Fixing the Resume and zBasisAdm Websites

I spent part of last week reviewing my options for new opportunities in SAP Basis (my current opportunity is coming to an end for various reasons) and realized that my resume was getting long in the teeth. So I added a little color and simplified what I have at the beginning.

Below is what I had before. It was a very bland unappealing review of my jobs. I can’t say that I would select this if I was looking for new candidates.

 

Below is what I have now. I’ve cleaned up the beginning (made it simpler), changed the font to something more modern and added some color.

It just seems better to provide something more than a bland background of what I have done. I’ve looked at resumes before and have to say that selecting candidates is a chore. Hopefully this will garner more attention and get me into more and better interviews.

I also spent part of the morning updating my personnel and professional websites. First I added my new resume to the haynesworld.net site. I use this as an informal listing my background.

Then I fixed  the www.zbasisconsulting.com website. Somehow, after I moved from AWS to DigitalOcean, the default icons were reset to those that came from the theme I use. I pulled a backup I had taken from the AWS site and pulled out my icons and then uploaded them back on to the DigitalOcean site. After a quick rename of the logo.png and the favicon.ico files, the site was now back to where it was before the move (as shown below).

Digital Ocean has been a breeze to use. The site is fast, easily accessible, and almost half as cheap as running on AWS. I like AWS but paying $15 per month just to host a simple site was a bit much.

The other thing I did was to set my sites back to where they will use HTTPS. As a start I installed the ‘letsencrypt’ module using yum (‘yum install letsencrypt’). Then I generated new certs using the command ‘letsencrypt  certonly -a standalone -d http://www.haynesworld.net -d haynesworld.net. This created some certs in a subdirectory of etc. To utilize these in Apache, I updated the ssl.conf with entries similar this:

<VirtualHost *:443>
ServerName jimbobworld.net
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/jimbob

SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/jimbobworld.net/cert.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/jimbobworld.net/privkey.pem
SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/letsencrypt/live/jimbobworld.net/chain.pem
</VirtualHost>

After a quick restart of Apache (‘systemctl start httpd’) I ran a quick test and verified that HTTPS was indeed working. It’s not exactly the cleanest most proper way to run HTTPS, but it is free and it does get the job done. Once things settle down I’ll probably attempt to generate a valid cert that has all of the required ownership info.

So that is how I spent my Sunday morning. Now it’s time to get back to playing and trying to win more rounds in GT Legends (which may kickoff still another blog entry).

 

 

SAP Basis – Learning from an issue with BRTOOLS

I just finished refreshing a system and had to generate an xml file that shows the size of the files. But before I could do that I had to run a stats update (since the file size calculation uses the stats). When I tried to do this with BRTOOLS, I kept receiving an error about access and the temp tablespace. When I listed out the files in BRTOOLS I noticed that the size of the PSAPTEMP tablespace was zero and no files were associated with it. The quick fix was to extended PSAPTEMP (again using BRTOOLS).

It is odd sometimes obtuse errors like this that can throw off the timeline for a system refresh. I spent part of a day researching the issue and trying different fixes. It wasn’t an obvious fix and I had to think a bit laterally to find it. Who looks for an issue with a temp space when the system is already running fine (SAP came up without any problems and several other functions in BRTOOLS ran without error)?

I think that is one of the harder lessons to teach new SAP Basis admins. New admins always think there should an easy answer or maybe the system is broken and the whole process should be restarted from the beginning. Or they immediately stop and create a ticket to SAP support hoping a magical answer will come right away. Sadly, their response to a tough issue is to turn away and not use it as an opportunity to learn (I’m not sure who promised them that IT would be easy!).

I’ve always been one to put my head down and think for myself about tough issues. Yes. I’ll create support requests but I find I waste quite a bit of time trying to explain the issue to SAP support. That is time I could use to find an answer to the issue and more times than not I resolve it days before SAP can even provide a response.

