Posts on Awakashe.com

Build your own jumpbox (OOBM or an ILO)

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 15:48:49 +0530

I have a small home server setup to run some self-hosted applications. Even though it’s small, the setup became complicated because of security and high availability requirements since it hosted a solar power monitoring system and some other critical vm’s. Since the system was new, there were lot of issues (hardware and software), and I need to connect direct cables and even reconfigure entire systems to get access to the server when it refuses to connect. Also, there were lockouts from my own mistakes like configuring a public IP range for one of my local subnets. (A 172. public IP range was configured to my local WAN subnet by accident but seems very efficient to confuse any remote attackers as I experienced when troubleshooting) Anyhow after several lockouts, I thought of creating a small/secure VM as a jump box to connect to the home server from anywhere and any device.

Spot the Human

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 02:35:31 +0530

For the past couple of weeks, I have been in a strange dilemma. I was reluctant to sleep and carry out all nighters to complete plethora of work that needs to be done around the house. And finally, after sleeping, it seems pointless to wake-up and feel there is nothing to be done even though lots of work is still pending. So, most mornings (Or afternoons, depending on the day before) I will be stuck in bed and going through hundreds of notifications on my mobile phone. And then I saw above picture in a CCTV alert saying, “human was detected”. This made me laugh because it was a familiar bird type and I used to mimic their sounds whenever they were near my house and screaming shit.

What Happened to Monday?

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 01:25:00 +0530

Safety first Link to heading

There was this promising stock, Monday.com, with positive metrics and well-known—at least to me. It had been on YouTube ads for what felt like millennia. I bought in on a dip, but unfortunately the dip persisted. Since I was just getting to know investing and was overconfident in my analytical skills, I had no automatic loss protection configured. Long story short, I lost about five years’ worth of liquor money in that week.

My First Stock Market Shock

Sat, 24 Jan 2026 02:40:37 +0530

Since my savings were running out, I thought of investing in the stock market to get some higher returns on some dollars I earned from my previous job. I was looking at the China and U.S. markets and finally decided to invest in the U.S. markets since I was familiar with most of the companies there. However, the recent turbulence in the world and AI bubble fears caused my first major loss, and to ease my mind and assess my options, I had a chat with my AI (Copilot). The conversation was long, but in the end it was clear that some things are heading in the right direction and my money will be in safe hands. I just wanted to share the summary of the chat for anyone interested and for future me to be reminded that we are still conscious and willing to exist. (Pun in a good way intended)

A Journey Through My Solar System 1 - Concerns

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 00:00:49 +0530

I had recently built a budget solar system mainly to avoid power cuts. Requirement was a very simple one but because of the pricings and system options (more like limitations), it felt like installing a powerplant inside the house. After about three months of testing and analyzing data, I found below points that can be very useful for a newbie like me to build their first solar system, not losing an arm and a leg.

My Home Cinema

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 21:00:49 +0530

In the beginning Link to heading

As an IT guy having constant interactions with people and computers (same same), a quality off time (or me time) is an absolute necessity. Other than playing games that are harder than real life (survival games) I like to watch movies and TV shows with a bang. My first home theater setup was a Yamaha 6.1 AV receiver with a 29-inch Singer CRT TV. At the time (2007) it was a good setup and with a S-Video cable connection and a Toss Link cable for the audio, there were no disappointments. Then I had to move to Singapore for work and built a much advance setup with a projector, Denon AV receiver and a nice sofa bed. After some time, I had to come back to Sri Lanka and sequence of unfortunate events I couldn’t build a home theater again. However, I was experimenting with monitors and headphones to get the bass (yeah, I like to feel things) and the level of visual details from my PC setup. And then I had to go back to Singapore again!

Docker Container Backup

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 21:34:58 +0530

Idea Link to heading

Since I was running some servers containing critical data on my home network, there was a requirement to build a setup to backup the data and upload it to a remote storage. And one of the concerns was to keep the cost low to none and keep the resource usage to minimum as possible.

Plan Link to heading

There were lots of backup options including ones with more features but since my server is a low-end thin-client, I decided to build a script my self using bash. And for the remote storage it was decided to use the mega.nz as it offers 20gb of encrypted storage by default.

Jane and John

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 19:34:35 +0530

In case the video doesnt work, here is the direct link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IiGI7plJcc

I heard this song on the tv show Scissor Seven. It was a background music for some funny parts in the series and since it was so catchy, I search for it in the web. And then saw its lyrics. Just wanted to share it since the lyrics are totally different than how it sounds.(Definitely not funny) Enjoy.

Aesthetics and Statistics

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 19:46:26 +0530

My first Blog Link to heading

After browsing the internet for 25 years, I’ve finally decided to create my first blog. This space will be used to share my views on various topics and to showcase my projects (yep, especially for potential employers!).

Its full of Stars Link to heading

I first encountered the “internet” in the late ’90s at an exhibition. Until then, it was something we only knew about from books and magazines. As I recall, the first site I visited was Yahoo, to create an email address. I got my first PC in 2000, and with it, my first dial-up internet connection. Requirements were very small back then; my primary use of the internet was reading emails and updating my antivirus. (I think every floppy disk I received had at least one virus on it!) Downloading music was tempting too, but with the low speed and connection instabilities, it wasn’t practical. Web browsing was very limited due to the time-based charging of dial-up lines. However, we did browse a couple of popular chat sites and forums that were common back then. And those were really slow and buggy.