John....the feeling is more than incredible. I have actually done just as you suggest in your message....writing up an installation guide for my own use but would be very pleased if others could benefit from it. Has anyone had any experience with VMWare? We have a license for it and nobody is using it....I'm thinking of setting up a base system and making an image of it so that I can easily and quickly get to a certain known point in the process so that I can "screw" with stuff without trashing the thing like I did the first couple of times. Thanks for the words and encouragement and the fine suggestions.....hope the leg is getting better!
Cleve > > From: John Hebert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 2004/03/12 Fri AM 10:35:09 EST > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [brlug-general] Flowscan finally working......and well! > > Cleve, > > I've learned that when it comes to working on complex > projects like yours with lots of unexpected chalenges, > it is valuable to document what you have done so far, > and continue to document what you are doing. This > could be valuable of course as it provides a record of > your journey, but it would be valuable to others as > well, in the form of a HOWTO, etc. > > Congrats! The feeling of accomplishment is great, eh? > > > --- Cleve Allison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Well I am exhausted......and the Flowscan is > > working. > > First thing I can say about Flowscan is that the > > documentation is > > lacking......but the program is wonderful. > > I would highly suggest this tool if you are in the > > business of caring > > for a network. > > > > I did end up using a harddrive installation of > > Knoppix 3.3 however, I > > downloaded the *.tar.gz files and built them in > > place rather than using > > the apt-get, with prebuilt .deb packages. This > > setup was truly a > > journey........ > > Beware the ConfigReader perl module.......the > > apt-get installation > > doesn't work, the make install doesn't work, in fact > > the cpan shell > > installation doesn't work either, it was apparently > > built for RH7.2 but > > all bets are off after that, it seems that the > > Makefile.pl is missing > > and the perl include directly is in a different > > place. The solution is > > to figure out what your perl include directory > > is....../usr/share/lib > > for me, I think .....and move a couple of files to > > that location. > > > > Over the last few years, I have been a Linux > > cheerleader but have > > functionally used Linux as a hobby OS; certainly > > from time to time it > > has been my primary desktop but due to my lack of > > knowledge, I always > > kept another machine close by "just in case". This > > being the case, I > > have gotten very good at installing various > > distributions and setting > > things up for a comfortable desktop > > experience.......ie. simple stuff. > > Email, usenet groups, wirelss, vpn, printers, > > samba......things that the > > desktop user would need. > > Yes, I have provided support for web, db servers in > > an enterprise > > environment but hell, once its set up correctly it > > just doesn't need > > that much attention, plus there was vendor > > support.....not a truly "get > > your hands dirty" experience. > > > > Ok...that is the setup.....and here is the thing; I > > have learned more in > > the last week and a half about the GNU/Linux > > environment that I have > > learned in the last 5 years. Having a project and > > being in charge of > > the entire thing from start to finish has to be one > > of the best ways to > > learn a system. I know that I have learned a LOT > > because what is so > > glaringly obvious to me at this moment is the VAST > > amount that I don't > > know. I leaned about user accounts, directory and > > file attributes, > > about ./configure, make, make install......and a lot > > of the switches > > that I never knew existed for them, and on and on > > and on. > > > > I'm going to make Flowscan my pet project for a > > while......I only > > implemented it in one of the very many ways that are > > available. There > > are several tools used for collecting the NetFlow > > information and > > several tools for graphing it. > > After I am comfortable that Flowscan is where I want > > it to be and I have > > scripted and cron'd most administrative tasks then I > > will begin work on > > either Rancid or OpenNMS. > > > > The next thing is to research more into the scripts > > that help manage the > > Flowscan "system"......I started the individual > > components via the > > command line as the packaged scripts didn't > > work......I'll attempt > > executing them on the command line one at a time on > > a test system to > > iron out what is and isn't working.......thus it > > will be very similar to > > my experience with researching how to install and > > "fire up" > > Flowscan......I think it required a total of three > > separate documents > > each of which preposed to be "installation guides" > > to collect all the > > information that was actually necessary. > > each left out things that we necessary to be > > successful at > > installation. If I have time, I'll try to put > > together an actual > > "complete" installation guide. > > > > One suggestion......don't assume that within a > > couple of hours of > > getting it working with two remote sites that you > > can add 169 additional > > sites and have it still work. Yes........I did > > this. Ouch. Damn, that > > hurts. > > I have 171 remote sites that I am interested in > > collecting Netflow info > > on as research for implementing QoS but some time > > needs to be put into > > "design" to accomplish such a task. I was > > collecting 6MB of data every > > five minutes.......yes, thats right.....72MB/hr, > > 1.7G/day, 12G/wk, > > 51G/mth, 622G/yr Wouldn't really work out that way > > due to holiday's > > weekends, etc. > > Quite a bit of work for a fancy MRTG box to use, > > huh? > > > > I will attempt to provide a complete description of > > the tool with > > screenshots at a future date........ > > I do very much suggest that this tool is > > invaluable.....this is not a > > simple MRTG website, I've used MRTG and I liked it, > > however Flowscan is > > like MRTG on steriods, with a Grad degree and an > > attitude. > > > > Cleve "still feel like a newbie, but not as much > > now" Allison > > > > p.s. Sorry about the run-on sentences, ranting, > > incoherent paragraphs, > > misspellings, etc....I'm bushed. GoodNight! > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > General mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net > > > ===== > John Hebert > Official BRLUG Linux Curmudgeon > Open Source Ankle Biter > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Search - Find what you?re looking for faster > http://search.yahoo.com > > _______________________________________________ > General mailing list > [email protected] > http://brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net >
