to use if you can’t find them for some reason:

HP System Management Homepage: https://localhost:2381

HP Version Control Agent: https://localhost:2381/vcagent

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With:

An error occurred due to invalid data in the XML file used by this application. The XML file has been corrupted and should be reinstalled from the installation media.

13 February 2013 by

Scenario

You’ve updated your HP server using the latest ProLiant Support Pack, but after a reboot your network connections are down, and you get the following message when trying to open the HP Network Configuration Utility:

HP-Network-Configuration-Utility-Error_001
An error occurred due to invalid data in the XML file used by this application. The XML file has been corrupted and should be reinstalled from the installation media.

Solution

Uninstall the NIC drivers, then reboot:
Uninstall-NIC-Drivers

Filed Under: Misc, Networking Tagged With:

Adding a new port to a HP Network Team

21 January 2013 by

Problem

A port has died on your NIC and is showing as disconnected in your HP Network Team. The Network Team is no longer redundant.

Solution

You need to add a new port and drop the disconnected port, without affecting the overall settings:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Microsoft, Misc, Networking Tagged With:

SNMP Enterprise Specific Trap (.11020)

21 January 2013 by

Event ID 1182 Foundation Agent: A Change in the health status of the server has occurred.

cpqHoMibHealthStatusArrayChangeTrap – 11020 in CPQHOST.MIB

RESOLUTION

Multiple event ID 1182 messages do not affect the operation or functionality of the server and can be safely ignored.

A future release of the HP Insight Management Agents will prevent the same messages from being logged multiple times. Although it is unlikely, if the messages cause the Windows Event Log to fill up, the HP Insight Management Agents can be downgraded from version 9.10 to version 9.0 until the updated/future Insight Management Agents are released.

This advisory will be updated when additional information becomes available.

Source

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With:

HP ProLiant Support Pack

16 January 2013 by

ProLiant Support Packs (PSP) represent operating system (OS) specific bundles of optimized drivers, utilities, and management agents. These bundles are tested together to ensure proper installation and functionality. PSPs are released concurrently with HP’s SmartStart, and can also be released outside of the SmartStart cycle and made available on the HP ProLiant Support Pack download selection pages or at HP Insight Foundation website.

Each PSP consists of a deployment utility (HP Smart Update Manager), setup and software maintenance tools designed to provide an efficient way to manage routine software maintenance tasks. IT administrators can select PSP updates from a central software repository for deployment on local or remote servers, Windows or Linux. These deployment utilities remotely deploy driver and management agent updates to network attached servers and can be operated from an IT administrator’s workstation.

Downloads for each Operating System are here: http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DriverDownload.jsp?prodNameId=3716247&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=135&prodTypeId=18964&prodSeriesId=3716246

The current version (9.10) for Windows Server 2008 R2 is here: http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareIndex.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodNameId=3716247&prodTypeId=18964&prodSeriesId=3716246&swLang=8&taskId=135&swEnvOID=4064

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With:

SNMP Enterprise Specific Trap (.3038)

14 January 2013 by

NT Event ID: 1204 (Hex)0x843504b4 (cpqstmsg.dll)
Log Severity: Warning (2)
Event Title: Drive Array Accelerator Status Change.
Log Message: The array accelerator board attached to the array controller in %4 has a new status of %2.
SNMP Trap: cpqDa6AccelStatusChange – 3038 in CPQIDA.MIB
Symptom: Accelerator Board Status Change. This trap indicates that the agent has detected a change in the status of an array accelerator cache board. The current status is represented by the variable cpqDaAccelStatus.
User Action: If the accelerator board status is permDisabled(5), you may need to replace the accelerator board.
Supporting SNMP Trap Data:
• sysName
• cpqHoTrapFlags
• cpqDaCntlrHwLocation
• cpqDaCntlrModel
• cpqDaAccelCntlrIndex
• cpqDaAccelSerialNumber
• cpqDaAccelTotalMemory
• cpqDaAccelStatus
• cpqDaAccelErrCode
Supporting SNMP Trap Description: “Status is now [cpqDaAccelStatus].”

This trap may be accompanied by trap 3040:

Event ID 1206
Drive Array Accelerator Battery Failed. The array accelerator board attached to the array controller in Slot 3 is reporting a battery failure.
[SNMP TRAP: 3040 in CPQIDA.MIB]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With:

SNMP Enterprise Specific Trap (.18013)

14 January 2013 by

NT Event ID: 1292 (Hex)0x4435050C (cpqnimsg.dll)
Log Severity: Information (1)
Log Message: Redundancy has been increased by the NIC in slot %1, port %2. Number of functional NICs in the team: %3.
SNMP Trap: cpqNic3RedundancyIncreased – 18013 in CPQNIC.MIB
Symptom: This trap is sent any time a previously failed physical adapter in a connected logical adapter group returns to the OK condition. This trap is not sent when a logical adapter group has connectivity restored from a Failed condition. The cpqNicConnectivityRestored trap is sent instead. This can be caused by replacing of a faulty cable or connecting a cable that was disconnected.
User Action: None required.

Supporting SNMP Trap Data:
• sysName
• cpqHoTrapFlags
• cpqNicIfPhysAdapterSlot
• cpqNicIfPhysAdapterPort
• cpqSiServerSystemId
• cpqNicIfPhysAdapterStatus
• cpqSePciSlotBoardName
• cpqNicIfPhysAdapterPartNumber
• ipAdEntAddr
• cpqNicIfLogMapIPV6Address
• cpqNicIfLogMapAdapterOKCount
Supporting SNMP Trap Description: “Redundancy increased by adapter in slot [cpqNicIfPhysAdapterSlot], port [cpqNicIfPhysAdapterPort].”

Reference

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With:
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