This Week [53] Motivation

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NO GUARANTEES (by Azizi Ali) - Taken from http://www.MillionairesPlanet.com/
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I spoke at a company in Malacca recently. We all had a great time, laughed and yes, learnt how to manage our money better. At the end of the talk, a significant number of the participants rushed to get some of the products we had for sale at the back of the seminar room. Most of them were eager to pick more information so they will become even better in managing their finances.



From the corner of my eyes, I noticed a young man in the crowd looking at my two books. He would pick them up, put them down and repeat the process a couple of time. Finally, he turned to me and asked, "Mr. Azizi, can you guarantee that I will become a millionaire if I buy your books?"



I smiled at him. I wished that I could tell him yes but I knew that the answer was no. Not because the books were not good - they are excellent - but because of him. The reality is that there is only one person who can make him rich. And that one person is not me. It's not his manager, not the CEO of his company, not the finance minister and not even the prime minister. That person is him.



Folks, the only person in the world who can make you rich is you. The only person in the world who can make you smart, brilliant or successful is you. The only person in the world who can make you achieve all your goals and dreams is you. The rest of us - elders, parents, teachers, educators and leaders - can only share knowledge, ideas and wisdom. But if you do nothing with that knowledge, you will remain where you are, facing the same problems day in day out until the maker comes a-calling.



Coming back to our story and the young man; he just put the books down and faded into the darkness of the night. I will probably never see him again so I wished him well. But I know where he will end up - broke, angry and wishing for a second chance at life when he is 65.



Folks, the reality is this - there are no guarantees in life.



The moment we are born, there is no guarantee that we will live to a ripe old age. When we go to school, there is no guarantee that we will graduate. When we go to work, there is no guarantee that we will keep the job for life. When we get married, there is no guarantee that we will stay married for life. And when we invest, there is no guarantee that we will make more money.



So I'll say it again, folks, there are no guarantees in life. The faster you accept that, the better.



Because the ones who will create waves are the ones who are willing to put their necks on the block. The ones who achieve lofty heights are the ones who are willing to climb - even though they are scared of heights. Those who want to play it safe (read guarantees) will wind up working for those who are willing to live dangerously.



There's an old joke that I'm sure you've read and heard many times before. But because the point is still valid, I'll retell it one more time: there are three types of men. The first type makes things happen; the second type see things happen; and the last type stand there with his mouth wide open, "Huh! What happened?".



Incidentally, the first groups of men who make things happen never ask for guarantees. They just go ahead and do what is needed to be done.

So no, I cannot guarantee that you will become a millionaire by reading my books. Neither can Thomas J. Stanley, Robert G. Allen or Robert Kiyosaki for that matter. What we can do is increase your chances of achieving what it is that you want. We do this by educating, training, guiding, mentoring and coaching. That is why we publish books, conducts seminars, training and coaching sessions.



Now I'm not saying that one must read my books or come to my seminars. Read all the books and go to as many seminars as you can - you will learn from each one of them.



There are thousands of great books out there written by marvelous authors - Steven Covey, Anthony Robbins and Deepak Chopra to name but just three. Let's not forget Malaysia's own - Rajen Devadason, Billi Lim, Lilian Too and ehm, ehm, a certain Azizi Ali. There are also world class speakers and trainers in Malaysia - Dato Lawrence Chan leads the pack. So read, listen and learn. Get better. Grow.



Because once the knowledge is in your hands, you don't need any guarantees.

Cisco PIX - Top Ten Tips for Managing Your Firewall

This article discusses the Top ten tips that you can implement to best manage and fine tune your firewall. The purpose of this article is to get the best performance out of your firewall and increased security to your network.


1. Use the latest version of the OS software available for your particular firewall. Install the latest patches and if possible/applicable, the latest software version available.

2. Use a stealth Rule at the top of the rule base.
What is a stealth rule? A stealth rule is a rule which disallows any communication to the firewall itself from unauthorized networks/hosts. It is a rule to protect the firewall itself from attacks.

3. Place the most commonly used or accessed rules on the top of the rule base. When a packet reaches a firewall it gets checked against the rulebase of the firewall from top down. Once it matches a rule, it is either accepted, denied or acted upon depending on what the action defined is. So it is best to place the most accessed rules on top of the rule base so that it need not get matched against all the rules in rule base. This would decrease load on the firewall.

