Checking htop on #footiMac after two weeks of operations with its upgraded resources, and new responsibilities.

It is still far more responsive in all respects. Changes I've noticed:
1) very few web response delays for Mastodon retrieving posts/notifications or uploading pictures/videos.
2) when I logged in remotely before it would take a few seconds. Now it is nearly instant.
3) according to htop the loads are below 0.70 most of the time.
4) RAM usage has gone from 3.2GB (84%) to 6.3GB (40%)

Resources before: 4GB RAM - Dual-core i5 - 1TB HDD
After: 16GB RAM - Dual-core i5 - 1TB SSD.

Services before:
Mastodon
Small Web (3 static Twitter Archives)
local DNS Server

Services after:
Mastodon
Small Web (3 static Twitter Archives)
local DNS Server
Pixelfed
WeeWx Weather Server
HomeBridge Automation Server

#selfhost #mastoAdmin #PixelfedAdmin #Mastodon #Pixelfed #WeatherServer #WeeWx #HomeBridge #iMac #Apple #Debian #SelfHosted

Hey guess what! I made my own Pixelfed server! Federating is always a challemge on your own so If you are on pixelfed I would really really appreciate you finding me and following. If you're not on pixelfed but would still like to help my new instance federate, please boost so I can find more #pixelfed people!
I am @chris@pixelfed.chrisalemany.ca
Thanks!
https://pixelfed.chrisalemany.ca/p/chris/603468068585402373
#Fediverse #ActivityPub #PleaseBoostThis #selfhosted #selfhost #Debian #PixelfedAdmin #footiMac

OOooohhhh Ya. Add another feather in #footiMac's cap. Now running both Mastodon and Pixelfed.
We'll see how these co-exist!
#selfhost #mastoAdmin #pixelfedAdmin #selfhosted #success
Big Shout out to @xavi
and @BigMalCampbell for the timely tips that overcame a sneaky setting.

https://pixelfed.chrisalemany.ca

I believe the last file has been copied! Upgrade and Migration was a Success!
One thing that sort of saved me was that I initially tried to plug the two drives into a dock and use dd to clone them. Well, it was very slow (hours). So I gave up part way. But it actually helped cuz it had already copied over the GRUB loader onto the new SSD. That helped me boot from a Debian net-install USB stick. I learned some GRUB commands. Wee! #footiMac #selfhost #mastadmin #iMac #Apple #EFI #Debian #grub

This 2009 iMac #footiMac has a new lease on life. It's working hard to copy over the huge number of caches from the backup but it's not skipping a beat thanks to the SSD and look at that RAM/MEM usage. 🥹
This machine is gonna be a super star.
#selfhost #mastoadmin #selfhosted

Yay! Everything looks to be working. Most importantly the database. I made the mistake of using cp rather than rsync to copy the files over so that process didn't complete fully but it appears to be just fine doing that at the same time as it is serving up new stuff! Other than that, and the fact there are a ton of files and the old Hard Drive is very slow. Things are good! Did a full reinstall and then moved over the essentials via USB. #footiMac is faster, stronger! #selfhosted #mastoadmin

I may Rejoice: I will be going silent tonight. Possibly Forever. Not because I want to, but rather because I am about to disembowel my #selfhosted server instance #footiMac so it can be upgraded and hopefully migrate the hard drive to a SSD. If all goes well, you may not even notice I ever left. Truly a loss for you. See you soon! (Hopefully!)😂

Ooohh! #footiMac just got a present in the mail! Anyone wanna upgrade? Also. If folks have best strategies for full backup and restore of a Mastodon instance beyond what is on the docs, please do let me know! Also moving from 500GB HDD to 2TB SSD. The iMac is running Debian natively.
#selfhost #MastoAdmin #Debian

Oh, did I mention that I recently boosted my character limit on my #SelfHost #footiMac instance to 2000? I liiiike.
#words #TwoThousandTooMany #selfhosted #mastoadmin

btw. My #selfhost iMac has been much happier since I did a little tuning. That's all it took to settle it down. It's gonna be on fire when I put in the upgrades! #footiMac #mastoAdmin #selfhosted

Definitely sensing that my little 2009 #footiMac under the stairs is starting to strain with 3 users on the instance. Getting 500 errors. It is close to using up its 4GB RAM and the spinning HDD is slow. I want to keep #selfhosting with a physical machine at minimum expense. My options:
1) upgrade the iMac to
a 2TB SSD and 8GB RAM ($CAD200)
2) Get another Pi? not sure with model. Suggestions for most appropriate?
3) another option.
Am still leaning to 1). Suggestions welcome.
#selfhost

I noticed a strange light emanating from under the stairs. It appears #footiMac didn't like the latest kernel update? Anyone know a Debian command that make turn off the monitor :) Or other strategies?
#selfhost #headless #notHeadless #MastoAdmin

Could someone explain #Docker to me? How self contained is it? I would like to run my own #Pixelfed instance alongside my #Mastodon instance (on the same machine preferably). Possible? Bad idea? Would Docker make this easier? Thanks. #selfhost #mastoAdmin #selfhosted #footiMac

Back from a day away… what time is it? Mastodon Upgrade Time! v.4.1.5 on deck. Doing my regular upgrade procedure now including backup and apt update.

#mastoAdmin #footiMac #selfhost #selfhosted

Next #MastoAdmin #SelfHost question: I would like to get experience running an object storage server. Would it be advisable/possible to run the Mini Object Storage Server on the same server as Mastodon? (On a different HD partition I guess?) Would it ruin my poor old 2009 #footiMac #AskFedi #selfhosted

Time to update to Mastodon 4.1.4!
#SelfHost #mastoadmins #footiMac
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon

My wife just deactivated her Twitter account, which she never used anyway, after logging into it and seeing her timeline was just Musk, Russia, and Ads. Now I am trying to convince her to create a Mastodon account on our #footiMac #selfhosted instance for her to ignore too. 😂 😆 Not biting. 😝 #EndofTwitter #DumpMusk #Mastodon #Family

Just applied some apt package security updates for apache and postgresql to trusty #footiMac #selfhost. Only one user complained about the downtime and he’s hardly worth listening to….
#selfhosting #mastodon

Happy to report my #selfhosted instance on my old 2009 #footiMac has been running so well I am now forgetting to check on it. Current uptime 42 days 14hrs! You all have failed to kill it! 😆
CPU load for my three-user instance remains below 1. Local data at 40GB. See linked post for a howto for your own old Mac (using Debian).
My only concern is RAM creeping up to the 4GB. Might be a memory leak solved with a quick restart or be natural. I suspect the latter. https://mstdn.chrisalemany.ca/@chris/109757638885097311

Funny how the simple act of updating packages in apt creates a level of fear. But then I remember that it’s not 2005, and Debian, and all Linux systems and pretty much all modern Operating Systems are incredibly robust. Upgrades are not just safe, but expected and required.
#Debian #selfhosted #selfhost #footiMac #mastodonserver