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At the end of the article, there's a link to a script[1] that does the steps covered in the article. That got me thinking: how do other self-hosters/homelabber

At the end of the article, there's a link to a script[1] that does the steps covered in the article. That got me thinking: how do other self-hosters/homelabbers here go about automating their server setups? None/purely manual? One big shell script? Multiple scripts wrapped in a Makefile (or justfile, or other command runner)? More enterprisey provisioning/automation tools like Ansible, Puppet, etc.? [1] https://git.sovbit.dev/Enki/sovran-scripts https://git.sovbit.dev/Enki/sovran-scripts

jmathai 2y ago
One big shell script has worked really well for me. One project on AWS ran the script when new EC2 instances with a particular tag/label were spun up and that's how we scaled horizontally. What's nice about is that it doesn't require any specialized knowledge beyond bash - and that's something which is pretty easy to learn and great to know. It also attracts, IMO, the type of developers who avoid chasing new trends.
- Sammi 2y ago
  I have a folder of scripts. One main script that calls into the other scripts, just so I can keep my head straight. But one large script might work just as well for you. This sets up everything I need so I can treat my servers as livestock instead of pets - that is, so I can easily slaughter and replace them whenever I want, instead of being tied to them like a pet.
atoav 2y ago
For my use cases I found that just having a (updated) note with the things I would usually do works best. This is because I would not deploy everything anywhere and manually being aware of each step instead of hiding it within a script is somewhat a feature (e.g. you can easily insert a custom extra step etc). If I would do basically the same over and over I'd probably go with a script, ansible cookbook or similar, but as of now the manual route is totally fine.
- ranger207 2y ago
  Yeah I just have a note with my steps because other than the real basic stuff (set IP and DNS, set hostname, install tmux/htop/vim) the rest depends on what exactly I'm doing with that server. I have other notes for common stuff that could probably stand to be automated but it's not worth the effort in a https://xkcd.com/1205/ https://xkcd.com/1205/ sense. Like, having a checklist is necessary, but fighting bash or whatever other automation tool isn't necessarily valuable since I'm only standing up one server every few months at most
bpye 2y ago
I use NixOS on every machine I have running Linux. My config for every machine is in a git repo, and it is super easy to deploy changes via ssh. It took some work to get started - but I would never go back.
Jedd 2y ago
Most of my server configuration is defined by Saltstack recipes. Most of my actual tools now are running in docker via Nomad.
duckmysick 2y ago
I'm using a combination of pyinfra for provisioning and justfile for one-off operations. In fact, I also have separate pyinfra scripts for provisioning my desktop and laptops, so I can have a fresh install and they will set it up with proper apps and desktop environment settings. https://github.com/pyinfra-dev/pyinfra https://github.com/pyinfra-dev/pyinfra https://github.com/casey/just https://github.com/casey/just
ricardo81 2y ago
I've written a couple, covering a bit of what's mentioned in the article but also setting up wordpress. Written in bash also
tobijkl 2y ago
Personally, I use Cloud-Init for automation. Its wide support across various cloud platforms and ease of use make it my go-to tool for initial server provisioning. It simplifies the process, allowing me to get things up and running quickly without needing additional dependencies.
everforward 2y ago
I’m using PyInfra [1] these days (no affiliation, just think it’s cool). It’s like Ansible, but you write Python directly instead of a YAML DSL. Code reuse is as simple as writing modules, importing them, and calling whatever functions you’ve written in normal Python. I find it almost as easy as writing a shell script, but with most of the advantages of Ansible like idempotency and a post-run status output. 1: https://github.com/pyinfra-dev/pyinfra https://github.com/pyinfra-dev/pyinfra

jmathai 2y ago

One big shell script has worked really well for me. One project on AWS ran the script when new EC2 instances with a particular tag/label were spun up and that's how we scaled horizontally. What's nice about is that it doesn't require any specialized knowledge beyond bash - and that's something which is pretty easy to learn and great to know. It also attracts, IMO, the type of developers who avoid chasing new trends.

Sammi 2y ago
I have a folder of scripts. One main script that calls into the other scripts, just so I can keep my head straight. But one large script might work just as well for you. This sets up everything I need so I can treat my servers as livestock instead of pets - that is, so I can easily slaughter and replace them whenever I want, instead of being tied to them like a pet.

atoav 2y ago

For my use cases I found that just having a (updated) note with the things I would usually do works best. This is because I would not deploy everything anywhere and manually being aware of each step instead of hiding it within a script is somewhat a feature (e.g. you can easily insert a custom extra step etc). If I would do basically the same over and over I'd probably go with a script, ansible cookbook or similar, but as of now the manual route is totally fine.

ranger207 2y ago
Yeah I just have a note with my steps because other than the real basic stuff (set IP and DNS, set hostname, install tmux/htop/vim) the rest depends on what exactly I'm doing with that server. I have other notes for common stuff that could probably stand to be automated but it's not worth the effort in a https://xkcd.com/1205/ https://xkcd.com/1205/ sense. Like, having a checklist is necessary, but fighting bash or whatever other automation tool isn't necessarily valuable since I'm only standing up one server every few months at most

bpye 2y ago

I use NixOS on every machine I have running Linux. My config for every machine is in a git repo, and it is super easy to deploy changes via ssh. It took some work to get started - but I would never go back.

Jedd 2y ago

Most of my server configuration is defined by Saltstack recipes. Most of my actual tools now are running in docker via Nomad.

duckmysick 2y ago

I'm using a combination of pyinfra for provisioning and justfile for one-off operations. In fact, I also have separate pyinfra scripts for provisioning my desktop and laptops, so I can have a fresh install and they will set it up with proper apps and desktop environment settings. https://github.com/pyinfra-dev/pyinfra https://github.com/pyinfra-dev/pyinfra https://github.com/casey/just https://github.com/casey/just

ricardo81 2y ago

I've written a couple, covering a bit of what's mentioned in the article but also setting up wordpress. Written in bash also

tobijkl 2y ago

Personally, I use Cloud-Init for automation. Its wide support across various cloud platforms and ease of use make it my go-to tool for initial server provisioning. It simplifies the process, allowing me to get things up and running quickly without needing additional dependencies.

everforward 2y ago

I’m using PyInfra [1] these days (no affiliation, just think it’s cool). It’s like Ansible, but you write Python directly instead of a YAML DSL. Code reuse is as simple as writing modules, importing them, and calling whatever functions you’ve written in normal Python. I find it almost as easy as writing a shell script, but with most of the advantages of Ansible like idempotency and a post-run status output. 1: https://github.com/pyinfra-dev/pyinfra https://github.com/pyinfra-dev/pyinfra