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Best Home Wi-Fi settings for Maximum Speed and Internet coverage in Europe

Tuesday, July 21st, 2026

best-home-wifi-settings-for-maximum-speed-and-internet-coverage-europe-simple-steps-to-improve-your-home-wifi-signal

A fast broadband subscription is only part of the equation to have excellent internet air connectivity configuration for a home / work Wi-Fi Internet Router.
Even if you pay for good stable gigabit fiber options connection, poor Wi-Fi configuration can reduce your real-world speeds by more than half which might make working with devices have annoying temporary slownesses or even disruptions, when exchanging data to internet.

Our modern homes are filled with smart TVs, streaming devices, gaming consoles, laptops, smartphones, and IoT devices – all competing to take over fastest and stablest connectivity to the wireless device bandwidth.
Thus optimizing Wi-Fi router connectivity settings is no longer optional but is kind oa  in year 2026.

This snall guide would covers most of the best practices for configuring a home Wi-Fi network for maximum speed, stability, and security across Europe.

1. Choose the Right Wi-Fi Standard

Your router determines the maximum performance of your wireless network.


Recommended standards:

  • Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax): Best value for most homes
  • Wi-Fi 6E: Excellent if your devices support the new 6 GHz band
  • Wi-Fi 7: Future-proof and ideal for multi-gigabit internet connections

! Avoid, using older Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 4 equipment unless upgrading is not possible !

2. Use the Best Frequency Band

Modern routers typically broadcast multiple wireless bands.


2.4 GHz Advantages:

  • Longer range
  • Better wall penetration
  • Disadvantages:
  • Lower speeds
  • More interference
  • Congested in apartments


2.4GHz Ideal for:

  • Smart home devices
  • Printers
  • Cameras

5 GHz Advantages:

 

  • Higher throughput
  • Lower latency
  • Less interference
  • Ideal for:
  • Streaming
  • Gaming
  • Video conferencing
  • Workstations


6 GHz (Wi-Fi 6E / Wi-Fi 7) Advantages:

 

  • Extremely low interference
  • Highest available speeds
  • Very low latency


6Ghz Wifi is usual use is:

With most modern Devices, such as (IoT connected devices, Wifi Gaming PCs, High-performance laptops, For large files transfer), tech quipment that looking for best Internet connectivity via air.. 

3. Position Your Router Correctly

best-wifi-router-placement-location-position-your-wireless-router-correctly-for-optimial-internet-air-speed

Router placement has a greater impact than many people realize.

Best practices for Router Positioning:

  • Place the router near the center of your home.
  • Position it on a shelf or table rather than on the floor.
  • Avoid placing it inside cabinets.
  • Keep it away from large metal objects.
  • Maintain distance from microwaves and cordless phones.
  • Keep antennas vertical unless the manufacturer recommends otherwise.
  • In multi-story homes, position the router between floors whenever possible.

4. Select the Best Wireless Channel

Channel congestion is one of the biggest causes of slow Wi-Fi.

For Europe (European Union countries):

For 2.4 GHz Wifi;

Use signal spread only:

  • Channel 1
  • Channel 6
  • Channel 11


These channels minimize overlap.

For 5 GHz;

 

Enable automatic channel selection or manually choose a channel with low congestion using a Wi-Fi analyzer.

5. Use the Correct Channel Width

For 2.4 GHz WiFi


Use:
+ 20 MHz
Avoid:
– 40 MHz unless there are very few neighboring networks.

For 5 GHz

Recommended:
+ 80 MHz
+ Use 160 MHz only if:
+ Few neighboring networks exist
+ Your devices support it

For 6 GHz

Use:
160 MHz or wider when available.

6. Enable WPA3 Security


Best WPA3 selection:

WPA3-Personal


For older devices require Backwards compatibility (keep enabled):
WPA2/WPA3 Mixed Mode

Avoid:
– WEP
– WPA
– Open networks
– Strong security helps prevent unauthorized users from consuming bandwidth.


7. Separate IoT Devices in different network

Many smart home devices generate unnecessary wireless traffic.
Create seperate networks for:

  • Main networ
  • Guest network
  • IoT network

This improves performance and enhances security.

8. Enable OFDMA and MU-MIMO

Modern Wi-Fi 6 routers support technologies that improve efficiency.
OFDMA

Allows multiple devices to share wireless resources efficiently.
MU-MIMO
Enables simultaneous communication with multiple devices.

Both should remain enabled.

9. Update Router Firmware

Manufacturers regularly release updates that improve the Performance, Security, Stability, Compatibility.
As script kiddie "hackers" threaths raise seriously day by day, when possible always, do:

  • Enable automatic firmware updates whenever possible.

10. Use Quality of Service (QoS)


Use the router to QoS prioritizes important traffic
Usual candidates for higher priorty internet traffics configs are:

  • Streaming, Work VPN traffic
  • Gaming, Video calls


Se as Lower priority ones :

  • Downloads
  • Cloud automated backups, etc.

11. Disable Legacy Wi-Fi Modes


Older compatibility modes, has advantages for interoperability but does reduce network efficiency, so most people would like to disable it.

Disable wifi mode transmission:

– 802.11b
– 802.11g


For Performance use instead the newer transmissions:

+ 802.11n
+ 802.11ac
+ 802.11ax

12. Always Prefer Wired Connections for High-Bandwidth Devices

alwayes-prefer-wired-connections-for-high-bandwidth-devices-cable-network-connection-should-be-always-first-choice

Connect these devices via Ethernet whenever possible:

  • NAS systems (Storages), Desktop PCs (most important candidates for UTP connectivity)
  • Gaming consoles, Smart TVs, Streaming boxes (secondary but also important to not disrupt your fun time)


Note !:
 Every cable connected device would have possible impact on any other connected Wi-Fi devices such as Mobile phones.
Every wired device reduces wireless congestion!

13. Use Mesh Wi-Fi for large sized sq. meter homes

If your home exceeds approximately 150–200 m² or has multiple floors, consider a mesh Wi-Fi system instead of relying on a single router.


Benefits includes:

  • Better coverage
  • Seamless roaming
  • Higher overall speeds
  • Reduced dead zones

14. Monitor Network Usage


Many routers provide tools to identify bottlenecks. Some common ones are

  • Bandwidth-heavy devices, Weak connections

     

     

     

     

    Review these statistics as regular as possible to optimize your network and have decent internet connectivty.

  • Congested channels, Signal quality issues

15. Understand European Wi-Fi Regulations

European countries follow ETSI regulations for wireless spectrum.
Most routers sold in Europe automatically comply with regional requirements, including:

Permitted transmit power, DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection), follow approved set wireless channels.

! Avoid changing the router's region setting, as this may violate local regulations and reduce compatibility. !

Example Configuration for a Modern European Home (Recommended Value Settings)
 

  1. Wi-Fi Standard    Wi-Fi 6 or newer
  2. Security    WPA3-Personal
  3. 2.4 GHz Channel    1, 6, or 11
  4. 2.4 GHz Width    20 MHz
  5. 5 GHz Width    80 MHz
  6. 6 GHz Width    160 MHz (if supported)
  7. Firmware    Automatic updates enabled
  8. QoS    Enabled
  9. OFDMA    Enabled
  10. MU-MIMO    Enabled
  11. Smart Connect    Enabled unless manual band control is preferred
  12. DNS    ISP, Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), or Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8)


Common mistakes to avoid

 

  • Placing the router inside a cabinet.
  • Using outdated firmware.
  • Running all devices on the 2.4 GHz band.
  • Selecting crowded wireless channels.
  • Leaving the default administrator password unchanged.
  • Using Wi-Fi extenders instead of a proper mesh system in large homes.
  • Connecting high-bandwidth devices wirelessly when Ethernet is available.

