IT Pro Tuesday #201
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Welcome back to IT Pro Tuesday!
We're looking for cool tips and tools we can share with the community... those that help you do your job better and more easily. Please reply with your latest finds, so we can help others benefit from your experience.
As always, we’re updating the full list on our website here. Enjoy.
But on with this week's tools...! Here are the most-interesting items that have come across our desks, laptops and phones this week. Hornetsecurity has no known affiliation with any of these unless we explicitly state otherwise.
A Free Tool
CapRover is a fast, intuitive app/database deployment tool and web server manager for NodeJS, Python, PHP, ASP.NET, Ruby, MySQL, MongoDB, Postgres, WordPress and more. Harnesses the power of Docker, nginx, LetsEncrypt and NetData with a focus on ease of use. PotatoImplosion says, "I've been using it for years now, for both commercial and personal projects, and it's a blessing for early prototypes, demos and personal projects. The ‘One Click Apps’ means you can deploy way too many docker services without the whole nasty proxy, certificate, service management."
Another Free Tool
Coherent PDF is a command-line tool for manipulating PDF files. Allows you to merge/split, encrypt/decrypt, scale/crop/rotate, bookmark, annotate, impose, compress without loss and convert to/from JSON. Kindly suggested by teammatekiller.
A Podcast
The Art of Network Engineering is focused on the tools, tech, and people at the leading edge of the field. You'll hear the latest news on products, technology, certifications and more. BananasGorilla_ adds, "I like the hosts and they're full of good info and experiences.”
Yet Another Free Tool
WireGuard is a secure, speedy VPN with state-of-the-art cryptography. Its simplicity is a welcome alternative to IPsec, and its performance beats OpenVPN. This cross-platform, general purpose VPN is suited for use on both embedded interfaces and super computers in a wide variety of circumstances. Our appreciation for this recommendation goes to 0x6b-dev.
One Last Free Tool
IRTT uses UDP packets to measure round-trip time, one-way delay and other metrics. Sends packets for a fixed period and then produces both user and machine parseable output. rka0 likes it for monitoring connection performance: "I use [this] to simulate a voice call (where jitter matters the most) to a server where I can control the network. I use a custom tool to parse the output and insert it into influxdb for graphing/alerting."
P.S. Bonus Free Tools
Transwiz compresses existing personal data and settings into a standard zip archive for easy transfer to another computer. A wizard unpacks the archive on the new computer, restores the user profile and reconfigures as needed for the new OS, renames the new computer and joins it to your domain. Allows you to move from Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, 8 and 10 to machines running Windows XP, 7 and 10. sturmey likes it for moving things from one computer to another and "for one time backups in case you're going to do something big like changing motherboards or adding questionable peripherals. Or if you need to get some C-level a new laptop, but they are picky about what they see. Transwiz and Ninite allow me to get a new computer up and working in 1-2 hours instead of a day or more."
Caddy 2 is an enterprise-ready, open-source web server with automatic HTTPS. Takes care of TLS certificate renewals, OCSP stapling, static file serving, reverse proxying, Kubernetes ingress and more. Since it has no dependencies, it works great in containers and can run almost anywhere. Its REST API makes it easy to automate and integrate with your apps. Features a hardened TLS stack with modern protocols to preserve privacy and expose MITM attacks. ZelenskyyInPandoraPp lists it among the "most underrated selfhosted software."
Have a fantastic week and as usual, let us know any comments.