Checking out the previous effort at a File Server on Proxmox

The LXC #101 was created some time ago (debian 12, turnkey fileserver, 18.0-1).  The last time it was used was in July and I am not sure if I had tried to integrate it with #106 NextCloud; I may have.  So from here it looks like there was a try, but I need to review what steps were taken to set it up.  Also what is the current setup of the Proxmox drives: 2@1TB and 2@4TB drives in the case.

Project #37 - Setup a File Server on Proxmox

 This is a case of the cart before the horse.  It occurs to me that I need a files server in the network.  I would buy a NAS to integrate, but short of that I am going to utilize my Proxmox server to create a File Server.  Fortunately, there is a Turnkey file server that I can utilize for this purpose.  So this project is to setup a file server using the Turnkey File Server template.  Of course, I need to get the drives setup correctly on Proxmox before I can begin this.

Moved the xPod connections back to my main switch

After thinking about it for a while, I was convinced that I needed to add the other Edgerouter-12p that I have which has a POE capability.  In order to do that, I will need to remove the 8 port switch and 2 ER-X routers which are on the shelf that I need for the ER-12p.  So that means that I will need to rearrange the xPod RPis to connect to the main switch and disconnect the 8 port switch and 2 ER-X routers.

Update: completed

Added Some Collections to the FLINT 2 Router

I decided to add a way to gather statistics on the wireless connection to Connect in my apartment.  I found that luci-app-statistics uses collectd to gather system statistics and uses rrdtool to display them.  I installed luci-app-statistics and collectd on the FLINT2 Router.  Since I have an MQTT server running on port 1883 of the EXP-PiHole RPi, I decided to open up icmp to WAN (port 10) and WAN2 (port 9) on Edgerouter-12.  I then added passthrough of MQTT (1883) to WAN (port 10) on Edgerouter-12 to EXP-PiHole.  I am not sure if WAN2 will pick up the same passthrough message to port 1883; that I will have to test separately. I also installed the following packages on FLINT2: collectd-mod-cpu, collectd-mod-ethstat, collectd-mod-interface, collectd-mod-ipstatistics, collectd-mod-iwinfo, collectd-mod-load, collectd-mod-memory, collectd-mod-mqtt, collectd-mod-network, collectd-mod-rrdtool, collectd-mod-thermal, collectd-mod-uptime, and collectd-mod-wireless.

Update: I have removed the collectd items from FLINT2 because it appeared that it was slowing down the download/upload throughput.

Project #36 - Setup Monitoring of the WiFi Connections

I need to setup a way to monitor the WiFi connections in my HomeLab.  I have been away from the IC Subcommittee for a long time, but now I have sparked an interest in keeping track of what the current system is doing in terms of dropouts and changes of bandwidth.  I need something to characterize what is happening so that I can talk intelligently about it.

Project #35 - Adding VLANS to the FLINT1 and FLINT2 routers

I have finally come to the point where I need to setup VLANs on the FLINT routers in my network.  I have noted for some time that people have problems with setting up VLANs on GL-iNet routers in general.  I mainly want to do this so that I can have some vlans that are outside of my normal Edgerouter-12 controlled space.  This would also enable me to get more into the fine tuning of these routers.  I can see having a couple of guest vlans on each router which would connect over iBGP.  I am currently reading a book on the ins and outs of GL-iNet that might give me some better information on how to do this, however at the moment it seems to be more of a word salad than a how to book.

I also need to be careful to document the entire process so that I can reproduce it.  To that end I will document the process in the RedNotebook app.  I intend on noting differences between the FLINT1 and FLINT2 setups. The main changes should be limited to one or two vlans on each router:

• On FLINT1 I will add two VLANs; Guest1 and Arbitrary1 that will not have access to the basic vlan
• On FLINT2 I will add two VLANs; Guest2 and Arbitrary2 that will not have access to the basic vlan
• The setup should be able to be altered to accommodate iBGP or VXLAN in the future (or any other items I might want to experiment with)

State of the Network in June 2025

I just recently changed my connections between the living room and the back bedroom.  Now I have a flat cable going between the FLINT 1 router in the living room to a switch in the back bedroom where I have connected both the PiHole Raspberry Pi and the switch originally in the living room to my rack.  In this way, I now do not have any vlans accessible in the living room.  I basically decided that all of my activities should be done in the back bedroom where I have my rack equipment.  I also now have the TCL TV connected directly to the FLINT 1 router.  I may still try to do a BGP from the FLINT 2 router in the back bedroom to the FLINT 1 router in the living room, but I have plenty of time to tinker before that happens. I do have some thoughts about how I might change things in the future:

• Complete the task of setting up a Certificate Authority in the HomeLab
• Add VLANs to the FLINT2 router
• Arrange the power so that the FLINT2 router can remain on if I shutdown the Rack
• Alter the way that I connect my laptop to the network so that it remains connected at all times on the correct VLAN
• Implement the PiHole to give out DNS and DHCP IPs within the HomeLab
• Work up some 3D printed components to stage the remaining Raspberry Pis external to the Rack, but still be present within the HomeLab
• Work up the use of my STREAM deck to issue MQTT messages for HomeLab control
• Spin up a file server on the HomeLab
• Finish setting up the Raspberry Pi display/controller; connected via Tailscale