28 July 2026 | Computers, How to, Linux |
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is super-handy. It lets you run various flavors of linux semi-natively in Windows.
The problem comes when you started with WSL 1, and you do something wild like try to upgrade node/npm to version 24 or newer.
You get weird errors like:
- usr/bin/node: 1: ELF: not found
- /usr/bin/node: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error
This is a known issue with WSL 1. The solution is to upgrade to WSL 2 - for which there is a trick!
(more…)
12 May 2026 | Linux, Networking, Programming, TekTalk, Video |
When you hear the word "linux", you probably think of nerds hidden away in a cramped office, managing all the servers that make our high-tech modern world actually go.
You probably also associate "linux" with "security".
Unfortunately, recent events have shown that the truth is a bit more... holey. Like, Swiss cheese holey.
From Copy Fail to cPanel to Dirty Frag, the linux server community has been utterly hammered by nasty exploits in the past weeks.
We'll tell you what happened, what it means, and how to protect yourself and your gizmos!
(more…)
8 September 2025 | Computers, How to, Linux |
Despite my many posts on how to fix Windows, I use linux just as much.
Specifically, I use Ubuntu Server since it's my favorite.
So what happens when you do 'apt update' and your repositories time out? It's rare, but it happens.
Most people suggest overly complicated manual methods of editing /etc/apt/sources.list
That's not very fancy, so let's automate it!
(more…)
25 March 2025 | Computers, How to, Linux |
WSL, or Windows Subsystem for Linux, is super-useful for running linux in Windows 10/11.
But what happens when you want to copy your WSL flavor of linux to another machine?
With WSL2, it's super-easy!
Just type a few commands, and you're off and running...
(more…)
8 August 2023 | Computers, How Does it Work?, Linux |
Software RAID is great, especially for servers. While you can use RAID for increased speed, most people use RAID mirroring so that all data is written to two identical disks.
If one disk fails, your server stays up because the 2nd drive still works. But what happens when a drive fails?
The replacement process obviously requires your hosting company to the replace the drive.
But both before and after the physical drive replacement, you've got some work to do!
(more…)
22 November 2022 | Linux, Uncategorized |
If you're using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), you may be wondering how to upgrade your flavor of linux in place.
Whether you're using WSL or WSL2, you could just go to the Windows Store and download the whole new shebang.
In my case, I was using Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and it's gonna die in the near future. So, I wanted to do a double-upgrade from 18.04 to 20.04 to 22.04. I've got a ton of stuff installed and configured, shell scripts set up, rsync, git, and so on - and I didn't want to have to redo all of it.
Due to some strange error messages when you try do-release-upgrade, it doesn't seem like you can do an in-place upgrade in WSL1/2 - but you can!
(more…)
23 June 2020 | Computers, Linux, Networking, Programming |
Ubuntu server 18.04 LTS is a rather popular linux OS for servers.
Unfortunately, it doesn't come without its problems. For example, the current version of stunnel - an SSL tunnel - is woefully outdated.
It seems that although Canonical is aware of the problem, they have no intention of fixing it!
Fortunately, there's an easy workaround that's much simpler than you might think...
(more…)
16 October 2018 | Computers, Linux |
Another Windows 10 upgrade is here: the Windows 10 October 2018 update.
For those of us using WSL, or "Linux on Windows", that means potential mayhem.
When the last Win 10 upgrade version was released, I installed it. I then discovered that my Ubuntu icon no longer loaded anything - except a Bash window with an error message that Ubuntu on Windows was no longer installed!
Oops.
Fortunately, it's pretty easy to fix!
(more…)
7 August 2018 | Computers, Linux |
If you're running Ubuntu or another linux shell in Windows 10 via WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), you've probably wondered about using cron.
Cron is super-handy for doing things, like, running a backup.
You see, as useful as WSL is, it stores all the linuxy files in a way that is not exactly easily backup-able by File History or anything else... as far as I can tell.
Worse yet, even when you try to set up a cron job to run a backup, it doesn't work!
What to do, what to do?
(more…)
17 April 2018 | Computers, Linux, Programming |
In the olden days, there was only "Bash on Ubuntu on Windows 10". This little gem gave you something like reverse WINE.
