Add SSL/TLS certificate to HomeAssistant’s web interface

Even if your home’s automation is separated from any other network and not internet accessible, it’s always a good practice to use encryption. Failing to encrypt the connection to HomeAssistant’s web interface using an SSL/TLS certificate, results in leaving your password and other data traveling the network as plaintext susceptible to eavesdropping.

Continue reading Add SSL/TLS certificate to HomeAssistant’s web interface

Network Watchdog

Novamostra Network Watchdog

In general a watchdog is a piece of equipment that supervises other systems and resets them in case it detects that those systems are failing, automating the process and increasing the reliability of the system. Network Watchdog is a simple watchdog for monitoring network connectivity and power cycle a device based on ICMP ping replies.

With it’s minimal power requirements, Network Watchdog can use the controlled device’s DC Power source (between 5 and 12 volts) to function, avoiding any additional power requirements. The following is an example setup:

Continue reading Network Watchdog

BYOPM – Bring Your Own Password Manager [updated 18th of April 2023]

BYOPM

BYOPM is a portable Password Manager implementation based on VaultWarden, an unofficial implementation of BitWarden and a Raspberry PI Zero. It’s a self hosted solution, with full functionality, which is activated by just plugging the device on your computer. Bitwarden’s Official browser addons and extensions are also supported, and the device has been tested both on Windows (10 and 11) and Linux (Debian Based).

Continue reading BYOPM – Bring Your Own Password Manager [updated 18th of April 2023]

Integrating serial GSM Modem with Home Assistant

HASSIO Serial GSM Modem
This is how to enable Home Assistant’s SMS Integration Service using the Geetech Arduino GPRS Shield (based on the SIMCom SIM900 module) on a Raspberry PI 4 over serial communication. The host system is using Home Assistant Supervised which was deployed in docker.

Continue reading Integrating serial GSM Modem with Home Assistant

Manage Network Connections using Batch Scripts

Windows offer many different ways to manage your Network Connections including adapters status/configuration and network routing from the Command Line. The most frequently used are the Windows Management Instrumentation Command Line and the Netsh Command Line utility. Those commands can be used to automate Network Configuration in Batch Scripts.

Continue reading Manage Network Connections using Batch Scripts

Make oVirt VM Reflect Host Hardware Properties

Due to the fact that Hypervisors stand between hardware and software, they sometimes disrupt the proper communication between the two causing the software to fail. One such case is when software is locked on specific hardware, for example Microsoft Windows Server ROK.

If you follow the default procedure and install the OS directly on the server then everything runs fine without any issues. But what happens when you want to install the OS as a Virtual Machine on the same server? Well if you are using oVirt as your virtualization solution then you get the following message:

Failed BIOS Lock

Continue reading Make oVirt VM Reflect Host Hardware Properties

Mount a Raspberry PI image under Linux

Every operating system, has a way to mount file systems from devices or image files and include them in the file system. Under Linux the mount command instructs the operating system for an existing file system and associates it with a particular mount directory. Using the offset parameter of the mount command it’s possible to mount a Raspberry PI image to a directory and interact with it.

Continue reading Mount a Raspberry PI image under Linux

Raspberry PI RDP Thin Client

Updated 14/04/2021
Thin Clients, are computers which are optimized to establish a remote connection to a server and run using the remote resources. Usually those systems are not meant to be used for intensive tasks or gaming and they are mostly found in office environments. In the following guide you will find out how to use a Raspberry PI to connect to a local Windows Computer using Microsoft’s RDP Protocol.
Every version of Microsoft Windows following the release of Windows XP includes a Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client (mstsc.exe). The Remote Desktop Connection is accomplished through the Client using the Remote Desktop Protocol a proprietary Microsoft Protocol which provides a graphical interface to connect to another computer.

Continue reading Raspberry PI RDP Thin Client

Custom MAC Address Linux Service

MAC Addresses are unique for each Network Interface Controller (NIC) and most often are not configurable. Taking advantage of this fact in combination with the Organizationally Unique Identifier(OUI), many Network scanners use the MAC Address in order to determine the manufacturer of a Network Device or even the device type. As you can read in RFC 7042:

48-bit MAC "addresses" are the most commonly used Ethernet interface identifiers. Those that are globally unique are also called EUI-48 identifiers. An EUI-48 is structured into an initial 3-octet OUI and an additional 3 octets assigned by the OUI holder or into a larger initial prefix assigned to an organization and a shorter sequence of additional bits so as to add up to 48 bits in total.

Here you can find a complete list of the registered OUIs from IEEE and here the Wireshark OUI Lookup tool.

Continue reading Custom MAC Address Linux Service