Conclusion

Optimizing a home Wi-Fi network involves more than purchasing a fast router. Proper placement, choosing the right frequency bands, selecting appropriate channels, keeping firmware updated, and enabling modern Wi-Fi features such as OFDMA and MU-MIMO can significantly improve speed, reliability, and coverage.
For most European households, a centrally located Wi-Fi 6 router configured with WPA3 security, 80 MHz channels on the 5 GHz band, and Ethernet connections for high-bandwidth devices provides an excellent balance of performance, security, and future readiness.

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Posted in Curious Facts, Educational, Everyday Life, Hacks, Performance Tuning, System Optimization | No Comments »

Why modern Linux systems feel Slow and how to Speed it up. Common RAM, CPU, and performance Linux problems in 2026 explained

Monday, May 18th, 2026

For years Linux we the Linux users proudly mocked Windows for bloated resource usage and that was a reason for many enthusiasts like me to start in the Linux realm.
There used to be the good old times where, lightweight distributions running comfortably inside 128MB of RAM were once common, and old computers and the hackers good old ThinkPads series were perfect for becoming a computer professional.

Fast-forward trip to 2026 and many modern GNU / Linux desktop's resource hunger has topped UP and a typical GUI environment such as Gnome is consuming as minimum 2 GB of RAM and often  4GB of RAM immediately after enters through the Login manager and machine. So many of the old computers if even running for 7-8 years and served well once updated or reused with Linux on a fresh install  prformance feels really bad. There of course work arounds to that as there are distributions such PuppyLinux / Tiny Core Linux / Linux Lite / Lubutuntu and even multiple articles online suggesting on how to place an ordinary Debian on Ubuntu and optimize it to work better on older hardware but still this article might be of help not only for old school Linux fans who install on old harware but also for sysadmins who has to deploy and install brand new Linux distributions and want to squeeze best of performance from the machine and make it as minimimalistic as possible in order to reduce the number of problems that might occur for system management.

So What happened, to make Linux performance degrade so dramatically over last 15 years ?

Old Hardware feels Slower Even With Linux

People often install Linux expecting miracles on ancient hardware.

Modern workloads assume:

  • SSD storage
  • multiple CPU cores
  • AVX instructions
  • GPU acceleration
  • large memory pools

Even lightweight Linux distributions struggle when rendering modern web applications on decade-old CPUs.

A 2007 machine browsing modern JavaScript-heavy websites experiences a fundamentally different workload than it did originally.

Web site use became computationally expensive.

 

Modern Linux Is Carrying the Weight of the development of Tech and Internet industry

A contemporary Linux desktop is no longer just:

  • X11
  • a window manager
  • a browser
  • a terminal emulator

Modern systems now run dozens of background services (as people run into complexity more and more instead of minimalism). Even a basic Linux install often runs by default things such as:
telemetry collectors, hardware abstraction layers, sandboxing frameworks, package management daemons, web server management platforms, indexing systems, GPU compositors, browser engines that resemble miniature operating systems and even with some specific distros embedded containers.

A typical desktop session environment on Linux today often includes as a base a bunch of software that is not always necessery such as:

  • systemd
  • dbus-daemon
  • pipewire
  • wireplumber
  • NetworkManager
  • xdg-desktop-portal
  • gvfsd
  • tracker-miner
  • udisksd
  • polkitd
  • bluetoothd
  • ModemManager
  • cupsd
  • flatpak-session-helper

Many younger users won't  never notice the burden of having those services running all time on the hardware as hardware today is mostly powerful and modern PC and notebooks often ship with 16GB or even some gaiming machines have 32 GB of memory.

As the default amount of memory on a laptop PC has become so abundant as 16GB RAM has become  "normal / standard ",  so software developers stopped aggressively optimizing memory consumption, plus the inclusing of AI vibe coding today and the abundant resource makes things with program optimization even more bloated.

The result of all this is more and more software entropy (the tendency of software systems to become more disorganized, complex, and harder to maintain over time).

The older UNIX philosophy no longer remembered by newer developers is completely forgotten. The old unix thinking was "Do one thing well.",
the new is "use everything no matter the efficiency if that would save you time"

As a result modern desktop applications instead ship entire browser engines for  simple things as displaying buttons.
This is exactly where Linux desktop gets heavily loaded and cause for whole system to work sluggish even on newer hardware. 
Very large part of those ineffiicient developed is caused by Electron:

Electron Framework for building Desktop apps worsened Linux performance

One of the largest reasons modern Desktop Linux / Windows systems is Electron (a framework for building desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS).

Electron bundles essentially with:

  • Chromium
  • Node.js
  • V8 JavaScript engine
  • application runtime
  • UI rendering engine

and this is used in …inside many of the third party applications, which unfurtunately has to be used also on Linux, few examples that has heavy electron use are:

  • Discord client
  • Slack client
  • VS Code
  • Element 
  • Spotify
  • Visual Studio Code
  • Discord
  • Signal Desktop
  • Postman
  • Countless App launchers part of extra packages that one needs to use on Linux Desktop

…are frequently separate Chromium instances or use large part of chromium libs pretending to be native applications.

1. Finding top resource hungry Apps on Linux

To get a list of most memory heavy Apps on a Linux system:

# ps aux –sort=-%mem | head

 

You may discover that “lightweight desktop apps” and background services are consuming much more RAM than imagined.

Measuring Real Resource Usage Properly

Many users misunderstand Linux memory reporting.

Linux aggressively uses RAM for:

  • filesystem cache
  • buffers
  • inode caching

Note! Unused RAM is wasted RAM.

# free -h

Focus on:

  • available memory
  • swap activity
  • sustained pressure

Better command tools to optimize OS include:

htop
btop
smem
iotop
vmstat

Systemd  Useful but running default unused services

Mentioning systemd still starts wars on Linux forums.

Reality is nuanced.

Systemd solved real problems:

  • dependency management
  • predictable service startup
  • cgroup integration
  • journal logging
  • parallel boot
  • service supervision

However, it also dramatically expanded the scope of PID 1 responsibilities.

Leading to many Linux-es to now launch numerous services laying around, not known by the users and never (intially needed).

If you want to check and optimize systemd ecosystem to improve performance

2. Check systemd OS boot chain and disable unnecessery services

# systemd-analyze blame

And inspect active systemd units:

# systemctl list-units –type=service

Many Linux distributions has by default setup of unused:

  • printer services on systems without printers
  • modem services on desktops without modems
  • Bluetooth stacks on machines without Bluetooth devices
  • indexing daemons nobody uses

Disable unnecessary services carefully:

sudo systemctl disable –now ModemManager
sudo systemctl disable –now bluetooth
sudo systemctl disable –now cups


This alone will reduce memory usage and boot time.
A common set of unused Apps on Desktop and servers goes like this:
 

# Printing system (disable if you never use printers)

# systemctl disable –now cups.service cups-browsed.service

# Bluetooth support (disable if you don’t use Bluetooth devices)

# systemctl disable –now bluetooth.service

# Mobile broadband / modem support (disable if no 4G / 5G dongles)

# systemctl disable –now ModemManager.service

# Network discovery (AirPrint, LAN service discovery; disable if not needed)

# systemctl disable –now avahi-daemon.service

# Location services for apps/browser geolocation (disable if not used)

# systemctl disable –now geoclue.service

# Ubuntu crash reporting services (safe to disable for privacy/no reporting)

# systemctl disable –now apport.service whoopsie.service

# Desktop search indexing (GNOME file search; disable if you don’t use fast search)

# systemctl disable –now tracker-miner-fs.service tracker-extract.service tracker-store.service

 

For deeper analysis check out systemd cg groups use:

# systemd-cgtop

Or inspect slab allocator usage:

slabtop


3. Avoid using Flatpak and Snap for extra Apps

Flatpak and Snap Increase Isolation, provides many modern Apps that are not default shipped by Debian / Ubuntu / Fedora OS  etc (Deb / RPM) repos and keeps packages easily at latest but also puts great worthless overhead on system.
 

a) Modern packaging systems like Flatpak and Snap (Pros) prioritize:

  • sandboxing
  • dependency isolation
  • reproducibility
  • cross-distribution compatibility

This is good for security, however it comes at a cost.

b) Use of Flatpak and Snap pack. managers downsides

Flatpak applications frequently duplicate:

  • runtimes
  • libraries
  • graphics stacks
  • helper services

Snap packages compress applications into loop-mounted filesystem images which increase startup overhead and general memory fragmentation.

