mirror of
https://github.com/jbowdre/virtuallypotato.git
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correct relative paths in posts
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parent
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@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ DefaultContentLanguage = "en"
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# config/_default/menus/menu.xx.toml
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[taxonomies]
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category = "categories"
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tag = "tags"
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series = "series"
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category = "categories"
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tag = "tags"
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series = "series"
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[permalinks]
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post = ":title"
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@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ title: Fixing WSL2 connectivity when connected to a VPN with wsl-vpnkit
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toc: false
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---
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I was pretty excited to get [WSL2 and Docker working on my Windows 10 1909](docker-on-windows-10-with-wsl2) laptop a few weeks ago, but I quickly encountered a problem: WSL2 had no network connectivity when connected to my work VPN.
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I was pretty excited to get [WSL2 and Docker working on my Windows 10 1909](/docker-on-windows-10-with-wsl2) laptop a few weeks ago, but I quickly encountered a problem: WSL2 had no network connectivity when connected to my work VPN.
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Well, that's not *entirely* true; Docker worked just fine, but nothing else could talk to anything outside of the WSL environment. I found a few open issues for this problem in the [WSL2 Github](https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+VPN) with suggested workarounds including modifying Windows registry entries, adjusting the metrics assigned to various virtual network interfaces within Windows, and manually setting DNS servers in `/etc/resolv.conf`. None of these worked for me.
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@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ tags:
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title: Setting up Linux on a new Lenovo Chromebook Duet (bonus arm64 complications!)
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---
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I've [written in the past](3d-modeling-and-printing-on-chrome-os) about the Linux setup I've been using on my Pixel Slate. My Slate's keyboard stopped working over the weekend, though, and there don't seem to be any replacements (either Google or Brydge) to be found. And then I saw that [Walmart had the 64GB Lenovo Chromebook Duet temporarily marked down](https://twitter.com/johndotbowdre/status/1320733614426988544) to a mere $200 - just slightly more than the Slate's *keyboard* originally cost. So I jumped on that deal, and the little Chromeblet showed up today.
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I've [written in the past](/3d-modeling-and-printing-on-chrome-os) about the Linux setup I've been using on my Pixel Slate. My Slate's keyboard stopped working over the weekend, though, and there don't seem to be any replacements (either Google or Brydge) to be found. And then I saw that [Walmart had the 64GB Lenovo Chromebook Duet temporarily marked down](https://twitter.com/johndotbowdre/status/1320733614426988544) to a mere $200 - just slightly more than the Slate's *keyboard* originally cost. So I jumped on that deal, and the little Chromeblet showed up today.
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@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Okay, okay, this isn't actually going to be a comparison review between the two
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### Background
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Up until last week, I'd been using the Slate as my primary personal computing device for the previous 20 months or so, mainly in laptop mode (as opposed to tablet mode). I do a lot of casual web browsing, and I spend a significant portion of my free time helping other users on Google's product support forums as a part of the [Google Product Experts program](https://productexperts.withgoogle.com/what-it-is). I also work a lot with the [Chrome OS Linux (Beta) environment](setting-up-linux-on-a-new-lenovo-chromebook-duet-bonus-arm64-complications), but I avoid Android apps as much as I can. And I also used the Slate for a bit of Stadia gaming when I wasn't near a Chromecast.
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Up until last week, I'd been using the Slate as my primary personal computing device for the previous 20 months or so, mainly in laptop mode (as opposed to tablet mode). I do a lot of casual web browsing, and I spend a significant portion of my free time helping other users on Google's product support forums as a part of the [Google Product Experts program](https://productexperts.withgoogle.com/what-it-is). I also work a lot with the [Chrome OS Linux (Beta) environment](/setting-up-linux-on-a-new-lenovo-chromebook-duet-bonus-arm64-complications), but I avoid Android apps as much as I can. And I also used the Slate for a bit of Stadia gaming when I wasn't near a Chromecast.
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So the laptop experience is generally more important to me than the tablet one. I need to be able to work with a large number of browser tabs, but I don't typically need to do any heavy processing directly on the computer.
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@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ And this little kickstand can go *low*, much lower than the Slate. This makes it
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### Performance
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The Duet does struggle a bit here. It's basically got a [smartphone processor](https://www.notebookcheck.net/Mediatek-Helio-P60T-Processor-Benchmarks-and-Specs.470711.0.html) and half the RAM of the Slate. Switching between windows and tabs sometimes takes an extra moment or two to catch up (particularly if said tab has been silently suspended in the background). Similarly, working with Linux apps is just a bit slower than you'd like it to be. Still, I've spent a bit more than a week now with the Duet as my go-to computer and it's never really been slow enough to bother me.
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That arm64 processor does make finding compatible Linux packages a little more difficult than it's been on amd64 architectures but a [little bit of digging](setting-up-linux-on-a-new-lenovo-chromebook-duet-bonus-arm64-complications) will get past that limitation in most cases.
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That arm64 processor does make finding compatible Linux packages a little more difficult than it's been on amd64 architectures but a [little bit of digging](/setting-up-linux-on-a-new-lenovo-chromebook-duet-bonus-arm64-complications) will get past that limitation in most cases.
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The upside of that smartphone processor is that the battery life is *insane*. After about seven hours of light usage today I'm sitting at 63% - with an estimated nine hours remaining. This thing keeps going and going, even while Stadia-ing for hours. Being able to play Far Cry 5 without being tethered to a wall is so nice.
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@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ title: Auto-connect to ProtonVPN on untrusted WiFi with Tasker [Update!]
