Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2021 – Hosting Deals Up to 50%

NetShop ISP, the leading cloud & web hosting company based in Cyprus, announces Black Friday & Cyber Monday discounts up to 50% for the entire week.

NetShop ISP, the leading cloud & web hosting company based in Cyprus, announces the launch of its 2021 Black Friday & Cyber Monday (BFCM) campaign.

The BFCM Hosting offers start today, Monday 22nd of November 2021, and coupon codes will be active for all orders submitted until Monday 29th of November 2021 22:59 CET.

  • 50% Discount on all cPanel Web Hosting plans (Coupon code: BFCM50)
  • 40% Discount on all Cloud VPS plans (Coupon code: BFCM40)
  • 30% Discount on all Bare-metal Servers plans (Coupon code: BFCM30)
Katerina Burtsava - Head of Sales

As 2021 is coming to an end, we would like to end it with a blast. On top of the massive price reductions we applied recently on most of our hosting products, we are further pushing the limits by offering up to 50% additional discount for the entire Black Friday and Cyber Monday week“, said Katerina Burtsava, Head of Sales at NetShop ISP

To view all Black Friday & Cyber Monday offers and terms please visit https://netshop-isp.com.cy/offers/black-friday-cyber-monday/

SiGMA iGaming Expo 2021 in Malta Concludes Successfully for NetShop ISP

The international exhibition SiGMA Europe 2021 for online gaming, gambling and betting professionals ended today. SiGMA is one of the largest and most important exhibitions of the igaming industry, which took place live in Malta after a one-year break.

The international exhibition SiGMA Europe 2021 for online gaming, gambling and betting professionals ended today. SiGMA is one of the largest and most important exhibitions of the igaming industry, which took place live in Malta after a one-year break.

Despite the pandemic, the event attracted almost 20,000 participants, representing companies from Europe, Africa, America and Asia from which 23% were operators, 20% suppliers and 17% affiliates.

NetShop ISP, a multi-awarded iGaming Hosting Services Provider, exhibited at Booth ST92. The company presented its Cloud hosting platform, Virtual and Dedicated Servers, Colocation Services and its award-winning Disaster Recovery solutions.

NetShop ISP was represented by its CEO (Stefano Sordini), Head of Sales (Katerina Burtsava), iGaming Product Specialist (Kateryna Nechaieva) and Lorenzo Sordini, member of the Board of Directors.

During the 3-day exhibition at the MFCC arena, the company’s representatives had over 55 meetings with existing customers and partners, as well as new prospects interested in hosting services for B2C and B2B igaming platforms.

In summary, NetShop ISP has presented the following igaming oriented hosting services:

  • Scalable Cloud platform for deploying servers in Europe and Asia
  • Dedicated Servers and Colocation Hosting in Regulatory compliant Data Centers in Malta, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Singapore and Cyprus
  • Data Backup and Disaster Recovery services compatible with igaming companies hosted primarily in Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure

For more information or to arrange a web meeting with our iGaming specialists please contact us via this link.

How To Copy or Transfer Files on Linux Servers with RSync

In this tutorial we will explain how Rsync works and how you can use it for transferring files and folders from and to Linux Servers. In the end of this tutorial you can also find an Rsync Cheat Sheet with explanation of rsync command parameters.

Nowadays Linux system admins have a lot of tools and options to facilitate the transfer of data and files from and to servers. SSH and FTP are the most popular protocols for data transfer. FTP, in one hand, is popular due to its ease of use but, on the other hand, SSH is far more secure and reliable.

For SSH-based data transfer scp and sftp are two specialized tools used by system admins for many years. However, none of these offer all the features and capabilities that rsync provides.

In this tutorial we will explain how Rsync works and how you can use it for transferring files and folders from and to Linux Servers. In the end of this tutorial you can also find an Rsync Cheat Sheet with explanation of rsync command parameters.

What is RSync

rsync is a utility for efficiently transferring and synchronizing files between computers and servers across local and public networks (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rsync). Rsync stands for “remote sync” and it uses an algorithm that minimizes the amount of data copied by only transferring files which have changed.

How to Install Rsync on Linux Server

To install Rsync on your Linux server, you can use the following commands below according to your Linux distribution:

sudo apt-get install rsync // for Debian/Ubuntu
pacman -S rsync // for Arch Linux
sudo dnf install rsync // for Fedora/CentOS/RHEL and Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

Example 1: Copy an Entire Directory from Local Server to a Remote Server

Assuming you are connected on a Server A and you wish to transfer an entire directory named public_html which is under “/home” to a Server B (IP: 192.168.1.3), you can use the following command:

rsync -arvzh /home/public_html root@192.168.1.3:/home/

Example 2: Copy a Directory from Remote Server to a Local machine

The following command will help you sync the entire directory /var/backup from a remote server (IP: 192.168.1.3) to a server you are currently connected:

rsync -arvzh root@192.168.1.3:/var/backup /var/

Example 3: Use RSync for Files Transfer between Servers with Custom SSH Port

If you wish to transfer files to a Server which uses a non-standard SSH Port, then you need to supply the rsync command with the -e argument and specify the custom SSH port that the destination server uses. In our example below we assume that the SSH port is 2222, and we are going to transfer the file /home/public_html/index.html.

rsync -avzh -e 'ssh -p 2222' /home/public_html/index.html root@192.168.1.3:/home/public_html/

Example 4: Automatically Delete Files on Source Server after Successful Transfer

In cases when you are initiating data transfer for, lets say, backup purposes you may want to have the files on the originating server deleted after they have been transferred to the backup/destination server.

rsync -avzh --remove-source-files /root/backup.tar.gz root@192.168.1.3:/root/

Example 5: Test RSync Command with Dry Run

If you are not yet familiar with rsync, you may not want to execute commands that may mess up your data on source or destination servers. In this case, rsync provides a wonderful parameter that will not make any real changes but instead will show the output of what your command would do.

rsync -avzh --dry-run /root/backup.tar.gz root@192.168.1.3:/root/

Sample Output:

[root@ubuntu-server:~]# rsync --dry-run --remove-source-files -zvh /root/backup.tar.gz root@192.168.1.3:/root/

root@192.168.1.3's password: 
backup.tar.gz

sent 50 bytes  received 94 bytes  95.15 bytes/sec
total size is 267.30K  speedup is 3,873.97 (DRY RUN)

Rsync Cheat Sheet

Here is a cheat sheet for all rsync’s arguments which you may need to supply in your command for data transfer/sync.

-v–verboseincrease verbosity
-q–quietsuppress non-error messages
–no-motdsuppress daemon-mode MOTD (see caveat)
-c–checksumskip based on checksum, not mod-time & size
-a–archivearchive mode; equals -rlptgoD (no -H,-A,-X)
–no-OPTIONturn off an implied OPTION (e.g., –no-D)
-r–recursiverecurse into directories
-R–relativeuse relative path names
–no-implied-dirsdon’t send implied dirs with –relative
-b, –backupmake backups (see –suffix & –backup-dir)
–backup-dir=DIRmake backups into hierarchy based in DIR
–suffix=SUFFIXbackup suffix (default ~ w/o –backup-dir)
-u–updateskip files that are newer on the receiver
–inplaceupdate destination files in-place
–appendappend data onto shorter files
–append-verify–append w/old data in file checksum
-d–dirstransfer directories without recursing
-l–linkscopy symlinks as symlinks
-L–copy-linkstransform symlink into referent file/dir
–copy-unsafe-linksonly “unsafe” symlinks are transformed
–safe-linksignore symlinks that point outside the tree
-k–copy-dirlinkstransform symlink to dir into referent dir
-K–keep-dirlinkstreat symlinked dir on receiver as dir
-H–hard-linkspreserve hard links
-p–permspreserve permissions
-E–executabilitypreserve executability
–chmod=CHMODaffect file and/or directory permissions
-A–aclspreserve ACLs (implies -p)
-X–xattrspreserve extended attributes
-o–ownerpreserve owner (super-user only)
-g–grouppreserve group
–devicespreserve device files (super-user only)
–specialspreserve special files
-Dsame as –devices –specials
-t–timespreserve modification times
-O–omit-dir-timesomit directories from –times
–superreceiver attempts super-user activities
–fake-superstore/recover privileged attrs using xattrs
-S, –sparsehandle sparse files efficiently
-n–dry-runperform a trial run with no changes made
-W–whole-filecopy files whole (w/o delta-xfer algorithm)
-x–one-file-systemdon’t cross filesystem boundaries
-B–block-size=SIZEforce a fixed checksum block-size
-e–rsh=COMMANDspecify the remote shell to use
–rsync-path=PROGRAMspecify the rsync to run on remote machine
–existingskip creating new files on receiver
–ignore-existingskip updating files that exist on receiver
–remove-source-filessender removes synchronized files (non-dir)
–delan alias for –delete-during
–deletedelete extraneous files from dest dirs
–delete-beforereceiver deletes before transfer, not during
–delete-duringreceiver deletes during the transfer
–delete-delayfind deletions during, delete after
–delete-afterreceiver deletes after transfer, not during
–delete-excludedalso delete excluded files from dest dirs
–ignore-errorsdelete even if there are I/O errors
–forceforce deletion of dirs even if not empty
–max-delete=NUMdon’t delete more than NUM files
–max-size=SIZEdon’t transfer any file larger than SIZE
–min-size=SIZEdon’t transfer any file smaller than SIZE
–partialkeep partially transferred files
–partial-dir=DIRput a partially transferred file into DIR
–delay-updatesput all updated files into place at end
-m–prune-empty-dirsprune empty directory chains from file-list
–numeric-idsdon’t map uid/gid values by user/group name
–timeout=SECONDSset I/O timeout in seconds
–contimeout=SECONDSset daemon connection timeout in seconds
-I–ignore-timesdon’t skip files that match size and time
–size-onlyskip files that match in size
–modify-window=NUMcompare mod-times with reduced accuracy
-T–temp-dir=DIRcreate temporary files in directory DIR
-y–fuzzyfind similar file for basis if no dest file
–compare-dest=DIRalso compare received files relative to DIR
–copy-dest=DIR… and include copies of unchanged files
–link-dest=DIRhardlink to files in DIR when unchanged
-z–compresscompress file data during the transfer
–compress-level=NUMexplicitly set compression level
–skip-compress=LISTskip compressing files with suffix in LIST
-C–cvs-excludeauto-ignore files in the same way CVS does
-f–filter=RULEadd a file-filtering RULE
-Fsame as –filter=’dir-merge /.rsync-filter’

