General:
Probably many ones already know the non-profit BoxyBSD service from Twitter/X or the Fediverse but within the weekly BSDPub meeting calls it came up, that it might be interesting in having a call (got recorded) about it and sharing some more details about it. I saw, that it never got mentioned here and therefore, I'd like to share some information here.
I'm very active on social media platforms like X and the Fediverse and encountered, that many ones are really passionated and interested into learning new things. This might be new tech languages but also DevOps and other operating systems beside the mainstream like Linux. I got in touch with some people and their circles and was wondering the way they had to learn in some extreme ways. I got told and saw that they even had to write code on papers. Sure, this are some extreme scenarios - but they're present and I think especially there it is very hard to provide something valuable as a single individual.
However, there're also some other corner cases, where people already have a real low power device for learning and consuming information but lacking the possibility to give it a try or to extend the learning. Not every device is capable to run VMs. Affording additional hardware can even be an issue, just next to power it up and having a network connection. I had some ideas how I could help them out and started back in 2023 a small sized service where people but easily get a FreeBSD jail for testing.
This service grew up and got a dedicated VM service, where people can signup for a full VM based on FreeBSD, OpenBSD or NetBSD. This provides the possibility to have a 24x7 system running where it is possible to learn in general, like learning new tech languages, learn the basics of BSD based systems and to test them in a real life scenario (without affecting the maybe only usable device that is in place), but also to run and test pipelines, server daemons etc. Even running own name server or mail servers is possible by static IPs with the option to define PTRs. By default, the systems come with IPv6 only (and an additional /64 IPv6 subnet) which provides more flexibility to learn and test basic networking stuff. Changing from Jails to VMs provides more flexibility and custom setups, where also playing around with boot loaders is an option.
BoxyBSD grew up in the meantime and also gets used by more advanced users to give IPv6 only setups a try or simply test other things. It also gets used for some CI/CD stuff and testing of newly created software like Freeway.
The default VM gets shipped with the following specs:
* 1 vCPU
* 1GB Memory
* 10GB Disk
Depending on the use case and justification the resources can be extended (e.g. build runners, more complex test setups, etc.).
My goal is to make it easy for enthusiasts, students, and professionals to dive into BSD systems, whether you're interested in system administration, networking, or security.
Currently, all of this runs on my personal infrastructure leftovers where I provide some free resources for this project. Therefore, provided VMs may run on Linux/Proxmox or FreeBSD/bhyve systems. If you're interested in some more details, you might have a look at the project's website, the call recording or the slides.
Unfortunately, the sign-up got deactivated for new users on the 11th, Jun 2024. Currently, I'm looking into additional resources for providing more VMs. I also already got some sponsoring offers from some hosters. So, I'm looking into it to have some more resource available soon again.
I really like to get some more input from the community to make this service more attractive.
Media:
Links:
Probably many ones already know the non-profit BoxyBSD service from Twitter/X or the Fediverse but within the weekly BSDPub meeting calls it came up, that it might be interesting in having a call (got recorded) about it and sharing some more details about it. I saw, that it never got mentioned here and therefore, I'd like to share some information here.
I'm very active on social media platforms like X and the Fediverse and encountered, that many ones are really passionated and interested into learning new things. This might be new tech languages but also DevOps and other operating systems beside the mainstream like Linux. I got in touch with some people and their circles and was wondering the way they had to learn in some extreme ways. I got told and saw that they even had to write code on papers. Sure, this are some extreme scenarios - but they're present and I think especially there it is very hard to provide something valuable as a single individual.
However, there're also some other corner cases, where people already have a real low power device for learning and consuming information but lacking the possibility to give it a try or to extend the learning. Not every device is capable to run VMs. Affording additional hardware can even be an issue, just next to power it up and having a network connection. I had some ideas how I could help them out and started back in 2023 a small sized service where people but easily get a FreeBSD jail for testing.
This service grew up and got a dedicated VM service, where people can signup for a full VM based on FreeBSD, OpenBSD or NetBSD. This provides the possibility to have a 24x7 system running where it is possible to learn in general, like learning new tech languages, learn the basics of BSD based systems and to test them in a real life scenario (without affecting the maybe only usable device that is in place), but also to run and test pipelines, server daemons etc. Even running own name server or mail servers is possible by static IPs with the option to define PTRs. By default, the systems come with IPv6 only (and an additional /64 IPv6 subnet) which provides more flexibility to learn and test basic networking stuff. Changing from Jails to VMs provides more flexibility and custom setups, where also playing around with boot loaders is an option.
BoxyBSD grew up in the meantime and also gets used by more advanced users to give IPv6 only setups a try or simply test other things. It also gets used for some CI/CD stuff and testing of newly created software like Freeway.
The default VM gets shipped with the following specs:
* 1 vCPU
* 1GB Memory
* 10GB Disk
Depending on the use case and justification the resources can be extended (e.g. build runners, more complex test setups, etc.).
My goal is to make it easy for enthusiasts, students, and professionals to dive into BSD systems, whether you're interested in system administration, networking, or security.
Currently, all of this runs on my personal infrastructure leftovers where I provide some free resources for this project. Therefore, provided VMs may run on Linux/Proxmox or FreeBSD/bhyve systems. If you're interested in some more details, you might have a look at the project's website, the call recording or the slides.
Unfortunately, the sign-up got deactivated for new users on the 11th, Jun 2024. Currently, I'm looking into additional resources for providing more VMs. I also already got some sponsoring offers from some hosters. So, I'm looking into it to have some more resource available soon again.
I really like to get some more input from the community to make this service more attractive.
Media:
Links: