Node Package Manager install surprise. 387 extra packages!

I've got a server running Ubuntu 20, and wanted to try out something on it with nodejs. I checked on the server and apparently nodejs was already installed. I guess some previous dependency had put it on there a long time ago. node –version v10.19.0apt-cache policy nodejs nodejs: Installed: 10.19.0~dfsg-3ubuntu1 Candidate: 10.19.0~dfsg-3ubuntu1 OK, so the … Read more

Formatting mysqladmin variables output sensibly

OK, so if you're here, you've probably been searching for a variable in mysqladmin and have watched twenty screens of spaces and pipes scroll past. Me too, so I'm just leaving this little snatch of formatting to remind myself how to tame it down to something readable. So if you're searching for 'buffer' related variables, … Read more

Add a better PDF printer in Linux

One of the major revelations to Windows users when they migrate to Linux is that its no longer necessary to pay for a PDF printer, or install an open source one: Linux knows how to print PDFs already. However its default implementation is a little irritating. When you print you have to accept the document … Read more

fail2ban sqlite database prune

On servers where fail2ban has been working for a long time, you might notice the size of its database eating up your disk space. I just found one that had ballooned to over 2Gb over the course of a year. You'll find it hiding in /var/lib/fail2ban/ If its causing you anguish, then you can easily … Read more