CentOS – Dale Scott, P.Eng.

December 16, 2014March 6, 2017

Install MySQL Workbench on CentOS 7

Install EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) repositories:

wget https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/7/x86_64/e/epel-release-7-5.noarch.rpm
sudo yum install ./epel-release-7-5.noarch.rpm

Install MySQL repositories:

wget http://repo.mysql.com/mysql-community-release-el7-5.noarch.rpm
wget http://repo.mysql.com/mysql-community-release-el7.rpm
sudo yum install ./mysql-community-release-el7.5.noarch.rpm
sudo yum install ./mysql-community-release-el7.rpm

(installing mysql-community-release-el7.rpm produced error: “does not update installed package”)

Install MySQL Workbench.

sudo yum install mysql-workbench

Install additional dependencies (that you would be informed of in error messages, if you invoked mysql-workbench

sudo yum install libzip.x86_64
sudo yum install tinyxml.x86_64

You can now start MySQL Workbench using menu: Applications / Programming / MySQL Workbench

References

http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/installing-rhel-epel-repo-on-centos-redhat-7-x/
http://www.linuxpcfix.com/how-to-install-and-configure-mysql-workbench-on-linux-system/

November 20, 2014March 6, 2017

Dual-boot Centos 7 with Existing Windows

I didn’t have any trouble installing Centos 7 to an unused 100G on my T-61 ThinkPad. However, Windows wasn’t listed in the boot menu (only Linux and Linux-recover).

This solution is from johnsfine, I’m summarizing for my own reference.

And fwiw, Centos 7 feels sluggish compared to Linux Mint 17.

Summary

After installing Centos 7, sda1 remained the bootable Windows partition and was untouched. However, it seems Centos7 does not support the ntfs file system out of the box. This means at the end of the install, when grub2 probed the drive to build the boot menu, the Windows partition was undetected and therefore wasn’t added to the boot menu. This procedure solves that.

After adding Windows to the boot menu, the default boot is still Centos 7. I would like to change the default boot to Windows, but it seems complicated. Maybe someday…

Procedure

Enable the EPEL repository (directory and filename current as of this writing)

wget http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/7/x86_64/e/epel-release-7-2.noarch.rpm
yum install ./epel-release-7-2.noarch.rpm

Install ntfs-3g

sudo yum install ntfs-3g

Re-configure Grub2

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

June 23, 2011June 2, 2015

FreeBSD Shout-Out on Linux Outlaws

I was lucky enough to get a shout-out for FreeBSD from Fab and Dan recently on Linux Outlaws podcast #213. Fab conceded he had “… heard from other people that FreeBSD was a good server” and Dan grudgingly commented “I know it’s a very well used server.” On a Linux podcast, I couldn’t have hoped for more!

The origin of this shout-out was when I was cycling home from work one day listening to Linux Outlaws # 210 (AFAIR). Fab had launched into a tirade (in beautiful Fab fashion) on what a loss it would be to the Linux server community if the CentOS project collapsed (CentOS is a free GNU/Linux distribution based on and functionally identical to Redhat Enterprise Linux). I immediately got off my bike and e-mailed Fab the solution – FreeBSD. Not only is FreeBSD the absolutely best Unix-like server OS, but the FreeBSD project has easily stood the test of time with its genesis in 1993.

I like Linux Outlaws to get a overview of the open source community and updates on foss software projects, new and old (I also like listening to Fab and Dan banter back and forth, although the language is closer to sailor’s than nerd-speak. I admit I’m envious of the attention GNU/Linux attracts, but most of the attention is for desktop features – shiny widgets, graphical applications, etc. When I was selecting a server OS, I wanted a GUI-less interface, minimal cruft between me and the silicon, a stable consistent architecture, good documentation, a reliable release strategy, and a community that felt right. For me, that’s clearly FreeBSD!