Welcome to my blog. I write Instruction Guides, How-Tos, and Tips & Tricks on Linux, Database, Hardware, Security and Web. Visit Best of the Blog section to get started.

GNU Midnight Commander (mc) is a powerful text based file manager for Unix.  mc gives an jumpstart for Windows power-users who would like to transition to Unix.  It also has several advanced features to keep experienced Unix users happy.  mc can run from any Unix terminal. If your terminal can execute vi, you can execute mc to view the midnight commander user interface. Midnight commander supports mouse when you are running it under xterm.
 
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Uploading several rows of data from a text, csv, and excel file into a MySQL table is a routine task for sysadmins and DBAs who are managing MySQL database. This article explains 4 practical examples on how to import data from a file to MySQL table using both mysqlimport and “load data local infile” method. Instead of importing data, if you want to backup and restore MySQL database, please use mysqldump or mysqlhotcopy.
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This article is part of the ongoing Productivity Tips for Geeks series. cd is one of the most frequently used command during a Unix session. In this article, I’ve provided 6 cd command hacks, which will boost your productivity instantly and make it easier to navigate the directory structure from command line.
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This article will explain the sequence in which the following files are executed:

• /etc/profile
• ~/.bash_profile
• ~/.bashrc
• ~/.bash_login
• ~/.profile
• ~/.bash_logout

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This is a 16 step Oracle 11g installation guide that covers a typical installation scenario with screenshots.

1. Select installation method

Following two installation methods are available:

• Basic Installation - Choose this to perform the full Oracle Database 11g installation with standard configuration options. You can use only filesystem for storage in this option.
• Advanced Installation - This gives your full control over the installation, including the ability to choose Automatic Storage Management. Select this option as shown below.

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Photo courtesy of wraithtdk

Companies purchase support for most of their enterprise hardwares (servers, switches, routers, firewalls etc.,) and softwares (databases, OS, applications, frameworks etc.,). They spend lot of cash on support mainly for two reasons: 1) To get help from vendors to fix critical production issues 2) To keep up-to-date with the latest version of the software and security patches released by the vendors. In this article, I’ve given 10 practical tips for DBAs, sysadmins and developers to use their hardware and software support effectively.
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Photo courtesy of markstrange

We see celebrities, politicians and famous people cruise around with bodyguards to protect themselves and their possessions from various threats. While most of us cannot afford such kind of protection when we cruise the streets, we can at least have that kind of protection when we cruise the internet. I have provided list of 7 powerful Firefox add-ons with screenshots that will protect you from the dangerous unknowns of the internet.
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mysqldump is an effective tool to backup MySQL database. It creates a *.sql file with DROP table, CREATE table and INSERT into sql-statements of the source database. To restore the database,  execute the *.sql file on destination database.  For MyISAM, use mysqlhotcopy method that we explained earlier, as it is faster for MyISAM tables.

Using mysqldump, you can backup a local database and restore it on a remote database at the same time, using a single command. In this article, let us review several practical examples on how to use mysqldump to backup and restore.
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Installing Perl modules required by various open source software is a routine tasks for sysadmins. Installing Perl modules manually by resolving all the dependencies is  tedious and annoying process.

Installing Perl modules using CPAN is a better solution, as it resolves all the dependencies automatically. In this article, let us review how to install Perl modules on Linux using both manual and CPAN method.
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Previously we discussed about how to install Apache and PHP from source. Installing LAMP stack from source will give you full control to configure different parameters.

Installing LAMP stack using yum is very easy and takes only minutes. This is a good option for beginners who don’t feel comfortable installing from source. Also, Installing LAMP stack using yum is a good choice, if you want to keep things simple and just use the default configuration.
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