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https://github.com/c0nsultant/homelab-as-code

IaC for going from empty disks to running HA homelab cluster managed using GitOps within 2(-ish) clicks
https://github.com/c0nsultant/homelab-as-code

ansible cloud-init devops flux gitops helm homelab k8s-at-home kubernetes netboot pxe selfhosted

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IaC for going from empty disks to running HA homelab cluster managed using GitOps within 2(-ish) clicks

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![alt text](logo.png "Title")

Bootstrap and GitOps sources to get my baremetal homelab set up consistently.

# 🏡 Homelab-as-Code (HaC™)

This repository was born out of the need to better manage an ever-growing homelab environment.
After starting with a simple single-node Docker Compose setup, the increasing number of services began to make maintenance and updates more challenging.

As the complexity grew, it became clear that a more structured, Infrastructure-as-Code approach was needed to:
- keep configurations versioned and thus better documented
- make deployments more consistently repeatable and reliable
- simplify the process of adding new services without
- enable easier backup and disaster recovery
- provide better scalability and resilience beyond a single node

I decided to take this opportunity to properly learn Kubernetes hands-on, embracing the complexity and "feeling the pain" that comes with it rather than _just_ having the theoretical knowledge.
This repo serves as both documentation of my setup as well as a real-world learning experience in managing infrastructure that I rely upon as code.

PS: This setup is mature enough to be girlfriend-approved. 😉

## 🔰 Overview

At the highest possible level, this repo and HaC workflow consists of three parts:
- [cloud-init](cloud-init) contains the stage 1 bootstrapping for the cluster nodes.
This includes only the very basic OS-level configuration required for the others stages of this workflow.
The contained shell script creates all files required to install the OS via [network boot](https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/how-to-netboot-the-server-installer-on-amd64) and without user interaction.
_Triggering_ the network-boot installation is out-of-scope for the moment.
After completion of the cloud-init [autoinstall](https://canonical-subiquity.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/intro-to-autoinstall.html), all nodes reboot and are ready to accept SSH connections.
- [ansible](ansible) contains the stage 2 system configuration for the cluster nodes.
This includes a range of tasks including power management, networking setup, and most importantly bootstrapping the kubernetes cluster using [kubeadm](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/setup-tools/kubeadm/).
The contained ansible playbook and roles perform the required tasks on the nodes via an SSH and a dedicated ansible user created in the previous step.
After completion of this stage, the kubernetes cluster is set up with [HA](https://kube-vip.io/) control planes, joined worker nodes, dual-stack [CNI](https://www.tigera.io/tigera-products/calico/), almost working [OIDC authn](https://dexidp.io/), and last but not least a bootstrapped [GitOps](https://fluxcd.io/) setup that is ready to start reconciling.
- [flux](flux) contains the final stage 3 GitOps cluster configuration.
This includes everything running _inside_ kubernetes in the cluster and ranges from basic system infrastructure like [load balancer](https://metallb.io/), [ingress](https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx/), and [CSI](https://longhorn.io/) to more user-style applications such as [password manager](https://bitwarden.com/) and [file management](https://nextcloud.com/) apps.
The contained flux kustomizations are automatically installed and/or reconciled on the cluster without* user interaction.
This process is staggered since there is an inherent dependency between some of the components.
After completion of this stage, the cluster is fully set up and ready for use.

## 📐 Tech Stack

| Component | Purpose | Notes |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Ubuntu Server 24.04](https://ubuntu.com/server) | Base Operating System | |
| [cloud-init](https://cloud-init.io/) | Headless OS Installation | see [cloud-init/README.md](cloud-init/README.md) |
| [Ansible](https://ansible.com/) | OS Configuration | |
| [kubeadm](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/setup-tools/kubeadm/) | k8s _Distribution_ / Install Mechanism | stacked HA controlplanes |
| [containerd](https://containerd.io/) | OCI Runtime | |
| [Calico](https://www.tigera.io/tigera-products/calico/) | CNI | dual-stack nodes and services |
| [kube-vip](https://kube-vip.io/) | Virtual IP for controlplane Nodes | used in L2/ARP mode |
| [Flux2](https://fluxcd.io) | GitOps Automation inside the Cluster | |
| [SOPS](https://getsops.io/) | Secrets Management | [age](https://age-encryption.org/) rather than pgp, but not any more user-friendly |

## 📱 Applications

### 🤖 System-Level



Name
Purpose
Notes



metallb
Cloud-Native Service LoadBalancer
used in L2/ARP mode, so only VIP rather than true LB



external-dns
DNS Management Automation
split-horizon realized using opnsense webhook



cert-manager
Automated Certificate Management
Let's Encrypt via ACME DNS



ingress-nginx
Ingress Controller




Renovate Bot
Dependency Update Automation
used for multiple repos, not just this one



longhorn
Cloud-Native Distributed Block Storage CSI




democratic-csi
CSI for Common External Storage Systems
using the freenas-nfs implementation



stash
Cloud-Native Backup/Restore
freemium/open core, but really good



CloudNativePG
Cloud-Native PostgreSQL Operator




Grafana
Montoring and Observability




Prometheus
Metrics Aggregation and Storage




Loki
Log Aggregation and Storage




descheduler
Pod Eviction for Node Balancing




reloader
Hot-Reload for ALL Workloads




Dex
OIDC Provider
used for api-server authentication



metrics-server
Metrics API




Goldilocks
Resource Recommendation Engine




Vertical Pod Autoscaler
Workload Resource Scaler
used exclusively for Goldilocks recommendations

### 👨‍💻 User-Level



Name
Purpose
Notes



Pi-hole
Filtering DNS Proxy




Nextcloud
File Storage and Management




Vaultwarden
API-compatible Password Manager




Immich
Photo/Video Storage and Management




Paperless-ngx
Document Management System




Firefly III
Personal Finance Manager




Homepage
Application Dashboard




Fresh-RSS
RSS Aggregator




RSS-Bridge
Unofficial RSS Feeds of ANY Source
any as long as you know some PHP



Jellyfin
Media Streaming and Management




Gluetun
VPN Gateway




qBittorrent
Torrent Client




SABnzbd
Usenet Client




Stirling PDF
Swiss-Army Knife for PDFs




Overleaf
LaTeX Editor




UniFi Network Application
AP Administration and Management




n8n
Workflow Automation
freemium/open core

## ☁️ Cloud Dependencies

While the ultimate goal is to have as self-sufficient of a setup as possible, some external services are still required for proper operation.

| Service | Purpose | Notes |
| -------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| [GitHub](https://github.com/) | Git Repository Hosting, GitOps Source | |
| [INWX](https://www.inwx.de/) | Domain Registrar | |
| [Cloudflare](https://www.cloudflare.com/) | Public DNS Auth Hosting | |
| [netcup](https://www.netcup.de/) | Public Reverse-Proxy for Relevant Services | not _yet_ managed here since the number of public services is tiny |
| [BackBlaze](https://www.backblaze.com/) | Cloud Storage for Backups | the "3" in 3-2-1 for the really important data |
| [TailScale](https://tailscale.com/) | Overlay VPN | used for split-horizon and a direct connection back home |
| VPN Provider | VPN Gateway | different external IP for all the Linux ISOs |