How to create deb package – part 2

Debian packaging is much more than just adding dependencies. It could be quite complex and challenging to learn but I guarantee that it will be very beneficail.

In this example, I would like to use dh_make to create blank Debian packaging templates. This contains basic template to use pre/post scripts, configuration which is very easy to start. However, this template assumes that you have source to build for the package but the example assumes that there is no source. Continue reading “How to create deb package – part 2”

How to Monitor Disk IO Access in Debian/Ubuntu

I alway use top in order to monitor how much resource is used for what process.  And there is iftop for network traffic monitor.  They give enough information to nail down and troubleshoot many different issues.  However, one thing that I have alway had issues with is disk IO monitoring.  I had to use iostat but it does not give information per process so I had to additional analysis to figure out exactly why.

For anyone who experiences similar difficulty with monitoring disk IO, iotop became available recently in Debian/Ubuntu distro.  It requires a newer kernel since it needs support from kernel; however, this is a tool that I have been waiting for a long time.  It give disk access info in real time per process and it is an excellent troubleshooting tool.

Continue reading “How to Monitor Disk IO Access in Debian/Ubuntu”

Slow guest OS installation and poor integration support in Hyper-V

I have been trying out various OSes in Hyper-V environment but one thing that I am noticing is its slow installation process.  Even installling Windows guest OSes takes a long time.  However, once intergration service is installed on Windows guest OSes, performance improves.

However, linux in Hyper-V is out of question yet.  I tried to install 32, 64 bit Debian, Ubuntu Desktop/Server but Debian is the only distribution that I was able to be patient enough to complete the installation.  Debian base installation without GUI took a couple hours, where text frame buffer was horrible, almost unbareable, I had to wait about 10 seconds for each page to come up.  All other distributions, I waited about a couple hours too but it did not even get into the installation screen so I gave up.

Continue reading “Slow guest OS installation and poor integration support in Hyper-V”

How to create deb package – part 1

Creating an empty debian package for Debian/Ubuntu that just installs certain packages you need can be very useful when you install a fresh OS.  For instance, if you need Apache2, PHP5, MySQL5, and phpmyadmin on fresh-installed Ubuntu machine, you can install all of them at once by creating an empty package that depends on those packages.  

Step 1. You will need root privilege

sudo su

Step 2. Create a folder that will contains content of the package

mkdir myserver

Step 3. Create a DEBIAN folder that stores meta data for the package
Continue reading “How to create deb package – part 1”