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Running Docker Containers on a Remote Host

When using Docker containers for development environments (also known as the opposite of micro-services) a common scenario is that you are using a laptop and want to run docker containers on a more powerful machine like a workstation or build server.

This can be done by exposing the Docker service API to the network and connecting to it from a different host. Here’s how to do it.

Setting Up Syncthing for Ubuntu / Linux + Windows + Android

Syncthing is a decentralized continuous file synchronization software with many security features, like end-to-end encryption, device authentication, permission management and more. Both the protocol specification and the Syncthing software are free and open source.
With Syncthing files can be easily kept in sync across multiple devices, e.g. one desktop PC, one notebook and several mobile devices, *without* relying on third-party infrastructure (optional). File syncing can be limited to a local Wifi network, avoiding sending files to the outside world altogether. Here’s how.

Moving WSL to a Different Location

Since some time now Microsoft has blessed all Windows 10 users with the (confusingly dubbed) Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
WSL is a nifty application which allows us to get all the good things we appreciate in a Linux environment on Windows 10 too.
When working in WSL a lot, the files which Windows sets aside for WSL will grow increasingly larger. Up to the point where a reasonable user will consider moving these WSL files to a difference location, to make space on the system drive. Here’s how.

Managing PDKs for Skywater130 Using Volare

Volare is a Python package intended to manage PDKs supported by OpenPDKs. It is used by DFFRAM and other projects.
In the future it probably is supposed to handle other PDKs as well, but as of 2022 only the Skywater PDK from Google is available.
The following is a brief overview of how to use volare.

Don’t Forget to Scrub Your Snapraid

On my NAS server I use Snapraid to protect against data loss and to some extent data rott. I do backups too, but only about once a month and when all the stars align. Automatically and regularly scrubbing a Snapraid array is well advised to keep that data save.

Better Use visudo

I had the unfortunate experience to lock myself out from using sudo on my NAS server.

All I wanted to do was give my user permission to run smartctl, which usually requires root privileges. This can be achieved by editing the /etc/sudoers file.

However I did not use visudo for this task. After removing the pound sign from the #include statement – which, let’s be honest, looks like a comment that needs to be uncommented – I saved the file and closed it.
At this moment visudo would have raised an error, if I had used it, and prevented me from saving the invalid sudoers file.

Long story short I was locked out from using the sudo command. After booting into a Linux live/rescue image from USB I could fix the syntax error in /etc/sudoers.

The moral of the whole story, better use visudo when editing /etc/sudoers.

That’s it.


References:

  1. https://www.sudo.ws/docs/man/1.8.13/sudoers.man/#SUDOERS_FILE_FORMAT
  2. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30895493/using-smartctl-without-sudo
  3. https://toroid.org/sudoers-syntax

How to Move Docker Volumes

At some point we all want to store Docker images and volumes on a different drive, to avoid the system drive being filled up as the volumes grow. Here’s how.

First Steps with Google SkyWater PDK – Free Open Source Silicon for Everyone

For a while now Google has been collaborating with SkyWater Technology to create what many refer to as free and open source silicon (FOSSi). The project gained traction in 2020 and is continuing to gain momentum.
The proclaimed goal is to bring chip design to the masses and enable everyone from academia, industry and makers to create their own computer chips. If this plan succeeds it would mean a considerable shift in the chip industry which traditionally is very secretive and dominated by just a few big corporations and their partners, connected by a opaque web of interdependencies. (Surely Google counts as the underdog in comparison *cough*)

Wireguard on Lightsail gone Ship-Wrecked

For a long time now I run an AWS Lightsail VPS serving as a wireguard gateway to my home server. Since recently connecting to the Lightsail instance via wireguard is no longer possible.
When I took a look with SSH I got

$> sudo wg-quick up wg0
[#] ip link add wg0 type wireguard
RTNETLINK answers: Operation not supported
Unable to access interface: Protocol not supported
[#] ip link delete dev wg0
Cannot find device "wg0"

To be sure I updated all packages, but the problem still persisted.
The port used by wireguard had not changed and still was accessible according to the network settings of Lightsail.
What change in the Lightsail VPS or network settings could cause an issue like this? It literally just stopped working over night.

Installation and Configuration of MiniDLNA/ReadyMedia

This is a very brief article or rather a reminder to myself, about how to install MiniDLNA on Ubuntu Server 20.04. I always knew this piece of software by it’s old name MiniDLNA, but apparently it was renamed and is now called ReadyMedia. There don’t seem to be many changes below the hood though.

MiniDLNA is a light-weight media server using the DLNA protocol. Through MiniDLNA a library of media files is created which allows a user to very conveniently browse through the files and start audio and video playback. Most SmartTVs and Android phones support DLNA out of the box.

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