Ansible for a Cluster You Built by Hand: Capture, Then Assert
Bring hand-configured Proxmox nodes under Ansible without changing them — capture live config into roles and make check mode your acceptance test.
Rebuild Your Homelab From Zero: What Survives a Total Loss
A Proxmox disaster-recovery walkthrough — what survives losing every node, the restore order that unblocks itself, and two commands that prove the rebuild.
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.
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.
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.
Proxmox Cloud-Init Templates: New VMs in 30 Seconds Flat
Turn an Ubuntu cloud image into a Proxmox template and clone ready-to-boot VMs in seconds — user, SSH key, and IP pre-configured by cloud-init, no installer wizard ever again.
What Is a NAS? (And Which Kind Your Homelab Actually Needs)
NAS explained in plain English — what network-attached storage does, commercial box vs DIY server vs a share on your Proxmox host, and how to choose the right one for your budget.
The Complete Proxmox Homelab Guide (2026)
A start-to-finish roadmap for building a Proxmox homelab: hardware, install, clustering, networking, storage, security, backups, and the self-hosted services worth running — each step linked to a full walkthrough.
Jellyseerr: Let Your Family Request Movies Themselves
Give your whole household a Netflix-style page to browse and request titles — Jellyseerr passes each approved request straight to Radarr and Sonarr, hands-free.
The Self-Healing Arr Stack: Why My Watchlist Silently Stopped Downloading
A real homelab incident — rotated API keys silently killed my Arr automation for days with zero errors. Here's the debugging story and the four patterns that make media automation immune to it: runtime keys, one consolidated script, an auto-detecting VPN-leak check, and a dead-man's-switch alert.
Shared Storage for Your Homelab: Samba and NFS File Shares Done Right
How to set up network file shares in a Proxmox homelab using Samba (for Windows/macOS) and NFS (for Linux). A beginner guide to a central file server your media, photos, and backups can all read from.
Your Homelab Needs a Second Brain — Here's Why
You've solved the same homelab problem three times because you forgot how you fixed it. Here's the case for a single source of truth — and the payoff that compounds over years.
Install Jellyfin on a NAS or Proxmox LXC
Set up the free, open-source Jellyfin media server on a NAS or in a Proxmox LXC container, run the first-time wizard, and build your first movie and TV libraries.
Plex vs Jellyfin: Which Media Server Should You Run?
A practical 2026 comparison of Plex and Jellyfin — pricing, remote access, hardware transcoding, apps, and privacy — to help you pick the right self-hosted media server.
Automating the Arr Stack: Import Lists, Quality Profiles, Media Server
Make the *arr stack hands-off — import lists that add titles automatically, quality profiles that grab the best release, and a notification that refreshes Plex or Jellyfin on import.
Deploy the Arr Stack with Docker Compose (Prowlarr, Radarr, Sonarr)
Stand up the full *arr stack in Docker Compose — Prowlarr, Radarr, Sonarr, and a VPN-shielded download client — with the single-root folder layout that enables instant hardlink imports.
What Is the Arr Stack? Sonarr, Radarr, and Prowlarr Explained
A plain-English guide to the *arr stack — what Sonarr, Radarr, and Prowlarr each do, how they fit together, and how the automated media pipeline actually works.
Plex Direct Play and Transcoding on Weak Hardware
Why Plex stutters on low-power CPUs, how Direct Play avoids transcoding entirely, and how to tune Plex so 4K files play smoothly without a beefy processor.
Organizing a Plex Library: Naming, Agents, and Metadata
Name movie and TV files so Plex matches them automatically, pick the right metadata agents, and fix wrong titles and broken sort order in an existing library.
Install Plex Media Server on a NAS or Proxmox LXC
Set up Plex Media Server on a NAS or in a Proxmox LXC container, claim it to your account, and build your first movie and TV libraries the right way.
Docker on Proxmox: LXC vs VM, Done Right
The right way to run Docker on Proxmox — why a dedicated VM beats a privileged LXC, how to set both up, and Portainer for a web UI. Avoid the docker-in-LXC pitfalls that cost real downtime.
