Turn a Hand-Built Proxmox Cluster Into Code Without Breaking It
IaC guides assume an empty account. Here's the import-first approach for a Proxmox homelab already running things you cannot afford to lose.
Builda homelab.
Turn a used mini PC into your own private cloud — stream your movie library, automate your home, block ads on every device, keep your photos off Big Tech, and run your own ChatGPT-style AI from one quiet shelf. Every guide here was built on a live cluster, and every one tells you what broke on the way.
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two ways inThe Start Here roadmap remembers which steps you've finished.
The Lab
4-node Proxmox clusterFour HP EliteDesk 705 G4 mini PCs stacked flat and running Proxmox VE, cabled to an 8-port gigabit switch, with a 4-bay NAS for backup storage and a tower UPS protecting everything from power loss. Total idle power draw: ~55W.
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View all →Import a Live Proxmox Cluster Into OpenTofu With Zero Changes
Bring running Proxmox containers under OpenTofu without restarting one: import blocks, the generated-config cleanup, and a clean plan that becomes your drift detector.
Homelab Capacity Planning: What If a Node Dies Tonight?
I built a read-only simulator that answers whether a dead node's containers fit on the survivors — using the RAM they actually use, not the RAM you configured.
Track AI Token Spend in Grafana: Claude, Codex, and Ollama
Wire every Claude Code, Codex, and Ollama call into Prometheus and one Grafana dashboard — tokens, latency, cache hits, and real dollars vs quota burn.
Real Screenshots, Zero Leaks: My Disposable Demo Lab
How this site captures real, publish-safe homelab screenshots — a throwaway demo lab plus headless Chrome, with no mockups and no leaked IPs.
The Docker localhost Trap: 24 Hours of Red, Zero Real Downtime
My Uptime Kuma monitors logged 24 hours of red while every service was up. Inside a Docker container, localhost isn't your machine — here's why, and the fix.
One UPS, Whole Homelab: Safe Auto-Shutdown with NUT
Use Network UPS Tools (NUT) so a single UPS can cleanly shut down every machine in your homelab when the power fails — one server, many network clients, step by step.