1. Going full Ubuntu

27.9.2025

I finally decided on the next step for my homelab. Since Windows 11 is incompatible with my gaming PC, I decided to wipe Windows 10 completely and turn my gaming PC into a home server to play and experiment with — but most importantly to host my new Wazuh SIEM. It's not ideal because I don't want to leave it on 24/7 due to noise and electricity costs, but it will do for now.

I decided to go with Wazuh as my first SIEM because it seems to be very well documented and has a ton of robust features. It's also available to use with Docker and I desperately needed some Docker experience. I briefly touched Docker in school but since then it's become all the rage. I needed to at least be familiar with it if I wanted to level up my skills.

To keep my home lab simple, I converted my desktop into an Ubuntu server. I backed up all my important Windows data, and fully replaced my Windows installation with Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS.

Since it's not going to be public facing either I could be a lot more liberal about what I install on it. I tested out Xubuntu so I could at least be staring at something besides a dark depressing shell.

Using Xubuntu is cool at first, but I'm quickly reminded why I will likely never switch to Linux as my main driver. Linux is so great for projects and experiments, but things as simple as installing NVIDIA drivers, changing screen resolution, copying and pasting into a shell are awkward and confusing coming from the Windows world.