Bart Dorlandt - BAMweb.nl

Just to summarize what needs to be done to have your linux machine send email securely with postfix from anywhere. This way your machine can output it messages it generates to your email. This can be any desktop or laptop which will be on different networks.

What you need on the client side is a fairly simple postfix configuration. An example below. In this configuration i use google mail as the smtp server.

smtpd_banner = $myhostname ESMTP $mail_name (Ubuntu)
biff = no
append_dot_mydomain = no
readme_directory = no

# TLS parameters
smtp_tls_session_cache_database = btree:${data_directory}/smtp_scache
smtp_use_tls = yes
smtp_tls_note_starttls_offer = yes
smtp_tls_received_header = yes
smtp_tls_loglevel = 1
tls_random_source = dev:/dev/urandom

# SASL
smtp_sasl_auth_enable = yes
smtp_sasl_password_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
smtp_sasl_security_options =

alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases
alias_database = hash:/etc/aliases
myhostname = 
myorigin = $myhostname
mydestination = localhost.bamweb.nl, localhost
relayhost = [smtp.gmail.com]:587
mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8 [::ffff:127.0.0.0]/104 [::1]/128
mailbox_size_limit = 0
recipient_delimiter = +
inet_interfaces = loopback-only

[smtp.gmail.com]:587 :

To secure this file execute the following. After that we make a postmap which will create a .db file of it which postfix needs.

chown root:root /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
chmod 600 /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd
postmap hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd

Once that is done we can restart postfix and we are good to go.

service postfix restart

If you have your own server, make sure you have TLS configured for smtp, smtpd and allow sasl connections. You also have to uncomment submission in master.cf.

I've been struggling with KVM a little bit the last few days because i wanted sound in some of my graphical KVM experiments.

To make a long story short, I now hate Apparmor. It has been denying my sound for a long time, but no more.

Also i had to make these configuration changes.

File : /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf

user = "bart"
group = "bart"
vnc_allow_host_audio = 1

Here is some of the logging you can find when it is not working:

File : /var/log/kern.log

Oct 31 18:11:25 bambam kernel: [42042.152768] type=1400 audit(1320081085.115:531): apparmor="DENIED" operation="open" parent=1 profile="libvirt-edf3aaad-2508-cd6d-26cb-4833e422e44f" name="/data/ho
me/bart/.pulse-cookie" pid=24455 comm="kvm" requested_mask="rwc" denied_mask="rwc" fsuid=1000 ouid=1000
Oct 31 18:11:25 bambam kernel: [42042.152778] type=1400 audit(1320081085.115:532): apparmor="DENIED" operation="open" parent=1 profile="libvirt-edf3aaad-2508-cd6d-26cb-4833e422e44f" name="/data/home/bart/.pulse-cookie" pid=24455 comm="kvm" requested_mask="r" denied_mask="r" fsuid=1000 ouid=1000
Oct 31 18:11:25 bambam kernel: [42042.161602] type=1400 audit(1320081085.125:533): apparmor="DENIED" operation="open" parent=1 profile="libvirt-edf3aaad-2508-cd6d-26cb-4833e422e44f" name="/data/home/bart/.pulse/" pid=24455 comm="kvm" requested_mask="r" denied_mask="r" fsuid=1000 ouid=1000
Oct 31 18:11:25 bambam kernel: [42042.161612] type=1400 audit(1320081085.125:534): apparmor="DENIED" operation="rmdir" parent=1 profile="libvirt-edf3aaad-2508-cd6d-26cb-4833e422e44f" name="/data/home/bart/.pulse/" pid=24455 comm="kvm" requested_mask="d" denied_mask="d" fsuid=1000 ouid=1000
Oct 31 18:11:25 bambam kernel: [42042.383934] type=1400 audit(1320081085.345:535): apparmor="DENIED" operation="open" parent=24469 profile="libvirt-edf3aaad-2508-cd6d-26cb-4833e422e44f" name="/proc/24470/fd/" pid=24470 comm="threaded-ml" requested_mask="r" denied_mask="r" fsuid=1000 ouid=1000
Oct 31 18:11:25 bambam kernel: [42042.384372] type=1400 audit(1320081085.345:536): apparmor="DENIED" operation="exec" parent=24469 profile="libvirt-edf3aaad-2508-cd6d-26cb-4833e422e44f" name="/usr/bin/pulseaudio" pid=24470 comm="threaded-ml" requested_mask="x" denied_mask="x" fsuid=1000 ouid=0
Oct 31 18:11:25 bambam kernel: [42042.402881] type=1400 audit(1320081085.365:537): apparmor="DENIED" operation="open" parent=1 profile="libvirt-edf3aaad-2508-cd6d-26cb-4833e422e44f" name="/data/home/bart/.pulse-cookie" pid=24455 comm="kvm" requested_mask="rwc" denied_mask="rwc" fsuid=1000 ouid=1000