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*[Update 2021-03-12] This solution recently stopped working for me. While looking for a fix, I found that OpenVPN had published [some notes](https://openvpn.net/faq/how-do-i-use-tasker-with-openvpn-connect-for-android/) on controlling the [official OpenVPN Connect app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.openvpn.openvpn) from Tasker. Jump to the [Update](#update) below to learn how I adapted my setup with this new knowledge.*
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I recently shared how I use [Tasker and Home Assistant to keep my phone from charging past 80%](safeguard-your-androids-battery-with-tasker-home-assistant). Today, I'm going to share the setup I use to automatically connect my phone to a VPN on networks I *don't* control.
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I recently shared how I use [Tasker and Home Assistant to keep my phone from charging past 80%](/safeguard-your-androids-battery-with-tasker-home-assistant). Today, I'm going to share the setup I use to automatically connect my phone to a VPN on networks I *don't* control.
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@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ tags:
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title: 'vRA8 Custom Provisioning: Part One'
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---
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I recently shared [some details about my little self-contained VMware homelab](vmware-home-lab-on-intel-nuc-9) as well as how I [integrated {php}IPAM into vRealize Automation 8 for assigning IPs to deployed VMs](integrating-phpipam-with-vrealize-automation-8). For my next trick, I'll be crafting a flexible Cloud Template and accompanying vRealize Orchestrator workflow that will help to deploy and configure virtual machines based on a vRA user's input. Buckle up, this is going to be A Ride.
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I recently shared [some details about my little self-contained VMware homelab](/vmware-home-lab-on-intel-nuc-9) as well as how I [integrated {php}IPAM into vRealize Automation 8 for assigning IPs to deployed VMs](/integrating-phpipam-with-vrealize-automation-8). For my next trick, I'll be crafting a flexible Cloud Template and accompanying vRealize Orchestrator workflow that will help to deploy and configure virtual machines based on a vRA user's input. Buckle up, this is going to be A Ride.
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### Objectives
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Before getting into the *how* it would be good to start with the *what* - what exactly are we hoping to accomplish here? For my use case, I'll need a solution which can:
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@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ On the vRA side of things, I logged in to the Cloud Assembly portion and went to
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I also created a Network Profile and added each of the nested dvPortGroups I had created for this purpose.
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Each network also gets associated with the related IP Range which was [imported from {php}IPAM](integrating-phpipam-with-vrealize-automation-8).
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Each network also gets associated with the related IP Range which was [imported from {php}IPAM](/integrating-phpipam-with-vrealize-automation-8).
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Since each of my hosts only has 100GB of datastore and my Windows template specifies a 60GB VMDK, I went ahead and created a Storage Profile so that deployments would default to being Thin Provisioned.
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@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ tags:
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title: 'vRA8 Custom Provisioning: Part Two'
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---
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We [last left off this series](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-one) after I'd set up vRA, performed a test deployment off of a minimal cloud template, and then enhanced the simple template to use vRA tags to let the user specify where a VM should be provisioned. But these VMs have kind of dumb names; right now, they're just getting named after the user who requests it + a random couple of digits, courtesy of a simple [naming template defined on the project's Provisioning page](https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-Automation/8.3/Using-and-Managing-Cloud-Assembly/GUID-AD400ED7-EB3A-4D36-B9A7-81E100FB3003.html?hWord=N4IghgNiBcIHZgLYEs4HMQF8g):
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We [last left off this series](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-one) after I'd set up vRA, performed a test deployment off of a minimal cloud template, and then enhanced the simple template to use vRA tags to let the user specify where a VM should be provisioned. But these VMs have kind of dumb names; right now, they're just getting named after the user who requests it + a random couple of digits, courtesy of a simple [naming template defined on the project's Provisioning page](https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-Automation/8.3/Using-and-Managing-Cloud-Assembly/GUID-AD400ED7-EB3A-4D36-B9A7-81E100FB3003.html?hWord=N4IghgNiBcIHZgLYEs4HMQF8g):
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I could use this naming template to *almost* accomplish what I need from a naming solution, but I don't like that the numbers are random rather than an sequence (I want to deploy `server001` followed by `server002` rather than `server343` followed by `server718`). And it's not enough for me that a VM's name be unique just within the scope of vRA - the hostname should be unique across my entire environment.
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@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ tags:
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title: 'vRA8 Custom Provisioning: Part Three'
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---
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Picking up after [Part Two](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-two), I now have a pretty handy vRealize Orchestrator workflow to generate unique hostnames according to a defined naming standard. It even checks against the vSphere inventory to validate the uniqueness. Now I'm going to take it a step (or two, rather) further and extend those checks against Active Directory and DNS.
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Picking up after [Part Two](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-two), I now have a pretty handy vRealize Orchestrator workflow to generate unique hostnames according to a defined naming standard. It even checks against the vSphere inventory to validate the uniqueness. Now I'm going to take it a step (or two, rather) further and extend those checks against Active Directory and DNS.
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### Active Directory
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#### Adding an AD endpoint
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Remember how I [used the built-in vSphere plugin](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-two#interlude-connecting-vro-to-vcenter) to let vRO query my vCenter(s) for VMs with a specific name? And how that required first configuring the vCenter endpoint(s) in vRO? I'm going to take a very similar approach here.
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Remember how I [used the built-in vSphere plugin](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-two#interlude-connecting-vro-to-vcenter) to let vRO query my vCenter(s) for VMs with a specific name? And how that required first configuring the vCenter endpoint(s) in vRO? I'm going to take a very similar approach here.
