fedi.caserio.de is a Fediverse instance that uses the ActivityPub protocol. In other words, users at this host can communicate with people that use software like Mastodon, Pleroma, Friendica, etc. all around the world.
This server runs the snac software and there is no automatic sign-up process.
Manpage Monday: bastille bootstrap
Every jail starts with a release. Bootstrap fetches and verifies one for you.
Grab 15.1-RELEASE
> bastille bootstrap -u 15.1-RELEASE
Prefer pkgbase? (FreeBSD 15+)
> bastille bootstrap -p 15.1-RELEASE
You can even bootstrap the official template collection:
> bastille bootstrap https://github.com/BastilleBSD/templates
See `man bastille-bootstrap` for more details.
Added 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝟭 – 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗦/𝗨𝗘𝗙𝗜 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 [UPDATE 1 – BIOS/UEFI Boot Option] to 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗕𝗦𝗗 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗭𝗙𝗦 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 [Move FreeBSD System Between ZFS Disks] article.
https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2026/08/14/move-freebsd-between-zfs-disks/
I have good news / bad news on a #FreeBSD package I use
security/pam_ssh_agent_auth is deprecated:
This PAM module is abandonware: no code updates for 8+ years, no new releases for 6+ years.
See security/pam_rssh or security/pam_ssh_agent for alternatives with very similar functionality.
Have any of you switched already and have a recommendation?
@mwl is responsible for me starting to use security/pam_ssh_agent_auth - perhaps he's already switched.
New blog post!
I use Packet Filter (PF) to set up a basic firewall on FreeBSD. To start, the only service I’m running that requires inbound access is SSH. SSHGuard is added for an additional layer of security:
I was thinking today about my diversity of hardware and systems I maintain.
Sure, I've got a few standard VPS cloud systems (vultr, hetzner) running #FreeBSD. These do the heavy lifting for my web, DNS and other services.
My least standard setup is an RPI4 installed in an RV. The electronics are 100% solar powered and connected to the internet via Starlink. Starlink was also converted to 12v and the router replaced with an openWrt powered system.
What's your most unique setup?
EuroBSDcon 2026: register today and get the T-shirt for free with your registration!
T-shirt is included for registration https://tickets.eurobsdcon.org/eurobsdcon/brussels/ until 2026-08-16 05:59:59 CEST, then strictly first come, first served until stocks run out.
See https://2026.eurobsdcon.org/ for other info.
Wonder what BSD and the conferences are about? See https://nxdomain.no/~peter/what_is_bsd_come_to_a_conference_to_find_out.html
@EuroBSDCon #freebsd #netbsd #openbsd #freesoftware #libresoftware #brussels #bruxelles
Now it needs to percolate through to the quarterly package repo, which'll take another month and a half, but at least that doesn't need any manual intervention.
I've been spending a lot of my time building software with #FreeBSD's Ports system. Sure, I could just install packages but Ports is an incredible learning experience. Poudriere especially.
It's definitely not as straightforward as initially thought and builds will fail for various reasons, but....I haven't had this much fun troubleshooting in a long time.
One question I do have for the folks in the room is:
When it comes to the frequency of pulling down new versions of the Ports tree via git pull, how frequently do people recommend?
The Handbook does not mention it and it's definitely an important operations-related task.
Our new experimental OCI support continues with compatibility with podman-compose.yml.
The new `bastille up` sub-command will attempt to deploy OCI images from a podman-compose.yml file in the current working directory.
I just adjusted my relay instance which now also finally supports #GoToSocial! Of course, it also supports Pleroma, snac, Mastodon, littlefedi, starling and many other ones!
With relays, your own posted content gets distributed to all connected instances, as well you get the content all other instances. Currently, mostly tech related instances are connected, focusing on #Linux, #Proxmox, #BSD / #FreeBSD, #IPv6 and many other things!
More information at: https://fedi-relay.gyptazy.com
#socialmedia #fedi #fediwall #fediverse #activitypub #activitypubrelay #relay #social #snac #snac2 #mastodon #gts #gotosocial #littlefedi #pleroma #misskey #services #devops #starling #tech
I've found two possible Braille displays that I could buy and try to get working with #FreeBSD: Harpo BraillePen 12 and APH American Printing House Refreshabraille 18
Which one do you think could have a bigger impact on the community because it is more widely used or more common?
#FreeBSD #UNIX #OpenSource #AssistiveTechnology #Accessibility #Braille
We have a couple of updates to share about the FreeBSD Journal.
Our latest blog introduces Matt Slaybaugh as the Journal's new editor and shares details about the Journal's transition to a streamlined, browser-based format.
