Getting Started

This is the learning-oriented path: follow it start to finish and you’ll go from bare hardware to a cluster that deploys its own applications through GitOps.

The build happens in five layers, each one assuming the previous:

Layer 0: Hardware Layer 0: the physical hardware the homelab runs on, and how to prepare it.

Layer 1: Debian Preseed Layer 1: installing Debian unattended on each node with a preseed file.

Layer 2: Ansible (pve-cluster) Layer 2: building the Proxmox cluster with Ansible.

Layer 3: Terragrunt with OpenTofu (TrueNAS) Layer 3: provisioning the TrueNAS storage VM with Terragrunt and OpenTofu.

Layer 4: Taskfile (Talos Cluster) Layer 4: bootstrapping the Talos Kubernetes cluster, after which Argo CD takes over.

For why it is built this way and how the pieces fit, see the architecture overview.

Before you start

Check that you have the hardware, accounts, and workstation tools listed in Prerequisites.

Working through the layers

Work through the layers in order. Each one builds on the one before, so make sure a layer is working before you start the next. Once Layer 4 is bootstrapped, adding applications is a separate, repeatable task covered in Add a new application.

When you are ready, start with Layer 0: Hardware.