Bluetrait 0.4.9

Michael Dale

Bluetrait 0.4.9 is now out. This version provides some bug fixes over BETA 1 (Think of it as BETA 1 Release 2).

The following have been fixed from BETA 1:

• If upgrading from an old version, the version number in the database is not changed with the upgrade. An error message is triggered saying that the upgrade failed.
• Upgrade will not detect version 0.4.7 as a valid upgrade path.
• You are not be able to log in if the site is install in http://localhost/. You require a fully qualified domain name

The full change log can be seen here.

phpBB 3 BETA 1

Michael Dale

phpBB 3 BETA 1 has finally been released. I should try it out some time.

Macbook running hot

Michael Dale

My macbook has been running great. Although every now and then it seems to get pretty hot. I check activity monitor to find that both of the cores are running at about 50% load each. Yet no process seems to be taking up anywhere near that much (even combined). I've tracked it down to "Windows Sharing". For some reason, maybe samba has gone crazy or something, but switching off Windows Sharing seems to bring it right back down to a normal temperature. Once you've turned off Windows Sharing you can turn it back on and have no issues. It mainly seems to happen after coming out of sleep. I'll have to try and track down the main reason to the problem. Some software bug somewhere (this is on 10.4.6). I didn't have this problem on my g4 ibook. Although this is really the only problem with my macbook, and it is very minor.

macBook

Michael Dale

Ordered Monday night, was delivered about 1pm today. Awesome! Cannot wait to get home! ;)

Akismet

Michael Dale

I've just added support to my blog for Akismet through the use of this php class. I'm currently waiting on my API key before I enable it.

Spam

Michael Dale

Looks like some spam is finally getting past my spam filter. I'm going to look into adding support for this

trackback spam

Michael Dale

I've been getting my fair share of trackback spam in the last month or so. I've decided to disable trackbacks for the time being. Unfortunately I cannot use my spamblock code on them (which works great for normal comments).

MacBook

Michael Dale

Well the MacBook is finally out. I'm contemplating getting one. Also I've noticed that my last post broke IE and really anyone running sub 1600x1050. Sorry about that, go buy a bigger screen ;) On another note, I got an email from one of my friends at usyd:

Sydney Uni is selling original iMacs for $50!!! I don't know if you have any use for super cheap old computers, but I thought I'd tell you anyway. The School of Languages is trying to get rid of them. Maybe for spare parts, extra storage space (although the one I saw I had a hard drive of a whopping 4 GB - not much storage space there!)???? Anyway, I thought you might like to know.

So if anyone wants cheap macs. I think I've got enough. On last count we now have 6 macs in the house :)

Site to Site VPN with Netscreen 5GT and Netgear DG834G

Michael Dale

I purchased my parents a new router/modem/wireless device the other day. It is a Netgear DG834G, great value for money.

Anyway the Netgear supports VPN termination, so I decided to setup a VPN between their house and mine. This allows me to run voip over the VPN without the need to worry about port forwarding (which is a real pain with SIP).

So the technical background:

My place:
1) Static IP address (59.167.253.89)
2) Juniper Netscreen 5GT running ScreenOS 5.3.0r2
3) 10.0.0.0/22 (10.0.0.0 - 10.0.3.255)
4) Router on address 10.0.0.254

Parents place:
1) Dynamic IP address
2) Netgear DG834G running firmware V3.01.25 (Has also been tested to work with a DG834 with firmware V2.10.22)
3) 10.0.4.0/24 (10.0.4.0 - 10.0.4.254)
4) Router on address 10.0.4.254

Now the netgear has some limitations with the VPN. The main issue is that it only supports "Main Mode" authentication. Main Mode is designed for site to site VPNs both with static IP addresses. My parents don't have a static IP address.

To get around this the netscreen allows you to point the remote end point (in this case the netgear) to a hostname. So for the netgear site you need to setup a dyndns.org account. For an example we will call this example.dyndns.org.

See below:


So lets setup the netscreen site first.

1) Setup IP Address Objects that point to each site. Under Objects > Addresses > List. In my case
10.0.0.0/22 TRUST (local)
10.0.4.0/25 UNTRUST (remote)




2) Now to setup the VPN Gateway on the netscreen. Under VPNs > AutoKey Advanced > Gateway.
Add a new connection like below:

Select your preshared key here too.

Now select Advanced (note you could use 3DES, but in this case I just use DES):



3) Now you need to setup Phase 2. Under VPNs > AutoKey IKE



Then select advanced:


4) Now we need to create a policy that allows traffic to flow in both directions. This is called a bidirectional VPN policy.

In Policies under Trust to Untrust create this policy.



5) Now time to setup the netgear. Create an auto VPN account



Note the preshared key must be the same for each device.



That should be all you need to do. You can monitor the connection on both sides through the log files. The netscreen outputs a more detailed log so it is best to read this.

If the connection doesn't work it is best to troubleshoot the VPN from a console connection to the netscreen.

To start the debugging process type:


To finish the debugging type:

Citrix MetaFrame

Michael Dale

For my maths subject at uni we use a program called Mathematica (3d equation modeling etc).

To give access to this program at home the uni uses Citrix MetaFrame (Citrix also developed the system behind Windows Terminal Services).

This program is like Terminal Services but at the application level. It works on both PC and Mac.