TuM'Fatig

Multiple keyboard layouts on OpenBSD

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 07:16:47 +0100

My ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 AMD has a French (ISO AZERTY). But it is connected to a dock and I mainly use an external (USB) keyboard with an ANSI US layout.

Because I’d rather not type with an US layout on an FR keyboard, and vice-versa, I have configured my OpenBSD OS to deal with both, nearly automagically.

Exploring Docker containers on FreeBSD

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 06:24:05 +0100

When it comes to running (Linux) Docker containers on BSD hosts, I usually end up popping an Alpine or Debian virtual machine with the Docker engine. But I read that podman was available on FreeBSD and able to run Docker containers.

Here’s what I learned, so far.

Slackware on encrypted ZFS root

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 08:52:20 +0100

My Slackware laptop was doing well with LUKS/LVM/EXT4 but after some Fediverse discussion, I decided using ZFS would be safer for my data. The problem is OpenZFS is not integrated into the Linux kernel and not that well integrated into Linux distribution in general.

That said, Ubuntu offers an integrated option and other distros have documentation about such cases. Those are my notes dedicated to The Slackware Linux Project .

Software-control a Dell monitor KVM from Linux

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 08:49:30 +0200

I own a DELL U2723QE 4K monitor that ships with a KVM so that I can connect two computers. One via an USB-c connection and one via either an HDMI or a DisplayPort connector. Switch to either is controlled by a physical button on the back of the screen. But it can also be done software-wise.

Check your IP infos using nginx

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 08:39:30 +0200

There are a few times when I want to check which public IP I am browsing from… I used to use the WhatsMyIP sites but the Internet being what it is these days, I switched to using my SearXNG instance which has the IP plugin enabled.

Still, there are times I need to get my IP from a script and want a dead simple option for this. So I switched to using nginx and GeoLite2.

Migrate a KVM virtual machine to OmniOS bhyve

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:06:18 +0200

Because I am replacing my Linux KVM machine with an OmniOS bhyve server, and I don’t want to reinstall all my VMs, I went for migrating those. And because I am not aware of vMotion-like feature between those two platforms, I just used the shell.

Quick look on performance and power usage of Aoostar R1 N150

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:06:06 +0200

I bought a noname 2 bays NAS that looks like the Aoostar R1 N150.

And before putting it into production, I had a quick look on how it performs on various OSes and how many watts it eats.

Redundant DHCP and DNS Resolver using OpenBSD

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 06:07:02 +0200

One of my OpenBSD server provides DHCP and DNS resolving for my home LAN. But it sometimes has to go into maintenance mode. And if an IoT or phone requires an IP address or an FQDN at the precise moment, I hear screaming throughout the whole house.

So I decided to have fully redundant network services using two OpenBSD servers.

Migrate a Peertube instance from Debian to FreeBSD

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 06:06:40 +0200

Not matter how hard I try, I can’t stand and learn those systemd and ip ~~censored swearing~~ stuff on Linux. Call me an old fart with muscle memory amnesia but I just want to manage my servers using rc scripts, ifconfig and route commands, and read my logs in syslog flat format. Anyway, my Peertube instance was running on Debian and I wanted to use some BSD instead of Linux.

Why are you (still) using OpenBSD?

Sat, 26 Jul 2025 11:26:16 +0200

Last week-end, I was invited to the UNIX Social Camp in Dijon, France to talk about the reasons I still use OpenBSD these days and why should others do so; or at least, have a look at OpenBSD .

This post is an English transcription of the original French slides that are available here .

GoToSocial Adventures: migrate from Pixelfed

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 04:00:00 +0200

When I decided to stop publishing on Instagram, I seeked for alternatives and Pixelfed looked like a nice one. The fact that it had a migration feature from IG made me go for it.

But for reasons, I don’t want to use this software anymore. And now that GoToSocial features the Gallery / Gram-style layout , it is time to migrate the account and its data to GtS.

GoToSocial Adventures: migrate from Mastodon

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 03:00:00 +0200

I already used a Mastodon account but wanted to migrate it to my brand new GoToSocial instance while keeping as much data as possible.

GoToSocial Adventures: run on OpenBSD

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 02:00:00 +0200

I used to run GoToSocial on OpenBSD but, one day, the port was marked BROKEN and I switched to using Mastodon on Linux. Still, I kept testing running GoToSocial on NetBSD, Illumos, FreeBSD and Linux. Not so long ago, GoToSocial started to compile and work pretty nice again on OpenBSD.