4. Keep the rulebase as simple as possible. Do not allow access to anything and everything. Give access only if it is needed or required.

5. Use object groups where possible and combine similar rules into one rule. This would keep the rule base short and simple and thus reduce the load on the firewall.

6. If your network is using VPN, then give preference to use AES 128 where ever possible. Some firewalls like the popular Checkpoint Firewall, recommend AES 128 over 3DES and AES 256, in terms of firewall load and performance issues. Check with your firewall manufacturer which encryption would provide best performance on the given make, taking into consideration that security is also one of your main priorities.

7. Keep logging to a minimum. Example: If you have a couple of busy web servers, then logging each and every http connection might bring in addition load onto the firewall and also fill up the log server quickly.

8. Try to implement High Availability if your budget would allow that. This would reduce the down time of your network considerably. If a firewall is down it would mean that pretty much most of your operations are down. If High Availability is implemented, then even if the primary were to fail, the secondary would take over. Firewall Clustering is something which can provide your firewall both redundancy and load sharing. Check with the manufacturer if it is available.

9. If there are too many VPN connections that need to connect to your network, then try to get a dedicated VPN device. How many connections are too many connections? Check the firewall manufacturer’s manual. Another way of doing it is checking the load on the firewall – memory, cpu utilization etc.

10. End your rule base with a clean up rule or a ANY ANY DENY rule. Try to also log this rule. This would assist you in analyzing the dropped connections in case you ever attacked or even while simple troubleshooting.

Note: The intention of this article is to help you manage your firewall. Check your Firewall manufacturer’s instruction manual to confirm if the tips given here would be applicable to the particular make/model.

FEEDBACK: Please feel free to leave your feedback good and bad. Best effort would be made to make this article as helpful as possible.

Referring from :
http://www.secmanager.com

Cisco PIX - Useful Commands

Useful Commands:

show config

show blocks

show checksum

show conn

show cpu usage

show history

show memory

show processes

show routing

show running-config

show startup-config

show tech-support

show tcpstat

show traffic

show uauth/clear uauth

show version

show xlate/clear xlate

Cisco PIX - Commands Supported in CLI

 

Command Mode	Command	Command Description
User Mode	enable	To change the mode from User to Enable mode.
	help	Displays the help description in the Modes.
	exit	To log out from the CLI client.
	logout	To log out from the CLI client.
	show clock	To show the clock time of the CLI agent in the network.
	show history	To display the History of the connected terminal.
	show snmp	To show the SNMP status of the device in the network.
	show version	To show the version of the device.
Enable Mode	clock set	Sets the Clock with Date and Time in the firewall device
	configure terminal	Change the mode to Configuration Mode
	disable	Change the mode to user mode from Enable mode.
	ping	Send echo messages
	show access-list	Displays the access-list configurations
	show blocks	To show the system buffer usage
	show conn	To show the number of connections in use
	show failover	To show the failover status
	show memory	To show the free memory available
	show nameif	To show the current names and security levels of each interface
	show clock	Display clock time of the CLI agent in the network.
	show history	Displays the History of the connected terminal.
	show version	Displays the IOS Version and its details of the CLI agent.
Config Mode	access-group in interface	Binds the access list to the inside interface.
	access-list host	Creates the standard access list entry
	access-list /	Creates the standard access list entry
	exit	Change the mode from Configuration to Enable mode.
	hostname	Updates the given value as the host name.
	snmp-server enable traps	Enables all the supported trap types
	snmp-server host [host-addr] [community-string]	To specify the recipients of the SNMP notification operatio
	route [metric]	Set the inside/outside default route to the router attached to the Internet.
	no number	To remove a specific access-list
	no snmp-server enable traps	Disables all the supported trap types
	no snmp-server host	Removes a specific recipient of the SNMP notification operation

MySQL - Change Root Password

How do I change MySQL root password under Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and UNIX like operating system over ssh / telnet session?

