ref: 9c5cc19fe258edfcad2d502c1ecf6438147cd050
dir: /pub/changeblog.plain.xml/
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
<author>
<name>sirjofri</name>
<email>sirjofri@sirjofri.de</email>
</author>
<link rel="self" href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog.plain.xml"/>
<rights>© Copyright 2020 sirjofri</rights>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/</id>
<title>changeblog</title>
<updated>2020-12-18T15:50:37+01:00</updated>
<entry>
<title>Automatically save sent files in “Sent”</title>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1608301892/</id>
<link href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1608301892/"/>
<updated>2020-12-18T15:31:32+01:00</updated>
<content type="text">
Automatically save sent files in “Sent”
Since it is what many mail clients do it might be helpful for other people to have this. As for me, I like to
have all my outgoing mails automatically saved in a Sent directory, so that's what I want to do.
There are multiple ways to do this. I want to present a very simple way without sending your mail to
yourself or something like that.
Outgoing mail is processed via upas/send or /mail/box/$user/pipefrom, if that exists.
We use this feature to build or own little filter script for outgoing mails.
The script itself is very simple. We just need a temporary place to store the mail message, then save
it in the Sent directory and forward it to the normal send routines:
#!/bin/rc
rfork en
# see /sys/src/cmd/upas/filterkit/pipefrom.sample .
bind -c /mail/tmp /tmp
TMP=/mail/tmp/mine.$pid
cat > $TMP
/bin/upas/mbappend /mail/box/<yourusername>/Sent < $TMP
/bin/upas/send $* < $TMP
Of course you need to create the directory /mail/box/<yourusername>/Sent and exchange
<yourusername> with your $user and make this script executable.
The Sent directory needs read and write access for your own user, which should be fine with the
defaults.
If you want unauthenticated users to send mails to that directory you need to make this directory
world-writable.
With these adjustments you can send mails with acme/marshal and they are automatically saved in
your Sent mailbox.
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>9front on Lenovo Thinkpad Twist</title>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1608028434/</id>
<link href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1608028434/"/>
<updated>2020-12-15T11:33:54+01:00</updated>
<content type="text">
9front on Lenovo Thinkpad Twist
A few weeks ago I removed archlinux from my remaining machine. I noticed how the new lenovo key-
boards aren't good and the trackpoint is crap. That's why I still prefer the Thinkpad T61, even without bat-
tery.
Anyways, I'll try to describe the process of the installation. The installation itself went according to
the FQA, I'll just add some notes.
Process
First I had to disable UEFI completely and switch to legacy BIOS. I know 9front can handle UEFI
somehow, but I never got it working on any machine. To make 9front work with legacy BIOS I had to
change the SSD layout from GPT to MBR. This was possible, just remove all partitions and use the com-
mand line to create DOS partitions. Then the SSD was detected as MBR/non-GPT and I could proceed
with default installation.
After installation I needed to get WIFI working. Thanks to 9front developers I was able to use BSD
drivers as documented in the FQA. In my case I just grabbed the iwn-2030 drivers, placed them in
/lib/firmware and built the kernel from scratch.
Enabling ACPI in the plan9.ini and starting aux/acpi went without errors, only bad
opcode warnings showed up. Still, everything works as expected, so I didn't investigate further.
Issues and Troubleshooting
I had exactly two issues. The first is the bad opcode as described earlier.
The second is a big surprise. Backlight controls work out of the box! I know older machines handle
this directly without using the operating system, but this was a modern machine. Still it worked with only
one tradeoff:
It always prints lapicerrors on the console. I didn't find a good way to disable them, so I just added
a hidden window in my riostart that just cat/dev/kprint so the errors don't fill the screen.
Bonus: conntosrv
As a bonus I have a small script that saves me lots of installation time. I have a server with my $home
directory, including some configuration in my lib/profile. On my terminals (laptops) I just work in
my $home like it was right there on my machine.
To make this happen I placed the little script in my terminal's /cfg/$sysname/conntosrv and
called in the /cfg/$sysname/termrc.
The script contains:
- 2 -
#!/bin/rc
echo -n 'connect to server: '
server=`{read}
if(~ $#server 0){
echo not connecting to services >[1=2]
exit
}
if(! test -e /net/dns)
ndb/dns -r
auth/factotum
for(i in $server){
rimport -Cc $i /n/$i
}
bind -c '/n/'^$server(1)^'/usr/'^$user /usr/$user
As you can see, the scrips connects to all servers you input at the prompt. It takes the first to be your
$home, all others are imported to /n.
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Restrict RCPU User Access to Groups</title>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1596011563/</id>
<link href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1596011563/"/>
<updated>2020-07-29T10:32:43+02:00</updated>
<content type="text">
Restrict RCPU User Access to Groups
This is how to restrict user access to groups. You can use this to enable rcpu access for all users of a spe-
cific group. All other groups will not be allowed.