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So as before, I'll first need to run the preinstalled "Add an Active Directory server" workflow:
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@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ title: Automatic unattended expansion of Linux root LVM volume to fill disk
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toc: false
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---
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While working on my [vRealize Automation 8 project](series/vra8), I wanted to let users specify how large a VM's system drive should be and have vRA apply that without any further user intervention. For instance, if the template has a 60GB C: drive and the user specifies that they want it to be 80GB, vRA will embiggen the new VM's VMDK to 80GB and then expand the guest file system to fill up the new free space.
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While working on my [vRealize Automation 8 project](/series/vra8), I wanted to let users specify how large a VM's system drive should be and have vRA apply that without any further user intervention. For instance, if the template has a 60GB C: drive and the user specifies that they want it to be 80GB, vRA will embiggen the new VM's VMDK to 80GB and then expand the guest file system to fill up the new free space.
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I'll get into the details of how that's implemented from the vRA side #soon, but first I needed to come up with simple scripts to extend the guest file system to fill the disk.
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@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ title: Using PowerShell and a Scheduled Task to apply Windows Updates
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toc: false
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---
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In the same vein as [my script to automagically resize a Linux LVM volume to use up free space on a disk](automatic-unattended-expansion-of-linux-root-lvm-volume-to-fill-disk), I wanted a way to automatically apply Windows updates for servers deployed by [my vRealize Automation environment](series/vra8). I'm only really concerned with Windows Server 2019, which includes the [built-in Windows Update Provider PowerShell module](https://4sysops.com/archives/scan-download-and-install-windows-updates-with-powershell/). So this could be as simple as `Install-WUUpdates -Updates (Start-WUScan)` to scan for and install any available updates.
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In the same vein as [my script to automagically resize a Linux LVM volume to use up free space on a disk](/automatic-unattended-expansion-of-linux-root-lvm-volume-to-fill-disk), I wanted a way to automatically apply Windows updates for servers deployed by [my vRealize Automation environment](/series/vra8). I'm only really concerned with Windows Server 2019, which includes the [built-in Windows Update Provider PowerShell module](https://4sysops.com/archives/scan-download-and-install-windows-updates-with-powershell/). So this could be as simple as `Install-WUUpdates -Updates (Start-WUScan)` to scan for and install any available updates.
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Unfortunately, I found that this approach can take a long time to run and often exceeded the timeout limits imposed upon my ABX script, causing the PowerShell session to end and terminating the update process. I really needed a way to do this without requiring a persistent session.
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title: 'vRA8 Custom Provisioning: Part Four'
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---
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My [last post in this series](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-three) marked the completion of the vRealize Orchestrator workflow that I use for pre-provisioning tasks, namely generating a unique *sequential* hostname which complies with a defined naming standard and doesn't conflict with any existing records in vSphere, Active Directory, or DNS. That takes care of many of the "back-end" tasks for a simple deployment.
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My [last post in this series](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-three) marked the completion of the vRealize Orchestrator workflow that I use for pre-provisioning tasks, namely generating a unique *sequential* hostname which complies with a defined naming standard and doesn't conflict with any existing records in vSphere, Active Directory, or DNS. That takes care of many of the "back-end" tasks for a simple deployment.
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This post will add in some "front-end" operations, like creating a customized VM request form in Service Broker and dynamically populating a drop-down with a list of networks available at the user-selected deployment site. I'll also take care of some housekeeping items like automatically generating a unique deployment name.
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How about that Deployment Name field? In my tests, I'd been manually creating a string of numbers to uniquely identify the deployment, but I'm not going to ask my users to do that. Instead, I'll leverage another great capability of Custom Forms - tying a field value to a result of a custom vRO action!
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### Automatic deployment naming
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*[Update] I've since come up with what I think is a better approach to handling this. Check it out [here](vra8-automatic-deployment-naming-another-take)!*
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*[Update] I've since come up with what I think is a better approach to handling this. Check it out [here](/vra8-automatic-deployment-naming-another-take)!*
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That means it's time to dive back into the vRealize Orchestrator interface and whip up a new action for this purpose. I created a new action within my existing `net.bowdre.utility` module called `createDeploymentName`.
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Cool! So it's dynamically generating the deployment name based on selections made on the form. Now that it works, I can go back to the custom form and set the "Deployment Name" field to be invisible just like the "Project" one.
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### Per-site network selection
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So far, vRA has been automatically placing VMs on networks based solely on [which networks are tagged as available](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-one#using-tags-for-resource-placement) for the selected site. I'd like to give my users a bit more control over which network their VMs get attached to, particularly as some networks may be set aside for different functions or have different firewall rules applied.
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So far, vRA has been automatically placing VMs on networks based solely on [which networks are tagged as available](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-one#using-tags-for-resource-placement) for the selected site. I'd like to give my users a bit more control over which network their VMs get attached to, particularly as some networks may be set aside for different functions or have different firewall rules applied.
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As a quick recap, I've got five networks available for vRA, split across my two sites using tags:
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@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ title: vRA8 Automatic Deployment Naming - Another Take
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toc: false
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---
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A [few days ago](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-four#automatic-deployment-naming), I shared how I combined a Service Broker Custom Form with a vRO action to automatically generate a unique and descriptive deployment name based on user inputs. That approach works *fine* but while testing some other components I realized that calling that action each time a user makes a selection isn't necessarily ideal. After a bit of experimentation, I settled on what I believe to be a better solution.
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A [few days ago](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-four#automatic-deployment-naming), I shared how I combined a Service Broker Custom Form with a vRO action to automatically generate a unique and descriptive deployment name based on user inputs. That approach works *fine* but while testing some other components I realized that calling that action each time a user makes a selection isn't necessarily ideal. After a bit of experimentation, I settled on what I believe to be a better solution.
