One problem we ran into whilst setting this up was that php scripts running through apache were having trouble connecting to the mysql server.

What was even stranger though, was the fact that this problem only appeared when the php script(s) were run through apache – running them through the command line / shell worked absolutely fine.

After a couple of hours of debugging, head bashing and confusion we found the solution at the bottom of one of those very very long experts exchange threads.

It turns out that some linux distros has a neat little access control system called SELinux which was blocking communication by apache to remote database servers.

The aforementioned exchange thread suggests disabling SELinux entirely by executing

sudo setenforce 0

but this isn’t a permanent solution and won’t persist through a reboot without changing a config file.

This can be accomplished by changing a line in /etc/selinux/config. Change the line that says:
SELINUX=enforcing
to
SELINUX=disabled

However, if you’re willing to do a bit of digging there are SEL options you can change to grant apache access to remote database servers, and if you have a few hours to kill, there’s also the fedora documentation.

Hopefully this’ll save someone else the headache we had!

After a little bit of digging I found a really simple solution in this forum topic

All you have to do is:

sudo nano /etc/nsswitch.conf

change the line that says

hosts: files dns

to this:

hosts: files wins dns

(order does matter)

finally, you need to install winbind

sudo apt-get install winbind

To enable windows to ping ubuntu you then need to install samba:

sudo apt-get install samba

Then the solution is to delete the virtual machine (but not the hard disk!) and then recreate the machine using the hard disk.

I eventually came across DisplayFusion which seemed to satisfy the bill – The free version allows you to stretch wallpapers across your monitors as well as drag maximised windows between screens (an incredibly useful feature).

If you buy the full version it can automatically cycle between pictures from a folder, flickr or VladStudio.com and it’ll also extend the start menu bar onto your other monitor(s).

I was fairly happy with using DisplayFusion to solve the problem, however it seemed odd to me that Microsoft didn’t include some kind of option in Windows to do this by default.  It actually turns out they did – When you choose your wallpaper you have to set the “Position” option to “Tile”.

It’s kind of annoying seeing how simple a solution it is having spent quite a while looking for it!

I mean, isn’t it a little eany weany bit dangerous? O_O

Part of me wants to click it just for the hell of it…