Thats very interesting about the systemd service, i had a look in the /etc/network/interfaces file and i didnt see anything that enables ra for the v6 configuration. i see that accept ra is present in the /etc/sysctl.conf file. If i remember correctly there was an issue with simply adding into the /etc/sysctl.conf file so i created a systemd service to apply ra on startup. im not sure what virtfusion will do with bashvm since i have not tested this before but it looks to be working fine @cmeerw
@Not_Oles said: @cmeerw@babywhale I had been thinking about asking whether we could run NetBSD or any other OS that might be fun for everyone. Of course I'm also delighted to continue with Debian. Staying as we are or upgrading soon to trixie or sid are all fine with me.
I am now thinking of trying to install NetBSD in some of the remaining disk space, so we could dual-boot either Linux or NetBSD (I am kind of curious how the tilemaker stuff I was trying earlier would work on NetBSD compared to Linux).
If there are no objections (@Not_Oles, @babywhale ), I'd like to give it a try starting on Thursday, May 29 (hopefully, the Linux installation will remain intact, so we can switch back as needed, but no guarantees)
@cmeerw Okay with me! You could delete / reformat / use the xfs partition that I made. If you have time, it would be great to post a little summary of what you did and how you did it. Thanks!
root@lol ~ # zcat /usr/share/doc/util-linux/NEWS.Debian.gz
util-linux (2.40.1-2) unstable; urgency=medium
* last(1) has been split off to the wtmpdb package.
If you find last(1) useful, please install wtmpdb and accept the default
PAM configuration changes from libpam-wtmpdb.
* lastb(1) is removed. Please see syslog/journal for failed login attempts.
-- Chris Hofstaedtler <[email protected]> Wed, 29 May 2024 23:52:19 +0200
root@lol ~ #
root@hlcs:~# date
Sat May 24 07:39:50 PM UTC 2025
root@hlcs:~# last | head
-bash: last: command not found
root@hlcs:~#
Now:
root@hlcs:~# apt-get install wtmpdb
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
libpam-wtmpdb
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libpam-wtmpdb wtmpdb
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 32.8 kB of archives.
After this operation, 123 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
Get:1 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 libpam-wtmpdb amd64 0.73.0-3 [10.6 kB]
Get:2 http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 wtmpdb amd64 0.73.0-3 [22.2 kB]
Fetched 32.8 kB in 0s (234 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package libpam-wtmpdb:amd64.
(Reading database ... 142420 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libpam-wtmpdb_0.73.0-3_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libpam-wtmpdb:amd64 (0.73.0-3) ...
Selecting previously unselected package wtmpdb.
Preparing to unpack .../wtmpdb_0.73.0-3_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking wtmpdb (0.73.0-3) ...
Setting up libpam-wtmpdb:amd64 (0.73.0-3) ...
Setting up wtmpdb (0.73.0-3) ...
Created symlink '/etc/systemd/system/default.target.wants/wtmpdb-update-boot.service' → '/usr/lib/systemd/system/wtmpdb-update-boot.service'.
wtmpdb-rotate.timer is a disabled or a static unit, not starting it.
Processing triggers for man-db (2.13.1-1) ...
root@hlcs:~# which last
/usr/bin/last
root@hlcs:~#
Fun fact: last(1) is now a symbolic link!
root@hlcs:~# file $(which last)
/usr/bin/last: symbolic link to wtmpdb
root@hlcs:~#
Back when this wtmpdb(1) change originally was introduced into sid, there didn't seem to be any symbolic link added. So one had to read the news about the updates to know to call wtmpdb(1) directly. For a while I made the symbolic link myself. Then the symbolic began appearing again, in sid.
Thanks to @Hosteroid for our lovely community server! It's free to use. Please check the How To Apply section of the OP.
Tried installing NetBSD, but didn't really get that far.
Making some space available went according to plan:
resizing the physical volume: pvresize /dev/nvme0n1p5 --setphysicalvolumesize=500G (just use a conservative guess, so we don't have to get the exact numbers right)
creating new partitions for NetBSD and swap:
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/nvme0n1p1 * 2048 2000895 1998848 976M 83 Linux
/dev/nvme0n1p2 2002942 1075744765 1073741824 512G 5 Extended
└─/dev/nvme0n1p5 2002944 1075744767 1073741824 512G 8e Linux LVM
/dev/nvme0n1p3 1075744768 1918799871 843055104 402G a9 NetBSD
>> /dev/nvme0n1p4 1918799872 1953525167 34725296 16.6G b8 BSDI swap
resizing the physical volume again so it uses all the space after repartitioning: pvresize /dev/nvme0n1p5
I then wrote the NetBSD root partition (from the NetBSD 10.1 image I created for VMs) into /dev/nvme0n1p3
that should be pretty much all that's needed, so just reboot into grub
and use chainloader (hd0,msdos3)+1 to now boot into the NetBSD partition
NetBSD boot loader is loading as expected and boots the NetBSD kernel
but that's where it doesn't work: NetBSD now asks for a root device (and it looks like it hasn't detected the disk at all)
worse yet, the keyboard doesn't work, so there is no way to do anything
NetBSD now asks for a root device (and it looks like it hasn't detected the disk at all)
worse yet, the keyboard doesn't work, so there is no way to do anything
Obviously you probably already have thought of this, but, just in case not, maybe there is a virtual keyboard in the Hosteroid installer that might work?