repeated: –filter=’- .rsync-filter’
–exclude=PATTERNexclude files matching PATTERN
–exclude-from=FILEread exclude patterns from FILE
–include=PATTERNdon’t exclude files matching PATTERN
–include-from=FILEread include patterns from FILE
–files-from=FILEread list of source-file names from FILE
-0–from0all *from/filter files are delimited by 0s
-s–protect-argsno space-splitting; wildcard chars only
–address=ADDRESSbind address for outgoing socket to daemon
–port=PORTspecify double-colon alternate port number
–sockopts=OPTIONSspecify custom TCP options
–blocking-iouse blocking I/O for the remote shell
–statsgive some file-transfer stats
-8–8-bit-outputleave high-bit chars unescaped in output
-h–human-readableoutput numbers in a human-readable format
–progressshow progress during transfer
-Psame as –partial –progress
-i, –itemize-changesoutput a change-summary for all updates
–out-format=FORMAToutput updates using the specified FORMAT
–log-file=FILElog what we’re doing to the specified FILE
–log-file-format=FMTlog updates using the specified FMT
–password-file=FILEread daemon-access password from FILE
–list-onlylist the files instead of copying them
–bwlimit=KBPSlimit I/O bandwidth; KBytes per second
–write-batch=FILEwrite a batched update to FILE
–only-write-batch=FILElike –write-batch but w/o updating dest
–read-batch=FILEread a batched update from FILE
–protocol=NUMforce an older protocol version to be used
–iconv=CONVERT_SPECrequest charset conversion of file names
–checksum-seed=NUMset block/file checksum seed (advanced)
-4–ipv4prefer IPv4
-6–ipv6prefer IPv6
–versionprint version number
-h–helpshow help

AlmaLinux and RockyLinux Now Available on Cloud VPS and Bare-metal Servers

The two Operating Systems that dropped in as a replacement for CentOS are AlmaLinux and RockyLinux. Deploying AlmaLinux and RockyLinux on Cloud or Bare-metal servers is free of charge. Both Operating Systems are based on RHEL source code with frequent security updates and large community support.

Following RedHat’s announcement (December 2020) to drop CentOS for CentOS stream, a lot of discussion has occurred among IT professionals on how to find the best open-source replacement.

The two Operating Systems that dropped in as a replacement for CentOS are AlmaLinux and RockyLinux.

AlmaLinux and RockyLinux on Cloud

Deploying AlmaLinux and RockyLinux on Cloud or Bare-metal servers is free of charge. Both Operating Systems are based on RHEL source code with frequent security updates and large community support.

Whilst there is no Vendor-supplied paid support available, AlmaLinux and RockyLinux received a warm hug by the IT industry especially by those freelancers, hosting providers and IT pros who are looking for a purely free, open-source replacement for CentOS 8.

RHEL vs AlmaLinux and RockyLinux Comparison

RHELAlmaLinuxRockyLinux
Free of UseNoYesYes
Vendor Paid SupportYesNoNo
Developer CommunityNoYesYes
Regular Security UpdatesYesYesYes
RHEL source code basedYesYesYes
CentOS Comparison Table

About AlmaLinux

AlmaLinux, founded by the team behind CloudLinux, is an Open Source, community owned and governed, forever-free enterprise Linux distribution, focused on long-term stability, providing a robust production-grade platform. AlmaLinux OS is 1:1 binary compatible with RHEL and pre-Stream CentOS.

