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The Gospel of the Second Resurrection (John 20:19–26) Bright Monday Gospel reading interpretation

Sunday, April 12th, 2026

Resurrection-of-Christ-Bulgarian-Eastern_Orthodox-Christian-Miracle-making-icon
Christ is Risen ! Truly he is Risen ! 

Another year to celebrate Resurrection day, I great all my readers with the Holy and Glorious day of The Resurrection of Christ !
Happy Resurrection day, Happy Easter to All faithful Christians and all Technology Freaks out there who look for the Universal truth and meaning of life !

Happy Resurrection to those who are searching it and those who find it, as I tend to find more and more that more technological literate people came to become Christian and find the Light and truthfulness of Holy Orthodox Christian Faith !
 

In Orthodox Christianity, the Second Resurrection Service often called Agape Vespers is a deeply symbolic and joyful service celebrated on the afternoon or evening of Pascha, the feast of Christ’s Resurrection, an event that changed history forever and made the Time to be counted on Age before Christ and Age after him Anno Domini ( A.D. ) Christ's victory over death and importance of the Resurrection has become a turning stone for whole world and has one time forever changed the history to Bring the Light of Heaven on earth again after the fall of man in Eden's garden. 
In Orthodox Christian tradition the feast of Resurrection is being celebrated Staring from the Day of Pascha (The Resurrection of Christ) towards his Ascension on the Day of Ascension on the 40th Day. Many might not today, that the first 7 days Week of Pascha is actually a whole period of celebration like a day who marks The Resurrection and the whole week in Orthodox tradition is considered as one single day. The first 3 days when the Lord Jesus Christ raised to the death after being in Hell with his soul to Save and Save all the waiting souls of prophets and old testamental times of old righteous people and those who repented (on Holy Saturday) the Next day after Crucifix (on Holy Friday) are the Most glorious and important days of the whole 40 days period of the Resurrection till time the Lord Ascended to Heaven with his Glorious Resurrectied Body

The Paschal Church service of the Resurrection of Christ which is celebrated with serving Saint Basyl's Holy Liturgy in Orthodox Christian tradition always starts exactly at Midnight. In many traditions nowdays like also in Bulgarian tradition, the Holy Fire is brought by Plane to the Synodal Palace of the Church from hence it is distributed across local Pariches Churches to bring the Light of the Miracle of Jerusalem of Holy Fire that happen once and only for Eastern Orthodox Christians, when a Light of Heaven comes to light up the Candle of Jerusalem's Eastern Orthodox Christian patriarch as a eternal confirmation of the Truthfulness of the Resurrection of Christ (a God's sign for Unbelievers to think and study the Orthtoxy). The miracle of Holy Fire happened even this year in Jerusalem in the Holy Sepulcher Church (built on top of the Place of Resurrection of Christ). Thanks God even though humanity sinfulness (and the escalating wars) which by Miracle and God's grace and great Mercy has been temporary suspended for the World to mark the Feast of the Feast of The Resurrection. It is a clear miracle that this temporary peace in Ukraine and Russia as well as Israel and Iran happened exactly on the days of the Eastern Orthodox Christian resurrection, which is this year as most years one week later than the Roman Catholic pascha (as we at the Orthodox Church still do venerate righteously the rule of The first Church Council of Nicea.).

The reason to follow Easter differently for Eastern Orthodox Chrsitians from Western Roman Catholic Christians is often misunderstood and puts great confusion to explain especially to modern people from East and West faith that work together in corporations, thus I'll put a short explanation on why we Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Pascha often differently than Roman Catholics?:
There are 3 main reasons that sted from the Ecumenical council of Nicea:

 

  1. Separation from Jewish Timing: The Council mandated that Christians should no longer rely on Jewish calculations for the 14th of Nisan. The Emperor Constantine, in a letter following the council, argued that it was "unworthy" for Christians to follow the custom of those who had rejected Christ.
  2. Solar-Lunar Formula: To remain independent, the Council adopted the "Alexandrian method": Pascha must fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox.
  3. Biblical Sequence: While the council's surviving canons do not explicitly state "after Passover," the Orthodox Church maintains that the Nicene intent was to preserve the Biblical sequence of events. Since the Resurrection happened after the Jewish Passover in the Gospels, the Orthodox calculation ensures Pascha never precedes or coincides with the start of the Jewish festival. 

On the next day after we celebrate the Feast of Resurrection (Velikden as called in Eastern tradition) is Bright Monday. The day is very special as the Night Vigil and Morning Service with Holy Liturgy ends up very late around 3, 3-30 A.M. And the service is created by Holy Fathers of the Church inspired by God as a way to experience for second time (on the same day)the Joy of the Resurrection, so the spiritual joy be even more multiplied and well undestood b the Church members.

The Bright Monday or Easter Monday in Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition is marked by what is often called the “Second Resurrection”service. 

The service is a continuation of the joy of Pascha, emphasizing the universal proclamation of Christ’s victory over death.

At the heart of this celebration is the Gospel reading from John 20:19–26, which recounts Christ’s first appearances to His disciples after the Resurrection. What is unique for the service is this is the only day in year when the One and Holy Universal Eastern Orthodox Church shows its universality and union and acceptance of all languages as a mean to proclaim the Good new of Salvation way the Holy Gospel introduced for everyone who believed in the name of the Jesus Christ as a Son of God and Savior of the World by Having introduced the reading of a Gospel reading in different nation languages 

Here is a selection of the Text reading as translated in different languages, might be helpful if you belong to one of those Churches abroad, to read the text on "Second Resurrection", bright monday Service:
 

English (King James Version)
John 20:19–26

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

Bulgarian (Synodal translation) 
Йоан 20:19–26

Вечерта в същия ден, първия на седмицата, когато вратите, дето бяха събрани учениците, бяха заключени от страх от юдеите, дойде Иисус, застана посред и им каза: Мир вам!

И като рече това, показа им ръцете и ребрата Си. Учениците се зарадваха, като видяха Господа.
Иисус пак им рече: Мир вам! Както Ме прати Отец, така и Аз ви пращам.
Като каза това, духна и им рече: Приемете Духа Светаго.
На които простите греховете, ще им се простят; на които задържите, ще се задържат.
А Тома, един от дванайсетте, наречен Близнак, не беше с тях, когато дойде Иисус.
Другите ученици му казваха: Видяхме Господа. А той им рече: Ако не видя на ръцете Му белега от гвоздеите и не туря пръста си в раните от гвоздеите и не туря ръката си в ребрата Му, няма да повярвам.
След осем дни учениците Му пак бяха вътре и Тома с тях. Дойде Иисус, когато вратите бяха заключени, застана посред и рече: Мир вам!

 Russian (Synodal) 
От Иоанна 20:19–26

В тот же первый день недели вечером, когда двери дома, где собирались ученики Его, были заперты из опасения от Иудеев, пришел Иисус, и стал посреди, и говорит им: мир вам!
Сказав это, Он показал им руки и ребра Свои. Ученики обрадовались, увидев Господа.
Иисус же сказал им вторично: мир вам! как послал Меня Отец, так и Я посылаю вас.
Сказав это, дунул, и говорит им: примите Духа Святаго.
Кому простите грехи, тому простятся; на ком оставите, на том останутся.
Фома же, один из двенадцати, называемый Близнец, не был тут с ними, когда приходил Иисус.
Другие ученики сказали ему: мы видели Господа. Но он сказал им: если не увижу на руках Его ран от гвоздей и не вложу перста моего в раны от гвоздей и не вложу руки моей в ребра Его, не поверю.
После восьми дней опять были в доме ученики Его, и Фома с ними. Пришел Иисус, когда двери были заперты, стал посреди их и сказал: мир вам!

Ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωάννην ἁγίου Εὐαγγελίου τὸ ἀνάγνωσμα.
Greek (Κοινή / Patriarchal Text – Orthodox usage) 

Οὔσης οὖν ὀψίας τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ τῇ μιᾷ σαββάτων, καὶ τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων ὅπου ἦσαν οἱ μαθηταὶ συνηγμένοι διὰ τὸν φόβον τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἔστη εἰς τὸ μέσον καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν.
καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἔδειξεν αὐτοῖς τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τὴν πλευρὰν αὐτοῦ. ἐχάρησαν οὖν οἱ μαθηταὶ ἰδόντες τὸν Κύριον.
εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς πάλιν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν· καθὼς ἀπέσταλκέ με ὁ Πατήρ, κἀγὼ πέμπω ὑμᾶς.
καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἐνεφύσησε καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Λάβετε Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον·
ἄν τινων ἀφῆτε τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ἀφίενται αὐτοῖς· ἄν τινων κρατῆτε, κεκράτηνται.
Θωμᾶς δὲ εἷς ἐκ τῶν δώδεκα, ὁ λεγόμενος Δίδυμος, οὐκ ἦν μετ’ αὐτῶν ὅτε ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς.
ἔλεγον οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ ἄλλοι μαθηταί· Ἑωράκαμεν τὸν Κύριον. ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Ἐὰν μὴ ἴδω ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ τὸν τύπον τῶν ἥλων καὶ βάλω τὸν δάκτυλόν μου εἰς τὸν τύπον τῶν ἥλων καὶ βάλω τὴν χεῖρά μου εἰς τὴν πλευρὰν αὐτοῦ, οὐ μὴ πιστεύσω.
καὶ μεθ’ ἡμέρας ὀκτὼ πάλιν ἦσαν ἔσω οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ Θωμᾶς μετ’ αὐτῶν. ἔρχεται ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων καὶ ἔστη εἰς τὸ μέσον καὶ εἶπεν· Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν.

 Serbian (Епископски / Orthodox usage)
Јован 20:19–26

А у вече тог првог дана седмице, кад су врата где беху ученици сабрани била затворена од страха од Јудејаца, дође Исус и стаде међу њих и рече им: Мир вам!
И ово рекавши, показа им руке и ребра Своја. Тада се обрадоваше ученици видевши Господа.
Тада им Исус опет рече: Мир вам! Као што је Отац послао Мене, и Ја шаљем вас.
И ово рекавши, дуну и рече им: Примите Духа Светога.
Којима опростите грехе, опраштају им се; којима задржите, задржани су.
А Тома, један од дванаесторице, звани Близанац, не беше с њима кад дође Исус.
Тада му други ученици говораху: Видели смо Господа. А он им рече: Ако не видим на рукама Његовим ране од клинова и не ставим прст свој у ране од клинова и не ставим руку своју у ребра Његова, нећу веровати.

И после осам дана опет беху унутра ученици Његови и Тома с њима. Дође Исус кад врата беху затворена, стаде међу њих и рече: Мир вам!

 Romanian (Biblia sinodală – Orthodox)
Ioan 20:19–26

Și fiind seară, în ziua aceea, cea dintâi a săptămânii, și ușile fiind încuiate unde erau ucenicii adunați de frica iudeilor, a venit Iisus și a stat în mijloc și le-a zis: Pace vouă!
Și zicând aceasta, le-a arătat mâinile și coasta Sa. Deci s-au bucurat ucenicii, văzând pe Domnul.
Și le-a zis iarăși Iisus: Pace vouă! Precum M-a trimis pe Mine Tatăl, vă trimit și Eu pe voi.
Și zicând aceasta, a suflat asupra lor și le-a zis: Luați Duh Sfânt.
Cărora veți ierta păcatele, le vor fi iertate; și cărora le veți ține, vor fi ținute.
Iar Toma, unul din cei doisprezece, numit Geamănul, nu era cu ei când a venit Iisus.
Deci ceilalți ucenici îi ziceau: Am văzut pe Domnul. Dar el le-a zis: Dacă nu voi vedea în mâinile Lui semnul cuielor și nu voi pune degetul meu în semnul cuielor și nu voi pune mâna mea în coasta Lui, nu voi crede.
Și după opt zile, ucenicii Lui erau iarăși înăuntru, și Toma împreună cu ei. A venit Iisus, ușile fiind încuiate, și a stat în mijloc și a zis: Pace vouă!

 

German (Luther tradition / Orthodox-used standard translation style)
Johannes 20,19–26

Und am Abend desselben ersten Tages der Woche, als die Türen verschlossen waren, wo die Jünger versammelt waren aus Furcht vor den Juden, kam Jesus und trat mitten unter sie und spricht zu ihnen: Friede sei mit euch!

Und als er das gesagt hatte, zeigte er ihnen die Hände und seine Seite. Da wurden die Jünger froh, dass sie den Herrn sahen.

Da sprach Jesus abermals zu ihnen: Friede sei mit euch! Gleichwie mich der Vater gesandt hat, so sende ich euch.

Und als er das gesagt hatte, hauchte er sie an und spricht zu ihnen: Empfangt den Heiligen Geist!

Welchen ihr die Sünden erlasst, denen sind sie erlassen; und welchen ihr sie behaltet, denen sind sie behalten.

Thomas aber, einer der Zwölf, der Zwilling genannt wird, war nicht bei ihnen, als Jesus kam.

Da sagten ihm die anderen Jünger: Wir haben den Herrn gesehen. Er aber sprach zu ihnen: Wenn ich nicht in seinen Händen die Nägelmale sehe und meinen Finger in die Nägelmale lege und meine Hand in seine Seite lege, so will ich nicht glauben.

Und nach acht Tagen waren seine Jünger abermals drinnen, und Thomas war bei ihnen. Kommt Jesus, als die Türen verschlossen waren, und tritt mitten unter sie und spricht: Friede sei mit euch!

Arabic (بطريركي / Orthodox liturgical usage)
إنجيل يوحنا 20:19–2

ولما كانت عشية ذلك اليوم، وهو أول الأسبوع، وكانت الأبواب مغلقة حيث كان التلاميذ مجتمعين خوفًا من اليهود، جاء يسوع ووقف في الوسط وقال لهم: سلام لكم.

ولما قال هذا أراهم يديه وجنبه، ففرح التلاميذ إذ رأوا الرب.

فقال لهم يسوع ثانية: سلام لكم. كما أرسلني الآب أرسلكم أنا أيضًا.

ولما قال هذا نفخ فيهم وقال لهم: اقبلوا الروح القدس.

من غفرتم خطاياه تُغفر له، ومن أمسكتم خطاياه أُمسكت.

أما توما، أحد الاثني عشر، الذي يُدعى التوأم، فلم يكن معهم حين جاء يسوع.

فقال له التلاميذ الآخرون: قد رأينا الرب. فقال لهم: إن لم أبصر في يديه أثر المسامير وأضع إصبعي في أثر المسامير وأضع يدي في جنبه لا أؤمن.

وبعد ثمانية أيام كان تلاميذه أيضًا داخلًا، وكان توما معهم. جاء يسوع والأبواب مغلقة، ووقف في الوسط وقال: سلام لكم!

Georgian (საქართველოს მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია)
იოანე 20:19–26

და იყო მწუხრი იმ დღესა, კვირის პირველ დღეს, და კარნი დახშულნი იყვნენ, სადაც მოწაფენი იყვნენ შეკრებილნი იუდეველთა შიშისგან, მოვიდა იესო და დადგა მათ შორის და ჰრქუა მათ: მშვიდობა თქუენდა.
და ეს რომ თქვა, უჩვენა მათ ხელნი და გვერდი თვისი. და გაიხარეს მოწაფეებმა, იხილეს რა უფალი.
მაშინ კვლავ უთხრა მათ იესომ: მშვიდობა თქუენდა; როგორც მამამ მომავლინა მე, მეც თქვენ მოგავლინებთ.
და ეს რომ თქვა, შეუბერა მათ და უთხრა: მიიღეთ სული წმინდა.
ვისაც მიუტევებთ ცოდვებს, მიეტევებათ მათ; და ვისაც დაუკავებთ, დაუკავდებათ.
ხოლო თომა, ერთი თორმეტთაგანი, რომელსაც ეწოდებოდა ტყუპი, არ იყო მათთან, როცა მოვიდა იესო.
უთხრეს მას სხვა მოწაფეებმა: ვიხილეთ უფალი. ხოლო მან უთხრა მათ: თუ არ ვიხილავ მის ხელებზე ფრჩხილების ნიშანს და არ შევიტან ჩემს თითს ფრჩხილების ნიშანში და არ შევიტან ჩემს ხელს მის გვერდში, არ ვირწმუნებ.
და რვა დღის შემდეგ კვლავ იყვნენ შინ მისი მოწაფენი და თომაც მათთან. მოვიდა იესო, კარნი დახშულნი იყვნენ, დადგა მათ შორის და უთხრა: მშვიდობა თქუენდა.

 

Albanian (Orthodox Albanian Bible usage)
Gjoni 20:19–26

Dhe kur u bë mbrëmje në atë ditë, ditën e parë të javës, dhe dyert ishin të mbyllura ku ishin mbledhur dishepujt nga frika e judenjve, erdhi Jezusi dhe qëndroi në mes dhe u tha atyre: Paqe juve!
Dhe pasi tha këtë, u tregoi duart dhe brinjën e Tij. Atëherë dishepujt u gëzuan kur panë Zotin.
Dhe Jezusi u tha përsëri: Paqe juve! Sikurse më dërgoi Ati, ashtu ju dërgoj edhe unë juve.
Dhe pasi tha këtë, fryu mbi ta dhe u tha: Merrni Frymën e Shenjtë.
Kujt t’ia falni mëkatet, do t’u falen; kujt t’ia mbani, do t’u mbeten.
Por Thomai, një nga të dymbëdhjetët, i quajtur Binjaku, nuk ishte me ta kur erdhi Jezusi.
Dishepujt e tjerë i thoshin: E pamë Zotin. Por ai u tha: Nëse nuk shoh në duart e Tij shenjat e gozhdëve dhe nuk vë gishtin tim në shenjat e gozhdëve dhe nuk vë dorën time në brinjën e Tij, nuk do të besoj.
Dhe pas tetë ditësh, dishepujt e Tij ishin përsëri brenda dhe Thomai me ta. Erdhi Jezusi, kur dyert ishin të mbyllura, dhe qëndroi në mes dhe tha: Paqe juve!

Czech (Český ekumenický / Orthodox-used translation style)
Jan 20,19–26

Když byl večer onoho dne, prvního dne v týdnu, a dveře, kde byli učedníci shromážděni ze strachu před Židy, byly zavřeny, přišel Ježíš, postavil se doprostřed a řekl jim: Pokoj vám!

A když to řekl, ukázal jim ruce a svůj bok. Učedníci se zaradovali, když viděli Pána.
Ježíš jim znovu řekl: Pokoj vám! Jako Otec poslal mne, tak já posílám vás.
A když to řekl, dechl na ně a řekl jim: Přijměte Ducha Svatého.
Komu odpustíte hříchy, budou mu odpuštěny; komu je zadržíte, budou zadrženy.
Tomáš, jeden z dvanácti, zvaný Didymos, nebyl s nimi, když přišel Ježíš.
Ostatní učedníci mu říkali: Viděli jsme Pána. Ale on jim řekl: Jestliže neuvidím na jeho rukou jizvy po hřebech a nevložím svůj prst do jizev po hřebech a nevložím svou ruku do jeho boku, neuvěřím.
A po osmi dnech byli jeho učedníci opět uvnitř a Tomáš s nimi. Přišel Ježíš, když byly dveře zavřeny, postavil se doprostřed a řekl: Pokoj vám!

Slovak (Orthodox-used / liturgical style)
Ján 20,19–26

Keď bol večer toho prvého dňa v týždni a dvere, kde boli učeníci zhromaždení zo strachu pred Židmi, boli zavreté, prišiel Ježiš, postavil sa doprostred a povedal im: Pokoj vám!
A keď to povedal, ukázal im ruky a svoj bok. Učeníci sa zaradovali, keď videli Pána.
Ježiš im znova povedal: Pokoj vám! Ako mňa poslal Otec, aj ja posielam vás.
A keď to povedal, dýchol na nich a povedal im: Prijmite Ducha Svätého.
Komu odpustíte hriechy, budú mu odpustené; komu ich zadržíte, budú zadržané.
Tomáš, jeden z dvanástich, zvaný Didymus, nebol s nimi, keď prišiel Ježiš.
Ostatní učeníci mu hovorili: Videli sme Pána. Ale on im povedal: Ak neuvidím na jeho rukách stopy po klincoch a nevložím svoj prst do stôp po klincoch a nevložím svoju ruku do jeho boku, neuverím.
A po ôsmich dňoch boli jeho učeníci znova vnútri a Tomáš s nimi. Prišiel Ježiš, keď boli dvere zatvorené, postavil sa doprostred a povedal: Pokoj vám!

The Meaning of the Passage

This Gospel takes place on the evening of the Resurrection:

“Peace be with you.” (John 20:19)

The disciples are gathered in fear, behind closed doors. Yet Christ appears among them not as a ghost, but in His glorified body. His greeting, “Peace be with you,” is not merely comforting, it is transformative. It signals reconciliation between God and humanity.

Christ then shows His wounds, proving that the Crucified One is truly the Risen One.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

One of the most profound moments in this passage is when Christ breathes on the disciples:

“Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22)

This act recalls the creation of Adam, when God breathed life into humanity. Here, the Risen Christ inaugurates a new creation—restoring and renewing mankind.

He also grants the apostles authority:

“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven…” (John 20:23)

This becomes the foundation of the Church’s sacramental life.

The Absence of Thomas

Thomas is not present during this first appearance. His absence becomes spiritually significant, he represents all who struggle with doubt.

When told of the Resurrection, Thomas responds:

“Unless I see… I will not believe.” (John 20:25)

This honest doubt sets the stage for the next encounter (read the following Sunday), where faith is deepened through experience.

Why It Is Called the “Second Resurrection Gospel” ?

This Gospel reading done in multiple languages during Easter Monday services, is very adequate in international Church communities such as Orthodox Church pariches in Western Europe and America where, there are church members from virtually every nationality. 
Those reading is conduceted in Church Pariches by people whos native language is the language of reading or by anyone in the Church community that can speak or read the language. Thus the Church assemblyy shows clearly to the World:

1. The universality of the Resurrection for All Mankind and a reference to the Primal Language of Edem which in New Testamental times after Christ is the Language of Love and virtues as given by Christ.
2. The spreading of the Gospel to all nations (for which the apostles and every Christian has been called by the Saviour
The unity of the Church across cultures and tongues
3. The unity of the Church across cultures and tongues and the one saving truth that if practiced as prescribed will lead humanity and each individual to Christs faith and salvation.

Closing words
 

Hopefully this article was interseting for tech guys and some diversity from the boredom of tech stuff. I hope it shed some light love, faith, hope and peace and understanding for anyone who searches for the Truth.

I will close it with the Great and glorious and spiritually rich Paschal Sermon of Saint John Crysostom, that is being red on the Easter Service (at some Churches it is practice to read this sermon over the first three days Church services of Pasche).

The Catechetical Sermon of St. John Chrysostom reading Matins of Pascha.

The_Descent-of-Jesus-Christ-in-Hades-to-save-all-in-Hell-saint-Ekaterina-monastery-from-years-around-1500s

The descent to Hades of Christ – Saint Ekaterina Monastery ancient of Resurrection

If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast.
If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense.
If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward.
If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast.
If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived thereof.
If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing.
If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; He gives rest unto him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has wrought from the first hour.

