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The tool is called MTR, for Matt’s Traceroute. It’s named after Matt Kimball, the original developer. Roger Wolff has been the maintainer since 1998.
MTR combines the functions of both the standard programs ping and traceroute. Like ping, it sends ICMP requests to a destination, either a domain name or an IP address, and listens for the destination to answer back. Like Traceroute, it also works by setting the Time To Live (TTL), or the number of maximum hops a packet can take over the network, to a low number, increasing with each attempt. This determines the route packets are taking to a destination along the way. The information will update continuously for as long as MTR runs.
InstallationInstalling it is easy enough. If you’re on a Debian/Ubuntu system just type:
sudo
apt-get install
mtrFor other distro that doesn’t include MTR in its repository, you can download the source code and compile it with the command:
./
configuremake
make
install
UsageMTR works in two modes, a graphical mode that users who aren’t as comfortable with the command line can work with more easily, and in a text-based mode.
Using MTR is pretty easy. If you wanted to test Google, you’d just use this command:
mtr chúng tôi version in Ubuntu comes with a graphical interface. When you start MTR, the results will pop up in a window. If you’d rather have it in your terminal window like most Linux users, you have several options.The easiest way is to call MTR with the “--curses” switch:
mtr--curses
chúng tôi that’s too much for you as well, you can download the plain text version:sudo
apt-get install
mtr-tinyIf you want the graphical bells and whistles (although there really aren’t any in MTR), just use the “--gtk” option.
If you want to test an IP address instead of a hostname, use the “--address” option:
mtr--address
127.0.0.1Of course, this will test the loopback device, or in other words, your own machine. You can use any IP address you want. It can be useful in case your DNS ever gets hosed.
You can also do some interesting things like change the display node and the way the fields are represented.
Linux is a great platform for learning how the Internet really works, and it’s due in no small part to the availability of tools like MTR. While sophisticated networking tools can cost thousands of dollars on other platforms, you can find quality tools to diagnose and troubleshoot connections available for free on Linux.
Image credit: Medical Instrument With Computer by BigStockPhoto
David Delony
David Delony is a writer for Make Tech Easier
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Easily Back Up Your Partitions In Linux With Apart Gtk
If you have full partition backups, you can restore your data or even your operating system when disaster strikes. The main problem is creating the partition backup. Most tools for backing up disks and partitions on Linux feel complicated. Some expect you to use commands in the terminal. Others come with old-school interfaces or use cryptic lingo. Luckily, there is Apart GTK.
Apart GTK is a GUI for partclone that allows you to clone your partitions to compressed image backups. Then, you can quickly and easily recover them from those backups whenever you wish. Let’s see how you can keep your data safe with Apart GTK.
InstallationIf you’re on Ubuntu or a compatible distribution, Apart GTK is available in the default repositories. You can search and install it from the Software Center or with the following command in a terminal:
sudo
apt
install
apart-gtkWhen the process completes, you’ll find Apart GTK among the rest of your apps.
Backup Your PartitionFind and open the Apart app from your Applications menu. It will prompt you to enter your administrative password. Apart GTK needs full access to your disks and partitions to be able to copy every bit of data on them.
On the left of Apart GTK, you’ll see a list of all the partitions on your system. We had many storage devices on our testing PC, so the list is long. For your PC, you may only find one or two entries.
Note: Apart GTK can’t clone the system partition of the active OS. You have to boot up with a live CD to be able to back up the system partition.
Currently, there is a bug with Apart GTK that prevents the process bar from being updated. Apart from an updating Elapsed time indication, the progress bar looked stuck (though it is running in the backend).
You can confirm that it is indeed running by checking the output file. If it is continuously increasing in size, then you know that it is running normally. Once the backup is completed, Apart GTK will update its window to inform you that the cloning process completed successfully.
Restoring your Partition BackupOnce again, it is best not to restore a backup to the active partition. Other than that, restoring your backup with Apart GTK is easy.
When the process completes, you’ll find the contents of your backup in the selected partition. If it was a system partition, like in our case, by rebooting your PC to that OS, it will be back to the point when you initially made your backup.
Apart GTK is probably the friendliest tool for backing up a partition. It works for Windows partitions too, making it one of the best tools for dual-boot environments.
Odysseas Kourafalos
OK’s real life started at around 10, when he got his first computer – a Commodore 128. Since then, he’s been melting keycaps by typing 24/7, trying to spread The Word Of Tech to anyone interested enough to listen. Or, rather, read.
