Linux

Google Fiber speed test of EdgeRouter Lite 7
Many moons ago, I replaced my Google Fiber Network Box with a UBNT EdgeRouter Lite router at our house in Provo, Utah… and never looked back! With a street price of under $90, the ER-Lite was a tough act to beat for the money. But later, when Ubiquiti Networks released the newer EdgeRouter […]

EdgeRouter X vs. EdgeRouter Lite Google Fiber Speed Tests

This entry was posted in Linux Networking Technology and tagged EdgeRouter EdgeRouter comparison EdgeRouter Lite EdgeRouter POE EdgeRouter X ER-L ER-LITE ER-Lite vs ER-X ER-POE ER-X fastest Google Fiber speed speed test Ubiquiti UBNT on by (updated 2863 days ago)
Kernel Version vs Firmware Version 6
In March of last year, I published this article claiming that the latest (at the time) DD-WRT builds based on the Linux 2.6 kernel (K2.6) ran faster on a Linksys/Cisco E4200 router than their K3.x counterparts. Since then, I’ve heard apocryphal stories from some in the DD-WRT forums that the […]

DD-WRT K2.6 vs K3.x vs Tomato Router Firmware Head to ...

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged DD-WRT ddwrt EdgeRouter K2.6 K2.6 vs K3.x K3 K3.x Linux networking speed speed test speedtest Tomato UBNT USG which is faster on by (updated 2905 days ago)
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UPDATE: Since most modern browsers yanked their trust for StartSSL certificates due to some funny business from StartCom, I no longer recommend StartSSL certs. I’ve switched all my certs over to LetsEncrypt (using the excellent Dehydrated script for easy setup and renewal). The article below remains here for historical purposes only. […]

Create a Free SSL Certificate with StartSSL

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged .crt Apache bundle CA file certificate authority certificate signing request csr free SSL certificate key Linux pem private key self-signed self-signed SSL certificate SSL StartCom StartSSL on by (updated 2685 days ago)
"Forget" your access point(s) on your existing UniFi Controller before adopting it on your hosted controller
After writing the post on how to quickly upgrade your Ubiquiti UniFi Controller on non-Debian Linux boxes (I run mine on CentOS), I decided that it still wasn’t quick enough. So I threw together a script called upgrade_unifi.sh that does the following: Stops the existing UniFi Controller Makes a backup of your old UniFi […]

Automated Script for UniFi Controller Upgrade on Linux/Unix Systems

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged command line gist Linux new version script Ubiquiti UBNT UniFi UniFi controller update Upgrade on by (updated 2946 days ago)
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If you’re running the Ubiquiti UniFi Controller on a Linux box (I run mine on CentOS), the default instructions from UBNT walk you through building a simple SysV init script to run the Java .jar file as a service. I was in a tinkering mood, so I re-wrote the SysV startup script on my […]

Improved Startup Script for Ubiquiti UniFi Controller on Unix / ...

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged CentOS init script Linux RHEL startup script Ubiquiti UBNT UniFi UniFi controller Unix on by (updated 3081 days ago)
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UPDATE: I’ve written an automated script that performs all the steps in this article in less than 60 seconds. Feel free to follow the steps below if you want full manual control, or download my script to make your life even easier. 🙂 Ubiquiti Networks’ Java-based UniFi Controller software has a […]

Upgrade Your Linux UniFi Controller Version in 5 Minutes

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged beta version CentOS new version Redhat Ubiquity UBNT UniFi UniFi controller Upgrade on by (updated 3102 days ago)
"Forget" your access point(s) on your existing UniFi Controller before adopting it on your hosted controller 4
If you’ve ever set up a Ubiquiti UniFi access point, such as the UBNT UAP, UBNT UAP-PRO, or UBNT UAP-AC-PRO, you’ve had to run UniFi Controller software required to adopt, configure, and manage your UniFi devices. When I set up a UAP-PRO in our house (see my install guide) I ran the UniFi Controller software full-time on […]

DIY Cloud-Hosting a Ubiquiti (UBNT) UniFi Controller

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology Windows and tagged access point cloud-hosted cloud-hosted UniFi controller controller hosted L2 network L3 network self-hosted UAP UAP-AC-PRO UAP-PRO Ubiquiti UBNT UniFi UniFi controller on by (updated 3110 days ago)
Postfix 2.9 Upgrade
To help reduce the load on my Postfix mail servers, I rely on Postscreen (which is built in to Postfix) to help weed out bot spam and misconfigured mailers. And to reduce the load on Postscreen, one of my tricks is to whitelist the outbound IP addresses of a couple of […]

Postscreen Whitelisting of SMTP Outbound IP Addresses from Large Webmail ...