Wherever you want to go from here is fine with me. We can stay with Debian, or OpenBSD, or FreeBSD, or fix the NetBSD install. Whatever schedule you want also is fine, and no need to tell me in advance.
Thanks especially for posting the details! Very much appreciated! Anything I can do to help, please let me know!
@Not_Oles said: @cmeerw Thanks for everything! It looks like you have had quite some fun adventures! I confirm that I can get back into trixie at the moment.
NetBSD now asks for a root device (and it looks like it hasn't detected the disk at all)
worse yet, the keyboard doesn't work, so there is no way to do anything
Obviously you probably already have thought of this, but, just in case not, maybe there is a virtual keyboard in the Hosteroid installer that might work?
Wherever you want to go from here is fine with me. We can stay with Debian, or OpenBSD, or FreeBSD, or fix the NetBSD install. Whatever schedule you want also is fine, and no need to tell me in advance.
Thanks especially for posting the details! Very much appreciated! Anything I can do to help, please let me know!
I think we can move to OpenBSD for some time then. The way it's currently set up is that if it's running OpenBSD, the ssh daemon is listening on a different port (Linux ssh port + 1), but I have copied all the root authorized ssh keys from Linux to OpenBSD, so you should be able to log in if it's running OpenBSD. For now, I'd leave the default boot to Linux, so if any of you guys want to do something on Linux and it's running OpenBSD, just do a reboot (btw, booting to OpenBSD would be via chainloader (hd0,msdos3)+1 in grub).
The server is now running OpenBSD. During installation I chose network autoconfig for both IPv4 and IPv6 - only IPv4 seems to work with autoconfig (DHCP), so I have now statically configured the IPv6 address (and IPv6 default route) in /etc/hostname.em1 and /etc/mygate
I had already added SSH keys for the root user. If you want to add your own user, adduser seems to be the preferred tool - you can also add yourself to group wheel to then be able to use doas to switch to root (I have just copied /etc/examples/doas.conf to /etc/doas.conf for that).
@cmeerw Cool! If I do anything beyond checking in, I will set up a user, tom, and do as necessary with doas. /s It will be great fun to run OpenBSD permanently or for a shorter time until you or someone wants to switch back to Debian or to another OS. Thanks for the OpenBSD install! Excellent!
I’d like to kindly request one of the Free LES Community Servers.
Purpose: I plan to use the server to run a personal WireGuard VPN instance to help route my traffic securely. I live in Cuba, where access to certain sites is limited or slow, so this would help a lot for safe browsing and connectivity.
OS preference: Debian 12 minimal
I’ve read the rules and agree to follow them.
Location: Cuba (very light use, mostly for personal browsing)
Thank you very much for offering this to the community!
Welcome to LES! I look forward to seeing more of your friendly and helpful comments here at LES! What still seems needed in your request is your "public presence" and "an identity that's easy to find," until "you are well enough known here."
Please post in this thread. Please explain what you want to do on our server.
When you post in this thread about what you want to do on the server, please also post in this thread or email @Not_Oles at the address on his profile: links to your website, to your source code repository, and to other online profiles. Please remember that, quoting from the Rules above, "@Not_Oles must know who and where you are." Some people send scans of government and university ID. Other people send other or additional things. Unfortunately @Not_Oles can't see many pages on Twitter, Facebook, and on LinkedIn because logins are required. Sorry for any inconvenience!
One of our friendly Administrators here at LES, Mason, is a great example of somebody whose request for an account would be accepted right away. Thanks to @Mason for kind permission to link to his pages.
A little flexibility helps a lot. I haven't checked to see whether Mason's public pages contain an address with a street number. Maybe someone else does things a little differently than Mason but still has a public presence and an identity that's easy to find. There might be a few LESbians who are well enough known here that not much else is necessary.
I appreciate that many people here on the Low End have important and fully legitimate concerns about privacy. I respect those concerns! Happily there are many options available here on our beautiful Low End for people concerned about privacy.
I'm delighted to consider anything additional that you might want to add to your request. Also, if I missed anything, please remind me.
My main goal is to set up a personal WireGuard VPN server to improve access to essential services from Cuba, where internet restrictions are significant. I’m also documenting the process to help others in similar conditions.
I’d be happy to provide any additional information if needed. Thanks again for your time and for keeping this community strong!
