fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
How to make Apache services idempotent using ansible?
By: Yashraj Panda
Tags: Ansible, Ansible Playbook, Linuxworld, Apache, Automation

About apache:

Apache is the most widely used web server software. Developed and maintained by Apache Software Foundation, Apache is an open source software available for free. It runs on 67% of all web servers in the world. It is fast, reliable, and secure. It can be highly customized to meet the needs of many different environments by using extensions and modules. Most WordPress hosting providers use Apache as their web server software. However, WordPress can run on other web server software as well.

About ansible

Ansible is a software tool that provides simple but powerful automation for cross-platform computer support. It is primarily intended for IT professionals, who use it for application deployment, updates on workstations and servers, cloud provisioning, configuration management, intra-service orchestration, and nearly anything a systems administrator does on a weekly or daily basis. Ansible doesn’t depend on agent software and has no additional security infrastructure, so it’s easy to deploy.

What is idempotency in ansible?

Idempotence is the property of certain operations in mathematics and computer science whereby they can be applied multiple times without changing the result beyond the initial application. This principle enables Ansible to be declarative and yet reliable is idempotence, a concept borrowed from mathematics.

Some prerequisite for the task:

Ansible must be configured in “Controller Node” Ansible inventory must have the IP of the system which we will configure as a web server(i.e. Managed node). Managed Node must have YUM configured

Initially, Apache is not idempotent in nature. This makes apache use more memory and resources every time we run the ansible playbook to configure our web server on the managed node. Because every time we run the ansible playbook it will run the whole process from scratch as it is making it “non-idempotent’’. We can make apache idempotent by using handlers in our ansible playbook in the following manner.

What are Handlers in ansible?

Sometimes you want a task to run only when a change is made on a machine. For example, you may want to restart a service if a task updates the configuration of that service, but not if the configuration is unchanged. Ansible uses handlers to address this use case. Handlers are tasks that only run when notified.

In our case, “httpd” and firewall services will restart only if we will make any changes on the html file or in the ansible inventory.

The below image shows the following output, if we run the playbook after making some changes in any of the html file,

But , now if run the playbook again , this time already the file is present in the specific folder of managed node , so it won’t be copied due to idempotence nature of Ansible. Here no change is made so the handler is not notified , and hence “httpd” is not restarted.

Check out the GitHub to know more about the complete codes used to make apache idempotent: https://github.com/yashraj24/Making-apache-idempotent-using-ansible

Thank you for reading!!…
Restarting httpd Service in idempotence nature
By: Ankit Pramanik
Tags: Apache, AWS, Ansible

Idempotence: Idempotence means that applying an operation once or applying it multiple times has the same effect. Examples: Multiplication by zero. No matter how many times you do it, the result is still zero.

When we make any changes to configuration files then only we restart any service. If we are executing a command to restart the service it will consume compute resources.

When we run ansible-playbook for restarting the service of httpd. It will again restart the service at the target node but we want the service to only restart when we make any change to configuration files otherwise it will not restart the service of httpd and save the compute resources.

notify

List of handlers to notify when the task returns a ‘changed=True’ status.

handlers module in ansible

Sometimes we want a task to run only when a change is made on a machine. For example, We may want to restart a service if a task updates the configuration of that service, but not if the configuration is unchanged. Ansible uses handlers to address this use case. Handlers are tasks that only run when notified.

Here is the complete playbook for the following:

- hosts: all vars_files:

- http_var.yml #vars_prompt:

#- name: dvd_dir

# private: no # vars:

# - dvd_dir: "/dvd1"

# - docroot: "/var/www/lw"

# - http_port: 8080 tasks:

- file:

state: directory

path: "{{ dvd_dir }}" - name: "mounting dvd"

mount:

src: "/dev/cdrom"

path: "{{ dvd_dir }}"

state: mounted

fstype: "iso9660" - name: "Setting yum repo"

yum_repository:

baseurl: "{{ dvd_dir}}/AppStream"

name: "mydvd1"

description: "yum1"

gpgcheck: no - name: "setting 2nd yum repo"

yum_repository:

baseurl: "{{ dvd_dir }}/BaseOS"

name: "mydvd2"

description: "yum2"

gpgcheck: no - name: "installing httpd"

package:

name: "httpd"

state: present - name: "creating lw directory inside /var/www/"

file:

state: directory

path: "{{ docroot }}" - template:

dest: "/etc/httpd/conf.d/lw.conf"

src: "lw.conf"

notify:

- Restart httpd - copy:

dest: "{{ docroot }}/index.html"

content: "this website has been configures using Ansible" - name: "restarting the httpd service"

service:

name: "httpd"

state: restarted

enabled: yes - name: "Setting up Firewall on port: {{ http_port }}"

firewalld:

port: "{{ http_port }}/tcp"

state: enabled

permanent: yes

immediate: yes - handlers:

- name: Restart httpd

service:

name: "httpd"

state: started

enabled: yes

Attaching the variables file:

dvd_dir: "/dvd1"

docroot: "/var/www/html"

http_port: 8080

Attaching the configuration file:

Listen {{ http_port }} <VirtualHost {{ ansible_facts['default_ipv4']['address'] }}:{{ http_port }}>

DocumentRoot {{ docroot }}

</VirtualHost>

Github Repository: https://github.com/ankit98040/Ansible_playbooks

Thank You for reading.
Easily Setup a Production Ready Kubernetes Cluster with Kubespray
By: Mike Holownych
Tags: Homeserver, Ansible, DevOps

Kubespray is a collection of Ansible playbooks, inventory, provisioning tools, and domain knowledge for generic OS/Kubernetes cluster configuration management tasks.



