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
Uncategorized

Apols this blog is a bit broken :-)

I upgraded the WP theme and now a lot of the images don’t work. Its not a big priority to fix this but at some point I’ll get round to it. Its mainly still live in case any of the hints and tips are useful.

LinkedIn is where I tend to blog these days.

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
Road Cycling

Please support my 2018 Charity Cycling Challenge

Deloite Ride Across BritainLaunchpad Homeless Charity logoPicture of Ollie training in the winter

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been very lucky in securing a place on Deloitte RAB (Ride Across Britain) which is a 9 day, 969 mile cycling challenge from Lands end to John o’groats!
As this means I now have a charity fundraising target of £900 I thought I’d better make a start on my campaign and put out a plea for help!

I am supporting Launchpad – a charity to prevent homelessness in the Reading area – and my fundraising page is:

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/OliverCronk

I often feel guilty when passing homeless people but it turns out that in many cases simply giving hand-outs doesn’t help instead supporting charities such as Launchpad is far more effective.

I’d really appreciate your support in helping raising funds for this worthy cause. Even if its just a couple of quid – it all adds up!

Whilst I am a keen cyclist I’ve been training all through the winter (which has been pretty cold at times – as per the picture above!) as this kind of endurance event requires proper prep!

Thanks for reading and any support!

Oliver

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
Cycling Road Cycling Travel

We did it! Oxford to Edinburgh in 3 days by bike!

Finishing OxEd

We raised £2,249.23 for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity which we are really pleased about – thank you so much for your generous support. http://www.justgiving.com/oxed

Annoyingly the distance we covered was half a mile short of 400 miles!!! Here is a nice overview map of the route generated by VeloViewer.com

oxed

Categories
Cycling Road Cycling Travel

OxEd – Oxford to Edinburgh in 3 days by bike for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity

So the 2016 charity cycling challenge is Oxford to Edinburgh – 400 miles over 3 days! Originally we (Anthony and I) were going to attempt to do it over 2 but we looked at the route and decided that was too crazy – doing it over 3 days will still be very hard – day 3 will be particularly hilly.

We are raising money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity (who we fundraised for in 2014 when we did Lands End to John O’Groats) – who are particularly close to my heart at the moment as my dad recently had an operation there to remove a rare GIST tumour.

To donate please use our Just Giving Page which you can get to by clicking on this link:
https://www.justgiving.com/oxed

oxed-day1

oxed-day2

oxed-day3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the plan – in late May we set off:
Day 1 Oxford to Worksop just north of Sherwood Forest
https://www.strava.com/routes/4419428
The longest day at 138 miles (222KM) and 1,900m climbing

Day 2 is Sherwood Forest to Stanhope
https://www.strava.com/routes/4409732
132 miles (214KM) and also 1900m climbing

Day 3 is Stanhope to Edinburgh!
https://www.strava.com/routes/4409855
Shortest day but more hills 123 miles (199KM) and 3071m of climbing

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