Eventually, I’d like to migrate this website to the new server that I’m working on now, and to be able to do that I’m probably going to need to be able to use SSH to access the server, access files from it using S/FTP, use some sort of apache webserver etc etc.
Turns out, it is comically easy change the ports on a virtual machine using phpvirtualbox, and I was expecting to have to write a much longer post than this.
Alright! Time to get VM’s rolling.
I’m going to be running phpvirtualbox on Ubuntu Server 12.04.3. The phpvirtualbox software will work really well because it’s web based and the server is headless.
Basically I’m following these guides:
https://gist.github.com/dominicsayers/3012172
And doing the following:
Install VirtualBox – note you will most likely need to upgrade
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list
Add the line
deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian raring contrib non-free
To that file then exit by hitting ^X. Continuing:
wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/oracle_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add - sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install dkms unzip sudo apt-get install virtualbox-4.2 --no-install-recommends wget http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.2.12/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.2.12.vbox-extpack sudo VBoxManage extpack install Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.2.12.vbox-extpack
Then install phpvirtualbox
sudo apt-get install apache2 php5 libapache2-mod-php5 sudo service apache2 restart sudo adduser --ingroup vboxusers vbox wget 'http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpvirtualbox/files/latest/download' -O phpvirtualbox-latest.zip sudo unzip phpvirtualbox-latest.zip -d /var/www cd /var/www sudo mv phpvirtualbox-latest phpvirtualbox cd phpvirtualbox sudo mv config.php-example config.php sudo nano config.php
Edit this file to set $username and $password match the user you created earlier
Also add the following disable phpVirtualbox’s authentication:
var $noAuth = true;
Then ^X to exit. Continue with the installation:
sudo nano /etc/default/virtualbox
Add the line:
VBOXWEB_USER=vbox
Then ^X to exit. Start virtualbox with:
sudo /etc/init.d/vboxweb-service start
And then navigate to yourserversip/phpvirtualbox
Then getting a virtalbox VM running inside of that is easy!
Alright so the build works, here are a bunch of pictures!
The final setup!
Hello! Long time no write!
Lemme jump right in, the server that hosts all of my content is dying. Right now, I get around 200 hits a day, and that’s only rising (thanks youtube dudes!) which is really taking a toll on the server. It’s an HP laptop that has been on for almost two years straight, in addition to being my only computer for 4 years before that.
The only reason this is worth writing about is because I intend on using this machine for a few things other than hosing a WordPress server (hopefully I’ll write a post about migrating a content rich blog across servers).
I also want to run a series of email servers on the machine as well! It would appear that a series of virtual machines would be the most efficient way to accomplish this.
Here is a list of the components that I have ordered:Â http://pcpartpicker.com/user/egg/saved/3deW
Turns out it’s not that hard at all! Here’s a video of the whole thing working:
This basically works around concepts I first explained here. It’s still really cool though! SPI is really fast and really easy to use, perfect for a novice like me.
Here are the physical representations and schematics of the setup seen on my desk:
Images generated by fritzing.
Here’s the code that makes it all work!
#first ADC setup on SPI port 0
import spidev
spi_0 = spidev.SpiDev()
spi_0.open(0, 0)
#this fucntion can be used to find out the ADC value on ADC 0
def readadc_0(adcnum_0):
if adcnum_0 > 7 or adcnum_0 < 0:
return -1
r_0 = spi_0.xfer2([1, 8 + adcnum_0 << 4, 0])
adcout_0 = ((r_0[1] & 3) << 8) + r_0[2]
return adcout_0
#first ADC setup on SPI port 1
import spidev
spi_1 = spidev.SpiDev()
spi_1.open(0, 1)
#this fucntion can be used to find out the ADC value on ADC 1
def readadc_1(adcnum_1):
if adcnum_1 > 7 or adcnum_1 < 0:
return -1
r_1 = spi_1.xfer2([1, 8 + adcnum_1 << 4, 0])
adcout_1 = ((r_1[1] & 3) << 8) + r_1[2]
return adcout_1
while 1:
for x in range (0, 8):
print 'Port ' + str(x) + ' | ' + 'adc_0: ' + str(readadc_0(x)).zfill(4) + ' | ' + 'adc_1: ' + str(readadc_1(x)).zfill(4)
print '----------------------------------'
Here is some further reading:
http://www.megaleecher.net/sites/default/files/images/raspberry-pi-rev2-gpio-pinout.jpg
http://hertaville.com/2013/07/24/interfacing-an-spi-adc-mcp3008-chip-to-the-raspberry-pi-using-c/
http://tightdev.net/SpiDev_Doc.pdf
Thanks for reading!
