Categories
Linux Open Source Technology Ubuntu

Raspberry PI4 upgrade to bullseye and LXC notes

So whilst guides like this one: https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/upgrade-raspberry-pi-os-to-bullseye-from-buster are very useful there were a couple of extra things that I needed to fix.

  1. I needed to update /etc/apt/sources.list.d/raspi.list in addition to /etc/apt/sources.list – changing buster to bullseye
  2. LXC config for networking caused issues to the networking

Point 1 is explained above but point 2 took me a while to figure out what was wrong. And this is only really relevant if you are using LXC (Linux Containers – a lightweight precursor to Docker / K8s). I am documenting this for anyone else who might be seeing issues (or my forgetful future self!). Also note that trying to define the static IP via dhcpcd.conf didn’t work (although perhaps as I was trying to configure eth0 rather than lxcbr0?!)

# interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)

# Please note that this file is written to be used with dhcpcd
# For static IP, consult /etc/dhcpcd.conf and 'man dhcpcd.conf'

# Include files from /etc/network/interfaces.d:
source-directory /etc/network/interfaces.d

# attempting to configuring eth0 here 
# like the below will cause multiple errors!
auto eth0
iface eth0 static
    address 192.168.x.y
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    gateway 192.168.a.b
 
auto lxcbr0
iface lxcbr0 inet dhcp
    bridge_ports eth0
    bridge_fd 0
    bridge_maxwait 0
    
# wifi
allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
        wpa-ssid SSID
        wpa-psk KEY

What it needs to look like (the static IP part is configured within the LXC definition).

# interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)



# Include files from /etc/network/interfaces.d:
source-directory /etc/network/interfaces.d

#eth0 - built in ethernet is configured via the LXC bridge
# DO NOT CONFIGURE IT SEPERATELY OR networking and LXC will give errors

auto lxcbr0
iface lxcbr0 inet static
    bridge_ports eth0
    bridge_fd 0
    bridge_maxwait 0
    address 192.168.x.y
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    gateway 192.168.a.b

x.y and a.b are replaced by your actual addresses of course. Hope this helps someone (and I remember it if I need it again!)

Categories
Life Technology

Mostly find me elsewhere!

This blog is now very rarely updated – you can find my articles and posts on LinkedIn here.

I also like to post my photography (rather than selfies you’ll be pleased to hear!) on Instagram

Sporadic twitter user @cronky dabbling with Mastodon at https://infosec.exchange/@cronky

Categories
Architecture and Strategy

Architect Tomorrow

This year I’ve kicked off a community and video podcast series for Enterprise, Solution and Technology Architects called Architect Tomorrow.

Architect Tomorrow YouTube Channel

Architect Tomorrow LinkedIn Group

And there is a blog – “Architect Tomorrow – Shaping the Future” on LinkedIn that gives a bit more background to Architect Tomorrow

Categories
Gadgets Linux Open Source Technology Web Development Wireless

Blog back online and now running on a Raspberry Pi 0 W

Since I finally got Gigaclear Fibre to the Premises (FTTP – which took over 18 months from when I placed my order) my blog has been offline. This was due to the fact that my static IP is associated with the FTTC (regular Fibre to the Cabinet) Broadband – which I am keeping as a backup/ secondary WAN as its only costing me a couple of quid more than land line rental. Getting FTTP mean’t getting a new router and I decided it was a good time to rethink my home network and implement VLANs to segregate different uses of my home network. Bought a very flexible little Dual WAN router/switch that I am super pleased with that allows me to seperate IoT from my main network (which is security best practise as IoT can have some horrible security holes). Now need to upgrade my main switch to a managed switch so I can implement VLANs throughout the network (and I am still wondering what to do about WiFi (without an expensive upgrade to VLAN aware Access points – as Gigaclear threw in a pretty decent Wifi Mesh system) At the moment I am running 2 Wifi networks – but that probably needs a rethink at some point.

