Raspberry Pi Kubernetes Cluster

In order to gain experience with a Kubernetes cluster or to be able to experiment with it, a functioning cluster is required. Since most conceptual challenges do not require a high performance test cluster, it is also sufficient to build a smaller and therefore more cost-effective one. For this reason I decided to set up a Raspberry Pi Kubernetes Cluster for testing purposes.

Shopping List

If the Raspberry Pis are not to be connected via WLAN but cable, the corresponding network components are also required:

Set up

The website of Hypriot has a very good tutorial how to set up a Kubernetes cluster with Raspberry Pi boards: https://blog.hypriot.com/post/setup-kubernetes-raspberry-pi-cluster/. If you need some configuration examples (executable on a Raspberry Pi Kubernetes Cluster) please check out my GitHub repository with configuration examples: https://github.com/MatthiasLohr/kubernetes-rpi-examples.

HP Elite Thunderbolt Dock Firmware Update

Docking stations are quite a pleasant thing, because they save you having to plug in and out a lot of different cables (network, USB, monitors, power,…). Meanwhile, docking solutions via USB-C/Thunderbolt are also available. This means that a single USB cable is all it takes to connect the computer to the peripherals and the power supply. Practically USB-C or Thunderbolt are standards, so you can combine different devices like the HP Elite Thunderbolt Dock with a Lenovo X1 Carbon, right?

Read more “HP Elite Thunderbolt Dock Firmware Update” →

Mount DigitalOcean Spaces with Linux

Introducing DigitalOcean Spaces

DigitalOcean LogoDigitalOcean Spaces is a new product from DigitalOcean, which offers a S3 compatible, flexible storage place for your data – and it’s much simpler to configure compared to Amazon’s S3 or other solutions i know.

Because uploading the whole stuff via a web based interfaces is really annoying, i tried to mount the storage with my Ubuntu Linux. Here’s the result, which may help you to success faster than i did.

Read more “Mount DigitalOcean Spaces with Linux” →

Outlook.com SMTP Sender Delisting

How to get your mails delivered to Microsoft’s SMTP servers

When setting up a new SMTP server (i needed one for my GitLab instance), sometimes it happens that you get a new IP address which was used before for sending spam mails – or other mysterious things which might end up at the blacklist of (major) email providers – like Microsoft. So i just found this:

<xxx@outlook.com>: host
 outlook-com.olc.protection.outlook.com[65.55.33.135] said: 550 SC-001
 (COL004-MC6F4) Unfortunately, messages from aa.bb.cc.dd weren't sent.
 Please contact your Internet service provider since part of their network
 is on our block list. You can also refer your provider to
 http://mail.live.com/mail/troubleshooting.aspx#errors. (in reply to MAIL
 FROM command)

So… i am my own internet provider, what now?

After some time of searching, i found a list of multiple links to the Mircosoft Delisting Service – and none of them is working, except only one. If you want to save your time when having the same problem – here it is:

https://support.microsoft.com/de-de/getsupport?oaspworkflow=start_1.0.0.0&wfname=capsub&productkey=edfsmsbl3&locale=en-us

After using the form, it may take some time until the request is processed. After processing you will receive a mail from Microsoft with the confirmation or rejection. If successful, it would take up to 24-48 hours to be unblocked from all relevant mail servers.

As far as i know, this applies for outlook.com, live.com and hotmail.com email addresses.

Monitor your IP’s status

Microsoft offers mail server administrators the Smart Network Data Service platform (https://postmaster.live.com/snds/), on which they can register their IP addresses and view the corresponding status, e. g. whether the IP is blocked or not. It is also worth taking a look at the Junk Mail Reporting Program to find out which mails classify users of Microsoft mail services as spam.

MG5350 Setup under Ubuntu

How to set up Canon MG5350 with Ubuntu

Now that I was repeatedly faced with the same problem to set up my printer (Canon MG5350) under Ubuntu. So i decided to write a small documentation which steps are necessary for the successful operation. The instructions refer specifically to my printer, but in my experience all models of Canon can be set up in a similar way.

Read more “MG5350 Setup under Ubuntu” →