I come from the development side of the house (so to say). I am used to resolving tough analytical issues by putting my head down and doing something so uncommon called ‘research.’ Google is such a great tool and provides resources that I never had when I started. My advice to new admins is to learn how to use this wonderful tool. Save your client’s time and make yourself more valuable as well. Just because a problem seems insurmountable doesn’t mean it can’t be resolved or used as a lesson for the next time.

Playing with AWS

I have to say that after playing around with AWS for the last few weeks, I’ve found it to be really handy. I moved my personal website (haynesworld.net) up there and then created my business pages (ZBasisADM Consulting) to the same place. I updated Apache so it could respond to both domain names without any issues.

The personal site is just an HTML template I found online. The business site was created using Drupal. I tried quite a few open source CMS packages but I really just like Drupal and Joomla. I was going to use Joomla but I didn’t want to go through the hastle of installing MySQL (I may go back and set that up since it has been a while since I hacked on it).

My current task is to continue learning about SAP HANA. To get started I created an instance on AWS. I thought the pricing would be high but so far it has been reasonable. What surprised me was the cost of the storage that is required. So when I’m done playing around with this HANA system on AWS, I’ll make sure that I remove all the storage (it cost something like 20 bucks for all of July.

As a side note I did look into moving my websites on to Digital Ocean since it is cheaper. After reviewing the cost on AWS I found that it wasn’t going to be cheap enough for me to move. I’d like to keep my instances running on AWS so I stay familiar with it. I find if I don’t use something for a while it takes me a while to get back into how everything works.

Yesterday, I went through the process of setting up still another SAP HANA One instance on AWS. The first time I went through the steps I somehow created a second instance (still not sure how I managed to pull that off). This time around I was able to create just one instance and was able to connect through the HANA studio (which is just another doo-dad plugin to Eclipse). All in all it is pretty cool stuff.

What I want to do next with HANA is load some data and then play around with XS. For fun I’d like to download some data from one of the stock exchanges and see if running any predictive analysis would turn up anything I could use for stock investing (I’m a value guy so I’d like to see if I can calculate current estimated value based on predicted earnings going forward).  Or at the very least I’d like to run an analysis on book value ratios.

There are a few websites that provided end of day data on the exchanges. So far I have not found a big chunk of historical data to play with but I’ll keep looking.

All in all playing around with SAP HANA and Hadoop is pretty cool. I’m enjoying learning about each of these as I take a few weeks off.

Career Update and Updating to Windows 10

I’m updating my other system to Windows 10 so I’m writing this on my ancient Pentium D system. It is slow but it works.

I’ve also been busy on the career front. First, I left my last job to take some time off. It was becoming more and more of a challenge to deliver a good product where I was so I decided to take some time off. This is a good time to take a break. I’ve been working as a SAP Basis Administrator for about twelve years and it is time for me to ‘freshen’ up my skill set.

What I’m looking to do is to move into technology that will be around for the next 15 years. Obviously SAP HANA and Big Data applications are going to be around for a while so I’m taking some on line classes for both. I’m just wrapping up some stuff for Hadoop (learning what HIVE, HBASE, and PIG do) and hope to start playing around with the data side here shortly. Once that is done I’m going to get back and concentrate on getting my SAP HANA certification. This really is a cool app and the tie in to Hadoop brings up some really fun possibilities (I’m watching those SAP Academy videos on youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/saphanaacademy).

In addition to updating my skills, I’m also updating the foundation for my career. I decided to go back into independent consulting and created a new LLC to take care of the business side (I had a Subchapter-S corporation for my first consulting company Terra Firma Software Solutions, Inc. and decided to take the LLC route on this one [ZBasisADM Consulting, LLC]).

