Same here. Even though my homelab runs on a VPS. https://github.com/rhee876527/expert-octo-robot
I don't maintain my homelab, it maintains itself
31–40 of 85 posts
Re: I don't maintain my homelab, it maintains itself
#32Yeah, and what happens when every now and then upstream changes break your config? Like when Debian removed systemd-resolved, breaking mDNS.
It breaks. So you fix it and go back to previous mode.
I'm not sure what's here to talk about. Things break. We don't have to overthink this. But if you want more predictability, stable distros exist.
Re: I don't maintain my homelab, it maintains itself
#33I thought this was going towards the "I have an agent do it". glad it didn't :)
What this skips though is the complexity of services like NextCloud (stuck in maintenance mode again?), Immich (needs a compose file edit?), MineCraft worlds (Dad! my client is on another version again!), (dmn) AlbyHub (needs re-login and closed its channel).
But to be fair this is really getting quite minimal these days indeed. I didn't really realize it but I too have a mostly hand-off home-lab... Ok, then it's not really a lab anymore, its more "stable home-infra" ;)
Re: I don't maintain my homelab, it maintains itself
#34I've had "servers" or a "homelab" at home for de3cades. I stopped a while ago when I burned out. About 4 month ago, I bought a new motherboard and graphics card for my desktop and dropped the old ones into a $70 case I got from Best Buy and put Ubuntu on it. I think I spent 10x that on memory for my new desktop, but that's just a passing grumble. The new server now runs transcription and embeddings for me on the old…
> About the only thing that needs watching is the tiny SDR radio plugged into it, which I use for pure random numbers and talking to it with a hand held radio from the other house.
You are an interesting person! We would be friends IRL :-)
May I ask what you use the pure random numbers for? And what you use the radio link for?
Re: I don't maintain my homelab, it maintains itself
#35> I've approximated it somewhere around 15 minutes of maintenance per month, barring an emergency. If that's normal to you, congrats - you've peaked in life. However, that's absolutely absurd to me. I used to spend days on end building, maintaining, and debugging various aspects of my servers, databases, apps, etc. It's been normal for me for the past 3 years thanks to using NixOS for all server infrastructure.
Options still get deprecated in NixOS and require working around, and while debugging has gotten easier it can be a pain to debug when there’s an error somewhere deep in your configs. I’ve found that NixOS is like 0 maintenance most months and then half a Saturday two or three times a year figuring out why I can’t update.
Re: I don't maintain my homelab, it maintains itself
#36I'm working on an all-in-one box that has OTA updates, requiring virtually zero maintenance after setup. It's currently at the pre-alpha stage. It bundles a router/firewall, app server, and NAS. Not trying to be everything to everyone, but covers the basic functionality most people would need. Automatically handles DDNS, TLS certs, backups, and SSO wiring. Entire config is in a single JSON file, but the system can be extended using plugins. It's based on NixOS but doesn't require the user to know that.
Longer term goal is a sleek plug-and-play box anyone can connect to their ISP modem with minimal technical knowledge.
I'm currently running it on a Aoostar WTR Max NAS with my AT&T connection. Got another NUC connected to a Spectrum modem. My goal is to be able to flip back and forth between the two with a backup bundle within minutes.
Considering breaking up the router and app server functionality so they can be run separately. Another idea is to use custom a 3D printed case with Framework laptop motherboard and battery, switch, and wifi AP to make a true all-in-one box. I currently need an external switch, backup battery, and wifi access point.
Once the system feels mature, next steps would be things like federated tailnets with friends and family for things like distributed backups, compute/GPU, CDN, social networking, etc. Hoping that decentralized model training is cracked by someone at some point.
From a coding perspective I'm hoping to modularize everything (since it's NixOS) and add thorough testing and hardening. It's already relatively modularized considering it's built on Nix flakes.
Re: I don't maintain my homelab, it maintains itself
#37Getting to this point with my homelab has always been my goal, and I've also arrived. I mainly just want a stable, reliable Jellyfin, Audiobookshelf, archivebox, Navidrome, ollama/openwebui, and a place with plenty of RAM and CPU to spin up and run a half-dozen various VMs at a time, without having to mess around to use them.
Building/tinkering/playing around is fun, but once you are actually self-hosting services you rely on, it needs to "just work" or you will eventually burn out or lose interest. Especialy when you take on more users than just yourself. The day my wife cancelled her audible subscription because audiobookshelf was just as good (IMHO better) was a good day, but that only happens because it is stable/reliable.
Re: I don't maintain my homelab, it maintains itself
#38I've had "servers" or a "homelab" at home for de3cades. I stopped a while ago when I burned out. About 4 month ago, I bought a new motherboard and graphics card for my desktop and dropped the old ones into a $70 case I got from Best Buy and put Ubuntu on it. I think I spent 10x that on memory for my new desktop, but that's just a passing grumble. The new server now runs transcription and embeddings for me on the old…
When I found Tesla P100s on ebay for $75 I thought I was getting a cheap server, but 1/3 of the total cost was RAM. Sorry, first time I've built a computer since the shortage.
Re: I don't maintain my homelab, it maintains itself
#39> I've never required a backup, but it's good to be safe.
Indeed. And if you never test your recovery then you don't actually have a workable backup.
Re: I don't maintain my homelab, it maintains itself
#40> I've approximated it somewhere around 15 minutes of maintenance per month, barring an emergency. If that's normal to you, congrats - you've peaked in life. However, that's absolutely absurd to me. I used to spend days on end building, maintaining, and debugging various aspects of my servers, databases, apps, etc. It's been normal for me for the past 3 years thanks to using NixOS for all server infrastructure.
I've been maintaining homelab servers for two decades, used all kinds of IaC approaches etc.
Switched to NixOS a few years ago, and I can't overstate the amount of peace it has brought to my life. It just takes so much stress away, compared to everything else I've used before.
My only criticism is that the Nix language is not super ergonomic or easy to learn. But with LLMs nowadays, even that is barely ever a problem.