Are you tired of relying on big tech clouds for your personal data? In my latest video, I walk you through a complete, self-hosted solution for file synchronization that keeps your data private and under your control. This tutorial is designed for beginners but covers everything you need to know to sync files across Ubuntu, Windows, and Android devices seamlessly. 🎥 What You’ll Learn in This Video We break down the entire setup process into clear, manageable steps: - Getting Started: How to download and prepare a bootable Ubuntu flash drive. - Ubuntu Setup: A step-by-step guide to installing Ubuntu and configuring Syncthing for file syncing. - Windows Integration: Installing and setting up Syncthing on Windows to sync with your Linux machine. - Mobile Sync: An overview of mobile Syncthing clients and a specific configuration guide for Android. - Network Security: How to use Netbird to securely connect your Ubuntu and Android devices over the internet without exposing them publicly. - Live Testing: Real-time folder sharing and synchronization tests to prove it all works. 🛠️ The Tech Stack - OS: Ubuntu & Windows - Sync Tool: Syncthing (Open-source, decentralized) - Network Tool: Netbird (For secure, private connections) Whether you want to replace Google Drive, back up your Android photos to your PC, or simply learn how to manage your own data infrastructure, this video has you covered. You can find the video in the classroom section. Have fun ;)

I’m preparing my first YouTube video. Naturally, I decided to overcomplicate things by creating the thumbnail using only local tools. After some research, I found that ComfyUI is the best tool for this job. What is ComfyUI? - It allows users to visually connect components to build complex image-processing pipelines. - It supports different AI models through a node-based interface, enabling custom generative workflows without writing code. - It’s free and open source. If you’re on macOS or Windows, installation is straightforward, you just need to download the appropriate client. On Linux (like me), you’ll need to install it manually. There are a few ways to do this. The easiest method is using a Python virtual environment along with comfy-cli. Step-by-step installation, here’s the process I followed: 1. Create an empty directory and open it. 2. Open a terminal window. 3. Create a Python virtual environment: 'python -m venv venv' 4. Install the CLI: 'pip install comfy-cli' 5. Install shell completion: 'comfy --install-completion' 6. Run the setup wizard: 'comfy setup' 7. Complete the initial configuration. 8. Install ComfyUI: 'comfy install' 9. Launch ComfyUI: 'comfy launch' And now I can spend the next three months learning how to make a thumbnail. 😊

I recently switched my Omarchy Linux setup to give QEMU/KVM VMs direct LAN access using a native bridge (br0) and systemd-networkd. Here is the exact config I used to get it running without sudo. I dropped three files into /etc/systemd/network/ to define the bridge and attach my interface (eno1). - /etc/systemd/network/10-br0.netdev [NetDev] Name=br0 Kind=bridge - 20-eno1.network [Match] Name=eno1 [Network] Bridge=br0 - /etc/systemd/network/20-br0.network [Match] Name=eno1 [Network] Bridge=br0 - /etc/systemd/network/20-br0.network [Match] Name=br0 [Network] DHCP=yes Then I just ran sudo systemctl restart systemd-networkd.service To let my VMs use this bridge without root, I updated two config files. - /etc/qemu/bridge.conf allow br0 - /etc/libvirt/qemu-bridge-helper.conf allow br0 After a sudo systemctl restart libvirtd, my VMs connect directly to the network via br0 instantly. Clean, native, and no sudo needed for launch.

Hello Engineers, I'm currently testing a self-hosted file-sharing solution, Syncthing. Below is a list of options that help achieve a reasonably secure configuration. I haven't described these options in detail, all of them can be found in the documentation. Settings -> General -> Device name -> Fill in the device name Settings -> General -> Anonymous Usage Reporting -> Disable Settings -> GUI -> Start Browser -> Disable Advanced -> GUI -> Address -> Fill in the local network interface ip address Advanced -> GUI -> Enabled -> Leave Enabled Advanced -> GUI -> Password -> Fill in (password to log in to the GUI) Advanced -> GUI -> Use TLS -> Enable Advanced -> GUI -> User -> Fill in a user name (user to log in to the GUI) Advanced -> Options -> Always Local Nets -> Fill in a local network interface Advanced -> Options -> Announce LAN Address -> Disable Advanced -> Options -> Crash reporting Enabled -> Disable Advanced -> Options -> Global Announce Enabled -> Disable Advanced -> Options -> Nat Enabled -> Disable Advanced -> Options -> Relays Enabled -> Disable Advanced -> Options -> Local Announce enabled -> Enabled by default, should be enabled only if local address explicitly specified by the option "Always Local Nets" Advanced -> Options -> Overwrite Remote Device Names On -> Enable Advanced -> Options -> Listen Address -> Left default

When I spin up a new Ubuntu VM on Proxmox, I like to keep the setup minimal but fully functional. My goal is always the same: get proper integration with Proxmox and enable quick remote access via RDP. Here’s the exact workflow I use. Initial Setup After Installation After installing Ubuntu, I skip all optional extras: - Ubuntu Pro → I choose “Skip for now” - Help Improve Ubuntu → I select “No” Once I land on the desktop, I immediately update everything: - sudo apt update - sudo apt upgrade -y Installing QEMU Guest Agent One of the first things I install is the QEMU Guest Agent. It makes Proxmox much more aware of what’s happening inside the VM. - sudo apt install qemu-guest-agent -y After that, I shut the VM down: - sudo poweroff Then on the Proxmox side: - I remove the installation ISO (Hardware → CD/DVD → Remove) - I enable the QEMU Guest Agent (Options → QEMU Guest Agent → Enable) When I boot the VM again, I quickly check if it worked by looking at the Summary tab, if I see the IP address there, I know everything is working correctly. Setting Up XRDP For remote access, I usually go with XRDP since it’s simple and works well enough for most use cases. First, I install it: - sudo apt install xrdp -y Then I fix a small but common permission issue: - sudo adduser xrdp ssl-cert Next, I tweak the XRDP startup script: - sudo nano /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh At the top of the file, I add: - export DESKTOP_SESSION=ubuntu - export GNOME_SHELL_SESSION_MODE=ubuntu - export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=ubuntu:GNOME After saving the file, I restart the service: - sudo systemctl restart xrdp Connecting to the VM At this point, I just grab the IP address from the Proxmox Summary tab and connect using any RDP client (Remmina). I log in with the same user I created during installation, and that’s it, I have a working GNOME desktop over RDP. Optional Notes If I happen to be using UFW, I also open the RDP port: