Mind Circus

Using CentOS 5.2 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, install and run Wireshark (formerly Ethereal) over the command line.

Install Wireshark:

yum install wireshark

Run a capture:

tethereal -i eth1 -w ~/mycapture.pcap

This command will run Wireshark/Ethereal, capture on the eth1 interface and output the data to /yourhomedir/mycapture.pcap

Why would you want to do this? If you want to capture packets from a headless or remote Linux PC and analyse the data elsewhere.

Right now I’m at home, but I have a headless CentOS box at work that’s running ntop from a mirrored port, in order to look at network traffic flowing over the router. To increase the capability of the CentOS box, I want to use it to capture packets using Wireshark, then download the .pcap file over WinSCP and look at the data on my laptop using Wireshark for Windows.

The more I play video content from a USB stick on the Xbox 360, the more I want a TV that can play content directly from a USB Mass Storage Device.

Surely it can’t be that hard? I’m thinking possibly something like a tiny Linux distribution embedded into the TV, something akin to the “Instant Play” feature on many laptops.

Seems the OLPC project is going to be revamping their XO laptop. Looks pretty good, and cheaper too!

Got a shiny new Linux box on your network but don’t want all your users connecting to it via SSH? Control access by editing the SSH configuration file and using the AllowUsers directive like so:

AllowUsers joeuser

To add multiple entries, either separate users with a space, or write an entirely new line:

AllowUsers joeuser philwiffen

AllowUsers joeuser
AllowUsers philwiffen

To get OpenOffice to Save in Microsoft Word .doc format by default, follow these steps:

• Tools > Options
• Load/Save > General
• In the bottom right of the window, look for “Always save as” and pick your poison

I know that saving in a proprietary format over an open standard is bad practice, but sometimes in Business you need to maintain interoperability with the de facto standard; in this case: Microsoft Word.