As for the Raspberry PI Zero W – amazing that something so small (and powered off a router USB port!) can power a WordPress blog. Sure its not going to handle loads of requests (but then my blog never gets that!). I’ve also switched from Apache2 to Nginx. Now my web server is totally separate and decoupled from the rest of my Home Lab and virtual servers etc (which have become more experimental over the last few months with the new job).

I’ve also enabled HTTPS using a properly signed cert from LetsEncrypt. CertBot is amazingly easy to use – highly recommended.

Blog is still pretty broken in places, might get around to fixing that at some point!!!

Categories
Linux Open Source Ubuntu

Upgraded to Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS

Was remarkably easy to upgrade over SSH (which is good as I am not in the Linux command line world as often these days!) https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BionicBeaver/ReleaseNotes

Have also applied many of the hardening steps at:

https://blog.ubuntu.com/2018/07/30/national-cyber-security-centre-publish-ubuntu-18-04-lts-security-guide

Well worth a read if you are running Ubuntu and want to improve security. Not mentioned on there (probably as its more about using Ubuntu as an end user device rather than a server) is to review the SSH config and harden the SSH service.

Categories
Random Thoughts Technology

Blogging for 10 years!

Just realised I have been blogging for 10 years this month! Including a post about AI that is really pertinent today. Particularly when you think about how elections are have recently been influenced by AI and social media meta data.

I’ve mostly moved to using LinkedIn and Medium – write a lot less than when I was a hard core geek as I have less time these days.

I really need to update the look and feel of this site (as it is based on a 10 year old template it is not responsive or HTML5 based). But it is not exactly at the top of my to do list!

Categories
Architecture and Strategy Technology

Fix bugs before adding features applies to projects not just code…

The 12 rules of the Joel Test served me well when I was a developer and development manager. In particular the principle of fixing bugs before writing new code. I will be honest though and say that at times to be pragmatic this had to be fix bugs whilst developing new features! But the bugs could not be over looked – after all this technical debt would bite at some point. Generally at the middle of the night on a weekend…

It strikes me that when looking at a typical company project portfolio a similar mistake is being made at a project level. Projects to deliver new capabilities or features are being initiated on a somewhat unstable foundation. You can think of the “bugs” at this level as a highly manual (or prone to failure) process as well as technology related issues. I am not saying here that IT teams shouldn’t innovate or add new features or be business aligned – of course they should. But we all need to grow up a bit and realise that the short cuts that get made to deliver projects on time and budget need to be addressed if we want to do sustainable  business in the digital age.

Sustainable business means not just delivering new products or features quickly; but to be able to continue to do so. To be able to continuously innovate quickly and to respond to market forces. Also building robust, scalable, flexible, secure (etc) solutions that lead to satisfied (hopefully delighted) customers – who aren’t constantly irritated by failings in your services. Of course there is a balance to be struck  and in reality it comes down to having a good strategy (e.g. building flexible, well integrated, adaptable platforms rather than churning out a mess of point solutions). There is also a degree of risk taking here too – being bold and deciding what the capabilities are that you believe the business will need in order to respond to the market – rather than having your hand forced into being entirely reactive.

Often I feel like Enterprise Architecture gets challenged (“what value does it add?”) or plainly just isn’t understood (“sorry what was your job title again”, “what does that mean exactly”). And as EAs we often don’t do ourselves any favours by not making it simple for stakeholders to understand our value proposition. For me this area is a fundamental value and benefit of Enterprise Architecture. In that you have a team who is focused on pulling the Enterprise (or if just constrained to thinking technology the IT estate) towards a sustainable path for future success. In a world where projects are often king its important to have a team thinking about the longer term effects and how to pragmatically address failings.

Categories
Gadgets Road Cycling Technology

Sony Xperia Z1 initial review

So I’ve finally upgraded my mobile, after having stuck it out with an iPhone 3GS for far to long I feel like I have moved into the 22nd century with the Sony Xperia Z1!

