this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2023
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My home lab has a mild amount of complexity and I'd like practice some good habits about documenting it. Stuff like, what each system does, the OS, any notable software installed and, most importantly, any documentation around configuration or troubleshooting.

i.e. I have an internal SMTP relay that uses a letsencrypt SSL cert that I need to use the DNS challenge to renew. I've got the steps around that sitting in a Google Doc. I've got a couple more google docs like that.

I don't want to get super complicated but I'd like something a bit more structured than a folder full of google docs. I'd also like to pull it in-house.

Thanks

Edit: I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten on this post so far. There have been a lot of tools suggested and some great discussion about methods. This will probably be my weekend now.

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[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Well, whatever you end up using for documentation, print it out and actively maintain an up to date paper hard copy in a 3-ring binder somewhere. That way when all your shit falls over and you have a nonfunctional LAN you can still remember how everything was set up. Don't ask me how I know.....

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

+1 for hard copy. Hang/tape right on or next to the rack.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Documentation is not worth much if you can't access it when needed. So yes, either print it out or store it somewhere else what you can access even if your own hardware is completely dead.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I've been using Obsidian for a lot of other purposes for a couple years now, so I was comfortable adding my documentation into my existing vault there. I made a couple templates that I fill out for any hardware/software/networking equipment.

Since the app's selling point is storing all your notes in plain text I wouldn't put anything security-related in there without some encrypted container. I use KeePass for that part, and keep the file it generates in the same folder as Obsidian so I can link to it within notes. Click the link in the note, KeePass opens the vault and asks for its password.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I use obsidian too. It supports mermaid too so you can make your network diagram with it.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Mine is, er, self-documenting, and my partner has instructions, in the event that I die, to plug the wifi router into the modem and unplug all the other crap. The router has a sticker saying ROUTER and the modem has a sticker saying MODEM.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Self documenting, eh? I may be familiar with the same process.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You just follow all the wires and read all the config files. Easy!

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

For me, making a graph is the best documentation, everything else is in config files.

If I really do need to takes notes, It's currently in notion but I'm hoping soon I'll be able to self-host AnyType (https://github.com/orgs/anyproto/discussions/17)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What software did you use to make this diagram?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use WikiJS for documentation. Simple, powerful and has a lot of features

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

+1 for WikiJS. As a bonus you can have WikiJS back itself up to plain text MarkDown files, so if things explode you can always just read those from wherever.

Another great feature I use is to have WikiJS back itself up into git. If I am going to a place with no internet access I can do a quick git pull and have a complete copy of my wiki including files on my laptop.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Joplin synced to webdav/nexcloud.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Joplin has been my note-taking app of choice. Free (OSS); no accounts needed; simple; local; synchronizes through my Nextcloud instance to Linux, Windows and Android; markdown-based, etc. It's been a good workflow for me and makes taking and searching through notes quick and pretty painless.

I document my setup, backup and restoration procedures (done rarely enough that it's good to have it written down), etc. with it.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Almost nothing haha. Some half-ass notes saved here and there, in a disorganized manner.

My stuff works, but I don't recommend my approach.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

This is what I'm trying to get away from.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Same, my stuff continuing to work relies on thoughts and prayers.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

ansible, self-documenting. My playbook.yml has a list of roles attached to each host, each host's host_vars file has details on service configuration (domains, etc). It looks like this: https://pastebin.com/6b2Lb0Mg

Additionally this role generates a markdown summary of the whole setup and inserts it into my infra's README.md.

Manually generated diagrams, odd manual maintenance procedures and other semi-related stuff get their own sections in the README (you can check the template here) or linked markdown files. Ongoing problems/research goes into the infra gitea project's issues.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I was going to recommend Ansible as well - documentation as code can never be out of date if you continue using it.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I use raneto, it is a small lightweight nodejs wiki. The files are stored as markdown.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

That sounds useful.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My config files are my documentation, but what is not suitable to be written in config files I write in selfhosted BookStack

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What is it that you all are documenting? I'm just getting started and have so far just set up docker and several containers (Plex, the *arrs, qbittorrent, gluetun) and not sure if I should be writing something down?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I document my proxmox configuration, and again for each service running on it; ports, fqdn, let’s encrypt etc. Any problems or deviations from the standard installation and how I resolved it. How I mounted my media drive and and made it accessible in Plex and Jellyfin. Any configuration that I had to search for the solution, including the actual steps and not just links that might be gone in the future. The more services you accumulate the harder it is to start the documentation, so it’s a good idea to start sooner than later.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I'm not very good at deciding on where to document things, so I have a mix of BookStack, Dokuwiki, and Obsidian currently.

