Security
Headscale — Self-Hosted Tailscale Control Plane on Ubuntu
Run your own Tailscale control plane with Headscale. Docker compose setup, preauth keys, MagicDNS, point clients with --login-server. No vendor lock-in.
Latest
Linux
Caddy vs Nginx — When 5 Lines Beats certbot + Cron
Honest take on Caddy vs Nginx for small servers. Auto-HTTPS Caddyfile in 5 lines vs nginx + certbot. Where each one actually wins.
Gameserver
Pelican Panel — the Pterodactyl Successor I Switched To
Pterodactyl is in maintenance mode. Pelican Panel is the fork that's actually moving. Install on Ubuntu 24.04 + first gameserver in 20 min.
Security
Tailscale for Gameservers — Friends-Only Without Port Forwards
Run a Minecraft, Valheim or Palworld server only your friends can reach. Tailscale mesh, MagicDNS, no DDoS surface, no router config.
Windows Server
RDP Hardening on Windows Server — NLA, IP Allowlist, and Audit
Lock down RDP on Windows Server — enforce NLA, restrict the firewall to specific IPs, audit failed logons, kill the bot brute-force traffic. The settings I run on every internet-exposed server.
Gameserver
Enshrouded Dedicated Server on Linux — SteamCMD, Wine, and the RAM Reality
Run an Enshrouded dedicated server on Ubuntu via SteamCMD + Wine. Systemd unit, ports, the real RAM requirement, save backups, and the gotchas the wiki skips.
Windows Server
Reset a Windows Password with the Sticky Keys Trick (sethc.exe)
Alternative to the Utilman trick — replace sethc.exe to get SYSTEM-level cmd at the Windows lockscreen. When to use it, how to harden against it.
Minecraft
Migrating from BungeeCord/Waterfall to Velocity — A Practical Walkthrough
How to migrate a Minecraft proxy network from BungeeCord or Waterfall to Velocity — config translation, plugin replacements, modern IP forwarding, and the gotchas.
Minecraft
Waterfall vs BungeeCord — Which Minecraft Proxy Should You Run?
Practical comparison of BungeeCord and Waterfall — performance, plugin compatibility, security patches, and which one you should actually pick for a small network.
Windows Server
Windows Server Hardening — Kill SMBv1, LLMNR, and NTLMv1
Three legacy protocols still enabled by default on Windows Server that no modern network needs. PowerShell one-liners to disable each, the rare exceptions, and how to verify.
Minecraft
BungeeCord config.yml — Every Option Explained
Full breakdown of BungeeCord's config.yml — listeners, servers, IP forwarding, priorities, the options nobody documents and the ones that bite you.
Windows Server
BitLocker on Windows Server — Encrypting the OS Volume Without Locking Yourself Out
Enable BitLocker on a Windows Server OS volume via PowerShell — TPM unlock, recovery key handling, the boot quirks specific to Server, and how to unlock from WinPE.