You got an Ubuntu linux install that's running on top of the Windows kernel - with full file system access, the ability to install and run all kinds of linux command-prompty stuff like git, and even graphical linux apps like gitk.
Fast forward a few years, and things have changed...
What if you're still running Bash on Ubuntu on Windows (Ubuntu 14.04) and you want to upgrade to the latest Ubuntu 16.04 without reinstalling everything?
Or, what if you want a different flavor of linux?
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is super-handy. It lets you run various flavors of linux semi-natively in Windows.
The problem comes when you started with WSL 1, and you do something wild like try to upgrade node/npm to version 24 or newer.
You get weird errors like:
When you hear the word "linux", you probably think of nerds hidden away in a cramped office, managing all the servers that make our high-tech modern world actually go.
You probably also associate "linux" with "security".
Unfortunately, recent events have shown that the truth is a bit more... holey. Like, Swiss cheese holey.
From Copy Fail to cPanel to Dirty Frag, the linux server community has been utterly hammered by nasty exploits in the past weeks.
We'll tell you what happened, what it means, and how to protect yourself and your gizmos!
(more…)
Despite my many posts on how to fix Windows, I use linux just as much.
Specifically, I use Ubuntu Server since it's my favorite.
So what happens when you do 'apt update' and your repositories time out? It's rare, but it happens.
Most people suggest overly complicated manual methods of editing /etc/apt/sources.list
That's not very fancy, so let's automate it!
(more…)
WSL, or Windows Subsystem for Linux, is super-useful for running linux in Windows 10/11.
But what happens when you want to copy your WSL flavor of linux to another machine?
With WSL2, it's super-easy!
Just type a few commands, and you're off and running...
(more…)
Software RAID is great, especially for servers. While you can use RAID for increased speed, most people use RAID mirroring so that all data is written to two identical disks.
If one disk fails, your server stays up because the 2nd drive still works. But what happens when a drive fails?
The replacement process obviously requires your hosting company to the replace the drive.
But both before and after the physical drive replacement, you've got some work to do!
(more…)
If you're using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), you may be wondering how to upgrade your flavor of linux in place.
Whether you're using WSL or WSL2, you could just go to the Windows Store and download the whole new shebang.
In my case, I was using Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and it's gonna die in the near future. So, I wanted to do a double-upgrade from 18.04 to 20.04 to 22.04. I've got a ton of stuff installed and configured, shell scripts set up, rsync, git, and so on - and I didn't want to have to redo all of it.
Due to some strange error messages when you try do-release-upgrade, it doesn't seem like you can do an in-place upgrade in WSL1/2 - but you can!
(more…)
Ubuntu server 18.04 LTS is a rather popular linux OS for servers.
Unfortunately, it doesn't come without its problems. For example, the current version of stunnel - an SSL tunnel - is woefully outdated.
It seems that although Canonical is aware of the problem, they have no intention of fixing it!
Fortunately, there's an easy workaround that's much simpler than you might think...
(more…)
Another Windows 10 upgrade is here: the Windows 10 October 2018 update.
For those of us using WSL, or "Linux on Windows", that means potential mayhem.
When the last Win 10 upgrade version was released, I installed it. I then discovered that my Ubuntu icon no longer loaded anything - except a Bash window with an error message that Ubuntu on Windows was no longer installed!
Oops.
Fortunately, it's pretty easy to fix!
(more…)
If you're running Ubuntu or another linux shell in Windows 10 via WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), you've probably wondered about using cron.
Cron is super-handy for doing things, like, running a backup.
You see, as useful as WSL is, it stores all the linuxy files in a way that is not exactly easily backup-able by File History or anything else... as far as I can tell.
Worse yet, even when you try to set up a cron job to run a backup, it doesn't work!
What to do, what to do?
(more…)
In the olden days, there was only "Bash on Ubuntu on Windows 10". This little gem gave you something like reverse WINE.
You got an Ubuntu linux install that's running on top of the Windows kernel - with full file system access, the ability to install and run all kinds of linux command-prompty stuff like git, and even graphical linux apps like gitk.
Fast forward a few years, and things have changed...
What if you're still running Bash on Ubuntu on Windows (Ubuntu 14.04) and you want to upgrade to the latest Ubuntu 16.04 without reinstalling everything?
Or, what if you want a different flavor of linux?
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