Inspect mounted Snap filesystems

# mount | grep snap


Inspect Flatpak runtimes:

# flatpak list


Considering that, traditional native packages remain significantly leaner in many cases.

4. Use Minimalistic GUI Desktop environment to reduce resource and use of complexity on Linux

Being mimimalist nowadays in a world of abundancy is considered wrong. However minimalism has its well known provent benefits. 

Wayland Is Efficient,  but X11 env with Minimalist GUI is better

Wayland itself is not inherently bloated.

However, modern compositors increasingly rely on:

  • GPU acceleration
  • animation pipelines
  • texture buffering
  • fractional scaling
  • HDR rendering
  • Vulkan / OpenGL abstractions

This improves:

  • smoothness
  • latency
  • security
  • multi-monitor support

…but increases baseline GPU and memory usage and still for performance cautious desktop users it is most likely not the best option.

For example, try to compare CPU / Mem / Disk use of:

  • Openbox on X11
  • KDE Plasma on Wayland with effects enabled

The performance difference is dramatic.


If you want to be a Linux Minimalist (benefit) and get astonishingly low resource usage try:

  • dwm
  • i3
  • bspwm
  • Openbox
  • Wmaker
  • XFCE
  • IceWM

Switching to one of those Linux ecosystem instead of the default heavy GNOME or KDE permits even further optimizations on Graphical environment level,  if users intentionally choose it. The downsides of that is twitching it will take you usually longer but if you setup one and the same desktop with the basic minimalist environment and you keep using it for daily work / development for years, invested time is worth.

5. Use browser extensions, habits or a lightweight  browser. 

Web browser a common source of slowness 

Web Browsers, became nowadays a fully featured Operating Systems. On many machines they are the largest consumers of RAM on Linux systems and on old computers main source of slowness. On older PCs try to use other small browser alternatives

A single browser tab may include:

  • isolated sandbox process
  • JavaScript runtime
  • GPU process
  • extension subsystem
  • video decoder
  • site isolation sandbox
  • service workers

a) Inspect Chromium process trees

# ps -ef | grep chromium

b) Inspect Firefox process trees

about:processes

 

A few “simple” tabs can easily consume several gigabytes.

The modern web itself is bloated:

  • gigantic JavaScript frameworks
  • endless analytics
  • autoplay video
  • AI scripts
  • tracking engines
  • real-time rendering

Shamefully, many websites today consume more RAM than entire operating systems from the early 2000s.

If you have to work on a PC with 4 or 8 GB with Linux maybe you can try to use a GUI browser only when necessery and for general reading and stuff use a minimalist version of browsers such as using a text / console web  browser and ones that are capable to support ncurses and javascript partially, a good candidate for a real console maniac or an old school hacker will be some of below:

  • Lynx (lightest, pure text)
  • w3m (text browser but supports javascripts partially)
  • Links / Links2 (fast, ultra-lightweight web browser works in both text and gui modes)
    NetSurf (graphical web browser built from scratch with its own independent layout and rendering engine, performs poor with javascript)
  • Browsh (can be often used instead of fully functional browser but buggy)

xlinks2-graphical-mode-lightweight-browser-linux

c) Use Lightweight Browsing Habits

Extensions matter enormously.

Block:

  • ads
  • trackers
  • autoplay
  • unnecessary scripts

uBlock Origin (free and open source browser block extension) alone can dramatically reduce CPU and RAM consumption.

Final words; the modern computing efficiency degredal

What a paradox, Modern hardware is unbelievably powerful, yet modern software consumes resources at almost the same rate hardware improves.

This phenomenon is partially explained by:abstraction layers, developer convenience, use of cross-platform frameworks, increased security isolation, the web technologies heaviness and reduced optimization pressure.

Even though the degredal in perforamance on old hardware, Linux itself remains extremely efficient at the kernel level.

The bloat largely exists and widens though in:

  • userland
  • desktop ecosystems
  • browser-centric software culture
     

The computing as we know it changed.

What once was: terminal-centric, native, lightweight,locally optimized, inter-dependent

turned over  last 10 years: browser-centricm, all time cloud-connected, sandboxed, abstraction-heavy, outer dependent

The good news is that GNU / Linux still gives users freedom, even though the freedom has reduced.

Even though the performance reduced,  Linux still remains one of the few environments where users retain meaningful control over their data and system complexity in the AI, Clouds era

 

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Posted in Curious Facts, Educational, Hacks, Linux, Linux and FreeBSD Desktop, Performance Tuning, System Administration, System Optimization | No Comments »

Automatically Re-plug all USB devices on system resume on Debian Linux using systemd

Thursday, March 26th, 2026

automatically-replug-all-usb-devices-on-system-resume-on-Debian-Ubuntu-Linux
Lets say you’re like me and you have an old but gold USB device like USB joystick Maxfire G-08XU (i've described how to configure Joystick / Gamepad on Debian Ubuntu easily), an USB flash drive stick or even some obscure USB keyboard model, that are not among the most compatible device on earth for linux. The result is in device plug and Sleeping the system or Hibernating it for a while (when go to bed) you end up with USB device being undetected by the system. Once you recover the Laptop / PC from being in Sleep mode / hibernate, the device becomes undetected by system, even though, even though the Linux kernel recognizes in lsusb. That weirdity continues until you do the manual hard workaround, which is to manually unplug the device cable and replug it again.
Though Linux has advanced much with this stuff over last years still this problems can occur every now and then. Thanksfully there is a quick fix to that. You can create a small script that reloads all the USB devices on PC
want the script to run automatically after your Debian laptop wakes up from suspend/hibernate. On Linux, the way to do this is using systemd sleep hooks. Here’s how to do it properly by using a small script + systemd.

1. Create a systemd sleep script

Create a new directory and file: 

# mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system-sleep

# vim /etc/systemd/system-sleep/usb-replug.sh

Add this content: 

#!/bin/bash
# Only run on resume (wake up)
case "$1" in
    post)
        # Replace '1-3' with your USB bus-port ID
        echo '1-3' | tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/unbind
        sleep 2
        echo '1-3' | tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/bind
        ;;
esac



If


If you need script logging use instead this small script:

 

#!/bin/bash

case $1/$2 in
pre/*)
# before suspend: you can put commands here if needed
;;
post/*)
# after resume: run your USB replug commands
echo "$(date) – Running USB replug script" >> /var/log/usb-replug.log
# Example command: trigger USB rescan
for bus in /sys/bus/usb/devices/*/authorized; do
echo 0 | sudo tee $bus
echo 1 | sudo tee $bus
done
;;
esac

2. Make it executable and reload systemd services

# chmod +x /etc/systemd/system-sleep/usb-replug.sh

Once you’ve created the script in /etc/systemd/system-sleep/ and made it executable, systemd will automatically call it on suspend/resume.

To make sure everything is recognized, you can:

  1. Reload systemd units (optional but recommended) 

# systemctl daemon-reload

  1. Test it manually by suspending and resuming your machine 

# systemctl suspend

After resuming, your script should run automatically and you should see the missing devices that you had to physically unplug and plug back to normal.
Hooray ! 🙂

3. How it works (systemd respawn)

  • systemd runs scripts in /etc/systemd/system-sleep/ on suspend and resume.

