Linux on homelab

Pavilion (AI PC) Configuration

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Pavilion (AI PC) Configuration#

What Was Established#

The Pavilion machine uses a USB-based or specific Ethernet interface (enx6c1f7197a66) that occasionally fails to bring the link up automatically on boot.

Current Configuration#

Netplan Configuration#

Ensure /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml is correctly configured with the active interface name and permissions are set to 600.

network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    enx6c1f7197a66:
      dhcp4: true

Apply with:

sudo chmod 600 /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml
sudo netplan apply

Boot-time Interface Fix#

If the interface remains DOWN after reboot, use a systemd service to force the link up.

Node Exporter Deployment

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Node Exporter Deployment#

What Was Established#

node_exporter is used to expose system-level metrics (CPU, RAM, Disk, Network) from Linux hosts to the central Prometheus instance at 192.168.1.167.

Monitored Hosts#

Host	IP	Port	Prometheus job	VLAN
nk-celebrimbor (Pavilion)	192.168.2.192	9100	pavilion	mithrandir
wiki-llm	192.168.1.206	9100	wiki	gandalf

Installation#

Method A: apt (Ubuntu) — preferred for Ubuntu hosts#

sudo apt install prometheus-node-exporter
# Service auto-enabled; runs on port 9100

Method B: Manual binary (other distros)#

wget https://github.com/prometheus/node_exporter/releases/download/v1.11.1/node_exporter-1.11.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar xvf node_exporter-1.11.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo cp node_exporter-1.11.1.linux-amd64/node_exporter /usr/local/bin/

Create /etc/systemd/system/node_exporter.service:

Linux Server Optimization

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Linux Server Optimization#

What Was Established#

Optimizations for headless Ubuntu servers (specifically HP Pavilion and Thinkpad T480) to prevent sleep/suspend when the lid is closed.

Key Decisions#

Modify systemd-logind to ignore lid switch events to ensure the server remains active when the laptop lid is closed.

Current Configuration#

Prevent Sleep on Lid Close#

Edit /etc/systemd/logind.conf:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/logind.conf

Ensure the following lines are uncommented and set to ignore:

HandleLidSwitch=ignore
HandleLidSwitchExternalPower=ignore
HandleLidSwitchDocked=ignore

Apply the changes: