Archive for the ‘Database’ Category.

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How to install MySQL on FreeBSD

January 23, 2012, 5:30 am

Note: Tested on FreeBSD 9

Step 1 – Install FreeBSD

  1. First install FreeBSD. Instructions for installing FreeBSD is contained in this article.
    How I install FreeBSD 9?
    (Legacy) How I install FreeBSD?
  2. Second update FreeBSD and install the ports tree. Instructions for this are in this article.
    What are the first commands I run after installing FreeBSD?

Step 2 – Installing MySQL

Install MySQL from Ports

  1. Change to the directory of the mysql55-server port. 
    # cd /usr/ports/databases/mysql55-server
  2. Now install mysql55-server with ‘make install’. 
    # make install

    MySQL 5.5 Server (and MySQL 5.5 client) will download, compile, and install automagically for you.

    Note: You may be wondering about the WITH_CHARSET option that used to exist. This is not necessary during compile and install and we will set the character set in a later step. Don’t start the MySQL service until we make these changes.

Installing MySQL from Packages

  1. Install easily as a binary package with this simple command. 
    pkg_add -r mysql55-server

Step 3 – Configure MySQL

Configuration of MySQL is done in the my.cnf file.

Example 1 – Configuring mysql to use UTF8

For this example, we will change our server to use UTF8.

  1. Change to the /usr/local/etc/ directory. This is the default location for the my.cnf file. 
    cd /usr/local/etc/
  2. Add the following to the my.cnf file. 
    

    
#
#
#
 > /usr/local/etc/my.cnf echo '[mysqld]'
>> /usr/local/etc/my.cnf echo character-set-server=utf8
>> /usr/local/etc/my.cnf echo collation-server=utf8_general_ci

Note: FreeBSD has multiple example my.cnf files here: /usr/local/share/

  • my-huge.cnf
  • my-innodb-heavy-4G.cnf
  • my-large.cnf
  • my-medium.cnf
  • my-small.cnf

Step 4 – Configure MySQL to start on boot

  1. Add the following lines to the /etc/rc.conf file. 
    

    
#
#
echo # MySQL 5.5 Server >> /etc/rc.conf
echo 'mysql_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf
  2. Now start your server. 
    # /usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server start

Step 5 – Secure your MySQL installation

MySQL documentation covers this and I’ll not repeat it here. Instead, go here:
2.2 Securing the Initial MySQL Accounts

Integration with Apache and PHP

If you want to integrate Apache and PHP see these articles.

Category: FreeBSD, MySQL  |  Comment

Why Technical Support Engineers are not all the same!

August 5, 2011, 11:56 am

Technical Support Engineers are not all the same. There is an inclination in the industry to look down on Technical Support Engineers.

Recently the following article was published:
10 IT positions ranked by prestige

This article didn’t exactly identify the Technical Support Engineer role, but it was unfortunately encompassed in the bottom two positions with the lowest prestige, Technical and Help Desk Analyst.

Should a Technical Support Engineer have the lowest prestige of all technical jobs in the industry? If you think so, you might want to reconsider after read this.

There are multiple levels of technical support and you should know what level of technical support a person is in because that should significantly change your view of this persons technical skills and ability.

What they support and to what level they support it makes a major difference in how to view a Technical Support Engineers background.

Obviously there is a difference between someone who does tech support for a company like Cisco, Microsoft, LANDesk than someone who does technical support for a BowFlex. But this is an obvious difference. A chart that is more of gradient is needed.

Here is some information to help guide you in determining what experience a Technical Support Engineer really has in the technology industry.

1 – Complex product that requires knowledge of an entire area of technology, including both software and hardware environments

These engineers are often not just support engineers. Along with being an expert on their product, they must understand many other concepts such as Networking, Servers and server-side software such as Web Servers, Database Servers, DNS servers, DHCP servers and more. It is not enough to just know how to set up their software, they have to know how to set up the environment around it. They also have to know how to troubleshoot to deep levels both their software and the environment around it.

Usually these engineers practice during portions of their job being Systems Analysts, Consultants, Sales Engineers, IT administrators, Change Controls administrators, developers, and more. They deal will the full gamut of technology and all the areas around it.

