Successfully virtualized a MikroTik Router ("Cloud Hosted Router") on FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE with BHYVE

Works absolutely great (920 Mbit/s throughput on a 1GBps license!)

#freebsd #mikrotik #routeros #networking

Okay, so I got the converted Windows 10 VM running under #Bhyve without issue, everything is working as it should.

But for some reason, all VMs on this host can only be started once, after a VM is stopped, the host has to be rebooted to get them running again.

There are no errors, no logs, no .lock files, no stale tap interfaces, no zombie processes, just nothing at all. When I issue "vm start windows10", there is a short spike in CPU usage, then nothing happens, and the VM remains " Stopped".

Has someone ran into such a problem before with #FreeBSD 15.0? All other hosts I have used so far ran the VMs perfectly fine... 🤔

BLOG POST: The FreeBSD Bug Report That Wouldn't Die (And Didn't)

https://stevengharms.com/posts/2026-04-14-the-freebsd-bug-report-that-wouldnt-die-and-didnt/

Thanks to @grahamperrin for assistance.

#Freebsd #ai #claude_code

From Analog Phone to FreeBSD Server Interface

In his latest write-up, Alexander Deplov restores a vintage Panasonic desk phone and connects it to a FreeBSD server via a Grandstream HT801 and Asterisk, turning the handset into a physical command menu.

If you’re interested in creative integrations or bridging old devices with modern systems, this is worth a read.

Read the full article:
https://interfacecraft.online/blog/2026/desktop-phone-connected-to-freebsd-server/

#FreeBSD #OpenSource #BSD #Telephony #Asterisk #HardwareIntegration

New 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗕𝗦𝗗 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿/𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗴(𝟴) 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹 [FreeBSD Image Builder/Installer verimg(8) Tool] article on vermaden.wordpress.com blog.

https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2026/04/15/freebsd-image-builder-installer-verimg-tool/

#verblog #freebsd #image #vmimage #build #install #unattended #automation

This is fun

https://interfacecraft.online/blog/2026/desktop-phone-connected-to-freebsd-server/

#FreeBSD

RE: https://social.treehouse.systems/@thesamesam/116406584274197466

#FreeBSD folks: #Poudriere needs something like this.

sam » 🌐 2026-04-15
@thesamesam@social.treehouse.systems

@pinskia @david_chisnall @edwintorok @regehr Our steve jobserver can do that (https://codeberg.org/gentoo/steve). I wouldn't expect ninja to implement it, at least any time soon.

New FreeBSD blog post:

I hooked up a desk phone to my FreeBSD server, so I actually can call it.

https://interfacecraft.online/blog/2026/desktop-phone-connected-to-freebsd-server/

#FreeBSD #network #programming #llm #ai

For *BSD fans, I wish to understand something that truly bothers me.

You are a fan of one or more BSD os. Is that BSD (doesn't matter which one) your daily driver, your primary OS on your main computer?

#BSD #FreeBSD #OpenBSD #NetBSD

We’re pleased to share an article from the Q1 2026 issue of the FreeBSD Journal, focused on Laptop/Desktop.

In “Let Sleeping CPUs Lie — S0ix,” Aymeric Wibo 🇵🇸 Wibo explores modern laptop power management and what really happens when your system goes to sleep.

Read the full article:
https://freebsdfoundation.org/our-work/journal/browser-based-edition/laptop-desktop/let-sleeping-cpus-lie-s0ix/

#FreeBSD #FreeBSDJournal #OpenSource #LaptopSupport #PowerManagement

Latest quarterly FreeBSD package upgrade broke my Nextcloud 😮‍💨

Post mortem: The new version of php85-pdo_pgsql is now compiled against PostgreSQL 18, not 17. So pkg upgrade removed postgresql17-server, leaving Nextcloud dysfunctional without a database.

