If you are like me and don't feel like going through the hassle of java certificates etc and you have a spare windows machine laying around, install java 6 update 43 on it. So long as you don't plan on running anything else you are fine. If you really want to be sure put it in a VM. Then you can destroy it if need be.
Java 6 is in my one drive if anyone needs it (I have both linux and windows versions). And because I know I am going to forget how to do this on linux:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/install-linux-64-self-extracting-142068.html
1) It is just easier to learn it in the command line. I have gone through the ASDM* set ups and they are nice for doing basic things but when it gets down and dirty, the command line interface is how you fix any mistake you made, and i made quite a few.
*If you like the ASDM option don't forget the first thing you need to do in order to get it to load is create a user, Cisco gives help on the matter but I'll make it simple, for an admin user with all privileges in the command line first enable command then config (should go from > prompt to # then to (config)#): username myusername password donttellanyonethis privilege 15. Users range from 1 to 15. 15 is the Highest
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2) Active/Standby Fail over and a non managed switched- I did quite a bit of ready on the fail over as no one in my new company new anything about it. My big thing that I found out is that Cisco recommends connecting to the devices through a switch (a managed switch I later found out). Cisco's ready is very heavy if you don't know what you are doing so forums and blogs like http://www.petenetlive.com/ have been the only reason I even got as far as I did. I went from knowing little to enough to get into trouble (that's where I am still at). If you aren't using a managed switch the two devices sometimes have trouble finding each other and it is easier to simply plug them into each other directly so they can talk (ASDM defaults to port 7 so in a server rack side by side it gets kinda odd for the 5505's which is what I have been working with).
3) A couple don'ts- Don't forget to back everything up (depending on your environment every change you make should be backed up). Don't forget to save to Flash (I may have made it so everyone had a user but as soon as I unplugged the router to take it to the DC I was the only one with a user). Save to flash is at the bottom and looks like a floppy drive. Also don't forget to hit apply BEFORE you hit save to flash.
4) Lastly another reason to backup - So I actually found that the backup files are stored as text files. Quite a bit of what I have been configuring needs to be reproduced on other systems. I found it can be stored and it is just the commands that ASDM runs, which are just the terminal commands. With a basic understanding you can take a backup and apply it to another device which is quite nice.
That's it for today. I am currently in the process of actually learning Cisco so I can get my certifications as well as Linux much better than before as I know use each daily. Also somehow I got put in charge of a program implementation called SaltStack for our servers. It is a server management tool so I will have future posts about it (this is to remind me) as I currently know little about it.
