Even after setting TNS_ADMIN, Oracle uses the default tnsnames.ora - linux

In our LINUX box, due to some security reasons we need to test out a Database connectivity using an alternative tnsnames.ora file, instead of making changes directly in the default file under /network/admin. For this reason, after setting $ORACLE_HOME, we are also setting TNS_ADMIN, which points to a dummy tnsnames which we need to use.
For example : export TNS_ADMIN=/psapps/admin/tnsnames.ora
However, even after setting this file, when tried to tnsping, Oracle still uses the default tnsnames.ora
Any suggestions in this matter ?

TNS_ADMIN should point onto a directory, not onto a particular file.
There can be other files in this directory, for example sqlnet.ora.

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location of .arangosh.rc in windows

I try to create a .arangosh.rc file with the timed-function as documented in
https://docs.arangodb.com/Arangosh/Configuration.html
Unfortunately I did not find any hint, in which concrete directory I shall store the .rc file. I also tried to start arangosh with the --configuration, but this throws an error. When starting arangosh with --javascript.execute, it only executes the javascript and directly finishes afterwards.
Can anybody provide me a hint, please?
arangosh will look for a user-defined startup script named .arangosh.rc in the user's home directory on startup. If the file is present arangosh will execute the contents of this file inside the global scope.
On Linux, the directory name convention for the home directory is /home/<linux-user-name>
The location of the home directory on Windows may vary depending on settings. On the Windows I have access to, the Windows explorer shows a localized name of the directory (C:\Benutzer\<windows-user-name>) even though the file system's actual directory name is C:\Users\<windows-user-name>. ArangoDB will determine the home directory on Windows by peeking into the enviroment variables %HOMEDRIVE% and %HOMEPATH%.
Putting the .arangosh.rc file into C:\Users\<windows-user-name> worked for me when I tried. I put the timed function into it and could use it in arangosh afterwards.
If it doesn't work for you, could you post which Windows version you're using (and if possible also the name of the home directory so we can try to reproduce)? Thanks.

Is there any documentation on the settings file used by libspotify?

Libspotify stores settings in a file called settings. Now, it seems that it discards anything that isn't used by the Spotify client itself, for example "g_sett_high_bitrate":1 is kept at sp_session_logout, while "bitrate":2 is removed from the file.
Is there any documentation at all for these settings? Or will I just have to make my own separate settings file (seems kinda silly)?
Everything inside the settings and caches folders is owned by libSpotify, and may be deleted or altered at any time. For your own application's settings, use a separate file.

Hive Based Registry in Flash

To start with I'll say I've read the post here and I'm still having trouble.
I'm trying to create a CE6 image with a hive-based registry that actually stores results through a reboot.
I've ticked the hive settings in the catalog items.
In common.reg, I've set the location of the hive ([HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\init\BootVars] "SystemHive") to "Hard Drive\Registry" (Note: the flash shows up as a device called "Hard Drive")
In common.reg, I've set "Flags"=dword:3 in the same place to get the device manager loaded along with the storage manager
I've verified that these settings are wrapped in "; HIVE BOOT SECTION"
This is where it starts to fall over. It all compiles fine, but on the target system, when it boots, I get:
A directory, called "Hard Disk" where a registry is put
A device, name called "Hard Disk2" where the permanent flash is
Any changes made to the registry are lost on a reboot
What am I still missing?
Why is the registry not being stored on the flash?
Strangly, if I create a random file/directory in the registry directory, it is still there after a reboot, so even though this directory isn't on the other partition (where I tried to put it), it does appear to be permanent. If it is permanent, why don't registry settings save (ie Ethernet adapter IP addresses?)
I'm not using any specific profiles, so I'm at a loss as to what the last step is to make this hive registry a permanent store.
First, I hope you are not changing common.reg directly. You should never change public code. If you want to change public registry keys you need set them in your project.reg or platform.reg and they will override the public settings.
SystemHive should be set to the name of the directory to which you want to store the hive files without the name of the device.
In your case:
"SystemHive"="Registry\\system.hv"
Quote from the MSDN source:
Do not include the name of the file system on which the file is stored. The system will determine which file system to use based on other registry settings.
Update regarding your second comment (source):
If this value is present under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, it indicates that the system hive has been restored successfully. If it is present under HKEY_CURRENT_USER, it indicates that the user hive was successfully restored.
Are you flushing the changes you make?
Check that you don't have a wierd implementation of IOCTL_HAL_GET_HIVE_CLEAN_FLAG (source) - your system might be returning a true value to clean the system registry every boot.
You can add a thread that will periodically flush your registry (though I'd recommend excluding it and let each application flush its own changes) - PRJ_ENABLE_REGFLUSH_THREAD

Win32: HtmlHelp doesn't work from a network share. What's the alternative?

Since 2005, when Microsoft prevented HtmlHelp functioning off a network share, e.g.:
\\appserver\tos\PointScanner.exe
\\appserver\tos\PointScanner.chm
What are we supposed to do instead?
(Given that the application is not installed locally.)
To rephrase: What is Microsoft's intended, supported, out-of-the-box, help solution?
You can allow access via the Registry setting described here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896054/
If you don't want to open any security vulnerabilities by modifying Registry settings your application could also create a local copy of the .chm file, e.g. in the users temp folder (%TMP%) and open the help from there. You can remove the file again when your application exits (in case you don't want to leave anything behind on the user's workstation)
I started with the registry change mentioned by divo. Eventually I moved from network folder based chm files to actual "html help". This was easy for me since I use RoboHelp which can generate either format from the same source code.

Exporting IIS configuration

Windows 2003/IIS 6...
I have a virtual directory on a web site that closely mirrors the configuration another virtual directory on the same site will need. Since we have multiple dev/staging/test/prod environments, I'd like to be able to export the values of one virtual directory and quickly fire one up on either the same machine (with a different name/source directory) or on another machine (with perhaps the same name/source directory).
Can that be done? I see you can export the configuration through the IIS manager, but it seems to have a lot of keys embedded in it and I'm not sure if that can be directly imported into a separate entity on the same/different machine, or if it's only used for backups in case the original gets corrupted and needs to be restored.
You may want to take a look at the sample VBScript files installed with IIS 6. On my system they are in C:\Windows\System32
Two in particular seem relevant to your question:
iisvdir.vbs - allows listing, creating, and deleting virtual directories locally or remotely.
iiscnfg.vbs - allows exporting configuration for copying to another machine.
Neither one of these does exactly what you want, but it looks to me like they could be used as sample code to help you get to where you want.
Have you taken a look at the IIS6 Migration Tool yet? It may address your needs.

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