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged CIDR Gmail Hotmail Microsoft Outlook Outlook.com Postfix Postscreen white list whitelist Yahoo on by (updated 3175 days ago)
Setting up multiple WLANs in DD-WRT 24
For the past while, I’ve recommended DD-WRT K2.6 firmware builds for the Linksys E4200 router, as well as other Linksys / Cisco WiFi routers. The builds based on the newer K3.x Linux kernel have now reached a stable enough point where you can run them… but I still recommend the […]

DD-WRT K2.6 Kernel vs. K3.x and How To Upgrade

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged 30-30-30 DD-WRT K2.6 K2.6 vs K3.x K3 K3.x kernel reset router Upgrade WiFi WiFi router on by (updated 3193 days ago)
The Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite can replace the Google Fiber Network Box 64
I’ve been a Google Fiber user (and fan) since the service first hit Provo, Utah. I have a vacation home there, so while I don’t get to benefit from the Gigabit speeds on a daily basis, I certainly take advantage of it while I’m there. Because it’s a vacation home, I rely […]

Replace Your Google Fiber Network Box with a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter ...

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged config.boot EdgeMax EdgeOS EdgeRouter EdgeRouter Lite EdgeRouter POE EdgeRouter X ER-LITE ER-POE ER-X ERL ERLITE-3 GFNB Google Fiber Google Fiber Network Box Google Fiber Network Jack POE replace replace Google Fiber Network Box Ubiquiti UBNT on by (updated 2809 days ago)
Bandwidth test as Sender 1
In the top-right corner of the Ubiquiti EdgeMAX EdgeRouter’s GUI interface, you’ll find a Toolbox menu with plenty of goodies inside (assuming you’re running a version of the firmware that has them, such as 1.7.0+). One of the menu items lets you test the Bandwidth to or from your router: Selecting […]

Using the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter’s Built-In Bandwidth Tester

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged bandwidth tool EdgeMax EdgeRouter iperf iperf3 networking router speed test toolbox Ubiquiti UBNT on by (updated 3359 days ago)
Linux Uptime 2
If you’re getting permissions errors when trying to update WordPress plugins or themes (or even WordPress itself), it can be a major pain to try and troubleshoot WordPress permissions, and the documentation is unclear on exactly what the optimal WordPress permissions settings are. I recommend these using the following four easy Linux […]

Correct Permissions for WordPress

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged 644 755 chmod chown optimal WordPress permissions perfect WordPress permissions permissions right permissions for WordPress set permissions WordPress WP on by
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I went to update the mod_cloudflare package on a CentOS / RHEL box this morning, and ran unto the following problem: % sudo yum update -y mod_cloudflare Resolving Dependencies --> Running transaction check ---> Package mod_cloudflare.x86_64 0:1.2.0-1360806316.el6 will be updated ---> Package mod_cloudflare.x86_64 0:1.3.1-1.el6 will be an update --> Finished Dependency […]

Fixing “Public key for mod_cloudflare-*.rpm is not installed” Error

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged CloudFlare error GPG key mod_cloudflare not installed public key yum on by
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“Smart” home devices don’t only make your life easier, but in many cases can also save you money. Readers of my blog already know I’m a big fan of ecobee’s smart thermostat products. They’re WiFi enabled controllers that use weather data available via the Internet to predicatively (and reactively) minimize HVAC system […]

WiFi Sprinker Controller Review: Rachio Iro vs. RainMachine vs. IrrigationCaddy

This entry was posted in DIY iPhone Linux Product Reviews Technology and tagged irrigation IrrigationCaddy product review Rachio Iro Rachio Iro review Rain Machine RainMachine RainMachine review smart controller smart home sprinkler WiFi on by (updated 3446 days ago)
Cisco/Linksys E4200 overclocked to 532 MHz 20
For the past few years, I’ve maintained an article on this blog offers my recommendation for the best DD-WRT build and settings to get max speed from a Linksys E4200 router. One of my recommendations in that article is to use the Administration: Commands tab in the DD-WRT GUI interface to […]

DD-WRT Speed Tweaks: Do they Really Work?

