Install 4.3BSD Berkeley UNIX with VAX780 SimH Emulator and TCP/IP Networking
by Ramses Soto-Navarro ramses@sotosystems.com, 7/11/2023
Overview
Copyright
Compile SIMH
Prepare OS Binaries
Inspecting the Dumps
Install the OS
Configure Native Networking
Telnet via Serial Interface
RSH and RCP Login
Troubleshoot
Overview
Welcome, computer historians! Find here brief steps for the install of 4.3 BSD UNIX for VAX780, circa 1986; using the SIMH simulator. This setup is configured with native networking. Other sites demonstrate telnet connections by using the DZ11 emulator for the VAX780 Unibus serial line card. However, here we will use native networking via SIMH’s XU emulator for the VAX780 Unibus DEUNA/DELUA Ethernet controller. In this way, from other terminals on the network, we’ll also be able to connect and upload to 4.3BSD, via FTP. This exercise is significant because it demonstrates what it was like to run and interact with the operating system that first used TCP/IP networking. It is also a good starting point for those that would like to study the origins of UNIX, TCP/IP, and other vintage operating systems.
In April of 2006 InformationWeek Magazine declared “The single Greatest Piece of Software Ever, with the broadest impact on the world, was Berkeley UNIX 4.3BSD; representing an unmatched peak of innovation, and the single biggest theoretical undergirder of the Internet. Moreover, the passion that surrounds Linux and open source code is a direct offshoot of the ideas that created BSD: a love for the power of computing and a belief that it should be a freely available extension of man’s intellectual powers–a force that changes his place in the universe.” Find the article here.
Classic original BSD will not run on any x86, including virtual apps such as VirtualBox, KVM or qemu. 4.3BSD was compiled for the DEC PDP and then the DEC VAX line of computers. So, you will need a VAX emulator such as SIMH.
Reference:
Without the help from the sites above this document would not be possible. Thank you so much Gunkies.org and Stephen’s Machine Room Youtube Channel!
Testing Multi-Domain Subject Alternative Names Certificates
by Ramses Soto-Navarro ramses@sotosystems.com, 3/2/2023
Overview
Setup Apache
Certificate Script
Create Certificate
Second Virtual Host
Overview
Brief notes on how to create and verify multi-domain SSL certificates using the subject alternative names extension. Useful for Apache web URLs that require many different subdomains, while using one certificate. The same technique can be used for OpenSSL self-signed test certificates or official certificate signing requests, which service multiple domains with one certificate. Here we will use a Linux Red Hat 9 test scenario. The audience is experienced Linux administrators.
SUSE 15 OS Updates via GRUB
by Ramses Soto-Navarro ramses@sotosystems.com, 10/26/2022
Overview
Copy Kernel
Modify GRUB
GRUB Boot Parameters
Erase GRUB Boot Entry
Troubleshooting
Overview
Brief notes on how to update SUSE 15 SP3 to SP4 via GRUB boot, without using the virtual guest CDROM. Perform an offline OS upgrade using the server’s own hard disk without a need to attach any devices (like USB drive or DVD ISO); use a local network source mounted repository for the installation media. The audience is experienced Linux administrators.