Proxmox VM vs LXC: When to Use Each
A practical guide to choosing between a Proxmox VM and an LXC container — kernel sharing, isolation, density, performance, and a decision flowchart for every workload.
Creating Your First Proxmox VM: A Complete Walkthrough
Create a full virtual machine on Proxmox VE from scratch — upload an ISO, configure the VM wizard the right way, install the OS, and add the QEMU guest agent for clean shutdowns and live stats.
Choosing Homelab Hardware: What Actually Matters and What to Ignore
A practical hardware guide for building a multi-node homelab — CPU, RAM, storage, and power requirements explained without the jargon, with specific recommendations at three budget levels.
Choosing a Network Switch for Your Homelab: Speed, Managed vs Unmanaged, and VLAN Basics
What a network switch actually does, the real difference between 1GbE and 2.5GbE for homelab use, why managed switches matter for clustering, and how to wire up multiple Proxmox nodes correctly.
Proxmox Backup Server: Automated CT and VM Backups with Deduplication
Deploy Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) in a dedicated LXC container, configure scheduled backups for all containers and VMs, and set retention policies — with verified restore procedures.
Forming a Proxmox Cluster: Quorum, Corosync, and Joining Multiple Nodes
How to create a Proxmox VE cluster from multiple nodes — what Corosync and quorum actually mean, the exact commands to form and join the cluster, what to verify, and how to avoid the split-brain scenarios that corrupt data.
Proxmox Firewall: Securing a Home Cluster with Zone-Based Rules
A practical guide to the Proxmox built-in firewall — cluster-level rules, node-level rules, container-level rules, IPSET groups for your trusted subnets, and the exact rule order that keeps your cluster safe without locking yourself out.
Installing Proxmox VE: Complete Step-by-Step Guide from USB to First Login
How to download Proxmox VE, write a bootable USB drive, install it on your hardware with the correct network settings, and complete the essential post-install configuration — including fixing the subscription nag and switching to the free package repository.
Proxmox LXC Networking: Static IPs, VLANs, and Bridge Configuration
A practical reference for Proxmox LXC container networking — assigning static IPs, configuring the Linux bridge, setting up VLAN-aware bridges, and troubleshooting the common mistakes that cause connectivity failures.
Proxmox Security Hardening: SSH Keys, Firewall, and Locking Down a New Cluster
Essential security configuration for a new Proxmox cluster — SSH key-based authentication, disabling password login, configuring the built-in firewall, securing the web UI, and the audit steps to verify nothing is exposed that shouldn't be.
Proxmox Storage Guide: local-lvm, ZFS, NFS, and When to Use Each
A practical breakdown of Proxmox storage backends — what local-lvm actually is, when ZFS makes sense, how to add NAS storage over NFS, and the storage layout decisions that affect your cluster's performance and reliability.
Ventoy: One USB Drive for Every ISO You Own
Stop reflashing your USB drive for every OS install. Ventoy lets you boot any ISO by dropping it onto a drive — perfect for homelabbers juggling Proxmox, Ubuntu, GParted, and more.
Building a Native Proxmox Dashboard in Flutter: Linux Desktop + iOS
How I built MyOfficeLab (since renamed HomeLab) — a Flutter app with native Proxmox API integration, live CT metrics, Riverpod 3 state management, CEF webviews, and a dual-mode brass design system — targeting both Linux desktop and iOS from one codebase.
Building a 4-Node Proxmox Cluster on HP EliteDesk Mini PCs
How to assemble a production-grade Proxmox VE 9 cluster from four HP EliteDesk 705 G4 mini PCs — hardware selection, quorum strategy, firewall, and the gotchas that cost a Saturday.
Tailscale Subnet Router: Remote Homelab Access Without Port Forwarding
Install Tailscale on one Proxmox node as a subnet router to make your entire homelab reachable from anywhere — no port forwarding, no VPN box, no dynamic DNS.
What Is a Homelab? (And Why You're About to Fall Down a Wonderful Rabbit Hole)
A homelab is your own private cloud running on hardware you control. Here's what a homelab actually is, why people build them, what you can run, and how to start — explained for complete beginners, no jargon.