XtremeOwnage.com

Project Offgrid - Installing the Solar Panels

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

With the racking built, its time to get the solar panels mounted, and operational!!!

Project Offgrid - Building the Solar Panel Racking

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

So- I am behind just a bit on documentation. I built the racking back in early June.

This post details how I designed and built the racking and brackets, and finally, installed the solar panels.

Netdocs - My Own .NET Static Site Generator

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Notice anything different?

Well- this entire site is no longer built with MkDocs. It's now built with something I wrote myself, called Netdocs - a static site generator, written in .NET 11.

Mikrotik - Auto-create unknown user-manager entries

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The goal- I wish to use Mikrotik's user manager, as the radius server for allocating VLANs for my Unifi network deployment.

The problem- If a mac address is not pre-entered into user-manager, then the client will be rejected, and unable to connect.

My solution- A mikrotik script which will automatically create the user-manager record, at the time the user is connected, with a default vlan and configuration.

Project Offgrid - Garage Build, Part 2

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In the last part, most of the trench work was buried back up and the GridBoss and FlexBoss21 were mounted on the wall. This post picks up where that left off — getting the remaining panels mounted, running EMT, terminating cable, and getting temporary power back into the garage so I can actually finish the job.

Project Offgrid - Garage Build Begins

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

With the outside trenching mostly wrapped up, it was time to start the part of this build I was actually looking forward to — mounting gear on the garage wall. Strut channel, the EG4 GridBoss and FlexBoss21, a properly-sized feeder to the shop, and a side-quest to fix the water line I cut up last weekend.

Project Offgrid - Days 3-4 - Playing in the Mud

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Day 1 left off with about 300 ft of ditches dug in the front yard. This post documents the next couple of days — digging the remaining ~300 ft, running cable, and tunneling under the sidewalk (round 2).

Project Offgrid - Initial Planning & Digging Ditches

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Now that I've collected most of the hardware for Project Offgrid, it's time to start the actual work — gathering materials, planning the panel rack, and digging a lot of trench.

Project Offgrid - Starting Over at the New House

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

About 6 months ago, I moved to a new house. The original solar project was never intended to be the end-all, be-all solution — we had already been planning on moving for a few years when it was installed. But I did want to get something going to gain hands-on experience and a feel for what my future needs would be.

And that future time has come.

Home Solar Project - Part 6 - Removal

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Continuation (and conclusion) of the home solar project. As the house was sold in Q4 2025, the system had to come down. This post walks through the removal — roof, garage, and exterior — and what's happening to the hardware next.

Using Kubernetes as a Reverse Proxy

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Using Kubernetes as the reverse proxy of choice, for non-kubernetes services.

Manifest driven. Source controlled. Redundant. And, DNS records get provisioned automatically as you add or remove services.

Example configuration:

  # ---- media ----
  - {name: plex,       host: plex.kube.xtremeownage.com,     ip: 192.168.5.10,  port: 32400}
  - {name: dupeguru,   host: dupeguru.kube.xtremeownage.com, ip: 192.168.5.2,   port: 7801}
  - {name: filebot,    host: filebot.kube.xtremeownage.com,  ip: 192.168.5.2,   port: 7813}

PBS - Full Disk

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I was recently greeted with backup failures, from what appeared to be a full disk.

102: 2026-01-22 06:00:08 ERROR: Backup of VM 102 failed - VM 102 qmp command 'backup' failed - backup connect failed: command error: mkstemp "/var/log/proxmox-backup/tasks/AF/UPID:pbs:000002CC:000004AF:00000396:69721148:backup:Unraid\\x2dMain\\x3avm-102:root@pbs:.tmp_XXXXXX" failed: ENOSPC: No space left on device

As, it turns out, this is an inode issue and not a full mount point.

Installing POE Doorbell

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Tonight's project was to install a POE doorbell.

This post goes through pulling cable, terminating cable, installing a patch panel, and finally adopting a new POE doorbell.

Acurite Tower Discovery Script

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

This post provides a home assistant script, which will automatically discover Acrite tower sensors.

This works with 06002M and 592TX. Other devices may function with minor changes and modifications, but, are not tested.

New Home, New Projects

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Wondering where all of the posts have been? Well…

As of the end of 2025, I have moved to a new house.

So, I will be starting new projects, for many areas of the new house.

New home network, new lab. New electrical projects. New shop projects.

And, a massive new solar project.

New Home, New Homelab

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

So, December of 2025, I moved to a new home.

And, of course, that means moving my entire network, lab, everything.

Cheap Deutsch Connectors

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

So, for Project Ram, I am starting to dive into more electrical related projects. As connectors are an essential part to making something maintainable- I really felt I needed to upgrade the connectors I was using.

For my last major automotive project, Because, Racecar, you may, or may not have noticed the molex connectors I used in my Dash Fabrication Project.

While- they did work, they are not at all suitable, not to mention…. lack of water resistance, vibration resistance, etc…

So- this week, I decided to pick up a relatively cheap kit for Deutsch DT connectors and give them a try. These are a commonly used automotive connector, with locking pins, vibration resistance, and water resistance.

Mikrotik Backup Script

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Problem: I have a handful of Mikrotik RouterOS based devices, and I would like a source-controlled versioning solution.

Solution: A simple bash script, with a cron job.

This post, provides a script, which allows automated backups of mikrotik configuration over ssh, from a linux host.

Proxmox - Unraid ZFS

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

So, recently I decided to acquire a new Lenovo P520, which will be for running Unraid. Before, My unraid ran as a VM on my r730XD.

Now- it is bare metal on the P520, with a MD1200 disk shelf for its 3.5" HDDs.

One of my goals, I wanted to transition some of my VMs to leverage ZFS storage, hosted on this box.

This post goes through the steps of configuring Proxmox to leverage ZFS over iSCSI, hosted on Unraid.

Dodge Ram w/Cummins Generations

Sat, 19 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

This, is a short post containing knowledge I gathered on the various generations of Dodge Ram trucks w/Cummins Turbo Diesels.