After many successful years developing mfsBSD for FreeBSD systems I started to work on a small memory-only diskless distribution for Linux. It comes in handy if you want to run a diskless system, have a recovery partition with a rescue system or simply want to modify your primary hard drive layout.
Customizing a Red Hat or CentOS Linux bootable ISO
RHEL and CentOS ship bootable CDs or DVDs in the ISO file format. It is possible to modify these ISO files with various types of customizations, e.g by adding additional boot menu items or an automated kickstart installation. This article contains a step-by-step guide how to customize and repackage a bootable CentOS ISO.
Upgrading an ASUS UX32LN notebook Wi-Fi to 802.11ac Wave 2
In my previous posting I mentioned Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174A-5 based half-size MiniPCI cards with 2×2 IPEX MHF4 antenna connectors as an 802.11ac wave2 upgrade for the ASUS UX31A. There are finally similar cards with 2×2 U.FL connectors available that make this upgrade an option for notebooks like my ASUS UX32LN or any newer ones.
SparkLAN WPEQ-261ACN(BT) as a 802.11ac replacement for Intel 6235
Many of the 2012-2013 notebooks like ASUS UX31A, ASUS UX32VD, Dell XPS 13 or HP Elitebook 9470m have been shipped with Intel 6235 ANHMW. It is a 802.11a/b/g/n half-size minipci wireless card with IPEX MHF4 antenna connectors. Unfortunately, the industry has switched to U.FL connectors. Continue reading
Choosing a 802.11ac router for LEDE 17.02 Reboot
With the first stable releae of LEDE I have finally let OpenWRT go. Without releasing updates for years OpenWRT has been seriously outdated. So I installed LEDE on all my older and newer wireless routers. Which router do I recommend today? Continue reading
OpenZFS Feature Flags Compatibility Matrix
With the introduction of ZFS feature flags many users have experienced compatibility problems working with ZFS pools on different operating systems or operating system versions. In this article I am providing a table comparing the ZFS Feature Flag support on FreeBSD, Linux (zfsonlinux), Mac OSX (OpenZFS OSX) and illumos (OmniOS). Continue reading
Choosing a router for OpenWRT 14.07 Barrier Breaker
The OpenWRT project is about to release version 14.07 of their alternative home router firmware with many new features like native IPv6, support for NAND flash devices and a new web GUI. In this article I will provide a summary of the new features and a basic guide for choosing a supported device. As of today, considering features, price, performance and power consumption my recommended devices are the TL-WDR3500 and TL-WDR3600 routers from TP-LINK. These devices are for cable use only (no ADSL modem). Continue reading
AsiaBSDcon 2014 – Deploying FreeBSD systems with Foreman and mfsBSD
My first trip to Japan ever was connected with speaking at the AsiaBSDcon conference on March 15-16 at the Tokyo University of Science. I have met many fellow developers, including Matt Ahrens from the Illumos project who was my co-speaker at EuroBSDcon 2013 in Malta last year. This time I had a completely new topic, my talk had the title “Deploying FreeBSD systems with Foreman and mfsBSD”. My special thanks go to Hiroki Sato and George Neville-Neil who have organized this successful conference.
PDF with presentation slides, Youtube Video Continue reading
EuroBSDcon 2013 – OpenZFS
Malta’s sunny weather and beautiful sea attracted many international speakers and guests to EuroBSDcon 2013. The conference was held at the Hilton Conference Centre in St. Julian’s, Malta on September 26-29, 2013. This year my co-speaker was Matt Ahrens, one of the two founders of the ZFS filesystem. Our talk was about the OpenZFS project and covered the current state and future coordination of open source ZFS development in multiple platforms – illumos, FreeBSD and Linux.
PDF with presentation slides Continue reading
OpenZFS project launched
Matthew Ahrens, myself and other open source ZFS contributors from the illumos, FreeBSD, Linux and Mac OS X communities have launched the OpenZFS project today:
OpenZFS launch announcement, September 17th, 2013:
Today we announce OpenZFS: the truly open source successor to the ZFS project.
ZFS is the world’s most advanced filesystem, in active development for over a decade. Recent development has continued in the open, and OpenZFS is the new formal name for this open community of developers, users, and companies improving, using, and building on ZFS. Founded by members of the Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, and illumos communities …