Le Cloud Blog

Sebastian Kreutzberger, founder & CEO stealth startup. Co-founder / CEO / CTO at VC-backed startups like RhodeCode and Wunderlist.

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The World’s First Logging Platform for Swift — SwiftyBeaver Blog

Introducing SwiftyBeaver Private Beta

Today, I am proudly introducing the SwiftyBeaver Logging Platform private beta.

SwiftyBeaver will make the life of Swift and Objective-C developers, UX designers, app analytics experts, and product owners better and comes with a fresh, year 2016 approach to logging and app analytics.

[lecloud]

Random Swift, Part 2

Or “How to generate random text, email & color”. 

In Part 1 I introduced you to the main randomizing functions in Swift. In this article we will now use these functions to randomly generate some more complex data which work great if you need to test fake user input in a UITextView, UILabel or CGRect:

a random text of a defined length consisting of digits, letters & spaces

a random email address

a random color (a UIColor() to be more specific)

Read more

[lecloud]

Random Swift

An Introduction to randomizing functions in Swift

It is often necessary to add some randomness to a Swift application during development. For example if you need to fake data from a user input during a unit test or to display some dynamic placeholder text to get comfortable with your Auto-Layout. Click the title to read more ...

[lecloud]

Python, Pip on Mac OS X Yosemite

This guide shows how to install the latest 2.x release of Python and all important Python packaging / sandboxing utilities like Pip and Virtualenv under Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

I am using Homebrew to install pre-compiled software. I checked Homebrew 4 years ago and it had issue but now in 2015 it became a more mature solution for the installation of complex Unix software under Mac.

Let’s start.

1. Install Homebrew

Open Terminal.app and type (copy & paste) the following lines to install Homebrew and to check if it worked:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" brew help echo "export PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:$PATH" >> ~/.profile source ~/.profile

the brew help command should display a list of brew (= Homebrew) commands as validation of a successful installation of Homebrew.

2. Install Python 2.7.9 & Pip

Enter in Terminal.app:

brew install python python -V

The newly installed Python version should be displayed. That was easy!

Now you need update Pip which is a Python package manager. It was already installed together with Python.

3. Update Pip

Enter in Terminal.app:

sudo pip install --upgrade pip pip -V

The Pip version is displayed and can be used to install and upgrade all further Python packages and libraries.

But one key component of every Python development environment is still missing: Virtualenv. Virtualenv is something like a sandboxing system which separates applications (your Python projects) and their installed packages from each other. That separation is very important due because Python has its own internal (not so easy to understand) package dependency system.

All that becomes important latest when you want to deploy your project and its dependencies so better do sandboxing from Day 1.

4. Install Virtualenv & Virtualenvwrapper

Let’s start sandboxing by installing the necessary tool Virtualenv (“virtual environments”). Enter in Terminal.app:

sudo pip uninstall virtualenv sudo pip uninstall virtualenvwrapper sudo pip install virtualenv==1.6.4 sudo pip install virtualenvwrapper mkdir ~/.virtualenvs echo "source /usr/local/bin/virtualenvwrapper.sh" >> ~/.profile echo "export WORKON_HOME=~/.virtualenvs" >> ~/.profile source ~/.profile

Correct, you just uninstalled it before installing! That is necessary because we also install Virtualenvwrapper which may require a certain Virtualenv version.

The second part of all the entered commands created a hidden file in your home directory which contains the Virtualenv settings. And as last step you created autostart magic of all that.

5. Finished, now let’s test!

Congratulations, you successfully installed Python 2.7.9 (or later), Pip and all sandboxing tools under Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

Now it is time to create our first test project and sandbox (often called virtualenv but that may be confusing due to the Virtualenv project).

Enter in Terminal.app:

cd ~ mkdir PythonProjects cd PythonProjects mkdir test1 cd test1

You created a new folder called PythonProjects in your home folder and a subfolder called TestProject. You can browse that still empty folder in Finder, too.

Now it is time to create the sandbox of TestProject which we call test1. Enter in Terminal.app:

cd ~/PythonProjects/test1 mkvirtualenv test1

You just made / created a virtualenv sandbox called test1. Now it is necessary to work on that sandbox before you do any Pip operation.

Good to know: The name of the active Sandbox is displayed directly at the beginning of the Terminal command prompt which is very helpful to see if you are currently inside a sandbox or not!