Visit AlmaLinux website: https://almalinux.org/

About RockyLinux

Rocky Linux is a community enterprise operating system designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with America’s top enterprise Linux distribution now that its downstream partner has shifted direction. It is under intensive development by the community. Rocky Linux is led by Gregory Kurtzer, founder of the CentOS project.

Visit RockyLinux website: https://rockylinux.org/

Deploy a CentOS 8 Alternative OS on our Cloud

As of today, Monday 8th of November 2021, RockyLinux and AlmaLinux have been included at NetShop ISP’s Cloud and Bare-metal Dedicated Servers.

For new server deployments, you can choose your favorite distro from the OS drop-down menu when placing a new order.

Deploy AlmaLinux on Cloud Server

If you already have an Operating System installed on your Cloud VPS server, you can easily replace it from within myNetShop Self-service Portal.

Just login to https://my.netshop-isp.com.cy, click on Manage for your desired VPS server and click the “Rebuild OS“.

Then choose your favourite OS, AlmaLinux or RockyLinux, and click Reinstall VPS as shown on the screenshot below.

VMware completes spin-off from DELL Technologies

1st of November 2021 has been a milestone for the two tech giants, as Dell Technologies has officially spin-out its 81% majority stake in VMware to Dell shareholders.

1st of November 2021 has been a milestone for the two tech giants, as Dell Technologies has officially spin-out its 81% majority stake in VMware to Dell shareholders.

The spin-off from Dell Technologies provides VMware enhanced freedom to implement and deliver its multi-cloud strategy, a more simplified capital structure and governance model, and additional operational and financial flexibility. VMware will continue to use Dell Financial Services to help its customers finance their digital transformations.

As per Raghu Raghuram, VMWare’s CEO, “VMware’s mission is to deliver the trusted software foundation that accelerates our customers’ innovation. As a standalone company, we will continue to bring our multi-cloud strategy to life by providing our customers the power to accelerate their business and control their destiny in this new era.”

In an official Investors Press Release, DELL’s Chairman and CEO comments that “Today marks an important milestone for both Dell and VMware. We are unlocking significant value for stakeholders, while maintaining our close partnership in sales, support and innovation for our customers”.

Read VMWare Official Press Release: https://news.vmware.com/releases/vmware-announces-completion-of-spin-off-from-dell-technologies

Read DELL Technologies Official Press Release: https://investors.delltechnologies.com/news-releases/news-release-details/dell-technologies-announces-completion-vmware-spin

How To Install OwnCloud on Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS

This is a step-by-step guide on how to install ownCloud Collaboration software on a fresh installation of Ubuntu 20.04 server. Run the following commands in your terminal to complete the installation.

This is a step-by-step guide on how to install ownCloud Collaboration software on a fresh installation of Ubuntu 20.04 server. Run the following commands in your terminal to complete the installation.

Prerequisites

  • A fresh installation of Ubuntu 20.04 with SSH enabled.
  • This guide assumes that you are working as the root user.
  • Your ownCloud directory will be located in /var/www/owncloud/

Preparation

First, ensure that all the installed packages are entirely up to date, and that PHP is available in the APT repository. To do so, follow the instructions below:

apt update && \
  apt upgrade -y

Create the occ Helper Script

Create a helper script to simplify running occ commands.

Select all the commands below and just copy-paste to the terminal. 

FILE="/usr/local/bin/occ"
/bin/cat <<EOM >$FILE
#! /bin/bash
cd /var/www/owncloud
sudo -E -u www-data /usr/bin/php /var/www/owncloud/occ "\$@"
EOM

Make the helper script executable:

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/occ

Install the Required Packages

Select all the commands below and just copy-paste to the terminal.

apt install -y \
  apache2 \
  libapache2-mod-php \
  mariadb-server \
  openssl \
  php-imagick php-common php-curl \
  php-gd php-imap php-intl \
  php-json php-mbstring php-mysql \
  php-ssh2 php-xml php-zip \
  php-apcu php-redis redis-server \
  wget

Note : php 7.4 is the default version installable with Ubuntu 20.04

Install the Recommended Packages

Select all the commands below and just copy-paste to the terminal.

apt install -y \
  ssh bzip2 rsync curl jq \
  inetutils-ping coreutils

We are ready, now, to proceed with OwnCloud Installation.

