Windows 11 is ideal for multifunctional use – Office, Games, WSL, HW Options Kazoo – but the built-in defaults slow me down and get sooo annoying. These tweaks make it fast, clean, and predictable:
Windhawk mods for the stuff Microsoft won’t expose: Taskbar Clock Customization (rich clock/date formats), Better File Sizes in Explorer (human-readable sizes), and Taskbar Icon Spacing/Size (tight or roomy as you like). Windhawk
Everything + Everything Toolbar for instant file search from the taskbar/start area. Windows Search sleeps; Everything sprints. Voidtools
Start11 to restore a sane Start Menu—and wire it to Everything so Start menu searches are local, fast, and ad-free. Stardock
AutoHotkey to supercharge virtual desktops: ALT+1..9 jumps to a desktop; SHIFT+ALT+1..9 moves the focused window there. It’s a perfect “almost-tiling” workflow without the rigidity of a tiling WM. My keymaps live here: https://github.com/ske5074/windows-desktop-switcher . AutoHotkey (Be sure to use the 1.x version of AutoHotKey)
Twinkle Tray for one-click monitor brightness (and quick volume), right from the tray—especially handy with multi-monitor setups. Twinkle Tray
Net result: a quiet, fast Windows 11 desktop that works the way I do—no Edge promos, no Start menu fluff, and muscle-memory moves between clean, purpose-built desktops.
From https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/chapter-sysadmin.html#chapter_zfs
# zpool status
pool: rpool
state: ONLINE
scan: resilvered 9.32M in 00:00:00 with 0 errors on Thu Apr 3 23:20:51 2025
config:
NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
rpool ONLINE 0 0 0
nvme-eui.0025388581b66796-part3 ONLINE 0 0 0
# lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda 8:0 0 1.8T 0 disk
--sda1 8:1 0 1.8T 0 part
zd16 230:16 0 32G 0 disk
--zd16p1 230:17 0 100M 0 part
--zd16p2 230:18 0 892M 0 part
--zd16p3 230:19 0 31G 0 part
zd32 230:32 0 10G 0 disk
--zd32p1 230:33 0 9.5G 0 part
--zd32p2 230:34 0 1K 0 part
--zd32p5 230:37 0 510M 0 part
nvme0n1 259:0 0 476.9G 0 disk
--nvme0n1p1 259:1 0 1007K 0 part
--nvme0n1p2 259:2 0 1G 0 part
--nvme0n1p3 259:3 0 475.9G 0 part
Duplicate the partition tables on the new drive (/dev/sda)
# sgdisk /dev/nvme0n1 -R /dev/sda
change the GUID so they are not the same
# sgdisk -G /dev/sda
Use parted to fdisk to expand partition 3 into the full capacity of the new disk
# fdisk /dev/sda
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.38.1).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 1.82 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Disk model: SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 126F0F8E-624E-4F4D-8CD4-89F8B2EDE74A
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 34 2047 2014 1007K BIOS boot
/dev/sda2 2048 2099199 2097152 1G EFI System
/dev/sda3 2099200 1000215182 998115983 475.9G Solaris /usr & Apple ZFS
Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-3, default 3): 3
Partition 3 has been deleted.
Command (m for help): n
Partition number (3-128, default 3): 3
First sector (2099200-3907029134, default 2099200):
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (2099200-3907029134, default 3907028991):
Created a new partition 3 of type 'Linux filesystem' and of size 1.8 TiB.
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 1.82 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Disk model: SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 126F0F8E-624E-4F4D-8CD4-89F8B2EDE74A
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 34 2047 2014 1007K BIOS boot
/dev/sda2 2048 2099199 2097152 1G EFI System
/dev/sda3 2099200 3907028991 3904929792 1.8T Linux filesystem
Command (m for help):
Change the label back to “Solaris /usr & Apple ZFS”
Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1-3, default 3): 3
Partition type or alias (type L to list all): 157
Changed type of partition 'Linux filesystem' to 'Solaris /usr & Apple ZFS'.
