Insights on technology, leadership, productivity, and personal growth in the tech industry.https://vdaluz.com/https://vdaluz.com/blog/consolidating-audiobooks-and-ebooks-into-audiobookshelf/https://vdaluz.com/blog/consolidating-audiobooks-and-ebooks-into-audiobookshelf/I was running two media servers, Audiobookshelf for audiobooks and Kavita for ebooks, when one could do both. Rebuilding the homelab in v3 was the excuse to merge them: one Ansible-deployed Audiobookshelf, local-disk storage, and a USB-drive ZFS scare in the middle of the migration.Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMThomelabaudiobookshelfproxmoxzfsansiblehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-backlogia-fixing-it-before-running-it/https://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-backlogia-fixing-it-before-running-it/Backlogia is a self-hosted app that pulls your game libraries from Steam, GOG, Epic and more into one place. Before I would run it I read the code, found four security gaps, and forked it. Then Starlette and a CORS bug had opinions too.Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThomelabself-hostedsecuritydockerfastapihttps://vdaluz.com/blog/automating-routeros-updates-with-ansible/https://vdaluz.com/blog/automating-routeros-updates-with-ansible/Why I stopped treating RouterOS and RouterBOARD updates as one-off SSH sessions, and how an Ansible playbook handles backup, package install, reboot waits, and firmware in order.Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTMikroTikRouterOSAnsiblehomelabautomationRouterBOARDnetworkinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/rails-8-setup-2026/https://vdaluz.com/blog/rails-8-setup-2026/What the modern Rails 8 default stack looks like, how to bolt on Tailwind v4, ViewComponent, and Cuprite, and the gotchas that will slow you down if you miss them.Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTrailsrubytailwindviewcomponenthotwiresqlitesolid-queuehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/node-exporter-macos-homelab-research/https://vdaluz.com/blog/node-exporter-macos-homelab-research/Why I looked at Prometheus Node Exporter on laptops, how macOS alternatives compare, and why I cancelled the project after the math stopped working.Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTmonitoringprometheusgrafanamacoshomelabnode-exporterresearchhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/mikrotik-routeros-dns-proxy-research/https://vdaluz.com/blog/mikrotik-routeros-dns-proxy-research/What RouterOS DNS proxy does, how it would touch DHCP, firewall rules, and static DNS, and why I left clients talking to Pi-hole directly.Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTmikrotikrouterosdnspi-holeunboundhomelabnetworkinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/vscode-web-cmux-claude-layout/https://vdaluz.com/blog/vscode-web-cmux-claude-layout/Why I stopped juggling terminals for AI edits, how I run VS Code for the web beside Claude Code in cmux, and the config that ties it together.Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTcmuxvscodeclaudeterminalworkflowmacoshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-replication-no-common-base-snapshot/https://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-replication-no-common-base-snapshot/A Pi-hole replica CT stopped replicating with "No common base snapshot on volume(s)." Here is how I traced it, cleared the broken snapshot chain, and rebuilt the replication job.Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTproxmoxzfshomelabreplicationtroubleshootinglxchttps://vdaluz.com/blog/birdnet-go-doorbell-cam-dynamic-mic-from-the-drawer/https://vdaluz.com/blog/birdnet-go-doorbell-cam-dynamic-mic-from-the-drawer/Deploying a self-hosted bird-sound ID service on the homelab for $0: the BirdNET-Pi to BirdNET-Go switch, USB audio passthrough into Docker-in-LXC, pulling doorbell audio through Frigate go2rtc, and the Ansible YAML bug that silently stopped clips from saving.Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMThomelabbirdnet-goproxmoxfrigatehome-assistantansiblehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/network-monitoring-evolution-and-alert-tuning/https://vdaluz.com/blog/network-monitoring-evolution-and-alert-tuning/After moving WAN speed tests off a dedicated exporter, I normalized metrics for Grafana, cut alert noise, and fixed a blind spot: iperf3 throughput without latency, plus tuning alerts around scrape targets that are often flaky in practice.Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTprometheusgrafanahome assistantmonitoringhomelabalertingnetworkingiperf3https://vdaluz.com/blog/nebula-sync-pihole-v6-app-sudo-teleporter/https://vdaluz.com/blog/nebula-sync-pihole-v6-app-sudo-teleporter/After rotating credentials, Nebula-Sync started failing with auth and teleporter errors. The replica needed webserver.api.app_sudo enabled, not just updated API keys in the env file.Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTpiholenebula-syncdnshomelabansibleapihttps://vdaluz.com/blog/backing-up-proton-mail-bridge-apple-mail-time-machine/https://vdaluz.com/blog/backing-up-proton-mail-bridge-apple-mail-time-machine/Why I keep a local copy of my Proton Mail, how Proton Mail Bridge plus Apple Mail fits into that, and where Time Machine fits compared to exports and third-party tools.Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTproton-mailbackuptime-machineapple-mailhomelabprivacymacoshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/fixing-vlan30-iot-dns-isolation-leak-to-pihole/https://vdaluz.com/blog/fixing-vlan30-iot-dns-isolation-leak-to-pihole/Pi-hole logs showed IoT devices on the isolated VLAN hitting internal DNS anyway. The cause was RouterOS DHCP plus firewall rule order, not a single mis-ticked box.Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTVLANIoTPi-holeMikroTikRouterOSfirewallAnsiblehomelabhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/migrating-from-linear-to-plane/https://vdaluz.com/blog/migrating-from-linear-to-plane/Why I moved project management off Linear, how I deployed Plane on Proxmox, what broke along the way, and how I migrated 177 issues with a custom script.Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTlinearplanehomelabproxmoxself-hostedmigrationtraefikmcphttps://vdaluz.com/blog/troubleshooting-routeros-local-gateway-unreachability/https://vdaluz.com/blog/troubleshooting-routeros-local-gateway-unreachability/SSH to the router worked from other VLANs but not from the same VLAN as the gateway. What I ruled out, what still does not have a clean root cause, and the workaround that kept management sane.Sat, 07 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTMikroTikRouterOSVLANtroubleshootingbridgehomelabhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/troubleshooting-qnap-snmp-monitoring-timeouts/https://vdaluz.com/blog/troubleshooting-qnap-snmp-monitoring-timeouts/Why Prometheus kept timing out on SNMP scrapes against a QuTS Hero NAS, how I tuned exporter and scrape timeouts, and the NFS and SMB follow-ups that showed up afterward.Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTqnapsnmpprometheusgrafanahomelabmonitoringnfsproxmoxhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/troubleshooting-inter-vlan-routing-performance/https://vdaluz.com/blog/troubleshooting-inter-vlan-routing-performance/Why inter-VLAN traffic sat around 500 Mbps while same-VLAN traffic hit ~830 Mbps, and what actually fixed it (spoiler: not the CPU, and not only FastTrack).Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTMikroTikRouterOSVLANFastTrackQoSCAKEhomelabperformancehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/setting-up-gitea-as-a-github-backup/https://vdaluz.com/blog/setting-up-gitea-as-a-github-backup/Why I mirror GitHub into self-hosted Gitea on Proxmox, how Ansible and Docker-in-LXC fit together, and the gotchas that showed up along the way.Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTgiteagithubhomelabproxmoxansibletraefikbackupgithttps://vdaluz.com/blog/pihole-unbound-health-monitoring/https://vdaluz.com/blog/pihole-unbound-health-monitoring/What is actually wired into Uptime Kuma today: HTTPS on the admin UI plus a real DNS query per Pi-hole instance, and why that beats HTTP-only checks.Sat, 07 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTpiholeunbounduptime-kumadnsmonitoringhomelabhealth-checkshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/migrating-smtp-relay-to-mailrise/https://vdaluz.com/blog/migrating-smtp-relay-to-mailrise/Why I replaced a Postfix + pipe + Apprise stack with Mailrise for QNAP mail, what broke along the way, and where I stopped chasing perfect formatting.Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTmailriseapprisesmtpqnaphomelabdockerhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/consolidating-alerting-with-apprise/https://vdaluz.com/blog/consolidating-alerting-with-apprise/How I centralized Prometheus, RouterOS, Proxmox, QNAP, and Uptime Kuma notifications through Apprise, an SMTP relay for email-only devices, and a few sharp edges worth knowing.Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTapprisealertinghomelabprometheusalertmanagerdiscordproxmoxrouterosuptime-kumahttps://vdaluz.com/blog/unifi-device-monitoring/https://vdaluz.com/blog/unifi-device-monitoring/How I wired UniFi Poller into the homelab monitoring stack, which Grafana dashboards expect which metrics, and what broke before the exporter started scraping cleanly.Sat, 17 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTunifiprometheusgrafanamonitoringhomelabunifi-pollermetricshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/unbound-root-key-auto-recovery/https://vdaluz.com/blog/unbound-root-key-auto-recovery/How I stopped SSHing into Pi-hole nodes after unclean shutdowns: an ExecStartPre hook that removes and regenerates Unbound's DNSSEC trust anchor before the resolver starts, with systemd, logging, and Ansible.Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTunboundpiholednsdnssecsystemdhomelabraspberry-pihttps://vdaluz.com/blog/setting-up-network-performance-testing-infrastructure/https://vdaluz.com/blog/setting-up-network-performance-testing-infrastructure/How I added automated WAN and LAN performance monitoring to my homelab using Prometheus and Grafana, and what I learned from tracking network performance over time.Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTprometheusgrafananetworkingmonitoringhomelabperformancespeedtestiperf3https://vdaluz.com/blog/verifying-dns-leak-protection-in-the-homelab/https://vdaluz.com/blog/verifying-dns-leak-protection-in-the-homelab/Understanding DNS leaks, why they matter for privacy, and how to verify that your Pi-hole and Unbound setup isn't leaking queries to your ISP or third-party DNS providers.Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTdnspiholeunboundprivacyhomelabsecuritytestinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/understanding-unix-load-average/https://vdaluz.com/blog/understanding-unix-load-average/How Linux load average is calculated, how to interpret the numbers for single and multi-core systems, common misconceptions, and practical guidance on when load average indicates a real problem.Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTunixlinuxsystem-administrationmonitoringperformanceload-averagehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-kavita-for-ebooks/https://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-kavita-for-ebooks/I wanted my EPUBs, PDFs, and Kindle purchases in one self-hosted library I could read from any device. Kavita became that library: a clean web reader, OPDS for mobile, and the work of getting Kindle books in.Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabkavitaebooksself-hostedproxmoxhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-audiobookshelf-for-audiobooks/https://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-audiobookshelf-for-audiobooks/I wanted my Audible library streamed to my phone, position-synced, and not locked inside one app. Audiobookshelf got a container in the homelab. Here is the deploy, the WebSocket gotcha, the iOS client I picked, and the work of getting an Audible library out of DRM.Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabaudiobookshelfaudiobooksself-hostedproxmoxhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-backup-server-integration/https://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-backup-server-integration/Decision rationale for PBS integration, NFS storage architecture, troubleshooting storage disconnection issues, and implementing monitoring alerts for backup reliability.Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTproxmoxbackuppbshomelabinfrastructurenfsmonitoringhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/researching-self-hosted-game-library-consolidation/https://vdaluz.com/blog/researching-self-hosted-game-library-consolidation/My games are scattered across Steam, GOG, Epic, Xbox, PlayStation, and a Switch. Before building anything, I went looking for a self-hosted, web-based way to see them all in one place. Here is what I evaluated, why nothing fit, and the custom build I talked myself into.Fri, 12 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabgamingself-hostedresearchhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/researching-birdnet-pi-for-the-homelab/https://vdaluz.com/blog/researching-birdnet-pi-for-the-homelab/Before buying any hardware, I researched what it would take to run a self-hosted bird-sound ID service on the homelab: which BirdNET-Pi to use, the hardware it needs, and how it fits a segmented network. Here is the plan I landed on, and why I shelved it.Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabbirdnetraspberry-pihome-assistantresearchhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/unifi-controller-traefik-deployment/https://vdaluz.com/blog/unifi-controller-traefik-deployment/Decision analysis for LXC+Docker vs VM deployment, hybrid networking strategy for UniFi device communication, and troubleshooting firewall and IP configuration issues.Sat, 06 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTunifitraefikproxmoxhomelabdockertroubleshootingnetworkinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/dashy-homelab-dashboard-research/https://vdaluz.com/blog/dashy-homelab-dashboard-research/The process of evaluating self-hosted homepage solutions for a homelab, what I learned about the options, and why I chose Dashy for a centralized service dashboard.Sat, 29 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTdashyhomelabinfrastructureself-hosteddashboardhomepagehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/crs326-routeros-ssh-slow-connection-bug/https://vdaluz.com/blog/crs326-routeros-ssh-slow-connection-bug/A troubleshooting story about why SSH connections to one RouterOS switch took 55x longer than other devices, the systematic investigation that ruled out DNS and configuration, and how we tracked it down to a crypto subsystem bug on Marvell switch SoCs.Sat, 22 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTtroubleshootingMikroTikRouterOSSSHCRS326networkingdebugginghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/traefik-ha-migration-to-raspberry-pi/https://vdaluz.com/blog/traefik-ha-migration-to-raspberry-pi/How I built a high-availability Traefik setup across two Raspberry Pis using Keepalived for automatic failover, and the challenges of port conflicts and configuration synchronization.Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTtraefikhigh-availabilitykeepalivedraspberry-pihomelabreverse-proxyhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-zfs-storage-and-replication/https://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-zfs-storage-and-replication/Why I chose ZFS with local replication over shared storage for my Proxmox cluster, how I set it up, and what I learned about storage architecture in a two-node setup.Sat, 08 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTproxmoxzfshomelabstoragereplicationinfrastructurehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/generating-living-documentation-diagrams/https://vdaluz.com/blog/generating-living-documentation-diagrams/How automated diagram generation from validated YAML files creates documentation that can't drift from reality, and the challenges of making it work smoothly.Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTdocumentationhomelabinfrastructurediagramsautomationmermaidyamlhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/building-data-integrity-into-homelab-documentation/https://vdaluz.com/blog/building-data-integrity-into-homelab-documentation/How JSON Schema validation and automated checks prevent configuration drift in homelab documentation, and why starting with validation changes how you think about data.Sat, 25 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTdocumentationhomelabinfrastructureyamljson-schemaautomationvalidationhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/monitoring-solution-research-uptime-kuma/https://vdaluz.com/blog/monitoring-solution-research-uptime-kuma/The process of evaluating self-hosted monitoring solutions, what I learned about the options, and why I chose Uptime Kuma for my Proxmox cluster.Sat, 18 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTmonitoringuptime-kumahomelabinfrastructureself-hostedhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/git-file-operations-best-practices/https://vdaluz.com/blog/git-file-operations-best-practices/A simple lesson about using git mv and git rm instead of regular system commands when working with tracked files, and why it matters for history preservation.Sat, 11 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTgitversion-controldevelopmentbest-practiceshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/how-to-transfer-domains-to-cloudflare-explaining-dns/https://vdaluz.com/blog/how-to-transfer-domains-to-cloudflare-explaining-dns/A step-by-step guide to transferring your domain to Cloudflare, with explanations of DNS concepts like nameservers, DNS records, and how domain registration works.Sat, 04 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTcloudflarednsdomainsregistrarnetworkingweb-hostinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/burnout-is-no-joke-take-it-seriously/https://vdaluz.com/blog/burnout-is-no-joke-take-it-seriously/Why burnout is more than just being tired, how to recognize the warning signs, and why taking it seriously now can prevent serious consequences later.Sat, 27 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTburnoutwellnessmental-healthwork-life-balancestressself-carehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/docker-swarm-to-proxmox-migration/https://vdaluz.com/blog/docker-swarm-to-proxmox-migration/The story of migrating from a Docker Swarm cluster to a Proxmox HA setup, the planning that made it work, and what I learned about infrastructure changes that matter.Sat, 20 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTdockerproxmoxhomelabinfrastructuremigrationhigh-availabilitycontainershttps://vdaluz.com/blog/whats-new-ios-26/https://vdaluz.com/blog/whats-new-ios-26/Apple's latest iOS release brings Liquid Glass design, Foundation Models framework, and improvements to Notes, Reminders, and Safari. Here's what caught my attention as someone who writes code for a living.Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTiosappletechnologysoftwaremobiledevelopmenthttps://vdaluz.com/blog/whats-new-ipados-26/https://vdaluz.com/blog/whats-new-ipados-26/Apple's latest iPadOS release brings the Journal app to iPad, enhanced multitasking with windowing, and improvements to Files and Preview apps. Here's what caught my attention as someone who writes code for a living.Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTipadosappletechnologysoftwaretabletdevelopmenthttps://vdaluz.com/blog/whats-new-macos-26/https://vdaluz.com/blog/whats-new-macos-26/Apple's latest macOS release brings Liquid Glass design, a powerful new Spotlight, the Phone app to Mac, and significant Apple Intelligence improvements. Here's what actually matters for users.Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTmacosappletechnologysoftwareproductivitydesignhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/whats-new-tvos-26/https://vdaluz.com/blog/whats-new-tvos-26/Apple's latest tvOS release brings Liquid Glass design, enhanced Apple Music Sing, and improved profiles. Here's what caught my attention as someone who uses Apple TVs to avoid smart TV spyware.Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTtvosappletechnologystreamingprivacysmart-tvhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/whats-new-watchos-26/https://vdaluz.com/blog/whats-new-watchos-26/Apple's latest watchOS release brings Liquid Glass design, Workout Buddy, Notes app, and improved Smart Stack. Here's what caught my attention as someone who wears an Apple Watch daily.Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTwatchosappletechnologysmartwatchhealthfitnesshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/saying-no-leadership-skill/https://vdaluz.com/blog/saying-no-leadership-skill/How saying no protects your priorities, prevents burnout, and sets healthy boundaries for your team. Practical strategies for declining requests gracefully.Sat, 13 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTleadershipboundariesproductivitycommunicationwork-life-balancehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/afs-vs-smb-technical-deep-dive/https://vdaluz.com/blog/afs-vs-smb-technical-deep-dive/A technical deep dive into Apple Filing Protocol versus Server Message Block, why AFP became outdated, and what the industry learned from Apple's walled garden approach to network storage.Sat, 06 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTafpsmbnetworkingprotocolsapplefile-sharingstandardshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/prometheus-grafana-homelab-monitoring/https://vdaluz.com/blog/prometheus-grafana-homelab-monitoring/What Prometheus and Grafana are, why they're essential for homelab monitoring, and how they help you understand what's actually happening in your infrastructure.Sat, 30 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTprometheusgrafanamonitoringhomelabmetricsdashboardsalertinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-duplicate-mac-cluster-join-bug/https://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-duplicate-mac-cluster-join-bug/A troubleshooting story about mysterious TLS handshake failures when joining a Proxmox cluster, the packet loss that gave it away, and why identical hardware can ship with duplicate MAC addresses.Sat, 23 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTproxmoxnetworkinghomelabdebuggingclusteringMACTLShttps://vdaluz.com/blog/afs-smb-time-machine-backup-deprecation/https://vdaluz.com/blog/afs-smb-time-machine-backup-deprecation/Apple's dropping AFS support in macOS 27, ending Time Capsule compatibility. Here's what AFS and SMB are, why the change matters, and your backup options moving forward.Sat, 16 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTappletime-machinebackupafssmbtime-capsulenasqnaphttps://vdaluz.com/blog/wan-failover-on-mikrotik-with-a-travel-router/https://vdaluz.com/blog/wan-failover-on-mikrotik-with-a-travel-router/How I set up WAN failover in RouterOS, why it helps at home, and how a small travel router turns phone tethering into a clean backup uplink.Sat, 09 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTMikroTikRouterOSWANfailoverroutingDHCPtetheringtravel routerhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/stack-overflow-developer-survey-2025-ai-takeaways/https://vdaluz.com/blog/stack-overflow-developer-survey-2025-ai-takeaways/Five data backed insights on how developers use and feel about AI in 2025, plus practical steps you can apply now.Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTAIStack OverflowsurveyLLMdeveloper toolshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/cursor-tips/https://vdaluz.com/blog/cursor-tips/Explore essential tips for using the Cursor IDE to enhance your development workflow, from organizing chats to using AI effectively.Sat, 26 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTCursor IDEAIDevelopmentProductivityWorkflowhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/docker-swarm-production-homelab/https://vdaluz.com/blog/docker-swarm-production-homelab/A practical guide to migrating from Docker Desktop to Docker Swarm with Linux VM workers. Based on real-world experience with stability issues, Traefik integration, and backup strategies.Sat, 19 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTdockerswarmhomelabinfrastructuretraefikcontainerslinuxvmhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/app-tracking-web-versions/https://vdaluz.com/blog/app-tracking-web-versions/A practical approach to reducing app tracking by using web versions with AdGuard instead of native mobile apps. Based on real experience with LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit, and loyalty programs.Sat, 12 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTprivacytrackingappssafariadguardweb-appsmobilehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/recovering-syncthing-from-a-truncated-config-xml/https://vdaluz.com/blog/recovering-syncthing-from-a-truncated-config-xml/Syncthing didn't crash, it went unhealthy: the container kept running but couldn't parse its own config. The file had been cut in half by an interrupted write. Here's how I read the symptoms and restored it from Syncthing's own backup.Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabsyncthingdockertroubleshootingrecoveryself-hostedhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/quick-reviews-hosting-providers/https://vdaluz.com/blog/quick-reviews-hosting-providers/Neutral feature summaries with clear pros and tradeoffs. Verified with links to official pages so you can compare what matters in 2025.Sat, 05 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThostingreviewsvpsstatic-sitescloudcloudflarenetlifyvercelgithub-pagesdreamhosthttps://vdaluz.com/blog/running-a-local-llm-on-a-mac-mini-with-ollama/https://vdaluz.com/blog/running-a-local-llm-on-a-mac-mini-with-ollama/I put Ollama and Open WebUI on the same 8GB M1 Mac Mini that runs my image generation, gave it the Metal GPU, and tuned it to fit. It worked, with one honest catch: 8GB is the ceiling, and that ceiling decides everything.Sat, 05 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabollamallmaiapple-siliconself-hostedmacoshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/syncthing-local-only-still-phoning-home/https://vdaluz.com/blog/syncthing-local-only-still-phoning-home/I built Syncthing to run entirely on my LAN and even wrote that you should trust the listen addresses, not the checkboxes. Months later my Pi-hole logs caught it resolving the public discovery servers anyway. The checkbox wasn't enough.Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabsyncthingprivacydnsself-hosteddockerhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/routeros-dns-load-balancing-failover/https://vdaluz.com/blog/routeros-dns-load-balancing-failover/One of my three Pi-holes was handling 99.9% of DNS queries while the other two sat idle. The fix I wanted (even load balancing) turned out to be something RouterOS just won't do, and the reason is which firewall chain the queries land in.Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMTRouterOSMikroTikPi-holeDNSnetworkinghomelabfailoverhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/building-courtroom-card-game-cursor-custom-modes-ai/https://vdaluz.com/blog/building-courtroom-card-game-cursor-custom-modes-ai/Building a two-player courtroom card game in Godot using Cursor IDE's custom modes and AI agents. A hackathon experiment in AI-assisted development.Sat, 28 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTaicursorgamedevgodotcustom-modeshackathondevelopmenthttps://vdaluz.com/blog/setting-up-stable-diffusion-on-apple-silicon-with-comfyui/https://vdaluz.com/blog/setting-up-stable-diffusion-on-apple-silicon-with-comfyui/Running Stable Diffusion locally on an 8GB M1 Mac Mini. Why I picked ComfyUI, why the GPU work has to run native instead of in Docker, and the FP16-plus-lowvram tuning that kept it from crashing.Sat, 28 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabstable-diffusioncomfyuiapple-siliconmacosmetalself-hostedimage-generationhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/home-assistant-mcp-server-cursor/https://vdaluz.com/blog/home-assistant-mcp-server-cursor/Home Assistant ships an MCP server in Core now. I wired it into Cursor so my AI assistant could query and control 50+ devices, and hit a VLAN routing problem and a transport mismatch on the way.Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThome-assistantmcpcursoraihomelabautomationhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/routeros-dns-bypass-prevention/https://vdaluz.com/blog/routeros-dns-bypass-prevention/Apple devices were bypassing my Pi-hole by querying 8.8.8.8 directly. I fixed it with RouterOS NAT redirection - silently rerouting all external DNS queries to Pi-hole, with round-robin load balancing across three instances.Tue, 24 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTRouterOSMikroTikPi-holeDNSnetworkinghomelabfirewallhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/pihole-dns-records-client-readability/https://vdaluz.com/blog/pihole-dns-records-client-readability/Pi-hole shows IP addresses when there are no matching DNS records. I audited every static DHCP lease across four VLANs and added an Ansible playbook to keep device names in sync automatically.Sat, 21 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTPi-holeDNSAnsiblehomelabnetworkinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/proton-mail-simplelogin-migration/https://vdaluz.com/blog/proton-mail-simplelogin-migration/The story of migrating from Gmail to Proton Mail with custom domains, using SimpleLogin for email aliases, and how this forced me to review and secure all my accounts.Sat, 21 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTprivacyproton-mailsimpleloginemail-aliasesbig-techdata-protectioncustom-domainshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/mdm-not-worth-it-for-personal-apple-devices/https://vdaluz.com/blog/mdm-not-worth-it-for-personal-apple-devices/I finally had x86 hardware to run a proper MDM stack. After working through MicroMDM and NanoMDM, the architecture wasn't the real problem. User Enrollment restrictions make MDM almost useless for personal devices without Apple Business Manager.Thu, 19 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTmdmapplehomelabnanomdmmicromdmiosmacosinfrastructurehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/headscale-ios-tvos-setup/https://vdaluz.com/blog/headscale-ios-tvos-setup/iOS and tvOS Tailscale clients can't use pre-auth keys with a custom coordination server. Here's the interactive registration flow, the localhost hostname gotcha, and what to expect from VPN-on-demand.Tue, 17 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTtailscaleheadscaleiostvosapple-tvnetworkinghomelabwireguardhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/consolidating-homelab-dashboards/https://vdaluz.com/blog/consolidating-homelab-dashboards/I was running three dashboard services simultaneously, with one embedded inside another. Evaluating whether Home Assistant could replace them, a failed first attempt with a complex Lovelace config, and what actually worked.Sat, 14 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThome-assistanthomelabglancedashboardlovelaceinfrastructurehacshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/password-managers-comparison/https://vdaluz.com/blog/password-managers-comparison/A deep dive into password managers including 1Password, Dashlane, Proton Pass, and self-hosted options. Why I moved away from the best UX in the business.Sat, 14 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTpassword-managerssecurityprivacy1passworddashlaneproton-passself-hostedhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-tailscale-with-headscale/https://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-tailscale-with-headscale/Replacing Tailscale's hosted coordination server with Headscale on a Proxmox LXC: Docker Compose setup, deprecated config keys that blocked startup, and connecting macOS, Linux, and iOS clients.Thu, 12 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTtailscaleheadscaleproxmoxhomelabdockernetworkingwireguardtraefikhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/pbs-nas-nfs-mount-resilience/https://vdaluz.com/blog/pbs-nas-nfs-mount-resilience/The nas-backups datastore went inactive mid-session because the NFS mount had silently died. I fixed the immediate issue and then built a proper recovery layer so it would not happen again.Tue, 10 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTproxmoxbackuppbshomelabnfssystemdansibleinfrastructurehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/hosting-options-comparison/https://vdaluz.com/blog/hosting-options-comparison/A practical comparison of Cloudflare's free services against traditional shared hosting, VPS, and cloud providers. When does free hosting actually make sense?Sat, 07 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThostingcloudflareweb-developmentcost-comparisonstatic-sitesperformancehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-container-redistribution/https://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-container-redistribution/After upgrading both nodes to 32GB RAM, the container distribution was skewed badly. A few migrations later, both Pi-holes were offline and DNS was down across the homelab.Sat, 07 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabinfrastructurehigh-availabilitylxcpiholehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/unifi-ap-offline-after-container-restart/https://vdaluz.com/blog/unifi-ap-offline-after-container-restart/After a container restart, both APs went offline even though the controller was healthy. The cause: system_ip in /config/system.properties instead of /config/data/system.properties. UniFi silently ignores the root file and falls back to the Docker bridge IP.Thu, 05 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMTunifidockerhomelabtroubleshootingnetworkinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/fixing-icloud-photo-dates-in-immich/https://vdaluz.com/blog/fixing-icloud-photo-dates-in-immich/Years of iCloud photos imported into Immich showed up as taken today. The originals were missing DateTimeOriginal, so Immich fell back to file dates. One icloudpd flag fixed future downloads; ExifTool and the folder structure rescued the rest.Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabimmichicloudexiftoolphotosself-hostedhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/getting-nebula-sync-working-with-pihole-v6/https://vdaluz.com/blog/getting-nebula-sync-working-with-pihole-v6/One of my Pi-hole replicas had zero local DNS records while the master had 78. The trail led through Pi-hole v6 app passwords that did not match my vault, and an HTTP to HTTPS redirect that quietly broke the sync client.Sat, 31 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTpiholenebula-syncdnshomelabansiblehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/trello-extractor-preserving-digital-work-history/https://vdaluz.com/blog/trello-extractor-preserving-digital-work-history/Learn how Trello Extractor transforms JSON exports into organized, portable archives that preserve your digital work history and ensure long-term data accessibility.Sat, 31 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTtrellodata-preservationrubyopen-sourceproductivitydigital-archivinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/researching-update-automation-for-the-homelab/https://vdaluz.com/blog/researching-update-automation-for-the-homelab/Twenty-three self-hosted services and no update process beyond "when I remember". I compared Watchtower, Diun, Renovate, and WUD, looked at unattended-upgrades for system packages, and landed on a hybrid plan.Thu, 29 