"Random techie stuff I've been doing during the lockdown" thread
 

Having been made redundant and currently serving notice, I've been doing a few techie things to ensure I don't get bored... anybody else doing the same?

1. Deployed a Linux server - I had a Raspberry Pi 3 that was acting as a bit of a network server. This worked well, but I was always a bit suspicious that something so cheap my be liable to break. I was about to throw out an old mini-PC (Acer Revo RL50), when I realised that it would probably make a good replacement for the Pi, and I could just keep the Pi as a backup. So, I installed a new 250GB SSD into the Revo (that was a bit of a challenge!), and installed the latest Ubuntu 20.04 Server LTS. The only issue I had was trying to find a wired keyboard - as the wireless keyboard I use wasn't picked up during the installation routine - so I couldn't select anything :) The wireless keyboard worked fine after the install.

2. Installed Pi-Hole - This is an advert blocking system that was originally designed for the Pi. Once installed, you set your router DNS to point at the IP address where Pi-Hole is installed, and all adverts are then blocked before they actually get to your PC. So, no need for ad-blockers. Having checked, it seemed that Pi-Hole works just fine on Ubuntu (at least the 18.04 version). I downloaded the software and installed on my new Linux server, and 5 minutes later it was all up and running. Perfect.

3. Installed PiVPN - This is a VPN server solution for, you guessed it, the Raspberry Pi. Originally it was an implementation of OpenVPN. However, it now also supports WireGuard - which is a more "modern" VPN (so I'm told). I went for the OpenVPN install as it's what I'm used to, and I have OpenVPN clients on my Macs & Android devices that I know work fine.

One recent enhancement to the PiVPN installer is that it detects if you have Pi-Hole installed. If so, it sets the VPN up so that any requests go via Pi-Hole. This means that you get the added advantage of ad-blocking when you're at a remote location connected to the VPN. You used to be able to set this up manually, but it could be a bit tricky.

4. Installed Caddy 2 Webserver / Proxy - I currently have a NzbGet / Sonarr / Radarr setup on a Windows server. I've also got Jenkins / Nexus, and a personal website. All of these can be set up to use SSL - but it's a bit of a nightmare, and you have to sort out your own certificates etc. Rather than do this, I've deployed Caddy 2 to act as a reverse proxy. I point ports 80/443 on my router to the Caddy, and it then routes to the appropriate server port based on the HTTP domain (sonarr.mydomain.com, radarr.mydomain.com etc.). The beauty of it is that Caddy automatically downloads SSL certificates from LetsEncrypt for each domain, so everything is secure. When the certificates are due to expire, Caddy will automatically request replacements.

Now, if I try and hit http://radarr.mydomain.com it automatically redirects to the secured https://radarr.mydomain.com. It's an amazing piece of software, simple to setup and configure and it's free for personal use!

Any other recommendations?

Very interesting. The only two sentences I understood in your post were the first and the last! :D

I was reading the post and thinking the same thing :D

Then realised that I also understood something about a Raspberry pie, but it is too early this far north for our raspberries. The rhubarb is excellent at the moment though ;)


Sorry to hear about your redundancy though.

Opened up all my PCs and laptops to clear them of dust and redid any thermal paste older than two years.

Was about to say media server for the 'fun', but then googled Sonarr...

Commiserations on the redundancy (unless it's what you want) - from an IT early-retiree.

1/ Installed a flavor of Debian Linux on an elderly, failing MacBook Pro (2010). Was fun and I was slightly surprised how fast a 2020 distribution runs on a 10 years' old hardware. Unfortunately it seems there's actually a hardware failure (I suspect the voltage on the power rail) so the next step is picking it apart, taking aside the SSD, RAM, HDD and the newish battery to transplant them into a slightly newer MacBookPro (2011) before final retirement.

2/ Had the mobo replaced on a 2017 Macbook Air - under warranty, so it's not very "techy"

3/ Had first contact with Android, in the form of our new TV set. Upgraded the OS and spent some time going through all menus to deny phone-home wherever possible.