I really like Dokuwiki but I like the UI/UX of BookStack better so I'm working on a plugin to sync bookstack and obsidian. I'll probably get rid of Dokuwiki after that.

The main reason for syncing with obsidian is that I want documentation that isn't stored on the thing it's about, in case my servers completely die.

In another thread, someone reminded me that TiddlyWiki still exists, it's also a pretty cool little tool.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I run wiki.js for documentation for my home lab, but also things like the custom rom setup for my phone. However it's hard to keep it up to date as I forget it exists. I mostly use it to document setting up windows server core with different roles as I don't need to do that often, but most tutorials on the web are SEO optimised with low quality

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Mix of a Bookstack wiki and various git repos on my self-hosted Forgejo.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

When I had home lab I used to use racktables - https://www.racktables.org/

but I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I use draw.io for diagrams. Netbox to keep track of devices, IP addresses, and cables. MediaWiki for how to articles. Both Netbox and MediaWiki live on a VM both at home and offsite and they sync nightly.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I went with dokuwiki forever ago. Super stupid simple single container to run (no DB) and writes down to plain text files. I sync it with git every now and then.

My only gripe about it is the dokuwiki syntax and not using normal markdown. I do now have a plugin for that but it's still just ok. But at this point I might be too engrossed in it to ever really switch. But other than that it works well, is lightweight, has other plugins (email, mermaid flow charts, etc. etc.) and really is pretty maintenance-free.

If there is some better one that is accessible via a browser and doesn't require a DB then I'd be interested.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I'm using netbox, and I'm in the process of info dumping my brain to a media wiki. I may add ansible into the mix in the near future.

My lab is a bit large and complex and I'm currently in the process of trying to train help to run it, from the pool of people that make use of it. They know how the front end works, a few of them need to learn the back end.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Ibrun my own gitlab instance where i have a repository with all my configs, scripts etc.
As well as a wiki that contains the admin guide with (hopefully) all the relevant infos in form of text and PlantUML graphs.

The nice thing is.. You can just 'code' the diagrams and use a PlantUML instance to render the graphs live

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I use the wonderful https://draw.io to sketch up my homelab and which device hosting what service. More fun when it's vidualized the way I want it 😊

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use trillium that gets backed up every hour to my pc.

I also do a lot of python development so my project ideas get written down there too.

I'm not a fan of code is documentation because what happens when you step away for a month and you need to figure something out? In trillium I have a search bar. What do you have in the code?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I made myself a wiki in my helpdesk system - I use osticket to send me various email alerts to so I can track issues I need to fix, and they have a little wiki option.

Then one day that host was down and I needed some info and I was very irritated. Now all of those notes are in my Apple notes backed up in iCloud and searchable on whatever I’ve got handy so if I need info I can get the info

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I played with GLPI just long enough to realize that was way more than I wanted or needed. I'd like to track changes but I don't want to run a full ticketing/chg mgmt system to do it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Git based static site generator, like gohugo or Jekyll.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In all honesty, it is a hodge podge. Some are in my dokuwiki, some are plain text, some are markdown, some in my phone, lots on scraps of paper. Just about the time I get it all in one place I scrap my systems and start over.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I know that I would keep forgetting to update the docs, so my documentation are the ansible playbooks and docker-compose.yaml files that I use to set it all up.

That leaves anything that has to be done in some Ui undocumented, so I try to keep that to a minimum, which isn't always easy (I'm looking at you authentik!).

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Obsidian. I love that it uses simple markdown files so it's platform agnostic. Documenting my setup has been a lifesaver.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I use a combination of netbox for the physical/logical network and server connectivity, and outline for text documentation of the different components.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use my gitea instance to backup my compose and config files. I've also enabled the Wiki on it to use for documentation.

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