  • $1 is either pre (before sleep) or post (after wake).

  • The script unbinds and rebinds your USB device right after the system resumes.

Tip: You can also use usbreset instead of unbind/bind if you prefer, just replace the echo lines with:

# usbreset /dev/bus/usb/001/005

Alternatively you can use one time a simple one liner script that does the job like this:
 

# cat replug_usbs_linux.sh
#!/bin/bash

# one liner script to replug all USB devices like you have physically replugged all USBs useful if for example some of USB devices stuck after linux computer sleep

# for example my old maxfire g-08 usb joystick does mess up and i have to physically replug it (to work around this i simply run this script

d=$(lsusb -t | grep -m1 'Driver=' | sed -E 's|.*Port ([0-9]+):.*Bus ([0-9]+).*|\2-\1|') && echo $d | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/unbind && sleep 2 && echo $d | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/bind

 

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Posted in Curious Facts, Educational, Everyday Life, Linux and FreeBSD Desktop, Linux multimedia, Linux on Laptops | No Comments »

Building a 10-Server FreeBSD Jail Cluster Running a LAMP (Linux / Apache / MySQL / Perl / PHP / Python) Stack

Wednesday, March 25th, 2026

building-freebsd-jails-cluster-running-linux-apache-10-cluster-high-availability-with-mariadb-perl-php-howto

Virtualization and workload isolation are foundational to modern infrastructure.
While most teams today default to container platforms like Docker and orchestration systems such as Kubernetes, an older and highly capable alternative exists in the form of jails from FreeBSD.

FreeBSD jails provide lightweight OS-level isolation, allowing multiple independent userland environments to run on a single host. Introduced long before containers became mainstream, jails were designed with a strong focus on security, simplicity, and performance.
Despite their maturity and robustness, they are less commonly used today, largely due to the rapid rise of container ecosystems and cloud-native tooling.

Choosing between jails and containers is not simply a matter of “old vs new,” but rather a trade-off between control and simplicity versus portability and ecosystem support.

Short Comparison of FreeBSD jails and Containers ( Pros and Cons )

Advantages of FreeBSD Jails

a. Strong, simple isolation

Jails provide a clear and tightly integrated security boundary within the FreeBSD kernel. Their design is straightforward, reducing the risk of misconfiguration compared to layered container security models.

freebsd_jails_infographic_diagram

b. High performance

Because jails operate very close to the base system, they deliver near-native performance with minimal overhead—especially beneficial for networking and I/O-heavy workloads.

c. Operational simplicity

There are fewer component moving parts (easier to maintain and debbug):

  • No separate container runtime
  • No image layers
  • No complex orchestration requirements

This makes jails appealing for stable, long-running systems.

d. Predictability and stability

FreeBSD’s conservative, design philosophy results in systems that are highly stable over long periods, that is ideal for infrastructure roles like: storage or networking.

Disadvantages of FreeBSD Jails

a. Limited portability

Not neceserry a huge disadvantage but still,
Jails are tied to FreeBSD. Unlike containers, they cannot be easily moved across different operating systems or cloud platforms.


b. Smaller ecosystem

FBSD Jails is not full equivallent to:

  • Container registries (like Docker Hub)
  • Massive orchestration ecosystems (similar things has to be done with scripts and customizations)
  • Broad third-party integrations

This can slow down a bit development and deployment workflows. Though for a matured Applications that are once well tuned with jails that can be not a real probblem.

Note that though a con, this can also be a pros, as once you tune up an App for it becomes easier to maintain.

c. Less automation tooling

While tools exist, they are not as standardized or widely adopted as container-based CI/CD pipelines.

d. Harder to find people for it
 

Most developers and DevOps engineers are trained in container technologies, making hiring and collaboration easier in container-based environments. However for senior hard core sysadmins and system engineers that could be also advantage as not so many people have an indepth insight with both freebsd and fbsd jails.

This guide walks through a practical, production-style setup: 10 FreeBSD servers, each running isolated jails that host a classic LAMP stack (Linux, here replaced by FreeBSD, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP).
However still the use of companies or individuals who choose freebsd jails aim to better focus is on repeatability, clean architecture, and operational sanity, not just getting it to run once.

Architecture Overview of sample FBSD Cluster

Our Goal:

  • 10 physical or virtual servers
  • Each server runs multiple jails
  • Each jail runs a LAMP app instance
  • Load balancing across nodes (to have a High Availability Cluster like setup)

Host Setup:

  • 2 × load balancer nodes (nginx or HAProxy)
  • 6 × application nodes (Apache + PHP in jails)
  • 2 × database nodes (MariaDB primary/replica)

All systems run FreeBSD, using native jails for isolation.

1. Base FreeBSD Installation (All 10 Servers)

Install FreeBSD on each machine (minimal install is fine).

Update system:

# freebsd-update fetch install
# pkg update && pkg upgrade -y

Install base tools:

# pkg install -y sudo vim bash git

2. Install Jail Management tool (iocage)

We’ll use iocage, a modern jail manager.

# pkg install -y iocage
# sysrc iocage_enable="YES"
# service iocage start

Activate ZFS (recommended):

# zpool create zroot /dev/da0

Initialize iocage:

# iocage activate zroot
# iocage fetch

3. Create a Reusable Jail Template

Instead of building each jail manually, create a golden template.

# iocage create -n lamp-template -r 13.2-RELEASE ip4_addr="vnet0|10.0.0.10/24" boot=off
# iocage start lamp-template
# iocage console lamp-template

4. Install LAMP Stack Inside the Jail

Inside the jail:

4.1. Install Apache

# pkg install -y apache24
# sysrc apache24_enable="YES"

4.2. Install MariaDB

# pkg install -y mariadb106-server
# sysrc mysql_enable="YES"

Initialize DB:

service mysql-server start
mysql_secure_installation

4.3. Install PHP pre-compiled ports

# pkg install -y php82 php82-mysqli php82-mbstring php82-opcache


Configure Apache to use PHP:

# echo 'LoadModule php_module libexec/apache24/libphp.so' >> /usr/local/etc/apache24/httpd.conf
# echo 'AddType application/x-httpd-php .php' >> /usr/local/etc/apache24/httpd.conf

5. Test LAMP Stack works OK

Create a test file:

# echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" > /usr/local/www/apache24/data/index.php

Start services:

service apache24 start

Visit the jail IP and confirm PHP (page output) works in Firefox / Chrome Browser.

6. Convert Template into Clones

Stop Jail and snapshot:

iocage stop lamp-template
iocage snapshot lamp-template@base

Clone for production:

iocage clone lamp-template -n app01 ip4_addr="vnet0|10.0.0.21/24"
iocage clone lamp-template -n app02 ip4_addr="vnet0|10.0.0.22/24"

Repeat across servers and once working create a small shell script to run as a cron job to create backups automated.

Each server might run 5 up to 20 jails depending on resources.

7. Networking Between Jails

Use VNET for proper isolation:

Enable bridge on host:

# ifconfig bridge0 create
# ifconfig bridge0 addm em0 up

Assign jail interfaces automatically via iocage.

