Solutions for tracing UNIX applications
Tracing applications are something of a passion for me, especially with the introduction of DTrace in Solaris and Mac OS X.
To support that, I have a new tutorial about the different methods available for tracing Unix applications. I tried to concentrate on tools and techniques that don’t require access to the source, like using truss and DTrace.
From the intro:
Most developers and systems administrators know what should happen in their operating system and with their applications, but sadly, this isn’t always the case. There are times when an application has failed, or is not behaving as you expect, and you need to find out more information. By using your existing knowledge of how your application should work and some basic UNIX skills, you can trace the application to find out what is causing the problem. This tutorial will teach you the basic techniques of using tracing tools to find out what your application is doing behind the scenes.
First, the tutorial looks at the distinction between debugging and tracing, and how the two solutions differ. Then it examines some specific examples of where tracing can be used to solve problems in your application. DTrace provides elements of both system tracing and debugging, and also provides you with the ability to time and benchmark applications. Finally, the tutorial shows how to trace the information being exchanged between network computers to help find problems in network applications.
Synchronizing UNIX files
I have a new article on different ways in which you can synchronize your Unix files.
From the intro:
There are many tools available that allow you to synchronize files across UNIX directories, but doing it effectively, and securely, takes a little bit more effort. This article looks at solutions for synchronizing files across UNIX filesystems and different computer systems securely, and at solutions that allow you to synchronize encrypted versions of your files for the purposes of backup.
File synchronization is the process of adding, changing, or deleting a file in one location, and having the same file added to, changed, or deleted at another location. This article covers three utilties, cp, tar, and rsync, that can aid with synchronization of UNIX files. While cp and tar commands have limited synchronization abilities, rsync provides you with the full range of options; however, all three have their place.
Of particular interest is a script that provides an encrypted wrapper around rsync, which I use to provide a nice secure rsync-able backup.
Read: Synchronizing UNIX files
Cloud Application Architectures
I’ve just received a copy of Cloud Application Architectures by George Reese for review, and my first glance through it this morning I have so far been very impressed by what I’ve read.
It’s in a nice conversational style, and so far the technical material I have glanced over has been very cleanly laid out.
I’ll continue reading and hope to have a full review up soon.
Podcast Producer: Scheduling Podcasts
A new article in my series on getting the most out of Podcast Producer is now available, this time looking at a solution involving iCal and the command-line elements of Podcast Producer that can automate the process of recording.
This can be particularly useful if you have cameras set up in various classrooms or offices and have set times for different presentations. You can set the presentations to be automatically recorded, and use the information within the iCal event to set the data about the podcast itself. Using the system in article you can control your entire podcast process by creating new events within iCal.
If you work with podcasts on an ongoing basis, scheduling for the recording and publishing of your podcasts is critical. From an audience perspective, you want to have a regular stream of content to keep people interested in your podcasts. You also want to make sure that you are making the best use of your presenters by giving them the time and flexibility to create a podcast at a time that suits their schedule and yours.
Instead of explicitly recording a podcast and having the information submitted into the system, why not schedule podcasts recordings to take place automatically according to your organizational needs? For example, within a school or university you may have regular class sessions that you want to record and publish as a podcast.
The article demonstrates how to use AppleScript in combination with iCal to automate the recording of podcasts from cameras without having to manually create each recording. The solution will simplify the scheduling of recordings to create a suitable event within iCal and then uses iCal and Podcast Producer handle all of the complexities of the recording process.
Podcast Producer: Publishing to YouTube
My new article at the Apple Developer Connection is now available.
When creating podcasts you dont always want to publish to one of the blogs or wiki services on your Leopard Server, or to iTunes. How about posting to YouTube?
From the intro:
YouTube has created a whole new generation of users who like to view video over the Internet, whether at their computer, their laptop or when using their iPhone. With Podcast Producer, you have many workflows available to you on your Mac OS X Server, but you can also customize workflows and publish content directly to YouTube. Follow along to build a custom workflow that will take an existing video podcast through Podcast Producer and post the content directly onto YouTube.
