Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Nobel Peace Prize winner who died before the age of 40.  He was not quite 5’7″ but made a massive impact on U.S. history.  It is unlikely Barack Obama would have been elected President in 2008 had Martin Luther King Jr. not advanced the cause of civil rights for African Americans.  King’s influence and inspiration will be felt for decades to come.  On January 15, 2018 we observe Martin Luther King Jr.

How Do Install and Configure OpenShift to Test It Out?

Problem scenario
You want to use OpenShift as opposed to Kubernetes.  How do you deploy OpenShift to try it out?

Solution
1.  Install Docker on Linux.  We recommend you use a RedHat OS.  The hardware requirements are not that high if you are just testing it for development and/or learning purposes.  For directions on how to install Docker on a RedHat distribution of Linux, see this 

How Do You Troubleshoot the Error “ERROR: S3 error: 400 (InvalidRequest): The authorization mechanism you have provided is not supported. Please use AWS4-HMAC-SHA256.”

Problem scenario
Some s3cmd commands work fine.  But others give you this error:
“ERROR: S3 error: 400 (InvalidRequest): The authorization mechanism you have provided is not supported. Please use AWS4-HMAC-SHA256.”

What can you do to get s3cmd commands to work consistently?

Solution
Upgrade your s3cmd to a newer version.

How Do You Troubleshoot the I.E. Error “Your current security settings do not allow this file to be downloaded”?

Problem scenario
On a Windows server in AWS, you are trying to download a file with Internet Explorer.  You get this error: “Your current security settings do not allow this file to be downloaded.” How do you solve this problem?

Solution
Using Internet Explorer 11, go to Internet Options.  Go to the Security tab.  Click on “Internet.”  Scroll down to “Downloads.”  For “File download” (beneath “Downloads”),

How Do You Install Maven on Any Type of Linux?

Problem scenario
You want to install Maven with a script.  You want the script to work regardless of what distribution of Linux you are using (e.g., Ubuntu/Debian, RedHat (including CentOS/Fedora), or SUSE).  How do you write a script to install the latest version of Maven?

Solution
Update:  This script was updated on 9/23/19.

1.  Create this file in /tmp/ and call it maven.sh. 

How Do You Install Java on Any Type of Linux with a Script?

Problem scenario
You want a Bash script to install Java on Linux.  (If you want to install Java on Windows, see this posting.)  You want it to work regardless if it is a Linux that is part of the Debian/Ubuntu family, RedHat family (e.g., CentOS/Fedora), or SUSE.  What do you do to write a universal script to make it easy for other systems administrators to install Java (or potentially automate the process across several servers)?

What Are the Different Acronym Stacks in I.T.?

Question
What are the different acronym stacks in I.T.?

Answer
There are many open source combinations of technologies that are in wide use.  These acronyms referred to as “full stacks” or “stacks” appear in articles and job descriptions.  A full stack is a bundle of software that (includes an OS and) can create a complete and functional product when properly configured.