Hi! 👋

I’m Grumpy, and I make content about Linux, Servers, and HomeLabs and build things I think are neat. I use this site to share all those things.

You can find me on various social media platforms linked below. I also share written content and projects on this site. (I’m also joining more platforms, so don’t panic)

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Recent Posts

OPNSENSE MONITORING WITH ZABBIX

One thing that is a key asset in any environment is reliable, thorough monitoring. Once as you add more redundant layers to your infrastructure, automated monitoring is frequently the only way to tell if something has failed, short of manual checking. When setting up monitoring for my OPNSense routers, though, I wasn’t super thrilled with the default options. There’s an SNMP template available in Zabbix, but SNMP set up on OPNSense didn’t seem straightforward, and I especially didn’t want to risk exposing this data to untrusted networks my router may sit on.

USING UNIFI PROTECT ACROSS VLANS AND VPNS

After Ubiquiti’s recent security faux pas, I started to question the best way to access my Unifi Protect cameras. By default, the Unifi Protect uses your Ubiquti account to log in, and disabling remote access breaks this. This can be bypassed with a little work, and if you’re using OPNSense, it’s pretty easy. Motivation I won’t comment on the recent security issues Ubiquiti had with their Unifi services, which includes the protect line of gear.

CLEANING UP FIREWALL RULES

One project I recently invented for myself is cleaning up my jumbled mess of firewall rules. The issue is that as time has gone on, I’ve created more VLANS, which has led to more rules that I’ve never really formally organized. It finally reached a tipping point, and after some experimentation, I found a new system that improves my security and makes things much more simple. My Problem The main issue here is that I have a lot of VLANs in my network.

PREPARING FOR YOU HOMELAB'S DEMISE

Trigger Warning: This post talks generally about human mortality and loss of your home. One ting I’ve recently started considering is how my Homelab can survive if I’m not around. At first, everything in the lab was pretty low value so losing things wasn’t a huge deal. Recently though, I’ve started archiving family photos and other important things that need to survive after me. I’ll outline the considerations and situations I took into account, then I’ll share some of the tools I used to plan.

USING HTTPS IN YOUR HOMELAB, AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

When you have a homelab, you’re going to start having a number of internal websites and services you use. You’ll learn to live with HTTPS warnings when navigating to these sites, but these warnings can still be a problem. What if we wanted to have valid HTTPS everywhere? HTTPS Primer HTTPS encrypts your traffic so things that intercept it (routers, attackers, etc) can’t decode it, and it does this even with an invalid or self-signed certificate.