Installation Steps

1. Configure Apache

1.1. Change the Document Root

sed -i "s#html#owncloud#" /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf
service apache2 restart

1.2. Create a Virtual Host Configuration

Select all the commands below and just copy-paste to the terminal.

FILE="/etc/apache2/sites-available/owncloud.conf"
/bin/cat <<EOM >$FILE
Alias /owncloud "/var/www/owncloud/"

<Directory /var/www/owncloud/>
  Options +FollowSymlinks
  AllowOverride All

 <IfModule mod_dav.c>
  Dav off
 </IfModule>

 SetEnv HOME /var/www/owncloud
 SetEnv HTTP_HOME /var/www/owncloud
</Directory>
EOM

2. Enable the Virtual Host Configuration

a2ensite owncloud.conf
service apache2 reload

3. Configure the Database

mysql -u root -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS owncloud; \
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON owncloud.* \
  TO owncloud@localhost \
  IDENTIFIED BY 'password'";

3.1. Enable the Recommended Apache Modules

echo "Enabling Apache Modules"
a2enmod dir env headers mime rewrite setenvif
service apache2 reload

4. Download ownCloud

cd /var/www/
wget https://download.owncloud.org/community/owncloud-10.8.0.tar.bz2 && \
tar -xjf owncloud-10.8.0.tar.bz2 && \
chown -R www-data. owncloud

5. Install ownCloud

Select all the commands below and just copy-paste to the terminal.

occ maintenance:install \
    --database "mysql" \
    --database-name "owncloud" \
    --database-user "owncloud" \
    --database-pass "password" \
    --admin-user "admin" \
    --admin-pass "admin"

6. Configure ownCloud’s Trusted Domains

myip=$(hostname -I|cut -f1 -d ' ')
occ config:system:set trusted_domains 1 --value="$myip"

7. Set Up a Cron Job

Set your background job mode to cron:

occ background:cron
echo "*/15  *  *  *  * /var/www/owncloud/occ system:cron" \
  > /var/spool/cron/crontabs/www-data
chown www-data.crontab /var/spool/cron/crontabs/www-data
chmod 0600 /var/spool/cron/crontabs/www-data

If you need to sync your users from an LDAP or Active Directory Server, add this additional Cron job. Every 15 minutes this cron job will sync LDAP users in ownCloud and disable the ones who are not available for ownCloud. Additionally, you get a log file in /var/log/ldap-sync/user-sync.log for debugging.

Select all the commands below and just copy-paste to the terminal.

echo "*/15 * * * * /var/www/owncloud/occ user:sync 'OCA\User_LDAP\User_Proxy' -m disable -vvv >> /var/log/ldap-sync/user-sync.log 2>&1" >> /var/spool/cron/crontabs/www-data
chown www-data.crontab  /var/spool/cron/crontabs/www-data
chmod 0600  /var/spool/cron/crontabs/www-data
mkdir -p /var/log/ldap-sync
touch /var/log/ldap-sync/user-sync.log
chown www-data. /var/log/ldap-sync/user-sync.log

8. Configure Caching and File Locking

Execute these commands:

Select all the commands below and just copy-paste to the terminal.

occ config:system:set \
   memcache.local \
   --value '\OC\Memcache\APCu'
occ config:system:set \
   memcache.locking \
   --value '\OC\Memcache\Redis'
occ config:system:set \
   redis \
   --value '{"host": "127.0.0.1", "port": "6379"}' \
   --type json

9. Configure Log Rotation

Execute this command to set up log rotation.

Select all the commands below and just copy-paste to the terminal.

FILE="/etc/logrotate.d/owncloud"
sudo /bin/cat <<EOM >$FILE
/var/www/owncloud/data/owncloud.log {
  size 10M
  rotate 12
  copytruncate
  missingok
  compress
  compresscmd /bin/gzip
}
EOM

10. Finalize the Installation

Make sure the permissions are correct.

cd /var/www/
chown -R www-data. owncloud

Get OwnCloud as Virtual or Dedicated Server

NetShop ISP offers OwnCloud as a Virtual Private Server (VPS) or you can install it on a Bare-metal Dedicated Server.

Minimum VPS Plan: 1 vCPU, 512GB RAM, 20GB SSD. Locations: Cyprus, Malta, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Singapore

Minimum Specs Dedicated Server: Check our Offers to find the server with the best pricing that matches your budget.

NetShop ISP to attend the SiGMA iGaming Europe Event in Malta

NetShop ISP is excited to be returning to Malta for the upcoming SiGMA Europe event from the 15th to the 19th November 2021. The event will be held at the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre (MFCC) and for the first time, will be delivered in collaboration with AGS, AIBC and Med-Tech World.

