SumGuy's Ramblings
The art of wasting time.
Docker, self-hosting, AI/LLM, Linux, and DevOps — explained by someone who learned the hard way. No fluff, no enterprise jargon, just practical stuff that actually works on real hardware.
Recent Posts
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A Terminal Built for AI Coding Agents
Run Claude Code, Codex CLI, or Aider in parallel with one git worktree per agent, one tmux window each, and a bell that tells you which agent is waiting.
15 min read -
When Vaultwarden Dies: A Recovery Drill
Back up Vaultwarden properly: the SQLite file plus the files people forget, what the Bitwarden clients keep cached, and a restore drill that proves it works.
16 min read -
Context Window Math: Paying to Remember
Every chat turn re-sends the whole history. See the token math, what prompt caching saves on the API, and what a long context costs in VRAM when you run local.
16 min read -
Pterodactyl Wings: Scaling Past One Node
Add a second Wings node to Pterodactyl without breaking the web console: per-node TLS, firewall ports, VPN gotchas, subnet clashes, and server transfers.
16 min read -
step-ca: Let's Encrypt for Your LAN
Run step-ca as a private ACME server so Caddy and Traefik auto-issue and renew TLS certs for grafana.home.arpa, with no internet exposure and no CT log leaks.
13 min read -
Garrul: 24 More Releases, Mostly Cheaper
Garrul v2.23 to v2.40 recap: one-request mounts, static assets, fewer D1 rows read, a usage panel, plus moderation, locale and upgrade changes for self-hosters.
13 min read -
Container Restart Storms at 2 AM
A triage runbook for a Docker or Kubernetes container stuck in a restart loop: read the signals, stop the loop, get a shell, and find the real cause fast.
13 min read -
Rootless Podman Quadlets vs Docker
Rootless Podman Quadlets or rootless Docker for a home lab host? Networking, cgroups, auto-updates, bind mounts and boot behavior compared, with a clear pick.
12 min read -
NVMe SMART: Reading Wear Before It Dies
How NVMe wear leveling works and which SMART health log fields show it: Percentage Used, Available Spare, media errors, TBW math, smartctl vs nvme-cli.
13 min read -
Immich Backups That Outlive Immich
Family photos outlast any app and any admin's enthusiasm. Set up Immich so the originals, albums, and a README survive without it, plus an offsite restic copy.
14 min read -
Claude Skills vs MCP: What Each One Is For
Agent Skills package know-how, MCP servers package access. Here is how each one loads into context, what each one costs, and when your home lab needs which.
13 min read -
Read-Only Docker Containers: What Breaks
Turn on read_only: true and watch nginx, Postgres, Redis, Python and Node fail in specific ways. Real errors, plus the minimum tmpfs and volume set for each.
12 min read
