Everything on the network is finally done. Oh who am I kidding? Things change constantly between software and hardware updates and upgrades. This just documents a small part of it.
All tagged server
The Home Assistant Migration
It was a backup, drive wipe, reload, and restore the backup. I expected the worse, but what happened surprised me.
Tracking Advanced Port Scanning
I’ve noticed ports scans. A lot of them. However these are different, these are all scans from a seemingly distributed scanning network spread out over multiple IP addresses.
Fail2ban for Sendmail AUTH
Mail server admins always notice when spammers try to use an AUTH command to try to relay spam through a mail server. But when they start hammering away with a much more sophisticated botnet, things start to get serious - especially for the paranoid.
Network Review 2025
Unsurprisingly to other techies my server rack has changed over the past year and few months. Warning, nerd territory ahead.
Server Upgrades
Upgrading the operating system of a server can be easy, and it can be painful. I upgraded four of them, and as only three had issues, I consider myself lucky. Nonetheless, this wasn't easy.
MTA-STS: Why and How I Did It
I closed a security hole on my mail server. Granted, one could barely see the hole, and the chances of compromise are quite low, but everything counts. Right? Right?
My Pi-hole Rabbit Hole
Running Pi-hole in recursive mode has a lot of benefits - especially if you run your own mail server.
Network Revamp 2023
To save on server room space as well as power consumption, I migrated three tower systems to Intel NUCs and rack mounted them. Here’s why.
The Mastodon Migration
It went perfectly smooth, until it didn’t. Full instructions on migrating a Mastodon instance to new hardware, including a few of my mistakes so you can learn from them.
Debian 12 (Quick) Review
I tested Debian 12 as a potential replacement for Ubuntu in the NMRC server environment. It didn’t meet expectations.
Mastodon and Self-Hosting
Hosting your own Mastodon instance isn’t for everyone, but if you decide to do it, it’s probably easier than you think.
Locking Down Accounts
If you set up SSH on a server, you should also lock it down.
Daemon
To properly run a mail server, you need your DNS in order. This is my over-the-top method to do just that.
Talon
There are reasons I run my own mail server, they may seem paranoid but they are not. Well. not too paranoid...
Server Error
It's Friday afternoon, and one console error message can ruin the entire day.