Prerequisites



Hardware



5 Nodes: Virtual or Physical MachinesMemory: 8GBCPU: 4CoreHard disk: 120GB available



Software



Kubernetes nodes



Ubuntu 20.04PythonSSH ServerPrivileged user



Kubespray machine



Ansible 2.9+Jinja 2.9+



Node Networking requirements



Internet access to download docker images and install softwareIPv4 Forwarding should be enabledDisable firewall to avoid any issues during deployment.



Preparing the nodes



**Follow these instructions on all nodes**



Install Python



Ansible needs python to be installed on all the machines. Ubuntu 18.04 already has Python3. So you need to create symbolic link.



ubuntu@k8s-master-1:~$ sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/python



Disable Swap



ubuntu@k8s-master-1:~$ sudo swapoff -a

ubuntu@k8s-master-1:~$ sudo sed -i ‘/ swap /d’ /etc/fstab



**Follow these instructions on just the Ansible controller machine**



Setup SSH using key-based authentication



Generate an RSA key pair by executing this command on the Ansible controller machine.



ubuntu@ansibledev:~$ ssh-keygen -t rsa



Copy the public key to all nodes. (Replace the IPs with your actual cluster IPs)



ubuntu@ansibledev:~$ ssh-copy-id ubuntu@192.168.2.11

ubuntu@ansibledev:~$ ssh-copy-id ubuntu@192.168.2.12

ubuntu@ansibledev:~$ ssh-copy-id ubuntu@192.168.2.13

ubuntu@ansibledev:~$ ssh-copy-id ubuntu@192.168.2.14
Configuring HAProxy using Ansible..
By: Sangeeth Sahana D
Tags: Vimal Daga, Ansible, Arthbylw, Haproxy, Load Balancer

Reverse proxy and Load Balancer?

A reverse proxy accepts a request from a client, forwards it to a server that can fulfill it, and returns the server’s response to the client. A load balancer distributes incoming client requests among a group of servers, in each case returning the response from the selected server to the appropriate client. Load balancer is basically the frontend server which manages the loads(backend servers).

What is HAproxy?

HAProxy, which stands for High Availability Proxy, is a popular open source software TCP/HTTP Load Balancer and proxying solution. Its most common use is to improve the performance and reliability of a server environment by distributing the workload across multiple servers (e.g. web, application, database).

TASK Description (12.1):

Configure Reverse proxy i.e Haproxy and update it’s configuration file automatically on each time new Managed node(configured with apache webserver) join the inventory

Ansible Playbook for configuring HAproxy

Before writing the playbook, we need to install haproxy make changes in haproxy config file in control node, so that we can copy this file to the managed node.
Reverse Proxy(Haproxy) with Ansible
By: Pawan Trivedi
Tags: DevOps, Ansible, Web, Automation, Reverse Proxy

Setting up Reverse Proxy and Load Balance with Haproxy using Ansible.

Photo by Cookie the Pom on Unsplash

A reverse proxy is a server that sits in front of web servers and forwards client (e.g. web browser) requests to web servers.

A reverse proxy operates by:

Receiving a user connection request

Completing a TCP three-way handshake, terminating the initial connection

Connecting with the origin server and forwarding the original request

Some of the benefits of a reverse proxy :

Load Balancing : A popular website that gets millions of users every day may not be able to handle all of its incoming site traffic with a single origin server. Instead, the site can be distributed among a pool of different servers, all handling requests for the same site. In this case, a reverse proxy can provide a load balancing solution which will distribute the incoming traffic evenly among the different servers to prevent any single server from becoming overloaded.

: A popular website that gets millions of users every day may not be able to handle all of its incoming site traffic with a single origin server. Instead, the site can be distributed among a pool of different servers, all handling requests for the same site. In this case, a reverse proxy can provide a load balancing solution which will distribute the incoming traffic evenly among the different servers to prevent any single server from becoming overloaded. Protection from attacks : With a reverse proxy in place, a web site or service never needs to reveal the IP address of their origin server(s). This makes it much harder for attackers to leverage a targeted attack against them.

