November 30, 2007

Moodle and Gallery 2.1.2

Posted in Moodle at 9:36 am

The Gallery module for Moodle is a very useful addon that allows you to upload images and view them in an easy accessible format.

You can upload a directory structure in a zip file and have it recreate that structure as albums on the server. It can auto-generate thumbnails and supports commenting and ratings.

The two most common problems with this module are users don’t read the README text file specifying that it only supports Gallery 2.1.2 (I missed this first time as well) and that the latest module available from Moodle.org has a bug that causes an endless redirection loop.

I have written a fix for the view.php file in the Gallery mod directory that fixes this problem.

The problem causes a continuous redirection and Firefox reports:

  • Redirection limit for this URL exceeded.
  • Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.

Useful Links:

Douglas Dixon has also been working on a module update to support Gallery2 2.2.3 but it is still in development.
http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=82108

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November 20, 2007

AD Explorer

Posted in Active Directory, Utilities at 8:07 am

An LDAP browser for Active Directory. Makes it easy to see all attributes of objects and assists in configuring web applications that authenticate using LDAP.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Networking/AdExplorer.mspx

You can connect to your AD server without knowing any LDAP paths, just use your standard login.

Can also take snapshots to allow you to see what effect changes have on AD.

Another Great tool from Sysinternals

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November 18, 2007

Ultimate Boot CD for Windows

Posted in Utilities at 11:19 am


A graphical Windows boot disc containing many useful applications to repair, recover or clean a PC.

http://www.ubcd4win.com/

Can also be combined with UBCD for DOS on the one disk.

It is based on Bart’s PE Builder boot disc, and supports the Bart plugins such as Novell Client and other utilities. UBCD also has the benefit of a better menu structure of all the applications, making it easier to find the program you want.

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November 17, 2007

SysInternals Website

Posted in Utilities, Websites at 11:46 pm

A great site with a large collection of tools, everything from Active Directory Management and Monitoring through to security, process monitoring and funny screen savers.

http://www.sysinternals.com/

SysInternals was taken over by Microsoft so they also have new URL http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/

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Folder Size for Windows

Posted in Windows at 11:42 pm

Windows Add-on that adds an additional column to Details view in explorer showing the size of subfolders.

http://foldersize.sourceforge.net/

Allows very quick very of directories to see space.

Main problem is it can take a while to refresh and can be slow for initial scan.

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Tech Know Tour 07 – Moodle

Posted in Moodle at 5:45 pm

On Wed 14th November 2007, Robert Devlin, Dr. Paul Ganderton and James Rudd presented a talk at SBHS as part of the DET Tech Know Tour.

Below are copies of documents from that talk

Some other useful links:

Teacher Manual
http://download.moodle.org/docs/teacher-manual.pdf

Using Moodle Book
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Using_Moodle_book

Updated Moodle Guides (Look on left side for English):
http://moodle.tokem.fi/

AD Explorer:
http://jrudd.org/wordpress/2007/11/20/ad-explorer/

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XMing X Server

Posted in Linux, Utilities, Windows at 4:56 pm

This is a free X Server that is great for managing Linux servers using SSH and PuTTY from a Windows PC.

http://www.straightrunning.com/XmingNotes/

I wrote an article at Cool Solutions on Remote Management using SSH and X-Forwarding that gives some idea of its use.

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Folder Size Shell Extension

Posted in Utilities, Windows at 2:24 pm

Adds a Size tab to folder properties, showing the size of all the subfolders.

Great addon for Windows. Bring up the properties of a folder and it will calculate the size of all the subfolders.

Can be set to sort folders by size and decreasing allowing sysadmins to quickly identify large folders in user drives and shared locations. Can also export as a TXT file to give to users.

Made by the now defunct Space Dolphin website.

Folder Size Shell Extension Install

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Ninotech Path Copy 4.0

Posted in Novell, Utilities, Windows at 12:42 am

Path Copy allows you to copy a file or folders path from a simple right click menu. You can get the Full, Short or UNC path.

It is a great tool and one of the must haves for a network admin.

http://home.worldonline.dk/ninotech/index.htm

I use it constantly when writing scripts and need the full path, or with Zenwork applications needing the UNC path. Just a simple right click gets the complete UNC path.

Path Copy 4.0

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November 16, 2007

Aim of Site

Posted in General at 10:55 pm

I’m aiming to use the site to let other admins know about some great utilities and websites to help in managing networks, primarily for schools, but hopefully relevant everywhere.

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