Hardware Install

System

Harden SSH

via https://linuxhandbook.com/ssh-hardening-tips/

1. Create a new SSH Group for approved users: sudo groupadd -g 1022 ssh_allowed
2. Add your primary SSH User to this group: sudo usermod -a -G ssh_allowed pi
3. Open SSHD Config: sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
   1. Disable empty passwords: PermitEmptyPasswords no
   2. Change default SSH ports: Port 2345
   3. Prevent root login: PermitRootLogin no
   4. Limit active sessions: MaxSessions 4
   5. Configure idle timeout interval: ClientAliveInterval 300
   6. Configure how many times it sends the alive message before disconnecting: ClientAliveCountMax 2
   7. Configure Allowed Groups: AllowGroups ssh_allowed
   8. Disable X11 Forwarding: X11Forwarding no
4. After the change, you will need to restart the sshd service using sudo systemctl restart ssh or rebooting.

Install MergerFS

via https://perfectmediaserver.com/installation/manual-install-ubuntu/#mergerfs

wget https://github.com/trapexit/mergerfs/releases/download/2.32.2/mergerfs_2.32.2.ubuntu-focal_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i mergerfs_2.32.2.ubuntu-focal_amd64.deb
apt list mergerfs

Prep for MergerFS and SnapRAID

via PMS:

We recommended /mnt/diskN because it makes the fstab entry for MergerFS simpler

1. mkdir /mnt/parity1 # adjust this command based on your parity setup
2. mkdir /mnt/storage # this will be the main mergerfs mountpoint

New Drive

Installation

1. Physically install the drive
2. CLI instructions via perfectmediaserver. However, when I did this things broke. I had better luck through the Ubuntu GUI - obviously that's not always possible or ideal. Problem for another day.

Bad blocks

Initial Setup

git clone https://github.com/Spearfoot/disk-burnin-and-testing

Each drive

1. ls -la /dev/disk/by-id
2. Dry Run: ./disk-burnin-sh /dev/<disk mount>
3. WARNING: Disk erasure: ./disk-burnin-sh -f -o ~Documents/burn-logs /dev/<disk mount>

Mounting via fstab

1. ls -lA /dev/disk/by-id to get the disk's proper name
2. Edit fstab nano /etc/fstab
3. mount /dev/disk/by-id/<diskname> /mnt/disk<number> include the "part1" from the
4. Refresh the mounts mount -a
5. The drive should now be found via ls /mnt/disk<number>
6. Confirm with df -h. The "mergerfs" File System should be mounted to /mnt/storage and should have an aggregate storage space!