In this blog I am using HAPROXY(tool) to perform this, haproxy is an open source Load Balancer and proxying solution and to automate this I am using Ansible an automation tool, and using ansible we can achieve this at large scale without repeating the same task again and again. So whenever a new node/server comes up you just need to update the inventory fill and everything will be managed by ansible automatically.
Configuring HAProxy on AWS Instances by using Ansible Dynamic Inventory
By: Sukesh Seth
Tags: AWS, Web Development, Python, Ansible

Ansible is an open-source automation tool, or platform, used for configuration management, application deployment, intra service setup, and provisioning. Automation is the need of today, with IT environments that are too complex and often need to scale too quickly for system administrators and developers to keep up if they had to do everything manually. Automation simplifies complex tasks. In other words, it frees up time and increases efficiency. And Ansible, as noted above, is rapidly rising to the top in the world of automation tools.

To configure Ansible refer to Ansible Configuration part of this article.

Creating Playbooks

Edit the ansible.cfg file.

2. Install the boto and boto3 library of python.

pip3 install boto

pip3 install boto3

3. To perform actions on EC2 instances, we have to provide the key. Copy the key in the given location same as given in ansible.cfg file.

change the format of the key: # chmod 600 <keyname.pem>

Defining roles:

Ansible roles are basically a collection of files, tasks, templates, variables, and modules. It is used for breaking a playbook into multiple files. This will help you to write a complex playbook and make it easier to reuse.

If you have worked with any programming language or script you probably know that you could write a large script or a program in a single file or you can categorize into Packages, Modules, Classes, and Functions that way you code become more organized, reusable, and easy to read. This is implemented in Ansible with the help of roles.

To create a role:

# ansible-galaxy init <role_name>

To check the all roles, present in roles path:

# ansible-galaxy list

Here, we will be using four roles:

ec2Launch: This one will launch the EC2 Instances. addHost: This role will add webservers’ & loadbalancer’s IPs to the host group dynamically.

2. webConfig: This role will configure the instances as webserver.

3. lbConfig: This role will configure one instance as a haproxy server which act as a load balancer.

All of the roles, I have uploaded on my GitHub.

The directory tree will look something like this:

To play these roles, I have created one driver playbook “driver.yml”:
Creating ansible-playbook for setting up custom apache webserver.
By: Ishika Mandloi
Tags: Apache, Ansible Playbook, Ansible, Httpd

Task is to set up custom apache webserver using ansible-playbook

Document root of apache webserver is /var/www/html, but we can change it.

And for any changes we need to make changes in configuration file. Configuration file of apache webserver is /etc/httpd/conf.d/.

To change our document root need to make a file inside /etc/httpd/conf.d/ with file extension .conf, and inside the file we have to mention the port and Document root whatever we want.

Now lets start!

In lw.conf file

2. yml code:

3. When we ran playbook for first time it should change and should show yellow color notification of changed.

And yes shows yellow colored notification of changed.

If ran the same playbook again it should not show yellow , because service is already restarted, but because restarting service dont show idempotency in ansible it shows change again.

So we will solve this issue using handlers.

What are handler?

Sometimes you want a task to run only when a change is made on a machine. For example, you may want to restart a service if a task updates the configuration of that service, but not if the configuration is unchanged. Ansible uses handlers to address this use case. Handlers are tasks that only run when notified. Each handler should have a globally unique name.

Adding handler code:

also, add notify command after copying configuration file

now changed a port in conf file and ran playbook it should show change, because we changed the port.

Now if run the same playbook again it should not show change because nothing is changed.

Shows green color notification that means no change.

Here is the web page !!!

Here we completed our task of setting up httpd and solving issue with restarting service!!

Hope you like it!!

keep learning!!!!

THANK YOU
Challenge in Ansible Playbook — making HTTPD service idempotence and make it consume less resource.
Tags: Apache, Handler, Ansible, Httpd

Challenge in Ansible Playbook — making HTTPD service idempotence and make it consume less resource. Dileepkumar ·Dec 8, 2020

Blog Description:

Restarting HTTPD Service is not idempotence in nature and also consume more resources suggest a way to rectify this challenge in Ansible playbook.

This can be solved using Handlers in ANSIBLE.Handlers are tasks that only run when notified. Each handler should have a globally unique name.

Host file in the Controller Node_ give the info of the Managed Node

Now lets write the code in Ansible Playbook

Now lets write the configuration file for webserver

code should be configured in web server

Variable File

Now lets run the Ansible Playbook

With the Help of Handler ansible is able to detect changes in .conf file and restarted

Lets check in Target Node

Everything worked fine

Now lets check the Website

As per the port 8080 its working…

Hence HTTPD SERVICE IS CONFIGURED and made it IDEMPOTENCE (if something is already install or service is started then ansible skip that part of code for doing it again) using HANDLER.

Thanks for Reading……..🙂
APACHE WEBSERVER CONFIGURATION IN DOCKER USING ANSIBLE
By: Mangesh Ghorpade
Tags: Ansible, Ansible Playbook, Docker, Apache Web Server

📌What is Ansible?

Ansible is an open-source automation tool, or platform, used for IT tasks such as configuration management, application deployment, intra service orchestration, and provisioning. Automation is crucial these days, with IT environments that are too complex and often need to scale too quickly for system administrators and developers to keep up if they had to do everything manually.

📌Why Ansible?