NetShop ISP is excited to be returning to Malta for the upcoming SiGMA Europe event from the 15th to the 19th November 2021. The event will be held at the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre (MFCC) and for the first time, will be delivered in collaboration with AGS, AIBC and Med-Tech World.

Renowned as the World’s Gaming Festival, the event offers industry specialists an unmatched networking opportunity as well as the chance to hear from distinguished speakers from all sectors.

NetShop ISP, the multi-award winning iGaming Hosting Provider, is eager to showcase services that have gained massive traction within the iGaming industry, including its Dedicated and Virtual Servers, as well as a newly launched Disaster Recovery Solution.

“We attended the SiGMA iGathering Network Dinner in Cyprus earlier this year and gained huge insight from our industry peers, so we’re really looking forward to connecting again with new and existing clients and partners in Malta,” says NetShop ISP’s CEO, Stefano Sordini.

Meet us at Booth ST92

NetShop ISP’s CEO, Stefano Sordini will be joined at SiGMA Europe by the company’s Head of Sales, Katerina Burtsava and Product Specialist, Kateryna Nechaieva.

To schedule your meeting with a representative, please visit the event page or visit our Booth (ST92) for a handshake. You will find it right at the expo’s entrance!

For official event information, visit SiGMA.

How To Create Linux LVM Partition – Step-by-step Guide

In today’s article we will demonstrate how you can easily create an LVM partition on your Linux Server. Why LVM? Simply because it allows you to dynamically extend or shrink partitions in real-time!

In today’s article we will demonstrate how you can easily create an LVM partition on your Linux Server. Why LVM? Simply because it allows you to dynamically extend or shrink partitions in real-time!

In an era when Cloud servers and virtualization is greatly used by system admins, the LVM (Logical Volume Manager) allows you to resize Volume Groups (VG) by adding new physical volumes (PV) or deleting existing PVs attached to VGs.

In the end of this article you can find useful LVM commands. Let’s proceed with the steps to create a Linux LVM partition. For the sake of this article tutorial, we assume that you have inserted a new Hard Disk on your server.

Step-by-Step Guide to Create a Linux LVM Partition

  1. Connect on your server with root user (or other sudo privileged account)
  2. Type fdisk -l to identify your new hard disk device name. We assume that ours is named /dev/xvdb
  3. Type fdisk /dev/xvdb
  4. You are now into the fdisk command prompt, type the following commands in the order specified below:
    1. type n to create a new disk partition
    2. type p to create a primary partition
    3. type 1 to declare it as the first partition of your new Disk
    4. hit ENTER twice to accept the default start / end cylinders
    5. type t to change the default Linux partition to LVM partition type
    6. type L to list all partition types and search for the id for Linux LVM
    7. type 8e (as per list results from previous step) to change your partition into 8e, i.e. Linux LVM
    8. type w to write the partition table (basically to apply the changes from all previous steps) and exit fdisk upon completion
  5. Now it’s time to create a Physical Volume (PV) on our new hard disk: pvcreate /dev/xvdb1
  6. Create LVM Volume Group (VG) named vg0 with a physical extend size (PE) of 16MB: vgcreate -s 16M vg0 /dev/xvdb1
  7. To create a Logical Volume (LV) named lvol0 on VG vg0, type: lvcreate -L 400M -n lvol0 vg0
  8. Let’s format the Logical Volum lvol0 in a RHEL supported file system, e.g. EXT3: mkfs -t ext3 -m 1 -v /dev/mapper/vg0-lvol0
  9. Create a mount location for our new ext3 file system: mkdir /mnt/vfs
  10. Last step is to mount the new EXT3 file system to our newly created mount point: mount -t ext4 /dev/mapper/vg0-lvol0 /mnt/vfs
  11. You can confirm everything has been created correctly, by typing: df -h. An output as follows should appear:

/dev/mapper/vg0-lvol0 385M 12M 373M 3% /mnt/vfs

You are all set! Here is a list of some useful LVM commands to have in hand:

  • To display volume group settings (in our case of the VG named vg0) such as physical size (PE size), Volume group name (VG name), maximum logical volumes (Max LV), etc.
vgdisplay vg0
  • To list all physical volumes (PV) created for the volume group
pvscan
  • To add new physical volumes (PV) to an existing volume group, either through new hard disk or new disk partitions.
vgextend

How To Extend LVM Disk on Linux Ubuntu 20.04

In this tutorial, we will show you how to extend an LVM disk on your Ubuntu 20.04 Server. Resizing disks is a common yet challenging task for system administrators, when servers are running out usable disk space or when the standard partitioning during installation does not fit their bespoke needs.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to extend an LVM disk on your Ubuntu 20.04 Server. Resizing disks is a common yet challenging task for system administrators, when servers are running out usable disk space or when the standard partitioning during installation does not fit their bespoke needs.