Here’s a video:
So in my last post I showed you a way that I used a single arduino to talk to a Raspberry Pi (or any other computer) over HID. I’ve updated the project a bit and now I can input any number of things into the pi. Basically this is how it works.
Serial Console on computer -> Arduino Mega -> software serial port -> Arduino micro -> HID on other second computer (in this case the Pi)
There are two buttons that handle pressing the enter key and the delete key as those are hard to send over serial.
There are a few bits of relevant code, both for the arduino. Here’s the mega’s code:
int sent_led = 44;
int test_button = 30;
byte inread;
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
SoftwareSerial SoftSerial(34, 36); // RX, TX
void setup(){
pinMode(sent_led, OUTPUT);
pinMode(test_button, INPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
SoftSerial.begin(4800);
SoftSerial.println("Hello, world?");
}
void loop(){
if (Serial.available()>0){
digitalWrite(sent_led, HIGH);
Serial.print("Sending: ");
inread = Serial.read();
Serial.write(inread);
SoftSerial.write(inread);
Serial.print(" , ");
Serial.print(inread);
Serial.println("");
digitalWrite(sent_led, LOW);
}
}
And here’s the side for the arduino micro, that writes as an HID.
int stat_led = 3;
int enter_led = 4;
int delete_led = 5;
int enter_button = 6;
int delete_button = 7;
int engage_switch = 8;
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
SoftwareSerial SoftSerial(11, 10); // RX, TX
void setup(){
pinMode(enter_led, OUTPUT);
pinMode(delete_led, OUTPUT);
pinMode(stat_led, OUTPUT);
pinMode(enter_button, INPUT);
pinMode(delete_button, INPUT);
pinMode(engage_switch, INPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
SoftSerial.begin(4800);
Keyboard.begin(); //
}
void loop(){
if (SoftSerial.available()){
digitalWrite(stat_led, HIGH);
Keyboard.write(SoftSerial.read());
digitalWrite(stat_led, LOW);
}
if (digitalRead(enter_button) == HIGH){
Keyboard.press(KEY_RETURN);
delay(100);
Keyboard.release(KEY_RETURN);
digitalWrite(enter_led, HIGH);
}
else if (digitalRead(enter_button) == LOW){
digitalWrite(enter_led, LOW);
}
if (digitalRead(delete_button) == HIGH){
digitalWrite(delete_led, HIGH);
Keyboard.press(KEY_BACKSPACE);
delay(100);
Keyboard.release(KEY_BACKSPACE);
}
else if (digitalRead(delete_button) == LOW){
digitalWrite(delete_led, LOW);
}
}
Greetings from WPI! Here’s a video:
Desperate times call for desperate measures. I recently found out that a club at my school is essentially a hackerspace equipped with 3D printers so I could finally print enclosures for the PiPlanter and the DSFU. But that means I would need to finial the designs for both of them. I needed to find a way to interface with this thing here. So being the idiot that I am, I forgot a USB keyboard, I forgot an analog video cable, I forgot a monitor for the pi and forgot to update the Pi to the latest Raspian build.
What I did bring was an Easy Cap Capture Card in addition to my standard idea-kit which among other things consists of an Arduino Micro, some buttons, some resistors, and wire.
Essentially all I needed to do was connect the Pi to the EasyCap, and be able to send 4 different phrases to it over the keyboard. I needed to be able to send ‘pi’,’password’ (not my actual password), ‘ifconfig’ and enter. I realized that I could easily send this data to the Pi via the Micro as it has the Keyboard. functions built in.
As you can see in the video it worked! And I’m kind of stunned that it did. I can now SSH into the Pi.
