If you run into the following error while trying to install Fedora 14 on VMware Workstation.
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The following error was found while parsing the kickstart configuration file:
The following problem occurred on line 55 of the kickstart file:
Section does not end with %%end.
Install exited abnormally.
——–
It is because VMware is trying to use its automated installation media which is in the first virtual CD/DVD drive and the Fedora ISO is in the second virtual CD/DVD drive.
The issue was resolved when I removed the second virtual CD/DVD drive and then set the first drive to the Fedora ISO.
Blog
Rails3: CheatSheet–CommandLine
See the CheatSheet on Google Docs at the following URL:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ixObvDQHq9vBD9TTVDmNtigK7LFKu7IyZDy68_k9Z9Q/edit?hl=en&authkey=COzZlYMC
NetBeans 6 – Ruby Code Snippet Codes
See the list of Snippets and their codes on Google docs at the following URL
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yZtk2qqf9Ev3YZxy79J5o76MeijLeR1qjt6pNwaNP2o/edit?hl=en&authkey=COXQ35cM
Rails3: Setting up RSpec and Cucumber on Windows
1. Add the following to your ‘Gemfile’ which is located in the root of your application.
———-
# Testing Gems
group :test do
 gem ‘cucumber-rails’, ‘0.3.2’       # BDD testing framework based on Features
 gem ‘capybara’, ‘0.4.1.1’               # Integrations testing for Rack Applications (Rails)
 gem ‘rspec-rails’, ‘2.4.1’               # BDD testing framework
 gem ‘webrat’, ‘0.7.3’                      # Acceptance testing framework
end
———-
2. From a command prompt which has the current path set to the root of your Rails 3 application run the following command. This will install both the cucumber gem as well as the cucumber-rails gem. It will also install RSpec with all of its dependencies as well.
———-
bundle install
———-
3. Now you need to install rspec into your application. By running the rspec generator it will add new folders and files to your basic rails 3 application. In the command prompt where you just executed the previous command you are now going to execute the following command.
———-
rails g rspec:install
———-
4. Setup rspec to create tests automatically by adding a generator to your application.rb file
———-
config.generators do |g|
    g.test_framework :rspec
end
———-
5. Now you need to install cucumber into your application. By running the cucumber generator it will ad new folders and files to your basic rails 3 application. In the command prompt where you just executed the previous command you are now going to execute the following command. (please note the – -rspec and – -capybara are proceeded by two dashes in a row not single dashes.)
———-
rails g cucumber:install –rspec –capybara
———-
6. Now you need to install cucumber into your application. by running the cucumber generator which will add new folders and files to your basic rails 3 application. In the command prompt where you just executed the previous command you are going to execute the following command.
——–
rails g cucumber:install
——–
7. For color coded output on windows within the command prompt you will need to install ANSICON by following the steps below.
- Download http://adoxa.110mb.com/ansicon/ansi132.zip and unzip it
- Use a cmd prompt and navigate to where you unzipped it.
- CD into the x64 directory (unless you have a 32bit machine, then use the x86 one)
- Type “ansicon.exe –i” (without quotes)
- Open a new cmd prompt
Looks like its time to start Blogging again!
I recently switched jobs, well not only jobs but countries as well which explains my lack of blogging. I am now the Chief Software Architect at INTI Laureate International Universities Malaysia. That’s right, South East Asia is where I now call home for the next 2 years.
Its been about 3 months so far and an exciting 3 months it has been. The day after we arrived the CIO ( the one who asked me to come) returned to the U.S. permanently without informing me. This of course left me attempting to implement his vision of how the new administration systems should be built without any detailed explanation or insight into his vision. This also left his position vacant with no potential replacement in sight leaving me as the interim CIO.
Let me tell you, attempting to be both the CIO and CSA is not an easy thing to pull off. As anyone who has been in a similar position knows trying to do 2 jobs, each part time, produces poor results in the end. It has been a constant battle to prioritize tasks from both positions to make sure only that which is critical to the business becomes my focus. Everything else I let pile up on my desk for the day that a CIO is located and I can devote 100% of my time and energy on the job I was hired to do.
Due to the constraints on my time and the actual lack of actual programming I have had neither time nor material to add to my blog and I have been neglecting it completely.
The other day I realized that although I may not have programming related content to add I do have a whole new perspective on Technology Services, the management thereof as well as the roles of a CIO in an organization. This new insight might actually benefit someone including myself if I put it up on the web. So I will again begin blogging so I have at least a personal record of the things I have and will learn here in Malaysia. So stay tuned, there is more to come.
MySQL: .Net Connector User Login Fails for Hashed but not ClearPasswords
If you are running into issues with the MySQL .Net Connector (any version) specially when it comes to user login after registration you may need to added some additional configuration to your web.config file.
I ran into a strange situation where a web application which was setup using the MySQL .Net Connector 6.3.0.0 for membership would allow a new user to register without an issue but once that user logs out and then attempts to log back in all they get is the “Your login attempt was unsuccessful” error message. I quadruple checked the web.config and made sure that the membership, roles, and profile providers for MySQL membership were all setup correctly. They were perfect! I finally in a ditch effort changed the password format from ‘Hashed’ to ‘Clear’, wiped out my membership database and recreated it. Amazingly, that fixed it, my users could register the same as before but this time they could actually login once logged out.
I did some Google searches on the strange difference between ‘Clear’ and ‘Hashed’ passwords and the MySQL .Net Connector and found that it relied heavily on the ‘MachineKey’ entry and was expecting a ‘ValidationKey’ and ‘DecryptionKey’ to be explicitly set. since I am running multiple applications on my production servers and since they are all using different keys in the farm I decided it would be best to place the ‘MachineKey’ entry in the web.config for each of my applications in order to allow them each to have their own keys.
Once I added the ‘MachineKey’ with the explicitly set values I switched the membership provider from ‘Clear’ to ‘Hashed’ password format, cleared out my membership database and retried registering and logging in users. This completely fixed my issue. Below is the entry that needs to be added to your web.config.
<machineKey
validationKey=”yourkeygoeshere”
decryptionKey=”yourkeygoeshere”
validation=”SHA1″
decryption=”AES”/>
