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Fatal error was starting Putty after having saved settings

One min read
Christophe
Markdown, WSL and Docker lover ~ PHP developer ~ Insatiable curious.

Fatal error was starting Putty after having saved settings

A few days ago, I've updated my Putty configuration to set the default font-size to 12; no more 10.

Today, by starting Putty, whatever on which server I wish to join, I got the No supported authentication methods available followed by, in my case (server sent: publickey, gssapi-keyex, gssapi-with-mic, keyboard-interactive) fatal error.

I've only understand the origin of the problem by looking at the window caption: Putty tries to connect to a server other than the one I want. Why? And, ah, ok, last time I've modified my settings I was working on that server so, the solution should come from: how can I reset my Putty settings?

Autosuggestions in the console using ZSH

2 min read
Christophe
Markdown, WSL and Docker lover ~ PHP developer ~ Insatiable curious.

Autosuggestions in the console using ZSH

ZSH supports plugin and one of the wonders is the zsh-autosuggestions one.

That one will suggests commands as you type based on your previous history and completions.

The more you use your Linux console, the more valuable this plugin will prove to be, as it will learn from you; it will know which commands you have already executed and will suggest them as soon as you start typing the first characters. Finish thinking "Gee, what were the parameters I used for ...".

Syntax highlighting in the console using ZSH

One min read
Christophe
Markdown, WSL and Docker lover ~ PHP developer ~ Insatiable curious.

Syntax highlighting in the console using ZSH

zsh-syntax-highlighting is another gem for ZSH.

As you type, you'll be able to tell from the colors that, for example, something isn't quite right.

If you type head followed by a space, ZSH will display this word in green: this command exists and is valid. If you type heat there, the word will appear in red: this command does not exist.

It sounds simple, but it's so practical.

How to install Oh-My-ZSH

5 min read
Christophe
Markdown, WSL and Docker lover ~ PHP developer ~ Insatiable curious.

How to install Oh-My-ZSH

ZSH is a powerful alternative to Linux Bash offering a lot of features like auto-completion (I like this so much), plugins and even themes.

The idea here is to empower your Linux console, both the command line like, f.i. new aliases out-of-the-box and make the look and feel even better.

I've chosen Oh My ZSH since years, let's see how to install it followed by a discovering some features.

Understanding the depends_on condition in Docker compose files

3 min read
Christophe
Markdown, WSL and Docker lover ~ PHP developer ~ Insatiable curious.

Understanding the depends_on condition in Docker compose files

It's only been ten days or so since I learned the trick, even though it was well documented: managing service startups and, above all, blocking one if the other isn't ready (official documentation).

Imagine a two services applications like Joomla (see my Create your Joomla website using Docker), WordPress, LimeSurvey, Laravel and many, many more use cases: you've an application and that application requires a database.

VBS - Auto update script

3 min read
Christophe
Markdown, WSL and Docker lover ~ PHP developer ~ Insatiable curious.

VBS - Auto update script

Before switching to WSL2 and the Linux console, I wrote VBS scripts from time to time. It looks like VBA but for the DOS console.

A VBS script for DOS is a text file written in the Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) programming language that can be executed directly from the DOS command prompt. It allows you to automate tasks and perform repetitive operations on your computer.

It's just like Linux Bash scripts but for the DOS.

Do you think it would be possible to offer an auto-update function in such scripts? The answer is yes.

Github - Connect your account using SSH and start to work with git@ protocol

3 min read
Christophe
Markdown, WSL and Docker lover ~ PHP developer ~ Insatiable curious.

Github - Connect your account using SSH and start to work with git@ protocol

Using SSH instead of HTTPS to connect to Github is more secure. Indeed, SSH relies on public-key cryptography. This makes unauthorized access much harder compared to a password, which can be stolen through phishing or brute-force attacks. Also, HTTPS transmits your username and password (encrypted) over the network, which can be intercepted in a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack. SSH doesn't transmit passwords after the initial setup.

Let's see how to add a SSH key and, from now, being able to work with Github like using the git@ protocol with git clone.

How to optimize an existing MS Access database

13 min read
Christophe
Markdown, WSL and Docker lover ~ PHP developer ~ Insatiable curious.

How to optimize an existing MS Access database

Several years ago, I had to intervene on an MS Access database that had been created by a person of good will but with little affinity for computers and optimization.

The result: a cumbersome and exasperatingly slow database.

In this article, resurrected from my personal archive, I'm going to present the different stages I went through.

VBS - Retrieve the list of fields in a MS Access Database

4 min read
Christophe
Markdown, WSL and Docker lover ~ PHP developer ~ Insatiable curious.

VBS - Retrieve the list of fields in a MS Access Database

Years ago, I've created a .vbs script that will scan a MS Access database, loop for each table and, for each of them, will get the list of fields.

For each fields, a lot of information will be retrieved like, not exhaustive, his name, size, type, ... and also the shortest and longest value size (for text and memo fields). For instance, if a text field is found, the script will retrieve his size (f.i. 255 chars max) and will examine all records in the table for retrieving, for that field, the smallest size (f.i. 10) and the greatest one (f.i. 50). So, if the max size is 50 and the size has been set to 255, perhaps the MS Access developer can safely modify the max size from 255 to 50.

Error Lens addon for VSCode

2 min read
Christophe
Markdown, WSL and Docker lover ~ PHP developer ~ Insatiable curious.

Error Lens addon for VSCode

Very recently I discovered usernamehw.errorlens and it's a shame I hadn't seen it before.

Error Lens is an addon for VSCode which will show errors, notices, warnings, etc. in the editor, which are generally only accessible in the Problems area of VSCode.

Did you know where is that area? In the status bar of the main VSCode window. Did you see it? Hardly anyone sees it, and yet it should be!

Status bar

We can see here I've 54 problems, ouch.