Category: Family History Tech

‘Webtrees’ on a Home Server: Installing the Webtrees Software

July 17, 2020 / tim / 0 Comments

⬅️ Previous post: Getting online with LAMP and No-IP

Installing Webtrees • Installing ‘intl’ and preparing the data folder • Creating the MariaDB database • Tweaking the default PHP configuration • Troubleshooting SELinux errors • What’s next for the server?

Now that I have a server machine running Linux and a LAMP stack accessible via the internet, I’m ready to install the Webtrees software. Debugging the SELinux permission errors took some time, and got much easier once I learned how properly troubleshoot. Here’s what I went through to get it running. Continue reading

‘Webtrees’ on a Home Server: Getting online with LAMP and No-IP

July 1, 2020 / tim / 0 Comments

⬅ Previous Post: My Machine and Operating System

Installing and Configuring the LAMP stack • What about a firewall? • Opening the router to web traffic • Launching the site for free with No-IP • Visiting my new server for the first time

My laptop server is wedged discretely between my desk and my tower. Lights at the bottom show that it is on.

When last we left my Webtrees project, I had installed Gentoo Linux on an old 2005 HP Compaq nc6230, and hardened it for security with SELinux. This formed the foundation of my server machine. Since then, I’ve installed OpenSSH, which allows me to access the server laptop from other machines, over the network, without opening the laptop lid. All work on the server will now ideally be done over an SSH connection.

On today’s episode, I install the LAMP web server software and have it go live to the public. Compared to the work of installing the Gentoo system, this part is really a piece of cake. Even so, I’m still a noob when it comes to web servers. This series can not be read as a full how-to. It can only be a general inspiration and a nudge in the right direction. Continue reading

‘Webtrees’ on a Home Server: My machine and Operating System

June 21, 2020 / tim / 0 Comments

⬅ Previous Post: 2020 Summer Project #1: ‘Webtrees’ on a Home Server

My server computer • The Gentoo Linux operating system • Installing Gentoo • Hardening Gentoo with SELinux • Hardening other Linux distros • Next on the agenda

Of course the first step in running Webtrees on a home server is to choose the machine and operating system. While it is certainly possible to launch a web server from my regular desktop (and I have in fact done this), a better idea is to set up a machine dedicated to this purpose.

2020 Summer Project #1: ‘Webtrees’ on a Home Server

June 20, 2020 / tim / 0 Comments

The summer of 2020 is upon us. I just wrapped up my second year of teaching math full time for the School District of Philadelphia. In the wake of nationwide coronavirus business closures, I find myself without summer employment for the first time in about a quarter-century. ? That means it’s GeNeALoGy TiMe once again!!! ??

One project I’ve had on the back burner for the last decade or so is re-launching a family history website on a home server.

GPD Pocket Keyboard Replacement and Reassembly

May 15, 2018 / tim

A warm thank you to my new subscribers who continue to sign up, even though it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything genealogy-related. I’ve been quite busy at work with the School District of Philadelphia, working on my teacher’s certificate, and a master’s next year. Continue reading

Fedora Linux on the GPD Pocket: Six Months On

January 15, 2018 / tim / 0 Comments

It’s been about six months since I first installed Fedora on my GPD Pocket. I’ve updated my original July 2017 post twice since then to keep you all updated. So much has changed since those early days that a new post is in order. The old post still has a lot of useful information, so I will be referring to it often, but a lot of it is outdated. Here’s what’s new: Continue reading

Playing with Toys: Fedora Linux on the GPD Pocket [Final Update: 1/15/2017]

July 10, 2017 / tim / 0 Comments

The GPD Pocket, with hot dog and Strongbow shown for size reference.

[Update (12/4/2017): DO NOT run a “sudo dnf autoremove” command until you’ve read the update at the bottom of this post!]

[Update (12/4/2017): There have been some wonderful updates over the past month. I now consider this post to be deprecated and a new post is available here!]

I bought a new netbook computer a couple weeks ago, and it’s the cutest thing you ever did see. It’s called the GPD Pocket, and it is a full Windows 10 laptop about the size of a 7-inch tablet. The specs are impressive for the devices size: quad core processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB solid state hard drive, and as the name implies, it will literally fit in the pocket of one’s cargo shorts. Continue reading

Command Line Genealogy: Filtering City Directories from Archive.org

October 4, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

The 1848 Philadelphia City Directory, filtered on the Linux command line to show all entries that include the word 'Montgomery'.

The 1848 Philadelphia City Directory, filtered to show all entries that include the word ‘Montgomery’.

Fear not! It’s easier than you think!

☞ Background: I want a concise list of everyone who lived on Montgomery Avenue in Philadelphia in 1848.

I have a cemetery return for a baby girl named Mary Pickersgill, who died in 1848 and was buried in the now-defunct Mutual of Kensington Cemetery, in the then-newly consolidated city of Philadelphia. I suspect she is a lost sister of my great-great-great-grandfather, who was born William Harrison Pickersgill in February of 1846. The parents of these children, especially their father, is mysterious. Continue reading

Mapping and Rendering Cemeteries with LibreCAD and Blender

August 23, 2014 / tim / 1 Comment

While on unintentional hiatus from my 52 Ancestors Challenge, I’ve discovered two fabulous software packages that might make my family history research a little more colorful: LibreCAD and Blender. These dicoveries came about last week as I fulfilled some Find-A-Grave photo requests at a tiny little hideaway called the Cheltenham Methodist Episcopal Churchyard. Of twenty-five photo outstanding requests, I managed to fulfill only three, and this is almost certainly due to the other other stones either not existing or being totally illegible. I thought I might do each photo requester a favor by mapping the locations of all the stones on this small patch of land and what inscriptions, if any, remained legible upon them. That way, each requester could rest assured that their requests had been fulfilled as well as can be. Continue reading