To leave / close the sandbox just type deactivate. So let’s continue with the test by activating the sandbox, installing an the Python package PyTest (just as example), test all that and deactivate / close the sandbox:

workon test1 pip install pytest python -c 'import pytest;print pytest.__version__' deactivate

The package PyTest was installed because the call at line 3 displayed the version. Now we left the sandbox and if we do the same call again then the package should not be available anymore (because we just installed it inside the test1 sandbox) and an ImportError is displayed:

python -c 'import pytest;print pytest.__version__'

So always keep in mind to enter workon before you do any Pip operation or start working on a project. Also check the installed Virtualenvwrapper, it comes with some further handy commands and automation.

And finally, delete the sandbox because it was just a test:

rmvirtualenv test1

I hope you enjoyed that guide and it was helpful. Please leave a comment if it worked and also if not.

Thanks!

[lecloud]

Dark Clouds on the Horizon

Cloud computing, which boils down to renting server space and software off premises, has become a massive growth target. Every large Internet enterprise is backing the public cloud and hoping to turn hosting your projects into a long term revenue stream.

From a business perspective this makes perfect sense. Every CEO dreams of a bottomless pit of revenue pouring into their coffers, and in this age of information, those wannabe terabyte landlords are in a race to build the swankiest file hosting apartments. The cloud: What's not to love?

Read more ...

[lecloud]

In our quest to create the world's greatest development suite we think long and hard about how to make the best tools, offering the greatest value, with the least complexity possible, to our users. But we are all products of our environment, and our tools too are products of theirs. So, in an effort to support them, we investigated the best way to create the perfect environment for our tools, which in turn creates the best environment for our users.

After taking that step back and analysing the contenders, one solution stood out above all others: Nix Package Manager. Read more ...

[lecloud]

The software development life cycle (SDLC) within the agile environment requires the ability to iterate extremely quickly. Over the last few years, when large enterprises have switched to the "fail fast, fail often" approach, they have had to implement this dynamic development approach on top of tools designed and created during the age of "build it and they will come". Read here to learn more.

[lecloud]

Setup your own Git & Mercurial server with RhodeCode

If you ever needed an own in-house Git or Mercurial server with a nice graphical frontend, powerful code review, user permissions and online editing capabilities then RhodeCode Enterprise is something for you.

RhodeCode Enterprise is free up to 20 users, written in Python and the leading open source system to manage Git & Mercurial repositories in teams up to 1000+ users.

The installation under Linux is super easy with a very convenient interactive Installer script. Just run the following lines and you are ready to go:

mkdir ~/rhodecode && cd ~/rhodecode curl -O https://rhodecode.com/dl/rhodecode-installer.py sudo python rhodecode-installer.py

The Installation under Windows is even easier. Just read here.

Disclaimer: I am RhodeCode’s co-founder and was responsible for the first iterations of the Installer. It is really dead-simple, try it out and please leave comments here if you have questions or feedback. Thank you!

[lecloud]

I wrote down my experiences with making the Python application RhodeCode more easier to install and upgrade by evolving from the many ways of achieving that under Python. A recommended read for all interested in Python.

[lecloud]

Salt adds many new features with their latest release. Check it out!

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Install Python 2.7, Pip, Virtualenv under Fedora, RedHat Linux and CentOS

While developing the RhodeCode Installer I found a good (and reliable!) way to install Python 2.x, Pip (PyPI) and Virtualenv under current Fedora, RedHat Enterprise and CentOS Linux systems. I added an additional line after each line to make it more clear what should go on the same line. 

Firstly, we install Python and make/build tools and then download a custom script which itself downloads and builds Pip. After that we update Pip just in case and install virtualenv: 

sudo yum install make automake gcc gcc-c++ kernel-devel git-core -y sudo yum install python-devel -y sudo curl -o /tmp/ez_setup.py https://sources.rhodecode.com/setuptools/raw/bootstrap/ez_setup.py sudo /usr/bin/python /tmp/ez_setup.py sudo /usr/bin/easy_install pip sudo rm setuptools-*.tar.gz sudo pip install -i https://pypi.rhodecode.com/ --upgrade pip sudo pip install virtualenv

[lecloud]

Install / update to Python 2.7 and latest Pip on EC2 Amazon Linux

EDIT (May 20, 2015): I brought the article up-to-date and it works again. Thanks for all your comments!

Unfortunately Amazon Linux 3.4 AMIs still ship with Python 2.6 which makes it impossible to run many Python apps. Also the installation and update/upgrade of Pip through yum python-pip fails and puts packages into the old 2.6 lib folder.