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 1.82 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Disk model: SSD
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 126F0F8E-624E-4F4D-8CD4-89F8B2EDE74A
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 34 2047 2014 1007K BIOS boot
/dev/sda2 2048 2099199 2097152 1G EFI System
/dev/sda3 2099200 3907028991 3904929792 1.8T Solaris /usr & Apple ZFS
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
Check what type of boot partition you have (Grub / EUFI)
# proxmox-boot-tool status
Re-executing '/usr/sbin/proxmox-boot-tool' in new private mount namespace..
System currently booted with uefi
F0A5-6343 is configured with: uefi (versions: 6.8.12-4-pve, 6.8.12-9-pve)
Copy boot partition detail to the new disk
# proxmox-boot-tool format /dev/sda2
UUID="" SIZE="1073741824" FSTYPE="" PARTTYPE="c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b" PKNAME="sda" MOUNTPOINT=""
Formatting '/dev/sda2' as vfat..
mkfs.fat 4.2 (2021-01-31)
Done.
# proxmox-boot-tool init /dev/sda2
Re-executing '/usr/sbin/proxmox-boot-tool' in new private mount namespace..
UUID="F84D-06C6" SIZE="1073741824" FSTYPE="vfat" PARTTYPE="c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b" PKNAME="sda" MOUNTPOINT=""
Mounting '/dev/sda2' on '/var/tmp/espmounts/F84D-06C6'.
Installing systemd-boot..
Created "/var/tmp/espmounts/F84D-06C6/EFI/systemd".
Created "/var/tmp/espmounts/F84D-06C6/EFI/BOOT".
Created "/var/tmp/espmounts/F84D-06C6/loader".
Created "/var/tmp/espmounts/F84D-06C6/loader/entries".
Created "/var/tmp/espmounts/F84D-06C6/EFI/Linux".
Copied "/usr/lib/systemd/boot/efi/systemd-bootx64.efi" to "/var/tmp/espmounts/F84D-06C6/EFI/systemd/systemd-bootx64.efi".
Copied "/usr/lib/systemd/boot/efi/systemd-bootx64.efi" to "/var/tmp/espmounts/F84D-06C6/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI".
Random seed file /var/tmp/espmounts/F84D-06C6/loader/random-seed successfully written (32 bytes).
Created EFI boot entry "Linux Boot Manager".
Configuring systemd-boot..
Unmounting '/dev/sda2'.
Adding '/dev/sda2' to list of synced ESPs..
Refreshing kernels and initrds..
Running hook script 'proxmox-auto-removal'..
Running hook script 'zz-proxmox-boot'..
Copying and configuring kernels on /dev/disk/by-uuid/F0A5-6343
Copying kernel and creating boot-entry for 6.8.12-4-pve
Copying kernel and creating boot-entry for 6.8.12-9-pve
Copying and configuring kernels on /dev/disk/by-uuid/F84D-06C6
Copying kernel and creating boot-entry for 6.8.12-4-pve
Copying kernel and creating boot-entry for 6.8.12-9-pve
Add the new disk to rpool as a mirror device. Important – you have to use partition 3, not the just the disk designation.
# zpool status
pool: rpool
state: ONLINE
scan: resilvered 9.32M in 00:00:00 with 0 errors on Thu Apr 3 23:20:51 2025
config:
NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
rpool ONLINE 0 0 0
nvme-eui.0025388581b66796-part3 ONLINE 0 0 0
errors: No known data errors
# zpool attach rpool nvme-eui.0025388581b66796-part3 /dev/sda3
# zpool status
pool: rpool
state: ONLINE
status: One or more devices is currently being resilvered. The pool will
continue to function, possibly in a degraded state.
action: Wait for the resilver to complete.
scan: resilver in progress since Fri Apr 4 03:35:18 2025
378G / 378G scanned, 853M / 378G issued at 35.5M/s
841M resilvered, 0.22% done, 03:01:01 to go
config:
NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
rpool ONLINE 0 0 0
mirror-0 ONLINE 0 0 0
nvme-eui.0025388581b66796-part3 ONLINE 0 0 0
sda3 ONLINE 0 0 0 (resilvering)
errors: No known data errors
# zpool status
pool: rpool
state: ONLINE
scan: resilvered 371G in 03:10:09 with 0 errors on Sat Apr 5 11:24:50 2025
config:
NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
rpool ONLINE 0 0 0
mirror-0 ONLINE 0 0 0
nvme-eui.0025388581b65b82-part3 ONLINE 0 0 0
sda3 ONLINE 0 0 0
Once synced up, Power off and replace the old drive with the new drive. System should still boot if UEFI.
