Wednesday, March 06, 2024

The Rise of Generative AI: Revolutionizing the IT Landscape

Introduction: Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) is a cutting-edge technological development poised to bring about transformative changes in the IT industry. This article explores the fundamental aspects of Generative AI and its potential to revolutionize information technology.

Understanding Generative AI: Generative AI refers to a class of artificial intelligence systems designed to create content, such as images, text, and even multimedia, by learning patterns and generating new, original outputs. Unlike traditional AI, which relies on explicit programming, generative models have the ability to create content autonomously, leading to a wide range of innovative applications.

Key Components of Generative AI:

  1. Neural Networks: Generative AI relies on neural networks, particularly Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), to simulate creativity and generate diverse and realistic outputs.


  2. Creative Content Generation: Generative AI excels in creating content that appears authentic and often indistinguishable from content produced by humans, including art, text, and music.


  3. Adaptive Learning: These systems continuously learn and adapt from the data they are exposed to, enabling them to improve over time and produce increasingly sophisticated and realistic outputs.

Impact on IT Industry:

  1. Content Creation and Automation: Generative AI is set to revolutionize content creation by automating the generation of various media types, saving time and resources for businesses in areas such as marketing, design, and entertainment.


  2. Enhanced User Experiences: In the realm of user interfaces and experiences, Generative AI can create personalized and adaptive interfaces, improving user engagement and satisfaction.


  3. Data Augmentation: Generative models can be used to augment datasets for machine learning, helping improve the performance of AI models by generating additional training examples.


  4. Ethical Considerations: As Generative AI becomes more prevalent, ethical considerations surrounding the creation of deepfakes and potential misuse of generated content come to the forefront. Responsible use and ethical guidelines are essential to mitigate these concerns.

Generative AI is positioned to redefine how the IT industry approaches content creation, user experiences, and data augmentation. As technology continues to advance, harnessing the capabilities of Generative AI responsibly will be crucial to unlocking its full potential for positive impact across various domains.

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Unleashing the Power of Linux and Unix: A Journey into the World of Open-Source Magic

 Introduction

In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, Linux and Unix stand as stalwarts of open-source operating systems, shrouded in a mystique that has captivated tech enthusiasts for decades. These robust, community-driven platforms have not only transformed the computing world but have also become symbols of innovation, customization, and the hacker spirit. In this blog, we'll embark on a captivating journey into the realm of Linux and Unix, exploring their history, unique features, and the endless possibilities they offer.

Chapter 1: The Origins - A Tale of Pioneering Minds

To truly understand the magic of Linux and Unix, we must travel back in time to the early days of computing. Unix, born at AT&T Bell Labs in the late 1960s, was the brainchild of Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and others. It was designed to be a versatile and powerful multitasking operating system, setting the foundation for modern computing. Linux, on the other hand, emerged in the early 1990s when Linus Torvalds embarked on a quest to create a free and open-source Unix-like operating system. The convergence of these two stories laid the groundwork for what we know today as the Linux operating system.

Chapter 2: The Linux Kernel - Heart and Soul

At the core of Linux lies its kernel, the beating heart of the operating system. It's responsible for managing hardware resources, scheduling processes, and providing a bridge between applications and the hardware. What sets Linux apart is its modularity and adaptability. Developers and enthusiasts worldwide can customize the kernel to suit their needs. This open nature has led to a plethora of Linux distributions, each tailored for specific purposes, from Ubuntu's user-friendly interface to CentOS's server prowess.

Chapter 3: The Command Line - Where Wizards Dwell

One of the most enchanting aspects of Linux and Unix is the command line interface (CLI). While many modern operating systems hide their inner workings behind graphical user interfaces (GUIs), Linux and Unix proudly expose their power to those who dare to wield it. The command line, with its cryptic yet elegant syntax, allows users to perform a myriad of tasks with precision and speed. From managing files and directories to networking and system administration, the command line is where the true magic happens.

Chapter 4: The Community - A Brotherhood of Geeks

What truly elevates Linux and Unix to a realm of fascination is the thriving global community that surrounds them. Enthusiasts, developers, and experts collaborate tirelessly to improve, innovate, and troubleshoot. This communal spirit has given birth to forums, conferences, and a treasure trove of documentation. It's a world where knowledge is freely shared, and a helping hand is always extended to newcomers and veterans alike.

