Not quite blog posts, but still worth sharing! Somewhere between TIL and an engineers notebook.
Notes
| 2025-10-22
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#hugo
#ssg
You can overwrite hugo configuration values with environment variables!
Notes
| 2025-09-19
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#json
JSON does not natively support comments, which is OK, but sometimes a comment could really help.
If the application loading the JSON does not care about additional keys
we can simply add a key with our favorite comment indicator like // or #.
{
"//": "This setting enables not just A, but somehow also B",
"enable_feature_a": true
}
While this works consider using a different file format better suited for configuration.
Notes
| 2025-09-19
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#container
#linux
#sysadmin
Usually at least one of those is present on any system
But sometimes the usual suspects are not available, especially in minimal containers.
But there is another, more low level, way that works: /proc
This is a virtual filesystem provided by the kernel about running processes.
So to mirror something like this:
$ ps aux |grep sleep
5 root 0:00 sleep 1000
21 root 0:00 sleep 10000000
36 root 0:00 grep sleep
We could do:
Notes
| 2025-09-16
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#k8s
#kustomize
Kubernetes resources have quite a lot of lists in them and replacing an item in such lists is quite easy
using kustomize patches with op: replace.
Replacing a specific list item safely however is not as obvious as the order of items could change, leading to a technically valid but practically incorrect manifest.
Notes
| 2025-09-08
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#seo
There are loads of better ways to do this using Google Search Console / Bing Webmaster Tools / ahrefs and similar tools.
Arguably these might be a bit too much for a small side project or a curious quick check, so this is how I do it. The same syntax works for both Google and Bing.
Notes
| 2025-07-02
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#git
Git is hard: screwing up is easy, and figuring out how to fix your mistakes is fucking impossible. Git documentation has this chicken and egg problem where you can’t search for how to get yourself out of a mess, unless you already know the name of the thing you need to know about in order to fix your problem.
Oh Shit, Git!?! is a collection of these situations, in plain English, and how to resolve them.
Notes
| 2025-07-02
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 2 min read
#caddy
Building custom domains for your SaaS is not always easy, especially when certificates get involved.
With Caddy it becomes very easy!
Notes
| 2025-05-07
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#bash
#grep
#productivity
Colorize a pattern in the given input using a neat regex and colorization hack in grep
($ matching all lines but not being able to be highlighted).
color () {
# Color highlight the pattern in the incoming stream, writing to stdout
# This effectively matches our PATTERN andy any "$" (line end)
# But only our PATTERN can be highlighted, line end characters aren't actually there to be highlighted
local PATTERN=$1
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
echo "Usage: color <pattern>"
echo "Description: Greps input with --color=always -E 'PATTERN|\$' "
echo "Example: echo \"hello world\" | color \"world\""
return 1
fi
grep --color=always "$PATTERN\|\$"
}
Notes
| 2025-04-17
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#k8s
#tools
I’m using it for all my cluster-switching needs.
Notes
| 2025-04-14
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#git
#pip
#python
Install a pip package from a git repo, using a specified git reference:
Notes
| 2025-04-13
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#tools
Hand-drawn 2D & 3D illustrations, icons and animations.
Incredibly high quality illustrations.
I use them in a bunch of places, especially on landing pages and in presentations that just need that little “extra” thing.
Notes
| 2025-02-28
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#bash
#dns
#troubleshooting
DNS is something so fundamental to most of our systems functioning that it’s often overlooked in initial troubleshooting, it’s also incredibly hard to troubleshoot if it’s only intermittently failing.
Notes
| 2025-02-26
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#gitlab
Notes
| 2025-02-23
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#bash
#microservices
#scripting
Doing local development on a bunch of interconnected services I often want to start multiple long running server processes.
This is the basic script I use for that.
Notes
| 2025-02-17
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#k8s
#tools
When working with multiple Kubernetes clusters and namespaces switching context can be a chore.
For this I enjoy using kubectx and kubens.
They can be installed using kubectl krew.
kubectl krew install ctx
kubectl krew install ns
Notes
| 2025-01-02
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#django
#python
I often find myself replacing an existing MVP based on static html with a Django app, or just needing to preserve some old URL scheme.