The new site is http://www.zbasisconsulting.com and my new email is jhaynes@zbasisconsulting.com. I was going to host these across my DSL line (and on a local Debian box) but decided that would cause issues since the IP on my account is dynamic (I just have a residential line). So I created a new CentOS 7.0 instance on AWS and moved my personal website up there (https://www.haynesworld.net). Then I reviewed all of the current Open Source Content Management Systems and installed Drupal as the structure for the ZBasisADM site (I’ve used Joomla before but for me it was much more than I need for a simple corporate site).

I chose Drupal because I’ve worked with it before and it doesn’t required a full DB underneath it (I really didn’t want to install still another MySQL instance just to host a website). Drupal uses SQLite which is just fine for me. I’ve never had a problem with it and I just include it in all my backups using tar (not to mention that it’s fast!).

I also decided to use CentOS 7.0 to re-familiarize my self with Linux and learn the newer features that come with RedHat. I really enjoy working with Unix (Linux and FreeBSD in particular) and it has been a pleasure getting my skills back up to speed. One goal I have is to get my RCHE certification. Linux just plain rocks and getting the cert would punctuate my desire to keep working with it.

Setting up the CentOS instance on AWS was a snap. I created and instance and then created certs to connect from my system over PuTTY. Once I logged in I updated the rpm’s and started installing the apps I need (Apache, PHP, postfix and so on). Updating the configuration foes for each of these started bringing back some memories of my previous life as a Linux Administrator. It’s nice to see that the configuration for Apache and Postfix have not changed all that much.

Once the system was setup I ran a scan from a personal copy of Nessus. There were a few items that needed to be fixed (such as the SSL versions). but most part the system was already locked down to the point where it could be used right away.

AWS does make things easy. There are other sites that might be cheaper (DigitalOcean comes to mind) but I’ve used AWS long enough that I can get an OS instance up and running in a few minutes. Even better is I can learn SAP HANA by setting up my own temporary instances. I created a SAP HANA One instance in about an hour. I have not worked with HANA since I was a Basis admin at Lockheed Martin so it was interesting to see what has changed over the last few support packs (all the Fiori on HANA stuff is new to me so I’ll have to check that out).

So, as you can see I’ve been busy with my time off. I’ve got quite a bit to learn and it has been a hoot working on my own stuff. I’ll get back to my consulting business shortly so I can at least afford to keep playing with all of these fun apps!

Cheers!

Joe

My Links:

http://jphaynes1966.livejournal.com/ * http://www.haynesworld.net * http://www.zbasisconsulting.com * https://twitter.com/jphaynes1966 https://twitter.com/z_basis_adm * https://www.linkedin.com/in/zbasisadm

Adams 12 DSIT – Well meaning but waste of time

There are few things that make me mad. But taking advantage of me and wasting my time are two big ones.

Tonight I went to the DSIT meeting and found that it was so crowded that I could not hear any of the speakers. For some unknown reason, they decided to hold the meeting at a local elementary school. That’s a great idea in concept but not in practice. Especially when the room for the meeting could only hold about 70 or 80 people and some 200 people showed up.

I took time away from work to get to the meeting and put off having dinner with my family. I do this so I can share the information that I gather at the DSIT meetings with parents are my local school’s meetings. But when I have to stand in a hallway half able to hear what each of the speakers is saying, I’m unable to gather that information for others. In short, the folks at DSIT wasted my time (again).

This isn’t the only time that I find that the DSIT meetings are a waste of my time. I’ve been to other meetings where they didn’t start for 15 minutes. Other meetings followed no agenda so parent’s with gripes dominated the meetings. The worst meetings are ones where they fill extended amounts of time with inane topics they cooked up for discussion points at each table (what are these supposed to accomplish? I came to get information from school and not to chit-chat with other parents). I take that back. The worst meetings are the ones where teacher’s who are either parents or pretending they are parents come in with a hidden agenda and start pushing the discussion in their own direction.

My wish is for the DSIT to better organize itself and learn how to respect the time of others. Begin by starting meetings on time, utilizing/sticking to an agenda, and controlling the floor of discussions so they are not dominated by emotional parents or venting educators.

