Install Zabbix 7.0 LTS in Docker Alongside Grafana
Two monitoring platforms, one Ubuntu box, zero port collisions. Plus the built-in host that cannot reach its own agent, and why apt was not an option.
Tools
The small command line utilities that answer a question in one line. Articles tagged Tools cover curl, wget, netcat, socat and the rest of the kit worth installing on every host you touch.
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How to Install Grafana Enterprise on Ubuntu Server
From an empty Ubuntu box to a Grafana login screen: APT repo, systemd, and the 20-second gotcha that makes people think the install failed.
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Linux Networking Field Reference (10-Page Printable Cheat-Sheet)
Ten printable pages of Linux networking commands, flags and real lab output, including a ten-symptom troubleshooting decision tree. Free for members.
Top Linux Networking Commands: The 2026 Field Reference
Every Linux networking command that matters, grouped by the question it answers, with real captures from a four-hop lab and the triage order to run them in.
ufw: Simple Firewalling on Debian and Ubuntu
Enable ufw without losing your SSH session, learn the rule grammar, and see exactly which iptables chains it builds underneath.
/proc/net and Networking sysctls: Where the Numbers Come From
Every Linux networking tool is a formatter over a handful of kernel files. Here is what is in them, how to read the hex, and what happens when you change the sysctls that matter.
iftop, nload, bmon, vnstat, nethogs Compared
Five live bandwidth monitors pointed at the same flow at the same time, with real terminal frames and a reconciliation of why they all report different numbers.
SSH Beyond Login: Tunnels, Jump Hosts, scp/sftp
Local, remote and dynamic forwards, ProxyJump instead of agent forwarding, scp -O against IOS XE, and why telnet is still a fine port tester.
socat: Port Forwarding and Bidirectional Relays
One command joins any two endpoints: TCP, UDP, TLS, UNIX sockets, serial ports or a program. Port forwards, TLS wrappers and protocol bridges from real captures.
netcat: Port Checks, File Transfers, Listeners
Open, refused, timed out and no route to host are four different tickets. Plus banner grabs, file transfer with no server, and why UDP tests lie.
wget: Downloads, Mirrors, Connectivity Tests
The retry and resume behavior that makes wget worth keeping, spider mode as a health check, rate limiting, and the robots.txt rule that empties your mirror.
curl for Network Engineers: Ports, HTTP, APIs
Prove a port is open, split DNS from TCP from server think time, test a device API and read a TLS failure, all with real output from a routed lab.