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabdockerproxmoxupdatesautomationself-hostedhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/cloud-backup-with-qnap-hybridmount-and-syncthing/https://vdaluz.com/blog/cloud-backup-with-qnap-hybridmount-and-syncthing/My files synced between devices and the NAS, but no copy ever left the building. Instead of adding rclone, I mounted Google Drive on the QNAP with HybridMount and pointed Syncthing folders at it.Tue, 27 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabsyncthingqnapgoogle-drivebackupsself-hostedhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/vdaluz-redesign-astro-tailwind/https://vdaluz.com/blog/vdaluz-redesign-astro-tailwind/The story of migrating from a bloated WordPress site on DreamHost to a lightning-fast static site built with Astro and Tailwind CSS, hosted for free on Cloudflare Pages.Sun, 25 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTastrotailwindwordpressstatic-sitesperformanceweb-developmentmigrationhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/frigate-home-assistant-mqtt-integration/https://vdaluz.com/blog/frigate-home-assistant-mqtt-integration/The Home Assistant Frigate integration found every camera but every entity showed unavailable. The fix was one disabled setting: MQTT. Getting live video through the integration was a harder problem I chose not to win.Sat, 24 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThome-assistantfrigatemqttgo2rtcwebrtcrtsphomelabtroubleshootinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/traefik-503-stale-firewall-address-list/https://vdaluz.com/blog/traefik-503-stale-firewall-address-list/nvr.example.net returned a 503 through Traefik while the NVR was healthy on the LAN. The reverse proxy had moved to a Keepalived VIP, but the firewall address list that lets Traefik reach the NVR still named the old proxy IPs.Thu, 22 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTtraefikrouterosmikrotikfirewallvlankeepalivedhomelabtroubleshootinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/stabilizing-wyze-cameras-in-frigate/https://vdaluz.com/blog/stabilizing-wyze-cameras-in-frigate/Six of my nine Frigate cameras are rock solid. The three Wyze units on WiFi would not stay connected. Here is what actually helped, what did not, and the honest place it landed, because some of the problem is the cameras themselves.Tue, 20 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabfrigatewyzertspgo2rtctroubleshootinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/gateway-experience-deep-dive/https://vdaluz.com/blog/gateway-experience-deep-dive/A deep dive into the Monroe Institute's Gateway Experience program, from its development and CIA investigation to the wild claims surrounding it and what it's actually like to use.Sun, 18 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTgateway-experiencemonroe-instituteciameditationconsciousnessbinaural-beatsproject-stargatehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/monitoring-stack-dns-cache-pihole/https://vdaluz.com/blog/monitoring-stack-dns-cache-pihole/While fixing a Pi-hole pinned at 100% CPU, I found that one host, my own monitoring stack, was generating 59% of all DNS queries. A small dnsmasq cache cut that by three quarters, but only after I fixed the two settings that were stopping it from caching anything.Sat, 17 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabdnspiholednsmasqprometheusdockerhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/pihole-single-core-cpu-thrashing/https://vdaluz.com/blog/pihole-single-core-cpu-thrashing/A Prometheus alert said my Pi-hole was pinned at 100% CPU. The load average was 19.72 on a one-core container. The fix was trivial, but finding the right size took two tries.Thu, 15 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabpiholednsproxmoxtroubleshootingperformancehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/adding-ai-object-detection-with-frigate/https://vdaluz.com/blog/adding-ai-object-detection-with-frigate/My NVR recorded everything and understood nothing. Frigate adds real-time object detection on top of the cameras I already had. Here is the deploy, including the first attempt I had to shelve, and the Intel iGPU that made it usable.Tue, 13 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabfrigateproxmoxdockerself-hostednvrgpuhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/meditation-apps-journey/https://vdaluz.com/blog/meditation-apps-journey/After trying Headspace, Calm, Waking Up, Balance, Expand, and even the Gateway Experience, here's what I learned about finding the right meditation practice for daily life.Sun, 11 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTmeditationmindfulnessappswellnessmental-healthgateway-experiencehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-file-sync-with-syncthing-local-only/https://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-file-sync-with-syncthing-local-only/I wanted Dropbox-style file sync across my own devices without putting the files on anyone else's servers, and without announcing my devices to the internet. Here is how I deployed Syncthing on Docker-in-LXC and ran it entirely on my LAN.Sat, 10 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabsyncthingproxmoxdockerself-hostedprivacyhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/service-up-site-down-missing-traefik-route/https://vdaluz.com/blog/service-up-site-down-missing-traefik-route/romm.example.net returned a 404 while RomM itself was running fine. The service was healthy, DNS resolved, and the reverse proxy simply had no route for it. Here is the diagnostic path and why "committed" is not "deployed."Thu, 08 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabtraefikansibletroubleshootingself-hostedrommhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/deploying-immich-for-self-hosted-photos/https://vdaluz.com/blog/deploying-immich-for-self-hosted-photos/Self-hosting a photo library is not an app problem, it is a storage problem. Here is how I deployed Immich on Docker-in-LXC with the originals on a NAS, the database and thumbnails on local SSD, and a systemd check that keeps the network mount honest.Tue, 06 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabimmichproxmoxdockerself-hostedpostgresqlnashttps://vdaluz.com/blog/pihole-unbound-installation/https://vdaluz.com/blog/pihole-unbound-installation/A practical guide to setting up Pi-hole v6 with Unbound recursive DNS resolver, including TLS configuration and automated replication. Based on real-world experience with actual problems and solutions.Sun, 04 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTpiholeunbounddnsprivacyraspberry-pitlsnebula-synchomelabhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/researching-n8n-for-homelab-automation/https://vdaluz.com/blog/researching-n8n-for-homelab-automation/I researched n8n for homelab automation, recommended it, shelved it the same afternoon because I could not justify the maintenance, then came back weeks later and deployed it for a reason I had not planned on.Sat, 03 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabn8nautomationproxmoxdockerself-hostedpostgresqlhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/deploying-paperless-ngx/https://vdaluz.com/blog/deploying-paperless-ngx/I wanted to scan a document with my phone, have it OCR'd and searchable, and never touch the paper again. Here is the Docker-in-LXC deploy of paperless-ngx, and the PostgreSQL permission bug that quietly blocked the whole stack.Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabpaperless-ngxproxmoxdockerself-hostedpostgresqlocrhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/deploying-homebox-home-inventory-in-the-homelab/https://vdaluz.com/blog/deploying-homebox-home-inventory-in-the-homelab/I wanted one place to track what I own, what it cost, and where the warranty paperwork lives. Homebox fit, and a SQLite-backed deploy meant no extra database to babysit. Here is the Docker-in-LXC setup and the admin-account trick that is easy to miss.Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabhomeboxproxmoxdockerself-hostedsqliteinventoryhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/mystery-management-vlan-routing-issue/https://vdaluz.com/blog/mystery-management-vlan-routing-issue/A practical troubleshooting story about a client that could reach every VLAN except the one it was on, the tests we ran, and what finally made it go away.Sat, 26 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTtroubleshootingVLANroutingmacOSMikroTikswitchinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/trailing-blank-lines-editorconfig-did-not-fix/https://vdaluz.com/blog/trailing-blank-lines-editorconfig-did-not-fix/Cursor kept padding the end of my files with blank lines. I reached for EditorConfig, learned it does not actually solve that problem, and found the pre-commit hook that does.Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTeditorconfigpre-commitcursorvscodegitworkflowhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/making-ai-agents-default-to-mcp-for-plane/https://vdaluz.com/blog/making-ai-agents-default-to-mcp-for-plane/My coding agents kept reaching straight for the Plane REST API. I wrote a rule to make MCP the default instead. Here is why, and the handful of cases where direct HTTP is still the right call.Tue, 22 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTplanemcpaiclaudecursoragentsworkflowhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/diagnosing-slow-romm-scans-on-a-large-rom-library/https://vdaluz.com/blog/diagnosing-slow-romm-scans-on-a-large-rom-library/RomM was taking 60-80 seconds per ROM during its first scan on my homelab. Here is what I found, what I changed, and why the real answer turned out to be a much bigger library than I thought.Sat, 19 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabrommproxmoxdockerself-hostedmariadbansiblehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-mdm-in-a-raspberry-pi-and-mac-mini-homelab/https://vdaluz.com/blog/self-hosting-mdm-in-a-raspberry-pi-and-mac-mini-homelab/What MDM is, why it helps with Apple devices, what I built, where it broke, and why I paused the project on ARM.Sat, 19 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTMDMNanoMDMMicroMDMSCEPARM64Docker SwarmTraefikStep-CAApplehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/letsencrypt-wildcard-certs-for-a-homelab/https://vdaluz.com/blog/letsencrypt-wildcard-certs-for-a-homelab/What wildcard certificates are, how ACME and DNS-01 work, why they help at home, and how I set them up with Traefik.Sat, 12 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTLet's EncryptWildcardACMEDNS-01TraefikDocker SwarmCloudflarehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/deploying-romm-rom-manager-in-the-homelab/https://vdaluz.com/blog/deploying-romm-rom-manager-in-the-homelab/I wanted a web-based, self-hosted way to organize a pile of game backups with real metadata. RomM was the only option that fit. Here is the Docker-in-LXC deployment, the two gotchas that cost me time, and the NAS mount mistake that bit me later.Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabrommproxmoxdockerself-hostedmariadbhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/apple-tv-homepod-home-assistant-across-vlans/https://vdaluz.com/blog/apple-tv-homepod-home-assistant-across-vlans/Seven Apple TVs and four HomePods on a separate VLAN from Home Assistant. The integration refused to find them until I forwarded mDNS between segments. Here is the fix, the re-pairing, and the one thing Apple will not let you have.Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThome-assistantapple-tvhomepodmdnsvlanrouteroshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/home-assistant-generic-camera-rtsp-blank/https://vdaluz.com/blog/home-assistant-generic-camera-rtsp-blank/Three RTSP cameras registered fine in Home Assistant but showed nothing. The cameras were healthy. The fix came down to making the FFmpeg and Stream components explicit in configuration.yaml.Sat, 05 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThome-assistantrtspcamerasffmpegtroubleshootinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/unifi-wifi-optimizations-for-better-bufferbloat-and-apple-devices/https://vdaluz.com/blog/unifi-wifi-optimizations-for-better-bufferbloat-and-apple-devices/What I changed in UniFi to cut WiFi bufferbloat, why it helps, and how to test it safely at home.Sat, 05 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTUniFiWiFibufferbloatAppleU6+AC Proradio settingshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/routeros-iot-selective-internet-access/https://vdaluz.com/blog/routeros-iot-selective-internet-access/VLAN 30 blocks all IoT traffic from the internet by default. This is how I punch selective holes for specific devices without rewriting the firewall per device.Thu, 03 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMTMikroTikRouterOSIoTVLANfirewallAnsiblehomelabhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/replacing-firefly-iii-with-actual-budget/https://vdaluz.com/blog/replacing-firefly-iii-with-actual-budget/Why I swapped out a finance app I never opened for one I actually use, and how the Docker-in-LXC deployment on Proxmox went.Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThomelabproxmoxdockerself-hostedfinanceactual-budgettraefikansiblehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/fixing-iframe-embedding-in-self-hosted-dashboards/https://vdaluz.com/blog/fixing-iframe-embedding-in-self-hosted-dashboards/My Glance dashboard wouldn't embed Homepage via iframe. The browser refused to display it, and fixing it turned out to be a two-step process: using the right Traefik header field, then actually deploying the config.Sat, 29 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTglancehomepagetraefikiframecspcontent-security-policyhomelabdebugginghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/qos-for-bufferbloat-in-a-home-network/https://vdaluz.com/blog/qos-for-bufferbloat-in-a-home-network/What bufferbloat is, why it hurts latency, and how I used smart queue management on the router to fix it.Sat, 29 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTbufferbloatQoSCAKEFQ-CoDelMikroTikSQMhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/glance-calendar-widget-timeout/https://vdaluz.com/blog/glance-calendar-widget-timeout/My Glance dashboard's upcoming events widget kept timing out. The fix wasn't changing the timeout - the ical-events service was trying to parse 10 years of calendar data on every request.Thu, 27 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTglancedashboardhomelabcalendaricaldebuggingtroubleshootinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/setting-up-k3s-on-raspberry-pis/https://vdaluz.com/blog/setting-up-k3s-on-raspberry-pis/After migrating Pi-hole and Traefik off my Raspberry Pis to Proxmox, I had four idle Pi 4s. Here is what it took to build a k3s cluster with Rancher - including the cgroups gotcha and why I kept the double-hop Traefik setup.Tue, 25 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTk3skubernetesraspberry-pihomelabrancheransiblehelmhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/vlan-setup-in-my-home-network/https://vdaluz.com/blog/vlan-setup-in-my-home-network/What VLANs are, why I use them at home, how my segments are arranged, and the checks that keep it reliable.Sun, 23 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTVLAN802.1QMikroTikUniFisegmentationhomelabhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/routeros-dhcp-static-lease-audit/https://vdaluz.com/blog/routeros-dhcp-static-lease-audit/What happens when your DHCP config drifts from your network state file. How I found fourteen lease issues in RouterOS and fixed them with Ansible and a device-by-device review.Sat, 22 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTMikroTikRouterOSDHCPnetworkingAnsiblehomelabhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/moca-dhcp-lease-investigation/https://vdaluz.com/blog/moca-dhcp-lease-investigation/Four MoCA adapters stuck at 'waiting' in RouterOS DHCP - an investigation into Layer 2 bridges and why static leases can work exactly as designed, just not how you expected.Thu, 20 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTMoCARouterOSDHCPnetworkinghomelabhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-vm-disk-migration/https://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-vm-disk-migration/How to use qm move-disk to migrate VM disks from LVM-thin to ZFS while the VM stays running, plus two gotchas that break things after the move.Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTproxmoxzfsstoragehomelablvmhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/migrating-home-assistant-to-proxmox/https://vdaluz.com/blog/migrating-home-assistant-to-proxmox/How I moved Home Assistant off a dedicated Raspberry Pi 4 and onto a Proxmox VM, covering Zigbee USB passthrough, backup restore, ZFS storage migration, and a DHCP lease time gotcha that caused WebSocket disconnects.Sat, 15 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMThome-assistantproxmoxraspberry-pizigbeeusb-passthroughhomelabansiblehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/moca-adapters-in-a-concrete-home/https://vdaluz.com/blog/moca-adapters-in-a-concrete-home/What MoCA is, why WiFi struggled in a concrete and rebar house, what I tried first, and why using a MoCA filter on the coax matters.Sat, 15 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTMoCAcoaxWiFihome networkhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/qnap-nas-lacp-bonding-mikrotik/https://vdaluz.com/blog/qnap-nas-lacp-bonding-mikrotik/How I bonded all three NICs on a QNAP TS-h973AX (10GbE + 2x 2.5GbE) to a MikroTik CRS326 with LACP 802.3ad, what Container Station needs when you change network interfaces, and the ether20 gotcha that cost me extra time.Thu, 13 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTqnaplacpbondingmikrotikrouterosnetworkinghomelabcontainer-stationhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/nut-dashboard-missing-panels-grafana/https://vdaluz.com/blog/nut-dashboard-missing-panels-grafana/When Grafana shows 'No data' on a NUT monitoring dashboard, the problem is not always your exporter or Prometheus. Sometimes the UPS hardware just does not report those metrics.Tue, 11 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTnutupsgrafanaprometheushomelabmonitoringtroubleshootinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/mikrotik-router-configuration-from-scratch/https://vdaluz.com/blog/mikrotik-router-configuration-from-scratch/How I rebuilt my MikroTik router step by step, what each setting does, and why it matters for a calm home network.Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTMikroTikRouterOSVLANDHCPFirewallQoSCAKEWireGuardWAN failoverhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-ram-upgrade-ha-testing/https://vdaluz.com/blog/proxmox-ram-upgrade-ha-testing/How I upgraded both Lenovo M710q nodes from 4-8GB to 32GB RAM, what I got wrong with Alertmanager silencing, and what the first real HA failover test showed.Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTproxmoxhomelabinfrastructurehigh-availabilityhardwaremaintenancehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/iperf3-container-stopped-proxmox-autostart/https://vdaluz.com/blog/iperf3-container-stopped-proxmox-autostart/Prometheus fired two alerts when my iperf3 testing container went dark. The root cause was one missing flag: onboot: 0 on the Proxmox LXC container. Here is how I traced it and fixed it.Thu, 06 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTproxmoxlxciperf3prometheusmonitoringhomelabincidenthttps://vdaluz.com/blog/migrating-pihole-from-raspberry-pi-to-proxmox/https://vdaluz.com/blog/migrating-pihole-from-raspberry-pi-to-proxmox/Replacing pi2.internal (Raspberry Pi 4) with pihole01, a Proxmox LXC container, as the new Pi-hole master. The migration itself was uneventful; the surprises were in TLS, Pi-hole v6 exporter auth, and Grafana label relabeling.Tue, 04 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTpiholeproxmoxlxcdnshomelabansibleprometheusgrafanahttps://vdaluz.com/blog/ipv6-in-a-homelab/https://vdaluz.com/blog/ipv6-in-a-homelab/What IPv4 is, how IPv6 is different, why adoption is uneven, and when it makes sense to enable it at home.Sat, 01 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMTIPv6IPv4Networkinghomelabhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/optimizing-productivity-daily-task-logging/https://vdaluz.com/blog/optimizing-productivity-daily-task-logging/In the fast-paced world of software development, productivity and self-awareness are key. Unlike a simple to-do list, a task log is a reflective tool that records what has actually been accomplished.Fri, 10 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMTproductivitysoftware developmenttask managementself-awarenesshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/nurturing-growth-collaboration-effective-feedback/https://vdaluz.com/blog/nurturing-growth-collaboration-effective-feedback/The ability to provide meaningful feedback, whether positive or constructive, cultivates an environment of constant improvement and collaboration.Fri, 25 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMTfeedbackleadershipcommunicationmanagementcollaborationhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/art-of-engineering-problem-solving/https://vdaluz.com/blog/art-of-engineering-problem-solving/Effective problem-solving and critical thinking skills are essential for engineering success. Learn strategies that you can apply to solve any problem, even without subject-matter expertise.Tue, 18 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMTproblem-solvingengineeringcritical thinkingmethodologygrowth mindsethttps://vdaluz.com/blog/elevate-engineering-communication/https://vdaluz.com/blog/elevate-engineering-communication/Effective communication lies at the heart of successful engineering teams. Learn practical strategies to improve communication skills in your day-to-day work.Sun, 04 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMTcommunicationengineeringleadershipteamworkculturehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/habits-reminders-preparation/https://vdaluz.com/blog/habits-reminders-preparation/Why your brain is terrible at remembering things and how to use physical reminders to build better habits and increase your chances of success.Mon, 18 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThabitsproductivityremindersbehavior-changeself-improvementhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/scheduling-important-projects/https://vdaluz.com/blog/scheduling-important-projects/How to break free from the urgent vs. important trap by scheduling dedicated time blocks for your most meaningful projects and protecting them from interruptions.Mon, 11 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMTproductivitytime-managementschedulingprioritiesfocuswork-life-balancehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/reverting-bad-habits/https://vdaluz.com/blog/reverting-bad-habits/Why bad habits feel automatic and how to use awareness triggers and replacement strategies to break free from unwanted behaviors and build better ones.Mon, 04 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThabitsbehavior-changeself-improvementproductivitymindfulnesshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/feeling-down-kindness-chain-reaction/https://vdaluz.com/blog/feeling-down-kindness-chain-reaction/How a simple 'good morning' on your bike ride can brighten your day and create a chain reaction of kindness that spreads far beyond what you can see.Mon, 28 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMTkindnesswellnessmental-healthcommunityhappinessbikinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/overwhelmed-by-notifications/https://vdaluz.com/blog/overwhelmed-by-notifications/How to protect your precious time and attention by asking two simple questions about every notification and setting up your devices to only show what you actually need.Mon, 21 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMTnotificationsattentionproductivitydigital-wellnessfocustime-managementhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/having-trouble-sticking-to-habits/https://vdaluz.com/blog/having-trouble-sticking-to-habits/Why consistency matters more than intensity when building habits, and how setting ridiculously small minimums can help you maintain momentum even when life gets in the way.Mon, 14 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThabitsconsistencyproductivityself-improvementbehavior-changehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/having-trouble-getting-focus/https://vdaluz.com/blog/having-trouble-getting-focus/Why multitasking is a myth and how to eliminate distractions, organize your workspace, and create an environment that supports deep focus and concentration.Mon, 07 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMTfocusproductivitydistractionsworkspaceconcentrationdeep-workhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/feeling-overwhelmed-trapped/https://vdaluz.com/blog/feeling-overwhelmed-trapped/Why feeling overwhelmed isn't a personal failure, how to recognize when you need help, and practical resources for getting support when you're struggling.Mon, 28 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMTmental-healthstoicismphilosophyhelpsupportoverwhelmdepressionhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/feeling-stuck-dont-know-what-to-do/https://vdaluz.com/blog/feeling-stuck-dont-know-what-to-do/Why feeling stuck is completely normal, how freeform writing can help you break through mental blocks, and practical steps to get unstuck when you're feeling lost.Mon, 21 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMTproductivitywritingcreativityproblem-solvingmental-blocksfreeform-writinghttps://vdaluz.com/blog/ending-days-feeling-exhausted/https://vdaluz.com/blog/ending-days-feeling-exhausted/Why you're feeling drained at the end of the day, how social media breaks aren't actually restful, and practical strategies for taking breaks that actually recharge you.Mon, 14 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMTproductivityenergybreaksrestsocial-mediawork-life-balanceexhaustionhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/multitasking-is-overwhelming/https://vdaluz.com/blog/multitasking-is-overwhelming/Why multitasking actually makes you less productive, how it damages your ability to focus, and practical strategies for working on one thing at a time.Mon, 07 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMTproductivityfocusmultitaskingmonotaskingmindfulnessattentiondeep-workhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/having-trouble-keeping-track-tasks/https://vdaluz.com/blog/having-trouble-keeping-track-tasks/Why your brain struggles with task management, how to build a system that works for you, and practical strategies for organizing your tasks and projects.Mon, 31 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMTproductivitytask-managementorganizationnote-takingsystemsplanningmemoryhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/are-things-really-that-bad/https://vdaluz.com/blog/are-things-really-that-bad/Why we focus on the negative, how this evolutionary trait affects modern life, and practical gratitude practices to counteract our natural bias toward pessimism.Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMTmental-healthgratitudepositivitypsychologyevolutionwell-beingmindfulnesshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/how-do-i-know-im-working-on-right-thing/https://vdaluz.com/blog/how-do-i-know-im-working-on-right-thing/Why to-do lists can be misleading, how to identify high-value tasks, and practical prioritization systems to ensure you're working on what matters most.Mon, 17 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMTproductivityprioritizationto-do-listseisenhower-boxabcde-methodfocusgoalshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/how-do-i-build-a-new-habit/https://vdaluz.com/blog/how-do-i-build-a-new-habit/Why most habit-building attempts fail, the two essential steps for success, and practical strategies to make any habit stick for life.Mon, 10 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMThabitsproductivitybehavior-changeself-improvementconsistencygoalsroutinehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/having-trouble-focusing-on-important-tasks/https://vdaluz.com/blog/having-trouble-focusing-on-important-tasks/Why focus is so difficult, how the Pomodoro Technique works, and practical strategies to implement this powerful time management method for better productivity.Mon, 03 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMTfocusproductivitypomodoro-techniquetime-managementconcentrationworkflowbreakshttps://vdaluz.com/blog/everything-connects-once-you-start/https://vdaluz.com/blog/everything-connects-once-you-start/Why starting is the hardest part, how momentum creates unexpected connections, and practical strategies to overcome the inertia that keeps you from beginning.Sat, 26 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTmomentumcreativityproductivitystartingprocesslearninggrowthactionhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/resiliency-feeds-itself/https://vdaluz.com/blog/resiliency-feeds-itself/Why noticing your progress is crucial, how resilience creates positive feedback loops, and practical strategies to build the mental strength that compounds over time.Fri, 25 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTresiliencemental-strengthprogressfeedback-loopsmotivationgrowthpersistencemindsethttps://vdaluz.com/blog/surrounded-by-noise/https://vdaluz.com/blog/surrounded-by-noise/Why overwhelm creates noise, how to trust the process when facing countless tasks, and practical strategies to move forward consistently without becoming an anxious wreck.Thu, 24 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMToverwhelmclarityprocessconsistencyanxietyfocusprioritizationmindsethttps://vdaluz.com/blog/why-do-we-avoid/https://vdaluz.com/blog/why-do-we-avoid/Why we carry tasks for days and weeks, the cognitive cost of avoidance, and practical strategies to beat resistance and get things done.Wed, 23 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTprocrastinationavoidancecognitive-loadresistancetasksproductivitymindsetactionhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/time-elasticity/https://vdaluz.com/blog/time-elasticity/Why time feels different depending on your mood, how to use small time blocks effectively, and practical strategies to alter your perception of time to your advantage.Tue, 22 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTtime-perceptionproductivitymindsetsmall-blocksfocusefficiencypsychologyattitudehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/gearing-up/https://vdaluz.com/blog/gearing-up/How training transforms you, why failure becomes fuel for growth, and the unexpected pleasure of pushing through physical discomfort to discover your potential.Mon, 21 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTtransformationfitnesschallengegrowthmindsetdiscomfortconsistencypotentialhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/the-past-doesnt-exist/https://vdaluz.com/blog/the-past-doesnt-exist/How the past becomes a story we tell ourselves, why reliving suffering serves no purpose, and practical strategies to accept and move forward with your life.Sat, 19 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTmindfulnessletting-gopresent-momentemotional-freedomacceptancesufferingmemorygrowthhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/the-future-doesnt-exist/https://vdaluz.com/blog/the-future-doesnt-exist/How worrying about the future creates unnecessary suffering, why we pre-react to imaginary scenarios, and practical strategies to stop suffering for things that haven't happened yet.Fri, 18 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTanxietyworryfuturepresent-momentstressmindfulnessemotional-freedompeacehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/saying-goodbye-to-inanimate-objects/https://vdaluz.com/blog/saying-goodbye-to-inanimate-objects/How our reactions to loss change as we grow, why attachment to material things creates suffering, and the peace that comes from recognizing what truly matters.Thu, 17 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTletting-goattachmentemotional-growthperspectivematerialismpeacetransformationmindsethttps://vdaluz.com/blog/three-questions/https://vdaluz.com/blog/three-questions/How to look back without dwelling, extract lessons from both successes and failures, and use three simple questions to create consistent improvement in everything you do.Wed, 16 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTreflectionimprovementlearningself-assessmentgrowthfeedbackperspectiveconsistencyhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/listening-to-your-own-advice/https://vdaluz.com/blog/listening-to-your-own-advice/Why helping others helps you, the strange disconnect between giving advice and following it, and practical strategies to apply your own wisdom to your life.Tue, 15 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTself-applicationadviceknowledgeactionhelping-othersmindsetfocusconsistencyhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/the-problem-with-comfort/https://vdaluz.com/blog/the-problem-with-comfort/Why the comfort zone is dangerous, how it makes you dismiss the practices that got you there, and the importance of maintaining the habits that serve you even when you think you don't need them.Mon, 14 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTcomfort-zonemeditationhabitsconsistencymindfulnessanxietyself-sabotagedisciplinehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/choose-your-pain/https://vdaluz.com/blog/choose-your-pain/Why procrastination is pain avoidance, how choosing your pain can prevent procrastination, and practical strategies for reducing unnecessary anxiety about the future.Sat, 12 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTprocrastinationpain-avoidanceanxietymindfulnesspresent-momentfuture-worryactiondisciplinehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/its-not-all-about-you/https://vdaluz.com/blog/its-not-all-about-you/Why helping others is the counterintuitive solution to bad days, how mood distorts perception, and practical strategies for shifting focus from self to others when you're feeling down.Fri, 11 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMThelping-othersmotivationmoodperspectiveself-focusaltruismbad-daysmindset-shifthttps://vdaluz.com/blog/minimum-viable-session/https://vdaluz.com/blog/minimum-viable-session/Why consistency is crucial for habit formation, how minimum viable sessions prevent habit breakdown, and practical strategies for maintaining your streaks even when life gets in the way.Thu, 10 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMThabitsconsistencyminimum-viablestreaksobstaclesritualmomentumdisciplinehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/the-power-of-mantras/https://vdaluz.com/blog/the-power-of-mantras/Why mantras work for motivation, how the two-minute rule prevents task accumulation, and practical strategies for using mantras to maintain momentum and prevent laziness.Thu, 10 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTmantrastwo-minute-rulemotivationlazinessmomentumhabitsmental-healthgetting-things-donehttps://vdaluz.com/blog/doom-thinking/https://vdaluz.com/blog/doom-thinking/Why we catastrophize about the future, how our primitive brains are ill-suited for modern life, and practical strategies for managing doom thinking through mindfulness and awareness.Wed, 09 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTdoom-thinkingcatastrophizingstressmindfulnessevolutionary-psychologyanxietyruminationmeditationhttps://vdaluz.com/blog/reprogramming-yourself/https://vdaluz.com/blog/reprogramming-yourself/How Atomic Habits transformed my approach to life, why consistency beats intensity, and the foolproof strategy for building lasting habits that actually stick.Tue, 08 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMTatomic-habitshabit-formationconsistencypersonal-transformationpatienceself-improvementresiliencelong-term-thinking