And He shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one He gives, and upon the other He bestows gifts.
And He both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering.
Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second.
You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day.
Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast.
The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously.
The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
Let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free.
He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it. By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive.
He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh.
And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions.
It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked.
It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown.
It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains.
It took a body, and met God face to face.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.

O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory?
Christ is risen, and you are overthrown.
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen.
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice.
Christ is risen, and life reigns.
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.
For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages.
Amen.

Installing Freedoom, Freedoom Phase 2, and Other DOOMs on GNU / Linux

Thursday, January 29th, 2026

freedoom-game-on-linux-shot-killed-monster
You think good old DOOM game is Dead ? Think again. 

From graphing calculators and printers to ATMs, traffic signs, refrigerators, and even experimental brain-computer interfaces, DOOM has proven itself less a game and more a force of nature. For decades, developers and hackers have ported it onto devices never meant for fast-paced demon slaying, simply because they could. This strange tradition says as much about DOOM’s elegant design as it does about the creativity – and stubbornness – of the open-source community. Perhaps as a mean of extension people from the free realm decide to create a a playable and free remake of it.

If you want classic DOOM action game to have fun on Linux without proprietary game data, Freedoom is the answer.
It’s free, open source, and designed to be fully compatible with the original DOOM engine ,while still delivering you a monsters to kill, shotguns, and extremely questionable life choices.

This article walks you through installing Freedoom, Phase1  Freedoom Phase 2, and running them with popular DOOM source ports on Linux such as gzdoom and chocolate-doom and freedm.

What Is Freedoom (and Why Should You Care)?

Freedoom is a free replacement for the original DOOM game data (WAD files).

Freedoom comes in two main flavors:

  • Freedoom (Phase 1)Doom-compatible (monsters, maps, weapons)
  • Freedoom Phase 2Doom II – compatible (bigger maps, more enemies, more chaos)
     

Think of them as DOOM and DOOM II, but liberated from copyright hell.

1. Install Freedoom on Linux

On most Linux distributions, Freedoom is available directly from the package manager.

Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint

# apt install freedoom

freedoom2-screenshot-linux-phase2

This installs:

  • freedoom1.wad (Phase 1)
  • freedoom2.wad (Phase 2)

You now officially own free DOOM. Congratulations.

$ freedoom1

$ freedoom2

 

freedoom2-linux-game-play-screenshot-with-doom-monsters-free-wad


 

2. Choose a DOOM Engine (a.k.a. Source Port)

Freedoom doesn’t run by itself- you need a DOOM engine to play it. Luckily, Linux has lots of excellent options.

2.1. Chocolate Doom (Classic Experience)

Chocolate Doom aims to recreate exactly how DOOM felt in the 1990s. Same physics, same limits, same pixelated glory.

Doom engines closely-compatible with Vanilla Doom

Chocolate Doom aims to accurately reproduce the original DOS version of

Doom and other games based on the Doom engine in a form that can be

run on modern computers. Unlike most modern Doom engines, Chocolate Doom

is not derived from the Boom source port and does not inherit its

features (or bugs).

 

chocolate-doom package contains:

* Chocolate Doom, a port of Id Software's "Doom" (1993)

* Chocolate Heretic, a port of Raven Software's "Heretic" (1994)

* Chocolate Hexen, a port of Raven Software's "Hexen" (1995)

* Chocolate Strife, a recreation of Rogue Entertainment's "Strife" (1996)

These games are designed to behave as similar to the original DOS version as

is possible.

Chocolate Doom supports all flavors of Doom, including The Ultimate Doom, Doom

2 and Final Doom as well as Chex(R) Quest, HacX, Freedoom: Phase 1 and Phase 2

and FreeDM.

All Chocolate game engines require game data to play. For Chocolate Doom,

free game data is available in the freedoom package. Commercial game data for

all four engines can be packaged using "game-data-packager".

To install it simply run:

# apt install chocolate-doom

Run Freedoom:

$ chocolate-doom -iwad /usr/share/games/doom/freedoom1.wad

Or Doom II–style:

$ chocolate-doom -iwad /usr/share/games/doom/freedoom2.wad

2.2. PrBoom+ (Classic but Smoother)

PrBoom+ keeps the old-school feel but adds:

  • Better performance
  • Higher resolutions
  • Fewer headaches

To install it:

# apt install dsda-doom

Run dsda-doom:

$ dsda-doom -iwad freedoom2.wad

 

freedm-game-entry-screen

Best for:

  • Vanilla gameplay with modern comfort
  • Speedrunners
  • People who want fewer crashes than 1993 allowed

2.3. GZDoom (Modern, Fancy, Wild)

GZDoom is DOOM after drinking several energy drinks:

  • Hardware acceleration
  • Mouse look
  • Mods, lighting, shaders, chaos

Add necessery repository:

$ rm –f /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/drdteam.gpg $ rm –f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/drdteam.list
# wget -P /etc/apt/sources.list.d https://debian.drdteam.org/drdteam-$(dpkg –print-architecture).sources
# apt update # apt install gzdoom

 

Run Original Doom WAD:

$ gzdoom -iwad /var/www/files/doom2.wad

doom2-original-wad-gzdoom-doom-linux-screenshot-entry-screen

doom2-original-wad-gzdoom-doom-linux-screenshot-plasma-gun-shot

 

If you need the original doom wads check out my earlier article DOOM 1, DOOM 2, DOOM 3 game wad files for download / Playing Doom on Debian Linux via FreeDoom open source doom engine
Run Freedoom WAD:

$ gzdoom -iwad freedoom2.wad

Best for:

  • Mods
  • Modern controls
  • Turning DOOM into something unrecognizable (but fun)

3. Installing Other DOOM Engines

Once you have an engine, you can play nearly any DOOM-compatible game by pointing it at a WAD file.

Popular options include:

  • FreeDM – A free deathmatch-focused DOOM experience
  • Heretic / Hexen – Fantasy DOOM (if you own the WADs)
  • User-made megawads – Thousands exist, ranging from brilliant to unhinged

Most engines let you load extra content like this:

$ gzdoom -iwad freedoom2.wad -file coolmap.wad

freedoom-exit-screen-cool-doom-text-ascii 3.1. Installing FreeDM Port


Install it with:

# apt install freedm
$ freedm

 

freedm-doom-linux-shot


3.2. Where Are the WAD Files located ?

Typically they are installed to:

/usr/share/games/doom/

Common files:

  • freedoom1.wad
  • freedoom2.wad
  • freedm.wad

You can copy them anywhere if you prefer a custom setup.

3.3. Keyboard, Mouse, and Sanity Settings

After launching:

  • Open Options → Controls
  • Enable mouse look (if using GZDoom)
  • Rebind keys (your pinky deserves mercy)
  • Increase resolution unless you’re feeling retro

Final Thoughts, DOOM A Forever Classic

Freedoom proves that DOOM isn’t just a game—it’s a platform, a culture, and for those born in the mid and beginning of 90s a travel back machine.

On Linux, you get:

  • Free game data
  • Multiple engines
  • Infinite mods
  • Zero DRM
  • Maximum demon destruction 🙂

Whether you want authentic 1993 vibes or modernized mayhem, Freedoom and Linux are a perfect match.
For old school fans and maniacs as well as IT tech guys with nostalgia or hard core angry system administrators this game is a real bliss
as it can be a true anti-stressor and a perfect for as a mean of anger management 🙂

Enjoy the Blast ! Happy Doom-Ing!

Father Archimandrite Ivan of Novi Han, Protector of Poor and Homeless passed away to Christ

Tuesday, September 16th, 2025

Father Ivan with his shepherd stick

On September 14, the 80-year-old Archimandrite Joan (John) , known simply as Father Ivan from Novi Khan.
Father Ivan
was well known in Bulgarian society as the only Monk father of the Fatherless. and a great benefactor who dedicated his life to the sick, poor, needy and, the homeless people in Bulgaria.