8.  Load Balancing Layer

On 2 dedicated nodes, install nginx:

# pkg install -y nginx
# sysrc nginx_enable="YES"

Example config:

http {
    upstream backend {
        server 10.0.0.21;
        server 10.0.0.22;
        server 10.0.1.21;
        server 10.0.1.22;
    }

    server {
        listen 80;

        location / {
            proxy_pass http://backend;
        }
    }
}

9. Database Strategy

You have few options to choose from:

a. Use Centralized DB

  • Dedicated DB jails on 2 nodes
  • Primary + replica

b. Use Per-node DB (simpler)

  • Each jail has its own MariaDB
  • Use app-level replication if needed

10. Automation Across 10 Servers

Use tools like:

  • Ansible
  • SSH scripts
  • ZFS replication

Example (simple parallel execution loop) or use a set of scripts to handle updating with some Ansible Playbooks or Puppet:

# for host in server{1..10}; do
  ssh $host "pkg update"
done

Few more Operational Tips to consider

a. Tune up setup / Do Resource management

  • Limit jail CPU/memory using rctl
  • Avoid overcommitting RAM

b. Use Centralized Logging

c. Do regular jail Backups

  • Use ZFS snapshots to backup each of the Jails:

# zfs snapshot zroot/iocage/jails/app01@backup
…

d. Tighten Security

  • Disable root SSH
  • Use PF firewall on host
  • Keep jails minimal

e. Do a Further Scaling Strategy

  • Add more servers -> replicate template
  • Add more jails -> clone snapshots
  • Scale horizontally via load balancer

Summary and Last Thoughts

When Choose FBSD Jails and when Containers

  • Use jails when you control the infrastructure, need maximum efficiency, and value simplicity (e.g., appliances, CDNs, storage systems).
  • Use containers when portability, scalability, and integration with modern DevOps workflows are critical.

This setup plays to the strengths of FreeBSD jails:

1. Performance: near-native speed
2.Isolation: strong and predictable
3. Simplicity: fewer layers than container stacks

FreeBSD jails remain a powerful and efficient isolation mechanism, particularly well-suited for controlled, performance-sensitive environments. Containers, however, dominate in modern application deployment due to their flexibility and ecosystem. The choice ultimately depends on whether you prioritize system-level control or platform-level convenience.

You won’t get the ecosystem of tools like Docker or Kubernetes, but you gain control, stability, and efficiency, which is exactly why companies like Netflix still rely on this model in critical infrastructure.

 

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Posted in Automation, Cloud services, Clusters, Curious Facts, FreeBSD, Linux, System Administration, System Optimization | No Comments »

Linux Bash Logging log everything. Prevent user from delete his history and keep record of every command User ever Run

Tuesday, March 17th, 2026

make_bash_history_permanent-how-to-keep-every-user-command-forever-prevent-users-from-deleting-their-bash-history-on-linux

Whether you're managing servers, writing scripts, or troubleshooting complex systems, one of the most valuable tools at your disposal is your command history. But the default Bash history has serious limitations: it’s easy to lose, doesn't timestamp by default, and doesn't log everything in real time.

What if you could keep a permanent, timestamped, real-time log of every command you ever run in Bash?

Good news: you can.

In this guide, we’ll walk through how to set up robust, automatic Bash logging to track every command you type—across sessions, with full timestamps, and even with user and host information. Ideal for system administrators, developers, auditors, or anyone who wants to maintain a clear, searchable audit trail.

Why Bash Logging Persistence So Important ?

Before we dive into the how, let's understand the why:

  • Accountability – Know exactly what commands were run, by whom, and when.
  • Auditability – Great for security reviews or compliance requirements.
  • Troubleshooting – Trace back actions that caused issues.
  • Documentation – Reuse commands or share with teammates.
  • Forensics – Investigate suspicious activity.

How Bash History Behaves  ( By Default )

Without any config everyone knows , Bash uses a file called ~/.bash_history in $HOME to save command history.

What is tricky here:

  • .bash_history not written to immediately – only when the session exits.
  • It can be overwritten by other sessions.
  • It lacks timestamps unless explicitly configured.
  • It doesn’t log failed attempts or commands from other users.

In this short article I'll show you one of the ways on how to make .bash_history keeps the record for you even though some user tries to hide tihngs by running the commands and exiting the shell abnormally by killing it with the well known command by hackers and sysadmin gurus:


$ kill -9 $$

The command forces the user you have logged into to kill the process of the bash (-bash). 

Here is how.

Enable Advanced Bash Logging

1. Enable Timestamps in History

Add this line to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile:

export HISTTIMEFORMAT="%F %T "

This formats the date/time as YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.

After modifying the file, run:

source ~/.bashrc

Now, run:

history

And you’ll see timestamps next to your commands.

2. Increase History Size

The default history size is often too small. Let’s increase it:

export HISTSIZE=100000

export HISTFILESIZE=200000


Add these to ~/.bashrc as well.

3. Log Commands Immediately (Across Sessions)

By default, Bash only writes history when the shell exits. To log commands in real time, add the following to ~/.bashrc:

# Append to the history file, don't overwrite it

shopt -s histappend

# Immediately append command to history file after execution

PROMPT_COMMAND='history -a; history -n'

Explanation:

  • history -a: Append current session's command to ~/.bash_history
  • history -n: Read any new lines from the file (from other sessions)

4. Log All Commands to a Separate File (for each User)

To keep a separate, detailed log, you can use the trap command in combination with logger, or write to a custom file.

Add this to your ~/.bashrc:

LOG_FILE="$HOME/.bash_command_log"

trap 'echo "$(date "+%F %T") | $(whoami)@$(hostname) | $(pwd) | $BASH_COMMAND" >> "$LOG_FILE"' DEBUG

This logs every command as for example:

2025-10-10 14:25:02 | master_app@server01 | /var/www | systemctl restart nginx

This file can grow large over time – consider rotating it regularly with logrotate or similar tools.
To prevent the file 100% from being modified by the user itself you can make the log file  immutable with command

# chattr +i $HOME/.bash_command_log


5. Guarantee log security, Make copy of Logs to prevent hackers to modify them

If logging for audit/security purposes:

  • Store logs in append-only files (chattr +a logfile on ext4 FS)
  • store files with rsyslog service (see below)
  • Use remote logging (e.g., send via logger to syslog  / rsyslog or any other centralized logging service) / logcollector etc.
  • Monitor for tampering or suspicious gaps

6. Store file with rsyslog service

Create the file and set it proper permissions

# touch /var/log/bash_audit.log
# chmod 600 /var/log/bash_audit.log
# chown root:root /var/log/bash_audit.log

# vim /etc/rsyslog.d/bash_audit.conf

Add:

if $programname == 'bash_audit' then /var/log/bash_audit.log
& stop

# systemctl restart rsyslog


To later verify it works fine

# tail -f /var/log/bash_audit.log
# journalctl -t bash_audit

 

6. Add Global Bash Logging for All Users

Assuming that the bash_audit set program / name tag is already done as in step 5.
To apply logging system-wide, Edit /etc/profile /etc/bash_profile or /etc/bash.bashrc and include the same trap cmd and logging is ready. Ensure:

  • The log file is writable by users (or add users to a group that can append to file) or modify the command to use sudo logger for centralized syslog.
  • You test it carefully before deploying to all users.

     

     

     

    An improved wide user version of trap command would be something like this

# Bash command logging (readable layer)

trap 'CMD=$(history 1 | sed "s/^[ ]*[0-9]\+[ ]*//");
MSG="$(date "+%F %T") | $(whoami)@$(hostname) | $(pwd) | $CMD";

/usr/bin/logger -t bash_audit "$MSG"
' DEBUG

Make these two env variables read only for additional hardening 

readonly PROMPT_COMMAND
readonly HISTFILE

Note that you will need to edit passwordless login for sudo to logger

  • Setup auditd to make file read only

# apt install auditd audispd-plugins –yes

  • Test it with auditctl

# auditctl -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S execve -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=4294967295 -k cmdlog
# auditctl -a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S execve -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=4294967295 -k cmdlog

  • Make rules permanent via cmdlog.rules

# vim /etc/audit/rules.d/cmdlog.rules

-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S execve -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=4294967295 -k cmdlog
-a always,exit -F arch=b32 -S execve -F auid>=1000 -F auid!=4294967295 -k cmdlog

  • Load and lock audit rules

# augenrules –load
# auditctl -e 2

  • Check audit logs

# ausearch -k cmdlog -i
exe="/usr/bin/ls" argc=1 a0="ls"

7. Rotate Log Files Automatically with logrotate

Create a logrotate config like /etc/logrotate.d/bash_command_log:

/home/*/.bash_command_log {
daily
rotate 7
compress
missingok
notifempty
}

/var/log/bash_audit.log {
daily
rotate 7
compress
missingok
notifempty
}


This keeps logs for 7 days and compresses old ones.