To allow access only to sys group members: adjust your /rc/bin/service/tcp17019
#!/bin/rc
userfile=/adm/users
fn useringroup{
grep $1 $userfile | {
found=0
while(~ $found 0 && line=`:{read}){
if(~ $line(2) $2){
found=1
}
}
if(~ $found 1)
status=''
if not
status='not found'
}
}
if(~ $#* 3){
netdir=$3
remote=$2!`{cat $3/remote}
}
fn server {
~ $#remote 0 || echo -n $netdir $remote >/proc/$pid/args
rm -f /env/'fn#server'
. <{n=`{read} && ! ~ $#n 0 && read -c $n} >[2=1]
}
exec tlssrv -a /bin/rc -c 'useringroup $user sys && server'
This checks if the user is in group sys and only then calls the server function. Otherwise the connection
is terminated.
This is especially useful if you want a CPU server to expose filesystems and have cpu access for adminis-
trators only.
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>lib/profile quick hack</title>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1594885496/</id>
<link href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1594885496/"/>
<updated>2020-07-16T09:44:56+02:00</updated>
<content type="text">
lib/profile quick hack
Some smaller change that can change your life.
There are reasons why you not run rio in your lib/profile. For me the main reason would be: You can no
longer use rcpu -c commands in your shell. Rio opens and there you are, stuck in front of a gray back-
ground.
My solution:
case cpu
# … lots of stuff …
rcpucmd=`{cat /mnt/term/env/cmd >[2]/dev/null}
if(~ $#rcpucmd 0)
rio
# … lots of stuff …
Now I can rcpu and have my rio, or rcpu -c command and run the command without leaving my
shell.
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Mail Server Configuration</title>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1594881674/</id>
<link href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1594881674/"/>
<updated>2020-07-16T08:41:14+02:00</updated>
<content type="text">
Mail Server Configuration
Recently I installed my mail server on 9front. Most of the time I followed the guide in the FQA, but still
there are things to explain. In this document I'll go through the section of the FQA and annotate things.
Right at the beginning the FQA mentions how the executing user needs write permissions for the mail-
boxes. This is very important! If upas can't write the mailboxes the mail server will not accept incoming
mail!
In my setup I can skip all DNS stuff, because I have my DNS hosted somewhere else. Make sure to add
proper MX records as well as (at least) an SPF record.
/mail/lib/smtpd.conf
To make things short, here are the necessary lines in my setup. The server handles authenticated incoming
mail for sending to other providers as well as incoming mail for local accounts.
defaultdomain sirjofri.de
norelay on
verifysenderdom on
saveblockedmsg off
ourdomains sirjofri.de
Note that the server is no relay for unauthenticated/untrusted requests, it will still relay if you authenticate.
At this point it might be a good idea to check your user password. Use auth/changeuser to add
Inferno/POP secrets to your user accounts. Use these passwords to authenticate to the smtp server.
/mail/lib/rewrite
The program that handles sending mail uses this file to rewrite mail addresses. This file is responsible for
filtering out local mail as well as sending other mails to the mailer.
In my setup I added three aliases:
pOsTmAsTeR alias postmaster
aBuSe alias abuse
wEbMaStEr alias webmaster
Use regular expressions to define your domain:
de!(.*) alias 1
sirjofri.de!(.*) alias 1
For translating mails I added one more rule for mail address tags. These tags are in the form of
user+tag@example.com. Official specifications say that everything behind that “+” must be ignored, but it
can be used to automatically sort incoming mail into folders. I do this, by the way, so I describe here, how.
We need rules for those plus signs:
# The other translate rules are default
For delivering local mails, I added extra rules:
- 2 -
local!(.+)+(.+) | "/bin/test -d /mail/box/1/2 /bin/upas/mbappend /mail/box/1/2 || /bin/upas/mbappend /mail/box/1/mbox"
local!"(.+)+(.+) | "/bin/test -d /mail/box/1/2 /bin/upas/mbappend /mail/box/1/2 || /bin/upas/mbappend /mail/box/1/mbox"
# leave the other rules untouched.
With this settings, mails to user+tag will be checked. If a mailbox folder for tag exists, mail is sent to this
folder. Otherwise it is sent to the user's default inbox. Note: I tested, but this does not work with aliased
mail. If my aliasmail changes userA to userB, mails to userA+tag will be rejected! If you know how I can
make this work, feel free to send me a mail.
/mail/lib/names.local
This file is pretty easy. Just add your alias mail addresses:
postmaster sirjofri
webmaster sirjofri
abuse sirjofri
/mail/lib/remotemail
#!/bin/rc
shift
sender=$1
shift
addr=$1
shift
fd=`{/bin/upas/aliasmail -f $sender}
switch($fd){
case *.*
;
case *
fd=sirjofri.de
}
exec /bin/upas/smtp -h $fd $addr $sender $*
SMTP over TLS
I don't use port 587. I use 25 for this. Mail servers relay mails to this port by default, so it makes sense.
/rc/bin/service/tcp25
#!/bin/rc
user=`{cat /dev/user}
exec /bin/upas/smtpd -f -E -r -c /sys/lib/tls/cert -n $3
Don't forget to create your TLS certificate!
