How-To

#############How To Install GUI On Ubuntu Server################

1. First of all make sure you have an IP address on the server. Run ifconfig and check for a valid IP address (like 192.168.0.101), subnet mask (like 255.255.255.0), gateway (like 192.168.0.1) and DNS server (like 192.168.0.1). When all these fields are valid try to ping google.com. The output should show the name google.com being resolved to an IP address and then certain outputs telling if it succeeded or not. If any part of this is not working consult Ubuntu server networking configuration docs and troubleshoot.
2. The next step is to update aptitude. Most likely right after install the aptitude component would not be up to date. To do this run sudo aptitude update and wait for it to completely finish.
3. The next step of the process is to actually install the Gnome environment. This step is the most time consuming and give yourself an hour for it to run. The easiest way is to run sudo aptitude install ubuntu-desktop and wait.
4. When the install finishes reboot the system using sudo reboot The server should load the GUI on the reboot. If not then run sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start to bring up the Gnome interface.


########How to use rsync for transferring files under Linux or UNIX#######

rsync is a free software computer program for Unix and Linux like systems which synchronizes files and directories from one location to another while minimizing data transfer using delta encoding when appropriate. An important feature of rsync not found in most similar programs/protocols is that the mirroring takes place with only one transmission in each direction.

So what is unique about rsync?
It can perform differential uploads and downloads (synchronization) of files across the network, transferring only data that has changed. The rsync remote-update protocol allows rsync to transfer just the differences between two sets of files across the network connection.

Always use rsync over ssh
Since rsync does not provide any security while transferring data it is recommended that you use rsync over ssh . This allows a secure remote connection. Now let us see some examples of rsync.

rsync command common options

* --delete : delete files that don't exist on sender (system)
* -v : Verbose (try -vv for more detailed information)
* -e "ssh options" : specify the ssh as remote shell
* -a : archive mode
* -r : recurse into directories
* -z : compress file data

Task : Copy file from a local computer to a remote server
Copy file from /www/backup.tar.gz to a remote server called openbsd.nixcraft.in
$ rsync -v -e ssh /www/backup.tar.gz jerry@openbsd.nixcraft.in:~

Task : Copy file from a remote server to a local computer

Copy file /home/jerry/webroot.txt from a remote server openbsd.nixcraft.in to a local computer /tmp directory:
$ rsync -v -e ssh jerry@openbsd.nixcraft.in:~/webroot.txt /tmp

Task: Synchronize a local directory with a remote directory
$ rsync -r -a -v -e "ssh -l jerry" --delete openbsd.nixcraft.in:/webroot/ /local/webroot

Task: Synchronize a remote directory with a local directory
$ rsync -r -a -v -e "ssh -l jerry" --delete /local/webroot openbsd.nixcraft.in:/webroot

Note:
1. Normally, the -a option can be used to perfectly mirror the files. However, if the target filesystem does not support permissions, a different set of options should be used to avoid warnings from rsync.
2. Note! Do not forget to add the trailing slashes after the folder names otherwise sensible data can be lost!