GNU/Linux

Cloudflare API DNS Update

 in Applications / Bash / Firewall / GNU/Linux / HowTos  tagged api / cloudflare / DNS / update DNS record / what is my ip by

Cloudflare is a content delivery network (CDN) that provides a wide range of services, including domain name system (DNS) management. The Cloudflare API allows developers to programmatically manage DNS records, making it possible to automate updating DNS records. This blog post will explain how to use the Cloudflare API to update a DNS record.

Log in to Cloudflare and get your Global API Key

First, log in to your Cloudflare account and obtain your Global API Key. You can obtain your Global API Key by navigating to the URL: https://dash.cloudflare.com/profile/api-tokens. Once logged in, you should see a section called “API Tokens.” Click on the “View” button to see your Global API Key.

Find the Zone ID

The next step is to find the Zone ID of the domain you want to update. You can find the Zone ID by following the instructions provided in the Cloudflare documentation: https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/get-started/basic-tasks/find-account-and-zone-ids/.

  1. Click on the domain you want to manage.
  2. In the left-hand sidebar, click on “Overview.”
  3. Scroll to the “API” section and click “Get your API key.”
  4. Click on the “View” button next to the Global API Key.
  5. Copy the key and keep it somewhere safe.

Get the DNS Record Identifiers

Once you have obtained the Zone ID, you can use it to get the identifiers for the DNS records associated with that domain. You can do this by making a GET request to the Cloudflare API, specifying the Zone ID, and providing your email address and API key. The response will contain information about all of the DNS records associated with the domain, including their identifiers.

Here is an example command that you can use to get the DNS record identifiers:

curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/<zone_id>/dns_records \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'X-Auth-Email: <email_address>' \
  --header 'X-Auth-Key: <api_key>'

Replace <zone_id>, <email_address>, and <api_key> with your actual values.

Update the DNS Record

Finally, you can use the DNS record identifier to update the DNS record. The following is an example bash script that you can use to update a DNS record:

#!/bin/bash

ip=`curl https://bytefreaks.net/what-is-my-ip | grep '<h1 style="text-align: center;"' | cut -d '>' -f 2 | cut -d '<' -f 1`;

ip=`echo $ip | cut -d, -f1`;

comment=`date +%Y-%m-%d\ %H:%M`;

curl --request PUT \
  --url https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/<zone_id>/dns_records/<dns_record_id> \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'X-Auth-Email: <email_address>' \
  --header 'X-Auth-Key: <api_key>' \
  --data '{
  "content": "'$ip'",
  "name": "www.bytefreaks.net",
  "proxied": true,
  "type": "A",
  "comment": "'"$comment"'",
  "tags": [],
  "ttl": 3600
}'

Replace <zone_id>, <dns_record_id>, <email_address>, and <api_key> with your actual values. You should also update the "name" field to match the name of the DNS record you want to update.

This script is used to update a DNS record using the Cloudflare API. It retrieves the current public IP address of the device running the script and then updates the specified DNS record on Cloudflare with the new IP address.

Here is a breakdown of each command in the script:

  • ip=curl https://bytefreaks.net/what-is-my-ip | grep ‘<h1 style=”text-align: center;”‘ | cut -d ‘>’ -f 2 | cut -d ‘<‘ -f 1“: This command uses the curl command to retrieve the public IP address of the device running the script from the website https://bytefreaks.net/what-is-my-ip. The output of this command is then piped through grep to find the line that contains the IP address. The cut command is then used to extract the IP address from the line.
  • ip=echo $ip | cut -d, -f1“: This command removes any commas from the IP address, which may be present if the IP address is in a format that includes additional information.
  • comment=date +%Y-%m-%d\ %H:%M“: This command generates a comment for the DNS record update. The comment includes the current date and time in the format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM.
  • curl --request PUT \: This command sends an HTTP PUT request to update the specified DNS record.
  • --url https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/<zone_id>/dns_records/<dns_record_id> \: This specifies the URL for the Cloudflare API endpoint for updating a DNS record. The <zone_id> and <dns_record_id> placeholders should be replaced with the actual zone ID and DNS record ID, respectively.
  • --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \: This specifies that the content type of the request is JSON.
  • --header 'X-Auth-Email: <email_address>' \: This specifies the Cloudflare account email address associated with the API key. The <email_address> placeholder should be replaced with the actual email address.
  • --header 'X-Auth-Key: <api_key>' \: This specifies the Cloudflare API key for the account. The <api_key> placeholder should be replaced with the actual API key.
  • --data '{ ... }': This specifies the JSON data to be sent in the request body. This includes the new IP address in the content field, the domain name in the name field, the record type in the type field, the comment in the comment field, and other optional parameters like the ttl. Note that the domain name at.put.cy is hardcoded in the script, and should be replaced with the actual domain name to be updated.

5 packages can be upgraded. Run ‘apt list –upgradable’ to see them.

 in Bash / GNU/Linux  tagged apt / bash / GNU/Linux / list / packages / ubuntu / upgradable by

Updating an operating system is a critical task that ensures the system’s security, stability, and performance. In Ubuntu, updating the system involves running several commands in the terminal. In this technical post, we will explain the process of updating an Ubuntu Server installation and how to fix the issue of pending package upgrades.