Ansible is an Agentless tool that means we don’t need to install it on the managed node just installed on the controller node and start working with ansible. Ansible is a very intelligent tool and its intelligence comes from modules. As an IT Admin, we don’t have to remember all OS commands just tell which package you wanna install and ansible will do that thing for you!

📌 Ansible Architecture :

◆What is the playbook file?

Playbooks are the files where the Ansible code is written. Playbooks are written in YAML format. YAML stands for Yet Another Markup Language. Playbooks are one of the core features of Ansible and tell Ansible what to execute. They are like a to-do list for Ansible that contains a list of tasks.

Playbooks contain the steps which the user wants to execute on a particular machine. Playbooks are run sequentially. Playbooks are the building blocks for all the use cases of Ansible.

◆Inventory :

A list of managed nodes. An inventory file is also sometimes called a “hostfile”. Your inventory can specify information like IP address for each managed node. An inventory can also organize managed nodes.

◆Control Node:

Any machine with Ansible installed is known as controller node. You can run Ansible commands and playbooks by invoking the ansible or ansible-playbook command from any control node. You can use any computer that has a Python installation as a control node - laptops, shared desktops, and servers can all run Ansible. However, you cannot use a Windows machine as a control node. You can have multiple control nodes.

◆Managed Node:

The network devices (and/or servers) you manage with Ansible. Managed nodes are also sometimes called “hosts”. Ansible is not installed on managed nodes.

📌What is Docker?

Docker is a tool designed to make it easier to create, deploy, and run applications by using containers. Containers allow a developer to package up an application with all of the parts it needs, such as libraries and other dependencies, and deploy it as one package.

✨STEPS TO BE PERFORMED FOR THIS TASK :-

Write an Ansible PlayBook that does the following operations in the managed nodes:

- Configure Docker

- Start and enable Docker services

- Pull the httpd server image from the Docker Hub

- Run the httpd container and expose it to the public

- Copy the HTML code in /var/www/html directory and start the webserver

📌Now, let’s move on to the task
Apache WebServer Configuration in Docker using Ansible
By: Sarthak Srivastava
Tags: Ansible, Ansible Playbook, Docker, Automation, Httpd

What is Ansible?

Ansible is an open-source automation tool, or platform, used for IT tasks such as configuration management, application deployment, intraservice orchestration, and provisioning. Automation is crucial these days, with IT environments that are too complex and often need to scale too quickly for system administrators and developers to keep up if they had to do everything manually. Automation simplifies complex tasks, not just making developers’ jobs more manageable but allowing them to focus attention on other tasks that add value to an organization.

What is Docker?

Docker is a set of platform as a service (PaaS) products that use OS-level virtualization to deliver software in packages called containers. Containers are isolated from one another and bundle their own software, libraries and configuration files. All containers are run by a single operating system kernel and therefore use fewer resources than virtual machines.

Ansible Architecture

Ansible Playbooks :

Ordered lists of tasks, saved so you can run those tasks in that order repeatedly. Playbooks are written in YAML format.

Inventory :

A list of managed nodes. An inventory file is also sometimes called a hostfile . Your inventory can specify information like IP address for each managed node.

Control Node:

Any machine with Ansible installed is known as controller node. You can run Ansible commands and playbooks by invoking the ansible or ansible-playbook command from any control node.

Managed Node:

The network devices (and/or servers) you manage with Ansible. Managed nodes are also sometimes called hosts .

Task Description:

Configure Docker

Start and enable Docker services

Pull the httpd server image from the Docker Hub

Run the docker container and expose it to the public

Copy the html code in /var/www/html directory and start the web server

Steps :

Install ansible in controller mode

pip3 install ansible

yum install sshpass #To see version of ansible installed

ansible --version

List of Managed Nodes in the inventory file

vim /ip.txt

192.168.0.198 is IP of Managed Node

ansible_ssh_user : Username of managed node

ansible_ssh_pass: password of managed node

Ansible Configuration File

vim /etc/ansible/ansible.conf

To view all Managed Nodes connected

ansible all --list-hosts

To check connectivity with all Managed Nodes

ansible all -m ping

PlayBook

vim docker_setup.yml

Link to Code

Run playbook

ansible-playbook docker_setup.yml

Check docker is configured and services are started in Managed Node

docker --version systemctl status docker

Check container is launched

docker ps

Open the link in browser
CONFIGURATION OF APACHE WEBSERVER IN DOCKER USING ANSIBLE
Tags: Apache, Ansible, Docker

Goal:

🔰Write an Ansible PlayBook that does the following operations in the managed nodes:

🔹 Configure Docker

🔹 Start and enable Docker services

🔹 Pull the httpd server image from the Docker Hub

🔹 Run the docker container and expose it to the public

🔹 Copy the html code in /var/www/html directory and start the web server

Before writing the play-book write down all the steps which we are going to perform using ansible

STEPS

1: Create a docker repository = https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/7/x86_64/stable

2: Download the docker package = docker-ce-18.09.1–3.el7.x86_64

3: Start and enable the docker services

4: Install docker SDK (pre-requisite for downloading image)

5: Pull the httpd image

6: Create directory = /ws

7: Copy html page = /ws/

8: Create container using httpd image (volume = /ws:/usr/local/apache2/htdocs

First check ansible is install or not successfully with the command

ansible --version

Create txt file in any directory and mention the ips of target or managed nodes , their users with passwords.

