Linux Systems Engineer Looking For My Next Role

# Linux Systems Engineer Looking For My Next Role: Setting Up a Self-Hosted Homelab Infrastructure for DevOps

Welcome! If you are a seasoned Linux systems engineer looking to expand your skillset and gain hands-on experience with modern DevOps practices, this guide will walk you through setting up a self-hosted homelab infrastructure. By the end of this article, you’ll have a versatile platform for honing your automation and orchestration skills, all while enjoying the benefits of open-source technologies.

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS (or equivalent) installed on bare metal or virtualized environment
• Minimum 8GB RAM and a multi-core processor for optimal performance
• Stable network connection with static IP address (preferred but not required)
• Basic familiarity with SSH, networking, and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes, etc.)

Step 1: Install Essential Tools

Start by ensuring your system is up-to-date. Run the following commands to update packages and upgrade the system if necessary.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade -y

Install Docker, which will serve as the foundation for many of our subsequent services:

sudo apt-get install docker-ce=5.0.8 -y

Next, enable and start Docker to ensure it launches automatically at boot:

sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker

Step 2: Configure Docker

Create a new directory for Docker configurations:

mkdir -p /etc/docker
touch /etc/docker/daemon.json

Edit the daemon.json file and add the following contents, which enables features such as userns, groupns, and apparmor:

{
  "userns-remap": "{ \"user\": \"1000\", \"group\": \"1000\", \"mode\": \"host\" }",
  "groupns-remap": "{ \"group\": \"1000\" }",
  "apparmor-profile": "docker-default"
}

Reload the Docker daemon to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart docker

Step 3: Install Docker Compose

Docker Compose allows us to easily define and run multi-container applications. Install the latest version of Docker Compose using the following command:

curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.27.4/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

Step 4: Set Up a Kubernetes Cluster (Optional)

For those interested in exploring container orchestration with Kubernetes, you can set up a local cluster using k3s. Install the latest version of k3s:

curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -

Once installed, initialize the server:

sudo systemctl enable k3s
sudo systemctl start k3s

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues during installation or configuration, consult the official documentation for each tool:

• Docker Installation
• Docker Compose Installation
• k3s Installation

Conclusion

By following the steps outlined in this guide, you now have a self-hosted homelab infrastructure ready for your DevOps experiments. This versatile platform will serve as an invaluable tool for honing your skills in automation, orchestration, and open-source technologies. Stay tuned for future articles where we’ll explore various projects to deploy on your new infrastructure!

Remember that security considerations are paramount when setting up any infrastructure. Always ensure that you keep your systems updated, use strong passwords, and enable access controls as necessary.

Happy experimenting!