Notes from the network

Tutorials Write cron jobs that do not fail silently Cron emails you when a job produces output. On a VPS with no mail server that email goes nowhere, so a broken job looks exactly like a working one. Jul 31, 2026 · 10 min read Tutorials Use SSH keys properly on your VPS Paste a public key on the order form and your server boots with it already installed. The root password still arrives by email, so here is how to finish the job. Jul 29, 2026 · 15 min read Tutorials Run several apps behind one Nginx reverse proxy One VPS, one public IP, several apps on local ports. How to give each app its own hostname and share one set of proxy headers between them. Jul 28, 2026 · 12 min read Tutorials Back up your VPS off server with restic How to put an encrypted restic repository on another machine, run it nightly from a systemd timer, and check that a restore actually works. Jul 27, 2026 · 17 min read Tutorials Set up fail2ban properly on your VPS Installing fail2ban takes one command. Making it actually ban anything takes a few more, starting with checking which log the sshd jail reads. Jul 23, 2026 · 10 min read Tutorials Install Mail-in-a-Box on a VPS One command turns a fresh Ubuntu server into a complete mail system with webmail, calendars, contacts, and its own DNS. It also takes over the whole machine. Jul 19, 2026 · 6 min read Tutorials Install docker-mailserver on a VPS A mail server with no web interface and no database, configured entirely from files and a setup command. The lightest of the container options. Jul 18, 2026 · 7 min read Tutorials Install Mailu on a VPS Mailu generates its own Compose file from a web wizard, so setup is mostly answering questions. Covers the version choice that decides how stable your server is. Jul 14, 2026 · 6 min read Troubleshooting Your mail is going to spam: how to fix it Work through the checks in order: authentication, reverse DNS, blocklists, content, and reputation. Most cases are one missing DNS record. Jul 12, 2026 · 6 min read