I understand that MóvilesDualSIM is not a verifiable source in this context. Here are the links to my profiles and post that may help provide better verification of my identity and intentions:
hlcs# ls /home
_sysupgrade cmeerw
hlcs# adduser tom
Use option ``-silent'' if you don't want to see all warnings and questions.
Reading /etc/shells
Check /etc/master.passwd
Check /etc/group
Ok, let's go.
Don't worry about mistakes. There will be a chance later to correct any input.
Enter username []: tom
Enter full name []: Not_Oles
Enter shell csh git-shell ksh nologin sh [ksh]: sh
Uid [1001]:
Login group tom [tom]:
Login group is ``tom''. Invite tom into other groups: guest no
[no]: wheel
Login class authpf bgpd build daemon default pbuild staff unbound vmd xenodm
[default]:
Enter password []:
Enter password again []:
Name: tom
Password: ****
Fullname: Not_Oles
Uid: 1001
Gid: 1001 (tom)
Groups: tom wheel
Login Class: default
HOME: /home/tom
Shell: /bin/sh
OK? (y/n) [y]:
Added user ``tom''
Copy files from /etc/skel to /home/tom
Add another user? (y/n) [y]: n
Goodbye!
hlcs#
hlcs$ whoami
tom
hlcs$ doas whoami
doas ([email protected]) password:
root
hlcs$
@Not_Oles said: Please remember that, quoting from the Rules above, "@Not_Oles must know who and where you are." Some people send scans of government and university ID. Other people send other or additional things. Unfortunately @Not_Oles can't see many pages on Twitter, Facebook, and on LinkedIn because logins are required. Sorry for any inconvenience!
You are repeating the Github listing which previously did not qualify along with LinkedIn data which I can not see.
Let's stop now, until you have been a warmly appreciated and very helpful LESbian for 6 months.
Ok, thank you very much for the information. I regret not being able to provide my identification as you would have liked. If it helps to give you more assurance, I can send photos of my ID, if you wish. Otherwise, I will try to be active here for 6 months, as much as I can. Thank you for your attention and sorry for any inconvenience caused. Greetings from Cuba, a follower.
~~~
hlcs# echo $SHELL
/bin/ksh
hlcs# ps a
PID TT STAT TIME COMMAND
21168 p0 Sp 0:00.00 -ksh (ksh)
2924 p0 R+pU/0 0:00.00 ps -a
6995 p2 Ip 0:00.01 -ksh (ksh)
12376 p2 I+ 0:00.05 build/bsd/x86_64/release/fcgisrv -b /var/www/run/mbtiles/socket -t 8
16854 C0 I+pU 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty std.9600 ttyC0
37335 C1 I+pU 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty std.9600 ttyC1
32558 C2 I+pU 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty std.9600 ttyC2
32852 C3 I+pU 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty std.9600 ttyC3
63521 C5 I+pU 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty std.9600 ttyC5
hlcs# who am i
root ttyp0 Jun 1 05:22 (187.189.238.2)
But that's the shell for root, not tom (the /etc/passwd entry for tom does show /bin/sh)
hlcs#
~~~
Wondering why I didn't get sh. And why there are not one but two ksh processes shown in the ps output. Hints, please. Thanks!
The 6995 p2 Ip 0:00.01 -ksh (ksh) one is from my tmux session that's running fcgisrv (just trying the bundled httpd - it's quite interested as it already supports FastCGI - fcgisrv is my FastCGI server for serving the mbtiles from tilemaker; the other interesting thing is that they have their own acme-client that I still need to try)
@cmeerw Thanks! Haha, looks better when I am me instead of root:
hlcs$ date
Sun Jun 1 16:53:52 UTC 2025
hlcs$ whoami
tom
hlcs$ echo $SHELL
/bin/sh
hlcs$ ps a | head -n 3
PID TT STAT TIME COMMAND
5687 p0 Sp 0:00.01 -sh (sh)
80328 p0 R+pU/0 0:00.00 ps -a
hlcs$
But, haha, it's stillksh! /s
From man sh:
This version of sh is actually ksh in disguise. As such, it also
supports the features described in ksh(1). This manual page describes
only the parts relevant to a POSIX compliant sh. If portability is a
concern, use only those features described in this page.
@cmeerw said: fcgisrv is my FastCGI server for serving the mbtiles from tilemaker; the other interesting thing is that they have their own acme-client that I still need to try)
@cmeerw said: fcgisrv is my FastCGI server for serving the mbtiles from tilemaker; the other interesting thing is that they have their own acme-client that I still need to try)
For now I am serving a map of Austria via http only (using OpenBSD's https://man.openbsd.org/httpd.8 and my fcgisrv to serve the map tiles via FastCGI for https).
I'll then need to take a look at acme-client to get a SSL certificate, and then run tilemaker on OpenBSD to generate map tiles for larger areas again.