Check the target node ips by the command

ansible all --list-hosts

Now check the connectivity to the target node by pinging

ansible all -m ping

Create the ansible playbook with any name but the extension should be .yml and write the code given below

- hosts: all

tasks:

yum_repository:

name: Docker

description: Docker Repo

baseurl:

gpgcheck: no - name: "Creating docker repository"yum_repository:name: Dockerdescription: Docker Repobaseurl: https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/7/x86_64/stable gpgcheck: no - name: "Downloading docker package"

package:

name: "docker-ce-18.09.1-3.el7.x86_64"

state: present - name: "Starting Docker Services"

service:

name: "docker"

state: started

enabled: yes - name: Installing Docker SDK

command: pip3 install docker - name: "Pulling httpd image from docker"

docker_image:

name: httpd:latest

source: pull - name: "Creating Directory"

file:

path: :/webpages

state: directory - name: "Copying html page"

copy:

src: "home.html"

dest: "/ws/" - name: "Creating container using httpd Image"

docker_container:

name: MyWebsite

image: httpd:latest

state: started

exposed_ports:

- "80"

ports:

- "8888:80"

volumes:

- /ws:/usr/local/apache2/htdocs

After writing the ansible playbook check the syntax by the command

ansible-playbook --syntax-check <file_name.yml>

If the syntax is right then run the playbook by the command

ansible-playbook <name.yml>

Now check in the target node docker is configured or not.

In the folder yum.repos.d/ , Docker.repo file is created

And check by the systemctl command the status of the docker

And the docker container of the httpd is also running

Check the website by curl command
Getting Started with Ansible for z/OS
By: Luisa Martinez
Tags: Mainframe Computer, Ansible, Mainframe, Ibm Z, Mainframe Modernization

🖥 🖥 🖥 🖥

Ansible is an open source platform used for automation across IT operations. It can be used for provisioning, configuration management, application deployment, and task automation.

The Red Hat Ansible Certified Content for IBM Z provides a set of collections that enables Ansible to automate and manage z/OS systems. This guide will explain how to get started with Ansible to manage a z/OS system and use the z/OS core collection in a few simple steps.

Note: It is recommended you read the Ansible basic concepts documentation. This guide will assume readers are familiar with basic Ansible terminology.

Before getting started, verify the following prerequisites are met.

For z/OS as a managed node:

Unix System Services (USS) environment configured on z/OS

OpenSSH — configured on USS environment

IBM Open Enterprise Python for z/OS — Installed and configured on USS environment

IBM Z Open Automation Utilities (ZOAU) — Installed and configured on USS environment

More information about the z/OS managed node requirements HERE .

For control node (system Ansible will be installed on):

Python 2 (or greater)

Note: In this guide, the Ansible control node will be installed on MacOS Catalina, but installation in other Linux, or Unix based operating systems will be similar.
Ansible and docker
Tags: Arth, Ansible, Linuxworld, Docker, Automation

Step4 -Create Playbook!

Basic playbook!

1> Creating a repository of docker and configuring it.

2>Installing docker.

3>Starting the docker on the target node.

4>Installing per-requisites file. (docker - py library)

5>Creating a folder on the target node. (task100)

6> Copying local HTML file from the controller node to the newly created folder on the target node.

7>Pull a HTTPD image- using docker_image module

8>Launched a container name as “webcontainer” — using docker_container module . Image used — httpd:latest, published_port 80 of container to unused port 8088 of base host OS (Linux VM) , volume mounted onto the directory /Task100 .

9>Configuring firewall for port 8088/tcp.

10>Saving the playbook.
How Adopting Social Minimalism Naturally Made Me Happier
Tags: Minimalism, Happiness, Peace Of Mind, Social, Life

The Real, Social Life

So this will include meeting up with friends and family, going for coffee, going to a party, etc.

In simplifying my life, I have found that three things have so much value, even more than I realized before living a minimalist lifestyle.

Those are money, space, and time.

Especially that last one is crucial for me.

How do I want to spend my time?

Social interactions are a big part of that, but they’re not all of it. I also need time for other things, and I also need time to relax and unwind.

So I try to have this balance between these things, and it’s not always easy. But if you notice that your schedule is just too full with social appointments and you’re juggling all these different things and stretching too thin, I have found some ways to simplify my social life.

Does it give me joy?

The first is a way to kind of shift through all that social stuff and find the things that truly spark joy for you and that add value to your happiness.

If you feel like you’re too busy, try committing to things only if you can honestly say that you’re excited about them.

If you’re more like me, you know, or doing it because it makes you feel guilty not to, or because you think it’s expected of you, then try saying no.

Take out time for doing anything — myself.

Another thing you can do is block some free time in your calendar. And take it seriously and try not to schedule anything else during that time. If my Saturday is really busy, then I try to leave my Sunday open.

