Testing IPv6 Networking in KVM: Part 1

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November 2, 2017

Nothing beats hands-on playing with IPv6 addresses to get the hang of how they work, and setting up a little test lab in KVM is as easy as falling over — and more fun. In this two-part series, we will learn about IPv6 private addressing and configuring test networks in KVM.

QEMU/KVM/Virtual Machine Manager

Let’s start with understanding what KVM is. Here I use KVM as a convenient shorthand for the combination of QEMU, KVM, and the Virtual Machine Manager that is typically bundled together in Linux distributions. The simplified explanation is that QEMU emulates hardware, and KVM is a kernel module that creates the guest state on your CPU and manages access to memory and the CPU. Virtual Machine Manager is a lovely graphical overlay to all of this virtualization and hypervisor goodness.

But you’re not stuck with pointy-clicky, no, for there are also fab command-line tools to use — such as virsh and virt-install.

If you’re not experienced with KVM, you might want to start with Creating Virtual Machines in KVM: Part 1 and Creating Virtual Machines in KVM: Part 2 – Networking.

IPv6 Unique Local Addresses

Configuring IPv6 networking in KVM is just like configuring IPv4 networks. The main difference is those weird long addresses. Last time, we talked about the different types of IPv6 addresses. There is one more IPv6 unicast address class, and that is unique local addresses, fc00::/7 (see RFC 4193). This is analogous to the private address classes in IPv4, 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, and 192.168.0.0/16.

This diagram illustrates the structure of the unique local address space. 48 bits define the prefix and global ID, 16 bits are for subnets, and the remaining 64 bits are the interface ID:

| 7 bits |1|  40 bits   |  16 bits  |          64 bits           |
+--------+-+------------+-----------+----------------------------+
| Prefix |L| Global ID  | Subnet ID |        Interface ID        |
+--------+-+------------+-----------+----------------------------+

Here is another way to look at it, which is might be more helpful for understanding how to manipulate these addresses:

| Prefix |  Global ID   |  Subnet ID  |   Interface ID       |
+--------+--------------+-------------+----------------------+
|   fd   | 00:0000:0000 |    0000     | 0000:0000:0000:0000  |
+--------+--------------+-------------+----------------------+

fc00::/7 is divided into two /8 blocks, fc00::/8 and fd00::/8. fc00::/8 is reserved for future use. So, unique local addresses always start with fd, and the rest is up to you. The L bit, which is the eighth bit, is always set to 1, which makes fd00::/8. Setting it to zero makes fc00::/8. You can see this with subnetcalc:

$ subnetcalc fd00::/8 -n
Address  = fd00::
            fd00 = 11111101 00000000

$ subnetcalc fc00::/8 -n
Address  = fc00::
            fc00 = 11111100 00000000

RFC 4193 requires that addresses be randomly generated. You can invent addresses any way you choose, as long as they start with fd, because the IPv6 cops aren’t going to invade your home and give you a hard time. Still, it is a best practice to follow what RFCs say. The addresses must not be assigned sequentially or with well-known numbers. RFC 4193 includes an algorithm for building a pseudo-random address generator, or you can find any number of generators online.

Unique local addresses are not centrally managed like global unicast addresses (assigned to you by your Internet service provider), but even so the probability of address collisions is very low. This is a nice benefit when you need to merge some local networks or want to route between discrete private networks.

You can mix unique local addresses and global unicast addresses on the same subnets. Unique local addresses are routable and require no extra router tweaks. However, you should configure your border routers and firewalls to not allow them to leave your network except between private networks at different locations.

RFC 4193 advises against mingling AAAA and PTR records with your global unicast address records, because there is no guarantee that they will be unique, even though the odds of duplicates are low. Just like we do with IPv4 addresses, keep your private local name services and public name services separate. The tried-and-true combination of Dnsmasq for local name services and BIND for public name services works just as well for IPv6 as it does for IPv4.

Pseudo-Random Address Generator

One example of an online address generator is Local IPv6 Address Generator. You can find many cool online tools like this. You can use it to create a new address for you, or use it with your existing global ID and play with creating subnets.

Come back next week to learn how to plug all of this IPv6 goodness into KVM and do live testing.

Learn more about Linux through the free “Introduction to Linux” course from The Linux Foundation and edX.

What Are the Most Disliked Programming Languages?

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Stack Overflow

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November 2, 2017

On Stack Overflow Jobs, you can create your own Developer Story to showcase your achievements and advance your career. One option you have when creating a Developer Story is to add tags you would like to work with or would not like to work with:

This offers us an opportunity to examine the opinions of hundreds of thousands of developers. There are many ways to measure the popularity of a language; for example, we’ve often used Stack Overflow visits or question views to measure such trends. But this dataset is a rare way to find out what technologies people tend to dislike, when given the opportunity to say so on their CV.