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Network Revamp: Linux With Windows
More and more corporations and small businesses are taking the Linux plunge these days, and for good reason. The low cost of Linux combined with an abundance of geeks who eat, sleep, and breathe UNIX has created a win-win situation for IT managers and geeks alike. Since it’s usually a younger junior systems administrator or “that kid from the design group who knows a lot about computers” who introduces Linux into the workplace, there’s already someone in-house to move into a full-time systems administration position with no training required.
In other cases, Linux is just stumbled across on accident, as illustrated by one of my previous contracts. About two years ago, I was brought into a large manufacturing outfit to improve their network. They were having problems all the way around the board, from poor network performance to their NT file server grinding to a halt because they lost their systems administrator and never bothered to hire a new one.
When I was brought in to take a look at their network and to do an initial inventory, I found an old Red Hat Linux 4.2 disc kicking around in their supply cabinet. It turns out that an intern who was working for them introduced them to Linux but wasn’t skilled enough to do a full installation. Since they needed a zero-maintenance solution and part of my contract was to get their entire LAN up on the Internet with full e-mail and remote access capability, I decided that Red Hat Linux 5.0 (remember, this was 1997) would make the best replacement for their dying NT server.
The first step in the network overhaul was to get a full inventory of everything touching the network. It’s always a good idea to have a list of every system in the building for asset control and to find out the exact environment that end users work in on a day to day basis. Here is a basic inventory checklist to use when collecting data (I’ve used one of the systems from this upgrade as an example):
System Name: John’s Beast (Windows 95 Revision A)
Description: Computer in John’s office
Workgroup: HEATSHRINK
IP Address: N/A
Protocols: NetBIOS, IPX, NetBEUI
CPU/RAM/HDD: Intel 486dx2/66, 16MB RAM, 420MB HDD
Make/Model: Generic Scratchbuilt PC
Serial Number: N/A
Asset Tag: XXXX-XXXX
Owner Name: John Dough
Username: doughj
Password: lamepass
Applications: MS Office 97 (Word, Excel and PowerPoint), Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, SMS Database Client.
Documents: C:JOHNSTUFF
Since most of the Windows 95 systems had been neglected and were in pretty poor shape, I decided that it would be best to do a full Windows 95 reinstall after the Linux server came online. That way, I had full control over what got installed, a consistent naming and IP addressing scheme could be instated, and all the little nasty problems that had been cropping up on each system would be wiped out. The last thing you want to happen is for management to blame the new Linux server for Windows 95 crashing.
Also, since a strict backup policy was set in place, I had each end user move all documents from their C: drive to their NT network drive. (Getting end users to actually do this was like pulling teeth, but they tended to comply once I told them that they’d lose three years worth of work when I formatted their hard drive if they don’t move their files to the server.) After all users moved their files to the NT server, I started server inventory.
There were two NT production servers online. Both were virtually identical P133 systems with 64MB RAM and 4GB SCSI drives running Windows NT 4.0 Server. The NT server I wouldn’t be touching for this upgrade was their domain controller and inventory, tracking, accounting and manufacturing system. Although it needed major work, it wasn’t the focus of this job. The second system was just a file server running as a secondary domain controller. The file and directory structure was extremely simple showing that each user had a home directory and there were two shared group directories: an accounting/human relations area and a manufacturing/design area.
Unfortunately, there was no solid username policy in place so the upgrade wouldn’t be as transparent as I had hoped. All users were reassigned new eight-character-or-less usernames based on their last name and first initial. A new password policy was also put in place to require alphanumerics and at least one punctuation mark. Since the network was no longer an island and would be connected to the Internet, this was the first security policy set in place.
Username migration took place around 3:00am after the last set of backups fired off. I simply changed the usernames on the domain controller and then pushed the changes to the secondary domain controller. The whole process only took about 30 minutes, including walking from PC to PC changing usernames so the end users wouldn’t even have to type in their new name. The next day, each user was assigned a new password and their new username and password was noted on the inventory sheet.
Since I couldn’t afford to take a chance at bringing the NT server offline, I decided to do a redundant install. One of the spare 486dx2/66 systems with 16MB RAM and a 540MB HDD was initially used for their testbed Linux server, but after seeing the performance increase over the P133 running NT, it was decided to keep the 486 in place as their primary proxy, e-mail, Web, and file server.
I decided that using the 540MB HDD as a boot disk and then adding a 7.2GB HDD for /home and /var would be the best configuration. Red Hat Linux 5.0 was chosen because of my experience with it and its flawless performance as a high-load Web server. Had I been doing an equivalent installation, I would have chosen OpenBSD 2.5 or Red Hat Linux 6.0. I used the following partition table to squeeze the most space out of the drive:
/dev/hda135MB / /dev/hda275MB swap /dev/hda3 350MB /usr /dev/hda480MB /tmp /dev/hdb1 500MB /var /dev/hdb2 6.7GB /homeAlthough disk requirements for Red Hat Linux 6.0 and other various distributions have started to skyrocket for a full installation, the above partition table works great for a small server with minimal services and packages installed. The minimal approach was chosen primarily because of security and the lack of funds for new hardware. Besides, the more simple the system, the more secure it is and the easier the maintenance.