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged DD-WRT Linksys router settings speed speed test tweaks on by (updated 3534 days ago)
Linux Uptime 13
If you’re looking for the fastest and easiest way to get DMARC verification working on a RedHat (Fedora, RHEL or CentOS) mail server, I highly recommend OpenDMARC. I’m a bit biased, as I currently maintain the OpenDMARC package in the Fedora and EPEL repositories. This article will help you install the […]

Installing OpenDMARC RPM via Yum with Postfix or Sendmail (for ...

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged CentOS configure DKIM DMARC EPEL Fedora how to OpenDKIM OpenDMARC Redhat RHEL set up SPF on by (updated 3533 days ago)
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For a few years now, I’ve been using a Linksys E4200 v1 router (running DD-WRT) as the main router at my house. However, because the WiFi signal from the router isn’t strong enough to reliably reach all the rooms in the house, I picked up a few inexpensive Belkin F7D3302 / F7D7302 […]

Adding Heat Sinks and Overclocking a Belkin F7D3302 / F7D7302 ...

This entry was posted in DIY Linux Technology and tagged Belkin cooling DD-WRT heat sink mod modding overclock router on by (updated 3559 days ago)
MeteoBridge Push Services tab with MySQL query included. 8
In my initial review of the MeteoBridge weather station interface device, I discussed its basic features, and briefly mentioned that it also included more advanced functionality, including the ability to store weather data from your weather station in a MySQL database (or a MySQL-compatible one, like MariaDB). But after searching online for an […]

Storing Weather Station Data in MySQL from MeteoBridge

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged Davis MeteoBridge weather station on by (updated 3597 days ago)
standard MeteoBridge hardware configuration 16
I’ve been a weather geek (or as weather geeks would write it: “Wx geek”) since 2001, when I bought an Oregon Scientific WMR968 weather station. Within a couple of years, I’d connected my weather station’s console via a serial cable to a dedicated computer in my basement running Windows 95 and Ambient’s Virtual Weather Station (VWS) software, which […]

Product Review & How-To: Using MeteoBridge to Connect your Weather ...

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Linux Product Reviews Technology and tagged Belfryboy data-logger Davis MeteoBridge MeteoBridge review product review review upload weather station Weather Underground on by (updated 3341 days ago)
FreeDNS.Afraid.org A Record Setup 11
The Problem In the “early” days of the internet, you could find free Dynamic DNS (DDNS) accounts everywhere. The providers of those free services, such as DynDns, hoped that by giving you a freebie, you’d eventually become a paying customer for one of their pay services. Unsurprisingly, that’s not what happened. […]

Using FreeDNS.Afraid.org with DD-WRT when you lose your Free DynDns ...

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged Afraid.org DD-WRT DDNS DDNS service DynDNS Free DDNS FreeDNS.Afraid.org how to howto on by (updated 3343 days ago)
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I received an email today from a friend and fellow Linux sysadmin, Todd Lyons, informing me of a very sneaky way to exploit the Shellshock vulnerability under what he calls “just the wrong conditions.” Here’s how his email starts out: With your recent blog post, you might also want to […]

Shellshock Warning: Even after patching, your old vulnerable bash binary ...

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged shellshock shellshock bug vulnerable on by (updated 3735 days ago)
Setting up multiple WLANs in DD-WRT 3
Because I publish a lot of articles on DD-WRT router firmware, and I also recently published an article on patching the Shellshock bug on older Fedora-based Linux systems, I’ve been receiving a lot of emails asking if DD-WRT firmware is affected by the Shellshock Bash bug. The answer is… maybe. By default, the […]

Is DD-WRT Vulnerable to the Shellshock Bash Bug?

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged bash Bash on DD-WRT DD-WRT ddwrt exploit patch shellshock shellshock bug shellshock on DD-WRT vulnerable on by (updated 3736 days ago)
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With the announcement of the Shellshock Bash Bug, Linux admins around the world have been scrambling to patch their Bash shells so that they’re no longer vulnerable to the exploit. If you have a Fedora, RHEL, or CentOS system that hasn’t reached End-Of-Life, then updating to a patched version of […]

How to Manually Update Bash to Patch Shellshock Bug on ...

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged bash bug Fedora 14 Fedora 15 Fedora 16 Fedora 17 Fedora 18 Fedora 19 GNU patch patch bash manually patch old Fedora shellshock shellshock bug on by (updated 3721 days ago)