In this post I describe how to install Alpine Linux in a virtual machine on my QEMU/KVM server and how to install Docker on it. I needed, for proof-of-concept and home services, the ability to run containers on a Docker host that takes up “very little” space. Can you install a Docker Host on top of a Virtual Machine? The answer is a resounding yes — in fact, it’s an excellent place to do so, especially in lab environments, home setups, and small deployments. …

It was about time I played with Open vSwitch (OVS). I’m going to take advantage of setting up a new server with Ubuntu Server, KVM, Virtual Machines, and VLANs to build everything with Open vSwitch instead of the traditional Linux Bridge. OVS is a virtual bridge from which I’ll manage all network connections for both the server itself and its virtual machines. Some VMs will receive a Trunk interface while the majority will connect in Access mode to a specific VLAN. …

The goal is to run virt-manager from my Mac to manage VMs on a couple of remote KVM/QEMU host servers without needing to install an X11 environment on them. I’ve documented two options: the first uses a local virtual machine (VirtualBox/Parallels/…) with Ubuntu and a minimal GUI environment (just Xorg/X11 and virt-manager), the second uses HomeBrew. …

I describe how I integrated my photovoltaic installation into Home Assistant, featuring Axitec panels, a SolaX Inverter, and a pair of Triple Power batteries. After trying several options, I settled on the MODBUS/TCP integration which works locally via LAN and exposes more data than the other options. …

I set up these three services on a dedicated server at home to monitor my home automation. InfluxDB is a database super-optimized for working with time series. Grafana lets you create dashboards and graphs from multiple sources, and Telegraf is a lightweight agent that collects, processes, and sends data to our database. I’ve decided to install all three on an Ubuntu 20.04 LTS server, on a virtual machine in KVM, so they’re consumed by the rest of the home automation elements: the Home Assistant server and other devices that can write to InfluxDB. …

I’ve migrated the InfluxDB/Grafana services from my Home Assistant to an external server. Moving the service and setting it up on another server isn’t too difficult. What did take me a while was figuring out how to export and import data between the InfluxDB instances and how to adapt the old Grafana Dashboard to use Flux. …