You can also do a few hours here and there. It doesn’t have to be an entire day. Or just one hour if you’re a busy person, but try not to schedule anything else during that time.

So you’re free to do whatever it is you want to do at that time.

Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash

FOMO

Lastly, when you’re experiencing FOMO, fear of missing out.

There is so much to do, so much to see and experience, and we’re afraid of missing out on stuff. So let’s say that you are invited somewhere, maybe like an outing with a few colleagues. Then we don’t want to say no because we are scared of missing out. We don’t want to see that picture on Instagram of them having a good time, or what seems like a good time anyway. And we weren’t there.

But you know what?

It is impossible to do everything.

There’s not enough time in our day. Let’s say that you are invited to a barbeque, and you kind of dislike barbeques, like me.

Then it is okay to sit that one out.

You won’t miss the time of your life. You don’t have to do it all. Some things are just not your thing. And that’s okay. So if you notice that you’re only saying yes to something because of FOMO, then try saying no.
Intentional Abundance
By: Declan Wilson
Tags: Minimalism, Short Read, Inspiration, Life, Self

What’s the best word to describe the opposite of minimalism?

Hoarding comes to mind. Consumerism is another. Typically terms with negative connotations stick out when thinking about what it means to live life with a bunch of stuff.

With the season of gift-giving upon us, I’ve spent a good deal of time these past few days anticipating how I’m going to possibly store all the new toys my kids are about to receive. It happens every year. The grandparents go just a little overboard, the kids unwrap a million presents, and I’m left stressing about the lack of tidiness that’ll follow.

But not this year. Maybe it’s not being able to see family this year. Maybe it’s a renewed appreciation for the traditions to brighten a dark time. But for some reason, I’m grateful for the abundant gifts that sit under our tree.

Hence my search for a word to describe the opposite of minimalism and I came up with one phrase: Intentional Abundance.

Intentional abundance is keeping a well-stocked wine cellar, even if it’ll take years to drink your way through it. Intentional abundance is owning a bookshelf of unread books, only because they represent the joy of cracking open a new book.

Intentional abundance is keeping things worth consuming because they bring with them a joyful experience. It’s not binging, it’s not hoarding, it’s recognizing and appreciating the good.

No one said you have to throw all your stuff away to find happiness. Nor did anyone say you have to buy a bunch of stuff to find happiness. Start by being intentional with what you already have. You’ll be surprised to see how much potential is waiting.
We Are in This Together — Los Angeles Fine Art Photographer
By: Jean Huang
Tags: Minimalism, Fine Art, Shadow, Yellowstone, Black And White

We Are in This Together - Los Angeles Fine Art Photographer - Jean Huang Photography

Consider yourself lucky. At least you are not accompanied by one of those invisible trolls that played a prank on me in…
Minimalism
By: Catharina G.
Tags: Minimalism, Mindfulness

Image source: Wallpaper flare

According to merriam-webster.com, minimalism is defined as “a style or technique that is characterised by extreme spareness and simplicity”, and the purpose of minimalism is to live as “simply” as possible.

Now, I’ve seen several sides to minimalism; on one end, we have individuals who practice extreme minimalism and on the other end we have people who have a more relaxed approach to it. Then we have those who think that minimalism is the only way of life, and shun those who don’t practice it.

I started my “minimalist” journey about 1 year ago, and I must say that it completely changed my life. For me personally, it was incredibly easy to become more minimalistic, as I have never had any emotion towards materialistic items. Now my lack of emotions towards materials is not because I am better than everyone else, I think that it is more due to the fact that I find it easier to manage my ADHD when there is little clutter around me. Because I have ADHD, I get distracted easily, and I find it incredibly difficult to complete tasks or projects.

The first thing I did was getting rid of things, that I personally felt like didn’t benefit my life or bring be any joy. This included everything, from clothes to books and makeup and accessories. Ridding myself of my things was not hard at all, as I don’t really have an emotional attachment to any “materialistic” items. Now, my goal wasn’t to get rid of as much as possible, or to own as little as possible, but more so focus on keeping the items that bring me joy, and getting rid of the things that don’t bring me joy.

Thankfully I hate shopping, especially shopping for clothes, so keeping my closet smaller was no problem for me. A couple months ago, I decided that I would declutter my phone as well. And by that I mean getting rid of the apps that I don’t use, and try to use my phone as little as possible, to avoid too many distractions.

My journey started properly in June/July, and up until now I’m enjoying the benefits that minimalism has brought to my life. I encourage anyone to maybe give it a try if you’re interested!
When Minimalism Comes Down to Anti-Hoarding
By: Shae Massé
Tags: Minimalism, Materialism, Zero Waste, Consumer Responsibility, Waste Management

Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash

Minimalism! At its peak and in its valleys; its high ideals and pathetic attempts at execution. Minimalism varies.

Different aspects of the practice are highlighted where others are left unread, depending on the person reading. From my observations, minimalism rarely comes down to consuming less. Rather, it is dumbed down to ‘regularly getting rid of the clutter in your house’ or ‘holding on to less’.

