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Ubuntu: installing Joomla development environment

In spite of working mainly with a commercial ECM plataform, sometimes a new corporate site for a small division or department would be better suited with one of the many open source CMS systems available.
For this purpose I chose Joomla and took the time to leave here a pretty straightforward version to set it up on a Ubuntu machine. Having said that, the following technologies will be installed:

• Apache Web server: to serve the web pages to the client browsers;
• PHP: to generate the dynamic content pages and functionalities;
• MySQL: to store all the Joomla related data, such as content and user accounts;
• PHPMyAdmin: A tool written in PHP intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the Web.
• Joomla: a free and open source content management framework (CMF) for publishing content on the Web.

 First step was to open a command shell on the target machine. On the prompt, type the following command:
You will be prompted for your password. After a successful execution this takes care of installing the Web server, PHP. database server and PHPMYAdmin management console. On the installation process you will be asked to provide a password for the MySQL administrator account, as well as PHPMyAdmin.
The second step, still on the command shell, is to map the PHPMyAdmin alias on Apache mapping it to the corresponding installation folder. To do this, issue the following commands:

1. sudo chmod 777 /etc/apache2/apache2.conf 
2. sudo gedit /etc/apache2/apache2.conf &

At the end of the apache2.conf file, add the following line:

Save the file and exit the editor. For Apache to read the new configuration, you must restart the service with the following command:


The third step is, of course, to install Joomla. To do so:

1. Donwload the files from the Joomla official site;
2. Unzip them and copy them to the Apache documents root (/var/www)
3. Browse the folder on your web browser (ex: http://localhost/joomla/)

A warning similar to this should appear. This is because the file configuration.php doesn't exist:

To solve this issue, type in the following commands:

1. touch configuration.php  
2. sudo chmod 777 ./configuration.php

Return to the browser, run the check again and it should be all clear. Run the installation wizard to the end. The final step will be to remove all the installation files:


You're all done!

Free ebook: Introducing Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012is designed for the cloud from the ground up and provides a foundation for building both public and private cloud solutions to enable businesses to take advantage of the many benefits of cloud computing. Keeping that in mind, this book states that Windows Server 2012 is probably the most significant release of the Windows Server platform ever.
This book is presented as a “first look” based on the public beta release of Windows Server 2012 and is intended to help IT professionals familiarize themselves with the capabilities of the new platform. Below you can find the table of contents on this book:

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The business need for Windows Server 2012 
The rationale behind cloud computing Making the transition
Technical requirements for successful cloud computing
Four ways Windows Server 2012 delivers value for cloud computing Foundation for building your private cloud 

Chapter 2 Foundation for building your private cloud 
A complete virtualization platform
Increase scalability and performance Business continuity for virtualized workloads 

Chapter 3 Highly available, easy-to-manage multi-server platform
Continuous availability
Cost efficiency
Management efficiency  

Chapter 4 Deploy web applications on premises and in the cloud 
 Scalable and elastic web platform
Support for open standards  

Chapter 5 Enabling the modern workstyle 
Access virtually anywhere, from any device
Full Windows experience
Enhanced security and compliance

The book can be downloaded in various formats from this official MSDN web page.

Happy reading!

Error when starting a fresh install of Umbraco CMS

Trying out Umbraco to get a feel on the ease of use and potential professional use, I got the following error when trying to start the site based on the simple starter kit :

 This was disappointing, especially because we're talking about a fresh install and I hadn't fiddled with it yet.
After some scouring on the Web taking into account Umbraco was complaining about the umbraco.cms.businesslogic.macro.MacroModel, I found the solution was to edit the starter kit template so it wouldn't use macros that were not installed. So, first step, go to the Umbraco administration site and navigate to the "Developer" screen:

Expand the "Macros" node on the tree and check what macros you've got installed and take note of their aliases:
Next navigate to the "Settings" screen:
Then choose templates and the "StarterKit Master" template:
In the editor, search for any macro which has an alias that doesn't match any of the currently installed. In my case it was the "BlogFeedRssLink":
After removing this line and saving the template, the site worked fine.

Kanban Software Development

Kanban literally meaning "signboard" or "billboard", is a concept related to lean and just-in-time (JIT) production. According to its creator, Taiichi Ohno, Kanban is one means through which JIT is achieved.
Kanban is not an inventory control system. It is a scheduling system that helps determine what to produce, when to produce it, and how much to produce.
In Agile software development, it has become a common practice to visualize and share project status by posting cards on a wall of the project room.
On the board, project tasks are represented by Post-It notes, and the status of each one is indicated by posting to separate areas on the board labeled "To Do", "In Progress" and "Done". This Kanban Board helps visually signal tasks and limit the volume of tasks actively being worked on, optimizing the teams focus.
KanbanFlow is a Lean project management tool allowing real-time collaboration between team members. Supports the Pomodoro technique for time tracking and best of all, it's absolutely free.
If you are engaged on a software project as a team leader, you can use this tool to coordinate the group's effort. If you're a developer you can use this individually to break down your tasks or propose it to the project manager for adoption.