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Category: Operating Systems

Operating Systems

Windows Installer fails to install msi package with “This installation package could not be opened” error
08 Aug
Posted in IT Support No comments

Windows Installer fails to install msi package with “This installation package could not be opened” error

A windows 7 laptop was dropped off in the office with an unusual problem.  Any applications which were downloaded onto the PC would fail to install if they relied on Windows Installer, such as the Australian Tax Offices (ATO) E-tax application . The error tended to indicate that the installation was corrupt. However I knew this wasn’t the case as the very same msi package would install without issue on another PC. In fact through the process of elimination I could get Windows Installer to install the msi package if the run from the command prompt using msiexec.exe.  Read more about Windows Installer fails to install msi package with “This installation package could not be opened” error …

Gnucash with MySQL: Creating custom invoices with PDF output and template based email to the customer
12 Jul
Posted in Database No comments

Gnucash with MySQL: Creating custom invoices with PDF output and template based email to the customer

I’ve been using GnuCash for some time and have found it to be a great product. Where GnuCash falls short, in my opinion, is it doesn’t provide for scheduled automatic invoice generation. Additionally creating custom invoices involves learning Scheme which personally I don’t have time to get my head around. So I set out to fix these 2 issues using the tools I know well, namely MySQL, perl, and good old HTML. This post will cover custom invoice generation to html and pdf, and emailing the results to the customer using a template. GnuCash scheduled automatic invoice creation will be covered in another post in the near future. Read more about Gnucash with MySQL: Creating custom invoices with PDF output and template based email to the customer …

The simple way to fix Ubuntu duplicate sources.list entry errors
10 May
Posted in IT Support One comment

The simple way to fix Ubuntu duplicate sources.list entry errors

For quite some time I’ve been getting duplicate sources.list entry errors when performing software updates/installs on our Ubuntu server. The reason I hadn’t done anything about it was this error is just an annoyance and wasn’t impacting on the servers performance. The problem stems from this server being used for development and testing, so it is always being upgraded to the latest Ubuntu release. This even includes beta releases. The server started out life on Ubuntu 9.04 release and now is sitting on Ubuntu 12.04.  Read more about The simple way to fix Ubuntu duplicate sources.list entry errors …

How to run a PASSIVE FTP server on Windows Server with a Cisco Router
28 Mar
Posted in Cisco No comments

How to run a PASSIVE FTP server on Windows Server with a Cisco Router

If you intend to run an internet facing FTP server you have 2 options for FTP, active or passive. The easiest option for an FTP server administrator is the active mode. In active mode the client makes a connection to the server on port 21. The server then makes an outbound connection on port 20 to the client on a random port (>1023) for data transfer. So for the FTP server administrator the only port redirection required is port 21, and firewall access required is port 21 inbound and 20 outbound. While this is great for the FTP Server admin your clients will most likely fail to achieve any data transfer. This is because most clients will have some form of firewall in place which will prevent the server from making the connection to the random port. Read more about How to run a PASSIVE FTP server on Windows Server with a Cisco Router …