What Are Yall Using Your Labs For

# What Are Yall Using Your Labs For? A Comprehensive Guide to Setting Up and Managing a Self-Hosted Homelab

Welcome to this guide for setting up and managing your self-hosted homelab, where we’ll cover the practical aspects of creating an infrastructure that caters to your DevOps needs. This article is designed for experienced sysadmins and DevOps engineers who are looking to optimize their environments using open-source solutions.

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS or later (version compatibility may vary depending on the software you plan to use)
• Minimum 8GB RAM and 50GB of free disk space for a basic setup
• Stable internet connection
• Basic knowledge of Linux command line and scripting, Docker, Kubernetes, and containerization concepts

Setting Up Your Homelab

Install Required Software

1. Update your system:

    sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
   

2. Install Docker CE (version 5.0.8 or later):

    apt install docker-ce=5.0.8
   

   Note: Ensure Docker Compose is installed as well, as it will be used for managing multi-container applications.

3. Enable and start the Docker service:

    sudo systemctl enable docker && sudo systemctl start docker
   

4. Install Kubernetes (version 1.22 or later):

    curl -s https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg | apt-key add -
    echo "deb https://apt.kubernetes.io/ kubernetes-xenial main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list
    apt update && apt install -y kubelet kubeadm kubectl
   

   Note: Run kubeadm init --pod-network-cidr=10.244.0.0/16 to initialize your Kubernetes control plane and follow the instructions provided for joining worker nodes (if applicable).

Configuring Your Homelab

Create a Docker Compose Configuration File

Create a YAML file named docker-compose.yml with the following content:

version: '3'
services:
  my-app:
    image: my-registry.example.com/my-app:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    environment:
      - APP_NAME=My App
      - APP_VERSION=1.0.0

Note: Replace my-registry.example.com/my-app:latest with the appropriate Docker registry and image details for your application.

Deploy Your Application

Deploy your application using Docker Compose:

docker-compose up -d

Note: This command will start your application in detached mode, meaning it runs in the background.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues and Solutions

1. Container fails to start: Review the logs (docker-compose logs) for potential errors and resolve accordingly.
2. Incorrect container port mapping: Ensure your application is listening on the correct port and update the ports section in the Docker Compose configuration file if needed.
3. Kubernetes issues: Refer to the Kubernetes documentation for troubleshooting steps.

Conclusion

With this guide, you now have a basic understanding of how to set up and manage a self-hosted homelab using open-source tools like Docker and Kubernetes. This infrastructure can be instrumental in testing automation solutions, honing your DevOps skills, and even hosting personal projects.

Remember to keep your system updated, secure it appropriately, and monitor performance to ensure optimal operation of your homelab. Happy exploring!