Category: Home Lab

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What life is like with Linux as my primary OS

ASullivan

I say this a lot: but something I’ve wanted to do for a very, very long time is run a Linux OS as my primary operating system for day to day usage. I took the plunge recently and have learned a lot. One of the biggest things learned? How much easier Linux has become after last trying this around a decade ago. Here’s what I learned…

Firstly, Linux isn’t nearly the beast it was in 2010. A lot of things just work out of the box now, including third party drivers for such things as graphics cards. My first time testing this a decade back I couldn’t get multiple monitors to work, I couldn’t get USB devices to register and everything was very prone to crashing. So, it’s time to start tinkering. Let’s start with my rig:

*Ryzen 3600, 32GB DDR4 RAM, NVidia RTX 3070

With that, I tossed an extra Sata SSD into my desktop and dived headfirst into my first distro to test: Garuda.

Garuda bills itself as a gaming focused OS. Most things worked out of the box but I quickly found that my background in Debian/Ubuntu wasn’t much help when getting into package management and application support. I decided to change it up and quickly went to Xubuntu, based on the XFCE GUI which I’ve been a fan of for some years due to it’s low resource requirements which should mean it will run quickly on my gaming rig. I was disappointed, however, with some of the limitations and how the GUI looked/felt. This brought me to the my current and hopefully final OS: Kubuntu

Kubuntu is Ubuntu running KDE Plasma as a GUI. As with the other distros, it worked mostly out of the box. Speakers, monitors, USB hubs, everything just worked. With a little tinkering I got my monitor positions lined up and dug into getting the software I wanted running on this install.

My goal was to replace as much of my Windows 11 experience as possible. This included everything from Dropbox, Slack, Discord, Spotify and my VPN provider which were all available in .deb packages and easy to get running. After about 2 days of tinkering, I’m up and running with 90% of my Windows apps in Linux and all working seamlessly. Steam is also installed but I’m still having some issues with games but I knew this would be a challenge going into this, not a big deal.

The good: The customizations available within Kubuntu are incredible and I’ve had a ton of fun messing with settings to get everything just the way I want. Things just kinda work, I even got a local wikipedia mirror to run at boot for offline browsing as a fun project. I feel a lot more secure knowing this is running Linux versus Windows 11 which has become more and more based on collecting user data.

The bad: Steam games are crashing quite a lot; I’m not sure what the issue is but working through this now. I also cannot for the life of me get my Bluetooth headphones to connect without the GUI crashing but this also sounds like a common issue. Windows 11 definitely has a more user friendly interface; I find myself missing the tabbed File Explorer natively within Windows. Nvidia Broadcast is also not available in Linux which was an amazing product to use for Zoom meetings.

In summary: I’m very happy with using this as a daily driver. Apart from a couple crashes, things have run very smooth. I’m very comfortable working in a Debian/Ubuntu environment so this has been a treat. I’m looking forward to using this as my primary OS for the near future and will continue to post more as I learn and progress with this.

I hope you enjoyed the read, have a good one!

It’s 2024! Celebrating 10 years of AASullivan.com

ASullivan

Hey all, welcome to my site and blog. I realized recently that I’m coming up on ten years here with this website and wanted to post some of the history and challenges I’ve run into while running this site.

Starting in 2014, AASullivan.com was a small project based upon Ubuntu 14.04LTS. Running off a VM on ESXI, it was a way to get familiar with web hosting using Linux. I didn’t really have a theme at the time apart from just wanting to post things I found interesting or helpful to others.

Over the years, I’ve had quite a lot of ups and downs. Included in this were multiple hacks and an unintentional DDoS attack which took a couple months to sort. The first hack was a site I also hosted on the webserver on an unsecured WordPress install. Thankfully backups saved the day and I was able to lock things down to prevent further issues. The DDoS was several different IPs trying to brute force their way into my primary site which caused a few issues and took some time to diagnose. The issue showed as MySQL crashing due to RAM running out. Once I found the issue, Fail2Ban was installed and configured and quickly took this issue out. Thankfully, things have been relatively quiet since then.

My next big project for the site was upgrading to Ubuntu 22.04LTS. This came with a slew of issues with PHP versions which took a weekend to iron out but I was able to get things sorted and felt a lot more comfortable on a newer and actively patched site.

Next up: SSL/HTTPS. I decided to go the LetsEncrypt route and with another weekend down, I was able to get certs for my site working along with permanent redirect to HTTPS on my site. Again, another happy sigh as the site was just a little more secure. This along with another upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04LTS and I was up to date and running the latest software.

The final iteration of the current site was moving everything from one server to another. I ran into some issues with the former systems during the upgrade process of Ubuntu and ended up needing to build an entirely new server to handle everything. The migration process took about a week to get ironed out but everything was successfully moved to the new host and this has been running for about a year now without issue. Knock on wood, this is the last big move for the site.

With all of this, I’ve learned more about website security, OS patching, upgrades and migrations. It’s been a blast, albeit quite frustrating at times. But with the frustration comes accomplishment and success. A fair trade in my book.

Happy 10 years, and here’s hoping 10 more!

AI Comprehensive Guide to pfSense

ASullivan

Introduction: In today’s interconnected world, network security is paramount. Whether it’s for home or business use, having a robust firewall solution is essential to safeguarding your network from cyber threats. One such solution that has gained immense popularity is pfSense. In this article, we’ll delve into what pfSense is, how to install and set it up, and weigh its pros and cons.

What is pfSense? pfSense is an open-source firewall and router software distribution based on FreeBSD. It offers advanced features and functionality typically found in expensive commercial firewalls, making it an attractive choice for both small-scale home networks and large enterprise environments.

Installation of pfSense: Installing pfSense is a relatively straightforward process. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

  1. Download the pfSense ISO image from the official website (https://www.pfsense.org/download/).
  2. Create a bootable USB drive or burn the ISO image to a CD/DVD.
  3. Boot your computer from the USB drive or CD/DVD containing the pfSense installer.
  4. Follow the on-screen prompts to begin the installation process.
  5. Choose the installation mode (e.g., Standard Install, Quick/Easy Install).
  6. Select the disk where you want to install pfSense and confirm the installation.
  7. Once the installation is complete, remove the installation media and reboot the system.

Setting up pfSense: After installing pfSense, the next step is to configure it to suit your specific requirements. Here’s an overview of the basic setup process:

  1. Connect to the pfSense web interface by entering the IP address assigned to the LAN interface in a web browser.
  2. Log in using the default credentials (admin/pfsense).
  3. Follow the initial setup wizard to configure basic settings such as WAN and LAN interfaces, IP addressing, and DNS.
  4. Configure firewall rules to control traffic flow between different network segments.
  5. Set up additional services such as DHCP, VPN, NAT, and VLANs as needed.
  6. Install packages/extensions from the pfSense Package Manager to add extra functionality like intrusion detection/prevention, caching, and reporting.

Pros of pfSense:

  1. Cost-effective: Since pfSense is open-source software, it’s free to download and use, making it a cost-effective solution compared to proprietary firewalls.
  2. Flexibility: pfSense offers a high degree of flexibility and customization, allowing users to tailor the firewall to meet their specific needs.
  3. Robust feature set: pfSense comes packed with a wide range of features, including firewalling, VPN support (OpenVPN, IPsec), traffic shaping, load balancing, and more.
  4. Active community support: The pfSense community is large and active, providing extensive documentation, forums, and user-contributed packages to assist users with setup and troubleshooting.
  5. Scalability: pfSense is scalable, capable of handling networks ranging from small home setups to large enterprise environments.

Cons of pfSense:

  1. Learning curve: While pfSense offers powerful features, it has a steep learning curve, especially for users with limited networking experience.
  2. Hardware requirements: While pfSense can run on a variety of hardware platforms, optimal performance may require dedicated hardware or virtualization.
  3. Maintenance and updates: Regular maintenance and updates are necessary to keep pfSense secure and up-to-date, which may require time and effort.
  4. Limited official support: While community support is abundant, official commercial support options are available but may come at an additional cost.