Once booted, you’ll have a degraded mirror, you can safely remove the old drive
# zpool status
pool: rpool
state: DEGRADED
status: One or more devices could not be used because the label is missing or
invalid. Sufficient replicas exist for the pool to continue
functioning in a degraded state.
action: Replace the device using 'zpool replace'.
see: https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/msg/ZFS-8000-4J
scan: resilvered 371G in 03:10:09 with 0 errors on Sat Apr 5 11:24:50 2025
config:
NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
rpool DEGRADED 0 0 0
mirror-0 DEGRADED 0 0 0
14929228184534084580 UNAVAIL 0 0 0 was /dev/disk/by-id/nvme-eui.0025388581b65b82-part3
nvme0n1p3 ONLINE 0 0 0
errors: No known data errors
# zpool detach rpool 14929228184534084580
# zpool list
NAME SIZE ALLOC FREE CKPOINT EXPANDSZ FRAG CAP DEDUP HEALTH ALTROOT
rpool 472G 367G 105G - 1.35T 21% 77% 1.00x ONLINE -
If you expanded partition 3 to be larger, tell zfs that you want to expand into the available space.
# zpool set autoexpand=on rpool
# zpool online -e rpool nvme0n1p3
# zpool list
NAME SIZE ALLOC FREE CKPOINT EXPANDSZ FRAG CAP DEDUP HEALTH ALTROOT
rpool 1.82T 367G 1.46T - - 5% 19% 1.00x ONLINE -
Download NVIDIA driver (from NVIDIA Drivers). This document uses the official NVIDIA driver runfile. The distro version can break with apt updates.
Example:
NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-570.133.07.run
Set the installer as executable: chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-*.run
Run the installer: ./NVIDIA-Linux-*.run
Reboot the Proxmox server again.
Check installation: nvidia-smi
Check NVIDIA device IDs: ls -al /dev/nvidia*
Example output:
#!/bin/bash
# Define color variables
BLUE="000011"
RED="010000"
YELLOW="050500"
GREEN="000100"
WHITE="111111"
OFF="000000"
DECAY="#FF0000"
# Initialize the serial port
usbreset fit_StatUSB
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Device not found. Aborting."
exit 1
fi
sleep 5
stty -F /dev/ttyACM0 9600 raw -echo -echoe -echok -echoctl -echoke
sleep 5
# Function to send a color command to Fit-statUSB
send_color() {
echo Sending: "B#${1}-250#000000-1000${DECAY}-9999"
echo -e "B#${1}-250#000000-1000${DECAY}-9999" > /dev/ttyACM0
sleep 1
}
echo -e "F0001" > /dev/ttyACM0; sleep 1 # Minimal Transition
echo -e "#${RED}" > /dev/ttyACM0; sleep 1 # Red
echo -e "#${GREEN}" > /dev/ttyACM0; sleep 1 # Green
echo -e "#${BLUE}" > /dev/ttyACM0; sleep 1 # Blue
echo -e "#${WHITE}" > /dev/ttyACM0; sleep 1 # White
echo -e "#${OFF}" > /dev/ttyACM0; sleep 1 # Off
while true; do
# Get processor idle time using vmstat
idle=$(vmstat 1 2 | tail -1 | awk '{print $15}')
# Get Proxmox health state
expected_votes=$(pvecm status | grep 'Expected votes:' | awk '{print $2}')
total_votes=$(pvecm status | grep 'Total votes:' | awk '{print $2}')
flags=$(pvecm status | grep 'Flags:' | awk '{print $2}')
if [ "$flags" != "Quorate" ]; then
proxmox_status="$RED"
elif [ "$expected_votes" != "$total_votes" ]; then
proxmox_status="$YELLOW"
else
proxmox_status="$GREEN"
fi
# Check network connectivity
if ping -c 1 8.8.8.8 &> /dev/null; then
network_status="$GREEN"
else
network_status="$RED"
fi
# Determine processor state color
if [ "$idle" -lt 10 ]; then
processor_status="$RED"
elif [ "$idle" -lt 20 ]; then
processor_status="$YELLOW"
else
processor_status="$GREEN"
fi
# Repeat the sequences 6 times before re-evaluating the system state
for i in {1..6}; do
# Create and send blink sequence with breaks
send_color "$BLUE" # Initial Blue indicating start of the dataset
send_color "$processor_status"
send_color "$proxmox_status"
send_color "$network_status"
done
done
Recently, I gave my homelab a fresh upgrade by adding Lenovo ThinkCentre M910Q Tiny systems and a few P320s equipped with Nvidia Quadro P600 video cards. These systems are compact yet powerful, documented to support up to 32GB of RAM each—but with a bit of tweaking, they can handle an impressive 64GB! They might not be the most powerful setups out there, but with their small form factor and affordability, they make fantastic little Proxmox machines, offering big potential in a small footprint.