Example companies

Desktop Management companies such as LANDesk, SCCM, Kace.
Network Manager Software such as HP OpenView

2 – Specialized product that requires knowledge of one major portion of an IT or Software Environment

These engineers are often not just support engineers. Along with being an expert on their product, they must understand many other concepts in the technology world. It is not enough to just know how to set up their software, they have to know how to set up some portion, though not all, of the environment around it. They also have to know how to troubleshoot to deep levels both their software and their portion of the environment around it.

Like above, these engineers have some limited consulting experience and are gaining understanding of change control and IT administrative processes along with being technology experts.

Example companies

Support for Network Equipment such as Cisco, Juniper Networks, etc…

3 – Specialized product that requires knowledge of a single area of an IT or Software Environment

This person is an expert on their software or hardware product as well as an expert in one or more areas surrounding it.

Individuals who excel here are usually are ready to explode into a new technology after a little as one year in this position.

Example Companies

Business intelligence software, such as QlikView.
Dell, HP and other computer resellers.
Simple Appliances, such as a NAS.
Any company’s internal Computer Help Desk (but be aware of glorified password resetters)

4- Specialized product that requires technical knowledge but only for that exact product

This person is an expert on their software or hardware product but there is not indication they know anything else about technology from this position, which doesn’t mean they don’t, just that this position doesn’t indicate it.

Example Companies

Home consumer products such as Wireless Routers from D-Link, Linksys, etc.

5 – Specialized product that requires knowledge in an area outside of IT but still somewhat technical

This person is an expert on their software or hardware product as well as an expert in one or more areas surrounding it.
Usually this product has interfaces into other technology that not used commonly but Technical Support Engineers usually don’t take the common calls for things that just work, they learn the tough issues, which usually involves integrating with something else. However, they don’t always know that area of technology, just the minimal knowledge to make their product work with it.

Example companies

Software Applications outside of IT: Microsoft Word, Excel.

6 – Specialized product that requires knowledge in an area outside of IT but not exactly technical

This person is an expert on their software or hardware product as well as an expert in one or more areas surrounding it. This expertise is beneficial outside the position but only in limited areas.

Example companies

Software Applications outside of IT:
Adobe Photoshop
Dentrix
gaming software

7 – Specialized product that requires knowledge that is technical but not really related to software or IT at all

This person is an expert product but it is just a simple product that being an expert on it really has no value anywhere else.

Example companies

Television
Cable box companies
radios and sound systems
Cell-phones

8 – Generic product that requires little technical knowledge

This person usually supports something that is sold on a made-for-tv ad, such as an exercise appliance. They usually have a script they follow and this position can be filled by almost anyone who can read and speak.

Example companies

BowFlex
Clock Radios

Category: Database, Development, Employment, Hardware, Operating Systems, Project Management, Software Applications, Virtualization  |  Comment

Backing up PostgreSQL databases nightly on FreeBSD

February 19, 2011, 10:54 pm

I didn’t write this post, a blogger named Keith did, but I am definitely going to link to his work on his blog.

Backing up PostgreSQL databases nightly on FreeBSD

He did a good job editing this script to backup postgresql on FreeBSD. While he does say he got some of it from another site he found on using Google…

…Using Google I found a generic script, after some custom tweaks for FreeBSD I had the script I wanted.

…so some of the work should be attributed elsewhere. I want to thank him for the work he did. This was something that was on my to do list and now it is pretty much done for me.

Here is the script he posted.

#!/bin/sh
# Location of binaries
bin="/usr/local/bin"
# Location of the backup logfile.
logfile="/data/backup/postgres/postgres.log"
# Location to place backups.
backup_dir="/data/backup/postgres"
username="pgsql"
database="template1"
touch $logfile
timeslot=`date +%H-%M`
databases=`$bin/psql -h localhost -d $database -U $username -q -c "\l" | sed -n 4,/\eof/p | grep -v rows\) | awk {'print $1'}`

for i in $databases; do
        echo "Backup and Vacuum complete at $timeinfo for time slot $timeslot on database: $i " >> $logfile
        $bin/vacuumdb -z -h localhost -U $username $i >/dev/null 2>&1
        j="60"
        while [ $j -ge 0 ]
        do
                temp0=`expr $j - 1`
                temp1=$j
                j=`expr $j - 1`
                if [ $temp0 -lt 0 ]
                then
                        suffix0=""
                        suffix1=".0"
                else
                        suffix0=".$temp0"
                        suffix1=".$temp1"
                fi
                if [ -f $backup_dir/postgresql-$i-database.gz$suffix0 ]
                then
                        echo "Renaming postgresql-$i-database.gz$suffix0 to postgresql-$i-database.gz$suffix1"
                        mv $backup_dir/postgresql-$i-database.gz$suffix0 $backup_dir/postgresql-$i-database.gz$suffix1
                fi
        done
        if [ $i != 'template0' ]
        then
                $bin/pg_dump -U $username $i -h 127.0.0.1 | gzip > "$backup_dir/postgresql-$i-database.gz"
        fi
done

