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Hosting with Linode

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Let us sing the praises of Linode, a provider of cloud-hosting for Linux-based applications and web sites. At work we’ve had two of these for a year, and they just work, exactly if the servers were sitting in the next room, except that they provide a slick management interface, and you can mix and match among different disk sizes, RAM, processors, redundancy, and various flavors of Linux. Access is via their web site, or via a secure terminal session.

Here’s a shot of the backup screen, (click to enlarge).

 The Linode-provided backup is great for basic backup. It makes backups on a weekly and daily basis. It also has a provision for a snapshot, which is a great way to back up the server before doing upgrades. Full details are on their web site, including the costs, which are a few dollars per month depending on the size of the Linode.

There are some limitations…for example with MySQL database transactions. Linode recommends that you perform a data dump of your MySQL data so that the dump files get backed up.

Set default text editor in Ubuntu

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I was looking at our crontab on our backup server. This server is an Ubuntu 12.x LTS machine, and the logs for this were being sent to my predecessor, and I wanted to change the eMail address. The usual procedure is to run the following command to see and edit the contents of the crontab file:

crontab -e

This brings up the crontab file for the root user.  Crontab is probably for another day, but basically the script shows a MAILTO address that I wanted to change.

MAILTO=”myusername@mydomain.org”
# Edit this file to introduce tasks to be run by cron.
#  m h  dom mon dow   command
0 23 * * * rsync -avz root@192.168.214.71:/opt/mysql_backup/ /backup/hive
0 18 * * * /backup/scripts/rsync_agave.sh
0 17 * * * /backup/scripts/rsync_basil.sh
0 1  * * * /backup/scripts/rsync_mysql1.sh
0 4  * * * /backup/scripts/rsync_mimic.sh
0 2  * * * /backup/scripts/rsync_petal2.sh

Running the crontab-e opens up the file in the default editor. Well, I didn’t even realize I had a default editor on this machine, and the file opened in vim, which is an archaic program, beloved by Unix freaks.  I prefer the nano editor, especially because I don’t use a text editor much, and I know how nano works.

After some digging it appears that the default editor is set as an environment variable specific to the user.  It can be changed by running the following command:

export EDITOR=nano

You can view your current environment variables, by typing

printenv

There will be a line similar to

EDITOR=nano 

In Ubuntu, you can also use the following command: 

sudo update-alternatives –config editor

This will bring up a list of editors from which you can choose your favorite.

Slack for Non-Profits – EMail is Obsolete!

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Back in February I wrote about using Slack for our non-profit organization.  I’ve since introduced this to another organization that I’m a board member for, and it appears to have really taken off for this other group. One thing I hadn’t mentioned last time was the Slack for Non-Profits program, which provides all of the benefits of a paid Slack account to a qualifying non-profit for free. These include:

  • A fully searchable archive with unlimited messages
  • Unlimited external integrations
  • Simple usage statistics
  • Custom message retention policies
  • Guest access
  • Premium support
The first point I should emphasize is that even if you don’t qualify for the non-profit program, Slack is still highly useful. In particular, we were looking for the ability to invite users to our Slack board, without having those users be able to see the entire list of channels. For example,  here is our channel list.

You’ll note that this full list includes the standard default channels, “general”, and “random”.  All of the other channels are related either to committees, or for planning of upcoming events.  The committees include:

  • board
  • fundraising
  • publicity
The planning channels include
  • 2015_fall_concert
  • 50th_anniversary 
  • auditions_2015fall 
You may have gathered that our group is a music group.  We’re actually a semi-professional choral group of 36 acapella singers that sing five centuries of choral music.  
The calendar channel is a special channel. This is an integration which displays calendar events that are entered into our organization’s Google Calendar. You’ll note that the non-profit plan includes “unlimited integrations”. (The free plans include 10 integrations). Integrations are a whole separate discussion, but briefly, they allow events and information from other applications to appear (be copied to) a Slack channel and vice-versa. I’ve used this especially for integrating Trello project management boards with Slack channels. So, for example, I may have a Trello board for a particular grant application, and have additions and changes in the Trello board appear within the fundraising channel. 
Ok.  Back to the other enhancements. An advantage of the non-profit plan is that we’ll be able to create a channel for, say the Concert Committee, and invite all the members of that committee to the channel. Those members can be restricted so that they can’t see the board channel, or indeed any other committees that they aren’t a member of. This is great for us…as we’ll probably end up having channels for each committee, as well as an AllMembers channel for everyone who sings with us.  
The other major advantage of non-profit status is that you can use the enhancements for no cost. I was interested to see that the Slack crew said if we had an actual paid account, we’d be spending US$640.00 per year, and that is just for our current subset of our full membership, (basically the board of directors). By the time we add our committee channels and the rest of our members, we’ll be getting the equivalent of at least double that amount. Not bad for a few minutes of filling out the application.  
What are you waiting for?  Apply for a Non-Profit Slack account now.  You’ll need a 501c(3) letter, testifying that you are granted non-profit status.

And I’d love to hear how you are using Slack in your non-profit; send a note or leave comments. 

Sharing QuickBooks 2014

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Having recently converted from Peachtree to QuickBooks, we wanted to add an additional person on QB so that both our accountant, and our CFO could work in QB at the same time. We started out sharing the data file from the CFOs computer, but that bogged things down.

The solution is a “server”….  which runs the QuickBooks Database Manager program.  We repurposed an older but reliable HP workstation by installing a fresh copy of Windows 7.  Then, we ran the QuickBooks installation program from their support  link.

While it looks as if you are installing the full QuickBooks program, an initial screen asks what kind of installation you want:

  • Use QuickBooks on this machine, and access a company file stored elsewhere on the network 
  • Use QuickBooks on this machine and host the company file for others on the network 
  • Host the company file on this machine, but access it from Quickbooks on other machines 

By choosing the hosting option, the installation program will install the QuickBooks Database Manager program only, on your server machine.

Networking

Assuming you are not on a domain network, (i.e. your users’ machines are set to be a workgroup) you need to create user accounts on the server machine which match the Windows 7 user accounts that users use to log into their personal workstations.  This will allow people to connect to the server machine using their usual account name, without having to enter it a second time.

Set up the data folder 

Create a folder on the server machine to hold the QuickBooks company file. Copy the company file into that folder.

This needs to be  a shared folder on the network. The QuickBooks file doctor program will turn on folder sharing, and make the folder accessible. Download and run this program on the server.

Finalizing

At this point, you have the company file loaded on the server. Now, run the QuickBooks database manager program.  This will ask you for your company folder so it can find the company file.
Note that the database manager runs as a background service,  so you can exit the program, and the file will still be available to the network.

Now you can go to each workstation, and access the file over the network. I edited the opening QuickBooks screen to show just the networked copy of the file. The next time the user starts QuickBooks, it should automatically open the file without requiring a Windows network log in. Of course, the QuickBooks log in is still required.

Licensing

Using the database server does not require a QuickBooks user license. You can safely move a company file to a server, and have the same number of users access the file. 

Details at:
https://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/Articles/HOW13004

eCommerce with Shopify and Brightpearl

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We run a web store as part of our operation, with any profits from the store flowing into our programs We recently launched with a new web store, and it has been up and running for two weeks. The transition from our old store to our new one has been pretty smooth. We didn’t write much in the way of actual programming code..we just lease a bunch of it from cloud-based vendors including Shopify, Brightpearl. and various add-on vendors. Well, that’s not entirely true; our web wizard has spent days and weeks working on the html templates for the shop. and I’ve been working on the back-end APIs to integrate the Brightpearl Inventory/CMS with our warehouse system, UPS Worldship.


The front end of our web store is hosted with Shopify. Sales that are made through the web store are passed through to Brightpearl. Along the way we charge credit cards through Authorize.net, and have implemented  a number of custom plugins or “apps” to modify both the Shopify store, and the Brightpearl application, notably from ShipRobot and Bold Apps.