@cmeerw said: For now I am serving a map of Austria via http only (using OpenBSD's https://man.openbsd.org/httpd.8 and my fcgisrv to serve the map tiles via FastCGI for https).
I confirm that the http only version works! The below screenshot is your map of Austria on my Chromebook with Chrome's Auto Dark Mode for Web Contents flag enabled:
@Not_Oles said:
I confirm that the http only version works! The below screenshot is your map of Austria on my Chromebook with Chrome's Auto Dark Mode for Web Contents flag enabled:
Got the SSL certificate created with acme-client - seems to be very similar in spirit to acme-tiny
@cmeerw Thanks for posting such interesting stuff, block level storage, and uncaught exceptions, which are below (in the sense that block level storrage and uncaught exceptions are, haha, above) my current experience!
What, if anything, are you going to do to troubleshoot this? Maybe a debugger is needed?
(Maybe, just maybe, this could be a hint that you want to change OSes back to Linux? Or to something else. Let me say again that whatever you want to do is okay with me.)
[1] "C does not have try-catch exception handling, but uses return codes for error checking. The setjmp and longjmp standard library functions can be used to implement try-catch handling via macros.[14]" -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_handling_(programming)
Thanks to Hosteroid for our fun LES Community Server! If you want to hop on, it's free, please check the OP for How To Apply. Thanks!
@Not_Oles said: @cmeerw Thanks for posting such interesting stuff, block level storage, and uncaught exceptions, which are below (in the sense that block level storrage and uncaught exceptions are, haha, above) my current experience!
I have changed my login class to staff using chpass - see /etc/login.conf:
#
# Staff have fewer restrictions and can login even when nologins are set.
#
staff:\
:datasize-cur=1536M:\
:datasize-max=infinity:\
:maxproc-max=512:\
:maxproc-cur=256:\
:ignorenologin:\
:requirehome@:\
:tc=default:
Oops, so I let it run overnight, as everything seemed to be fine. And this morning the server didn't respond with the console showing scsi_xfer pool exhausted!. Rebooted now.
Edit: dmesg (and in /var/log/messages) there also is:
Jun 4 01:05:10 hlcs /bsd: pagedaemon: wait_pla deadlock detected!
Edit2: It did create a europe.mbtiles with a timestamp of Jun 4 01:00 that might even be usable (I'll have to check if it really is) - so maybe OpenBSD only crashed when the program exited and tried to free the resources.
Unfortunately, I was a bit too engaged elsewhere yesterday, so I still need to read through your posts from yesterday, and, as usual for me, look up some stuff. I always learn something from your posts, so they are very much appreciated! Thank you so much!
💎💎Hello everyone, I’m Yunior and I want to thank you for the opportunity to access a free VPS.
I am new to this, just starting out, but very motivated because I love learning every day and improving myself. My goal is to begin programming and eventually reach the point where I can set up servers and create websites to help my country have free access to the internet as it should be.
Currently, I am working on a personal project to set up a WireGuard VPN server that allows me to have a stable and secure international connection from Cuba. I already have experience configuring WireGuard on my PC and iPhone, and I have made progress with Cloudflare tunnels and PHP proxies to bypass national restrictions.
Through this process, I have also learned to use advanced commands in Windows PowerShell and CMD, as well as various tools and programs like Cloudflared and Python for automation and service management.
Hola @Not_Oles , disculpa que insista nuevamente. Quiero comentarte que ya probé todas las alternativas posibles para avanzar con mi proyecto desde Cuba (túneles con Cloudflare, LocalTunnel, incluso con dominio propio), pero lamentablemente todos están bloqueados por ETECSA y no funcionan con la red nacional.
Por eso necesito urgentemente la VPS que estoy solicitando. Ya tengo todo listo: el túnel, el dominio, el proxy y la configuración. Solo me falta el servidor para poder alojar el proyecto y hacerlo accesible sin restricciones desde Cuba.
Te agradecería mucho si pudieras ayudarme con esto lo antes posible, realmente estoy estancado en esta parte y la VPS es la única forma viable de continuar.
Gracias por tu atención y apoyo.
Déjame saber una respuesta clara para poder continuar con mi proyecto te pido de favor que me ayudes porque aquí en Cuba mi país cuenta con muchas restricciones y ahora Etecsa implantó nuevas leyes para recrudecer las anteriores y el vps es mi única salida 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Hey @Yunior2001, it's probably worth taking a few minutes to read the Rules link at the top of the page. Mentioning it because one of those rules is:
Even though we are from different parts of the world, the English language is what brings us together. To make sure that we understand each other, we use English when posting.
I understand, @skorous . Here’s my comment in English then:
Hello @Not_Oles , sorry for insisting again. I want to let you know that I’ve already tried every possible alternative to move forward with my project from Cuba (Cloudflare tunnels, LocalTunnel, even with a custom domain), but unfortunately all of them are blocked by ETECSA and do not work over the national network.