Here is what I like about his script:

  1. Variables are used at the top of the script that are easily modifiable.
  2. It backs up all databases without having to list the databases, so you don’t have to update the list with every new database.
  3. It does compress using gzip the databases, so uses as little space as possible.

Here are some ideas for future enhancements to the script

  1. The gzip compression level as a variable up top. The default gzip compression level is 6 and 9 could make the file significantly smaller with large databases, while 1 would be faster for machine with weak processors.
  2. Database to exclude from the backup.  I like the idea to get them all by default, but sometimes you have a test database you just don’t care about and you don’t want a nightly backup of it.
  3. I don’t see the password in the script, and I am not sure how it is authenticating without it, maybe a password feature needs to be added.
Category: FreeBSD, Postgresql  |  1 Comment

Oracle Installer: Wow, can you say poor and unprofessional

December 8, 2010, 12:21 am

So I am installing the Oracle client for the first time in my life (Yes, there are still some geek things I haven’t done yet) and wow was I surprised at the poor quality of the installer.

Here is the ugly:

1. I start the install and immediate a big black Command Prompt window comes up.
2. Once it comes up, it tries to install to a c:\app\jbarneck folder. Really? You haven’t figured out C:\Program Files\Oracle yet?
3. I installed only Instant Client. I needed Administrator as well. On reinstall it installed a new second instance of the Oracle Client. No it didn’t work and I have reverted my VM to try again.
4. When you have gone through their wizard and it is time to start the install, you click Finish. Yes, you heard correctly, you click Finish to start. When the install finishes, there is a small line of text letting me know it was successful and a close button.
5. Then I have to go get some text file called a .ORA file and copy it myself.

Anyway. If it was an Open Source project it wouldn’t be this poor. This is something I would have expected in the NT 4.0 days.

So if this is the lack of enterprise quality that I can expect from Oracle, which is a very rich “enterprise”, I will continue to stay away and recommend others do the same.

All I can say is: Wow, Oracle! Get your act together.

Category: Database  |  Comment

Using OSQL with Microsoft SQL databases

September 15, 2010, 2:54 pm

OSQL basic commands

Logging into a database with osql

c:\> osql -S [servername\instance] -U username [-P password]

Example1: Specifying the user and letting the command line prompt for a password.

c:\> osql -S Core\ldmsdata -U sa
password:

Example2: Specifying the user and the password.

c:\> osql -S ld87\ldmsdata -U sa -P pw

Example3: Using a trusted connection

c:\> osql -E

Show databases

1>
2>		 select * from sysdatabases
go

Note: Or to see only the database Name row do the following:

1>
2>		 select Name from sysdatabases
go

Creating a database

1>
2>		 create database DatabaseName
go

Selecting a database

1>
2>		 USE master
go

Drop a database

1>
2>		 drop database DatabaseName
go

Show tables

1>
2>
1>
2>		 USE DatabaseName
go
select * from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
go

Note: Or to see only the Table_Name row do the following:

1>
2>
1>
2>		 USE DatabaseName
go
select TABLE_NAME from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
go

Drop a table

1>
2>
1>
2>		 USE DatabaseName
go
drop table TableName
go

Insert a row into a table

1>
2>
1>
2>		 USE DatabaseName
go
INSERT INTO TableName Values(“Column1value”,”Column2value”,”Column3value”)
go

Note: Or to insert by only providing values for a few columns and letting the other columns take the default values. This is useful when the first column is set to AUTO_INCREMENT.