I’m impressed with how well Armbian works with SOCs. Since I couldn’t find a Raspberry Pi recently, I tried out a “LePotato” board, which has performed well overall. The main issue is the lack of a headless install option for Armbian. Without a FAT partition for /boot, configuring the OS on a PC or Mac before installation is challenging.
I attempted adding /boot to an existing image but struggled. Eventually, I found I could compile Armbian with a revised lepotato.conf file by adding BOOTFS_TYPE="fat". Typically, compiling OS builds requires specific hardware, compilers, libraries, etc., making it a hassle. However, Armbian’s DIY-focused approach made the process surprisingly easy. I even used Docker, so my main OS stayed clean—very cool indeed!
Get an Armbian Image for the NanoPi and boot it from the microSD. After initially configuring, run /sbin/nand-sata-install. Follow the prompts to copy the root filesystem to the emmc. Remove the SD card.
Installing DietPi to the 8GB eMMC flash on the NanoPi:
Booted into Armbian on the internal SD card and put The dietPi image in a USB to microSD dongle. The DietPi image was small, so I chose to create an fsarchiver image of it on the Armbian filesystem temporarily. This may or may not work for you if you don’t have enough space on the booted OS in the internal microSD card.
Use fdisk to see where the external microSD is and the eMMC. For me it was the following:
# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/mmcblk2: 7.28 GiB, 7818182656 bytes, 15269888 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xbc471ea2
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/mmcblk2p1 8192 15106047 15097856 7.2G 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sda: 14.63 GiB, 15707668480 bytes, 30679040 sectors
Disk model: microSD RDR
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x74239350
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 8192 30343168 30334977 14.5G 83 Linux
Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 59.48 GiB, 63864569856 bytes, 124735488 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x6337f038
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/mmcblk0p1 2048 31110143 31108096 14.8G 83 Linux
#
It translated to this:
/dev/mmcblk0p1 — The Internal microSD Armbian boot device. /dev/sda1 — The SD card with a DietPI image on the microSD /dev/mmcblk2p — The eMMC (7.28 GiB)
Now create a fsarchiver backup of the DietPi image on /dev/sda1
# fsarchiver savefs -A -j4 -o /DietPi.fsa /dev/sda
Create a new ext4 partition on the eMMC drive using fdisk
# fdisk /dev/mmcblk2
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.36.1).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/mmcblk2: 7.28 GiB, 7818182656 bytes, 15269888 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xbc471ea2
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/mmcblk2p1 8192 15106047 15097856 7.2G 83 Linux
Command (m for help): d
Selected partition 1
Partition 1 has been deleted.
Command (m for help): n
Partition type
p primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
e extended (container for logical partitions)
Select (default p): p
Partition number (1-4, default 1): 1
First sector (2048-15269887, default 2048): 8192
Last sector, +/-sectors or +/-size{K,M,G,T,P} (8192-15269887, default 15269887):
Created a new partition 1 of type 'Linux' and of size 7.3 GiB.
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/mmcblk2: 7.28 GiB, 7818182656 bytes, 15269888 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xbc471ea2
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/mmcblk2p1 8192 15269887 15261696 7.3G 83 Linux
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered.
Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.
#
Format the eMMC partition
# mkfs -t ext4 /dev/mmcblk2p1
Restore the fsarchiver image to the new partition:
Finally -run nand-sata-install to get the boot record on the eMMC:
# /sbin/nand-sata-install
Once you say yes, it will execute and exit. Now poweroff, removed the SD cards, and see if it works!
# poweroff
Unplug the nanoPi and Plug it back in. Hopefully it worked! Remember – the root password may be different now since you’re booting off the internal eMMC with DietPi
Here’s a list of steps to get octoprint to run within a container on Windows. I happen to have a windows system running next to my ender so instead of infinitely waiting for a raspberry pi I decided to run octoprint in a container within windows – if possible. Using Debian was a challenge, but I prefer it over Ubuntu, so I took the extra time to figure it out. Enjoy!
PS C> usbipd wsl list
BUSID VID:PID DEVICE STATE
1-1 046d:c545 USB Input Device Not attached
1-2 2357:0138 TP-Link Wireless MU-MIMO USB Adapter Not attached
1-4 1bcf:28c4 FHD Camera, FHD Camera Microphone Not attached
1-5 1a86:7523 USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM4) Not attached
1-13 046d:c52b Logitech USB Input Device, USB Input Device Not attached
PS C> usbipd wsl attach --busid 1-4
usbipd: info: Using default distribution 'Debian'.
PS C> usbipd wsl attach --busid 1-5
usbipd: info: Using default distribution 'Debian'.
PS C> usbipd wsl list
BUSID VID:PID DEVICE STATE
1-1 046d:c545 USB Input Device Not attached
1-2 2357:0138 TP-Link Wireless MU-MIMO USB Adapter Not attached
1-4 1bcf:28c4 FHD Camera, FHD Camera Microphone Attached - Debian
1-5 1a86:7523 USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM4) Attached - Debian
1-13 046d:c52b Logitech USB Input Device, USB Input Device Not attached
1-23 0bda:9210 USB Attached SCSI (UAS) Mass Storage Device Not attached
Debian:
# lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1bcf:28c4 Sunplus Innovation Technology Inc. FHD Camera Microphone
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
# python3 -m serial.tools.miniterm
--- Available ports:
--- 1: /dev/ttyUSB0 'USB Serial'
docker-compose.yml
version: '2.4'
services:
octoprint:
image: octoprint/octoprint
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- 80:80
devices:
# use `python3 -m serial.tools.miniterm` , this requires pyserial
# - /dev/ttyACM0:/dev/ttyACM0
# - /dev/video0:/dev/video0
- /dev/ttyUSB0
volumes:
- octoprint:/octoprint
#environment:
# - ENABLE_MJPG_STREAMER=true
####
# uncomment if you wish to edit the configuration files of octoprint
# refer to docs on configuration editing for more information
####
#config-editor:
# image: linuxserver/code-server
# ports:
# - 8443:8443
# depends_on:
# - octoprint
# restart: unless-stopped
# environment:
# - PUID=0
# - GUID=0
# - TZ=America/Chicago
# volumes:
# - octoprint:/octoprint
volumes:
octoprint:
I haven’t had to move docker volumes around in a few years, but I finally had the need today. As usual, I searched for the process, knowing that most examples are… well… not very good. Well, as I almost resorted to pulling a manual job using ubuntu, I found a great write-up by Jarek Lipski on Medium. Here’s how you backup using alpine and tar. Also, make sure you “docker stop” the containers that use the volume, so you get a consistent backup.
Which containers use a volume?
docker ps -a --filter volume=[some_volume]
Backup using an alpine image with tar:
docker run --rm -v [some_volume]:/volume -v /tmp:/backup alpine tar -cjf /backup/[some_archive].tar.bz2 -C /volume ./
Restore:
docker run --rm -v [some_volume]:/volume -v /tmp:/backup alpine sh -c "rm -rf /volume/* /volume/..?* /volume/.[!.]* ; tar -C /volume/ -xjf /backup/[some_archive].tar.bz2"
Backup using loomchild/volume-backup
I love that Jarek also created an image to simplify further the process called loomchild/volume-backup. Here’s how the image works:
docker run -v [volume-name]:/volume -v [output-dir]:/backup --rm loomchild/volume-backup backup [archive-name]
Restore:
docker run -v [volume-name]:/volume -v [output-dir]:/backup --rm loomchild/volume-backup restore [archive-name]
What’s great is this method allows inline copying of a volume from one system to another using ssh. Here’s an example Jarek provides:
No Homelab Remote KVM? Intel Chipset? No Problem with Intel’s Management Engine and MeshCommander!