LC_ALL=C PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/bin /usr/bin/kvm -S -M pc-0.14 -enable-kvm -m 3000 -smp 2,sockets=2,cores=1,threads=1 -name win7x86oct -uuid edf3aaad-2508-cd6d-26cb-4833e422e44f -nodefconfig -nodefa
ults -chardev socket,id=charmonitor,path=/var/lib/libvirt/qemu/win7x86oct.monitor,server,nowait -mon chardev=charmonitor,id=monitor,mode=readline -rtc base=localtime -boot c -drive file=/dev/VG0/win7x86oct,if=none,id=drive-ide0-0-0,forma
t=raw -device ide-drive,bus=ide.0,unit=0,drive=drive-ide0-0-0,id=ide0-0-0 -drive file=/data/software/Microsoft/ISO/Win7_Enterprise_x86_SP1_2011-10_EN.iso,if=none,media=cdrom,id=drive-ide0-1-0,readonly=on,format=raw -device ide-drive,bus=
ide.1,unit=0,drive=drive-ide0-1-0,id=ide0-1-0 -netdev tap,fd=18,id=hostnet0 -device rtl8139,netdev=hostnet0,id=net0,mac=52:54:00:1f:fe:dc,bus=pci.0,addr=0x3 -chardev pty,id=charserial0 -device isa-serial,chardev=charserial0,id=serial0 -u
sb -device usb-tablet,id=input0 -vnc 127.0.0.1:1 -vga std -device AC97,id=sound0,bus=pci.0,addr=0x6 -device virtio-balloon-pci,id=balloon0,bus=pci.0,addr=0x5
char device redirected to /dev/pts/2
kvm: -device rtl8139,netdev=hostnet0,id=net0,mac=52:54:00:1f:fe:dc,bus=pci.0,addr=0x3: pci_add_option_rom: failed to find romfile "pxe-rtl8139.bin"
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
waitpid(): No child processes
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for capture failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Internal error
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for capture failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Connection refused
audio: Failed to create voice `ac97.pi'
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for playback failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Connection refused
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
waitpid(): No child processes
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for playback failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Internal error
audio: Failed to create voice `ac97.po'
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
waitpid(): No child processes
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for capture failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Internal error
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
waitpid(): No child processes
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for capture failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Internal error
audio: Failed to create voice `ac97.mc'
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
waitpid(): No child processes
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for capture failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Internal error
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
waitpid(): No child processes
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for capture failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Internal error
audio: Failed to create voice `ac97.pi'
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
waitpid(): No child processes
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for playback failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Internal error
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
waitpid(): No child processes
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for playback failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Internal error
audio: Failed to create voice `ac97.po'
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied
waitpid(): No child processes
pulseaudio: pa_simple_new for capture failed
pulseaudio: Reason: Internal error
Failed to create secure directory: Permission denied

/etc/init.d/apparmor stop
update-rc.d -f apparmor remove
apt-get remove apparmor apparmor-utils

Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.760350] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x8
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.760368] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x8
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761057] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x4
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761065] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x6
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761072] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x5
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761078] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0xa
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761084] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x3
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761090] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x2
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761096] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x2
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761100] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0xb
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761127] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x4
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761131] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x6
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761135] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x5
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761139] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0xa
Oct 31 18:29:30 bambam kernel: [  725.761143] ALSA hda_codec.c:1475 hda_codec_cleanup_stream: NID=0x3

