Table of Contents Overview The Challenge Architecture Design Final Architecture Network Layout The Implementation Journey Phase 1: Initial Assessment Phase 2: Worker Node Troubleshooting Phase 3: App Cluster Creation Phase 4: Repository Reorganization Phase 5: Security Audit Phase 6: Documentation and Commit Technology Stack Key Decisions Why Separate Clusters? Why Single Control Plane for App Cluster? Why Talos Linux? Final Directory Structure Common Operations Lessons Learned What Worked What Didn’t Work Best Practices Troubleshooting Reference Next Steps References Overview This guide documents the complete process of transforming a single Kubernetes cluster with a broken worker node into a multi-cluster laboratory environment using Talos Linux. The journey involves troubleshooting, architectural redesign, and implementing proper GitOps practices while maintaining security throughout. ...

Tools used with DevContainers such as, Mise, Chezmoi, and Neovim - including all the troubleshooting, mistakes, and lessons learned along the way. This article documents my journey setting up a portable development environment. Personal references (usernames, repo names, paths) have been generalized to make the content applicable to any reader. Table of Contents Introduction The Initial Goal The Technology Stack The Setup Process Troubleshooting Chronicles Integration with Obsidian Making It Portable Final Architecture Lessons Learned Resources Introduction I wanted to build a portable development environment that I could replicate across any project or machine. What seemed like a simple container setup turned into a deep dive into dotfiles management, tool installation strategies, and the intricacies of containerized development environments. ...

Overview Building this Arch Linux workstation from scratch taught me more about Linux internals than years of using pre-configured distributions. For DevOps engineers, understanding the fundamentals - from bootloaders to network stacks to display servers - isn’t optional. It’s what separates those who can truly troubleshoot production systems from those who just run apt install. This Dell Precision 5540 build uses LUKS2 encryption, LVM for storage flexibility, systemd-networkd for networking, and Hyprland as a Wayland compositor. Every component was chosen deliberately and configured manually. ...

Overview I recently set up a dedicated mini PC firewall running pfSense with Mullvad VPN to route all my home network traffic through an encrypted tunnel. This setup provides network-wide privacy protection, eliminates the need for individual device VPN clients, and gives me granular control over my network security. Bottom line: 937 Mbps download speeds through the VPN with 21ms latency to (XX) servers, all traffic automatically protected, and enterprise-grade firewall features. ...