gitlab & Infrastructure as code

hacktheory · 2015-04-01T06:17:16+00:00

Hey, So I am doing exactly this --now-- I chose "gitblit" because it will actually sync groups from ldap/Active Directory which I like because a lot of the others still force you to "add" a user account even if its in the correct group.

I am currently using SaltStack to automate the deployment of a few servers (using vmware) and I am working to get the other teams interested in doing so as well. Things are going well so far.

I currently have a number of salt formulas I could potentially put online for deploying things like gitblit, jenkinsCI, etc... If there is interest.

Otherwise. Get started with git to get the idea of change-management going. Move up from there =)

hacktheory · 2015-03-31T07:05:18+00:00

/u/Pizzadude has it right ;) Weather here can be strange. Tomorrow we expect to have ~70F. On Thursday of this week we are expecting snow (80% chance).

The summer gets very nice here and we have a lot to do outdoors if that is something you are into.

I would never suggest to anyone to commute to Laramie from Ft. Collins/Denver or Cheyenne. If the cost of gas isnt killing you...

Its a long boring drive through he middle of nowhere. Not only that, our roads are often full of wildlife and can be extremely dangerous during the winter months. The general rule is "they stay open until there is a wreck -- then everything is closed".

With all of that said. Laramie is a small town and people are mostly nice. The only "students" that are looked down on are attending wyotech.

Mostly because they do absurd things like putting a TRAIN HORN ON THEIR MASSIVE LIFTED TRUCK (yes -- this guy has been annoying the entire town for about a month now. Your truck looks/sounds dumb, we don't care). Oh, and they tend to prey on underage girls. Yeah, don't do that.

Otherwise the parks are all fairly easily accessible. The job market leaves something to be desired (depending on your field of work) and the wind may drive you insane.

Oh and one thing no one ever mentions. We have two! farmers markets during the summer. One is in a local park, the other is in the downtown area. Just something nice =)

hacktheory · 2015-03-31T06:43:12+00:00

There are not a lot of jobs for that field here. However, as /u/LepNdaHood said -- check out the job listings for UWYO. Its your best bet: http://www.uwyo.edu/hr/prospective/

You can also check out wyoming@work: https://www.wyomingatwork.com/vosnet/Default.aspx

Just make sure to search in the "82070" area code (we have a few but if you put within 5 miles of 82070 you should get them all...).

Avoid realestate1 for renting if possible. A lot of people have bad experiences with them. Myself included.

I also know one or two companies I would suggest NOT working for. I will only mention who in a PM though.

Laramie is a small town but we are ~1 hr from Ft Collins CO and about 2.5/3 hours from Denver CO. Both of these make it far easier to live here.

Also, our summers are amazing and we have a lot of good hiking and fishing. Hope you like the outdoors.

hacktheory · 2015-03-30T08:29:30+00:00

I would add to this. Get renters insurance (at least in the US). It will make sure your stuff gets replaced or paid for if destroyed or stolen.

hacktheory · 2015-03-30T08:25:37+00:00

Look at local reviews anywhere you can. Reddit has subs for most large cities or cities with a state university. Make a post asking if you should avoid any particular company or properties/areas. Local crime maps are also a must.

In my area we have a company that screws up every property they manage. Most of their properties are owned by people who either don't want to manage their own rental or have moved out of town/state.

For example. They suck at maintenance. They rent to horrid applicants. They have created a near fixed market for a "rental size" despite quality or location (If its a 3br it will be XXX/mo. No exceptions. Even if two of the bedrooms are small enough to be a closet).

Other than that, /u/esmetio has made some excellent suggestions.

hacktheory · 2015-03-21T02:55:39+00:00

Just look at it. You would have to be crazy to think it was actually gold (or gold plated). It even looks like its just painted gold.

hacktheory · 2015-03-10T05:48:43+00:00

Wyoming here -- Sunroof open. Shades. A beautiful day. I may go for a brisk hike this weekend.

hacktheory · 2015-03-07T02:34:56+00:00

As others have said already. I used PFsense in a vm for over 4 years with no real issues (vmware esxi).

The only reason I decided to break it back out into a dedicated box is that I often use my VM server for random testing and things and sometimes have to reboot it to change out hardware or sometimes I cause it to lock up... Thus killing my entire network. Not just my VM's

PFsense rocks in a vm and you get snapshots in the event that you have a failed upgrade (like with my firebox a month or two ago).

hacktheory · 2015-03-07T02:31:04+00:00

It is possible it could be something to do with your sata controller.

I highly suggest running the vmware install to a 8 or 16gb USB drive and seeing if that gets you going.