Mesh Commander is an application that can communicate to the Intel Management Engine (IME) available on most systems using an intel chipset. Once IME is configured, Mesh Commander will provide an entry point into the system and can provide a whole range of options from power cycling the system, remote controlling the system, and even accessing the BIOS. So how does it work? Here are the steps I go through to enable it:
Homelab Server Setup
In the system’s BIOS, look for Intel Management Engine (IME), Enable, then reset it. Make sure “Press <Ctrl-P> to Enter MEBx is enabled.
Take note of the key combination needed during the BIOS post. On my systems, to get into the IME settings, it’s <Ctrl-P>
The initial password is “admin” – Change it to your preferred password.
Go into the network settings and either keep the DHCP settings or use static IP. This is where it gets cool. The IME IP address will be enabled on the main ethernet port of the system ALONG WITH the IP the OS ends up using. And what’s even cooler? Say you disable the ethernet device in windows; it doesn’t disable the port. The port will remain available for IME functions.
Something I had to learn the hard way. If you plan on trunking multiple ethernet ports together, IME does not understand trunking/LACP/port aggregation, so it will not communicate properly.
Install MeshCommander on your daily driver (regular client). There are other fancy options offered, but this will get you going.
Run MeshCommander
Add your home lab server to MeshCommand by manually entering the details with “Add Computer…” or be lazy and use “Scan…”
Click on the discovered systems and modify the settings. Use the password you set up earlier on the server.
Now Connect!
What to do, what to do… Remote Desktop? YES PLEASE!
If the screen is too small, you can change the font (debian):
dpkg-reconfigure console-setup
Other Tips
I had issues where the remote desktop does not work after Linux booted up and found it was due to the graphics driver disabling the GPU if no monitor detected. I couldn’t find a graceful work-around via software so I ended up going the HDMI Dummy Plug route. It terminates the HDMI lines so the system believes a monitor is there, and preventing the GPU from shutting down. https://a.co/d/9Cx13G7
By not being on social media sites, I have a choice in what I consume from a news perspective. I want sources that give me the data to form my opinion rather than get opinions framed as news. So this is what works for me:
Use a web browser “incognito” mode so tracking cookies aren’t used. This will help prevent news shaping. I use a web browser called Duck Duck Go that helps prevent tracking data from being used. I highly recommend using it for a browser on your phone and the search engine on your desktop. Once google has some history on you, the shaping algorithms will take hold quickly.
I use multiple sources. If I watch CNN, I also try to watch Fox News and so on. It helps to see the different perspectives and the spin applied on all sides.
For any of the “news” sites, I first look at the ad’s that I’m bombarded with. I want to determine right off the bat how the site makes money, and what generates the most revenue (typically its the product you see most of). They will usually not tell you directly, but you’ll get a sense of why they want you to buy while you stay on the site.
I use Axios; they are trying to be a news source with little spin. You can see their mission statement here: https://www.axios.com/about/ They tell you how they gather information, how it’s gathered and qualified, and how they make money. Most of the content is short and concise with little fluff. I appreciate the attempt.
I use allsides.com frequently. allsides is an aggregate site that tried to rate news stories as right, left, and center. It’s a good site to get an honest perspective on things. Their take is no news is unbiased, so they show you how. There was an exciting science project from Middle Schooler where they looked at bias in google search engine using data from allsides. More detail on the science project is located at: https://www.allsides.com/blog/teen-proves-media-bias-google-search-results-can-influence-political-opinions
Is the content focused on the subject, and is the opinion kind? If the content attacks aperson rather than a position, it’s typically because the position they are trying to make is weak and doesn’t hold up well on its own.
