Dissecting a running Linux instance to build a Packer configuration
How to extract packages, services, users, and filesystem configuration from a running Linux instance and use it as the basis for a repeatable Packer AMI template.
Dave
Docker and Multipass MySQL test environments for upgrade and tuning practice
How to build a disposable MySQL test environment using Docker or Multipass, load it with realistic datasets at three scales (sakila, employees, IMDb), and use it for version upgrade and performance tuning practice.
Command pipelines in Bash: chaining commands and handling errors
How to chain commands with Bash pipes, why the default error-handling behaviour is dangerous, and how to fix it with pipefail, PIPESTATUS, and a defensive script header.
Deriving unique server IDs from IP addresses
AWK scripts for converting between IP addresses and decimal numbers – and why this makes a reliable source of unique server IDs for MySQL replication clusters and other distributed systems.
Case study: Modernising an AWS estate with Claude Code
Modernising a production AWS estate with Claude Code – migrating Terraform state v3 to v4, the AWS provider to 6.0, and Amazon Linux, PHP and WordPress to current versions – with an honest account of where the AI tool helped and where it did not.