Custom package installation was used and only the Base, Network, DNS, Email, FTP, Samba, and Web Server packages were installed. Because the server would rarely be used at the command line, niceties such as Emacs, IRC, and Netscape weren’t installed and only the bare minimum tools would be used. The only other non-standard tools that were installed were *hobbit*’s netcat, qmail, sniffit, trafshow, and ssh.
Easily Backup Your Windows With Easeus Todo Backup
Easeus Todo is a free back up service for computers running Windows 2000 and newer. It is also compatible with Windows Server 2000/2003/2008. Todo not only can make backup images of your hard drives, it can also clone drives too. I am not going to go over that part of the application though.
Where to get it?You will want to head to Easeus to get the exe file. There is a couple of download sites that you can choose from. I chose chúng tôi to get the file.
The Install The InterfaceThe interface is very well laid out. The icons and wording is pretty explanatory.
The selections some may not be familiar with are: mount, unmount and check image file. A common image file type is [.ISO]. The simplest explanation if an image file is an archive of an optical disc (e.g. CD, DVD, or hard drive).
BackupThe back up process is super easy. If you get lost or need help, there is a help button in the bottom left of every page along the way.
Keep in mind, if you are backing up a pretty full 500gb hard drive, you will need a lot of space. You CAN compress and/or split the backup file to fit on different media such as a DVD. That is still a lot of DVDs at the highest compression.
The next step is to select the destination location of the backup. If you want to store your back up to an external hard drive, select it now. You cannot restore to the same partition or drive where the backup file is located. That seems like common sense, but I thought I would add that in just in case you aren’t paying attention to the default save location. The default save location for me was in the program files folder of the partition I was backing up. Make sure you change that.
RestoreTo restore information, the process is pretty much the reverse of creating a backup.
Select the backup file to restore from. Hopefully you have these well labeled to avoid restoring the wrong information.
Select the space, drive or partition to restore to.
Proceed.
It really is that easy. Depending on the amount of information you are restoring (or backing up for that matter) you may want to run these at a time when you don’t need you computer for a while. I was only backing up a about 15gb and it took about 10 minutes. If you are working with the maximum of 1.5tb, you may want to run it overnight.
How are you safeguarding your information incase of a hard drive crash?
image credit: TaranRampersad
Trevor Dobrygoski
Trevor is a freelance writer covering topics ranging from the Android OS to free web and desktop applications. When he is not writing about mobile productivity, He is coaching and playing the world’s greatest game… Soccer.
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How To Mount Remote Directories In Linux With Sshfs
There’s certainly no shortage of solutions when it comes to syncing files between two devices. While Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive may not give you official Linux clients, NextCloud and others do. But maybe you don’t trust a big corporation to store your files. Or, maybe, you want more security than NextCloud offers. With all the components that go into building something like NextCloud, chances are it has more undiscovered security holes than simpler solutions.
Why Use SSHFS?From the end-user perspective, this is very easy to use, clean and simple. It’s also incredibly secure since it relies on the battle-hardened and proven OpenSSH server. Encryption is also top notch, so you can rest assured that no one can steal your files while they are in transit. A correctly configured up-to-date server that only listens for SSH connections is usually impossible to crack for all but the most skilled attackers (think NSA, security specialists, etc.). And they probably don’t want your files.
Why You Wouldn’t Want to Use SSHFSIf you want the best possible transfer speed, you might want to use other solutions such as NFS. SSHFS is not the slowest if your Internet connection is of high quality, but it’s not the fastest either. And if you want to transfer directories that contain hundreds of small files, it becomes horrible. Also, if you want to fine-tune file sharing settings, based on individual users or other factors, you might want to use other software.
To summarize, if all you need is an easy, secure way to synchronize a remote directory with a local one and aren’t in a huge hurry, you will probably be satisfied with this solution.
Install SSHFSOn Arch Linux based installations, use this command:
sudo
pacman-S
sshfs
If you’re on a Fedora-based distro, use:
sudo
dnf
install
sshfs
On Debian, Ubuntu and family, use:
sudo
apt
install
sshfs
For those of you that use OpenSUSE, enter this command:
sudo
zypperinstall
sshfs
Server ConfigurationIf you rent a server or VPS, the OpenSSH server daemon is already configured. Follow the steps recommended by your cloud service provider to configure a regular user (non-root). Some let you do this directly from their web control panel and even let you import the public key to allow SSH access. In this case, generate the key pairs locally, with the ssh-keygen command. After, import the public key from “/home/your_username/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.”