After using it for about a year on a SearXNG side project , I decided that I would also use it as my primary account on the Fediverse . This post is about installing and running GoToSocial on OpenBSD .

Tinkering with Fujitsu FUTRO S930

Tue, 27 May 2025 01:00:00 +0000

After watching Wolfgang’s review of the S920 , I went for chasing one and found a refurbished Fujitsu FUTRO S930 for 54€. I bought it with a few extra electronics parts and tested it with a few FOSS operating systems I know.

Monitoring GoToSocial using collectd and VictoriaMetrics

Tue, 13 May 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Some time ago, I adopted VictoriaMetrics as a replacement for Prometheus; which was already replacing InfluxDB. And recently, I realized that GoToSocial was exposing metrics in Prometheus format . So I decided to build a Grafana dashboard to keep an eye on my GtS instance.

Install and isolate apps using Firejail on Slackware

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 06:33:19 +0100

Since I started using other Desktop OS than OpenBSD, I’m obsessed with limiting filesystem resources access from applications; especially Web browsers. This already applied to FreeBSD Web browsers here and there . This now has to be applied to Linux.

Rendering static images from Grafana

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 09:20:15 +0200

When it comes to rendering graphical representation of all the metrics I gather, I generally use RRDtool . Yes, I’m that old ;-) But I also have a Grafana instance from which I render stuff that can’t be done using RRDgraph. But, so far, I couldn’t generate a static PNG file from a panel to insert in a static web page.

But this was until I found the Grafana Image Rendered plug-in.

OpenBSD and Thunderbolt issue on ThinkPad T480s

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 23:26:06 +0100

As I was testing OpenBSD on my refurbished ThinkPad T480s, I noticed that the fan kept blowing even though the laptop was IDLE. Given that I am a vigilant reader of misc@ , I already knew a few ThinkPads had been reported to be sluggish because of some BIOS settings regarding Thunderbolt.

Web Browser in FreeBSD Jail: Librewolf

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 08:35:05 +0100

While discovering FreeBSD Jails, I wrote on how to run a web browser inside a FreeBSD jail . Time has passed and a couple of testing later, I ended up changing a bit the way I use my Web Browser jails.

Lazy UEFI multiboot for Slackware Linux and OpenBSD

Sun, 23 Feb 2025 13:05:00 +0100

For reasons, I have a laptop running both Slackware Linux or OpenBSD. To have both available, I split the storage space in two and installed both systems. But if mainstream Linux distros use GRUB, Slackware has an historical love for LILO; and elilo when it comes to EFI-based computers.

Modify an OmniOS service parameters

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 00:24:47 +0100

I was today years old when I needed to change some of the parameters of my Prometheus service on OmniOS. It runs via pkgsrc and the provided SMF. And modifying the running parameters is not as simple as editing an rc.d file.

Cruising a VPS at OpenBSD Amsterdam

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 07:13:07 +0100

When it comes to getting an OpenBSD virtual machine, you can go to your preferred Linux VPS provider and hack its rescue mode to install OpenBSD. Or you can go to a VPS provider that offers booting from an ISO file and getting access to the console. In that case, you’d probably get an OpenBSD VM running on KVM. Which is not that bad.

But you can also book your VM from OpenBSD Amsterdam and let the 100% OpenBSD journey begin.

WindowMaker 2024 - Graphite Light theme

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 09:36:58 +0100

It is 2024 and people are still using Window Maker, the X11 window manager that reproduces the elegant look and feel of the NeXTSTEP user interface . One of them does not live in 1997 any more and has an irresistible love for flat themes.

Printing on HP Color Laser 150nw from OpenBSD

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 07:42:26 +0100

I got an HP Color Laser 150nw wireless printer some time ago and never really tried to use it with OpenBSD. Mostly because printers are… printers. But after discovering that it works well on my wife’s Slackware Linux laptop (better than on Windows 10), I decided to give it a try using OpenBSD.

10" rack 33³ cube storage

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 06:40:16 +0100

Since the moment I started having servers in my house, I always put them under my desk or in a bookshelf. They shouldn’t be visible; because of Wife Acceptance Factor . They shouldn’t be too noisy; because I can’t stand fan’s noise. This led to pretty complicated arrangement as computers have not always been that small and that fanless.

