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LibreNMS: What is it and how does it work?

LibreNMS gUIDE

This article covers the LibreNMS network monitoring tool, from installation and configuration to features and usage. Introduction to LibreNMS LibreNMS is a powerful open-source network monitoring solution that can be used to monitor devices and services on your network. It offers a wide range of features, including support for a variety of protocols, performance monitoring, alerts, and more. LibreNMS is easy to install and configure, and it can be used on a variety of platforms. In this guide, we will cover the basics of LibreNMS, … Read more

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How to Install and Use Netstat on Linux (CentOS/RHEL, Debian/Ubuntu, OpenSuse & Arch Linux)

How to Install and Use Netstat on Linux

This article provides a tutorial on how to install and use Netstat, a command-line network tool, on Linux. Netstat is a command-line utility that can be used to view network connections, routing tables, and a variety of other network-related information on Linux systems. While Netstat is typically used to troubleshoot network issues, it can also be used for tasks such as monitoring server traffic or checking which ports are open on a system. Why Use Netstat? Netstat is a network monitoring tool that can be … Read more

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How to Configure vsftpd an Anonymous FTP Server

Anonymous vsftpd server

This article will show you how to configure vsftpd as an anonymous FTP server which does not require authentication. vsftpd is an FTP file server which can run on Linux. FTP is is the file transfer protocol. It’s been around forever (since the 1970’s!), so it works with just about everything. I run vsftp on an openwrt router as a quick and dirty file sharing solution that will work with even the oldest of my devices (including Windows 3.1 and old Macintosh computers). The software for these old machines … Read more

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Configuring a Privacy VPN with OpenVPN on OpenWrt With LuCI

OpenVPN on OpenWrt With LuCI

This tutorial will show you how to configure a privacy Vpn using OpenVPN on OpenWrt through the LuCI web interface (no command line required!). Lots of screenshots are included so that you can follow along. What is OpenWrt OpenWrt is a popular Linux distribution for routers and other low power devices. It makes a perfect host for a VPN gateway. What is a Privacy VPN/ What is OpenVPN? A VPN (Virtual Private Network) provides an encrypted connection between two networks over the internet. Traditionally this was used for … Read more

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Linux: Set Which Network Connection You Get Internet From [Default Route]

Linux set default internet route

This quick tutorial will show you how to set which network Linux uses to access internet when multiple networks are connected by setting the default route. If you have a Linux device (for example a Raspberry Pi) connected to multiple networks (like being connected to a wireless and wired network simultaneously), you might have trouble connecting to the internet. That’s because Linux will have automatically set up some default routes, and will have somewhat arbitrarily picked which interface it tries to use to access the internet … Read more

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How to change DNS servers on Linux (Ubuntu/RedHat/All Distros)

How to change your DNS servers on Linux

Here’s a quick tutorial for a simple but important task – manually setting the DNS server on your Linux system. The steps in this tutorial should work for all Linux distributions – both server and desktop. Manually setting your DNS server is particularly useful if you’re setting up a Pi-Hole ad blocker. Backup Existing DNS Configuration If an existing manual DNS configuration exists, back it up by copying it to a new file: sudo cp /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf.bak Edit Linux DNS Configuration The nano text editor … Read more

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How to Add Extra External USB Storage to an OpenWrt Device

OpenWRT add USB external storage

This tutorial will document steps you need to take to add USB storage to your OpenWrt router. These steps are tested on OpenWrt 21.02 in 2022. These steps were tested on a BT HomeHub 5 which was modified to run OpenWrt. These devices come with 128MB of storage – enough for OpenWrt and software, but not really enough for hosting file shares. Picking a USB Storage Device Most routers running OpenWrt will not be able to supply enough power to spin a mechanical hard disk. Avoid portable hard … Read more

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How to Set up AdBlock DNS Ad Blocking in OpenWRT

Setting Up Adblock Ad Blocking on OpenWRT

This tutorial will walk you through setting up DNS level Ad Blocking on your network by installing Adblock on an OpenWrt router. If you’re looking to set up an OpenWrt router of your own, check out our guide to setting up OpenWrt on a repurposed BT HomeHub. What is OpenWrt? OpenWrt is a Linux-based operating system designed to be run on routers and other embedded devices. It’s a full computer OS so you can do whatever you want with it, but its primary use (and … Read more

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How to Set up a Samba/SMB Windows Share in OpenWrt with LuCi

OpenWRT Samba SMB Share LuCi

This super quick tutorial will show you how to set up a Samba/SMB Windows network share on an OpenWrt device. This tutorial works best if you have some extra storage available for your file share – check out our article on adding extra USB storage to OpenWrt here. What is Samba? Samba is a file sharing package which provides network file shares compatible with the SMB and CIFs protocols used by Windows. Install Dependencies/Packages You will need to install two packages to set up the network … Read more

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How to Install OpenWRT on a Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi OpenWRT

This article will show you how to install the OpenWRT operating system on a Raspberry Pi. I’ve previously covered this as part of our Installing OpenWrt on a BT HomeHub 5 article, but I thought I’d break it out on its own to make it easier to find for people who don’t want to wade through all of that just for the Raspberry Pi bit. What is OpenWRT? OpenWRT is a Linux-based OS designed to power routers and other networking devices. It comes tailored with … Read more