Upgrading to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

Every time Ubuntu releases a LTS version that’s the time I spend time on a version upgrade. Spending few hours on upgrading and some underhood stuff once every six months is not for me, so I decided to stick to LTS.

“Bypass” JIRA SSO login when SSO isn’t working

Today I hit a snag when I was attempting to log into one of our JIRA dev environments where SSO unexpectedly wasn’t working properly and it didn’t let me in.

So here’s my workaround.

The importance of SIM card lock

Do you use Two Factor Authentication with your mobile phone? Do you use your phone as a password recovery option? In case if you are wondering what the hell is two factor authentication, let me simplify it like this. Have you coupled your Gmail/ Facebook/ etc. account with your mobile phone in a way that you receive a ‘code’ that you should enter in the web browser? If so, read on this short note.

Encrypted Volumes: Header Backup is Important!

So I’ve been reading more on cryptsetup man page and found this interesting excerpt:

If the header of a LUKS volume gets damaged, all data is permanently lost unless you have a header-backup. If a key-slot is damaged, it can only be restored from a header-backup or if another active key-slot with known passphrase is undamaged. Damaging the LUKS header is something people manage to do with surprising frequency. This risk is the result of a trade-off between security and safety, as LUKS is designed for fast and secure wiping by just overwriting header and key-slot area.

Expanding a LUKS encrypted disk image

Yesterday I wrote about How to create an encrypted LUKS disk image.

Today I wanted to experiment more with it. I wanted to try resizing a LUKS volume, and after one failed attempt I found a way. If you still have the disk image of yesterday’s example, just follow me. 🙂

How to create an encrypted LUKS disk image

This could be a great alternative if you have used TrueCrypt encrypted volumes.

I’ve been a TrueCrypt lover for a long time, even after it was allegedly killed. But now I’m starting to think that it’s not a good option for long term safekeeping of my memories. At time point in a future release of Linux if dependencies for TrueCrypt stop working that’s death to my archives.  Fortunately we have LUKS since 2004! After using LUKS for a couple of years I think it’s very reliable.

How to mount lost partitions from a disk image without repairing

I came across a hard disk with a corrupted MBR. In other words, I found a hard disk that lost all of its partitions but files and folders are still there. Tool of my choice in this kind of cases is TestDisk.

[JIRA] Dev – Where are OSWorkflow Transition Screens?

Found a piece that isn’t well documented. But as usual, I’m explaining my steps and then the solution. It’s no real big deal anyway. 🙂

[Linux] Tip for heavy users of Ctrl + R

After a lengthy JIRA tip, I’m about to blog a Keyboard Ninja tip for users who do a lot of Ctrl + R thingy to navigate Bash history.

JIRA project migration with Google Spreadsheets

JIRA to JIRA project migration — most of the time this has been a headache when it comes to customer negotiations and compromises.