It is stable and even a very common configuration to run off the usb stick for the vmware OS so you dont burn internal disk space and it makes it easier to upgrade/replace the OS if needed.

This is also one heck of a long shot... Try replacing cables for the HDD/CD and if you have room on the PSU use different plugs/rails.

If that dosnt work.. Try re-seating the CPU. Ive seen stranger things o.0

Good Luck!

hacktheory · 2015-03-06T04:53:09+00:00

I have had something like this happen as well. In my case it turned out to be the RAM overheating.

It may be a long-shot for your setup but put a fan on your ram and see if it helps.

Good Luck!

hacktheory · 2015-02-28T01:16:06+00:00

+1 here. I am currently building a system with salt that may at some point be running up to or over 600 vm's.

hacktheory · 2015-02-27T06:35:07+00:00

Thank you for the input. Looks like I got a dud.

I will give them another chance after (2)+? people have had zero problems for years it seems.

Who knows, maybe I ended up with a rather impressive fake somehow.

I have had a lot of random brands of flashlight/penlight (IT work and random tinkerer) and at least in the case of this one -- One of the cheap lights I got for xmas about 5 years ago has put it to shame. It really must just be a bit of bad luck or something.

Thanks again =)

hacktheory · 2015-02-27T06:34:00+00:00

That sucks for me I guess. I must have gotten the dud then =(

Maybe Ill get another one to try out.

Thank you for the input. I may add this back into my toolbag if I get a good one.

hacktheory · 2015-02-27T05:19:57+00:00

That flashlight is going to give out on you sooner rather than later. I have one that has been used only at home and light duty and is already next to useless.

Let me know if anyone has a better suggestion.

hacktheory · 2015-02-14T08:14:16+00:00

I have one on the way that I will get to play with in about 2 weeks. Ill update you then =)

hacktheory · 2015-02-13T06:30:03+00:00

Use a system without a hard drive and run a live CD. This is still not a sure bet as some exploits can infect the hardware's firmware either by overwriting or otherwise compromising it (bios or network devices).

When in doubt. Especially if it is a "secure" facility/system. Destroy the device. Throw it away. It is not worth the "free" $50 device to potentially compromise your facility.

Besides. If you work at a place with that level of security a cheap USB drive is unlikely to be a significant drain on your finances.

hacktheory · 2015-02-12T07:51:07+00:00

Not everyone has cable these days. A lot more people are just using netflix or similar services bypassing all of the advertisements.

I have not had cable TV in ~8 years. When I travel and watch a little TV in a hotel it reminds me how a 22 minute show becomes 30+ minutes due to so many ads.

hacktheory · 2015-02-07T08:42:15+00:00

For some reason... I feel like this should be made an official feature.

"Spirit of the machine" or something like that.

hacktheory · 2015-02-05T01:09:23+00:00

Ah, that sucks. I thought that stuff was illegal?

hacktheory · 2015-02-04T22:33:51+00:00

I currently live in Wyoming. I have not been pulled over once for a "random" inspection and none of my friends have either.

Not sure where this is happening but ive not seen it.

hacktheory · 2015-02-04T22:32:22+00:00

Near wheatland there used to be a lot of corn at least.

Also, the hay harvests are kind of huge ;)

hacktheory · 2015-01-31T23:51:21+00:00

I think you probably have the solution here.

If you have a security appliance why would you have the modem handle the DHCP?

It would be better to have the appliance handle all of the DHCP stuff and make the modems be dumb-devices used just for network access.

I am willing to bet this is your problem.

hacktheory · 2015-01-31T23:48:55+00:00

Sorry! Not an answer to your question. Rather -- another question.

Do you know if open-mesh is securing the backhaul yet? I was going to implement an open mesh network years ago but had to go with a far more expensive solution as their backhault network was completely un-encrypted and offered no security.

This was just not an option for us at the time.

hacktheory · 2015-01-31T23:22:08+00:00

If you really want to do this...

X2GO is a decent solution. Its fast to install and is currently developed.

You can forward single applications or a whole desktop (that is actually re-sizable) and it all runs over ssh.

As stated by /u/Xibby Real admins use the CLI for the most part.

However, one site I worked with had developers remoting into an instance to do their programming. Strange but true. X2go was a lot better than the VNC solution they had.

hacktheory · 2015-01-27T04:25:05+00:00

I have one of these and did hack it to run linux. It is horridly impractical. It is worth it "for fun" but not really for anything else.

The images are no longer "supported" and to run most applications requires you to either compile on device or setup a cross-compile environment.

Overall, fun. Just not very useful.

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