Setting up mysql password is one of the essential tasks. By default root user is MySQL admin account. Please note that the Linux / UNIX login root account for your operating system and MySQL root are different. They are separate and nothing to do with each other (indeed some admin removes root account and setup admin as mysql super user).

mysqladmin command to change root password

If you have never set a root password for MySQL, the server does not require a password at all for connecting as root. To setup root password for first time, use mysqladmin command at shell prompt as follows:

$ mysqladmin -u root password NEWPASSWORD

However, if you want to change (or update) a root password, then you need to use following command

$ mysqladmin -u root -p'oldpassword' password newpass

For example, If old password is abc, and set new password to 123456, enter:

$ mysqladmin -u root -p'abc' password '123456'

keep note = no spacebar between -p'abc' 

Change MySQL password for other user

To change a normal user password you need to type (let us assume you would like to change password for vivek):

$ mysqladmin -u vivek -p oldpassword password newpass

Changing MySQL root user password using MySQL sql command

This is another method. MySQL stores username and passwords in user table inside MySQL database. You can directly update password using the following method to update or change password for user vivek:
1) Login to mysql server, type following command at shell prompt:

$ mysql -u root -p

2) Use mysql database (type command at mysql> prompt):

mysql> use mysql;

3) Change password for user vivek:

mysql> update user set password=PASSWORD("NEWPASSWORD") where User='vivek';

4) Reload privileges:

mysql> flush privileges;
mysql> quit

MySQL - Restore database

There are 2 ways to restore your MySQL database from sql dump file.


1st way to restore mysql database from sql dump file is using mysql web control panel – phpMyAdmin
- Log into phpMyAdmin.
- Select your preference database on the left database navigation drop down list.
- Click on Import tab on the top.
- Select your sql dumb file at File to import
- Then select your mysql database charset (ex: Latin1, utf-8)
- and click GO and it’s done!

Do not use phpMyAdmin to import or restore your MySQL database if your MySQL database file is large. This is because, phpMyAdmin has limit on total upload size which depend on php setting. Besides, there is also maximum execution time which may cause browser to time out.

The solution to restore large mysql database from sql dump file is using unix/linux shell command.

To restore mysql database from a dump file, just type the command below:-

mysql -u #username# -p #database# < #dump_file#

Of course you need to replace #username# to your database username and #database# to your target database. and rename #dump_file# to your dump file file name (Ex: dump.sql) Once you enter the command, the linux/unix shell will prompt you for your database user password, just key in your database password and you are done.


Referring from:
http://www.techiecorner.com/31/how-to-restore-mysql-database-from-sql-dump-file/

MySQL - Create database

The command is simple just write mysqladmin in a CLI followed by the database name you want to create

# mysqladmin -u root -p create building
# mysql


 Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 1
Server version: 5.0.82-log Source distribution

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

mysql> SHOW databases;
+----------+
| Database |
+----------+
| mysql    |
| building|
| test     |
+----------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
mysql>

You can also type the query in mysql> prompt like this

mysql> CREATE database building;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

To show available databases in mysql use the command show databases on mysql> prompt.
Now use the database by typing USE building and then type SHOW tables to see what tables are available in the database

mysql> USE building;
Database changed

mysql> SHOW tables;
Empty set (0.00 sec)

Linux CLI - How to broadcast a message to all users - using wall

1. As the main input of wall is a file, we will first create our message file.Type :

$ echo 'Please note that in two more hours, and for one hour, you will not be able to use the SQL database, please save all your job before, and quit any application using it'> message.txt

2. OK, now we have our message ready, it is time to send it to the users

$ wall < message.txt

 Try yourself!!!

This Week [47] Motivation

If you're still hanging onto a dead dream of yesterday,

laying flowers on its grave by the hour,

you cannot be planting the seeds for a new dream to grow today.

This Week [46] Motivation

If you want something you never had,

do something you have never done.

Don't go the way life takes you,

take the life the way you go.

And remember you are born to live and 

not living because you are born.

Hobby - Cubik Cube 3x3

This is the faster and easier way I found how to solve this historical world phenomena.
There are only 6 algorithm to solve this cube.

