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Category: LoneStar Network

Summer updates 2026

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Taking advantage of the summer break, I’ve been dedicating some time to maintaining and evolving the LoneStar Network. This post summarizes the main updates made in recent weeks, both to share the latest infrastructure developments and as a personal reminder.

Actions and updates

  • Mail Service: DKIM management migration to s/qmail completed, abandoning the old qmail-remote.sh wrapper in favor of the native management introduced with s/qmail 4.
  • Music Service (private): The personal fork of GNU FM (v0.1.4) has been released to production, introducing a new graphical theme and expanded administration and reporting features.
  • OpenSim Service: The Docker container has been updated from OpenSimulator 0.9.2.2 to 0.9.3.0, migrating the runtime from .NET Mono 6 to .NET 8 and switching the architecture from standalone to local grid. Due to Diva Wifi‘s incompatibility with .NET 8, I have shelved the implementation attempt and am currently working on integrating the w4os WordPress plugin for web-based management of the Region. This plugin appears to be the only web management plugin for OpenSimulator with some ongoing development.
  • Document Management Service (private): Updated the Alfresco CE Docker stack from version 26.1 to 26.2 (with ACS 26.2 and Share 26.3.0). This included migrating the database from PostgreSQL 15.6 to 17.9 and switching the search engine from Solr6 to OpenSearch 2.0.

IPv6 compliance

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One of the positive aspects of switching LoneStar Network’s ISP is the availability of a static /56 IPv6 subnet.

I had previously experimented with Hurricane Electrics’ service, which offers IPv6 addresses over IPv4, but the significant latency and tunnel disconnections made it unreliable.

Now, however, all essential services are also available over IPv6 with performance identical to IPv4. Specifically, in addition to the Webmail portal and the LoneStar.it and UnixPortal.net websites, the mail server also exchanges incoming and outgoing SMTP connections over IPv6 with external servers that support it.

A great step forward.

Big changes

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A major change has taken place in the LoneStar Network these days 🙂

I’ve made a technological transition from my previous 200M FTTC connection to a new 2.5G FTTH connection. As a result, the available bandwidth has increased exponentially.

But that’s not all. During the transition, I also switched connectivity providers, moving from TIM to NavigaBene.it. This meant I abandoned the historic IP address subnet I’d been using for over a decade, switching to a new subnet provided by the new provider.

I’ve always been hesitant to make this type of transition for fear of losing rDNS manageability, but to my great surprise, I was able to get the same features from the new provider despite the different contract type. I was pleasantly impressed by the speed and expertise of the technical support team; we quickly agreed on what was needed, and everything went smoothly.

The router and DNS reconfigurations were relatively quick and without any major issues.

So here we are, ready for new adventures! 😉

Farewell to 32-bits

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My mail server was installed in 2007 and has always been a 32-bit system. It was originally a physical machine, a Pentium-based assembled unit. In 2010 I virtualized it with a p2v (physical to virtual) operation performed via rsync.

Since then it has always run inside a 32-bit virtual machine in VMWare. No particular problem as Slackware Linux still continues to actively support the 32-bit distribution, keeping it completely in sync with the 64-bit version.

Recently, however, I faced the problem of deciding whether it made sense to continue keeping this one 32-bit server while all my others are 64-bit. Especially because, for specific reasons, I started compiling the kernel independently for all my virtual machines, which forced me to set up a compilation VM for 64 bits and one for 32 bits, and therefore to repeat the compilation of the kernel twice.

Furthermore, the fact that Slackware Linux continues to support the 32-bit distribution does not mean that it will continue to do so forever. Virtually all major distributions in recent years have made the decision to only offer a 64-bit version that has enough compatibility to run 32-bit binaries as well. It is possible that sooner or later Slackware Linux will also make this type of decision.

So I convinced myself to switch the server to 64 bit. However, I didn’t want to do a clean installation and then migrate the services. There are 17 years of configurations and customizations in this server and having to do it all over again is one of the reasons why I have never thought about converting it until now. I also like the idea of preserving the age of installation of a server, a bit like when you try to preserve uptime for as many days, months, years as possible.

I therefore thought of using a conversion method that was not officially supported but which logically had every chance of working, that is, taking the latest 64-bit Slackware Linux installation DVD corresponding to the update level of my 32-bit server , boot the virtual machine with this DVD and mount the installed OS partition, then replace all the installed packages with the equivalent 64-bit packages. Finally, reset the kernel to boot and go.

I tested this operation on a clone of the vm and it worked without problems. So after some time I acted on the actual machine with positive result.

After booting and starting the system, now 64 bit, I proceeded to recompile and reinstall the binaries coming from packages that were not part of the official DVD.

The whole thing took about 4-5 hours in total but it was worth it. Now the mail server is to all intents and purposes a 64-bit system originally installed in 2007 but to all intents and purposes upgradeable and maintainable like all the other 64-bit systems in my possession.

Removal of Facebook Login

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Starting today the option to use the Facebook login to authenticate on this blog has been removed.

From what I have learned, during 2023 Facebook changed its terms of service making the business verification of developer accounts a requirement for being given access to the data necessary to use the Login function. Initially it was however possible to register as a Business simply by providing your identity card.

After a few months they changed their terms again and it became necessary to provide proof of a real business activity (registration with the chamber of commerce, etc.).

Consequently, it is no longer possible to use the Facebook Login for purely amateur purposes by individual users. I’m sorry, but it’s not my fault.

For now, logins via Google and Twitter remain active.

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