Self-hosted IT tutorials from my own homelab: infrastructure, high availability, and self-hosting guides, cleaned up enough to be useful to someone else running into the same problem. Browse by category below, or head over to Search Articles for the full, searchable list. Want to know more about me? Visit the About page.
September 1, 2026
Building a second, independent iRedMail node at a separate site so mail keeps flowing even if one location goes down entirely, backed by a Galera-replicated mail database.
Backup & StorageAugust 30, 2026
A dependency-free Python script that backs up Notion databases to a self-hosted Gitea repo on a schedule, converting every page to Markdown with full version history.
VaultwardenAugust 28, 2026
A bash script that checks GitHub daily for new Vaultwarden releases and applies them safely with a health check and automatic rollback, no manual watching required.
Obsidian & GravAugust 23, 2026
The three-part series behind this very site: self-hosting Obsidian with CouchDB sync, standing up Grav CMS, and the pipeline that turns Obsidian notes into published pages automatically.
3-part series AutomationAugust 9, 2026
A four-part series building a full patch-management pipeline: Semaphore for the actual patching, Patchmon for update visibility, Uptime Kuma for maintenance windows, and n8n tying it all together into one automated, notified workflow.
4-part series AutomationAugust 4, 2026
An Azure Function that automatically creates and correctly hands off a personal home folder in Box the moment a new employee account is provisioned, no manual IT ticket required.
ProxmoxJuly 25, 2026
Setting up ProxSave to automate Proxmox host backups with retention and off-site copy support, so a bad update or hardware failure doesn't mean starting from scratch.
Web Hosting & AppsMay 15, 2026
Blocking visitors from specific countries on a Bitnami Apache stack using MaxMind's GeoLite2 database and mod_maxminddb, redirecting unwanted traffic before it ever reaches your PHP app.
MariaDB & GaleraFebruary 14, 2026
A from-scratch walkthrough for provisioning a Debian VM, hardening SSH and the firewall, then installing and securing a standalone MariaDB server on Proxmox.
Self-Hosted ToolsFebruary 14, 2026
Self-hosting Shlink, an open-source URL shortener, on a classic Nginx web server behind HAProxy on OPNSense, instead of relying on a third-party shortening service.
ProxmoxFebruary 14, 2026
The actual steps, and the gotchas, for renaming a Proxmox node after the fact, including moving VM and container files that still reference the old hostname.
ProxmoxFebruary 14, 2026
Joining two standalone Proxmox VE 8.x hosts into a proper cluster, so VMs and containers can be managed, migrated, and monitored from a single pane of glass.
ProxmoxFebruary 14, 2026
Building a Proxmox LXC container from a LinuxContainers.org image instead of Proxmox's limited built-in template list, for distros that aren't officially templated.
OPNSenseFebruary 14, 2026
Using Monit on OPNSense to watch CARP status locally and push a notification to Uptime Kuma the moment a firewall pair actually fails over, instead of polling and hoping you notice.
Web Hosting & AppsFebruary 14, 2026
Self-hosting Gitea on Proxmox and using it to track every change to a WordPress site's core, plugins, and themes, so a bad update is one git revert away from fixed.
MariaDB & GaleraFebruary 14, 2026
Extending a single-site Galera cluster across two physical sites plus a third-site arbitrator, with segment weighting so quorum survives losing an entire location.
iRedMailFebruary 14, 2026
Notes and sources for upgrading an existing iRedMail installation's underlying OS from Debian 12 to 13 without breaking mail delivery.
OPNSenseFebruary 14, 2026
Connecting two OPNSense firewalls at different sites with a site-to-site VPN, so both locations can reach each other's internal networks as if they were one.
MariaDB & GaleraFebruary 14, 2026
Extending an existing single-site Galera cluster to a second physical site, covering the actual join process, segment configuration, and what to check before calling it done.
MariaDB & GaleraFebruary 14, 2026
Three different methods for importing a large existing MySQL database into a live Galera cluster without taking the cluster down or blowing out disk space mid-import.
Self-Hosted ToolsFebruary 14, 2026
Self-hosting Termix for browser-based SSH access to your servers, no local terminal or SSH client install required.
Self-Hosted ToolsFebruary 14, 2026
Running a real, image-rendering web browser inside an SSH terminal session using Sixel graphics, useful for a quick check from a session with no desktop environment at all.
UncategorizedFebruary 14, 2026
2-part series VaultwardenJanuary 16, 2026
Running Vaultwarden across multiple sites in high availability, backed by a Galera database cluster and load-balanced through OPNSense, so one server going down never means losing access to your passwords.
OPNSenseDecember 8, 2025
Keeping a website running through single-server failures by syncing web files across multiple nodes with Syncthing and load-balancing traffic between them with HAProxy on OPNSense.
MariaDB & GaleraNovember 21, 2025
Deploying a low-cost Hetzner VPS as a Galera arbitrator using Terraform and Ansible from AWX, giving a multi-site cluster real third-site quorum without a full extra database node.
ProxmoxNovember 9, 2025
Turning a Raspberry Pi and an APC UPS into a full graceful-shutdown system for multiple Proxmox hosts, with staggered shutdowns, email alerts, and automatic Wake-on-LAN power-back-on.
MariaDB & GaleraNovember 9, 2025
Turning a single MariaDB instance into a synchronous multi-master Galera cluster across Proxmox LXC containers, load-balanced with HAProxy on OPNSense and backed by a Raspberry Pi arbitrator.
OPNSenseJune 30, 2025
Clustering two OPNSense firewalls with pfSync and CARP so both LAN and WAN failover automatically if one box goes down, using a consumer router as a CARP-aware upstream example.
iRedMailOctober 31, 2024
Standing up a full iRedMail mail server on a Proxmox VM, fronted by HAProxy on OPNSense so it can sit behind the same firewall as everything else.
ProxmoxAugust 16, 2024
Comparing S3-compatible storage providers for off-site Proxmox backups, then wiring one up with rclone for automated, scheduled backups outside your home network.
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