Execute current edited script in Vim

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 23:12:00 +0100

When you edit a script using Vim, you may want to run the script without actually quitting the editor.
This is easily done using the following Vim command:

<Esc>:!%<Enter>

Once the script has run, Vim will display its output and pause until you Press ENTER or type command to continue.

That’s all. It is published here so that I don’t have to query stackoverflow the next time I forget about it 🤣

Running Web Browsers in FreeBSD Jail

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 08:02:47 +0100

Using OpenBSD as a daily driver, I got used to having programs being restricted in their permissions. Especially Web Browsers from ports that are patched to implement pledge(2) and unveil(8). Long story short, this guarantees that Firefox, Chromium & friends will get killed if they try to access system resources that they were not allowed to access; be it a device or a file system space.

FreeBSD 14.1, AFAIK, does not implement such feature. And getting a bit paranoid because of “Fish Linux” , I decided my FreeBSD Web browsers should be living in jail.

Automatic Display switch for OpenBSD laptop

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 08:02:41 +0100

Most of my workstations are laptops. But because “age”, they are connected to an external 27" 4K monitor. It is used as my primary display and the laptop’s screen is disabled. And as I use WindowMaker as my daily window manager, I sometimes blank myself when I unplug the USB-C cable from the laptop.

There must be a way to automatically switch to the proper display when some USB-C monitors are (dis)connected… Other than switching to using Xfce, KDE, Gnome and other DEs that already implement this feature.

Static dual stack networking on OmniOS Solaris Zones

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 15:08:19 +0100

On my OmniOS zones, I don’t use DHCP. Mostly because I don’t have that many of those; DHCP would be overkill and another service to manage. For those configured using IPv4 only, the zadm utility can configure the network stack from a JSON file. But I had that zone where I needed both IPv4 and IPv6 configured and couldn’t have it working via zadm.

So I configured it from within the zone.

Keep your OmniOS server time synced

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:14:39 +0200

While reading logs, I saw that my OmniOS server was not really time synced with the rest of the Wild Wild World. After a quick check, I realised I forgot to set up NTP on this server.

Let’s solve this now!

Spell checking in Vim

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 08:56:20 +0100

Believe it or not, I do all my editing stuff with Vim. This includes writing emails and editing this blog content. One thing I was missing, compared to using Thunderbird or LibreOffice, is the spell checking feature. Until I took 10 minutes to read the Vim documentation .

GoToSocial WASM-based SQLite driver and BSD

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 08:15:49 +0100

I started using GoToSocial (the fast, fun and small ActivityPub server) in 2022 on OpenBSD. Because it was nearly the only OpenBSD-native ActivityPub options at that time, because it was light and because it could use the SQLite database engine .

I stopped using it when it was marked BROKEN because of incompatibilities between modernc.org/sqlite and OpenBSD kernel. This is when I switched to Mastodon and stop using it. Until recently, when I discovered there was a pkgsrc option available.

Grafana in an OmniOS pkgsrc branded zone

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 08:41:08 +0200

I run a lot of bhyve VMs on my OmniOS server because that’s the way I’m used to go with exposing services. For ~~fun~~ knowledge purposes, I decided that I would replace my Grafana virtual machine with an Illumos zone.

Thanks to pkgsrc, this is really easy and straightforward.

Mounting NTFS and exFAT filesystems on OpenBSD

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 12:07:14 +0200

I often try various OSes on my spare laptops. This is where Ventoy turned out to be really useful. If you don’t know, Ventoy is a free bootloader that looks like Grub and let you boot whichever ISO files you put on the USB key it is installed. Just copy / paste the ISO on the dedicated USB key partition and it’s ready to boot.

It works from Windows, Linux but not on OpenBSD. Well… until I discovered some error messages didn’t mean what I thought they did…

Enable NuPhy Field75 volume knob on FreeBSD 14

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 08:20:00 +0200

By default, FreeBSD 14.1 does not recognized the multimedia keys of my NuPhy Field75 USB keyboard. Worse than that, the (beloved) metal knob used for volume control doesn’t work either.

Hopefully, after a bunch of readings & trials & errors, I ended up finding the configuration bits required to have it fully working!

Remote Desktop using RDP and VNC

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 08:08:08 +0200

My initial questionning was on the opportunity to run a desktop environment using virtual machines provided by the OpenBSD vmd(8). But vmd(8) doesn’t feature graphics, as of OpenBSD 7.5. Let’s see if this can be achieved anyway.

