LAMPdocs: Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP

Today I had to inspect what traffic does a program create. For browser traffic I usually use Fiddler (it’s free and it does the job). But it doesn’t suit for a software that doesn’t use proxies. So I had to find the solution, how to capture packets sent by my program (i don’t have any sources for the program so I cannot determine what traffic it should create).

I’ve tried many programs for that, but the solution that worked was Packetyzer. It doesn’t matter that most recent version is about 5 years old – it works great under Windows 7.

In order to get it working I downloaded the program binary (you can find the link above) and installed it. The program didn’t start at its first run, so I had to install another software named Winpcap. I’ve used default settings for both programs so there are no tricks for this installation.

To start capturing the traffic you need to start Packetyzer. It asks for a new session – check “Automatic scrolling” and click “OK”.

Then choose Session->Start Capture

You’re done. Every packet that goes through your network interface will now be shown in Packetyzer.

If you need to communicate with your customers to solve their problems, you definitely need a help desk. A place, where all most popular questions are answered and users have the ability to ask if anything remains unclear. If you are running a service, a web hosting, or anything else related to a big number of potential customers, help desk software will make it easier to communicate with them.

There are lots of help desk scripts available on the web. Everything depends on your current needs; if you’re installing it for the first time, you should better choose a free or open source solution. Here is a big list of software to choose from, but I will tell you a little about the script I really like. It’s Hesk.

IMHO, it’s a great script for a beginner and for a pro. Interface is very clear and you don’t even need a documentation, as it’s hard to do anything wrong with this script. Take a look at a screenshot:

Let’s find out what are the features:

Customer Interface:

* Submit new tickets
* Attach files
* Obtain detailed information from customers with custom fields
* SPAM prevention
* Suggest related articles before final ticket submission
* View existing ticket status
* E-mail notifications of staff replies
* Browse knowledge base

Knowledge base:

* Unlimited knowledge base articles
* Unlimited categories and subcategories
* Quick and Easy search capabilities
* Post attachments to articles
* Count article views
* List newest and most popular articles
* Rate articles

Administrator interface:

* Unlimited administrators and staff accounts
* Restricted access to some functionality for certain staff
* Powerful ticket search ability
* Manage knowledge base categories and articles
* Manage staff accounts
* Manage canned responses
* Customize help desk settings
* Modify your profiles and signatures
* Autoclose tickets after X days
* E-mail notifications of new tickets and replies
* Customers can easily rate staff replies
* Easy translation into any language

You are welcome to download your free version.

If you can propose any other simple and free scripts, please, post them in comments.

If you manage many sites that take profits from Adsense advertising, then you probably know that irrelevant ads are often shown on your pages. This means your visitors won’t click on them and you are simply losing your profits. I have discovered the software that allows to filter these ads by advertisers, as if you’re running a niche site, the advertiser selection isn’t so great. Software I’m talikng about is AdSense Preview Tool . Let me list all the features annonuced:

• grouping of websites and URLs;
• flexible geo-targeting settings;
• automatic checking of advertisers’ websites;
• ads separation: normal, non-relevant and MFA;
• sorting of the filter items by an actuality;
• automatic deletion of old filter items.

There is a free trial available on the site. You’re welcome to try it by yourself, but I think that this software is worth its money.

As you know there is a nice Windows software for SSH access named Winscp. It’s a FTP and SFTP client that allows to have multiple accounts and I consider it to be great for SFTP connection. I’ve tried Globalscape CuteFTP Professional, but it doesn’t work with SFTP in the way I like. Also I’ve had some problems saving files that’s why I have switched to Winscp.

In the default setting of this software you will receive timeouts as no commands are sent to keep the connection alive. There is a simple setting that allows to fix this issue and have a permananent connection to yor servers. Let’s see, as the screenshots are provided as usual.

That’s the main window of Winscp. As you see I’ve got many server sessions (IPs are hidden for security reasons). In order to do what we need you have to tick “Advanced Options” checkbox.

Then we need to go to the connection tab.

Default option is Off (we’re looking at keepalive section). In order to prevent timeouts you have to check any option for Keepalives except off. I’ve chosen to send dummy commands.

Then just save your session and you will never lose your connection amymore.