How-To: Clear DNS Resolver Cache · 324 days ago

On Windows 2000/XP/Vista, run this command from a DOS prompt:

ipconfig /flushdns

On Mac OS X 10.1 – 10.4 open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app and execute this command:

sudo lookupd -flushcache

On Mac OS X “Leopard” 10.5+ open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app and execute this command:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

Reboot your computer, and your operating system’s DNS cache should be cleared.

— Ryan J. Bonnell

---

How-To: Add Additional FTP Users to Domain in Plesk · 344 days ago

Assuming you already have an existing domain setup (example.com) with the primary FTP user (john) and password (doe) with home directory (/var/www/vhosts/domain.com), and you wish to create additional FTP users (jack and jill) with the same access privileges as john:

# Login to the server as root
ssh root@domain.com

# Execute the following shell command for the user’s account you wish to mimic
cat /etc/passwd | grep 'john'

This will show you a line similar to the following:

john:x:10041:2523::/var/www/vhosts/example.com:/usr/local/psa/bin/chrootsh

The first number (after the second colon) is 10041, so this is the UID of user “john”. You will need this in the useradd lines since useradd wants a number for the UID.

# Create the additional FTP user with a “jailed” home directory in /httpdocs directory
useradd -u 10041 -o -d /var/www/vhosts/example.com -g psacln -s /usr/local/psa/bin/chrootsh jack

# Create the additional FTP user with a “jailed” home directory in /web_users directory
useradd -u 10041 -o -d /var/www/vhosts/example.com -g psaserv -s /usr/local/psa/bin/chrootsh jack

# Give the user a password
passwd jack

Even without stopping/restarting the FTPd daemon, you should now be able login as with the new FTP user (jack) and access the same directories and with the same permissions as the primary domain user (john).

All new FTP accounts created using this method should have the same “shared” access to files since they all belong to the same group — no matter which of the users created or edited the file(s), all should be able to access/edit/whatever the same files.

As an additional benefit, the new user account is “jailed” to his/her home directory and cannot view the contents of other directories outside their home directory.

The only caveat to this aproach is that these users defined at the Operating System level, so their accounts or passwords cannot be changed through Plesk — but it’s a trade-off most people will glady accept for the improved functionality.

For a discussion on this topic, see http://forum.swsoft.com/pda/index.php/t-37495.html

— Ryan J. Bonnell

---

Fix Airport Self-Assigned IP Address Leopard · 371 days ago

I spent many hours researching, troubleshooting, and trying to find a solution to my Apple PowerBook getting an Airport self-assigned IP address.

This problem seemed to originate after I installed the Login and Keychain Update 1.0 (30 October 2007) for Mac OS X “Leopard” 10.5.

The steps that worked for me was to:

  1. Delete the Airport preference file /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
  2. Verify/Repair my Login Keychain using Utilities > Keychain Access
  3. Reboot into Safe Mode (by holding down the Shift key during startup)
  4. Turn my computer off, then boot up normally.

I have read other user reports that had success by disabling the “Back to My Mac” .Mac feature, creating a new Network Location, or by disabling and re-enabling Airport access whereby triggering a “Renewing DHCP Lease”.

— Ryan J. Bonnell

---

Install Nano RPM on Plesk 8.2.1 · 372 days ago

These instructions are mainly for my internal reference, but for the sake of you — oh glorious reader — I’ve decided to share my recipe.

To install nano (clone of the Pico text editor) on a Linux-based SWSoft Plesk server, run the following commands — assuming you have root access:

  1. ssh root@domain.com
  2. cd /usr/local/src
  3. wget http://www.nano-editor.org/dist/v2.0/nano-2.0.3.tar.gz
  4. tar zxvf nano-2.0.3.tar.gz
  5. cd nano-2.0.3
  6. ./configure
  7. make
  8. make install

To test the installation, simply run the executable from the command line: nano

— Ryan J. Bonnell

---

Plesk 8.2.1 Shell Commands · 374 days ago

# Start/Stop Qmail
service qmail stop
service qmail start
service qmail status

# View Qmail log file
tail -f /usr/local/psa/var/log/maillog

# Rebuild Qmail configuration files
/usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/mchk -v

# View Qmail mailbox locations in Plesk
cd /var/qmail/mailnames/

# List the total size of all mailboxes
cd /var/qmail/mailnames/; du -h --summarize

# List the size of each mailbox, shown under its domain
cd /var/qmail/mailnames/; du -h --max-depth=2

— Ryan J. Bonnell

---

Older