I added my daughter to our family sharing account!

I downloaded GTA V for free last week and have explored the world of external drives and second screens, the latter for WFH. A far cry from the OP’s level! 🙂

Sorry to hear about the redundancy, hopefully there are some silver linings.

This is making spending time brushing up on HTML and CSS feel like a lot less of an accomplishment...

Ha! That's the other thing I've been doing. Attempting to create a website app using Angular. I've not done much front end coding, so it's slow going... But it's getting there. Using the Material design plugin, so it actually looks quite good with very little code.

I was quarantined twice so I got up to all sorts of stuff.

I replaced the ancient Mac mini I have used as a server for Apple stuff and the UniFi controller with a Raspberry Pi 4. I also moved Pi-Hole from a flaky Pi Zero to that Pi 4. Since I was doing Time Machine backups to a USB hard drive attached to that Mac mini I moved that 4TB drive into an old Apple Time Capsule. A device that was clearly never intended to be disassembled by anybody.

I moved my UniFi Video security setup from an old Dell I picked out of the garbage at work to a new 1U PC running Debian.

I bludgeoned macOS Catalina on to my ten year old Mac Pro tower which ran surprisingly well.

I replaced the logicboard in my pfSense system which had a proprietary fan that was just howling.

Nothing big for me. I have been using Pi-Hole for a while now and have had a Linux server in the basement for maybe 12 years. The Linux server is also the Unifi controller, file server, Torrent server, etc.

NOt sure what else there is to do!

Your world is ready! “On the seventh day...”
:)

I know I can google it, but what is a Pi-Hole and will it likely play an important role in my life?

Read the OP... :)

OP, I read your post word by word, very carefully, I'm dull too.

I did, but I'm still confused. It sounds like it's an ad-blocker from before the stream gets to your computer. But I'd probably screw things up with the IP-pointing (?) and don't really understand what benefit there is beyond a conventional ad-blocker. Is it perhaps that sites can't detect that you're using an ad-blocker which they force you to turn off? I feel like I've walked into the wrong classroom!

Pihole is an ad blocking DNS server for your local network. All connected devices use DNS to translate a domain name, like www.flyertalk.com, to an IP address, like 104.27.174.149. Computers actually connect to IP addresses, not domain names. DNS is like the phone book for the internet.

Usually whatever network you connect to supplies a DNS server for you to use. You internet provider will have several, for example. Instead of using the default DNS, you configure your router to hand out your Pihole as the DNS server for devices that connect to your router. The Pihole has lists of known ad domains and when it receives a request to resolve one (i.e., convert into an IP address) it returns a "not found" for that domain. For other domains, it just resolves them normally. Thus, ads are blocked across your entire network. I have been running it on mine for a year or so and it does its thing well but I've also found that many websites break when you block their ads. For example, clicking on a button might not do anything. Also, I've noticed the CBS streaming app on AppleTV will just hang when you try to play a video about half the time...the other half it will play your video without commercials, which is nice. So, I wind up disabling Pihole for a few minutes when I run into that.

Thank you for that explanation. I will do further research!

Sounds somewhat like using the "hosts" list, but on steroids.

Hosts is a Windows hack and artifact from much simpler times, but yes, the function of the hosts file is DNS resolution - albeit just for very limited cases. I believe it came about when networking was new and you needed a way to detail all the hosts on your local network (and they could all fit in a file, and didn't change much).

edit: Wikipedia points out I'm correct. yay! Hosts started in the early 80s and was supplanted by DNS, which automated the functionality and expanded it. It's amazing that the hosts functionality remains after all these years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_(file)

To clarify, hosts is not limited to Windows. Ad block apps for Android still operate on this basis. At least, the good ones that require root.

Hosts is also integral still on MacOS and on Linux. It works with DNS - DNS doesn't really replace it. At this point, it's almost like an override file. It's an earlier stop for domain name resolution.

Yes, it's part of most operating systems but dates from the days before DNS existed, when the host file would contain domain names and addresses for *all* the computers connected to the internet. The host file provides static DNS resolution without a DNS server.