The store took some time to get up and running. We had originally contracted with an outside consulting firm. After it became clear that they weren’t smarter than we are, we brought the implementation in-house, and worked directly with our cloud vendors at Shopify and Brightpearl.

One of the trade-offs of cloud-based computing is that an application of any complexity can easily rely on code from multiple providers, so that some of the time saved in not coding, is spent on “vendor management”. We have good relationships with our vendors, all of whom have provided timely tech and implementation support.

We replaced a system that used a web site hosted by a local programmer which fed the MOM Mail Order Manager program. Although we launched with a full suite of capability that matched our original specification, it is very feasible to launch a less elaborate site with Shopify, and add functionality as your needs grow.

Pseudo-Sync for DropBox and iPad

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I’m a Dropbox partisan. Dropbox works really well between multiple platforms as “personal cloud”. The wonderful thing about Dropbox is that it allows you to work locally on a file, whether you are connected to the internet or not, and then it will synchronize any changes that you have made to the source file in the cloud. This can legitimately be called syncing, because you end up with the same version of the file on all devices (and the cloud folder), once the changes have been made.

Except for iDevices. At least for Dropbox,

Even with the Dropbox app installed, the familiar syncing process that works so smoothly on desktops and laptops isn’t present on the iPad. The reason for this is that on actual computers Dropbox maintains copies of all files on all devices and the cloud. On the iPad that might be both a problem with storage space, and also a problem with the amount of data that is transferred.

This has come up with FileMaker files that are opened using the FileMaker Go app on the iPad. I’d prefer to go to the Dropbox app, find my FileMaker database file, and “Open in FileMaker Go”, which is, in fact the procedure that one uses to download and use the FileMaker file on the iPad for the first time.

1. Here’s the file shown in the Dropbox App.  It is called UCHealth.fmp12 and it is an exercise tracking application.

2. Choose the file, then, choose the Open icon (third from the right on the top, the box with the arrow).

Here FileMaker isn’t shown,  but if you tap the “Open In” application icon ….it will bring up additional options:

Tap the FileMaker Go icon, and the file is downloaded from Dropbox, and will be displayed in  FileMaker Go’s file listing for local files on the iPad

However, once the file is opened, it is copied to the iPad and it stays on the iPad. Changes to the file (new records, edited records, etc), are NOT synced back to the Dropbox cloud file.

The fix for this is a bit convoluted, but at least it works. It involves a manual copy of the file back to the Dropbox cloud.

1. In Dropbox, Delete the cloud version of the file. (If you are doing this next to your desktop computer you may see a notification on the desktop telling you that the file has been deleted from Dropbox.

2. In FileMaker Go – be sure to close the file.
a. Select the upper left menu, and choose Windows

Close the application window. (in this example, close the UCHealth application.)
That will bring you back to the file browser.

3. In FileMaker Go, choose “Device”  This will show the list of files that on the iPad.

4. Choose the upper right icon to “mark” the file. This is the (turned down page).
5. Choose the upper left “export” icon to export (square with arrow)

6. Choose “Open in Dropbox”

 7. Choose “Save”

Depending on the size of the file there may be a delay as the file is copied to the Dropbox. And of course, this process doesn’t work unless you are connected to the network.

This whole process isn’t elegant, and is only workable for a single person moving files around.  But it works.

Better than eMail: Slack for Workgroup Communication

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We’re slacking off here at our non-profit organization, having discovered Slack, a cloud-based communication application that combines the functions of eMail, chat, a bit of artificial intelligence (called the Slackbot), and the ability to exchange transactions with a growing number of third-party applications including the Trello project manager. Slack solves the problem of team communication for specific topics or projects.

