My network topology at home is pretty simple, it looks like this:

After my recent router hardware and OpenWrt 19.07 firmware upgrades, I noticed my access point connected to my cable modem looked like this on the Status Overview page:

Pro-tip: Notice I’m using the cloudflare DNS servers rather than the ISP-provided ones. The Comcast DNS servers have gone down on me before and their performance is generally lacking.

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I went to resurrect my dynamic DNS configuration on my OpenWrt router. The idea was sparked from a reader comment, so I wanted to follow-up on using nsupdate.info with OpenWrt for a DIY Dynamic DNS setup.

Before I began, I thought I should see if there’s a newer OpenWrt version my router can run. I always start on the Supported Devices page of the wiki, but on this visit I was treated to a warning:

If you read the 4/32 warning, the crux of the matter is that there may not be enough RAM to run OpenWrt without crashing. And the small flash area means possibly not having enough room to install LuCI, the web interface, and the packages to access LuCI via HTTPS. Also, there’s this:

Previous versions of OpenWrt (such as earlier versions of 17.01.x, 15.05.x “Chaos Calmer” and prior) contain now-known security vulnerabilities in the kernel, wireless implementation, and/or application code. […] In many cases, these known vulnerabilities are being actively targeted, potentially including by advanced, likely state-sponsored or state-affiliated actor or actors.

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tl;dr? Like the Boy Scouts: Be Prepared

be_preparedThe Nerdery’s Overnight Website Challenge is coming up again. I will be participating for my 5th year. I’ve had some good years and some bad. I’ve used software that I love and software that I’ve hated. I’ve been on teams that were finalists, one that won the event, and others that weren’t close to the podium but had a great time.

By now, I think most of the webchallenge web pros are seasoned veterans, but none-the-less I’d like to share some of my pro tips – if only for self-documentation. You should first take care of yourself before, during, and after the event. But when it comes to your team, the short story is: Be Prepared. The long story? Do as much as you can ahead of time, not the day of the event.

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This article assumes you fave a few things:

  1. A Linux server with:
    • root SSH access
    • BIND installed
    • a domain already set up and working with BIND
  2. An OpenWrt router at home to send updates

The OpenWrt router isn’t strictly necessary.  You could, of course do the dynamic DNS updates with a cheap Linux firewall, but I’ll cover the configuration for OpenWrt.

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Update

I have a new post about SSHFS that highlights the latest operating systems, including MacOS. However, I’m leaving this post here for historical purposes.

Original

At home I have what some may call a “back-office” server.  Technically it’s in the laundry room, but it does all sorts of home automation type stuff: record TV, download files, store and play music, distribute files, run backups, etc.  I may do a post on it later, but the gist is that it’s running Ubuntu Server with a bunch of disk drives.

Far and above, it’s main purpose in life is being a file server.  There are several ways to connect to it: Samba (Windows file sharing), NFS (Unix Network File System).  The server also runs SSH (Secure Shell) for terminal access – which can also be used a pass-through for secure local and remote file sharing.

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