8. Test Every command Logging is permanenty stored

After setting bash logging up up:

  1. Open a new terminal client with SSH session
  2. Run a few commands
  3. Check ~/.bash_command_log (or your alternative configured log location)

You should see a real-time record of every command executed.

Use tools like grep, awk, or fzf Command fuzzy finder to search through your command log efficiently. Example:

grep apt ~/.bash_command_log

You can further automate it and deploy it to multiple servers with Ansible or some shell scripting.
If you need it Ask me how to automate it?
Ask me how to automate it with Ansible or a shell script.

Wrapping it Up

With just a few lines in Bash config, basic history feature becomes a persistent, and timestamped static record  that’s invaluable for system admins, developers, and security teams.

Summary Checklist

  • Enable HISTTIMEFORMAT
  • Increase history size
  • Append history in real time
  • Log every command with trap DEBUG
  • Optionally send to rsyslog / syslogd / systemd-journald or other central log server (Fluentd / ELK Stack / Graylog)
  • Rotate logs with logrotate

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Posted in Curious Facts, Linux, Security, System Administration | No Comments »

Father Archimandrite Ivan of Novi Han, Protector of Poor and Homeless passed away to Christ

Tuesday, September 16th, 2025

Father Ivan with his shepherd stick

On September 14, the 80-year-old Archimandrite Joan (John) , known simply as Father Ivan from Novi Khan.
Father Ivan was well known in Bulgarian society as the only Monk father of the Fatherless. and a great benefactor who dedicated his life to the sick, poor, needy and, the homeless people in Bulgaria.

The Requiem service  will be consecrated on September 16 from 12:00 pm in the church "The Holy Trinity" in Novi Khan (a Church situated in the improvised homeless shelter organized in an old Monastery (Saint Nicholas) by Father Ivan himself. by Bishop John of Branitsky, former Vicar Bishop of Patriarch Daniel.

Father Ivan Dimitrov Ivanov was born on March 31, 1945. in the Bulgarian village of Blagovo, Montana region. He received his basic and secondary education in the High Professional School "Peter Beron" in city of Sofia. Next He attended a university degree from the Theological Academy "St. Clement of Ohrid" (which was re-established in the distant year 1981)  already in grown age after working different other jobs. He merried and with his wife Todorka Grigorova Ivanova had two sons – Ivaylo and Grigor. On October 19, 1981 he was ordained a deacon, and on 26 October same year – ordained for a  priest by Metropolitan Filaret of Vidin. Since 1987 he was appointed as a priest at the Church "Holy Trinity" in the town of Novi Han, region of Elin Pelin. In year 2011 he has been consecrated as monk the name Ioan by the Bishop of Devol Theodosij (Theodosius). In 2015 in Montana he was promoted to archimandrite dignity by Vidin Metropolitan Dometian.

Along with his pastoral work, he devotes all his strength to caring for the poor. His selfless service remains misunderstood by many, and for a long time he does not receive support from the leadership of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In 2014, His Holiness Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria came to visit the “Holy Trinity” shelter in Novi Han. In addition to food and gifts, he also gave a sign of empathy with the great priest’s work.

Otec_Ivan_Novi-Han-s-patriarh-Neofit

Father Ivan began his work in  the distanct 1993, short after the fall of Communism regime in Bulgaria when he restored the abandoned building of the monastery "Holy Trinity" in Novi Han. He revived the liturgical life in the monastery church (that was abondoned for many years due to the dictatorship regime in Bulgaria) and created the shelter "Saint Nicholas", in which he sheltered a dozen homeless people. Gradually, the orphanage expanded and it housed mainly women and children deprived of home and protection, but also found shelter for the elderly and homeless. The priest gave pregnant girls left without any financial support and shelter, the opportunity to give birth to their children and take care of them in the shelter for free. Several generations of children were born and raised under the care of Father Ivan. Today, some of them were the first to express their grief over the death of the father on social networks.

otec_Ivan-with-his-children

Even though his genuine kindness and great good deeds Father Ivan has suffered a lot from people who hate the light of Christ, being a victim of various life hardships, road incidents, and a lot of health issues, which he endevoured with stoicism. He has multiple times has shared when we met that many people being pushed by the devil has done him a lot of badness. 
As a mean to finance the homeless people Father Ivan with the help of his orpans, take care about animals such as chickens, cows, sheeps.
Not on a signle occasion animals belonging to him and his shelter has been stolen.
He fought many battles in his life time but never lost hope neither he fall in spirit always counting on the help of the Almighty, like the ancient saints.
Father Ivans deed for that hard times can be compared to the great deeds of the ancients and for the Bulgarian society his meaning and inspiration was similar
to the old testamental important of Moses who led the people.
His servence of a priest was always given for the good example and people respected him and loved him for his deeds in Bulgaria over the last 40 years.

Otec_Ivan-stuck-with-a-knife

In 2013, the father bought several houses in the Montana village of Yakimovo, where he housed also homeless families and their children (the houses hosting homless families reached about 80+ houses ! which accomodated about 180 people, together with the people in the orphanage in Novi Han they were more than 250+ people).

The last years of his life he spend living in his small living Room (monastic Cell) in the Saint Nicolas Monastery in prayer and last spiritual cares for his many children.

Father Ivan of Novi Han and his son Grigorij

The priest's work is continued by his son (who also took the path of his father) Fr. Grigoriy, who now takes care of the orphanages. Fr. Ivan remains in our recent church history as an example of complete dedication to the service of his neighbors, without seeking reward or gratitude. Something unique and unrepeatable fhat inspired many to be more merciful and benevolent for the poor and needy and by this he incarnated the example of Christ who teached us to always have the poor and needy with us and in our hearts. Generous to the life's misfortunes of his "children", Fr. Ivan set an example of a servant of Christ, whose love "does not seek its own… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Cor. 13:5-7).

I had the blessing to meet father Ivan of Novi Han a couple of times together with Bishop Ierotey Agathopolski (who used to be in the past under the spiritual guidance of Father Ivan). And my personal impressions are that father Ivan was a highly spiritual person and true monk. I had the chance one time in the distant 2011 to meet him in Novi Khan afer a pilgrimage to Holy Mount Athos we have been guests to Father Ivan in the monastery for a night and even had the chance to be and serve as a ipodeacon on a Holy Liturgy led by Father Ivan. I still remember how much he worried about the children God has sent him for care and how much he worried if financially he can make it to give a good life to all the new inhabitants who recently come to his shelter. 

The Children and old homeless people for whom Father Ivan of Novi Han took care

I remember he had to buy some food for the shelter and I wanted to help him to carry the stuff and we were to the SuperMarket together to buy food and goods for the children.
Father Ivan had a great temper and a great sense of humor even though he has been already aging and his spirit was lifted even though the hardships both with suffering heavy form of diabetes and other multitude of physical infirmity.

