Cisco Timestamps - Converting

This was so freaking confusing for me! In Java, I would convert my timestamps one way, but then, if I needed to convert them in Excel, I was 70 years off?!? WTF.

Well, here’s how you convert those timestamps to something meaningful, and why you are getting different results with different systems.

First, some terms:

Unix Epoch: number of seconds elapsed since Jan 1, 1970

NTP Epoch: number of seconds elapsed since Jan 1, 1900

I have no idea why the different Epochs, but did you notice that the difference is 70 years? YEP!!!

Okay, so Microsoft Products use the NTP Epoch (i.e. SQL Server, Excel, Access, etc) as a reference to build it’s Date objects. Unix, Macintosh, Java, and C / C++ uses the Unix Epoch as a reference for it’s date objects. Cisco uses Unix Epoch to export its timestamps.

So, basically, we have to add 25,569 days (70 years, approx) to the NTP Epoch, in order to get valid results in NTP Epoch-type systems (Excel, SQL Server, etc).

Convert a timestamp in JAVA:

public static void main(String[] args){

// declare our timestamp in seconds

long timestamp = 1198167416;

// Since timestamp is in seconds, but Java Date works in milliseconds,

// convert to milliseconds
Date mydate = new Date(timestamp*1000);

// Format how the date is displayed to us

SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat(”dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss”);

// Print the date to standard out.

System.out.println(formatter.format(mydate));
}

Convert a timestamp in Excel (Assuming your timestamp to convert is in column A1):

A1/86400+25569

Then, just format the cells as “Date”. So, to explain the Excel formula:

1). Divide the timestamp by the number of seconds in a day. This will give you the number of days

2). Add 25569 days to the already converted days, to take into account the difference between Unix Epoch and NTP Epoch shift.

Microsoft Project on Linux!

Okay, well, it may not be as featureful as MS Project, but you can now finally open MPP (Microsoft Project Files) on Linux!  I am so stoked!  One more notch off the Microsoft Toolbelt!  I’m telling you… now all I need is a Visio-type of app, and I’m golden!

Yes, there are decent diagramming tools out there, and I use Dia quite a bit.  However, I still have LOADS of Visio diagrams out there, and would be nice to open them from time to time.

Anyway, where was I?  Ummm… duhh… Microsoft Project on LInux!  Yeah!  Okay, so the project is called OpenProj (clever name) and does pretty much everything I need it to do.  See the screenshots below (click for larger version):

This screenshot is from opening a previous MS Project 2003 file from my windows machine.

This screenshot was taken from the OpenProj website.

Quoted directly from the website:

OpenProj is ideal for desktop project management and is available on Linux, Unix, Mac or Windows. It even opens existing Microsoft or Primavera files. OpenProj shares the industry’s most advanced scheduling engine with Project-ON-Demand and has Gantt Charts, Network Diagrams (PERT Charts), WBS and RBS charts, Earned Value costing and more.

SAAAWEEEETTT!!!!  Rock on!

Cheers

Technorati Tags: linux, project, microsoft, openproj, scheduling, tasks

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Linux in the IT Dept

Ok, so I thought I’d post my usage of my Linux system. I actually use two systems in my day-to-day job. I have a Windows XP Tablet laptop, so I can do my network layouts, drawings, meeting notes, brainstorming, etc. I also use it as my primary Windows workstation, since some companies (blehhh) only develop windows programs.

I also have a Linux laptop, which I do all my troubleshooting and general day-to-day tasks. Below, you’ll see a screenshot. I have split the screen into 4 types of programs, and 2 other items.

• Office Tools
  • OpenOffice 2.x, which does my Excel,
    Word, and PowerPoint files. No one in the office knows I use this
    instead of MS Office. Sneaky, huh? Which proves it works.
  • Internet Explorer - Ughhh. Some websites still require IE 5.x
  • Dia - My Diagramming tool. It doesn’t hold a candle to Visio, but it works in a pinch
  • Blender - This is really for my more fancy diagrams, when I want to WOW someone with my 3D diagrams and flowcharts.
• Development and Reporting
  • Redhat
    Developer Studio (built on Eclipse) - This gives me my reporting
    studio, and few other items, such as JBoss application developement.
  • NetBeans
    6 Beta 1 - This is where the majority of my java application
    development resides. Both desktop applications, as well as, web
    applications.
• Usability Tools
  • Gimp - Photoshop for Linux. I used Gimp to create the desktop screenshot you see.
  • Kontact - This is basically Outlook for KDE. It does my email, calendar, to-do, news feeds, etc
  • Kate - Advanced Text editor
  • Konversation - IRC client. Nice to have, when I need some extra brainpower on some difficult troubleshooting challenges.
  • Wink - Used to create my screencasts, which I import into my videos for training.
  • Kopete - MSN, Jabber, AIM..etc
• Administration Tools
  • Remote Desktop and VNC
  • RTMT - Cisco’s Real Time Monitor Tool for Cisco Call Manager (yep… it runs on Linux!)
  • Nessus
    Scanner - I haven’t used this much, but plan to in the future. It
    allows me to scan for known vulnerabilities beit, Cisco or Windows. It
    also automatically downloads new vulnerability definitions regularly.
  • NMap - Security Auditing, inventory, etc.
  • Wireshark - Network Traffic Analyzer

I
also have two other items to show. On the left side, you can see I
have access to my remote files located on servers. I also am using the
Cisco VPN Client to work from anywhere. Pretty snazzy?

Okay,
well, it’s not THAT exciting, but it does show that Linux is slowly
creeping to be a good desktop tool for the business, though, I do not
believe it’s ready for the end-users yet.

UPDATE:  I forgot to add, that I’m also running Google Desktop.  That’s a lifesaver, when I’m searching through over 2GB worth of PDF files!

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