The Requiem service  will be consecrated on September 16 from 12:00 pm in the church "The Holy Trinity" in Novi Khan (a Church situated in the improvised homeless shelter organized in an old Monastery (Saint Nicholas) by Father Ivan himself. by Bishop John of Branitsky, former Vicar Bishop of Patriarch Daniel.

Father Ivan Dimitrov Ivanov was born on March 31, 1945. in the Bulgarian village of Blagovo, Montana region. He received his basic and secondary education in the High Professional School "Peter Beron" in city of Sofia. Next He attended a university degree from the Theological Academy "St. Clement of Ohrid" (which was re-established in the distant year 1981)  already in grown age after working different other jobs. He merried and with his wife Todorka Grigorova Ivanova had two sons – Ivaylo and Grigor. On October 19, 1981 he was ordained a deacon, and on 26 October same year – ordained for a  priest by Metropolitan Filaret of Vidin. Since 1987 he was appointed as a priest at the Church "Holy Trinity" in the town of Novi Han, region of Elin Pelin. In year 2011 he has been consecrated as monk the name Ioan by the Bishop of Devol Theodosij (Theodosius). In 2015 in Montana he was promoted to archimandrite dignity by Vidin Metropolitan Dometian.

Along with his pastoral work, he devotes all his strength to caring for the poor. His selfless service remains misunderstood by many, and for a long time he does not receive support from the leadership of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In 2014, His Holiness Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria came to visit the “Holy Trinity” shelter in Novi Han. In addition to food and gifts, he also gave a sign of empathy with the great priest’s work.

Otec_Ivan_Novi-Han-s-patriarh-Neofit

Father Ivan began his work in  the distanct 1993, short after the fall of Communism regime in Bulgaria when he restored the abandoned building of the monastery "Holy Trinity" in Novi Han. He revived the liturgical life in the monastery church (that was abondoned for many years due to the dictatorship regime in Bulgaria) and created the shelter "Saint Nicholas", in which he sheltered a dozen homeless people. Gradually, the orphanage expanded and it housed mainly women and children deprived of home and protection, but also found shelter for the elderly and homeless. The priest gave pregnant girls left without any financial support and shelter, the opportunity to give birth to their children and take care of them in the shelter for free. Several generations of children were born and raised under the care of Father Ivan. Today, some of them were the first to express their grief over the death of the father on social networks.

otec_Ivan-with-his-children

Even though his genuine kindness and great good deeds Father Ivan has suffered a lot from people who hate the light of Christ, being a victim of various life hardships, road incidents, and a lot of health issues, which he endevoured with stoicism. He has multiple times has shared when we met that many people being pushed by the devil has done him a lot of badness. 
As a mean to finance the homeless people Father Ivan with the help of his orpans, take care about animals such as chickens, cows, sheeps.
Not on a signle occasion animals belonging to him and his shelter has been stolen.
He fought many battles in his life time but never lost hope neither he fall in spirit always counting on the help of the Almighty, like the ancient saints.
Father Ivans deed for that hard times can be compared to the great deeds of the ancients and for the Bulgarian society his meaning and inspiration was similar
to the old testamental important of Moses who led the people.
His servence of a priest was always given for the good example and people respected him and loved him for his deeds in Bulgaria over the last 40 years.

Otec_Ivan-stuck-with-a-knife

In 2013, the father bought several houses in the Montana village of Yakimovo, where he housed also homeless families and their children (the houses hosting homless families reached about 80+ houses ! which accomodated about 180 people, together with the people in the orphanage in Novi Han they were more than 250+ people).

The last years of his life he spend living in his small living Room (monastic Cell) in the Saint Nicolas Monastery in prayer and last spiritual cares for his many children.

Father Ivan of Novi Han and his son Grigorij

The priest's work is continued by his son (who also took the path of his father) Fr. Grigoriy, who now takes care of the orphanages. Fr. Ivan remains in our recent church history as an example of complete dedication to the service of his neighbors, without seeking reward or gratitude. Something unique and unrepeatable fhat inspired many to be more merciful and benevolent for the poor and needy and by this he incarnated the example of Christ who teached us to always have the poor and needy with us and in our hearts. Generous to the life's misfortunes of his "children", Fr. Ivan set an example of a servant of Christ, whose love "does not seek its own… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Cor. 13:5-7).

I had the blessing to meet father Ivan of Novi Han a couple of times together with Bishop Ierotey Agathopolski (who used to be in the past under the spiritual guidance of Father Ivan). And my personal impressions are that father Ivan was a highly spiritual person and true monk. I had the chance one time in the distant 2011 to meet him in Novi Khan afer a pilgrimage to Holy Mount Athos we have been guests to Father Ivan in the monastery for a night and even had the chance to be and serve as a ipodeacon on a Holy Liturgy led by Father Ivan. I still remember how much he worried about the children God has sent him for care and how much he worried if financially he can make it to give a good life to all the new inhabitants who recently come to his shelter. 

The Children and old homeless people for whom Father Ivan of Novi Han took care

I remember he had to buy some food for the shelter and I wanted to help him to carry the stuff and we were to the SuperMarket together to buy food and goods for the children.
Father Ivan had a great temper and a great sense of humor even though he has been already aging and his spirit was lifted even though the hardships both with suffering heavy form of diabetes and other multitude of physical infirmity.

 
Film Sparks (Movie about the Shleter of Saint Nicolas created by Father Ivan of Novi Han)


Father Ivan and his Children an Interview Movie by Fr Ivan

 


Movie about The Life Story hardships of Father Ivan of Novi Khan and what made him decide to serve the sick, the poor and the lonely

Father Archimandrite Ivan one worthy Bulgarian

In above interview, father Ivan talks about how he decided to become a priest and how he promised God that he will make an orphanage home. He was accused during the communistic times in Bulgaria for being a priest only to serve as a spy for the West. He was kept in Montana Police station interrogated for 7 months in a small dark police carcer (small police room for prisoners), trying and the police tried to brain wash him that he is guilty for things he is not for all the time being asked the same questions again and again with a light lamp infront of his eye sight. He tells in short in the interview, how he managed to restore the Holy Trinity monastery, after a lot of hardships and miracles of God who helped me to do so. On multiple times his orphanage house has been tried to be (closed) and even destroyed by the local people of Novi Han unsuccesful. He has a lot of abusers who tried to run the deeds of his life the oprphanage but God by his great grace and his powers did not allow this to happen! But right on the contrary helped him and the children and provided him everything he needs to fulfill the dead of his life to help the salvation of tens of thousands to find his path to God and multitudes of people to physically survive a life of horror for years. He put a multitude of lost souls for whom noone cared back on the track of life and by his mercifulness he preached the Gospel not only words but in deeds.

Let God forgive him, Have mercy on his Soul and Forgive him if he sinned as a man and Receive him in his heavenly kingdom ! And Let us have his prayers to Christ ! Amen

How To Install ChatGPT on Debian Linux with snap

Tuesday, August 19th, 2025

chatgpt-desktop-linux-screenshot

To install ChatGPT (official desktop app) on Debian Linux using Snap, do the following:
You need as

Prerequisites

  1. Debian-based system (e.g., Debian, Ubuntu, Mint whatever deb based Linux).

  2. Snap package manager installed.


1. Install Snap (if not installed)

Run these commands in your terminal:

# apt update sudo apt install snapd

Enable and start the Snap daemon:

# systemctl enable snapd sudo systemctl start snapd

Create a symbolic link to ensure

snap

is accessible:

# ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap


2. Find ChatGPT Snap Package

The official ChatGPT desktop app (by OpenAI) is not available as a Snap package directly from OpenAI, but a third-party Snap package or wrapper may exist.

You can search with:

# snap find chatgpt


As of now, you might see unofficial community packages (e.g.,

chatgpt-desktop

or

chatgpt-wrapper

, etc.).