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Instead of setting the "Deployment Name" field to use an External Source (vRO), I'm going to configure it to use a Computed Value. This is a bit less flexible, but all the magic happens right there in the form without having to make an expensive vRO call.
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DNS=192.168.1.5
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```
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By the way, that `192.168.1.5` address is my Windows DC/DNS server that I use for [my homelab environment](vmware-home-lab-on-intel-nuc-9#basic-infrastructure). That's the DNS server that's configured on my Google Wifi router, and it will continue to handle resolution for local addresses.
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By the way, that `192.168.1.5` address is my Windows DC/DNS server that I use for [my homelab environment](/vmware-home-lab-on-intel-nuc-9#basic-infrastructure). That's the DNS server that's configured on my Google Wifi router, and it will continue to handle resolution for local addresses.
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I also disabled DHCP by setting `DHCP=no` in `/etc/systemd/network/99-dhcp-en.network`:
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title: Adding VM Notes and Custom Attributes with vRA8
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---
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*In [past posts](series/vra8), I started by [creating a basic deployment infrastructure](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-one) in Cloud Assembly and using tags to group those resources. I then [wrote an integration](integrating-phpipam-with-vrealize-automation-8) to let vRA8 use phpIPAM for static address assignments. I [implemented a vRO workflow](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-two) for generating unique VM names which fit an organization's established naming standard, and then [extended the workflow](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-three) to avoid any naming conflicts in Active Directory and DNS. And, finally, I [created an intelligent provisioning request form in Service Broker](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-four) to make it easy for users to get the servers they need. That's got the core functionality pretty well sorted, so moving forward I'll be detailing additions that enable new capabilities and enhance the experience.*
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*In [past posts](/series/vra8), I started by [creating a basic deployment infrastructure](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-one) in Cloud Assembly and using tags to group those resources. I then [wrote an integration](/integrating-phpipam-with-vrealize-automation-8) to let vRA8 use phpIPAM for static address assignments. I [implemented a vRO workflow](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-two) for generating unique VM names which fit an organization's established naming standard, and then [extended the workflow](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-three) to avoid any naming conflicts in Active Directory and DNS. And, finally, I [created an intelligent provisioning request form in Service Broker](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-four) to make it easy for users to get the servers they need. That's got the core functionality pretty well sorted, so moving forward I'll be detailing additions that enable new capabilities and enhance the experience.*
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In this post, I'll describe how to get certain details from the Service Broker request form and into the VM's properties in vCenter. The obvious application of this is adding descriptive notes so I can remember what purpose a VM serves, but I will also be using [Custom Attributes](https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.vcenterhost.doc/GUID-73606C4C-763C-4E27-A1DA-032E4C46219D.html) to store the server's Point of Contact information and a record of which ticketing system request resulted in the server's creation.
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@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ I can then go to Service Broker and drag the new fields onto the Custom Form can
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### vRO workflow
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Okay, so I've got the information I want to pass on to vCenter. Now I need to whip up a new workflow in vRO that will actually do that (after [telling vRO how to connect to the vCenter](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-two#interlude-connecting-vro-to-vcenter), of course). I'll want to call this after the VM has been provisioned, so I'll cleverly call the workflow "VM Post-Provisioning".
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Okay, so I've got the information I want to pass on to vCenter. Now I need to whip up a new workflow in vRO that will actually do that (after [telling vRO how to connect to the vCenter](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-two#interlude-connecting-vro-to-vcenter), of course). I'll want to call this after the VM has been provisioned, so I'll cleverly call the workflow "VM Post-Provisioning".
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The workflow will have a single input from vRA, `inputProperties` of type `Properties`.
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@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Now I can finally click the blue **Create Instance** button at the bottom of the
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|
||||
### DNS setup
|
||||
According to [Oracle's docs](https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/Network/Tasks/managingpublicIPs.htm), the public IP assigned to my instance is mine until I terminate the instance. It should even remain assigned if I stop or restart the instance, just as long as I don't delete the virtual NIC attached to it. So I'll skip the [`ddclient`-based dynamic DNS configuration I've used in the past](bitwarden-password-manager-self-hosted-on-free-google-cloud-instance#configure-dynamic-dns) and instead go straight to my registrar's DNS management portal and create a new `A` record for `matrix.bowdre.net` with the instance's public IP.
|
||||
According to [Oracle's docs](https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/Network/Tasks/managingpublicIPs.htm), the public IP assigned to my instance is mine until I terminate the instance. It should even remain assigned if I stop or restart the instance, just as long as I don't delete the virtual NIC attached to it. So I'll skip the [`ddclient`-based dynamic DNS configuration I've used in the past](/bitwarden-password-manager-self-hosted-on-free-google-cloud-instance#configure-dynamic-dns) and instead go straight to my registrar's DNS management portal and create a new `A` record for `matrix.bowdre.net` with the instance's public IP.
|
||||
|
||||
While I'm managing DNS, it might be good to take a look at the requirements for [federating my new server](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/docs/federate.md#setting-up-federation) with the other Matrix servers out there. I'd like for users identities on my server to be identified by the `bowdre.net` domain (`@user:bowdre.net`) rather than the full `matrix.bowdre.net` FQDN (`@user:matrix.bowdre.net` is kind of cumbersome). The standard way to do this to leverage [`.well-known` delegation](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/docs/delegate.md#well-known-delegation), where the URL at `http://bowdre.net/.well-known/matrix/server` would return a JSON structure telling other Matrix servers how to connect to mine:
|
||||
```json
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ tags:
|
|||
title: Virtually Potato migrated to GitHub Pages!
