Docker on NanoPI NEO3

Preparation

sudo echo "overlayfs=enable userdata=8096" > /.init_wipedata
sudo reboot

sudo mkdir /var/lib/docker
sudo blkid ${DEV}p${NUM}
# Configure automatic mounting
sudo vi /etc/fstab
# Add the following content to the end of the file (where UUID needs to be replaced with the actual one).
UUID=2efab5a5-8b74-41d2-8747-4c00fff8514a /var/lib/docker ext4 suid,dev,exec,auto,nouser,async,noatime,nofail 0 0
# Enter the following command to mount the partition:
sudo mount /var/lib/docker

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Install docker

[ -f /usr/sbin/iptables-legacy ] && sudo update-alternatives --set iptables /usr/sbin/iptables-legacy
[ -f /usr/sbin/ip6tables-legacy ] && sudo update-alternatives --set ip6tables /usr/sbin/ip6tables-legacy

sudo apt install ca-certificates curl

sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(. /etc/os-release && echo "${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-$VERSION_CODENAME}") stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

RIPE Atlas docker probe

https://atlas.ripe.net/docs/howtos/software-probes.html

https://github.com/Jamesits/docker-ripe-atlas

docker run --detach --restart=always \
    --log-driver json-file --log-opt max-size=10m \
    --cpus=1 --memory=64m --memory-reservation=64m \
    --cap-drop=ALL --cap-add=CHOWN --cap-add=SETUID --cap-add=SETGID --cap-add=DAC_OVERRIDE --cap-add=NET_RAW \
    -v /var/atlas-probe/etc:/var/atlas-probe/etc \
    -v /var/atlas-probe/status:/var/atlas-probe/status \
    -e RXTXRPT=yes \
    --name ripe-atlas --hostname "$(hostname --fqdn)" \
    jamesits/ripe-atlas:latest

Globalping probe

https://globalping.io/

docker run -d --log-driver local --network host --restart=always --name globalping-probe globalping/globalping-probe

New website platform

If you are reading this, it means the migration worked.

After a few years of using Grav, I decided to move over to a new way of managing my website, using a static website generator. Many people these day seem to be using Hugo, but I personally don't like the idea of suing Go.

I found Nikola by chance, and decided to give it a try. It lacks a good collection of themes, but I like the simplicity of its design.

So, welcome Nikola, and I hope this will help me write more on this blog!

While vacationing in the US, we had to change our initial plans of going to Miami and Key West due to the hurricane season, so we diverted to Las Vegas. We were looking for a place to relax on the beach or at a swimming pool, and since we were already on the west coast, Vegas seemed to be a decent shot.

Booking last minute, we didn’t have much choice in terms of price, so we ended up choosing the Hilton Grand Vacations on the Las Vegas Strip. The hotel itself was quite okay, the room was clean and spacious, and we liked the swimming pool area. Although a bit outside of all the main attractions, the hotel is still on the strip and has quick access to public transport (Bus, Monorail), and an Uber ride is about 7-10 dollars to most of the casinos.

What really puzzled us, though, was what happened as “extra” during our stay.

Apparently, as a Hilton Honors Elite member, I was ”picked” to receive a special offer.

I know it is common practice, but what left us puzzled was how it ended. But let me explain.

It all started with a phone call a little bit after we checked in, telling us that we could pass by the reception to get our “welcome package”. We initially didn’t pay much attention, but after we were reminded by another phone call a couple of hours later, we decided to pass by while going out. The “welcome package” consisted of a little booklet with little information, and a long list of shows. The goal for them was for us to choose a show from the pack, and to tell us that we needed to attend a “90 minute meeting” to get the tickets for free.

Yes, this is pretty common, and I know.

We were not interested in any show, but we were told we would also be offered lunch, and failing to have anything to do around lunch time the next day, we agreed to a meeting.

Between our acceptance and the meeting itself – all in all I think 16 hours – we received 3 phone calls reminding us of our appointment. I was starting to get sick of it.

We decided to go anyway, and got our (little) lunch. Then came the presentation.

I don’t remember the name of the person we talked to. It was a 1-on-1 with him, not to an audience. He was a great presenter, and showed us all the greatest features of the Hilton Vacation Club. Although I didn’t know exactly about this, I know Marriott and other chains have a similar product, and on top of that, my mother also owns a similar time-sharing property.

All in all it was interesting, and we learned about the different tiers we could buy in. I started to think it could be a nice opportunity, and was getting more interested, but I needed time to think about it. We were basically asked to take a decision to spend thousands of dollars right on the spot. We couldn’t. We simply couldn’t.

What baffles me, and this is the reason I decided to write about it, is that we were simply told we couldn’t have any of the material we were shown about the programme, the costs, or anything else. We simply left without anything (apart from a wrap I hadn’t finished yet when the presentation started…), and spent the rest of the day discussing it between ourselves.

I don’t know if this is typical in the US, but in Europe I would have had a chance to take some material with me, to help me decide. We weren’t even given a business card from the person we talked to, so I have no idea how I could get in contact with him again if I ever decide to buy this. But I simply won’t.

I’m curious to know if this is normal, or if this was just a strange episode.

This week I had the chance to participate in BSDCan for my 11th time, and it was a blast as usual.

I gave two tutorials and a presentation, and it seems as many participants liked them.

This is at the moment a quick post to say that the material from my sessions can be found here

If you have any question, suggestion or complaint, please let me know.

Flying to and from the middle east has been affected by the different events in the region:

• War in Syria
• Downing of the Russian plane on the Sinai
• Middle eastern carriers not allowed/not wanting to cross Israeli air space

I was discussing about this with a colleague before leaving for my travel to Doha to give courses, and then had a chance to look at the flight route we took on the return flight, on the leg from Doha (Qatar) to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines:

This clearly shows that we just crossed over the gulf, taking a “detour” over Iran, then crossing Turkey almost entirely.

While I value security onboard, this also means that the flight went from 2.5 hours to 4 hours. This made it much longer than the following leg – Istanbul to Amsterdam – which took only 3 hours.

I guess the alternative, at the moment, would be to cross Saudi Arabia, over the Red Sea, take a long detour over Egypt (clearly avoiding Sinai) and then over Crete into Turkey. This might take much longer, and I don’t know how much effective it could be. One factor to keep into consideration is also that you would be crossing more airspaces, making the flight more expensive for Turkish. Crossing the home airspace is also cheaper for them, I guess.

Strange but interesting times.