That’s why I urgently need the VPS I’m requesting. Everything is already set up: the tunnel, the domain, the proxy, and the configuration. The only thing I’m missing is the server to host the project and make it accessible without restrictions from inside Cuba.
I’d be very grateful if you could help me with this as soon as possible. I’m really stuck at this point, and the VPS is the only viable way for me to continue.
Thank you so much for your time and support.
Please let me know with a clear response so I can continue with my project. I kindly ask for your help — here in Cuba we face many internet restrictions, and now ETECSA has imposed new policies that make it even worse. This VPS is my only way out. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
@Yunior2001 said:
I understand, @skorous . Here’s my comment in English then:
Hello @Not_Oles , sorry for insisting again. I want to let you know that I’ve already tried every possible alternative to move forward with my project from Cuba (Cloudflare tunnels, LocalTunnel, even with a custom domain), but unfortunately all of them are blocked by ETECSA and do not work over the national network.
That’s why I urgently need the VPS I’m requesting. Everything is already set up: the tunnel, the domain, the proxy, and the configuration. The only thing I’m missing is the server to host the project and make it accessible without restrictions from inside Cuba.
I’d be very grateful if you could help me with this as soon as possible. I’m really stuck at this point, and the VPS is the only viable way for me to continue.
Thank you so much for your time and support.
Please let me know with a clear response so I can continue with my project. I kindly ask for your help — here in Cuba we face many internet restrictions, and now ETECSA has imposed new policies that make it even worse. This VPS is my only way out. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
In the spirit of being helpful, have you considered Oracle's Free Cloud tier?
Thank you very much for the suggestion. I actually tried Oracle’s Free Cloud tier before, but unfortunately it doesn’t work for me from Cuba due to restrictions with account verification and access from my region.
That’s why I’m trying here, hoping the LES Community VPS might be a real solution in my case. I truly appreciate any support you can give me.
Unfortunately, in my country we do not have access to cards that work on websites or other services. The cards we are offered are only valid within the country. That’s why Oracle Cloud is not a viable option for me, and once again I kindly ask LES for their help.
@tmntwitw . I’ve actually tried using Tor, and in some cases it works for browsing.
However, for my project — which needs to host a proxy tunnel and be accessible from Cuban networks — Tor is unfortunately not reliable or fast enough.
What I really need is a stable VPS to run the tunnel and make the project available for mobile users in Cuba.
One of the advantages I would have with the VPS is that I could also generate a .conf file to use with WireGuard. Once the tunnel is set up, that would allow me to browse from any Cuban national network, bypassing the many restrictions it currently has.
Comments
@cmeerw Wow! Congrats!
Thats very interesting about the systemd service, i had a look in the /etc/network/interfaces file and i didnt see anything that enables ra for the v6 configuration. i see that accept ra is present in the /etc/sysctl.conf file. If i remember correctly there was an issue with simply adding into the /etc/sysctl.conf file so i created a systemd service to apply ra on startup. im not sure what virtfusion will do with bashvm since i have not tested this before but it looks to be working fine
@cmeerw
Get a free VPS! - freevps.org
bashvm - CLI VM Manager - bashvm.com
I am now thinking of trying to install NetBSD in some of the remaining disk space, so we could dual-boot either Linux or NetBSD (I am kind of curious how the tilemaker stuff I was trying earlier would work on NetBSD compared to Linux).
If there are no objections (@Not_Oles, @babywhale ), I'd like to give it a try starting on Thursday, May 29 (hopefully, the Linux installation will remain intact, so we can switch back as needed, but no guarantees)
@cmeerw Okay with me! You could delete / reformat / use the xfs partition that I made. If you have time, it would be great to post a little summary of what you did and how you did it. Thanks!
@cmeerw @babywhale
Okay to install wtmpdb? I miss last(1)!
Sure. I was actually already wondering where it went.
@cmeerw last(1) is back!
Now:
Fun fact: last(1) is now a symbolic link!
Back when this wtmpdb(1) change originally was introduced into sid, there didn't seem to be any symbolic link added. So one had to read the news about the updates to know to call wtmpdb(1) directly. For a while I made the symbolic link myself. Then the symbolic began appearing again, in sid.
Thanks to @Hosteroid for our lovely community server!
It's free to use. Please check the How To Apply section of the OP.
Thanks to @cmeerw
for great sysadmin work and to @babywhale for BashVM! 
Tried installing NetBSD, but didn't really get that far.
Making some space available went according to plan:
pvresize /dev/nvme0n1p5 --setphysicalvolumesize=500G(just use a conservative guess, so we don't have to get the exact numbers right)pvresize /dev/nvme0n1p5/dev/nvme0n1p3chainloader (hd0,msdos3)+1to now boot into the NetBSD partitionManaged to install FreeBSD now (via netboot.xyz)
But now back to Debian trixie.