IMAP4 over TLS
I did this exactly like the FQA. See there.
No.
At this point I stopped. I did not configure ratfs and have no spam handling right now. It doesn't really mat-
ter for me, because nobody knows me and I don't use that mail address to register anywhere.
Links:
→ https://fqa.9front.org/fqa7.html#7.7
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Guided Replica</title>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1593621046/</id>
<link href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1593621046/"/>
<updated>2020-07-01T18:30:46+02:00</updated>
<content type="text">
Guided Replica
Today I installed on my VPS. I noticed that I can write some helper scripts around it and here they are.
You can download them from https://sirjofri.de/files/guidedreplica.
You can install it like that:
# bind your client $home to /n/rclient
# bind your server $home to /n/rserver
hget https://sirjofri.de/files/guidedreplica/guidedreplica.rc | rc
# follow the prompts
This will also install two helper scripts to $home/bin/rc/replica/. Reproto copies one proto over
the other. You can choose which one you want to keep. Reupdate is helpful if there are update-update
errors. It should automatically solve them (untested, but should work).
Update: replica(1) has issues. Often it does a bad job tracking changes, leaving removed files there and
vice versa. I never encountered data loss, only inconsistencies in the copies.
Many people use mkfs(8), which does not overwrite changed files. At some point I will build some scripts
around it and use that instead of replica(1).
(Files: https://sirjofri.de/files/guidedreplica/README
https://sirjofri.de/files/guidedreplica/guidedreplica.rc)
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>9front on Netcup VPS</title>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1593448779/</id>
<link href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1593448779/"/>
<updated>2020-06-29T18:39:39+02:00</updated>
<content type="text">
9front on Netcup VPS
Today I installed 9front on a Netcup VPS. Here are some notes if you want to do it yourself.
I used the smallest VPS option. Currently, that's “VPS 200 G8”. It costs like 2.69 Euro, but you might be
able to find some way to make it cheaper.
After ordering it might take some time until the server is up and ready. By default debian was installed in a
GPT, we can ignore that.
Before we can install our custom ISO we first must upload it somewhere. This is done via FTP (you get the
access data from the SCP), I used windows default file explorer (ftp://user@address, enter pass-
word). Copy the 9front ISO in /cdrom. This will take some time.
Meanwhile you can delete the virtual disk and create a new one. You need your SCP password for this.
This step is necessary to remove the GPT. Of course you could manually reformat the disk, but deleting the
disk will save time.
In the settings you can virtually insert the iso as a DVD and verify the boot order (DVD first). Start up the
machine and switch to the web VNC display.
At this point you can proceed with the default 9front installation described in the fqa. Don't forget to
install the MBR and activate the partition. Otherwise there are no additional special steps besides manually
configuring the /lib/ndb/local after installation. In my case I made an auth server.
Currently it seems to work fine. I installed the machine today, so there might be some issues I didn't find
yet.
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>changeblog feed — social media²</title>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1592917245/</id>
<link href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1592917245/"/>
<updated>2020-06-23T15:00:45+02:00</updated>
<content type="text">
changeblog feed — social media²
RSS is still a thing.
Yes, there are more modern alternatives, like Atom or fancy json feeds. What I want to say is, feeds are still
a thing.
That's why you are now able to read my changeblog as an Atom feed.
Now I just need to find enough time to write my posts.
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>I use 9front</title>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1590105600/</id>
<link href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1590105600/"/>
<updated>2020-05-22T02:00:00+02:00</updated>
<content type="text">
I use 9front
Today I want to share with you, that I use the plan9 distribution “9front” as my main computer.
Of course there are things that are almost impossible to do there, for example: all gamedev related stuff.
This is of course an issue, because I am a game developer. I still have my windows machine with relevant
tools, so I can still fiddle around with those complex things.
For gaming I also use my windows machine or some game console. Yes, there are a few games on plan9
systems.
Also most online services use javascript and heavy styling of webpages, so I also use a modern computer
with a modern browser. Mothra is fine for doing basic research stuff, but in 2020 it's almost impossible to
actually do things on the web.
Anyways, let me tell you that I don't really miss anything on plan9. I can write documents, check my email
stuff, chat with people, and step by step it becomes more usable. The community is helpful and provides
more applications. The system runs stable, the user interface is consistent and good to look at. Colors don't
jump in your eye and want to kill you and there's catclock(1), our friendly companion.
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Revived</title>
<id>https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1578614400/</id>
<link href="https://sirjofri.de/changeblog/1578614400/"/>
<updated>2020-01-10T01:00:00+01:00</updated>
<content type="text">
Revived
I updated my website to Uberspace 7, but not only this: I changed the whole webpage to make it more
nine-friendly.
My whole webpage management system is completely 9 based. I use oridb's git9 implementation and plan9
tools, mk, sed, cat, …
I also decided to change the main language of the website to English.
</content>
</entry>
</feed>