Converting dmesg Timestamps to Readable Format The kernel log buffer (dmesg) outputs timestamps in seconds since boot by default, making it difficult to correlate events with wall-clock time or other system logs. Here’s how to convert them to human-readable format. Using journalctl Instead of dmesg The modern approach is to use journalctl, which handles timestamp…
CommonJS: require() The traditional Node.js approach uses require(). Create a module that exports functions, then import them where needed. exporting functions (math.js): function add(a, b) { return a + b; } function subtract(a, b) { return a – b; } module.exports = { add, subtract }; importing in another file (app.js): const { add, subtract…
Reading Files Line by Line Processing files line by line is a common task in Go. Here are the practical approaches, from simplest to most flexible. Using bufio.Scanner The most straightforward method uses bufio.Scanner, which handles line splitting automatically: package main import ( “bufio” “fmt” “log” “os” ) func main() { file, err := os.Open(“input.txt”)…
Matching tabs with grep Grep handles tab characters in a few different ways depending on your needs. Here’s what actually works. Using \t with extended regex The most straightforward approach uses grep’s extended regular expressions (-E flag): grep -E ‘\t’ filename.txt This matches any line containing a literal tab character. The \t escape sequence is…
Getting the Full Path and Directory of a Makefile When you’re working in a Makefile, you often need to reference files relative to where the Makefile itself is located. This is especially useful for multi-directory projects or when your build system needs to know its own location. The Solution Make provides the MAKEFILE_LIST variable, which…
UWP App Data Storage in Windows 11 Modern Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps store their data in protected user-specific directories. Understanding this structure is essential if you need to back up app settings, troubleshoot issues, or migrate data between systems. Default Data Location UWP app data lives here: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Packages\<AppPackageName>\ The <AppPackageName> is a unique identifier…
Specifying SSH Keys for Specific Hosts SSH key management becomes critical when you’re handling multiple identities across different hosts. By default, ssh tries keys in a specific order, but you can explicitly configure which key to use for particular hosts through the SSH config file. Using ~/.ssh/config The cleanest approach is to define host-specific key…
SSH Clients on iOS with SOCKS Support iOS SSH clients have matured significantly, and if you need SOCKS proxy support, there are several solid options worth evaluating. The key difference from desktop clients is that iOS imposes sandbox restrictions, so dynamic forwarding requires apps built with that constraint in mind. vSSH vSSH remains one of…
Getting Metadata for AWS S3 Objects You can retrieve detailed metadata about an S3 object using the aws s3api head-object command. This is useful when you need to check object properties, sizes, modification times, or custom metadata without downloading the entire file. Basic Usage The simplest form queries an object’s metadata: aws s3api head-object –bucket…
Checking if a Bash Function Is Defined To check whether a function exists in Bash, use the type builtin with the -t option. This returns a string identifying what the name is: alias, keyword, function, builtin, or file. Basic Check The simplest approach: if [[ $(type -t f1) == “function” ]]; then echo “f1 is…
Disabling Bash Options Bash maintains a set of built-in options that control script behavior. You disable them using set +o followed by the option name, or with short flags like set +x. The Basic Syntax set +o option-name Or using short flag notation: set +x The + sign disables an option; – enables it. This…
Getting CPU Temperature on Linux Most modern systems have thermal sensors built into the CPU and motherboard. Reading these sensors is essential for monitoring system health, diagnosing performance issues, and preventing thermal throttling or hardware damage. Install lm-sensors The standard tool for reading hardware sensors on Linux is lm-sensors. Install it on your system: Debian/Ubuntu:…
Changing the YARN Resource Scheduler The YARN resource scheduler determines how cluster resources are allocated to jobs. By default, Hadoop uses the Capacity Scheduler, but you can switch to an alternative like the Fair Scheduler or configure different scheduling policies. Identifying Your Current Scheduler Check which scheduler is currently active by examining your configuration: grep…
Renaming a User on Linux The usermod command is the standard tool for modifying user accounts. To change a username, use the -l (or –login) option: sudo usermod -l user1 u1 This changes the login name from u1 to user1. However, there’s an important caveat: usermod only updates the /etc/passwd file. The user’s home directory,…
Testing if PATH contains a specific directory You need to check whether a directory exists in your $PATH variable. This is useful when verifying that a tool installation succeeded, or when debugging shell initialization scripts. The regex approach Since $PATH uses colons as separators, a regex is the most straightforward method: if [[ “$PATH” =~…
Enabling rpcbind.service to Start Automatically The standard systemctl enable command should work for rpcbind.service, but if you’re seeing it fail to start after reboot, there are several approaches to troubleshoot and fix the issue. Check the Current State First, verify the actual status: systemctl status rpcbind.service systemctl is-enabled rpcbind.service If is-enabled returns disabled, the service…
lftp with SSH key authentication for SFTP If you’ve set up passwordless SSH login with key-based authentication but lftp keeps prompting for a password, you need to explicitly configure it to use your SSH keys. The basic approach The simplest method is to pass an empty password to lftp, which signals it to fall back…
File and directory existence checks in Python Python provides several ways to check if files or directories exist, with different trade-offs depending on your use case. Using pathlib (recommended) The modern approach uses pathlib.Path, which is cleaner and more object-oriented: from pathlib import Path path = Path(‘/etc/passwd’) # Check if path exists (file or directory)…
Getting Another User’s PATH in Bash When running scripts as root, you often need to execute commands with the environment of a different user. The most reliable way to retrieve another user’s PATH is by spawning a login shell under that user’s context. Basic Approach user1path=$(su – user1 -c ‘echo $PATH’) This spawns a login…
Copying Multiple Files with scp The scp command handles multiple files efficiently, whether you’re pushing to a remote server or pulling from one. Here are the practical approaches for copying multiple files from remote to local. Brace Expansion Use brace expansion to specify discrete files: scp user@remote:file{1,2,3} ./ This works well when you have a…