Adams County DSIT Meeting – What you missed

I’m not a particularly good writer but I thought I’d share some thoughts about a DSIT meeting that was held last night.

Last night’s meeting was a departure from the standard DSIT meetings. Three different speakers presented topics on vaccines, child safety, and how to develop healthy kids in a safe environment. The first speaker was very good. He emphasized how vaccines have saved lives over the last few decades and what the likely affect if they were no longer given.

The second speaker was the safety officer for the district. He discussed how to talk with our kids about recent developments and materials that are available for parents to examine further.

The last speaker discussed how children develop and how important it is for children to feel safe in order for them to learn.

At the end of the meeting the different speakers went to different corners of the room. This allowed the parents to speak individually and get specific questions answered.

DSIT is a terrific resource for parents to learn and get more involved in the school district. Sadly, only a very few come out to participate. Out of some 40,000 students, only 16 parents came out for this meeting.

If you are a parent and are wondering how to get more involved in your child’s education, then the DSIT meetings are a great place to start.

Napkin for a month

Before he went to school and before he had put on his jacket to walk down the street the kid proclaimed that the paper towel he was using to wipe his face was good for the whole month.  He even pointed out the stain from the orange juice that he wiped off his face yesterday.

“Well. Yeah. It can last that long if you want it to”  I said.

I tried not to steer him away from using it again. Primarily because I’m not too concerned (he’ll forget about it in a day or two) and it’s not worth fighting a six year old over a piece of paper. We usually have a battle about something small and inconsequential each evening. So I’ll leave the paper towel out on his chair to help keep the self driven angst to a minimum.

Weather Gods are Angry

From where I sit I can hear both the booms of a distant thunderstorm and the hissing of some scud-running airliners trying to make it into the Denver airport after being delayed. Storms have come to the area after pounding a few towns north of here just over a week ago. Those poor people who lost their houses are probably re-living the terror of losing their homes. I hope the storms are light and pass quickly through the area.

Earlier I came into the kitchen and noticed our neighbors pointing up into the sky. At first I wondered if they were looking at a rainbow. Then the my Midwestern past came jumping out from the back of my mind and made me worry that it was something more. So out the front door I went and found a big orange and white billowing cloud. I have never seen a cloud grow up and out so fast (it looked like an inflating balloon). The sun was warming the top of the storm as the bottom was cooling in the shade provided by the distant mountains (distant being some 15 miles).

For twenty minutes or so it puffed up and started to blow in out direction. But as the sun started to sink the cloud fell apart and floated to the East. As I look out toward the East, I can see the storm with flashing from the inside, top to bottom.

Like in Texas, the storms here can form fast and move quick. The Denver area is the breeding ground for the giant fronts that sweep the plain states. We see them form and rush to the the East where the pound the miles of wheat and corn.

As I see them go I remember the times in Indiana where we hid in the hallway with a blanket over our heads. The police radio was blaring away with reports of down power lines and houses set on fire by lightening. In my small mind it felt like Armageddon. I felt scared and saw the worry in my parents faces. I probably would have felt okay, but seeing that made me worry that much more.

Looking back I realize that the look on my parents faces taught me that life is dangerous. So in the end, that probably did me some good since I tend to worry about storms now and make sure that we (the family) are safe.  Which is just now producing the mental reminder to find the flashlight.

Elmo’s Moments

I have these moments every so often where I drive to work and realize half way there that I have been subconsciously listening to my son’s Elmo song video (I have an in car DVD player). What my mind has been doing for that 15 minutes or so I do not know. But at some level it’s been singing along like a small arm waving kid ([Yay] ‘On top of speghetti, all covered with cheese.’).

I can’t help but think that this makes me happier in some ways but in others I wonder if it makes me pine for the old days where I did not have a worry and my biggest joy was running through the soft grass in front of my parents house. Yeah. Responsibilities have a way of aging you.