 
Film Sparks (Movie about the Shleter of Saint Nicolas created by Father Ivan of Novi Han)


Father Ivan and his Children an Interview Movie by Fr Ivan

 


Movie about The Life Story hardships of Father Ivan of Novi Khan and what made him decide to serve the sick, the poor and the lonely

Father Archimandrite Ivan one worthy Bulgarian

In above interview, father Ivan talks about how he decided to become a priest and how he promised God that he will make an orphanage home. He was accused during the communistic times in Bulgaria for being a priest only to serve as a spy for the West. He was kept in Montana Police station interrogated for 7 months in a small dark police carcer (small police room for prisoners), trying and the police tried to brain wash him that he is guilty for things he is not for all the time being asked the same questions again and again with a light lamp infront of his eye sight. He tells in short in the interview, how he managed to restore the Holy Trinity monastery, after a lot of hardships and miracles of God who helped me to do so. On multiple times his orphanage house has been tried to be (closed) and even destroyed by the local people of Novi Han unsuccesful. He has a lot of abusers who tried to run the deeds of his life the oprphanage but God by his great grace and his powers did not allow this to happen! But right on the contrary helped him and the children and provided him everything he needs to fulfill the dead of his life to help the salvation of tens of thousands to find his path to God and multitudes of people to physically survive a life of horror for years. He put a multitude of lost souls for whom noone cared back on the track of life and by his mercifulness he preached the Gospel not only words but in deeds.

Let God forgive him, Have mercy on his Soul and Forgive him if he sinned as a man and Receive him in his heavenly kingdom ! And Let us have his prayers to Christ ! Amen

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Posted in Christianity, Curious Facts, Everyday Life | No Comments »

Windows 10 install local Proxy server to Save bandwidth on a slow and limited Mobile Phone HotSpot network Shared connections

Wednesday, August 20th, 2025

https://pc-freak.net/images/how-to-use-local-proxy-to-speed-up-internet-speed-connectivity-on-windows-os-with-squid-and-privoxy

If you're running on Internet ISP that is providing via a Internet / Wifi Router device with a 3G / 4G / 5G etc. but your receiving point location is situated somewhere very far in a places like High mountains lets say Rila Mountain or  Alps on a very distant places where Internet coverate of Inetner Service Provider is low or very low but you need still to Work / Play / Entertain on the Net frequently.
Hence you will cenrtainly be looking for a ways to Speed Up / Optimize the Internet connectivity somehow.
You cannot do miracles but certainly the daily operations and a pack up of repeating traffic can be achieved by using installing and using simple local proxy server.

The advantages of using a proxy are even more besides the speed up of Internet connection lines, here is the Pros you get by using the proxy:
 

  • Using Caches frequently accessed content (e.g., images, scripts, web pages).
  • Blocks ads and trackers (reduces bandwidth).
  • Compresses data (if needed)
  • Can serve multiple local devices if needed.
     

To save bandwidth on a slow and limited connectivity Internet router or mobile phone hotspot using Windows 10, you can install a local proxy server that:

Here’s a step-by-step guide to set this up:
 

Install a local caching proxy server on Windows 10 to reduce bandwidth usage over a mobile hotspot.


1. Install Squid (Caching Proxy Server)

Squid is a powerful and widely used open-source caching proxy.

Download Squid for Windows

Download Squid for Windows from:

https://squid.acmeconsulting.it/download (Unofficial, stable build)

or compile it manually (if you're having an own Linux or BSD router that is passing on the traffic)

2. Install Squid Proxy sever on Windows


2.1. Extract or install the downloaded Squid package.

…

 

2.2. Install it as a Windows Service

Open Command Prompt (Admin) and run:

C:\\Users\\hipo\\Downloads> squid -i

Initialize cache directories:
 

C:\\Users\\hipo\\Downloads> squid -z

 

3. Configure Squid Proxy via squid.conf


3.1. Open squid.conf

usually in

C:\\Squid\\etc\\squid\\squid.conf
 

3.2. Edit key lines:  

http_port 3128
cache_dir ufs c:/squid/var/cache 100 16 256
access_log c:/squid/var/logs/access.log
cache_log c:/squid/var/logs/cache.log
maximum_object_size 4096 KB
cache_mem 64 MB
 

 

3.3. Allow local access:

 

acl localnet src 192.168.0.0/16
http_access allow localnet

(Adjust IP ranges according to your network.)

 

Here's a ready-to-use Squid configuration file optimized for Running on Windows 10:

  • Caching web content to save bandwidth
  • Blocking ads and trackers
  • Allowing local device connections

 

Location for the squid Config File
 

The Windows squid installer should have setup the Squid proxy by default inside C:\Squid so the full path to squid.conf should be:
Place this as

squid.conf

in:

C:\\Squid\\etc\\squid\\squid.conf

 

# BASIC CONFIGURATION
http_port 3128
visible_hostname localhost

# CACHE SETTINGS
cache_mem 128 MB
maximum_object_size 4096 KB
maximum_object_size_in_memory 512 KB
cache_dir ufs c:/squid/var/cache 100 16 256
cache_log c:/squid/var/logs/cache.log
access_log c:/squid/var/logs/access.log

# DNS
dns_nameservers 8.8.8.8 1.1.1.1

# ACLs (Access Control Lists)
acl localhost src 127.0.0.1/32
acl localnet src 192.168.0.0/16
acl Safe_ports port 80      # HTTP
acl Safe_ports port 443     # HTTPS
acl Safe_ports port 21      # FTP
acl CONNECT method CONNECT

# BLOCKED DOMAINS (Ad/Tracking)
acl ads dstdomain .doubleclick.net .googlesyndication.com .googleadservices.com
acl ads dstdomain .ads.yahoo.com .adnxs.com .track.adform.net
http_access deny ads

# SECURITY & ACCESS CONTROL
http_access allow localhost
http_access allow localnet
http_access deny !Safe_ports
http_access deny CONNECT !SSL_ports
http_access deny all

# REFRESH PATTERNS (Cache aggressively)
refresh_pattern ^ftp:           1440    20%     10080
refresh_pattern ^gopher:        1440    0%      1440
refresh_pattern -i \.jpg$       10080   90%     43200
refresh_pattern -i \.png$       10080   90%     43200
refresh_pattern -i \.gif$       10080   90%     43200
refresh_pattern -i \.css$       10080   90%     43200
refresh_pattern -i \.js$        10080   90%     43200
refresh_pattern -i \.html$      1440    90%     10080
refresh_pattern .               0       20%     4320

# LOGGING
logfile_rotate 10
 

 

4. Start the Squid Win Service from Admin command prompt

C:\Users\hipo> net start squid


5. Test the Proxy

 

Set the proxy server in your Windows proxy settings:
 

  • Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Proxy
     
  • Enable Manual proxy setup:

Address: 127.0.0.1

Port: 3128

Browse the web — Squid will now cache content locally.

Make sure

C:\Squid\var\cache

and

C:\Squid\var\logs

exist.

You can expand the ad block list by importing public blocklists. Let me know if you want help with that.

To share this proxy with other local devices, ensure they’re on the same network and allowed via ACL.
 

6. Block Ads and Save More Bandwidth with the Proxy

You can modify Squid to:

Block ad domains (using

acl

rules or a blacklist)

Limit download sizes

Restrict background updates or telemetry

Example rule to block a domain:

acl ads dstdomain .doubleclick.net .ads.google.com http_access deny ads


7. Use Aternative lightweight Proxy Privoxy (Lightweight filtering proxy) 

What is Privoxy?

Privoxy is a lightweight, highly customizable proxy server focused on privacy protection, content filtering, and web page optimization.

Unlike caching proxies (like Squid), Privoxy doesn’t store data locally—but it filters and blocks unnecessary traffic before it even reaches your browser.

7.1. Why Use Privoxy to Speed Up Internet?

Here's how Privoxy helps:

Feature Benefit
 Blocks Ads & Banners Reduces page load size and clutter
 Stops Trackers Prevents background data requests
Filters Pop-ups Improves usability and safety
Speeds Up Web Browsing By stripping unwanted content
Low Resource Usage Works on older or low-spec systems

 

Privoxy is easier to set up than Squid and usually much more simple and fits well if you want something simpler and more light weight and is also great for ad/tracker blocking.
To install and use it it comes to 4 simple steps

  1. Download from: https://www.privoxy.org/

  2. Install and run it.

  3. Configure browser/system to use proxy lets say on:

    127.0.0.1:8118

  4. Customize

    config.txt

    to add block rules.