The Android mention is a good point. I use Android, and I've found that Adblockers don't tend to work on Chrome without some sort of rooting. So, Pi-Hole removed the ads "at source".

I have been using Pi-hole for a couple years and it's great. Anyone who has used the internet at my house has asked me to set one up for them too. So far I have only had to whitelist Aeroplan, Constant Contact and some Amazon things.

We're also running it at work, although not on Raspberry Pi since it's more effective at squashing malvertizing than our firewall is.

Can you still HOSTS on windows ?
if so is there a list that is upgraded monthly or so ?

I remember using that years ago and loved the blank spaces that were ads before !

That just seems like extra effort when you can install Raspberry Pi in Docker and let it update itself.

Finally learning to clean my laptop on my own instead of asking someone else to do it. I've always been scared to do some irreversible damage to it so I never got to do it until now. Does research count? I've been looking into satphones through this resource for future camping, nature trails, etc, but looking also if it's more trouble than it's worth. Saw html a few replies up, and boy, it's been a while since I studied that!

Do you care to share how to clean your laptop. During the last 3 months, I watched my "once very fast" desktop getting sloooooower and slower! I tried a few obvious things such as disable certain "startup" apps and "services". So far to no avail. Sometimes it ran so slowly that I could not even do work on Excel or Word, not to mention Adobe Photoshop! All my HDD and SS disk do not need defrag.
Any help will be appreciated! TIA.

"... clean my laptop on my own instead of asking someone else to do it ..."

I read the post just as stated - "clean"
You seem to read it as "clean up"

This could be something more low tech! :D

You shouldn't have to do it in this day and age... but try re-installing Windows.

Is Windows installed on the SSD? And all the main apps you use? If anything is installed on the HDD, that would slow things down considerably.

Also check for any Malware.

What security / virus checker do you use? One of the machines I upgraded was running like a dog. I found that it had Norton 360 on it, but it had expired. So, the owner had installed AVG free as well. Removing both made things run a lot better. I then installed BitDefender for them, and this didn't have too much impact (and this was moot when I installed the SSD).

ahh, I got it now, thanks. Clean = Clean install?

Thank you for your help!

I am NOT techie at all. Can you or anyone else point me to a good YouTube video for this?

Yes, Windows 10 is installed on SSD and ALL the apps. HDD only has files only on it, no apps.

[QUOTE=DYKWIA;32422331] Also check for any Malware.
How do I check Malware? With what tools (apps)? Does tools come with Windows 10 do the job & what are they?

Frankly I don't really know :confused:. I have never manually run virus checks! Need help with this as well. What is a reliable virus check app? I was afraid to use those popped up on my screen from time to time.

Thanks again! I hope I've not hike jack this thread.

What brand of computer do you have? Lenovo, for instance, has a built in utlity that can walk you though making back up media.

EDIT:
Here's a better tutorial:

Thank you for your feedback and link. Will check it out later.

My PC is a DELL XPS8700 running on Windows 10 Home, Version 1903, OS build 18362.836 (whatever this means ;).

I use MalwareBytes to check for Malware. You can download the free version. It will check for Malware and remove what it can.

To check your virus scanner, type 'virus & threat protection' into the Windows search bar. Then click on the 'virus & threat protection' at the top left. This should show you which virus checker you are using. Mine shows :-

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c6cb47f63f.png

I am still thinking even more low tech. When jamcoley says "clean", perhaps they really just mean "clean" - ie blow the crumbs out from between the keys using compressed air, wiping down the screen to get rid of smears, toothpick to get the lint out of sockets etc :D

@DYKWIA,
Thanks for the info.
I use Windows Defender for now. I will look at other Malware/antivirus apps later.

or even opening up the computer - an amazing amount of dust can accumulate over the years inside a laptop. When I had a MacBook Pro upgraded, I was dumbfound to see the innards. After cleaning it and re-applying thermal paste, it all ran much cooler -> less cooling fan usage -> more battery life