GPU Computing: The Key to Unleashing the Mysteries of All That Data

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InfoWorld

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November 2, 2017

To effectively handle all the data being created in the world today, we need GPU computing.

To harness this goldmine of data, artificial intelligence and machine learning has emerged, which uses algorithms to train data to find patterns. The problem is, traditional CPUs (central processing units) just can’t adequately handle the bulk processing required for this complex, boat-load of data, and this is where GPU (graphics processing unit) computing comes in.

GPU-based servers are fast becoming as necessary to effectively process data for artificial intelligence (especially for deep learning algorithms) as CPUs have been to do virtually everything else. While CPU’s have the capabilities to process tons of unstructured data—eventually—in a matter of days or hours, GPUs can do so in a matter of minutes.

The Origin Story of ROS, the Linux of Robotics

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IEEE Spectrum

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November 2, 2017

Ten years ago, while struggling to bring the vision of the “Linux of Robotics” to reality, I was inspired by the origin stories of other transformative endeavors. In this post I want to share some untold parts of the early story of the Robot Operating System, or ROS, to hopefully inspire those of you currently pursuing your “crazy” ideas.

A glaring need

This origin story starts when Eric Berger, my partner of seven years on this project, and I were starting our PhDs at Stanford.

The impetus for ROS came accidentally when we were searching around for a compelling robotics project to tackle for our PhDs. We talked to countless folks and found the same pattern repeated over and over by those setting out to innovate on robotics software: They spent 90 percent of their time re-writing code others had written before and building a prototype test-bed. Then the last 10 percent of their efforts, at most, were spent on innovation.

Beyond Bitcoin: Oracle, IBM Prepare Blockchains for Industrial Use

By

The New Stack

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November 2, 2017

There’s been a lot of talk recently about blockchains beyond its original use for supporting Bitcoin. Earlier this year, we covered a session in London where the takeaway from the panel was there are too many problems to be solved. But that was in February, and a lot has changed since then.

Judging from some of the blockchain sessions at the recent Oracle OpenWorldconference, the emerging potential uses for blockchain are kind of staggering.

Blockchain uses a technology also described as a “distributed ledger.” That’s an obvious fit for finance, which is all about ledgers, but it turns out the distributed ledger concept can be applied to — well, to almost everything.

According to BlackBook Research, 70 percent of health insurance payers are planning to have blockchain integrated into their systems by the beginning of 2019. That’s 15 months from now. Among the payers with over 500,000 members, that number climbs to 98 percent, with 14 percent currently testing blockchain systems.

Zorin OS 12 Passes One Million Downloads Mark, 60% Are Windows and Mac Users

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Softpedia

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November 2, 2017

Zorin OS is an Ubuntu-based distribution targeted at those who want to migrate from Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s Mac OS computer operating system to an Open Source alternative that offers them a more secure, stable, and reliable computing environment. Zorin OS 12 is the latest stable version of the Linux OS, and it got its second point release in September 2017.

Both the Zorin OS 12.1 and 12.2 maintenance updates helped the Zorin OS 12 series to pass the one million downloads mark since distro’s initial release on November 18, 2016, and the best part is that over 60 percent of these downloads are from users using either Windows or Mac OS, which means that Zorin OS’ mission was successfully achieves.

Demand for Certified SysAdmins and Developers Is On the Rise

By

Esther Shein

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November 1, 2017

Even with a shortage of IT workers, some employers are still discerning in their hiring requirements and are either seeking certified candidates or offering to pay for their employees to become certified.

The Linux Foundation’s 2017 Open Source Jobs Report finds that half of hiring managers are more likely to hire a certified professional, while 47 percent of companies are willing to help pay for employees’ certifications. Meanwhile, 89% of hiring managers find it difficult to find open source talent.

The demand for skills relating to cloud administration, DevOps, and continuous integration/continuous delivery is fueling interest in training and certifications related to open source projects and tools that power the cloud, according to the report. Workers find certification important, too. In fact, 76 percent of open source pros say certifications are useful to their careers.

Existing cloud certifications, such as the Certified Kubernetes Administrator exam, are expected to help address the growing demand for these skills, the report states.

Why certifications are important

Demand for certifications is on the rise. Half of hiring managers prioritize finding certified pros; 50 percent also say they are more likely to hire a certified candidate than one without a certification, up from 44 percent in 2016, according to the Open Source Jobs report. And there’s been a big jump in companies willing to pay for employees to become certified. Nearly half say they’re willing to pay, up from one-third a year ago.