1>
2>
1>
2>		 USE DatabaseName
go
INSERT INTO TableName (Col2, Col3) Values(“Column2value”,”Column3value”)
go

Update a value in row of a table

1>
2>
1>
2>		 USE DatabaseName
go
UPDATE TableName set ColumnName=’NewValue’ where SomeColumn=’whereValue’
go

Drop a view

1>
2>
1>
2>		 USE DatabaseName
go
drop view ViewName
go

Backup a database

1>
2>		 BACKUP DATABASE ulddb TO DISK=’c:\path\to\dbbackup.bak’ WITH FORMAT
go

You can do this at the command prompt with one single command:

c:\> osql -S ld87\ldmsdata -U sa -P pw -Q “BACKUP DATABASE ulddb TO DISK=’c:\path\to\dbbackup.bak’ WITH FORMAT”

Change the SA password with one line in a command prompt

c:> osql -E -S localhost\ldmsdata -d ULDDB -Q “sp_password NULL,’P@ssword’,'sa’”

I hope this helps you.

More Information

For more information see the following website:

  1. Administering SQL Server Using osql
  2. osql Utility
Category: Database, MS SQL Server  |  Comment

Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, SilverStripe, or other, which Content Management System (CMS) is best for a BSD user?

September 3, 2010, 8:00 am

Choosing a Content Management System

Ok, so as today, August 26, 2010, my blog is hosted by WordPress.com.  It will be this way for some time.

However, I am probably going to eventually have my own server hosted somewhere. Probably with my brother’s company, Fusion Networks.

So I will probable build a FreeBSD server that will host my site.  At this point, I think I will stop using WordPress and use a different Content Management System.

Content Management Systems Lists

So I went into this having done reasearch before, so I knew what I was getting into.  There are plenty of different Content Management Systems and unfortunately there is no way I could find time to test them all.

Wikipedia had a great list of Content Management Systems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems

Ok, now that  you have seen the very large list of Content Management Systems, you realize that I have to narrow my list down without really testing them all.

Narrowing down the list

First, let me document what I would like and see if which fit into the list.  These are not in order of priority, and some are important and some are not.

I want it to

  1. use PHP
  2. have a large community
  3. use a BSD License
  4. use Postgresql (as it is BSD licensed and MySQL is not)
  5. import my existing WordPress blog
  6. have great feature sets
  7. have common plugins
  8. support multiple Blogs with one install
  9. manages website as well as blog
  10. manages multiple sites
  11. have a descent editor
  12. be well documenated

PHP-Based

They have their lists separated  into tables by programming language.  The PHP table has the most options and since I for sure want to use PHP, it is the only table I will focus on.  These tables even lists the license.

However, I did look at the other tables, just in case one was mostly PHP-based but didn’t show up in the PHP list.  For the full PHP list, go here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems#PHP_2

Large community

So the big three Content Management Systems seems to be these.  I don’t have any data to back this up.  I think this is just because these three seem to be more mentioned when doing Google searches.

  • Drupal
  • Joomla
  • WordPress

BSD Licensed

However, none of those are BSD Licensed, which I prefer. I am not opposed to GPL or LGPL, but I feel more comfortable with BSD licenses software.

The Content Management Systems that are PHP-based and use the BSD License are these:

Had one of the Big 3 been BSD licensed, my decision would have probably been easy.  However, obviously I am going to have to test some of the three BSD licensed Content Management Systems.

Supports Postgresql

Of the six Content Management Systems listed above, the following support Postgresql.

  • Drupal
  • Serendipity
  • SilverStripe

Can import my WordPress blog

It appears that they all can do this.

I am worried about links, however.  My blog entries often link to each other.  I question whether they do it perfectly.  For example, a link to one of my WordPress blogs might be this:

http://rhyous.com/2010/08/25/freebsd-now-has-the-service-command/

So the link has this format:

http://homepage/YYYY/MM/DD/name-of-blog-entry/

So if I go with something other than WordPress, then after importing my blogs, are all the links going to be broken?

Making the Decision

So here is the rating, after a very small overview of the different CMS web sites, and before verifying their marketing claims.

I am giving 0 to 3 points for each feature. (This is subject to change over time, should I want to come back after the decision and report on something).

Features Worpress Drupal Joomla Serendipity SilverStripe Pimcore
1. PHP-Based 3 3 3 3 3 3
2. Large community 3 3 3 1 1 1
3.BSD License 0 0 0 3 3 3
4. Postgresql Support 0 3 0 3 3 0
5. Imports WordPress 3 1 ? 1 1 ?
6. Great Feature set 3 3 3 1 3 ?
7. Has common plugins 3 3 3 3 2 ?
8. Multiple Blogs 3 3 3 3 2 ?
9. Manages Website as well as blog 3 3 3 0 3 ?
10. Multiple Sites 2 3 ? 0 3 ?
11. Editor 3 3 ? 2 3 ?
12. Documenation 3 3 ? 1 3 ?
Score: 29 31 ? 21 30 ?