Multiboot Windows and OpenBSD with rEFInd

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 07:40:53 +0200

A year ago, I wrote about multibooting Windows, Linux and OpenBSD on my laptop. Since then, lots have happened. The most relevant part is that Linux is gone and I only multiboot Windows and OpenBSD.

If I had done it from the beginning, I would have used rEFInd rather than Grub. And here’s how.

Video Edition notes on OpenBSD

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 09:00:51 +0200

To create the “OpenBSD Workstation for the People PeerTube” video, I used KDEnlive on OpenBSD.
But for reasons, I also had to use other tools.

OpenBSD Workstation for the People

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 09:04:43 +0200

This is an attempt at building an OpenBSD desktop than could be used by newcomers or by people that don’t care about tinkering with computers and just want a working daily driver for general tasks.

Somebody will obviously need to know a bit of UNIX but we’ll try to limit it to the minimum.

GoToSocial Push notifications using Pushover

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 10:52:31 +0200

GoToSocial does not seem to support push notifications for iOS applications. As far as I understand, this is because it doesn’t implement the Mastodon Web Push API . But GtS exposes a notification API. So let’s poll this API and use Pushover to get push notifications on the iOS devices.

Generative AI using eGPU on Slackware Linux

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 10:14:52 +0200

I recently got interested in so-called Generative AI. I tested a few things like ChatGPT, Dall-E or Bing Image Generator. Then I discovered things could be self-hosted rather that using Cloud resources. But I am no gamer, nor do I want to have a full machine eating 200W all day to run my little experiments.

I decided I would use my new Topton GM1 Thunderbolt port and connect an eGPU to it. This way I can simply turn it on and off when needed.

Running GoToSocial on NetBSD

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 08:39:41 +0200

I wanted a communication tool for the NoGoo.me searxng instance I manage. But I want a software with small footprint. I used GoToSocial as my primary ActivityPub server and it was great. It only lacked a few features so I stopped using it as my primary Fediverse service. Let’s have it back again in my software ecosystem.

Quick OOTB support of Topton GM1 on *BSD

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 09:21:21 +0200

I bought a Topton GM1 Industrial Mini PC for my HomeLab. It is aimed at running Slackware Linux but I wanted to have a quick look at how well BSD OSes support it out-of-the-box.

Running NetBSD on OmniOS using bhyve

Tue, 07 May 2024 08:16:16 +0200

I want to run GoToSocial on some *BSD system. Because I am who I am, I went for using NetBSD 10.0 . And because my hypervisor is running bhyve on OmniOS , you get the title of this blog post.

Don’t get too anxious, it is quite straightforward. So let the journey begin.

Custom Prometheus dashboards using Console templates

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 08:36:07 +0200

Sometimes you just need a quick (and not so dirty) way to keep an eye on your server metrics. A nice thing with Prometheus is that it can be both a storage and a visualization solution for your metrics.

Here follows a quick example of what can be done using Prometheus Console Templates .

The Nuphy Field75 mechanical keyboard

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 08:02:31 +0200

After a whole lot of YouTubing, I decided to get a NuPhy Field75 . I went for the Electro (Green and Grey) edition. This is my kinda-review of the mechanical keyboard from the POV of a ThinkPad keyboard long-lover and French user of OpenBSD as a desktop.

Using tmux on Synology DSM

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 08:41:27 +0100

tmux is not available on Synology by default. But it only takes a command call to get it.

Build a Unison package for Synology DSM

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 08:04:36 +0100

For reasons, I’m turning my Synology DS918+ on and start using it again. One thing I need is files synchronization with my OpenBSD laptop. There is no Synology Drive client for OpenBSD so I’ll keep using Unison . But there is no Unison client / server binary for DSM 7.2.1-69057 Update 4.

Here’s how to compile and install the Unison File Synchronizer for Synology DSM 7.2.

Manage your Mastodon blocked domains using cURL

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 16:58:47 +0100

I am no Dev and have nearly no clue on how to deal with APIs. But I am a SysAdmin. And where there’s a shell, there’s a way. So those are my notes on how to deal with Mastodon API using shell tools.

Using the Kensington SlimBlade Pro TrackBall with OpenBSD

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 15:24:55 +0100

I remembered my Dad brought home a Logitech TrackBall years ago and I have not bad memories of it. As part of my recent desktop changes, I decided to try a TrackBall. Internet reviews seem to acknowledge the Kensington SlimBlade Pro TrackBall is one of the best devices out there.