Minimalism becomes a practice of disavowing your collection of material items. It is, in essence, the opposite of hoarding — but hoarding isn’t the same thing as materialism. Hoarding is usually a coping mechanism. Materialism is the (oftentimes subconscious) worship of material objects.

What to do when people worship the “fresh start” that minimalism offers more than they care about the actual production, consumption, and management of “waste”. We feel pity or disgust with the homes that the homeless erect in our streets. Is it because they’re forced to take shelter in “garbage” or is it because we fail to see the utility of the objects they used?

Minimalism births an emotional detachment which isn’t necessarily the answer either. It is our west-side calling to cease desire, but the lack of that desire turns into: ‘It’s just an item!’ ‘It’s okay’ when someone breaks something, ‘It can always be replaced’, ‘It’s not that important’.

Although the sentiment may be nice, and a subtle way to display your lack of materialism, none of this is a remark on how un-materialistic you are — or how you care more for the people around you, for that matter.

I’m sure that when it comes down to it, you still feel sentimentality for objects that do matter, and that when you see someone not take care of something (or have a lot of clutter (‘mess’) you make judgments. Judgments that imply material objects — what you own, how you use them and arrange them — matter.

Materialism takes many forms. What the above remarks do say is that the material world is there for you to disregard. Imagine, though, if we acted as if all of our possessions mattered, instead of acting like none of them do.
10 Simple Journal Ideas
By: Like Haffiz
Tags: Minimalism, Short Read, Short, Journaling, Mental Health

Here are some ideas for your journal.

Movie List.

Postivie Affirmations List.

Quote List.

Gratitude List.

30 Habits List.

Not To Do List.

What I Am Bad At List.

It’s about finding your flaws accept them or course correct them. With this you will reword your mindset from a fixed to a growth mindset. Look failure in the face.

Dream Jorunal to look back on your dreams and to script dreams you want to experience.

Habit Tracker like water intake, days of not spending money or giving back.

24 hours habit Diagram were you can break down your day, so you can see what gives you energy, what drains your energy, so you can improve.

Sources: https://medium.com/@timferriss/not-to-do-lists-are-often-more-effective-than-to-do-lists-for-upgrading-performance-ec26c4417019
Minimalism: A Look Inside
By: Nika Paradis
Tags: Minimalism, Lifestyle, Eating, Perspective, Food

People usually buy groceries so that they can prepare delicious home-cooked meals. I go grocery shopping once a week, and, on that day every week, I often end up eating either frozen or canned food even though I always prefer cooking and enjoying fresh food.

Why?

I live in a tiny home, and I have a tiny fridge, so after I get home with all the groceries I need for a week, it takes me a while to fit everything in my mini fridge.

When I buy vegetables like beets, lettuce, or a cabbage, for example, I can’t fit them into my fridge as they are. I need to clean, cut, wash, and package everything, and doing all that takes time, so I don’t have time to cook on that day.

You might think I could cook something while I’m putting everything in the fridge, but I can’t because in my tiny home, the key word being tiny, I don’t have enough counter space, so I lay the cutting board above the burner to get all the vegetables cut.

When I first started living in my tiny home, everything had its own place, and there was no extra space left for anything. The first time I went grocery shopping, it took me the whole day to figure out what to do with all the produce I’d brought home. I gradually got better at it, but it did take a considerable amount of practice.

During the summer, I can enjoy a salad or fruit and nuts, so things work out. During the winter, however, I’d like to have a warm meal, so I’ve learned to buy either canned food, like soup, or frozen food, like a pizza for my shopping day.

Thanks for reading.
Hidup untuk Hidup
By: Ghifari Prasetia
Tags: Minimalism, Life Lessons, Philosphy, Humanity, Ideology

Hello! I dedicated myself to learn what the universe try to teach me
The Truth Behind Your iPhone… (Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport)
Tags: Minimalism, Productivity, Digital Detox, iPhone, Addiction

Have you ever realised that our mobile phones are like slotmachines in our pockets?

The moment you open your phone, all your apps are inviting you to click on them due to the colourful icons and bright red notifications so that you spend more time using their service.

It’s like walking along a busy street where all the shop owners are calling out your name wanting you to spend as much time as possible in their store so that buy the many products that they are selling.

‘Billions of dollars have been invested to try and figure out how to get you to look compulsively at your phone screen’ says Cal Newport (Author of the book Digital Minimalism) in an interview with GMA.

For example in 2010, Facebook added the like button to its platform. This simple feature is a form of social approval that has been present in our society since the beginning of social interaction.

When your Aunt likes the picture of your dog that you just posted on Facebook, you get a sense of happineess due to the endorphins released in your body as your Aunt ‘approves’ and ‘likes’ your image. This causes people to want likes and measure their happiness based on likes. ‘Oh the picture I posted yesterday got 5 likes so this must get above that number or else it sucks and I will be depressed’ is what some people actually think. Well, you might be thinking ‘ I post pics on instagram and Facebook so that I can keep in touch with my family and friends’ , but how much affection and friendship does that like or comment provide for the person? Probably not as much as meeting them in person and talking or giving them a call to know what’s going on in their lives.