Maybe I should also try OpenBSD, or probably NetBSD HEAD...
Tried booting a NetBSD HEAD kernel, but doesn't seem to make a difference compared to 10.1.
Replaced FreeBSD again with OpenBSD (installed 7.6 via netboot.xyz, and then upgraded to 7.7). But booted into Debian trixie again now.
@cmeerw Thanks for everything! It looks like you have had quite some fun adventures! I confirm that I can get back into trixie at the moment.
Obviously you probably already have thought of this, but, just in case not, maybe there is a virtual keyboard in the Hosteroid installer that might work?
Wherever you want to go from here is fine with me. We can stay with Debian, or OpenBSD, or FreeBSD, or fix the NetBSD install. Whatever schedule you want also is fine, and no need to tell me in advance.
Thanks especially for posting the details! Very much appreciated!
Anything I can do to help, please let me know!
I think we can move to OpenBSD for some time then. The way it's currently set up is that if it's running OpenBSD, the ssh daemon is listening on a different port (Linux ssh port + 1), but I have copied all the root authorized ssh keys from Linux to OpenBSD, so you should be able to log in if it's running OpenBSD. For now, I'd leave the default boot to Linux, so if any of you guys want to do something on Linux and it's running OpenBSD, just do a reboot (btw, booting to OpenBSD would be via
chainloader (hd0,msdos3)+1in grub).@cmeerw Sounds great!
Like @cmeerw said, if anybody wants to do anything on Debian or on OpenBSD, our lovely server is available. Please check "How To Apply" in the OP.
Thanks yet again to @Hosteroid for our lovely server!
The server is now running OpenBSD. During installation I chose network autoconfig for both IPv4 and IPv6 - only IPv4 seems to work with autoconfig (DHCP), so I have now statically configured the IPv6 address (and IPv6 default route) in
/etc/hostname.em1and/etc/mygateI had already added SSH keys for the root user. If you want to add your own user,
adduserseems to be the preferred tool - you can also add yourself to groupwheelto then be able to usedoasto switch to root (I have just copied/etc/examples/doas.confto/etc/doas.conffor that).@cmeerw Cool! If I do anything beyond checking in, I will set up a user, tom, and do as necessary with doas. /s It will be great fun to run OpenBSD permanently or for a shorter time until you or someone wants to switch back to Debian or to another OS. Thanks for the OpenBSD install!
Excellent! 
Thanks yet again to @Hosteroid for our fun community server!
Now that we're running OpenBSD, if anyone wants to come aboard, you will be very welcome! Please review the How To Apply section of the OP.
Hello!
I’d like to kindly request one of the Free LES Community Servers.
Thank you very much for offering this to the community!
@Yunior2001
Welcome to LES! I look forward to seeing more of your friendly and helpful comments here at LES! What still seems needed in your request is your "public presence" and "an identity that's easy to find," until "you are well enough known here."
From the OP:
I'm delighted to consider anything additional that you might want to add to your request. Also, if I missed anything, please remind me.
Always best wishes, and, again, welcome to LES!
Tom
Thank you for the warm welcome and for the detailed response!
I understand the need for a verifiable identity. While I don’t use LinkedIn actively, I do have a public profile here:
• 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/yunior-lopez-76019a1a6?trk=contact-info
I also participate in other technical communities, like Móviles DualSIM, where I share knowledge and help others with mobile and tech-related topics:
• 🔗 https://www.movilesdualsim.com/tema/umidigi-bison-rojo-por-detras-version-2021-segun-el-imei.214659/page-4#post-2460370
My main goal is to set up a personal WireGuard VPN server to improve access to essential services from Cuba, where internet restrictions are significant. I’m also documenting the process to help others in similar conditions.
I’d be happy to provide any additional information if needed. Thanks again for your time and for keeping this community strong!
At least for this server, you do understand correctly.
I am sorry, but I don't understand how your movilsdualsim posts provide the needed verifiable identity.
Thanks!
@Not_Oles
Thank you again for your response and guidance!
I now have a public GitHub profile to support my request:
• 🔗 https://github.com/Yunior2001
• https://github.com/Yunior2001/wireguard-cuba
This repository explains my goal of creating a personal WireGuard VPN server to bypass internet restrictions from Cuba.
I also participate in other technical communities like Móviles DualSIM:
• 🔗 https://www.movilesdualsim.com/tema/umidigi-bison-rojo-por-detras-version-2021-segun-el-imei.214659/page-4#post-2460370
Again, thank you for your time and for considering my request. I’m happy to provide any more information if needed!