Here is what I am going to do:

I am going to build a BSD, Apache, PHP, Postgresl virtual machine and test Drupal and Serendipity to see how the import goes.

Perhaps I will have a follow-up some time because:

  1. I have to test these different CMSes
  2. I am sure there are a dozen other items that should be scored 1-3 that I haven’t thought of.

Serendipity

I started out looking at Serendipity first.

Positives

http://rhyous.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2212&action=edit&message=1
There was a FreeBSD port.

The install was painless.

Negatives

Their web site didn’t seem very good, which is a big turn off for a company that is a CMS.

The links to their Forum on their web site and other pages were broken.  I did find that the forum does exist, so the links are just broken.

I tried to sign up for the Forum to report the broken links.  I registered, but was supposed to be sent a confirmation email, which I never received, even after re-requesting it, so I have never reported the broken links.  They are still broken a day later. Also, there appear to only be a handful of people on their forums at any given time. Both suggest they have a small community.

I couldn’t figure out how to design my home page. It seemed the blog was my home page.  I couldn’t figure out how to move my blog entries to a different page.

Result

If you want one blog and nothing else, this would work for you.

I need more. I stopped trying and have dropped Serendipity from the list.

SilverStripe

I looked at SilverStripe second and I way more pleased with its feature set.

Positives

Though I had some install problems, I found solutions on their forums.

There are a number of theme available for download.

The default web site had some common pages premade:

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Page not found

They had both Site Management and Blog management.

There are many extensions: modules, themes, widgets.

Modules include a Blog Modules and Sub-site module, so I could manage multiple sites and multiple blogs.

It is simple to download and install modules.

The user interface is simple and easy to use.

The documentation is sufficient.

Negatives

I had install/setup problems (that were resolved) by the Forum.  Supposedly they only occur with Postgresql.

Not a lot is included in the default install.

The community is smaller than I would like.

The documentation is only sufficient.

Conclusion

I really like the SilverStripe interface.

It had almost everything I am looking for.  It is BSD Licensed.  It supports Postgresql.

It is a Content Management System first, and has modules to add to it.  There a blog module, a multi-site module, which really interested me.

However, while it has a module to import a WordPress xml, I have yet to get it to work.  That is something I can live with, but I would prefer it to work.

Drupal

Positives

It has many features, and any feature it lacks is pretty much filled by an add-on or widget.

The documentations seems thorough.

The community looks to be large.

Negatives

I had to install a different version of wordpress to support multiple blogs.

It is GPL instead of BSD Licensed.

The admin site seemed rather overwhelming. There were almost too many options.

Conclusion

If this were BSD licensed, it would be my pick.  It seems great.

WordPress

Positives

It is popular and familiar.  The most common platform of the blogging world.

It has many features, and any feature it lacks is pretty much filled by an add-on or widget.

Migrating from my existing WordPress blog is flawless.

The community is huge.

The documentation is a plenty.

Negatives

It doesn’t support Postgresql.

It is GPL instead of BSD Licensed.

Joomla

I almost feel like apologizing to Joomla.  I had two BSD servers, one with FreeBSD, Apache, PHP, MySQL where I installed WordPress a year ago for testing.  I have another brand new server with FreeBSD, Apache, PHP, and Postgresql where I tested all the postgresql capable CRMs.  However, I installed Joomla to the wordpress server and it just didn’t work.  The page was blank.  I actually think there was a php error, not a Joomla error.

Unfortunately, Joomla doesn’t support postgresql, it isn’t BSD licensed.  I did research and it appears like it would score high with WordPress, Drupal, and Silverstripe, but I can’t really see how it would be any better than Drupal, or Silverstripe so I really had to cut it loose.  Lets be honest.  As a BSD users, it was beaten out by Drupal and Silverstripe for the same reason I am looking to replace WordPress.  It doesn’t support Postgresql.

Others

There are two other Content Management Systems that I feel are worth mentioning.

Django is also a CMS that is BSD licensed and supports Postgresql. However, it runs on Python, a language which I have occasionally touched but never really developed in.  If you know Python, this might be the choice for you.

