Flash Development on Ubuntu

During my college years I participated in a class where I learned about Flash development.  I had an iBook at the time, and I forked over $99 for FlashMX for Mac OSX.  I learned quite a bit, and I enjoyed working with Flash.  Eventually my iBook stopped working and therefore did not have any way to work with Flash without going to a lab.  Eventually I graduated and the computer lab option disappeared.  So I did some research on working with Flash on Ubuntu.

I found this article on using an Eclipse add-on called FDT to work with Flash.  First and foremost I had to install Eclipse.  I did this through the Ubuntu Software Center.  The article recommended installing version 3.4.2 and listed a link to download that version of Eclipse.  Ubuntu 10.10 Software Center installed Eclipse version 3.5.2, and I have not experienced the error message the author of the article wrote about.

After installing Eclipse, I clicked on the Help menu and choose Install New Software to install FDT.  The next screen prompted me to enter a site.  The article suggested using the site http://fdt.powerflasher.com/update, so I clicked the Add button on the right, entered the site, gave the site a name, and clicked Ok.  The box below listed two versions of FDT:  3.5 and 4.4.  I already had FDT 3.5 installed so I choose to install FDT 4.4 anyways.



After the installation finished I restarted Eclipse.  After Eclipse reloaded, FDT asked for my license key.   I did not have a license key because I did not purchase the software.  I clicked on a link that took me to a page where I can register for a 30 day trial.  Dead end.  I wouldn't have a problem paying for the full version, but buying software does not fit the theme of this blog.  I uninstalled FDT, and that is where this story ends.


I am looking forward to working with Eclipse.  At first glance, Java seems to be the only language someone can work with.  I will be adding more details after I work with Eclipse.

Installing LAMP and Drupal on Ubuntu 10.10

I recently wanted to start a personal Drupal site that I can use for information about video games that I play.  I would be the only person administrating the site, and in all probability, I would be the only person viewing the site.  I am also interested in Drupal because we use it at work and I think it would be a good idea to know more about it.

I installed LAMP first.  LAMP is an open source web development platform and consists of Apache, MySQL Database, and PHP.  The L stands for "Linux", and something similar exists for Windows called WAMP.  I found this site that explains how to install LAMP on Ubuntu 10.10 and 11.04.  Most of the information for this post comes from this site.  See the link below:

http://www.unixmen.com/linux-distributions/4-ubuntu/1239-install-lamp-with-1-command-in-ubuntu-1010-maverick-meerkat

First, I installed a software installation package called tasksel.  Tasksel groups software by tasks, and it allows you to install packages for a specific task with one command.  So to install tasksel, I used the following command:

sudo apt-get install tasksel

LAMP
Begin the installation of LAMP by running the tasksel program we just installed:

sudo tasksel

I moved the cursor down to "LAMP server" using the arrow keys, selected "LAMP server" using the space bar, and then hit tab to "Ok" and pressed enter.

The installation asked me to enter a root password for the MySQL database.  Other than that the installation of LAMP did not require any interaction on my part.

After installing LAMP your Ubuntu box will be a functioning web server.  You can verify that the installation configured PHP correctly by creating an info.php file:

• sudo vi /var/www/info.php 

and adding this brief php program to display the results of phpinfo()

• <?php
• phpinfo();
• ?>

Save and exit vi and restart apache2:

• sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

At this point you should be able to navigate to the page http://localhost/info.php and see PHP info.  You can see screen shots of this page at the link I mentioned above.

PHPMyAdmin

Next, the page mentions installing something called phpmyadmin.  Phpmyadmin allows you to manage your MySQL Database through a web browser.  I love this idea!  So I installed phpmyadmin with the following command:

• sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin

After installing you should be able to go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin and login using root as the username and the password you specified during the installation of LAMP.  After logging in, you can administrate the local MySQL database.  You will have to create a database here when installing Drupal.

Now we can install Drupal!

Drupal
I followed this guide for the most part and I did not encounter too many problems.  I wrote a brief synopsis of my experience below.

I mentioned that a database had to be created for Drupal.  If you haven't already, log on as root to http://localhost/phpmyadmin.  The place where you create a database should be on the initial screen you see after logging in.  Type the name of the database and click "Create".  You can leave both of the options at their default settings.  Remember the name of this database because you will have to use it when configuring Drupal.

Next you will need to download the files for Drupal.  These files can be found here.  After downloading the correct version (I choose 6.9 so the file name was drupal-6.9.tar.gz) move the file to the document root of the web server( in my case this was /var/www).  Unpack the file using the following command:

• tar xvzf drupal-6.9.tar.gz

This will create a directory called /var/www/drupal-6.9.  Consider this the Drupal root.  I changed the name to "site" for simplicity sake. 

Navigate to the site http://localhost/site/ to begin the Drupal installation process.  I didn't have a problem with the installation.  I had to change the permissions on a directory and copy a file.  You will have to enter the name of the database you created in the first step.  After completing installation you should be able to navigate to http://localhost/site/ and log in as administrator for further configuration.

Any site that I mention in this post with localhost in it may be different in your case.  In my case I was loading the page from the server itself.  I can also view these pages on a different computer by using the host name or ip address of the web server instead of localhost.

I completed this process in about two hours.  I have been playing around with it but I have not had much luck yet.  I'll post with more info at a later point.

Until next time...

VPN Works!

I spent a great deal of time working on an issue.  At first I set up the connection to my work network in Network Manager.  I set up my host name, user name, and password and attempted to connect.  I received a message "The VPN connection % failed because the VPN service failed to start."  I fought this issue all day and could not find a resolution.  I found several different sites that suggested checking or un-checking the "Available to all users" checkbox but neither helped.

I then realised that when I connect to work from my laptop I use a Cisco client.  I included this in my search and found connecting through a Cisco device was a little tricky.  I did some searches and finally found a helpful blogpost that explained what was going on.  The page explains the process of converting your pcf file from a Cisco client into a conf file that can be used to connect.  This requires downloading the source code of a converter, installing a library, compiling the converter, and then running the converter on your pcf file.  You then have to install vpnc, and then run vpnc on the conf file created in a previous step.

I can run the following command to start my VPN connection:
sudo vpnc <conf file> --enable-1des


After which I enter my password I use to log on to my employer's domain.  I then receive a message saying that the connection is successful.
VPNC started in background (pid: 2817)...

I can run the following command to end my VPN connection:
sudo vpnc-disconnect

This affected my ability to connect using Network Manager; I do not receive the "Failed to start service" any more.  The connection still does not work, but I do have a workaround.

Until next time...

Evolution

I received the correct email server settings from my network administrator friend.  I was able to send and receive email using Evolution.  I am pleased with Evolution so far.  I use Outlook at work and Evolution seems to be pretty similar (at no cost to me I must say).  I especially like how Evolution can work with an Exchange server.  Unfortunately I cannot connect to my exchange server at work unless I vpn in...something new to try :)