Homelab

Systemd Timer Units — Replacing Cron for Homelab Automation

Replace cron with systemd timer units for reliable, observable homelab task scheduling — persistent schedules, real journald logging, monotonic intervals, and hardened service units with practical backup, maintenance, and healthcheck examples.

WireGuard VPN on Proxmox — LXC Setup Guide for Homelab Remote Access

Deploy a lightweight WireGuard VPN server in a Proxmox LXC container — configure persistent tunnels, NAT routing, client generation, and firewall rules for secure remote access to your entire homelab network.

Linux systemd Service Hardening — Sandboxing, Capabilities, and Security Auditing

Harden Linux systemd services with built-in sandboxing directives — ProtectHome, ProtectSystem, CapabilityBoundingSet, NoNewPrivileges, PrivateTmp, and systemd-analyze security scoring. Includes real hardened service files for common homelab daemons.

Caddy Reverse Proxy Docker — Automatic HTTPS and Zero-Downtime Reloads

Set up Caddy as a Docker reverse proxy for your homelab — automatic Let’s Encrypt HTTPS with zero config, reusable Caddyfile snippets, zero-downtime reloads, Cloudflare DNS-01 wildcards, HTTP/3 support, and production security hardening.

MikroTik RouterOS 7 Firewall — Rules, FastTrack, and Connection Tracking

Configure a production-ready MikroTik RouterOS 7 firewall — understand filter, NAT, mangle, and raw tables, enable FastTrack for wire-speed forwarding, implement connection tracking state rules, and build brute force protection with dynamic address lists.

Docker Compose Environment Variables — .env, Substitution, and Secrets

Master Docker Compose environment variables — understand .env file scoping, variable substitution syntax with defaults and errors, env_file vs environment blocks, and when to use Docker secrets over env vars for sensitive data in homelab deployments.

Proxmox LXC Resource Management — CPU, Memory, and Disk I/O Limits

Master Proxmox LXC resource management — configure CPU pinning with cgroups, set memory and swap limits, throttle disk I/O, and apply ZFS quotas to prevent noisy-neighbor contention in your homelab containers.

Proxmox Backup Strategies — Vzdump, PBS, and 3-2-1 for Homelabs

Design a bulletproof backup strategy for your Proxmox homelab — vzdump scheduling, Proxmox Backup Server deployment, 3-2-1 rule with off-site replication, and automated restore testing.

Linux Storage Benchmarking — fio, ioping, and Homelab Disk Tests

Learn to benchmark storage in your homelab using fio, ioping, hdparm, and dd — raw disks, ZFS pools, NFS mounts, and Docker volumes. Includes repeatable test scripts and how to interpret results for real-world workloads.

K3s Kubernetes Cluster — Lightweight Deployment for Your Homelab

Deploy a production-grade K3s Kubernetes cluster in your homelab on Proxmox VMs — multi-node setup, Longhorn persistent storage, MetalLB load balancing, Traefik ingress, and migrating existing Docker Compose workloads.