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.

Read Podcast Producer: Using the Command Line

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.

Read: Podcast Producer: Writing Actions

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.

Read: Podcast Producer: Anatomy of a Workflow

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.

Read: Ten XML Schemas you should know

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.

Read: Learn 10 good XML usage habits

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is built in to many devices, but often the tools and software that can read and parse this information are too large and complicated when you only want to check a quick statistic or track a particular device or issue. This article looks at some simplified methods for getting SNMP information from your devices and how to integrate this information into the rest of your network’s data map.

Read: Systems Administration Toolkit: Using SNMP data

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the service that converts hostnames and domain details into the IP addresses required for application to communicate. Under UNIX, the primary DNS service is based on BIND, and DNS itself is a key part of most UNIX installations. This article looks at the basics of DNS setup, how servers and requests are distributed, and exchanged and how to set up and keep a DNS environment running smoothly.

Read: Systems Administration Toolkit: Understanding DNS

A typical UNIX or Linux machine creates many log files during the course of its operation. Some of these contain useful information; others can be used to help you with capacity and resource planning. This article looks at the fundamental information recorded within the different log files, their location, and how that information can be used to your benefit to work out what is going on within your system.

Read: Systems Administration Toolkit: Log file basics

The new version comes with a number of new features, some of which I’ll be detaileding over the coming weeks, but as a headline:

• New layout and structure
• New Inspire Me section for quick access to selected recipes
• Your own personal Kitchen area where you can manage your preferences, your cookbooks, recipes, shopping list, and connect with other users.
• Add your own recipes - you can now add a recipe, have the nutrition automatically calculated, and then share that recipe with others.
• RSS feeds for your cookbook, recipes, and Inspire me and automated searches
• Improved searching and nutrition information

And there’s more to come - please start using the site and let us know what you think, or if you find any problems.

I’ve got some of these coming up, and I’m going to try and make these services available permanently through a Skype or US voice number, and I might back track that information for the articles above - it’s slightly time consuming, but let me know if you’d like the live demos.

You can view the videocast online: Watch the “Discovery and Probe” demo

Or you can download it for viewing at your leisure: Download the “Discovery and Probe” demo (13.3MB)

Discover how to scan your network for services and how to regularly monitor your services to keep uptimes to a maximum. A key way of ensuring the security of your network is to know what is on your network and what services individual machines are at risk of exposure. Unauthorized services, such as Web servers or file sharing solutions, not only degrade performance, but others can use these services as routes into your network. In this article, learn how to use these same techniques to ensure that genuine services remain available.

Read: Systems Administration Toolkit: Network scanning

As I explain in the intro:

Explore new ways to record UNIX logins and other system activities in a number of different logs, and take advantage of this information to monitor user usage. This can be helpful from a number of perspectives, either to use for chargeback reporting or just to get an idea of how busy and active individual users are on the system to help when planning and allocating resources.

Read: Systems Administration Toolkit: Monitor user usage

From the new article:

Use Secure Shell (SSH) to run commands on remote UNIX systems and, with some simple scripts, put together a system that enables you to manage many systems simultaneously from one machine without having to log in directly to the machines themselves. Also examine the basics of a distributed management system and some scripts and solutions using the technique.

Read: System Administration Toolkit: Distributed administration using SSH

The Aperi application is based on Eclipse, and is an excellent example of an application built on top of the core Eclipse framework (technically, the IDE is another example of this, but many people confuse the Eclipse IDE and the Eclipse Framework as the same thing).

To help you understand and use Aperi, I’ve created a video that shows how to install and setup Aperi ready to start using it.

You can view the videocast online: Watch the “Download and Install” demo

Or you can download it for viewing at your leisure: Download the “Download and Install” demo (16.8MB)

In this final article of a four-part series, develop an application that takes VoiceXML as input and queries the Yahoo Search API for both basic Web searches and Yahoo local searches. The query returns information about businesses within a specific location and region. The application then reads the results to the caller after submission.

Internet searching is taken for granted these days, with numerous services available for searching. Web searching has also expanded. With so many companies that have a Web presence, many companies now merge their Web and traditional offline data, like business directories, and map and location information to make it possible to search for a variety of businesses and information.

This information is perfect to use VoiceXML (VXML) to submit your searches and listen to the returned results. In this article, you will create an application that does this, and you will also:

• Review a Web searching workflow
• Create a generic class for outputting VXML form elements
• Create VXML grammar that supports a wide range of input
• Use the Yahoo search interface
• Run Web searches using VXML and Yahoo search
• Run local searches using VXML and Yahoo search

Read: Voice enabling XML, Part 4: Develop a Web search application for VoiceXML

This is a technique that I’ve distilled down into an article within the System Administration Toolkit series, called Testing System Validity:

Examine methods of storing and later checking the validity of your configuration files. Despite all the security systems you have in place, it is still possible that somebody has accessed your system and changed your configuration or security settings.

Read: Systems Administration Toolkit: Testing system validity

A detailed overview of the content:

• Comparing connection technologies
  • The Web service method
  • The PHP Java Bridge
  • Differences and similarities
  • Performance
  • Java and PHP development

• Developing a Web interface
  • Revisiting the Web interface for the Java environment
  • Parsing the responses
  • Re-deploying in PHP

• Creating a PHP interface to the Java survey data
  • Creating a new instance of the Survey application
  • Generating the Survey form through a single method
  • Generating the form by using SurveyQuestion methods directly
  • Submitting survey responses back to the Java classes
  • Submitting a survey response

• Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 1: Setting up the Java environment
• Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 2: Building the Java business application
• Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 3: Integrating the Java business application with DB2 Version 9
• Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 4: Exposing the application as a web service
• Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 5: Installing and integrating the PHP Java Bridge

Read Develop with Java and PHP technology on AIX Version 5.3, Part 6: Building the Java business application

In Systems Administration Toolkit: Monitoring mail usage that’s exactly what I cover:

Examine methods for reporting on e-mail usage and getting detailed statistics on mailbox use. E-mail logs can provide a wealth of information about your users and their e-mail habits, including how often and frequently they use their e-mail. Depending on your UNIX systems, you might even be able to glean more detailed information, such as identifying which users are using their folders effectively and who could benefit from further training and advice.

Read Systems Administration Toolkit: Monitoring mail usage

See Building a grid system using WS-Resource Transfer