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
After a bit less than a year of hosting my little technical blog with [Hashnode](https://hashnode.com), I spent a few days [migrating the content](script-to-update-image-embed-links-in-markdown-files) over to a new format hosted with [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/).
|
||||
After a bit less than a year of hosting my little technical blog with [Hashnode](https://hashnode.com), I spent a few days [migrating the content](/script-to-update-image-embed-links-in-markdown-files) over to a new format hosted with [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -20,13 +20,13 @@ After a bit less than a year of hosting my little technical blog with [Hashnode]
|
|||
Hashnode served me well for the most part, but it was never really a great fit for me. Hashnode's focus is on developer content, and I'm not really a developer; I'm a sysadmin who occasionally develops solutions to solve my needs, but the code is never the end goal for me. As a result, I didn't spend much time in the (large and extremely active) community associated with Hashnode. It's a perfectly adequate blogging platform apart from the community, but it's really built to prop up that community aspect and I found that to be a bit limiting - particularly once Hashnode stopped letting you create tags to be used within your blog and instead only allowed you to choose from [the tags](https://hashnode.com/tags) already popular in the community. There are hundreds of tags for different coding languages, but not any that would cover the infrastructure virtualization or other technical projects that I tend to write about.
|
||||
|
||||
### Hello, GitHub Pages
|
||||
I knew about GitHub Pages, but had never seriously looked into it. Once I did, though, it seemed like a much better fit for v{:potato:} - particularly when combined with [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/) to take in Markdown posts and render them into static HTML. This approach would provide me more flexibility (and the ability to use whatever [tags](tags) I want!), while still letting me easily compose my posts with Markdown. And I can now do my composition locally (and even offline!), and just do a `git push` to publish. Very cool!
|
||||
I knew about GitHub Pages, but had never seriously looked into it. Once I did, though, it seemed like a much better fit for v{:potato:} - particularly when combined with [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/) to take in Markdown posts and render them into static HTML. This approach would provide me more flexibility (and the ability to use whatever [tags](/tags) I want!), while still letting me easily compose my posts with Markdown. And I can now do my composition locally (and even offline!), and just do a `git push` to publish. Very cool!
|
||||
|
||||
#### Getting started
|
||||
I found that the quite-popular [Minimal Mistakes](https://mademistakes.com/work/minimal-mistakes-jekyll-theme/) theme for Jekyll offers a [remote theme starter](https://github.com/mmistakes/mm-github-pages-starter/generate) that can be used to quickly get things going. I just used that generator to spawn a new repository in my GitHub account ([`jbowdre.github.io`](https://github.com/jbowdre/jbowdre.github.io)). And that was it - I had a starter GitHub Pages-hosted Jekyll-powered static site with an elegant theme applied. I could even make changes to the various configuration and sample post files, point any browser to `https://jbowdre.github.io`, and see the results almost immediately. I got to work digging through the lengthy [configuration documentation](https://mmistakes.github.io/minimal-mistakes/docs/configuration/) to start making the site my own, like [connecting with my custom domain](https://docs.github.com/en/pages/configuring-a-custom-domain-for-your-github-pages-site/managing-a-custom-domain-for-your-github-pages-site) and enabling [GitHub Issue-based comments](https://github.com/apps/utterances).
|
||||
|
||||
#### Working locally
|
||||
A quick `git clone` operation was sufficient to create a local copy of my new site in my Lenovo Chromebook Duet's [Linux environment](setting-up-linux-on-a-new-lenovo-chromebook-duet-bonus-arm64-complications). That lets me easily create and edit Markdown posts or configuration files with VS Code, commit them to the local copy of the repo, and then push them back to GitHub when I'm ready to publish the changes.
|
||||
A quick `git clone` operation was sufficient to create a local copy of my new site in my Lenovo Chromebook Duet's [Linux environment](/setting-up-linux-on-a-new-lenovo-chromebook-duet-bonus-arm64-complications). That lets me easily create and edit Markdown posts or configuration files with VS Code, commit them to the local copy of the repo, and then push them back to GitHub when I'm ready to publish the changes.
|
||||
|
||||
In order to view the local changes, I needed to install Jekyll locally as well. I started by installing Ruby and other prerequisites:
|
||||
```shell
|
||||
|
|
@ -72,4 +72,4 @@ And there it is!
|
|||
### `git push` time
|
||||
Alright that's enough rambling for now. I'm very happy with this new setup, particularly with the automatically-generated Table of Contents to help folks navigate some of my longer posts. (I can't believe I was having to piece those together manually in this blog's previous iteration!)
|
||||
|
||||
I'll continue to make some additional tweaks in the coming weeks but for now I'll `git push` this post and get back to documenting my never-ending [vRA project](categories#vra).
|
||||
I'll continue to make some additional tweaks in the coming weeks but for now I'll `git push` this post and get back to documenting my never-ending [vRA project](/categories/vra8).
|
||||
|
|
@ -10,12 +10,12 @@ tags:
|
|||
title: Recreating Hashnode Series (Categories) in Jekyll on GitHub Pages
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
I recently [migrated this site](virtually-potato-migrated-to-github-pages) from Hashnode to GitHub Pages, and I'm really getting into the flexibility and control that managing the content through Jekyll provides. So, naturally, after finalizing the move I got to work recreating Hashnode's "Series" feature, which lets you group posts together and highlight them as a collection. One of the things I liked about the Series setup was that I could control the order of the collected posts: my posts about [building out the vRA environment in my homelab](series/vra8) are probably best consumed in chronological order (oldest to newest) since the newer posts build upon the groundwork laid by the older ones, while posts about my [other one-off projects](series/projects) could really be enjoyed in any order.
