Our shell server, ubuntu.eskimo.com, has been upgraded to version 15.04 Vivid Vervet.

     Unlike the first attempt when 15.04 first came out, this upgrade went almost flawlessly.  The only boot problem being some features missing in the kernel built that this version requires and the non-existence of postgres user and group (it is in NIS but the start-up sequence with systemd doesn’t have NIS enabled at the time it tries to create the necessary log files).

     These two things have been corrected and now the boot-up is 100% clean and mighty fast (takes about two seconds from launch to login).

     The denial of service attack lasted between about 4:00PM and 4:15PM Pacific Time.  It ended just as I was successful at getting an Isomedia tech on the phone so we weren’t able to identify the source.

     It took me 3 hours to make a trip 22 miles in each direction.  Mariners game screwing up traffic on the way there, concert at the Key Arena screwing up traffic on the way back, plus two accidents.

     Someone launched a denial of service attack against our router at the co-location facility.  Even though it is presently up and routing traffic, it has stopped allowing administrative connections so I can neither monitor traffic or adjust firewall rules.

     For this reason I am making a trip to the co-location facility to reboot the router, this is the only way to restore administrative functionality, and will be out of the office for a couple of hours.

     Cell phone numbers become available and legal for telemarketers to call this month. (Good to know congress is looking out for your interests).  When they call, you will get charged your normal rates for minutes.

     To avoid them waisting your time and money, add your cell phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry.  To do this call 1-888-382-1222 from the number you wish to add.  The whole process takes about 20 seconds.

     Then, 31 days after you have registered, if you receive any telemarketer calls at that number you can file a complaint with the FTC and the offending caller can receive a $500 fine, per call.

     I’ve added Mosh to all of the Linux servers at a customers request.  Mosh is a specialized shell for mobile users that works even as a call user switches cells and IP addresses.  It is designed to work with high latency and intermittent connections.

     Maintenance on all the machines is now complete.  They’re all current with patches and updates and the latest kernels and all imaged and up and available.

     This is my oldest son Carl, our dog Mei, and my wife Tina’s elbow.  He ran Eskimo in my absence and occasionally helps out with heavy lifting or assembly of stuff.  He also writes for Shoreline Area News, primarily Weather. He has a weather station here at the house. One can see the inherent danger in what he is doing here.  You need to know she is about a 60 pound dog and the law of gravity hasn’t been suspended.  What goes up must come down.

     The reboot was successful and restored proper networking functionality.

     I am rebooting virtual.eskimo.com because it has a networking problem that isn’t fixed by restarting networking.  It will allow an initial connection then close it out before authentication can complete.

     This will mainly effect Fedora, Scientific7, Scientific, and some of the Debian based shell servers.  If you are connected to these, just wait and it should resume where you left off as the machine is configured to hibernate the virtual servers before booting and restore them after.

     Didn’t get everything finished tonight so will continue tomorrow, most service affecting servers are done except shellx, so I will need to take shellx down for about 25 minutes.