… has too many hobbies.

Topic:

Linux

41 posts
Jan 2009 – Mar 2026

Setting net.netfilter.nf_conntrack_max on Ubuntu 22.04

On one server I manage, the default net.netfilter.nf_conntrack_max value (65536, IIRC) was not sufficient and I wanted to increase it substantially. The first thing I did was add a new file in /etc/sysctl.d: # /etc/sysctl.d/91-cdz-nf_conntrack.conf net.netfilter.nf_conntrack_max= …

Pi Reliability over WiFi: 'Temporary failure in name resolution'

Part of the Raspberry Pi Reliability series. One Pi I run here at home sits in an outbuilding with less-than-ideal WiFi signal strength. It runs PiAware [1] and BirdNET-Pi, and I specifically haven't run Ethernet to it to partially mitigate lightning-strike risks, given that it has two exposed …

Reliable WiFi for the Bambu X1C 3D printer

How to set up a Raspberry Pi WiFi access point that the Bambu X1C can stay connected to.

Setting up a secondary Pi-Hole on my home network

I run Pi-Hole as the DNS server for my home network. It provides ad and nuisance blocking for a subset of the systems in the house. Having a single DNS server for your network is very stressful; it’s a single point of failure, so even routine maintenance feels touch-and-go. …

Setting up KVM virtual machines using a bridge network on an Ubuntu host

I recently wanted to set up a VM on my home Ubuntu 22.04 LTS server, with the following goals: 1. the VM uses KVM virtualization, for performance 2. the guest VM is assigned an IP via DHCP by my home network router 3. the guest VM is accessible by …

How to move Docker's data directory from /var/lib

I recently had to move Docker's data directory on my home NAS (from the root filesystem to the storage array). I found some incomplete and inconsistent information on the Web about how to do this, so for future reference here's the process I used to do …

Stop using the Raspberry Pi's SD card for swap

Using your Pi's SD card for swap space will, in time, kill the SD card.

Remote logging for easier Raspberry Pi debugging

When something does go wrong, having collected logs somewhere other than your Raspberry Pi's SD card is very helpful.

Raspberry Pi SD cards: fsck them often

If your Raspberry Pi is not using a read-only filesystem, I recommend setting the Pi to run a filesystem check on its root filesystem at every boot.

Mitigating hardware/firmware/driver instability on the Raspberry Pi

Sometimes, through no fault of your own, something deep down will cause your Raspberry Pi to crash. Hard.

Maintaining a solid WiFi connection on Raspberry Pi

The first issue you're likely to hit with a long-running Pi, particularly with a Raspberry Pi Zero, is the Pi dropping off your WiFi network for no apparent reason after days or just hours of operation.

Keep your software up and running on the Raspberry Pi

This post reviews some of the options for keeping a systemd-managed service running persistently on a Raspberry Pi, or really any other Linux system.

Disable or remove unneeded services and software to help keep your Raspberry Pi online

On long-running, single-purpose Raspberry Pis, I like to disable and/or remove some scheduled tasks, services, and other software. This may help with a few different reliability concerns.

Fixing excessive Pi-hole lighttpd access log size when Netdata is installed

Part of the Raspberry Pi Reliability series. Not running out of disk space is an important aspect of keeping tiny Linux machines with limited storage and RAM running reliably for extended time periods. On most Raspberry Pis and similar devices, I keep /var/log in RAM, either with a straightforward …

Reconsidering Netdata

Reconsidering where and how I install the open-source system monitoring tool, Netdata.