Change Log

2025-05-29 Laptop Windows Reinstallation

  • Created Windows 10 installation media using a spare laptop
  • Installed Windows 10
  • Uninstalled unnecessary preinstalled software
  • Installed desired software:
    • Anki - flashcards
    • Quizfaber - timed practice quizzes
    • Obsidian - knowledge base
    • GitHub Desktop - version control for this website
    • VS Code - IDE and Markdown editor for scripting and documentation
    • Git - version control backend
  • Wiped USB installer

2025-05-27 Thinkcentre m920q setup

  • Booted into preinstalled Windows 11 Pro to confirm hardware specs (i5-8500t, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
  • Created Proxmox installation media and installed Proxmox VE
  • Deployed existing VMs: Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC, Windows Server 2019 LTSC, and Ubuntu MATE Desktop
  • Encountered storage driver issues with Windows VMs; resolved using Proxmox best practices and VirtIO drivers.

Laptop Windows reinstallation prep - deferred until thinkcentre became proxmox host

  • Required Proxmox on Thinkcentre to wipe Proxmox on laptop.
  • Identified USB drive failure when preparing Windows 11 media for laptop reinstall (needed for OnVue Exams (A+))
  • Ordered replacement USBs for OS setup and file transfers.
  • Reinstallation planned after drives arrive.

2025-05-21 VPN Testing (WireGuard via Pi)

  • configured PiVPN (WireGuard) on Raspberry Pi after reimaging with static IP and UDP 51825 - also tested ports 443 and 51820
  • confirmed public IP on router, firewall disabled, DMZ enabled to Pi
  • tested from iPhone on LTE — no traffic seen in tcpdump on above ports
  • concluded VPN not possible due to ISP/carrier restrictions or router bug
  • shifting Pi toward other useful lightweight services (e.g. DNS, metrics, logging)
  • DNSMasq was cleaned up, config files in customdnsmasq.d are now in the default dnsmasq.d folder.
  • Raspberry Pi also now is only using eth0 Ethernet interface - wlan0 disabled, will re-enable if needed.

2025-05-03 Config backup/cleanup

  • Backed up /etc/customdnsmasq.d/ and /home/smyles11/scripts to google drive in a new homelab folder
  • ensured logging was disabled and restarted dnsmasq
  • removed old pihole config - dnsmasq.d/ is now empty but it needs to stay there because dnsmasq will check that folder for configs even with a separate config folder
  • tested using dnsmasq --test and systemctl status

2025-05-02 DNS Speed improvements

  • set cache size as 1000 in dns.conf due to high ping
  • set neg-ttl as 600 seconds (10 minutes)
  • added 8.8.8.8 as one of the backup servers (1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8)
  • ensured main config was not using /etc/resolv.conf or /etc/hosts
  • wanting to add ethernet to the raspberry pi for faster and more reliable network connection.