GitOps Homelab: Full-Stack Infrastructure as Code

Comprehensive GitOps-driven homelab managing network devices, virtualization, Kubernetes, Docker services, and backup systems through GitLab CI/CD, Atlantis, and Argo CD.

Key Accomplishments

Hybrid GitOps Architecture

Enterprise two-tier model separating platform infrastructure (Atlantis/OpenTofu) from application workloads (Argo CD) with PR-based workflows and auto-sync.

Kubernetes Platform

• 7-node HA cluster (v1.34.2) with Cilium CNI
• eBPF networking with kube-proxy replacement
• BGP peering with Cisco ASA for LoadBalancer services
• Dual storage: NFS (RWX) + Synology iSCSI CSI (RWO)

Security & Service Mesh

• Cilium mTLS with SPIRE for mutual TLS authentication
• Zero-trust network policies
• External Secrets Operator syncing credentials from OpenBao to K8s

TLS Automation

• cert-manager with Let’s Encrypt wildcards via Cloudflare DNS-01
• AWX scheduled jobs sync certs to Nginx Proxy Manager (94 hosts)
• Syncthing replication for certificate distribution

Observability Stack

• Prometheus/Grafana/Alertmanager for metrics and alerting
• Centralized logging: syslog-ng → Loki → Grafana
• Hubble for L7 flow visualization and network debugging

Disaster Recovery

• Velero + MinIO S3 with automated daily/weekly backups
• Cross-site replication to Greece DR cluster

Docker Fleet

• 60+ services including GPU AI workloads (Ollama, Stable Diffusion)
• Media servers, databases, home automation

Network Automation

• Python CI/CD for Cisco IOS/ASA configuration
• Drift detection and auto-reconciliation

Virtualization

• Proxmox VE with 100+ LXC containers, 20+ VMs
• All managed as code through GitLab pipelines

Architecture Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        GitLab CI/CD                              │
│  ┌──────────────────┐         ┌──────────────────┐              │
│  │    Atlantis      │         │     ArgoCD       │              │
│  │  (Platform IaC)  │         │  (Applications)  │              │
│  └────────┬─────────┘         └────────┬─────────┘              │
└───────────┼────────────────────────────┼────────────────────────┘
            │                            │
            ▼                            ▼
┌───────────────────────┐    ┌───────────────────────┐
│   Infrastructure      │    │    Workloads          │
│   - Kubernetes nodes  │    │    - Applications     │
│   - Network configs   │    │    - Services         │
│   - Storage           │    │    - ConfigMaps       │
│   - Secrets           │    │    - Ingress          │
└───────────────────────┘    └───────────────────────┘
            │                            │
            └──────────────┬─────────────┘
                           ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Kubernetes Cluster                            │
│  ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐               │
│  │  Cilium CNI │ │   SPIRE     │ │  OpenBao    │               │
│  │  + Hubble   │ │   mTLS      │ │  Secrets    │               │
│  └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘               │
│  ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐               │
│  │ Prometheus  │ │    Loki     │ │   Velero    │               │
│  │  + Grafana  │ │  Logging    │ │  Backups    │               │
│  └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Technology Stack

Skills Demonstrated

• GitLab CI/CD pipeline design
• Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/OpenTofu)
• Argo CD application management
• Kubernetes cluster administration
• Docker containerization
• Helm chart management
• Prometheus/Grafana observability
• DevOps/GitOps practices
• Proxmox virtualization
• Python automation
• Cisco networking
• Linux system administration

Core infrastructure for the Nuclear Lighters homelab