Here is my solution to upgrade to Python 2.7 including the latest Pip & Virtualenv. Just copy & paste line by line:

# install build tools sudo yum install make automake gcc gcc-c++ kernel-devel git-core -y # install python 2.7 and change default python symlink sudo yum install python27-devel -y sudo rm /usr/bin/python sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python2.7 /usr/bin/python # yum still needs 2.6, so write it in and backup script  sudo cp /usr/bin/yum /usr/bin/_yum_before_27 sudo sed -i s/python/python2.6/g /usr/bin/yum sudo sed -i s/python2.6/python2.6/g /usr/bin/yum # should display now 2.7.5 or later: python -V # now install pip for 2.7 sudo curl -o /tmp/ez_setup.py https://bootstrap.pypa.io/ez_setup.py

sudo /usr/bin/python27 /tmp/ez_setup.py sudo /usr/bin/easy_install-2.7 pip sudo pip install virtualenv # should display current versions: pip -V && virtualenv --version

[lecloud]

Git, Mercurial & Subversion Branch at Prompt

Want to display see at what version control system branch you are currently at your Bash or ZSH? I tested some stuff, but this is the fastest and easiest to setup.

You just download vcprompt and install it in typing this on your Ubuntu shell:

curl -sL https://github.com/djl/vcprompt/raw/master/bin/vcprompt > ~/vcprompt chmod 755 ~/vcprompt sudo mv ~/vcprompt /bin

Now open your ~./bashrc file and "\$(vcprompt)" to your PS1 string on the position where you want to have it. And then reload your .bashrc with 

source ~/.bashrc

For further information please have a look at vcprompt’s Github page.

[lecloud]

The Ultimate Setup Guide: Ubuntu 13.04 in Virtualbox 4.2 on Mac OS X

This step-by-step guide will provide you with a Ubuntu 13.04 server as guest using Virtualbox 4.2 on Mac OS X 10.8 as host. It has all the bells & whistles like password-less SSH, full network settings, Ubuntu guest additions and a shared and auto-mounted folder of the host inside the guest.

Ubuntu guest will have the following cool features:

SSH from your Mac to the Ubuntu guest

Ubuntu can reach external websites

Ubuntu can "see" other started guests / Virtualboxes

Network settings work even if you move between office and home

Access Mac OS X folder inside the guest

Step 1: Downloads

Download the latest Virtualbox for Mac OS X from https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads and install it

Download Ubuntu 13.04 Server as .iso file from http://www.ubuntu.com/download/server

Step 2: Install Ubuntu

Open Virtualbox and click on "New" and enter the Name "Ubuntu 13.04". The type and version which automatically change to Linux and Ubuntu.

Move through all the next steps of the assistant without changing anything. The defaults are okay. You should now see a new Virtualbox in the list called "Ubuntu 13.04".

Click on "Start" to start the newly created Ubuntu Virtualbox.

An assistant will pop up and ask you for the location of an .iso file. Click on the small folder icon and select your downloaded Ubuntu iso-file called ubuntu-13.04-server-amd64.iso and click "Start"

The Ubuntu installation wizard will start, please go through it doing your preferred settings and create their the user ubuntu. If things look odd, just press ENTER or select CONTINUE. Oh, and one important thing: when it asks for "Software selection" please mark (press SPACE) on OpenSSH Server. The remaining installation may take some minutes, just be patient and grab some coffee :)

Step 3: Update Ubuntu

Now we log in for the first time into the new Ubuntu guest and install updates.

Start the guest (if not already running) and login as ubuntu

Enter the following on the command line inside the guest’s Virtualbox window:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -y && sudo reboot

Step 4: Guest Additions

I recommend installing the Virtualbox Guest Additions to enable features like shared folders, hardware gfx acceleration and more (more features at http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04.html). The installation is complicated, but if you follow my steps you will be safe :)

In Mac OS X, open your Finder and browse to your Applications folder

Right-click on the Virtualbox icon and select "show package content"

Click there on the folder "Contents" and then on "MacOS"

You are now in the MacOS folder of the application Virtualbox (odd, right?)

Search the file VBoxGuestAdditions.iso and copy it to your Mac’s desktop

Now you can close all your Finder windows and head back to the running Virtualbox application

Ubuntu should be rebooted, now shut it down (click on the guests window and select "send shutdown signal")

In Virtualbox, click on "Edit" while having selected the Ubuntu in the list of virtual machines

There at a system preferences browse to "Mass Storage " and click on the empty disc under Controller:IDE

On the right side of the window is a small CD icon. Click on it and select the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso on your desktop and click on "Open" and then on "OK". It is now mounted as a CD on your Ubuntu guest

Start your Ubuntu virtual machine and login as ubuntu

run the following lines line by line in Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install dkms -y cd /media sudo mkdir vbox sudo mount /dev/sr0 vbox/ cd vbox/ sudo sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

Guest Additions is installed now.