 

3. Install ChatGPT Snap Package

If you find a package (e.g., chatgpt-desktop), install it like this:

# snap install chatgpt-desktop

Note: Be cautious about third-party Snap packages—review the publisher and permissions.

4.Launch ChatGPT

Once installed, launch it from your app menu or run:

/snap/bin/chatgpt-desktop-client

 

Alternative (if no Snap available)

If no Snap package is available or you're uncomfortable with third-party sources:

Option: Use the Official .deb Installer

OpenAI released an official desktop app for Linux in

.deb

format:

To use the native deb;

  1. Download from: https://openai.com/chat

  2. Install with:

# apt install ./chatgpt_*.deb

 

Debugging Jitsi Meet Server Problems: A Practical Guide

Saturday, April 26th, 2025

Jitsi Meet is a powerful open-source video conferencing platform. But like any real-time communication system, it can run into issues—from video/audio glitches to full-blown connection failures. Debugging Jitsi Meet can be tricky due to its multi-component architecture. This guide walks you through a systematic approach to identify and resolve common server-side issues.

1. Understand the Architecture

Before diving into logs, it's important to understand Jitsi Meet's core components:
 

  • Jitsi Meet (Web UI) – The front-end interface.
  • Jicofo (Focus component) – Manages conference sessions.
  • Prosody (XMPP Server) – Handles user authentication and signaling.
  • JVB (Jitsi Videobridge) – Routes video/audio streams.
  • Nginx or Apache – Web server proxy (often with HTTPS and WebSocket forwarding).


Knowing how these interact helps pinpoint the failing layer.

2. Check Logs in the Right Places

Each component has its own logs. Check them in the following order:

Prosody Logs

Location: /var/log/prosody/prosody.log and prosody.err
​Look for: Authentication issues, connection denials, or component registration problems.
 

Jicofo Logs

Location: /var/log/jitsi/jicofo.log
Look for: Room creation errors, XMPP connection failures, conference creation attempts.
 

JVB Logs

Location: /var/log/jitsi/jvb.log
​Look for: ICE failures, STUN/TURN issues, packet loss, and bridge reachability.
 

Web Server Logs (Nginx/Apache)

Location (Nginx): /var/log/nginx/error.log and access.log
Look for: HTTP errors (404, 502), WebSocket connection problems.
 

Browser Console Logs
 

Tools: Press F12 in browser → Console/Network tabs.
Look for: WebSocket failures, CORS issues, or media permission problems.
 

3. Common Problems & Fixes

"Failed to join conference"

  • Cause: Prosody may not be running or not configured correctly.​

Fix: Restart Prosody and check domain configuration in /etc/prosody/conf.avail/

 

 

No Audio or Video
 

Usual Cause: Media not reaching the bridge or blocked by firewall

Fix:

  • Verify JVB is listening on correct ports (UDP 10000).
  • ​Check firewall/NAT settings (especially on cloud VMs).
  • Use tcpdump or ss to check traffic flow.
     

WebSocket Connection Fails

 

Usual Cause: Web server (Proxy) misconfiguration.

Fix:

Ensure Nginx is forwarding WebSocket requests to /xmpp-websocket/.
Add proper proxy settings in nginx.conf
 

Authentication Not Working


Cause: Misconfigured JWT or internal authentication.

Fix:

  • Check Prosody's config for authentication method.
  • If using JWT, verify token structure and shared secret.
     

4. Use Debugging Tools

  • Jitsi Meet in debug mode:


​Add #config.debug=true to your meeting URL.
 

  • ICE Debugging:

     

     

     

    Check about:webrtc (Firefox) or WebRTC Internals (Chrome).
    Look at ICE candidate gathering and connectivity checks.
    Test TURN/STUN:

    • Use tools like trickle-ice to validate your server's ICE configuration.

5. Networking and Firewall Checks

Make sure these ports are open:
 

  • TCP 443 – HTTPS
  • UDP 10000 – Media (JVB)
  • TCP 4443 – (Optional, fallback media)
  • TCP 5222 – XMPP (if not using BOSH/WebSocket)
     

# ss -tuln ufw status


6. Component Health Checks

Do 
# systemctl status for each main jitsi component services:

# systemctl status prosody
# systemctl status jicofo
# systemctl status jitsi-videobridge2

Check uptime, errors, or failure restarts.

7. Enable More Verbose Logs

Increase logging levels for deeper debugging:
 

  • Prosody: Edit /etc/prosody/prosody.cfg.lua → set log = { ... debug = "*" }.
  • Jicofo/JVB: Edit /etc/jitsi/jicofo/logging.properties and /etc/jitsi/videobridge/logging.properties
    → change log level to FINE or ALL.

 

8. Update & Restart Services

Sometimes updates or configs don’t apply until services are restarted:
 

# apt update && apt upgrade systemctl restart prosody jicofo jitsi-videobridge2 nginx

 

Final Closure Thoughts

Debugging Jitsi Meet requires a structured approach, start from the user-facing symptoms, trace through each service, and verify network and authentication configurations.
Debug the status of prosody, jicofo and jitsi-videobridge2, check the firewall openings are okay to the jitsi server
With some log analysis and a bit of patience, experimentation and the help of forums or Artificial Intelligence tool like ChatGPT, the Jitsi server errors will get solved.

How to Install and Set Up an NFS Server network Shares on on Linux to easify data transfer across multiple hosts

Monday, April 7th, 2025

How to Configure NFS Server in Redhat,CentOS,RHEL,Debian,Ubuntu and Oracle Linux

Network File System (NFS) is a protocol that allows one system to share directories and files with others over a network. It's commonly used in Linux environments for file sharing between systems. In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to install and set up an NFS server on a Linux system.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

  • A Linux system distros (e.g., Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian, etc.)
  • Root or sudo privileges on the system.
  • A network connection between the server (NFS server) and clients (machines that will access the shared directories).
     

1. Install NFS Server Package

 

On Ubuntu / Debian based Linux systems:

a. First, update the package list 

# apt update

b. Install the NFS server package
 

# apt install nfs-kernel-server

On CentOS/REL-based systems:

 2. Install the NFS server package
 

      # yum install nfs-utils 

Once the package is installed, ensure that the necessary services are enabled.

 3. Create Shared Directory for file sharing

Decide which directory you want to share over NFS. If the directory doesn't exist, you can create one. For example:

# mkdir -p /nfs_srv_dir/nfs_share

Make sure the directory has the appropriate permissions so that the nfs clients can access it.

# chown nobody:nogroup /nfs_srv_dir/nfs_share 
# chmod 755 /nfs_srv_dir/nfs_share

4. Configure NFS Exports ( /etc/exports file)

The NFS exports file (/etc/exports) is perhaps most important file you will have to create and deal with regularly to define the expored shares, this file contains the configuration settings for directories you want to share with other systems.

       a. Open the /etc/exports file for editing:

vi /etc/exports

Add an entry for the directory you want to share. For example, if you're sharing /nfs_srv_dir/nfs_share and allowing access to all systems on the network (192.168.1.0/24), add the following line:
 

/nfs_srv_dir/nfs_share 192.168.1.0/24(rw,sync,no_subtree_check)


Here’s what each option means:

  • rw: Read and write access.
  • sync: Ensures that changes are written to disk before responding to the client.

 

Here is few lines of  example of my working /etc/exports on my home running NFS server

/var/www 192.168.0.209/32(rw,no_root_squash,async,subtree_check)
/home/jordan 192.168.0.209/32(rw,no_root_squash,async,subtree_check)
/mnt/sda1/icons-frescoes/ 192.168.0.209/32(rw,no_root_squash,async,subtree_check)
/home/mobfiles 192.168.0.209/32(rw,no_root_squash,async,subtree_check)
/mnt/sda1/icons-frescoes/ 192.168.0.200/32(rw,no_root_squash,async,subtree_check)
/home/hipo/public_html 192.168.0.209/32(rw,no_root_squash,async,subtree_check)
/home/alex/public_html 192.168.0.209/32(rw,no_root_squash,async,subtree_check)
/home/necroleak/public_html 192.168.0.209/32(rw,no_root_squash,async,subtree_check)
/bashscripts 192.168.0.209/32(rw,no_root_squash,async,subtree_check)
/backups/Family-Videos 192.168.0.200/32(ro,no_root_squash,async,subtree_check)

 

5. Export the NFS Shares with exportfs command

Once the export file is configured, you need to inform the NFS server to start sharing the directory:
 

# exportfs -a


The -a flag will make it export all the sharings.

