I run infrastructure like it owes me money. Four-node Proxmox cluster, three Portainer VMs, split-horizon DNS, HAProxy with CrowdSec bouncing at layer 4, appsec on every inbound proxy, and a central LAPI that remembers every offense for 72 hours. The stack is AlmaLinux (SELinux enforcing, obviously), Cockpit on every VM, and anything that doesn't have a WebUI gets containerized or replaced. If it runs on Linux, I have probably tried to break it.

I got into tech the same way a lot of us did: it was the only place that made sense. Reading documentation for fun, finding the logical holes, figuring out how things actually work under the hood. Fiction never held my attention, but a well-written man page? That I could read for hours.

What I'm running:

• GitLab—version control, CI/CD, the usual
• Vaultwarden—passwords stay on my hardware
• Navidrome—music, self-hosted
• Minecraft servers—because uptime practice should be fun
• Monitoring & alerting—if something breaks, I want to know before the users do
• Gamja—custom container for the WPLUG web IRC client (not dockerized upstream, so I fixed that)

What I believe: Linux is not a niche skill. It is the backend of the entire internet. Every website you visit, every service you use, at some point, is just a Linux distro on a computer in a datacenter. The goal is to show people that this is not magic. It is logic, documentation, and persistence. The WPLUG's first lab will probably be something dead simple: “How to Block Ads for Your Entire Network.” Pi-hole or AdGuard Home. Twenty minutes, and suddenly your whole house has fewer ads. An excellent gateway drug.

Contact:

• Email: [email protected]
• IRC: iroh on irc.wplug.net
• GitHub: realgeneraliroh
• Blog: Coming soon™

Why WPLUG: My partner told me I needed a hobby I would actually get in trouble for neglecting. The WPLUG bylaws say we must hold meetings. If we do not, the group dissolves. Therefore: I have a hobby with consequences. Perfect.

“It's time for you to look inward, and start asking yourself the big questions. Who are you? And what do you want?”

— General (Uncle) Iroh