Thursday 30 July 2009

Personal Data Storage using 'My Important Info' - Secure Wiki

The key insideMy Important Info can be used to store your important computer related information, all in a secure, self contained website. The one file website can be saved on your computer, to a usb flash drive or to your web space so that you have secure access to your important information where ever you are.

Examples of use could be to store:
  • Network device ip addresses
  • Website log on details
  • Software log on details
  • Computer log on details

How to get started with My Important Info:

  • Download 'My Important Info' to a location on your computer.
  • Open downloaded document in your browser.
  • Click on 'unlock vault' to start adding to 'My Important Info'. Default password is 'password' (without quotes)
  • Click on 'set password' to set a new password
  • Click on the menu items on the left to add new details
  • All types of information use the title section to store the name of the device, website or software.
  • Examples of titles could be Router, Server, OperatingSystem or Computer

'My Important Info' is based on a customised version of TiddlyWiki.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment

Friday 10 July 2009

CopyToLocs - Copy files or folders to multiple locations

***UPDATE - 2010-01-25***
File locations can now be added to the 'large white box' by right clicking on the box and choosing 'paste'. Any copied file locations will be inserted into the box.

An example of the format for file locations is as follows:

C:\Documents and Settings\sony\Desktop\andreas01
C:\Documents and Settings\sony\Desktop\drupal-5.12
C:\Documents and Settings\sony\Desktop\jquery
C:\Documents and Settings\sony\Desktop\marinelli
C:\Documents and Settings\sony\Desktop\NotepadCodeLab

If the above lines are copied then they can be successfully pasted into the 'large white box'.

This method will not check for the validity of locations.
*** End of UPDATE***

At work we have 5 Citrix servers with identical software on them.

In order to keep them identical we have to replicate any changes we make to all servers. For in house software updates, we have to copy executables and required folders to all servers when we make a change to our software.


To make such updates easier I have developed a program called CopyToLocs. This is a standalone executable that will run on any Windows XP or above computer and will allow you set a source file or folder and a number of destination folders. When the program runs it will copy the file or folder into all the destination folders. You also have the option to create a shortcut to a file, with a custom name, rather than copying the file to destination folders.

You have the ability to save your source file / folder path and destination folder setting to an configuration file. This will allow you to repeat copy jobs easily.

Using CopyToLocs

  1. Download the program zip file.
  2. Extract the executable to a location on your computer / usb stick
  3. Double-click the executable to run the program.
  4. There are two tabs to choose from. One is labelled 'File' and the other is labelled 'Folder'.
  5. Choose the relevant tab
  6. Click on the elipses (...) button to select the file or folder name.
  7. If you require to copy a file or folder as a short cut tick the box labelled 'shortcut' and enter a name for the short cut.
  8. Drag and drop, into the large white box, any folders that you would like to be destinations for the source file / folder.
  9. Click on copy file or copy folder to start the process.
  10. [optional] Click on File -> Save to save the setting for you file / folder copy.
  11. To load the saved settings click on File -> Load and navigate to where your settings are saved.

This software is free to use and doesn't come with any warranty. Remember that you can always donate

If you have any comments or questions then please leave them in the comments section.

Wednesday 1 July 2009

AutoFTP - Automatic FTP file upload application

One of my clients required an easy way of uploading a folder full of files periodically. So I created AutoFTP.

Download AutoFTP here.

AutoFTP


What is it?
AutoFTP is a windows XP or above application that allows adhoc or scheduled uploading of files from a local source to an FTP server folder. AutoFTP requires the use of windows built in Schedule Task program to enable scheduled uploads.

Installation
Simply download AutoFTP and extract the zip file to a location on your computer. The folder has three files in it.

AutoFTP.exe
AutoFTP.ini
log.txt

To start the program click on AutoFTP.exe. AutoFTP.ini is a configuration file and log.txt has log entries every time the program is run.

How does it work?
Simply enter your ftp hosts address, your ftp username and password, the path to your local file store, the path to your remote files. Tick auto start if you want to automatically start the upload process when AutoFTP is started or leave auto start unticked if you want to do ad hoc uploads.

For ad hoc uploads simply click on 'Upload Data'.

In auto mode, AutoFTP will silently upload data as soon as it is started and then automatically close. To disable auto mode you will have to edit the the configaration file called AutoFTP.ini . All setting can be changed in the configuration file. The property called 'Automagic' should be set to 0 (zero) to disable auto mode.

Please note:
The source folder can only contain files. If it contains sub folders then AutoFTP will not work. I am working on solution to this issue and will post and update when I have a solution.

Please leave comments if you are using AutoFTP or if you have any problems with the application