This post is a follow-up to my original post: https://lemmy.zip/post/71885626
Surprisingly, it wasn’t that tough to set up.
My original plan was to install postmarketOS and turn the phone into a proper tiny Linux server. Unfortunately, my Moto E5 Play is the pettyl variant, while the available postmarketOS port is for james. I decided that turning the phone into a brick probably wasn’t an essential part of the project.
So I went with Termux instead.
It’s now running nginx, PHP, MariaDB, WordPress, SSH and cloudflared directly on the phone. Everything starts automatically on boot, and I even made a tiny WordPress plugin for anonymous Today / Total / Online visitor stats.
And yes, the website is being served by the exact phone in the photo.
1 GB of RAM. Somehow this thing is now a production server.
I named it Pettyl, after the device codename.
You can actually visit it at https://moto.dimitrium.org/.
The website is barebones, I plan to push it to the limits. Also, this project will soon be available on my GitHub page https://github.com/tradicije
Next problem: figuring out how long an old Motorola can tolerate my bullshit.
put ddclient on that baby, have it update your dns records and you’ll have a portable server. absolutely cursed. you’re welcome.
semi-offtopic, i wrote a custom client since ddclient doesn’t work for non-eu ovhcloud accounts, hmu if you need it and i’ll polish it a bit and publish it. homelab has been working great with it so far.
install ACCA to restrict battery charging current and capacity for safety
You should put a webcam showing the server log scrolling on the phone screen. Sanitized of any sensitive info, of course.
Dude, that NAND is going to get chewed up by the database? Platter still do good with a long time of writes.
I’ll say again, I love this.
I think you should keep posting these, I’d like to see more guerrilla servers.
Thanks very much! Expect more updates very soon!
Back in the days when WordPress started out, 1GB of RAM was a lot! You’d be surprised what you can do when you’re just running a server.
Back in the days, 1GB was the hard drive of a newspaper.
I had to look it up. I didn’t realize they have been around for that long.
update: Now you can leave your thoughts on the website, as @autriyo@feddit.org suggested, and I loved the idea so much I had to implement it immediately.
Note: No personal information is required. Visitor statistics use an anonymous browser identifier, and the guestbook only stores what you choose to submit.
How do you keep it powered?
For now, it’s just sitting on a charger, until I find a solution on how to bypass the battery. The great thing about the Motorola E5 Play is that it has removable battery, so I just need to figure out how to turn it on without the battery inside.
That’s a fire hazard, its not meant to be plugged in 24/7
I know, as I said I’m working on it, but thank you for your concern.
Well done!
How did you connect it to the internet?
Cloudflare Tunnel. cloudflared is running directly on the phone, so I didn’t need to open any ports on my router.
Also, if you meant how I connected the phone to the internet, not the website — just Wi-Fi. :)
Boo Cloudflare, but I still love the idea. Given that I’m not planning to turn in this current phone for a few dollars of “credit” when I need to replace it, this seems like a cool weekend project!
Can always use your own tunnel, like wireguard or even just SSH. You are then responsible for where the tunnel terminates, of course.
Does Tailscale offer public IPs on your “tailnet” or whatever it’s called?
I haven’t used tailscale in a while, but afaik no, it’s strictly p2p besides their NAT punching hardware and (heavily throttled) backup relay servers.
What brand of keyboard is that in the background, looks comfortable. Also interesting project.
Thanks for the feedback, and here you go good sir/ma’am https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k5-max-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard?srsltid=AU7gw4XsUXbieW4cd0-lIERBSAdRfM_pJW1shhPZcZvnqphCN8O7JPSf
I was gonna say it looks like a keychron. I have like 5 in my house. Their mice are great too. Big fan. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.
That’s super cool :)
I’d love a visitors book on the website, where one could leave a little message.
That’s a great shout, I’ll make this as soon as I have some free time, I would love for all of us to leave something on that poor little server ;)
This is awesome I appreciate you sharing all the details with us
Yeah, it’s a fun experience, I’ll update you again soon!