Let’s say you are launching an e-Shop. You have the web developer, the graphic designer, the photographer, the shop manager, the back-end developer and the testers working on the project. You have calendar schedules, product photos, text copy, html and .css files all in half-a-dozen sites and places; Google Drive, Trello, your calendar, the file server, the production web site, and the sandbox web site. All this is glued together using eMails with copies to the team… each person has their own copy of the email (you hope), and relevant attachments or links to files on Google Drive, Dropbox,  your web server, or your file server. Its all a bit diffuse, and if anyone wanted to come up to speed on the whole project, then it would probably be pretty tough, because everything about the project isn’t in one place.

Nine years ago, I was using Basecamp for several projects including grant applications. I have used Basecamp for many years, and sung its praises for writing grants, which is by nature a collaborative process with multiple players. About 2012, Basecamp got a major upgrade which seemed to break my workflow and processes. So, I started looking around at the alternatives, and there are a bunch.

The basic unit of Slack is the team.

Teams can create channels. Channels can be for a single department, or a single project. So, for our team we created a channel for each department:

  • creative
  • development
  • admin
  • it
  • programs
Departments store their ongoing conversations within their channels. These are things that might have been communicated via eMails and attachments.  Slack can store text in a couple of structured ways; you can have a message, a snippet, or a post. A message is a simple unformatted text message similar to a chat message. (You can include emoticons). A snippet can be formatted for programming code. Finally, a post is similar to a blog post, it includes a title, and allows formatting
with fonts and bullets.

For current projects that cross individual departments, we created specific channels.

  • eStore-Launch
  • XYZ Grant Application
  • 2015 Audit
Team members can be part of any channel, and you can invite guests who are external to the team to participate in an individual channel.  
This would all be pretty spectacular on its own, but one of the strengths of Slack is the ability to integrate with other third-party applications. We are using Slack with Trello, so that any changes made on a Trello project, get reflected in the appropriate Slack project. The integration results in what amounts to a major enhancement of both applications. 
Slack is free for basic functionality, and maybe all you ever need. Worth a look! 

Kim Klein on Attitudes Toward Money

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Among the many treasures I found at our local Foundation Center Collection, was Fundraising for Social Change by Kim Klein. Now in a sixth edition, it is a 500 page book describing a full spectrum of fund-raising strategies as well as discussions of board selection, mission statements, and all of the peripheral tasks related to successful fundraising. She takes a chapter to talk about attitudes toward fundraising generally, and money in particular. 

The idea of asking for money raises another set of hindering attitudes, which are largely the inheritance of a predominantly Protestant culture infused with a Puritan ethic that affects most Americans, including those who are not Protestants. This set of values conveys a number of messages that influence our feelings and actions. For example, a Puritan ethic implies that if you are a good person and you work hard you will get what you deserve. It further implies that if you have to ask for something you are a weak person because strong people are self-sufficient. Further, most likely you have not worked hard enough and you probably don’t deserve whatever you are asking for. Rounding out this series of beliefs is our deep distrust in the ability of government to solve social problems and a general convictions that the government wastes our money in unnecessary and inefficient bureaucratic red tape.

All of these beliefs can be found among people on both the left and right sides of the political spectrum as well as across age and race lines and different religious orientations. Where these beliefs will not be found is in two places:

  • Other countries. Although many countries have various taboos related to money, none have as many contradictory ones as the United States. Our taboos about talking and learning about money are not universal.
  • Children. Children have no trouble asking for money. They do not subscribe to the idea that self-sufficiency means not asking or that polite people don’t ask. They ask, and the ask again and again. Our taboos about money are not natural–we are not born with them. 

Our beliefs about money are learned, and therefore they can be unlearned. The wonderful writer Ursula Le Guin once said in a lecture, “I never learned much from my teachers, but I learned a great deal from my un-teachers; the people who said to me, ‘You shouldn’t have learned that and you don’t need to think it anymore.'”

Fundraising for social change is in part about raising the money we need, but over a longer period of time it is also about creating healthy attitudes toward money, and many people find that aspect of fundraising to be most fascinating. 

I’d love to quote the entire chapter, but that wouldn’t be a blog post, it would be plagiarism! Instead, I suggest you check out the book yourself, her other books, and resources.