Solution:
- Reinstalled postgresql17-server
- Dumped the db with pg_dump
- Installed postgresql18-server & php85-pdo_pgsql
- Copied over pg_hba.conf & postgresql.conf
- Created empty db/user in PG18
- Imported the db dump
- Ran occ maintenance:data-fingerprint

Restarted php-fpm & nginx

All fine again. But that was unpleasant 🙂

#SysAdmin #SelfHosted #FreeBSD #Nextcloud #Postgresql

The BSDCan 2026 schedule has been published, https://www.bsdcan.org/2026/timetable/timetable-all.html

You can register for the conference, which runs June 17 - 20, 2026 at https://www.bsdcan.org/2026/registration.html @bsdcan #bsdcan #ottawa #freebsd #netbsd #openbsd #development #sysadmin #devops #libresoftware #freesoftware

Do you want to come to Brussels, mingle with BSD people, perhaps do a talk, a tutorial or a BOF session?

The Call for papers https://2026.eurobsdcon.org/cfp/ is open until June 20th, for the conference in Brussels September 9-13, 2026.

We also offer pre-submission guidance/mentoring, as described in the CFP document.

Wonder what BSD and the conferences are about? See https://nxdomain.no/~peter/what_is_bsd_come_to_a_conference_to_find_out.html

@EuroBSDCon #freebsd #netbsd #openbsd #freesoftware #libresoftware #brussels #bruxelles

#FreeBSD 16 System Calls Table

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alfonso-siciliano_freebsd-happycoding-unix-share-7448055727795064832-EJ9l

Could I use FreeBSD to provide small-scale VPS hosting in a multi-tenancy setup? It doesn't need to be fancy, power user skills could be assumed, but things would need to be properly isolated from each other. Minimal features would be providing console access and power on/power off/reboot features.
Nice to have is uploading and mounting your own ISO.

When I previously asked a similar question at illumos Cafe, the answer was Triton Datacenter. As far as I can tell, FreeBSD doesn't have anything close to that. I've looked for VPS hosting providers that run FreeBSD underneath but haven't found a lot. Even FreeBSD-focused companies usually turn out to use Xen underneath. The closest thing is probably OpenBSD Amsterdam, which is of course not FreeBSD.

#freebsd #hosting #vps #openbsd #cloud

The BSDCan 2026 Schedule has been posted. 30 regular talks, one set of lightning talks, and one Audio BoF: https://www.bsdcan.org/2026/timetable/timetable-all.html

Both FreeBSD and NetBSD will be holding two day Dev Summits across the hall from each other in DMS.
https://wiki.freebsd.org/DevSummit/202606
https://www.netbsd.org/gallery/events.html#bsdcan2026

Just like last year, the reception on Saturday night is free if you register early. This year you must register before May 1, 2026: https://www.bsdcan.org/2026/registration.html

#bsdcan @bsdcan #freebsd #openbsd #netbsd

Please boost for a larger reach. ❤️

Latest 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲/𝟬𝟰/𝟭𝟯 (Valuable News - 2026/04/13) available.

https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2026/04/13/valuable-news-2026-04-13/

Past releases: https://vermaden.wordpress.com/news/

#verblog #vernews #news #bsd #freebsd #openbsd #netbsd #linux #unix #zfs #opnsense #ghostbsd #solaris #vermadenday

Haven't seen this mentioned here, just added my report!

"we decided to start a rigorous testing program to comprehensively validate all laptop and desktop functionality together"

#freebsd

https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/call-for-testing-introducing-the-laptop-integration-testing-project/

Does anyone run Linux desktop apps that require several shared libraries (such as gtk) on FreeBSD? If so, how do you do it? (Linuxulator, Linux jail, VM?)

Background: I'm trying to run the Linux binary for Zotero because the ports are for an old version. But it has lots of libraries that in turn need lots of shared libraries.
I did try to use debootstrap to install a Debian system and install libraries via chroot, but the lack of systemd prevented library installation.

#freebsd #BSD #zotero

This weekend is the perfect time to get your #eurobsdcon submissions done!

The Call for papers https://2026.eurobsdcon.org/cfp/ is open until June 20th, for the conference in Brussels September 9-13, 2026.

We also offer pre-submission guidance/mentoring, see within.

Wonder what BSD and the conferences are about? See https://nxdomain.no/~peter/what_is_bsd_come_to_a_conference_to_find_out.html

@EuroBSDCon #freebsd #netbsd #openbsd #freesoftware #libresoftware #brussels #bruxelles

I was inspired by @gumnos ' blog post back in November that I posted one of my own. Took 4 months but I've posted it!

My Journey to the BSDs:

https://pertho.net/2026/04/11/my-journey-to-the-bsds/

#FreeBSD #OpenBSD #Linux #Sysadmin

Show off your *BSD desktop!

https://billboard.bsd.cafe/topic/72/show-off-your-bsd-desktop

#RunBSD #OpenBSD #FreeBSD #DragonflyBSD #NetBSD #Illumos #Screenshot #Desktop #picture #bsdcafe #billboard

In the world of BSD conferendes, BSDCan 2026 https://bsdcan.org is next, on June 17-20 in Ottawa, Canada.

Read more about the BSD conferences in "What is BSD? Come to a conference to find out!" https://nxdomain.no/~peter/what_is_bsd_come_to_a_conference_to_find_out.html #netbsd #openbsd #freebsd #conference #freesoftware #libresoftware #development #networking #sysadmin

@david_chisnall @whitequark
#FreeBSD still has #NVIDIA #GPU driver ports maintained under the NVIDIA umbrella of x11 group maintainers (ashafer@, danfe@, kbowling@ and me).
There are:
x11/nvidia-kmod{-304|-340|-390|-470|-580|-devel}
x11/nvidia-driver{-304|-340|-390|-470|-580|-devel}
graphics/nvidia-drm-{510|515|61|66|latest}-kmod{-580|-devel}
x11/linux-nvidia-libs{-304|-340|-390|-470|-580|-devel}
as driver and library parts and
graphics/eglexternalplatform
graphics/egl-wayland
graphics/egl-wayland2
graphics/egl-x11
as support libraries / build helper provided by NVIDIA.

Note that -devel variants are for whichever newer of New Feature Branch (NFB) or Production Branch (PB) of drivers, not for Beta drivers. Released Beta is the trigger for me to start investigating for preparing upcoming NFB and/or PB.

You can see
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/unix/
that FreeBSD and #Solaris is still entitled as supported platforms.

We’ve published the second monthly report (March 2026) for the Cyber Resilience Act Readiness project, part of our ongoing 2026 effort to prepare the FreeBSD community for the European Union’s cybersecurity regulation.

Read the March report: https://github.com/FreeBSDFoundation/all-projects/blob/main/Cyber%20Resilience%20Act%20Readiness/monthly-updates/2026-03.md

#FreeBSD #OpenSource #Security #CyberResilienceAct #CRA #Community

Happy Friday #FreeBSD

On FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE, What's needed to get vulkan working with wine_devel-11.5?

If I set WINE_D3D_CONFIG="renderer=vulkan"
(environment variable) I get "Renderer Creation Failed!"

However, I can run vkcube with no problems.

Are there some WINE dxvk .dlls I need to copy from somewhere? How do people get Vulkan working with WINE 11 on FreeBSD?

Please boost and thanks!

#wine #FreeBSD #gaming #vulkan

RE: https://mastodon.social/@FreeBSDFoundation/116376576205179553

How the Foundation’s Laptop Support & Usability Project Came Together

#FreeBSD #Foundation <https://freebsdfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/goodkin.pdf> (PDF) | <https://freebsdfoundation.org/our-work/journal/browser-based-edition/laptop-desktop/how-the-foundations-laptop-support-usability-project-came-together/> (HTML) @FreeBSDFoundation

＂… The Laptop Support & Usability Project is not just about laptops. It is about making FreeBSD more usable, more approachable, and more practical for the kinds of day-to-day use cases that help bring people into the community and keep them there. …＂

@dgoodkin wow. Thank you. I haven't seen as good an overview of a complex project, and its context, in a long time. Years.