So first off – size. Yes it is big, a lot bigger than my old iPhone, even bigger than the S4. But I’ve got used to it easily and it doesn’t feel too big in most cases. It does poke out of some trouser pockets though!! However the advantage is that I will be reaching for a tablet or PC far less as the screen is amazing.

Camera is very good and has some great modes – Timeburst is very useful (Google photos creates animated GIFs automatically from this mode as well it would seem!) Augmented Reality is pretty fun as well. Image quality is very good and the lens offers a decent wide angle.

The things that I didn’t expect but have really impressed me is the audio quality on calls. Its also a brilliant speakerphone good enough to do meetings with (the 3GS was shocking in this regard).

Battery seems good – as a comparison a 1.5 hr bike ride on Strava (screen off) on the 3GS killed 40-50% of battery. It only takes 6% of the battery on the Z1! In generally usage I have about 50% remaining at the end of the day, and thats without using the Stamina mode which claims to boost the longevity by about x2.

Only glitch I have found so far is that if the phone gets too hot it will stop you from using the camera with a warning message telling you it needs to cool down!

So overall – so far so good!…

Categories
Architecture and Strategy Random Thoughts Technology

The importance of being courageous in IT; balancing between strategy and responsive delivery

Disclaimer – this doesn’t really describe a single organisation that I have worked at – it’s a collective summary of my experience of working in IT (and that of present and former colleagues) working in medium and large sized organisations. Also the core message probably applies to many other business areas and not just IT in  the value of thinking strategically (and the value of Enterprise Architecture).

Many of you reading this working in an organisation over a few hundred people will recognise that IT is often not able deliver effectively. Either in its ability to provide what the business needs today or its ability to be adapted quickly to the demands of the markets it operates in. Often IT systems are fragmented, silo’d and un-able to share data with each other. This leads to horrible/bizarre manual processes (such as manual re-keying of information) to allow business units to work effectively with each other, cross-functionally. It often seems too much of a bold move to take step back and plan or focus on internal IT improvements when there is so much demand for business driven change that needs to be done yesterday.

The key thing that needs to happen to most organisations IT landscape is that it needs to be simplified. The horrible evolved mess needs to be analysed and worked through to understand how to make it simpler. Some technical teams may criticise architects for wanting to make the IT landscape “look prettier”. However I believe that simplicity = ease of understanding, ease of use, faster to change and crucially lower cost to operate. All good things surely? Sometimes a team mentality might be to keep things as complex, messy or misunderstood as possible – so that they are “indispensable”. But that also means they can’t really be promoted. In technical terms – just like you can have very bad messy programming code – the same applies at the IT landscape level across all the different systems and teams.

I believe a lot of the problems are down to the fact that IT systems tend to evolve rather than being properly planned. Of course there is going to be a degree of emergence when organisations are big and complex and not everything can be planned for; but to me if feels a little like many organisations are in a hole and keep digging themselves deeper. By this I mean that due to the lack of roadmapping and thinking more end to end about what data, systems, processes and skills are needed it results in more and more tactical workarounds to keep delivering. Each time a new solution is added it just makes things more complex and harder to change in the future.

Its easier to be reactive and been seen to deliver, deliver, deliver than think strategically alongside delivery. Also thinking strategically is hard work. It takes time to understand the bigger picture, abstract problems, create models and think about where things should go and how they should work. Not only that but its also hard to think about how to transition from the mess you are in today to your target state once you have come up with it.

I fear this is one of the reasons IT professionals can become reactive – simply responding to the next request from the business to deliver something as quickly as possible. And of course delivering for the business isn’t a bad thing –  just if its done in a way which doesn’t think about the future state of the organisation or the architecture where problems creep (or flood!) in over time.

IT personnel can promoted to recognise their loyalty (and because of the detailed understanding of the mess that has evolved, and they may even be a one man dependency) rather than their ability to take the next step up (and think more strategically). Sometimes this means that they still have to do elements of their previous roles and don’t actually have time to do their new roles properly. So all this compounds the problem – as they often created the problems in the first place they may not radically change approach – if they even recognise some of the problems they need to be brave to admit they made mistakes in the past that need to be put right. That is if they even have the time to think about them – their may simply be fighting the next fire.