I age most on those days where the toddler is especially inventive at trying new dangerous daring-do’s. He is pushing the boundaries of the world to learn about it and I am pushing those boundaries back so I don’t have to fix a broken finger or take him to the emergency room. I feel his every hurt like they are mine and that takes more energy than it probably should (I just saw him shove a full uncooked waffle into his mouth).

I do have to state that I am aging less now that I did when he was a baby. Those first eight months were a long slog through sleepless nights punctuated by hours of gas pain induced ear-piercing screams. So these times are good compared to those. At least now, I don’t have that sinking feeling in the back of my mind that we were going to die from lack of sleep (and I am convinced that it can happen, there were several times where I felt like I was heading toward some sort of light).

So times are good and the discoveries go on.

Finally got the munchkin down

Night Owl

Finally got the munch kin down. It is not a surprise that he is as much of a night owl as his father and mother. Both of us have a tendency to whittle away the late night hours on odd projects only to be begrudgingly awoken in the morning. What a rude awakening.

When I was an independent consultant one of the freedoms was being able to work at odd hours of the night. That was a good thing when I had the ability to get sleep every so often. I thought it would also be a good trait to have when I had a kid. “Well” I thought to myself, “at least I am used to being awake at night.”

It turns out that my late night tendencies did nothing soften the blow of only getting three or four hours a night. I would just lay down and as I was getting into a deep sleep would hear that small squeaky cry which quickly turned into a shrill scream (for milk).

Told you so!

A few years back I broke out of a partnership I had with three other people in Helena Montana. I broke away because of some disagreements I had over the direction of the company. Primarily, I felt like they were taking advantage of their one client and were doing nothing to improve the relationship (they, actually took the relationship for granted like it would always be available to them). There was one member of that “Partnership” who felt like he needed to control the whole company (i.e. a control freak). Which would have been fine had he any practical business knowledge and/or any kind of usable leadership skills (both, for this weak soul, are in short supply).

I left that partnership and was immediately hired away by the (previous) consulting firms one client. From there, the relationship to the one client deteriorated badly as the client now had the ability to resolve issues without being forced to use the consulting firm. That was before the IT leadership of the client changed due to a large merger.

The new IT leader showed up and interviewed my old consulting firm. Instead of jumping at the chance to resolve any upcoming issues and work with the new guy, they followed the path of self-indulgence and decided they could play coy thinking that he would go away. Unfortunate for them, the new guy stayed and needless to say the relationship with the client worsened.

Helena is a small town. On a good day there might be some 30,000 plus people in the area. So there are very few employers in town and no big company presence. The client was part of a big company (the one billion dollar propane division of a 10 billion dollar natural gas company). So, this was about the best gig in town to have when it came to IT consulting. Any IT consulting firm (slash “partnership”) of sound mind and sound business practices would have done anything to ensure that the relationship with such a lucrative client stayed solid. But not this one.

I mention all of these because today it I found out that the company is liquidating the equipment within its office. Out goes the servers, the monitors, and the fancy white-boards that they put together by hand. All of this wonderful stuff is being sold and all of the people once employed are all now gone looking for new work.

It is pathetic, really. That one man could bring down an entire company simply because he could not grow the company away from his own personality. What really happened is he felt threatened and would not consider ideas outside of his own. As time went on his attitude got worse and it started to pull apart the relationship with the client (and blinded him from being able to improve the relationship).

I feel somewhat sorry for the people that stayed with the company. But what a bunch of suckers, really. They could have seen this failure coming and either gone out on their own or been emboldened enough to stand up to this guy. But I guess blindly following somebody is easier than trying to think through finding new business and making the most of current opportunities. Which is what I did and I am now more successful than ever.

I know one thing. I have a job and they don’t. When I come home and feed my young son and sit down to read a book, I know that having that job is one of the most important things in the world. My dedication to myself is how I partly give a better world to my son.