#desktop #laptop #usability #LSU

Stefano Marinelli boosted

FreeBSD Foundation » 🌐 2026-04-09
@FreeBSDFoundation@mastodon.social

The Q1 2026 issue of the FreeBSD Journal is here.

This edition focuses on Laptop and Desktop systems, highlighting the work improving usability and performance across FreeBSD. Inside, you’ll find articles like Consolations for Kernel Hackers by Tom Jones, along with an inside look at how the Foundation’s Laptop Support & Usability Project came together, written by Deb Goodkin.

Read it here: https://freebsdfoundation.org/our-work/journal/browser-based-edition/laptop-desktop/

The latest #FreeBSD Journal just escaped! My Letters column contains some of the best advice I have ever offered system administrators. "Snuggle the pain" is only the beginning.

https://freebsdfoundation.org/our-work/journal/browser-based-edition/laptop-desktop/

#FreeBSD Jail users!

@antranigv and I are organizing a weekly Jail/Zone/Container call to complement the #bhyve calls. The meeting is 10AM Pacific every Wednesday and will also alternate between a Developer a d Production User focus.

DM me an email address if you would like to be added to the invitation list!

To the two who have written, watch for an updated announcement in the next 24 hours.

Maybe I've already posted it, but this was my desktop in early 2000.

This was running #Linux, at the time of the photo.
Since 2002, both #Linux and #FreeBSD in dual boot.

#ThrowbackThursday #RetroComputing #VintageComputer

Alt...

A vintage desktop computer setup from 1st March 2000, featuring a beige CRT monitor, a matching tower case with floppy and CD drives, a wired keyboard and mouse, and various cables and accessories on a cluttered desk. The IOMega Zip drive is over the scanner, too. Under the tower, the external USRobotics 56K serial modem.

All I have to say right now is #FreeBSD is a level of awesomeness previously unrealized by the #Linux community.

#RunBSD #tech

Had a great time joining the Call For Testing channel's Jail/Zones Production User Call to talk about daemonless.io! We dove deep into the weeds of bringing native FreeBSD OCI container images to life, porting complex application stacks, and exploring the future of container ecosystems on FreeBSD.

Check out the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/1pKdEZ1DhYM

#FreeBSD #daemonless #OCI #Containers #OpenSource #SelfHosted

New blog post: #FreeBSD 16 System Calls Table

https://alfonsosiciliano.gitlab.io/posts/2026-04-09-freebsd-16-system-calls.html

I wrote this mainly as personal notes to explore and kick off a new project, but it might be useful for others too.

#happycoding #UNIX #openSource #kernel #coding #syscalls #SystemCall

Today's real champion is this one. One of my PC Engines APU devices - I don’t remember the exact year I bought it, probably 2017.

It worked at my home as a router/firewall with OPNsense for several months, then in 2018 I installed it at a client’s site, "as a temporary emergency solution". Still running OPNsense, always kept updated, and it hasn’t missed a bit since then.

During a severe thunderstorm, the access point and switch connected to it were fried, but it kept going - silently and reliably. Zerotier, Wireguard, port forwarding, bandwidth graphs - all handled in a hot office, often with the air conditioning turned off during holidays.

It did everything, and it still works.

The client moved to a new location this morning, and the APU was replaced with a more powerful device (in anticipation of a future Internet upgrade). I decided to take it back with me (technically, it’s still mine) - they couldn’t find the power adapter, probably still packed in boxes, but up until 07:30 this morning (the last time I connected to the server behind it via VPN), it was perfectly reliable.

I’ll probably keep using it - I have others - maybe in the office as a file server with two attached drives.

Honor to the device, honor to OPNsense, honor to FreeBSD.

#OPNSense #FreeBSD #RunBSD #APU #APU2 #PCEngines

Alt...