The first command that needs to be executed is sudo apt update. This command updates the list of available packages from the Ubuntu repositories. The -y option instructs the system to answer “yes” to prompts, ensuring the process runs uninterrupted.

The second command is sudo apt upgrade. This command upgrades all installed packages to their latest versions. Again, the -y option is used to answer “yes” to any prompts.

The third command, sudo apt autoremove, removes any unnecessary dependencies that are no longer required by the system.

After executing these three commands, the system displayed a warning message that says that five packages can be upgraded. To see the list of upgradable packages, we needed to execute the command apt list --upgradable. This command lists all the upgradable packages along with their versions.

The following command we executed was sudo apt-get dist-upgrade. This command upgrades the system to the latest distribution release, including kernel upgrades. However, the command failed to upgrade the pending packages in this case.

To fix the issue, we executed the command sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade $PACKAGE for each pending package. This command upgrades the specified package to its latest version. The $PACKAGE variable should be replaced with the package name that needs to be upgraded.

In summary, updating an Ubuntu Server installation involves running the sudo apt update, sudo apt upgrade, and sudo apt autoremove commands in the terminal. If there are any pending package upgrades, we can use the apt list --upgradable command to see the list of upgradable packages. If the sudo apt-get dist-upgrade command fails to upgrade the pending packages, we can use the sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade $PACKAGE command to upgrade each package individually.

ffmpeg to convert MP4 files to MKV files with the libx265 video codec

 in Bash / GNU/Linux  tagged analyzeduration / bash color / color / ffmpeg / libx265 / mp4 / probesize by

When working with video files, there are times when you need to convert them from one format to another or modify them in some other way. One of the most popular tools for this is ffmpeg. This command-line tool can do a lot of things related to video processing, including conversion, resizing, cropping, and more. In this blog post, we will explain a script that uses ffmpeg to convert MP4 files to MKV files with the libx265 video codec.

The Script:

Here’s the script that we will be explaining:

for FILE in *.mp4; do
  echo -e "Processing video '\e[32m$FILE\e[0m'";
  ffmpeg -i "${FILE}" -analyzeduration 2147483647 -probesize 2147483647 -c:v libx265 -an -x265-params crf=0 "${FILE%.mp4}.mkv";
done;

Let’s break this script down line by line to understand what it does.

for FILE in *.mp4; do
...
done;

This line starts a loop that goes through all the files in the current directory that have the “.mp4” extension. The loop will execute the commands inside the “do” and “done” keywords for each file that matches this pattern.

echo -e "Processing video '\e[32m$FILE\e[0m'";

This line uses the “echo” command to print a message to the console. The message includes the file’s name being processed, which is stored in the $FILE variable. The “\e[32m” and “\e[0m” are escape sequences that change the color of the text to green. This is just a way to make the message more visually appealing.

ffmpeg -i "${FILE}" -analyzeduration 2147483647 -probesize 2147483647 -c:v libx265 -an -x265-params crf=0 "${FILE%.mp4}.mkv";

This line runs the ffmpeg command to convert the current file from MP4 to MKV format using the libx265 video codec. Let’s break down each of the options:

  • “-i ${FILE}” specifies the input file. “${FILE}” is the name of the file being processed, which is stored in the $FILE variable.
  • “-analyzeduration 2147483647” and “-probesize 2147483647” are options that tell ffmpeg to analyze the entire file before starting the conversion process. This can help avoid some issues that can occur when processing large files.
  • “-c:v libx265” specifies the video codec for the output file. libx265 is a popular video codec that provides good quality at a smaller file size.
  • “-an” specifies that there should be no audio in the output file.
  • “-x265-params crf=0” sets the quality level for the video. A value of 0 means lossless compression, which is the highest quality possible.
  • “${FILE%.mp4}.mkv” specifies the name of the output file. “${FILE%.mp4}” removes the “.mp4” extension from the input file name, and “.mkv” adds the “.mkv” extension to the end.

Conclusion:

The script we’ve just explained is a simple example of how you can use ffmpeg to convert MP4 files to MKV files with the libx265 video codec. It uses a loop to process all the files in the current directory that match the “.mp4” pattern. The script also prints a message to the console for each file

Using nmap to scan a network and identify which hosts are alive

 in GNU/Linux  tagged GNU/Linux / network / nmap / scan / scanning by

The command “nmap -sP 192.168.100.0/24” scans a network and identifies which hosts are alive (i.e., which IP addresses are being used) within the specified range.

In more detail, the “nmap” command is a widely used network exploration tool that can be used for tasks such as host discovery, port scanning, and service enumeration.

The “-sP” option tells nmap to perform a “ping scan,” where it sends an ICMP echo request to each host in the specified IP range and checks for responses. This method is typically faster than other scanning techniques because it only determines whether a host is up or not without gathering additional information about the host’s ports or services.

The “192.168.100.0/24” argument specifies the IP range to be scanned, specifically the subnet mask “255.255.255.0,” which corresponds to the range of IP addresses from 192.168.100.0 to 192.168.100.255. The “/24” suffix is a shorthand notation for the subnet mask.

Overall, the command “nmap -sP 192.168.100.0/24” is a helpful tool for network administrators or security professionals who need to identify which hosts are active on a particular network quickly. It can help to identify potential security vulnerabilities or unauthorized devices connected to the network.