Bricolage is also a CMS that is BSD licensed and supports Postgresql. However, it runs on Perl, which I have written a few things with, but not as much as PHP.  If you know Python, this might be the choice for you.

My Decision

I know, you all want to know which I chose to use.

Drumb roll please….

I have chosen…

But don’t expect my blog to move to Silverstripe tomorrow.  It move slowly with things like this.  It could take months or get delayed for a year.

Anyone who might choose a CMS differently would be completely happy with any of the others they evaluate and feel meets their needs.  I am not saying I chose the best.  I am saying I chose the best for my needs.  Hopefully, you know your needs and this will help you choose the best Content Management System for your needs.

Category: FreeBSD, Open Source, Postgresql  |  8 Comments

Installing and Using Postgresql on FreeBSD

August 27, 2010, 11:24 pm

Postrgesql is an excellent alternate to MySQL.

It is BSD Licensed instead of GPL, which is especially more attractive if you need to distribute the database software.  In fact, if you are reselling a product, and paying a license fee to MySQL you probably should save your company the money and move to Postgresql.  LANDesk, the company I work for, had just such an experience with our Management Gateway device.

Setting up FreeBSD

Ok, so I already have a post on this here:

How do I install FreeBSD?

Also, make sure to download ports.

What are the first commands I run after installing FreeBSD

Installing Postgresql on FreeBSD

As always, installing software on FreeBSD is simple using the ports system.

#
#		 cd /usr/ports/databases/postgresql84-server
make WITH_OPTIMIZED_CFLAGS=true BATCH=yes install clean

Post-installation Setup

There a few post-installation steps.

Initialize the database

# /usr/local/etc/rc.d/postgresql initdb

Or starting with FreeBSD 8.1, you can now run this command:

# service postgresql initdb

Make any changes to the postgresql.conf

The postgresql.conf is located in /usr/local/pgsql/data.

Open the file and read through it and make any desired changes.

Common Changes

Here are two common changes.

Enabled remote connections

If the database is to be accessed by the network, then you should at least uncomment the setting #listen_addresses = 'localhost' and change it to listen_addresses = '*'.

Changing the default TCP Port

Uncomment the setting #port = 5432 and change the port number to the desired value.

Configure password authentication

Edit the pg_hba.conf and change the default authentication method to something more secure, such as md5.

# TYPE  DATABASE    USER        CIDR-ADDRESS          METHOD# "local" is for Unix domain socket connections only
local   all         all                               md5
# IPv4 local connections:
host    all         all         127.0.0.1/32          md5
# IPv6 local connections:
host    all         all         ::1/128               md5

Configure the postgresql server service to start on reboot

Add the string postgresql_enable="YES" to /etc/rc.conf.

# echo ‘postgresql_enable=”YES”‘ >> /etc/rc.conf

Creating a Database

To create a database, su to pgsql and run createdb.

#
$		 su pgsql
createdb MyDBName

Creating a User or Role

To create a user, su to pgsql and run createuser.

#
$		 su pgsql
createuser -P

Enter name of role to add: MyUserOrRoleName
Enter password for new role:
Enter it again:
Shall the new role be a superuser? (y/n) y

If you are not using password authentication, then you can exclude the -P.

Using psql client

A simple way to connect to postgresql is using the shell-based client, psql.

Connecting

To connect, use the following command.

$ psql MyDBName

MyDBName-#

You are now at the psql prompt.

Connecting as a different user

To connect, use the following command.

$ psql MyDBName MyUserOrRoleName

MyDBName-#

You are now at the psql prompt.

Changing a a User or Role Password

To change a password, use the following syntax.

MyDBName-# alter role pgsql with password ‘pw’;

Show Databases

To show database, simply type \l, (which is the lowercase letter L not the number 1) which is short hand in psql for this query:
SELECT datname FROM pg_database;

MyDBName-# \l

Show Tables

To show tables in the current database, simply type \d, which is short hand in psql for this query:
SELECT table_name FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema = 'public';

MyDBName-# \d

Show Tables

To show columns of a table in the current database, simply type \d table, which is short hand in psql for this query:
SELECT column_name FROM information_schema.columns WHERE table_name ='table';

MyDBName-# \d MyTableName

Creating a Table

To create a table, use the following syntax:

MyDBName-# CREATE TABLE Users (
FirstName text,
LastName text,
DateOfBirth date
);

Inserting data into a Table

To insert data into a table, use the following syntax:

MyDBName-# CREATE TABLE Users (
UserId serial,
FirstName text,
LastName text,
DateOfBirth date
);

Ok, from here you should be able to start figuring everything out on your own.