6. Start and Enable NFS Services

You need to start and enable the NFS server so it will run on system boot.

On Ubuntu / Debian Linux run the following commands:
 

# systemctl start nfs-kernel-server 
# systemctl enable nfs-kernel-server


On CentOS / RHEL Linux:
 

# systemctl start nfs-server
# systemctl enable nfs-server


7. Allow NFS Traffic Through the Firewall

If your server has a firewall configured / enabled, you will need to allow NFS-related ports through the firewall.
These ports include 2049 TCP protocol Ports (NFS) and 111 (RPCbind) UDP and TCP protocol , and some additional ports.

On Ubuntu/Debian (assuming you are using ufw [UNCOMPLICATED FIREWALL]):

# ufw allow from 192.168.1.0/24 to any port nfs sudo ufw reload

On CentOS / RHEL Linux:

# firewall-cmd –permanent –add-service=nfs sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –add-service=mountd sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –add-service=rpc-bind sudo firewall-cmd –reload

8. Verify NFS Server is Running

To ensure the NFS server is running properly, use the following command:
 

# systemctl status nfs-kernel-server

or

# systemctl status nfs-server

You should see output indicating that the service is active and running.

 

9. Test the NFS Share (Client-Side)

To test the NFS share, you will need to mount it on a client machine. Here's how to mount it:

On the client machine, install the NFS client utilities:

Ubuntu / Debian Linux

# apt install nfs-common

For CentOS / RHEL Linux

# yum install nfs-utils


Create a mount point (Nomatter the distro),:
 

# mkdir -p /mnt/nfs_share


Mount the NFS share:

# mount -t nfs <nfs_server_ip>:/nfs_srv_dir/nfs_share /mnt/nfs_share

Replace <nfs_server_ip> with the IP address of the NFS server or DNS host alias if you have one defined in /etc/hosts file.

Verify that the share is mounted:

​# df -h

You should see the NFS share listed under the mounted file systems.

10. Configure Auto-Mount at Boot (Optional)

To have the NFS share automatically mounted at boot, you can add an entry to the /etc/fstab file on the client machine.

Open /etc/fstab for editing:

# vi /etc/fstab

Add the following line: 

<server-ip>:/nfs_srv_dir/nfs_share /mnt/nfs_share nfs defaults 0 0

Save and close the file.

The NFS share will now be automatically mounted whenever the system reboots.

Debug NFS configuration issues (basics)

 

You can continue to modify the /etc/exports file to share more directories or set specific access restrictions depending on your needs.

If you encounter any issues, checking the server logs or using
 

# exportfs -v
/var/www          192.168.0.209/32(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,rw,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/home/var_data      192.168.0.205/32(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,rw,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/mnt/sda1/
        192.168.0.209/32(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,rw,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/mnt/sda2/info
        192.168.0.200/32(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,rw,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/home/mobfiles    192.168.0.209/32(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,rw,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/home/var_data/public_html
        192.168.0.209/32(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,rw,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/var/public
        192.168.0.209/32(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,rw,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/neon/data
        192.168.0.209/32(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,rw,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/scripts      192.168.0.209/32(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,rw,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/backups/data-limited
        192.168.0.200/32(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,ro,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/disk/filetransfer
        192.168.0.200/23(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,ro,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)
/public_shared/data
        192.168.0.200/23(async,wdelay,hide,sec=sys,ro,secure,no_root_squash,no_all_squash)


 Of course there is much more to be said on that you can for example, check /var/log/messages /var/log/syslog and other logs that can give you hints about issues, as well as manually try to mount / unmount a NFS stuck share to know more on what is going on, but for a starter that should be enough.

command can help severely in troubleshooting the NFS configuration.

Sum it up what learned ?

We learned how to  set up basic NFS server and mounted its shared directory on a client machine.
This is a great solution for centralized file sharing and collaboration on Linux systems (even though many companies are trying to not use it due to its lack of connection encryption for historical reasons NFS has been widely used over the years and has helped dramatically for the Internet as we know it to become the World Wide Web of today. Thus for a well secured network and perhaps not a critical files infrastructure, still NFS is a key player in file sharing among heterogenous networks for multitudes of Gigabytes or Terra Pentabytes of data you would like to share amoung your Personal Computers / Servers / Phones / Tablets and generally all kind of digital computer equipment devices.

How to split large files in Windows via split command line and File Archive GUI tool easily

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2024

Moving around a very large files especially Virtualbox Virtual Machines or other VM formats between Windows host and OneDrive might be a problem due to either Azure Cloud configured limitations, or other reasons that your company Domain Administrator has configured, thus if you have to migrate your old Hardware Laptop PC Windows 10 to a newer faster better Harware / Better Performance Notebook Computer with Windows 11 and you still want to keep and move your old large files in this short and trivial article, will explain how.

The topic is easily and most of novice sysadmins should have already be faced to bump into something like this but anyways i found useful to mention about Git for Windows, as it is really useful too thus wrote this small article.

The moved huge files, in my case an experimental Virtual Machines Images which I needed to somehow migrate on the new Freshly installed Windows laptop, the Large files were 40 / 80 etc. Gigabytes or whatever large amount of files from your PC to the Cloud Onedrive and of course the most straight forward thing i tried was to simply add the file for inclusion into the Onedrive storage (via OneDrive tool setup interface), however this file, failed due to OneDrive Cloud file format security limitations or Antivirus solutions configured to filter out the large file copying or even a prohibition to be able to include any kind of Virtual Machines ISOs straight into the cloud.

With this big files comes the question:

How to copy the Virtual Machines from your Old Hardware Laptop to the Cloud (without being able to use an external SSD Hard Drive or a USB SSD Flash drive, due to Domain policy configured for your windows to be unable to copy to externally connected Drive but only to read from such.) ?
 

Here are few sample approaches to do it both from command line (useful if you have to repeat the process or script it and deploy to multiple hosts) or for single hosts via an Archiver tool:

 

1. Using split command Git for Windows (Bash) MINGW64 shell 

Download Git for Windows – https://git-scm.com/download install it and you will get the MINGW64 bash for Windows executable.

Run it either invoke bash command from command line or trigger Windows Run command prompt (Windows button + R) and type full path to executable
 

C:\Program Files\Git\git-bash.exe


Git-for-Windows-bash-for-windows-MINGW64-windows-11-screenshot

Use the integrated program split and to cut it into pieces use:

 

# split MyVeryLargeFileVM.vdi -b 800m


To split the .VDI virtualbox file to lets say 5 Gigabite pieces:

# split MyVeryLargeFile.vdi -b 5g

The output files will be named pieces will be named as in a normal UNIX / GNU split command in the format and each piece of 5GB will be named like:

xaa
xab
xac
xad

If you want to get a more meaningful name for the spilitted files you can set a generated split file prefix with suffixes to be 5 digits long:

# split MyVeryLargeFile.vdi MyVeryLargeFileVM-parts_ -b 5g -d -a 5

  • the -d flag for using numerical suffixes (instead of default aa, ab, ac, etc…),
  • and the option -a 5 to tell it I want the suffixes to be 5 digits long:

2. Split large files by Archiving them with Winrar (ShareWare) tool

If you have already Winrar installed and you don't want to bother with too much typing from the command line, You can use good old WinRAR as a file splitter/joiner as well.