What is LVM?

LVM stands for Logical Volume Management. It is a system of managing logical volumes, or filesystems, that is much more advanced and flexible than the traditional method of partitioning a disk into one or more segments and formatting that partition with a filesystem (source: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lvm).

LVM consists of 3 main concepts:

  • Physical Volume (PV) – this is the actual disk, i.e. /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, etc.
  • Volume Group (VG) – physical volumes/disks are combined into volume groups, i.e. ubuntu-vg = /dev/sda + /dev/sdb
  • Logical Volume (LV) – a volume group is divided into several Logical Volumes, i.e. ubuntu-vg/root , ubuntu-vg/home, etc.

Information about the PV, VG and LV are important in order to successfully resize our LVM disk.

Step 1. Collect information about current LVM settings and names

To find out the physical volumes (PV) used by the LVM file system, run this command:

sudo pvs

Now we need to find out the Volume group name. Do it by typing this command:

sudo vgdisplay

Next, we will issue the following command to find out information about the Logical Volume:

sudo lvdisplay

As per our example above, we need to make a note of the following useful information:

Our server has one Volume Group named “ubuntu-vg”, which has one Logical Volume “ubuntu-lv”. With this information, we can proceed to extend our disk.

Step 2. Create new Physical Volume (PV)

Whether your Ubuntu 20.04 is a Virtual machine or installed on a Bare-metal dedicated server, you will need to attach/insert the new disk (virtual or physical). Once you do this, we need to configure it within the existing LVM file system.

Type the following command to identify the new disk you have attached:

sudo fdisk -l

Our initial physical volume is named /dev/vda (20GiB) and our newly attached disk (25 GiB) is under the name /dev/vdb.

Another useful command to identify the LVM disk on your server is the following:

sudo lvmdiskscan

We are now good to go to create our new disk as Physical Volume on the server:

sudo pvcreate /dev/vdb

Output: Physical volume “/dev/vdb” successfully created.

Step 3. Add the new Physical Volume (PV) to our Existing Logical Volume (LV)

We will no add our new PV (/dev/vdb) to our existing logical volume. From the first commands in this tutorial, we have noted “ubuntu-lv” as the logical volume name, and “ubuntu-vg” as the volume group name.

Type the command:

sudo vgextend ubuntu-vg /dev/vdb

Output: Volume group “ubuntu-vg” successfully extended.

Now we need to extended the Logical volume as follows:

sudo lvm lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv

Your LVM Disk has now been successfully extended. One last command is needed so that the “df -h” output shows the correct size of your file system:

sudo resize2fs -p /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv

That’s all! We have demonstrated how you can easily extend the LVM file system on your Ubuntu 20.04 Server.

How To change the default kernel in GRUB for RHEL and CentOS

In this article we explain how you can easily change the default kernel in GRUB for RHEL and CentOS 7 Servers.

This article answers common questions such as “How to set default boot kernel in linux?”, “How to change the default boot entry for kernel?”, “How to boot with old kernel version?” and “How to revert to previous kernel version?”.

GRUB2 is the version of GRUB currently in use, at the time of publishing this article. The software was rewritten to allow plugins and expand features available in the menu system. GRUB legacy and GRUB2 are otherwise fairly similar.

Let’s continue on how you can easily change the default kernel in GRUB on your Linux RHEL or CentOS 7 Server.

Step 1. Get list of installed kernels

awk -F\' /^menuentry/{print\$2} /etc/grub2.cfg

Output:

0- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (3.10.0-1062.7.1.el7.x86_64) 7.7 (Maipo)
1- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (3.10.0-1062.1.2.el7.x86_64) 7.7 (Maipo)
2- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (3.10.0-693.el7.x86_64) 7.4 (Maipo)
3- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (0-rescue-39228403a82a4e29afb7e5ca1a869adb) 7.4 (Maipo)

Step 2. Set a default kernel

grub2-set-default 1

Step 3. Verify new default kernel

# cat /boot/grub2/grubenv | grep saved

Output:

saved_entry=1

Step 4. Rebuild GRUB Config File

BIOS-based:

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

UEFI-based:

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/redhat/grub.cfg

Step 4. Reboot Server

All done! You can now reboot your Linux Server to have it booted with your new default kernel.

shutdown -r now

Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) updates requirements for Key Functions positions, Integrity and Auditing

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has made substantial changes to its key functions requirements by updating standards for licence applications, resignations, appointments and player accounts, among other areas.