Here’s the code for the Arduino:
int uname = 3;
int pass = 4;
int command = 5;
int enter = 6;
int green = 7;
int red = 8;
void setup(){
pinMode(3, INPUT);
pinMode(4, INPUT);
pinMode(5, INPUT);
pinMode(6, INPUT);
pinMode(7, OUTPUT);
pinMode(8, OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
Keyboard.begin();
}
void loop(){
if (digitalRead(uname) == HIGH){
Serial.print("1");
Keyboard.print("pi");
digitalWrite(green, HIGH);
digitalWrite(red, LOW);
delay(1000);
}
else {
Serial.print("0");
digitalWrite(green, LOW);
digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
}
Serial.print(",");
if (digitalRead(pass) == HIGH){
Serial.print("1");
Keyboard.print("password");
digitalWrite(green, HIGH);
digitalWrite(red, LOW);
delay(1000);
}
else {
Serial.print("0");
digitalWrite(green, LOW);
digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
}
Serial.print(",");
if (digitalRead(command) == HIGH){
Serial.print("1");
Keyboard.print("ifconfig");
digitalWrite(green, HIGH);
digitalWrite(red, LOW);
delay(1000);
}
else {
Serial.print("0");
digitalWrite(green, LOW);
digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
}
Serial.print(",");
if (digitalRead(enter) == HIGH){
Serial.print("1");
Keyboard.press(KEY_RETURN);
delay(10);
Keyboard.releaseAll();
digitalWrite(green, HIGH);
digitalWrite(red, LOW);
delay(1000);
}
else {
Serial.print("0");
digitalWrite(green, LOW);
digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
}
Serial.println("");
delay(10);
}
Thanks for Reading!
So I am 151 miles away from the PiPlanter. But thanks to the internet, modern day routers, and wifi dongles I can pretty much control everything about it from here.
That being said, there are a few things I would like to change about the project. First of all, the program itself needs to be more modular. Reason being is that the core program should never stop running, even if changes need to be made. I should be able to screen the main program once, and then never have to stop it ever. This would be advantageous in a few ways but the main example is that the plants will require more water as they get larger, and then less once they start yielding fruit. I could script this, but I think that it would be best to be able to edit the ‘ontime’ value from the program without having to stop the whole process.
I’ll keep y’all posted as I try to implement this.
Hi guys!
So here’s the deal. I left for college about a week ago. I’m here now, and I don’t think I’m going to be able to continue doing this kind of stuff at the rate I’ve been doing it lately.
There will defiantly still be content on this website, I plan on continuing this thing until I physically can’t so no worries there.
I’ll keep you posted, thanks for reading.
Big post for this project, here’s a video:
This version of the code implements a few really cool features.
First things first I added 10 LEDs that display the percent uploaded of the batch. For example if 13 / 100 photos have been uploaded, the first LED will light up. If 56 / 100 the first 5 LEDs will light up. Eventually the 10 junk LEDs will be replaced with a bar graph which will be mounted externally on the front panel of the enclosure.
I am using every single available output on my Pi now, but I was able to get away with adding 1 more LED that I should be able to use by using a transistor array explained here:
On the code side of things, I updated the way photos are added to the set. It uses the same principal as described in the previous post (using APscheduler to do the adding on an interval). All of these changes can be seen below, it’s still very poorly commented however.
