~/jackwent.co.uk
jack@jackwent:~$ whoami

Open source tech and Linux how-tos, from someone who runs it all at home.

You've found my corner of the web. I'm Jack, 20+ years in IT by day and homelabber after hours. This is where I share the projects and scripts I've built, from server monitoring to smart home automation, written so even beginners can follow along.

ls ~/projectstail -f vulns
jack@jackwent
Role
Technical analyst, MSP
Uptime
20+ years in IT
OS
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Host
Raspberry Pi 5, 8GB
Disk
256GB NVMe on PCIe hat
Hub
Home Assistant
Zigbee
SkyConnect, 30+ automations
CCTV
Reolink + Ring doorbell
Shells
bash, PowerShell, Python
Certs
VCP 5.1 / 6 / 6.5, Meraki CMNA, +24
jack@jackwent:~$ ls -lht projects/

Projects

Things I've built and use every day, written up step by step with the why behind each command.

total 4

-rwxr-xr-x16 Oct 257.7Kha-mqtt-agent.shPuts your Ubuntu servers in Home Assistant over MQTT: live CPU, memory, disk, IPs and pending updates, plus a reboot button and one click updates.-rwxr-xr-x24 Aug 246.4Kubuntu-autopatch.shKeeps Ubuntu 24.04 servers patched on their own, and reboots when needed, picking up where it left off.-rw-r--r--26 Mar 246.8Kgarden-irrigation.mdA Raspberry Pi that waters the garden for me, using soil moisture sensors, a pump and valves.-rw-r--r--17 Mar 245.1Kesp8266-fish-feeder.yamlA cheap Ilonda fish feeder given an ESP8266 running ESPHome, so the fish get fed on a schedule from Home Assistant.

home-automation/

Smart devices, routines and a connected home, all built around Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 5.

scripting/

Scripts, tutorials and best practice in PowerShell, Bash and Python to automate the boring bits.

insights/

IT industry lessons from real environments, real incidents and a few mistakes. Many start life on LinkedIn.

Built something cool? I'd love to see it. Send it over and I might feature it on the projects page.

Share a project
jack@jackwent:~$ tail -f /var/log/vulns

Vulnerability feeds and zero-days

The latest advisories, exploits and security news in one place. It refreshes every 15 minutes, so you can patch before it matters.

  • Zero Day Initiative advisories
  • NCSC reports
  • F5 Labs threat bulletins
  • r/netsec and r/sysadmin
  • Hacker News
Open the full feed
vulns.logconnecting…
  1. Loading the latest advisories…
jack@jackwent:~$ cat about.md

Twenty years of servers, networks and the bits in between

It all started with a love of electronics and coding. These days I'm a technical analyst at a Managed Service Provider, working across servers, networking and the application layer to build systems that are secure, reliable and actually useful.

Tech moves fast, so I never stop learning. The goal stays the same though: build things people can rely on.

28certifications across VMware, HPE, Microsoft, Cisco, Proofpoint and more

Full skills and certifications

jack@jackwent:~$ apt list --installed
  • vmware/esxi-3-7 [installed]
  • microsoft/winserver [installed]
  • microsoft/entra-id [installed]
  • microsoft/exchange [installed]
  • microsoft/intune [installed]
  • cisco/asa-catalyst [installed]
  • paloalto/firewalls [installed]
  • watchguard/firebox [installed]
  • hpe/proliant [installed]
  • hpe/storage-msa [installed]
  • aruba/procurve [installed]
  • veeam/backup [installed]
  • ubiquiti/unifi [installed]
  • opengear/lighthouse [installed]
  • splunk/siem [installed]
  • cloudflare/waf [installed]
  • freeswitch/voip [installed]
  • linux/ubuntu [upgradable]
jack@jackwent:~$ mail jack

Get in touch

Got a question about a project, some feedback, or something you'd like featured? I'd love to hear from you, and I aim to reply within a day or two.

[jackwent]