File size in human format

I needed to see some file sizes in a human format (in a PHP page) so I created this function some of you might find useful:

/**Returns the size of data (provided in bytes) in a human readable
 * format
 * @size - the the size of data in bytes
 * @author alex from scriptoid.com
 */
function humanSize($size){
    if($size < pow(1024, 1)){
        return $size . 'Bytes';
    }
    else if ($size < pow(1024, 2)){
        return sprintf("%.2f", $size/pow(1024, 1)) . 'Kb'; //Kilo
    }
    else if ($size < pow(1024, 3)){
        return  sprintf("%.2f", $size/pow(1024, 2)) . 'Mb'; //Mega
    }
    else if ($size < pow(1024, 4)){
        return  sprintf("%.2f",$size/pow(1024, 3)) . 'Gb'; //Giga
    }
    else if ($size < pow(1024, 5)){
        return  sprintf("%.2f",$size / pow(1024, 4)) . 'Tb'; //Tera
    }
    else if ($size < pow(1024, 6)){
        return  sprintf("%.2f",$size / pow(1024, 5)) . 'Pb'; //Peta
    }
    else if ($size < pow(1024, 7)){
        return  sprintf("%.2f",$size / pow(1024, 6)) . 'Eb'; //Exa
    }
    else if ($size < pow(1024, 8)){
        return  sprintf("%.2f",$size /pow(1024, 7)) . 'Zb'; //Zeta
    }
    else if ($size < pow(1024, 9)){
        return  sprintf("%.2f",$size /pow(1024, 8)) . 'Yb'; //Yota
    }
    else{
        return 'too big'; //:D
    }
}

Low level HTTP(s) testing

For http use:
$ telnet localhost 80
GET / HTTP/1.0

For https use (openssl tool):
$ openssl s_client -connect localhost:443 -state -debug
GET / HTTP/1.0

Before the actual HTTP response you will receive detailed information about the SSL handshake.


More...ff you want to use HTTP/1.1 use
GET / HTTP/1.1

Even More...if you use virtual servers enter (after you get a prompt from GET / HTTP/1.1)
Host: your_virtual_server_name

Time Tracking 2.0 going alfa

Time tracking 2.0 entered alfa level

Linux - count my processes

Whenever I'm in need to count how many processes are running on my Linux box I use:

ps aux | wc -l

Mount Samba remote folders - Suse Linux

The need:
I needed to mount a remote (located on 10.0.0.7) Samba folder (named solaria) so that I can use .iso file without downloading it to my local machine (Suse 11.1)

The solution
You can mount the remote driver by hand but I'm lazy so I want it mounted automatically so here is what I did:

1. Created a [solaria] folder in /mnt folder

2. Added the following line in /etc/fstab
//10.0.0.7/solaria/ /mnt/solaria cifs auto,password= 0 0

Now the next time you start you OS you will see the content of the remote folder in your /mnt/fstab

See that I used a blank (no) password for the smb account as I allow guest logins

You can also mount it with the next command
mount /mnt/solaria
and unmount it with
umount /mnt/solaria

Note
One interesting stuff is that the old smbfs was renamed to cifs. Here is where I found this information.

Linux scan for open ports

A nice command to scan open ports for a host/ip is:

nmap -sS -O 127.0.0.1

You will get an answer like this:

PORT     STATE    SERVICE
22/tcp   open     ssh
25/tcp   open     smtp
80/tcp   open     http
110/tcp  open     pop3
111/tcp  open     rpcbind
119/tcp  open     nntp
135/tcp  filtered msrpc
137/tcp  filtered netbios-ns
138/tcp  filtered netbios-dgm
139/tcp  filtered netbios-ssn
445/tcp  filtered microsoft-ds
1720/tcp filtered H.323/Q.931
3306/tcp open     mysql
8080/tcp open     http-proxy
8081/tcp open     blackice-icecap
8443/tcp open     https-alt
Device type: general purpose

If you need to see the open ports from inside (your server) use netstat:

netstat -a

You will get something like:

Active Internet connections (servers and established)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address           Foreign Address         State
tcp        0      0 *:cvspserver            *:*                     LISTEN
tcp        0      0 *:mysql                 *:*                     LISTEN
tcp        0      0 *:netbios-ssn           *:*                     LISTEN
tcp        0      0 *:sunrpc                *:*                     LISTEN
tcp        0      0 *:http-alt              *:*                     LISTEN
tcp        0      0 *:microsoft-ds          *:*                     LISTEN
tcp        0      0 *:www-http              *:*                     LISTEN
tcp        0      0 *:ssh                   *:*                     LISTEN
tcp        0      0 *:https                 *:*                     LISTEN
udp        0      0 *:netbios-ns            *:*
udp        0      0 *:netbios-dgm           *:*
udp        0      0 *:tftp                  *:*
.......

Active UNIX domain sockets (servers and established)
Proto RefCnt Flags       Type       State         I-Node Path
unix  2      [ ACC ]     STREAM     LISTENING     5170   @/tmp/hald-local/dbus-B                                                             cG6NtYfGm
unix  2      [ ACC ]     STREAM     LISTENING     7389   /var/lib/mysql/mysql.so                                                             ck
unix  2      [ ]         DGRAM                    8071089 /var/lib/dhcp/dev/log
unix  2      [ ]         DGRAM                    8071091 /var/lib/named/dev/log
unix  2      [ ]         DGRAM                    2177   @/org/kernel/udev/udevd
unix  2      [ ]         DGRAM                    5171   @/org/freedesktop/hal/u                                                             dev_event
............

Linux: sort your folder by size

In case you need to sort your folders by size, in Linux, you can use the following command:

du --max-depth=1 /home/ | sort -n -r

of course replace '/home/' with your desired folder.

Why automate your business?

Why do you need to automate your business?

The answer is very simple: reduce human time which is VERY expensive.
Someone said that silicate (Si) is cheaper than carbon (C) and that is true.

I started this journey - to automate my business - as I had a lot of problem with employees and I'm searching for a solution.

A friend of mine said that if an employee has a personal problem that problem will become yours.

I started by developing a time tracking software for our company needs and it turned out that it worth - a lot. Now I know exactly where time was spent and more important I can detect very easily who is lagging behind with schedules.

I do not start praising our application - I think any time tracking application can be very helpful.

The main idea is that if you have many automated control mechanisms in place you can sleep better - not as a baby but better than without them.

I hope I will be able to add more and more scripts & software to Scriptoid so that anyone that need to automate his business to find a good solution.

Also we will create a repository for developers to reuse codes, snippets, recipes and programs we are using every day and find it useful.