1. Ri Di R D
2. U R Ui Ri Ui Fi U F
3. Ui Li U L U F Ui Fi
4. F R U Ri Ui Fi
5. R U Ri U R U U Ri
6. U R Ui Li U Ri Ui L

 Need to memories.
1. The center edges is the colour references
2. Remember the algorithm

F is front side
R is right side
L is left side
U is upper side
D is down side
i is inverter


Procudure :
1. Choose white side as your base side
2. Solve this white cross and first;two layer edges
3. When you get white cross on the top, use algorithm 1 to solve the first top layer.
4. The when the white base and 1st layer solve, turn the white base as a down side.
5. To solve 2nd layer, choose the edge and the center with the same color. Then,
   5a. if the edges opposite is same as a right side; use algorithm 2
   5b. if the edges opposite is same as a left side; use algorithm 3
6. After 1st and 2nd layer solve, you need to get upper side cross - yellow cross. To get this, use algorithm 4. Repeat the algorithm until you get the yellow cross.
7. Next use algorithm 5 to get 4 side's edges at 3rd layer same color as the center color. You will get top yellow cross and 3rd layer edges color on the right place.

8. Then use algorithm 6 to get 4 corner pieces at the right place. This time the color is at right place but did not match with the center color. But don't worry...
9. Repeat algorithm 1 to match the 4 corner pieces with the center color.

It is amazing.. it have done.. try yourself..

p/s - for Putrajaya resident.. give me a call for consultancy..

This Week [45] Motivation

One of the most satisfying thing in the life is the knowledge that there is always room fro growth within.
Every moment, everyday of our lives there are new things to learn.
There's always room for personal growth.

For a start, be true to yourself and accept this as a fact.
Personal growth achieves a level of heightened awareness that brings mind, body and spirit together in harmony.
This means being in better control of our lives.

As the year go by when we look back, be proud of the growth path we took on our journey through life. Let us take one day at a time, rejoicing and be glad of the blessings that come our way each day.

Linux CLI - Remove/Delete

1. To remove files
rm


2. To remove empty directory
rmdir 


3. To remove a directory along with all of its contents, type:
rm -fr

*use this with caution as there is no undelete.

4. To uninstall packages
apt-get remove  

Linux CLI - How to clear history

For fast clearing just type 'history -c' command that will clears the terminal history.

Another alternative by googling..

 1. Just put this command in your .bashrc file

a. If you don't even want to keep on in the first place
export HISTSIZE=0

b. Prevent less from creating a history file.
export LESSHISTFILE="-"

c.Prevent a bash history file from ever being saved.
unset HISTFILE


2. Your history will be available in ram for each bash session, but will be gone once you log out

rm -fr ~/.bash_history

ln -s /dev/null ~/.bash_history


3. You could add the following line to the end of your .bash_logout file:

rm -f .bash_history


Test it!!!

Linux CLI - Check size of Directory and sub-directories

1. Display free disk space

df --


2. Display disk usage statistics

du --


Example:


1. Check disk total free space
df -h


2. Check size of directory by list down all the contents
du -ah /path/to/dir



3. Only display total directory size
du -sh /path/to/dir



p/s - normally I only use du -sh & df -h

This Week [44] Motivation

Stop fooling around..
Just do it!

This Week [40] Motivation

Life isn't about finding yourself...
Life is about CREATING yourself...

This Week [39] Motivation

Work doesn't hurt anybody!

This Week [38] Motivation

We grow by our dreams.

MySQL - Searching for database

If you want to find mysql db files then run this:

# find / -name "*.MYI" -exec ls -al {} \;

this will find any file that has extension MYI (one of mysql table files)

MySQL - Create/password user

1. Creating a new user. Login as root. Switch to the MySQL db. Make the user. Update privs.

# mysql -u root -p
mysql> use mysql;
mysql> INSERT INTO user (Host,User,Password) VALUES('%','username',PASSWORD('password'));
mysql> flush privileges;

2. Change a users password from unix shell.

# [mysql dir]/bin/mysqladmin -u username -h hostname.com.my -p password 'new-password'

MySQL - Backup database

The mysqldump utility can be found in the /usr/local/bin directory on Unix/Linux systems where MySQL is installed.

mysqldump -p [db name] > [db name.dmp]

MySQL - Basic command for support

This is a list of MySQL commands that I use time and time again.

1. to login

mysql -u root -p
  

2. to list all databases

mysql> show databases;
   

3. switch to a databases

mysql> use [db name];

      
4. to see all table in database

mysql> show tables;

    

5. to see database's field formats

mysql> describe [table name];

Cisco PIX - Introduction 1

Intro..