Step 5: Network Settings

Now it's time to setup the networking of Ubuntu. Again, it looks very heavy, but just follow the steps. We will setup the network in a way that you can SSH from your Mac OS X into the Ubuntu, that your Ubuntu can reach the Internet and that Ubuntu can see other possibly running Virtualbox virtual machines.

Virtualbox Network settings for internet in and out plus static IP for private networking between VMs:

in the main preferences of Virtualbox, under Network, add the host-only network vboxnet0

in the preferences for the Ubuntu VM in Virtualbox set the following network settings:

adapter 1 is NAT

adapter 2 is host-only using vboxnet0

adapter 3 is internal networking (important for networking between VMs)

In Ubuntu guest, open the network settings: sudo vim /etc/network/interfaces

paste the following text into the file and save it:

# The loopback network interface auto lo iface lo inet loopback # The primary network interface auto eth0 iface eth0 inet dhcp # The secondary network interface (static IP) auto eth1 iface eth1 inet static address 192.168.56.10 netmask 255.255.255.0

refresh the setttings and reboot

sudo rm /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules sudo reboot

Step 6: Passwordless SSH into Ubuntu

This Virtualbox VM window is not so awesome, so we better connect via SSH into Ubuntu via Terminal.app. And it should be without password of course.

We generate keypair. On your Mac, open Terminal and type:

cd ~/.ssh/ ssh-keygen -N '' -f ubuntu_virtualbox -t rsa -q less ubuntu_virtualbox.pub

Copy the output of the last command (less) to your Mac’s clipboard. Until the text ".local"

Go back into your Ubuntu and create the .ssh folder and mkdir /home/ubuntu/.ssh cd /home/ubuntu/.ssh

Now create the SSH authorized_keys file on Ubuntu and paste your Mac’s clipboard content in: vim authorized_keys

save and close vim

Change the permission of the file: chmod 0600 authorized_keys

Go back to your Mac OS X host and its Terminal.app window and open your Mac’s SSH config file: vim ~/.ssh/config

add the following lines to this file (last line is double, just indentation is different):

Host ubuntu HostName 192.168.56.10 User ubuntu IdentityFile ~/.ssh/ubuntu_virtualbox IdentityFile ~/.ssh/ubuntu_virtualbox

save and close your Mac’s vim

Try to connect from your Mac OS X host via SSH to your Ubuntu guest: ssh ubuntu

Step 7: Shared & Auto-Mounted Folder

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could access your Project folder of Mac OS X (or any other folder) inside of Ubuntu? We will do this now and I take as example a folder called "Projects". Please replace this just with the one that you like.

Open the preferences of the Ubuntu VM (you need to shut it down before)

Go to "Shared Folder" and click on "+"

In the first line of the popup select the folder on your Mac which you want to see in Ubuntu

In the second line of the popup enter the name "Project" (or whatever your prefer)

Activate the second checkbox "automatic mounting" (or a similar wording)

Click "OK" and start your Ubuntu VM

In Ubuntu (maybe even connected via SSH?) type the following to add a mounting point for the shared folder:

sudo mkdir /mnt/Projects sudo chmod 777 /mnt/Projects sudo mount -t vboxsf -o uid=1000,gid=1000 Projects /mnt/Projects

Now enable auto-mounting. For this, we open the file which is always run at the start of Ubuntu: sudo vim /etc/rc.local

Add the following line above(!!!) the line with "exit 0": sudo mount -t vboxsf -o uid=1000,gid=1000 Projects /mnt/Projects

save and close vim

from now on your Mac OS X folder is always in /mnt/Projects inside Ubuntu, even after a reboot

Step 8: Snapshot

Now you should stop your Ubuntu VM and make a snapshot, because we are finished with the general setup!

From now on you can always take this snapshot as base for further Virtualboxes. Just keep in mind, that you maybe need to change the IP, but this on a later guide.

If you have feedback, please post it here as comment. Thanks & enjoy your new Virtualbox Ubuntu!

[lecloud]

... the preference for a private enterprise cloud behind the firewall remains as strong as ever, despite the growth in public cloud computing ...

http://www.informationweek.com/cloud-computing/infrastructure/public-cloud-concerns-remain-strong-surv/240151672

[lecloud]

A nice summary of several forecasts about cloud computing.

[lecloud]

Cloud Adoption in Hosting 2012

Following the latest studies from 451 Research and Gartner, 6.1% of the global hosting market ($51bn) are already using public, cloud-based infrastructure (IaaS & PaaS).