A PC Engines APU embedded system board housed in a red metal enclosure, sitting on a wooden table. The back panel displays three Gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB 3.0 ports, a DB9 serial console port, and a power input jack.

Latest 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲/𝟬𝟰/𝟬𝟲 (Valuable News - 2026/04/06) available.

https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2026/04/06/valuable-news-2026-04-06/

Past releases: https://vermaden.wordpress.com/news/

#verblog #vernews #news #bsd #freebsd #openbsd #netbsd #linux #unix #zfs #opnsense #ghostbsd #solaris #vermadenday

Call for Testing: Laptop Integration Testing Project

We’re expanding the Laptop Support and Usability Project and inviting the community to help test FreeBSD on real hardware.

-Which laptop works best with FreeBSD?
-Will my current laptop support the features I need?
-What configuration tweaks might be required?

Testing is automated, anonymized, and straightforward, and your feedback helps improve FreeBSD for everyone.
Learn how to participate:
https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/call-for-testing-introducing-the-laptop-integration-testing-project/
#FreeBSD #OpenSource

SYNOPSIS
bastille template [-ax] TARGET|convert TEMPLATE

DESCRIPTION
The bastille template sub-command will apply the specified TEMPLATE to TARGET.

-a, --auto : Auto mode. Start/stop jail(s) if required.

-x, --debug : Enable debug mode.

EXAMPLES
Apply www/nginx to myjail:
bastille template myjail www/nginx

#ManpageMonday #BastilleBSD #FreeBSD

Happy Friday #FreeBSD

For anyone who are failing builds with #FreeBSD #ports graphics/nvidia-drm-{510|515|61|66|latest}-kmod{-devel} on 13.5-RELEASE, 14.3-RELEASE or stable/13:

Does the patch at review D56214 fix your issue?
https://reviews.freebsd.org/D56214

Note that the newer patch at Bug 294096 is technically the same one.
https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=294096

If it doesn't work, older patch at Bug 294096 should work (but overkill for unaffected 15.4-RELEASE, stable/15 and main).

Laptop Support and Usability (LSU): roadmap – 2026, first quarter – FreeBSD Foundation

<https://freebsdfoundation.github.io/proj-laptop/monthly-updates/Roadmap-Q1%202026.pdf> @FreeBSDFoundation

― via <https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1sb3g7z/laptop_support_and_usability_lsu_roadmap_2026/>.

@freebsd

#FreeBSD #Foundation #laptop #desktop

New Podcast: FreeBSD with John Baldwin

In this episode of Software Engineering Daily, FreeBSD developer and contributor John Baldwin joins Gregor Vand to explore the origins of FreeBSD, how its governance model differs from other open-source projects, its role inside systems like Netflix’s CDN and PlayStation 4, and the challenges of maintaining a 30-year-old codebase.

Listen here:
https://softwareengineeringdaily.com/2026/03/31/freebsd-with-john-baldwin/
#FreeBSD #OpenSource #BSD

EuroBSDcon 2026's call for papers is open, see https://2026.eurobsdcon.org/cfp/

Here is a direct link to the submissions form https://events.eurobsdcon.org/2026/submit/ew426G/info/

@eurobsdcon #eurobsdcon #openbsd #netbsd #freebsd #conference #development #devops #sysadmin #freesoftware #libresoftware

Dear friends of #BSDCafe - the BSD Cafe Journal needs some attention.

This isn't the best time for me to revive it myself, and that's exactly why I'm counting on you!

I'm sure you have great ideas, thoughts, projects, and articles that would fit perfectly in that space.

So don’t be shy 🙂
The BSD Cafe Journal is waiting for you!

#BSDCafeJournal #Blogging #RunBSD #FreeBSD #NetBSD #OpenBSD #DragonFlyBSD

Here is the CPU usage graph for the last 24 hours of the FediMeteo VM. A full 24 hours, during which a huge number of people are connecting, helped by the traction gained from being among the top stories on Hacker News and Lobsters, as well as the many shares across the Fediverse.

