What is an immutable backup?

Does an immutable backup protect from Ransomware? Read more →

How to rename a MongoDB database

A developer asked me how to rename a MongoDB database Read more →

Learn about Containers

Learn all about Containers for database servers Read more →

How to move a MariaDB table to another database;

Move the MariaDB table or the whole database Read more →

What is the Apache Solr database

Ask the right questions about Apache Solr. Read more →

Easy fix for ERROR 1449 (HY000): The user specified as a definer does not exist

How to fix MariaDB error ERROR 1449 Read more →

How to check an AD group is Unix-Enabled with Powershell

A common requirement when using Active Directory Groups and Linux is to check if the Active Directory Group is Unix enabled. In simple terms - Unix - enabling means to provide a group (or user) a Unix identity. Importantly - Unix logons are identified in the system by an identifier. Sometimes you make a request to Unix enable an AD group and need to check if the group has actually been Unix - enabled. When querying the Active Directory and to identify if an AD group has been Unix -enabled , the key is to resolve the AD group and... Read more →

How to use PostgreSQL pg_basebackup

pg_basebackup is a backup utility for ONLINE file system level backups. used to take base backups of a running PostgreSQL database cluster. pg_basebackup waits for the server checkpoint and then start the Postgres data directory copy These are taken without affecting other clients to the database, and can be used both for point-in-time recovery Example pg_basebackup -U mypostgresuser -p 6666 -v -P -F tar -x -D /mybackup_directory/ -l 11_05_2019 U = username p = port v = verbose P = Progress report F = Format of the output D = directory for output l = label For a list of... Read more →

Describe Kerberos keytabs

A keytab is a text file containing a table with user accounts - accompanied by an encrypted hash of the user account . Typically one account but can be more. A non - windows system, such as Linux, can't be configured to start up with a Windows service account, so if you require a process to logon to Active Directory than keytabs are very useful. This is a more secure option than retaining a clear text configuration file - & then possibly encrypt this file. Whereas with keytabs you're storing a hash password in the keytab file. More detailed -... Read more →

How to avoid displaying password with Mongo shell logon

Question: I'd like to document a procedure to logon with Mongo shell but to not display the password . The situation is I'm running a the mongo Shell and then storing the command in a text file . Clearly this causes a security threat problem. Is there an option to avoid this situation mongo --port 27017 -u "myUser" -p "myPw" --authenticationDatabase "admin" Answer: This is an interesting problem - it's not uncommon to end up with connection strings with hard coded passwords across the network , desktops , internal sharepoint sites and anywhere you can store a connection string. There... Read more →