Manage Linux Log Files

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We were looking at log files in our various servers, with the idea that we could delete them to reclaim some disk space, but if they are properly set up with the logrotate command, they will be kept to a manageable size automatically. 

Log files live in /var/logs. There may be subdirectories within /var/logs for specific applications such as mySQL. 
Log files generally are managed through the logrotate command.  This is the program which deletes old logs, and stores and renames older versions of logs based on specifications that you put in to the logrotate.conf file.  The logrotate.conf file is typically located in /etc. It can contain defaults for all logs, and specifics for particular log files.  BUT….. 
Ugh.  Although the default specs for logs is the logrotate.conf file, some programs store their parameters elsewhere.  These include programs like apache, linuxconf, samba, cron, and syslog. 
The include parameters will read the contents of these other log parameter files, and include them in the logrotate.conf.  
(Note…these are the log configuration files,  not the log files themselves, which still appear in /var/log 
cat /etc/logrotate.d/httpd
/var/log/httpd/*log {
    missingok
    notifempty
    sharedscripts
    postrotate
        /sbin/service httpd reload > /dev/null 2>/dev/null || true
    endscript
The upshot is that most log files in /var/log will either be the current active log file for an application, or an archived version.  If the archives are compressed, then the suffix for the file will be .gz  

Reading the logs for user log-ins.  

Log files for logins, which contain the user name, time of access, and from where, are contained in two log files,  wtmp, and btmp.  On some systems there is also a utmp file. 
These are binary files, so that when accessed using cat, they will show gibberish. 
However, the last command will format them correctly.  
lastb shows the failed login attempts  (from wtmp)  – BSD
last shows successful login attempts.  (from btmp)  – BSD 
lastlog on Red Hat machines will also read the logins file. According to Wiki, this is “similar to last and lastb”, but last parses a different database (wtmp and btmp). 
tail -n30  shows the last 30 lines of a log file. 
tail  by default shows the last 10 
cat /proc/version  shows the version of linux 
df -h shows the installed hard disk(s) and their useage. 
cat /etc/passwd shows all of the user accounts. 
more, less for paging.  (less allows for paging backwards) 

Odds and Sods: Resurrection, DocBoxes

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After much fiddling, I seem to have been able to get my domain techfornonprofits.com to map directly to this blog, which is hosted with bloodspot.com. For a week or two it seemed it was lost in the ether, and I’m still not exactly sure what fix finally was. But, between Google/Blogger, and my domain host at Network Solutions, it looks as if the DNS records have finally got sorted out. Techfornonprofits, the blog was started when the Blogger program was relatively new, before it was purchased by Google. My first entry was in February of 2001 which seems like ancient history now.

I’m trying to sell a few DocBoxes. These are industrial-strength Mini-Itx machines originally sourced from Logic Supply. The have AOpen cases and motherboards, using Intel Celeron chips, with 1 meg of memory, a 60 or 80 Gig hard drive, and a CD or DVD-ROM. I originally had them loaded with Windows XP embedded, or Windows 7 embedded, but have reformatted them to use Xubuntu, which is Ubuntu configured to use the XCFE interface, a lightweight front end which seems to work well with the limited 1 meg of RAM on these machines. The best thing that I liked about this was a stock installation of Xubuntu automatically found the wireless network interface, and my wireless router and my printer. With XP and Windows 7 I had to go rooting around to find drivers for both of these things.

Nothing precludes running the boxes on Windows…I’ve tried it with a stock Windows 7 Professional installation as well as the embedded versions. In their original lives, they were running Windows XP Embedded. The units might have a number of applications:

  • Granny or kiddie workstation 
  • Thin client
  • Industrial controller
  • Process controller
  • Mini file or media server 
  • Lightweight web server  

The picture shows the docbox with a Logitech Orbit camera on top, which was the original configuration. I’m experimenting with how best to advertise and sell these, with a couple options, Craigslist, eBay via Global Garage, a third-party seller, and Do-It-Myself eBay.