@Yunior2001
`s/movilsdualsim/Github'
@Not_Oles
Good evening
I understand that MóvilesDualSIM is not a verifiable source in this context. Here are the links to my profiles and post that may help provide better verification of my identity and intentions:
• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yunior-lopez-76019a1a6?trk=contact-info
• GitHub Profile: https://github.com/Yunior2001
• GitHub Project (wireguard-cuba): https://github.com/Yunior2001/wireguard-cuba
Thank you for your attention. I hope this helps provide a clearer perspective on my verification as a real and serious user.
@cmeerw
Done.
@Yunior2001
Again from the OP:
You are repeating the Github listing which previously did not qualify along with LinkedIn data which I can not see.
Let's stop now, until you have been a warmly appreciated and very helpful LESbian for 6 months.
Best wishes!
Just for fun, I will complain that:
I asked for sh.
But I got ksh!
Wondering why I didn't get sh. And why there are not one but two ksh processes shown in the ps output. Hints, please.
Thanks!
@Not_Oles
Ok, thank you very much for the information. I regret not being able to provide my identification as you would have liked. If it helps to give you more assurance, I can send photos of my ID, if you wish. Otherwise, I will try to be active here for 6 months, as much as I can. Thank you for your attention and sorry for any inconvenience caused. Greetings from Cuba, a follower.
But that's the shell for
root, nottom(the/etc/passwdentry for tom does show/bin/sh)The
6995 p2 Ip 0:00.01 -ksh (ksh)one is from mytmuxsession that's runningfcgisrv(just trying the bundledhttpd- it's quite interested as it already supports FastCGI -fcgisrvis my FastCGI server for serving the mbtiles from tilemaker; the other interesting thing is that they have their own acme-client that I still need to try)@cmeerw Thanks! Haha, looks better when I am me instead of root:
But, haha, it's still
ksh! /sFrom
man sh:I was looking around a little. I found https://github.com/Ezbob/fcgisrv/tree/master/src/fcgisrv and also https://github.com/systemed/tilemaker/tree/master/server/Simple-Web-Server.
Maybe, sometime, if you want to, you might post a little more about fcgisrv and tilemaker's acme client, and where the source repositories are.
That's actually this one - it's based on my socket abstractions for epoll/kevent.
The acme-client is from OpenBSD: https://man.openbsd.org/acme-client.1 (still haven't looked at it yet)
For now I am serving a map of Austria via http only (using OpenBSD's https://man.openbsd.org/httpd.8 and my fcgisrv to serve the map tiles via FastCGI for https).
I'll then need to take a look at acme-client to get a SSL certificate, and then run tilemaker on OpenBSD to generate map tiles for larger areas again.
Thanks! I took very quick looks at your linked code and at epoll and kevent man pages:
I confirm that the http only version works!
The below screenshot is your map of Austria on my Chromebook with Chrome's Auto Dark Mode for Web Contents flag enabled:
Got the SSL certificate created with acme-client - seems to be very similar in spirit to acme-tiny
Looks like it worked!
Tried to use tilemaker on Europe, but this doesn't seem to work on OpenBSD:
I did give it a temporary store path (same as on Linux), and it didn't even touch any of the swap space (as far as I can tell).
@cmeerw Thanks for posting such interesting stuff, block level storage, and uncaught exceptions, which are below (in the sense that block level storrage and uncaught exceptions are, haha, above) my current experience!
I looked around[1] a bit and found a paper on implementing exception handling in C (not C++): http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dec/tech_reports/SRC-RR-40.pdf
What, if anything, are you going to do to troubleshoot this? Maybe a debugger is needed?
(Maybe, just maybe, this could be a hint that you want to change OSes back to Linux? Or to something else. Let me say again that whatever you want to do is okay with me.)
[1] "C does not have try-catch exception handling, but uses return codes for error checking. The setjmp and longjmp standard library functions can be used to implement try-catch handling via macros.[14]" -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_handling_(programming)
Thanks to Hosteroid for our fun LES Community Server! If you want to hop on, it's free, please check the OP for How To Apply. Thanks!
Not sure a debugger will really help. Maybe it's just a configuration setting on OpenBSD that can be adjusted. Maybe just one of the ulimit settings?
BTW, the other thing I noticed is that only 4 CPUs show up on OpenBSD as hyperthreading is disabled by default. Let's try enabling hyperthreading...
And now we have 8 CPUs.
I have changed my login class to
staffusingchpass- see/etc/login.conf:that then allowed me to increase the data limit:
and with that
tilemakeris getting a lot further now (still running).Oops, so I let it run overnight, as everything seemed to be fine. And this morning the server didn't respond with the console showing
scsi_xfer pool exhausted!. Rebooted now.Edit:
dmesg(and in/var/log/messages) there also is:Jun 4 01:05:10 hlcs /bsd: pagedaemon: wait_pla deadlock detected!Edit2: It did create a
europe.mbtileswith a timestamp ofJun 4 01:00that might even be usable (I'll have to check if it really is) - so maybe OpenBSD only crashed when the program exited and tried to free the resources.The generated
mbtilesfile for Europe seems to be fine - map of Europe@cmeerw I can see the map of Europe!