This is the code I use to do that:
from django.shortcuts import redirect
def redirect_view(request, redirectable, permanent=True):
return redirect(redirectable)
Which can then be used like this:
from django.urls import path
from . import views
urlpatterns = [
path("old-url/", views.redirect_view, {"redirectable": "new_view"}),
path("some-thing/", views.redirect_view, {"redirectable": "some_thing_new", permanent=False}),
]
Notes
| 2024-09-03
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#bash
#linux
#scripting
Many of my scripts work with temporary files, usually relative to the scripts directory1,
while at the same time using set -e to exit as soon as something fails.
In this scenario the script leaves behind these temporary files by default, which is not desirable.
We can however do a proper cleanup using the trap concept.
Notes
| 2024-07-30
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#cheatsheet
#iperf
Notes
| 2024-07-25
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 2 min read
#cicd
#container
#devops
#hashicorp-vault
In many CI/CD workflows interfacing with Hashicorp Vault is required.
However, their CLI (or better called unified binary1) is stupidly big with more than 400MB and they seem to have no interest in making it any smaller2.
This is often a undesired size increase, especially when optimizing for pull and run time in CI/CD.
This note outlines a solution that brings us down from 400MB+ on disk for vault to about 300KB using curl and jq.
Notes
| 2024-07-13
(updated 2025-10-27)
| 2 min read
#caddy
#sysadmin
Coming from NGINX and others the concept of a maintenance mode that can be manually enabled is something I have used many times before.
With Caddy it is equally as easy, just using a less obvious syntax.
Notes
| 2024-07-13
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 0 min read
#caddy
#slashpage-uses
Notes
| 2024-06-27
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#bash
#find
#powershell
On Linux/Unix/MacOS:
find . | grep " "
On Windows:
Get-ChildItem -Path "." -Recurse -Filter "* *" | Format-Table FullName
Notes
| 2024-06-10
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#picocss
A sticky footer using [[picocss]]
html,
body {
height: 100vh;
}
body > footer {
position: sticky;
top: 100vh;
}
Notes
| 2024-06-04
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 2 min read
#renovate-bot
When using Renovate it can sometimes be required to run a specific manager only on a sub-set of the matching files.
Naively you might expect this to be achieved by overwriting the fileMatch property of the manager.
However this is not possible, as this property gets merged together,
effectively meaning we can only append to it, not replace it.
What I found working is an approach using either includePaths or ignorePaths, depending on the situation.
Notes
| 2024-06-04
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#haproxy
#linux
#sysadmin
By default HAProxy resolves all DNS names in it’s config on startup and then never again.
This might cause issues down the road if DNS records, for example the ones for backends, change.
This section of the documentation is a good starting point as it describes IP address resolution using DNS in HAProy really well: https://docs.haproxy.org/3.0/configuration.html#5.3
Additionally this guide can also be helpful: https://www.haproxy.com/documentation/haproxy-configuration-tutorials/dns-resolution/
Notes
| 2024-05-16
(updated 2025-10-27)
| 1 min read
#sed
When doing variable substitution with sed things break if the value contains the delimiter used by sed.
Notes
| 2024-05-16
(updated 2025-10-26)
| 2 min read
#cheatsheet
#jq
Notes
| 2024-04-29
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#cheatsheet
#container
#docker
#podman
Most of these should work the same with any OCI compliant client.
Tested with podman and docker, unless otherwise indicated.
# Run container interactively
podman run -it IMAGE:TAG SHELL
# With auto removing the container on exit
podman run -it --rm IMAGE:TAG SHELL
# With current working dir mounted to container
podman run -it -v ${PWD}:/tmp/host-dir/ IMAGE:TAG SHELL
# Detaching from the interactive session
# Keybinding: Ctrl+P, then Ctrl+Q
# Attaching to a container
podman attach "ID OR NAME"
Notes
| 2024-03-12
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#windows
For some reason Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, decided to no longer support moving the taskbar to other edges of the screen with Windows 11.
Using a utility like ExplorerPatcher the whole task bar can be reverted to something close to Windows 10, including moving it to all screen edges.
Notes
| 2024-03-01
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#bash
#scripting
fileName="my-file.yaml"
find . -type f -name "$fileName" -printf "%h\n"
Notes
| 2024-02-22
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#bash
#linux
#scripting
Often times we need the current date (and time) when scripting inside bash or other shells. For example when creating a backup file or writing to a log.
Notes
| 2024-02-22
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#k8s
#productivity
#scripting
This is a simple script that takes multiple kube config files and deeply merges them into one.