To split a file into smaller files, select "Store" as the compression method and enter the desired value (bytes) into "Split to volumes" box.
This way you can have split files named as filename.part1.rar, filename.part2.rar, etc.

WinRAR_cut-split-large-files-into-pieces-screenshot-Windows

3. Split files with 7-Zip (FreeWare)

Assuming you have the 7-Zip installed on the PC, you can do the archiving of the Big file to a smaller pieces one, you can create the splitted file from 7Zip interfaces menus:

7zip-file-split-files-into-multiple-pieces-windows-screenshot

Or directly cut the single file into multiple volumes, directly from Windows Explorer by Selecting the file and using fall down menus :
7zip-creation-of-multiple-parts-file-from-single-one-screenshot-Windows

7-zip-split-huge-files-to-lower-parts-set-volume-size

Sum it up what learned ? 

What we learned is how to cut large files into multiple single consequential ones for easy copy between Network sides, via both Git 4 Windows and manual copy paste of parted multiple files to OneDrive / DropBox / pCloud or Google Drive.
There is a plenty of other approaches to take as there is also file GUI tools, besides using GNU Win / Gnu Tools for Windows or Cygwin / Gsplit GUI tool  or some kind of the many Archiver toolsavailable for Windows, another option to split the large files is to use a bunch of PowerShell and Batch scripts written that can help you do the file split for both binaries files or Text files. but i'll stop here as I believe that is pretty much enough for most basic needs.

 

How to Copy / Backup Windows USB drive from one USB to a second

Friday, October 18th, 2024

Did you know that when you copy all the files from a USB Drive you don’t copy all the data?

Did you know that there may be files that are not even visible?

In this tutorial you will discover how to copy all of your USB Drive sector by sector, that is to say, that you will see how to create a copy identical to your USB drive without missing anything!

This can be useful if you have formatted your USB stick in error and want to use it, you can create an image for the USB Drive on your computer and then you can recover the formatted data in the image afterward!

The software used in this tutorial is called ImageUSB, it is free, portable, and easy to use.

Don’t use this method if you want only to copy some files, use this to clone/backup your USB Drive with all its master boot record, partition tables, and data.

Let’s go!

Clone Your USB Drive with ImageUSB on Windows 10

Start by downloading and extracting ImageUSB from this official URL: https://www.osforensics.com/tools/write-usb-images.html

Double-click on imageUSB.exe.

Select your USB Drive from the list, select “Create image from USB drive“. Choose the location for the binary image file (.bin) that will be created from the USB drive.

Click on “Create“.Click “Yes” to confirm your choices.

imageusb clone usb flash drive backup restore 3 create image

Click “Yes” to overwrite the bin file in case it’s already there.

Wait for a couple of minutes…

After the image is created you should see this message. Click “OK“.

Now if you want to restore an image to your USB Drive, just select your USB Drive and choose “Write image to USB drive“. Choose your bin image and click on “Write“.

imageusb clone usb flash drive backup restore 7 write

This program is not recommended on different sizes USB Drives…
Use it mostly for backup/restore on the same USB Drive for your bootable software.

There you have it, the copy of USB to second USB completed !

Enjoy ! 

 

 

All Debian Linux package repository apt sources.list file for Debian versions 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

Friday, May 31st, 2024

debian-package-management-repositories-for-all-distributions

If you have to administrate legacy Debian servers, that keeps hanging either for historical reasons or just because you didn't have time to upgrade it up to latest versions, machines that are hanging in the hangar or a mid office building Old server room, doing nothing but simply NAT (Network Address Translation), Proxying, serving  traffic via Squid / Haproxy / Apache / Varnish or Nginx server but you still want to have the possibility to extend the OS even though it is out of date / End of Life reached and out of support as well as perhaps full of security holes, but due to its unvisibility on the Internet hanging in a Demilitarized network the machine stayed on the Local (DMZ)-ed network and still for example you need to install simple things for administration reasons locally on the machine, for example nmap or netcat or some of the network tools for monitoring such as iftop or iptraf etc. you might find out unfortunately that this is not possible anymore, because the configured /etc/apt/sources.list repository mirror is no longer available at its URL. Thus to restore the functioning of apt and apt-get pkg management tools on Debian you need to correct the broken missing package mirrors due to resructurings on the network with a correct ones, originally provided by Debian or eventually if this doesn't work a possible Debian package archive URL. 

In this article, I'll simply provide such URLs you might use to correct your no longer functioning package manager due to package repositoriy unavailibility, below are the URLs (most of which that should be working as of year 2024). To resolve the issues edit and place the correct Debian version you're using.

1. Check the version of the Debian Linux

# cat /etc/debian_version


or use the universal way to check the linux OS, that should be working on almost all Linux distributions

# cat /etc/issue
Debian GNU/Linux 9 \n \l

2. Modify /etc/apt/sources.list and place URL according to Debian distro version

# vim /etc/apt/sources.list


3. Repositories URL list Original and Archived for .deb packages according to Debian distro release
Debian 6 (Wheezy)

Original repostiroes (Not Available and Not working anymore as of year 2024)

 

Old Archived .deb repository for 6 Squeeze

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian squeeze main
deb http://archive.debian.org/debian squeeze-lts main


​Debian 7 (Wheezy)

Original repostiroes (Not Available and Not working anymore as of year 2024)

Old Archived .deb repository for Jessie (still working as of 2024) :

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian wheezy main contrib non-free
deb http://archive.debian.org/debian-security wheezy/updates main

( Security updates are not provided anymore.)

NOTE:  If you get an error about keyrings, just install it
 

# apt-get install debian-archive-keyring


Debian 8 (Jessie)
Original .deb package repository with non-free included for Debian 8 "Jessie"

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ jessie main contrib non-free
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates main contrib
deb http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates main contrib non-free

Old Archived .deb repository for 8 Jessie (still working as of 2024):

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian/ jessie main non-free contrib
deb-src http://archive.debian.org/debian/ jessie main non-free contrib
deb http://archive.debian.org/debian-security/ jessie/updates main non-free contrib
deb-src http://archive.debian.org/debian-security/ jessie/updates main non-free contrib

 

# echo "Acquire::Check-Valid-Until false;" | tee -a /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/10-nocheckvalid

# apt-get update

# apt-get update && apt-get upgrade

 

 If you need backports, first be warned that these are archived and no longer being updated; they may have security bugs or other major issues. They are not supported in any way.

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports main


Debian 9 (Stretch)
Original .deb package repository with non-free included for Debian 9 "Stretch":

 

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ stretch-updates main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ stretch/updates main contrib non-free

Archived old repository .deb for Stretch :

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian/ stretch main contrib non-free
deb http://archive.debian.org/debian/ stretch-proposed-updates main contrib non-free
deb http://archive.debian.org/debian-security stretch/updates main contrib non-free


Debian 10 (Buster)
Origian repository URL:

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster main non-free contrib
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster-updates main non-free contrib
deb http://security.debian.org/ buster/updates main non-free contrib

 

Fixing unworking backports for Debian 10 Buster


Change the /etc/apt/sources.list URL with this one

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian buster-backports main contrib non-free


If you want to list packages installed via the backports repository only, that needs to be replaced with newer versions (if such available from the repository)

# apt list –installed | grep backports
# dpkg –list | grep bpo
# dpkg –list | grep -E '^ii.*bpo.*'

ii  libpopt0:amd64                        1.18-2                         amd64        lib for parsing cmdline parameters
ii  libuutil3linux                        2.0.3-9~bpo10+1                amd64        Solaris userland utility library for Linux
ii  libzfs4linux                          2.0.3-9~bpo10+1                amd64        OpenZFS filesystem library for Linux


Debian 11 (Bullseye)
Origianl repository address:

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free

Debian 12 (Bookworm)
Original Repository :

 

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free-firmware non-free
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free-firmware non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free-firmware non-free

Add Backports to sources.list

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-backports main


Thats all, hopefully that would help some sysadmin out there. Enjoy !