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has announced a series of amendments to its key functions requirements related to the following:

  • The overall number of key function roles and their underlying responsibilities;
  • The deadlines by when certain key function requirements are to be observed;
  • The persons who shall shoulder responsibility in the absence of duly appointed key function holders;
  • The manner and form in which declarations and assurances are to be made by auditors on behalf of licensees during submission of audited financial statements; and
  • The applicability of suspicious betting reporting requirements.

Effective on 20th of October 2021, new licence applicants must inform the authority of the identity of persons at the company who hold the role of CEO, compliance executive and AML executive, at the time of the application’s submission. Then, within a time frame of six months since the license has been granted, applicants must name the remaining of their ‘key function’ holders.

This update also relates to suspicious betting and auditing checks. Operators holding the ‘Critical Gaming Supplier’ license have to report any suspicious betting on sporting events to the Authority; same standard and policy that the B2C providers follow.

Finally, in regards to Player accounts, the new requirements outline that operators must prove to the Malta Gaming Authority that they have the capability to verify each player account and every activity conducted by any player account registered in the system.

Read the official announcement here.

What Is IPTV and How It Works

Often referred to as the future of television, the past decade has seen IPTV advance rapidly, with sources indicating that the market is set to grow another 17% within the next five years. The IPTV industry is currently worth billions, and its value is only forecasted to continue steadily rising – so in this article we’ll break down what exactly IPTV is, how it works, and why it’s so popular. 

Often referred to as the future of television, the past decade has seen IPTV advance rapidly, with sources indicating that the market is set to grow another 17% within the next five years. The IPTV industry is currently worth billions, and its value is only forecasted to continue steadily rising – so in this article we’ll break down what exactly IPTV is, how it works, and why it’s so popular.  

What is IPTV

The expeditious evolution of technology is apparent, so it comes as no surprise that this has coincided with the way that we watch television. Gone are the days where viewers ran frantically to their TV sets so as not to miss their favorite shows, and one of the main reasons for that is IPTV.

In a nutshell, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is video content streamed directly via the internet. Unlike traditional television, IPTV delivers media solely over the internet without the need for satellite dishes, antennas or any other installation on the viewer’s behalf.

Although the terms IPTV and OTT are often used interchangeably, the two shouldn’t be confused. Over-the-top (OTT) media streaming and IPTV have some stark differences, although both deliver content via an internet connection. IPTV content is served over a privately-managed network, whereas OTT streaming is delivered over an unmanaged network.

Why is IPTV so popular

IPTV quite simply caters to the modern viewer by enabling a flexible and easily accessible viewing experience without compromising on the quality of content provided. IPTV is made up of three main formats; Video-on-demand (VOD), Live TV and Time-Shifted TV, unlike OTT streaming services which only offer VOD, like Netflix for example.  

By combining traditional TV services with VOD streaming that are accessible through multiple devices, IPTV offers an ultimate viewing experience that’s proving extremely popular amongst an ever-growing audience. IPTV is also commonly used by businesses, especially within the hospitality industry, as a way to provide their guests’ entertainment whilst also being customizable to upsell other services and amenities.

How does IPTV work

As the name suggests, IPTV uses Internet Protocol (IP) to serve media to viewers, but let’s break down how exactly the content is sent to viewing devices. There are two different types of architecture models behind IPTV – centralized and distributed.

The centralized architecture model is where all content is stored in one centralized server, which is ideal for small VOD content. The distributed model, on the other hand, is a little more complex and entails content being distributed to various nodes within a network.

Regardless, the media, whether live or prerecorded, first needs to be transcoded in order to be adaptable to multiple formats that are supported by whichever device the viewer is watching on. By compressing the video, transfer speed and quality is improved without putting a strain on the bandwidth.

If the viewer selects VOD content, a request is sent to the server and all of the relevant files which make up that specific page are sent to the client with minimal delay – or buffering. This process is known as IP unicasting.

IP multicasting, or live streaming, is when the data leaves the server just once but is sent out to many different destinations simultaneously. In this case, delays in transmission are a lot more likely so IPTV providers tend to deploy content delivery networks (CDNs)

Ultimately, by utilizing an Internet Service Provider’s strong infrastructure, Content Providers are able to effectively deliver their content to a worldwide audience.

Media Streaming Hosting Solutions with NetShop ISP

With infrastructure strategically located in global destinations, we have both the capacity and expertise to help you build a successful streaming business, with the potential to reach a worldwide audience.  Our plans are designed to accommodate even the most complex media streaming projects, with a range of bandwidth options that are easily scalable and extremely cost-effective. For any queries, please feel free to get in touch with our team.