Posts
My posts on cloud, security, infrastructure and homelab projects.
2026
2023
Stop using cron! Systemd Timers Explained
How I used systemd timers to schedule a Python backup script, and how they compare with cron for timing, logging and manual runs.
Mastering Linux File Manipulation: Cat, Head, Tail & Less
A look at cat, head, tail and less, with examples for reading files, combining their contents and following logs on Linux.
Resolving the AWS CloudWatch Logs role ARN must be set error
How I fixed the 'CloudWatch Logs role ARN must be set' error when enabling logging in AWS API Gateway.
Certificates expiring on AWS Amplify
My AWS Amplify certificate expired unexpectedly. Here's what happened, how I got the site back online and why the DNS validation record matters.
2022
How to: delete AWS Organization accounts
As of March 2022 it's now possible to close accounts that are members of an AWS Organization. This post will go over the steps to do so.
Homebrew: Your Command Line Tools are too outdated
Whilst trying to use Homebrew I hit the Your Command Line Tools are too outdated error. This post will cover the steps to fix.
2021
Find Windows Firewall rules blocking traffic
In this post I'll be going over how to identify specific windows firewall rules responsible for blocking traffic.
Building a Serverless Contact Form with AWS Lambda
How to build a serverless contact form with AWS Lambda, API Gateway and SES.
AWS 101 - Networking Basics
My revision notes on AWS networking: what a VPC actually is, how subnets and route tables work, and how traffic gets in and out of one.
Resolving the AWS Amplify Certificate Authority Authentication error
I ran into a CAA error when adding my Cloudflare domain to AWS Amplify. Here's what caused it and how I fixed it.