RAM usage? Active, around 450 MB. Then there is cache, ARC, and so on. But in practice, zero swap in use after days of uptime.

39 jails running, 39 snac instances, nginx serving the homepage, and HAProxy. HAProxy caching enabled. ZFS snapshots every 15 minutes, backups via zfs send and receive every hour. The same hourly schedule applies to the recalculation of cities, countries, and followers for the homepage.

All of this on a 4 euro per month FreeBSD VM.

If anyone has doubts about the quality and efficiency of FreeBSD, this is the data to show.

#FediMeteo #FreeBSD #RunBSD #IT #SysAdmin

Alt...

Time series graph showing CPU usage percentage over roughly 24 hours. The x axis represents time from about 13:00 to 12:00 the next day, and the y axis shows CPU usage from 0 to 100 percent. CPU usage fluctuates mostly between 15 and 35 percent, with periodic rises during daytime and early morning hours. Several short spikes reach around 45 to 55 percent, and one brief peak climbs to about 60 percent. Usage drops to lower levels, around 10 to 20 percent, during late evening and early morning periods. Overall, the graph shows moderate, variable CPU load with occasional sharp peaks.

This morning, as the zfs-send/receive had finished its job during the night, I performed the last sync and moved FediMeteo from the previous 4 euros/month VPS - netcup - to a 4 euros/month VPS - OVH, Milano, Italy.

Thanks to #BastilleBSD and the jail setup, it was easy peasy.

So, the weather forecasts are now broadcast from Italy and the performance has skyrocketed - while still being served by a 4 euro/month VPS.

I suspect the netcup VM had been capped by the provider - but I'll investigate.

So...Ciao, FediMeteo!

https://fedimeteo.com

#FreeBSD #RunBSD #OwnYourData #VPS #FediMeteo

In the past few days FediMeteo seemed to be having some performance trouble. I dug into it and only found minor issues, until I realised the VM itself had fallen off a cliff. After several reboots it became clear that both bandwidth and I/O latency had dropped to absurd levels. I suspect the provider slapped a cap on it.

So I took the chance to move everything to another VM and provider, still at 4 euro per month. And starting today, forecasts will be delivered straight from Italy. The performance jump feels like going from a storm to clear skies.

FediMeteo’s mission goes on. More countries are coming (stay tuned!) and we will keep aiming to serve everything from a 4 euro VM. I do have powerful hardware available, but proving that the project can run on tiny resources is still part of the mission.

#FediMeteo #FediMeteoAnnouncements #FediMeteoServices #VM #RunBSD #FreeBSD

Static Web Hosting on the Intel N150: FreeBSD, SmartOS, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Linux Compared

Update: This post has been updated to include Docker benchmarks and a comparison of container overhead versus FreeBSD Jails and illumos Zones.

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/11/19/static-web-hosting-intel-n150-freebsd-smartos-netbsd-openbsd-linux/

#ITNotes #freebsd #illumos #jail #linux #netbsd #openbsd #ownyourdata #server #smartos #sysadmin #zoneshosting

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/11/19/static-web-hosting-intel-n150-freebsd-smartos-netbsd-openbsd-linux/

#ITNotes #NoteHUB #freebsd #illumos #jail #linux #netbsd #openbsd #ownyourdata #server #smartos #sysadmin #zoneshosting

the list

#unix_surrealism #comic #poster #openbsd #freebsd #netbsd #dragonflybsd #9front #plan9 #glenda #cirno #girl #daemon #puffy #rabbit #mata #openblade #penguin #linux #foss

Alt...