|
||||
I recently [migrated this site](/virtually-potato-migrated-to-github-pages) from Hashnode to GitHub Pages, and I'm really getting into the flexibility and control that managing the content through Jekyll provides. So, naturally, after finalizing the move I got to work recreating Hashnode's "Series" feature, which lets you group posts together and highlight them as a collection. One of the things I liked about the Series setup was that I could control the order of the collected posts: my posts about [building out the vRA environment in my homelab](/series/vra8) are probably best consumed in chronological order (oldest to newest) since the newer posts build upon the groundwork laid by the older ones, while posts about my [other one-off projects](/series/projects) could really be enjoyed in any order.
|
||||
|
||||
I quickly realized that if I were hosting this pretty much anywhere *other* than GitHub Pages I could simply leverage the [`jekyll-archives`](https://github.com/jekyll/jekyll-archives) plugin to manage this for me - but, alas, that's not one of the [plugins supported by the platform](https://pages.github.com/versions/). I needed to come up with my own solution, and being still quite new to Jekyll (and this whole website design thing in general) it took me a bit of fumbling to get it right.
|
||||
|
||||
### Reviewing the theme-provided option
|
||||
The Jekyll theme I'm using ([Minimal Mistakes](https://github.com/mmistakes/minimal-mistakes)) comes with [built-in support](https://mmistakes.github.io/mm-github-pages-starter/categories/) for a [category archive page](series), which (like the [tags page](tags)) displays all the categorized posts on a single page. Links at the top will let you jump to an appropriate anchor to start viewing the selected category, but it's not really an elegant way to display a single category.
|
||||
The Jekyll theme I'm using ([Minimal Mistakes](https://github.com/mmistakes/minimal-mistakes)) comes with [built-in support](https://mmistakes.github.io/mm-github-pages-starter/categories/) for a [category archive page](/series), which (like the [tags page](/tags)) displays all the categorized posts on a single page. Links at the top will let you jump to an appropriate anchor to start viewing the selected category, but it's not really an elegant way to display a single category.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
It's a start, though, so I took a few minutes to check out how it's being generated. The category archive page lives at [`_pages/category-archive.md`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mmistakes/mm-github-pages-starter/master/_pages/category-archive.md):
|
||||
|
|
@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ header:
|
|||
|
||||
You can see that this page is referencing the series layout I just created, and it's going to live at `http://localhost/series/vra8` - precisely where this series was on Hashnode. I've tagged it with the category I want to feature on this page, and specified that the posts will be sorted in reverse order so that anyone reading through the series will start at the beginning (I hear it's a very good place to start). I also added a teaser image which will be displayed when I link to the series from elsewhere. And I included a quick little italicized blurb to tell readers what the series is about.
|
||||
|
||||
Check it out [here](series/vra8):
|
||||
Check it out [here](/series/vra8):
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
The other series pages will be basically the same, just without the reverse sort directive. Here's `_pages/series-tips.md`:
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ Cool! Now I just need to do that same thing, but from vRealize Orchestrator. Fir
|
|||
|
||||
### Template changes
|
||||
#### Cloud Template
|
||||
Similar to the template changes I made for [optionally joining deployed servers to the Active Directory domain](joining-vms-to-active-directory-in-site-specific-ous-with-vra8#cloud-template), I'll just be adding a simple boolean checkbox to the `inputs` section of the template in Cloud Assembly:
|
||||
Similar to the template changes I made for [optionally joining deployed servers to the Active Directory domain](/joining-vms-to-active-directory-in-site-specific-ous-with-vra8#cloud-template), I'll just be adding a simple boolean checkbox to the `inputs` section of the template in Cloud Assembly:
|
||||
```yaml
|
||||
formatVersion: 1
|
||||
inputs:
|
||||
|
|
@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ That should take care of the front-end changes. Now for the back-end stuff: I ne
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
### The vRO solution
|
||||
I will be adding the DNS action on to my existing "VM Post-Provisioning" workflow (described [here](adding-vm-notes-and-custom-attributes-with-vra8), which gets triggered after the VM has been successfully deployed.
|
||||
I will be adding the DNS action on to my existing "VM Post-Provisioning" workflow (described [here](/adding-vm-notes-and-custom-attributes-with-vra8), which gets triggered after the VM has been successfully deployed.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Configuration Element
|
||||
But first, I'm going to go to the **Assets > Configurations** section of the Orchestrator UI and create a new Configuration Element to store variables related to the SSH host and DNS configuration.
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ tags:
|
|||
- powershell
|
||||
title: Run scripts in guest OS with vRA ABX Actions
|
||||
---
|
||||
Thus far in my [vRealize Automation project](series/vra8), I've primarily been handing the payload over to vRealize Orchestrator to do the heavy lifting on the back end. This approach works really well for complex multi-part workflows (like when [generating unique hostnames](vra8-custom-provisioning-part-two#the-vro-workflow)), but it may be overkill for more linear tasks (such as just running some simple commands inside of a deployed guest OS). In this post, I'll explore how I use [vRA Action Based eXtensibility (ABX)](https://blogs.vmware.com/management/2020/09/vra-abx-flow.html) to do just that.
|
||||
Thus far in my [vRealize Automation project](/series/vra8), I've primarily been handing the payload over to vRealize Orchestrator to do the heavy lifting on the back end. This approach works really well for complex multi-part workflows (like when [generating unique hostnames](/vra8-custom-provisioning-part-two#the-vro-workflow)), but it may be overkill for more linear tasks (such as just running some simple commands inside of a deployed guest OS). In this post, I'll explore how I use [vRA Action Based eXtensibility (ABX)](https://blogs.vmware.com/management/2020/09/vra-abx-flow.html) to do just that.
