Issue #141 / Aug 2012

KNOW-HOW: Nao Humanoid Robot

Humanoid Linux robot Nao thrills developers in Paris

At the end of April, Aldebaran Robotics let their 57cm-long humanoid Nao robots loose on a human audience of mostly open source developers. The robots possess 25 degrees of freedom, a child’s gaze, and anthropomorphic interactions.

KNOW-HOW: Fabric Python Library

Stitching together a crazy sys admin world with Python

The Fabric Python library makes it extremely easy to create repeatable scripts of commands over SSH to any number of servers.

SYSADMIN: Uranos Installation Framework

An installation server with extras

The virtualization breakthrough has not reduced the number and diversity of operating systems that admins must install and manage. Uranos server sets out to give administrators of complex operating system zoos more freedom.

SYSADMIN: Charly's Column: QPS

The sys admin’s daily grind: QPS

The graphical tool QPS frees admins from Kafkaesque ambiguities about the cause, history, and side effects of running processes. Depending on the view, either clarity or detailed information dominate the scene.

KNOW-HOW: Ask Klaus!

Klaus Knopper answers your Linux questions

Klaus Knopper is the creator of Knoppix and co-founder of LinuxTag expo. He currently works as a teacher, programmer, and consultant. If you have a configuration problem, or if you just want to learn more about how Linux works, send your questions to: klaus@linux-magazine.com

SYSADMIN: Security Lessons: Capabilities

A life of privilege

Granting root access, even temporarily, is rife with danger. Capabilities could help.

KNOW-HOW: In-Memory DBMS

Main memory database systems

Thanks to powerful hardware, in-memory databases run without accessing mass memory devices, which means they handle transactions and evaluations at high speed, introducing a paradigm shift in the database market.

SYSADMIN: Nested Virtualization

A private cloud with high availability and storage on the laptop

Nesting of hypervisors, known as a nested virtualization, makes it possible to set up a complete virtualization scenario with a data center, storage, and high-availability functions on a laptop. In this article, we show you how, with Linux iSCSI and free VMware trial versions.

PROGRAMMING: Perl: Clonezilla Backups

Using Clonezilla and Perl scripts for backups

Clonezilla makes backing up and restoring your system an easy affair that only involves a few key strokes. A homegrown solution reduces the time and effort to the act of slotting in a CD, on which you previously burned a Perl script.

LINUXUSER: Command Line: Wodim

Burning with wodim

Wodim works behind the scenes in popular CD/ DVD-burning software, but it’s even more powerful at the command line.