LC_ALL=C PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/bin /usr/bin/kvm -S -M pc-0.14 -enable-kvm -m 3000 -smp 2,sockets=2,cores=1,threads=1 -name win7x86oct -uuid edf3aaad-2508-cd6d-26cb-4833e422e44f -nodefconfig -nodefaults -chardev socket,id=charmonitor,path=/var/lib/libvirt/qemu/win7x86oct.monitor,server,nowait -mon chardev=charmonitor,id=monitor,mode=readline -rtc base=localtime -boot c -drive file=/dev/VG0/win7x86oct,if=none,id=drive-ide0-0-0,format=raw -device ide-drive,bus=ide.0,unit=0,drive=drive-ide0-0-0,id=ide0-0-0 -drive file=/data/software/Microsoft/ISO/Win7_Enterprise_x86_SP1_2011-10_EN.iso,if=none,media=cdrom,id=drive-ide0-1-0,readonly=on,format=raw -device ide-drive,bus=ide.1,unit=0,drive=drive-ide0-1-0,id=ide0-1-0 -netdev tap,fd=18,id=hostnet0 -device rtl8139,netdev=hostnet0,id=net0,mac=52:54:00:1f:fe:dc,bus=pci.0,addr=0x3 -chardev pty,id=charserial0 -device isa-serial,chardev=charserial0,id=serial0 -usb -device usb-tablet,id=input0 -vnc 127.0.0.1:1 -vga std -device AC97,id=sound0,bus=pci.0,addr=0x6 -device virtio-balloon-pci,id=balloon0,bus=pci.0,addr=0x5
char device redirected to /dev/pts/2
kvm: -device rtl8139,netdev=hostnet0,id=net0,mac=52:54:00:1f:fe:dc,bus=pci.0,addr=0x3: pci_add_option_rom: failed to find romfile "pxe-rtl8139.bin"

I have found a couple of sites that help you enable the icons in the system tray in Ubuntu 11.04.

http://donatoroque.blogspot.com/2011/04/appindicator-in-natty-ubuntu-1104.html

http://www.webupd8.org/2011/04/how-to-re-enable-notification-area.html

From the command line type the string below and it will enable them all. Logout and back in to apply the settings.

gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist "['all']"

To enable remote control i've set up VNC over SSH. We want it to be secure of course...

I have it setup so it will automatically start when GDM starts.

1. sudo vi /etc/gdm/Init/Default
   1. add "x11vnc -localhost -rfbport 5900 -rfbauth "/root/.vnc/passwd" -o /var/log/x11vnc.log -forever -bg" just before "exit 0"
2. sudo x11vnc -storepasswd /root/.vnc/passwd
   
   1. Enter the password you want
3. sudo service gdm restart

Yesterday I finally did an upgrade on my Ubuntu linux environment. The laptop went smooth, no issues and Unity started without a problem.

Though, on my other machine (with dual screen/monitor setup) it was a bit more difficult.

Tips:

1. move your xorg.conf and restart (or reload gnome)
   1. mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old
2. Install new drivers. For nvidia follow these:

   1. sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
      sudo apt-get update
      sudo apt-get upgrade

3. Install disper to help you

   1. sudo add-apt-repository ppa:disper-dev/ppa && sudo apt-get update
      sudo apt-get install disper

   2. http://willem.engen.nl/projects/disper/

   3. disper -d auto -e

   4. This command will auto extend your current single monitor setup. Save it afterwards with your Nvidia settings manager (if you use nvidia)
   5. You may want to use an indicator: http://eggeral.blogspot.com/2011/04/disper-indicator-for-switching-nvidia.html
4. Use my config below if needed.

My config looks like this now. This may help you:

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option         "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Samsung SyncMaster"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 60.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GT 220"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "1"
    Option         "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-1"
    Option         "metamodes" "DFP: 1920x1080 +0+0, CRT: 1920x1080 +1920+0; DFP: 1920x1080 +0+0, CRT: NULL"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

It has been quiet a while. But i'm back with some great news. The 22nd of december Virtualbox 4.0 came out. It has a great improvement in an area I was waiting for.

SOUND!!!!

It was a problem to have some quality sound without stuttering with an 64bits OS (ubuntu in my case).

And now it is here. I installed it with ease of course. Changed the audio settings to INTEL HD AUDIO. Launched iTunes inside windows 7 and voila. Sound as it should be :) GREAT!

As you can tell. I'm pleased! Thanks developers @ Virtualbox

If you find your self creating a virtual machine and it crashes (and maybe your OS as well) during the installation. It might be something to do with the host I/O caching option.

I had this problem when the VDI file was on my RAID. I didn't experience problems if the VDI was on a single disk. Both disk had XFS partitions.

The trick... Go to your VM. Go to Settings > Storange > HDD controller (can be IDE/SATA/SCSI/SAS) and select "Use host I/O cache".

This should do the trick. If it doesn't the first time, maybe you get a error saying it cannot read/write to /dev/sda, power off your guest OS and power it on again. Now it should be working.

Here is the link to the forum with the answer of Frank Mehnert

I struggeled with VMware....

After a screensaver or something .... It just hangs. If you ssh from another machine, you are able to kill it and start working, but your control and shift will not be working.

The solution is simple (if you don't need it). Disable 3D acceleration.

And it now just keeps working.