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Creating Linkding Deployment with FluxCD

Ever since I started tinkering with FluxCD in my homelab Kubernetes cluster, I've been on a kick with maximizing both best practices with it, and also automating the orchestration of my self-hosted services.

It's quite a ride! But as this post is my process for getting the Linkding bookmark service deployed, I will not be going into detail on how to get FluxCD setup and configured. That's a prerequisite you have hopefully already gone through.

For a full breakdown of this structure and the files you can check out my homelab GitHub repository at https://github.com/cyberwatchdoug/homelab/tree/main

From Proxmox to Kubernetes - Evolving My Homelab (part 1)

Introduction & Current Setup Overview

So I've been tinkering with Kubernetes in my homelab for some time now. It's been more of a fun experiment, however, things really started to click for me with how much I enjoyed the declarative orchestration posibilities. Kubernetes os known for container orchestration, and it does allow both imperative and declarative management.

Well, I've already been doing imperative management across my whole homelab with my Proxmox setups, VMs, LXCs, and containers within VMs. So I knew what that required. It's a great way to learn, and truly helps with building a strong problem solving mentality because you are making the configuration update and see the immediate results of your change. So when things break, you can just review what you had just done and learn why it happened and how to resolve it.

Setting Up k3s on Linux: Quick Tips to User-Friendly Kubernetes

Lightweight K8s distributions have been a game changer for approaching container orchestration in development environments. k3s, Rancher's minimal Kubernetes distribution, stands out for its simplicity and resource efficient packaging. The installation process is remarkably straighforward. However, configuring it for seamless multi-user development requires some additional considerations.

How to Sync an Obsidian Vault Between Windows 11 and Linux (Debian LXC) Using Syncthing for n8n Automations

Why I needed a Cross-Platform Obsidian Sync Setup

Keeping an Obsidian vault synced between Windows and Linux can be tricky if you don’t want to rely on third‑party cloud services like Dropbox or Google Drive. I ran into this challenge while trying to keep my various vaults consistent across my Windows 11 desktop (where I do most of my vault work) and a Debian Linux LXC running on Proxmox, where I host my automation tools. My goal wasn’t just simple note syncing, I wanted to unlock powerful n8n workflows that process and automate my notes directly from the server.

After brainstorming a few options, I landed on Syncthing as the perfect solution. It’s lightweight, private, and runs quietly in the background without any dependency on external services. Even better, I figured out how to start Syncthing automatically on Windows 11 without the annoying terminal popup, while also configuring a persistent Syncthing systemd service inside my Debian LXC. In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how I set it up and how it powers my Obsidian + n8n automation workflow.

Probabilistic vs deterministic identity security

One of the first things to understand when comparing probabilistic and deterministic approaches to identity security is how each operates. This is especially true in environments that rely on user and behavior analytics (UEBA). A UEBA environment will much more commonly rely on probabilistic methods, as the name implies.

Let's break these approaches down and explore how they can work together.

ICAM fundamentals and definitions

Identity, Credential, and Access Management, commonly referred to as ICAM, marks a fundamental evolution from the traditional approaches to access control in organizations.

What do traditional access controls look like? In simple terms, it was straightforward: usernames and passwords. Physical access secured through ID cards or PINs; system and resource access granted through basic logins. Most of this managed manually by IT or security staff. And unless someone forgot their password or hit a forced password reset deadline, accounts and permissions were rarely reviewed or updated!

It's astonishing! Such methods were once (and in some cases, still are) the norm!

But organizations today face far more complex challenges. Let's take a closer look.

Automating resilient backups in my homelab with Ansible and Paperless-ngx

As my data consumption and storage needs grow - both at work and at home - reliable automation becomes non-negotiable. Over the past week, I have invested much needed time to my homelab_ansible GitHub repository; focusing on crafing a robust backup playbook for my paperless-ngx deployment. My goal? A backup workflow I trust to safeguard my documents, regardless of infrastructure or underlying OS.