MATACORP'S MOST WANTED HACKERS Fish Daemon Cirno OpenBlade Rabbit Frederick "the Hammer" Glenda II Sphence Purple "Penguin" Pentium-M Man Girl

This Isn't a Battle

After reading a post describing the FreeBSD community as 'toxic', I share a different perspective. This isn't a battle. It's a reflection on coexistence, the original Open Source spirit, and the quiet richness of taking a different path.

https://my-notes.dragas.net/2025/11/14/this-isnt-a-battle/

#MyNotes #IT #SysAdmin #FreeBSD #NetBSD #OpenBSD #Linux #OpenSource

#beastie #freebsd

Alt...

A cute crocheted red daemon, pretty similar to FreeBSD's mascot

I found this screenshot again and I still think it's brilliant. The best OS overview I've ever read.
#Linux #FreeBSD

Alt...

Screenshot of a Reddit comment saying this: Time for my OS opinion that's guaranteed to be unpopular with someone... Sun Solaris used to be the OS that required overpriced proprietary hardware and still couldn't compete with Linux. That OS is now MacOS. MacOS used to be the colorful and friendly walled garden OS that your non-techie parents would enjoy but was completely useless to you as a power user. That OS is now Windows. Windows used to be the OS that could run a lot of apps, but was a headache to setup and maintain correctly and would sometimes blow up for no reason. That OS is now Linux. Linux used to be the techie and developer oriented command-line OS that was lacking in desktop apps and might not support your hardware, but once you got it going, was rock solid and had no limits. That OS is now FreeBSD.

FediMeteo: How a Tiny €4 FreeBSD VPS Became a Global Weather Service for Thousands

https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/02/26/fedimeteo-how-a-tiny-freebsd-vps-became-a-global-weather-service-for-thousands/

#Fediverse #FreeBSD #RunBSD #Hosting #ITNotes #Networking #NoteHUB #Server #Snac #Snac2 #Social #Web

Some technical details for those interested:
The entire FediMeteo setup runs on a FreeBSD VM costing around 4 euros per month. It supports almost all major EU countries (plus the UK), with just a few left to complete. Currently, there are 25 separate jails, each running its own instance of snac, totaling 25 instances. The VM load typically stays around 10%, which increases to 30% when updates are published for countries with larger numbers of cities (currently Germany and Italy). The only time the load spikes is when new countries are announced; during that time, all remote instances connect to all cities to download their details.
As for RAM usage, excluding the ZFS cache, it's currently a total of 213 MB. Yes, MB.

#FreeBSD #FediMeteo #snac #Fediverse #Efficiency #RunBSD

Client: Help, emergency. I have 24 hours to move my workload to another server. What do we do?
Me, five minutes later: "Done. Your workload is now running on the new server."
Client: "How did you move over 200GB with just a minute of downtime, from one provider to another and in a different country?"
Me: "Thanks to FreeBSD, ZFS, and a little bit of proactive planning."

I have a task that replicates all the VMs from one server to another every 15 minutes using zfs-send/zfs-receive. This VM connects to a VPN with two reverse proxies.
Meaning, when I move this VM, we don’t need to change any IPs since it’s not directly exposed.
I powered it off, cloned the differences in seconds, and restarted it.

Client in disbelief.
Me, relaxed and happy.

Thank you, FreeBSD, thank you, ZFS!

#FreeBSD #ZFS #TechSupport #ServerMigration #OpenZFS #SysAdmin #RunBSD

Announcing FediMeteo – Weather in the Fediverse!

UPDATE: I have created an account for updates and other information on FediMeteo - follow the account @admin to stay updated!

UPDATE: Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland have just been added

Weather has always influenced our lives: from agriculture to outdoor activities, to extreme events that, thanks to modern technology, can now be predicted with greater reliability. Personally, weather plays a significant role in my daily decisions, which is why I decided to create a service tailored for the Fediverse.

FediMeteo uses Open-Meteo data to publish updates every 6 hours, including current weather conditions, forecasts for the next 12 hours, and predictions for the upcoming days. Each country is served by its own dedicated instance (e.g., it.fedimeteo.com for Italy), managed through snac to ensure simplicity and efficiency in publishing.

