scripting

Debian Squeeze & Broadcom b43 etc

So you like Debian, and why wouldn’t you, it is great after all. Unfortunately, many laptops come from the factory sporting Broadcom-based chipsets. So inevitably I complete a Debian install and Broadcom takes the wind out of my sales. I then trudge over to http://wiki.debian.org/wl#Squeeze and go through the paces. Why? I do it over and over. Well enough is enough, I mean this isn’t a tricky script to write. So for your enjoyment, I have put it all together into a small bash script to simplify things for future installs. First, be sure to add the non-free repo to your /etc/apt/sources.list file.
Then create and run a .sh file containting:

#!/bin/bash
aptitude update
aptitude install module-assistant wireless-tools
m-a a-i broadcom-sta
echo blacklist brcm80211 >> /etc/modprobe.d/broadcom-sta-common.conf
update-initramfs -u -k $(uname -r)
modprobe -r b44 b43 b43legacy ssb brcm80211
modprobe wl
iwconfig

Enjoy!

–himuraken

Crontab Generator Makes Scheduling Even Easier

For those that have never used crontab, it can be a daunting task to schedule a simple script. As with all things, I highly recommend that you learn the meanings of CLI programs and their usage etcetera. With that said, I wanted to check my crontab job against a generator of sorts just to be sure I had it right. If you want a simple click and go on crontab generator, I recommend using the one provided by HTML Basix. Enjoy!

–Himuraken

Scripting in Kaseya, silent CCleaner installation.

We recently purchased Kaseya One for MSP’s and I have been engaged in many hours of training and configuring this week. One of the more interesting topics that were covered during the Kaseya Boot Camp training was scripting. Simply put, Kaseya is scripting. Script this, script that, and things that appear to just be menu options, are just dolled up scripts. When I have more time I will try to go into Kaseya and scripting even further.

Anyways, one of the most common things that admins like to install and run regularly is CCleaner. If you live in a cave and don’t use CCleaner, it basically just simplifies temp file, cookie, and etc removal. What many people do not know is that ccleaner.exe, the main executable, can be run simply by copying it to a drive and running it. So if you have the exe on a client drive, just script the program to run.

CCleaner has some documentation here and there regarding scripting and command line execution, but for simplicity sake I thought I would add the ones I use most. The two most common tasks are installing and running CCleaner.

To invoke the ccleaner silent installation, run the setup executable with the /S switch. A direct example would look like this:

ccsetup220.exe /S

*Note* that this switch is case sensitive and /s is not the same as /S.

To run ccleaner silently in the background to run with the default options use the following command from c:\program files\ccleaner\

ccleaner.exe /autoclean

So to create an application package for deployment to agents, just follow the application deployment wizard after uploading the ccsetup file to the VSA Shared Area. Be sure to use the /S for command line parameters when you have the option.

Obviously this doesn’t even scratch the surface of the possibilities available to you via scripting and Kaseya, but it is a simple example.

–Himuraken