“We’ll fix that in the next phase” – How often are promises made to unpick tactical work arounds and technical debt later on but then never happens.

“This is just how it works around here – we don’t have time to improve our processes and systems as we are too busy delivering”

“Our funding is based on a 12 month period – all work needs to deliver by the end of the year – we cannot have projects that go over multiple financial years its just not how the planning cycle works”.

“We don’t ever decommission anything – we just add new systems but as we don’t know if the old ones are still used for something business critical we leave them alone.”

IT costs then simply build up over time to a point where almost all the budget is spent on running stuff that the business is already reliant on and there is then less and less time or money to work strategically. Leading to a vicious cycle.

What is the answer? Well of course there isn’t a magic bullet but I do think some maturing is needed – becoming more confident in pushing back on certain things in order that a better long term path can be taken. Becoming confident in challenging not only the business but technology management. Making sure that business sponsors prioritise and not just claim that everything is top priority and needs to be done now. But also thinking about the full lifecycle of a solution – not just implementing it rolling it out and then letting it rust. Very few people seem to consider how long systems will be used for – 5 years? 10 years? When should you consider to retire an application? Talking about retirement of  a system you are just rolling out seems to be taboo.

Personally I believe you have to try and make time to consider the possibilities of new technology or process approach on your organisation or department – not because you want the technology on your CV but because you can see clear business value – that you can articulate to others. Sell your ideas, if you have to use some of your own time to create roadmaps – they don’t have to be long and complex they can be 1 or 2 page diagrams (showing as is and to be; along with supporting business justification).

Explain the risks of taking a reactive approach – one man dependencies are a massive operational risk for example. Not considering how a solution will scale to meet demand is a reputational risk waiting to happen – run through what if scenarios with your stakeholders to get them to understand why things need to change and/or why investment in internal improvement is crucial. The improvement to IT employee engagement can be a key selling point too – particularly if you have a churn issue in your IT team – ask yourself why people aren’t happy and engaged.

And of course its a balance between getting something out the door quickly which might open up a market opportunity, being engaged with the business and longer term simplicity. You can fall into a trap of being very academic by following architectural frameworks to the letter and getting very theoretical (although a dose of that – i.e. 1-2 determined, principled, purist architects to pull things in a different direction can be healthy for very immature organisations).

One thing I would say is don’t give up on trying to improve – even if its just incremental improvements – maybe to the data models to begin with, introducing a principle, improving documentation, making something more portable or secure (as its generally the non functional requirements like security and scalability that suffer). Think about what the biggest impact will be to the organisation (and in fact what will free up technology team time so you can pick off the next challenge?)

You should reach a tipping point where you can start to deliver things more consistently and with a high level of quality – and then it will then click with everyone else and people will wonder why they didn’t plan more and consider things over a longer time frame before!

Hopefully some food for thought anyway…

 

Categories
Baby / Parenting Related Cycling Life MS Windows Vista 7, 8 etc Technology

Its been a while – 2013 is here and the Cronk family grows larger!

Been ages since I last posted and suspect it will be while before I post again – new job, kids and the fact that twitter is easier!

Have added a Strava widget to the right as have now seriously got into road cycling – have signed up for a few sportives this year including a 127 miler!

Cronk family is now bigger with the addition of our son Alfie.

Just about to start a new job in a new industry sector which is exciting.

Quick Tech good bad and ugly:

Good – Yahama RVX473 amp – amazing bit of Hi-Fi / Home Cinema kit, particularly paired with Boston Accoustics speakers. Very much enjoying this – in particularly the Airplay feature and the Smartphone and tablet apps which let you remote control it over Wifi!

Bad – Not much to report on this front. Still remain a bit unconvinced by Windows 8 – think it makes most sense if you have a touchscreen / tablet type device (HP Envy looks interesting).

Ugly – Am I the only one that thinks the front of the BMW 1 series looks horrible?