Using Fedora As Your Development Desktop

In our previous series we've gone over how to install Ubuntu Server on Oracle VirtualBox to use it as a server.  In this series we will go over how we can use the Fedora desktop as your developer's machine/virtual machine.  Having a Linux developer machine is great because a lot of the more expensive Windows developer's program are expensive.  There's usually a Linux equivalent application that is comparable to their Windows big brother that are usually free or a lot less expensive.  Also most Java technologies work better on Linux than Windows.  So let's begin on journey into the Linux desktop experience.

Oracle VM VirtualBox : Making VirtualBox Fullscreen by Installing Guest Additions In Linux

If you've installed an operating system in VirtualBox before you've probably noticed the screen is really small even when you switch to Fullscreen mode.  It's so small that you can't even see the fonts for the icons if you have a desktop GUI installed.  To fix this problem VirtualBox provides us with the Guest Additions tool.  Which enables the virtual machine to be viewed at fullscreen.

To enable full screen on a Linux operating system.  Perform the following actions, this should work on all Linux distribution that VirtualBox supports.

1.  Start the virtual machine that you want to make full screen

Linux: Install A Desktop GUI on Ubuntu Server

The topic of installing a desktop GUI has been debated over the years.  Friendships have been ruined because of it.  I don't know if that's true, but some believe that the server should only have command line.  This blog is not about that debate, I just want to see some freaking graphics on the monitor, and for my mouse to be more than a paper weight.  So there's my opinion on the subject.

Anyways installing a GUI on Ubuntu server is really easy.

Here are the steps:

1. Start up your Ubuntu server VM

Linux: Install Ubuntu Operating System on VirtualBox

In the previous two blogs we've gone through the steps to setting up the virtual machine to install the Ubuntu Server on VirtualBox, in this blog we will go over the steps to installing the Ubuntu Server. Be warn this is a long blog.  I usually try to break up my blog so that you won't doze off, but I feel like this one has be left in tack.  Here are the steps to install Ubuntu Server on your VirtualBox.

 1. Right click on the "Ubuntu Server" virtual machine and select "Start"

Linux: Mounting the Ubuntu Server ISO on VirtualBox

In the last blog we've created a new virtual machine that is ready for a Ubuntu Server operating system.  Now we will install the Ubuntu Server operating system on that virtual machine. Here are the steps you need to take to install a Ubuntu Server operating system on that virtual machine.

1.  Right click the "Ubuntu Server" virtual machine, then select "Settings"

Linux: Creating a New Virtual Machine for Ubuntu Server

If you are a developer on a shoestring budget, Linux is the way to go if you want to compete with the big boys.  I have nothing against Microsoft, I actually love it a lot on the job.  But when you want to start a personal project, Linux is the way to go, to get the most bang for the buck.

Ubuntu has always been great at offering enterprise level server products for free.  A lot of what you learn with Ubuntu or any server side Linux distribution you can translate into the Windows environment quite easily.  So it's worth the effort.

But before you can do all that you need the Ubuntu server environment up and running.  Instead of going the dual boot route you can have your Windows OS as your main OS and run Ubuntu on a virtual machine, that's where VirtualBox comes in. So let's begin our journey into the world of enterprise Linux.

1. First thing you need is the latest Ubuntu server distribution, you can get it here http://www.ubuntu.com/download/server 
   
   
   

VirtualBox : Installing Oracle VM VirtualBox

Oracle VM VirtualBox is a great virtualization software, and the best part about it is that it's free. If you have a Windows operating system and you want to explorer Linux and UNIX distributions for fun, then VirtualBox is the way to go.

 Here are the steps to install VirtualBox on your machine:

1.  Go to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads to download the latest version of VirtualBox for your operating system.

C# Querying From An Oracle Database

In this blog we will go over how to query an Oracle database in ASP.NET using the System.Data.OracleClient data provider in C#.

Namespaces:

using System.Web.Configuration;
using System.Data.OracleClient;
using System.Data;

            string cs = WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["SomeConnectionString"].ConnectionString;

            using (OracleConnection oc = new OracleConnection(cs))
            {
                oc.Open();
                DataTable dt = new DataTable(); 
                OracleCommand ocmd = new OracleCommand("SELECT * FROM SOMETABLE", oc);
                OracleDataAdapter oda = new OracleDataAdapter(ocmd);

                oda.Fill(dt);

                GridView1.DataSource = dt;
                GridView1.DataBind();

            }

Previous: Oracle Date Format And Compare

Oracle Date Format And Compare

Oracle dates have a different format than SQL Server dates. So to select a date for the Oracle database you have to have the date in the following format.

string myDate = "10/9/2012 2:55:25 PM";

  string sql = "SELET * FROM SomeTable WHERE SomeDateField=" +
       "to_date('" + myDate + "','" + "MM/DD/YYYY HH:MI:SS " + 
       myDate.Substring(myDate.Length - 2) + "');";

Next: C# Querying From An Oracle Database