Most APC/Tripplite battery backups can hold a server “up” for a solid 1/2 hour easily while the breaker goes down. They can even be had cheap second hand if you’re willing to replace the cells!
nudgenudgewinkwinksonomoreUps says it has 8 minutes of runtime, chop chop, get going!
I’m sorry for your loss. I also miss my dual power supply rackmount servers, but that hardware is out of reach for most people that don’t have access to datacenter cast-offs, cheap power, and a basement to shield the noise.
I was vacuuming and accidentally pulled the cord on a 3 month uptime.
“Shutdown off”
All your base distribution are belong to
“Openup on’t”
I’m in the same boat. Got all the equipment in for my whole house solar installation and will be re-routing circuits to the new panel as soon as I have time.
I’ve got an Anker power station that should run my stack for about 4-4.5 hours by itself and can run it indefinitely while the sun is out while hooked into the PV panels. Those are (currently) independent from the new installation I’m about to start.
My UPS’s are also LiFePO4 models and can add an additional ~45 minutes of uptime.
I have one of those Anker Powerstations (C1000), along with a comically large portable solar panel (400watt). That thing is pretty amazing. I bought it after a 3 day power outage, for safety due to winds.
I just bought a much longer solar-power cable so I can drag the panels/battery around more conveniently.
Yeah, that’s what I’ve got, and I really like it.
I use one of these lithium power stations as a UPS for my servers. They are all low wattage so they’ll run on backup for a few hours.
https://itechworld.com.au/products/ps800-portable-lithium-power-station-800w-40ah
Do y’all not reboot after kernel/firmware updates?
I don’t follow CVEs: when was the last time a remotely exploitable kernel bug was a concern? Ignoring the fact that this is a home server and they likely care about uptime a lot more than exploitation on their LAN.
Generally I expect kernel bugs to be LPEs so updating user space would probably be sufficient for most home servers
Rolling distros don’t need to
Just because you updated packages , doesnt mean those new ones are in use. Not sure what apt has, but with zypper you do a zypper ps -s and it shows you what installed packages are waiting on a reboot or service restart before they are in play… Otherwise kernel is just accessing old package libraries.
You absolutely do need to reboot
Laughs in kexec
Ah, this brings back memories of flashing Android with various kernels and ROMs.
It is way easier to just reboot
Are you sure? I’ve used Fedora Workstation and Fedora Server, I had to reboot. And Cannonical charges money for this feature in Ubuntu.
They absolutely do. There’s nothing special about them vs normal distros. Hell rolling ones probably get new kernels more often and you can only live patch so much. Some updates just hard need a reboot to take effect.
part of the reason to use Debian is it doesn’t really need to be updated, at least not very often
Can I introduce you to OpenBSD where we measure uptime in years?
It needs to be updated at least several times a year…
depends on your use case
home automation server that doesn’t connect to the internet? nah
media server that only occasionally gets connected to the internet? maybe
anything else that regularly connects to the internet, definitely
home automation server that doesn’t connect to the internet?
Well if uses wireless connectivity with either range broader than your place or is connected to a device that is itself online it can still be a risk. Sure it’s very VERY specific but scanning techniques also improve.
You should install updates regardless
if it’s working and there’s no security risk, why?
(I mean, I actually agree with you, I update even normally airgapped machines because them not being updated feels wrong)
Software these days will always need security patches
What’s more is that the longer you put off updating the more things will be changed when you do end up updating.
Even if there are no security risks to mitigate, updates can bring bug fixes and, god forbid, new features once in a while.
New features on Debian isn’t something that would make it into the repository. Bug fixes might but only if security relevant.
up… date? what does that mean?
Say what now?
Almost 44 days last year before I needed to reboot for an update:

Wait, you guys reboot after an update?
I’ve been running the same AIX kernel since 1993, and my ftp server is still running fine. I don’t know what the rest of these assholes are complaining about.
Prefect response.
I can’t guess exaclty which sarcastic high fantasy themed poster, mug or t-shirt warns others away from which exact kind of action that wastes your time, but I’m confident it is present near your primary work space. (Since tone is hard in text - this assumption is meant to convey a general revernce for you and the various roles you probably fill in your communities!)
Hmm, not my proudest moment.
16:09:15 up 1031 daysPrivate server, though.
The UPS will keep it running long enough to switch to another power source.
I’m guessing OP probably doesn’t have a petrol/diesel generator handy :p
An extension cord running to another room would be enough if the minor electrical work only needs a circuit to be switched off.
My UPS just runs on a lead battery. It lasts long enough to run my router and server for a few minutes and cost less than 100€.
I got it when we had electrical issues and using the ironing board would trip the main fuse.
Yeah, I was thinking a UPS wouldn’t hold a load up long enough to do electrical work, but I guess it depends on the nature of what needs to be done
If one is not enough just daisy chain two or three of them.
(Don’t do this)
How minor? You can do basic stuff on hot circuits if you are careful. Put on some rubber gloves under your work gloves and you’ll be fine.
🌟🎀 uptime check ✨🌈💖
22:09:13 up 9 days, 12:29, 2 users, load average: 0.03, 0.05, 0.11EDIT: wait why does it say 2 users though 😳
Regular files check by your FBI agent.
That’s for your daily driver desktop right? Right??
11:13:30 up 1 day, 17:21, 1 user, load average: 0.25, 0.16, 0.11My e-peen isn’t as big as yours D:
Linus Torvalds is just making sure you’re Linuxing correctly
It’s probably your mom.
EDIT: wait why does it say 2 users though
Sorry about that, won’t happen again
To make sure all security patches are applied I assume 🧐
Ironically, this was one of the primary reasons I have a UPS on everything. The uptime must grow.
generator
If you don’t have a UPS, just use a suicide cable to energize the circuit while it is disconnected at the breaker.
“Shutdown off”
It’s an alias for “sudo shutdown now”.
sudo poweroff
Startup’nt