If the cloud provider doesn’t offer a tool to easily import SSH public keys, do it manually. At the very least, disallow root login and disable password logins. Use SSH keys exclusively instead: they are impossible to brute-force, as is the case with passwords.
If you want to sync files between two computers at home, just treat one as the server (install openssh-server package and configure) and the other one as the client. The same steps apply.
Mount a Remote Directory Locally with SSHFSFirst, create a directory that will be synced with the remote side.
mkdir
$HOME
/
sshfs
Next, mount the remote directory locally through SSHFS. Replace “user” with the actual username created on your server and “203.0.113.1” with the actual IP address of your remote instance.
sshfs
user@
203.0.113.1:/
home/
user$HOME
/
sshfs
Of course, if you don’t want to sync the entire home directory of the user on the server side, just replace “/home/user” with “/home/user/some_other_directory” after you create it on the server.
When you want to unmount, use this command:
cd
&&
fusermount-u
$HOME
/
sshfs
ConclusionHopefully this covers all your needs. But, if it doesn’t, you can read about more command line options in the online SSHFS manual.
Alexandru Andrei
Fell in love with computers when he was four years old. 27 years later, the passion is still burning, fueling constant learning. Spends most of his time in terminal windows and SSH sessions, managing Linux desktops and servers.
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Master Your Maths With These Linux Apps
Linux offers great educational software and many excellent tools to aid students of all grades and ages in learning and practicing a variety of topics, often interactively. The “Learn with Linux” series of articles offers an introduction to a variety of educational apps and software.
Mathematics is the core of computing. If one would expect a great operating system, such as GNU/Linux, to excel in and discipline, it would be Math. If you seek mathematical applications, you will not be disappointed. Linux offers many excellent tools that will make Mathematics look as intimidating as it ever did, but at least they will simplify your way of using it.
GnuplotGnuplot is a command-line scriptable and versatile graphing utility for different platforms. Despite its name, it is not part of the GNU operating system. Although it is not freely licensed, it’s free-ware (meaning it’s copyrighted but free to use).
To install gnuplot on an Ubuntu (or derivative) system, type
sudo
apt-get install
gnuplot gnuplot-x11into a terminal window. To start the program, type
gnuplotYou will be presented with a simple command line interface
into which you can start typing functions directly. The plot command will draw a graph.
Typing, for instance,
plot sin(
x)
/
xinto the gnuplot prompt, will open another window, wherein the graph is presented.
You can also set different attributes of the graphs in-line. For example, specifying “title” will give them just that.
You can give things a bit more depth and draw 3D graphs with the splot command.
The plot window has a few basic configuration options,
but the true power of gnuplot lies within its command line and scripting capabilities. The extensive full documentation of gnuplot can be found here with a great tutorial for the previous version on the Duke University’s website.
MaximaMaxima is a computer algebra system developed from the original sources of Macsyma. According to its SourceForge page,
“Maxima is a system for the manipulation of symbolic and numerical expressions, including differentiation, integration, Taylor series, Laplace transforms, ordinary differential equations, systems of linear equations, polynomials, sets, lists, vectors, matrices and tensors. Maxima yields high precision numerical results by using exact fractions, arbitrary-precision integers and variable-precision floating-point numbers. Maxima can plot functions and data in two and three dimensions.”
You will have binary packages for Maxima in most Ubuntu derivatives as well as the Maxima graphical interface. To install them all, type
sudo
apt-get install
maxima xmaxima wxmaximainto a terminal window. Maxima is a command line utility with not much of a UI, but if you start wxmaxima, you’ll get into a simple, yet powerful GUI.
You can start using this by simply starting to type. (Hint: Enter will add more lines; if you want to evaluate an expression, use “Shift + Enter.”)
Maxima can be used for very simple problems, as it also acts as a calculator,
and much more complex ones as well.
It uses gnuplot to draw simple
and more elaborate graphs.
(It needs the gnuplot-x11 package to display them.)
while its main menus offer an overwhelming amount of functionality. Of course, Maxima is capable of much more than this. It has an extensive documentation available online.
ConclusionMathematics is not an easy subject, and the excellent math software on Linux does not make it look easier, yet these applications make using Mathematics much more straightforward and productive. The above two applications are just an introduction to what Linux has to offer. If you are seriously engaged in math and need even more functionality with great documentation, you should check out the Mathbuntu project.
Attila Orosz
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