DominicM | Page 2 of 7 | Linux and stuff...

Securely Wipe Disk with DD on Linux

29 Mar, 2016 No Comments

Formatting a storage device doesn’t prevent the data retrieval with data recovery software. To securely wipe any existing data of the device it needs to be overwritten with new data. This can be achieved very easily with dd on Linux by writing zeros or random values to the device. To avoid wiping the wrong storage device it may be a good idea to first format the disk drive with parted or another command line or GUI utility. Doing this would make it apparent that the wrong device was chosen. Data could still be recovered relativity easily from the formatted storage device compared to a wiped drive.

Install Steam on Arch Linux

15 Mar, 2016 No Comments

Steam is a digital distribution platform primarily dealing with games. It manages games and as of recently other media like music. It has some unique features like In-Home Streaming that allow streaming games over the network. Arch Linux is not officially supported and there are some issues to work around. Prior to installing configure audio and install video drivers.

ScreenFetch at Login on Arch Linux

09 Mar, 2016 No Comments

screenFetch is a Bash Screenshot Information Tool that prints ASCII art along with basic system information when executed. Many distributions are supported with unique ASCII art included. It is useful to run it on login automatically to immediately see system information.

StarCraft: BroodWar with Wine on Linux

07 Mar, 2016 No Comments

StarCraft 1 and BroodWar expansion are officially only available on Windows and Mac. With wine however it works completely smoothly on Linux. Once updated to the latest version it can even run without a CD. Install Wine before proceeding.

ownCloud on Shared Web Hosting

02 Mar, 2016 No Comments

ownCloud is an open-source, self-hosted cloud service that can be installed on a local or remote server. For better performance and reliability it’s best to host it on a commercial hosting service. Both dedicated and shared web hosting packages will work assuming the service is reasonably feature rich. If reliability is not an issue it can be hosted on a local home server without issues as well.

OpenSSH Server on Arch Linux

28 Feb, 2016 1 Comment

OpenSSH allows powerful and convenient way to remotely access remote systems. However it creates a possible security weakness which is one reason it is not installed by default. With proper configuration it can be secured and allows the administration of headless servers servers or other devices.

Replace Storage Drives with Rsync in Arch Linux

19 Feb, 2016 4 Comments

Rsync is a widely used file level synchronisation utility. When upgrading or replacing a failing disk drive it is important to make sure no data or even metadata loss occurs. Rsync can provide near mirror copies of files and directories. Only block-level copying can create a perfect mirror but it is not needed or wanted in all but some cases such as when a hardware defect is present in which case block level duplication can reduce data-loss.

Squid Web Cache Server on Arch Linux

25 Jan, 2016 No Comments

Squid is a web caching proxy that can reduce bandwidth and improve web browsing speed and response times by caching frequently requested resources. It can also be used as an antivirus, content filter and an ad blocker with various plugins.

ESP8266: Send & Receive Data

19 Jan, 2016 3 Comments

ESP8266 Wi-Fi module can be configured as a Station / Client or an Access Point. Once it the ESP8266 module is configured in either mode or both mode simultaneously it can be used to communicate with other Access Points or Clients. ESP8266 module can handle multiple connections if configured and send / receive data.

Install LazyLibrarian on Arch Linux

15 Jan, 2016 No Comments

LazyLibrarian is an automated download manager much like Couchpotato, Sonarr or Headphones but for for eBooks. It is not being actively developed and there are several dead Github repositories. It does work to an extent and there are currently no alternative download manager for eBooks.

Mega Cloud Sync in Command Line on Arch Linux

10 Jan, 2016 No Comments

Mega is a more secure cloud based hosting service that encrypts your data unlike more common services like Dropbox. For very sensitive data it’s still advisable to go with a service that specialises in enterprise data security. Free users are supplied with 50 GB storage which is more than even a generous service like Copy which provides up to 45 GB with 5 referrals.

ESP8266: Configure as a Station / Client

04 Jan, 2016 No Comments

The ESP8266 Wi-Fi module can function as a Station / Client which allows other Access Points (APs) to connect to it. Station (STA) mode is useful when the module will only send / push data to another device as opposed to receiving / serving data. Prior to setting up the module as a Station, wire & configure ESP8266 module. It is also possible to configure ESP8266 module as an Access Point or both AP and STA modes simultaneously.

ESP8266: Configure as an Access Point

03 Jan, 2016 No Comments

The ESP8266 Wi-Fi module can function as an Access Point allowing other Stations / Clients to connect to it like they would to any router. Prior to setting up the module for use wire & configure ESP8266 module. Besides configuring the module as an Access Point it is possible to configure ESP8266 module as a Client / Station or both modes simultaneously.

Install FlexGet on Arch Linux

02 Jan, 2016 No Comments

FlexGet is a download manager similar to NZBGet or uTorrent Server except that it is Command Line only and has no Graphical interface. It can handle torrents as well as nzb’s and can be configured to download content from many sources including rss. Since it has no graphical interface it can be quite complicated to configure. On the other hand it is not limited to downloading specific media types like movies so it is very powerful in how it can be configured. If couchpotato, sonarr and headphones just isn’t enough, Flexget can fill in the gaps.

Install Home Assistant on Arch Linux

01 Jan, 2016 No Comments

Home Assistant is a Python 3 based home automation platform that can interface with a plethora of devices. It is relatively new and thus requires some knowledge especially when configuring it. Most of the configuration is done via YAML config file.