#GPIO setup
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)
in_flickr = 11
GPIO.setup(in_flickr, GPIO.IN)
in_hdd = 13
GPIO.setup(in_hdd, GPIO.IN)
button = 15
GPIO.setup(button, GPIO.IN)
flickr_LED = 3
GPIO.setup(flickr_LED, GPIO.OUT)
both_LED = 5
GPIO.setup(both_LED, GPIO.OUT)
hdd_LED = 7
GPIO.setup(hdd_LED, GPIO.OUT)
stat_LED = 26
GPIO.setup(stat_LED, GPIO.OUT)
LED_bar_1 = 18
GPIO.setup(LED_bar_1, GPIO.OUT)
LED_bar_2 = 16
GPIO.setup(LED_bar_2, GPIO.OUT)
LED_bar_3 = 23
GPIO.setup(LED_bar_3, GPIO.OUT)
LED_bar_4 = 21
GPIO.setup(LED_bar_4, GPIO.OUT)
LED_bar_5 = 19
GPIO.setup(LED_bar_5, GPIO.OUT)
LED_bar_6 = 12
GPIO.setup(LED_bar_6, GPIO.OUT)
LED_bar_7 = 10
GPIO.setup(LED_bar_7, GPIO.OUT)
LED_bar_8 = 8
GPIO.setup(LED_bar_8, GPIO.OUT)
LED_bar_9 = 24
GPIO.setup(LED_bar_9, GPIO.OUT)
LED_bar_10 = 22
GPIO.setup(LED_bar_10, GPIO.OUT)
global led_bar
led_bar = []
led_bar.insert(0,18)
led_bar.insert(1,16)
led_bar.insert(2,23)
led_bar.insert(3,21)
led_bar.insert(4,19)
led_bar.insert(5,12)
led_bar.insert(6,10)
led_bar.insert(7,8)
led_bar.insert(8,24)
led_bar.insert(9,22)
for x in xrange(10):
GPIO.output(led_bar[x],False)
import os
from apscheduler.scheduler import Scheduler
import logging
logging.basicConfig()
import time
#Flickr Setup
import flickrapi
api_key = ''
api_secret = ''
flickr = flickrapi.FlickrAPI(api_key, api_secret, format='json', cache=True)
(token, frob) = flickr.get_token_part_one(perms='write')
if not token: raw_input("Press ENTER after you authorized this program")
flickr.get_token_part_two((token, frob))
#email setup
import smtplib
import math
def sd_walk():
global file_list
global file_number
global filename
global file_current
global file_size
global file_size_total
print '-Starting File Index'
for path, subdirs, files in os.walk(image_dir):
for filename in files:
if os.path.splitext(filename)[1].lower() in ('.jpg','jpeg'):
listfiles = os.path.join(path, filename)
file_list.insert(file_number,listfiles)
print '--File: ' + str(file_number+1) + ' - ' + 'Size: ' + str(round(float(os.path.getsize(listfiles))/(1024),2)) + ' KB ' + ' Added To List: ' + str(listfiles)
file_size_total = file_size_total + os.path.getsize(listfiles)
file_number = file_number + 1
print '-Indexing Completed ' + 'Total Files: ' + str(file_number) + ' - Total Size: ' + str(round(float(file_size_total)/(1024*1024*1024),2)) + ' GB' + '\n'
print '---Starting Upload'
def upload_file():
global file_list
global file_number
global filename
global listfiles
global file_current
global file_size
global file_size_total
global led_bar
if file_current == int(len(file_list)):
print '\n----All Files Dealt With...Terminating \n'
global scheduler
scheduler.shutdown(shutdown_threadpool=False)
else:
percent = round((float(file_current+1) / float(len(file_list)))*100,0)
led = round((float(file_current+1) / float(len(file_list)))*10,0)
file_size = file_size + float(os.path.getsize(file_list[file_current]))/(1024)
print '----File: ' + str(file_current+1) + ' / ' + str(len(file_list)) + ' - ' + str(round(file_size,2)) + ' KB' + ' / ' + str(round(float(file_size_total)/(1024*1024*1024),2)) + ' GB' + ' - ' + str(percent) + '% Done' + ' - ' + 'LEDs: ' + '1-' + str(led) + ' Lit'
print '------File For Upload: ' + file_list[file_current]
for x in xrange(int(led)):
GPIO.output(led_bar[x],True)
upload_response = flickr.upload(filename = file_list[file_current], format='etree')
upload_ID = upload_response.find('photoid').text
print '------Uploaded - Photo ID: ' + upload_ID
id_list.insert(file_current,upload_ID)
file_current = file_current + 1
def flickr_upload():
global id_list
id_list = []