Whether you're a longtime reader or new to the Journal, these changes are designed to make FreeBSD content more accessible while continuing to highlight the work and expertise of the FreeBSD community.
Read the update:
https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/an-update-on-the-freebsd-journal-new-editor-new-format/
Git is great at storing dotfiles. It is less good at knowing where they belong, which permissions they need, or why a work laptop and a home server should differ.
Here is how I use chezmoi plus Git to manage fish, Neovim, SSH, GnuPG, Atuin and more. Including the “oops, I edited the live file” recovery workflow.
https://blog.hofstede.it/chezmoi-and-git-dotfiles-without-pretending-every-machine-is-the-same/
Check out the updated Getting Started page on the Bastille blog!
It's been revisited for FreeBSD 15.x and simplified to leverage `bastille setup`.
Get started with Bastille in five minutes!

I'm on the lookout for a great webmail interface for my self-hosted email. Currently been using my nextcloud Email app as the UI, but I don't love it.
What do you like for self-hosted webmail?
Nach ca 2 Monaten, unzähligen Rückschlägen, gefühlt 25 zusätzlichen Port ist es endlich soweit: #FreeIPA installiert das erste mal auf FreeBSD #FreeBSD #FreeIPA #FreeIPAserver
Did you know you can make one jail depend on one or more other jails using the `bastille config` command?
> bastille config webserver set depend 'proxy database'
With this set, the jail startup order will not start the webserver until both the proxy and database jails are running.
Hey #FreeBSD fam, what is the current vogue for bhyve management that isn't Sylve?
Some might question the wisdom of silencing a vuln with respect to #FreeBSD pkg-audit - that's fair.
I acknowledge that one vuln can have unintended consequences when combined with another vuln.
The situation I am trying to deal with is long-term unpatched vulns. I've decided: Yep, I know that package is vuln, thanks for telling me about it. Now stop reminding me.
Thanks.
At EuroBSDcon 2026:
ELKE - Encrypted & Lovely Kage Environment, using FreeBSD https://events.eurobsdcon.org/2026/talk/EXHKSR/
Talk by Vinícius Z.
2026-09-13 15:15:00
To register: https://tickets.eurobsdcon.org/eurobsdcon/brussels/
About EuroBSDcon 2026: https://2026.eurobsdcon.org
@eurobsdcon #eurobsdcon #freebsd #netbsd #openbsd #conference #brussels #bruxelles #freesoftware #libresoftware
@nuintari I'm now thinking a 3rd-party app should be started.
It does the same thing as pkg-audit but has a separate snooze list (each entry being a port and a snooze time; hmm it could also be a VID and a snooze time).
Without knowing how pkg-audit does it:
for each installed package
do
if this package listed in the vuxml
then
if this VID is snoozed
then
next
fi
if this pkg version is vuln
include pkg and vuln in output
fi
fi
done
The code logic seems simple - again, without knowing how pkg-audit does it.
Write it, prove how useful it is, get user base, import into #FreeBSD.
I'm happy to help, but I don't want to start it.
Easy. ;)
Speaking at EuroBSDCon 2026
Join Alice Sowerby, Peter N. M. Hansteen, and Pierre Pronchery for "The Night Before CRAmas – Why EU Regulations Are a Gift to Open Source" at EuroBSDCon 2026.
📅 September 10, 2026
📍 EuroBSDCon 2026 | Brussels, Belgium
Learn more and register:
https://events.eurobsdcon.org/2026/talk/RER8UZ/
Its been some time since I've setup a home server, and even then I only used it to store backups from devices on the LAN.
Never hosted anything that is reachable from the internet (besides SSH). I want to learn how to self-host a few services, starting with a Google Photos replacement; and littleFedi by @stefano .
Thought of using a old laptop, but decided to step up to a ThinkCentre M720q. I've installed FreeBSD as the host OS.
Onward!
ishmael@bastillebsd ~ $ man bastille-setup
NAME
bastille setup – Auto-configure network, firewall, storage and more...
SYNOPSIS
bastille setup [-a] [bridge|linux|loopback|netgraph|firewall|shared|storage|vnet]
DESCRIPTION
The bastille setup sub-command will attempt to configure different options for your environment.
Latest 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲/𝟬𝟴/𝟭𝟬 (Valuable News - 2026/08/10) available.
https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2026/08/10/valuable-news-2026-08-10/
Past releases: https://vermaden.wordpress.com/news/
#verblog #vernews #news #bsd #freebsd #openbsd #netbsd #linux #unix #zfs #opnsense #ghostbsd #solaris #vermadenday