Another time absorbing feature of social media is the notifications that it shows.

Justin Bieber just liked your post on Instagram , Elon Musk just liked your tweet about #TeamTress… Example of notifications

One thing that I would like to focus on is that all the notification icons on your phone and social media platforms are red. This isn’t a coincidence. Social media platforms use red as it catches your attention. For example, danger signs and stop signs use red as you are more likely to look at them as they signify importance and immediacy compared to other colours. So a simple step that you can take to avoid being trapped by your mobile phone is to simply disable notifications from all apps except your phone and SMS app as this would allow you to spend your time using your mobile phone more meaningfully.

This brings me to the end of the blog, if you would like to dwell deeper into this subject, I recommend reading Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.

Always send me a tweet at @Sharvenium, I am always active there which is quite ironic considering this post is about digital minimalism 🙊

Stay Epic,

Sharvesh
I have downsized to an Airstream, a truck and what I can fit in each.
By: Stephen Chamberlin
Tags: Minimalism, Money, Happiness, Careers, Finance

I have downsized to an Airstream, a truck and what I can fit in each. I have digitized all but two or three essential pieces of paper. And now I realize that, though I am financially privileged- I am not by American standards wealthy…but money….the acquisition of which has been the object of my full attention for decades (principally out of a pathological level of financial insecurity) has rather suddenly become nothing more than an essential means to obtain my basic needs (food, shelter) and useful tool to buy back time. And time has become the single most valuable thing in my life.
Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” — Michael J. Fox.
By: Amazing Quotes
Tags: Love, Minimalism, Family, First Post

Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” — Michael J. Fox.

Family is one of the integral parts of human beings. Every human is incomplete without a family. A family means to have a man, his wife, his kids, and his parents; all are living together. All the family members share equal parts while sharing the responsibilities within the family. They help us create meaningful relationships in the outside world. The love we inherit from our families, we pass on to our independent relationships. Moreover, families teach us better communication. When we spend time with our families and love each other and communicate openly, we create a better future for us.
A few years ago we decided to sell our home and go in search of a warmer clime.
By: Maria Rattray
Tags: Minimalism, Consumerism, Contentment, Advertising And Marketing, Human Behavior

A few years ago we decided to sell our home and go in search of a warmer clime.

And so we did!

And we lived happily ever after!

Oh if only it were that easy.

I’m glad it wasn’t, because we learned so much about ourselves in the process of cutting loose.

You don’t sell your home of over twenty years just like that. You have to massage it, doctor it, shampoo and nurse it to supreme health in order to woo people into believing that the impressive order they now bear witness, to will take care of itself.

That it will remain ever pristine, and the cupboards and wardrobes will continue to be a model of organization.

And you don’t sell your home for what it’s worth unless:

Unless you have woven the requisite external magic, windows gleaming in the morning sun, spiders relocated to a less obvious place,

If you’d like to read the rest of this article, please click below.
Minimalist Home-Workout Routine
By: Charlie Hotchkiss
Tags: Minimalism, Home Workout

In a world thats constantly doing 90mph in a 30mph, its important to keep what can be controlled simple. This is why I developed a simple workout routine for size and strength that can be implemented with little equipment.

This routine is for someone like me who was looking for a simple routine to gain a bit of muscle and strength while keeping time and complexity to a minimum. You will also feel a cardio effect as the rest times are kept short.

Each movement trains a significant muscle group in the body so you hit every muscle.

Equipment required: kettlebell/dumbbell, pull-up bar

Total time for workout: 20 mins

Exercise 1: kettlebell/dumbbell front squats

3 sets of as many reps as possible leaving a couple in the tank before failure.

On the last set go to failure.

Stretching the quads in between sets for 20 seconds.

Muscle groups hit: quads and glutes.

After the last set don’t stretch or rest and move onto the next exercise.

Exercise 2: kettlebell/dumbbell romanian deadlift

3 sets of as many reps as possible leaving a couple in the tank before failure.

On the last set go to failure.

Stretching the hamstrings in between sets for 20 seconds.

Muscle groups hit: hamstrings and glutes.

After the last set don’t stretch or rest and move onto the next exercise.

Exercise 3: pushups

3 sets of as many reps as possible leaving a couple in the tank before failure.

On the last set go to failure.

Stretching the chest in between sets for 20 seconds.

Muscle groups hit: chest, shoulders and triceps.

After the last set don’t stretch or rest and move onto the next exercise.

Exercise 4: pull-ups

3 sets of as many reps as possible leaving a couple in the tank before failure.

On the last set go to failure.

Stretching the lats in between sets for 20 seconds.

Muscle groups hit: lats, traps and biceps.

After the last set don’t stretch or rest and you are done.

Conclusion:

If your goal is to keep fit whilst maintaining a minimalist approach this is the workout for you. To progress, overtime you will have to do more reps as your strength increases. I added stretching in between sets as some scientific studies show that this will increase muscle. Plus, it is important to stretch regardless and this is just a way of getting it done while keeping the workout time down.

The exercises chosen are optimal for the amount of equipment, so keep at it and you will see results.