|
||||
|
||||
### The Goal
|
||||
My ABX action is going to use PowerCLI to perform a few steps inside a deployed guest OS (Windows-only for this demonstration):
|
||||
|
|
@ -67,9 +67,9 @@ resources:
|
|||
In the Resources section of the cloud template, I'm going to add a few properties that will tell the ABX script how to connect to the appropriate vCenter and then the VM.
|
||||
- `vCenter`: The vCenter server where the VM will be deployed, and thus the server which PowerCLI will authenticate against. In this case, I've only got one vCenter, but a larger environment might have multiples. Defining this in the cloud template makes it easy to select automagically if needed. (For instance, if I had a `bow-vcsa` and a `dre-vcsa` for my different sites, I could do something like `vCenter: '${input.site}-vcsa.lab.bowdre.net'` here.)
|
||||
- `vCenterUser`: The username with rights to the VM in vCenter. Again, this doesn't have to be a static assignment.
|
||||
- `templateUser`: This is the account that will be used by `Invoke-VmScript` to log in to the guest OS. My template will use the default `Administrator` account for non-domain systems, but the `lab\vra` service account on domain-joined systems (using the `adJoin` input I [set up earlier](joining-vms-to-active-directory-in-site-specific-ous-with-vra8#cloud-template)).
|
||||
- `templateUser`: This is the account that will be used by `Invoke-VmScript` to log in to the guest OS. My template will use the default `Administrator` account for non-domain systems, but the `lab\vra` service account on domain-joined systems (using the `adJoin` input I [set up earlier](/joining-vms-to-active-directory-in-site-specific-ous-with-vra8#cloud-template)).
|
||||
|
||||
I'll also include the `adminsList` input from earlier so that can get passed to ABX as well. And I'm going to add in an `adJoin` property (mapped to the [existing `input.adJoin`](joining-vms-to-active-directory-in-site-specific-ous-with-vra8#cloud-template)) so that I'll have that to work with later.
|
||||
I'll also include the `adminsList` input from earlier so that can get passed to ABX as well. And I'm going to add in an `adJoin` property (mapped to the [existing `input.adJoin`](/joining-vms-to-active-directory-in-site-specific-ous-with-vra8#cloud-template)) so that I'll have that to work with later.
|
||||
|
||||
```yaml
|
||||
[...]
|
||||
|
|
@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ Before I can test the new action, I'll need to first add an extensibility subscr
|
|||
I'll be using this to call my new `configureGuest` action - so I'll name the subscription `Configure Guest`. I tie it to the `Compute Post Provision` event, and bind my action:
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
I do have another subsciption on that event already, [`VM Post-Provisioning`](adding-vm-notes-and-custom-attributes-with-vra8#extensibility-subscription) which is used to modify the VM object with notes and custom attributes. I'd like to make sure that my work inside the guest happens after that other subscription is completed, so I'll enable blocking and give it a priority of `2`:
|
||||
I do have another subsciption on that event already, [`VM Post-Provisioning`](/adding-vm-notes-and-custom-attributes-with-vra8#extensibility-subscription) which is used to modify the VM object with notes and custom attributes. I'd like to make sure that my work inside the guest happens after that other subscription is completed, so I'll enable blocking and give it a priority of `2`:
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
After hitting the **Save** button, I go back to that other `VM Post-Provisioning` subscription, set it to enable blocking, and give it a priority of `1`:
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ tags:
|
|||
- automation
|
||||
title: Cloud-hosted WireGuard VPN for remote homelab access
|
||||
---
|
||||
For a while now, I've been using an [OpenVPN Access Server](https://openvpn.net/access-server/) virtual appliance for remotely accessing my [homelab](vmware-home-lab-on-intel-nuc-9). That's worked _fine_ but it comes with a lot of overhead. It also requires maintaining an SSL certificate and forwarding three ports through my home router, in addition to managing a fairly complex software package and configurations. The free version of the OpenVPN server also only supports a maximum of two simultaneous connections. I recently ran into issues with the `certbot` automated SSL renewal process on my OpenVPN AS VM and decided that it might be time to look for a simpler solution.
|
||||
For a while now, I've been using an [OpenVPN Access Server](https://openvpn.net/access-server/) virtual appliance for remotely accessing my [homelab](/vmware-home-lab-on-intel-nuc-9). That's worked _fine_ but it comes with a lot of overhead. It also requires maintaining an SSL certificate and forwarding three ports through my home router, in addition to managing a fairly complex software package and configurations. The free version of the OpenVPN server also only supports a maximum of two simultaneous connections. I recently ran into issues with the `certbot` automated SSL renewal process on my OpenVPN AS VM and decided that it might be time to look for a simpler solution.
|
||||
|
||||
I found that solution in [WireGuard](https://www.wireguard.com/), which provides an extremely efficient secure tunnel implemented directly in the Linux kernel. It has a much smaller (and easier-to-audit) codebase, requires minimal configuration, and uses the latest crypto wizardry to securely connect multiple systems. It took me an hour or so of fumbling to get WireGuard deployed and configured on a fresh (and minimal) Ubuntu 20.04 VM running on my ESXi 7 homelab host, and I was pretty happy with the performance, stability, and resource usage of the new setup. That new VM idled at a full _tenth_ of the memory usage of my OpenVPN AS, and it only required a single port to be forwarded into my home network.