Chapter 5: The Power of Package Management

In Linux, software installation and management are a breeze, thanks to package managers. Tools like APT (Advanced Package Tool), YUM, and Pacman allow users to install, update, and remove software effortlessly. Dependency resolution ensures that all the required libraries are in place, making software installation a smooth and hassle-free experience. No more hunting for setup files or worrying about DLL hell!

Chapter 6: The Security Blanket

Linux and Unix have earned a reputation for robust security. The principle of least privilege, rigorous user and permission management, and a vibrant community that rapidly patches vulnerabilities contribute to this rock-solid security posture. For security-conscious users and organizations, these operating systems are a sanctuary in a digital world filled with threats.

Conclusion: Embrace the Magic

In our exploration of Linux and Unix, we've uncovered a world where innovation, collaboration, and customization reign supreme. These operating systems have shaped the digital landscape, and their influence continues to grow. Whether you're a budding developer, a curious tinkerer, or a seasoned sysadmin, Linux and Unix offer endless possibilities.

So, embrace the magic of open-source, dive into the command line, and become a part of a global community that values freedom, creativity, and the pursuit of knowledge. With Linux and Unix as your allies, there's no limit to what you can achieve in the world of technology.

Monday, January 23, 2023

ChatGPT according to ChatGPT

There's a new craze in town.. and it's really a game changer.

ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI. It is based on the GPT (Generative Pre-training Transformer) architecture, which uses deep learning techniques to generate human-like text. ChatGPT is trained on a massive dataset of text from the internet and can generate a wide range of text, from simple responses to complex articles and stories.

One of the key features of ChatGPT is its ability to understand and respond to context. For example, if you ask ChatGPT a question, it can provide a relevant and accurate answer based on the information it has been trained on. Additionally, ChatGPT can also generate text in a variety of styles, such as formal or casual, depending on the input it receives.

ChatGPT is widely used in various applications, including chatbots, virtual assistants, automated writing, and language translation. It can also be fine-tuned to perform specific tasks such as question answering, summarization, and text classification.

In summary, ChatGPT is a powerful language model that can generate human-like text and understand context. Its ability to perform a wide range of tasks and its flexibility make it a valuable tool for many applications.

Thursday, December 16, 2021

RHCSA Study Points

    I recently took the RHCSA RHEL8 Exam and manage to passed it. I would say this study points from the Redhat website is accurate. You don't need to deviate outside this scope. An obvious tip was to make sure the server is bootable every time you edit FSTAB to add partitions. Failure to do this might cause you the exam.

Source: Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) exam (EX200)

RHCSA exam candidates should be able to accomplish the tasks below without assistance. These have been grouped into several categories.