global file_list
file_list = []
global file_current
file_current = 0
global file_number
file_number = 0
global file_size
file_size = 0
global file_size_total
file_size_total = 0
sd_walk()
global scheduler
scheduler = Scheduler(standalone=True)
scheduler.add_interval_job(upload_file,seconds=20)
scheduler.start()
print '--Uploading completed - Adding Files To Set'
set_name = 'Uploaded At ' + time.strftime('%m-%d-%y_%H-%M-%S')
print '\n---Creating Set: ' + set_name
print '---Primary Photo: ' + id_list[0]
json_string = flickr.photosets_create(title=set_name, primary_photo_id=id_list[0])
global set_id
set_id = json_string.split('"')[5]
print '---Set Created: ' + set_id
print '---Adding Files To list'
global flickr_setno
flickr_setno = 0
global scheduler
scheduler = Scheduler(standalone=True)
scheduler.add_interval_job(flickr_addset,seconds=1)
scheduler.start()
print '--All Photos Added, Flickr Process Complete \n'
flickr_email(set_id,file_current,set_name)
def flickr_addset():
global id_list
global set_id
global flickr_setno
if flickr_setno == int(len(id_list)):
print '\n---All IDs Dealt With...Terminating \n'
global scheduler
scheduler.shutdown(shutdown_threadpool=False)
else:
flickr.photosets_addPhoto(photoset_id=set_id, photo_id=id_list[flickr_setno])
print '----Photo: ' + str(flickr_setno+1) + ' Of ' + str(len(id_list)) + ' Added To Set: ' + str(set_id) + ' ID: ' + str(id_list[flickr_setno])
flickr_setno = flickr_setno + 1
def flickr_email(idd,total_files,name):
global file_size_total
fromaddr = ''
toaddrs = ''
username = ''
password = ''
server = smtplib.SMTP('smtp.gmail.com:587')
server.ehlo()
server.starttls()
server.ehlo()
server.login(username,password)
print 'Sending Email'
SUBJECT = 'Your Photos Have Been Uploaded!'
TEXT = (
'Hello! \n\n'
'You Uploaded a total of: ' + str(total_files) + ' Files' '\n'
'Which Was: ' + str(float(file_size_total)/(1024*1024*1024)) + ' GB' + '\n\n'
'Your Set is Named: "' + str(name) + '" \n\n'
'You can View These Photos Here: \n'
'http://www.flickr.com/photos/99154806@N04/sets/' + str(idd)
)
msg = 'Subject: %s\n\n%s' % (SUBJECT, TEXT)
server.sendmail(fromaddr, toaddrs, msg)
time.sleep(10)
server.quit
print 'Email Sent \n'
while 1:
global led_bar
GPIO.output(stat_LED, False)
if GPIO.input(in_flickr):
#print "left"
GPIO.output(flickr_LED, True)
GPIO.output(both_LED, False)
GPIO.output(hdd_LED, False)
elif GPIO.input(in_hdd):
#print "right"
GPIO.output(flickr_LED, False)
GPIO.output(both_LED, False)
GPIO.output(hdd_LED, True)
else:
#print "mid"
GPIO.output(flickr_LED, False)
GPIO.output(both_LED, True)
GPIO.output(hdd_LED, False)
if GPIO.input(button):
GPIO.output(stat_LED, True)
print '\n======Start=====\n'
print 'Mounting SD'
time.sleep(10)
global image_dir
image_dir = '/mnt/SD/'
os.system('hdparm -z /dev/sda1/')
os.system('mount -t vfat /dev/sda1/ ' + image_dir)
print 'SD Mounted \n'
if GPIO.input(in_flickr):
flickr_upload()
print 'SD Unmouting'
time.sleep(10)
os.system('umount -t vfat /dev/sda1/ ' + image_dir)
print 'SD Unounted'
print '======End======'
GPIO.output(stat_LED, False)
for x in xrange(10):
GPIO.output(led_bar[x],False)
elif GPIO.input(in_hdd):
hdd_upload()
print 'SD Unmouting'
time.sleep(10)
os.system('umount -t vfat /dev/sda1/ ' + image_dir)
print 'SD Unounted'
print '======End======'
GPIO.output(stat_LED, False)
for x in xrange(10):
GPIO.output(led_bar[x],False)
else:
both_upload()
print 'SD Unmouting'
time.sleep(10)
os.system('umount -t vfat /dev/sda1/ ' + image_dir)
print 'SD Unounted'
print '======End======'
GPIO.output(stat_LED, False)
for x in xrange(10):
GPIO.output(led_bar[x],False)
Thanks for reading!