|
||||
|
||||
Of course, I soon realized that the setup could be _even better:_ I'm now running a WireGuard server on the Google Cloud free tier, and I've configured the [VyOS virtual router I use for my homelab stuff](vmware-home-lab-on-intel-nuc-9#networking) to connect to that cloud-hosted server to create a secure tunnel between the two without needing to punch any holes in my local network (or consume any additional resources). I can then connect my client devices to the WireGuard server in the cloud. From there, traffic intended for my home network gets relayed to the VyOS router, and internet-bound traffic leaves Google Cloud directly. So my self-managed VPN isn't just good for accessing my home lab remotely, but also more generally for encrypting traffic when on WiFi networks I don't control - allowing me to replace the paid ProtonVPN subscription I had been using for that purpose.
|
||||
Of course, I soon realized that the setup could be _even better:_ I'm now running a WireGuard server on the Google Cloud free tier, and I've configured the [VyOS virtual router I use for my homelab stuff](/vmware-home-lab-on-intel-nuc-9#networking) to connect to that cloud-hosted server to create a secure tunnel between the two without needing to punch any holes in my local network (or consume any additional resources). I can then connect my client devices to the WireGuard server in the cloud. From there, traffic intended for my home network gets relayed to the VyOS router, and internet-bound traffic leaves Google Cloud directly. So my self-managed VPN isn't just good for accessing my home lab remotely, but also more generally for encrypting traffic when on WiFi networks I don't control - allowing me to replace the paid ProtonVPN subscription I had been using for that purpose.
|
||||
|
||||
It's a pretty slick setup, if I do say so myself. Anyway, this post will discuss how I implemented this, and what I learned along the way.
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ The other defaults are fine, but I'll holding off on clicking the friendly blue
|
|||
##### Network Configuration
|
||||
Expanding the **Networking** section of the request form lets me add a new `wireguard` network tag, which will make it easier to target the instance with a firewall rule later. I also want to enable the _IP Forwarding_ option so that the instance will be able to do router-like things.
|
||||
|
||||
By default, the new instance will get assigned a public IP address that I can use to access it externally - but this address is _ephemeral_ so it will change periodically. Normally I'd overcome this by [using ddclient to manage its dynamic DNS record](bitwarden-password-manager-self-hosted-on-free-google-cloud-instance#configure-dynamic-dns), but (looking ahead) [VyOS's WireGuard interface configuration](https://docs.vyos.io/en/latest/configuration/interfaces/wireguard.html#interface-configuration) unfortunately only supports connecting to an IP rather than a hostname. That means I'll need to reserve a _static_ IP address for my instance.
|
||||
By default, the new instance will get assigned a public IP address that I can use to access it externally - but this address is _ephemeral_ so it will change periodically. Normally I'd overcome this by [using ddclient to manage its dynamic DNS record](/bitwarden-password-manager-self-hosted-on-free-google-cloud-instance#configure-dynamic-dns), but (looking ahead) [VyOS's WireGuard interface configuration](https://docs.vyos.io/en/latest/configuration/interfaces/wireguard.html#interface-configuration) unfortunately only supports connecting to an IP rather than a hostname. That means I'll need to reserve a _static_ IP address for my instance.
|
||||
|
||||
I can do that by clicking on the _Default_ network interface to expand the configuration. While I'm here, I'll first change the **Network Service Tier** from _Premium_ to _Standard_ to save a bit of money on network egress fees. _(This might be a good time to mention that while the compute instance itself is free, I will have to spend [about $3/mo for the public IP](https://cloud.google.com/vpc/network-pricing#:~:text=internal%20IP%20addresses.-,External%20IP%20address%20pricing,-You%20are%20charged), as well as [$0.085/GiB for internet egress via the Standard tier](https://cloud.google.com/vpc/network-pricing#:~:text=or%20Cloud%20Interconnect.-,Standard%20Tier%20pricing,-Egress%20pricing%20is) (versus [$0.12/GiB on the Premium tier](https://cloud.google.com/vpc/network-pricing#:~:text=Premium%20Tier%20pricing)). So not entirely free, but still pretty damn cheap for a cloud-hosted VPN that I control completely.)_
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ Two quick pre-requisites first:
|
|||
1. Open the WireGuard Android app, tap the three-dot menu button at the top right, expand the Advanced section, and enable the _Allow remote control apps_ so that Tasker will be permitted to control WireGuard.
|
||||
2. Exclude the WireGuard app from Android's battery optimization so that it doesn't have any problems running in the background. On (Pixel-flavored) Android 12, this can be done by going to **Settings > Apps > See all apps > WireGuard > Battery** and selecting the _Unrestricted_ option.
|
||||
|
||||
On to the Tasker config. The only changes will be in the [VPN on Strange Wifi](auto-connect-to-protonvpn-on-untrusted-wifi-with-tasker#vpn-on-strange-wifi) profile. I'll remove the OpenVPN-related actions from the Enter and Exit tasks and replace them with the built-in **Tasker > Tasker Function WireGuard Set Tunnel** action.
|
||||
On to the Tasker config. The only changes will be in the [VPN on Strange Wifi](/auto-connect-to-protonvpn-on-untrusted-wifi-with-tasker#vpn-on-strange-wifi) profile. I'll remove the OpenVPN-related actions from the Enter and Exit tasks and replace them with the built-in **Tasker > Tasker Function WireGuard Set Tunnel** action.
|
||||
|
||||
For the Enter task, I'll set the tunnel status to `true` and specify the name of the tunnel as configured in the WireGuard app; the Exit task gets the status set to `false` to disable the tunnel. Both actions will be conditional upon the `%TRUSTED_WIFI` variable being unset.
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
Loading…
Reference in a new issue