Conclusion: pfSense is a powerful and versatile firewall solution that provides robust security features, flexibility, and scalability. By following the installation and setup process outlined in this article, users can harness the full potential of pfSense to protect their networks from cyber threats. While there are some challenges such as the learning curve and maintenance requirements, the benefits of using pfSense often outweigh these drawbacks, making it a popular choice for network administrators worldwide.

Source: OpenAI

State of (my) Network: 2023

ASullivan

Welcome to AASullivan.com! I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, so here it is: The State of My Network. I’ve been planning to do an overview of my entire set up for some time now and I’ve finally kept everything in a consistent state now for a few months after many years of tinkering. A little background…

My home network (also known as my “home lab”) has been a long term project of mine to both try out new technologies and keep my skills sharp in a real server environment. It started in 2014 with a single server in my apartment running ESXI 3.5 on a system with a 6 core AMD CPU and 16GB of RAM. It was a blast to try new things (DNS server, file server, Plex, etc) and I’ve learned a lot since those times. My current Home Lab is considerably bigger now and is larger now than many small company systems; My poor power bill will never be the same. Let’s take a look at some of the set up!

To start with the basics, I’m running a pfSense firewall connecting out to a Verizon Fios gigabit connection. Going from this is a 48 port gigabit switch with 10GB SFP connections to a backbone 10GB SFP Microtek switch. I have 10GB between all servers and my desktop allowing regular speeds of around 550MB/s when going SSD to SSD. This is all the core backbone of my network. Time for the fun stuff.

I run a large number of self hosted services including, but not limited to:

  • PiHole DNS blocking
  • Plex
  • Home Assistant
  • Killing Floor 2 gameserver
  • Tiny Tiny RSS
  • NextCloud
  • Zabbix
  • Uptime Kuma
  • Bookstack
  • Graylog
  • …and many more

Most things are running on an ESXI 6.5 server. This is a 1U with 192GB RAM, dual 6 core Xeons and (6) 1TB SSDs in RAID 10. Along side this is two Unraid servers (Dual Dell R510) mirrored and both running multiple services. RIP power bill.

The original goal of this network and home lab was to learn more about some enterprise solutions and keep my skills sharp. Instead, I’ve built a network more robust than many small business networks with a lot more control and functionality.

Things I’ve learned while doing all of this:

  • Your power bill is going to suffer (worth it!)
  • Servers put out a LOT of heat. I often notice this even upstairs with the floor being hot over the servers in the basement
  • Server hardware gives you a ton of ways to troubleshoot things, often with LEDs and beep codes to help narrow down issues
  • Low power hardware options are out there but are often much more expensive up front
  • Knowing what’s going on in your network is awesome. Knowing everything that’s going on can also drive one nuts when you see how often items are connecting to the internet (Looking at you Windows 10 and IoT devices)
  • If you want to build something, searching the internet can give you a lot of ideas and input. Most of my projects were done in an afternoon after finding a new product and reviewing issues/installation

All in all, I’ve taken control of my network and as much as it can drives me nuts doing all the maintenance and updates, it has been very stable for years and it’s a very good feeling to know what’s going on with everything.

Keep in mind: this can all start with an old desktop computer running Docker or a few services to tinker with. I started this all with an Ubuntu 6.06 LAMP server in 2008 and has grown into the passion it is today.

Thanks for sticking through my brain dump, I hope you enjoyed the read and will stop by again. Cheers!

VMWare Kubernetes Cluster Build Notes

ASullivan

I built a Kubernetes cluster tonight to try and learn a bit about this technology, here are my notes about building it!

Built on a new ESXI server with the following specs (you’d be surprised how well this rig holds up):

  • Dell Optiplex 7010
  • Core i7-3770
  • 32GB RAM
  • 1TB SSD

Created virtual network only accessible to VMs:

Used pfSense as firewall to keep independent from network and to provide DHCP to internal virtual network. Used a single Windows Server 2019 VM to access WebGUI to control pfSense. Needlessly complicated to do all of this but I wanted to get a virtual network going to test all of this out on.