7.2. Configure Your Web Browser or System Proxy

Set your browser/system to use the local Privoxy proxy:

Proxy address:

127.0.0.1

Port:

8118

On Windows:

Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Proxy

Enable Manual Proxy Setup

Enter:

Address:

127.0.0.1

Port:

8118

Save

7.3: Enable Privoxy Filtering and Blocking Rules

Privoxy comes with built-in rules for:

  • Ad blocking
  • Tracker blocking
  • Cookie management
  • Script filtering

You can customize filters in the configuration files via following configs:

Main config:

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Privoxy\\config

 

Action files:

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Privoxy\\default.action

 

Filter files:

C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Privoxy\\default.filter

 

7.4. Example to Block All Ads with Privoxy

Look in

default.action

and ensure these are uncommented:

 

{ +block }


Or add specific ad server domains:

{ +block{Ad Servers} }
.com.doubleclick.net
.ads.google.com
.adnxs.com

 

You can further use community-maintained blocklists for stronger Ads filtering.

 

Privoxy does not compress traffic, so to speed up even further with privoxy you might Compress traffic to do so use ziproxy (the http traffic compressor).

Now all your HTTP traffic is routed through Privoxy and you will notice search engines and repeatingly accessed websites pictures and Internet resources such as css / javscript / htmls etc. will give a boost !

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How to install BASH and use shell scripting on Windows ?

Thursday, June 26th, 2025

install-bash-on-windows-run-and-use-shellscripting-on-windows-howto

Bash (Bourne Again SHell) is definitely a technology that will stay for years to come its simplicity and multi-platoformness is a factor that will definitely continue for many years thus even though it is mostly used on Linux / BSD / Unix, its application on Windows OS-es nowadays is perhaps increasing. Hence since so many people use Winodws nowdays (for work) it is really useful to have Bash set-up on Windows host machine.
In this article, I'll shortly explain how this is done, the article will not have anything too much interesting for the advanced admin or dev ops guy, but I hope people who are entering the business of system administration and high level computing and still orienting might benefit from it.

To install and use Bash shell terminal in Windows there are at least 3 ways:

  • Use Git Bash (Download and install it directly precompiled on WIndows)
  • Use Windows WSL emulation (install some Linux distro)
  • Use Virtualbox / Vagrant / VMware / Hyper-V emulation and install VM from public ISO image.

As a Free Software Lover, I would recommend and  always prefer to use the Free Software alternative if that is possible and thanksfully usually I use and install Git Bash or completely install Cygwin (Full set of Linux tools to run like native on Windows together with  Mobaxterm) together.

 

1. Installing Git Bash on Windows (uses MinGW Minimalist GNU for Windows)

Some might prefer to not use Microsoft for managing their bash especially the more freedom in mind people who like GNU and Free software and people.

MinGW is well known among free and open source enthusiasts.
It includes a port of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), GNU Binutils for Windows (assembler, linker, archive manager), a set of freely distributable Windows specific header files and static import libraries which enable the use of the Windows API, a Windows native build of the GNU Project's GNU Debugger, and miscellaneous utilities.

MinGW does not rely on third-party C runtime dynamic-link library (DLL) files, and because the runtime libraries are not distributed using the GNU General Public License (GPL), it is not necessary to distribute the source code with the programs produced, unless a GPL library is used elsewhere in the program.

 

MinGW can be run either on the native Microsoft Windows platform, cross-hosted on Linux (or other Unix), or "cross-native" on Cygwin.


To install Bash via Git, you can use Git for Windows, which includes Git Bash — a lightweight Bash emulator.


Steps to Install Git Bash on Windows
 

a. Download Git for Windows

Go to the official Git website:

https://git-scm.com/download/win

The download should start automatically.

b. Run the Installer

  • Open the downloaded .exe file
  • Follow the installation prompts

Recommended Settings:

  • Select components: Keep default
  • Editor: Choose your preferred text editor (e.g., Notepad++ or Vim)
  • Adjust PATH environment: Choose “Git from the command line and also from 3rd-party software”
  • Choose SSH executable: Use Built-in OpenSSH
  • Choose HTTPS transport backend: Use the default (OpenSSL)
  • Configure line endings: Select “Checkout Windows-style, commit Unix-style line endings”
  • Terminal emulator: Choose “Use MinTTY (the default terminal)”

Click Next through the remaining steps and then Install.

c. Launch Git Bash

After installation:

  • Press Windows key, type "Git Bash"
  • Click to launch the terminal

Now you're using a Bash shell on Windows.

Perhaps most common way is to use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), people follow. WSL is a technology which is native Windows but gives MS Windows the opportunity to act in a way similar to docker containers. WSL lets you run a full Linux environment (including Bash) directly on Windows without using a virtual machine and is really fast and easy on Machine system resources. 


 2. Installing WSL bash easy from Windows 10 / 11 using  Win GUI menus


Steps to install WSL on Windows 10 / 11

Microsoft has since only continued to improve its Windows Subsystem for Linux, and an update in a Windows 10 preview build back in mid-2020 made it easier to install Bash.

That method also works the same as on Win 10 as well as on Win 11.
To install Bash shell emulation, hence open Windows Terminal as an admin user. You can do this by right-clicking the Windows icon and selecting “Windows Terminal (Admin)” from the power user menu.

(If you’re on Windows 10, you should see it listed as “Windows Powershell (Admin)” in the menu.)

 

windows-run-powershell-from-start-menu-screenshot

 


To complete WSL install with Virtualized Ubuntu OS

In Windows Terminal, run this command:

PS C:\Users\MyUser> wsl –install

Once everything is downloaded needed to run WSL emulation and Ubuntu Linux distribution,  Restart the PC.

Once your PC rebooted, installation will continue automatically.

After Ubuntu installed successfully, you’ll next be prompted to create a username and password and Ubuntu will fire up, and you will have your bash in Windows

 

Install-WSL-linux-subsystem-for-windows-from-powershell-prompt-screenshot


a. Enabling and Intalling BASH via command line (if WSL Linux subsystem for Windows is not enabled on Windows


It might be your Windows has no configured Windows Subsystem for Linux, hence if that is the case you will need to enable it following below few steps.

b. Enable WSL via dism.exe cmd

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

Powershell

PS C:\Users\MyUser> wsl –install

This installs WSL 2 and a default Linux distribution (like Ubuntu).

If you're on Windows 10 or on a PC where whoever installed the OS has not installed the Win Subsystem for Linux, you may need to manually enable WSL:

Launch Powershell

PS C:\Users\MyUser> dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

PS C:\Users\MyUser> dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

Then restart your computer and run:

from the Windows Magnifier run Powershell and type in PS1 prompt:

PS C:\Users\MyUser> wsl –set-default-version 2

c. Installing other Linux Distribution (different from Ubuntu)

If not already installed during wsl –install, open the Microsoft Store and search for:

  • Ubuntu
  • Debian
  • Kali Linux
  • etc.

Click Install on the one you want.

d. Launching WSL / Bash terminal

Once installed:

  • Open Start Menu
  • Search for your Linux distro you just installed (e.g., “Ubuntu”)
  • Launch it

This opens a Bash shell where you can run Linux commands, like in regular Linux but on your Microsoft Windows OS.
 

Sum it up

What we learned is how to install bash via Bash Git and start using it to have more hybrid environment Windows / Linux. The article explained the two main methods using GIt Bash and using embedded Windows emulator WSL with an emulated Linux distro.

Enjoy ! 🙂

 

 


 

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Posted in Curious Facts, Everyday Life, System Administration, Windows | No Comments »

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