Resources:

http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.4/interactive/index.html

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Category: FreeBSD, Postgresql  |  2 Comments

How to use DataTable.Select() when the DataColumn.ColumnName contains a space?

April 6, 2010, 9:49 am

I have a DataColumn that contains an space and I just couldn’t get the DataTable.Select(“Column Name=value) function to work.

So i found a solution on some other guys wordpress blog here.

The answer should be obvious to those who use SQL. In SQL to use a space, it often adds square brackets around the column names. [Column Name]. Yes, using square brackets is the solution.

String colName = "Column Name";
String Value = "some data";
DataTable.Select("[" + colName + "]='" + value + "'");
Category: C# (C-Sharp), Database  |  4 Comments

What is and how do I install the Northwind database?

March 4, 2010, 2:27 pm

The Northwind database is referenced online in sample code quite often. However, this renders the sample code useless to someone who doesn’t know what Northwind is or how to use it.

The Northwind database is basically just an example database that runs under SQL Server. This database is populated with data that represents an imaginary company’s sales data. It is a very common example database for SQL Server testing and sampling.

You might be wondering, what is SQL Server (though for your sake, I hope not). Well, SQL Server is Microsoft’s database software.

How do I know if SQL is installed?
If you have Visual Studio 2008 installed, you probably have SQL Server 2008 installed and you don’t even know it.

You can go to Add / Remove Programs and look for Microsoft SQL Server.

Or you can check for the services.

Or if you aren’t good with the GUI, you can open a command prompt and run this command to see if you have the SQL services:

C:\Users\UserName> sc query state= all |findstr SQL |findstr DISPLAY_NAME

DISPLAY_NAME: SQL Server (SQLEXPRESS)
DISPLAY_NAME: SQL Active Directory Helper Service
DISPLAY_NAME: SQL Server Agent (SQLEXPRESS)
DISPLAY_NAME: SQL Server Browser
DISPLAY_NAME: SQL Server VSS Writer

If you don’t see the services ouptut, you don’t have SQL Server Express installed. If you do have it, it is installed.

SQL Server is installed, now where do I get the Northwind Database?
Well, this was a struggle even for me. All the posts say the database creation script was installed with Visual Studio, but I sure don’t have any database creation scripts installed.

So I searched the web and Microsoft’s site for a while.

I finally found this link, but not until after about an hour of searching, hopefully this saves you some time.
http://www.codeplex.com/Wikipage?ProjectName=SqlServerSamples

So as of 3/4/2010, there was not “new” Northwind database, just and old one for SQL 2000. Which is fine because that old database is what most the sample code you find will be using.

I clicked on the Download link next to SQL Server 2000 Sample DBs.
I downloaded a ZIP file.
I extracted it.
I found the instnwnd.sql script among the extracted files.

How do I use the instnwnd.sql file to install the Northwind Database
This instnwnd.sql is nothing more than SQL script that will install the Northwind database for you. Well, you basically need your SQL server to run this script file and that is it.

If you have SQL Server Management Studio, just open it up and connect to your database, then File | Open the script and run it. But maybe you don’t know what SQL Server Management Studio is, let alone how to open it.

Sound easy right.

Well, everything sounds easy to some one who knows exactly how to do it, but if you don’t now how, it doesn’t sound easy. If you are among those that are hearing about this for the first time, let me help you.

Well, every server that has SQL Server installed has a command line tool installed called sqlcmd.exe. Hey, if I give you a command line you can run it, even if you don’t know what is really going on.

So just open a command prompt and run this command:

C:\Users\UserName> sqlcmd -E -i c:\path\to\instnwnd.sql

Changed database context to ‘master’.
Changed database context to ‘Northwind’.

Ok, the database installed now what?
Well, now you have the Northwind database installed.

From here you are one your own getting whatever sample code you have to connect to this database and compile.

Category: C# (C-Sharp), MS SQL Server  |  Comment

How to configure Subversion to use Cyrus-SASL2 to authenticate to a MySQL database?

November 10, 2009, 9:28 am

Ok, so I want to have Subversion authentication work from a MySQL database. I am going to try to use Cyrus SASL for this.

I already have instructions for installing the necessary parts:

  1. Install FreeBSD.
    How do I install FreeBSD?

  2. Update FreeBSD and download the ports tree.
    What are the first commands I run after installing FreeBSD

  3. Then install Subversion, however, one difference you need to make to the install instructions for subversion. You need to install with SASL2 support. When you run make install it is an option.

    4. How to install subversion 1.6.6 on FreeBSD 7.2

Ok, now that you have everything is installed, you are were I am and ready to try to get this configured.

Configuring Subversion to use SASL to Authenticate to a MySQL database

  1. Create a simple MySQL database. The following is a simple database creation script that creates a database with one table and two rows.

    CREATE DATABASE UserDB;
USE UserDB;
CREATE TABLE `users` ('username' varchar(255), 'password' varchar(255) )
INSERT INTO users VALUES ('user1','pw1');
INSERT INTO users VALUES ('user2@MyReal.com','pw2');
INSERT INTO users VALUES ('user3@myemailaddress.com','pw3');

    Note: I use these accounts to show what works and what does not work because the idea of “realms” is confusing.

    You may be asking why I don’t have three rows, one for each item: User, Password, Realm.

    Well, if you really are creating a new database to handle SVN Users then that is how you should do it and here is it is.

    CREATE DATABASE UserDB;
USE UserDB;
CREATE TABLE `users` ('username' varchar(255), 'password' varchar(255) , 'realm' varchar(255))
INSERT INTO users VALUES ('user1','pw1','realm');
INSERT INTO users VALUES ('user2@MyReal.com','pw2','realm');
INSERT INTO users VALUES ('user3@myemailaddress.com','pw3','realm');

    However, because I am assuming that you want to authenticate to users that are in an already existing database, realm won’t really exist. However, you may have usernames that are in email format, or not in email format an that makes a difference because Subversion splits the username at an @ symbol and the username is only what is before the @ symbol. See the troubleshooting realms section below.

  2. Edit the following file:
    /home/svn/repos/MyApp/conf/svnserve.conf

    # ee /home/svn/repos/MyApp/conf/svnserve.conf

    The following are the lines that should NOT be commented out.

    [general]
    anon-access = none
    auth-access = write
    realm = MyDomain.com

    [sasl]
    use-sasl = true

  3. Create and edit the following file:
    /usr/local/lib/sas2/svn.conf

    # ee /usr/local/lib/sas2/svn.conf

    The following are the lines that should NOT be commented out.

    [general]
    pwcheck_method: auxprop
    mech_list: plain
    auxprop_plugin: sql
    sql_hostnames: localhost
    sql_engine: mysql
    sql_user: root
    sql_passwd: pw
    sql_database: UserDB
    sql_select: SELECT password FROM users WHERE username='%u'

    Note: For debugging add log_level: 7 to this file and then watch the /var/log/debug file.

You should now be able to connect with a client such as TortoiseSVN and connect

Troubleshooting Realms

I found some issues with realms that were really confusing.

Change your /usr/local/lib/sas2/svn.conf file to look like this:

[general]
log_level: 7
pwcheck_method: auxprop
mech_list: plain
auxprop_plugin: sql
sql_hostnames: localhost
sql_engine: mysql
sql_user: root
sql_passwd: pw
sql_database: UserDB
sql_select: SELECT password FROM users WHERE username='%u' or username='%u@%r'

I added two changes:

  1. Turned on logging.

  2. Changes the sql statement to look for username='username' or username='username@realm'

I had to do this because if the user was using an email address, such as john@domain.tld, then it actually makes %u only equal John and seems to drop the @domain.tld and replace it with the name of the realm. However, if your username is John@domain.tld and your realm is domain.tld (so realm and domain are the same), then the code above works. If you domain and realm are not the same, I haven't been able to get this to work.

Go ahead and run this command:

# tail -f -n 30 /var/log/debug

And then try to authenticate using a client, such as TortoiseSVN. Test all three users. You will see the SQL Queries that are run. It should work to authenticate as user1 or User2, but it cannot authenticate user3 because it just doesn't work due to the way it handles realms. If you have users that don't have email address in your realm, then you need them to have username that are not email addresses.

Final Question
If the password is stored as an md5, sha1, sha256 hash in the database, how do I make this work?

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Category: FreeBSD, MySQL  |  21 Comments
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