So I decided to try it with my OpenBSD laptop.

Using the Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 on OpenBSD

Sun, 18 Feb 2024 14:20:47 +0200

With my recent desk changes, I’m not using the ThinkPad keyboard and touchpad anymore. But I really like touchpads in general. So I got myself a refurbished Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650.

Spoiler Alert: it works pretty well on OpenBSD.

A Terminal Status Bar updated

Sat, 17 Feb 2024 18:00:26 +0100

In 2020, I stole @gonzalo’s idea for a status bar using only XTerm and stock OpenBSD tools. I wrote about it there .

In 2024, I was notified (Hi Fox) of a flickering issue in the rendering process. So here’s an updated version of the script.

Migrate a FreeBSD bhyve virtual machine to OmniOS

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 08:44:19 +0100

I have a home lab running FreeBSD bhyve hypervisor and a collo server running OmniOS. From time to time, I migrate some VMs from one to the other. It is very simple when using ZFS and sharing a compatible bhyve implementation.

Using Redthunder K84 with OpenBSD

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:50:32 +0100

I got YouTubed with “look at my setup” content. So I started looking at what mechanical keyboards offer. Amazon proposed that RedThunder K84 Combo Keyboard and Mouse for 60€ so I decided to give it a try on OpenBSD.

Using OpenBSD with a Dell U2723QE monitor

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 23:03:11 +0100

Not so long ago, I bought a Dell U2723QE 4K monitor. I was not sure OpenBSD would support using it with only a USB-C connection.

Spoiler alert, it does.

ZFS encryption and notification service on OmniOS

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0200

I have a Dell server in a colo. It (will) hosts some virtual machines and (private) data. And because trust does not exclude control (on your data), I do encrypt (at rest) some of the storage.

Configure OmniOS to use an authenticated SMTP relay (smarthost)

Sun, 28 Jan 2024 14:30:11 +0100

All my servers use an SMTP relay to communicate via email. I have setup “service” accounts that they use to authenticate themselves on a smarthost. My OmniOS server is no exception.

Remotely install OmniOS on a Dell R620

Sat, 27 Jan 2024 19:43:34 +0100

I rent a Dell R620 in a colo and decided I would install and run OmniOS on it. But it is hosted in a remote country and I can’t simply plug the install media in the DVD or USB port.

So let’s go for a remote installation.

FreeBSD bhyve hypervisor to run OpenBSD virtual machines

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 08:30:03 +0200

Because I’m not 100% satisfied with my OmniOS bhyve experiment for running OpenBSD virtual machines, I’m giving it a try on a stock FreeBSD 14. And as usual, I’ll write down how I did it in case you are interested too :)

Dealing with USB Storage devices on OmniOS

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 08:02:25 +0100

I want to deal with flash, SSD and SATA drives connected to a ThinkPad A485 using its USB ports. This is my cheatsheet based on Managing USB Mass Storage Devices on Oracle Solaris 11.2 .

Running OpenBSD on OmniOS using bhyve

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0100

The bhyve hypervisor has been ported to Illumos and provides an altervative to KVM. SmartOS created an OpenBSD image but it’s quite old. I don’t know (yet) how to upgrade or make more up-to-date images. But I could manage to run OpenBSD 7.4 on OmniOS.

Create a start page using HTML and CSS

Wed, 27 Dec 2023 18:25:40 +0100

Because Apple does not allow Floccus to manage the bookmarks on Safari for iOS and iPadOS, I have no straight forward access to my few regular bookmarks. Sure, I could simply register them once for all. But building an HTML/CSS webpage to display them is more fun.

SMB shares using OmniOS, zones and ZFS

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 07:54:02 +0100

OmniOS / Illumos provides a native way to expose data stored on ZFS using the SMB / CIFS protocol. Furthemore, using zones limits the attack surface of a server ; or a least, the impact of a compromised service.

Long story short: I replaced my UFS+Samba shares with ZFS+Solarish.

Discovering Omnios Server

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 08:54:44 +0100

Doing some tidying in my network, computers and VPS collection, I went looking for a piece of software that could be used :

at home, as a file server, a backup server and a VM lab.
at colloc, as an hypervisor.

After looking at SmartOS , I tried OmniOS . It is also based on Illumos . The notes go here.