I build things.

OpenVPN on AWS in 4 clicks

Run a personal VPN server in AWS using CloudFormation and OpenVPN

There’s been a sudden general interest in VPNs again with the recent policy developments in the US. There are many important steps users can take to bolster their privacy and you can get a good run down of them in this EFF article. It is worth re-stating that VPNs are not a magic bullet. They typically just shift the threat downstream. A substantial number of VPN providers are not trustworthy and likely more dangerous than your ISP.

Basic CD With CodeBuild

Automated deployment from CodeCommit to S3 through CodeBuild/Lambda

I’ve been meaning to start experimenting with CodeBuild since it’s announcement and decided to put something basic but flexible together as a proof of concept. The TL;DR was to create an environment with a CodeCommit repo and a push trigger. That trigger fires a Lambda, which invokes a CodeBuild project, depositing a set of the repo files into an S3 bucket. It is possible to include these in a CodePipeline, rather than trigger a Lambda from CodeCommit, but there are a couple reasons I decided to go the Lambda route.