I’m sure I can keep rambling, but the above list encompasses most of what I do. Let me know if you have better methods!
sudo sed -Ei 's/^# deb-src /deb-src /' /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential autoconf libtool git-core
sudo apt-get build-dep imagemagick libmagickcore-dev libde265 libheif
cd /usr/src/
sudo git clone https://github.com/strukturag/libde265.git
sudo git clone https://github.com/strukturag/libheif.git
cd libde265/
sudo ./autogen.sh
sudo ./configure
sudo make
sudo make install
cd /usr/src/libheif/
sudo ./autogen.sh
sudo ./configure
sudo make
sudo make install
cd /usr/src/
sudo wget https://www.imagemagick.org/download/ImageMagick.tar.gz
sudo tar xf ImageMagick.tar.gz
cd ImageMagick-7*
sudo ./configure --with-heic=yes
sudo make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
sudo apt install php-imagick
cd /usr/src/
wget http://pecl.php.net/get/imagick-3.4.4.tgz
tar -xvzf imagick-3.4.4.tgz
cd imagick-3.4.4/
apt install php7.2-dev
phpize
./configure
make
make install
sudo phpenmod imagick
A restart of apache2 should finish the job. Check with the phpinfo() call…
I couldn’t agree more about how to take control of your digital consumption from, “The Center for Humane Technology”. Here’s the link and a snippet from the web site:
I thought I understood the general concepts and algorithms that companies like google, Facebook, twitter, etc. use but I was astounded about how much it impacts us as a society. The documentary, “The Social Dilemma”, on Netflix, is filled with conversations with many of the original architects of these systems and how monetization though ad targeting is driving behavior modification of billions of people worldwide.
The Social Dilemma also goes on to explain how our younger populations are being affected and correlates the dramatic increase in many conditions like anxiety are due the nature of keeping someone always engaged in a platform for monetary gain.
I already started getting off a number of social platforms, Facebook and Instagram being the latest – but now I’m really concerned about how being online is effecting my daughters.
What’s the answer? I don’t know but I can tell you that I am more willing than ever to pay for services that are not ad driven. I already have a pi-hole for ad blocking, and use cleanbrowsing.org for DNS filtering. But what do you do that when you use gmail? Use a iPhone or Google Android phone? Is it flip phone time again? I don’t know what to think really. And that’s a good thing.
What I can say is I would highly recommend the documentary.
This page is to document my trials with zfs snapshots for backup purposes. There a problem I found that entails when incremental snapshot sends are performed when the receive side has changed in some way. I’ll provide complete details soon. Good news my zfs retention script looks to be running well. I’ll document that as well soon. Here’s a teaser…
Good Morning! After not being active on Facebook for almost a year now I made the move to completely delete my account. While it was surprisingly tough initially it was a great decision. I realized all the ads and shaped content was not worth the family and friend connection I was actually seeking. My account on Instagram will probably be deleted soon as well. I’m getting ads and such on that platform as well. It’s not surprising since Instagram is also owned by Facebook.
I’m available through more conventional, old school means, and I am slowly updating my web site so I can communicate on my own terms without pushing content on anyone. I do have a means to share photos out for the family so if you’re interested let me know and I’ll send you a link to my own personal cloud share.
Local System – Let’s call it alpha Remote System we don’t want to have to enter passwords for, Let’s call it foxtrot
Prep: Harden your existing ssh keys since RSA 1024 sucks. This will create a new 4096 version – ed22519 is actually preferred so you can skip the rsa creation if preferred.
Since I had a old windows laptop as a plex and file server for years I thought it would be good to try something new. After researching options I ddecided to try FreeNAS. Since it has ZFS and I’m an old Sun guy – why not. Well…. After a few weeks I decided to abandon FreeNAS and roll my own using a ThinkCentre M93p Tiny. I’ll try to post some notes on how the build goes.
So I ran into a few issues using the dd image backup I referenced prior Raspberry Pi 3 SDCard backup
The Image is very large even though the data was not. For example on a 32GB SD card I was getting a 12GB file. I only have 3GB of data! so that was a bummer.
When it comes time to recover, I have to expand the gz image file to a full 32GB to then image it onto another SD device. There’s tricks around this I’m sure but still.