1. Use to prevent our network wide open from attack
2. PIX firewall range has a wide variety of add on cards
3. can work hand in hand with the Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)
4. PIX come in several form factors range:

a. 501

• cheapest and smallest firewall - SOHO
• support up to 7500 concurrent connections
• 60Mbps throughput
• interfaces- 10/100BASE-T Ethernet interface for the outside connection (100BASE-T is only in version 6.3)
• four-port 10/100 switch for the inside interfaces
• It can also support up to 10 simultaneous VPN connections
• It does not support any failover at all.

This Week [37] Motivation

Focus on important things...

Mac OS X - Handy trick to eject a CD/DVD

New Mac OS X server do not have any manual eject button for their DVD. I also didn't find any paperclip-sized hole to manually eject the disc. I open DVD player to use button eject in such way looking for solutions.

After spending some time googling I did discover a way to do it from the command line without having to reboot:

drutil eject

will eject out the disc. Problem solved.

This Week [35] Motivation

Try to make at least one small change each day/week. The smallest things can make a big impact.

CCNA - Course Goal

" To provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to install, operate and troubleshoot a small network"

Hobby - Photoshop

Edit Sport Day's Pictures

1. Crop the picture
2. Alt + Shift + Control + L for Auto Contrast
3. Shift + Control + L for Auto Levels
4. Shift + Control + B for Auto Color
5. Save

Back Up a Packetshaper Configuration

1. At MS-DOS prompt, create a directory where the backup files will be stored
2. Go to the newly created directory
3. ftp [packetshaper ip address]
4. Press Enter to bypass the user name.
5. Enter the unit’s touch password
6. cd /cfg
7. get config.ldi
8. quit

Referring links -> https://bto.bluecoat.com/packetguide/8.0/nav/tasks/administrative/backup-configuration.htm

CCNA - Lab practices -WLC

Backup WLC running config

Using Putty
1. show sysinfo
2. show running-config
3. show cdp neighbors
4. show wlan summary
5. show interface summary
6. logout


Using https
1. Start tftp server services
2. log into https://
3. Go to Commands-> Upload File
4. Select
File Type -> Configuration
Transfer Mode -> TFTP
IP Address -> put tftp server ip address
File Name -> wlc_config_put date (180809)
5. Click button "Upload"

CCNA - Lab practices - TFTP

Copying the Running Configuration to a TFTP Server

Software:
1. Solarwinds TFTP Server
2. Putty/MS Dos for telnet

Requirements:
1. Disable Windows firewall

CLI:
copy running-config tftp
Address or name of remote host []?
Destination filename [mdce1as01-confg]?

My Mobile Dictionary

1. pursuance - (an attempt to accomplish or attain) search, quest, pursuit
~ Business pursuant to Business Registration Act(ROB)

2.  errands - 1. A short trip taken to perform a specified task 2. The purpose or object of an errand
~ When making a trip with multiple stops, such as running errands, start by making the longest leg of your trip first.

CCNA - Lab practices - Putty->console

Performing Cisco coreswitch configuration backup using putty-console.

1. sh running-config
2. sh cdp neighbors
3. sh vlan
4. sh interfaces status

Get Certified!

In today's information age, technologies are constantly being updated, and the skills and knowledge of the past quickly become out of date and no longer relevant. A knowledge-based workforce must continuously strive to equip itself with new skills in order to meet the rapid changes and the demands of the workplace.

I believed certifications will give us confidence and improve our overall performances, mitigate risk and remove uncertainty. I've come to a point now where I want to kick my career up the next level, and make networking my primary discipline. I am planning to go for technology based certification such as CCNA, LPI and CDCP.

The only way I am going to succeed with my career plan is if I really do know the technology, if I really do know how to solve problems, and how to really add value to the organizations I want to work for. Simply memorizing things for an easy test is not going to get me anywhere.

This is achieved through responsibility, commitment and motivation. I hope this Unit3d Study Sheet as myself study journal to success.

Certified as a measure of knowledge and professional. Get it!

This Week [34] Motivation

If I lack the courage to start, I have already finished. One thing I can't recycle is wasted time.