Here’s why. Some employers believe training alone is not enough and perceive that overall, certified IT pros make great employees, according to a CompTIA report. In fact, the study finds 91 percent of employers view IT certifications as a differentiator and say they play a key role in the hiring process.

Then there is perception. “Certifications make a good first impression,” the CompTIA report observes, and there is the belief that certified IT employees are more confident, knowledgeable and reliable, and perform at a higher level. While not specific to a particular technology, a whopping 95 percent of employers in the CompTIA study agree IT certifications provide a baseline set of knowledge for certain IT positions.

Only 21 percent say they definitely would not pay for certifications, down from 30 percent last year, the Open Source Jobs report finds.

The good news for IT professionals is that with certification, pay premiums have consistently grown over the past year. Areas in which IT pros receive higher pay, include: information security; application development/programming languages; databases; networking and communications; and systems administration/engineering – skill sets that are among the hardest to fill.

Dice’s annual salary survey finds salaries for Linux professionals are in line with last year, at over $100,000 annually – higher than the average $92,000 for tech pros nationally.

Formal training and/or certifications are a priority for hiring managers looking for developers (55 percent, compared to 47 percent who said so in 2016) and for Systems Administrators (53 percent vs. 47 percent last year).

Trending skills and certifications in high demand

In its 2018 Salary Guide, Robert Half Technology lists the most highly sought tech skills and certifications in North America. Among them are: .NET, Agile, and Scrum certifications. For application development work, businesses are seeking certifications and skills in areas including PHP and LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and Perl/Python). In networking and telecommunications, Linux/Unix administration is in high demand as well as in technical services, help desk, and technical support.

Meanwhile, 76 percent of professionals find certifications are useful to their careers, mainly to demonstrate technical knowledge to potential employers (reported by 47 percent of respondents), and 31 percent say that certifications generally make them more employable.

Although salary, not surprisingly, is the biggest incentive for switching jobs (82 percent), certification opportunities is an incentive for 65 percent of respondents in the Open Source Jobs report.

Download the full 2017 Open Source Jobs Report now.

Watch Keynote Videos from OS Summit and ELC Europe 2017 Including a Conversation with Linus Torvalds

By

The Linux Foundation

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November 1, 2017

If you weren’t able to attend Open Source Summit and Embedded Linux Conference (ELC) Europe last week, don’t worry! We’ve recorded keynote presentations from both events and all the technical sessions from ELC Europe to share with you here.

Check out the on-stage conversation with Linus Torvalds and VMware’s Dirk Hohndel, opening remarks from The Linux Foundation’s Executive Director Jim Zemlin, a special presentation from 11-year-old CyberShaolin founder Reuben Paul, and more.

Node.js 8 Moves into Long-Term Support and Node.js 9 Becomes the New Current Release Line

By

Node.js

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November 1, 2017

We are super excited to announce that later today Node.js 8 will be ready for production as it transfers into the de facto Long-Term Support release line opening it up to a larger user base that demands stability and security (Node.js 8.9.0 is the first official Node.js 8 release to hit LTS status). Node.js 8 is one of the biggest release lines from the Node.js community to date with features and add-ons like Async / Await and V8 JavaScript Engine 6.1. It is up to 20 percent faster than its predecessor Node.js 6 (source nearForm) in typical web applications. An early tester found that Node.js 8 cut its web response by 70 percent:

“Node.js 8 cut our web response by 70 percent across the board and unlocks ES7 features to let us write simpler, more maintainable code,” said Connor Peet, Senior Software Engineer at Mixer, a live streaming website.

7 Non-Technical Skills You Need To Succeed In A DevOps Career

By

Forbes

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November 1, 2017

The core creed of DevOps revolves around the idea that inter-departmental collaboration, communication, and constant improvement are the keys to a successful and efficient software development cycle. Teams of DevOps engineers or managers, then, are simply engineers and managers who combine their role-specific skills with DevOps best practices.

However, working on a DevOps team is not for everyone. Engineers who prefer long stints of working alone may be frustrated by the constant feedback exchanges. It takes a specific type of person to succeed in one of these positions. These seven attributes will serve you well in a future DevOps role.

1. Self-directed learning

Since DevOps is such a constantly evolving field, the ability and motivation to teach yourself new skills is critical. Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX, says, “It’s hard to learn something that seems to evolve as quickly as the lessons are taught. Self-learners are the perfect candidates for embracing and pursuing DevOps adoption, as it requires a roll-up-your-sleeves, trial-and-error, do-it-yourself, continuous learning approach.”