Since dd was reading 100% of the SD card (/dev/mmcblk0) even with compression it took a LONG time to create the image. 20 minutes or so. Since I’m backing up a live system this was a real issue.
I did manage to figure out how to create a partial image if your partition sizes were smaller than the actual device – This seemed to work but it still was storing 6.6GB of data which was over double what I actually had:
Still not good enough…. Any I might have to tweak the count to make sure I’m not missing the last little piece of the lasat partition since we would have partition data in front of the partitions.
So…
To remedy a few issues, I researched other ways to backup. I came to the conclusion that fsarchiver was a decent fit. Simple to use and only backs up data. The downside was I would have to use another Linux system to reconstruct the SD card. I can’t just blast a image write to a SD card and call it good.
Here are the steps. Since fsarchiver doesn’t support vfat I had to make a dd image of the 66MB vfat boot partition. Not a big deal. The newer fsarchiver supports vfat; I just didn’t want to install the packages need to do a full compile for the latest.
Benefits: Much faster. take 5 minutes total. Much smaller data footprint – 3GB of data is storing in a 2.2GB image!
Downside: Not one image – need to do some recovery with another Linux system with a SD card loaded. Since I have a Pi setup for VPN and such that’s not a problem for me.
Disclaimer – I’m only posting this stuff to help me remember what I did and possibly help others that understand how to not shoot themselves in the foot. Please be very careful in trying any of this stuff. Depending on your situation it may not apply.
Raspberry Pi Backup using fsarchiver
# Quiesce any major services that might write…
service apache2 stop
service mysql stop
service cron stop
# Save the Partition Table for good keeping…
sfdisk -d /dev/mmcblk0 > /mnt/usb/webpi.backup.sfdisk-d_dev_mmcblk0.dump
# Save the vfat boot partition
dd if=/dev/mmcblk0p1 conv=sync,noerror | gzip > /mnt/usb/webpi.backup.dd_dev_mmcblk0p1.img.gz
# Save the main OS image efficiently…
fsarchiver savefs -A -j4 -o /mnt/usb/webpi.backup_dev_mmcblk0p2.fsa /dev/mmcblk0p2
# Restart the services…
service cron start
service mysql start
service apache2 start
Raspberry Pi Restore using fsarchiver
# put a new SD card in a card reader and plugged it
# into a raspberry pi - showed up as /dev/sdb
# Restore the partition table
sfdisk /dev/sdb < /mnt/usb/webpi.backup.sfdisk-d_dev_mmcblk0.dump
# Run fsarchiver archinfo to verify you have a fsarchiver file and
# determine which partition you want to recover if you did multiple partitions
fsarchiver archinfo /mnt/usb/webpi.backup_dev_mmcblk0p2.fsa
====================== archive information ======================
Archive type: filesystems
Filesystems count: 1
Archive id: 5937792d
Archive file format: FsArCh_002
Archive created with: 0.6.19
Archive creation date: 2017-06-12_07-51-00
Archive label: <none>
Minimum fsarchiver version: 0.6.4.0
Compression level: 3 (gzip level 6)
Encryption algorithm: none
===================== filesystem information ====================
Filesystem id in archive: 0
Filesystem format: ext4
Filesystem label:
Filesystem uuid: 8a9074c8-46fe-4807-8dc9-8ab1cb959010
Original device: /dev/mmcblk0p2
Original filesystem size: 7.84 GB (8423399424 bytes)
Space used in filesystem: 3.37 GB (3613343744 bytes)
# Run the restfs option for fsarchiver
fsarchiver restfs /mnt/usb/webpi.backup_dev_mmcblk0p2.fsa id=0,dest=/dev/sdb2
filesys.c#127,devcmp(): Warning: node for device [/dev/root] does not exist in /dev/
Statistics for filesystem 0
* files successfully processed:....regfiles=59379, directories=6999, symlinks=5774, hardlinks=331, specials=80
* files with errors:...............regfiles=0, directories=0, symlinks=0, hardlinks=0, specials=0
So I ran into a few issues using the dd image backup I referenced prior Raspberry Pi 3 SDCard backup
Raspberry Pi Backup using fsarchiver