Programming

Welcome to the Programming section of PHP Systems Blog. Here, I share tutorials, tips, and real-world code examples across multiple languages and frameworks. Whether you’re learning Python, exploring PHP, automating tasks, or building small projects, these guides are designed to help you write clean, efficient, and maintainable code.

Firefly iii to Paperless NGX

Automate your finances and document management by linking Firefly III to Paperless NGX with Node-RED in Home Assistant. This flow uses webhooks and APIs to pull receipts from Firefly III and upload them to Paperless NGX automatically, keeping your records synced without manual effort.

Fallout Sign - With added Home Assistant.

I made a fallout sign on my 3d printer following a diy video, but changed the led strip and microcontroller to avoid soldering. Added bonuses: home assistant control and wifi!

Using ansible to deploy a gitlab runner.

After deploying watchtower to one of my docker instances, I noticed that it was having issues with restarting the container. The actual fault turned out to be the networking with portainer, but in the meantime, I wrote an ansible playbook to redeploy / restart the container.

Deploying Plex with docker and ansible

Homepage + Docker + Gitlab + Ansible

I was watching TechnoTim recently with his video about homepage. Homepage is a dashboard for all your home lab links. If you have used heimdall before, it is similar, but all the configuration is in yaml.

FaaS and Gitlab

I have been messing around with Gitlab and FaaS for

Gitlab pipelines

As a later post will show, I've been using gitlab pipelines to validate some of my code for me. As a security conscious person, I've been interested in building security in to pipelines.

M5stack Echo with a hex light

With all my playing around with home assistant, I've bought myself a M5stack Echo. The echo is the variant of choice for home assistant's "Year of the voice". The other day, I did come across a 37 led array in the shape of a hexagon on Aliexpress.

Getting started with automation

So, you want to get started with the wonderful world of automation but don't know where to start? Well, lets take a look at what you need to kick things off.

Epaper Displays and waste management

So, if you have read any of my other posts you may have already setup your waste management reminders and your epaper display access point(s) and tags. So if we have both of these things, why not combine them?

About the author

Tim Wilkes is a UK-based security architect with over 15 years of experience in electronics, Linux, and Unix systems administration. Since 2021, he's been designing secure systems for a telecom company while indulging his passions for programming, automation, and 3D printing. Tim shares his projects, tinkering adventures, and tech insights here - partly as a personal log, and partly in the hopes that others will find them useful.

Want to connect or follow along?

LinkedIn: [phpsytems]
Twitter / X: [@timmehwimmy]
Mastodon: [@timmehwimmy@infosec.exchange]

If you've found a post helpful, consider supporting the blog - it's a part-time passion that your support helps keep alive.