Understand and use essential tools
  • Access a shell prompt and issue commands with correct syntax
  • Use input-output redirection (>, >>, |, 2>, etc.)
  • Use grep and regular expressions to analyze text
  • Access remote systems using SSH
  • Log in and switch users in multiuser targets
  • Archive, compress, unpack, and uncompress files using tar, star, gzip, and bzip2
  • Create and edit text files
  • Create, delete, copy, and move files and directories
  • Create hard and soft links
  • List, set, and change standard ugo/rwx permissions
  • Locate, read, and use system documentation including man, info, and files in /usr/share/doc
Create simple shell scripts
  • Conditionally execute code (use of: if, test, [], etc.)
  • Use Looping constructs (for, etc.) to process file, command line input
  • Process script inputs ($1, $2, etc.)
  • Processing output of shell commands within a script
  • Processing shell command exit codes
Operate running systems
  • Boot, reboot, and shut down a system normally
  • Boot systems into different targets manually
  • Interrupt the boot process in order to gain access to a system
  • Identify CPU/memory intensive processes and kill processes
  • Adjust process scheduling
  • Manage tuning profiles
  • Locate and interpret system log files and journals
  • Preserve system journals
  • Start, stop, and check the status of network services
  • Securely transfer files between systems
Configure local storage
  • List, create, delete partitions on MBR and GPT disks
  • Create and remove physical volumes
  • Assign physical volumes to volume groups
  • Create and delete logical volumes
  • Configure systems to mount file systems at boot by universally unique ID (UUID) or label
  • Add new partitions and logical volumes, and swap to a system non-destructively
Create and configure file systems
  • Create, mount, unmount, and use vfat, ext4, and xfs file systems
  • Mount and unmount network file systems using NFS
  • Extend existing logical volumes
  • Create and configure set-GID directories for collaboration
  • Configure disk compression
  • Manage layered storage
  • Diagnose and correct file permission problems
Deploy, configure, and maintain systems
  • Schedule tasks using at and cron
  • Start and stop services and configure services to start automatically at boot
  • Configure systems to boot into a specific target automatically
  • Configure time service clients
  • Install and update software packages from Red Hat Network, a remote repository, or from the local file system
  • Work with package module streams
  • Modify the system bootloader
Manage basic networking
  • Configure IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
  • Configure hostname resolution
  • Configure network services to start automatically at boot
  • Restrict network access using firewall-cmd/firewall
Manage users and groups
  • Create, delete, and modify local user accounts
  • Change passwords and adjust password aging for local user accounts
  • Create, delete, and modify local groups and group memberships
  • Configure superuser access
Manage security
  • Configure firewall settings using firewall-cmd/firewalld
  • Create and use file access control lists
  • Configure key-based authentication for SSH
  • Set enforcing and permissive modes for SELinux
  • List and identify SELinux file and process context
  • Restore default file contexts
  • Use boolean settings to modify system SELinux settings
  • Diagnose and address routine SELinux policy violations
Manage containers
  • Find and retrieve container images from a remote registry
  • Inspect container images
  • Perform container management using commands such as podman and skopeo
  • Perform basic container management such as running, starting, stopping, and listing running containers
  • Run a service inside a container
  • Configure a container to start automatically as a systemd service
  • Attach persistent storage to a container

As with all Red Hat performance-based exams, configurations must persist after reboot without intervention.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Kill Process run by your User Account

There are times when you are testing a process and have to restart it again and again.

Instead of doing a ps -ef to know the pid and kill it manually every time, you can automate the process by using the following in a script.

kill `ps -ef | grep \`whoami\` | grep myProcess | grep -v grep| awk '{print $2}'`

The ps command on your flavor may use "ax" instead of "ef".  Where myProcess is the process that needs to be restarted.  The awk commands gets the 2nd field of the line, which in this case is the PID

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Comparing two files without using DIFF


This is a a short way to compare 2 files on a Unix box without using DIFF. You can remove the option to output it to a file "> file3" if you want to see the output first.



If you want to see the uniq entries without the duplicates then output to a file:

Command:

sort file1 file2 | uniq -u > file3



If you want to see just the duplicate entries use "uniq -d" option then output to a file:

Command:

sort file1 file2 | uniq -d > file3

Friday, January 06, 2017

WIFI script for systemd init systems


I used the following Steps to create a startup script that will automatically connect my WIFI after a reboot. Not sure if there are more efficient way but this works for me so far. I normally do minimum install so there's no GUI running on my Linux machine. Tested it on Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety.

Pre requisite
a. Disable network-manager service.
b. You need root access.



1. Create wifi WPA supplicant config appropriate for your Wifi Connection. The example was based on using WPA-Personal (Security Mode).

vi  /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant

network={
        ssid="WIFI SSID (ex FreeWIFI)"
        psk="wifipassword"
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        proto=RSN WPA
        pairwise=CCMP TKIP
        group=CCMP TKIP
}


2. Create the script that will contains the CLI command that connects the wifi

vi /*path*/wifi.sh
#!/bin/bash
/sbin/wpa_supplicant -Dnl80211 -iwlp2s0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf &

------
*Change the *path* to a folder of your choice (do the same on Step 3)
wlp2s0 - is the name of your wifi interface name. Run "ip addr sh" if you're not sure.


3. Create the systemd  init script file

vi /etc/systemd/system/wifi.service
[Unit]
Description=This will and connect the wifi @ startup

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

[Service]
Exec=/*path*/wifi.sh
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes


4. ADD the systemd init script during Startup using systemctl:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable wifi.service
systemctl start wifi.service


5. Reboot your system to test if script works

reboot

==================================================

On second note just run nmtui if your network manager is working fine will save you the trouble of manually creating the wpa_supplicant file. The tutorial above works best if you're only connecting to 1 wifi connection and you don't expect the linux box or server to be more elsewhere.