I run a Discourse forum behind Cloudflare, and getting the WAF rules right took more trial and error than I expected. Discourse is a Ruby on Rails application that most people self-host in a Docker container.Continue reading...

A practical guide to Linux file permissions covering chmod, chown, umask, and special bits like setuid, setgid, and sticky in real-world scenarios.Continue reading...

A practical, complete guide to journalctl for reading, filtering, and managing systemd journal logs on Linux. Covers time filters, boot sessions, service logs, priority levels, output formats, and journal size management.Continue reading...

If your Linux system takes longer to boot than you think it should, the answer is almost certainly hiding in your systemd startup chain. The good news: systemd already ships with everything you need to find the problem and fix it.Continue reading...

As a Linux server admin or Linux desktop user, you rely on familiar tools to manage your systems. But have you ever wondered what other tools might simplify your workflow, improve efficiency, and solve common Linux problems?Continue reading...

Docker is a platform for packaging and running applications in isolated units called containers. Each container bundles an application together with its libraries and dependencies, sharing the host's Linux kernel instead of a full separate OS.Continue reading...

Updating your Linux system is one of the most important things you can do to keep it secure, stable and running well. With updates, you can patch vulnerabilities, fix bugs and access new features.Continue reading...

Dual-booting Linux alongside Windows lets you choose either operating system at startup, giving you the best of both worlds on one PC. This quick guide will show you how to set up a dual-boot of Windows and a Linux distro (focused on Ubuntu/Debian-based systems) in a UEFI environment.Continue readin...

Cloudflare is a great tool for website performance and security. They have a whole suite of tools to help with performance and security and are a staple in millions of DevOps professionals' toolboxes.Continue reading...

Choosing a rolling release Linux distribution means you get the latest software without having to reinstall the OS. But not all Linux rolling releases are created equal in terms of stability.Continue reading...

My home lab in a 12U rack as of March 2026.  What is a Home Lab? Think of a home lab as a place where you can fail in the privacy of your own home.Continue reading...

Every write to disk costs something, whether it's wearing down an SSD, slowing I/O on a busy server, or draining battery on a laptop. One of the biggest offenders is logging.Continue reading...

2026 update: It has been two years since this article was last updated. During that time, several of the projects mentioned have changed direction, become more commercial, slowed in development, or been acquired.Continue reading...

The rsync command is one of the most popular and powerful tools in Linux for synchronizing files and directories between different locations. It is widely used for backups, remote file transfers, and directory syncing, offering robust features like incremental file transfers, compression, and file p...

Update 2026: This article has been updated to fix broken links and verify long-term reliability. After 4 years, every device recommended below is still working in my lab, including multiple SD cards that continue to perform without issue.Continue reading...

SELinux and AppArmor have been around for many years, but are still essential for maintaining a secure Linux environment. This article will cover how to set them up and troubleshoot these mandatory access control (MAC) frameworks.Continue reading...

This article is a follow-up to the previous 90 Linux Commands Frequently Used by Linux Sysadmins post. As time allows, I will continue to publish articles on each of these 90 commands, geared toward Linux sysadmins and Linux power users.Continue reading...

I've been spending the past month or so working on a hobby project I started last year, a weather and hurricane tracking site built for the Eastern Caribbean.Continue reading...

Every VPS provider loves to advertise NVMe storage. It sounds fast on paper and is usually a noticeable upgrade over older disk (HDD) and traditional SSD storage.Continue reading...

Servers aren’t what they used to be. If you’ve spun up a small VPS (Virtual Private Server) recently and felt underwhelmed by its snappiness, you’re not alone.Continue reading...

At times, we need to know precisely how a Linux system is using memory. This article explains how to interpret memory usage using the free command and, more importantly, how to correctly understand the difference between free and available memory on Linux systems.Continue reading...

Servers can sometimes appear idle yet still perform sluggishly. This scenario is common across web hosting servers, database servers, VPS or cloud instances, or even containerized workloads.Continue reading...

Update: CSF Project Status (January 2026) - Since the original publication of this article, there have been key developments in how ConfigServer Security & Firewall (CSF) is maintained following the shutdown of Way to the Web Ltd on August 31, 2025.Continue reading...

What if your servers crashed during your biggest sales event of the year? For enterprise IT leaders, that’s not a dramatic opening it’s a recurring risk.Continue reading...

iowait (wait, wa, %iowait, wait%, or I/O wait) is often displayed by command-line Linux system monitoring tools such as top, sar, atop, and others. On its own, it's one of many performance stats that provide us insight into Linux system performance.Continue reading...