Built the following VMs on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS:

  • Controller: 2 vCPUs, 4GB RAM, 50GB HDD
  • Worker X2: 2 vCPUs, 4GB RAM, 25GB HDD

I then set all their IPs in pfSense to keep them from changing. I then used the following guide, specifically the scripts from github mentioned in the article:

https://devopscube.com/setup-kubernetes-cluster-kubeadm/

Command to download scripts:

git clone https://github.com/techiescamp/kubeadm-scripts

Chmod+x both scripts to set executable. Run the “common.sh” script on all systems, both controller and nodes/workers. Edit the “master.sh” script. Change the “MASTER_IP=” portion to your controller’s IP address. Change the network range as needed for the nodes under “POD_CIDR” (I left these as default). Run the script on the controller.

Run this command to get the join command:

kubeadm token create --print-join-command

Run the FULL output on any workers/nodes you want to connect to it. Check connection on master/controller:

kubectl get nodes

Example output:

Note that their roles are set to “none”. Fix by running this command, substituting out the names of the nodes/workers:

kubectl label node mini-worker-1 node-role.kubernetes.io/worker=worker

Then check again to confirm they are now workers:

Congrats! You now have a (slightly dirty) Kubernetes cluster running and ready to assign deployments to! This is the bare basics but should get you rolling, good luck and happy tinkering!

Using Uptime Kuma for Network Monitoring

ASullivan

Welcome back!

Today I’m looking into Uptime Kuma, a monitoring tool that in my eyes is perfect, simple and intuitive and does exactly what I need for monitoring my home network. What is Uptime Kuma? I’m glad you asked.

The Background

Uptime Kuma is an Open Source monitoring solution, perfect for SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) environments where there isn’t a ton of devices/services to monitor. I’ve been looking for something like this for some time after building a very rudimentary monitoring system for myself (relying solely on ping and notifying via webhooks in Slack). This is one of those pieces of software I wish I had known about for years.

The setup is exceptionally simple, especially when using Docker. I simply used a small Dell SFF Optiplex (i3, 4GB RAM, 240GB SSD) running Ubuntu 22.04LTS which is more than capable of handling the 40-50 checks I’m running. Using a dedicated instance instead of a virtual machine on one of my hosts also will allow me to monitor in case those hosts go offline.

The Build

As I mentioned, I simply installed a base image of Ubuntu 22.04LTS to have the latest software running. Then, use snap to install docker:

snap install docker

Then, install the Uptime Kuma docker to run in the background automatically:

docker run -d --restart=always -p 3001:3001 -v uptime-kuma:/app/data --name uptime-kuma louislam/uptime-kuma:1

Fire up a web browser and go to http://YOUR_DEVICE_IP:3001 to set up an admin account and begin working with the software. Note: Installing this way will automatically bring up the docker in the background upon reboot.

Putting it together:

For Uptime Kuma, there are a wide variety of tests and monitors it can use to keep tabs on your network. I’m using a mix of Ping, TCP and DNS checks to make sure my network is working as expected. This also helped me sort out a brief internet outage this morning.

An example of one I use to make sure my internet is actually connected is to simply ping Google.com every minute to make sure my traffic can get to the WAN:

If this goes down, then my WAN connection to the internet isn’t working and gives me an immediate pop up on the page to tell me. The dashboards are pretty cool too:

Neat, so there’s the checks for the internet down to monitor when/if the internet goes down.

One thing to keep in mind is how you name the devices/ports/etc that are being monitored. My solution was to name the test first, then the device in question so at a glance I know what I’m looking at:

From top to bottom: First two are WAN access checks, then TCP port checks for my various servers I host for my friends and I. The TCP port is super handy for monitoring when a process/services goes offline. The third portion is where I begin the Ping tests for my home devices.

The Wrap Up

All in all, this is the solution I’ve been looking for for a long time now. It’s simple, elegant and easy to use while still being extremely valuable as a monitoring tool. The system I run uses a private Discord server to notify me if anything goes down, less than 5 minutes after, normally less than 1 minute. Being able to configure retries and time outs is also very handy too for high latency connections. I can only recommend this software to someone wanting to set up more monitoring for their SOHO network, but I could see this being used for enterprise solutions as well. Uptime Kuma, you have a new fan.