You can follow FediMeteo directly in the Fediverse (on Mastodon and compatible platforms), via RSS, or by visiting the dedicated page for your city (e.g., fr.fedimeteo.com/paris).

Currently supported countries include:
Austria, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, – with many more regions coming soon!

FediMeteo is hosted on a FreeBSD-based VPS, with each country isolated in its own jail to ensure security and scalability.

Visit the main site to explore the national instances and start following your local weather updates today:
https://fedimeteo.com

Happy weather monitoring to all! 🌦️

FediMeteo is dedicated to my grandfather, who every evening would give me the weather forecast based on TV, radio, and his personal experience. He would convince me that the weather would be bad, so he had an excuse to accompany me to school instead of me going alone.

#FediMeteo #Announcements #FreeBSD #FediMeteo #WeatherForecasts #Weather #Meteo #snac #Fediverse #Mastodon

Right so my personal #snac instance seems to be working ok and I have managed to import all of the accounts I follow here on bsd.cafe . I'll still be using this account but will try and see how I get on with snac. You may notice that it always shows that I have no followers and that I'm not following anyone. This is intentional by the author of #snac as they feel numbers should not matter which is quite true. Feel free to follow me over there if you haven't already and hello to any new followers.
@justine@snac.smithies.me.uk
All of this is hosted in my #HomeLab on a #FreeBSd server jail running over my home FTTP connection. I'm impressed I've gotten this far. Next I'll be doing some html and css customisation's to theme it a little.

**BSD Mail Project Update!**

Hello everyone! I wanted to share some exciting updates about the development of BSD Mail, our privacy-focused email service designed with robustness, security, and transparency in mind. Here’s a deep dive into the technical choices I've made, focusing on my use of open source solutions and open protocols:

🌍 **Servers & Location**

- We're running on two physical servers:
- One hosted by OVH in France
- Another by Hetzner in Germany
- Both servers operate on FreeBSD with NVMe drives in a ZFS mirror configuration for speed and data integrity.

🔒 **Virtualization & Security**

- We utilize jails on both servers to ensure isolated environments for different services, managed via BastilleBSD. On one server, jails are set up directly on the hardware, whereas the other server employs nested jails.
- Each server hosts a bhyve VM running OpenBSD with OpenSMTPD for handling SMTP duties securely.

🔗 **Networking**

- A Wireguard setup connects the two servers, facilitating routing capabilities so that jails and VMs can communicate seamlessly, supporting both IPv4 and IPv6.

📧 **Email Services**

- **Dovecot** is configured for maildir replication across the servers using Dovecot sync, ensuring email availability and redundancy.
- **Rspamd** instances are tied to local KeyDB jails, set up in master-master replication for consistent and reliable spam detection and greylisting.
- **ClamAV** runs in corresponding jails for virus scanning, maintaining a high level of security.
- **SOGo** provides a web interface for email management, connected to MySQL databases in master-master replication to handle sessions and authentication smoothly.

💾 **Data Management**

- Email data is stored on separate, encrypted ZFS datasets to secure emails at rest.
- MySQL databases are used for storing credentials and managing sessions for SOGo, also in a master-master replication setup. Importantly, all passwords are securely hashed using bcrypt, ensuring they are salted and safe.

🔎 **Monitoring & Reliability**

- Our DNS is managed through BunnyNet, which continuously monitors our server status. Should one server—or a specific service—become unavailable, DNS configurations are dynamically adjusted to avoid directing users to the affected IP until full service is restored.

🌐 **Commitment to Open Source and Open Protocols**

- Every component of BSD Mail is built exclusively using open source software and open protocols. This commitment is crucial for ensuring data freedom and the reliability of the solutions we use.

This setup not only emphasizes our commitment to privacy and security but also our dedication to maintaining an open and transparent platform.
We're excited to bring you a service where your privacy, data integrity, and freedom are prioritized. Stay tuned for more updates!

#BSDMail #OpenSource #Privacy #FreeBSD #OpenBSD #EmailHosting #Email