The map seems to zoom and scroll as expected.
Congrats!
Unfortunately, I was a bit too engaged elsewhere yesterday, so I still need to read through your posts from yesterday, and, as usual for me, look up some stuff.
I always learn something from your posts, so they are very much appreciated! 
Thank you so much! 
Hmm I can see national borders, sub-national borders, roads, names of places, but no coastlines and not the seas.
DM us for private tracker invite.
Maybe I need that as well: https://github.com/systemed/tilemaker/blob/master/get-coastline.sh
💎💎Hello everyone, I’m Yunior and I want to thank you for the opportunity to access a free VPS.
I am new to this, just starting out, but very motivated because I love learning every day and improving myself. My goal is to begin programming and eventually reach the point where I can set up servers and create websites to help my country have free access to the internet as it should be.
Currently, I am working on a personal project to set up a WireGuard VPN server that allows me to have a stable and secure international connection from Cuba. I already have experience configuring WireGuard on my PC and iPhone, and I have made progress with Cloudflare tunnels and PHP proxies to bypass national restrictions.
Through this process, I have also learned to use advanced commands in Windows PowerShell and CMD, as well as various tools and programs like Cloudflared and Python for automation and service management.
I am committed to documenting the entire process on GitHub (https://github.com/Yunior2001/wireguard-cuba) and sharing what I learn with the community.
I look forward to any guidance or access you can provide to continue my project. Thank you very much!💎💎
Hola @Not_Oles , disculpa que insista nuevamente. Quiero comentarte que ya probé todas las alternativas posibles para avanzar con mi proyecto desde Cuba (túneles con Cloudflare, LocalTunnel, incluso con dominio propio), pero lamentablemente todos están bloqueados por ETECSA y no funcionan con la red nacional.
Por eso necesito urgentemente la VPS que estoy solicitando. Ya tengo todo listo: el túnel, el dominio, el proxy y la configuración. Solo me falta el servidor para poder alojar el proyecto y hacerlo accesible sin restricciones desde Cuba.
Te agradecería mucho si pudieras ayudarme con esto lo antes posible, realmente estoy estancado en esta parte y la VPS es la única forma viable de continuar.
Gracias por tu atención y apoyo.
Déjame saber una respuesta clara para poder continuar con mi proyecto te pido de favor que me ayudes porque aquí en Cuba mi país cuenta con muchas restricciones y ahora Etecsa implantó nuevas leyes para recrudecer las anteriores y el vps es mi única salida 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Hey @Yunior2001, it's probably worth taking a few minutes to read the Rules link at the top of the page. Mentioning it because one of those rules is:
I understand, @skorous . Here’s my comment in English then:
Hello @Not_Oles , sorry for insisting again. I want to let you know that I’ve already tried every possible alternative to move forward with my project from Cuba (Cloudflare tunnels, LocalTunnel, even with a custom domain), but unfortunately all of them are blocked by ETECSA and do not work over the national network.
That’s why I urgently need the VPS I’m requesting. Everything is already set up: the tunnel, the domain, the proxy, and the configuration. The only thing I’m missing is the server to host the project and make it accessible without restrictions from inside Cuba.
I’d be very grateful if you could help me with this as soon as possible. I’m really stuck at this point, and the VPS is the only viable way for me to continue.
Thank you so much for your time and support.
Please let me know with a clear response so I can continue with my project. I kindly ask for your help — here in Cuba we face many internet restrictions, and now ETECSA has imposed new policies that make it even worse. This VPS is my only way out. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
In the spirit of being helpful, have you considered Oracle's Free Cloud tier?
Hi @skorous
Thank you very much for the suggestion. I actually tried Oracle’s Free Cloud tier before, but unfortunately it doesn’t work for me from Cuba due to restrictions with account verification and access from my region.
That’s why I’m trying here, hoping the LES Community VPS might be a real solution in my case. I truly appreciate any support you can give me.
Unfortunately, in my country we do not have access to cards that work on websites or other services. The cards we are offered are only valid within the country. That’s why Oracle Cloud is not a viable option for me, and once again I kindly ask LES for their help.
@Yunior2001 Maybe you can try to use Tor?
@tmntwitw . I’ve actually tried using Tor, and in some cases it works for browsing.
However, for my project — which needs to host a proxy tunnel and be accessible from Cuban networks — Tor is unfortunately not reliable or fast enough.
What I really need is a stable VPS to run the tunnel and make the project available for mobile users in Cuba.
One of the advantages I would have with the VPS is that I could also generate a .conf file to use with WireGuard. Once the tunnel is set up, that would allow me to browse from any Cuban national network, bypassing the many restrictions it currently has.