The solution involves a custom application using the YouTube Java kit that submits a converted podcast content to your YouTube account.
Podcast Producer: Using the Command Line
The next article in my series on using Podcast Producer is now available.
Podcast Producer: Using the Command Line looks at the different command-line tools that are available for interacting with the Podcast Producer system.
The Server Administrator, and other tools, provide a powerful graphical user interface (GUI) to Podcast Producer. Sometimes, however, you may only be able to interact with the server over a secure shell (SSH) connection remotely using the command line. This allows you, for instance, to control Podcast Producer from halfway around the world.
This article, the third in a series, is aimed at Podcast Producer administrators. We will examine four command line tools available for controlling and monitoring Podcast Producer.
Podcast Producer: Writing Actions
The second article in my Podcast Producer series is now available on Apple Developer Connection.
Podcast Producer: Writing Actions discusses the actions that make up the processing of podcasts sent to Podcast Producer into the final formats and associated blog posts, emails and other material that publishes the podcast out to the world.
From the introduction:
In order to write effective actions for Podcast Producer, you must understand the different properties that are executed from the command line. Individually, actions are discrete operations, but when chained together they provide a powerful processing environment so that the output from one action is compatible with the input of the next action within the process.
In this article, designed for Podcast Producer administrators developing their own workflows, you will learn about how to write and execute actions. Armed with this knowledge, you can easily develop your own actions to build different workflows. You will also learn about how to ensure that your actions are flexible and executable within the Xgrid environment and how to manage execution and resources during processing.
Podcast Producer: Anatomy of a Workflow
The first in a new series of articles about Podcast Producer has been published. These are for the Apple Developer site, and I’m hoping that they will dig deeper into the workings and management of the system which is part of Leopard Server.
The first article, Podcast Producer: Anatomy of a Workflow, looks at the main system within Podcast Producer for turning your podcasts into published works, the Workflow. From the intro:
Podcast Producer, an integrated part of Leopard Server, provides a complete publishing and management system for audio and video podcasts. Your users can submit raw material into the Podcast Producer system and have the files automatically processed into a suitable format so that the podcast can be published to iTunes and Leopard’s built-in blog services.
Workflows are the cornerstone of the Podcast Producer system. Workflows define the process to convert the incoming raw material into the final content, including translating and recoding audio and video for different targets, and publishing and creating the environments, blog pages and other materials that make your podcast available to a variety of different targets. Because the workflow instructions are independent of the content, you can publish podcasts repeatedly using the same workflow to achieve consistently high quality results.
Understanding the anatomy of a workflow, from the contents and definition of the workflow environment, through to the methods of interaction with other components in Leopard Server such as Xgrid, will help you plan new workflows and organize and structure your Podcast Producer environment more effectively.
In this article, designed for Podcast Producer administrators, we will examine Podcast Producer from the perspective of a submitted job. By examining the contents and processing of a workflow, Podcast Producer administrators will learn about the significance of the different elements, and how they work together to help produce the final podcast or video cast.
Ten XML Schemas you should know
A new article on Ten XML Schemas that you should be aware of is now available at IBM developerWorks. The article collects together some of the XML schemas that I think are important.
In this article, look at some top XML schemas that provide solutions for all sorts of problems, from the basics of Web services to data description. You’ll also cover database-like solutions that involve contacts and invoices. The schemas in this article were chosen for their usefulness and utility, plus their impact on the XML community in how information is shared and exchanged using the XML format.
Learn 10 good XML usage habits
A new article on some of the best XML usage habits is now available. The article aims to look at some of the main trips and mistakes made by people when using XML as a data or processing format:
Make your XML work easier with the ten tips in this article – ultimately you’ll be less prone to errors and more productive.
You love XML and the flexibility and interoperability that it offers, but you can do some things to make your interaction with XML and the tools that you use to work with it significantly easier. Picking up some basic good habits when you work with XML will ensure that you get the most efficient use out of your XML documentations and applications.
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