Notes
| 2024-02-20
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#ansible
Sometimes it is useful to wait for a port to be closed, for example when updating an app that can’t always properly be shut down using other Ansible modules.
This can easily be achieved using the ansible.builtin.wait_for or ansible.builtin.win_wait_for module.
Notes
| 2024-02-10
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#picocss
#slashpage-uses
My preferred minimalistic CSS framework, which is usually enough for small websites and even simple SaaS apps. It feels like a super power to write almost plain HTML and get something that looks presentable, supports dark mode and has just enough components to cover most use cases for me.
Notes
| 2024-01-28
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#bash
#linux
#scripting
Often times when writing scripts I want to reference files in the same directory, but keep the script portable in case it is part of a git repository being checked out somewhere else or just the folder getting moved.
Notes
| 2024-01-19
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#debugging
#javascript
I was recently doing a lot of layouting pages to later be printed, so showing how big certain elements are was of help to me.
This is a JavaScript function that does just that.
Notes
| 2024-01-18
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#css
Using flex children can easily be positioned vertically in their parent container.
Notes
| 2024-01-17
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#css
#debugging
When debugging issues with CSS layouts it can sometimes be tricky to really understand what is going on.
Notes
| 2024-01-16
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#javascript
I often find myself wanting a simple copy button in my web projects.
This is the recipe I build them from using clipboard.js and a couple lines of JavaScript.
Notes
| 2023-12-17
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#javascript
Sometimes, when working with externally generated content you might want to make links clickable when rendering it in the client.
This is a snippet to do just that.
Notes
| 2023-11-16
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#django
#python
Sometimes, mostly when throwing together a quick idea or MVP, it can be useful to just register all models with the admin and leave proper customization for later.
Notes
| 2023-10-18
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#k8s
#kustomize
How to add things to a list using kustomize. This is useful for example when you need to patch additional environment variables into a pod.
Notes
| 2023-10-08
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#linux
#productivity
#search
#slashpage-uses
I often whish to search through large bodies of text, like my knowledge base or source code repositories, from the command line.
I use fuz for this and I’m quite happy with it.
I also have it aliased to my knowledge base folder for even easier searching.
alias search="fuz -p /path/to/knowledge-base/"
Notes
| 2023-10-07
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#hugo
Hugo is my favorite tool for publishing markdown to the internet, but sometimes I want to do something a little bit more advanced with my posts.
With this shortcode I can always just fall back to plain old HTML.
Notes
| 2023-10-06
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#hugo
The HTML details element is a nice way to create natively expandable content with wide browser support.
Notes
| 2023-09-20
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#ansible
Cowsay is one of those packages you just end up installing randomly on just about any client over time.
And if your using ansible you may be in for a little surprise:
Notes
| 2023-09-17
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#django
#python
Django’s CSRF protection is usually a great thing, but when building (API) endpoints meant to be accessed by scripts/third parties it gets in the way of that.
This is how to disable it:
from django.utils.decorators import method_decorator
from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt
@method_decorator(csrf_exempt, name='dispatch')
class MyView(View):
pass
from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt
@csrf_exempt
def my_view(request):
pass
Notes
| 2023-07-22
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#helm
#k8s
Since early 2019 the sprig library used by helm provides a concat function that does exactly this.
Notes
| 2023-06-06
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 1 min read
#htmx
#slashpage-uses
Go check out their website, it’s incredibly good at explaining itself.
To me, a backend heavy developer, HTMX is the frontend framework I like to use because:
Notes
| 2023-05-10
(updated 2025-10-25)
| 2 min read
#python
When building a Python script that is long running or has to manage some state on termination it is helpful to handle a couple of signals:
SIGINT: The signal sent when pressing Ctrl+CSIGTERM and SIGQUIT: Meant to terminate the process, sent by kill and process managers like systemd or supervisordHandling them is possible with Pythons signals library:
import signals
class SignalHandler:
stop = False
def __init__(self):
# Ctrl+C
signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, self.exit_gracefully)
# Supervisor/process manager signals
signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, self.exit_gracefully)
signal.signal(signal.SIGQUIT, self.exit_gracefully)
def exit_gracefully(self, *args):
self.stop = True
The simplest example is using the SignalHandler as the condition on the loop
and have code to stop gracefully below the loop.