Home Lab Automation with Terraform, Ansible, and CI/CD pipelines!

In this video we take a look at home lab automation to see how you can use Terraform, Ansible, and CI/CD pipelines to automate infrastructure provisioning with Proxmox, VMware, etc. Automation is easier than you think and we will walk through real-world examples of this in the video.

How to update Linux with Ansible written with code samples: www.virtualizationhowto.com/2024/01/how-to-update-…

Written blog on the subject:
www.virtualizationhowto.com/2025/03/automating-you…

Proxmox server build components list (amazon affiliate links I get a small commission):
Minisforum BD795M – geni.us/bd795m
RackChoice 2U Micro ATX Compact – geni.us/rackchoice2u
Cooler Master MWE Gold 850 V2 – geni.us/coolermaster850
Crucial 128 GB 5600MT/sec RAM – geni.us/crucial128gbramkit
Noctua NH-L9i-17xx, Premium Low-Profile CPU Cooler – amzn.to/4hAKIwG
Crucial 96GB kit of DDR5 SODIMM memory kit – geni.us/noctuanhl9i17xx
Intel X520-DA2 10 GbE network adapter – geni.us/intelx520
Kingston 240 GB drive for boot – geni.us/kingston240
Samsung EVO 990 Pro 2TB – geni.us/samsung990pro2tb
MX-4 Thermal paste – geni.us/mx4thermalpaste
Case fans: geni.us/arcticp8

Check out the VHT forums to get your questions answered: www.virtualizationhowto.com/community/

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Automation - 0:00
Why automate, is it really faster? 1:06
Introducing the 3 tools we will use - 2:22
Detailed intro to Terraform - 2:36
Demo of using Terraform with Proxmox - 3:43
Running the Terraform code - 9:05
Looking at Proxmox during Terraform provisioning - 9:18
Introduction to Ansible - 10:12
Using Ansible to install updates in Ubuntu Server - 11:25
No agents are required with Ansible - 13:12
Introduction to CI/CD pipelines - 13:30
Recommendations for CI/CD pipelines - 14:08
Real-world example of running automation with CI/CD - 14:50
Gitlab pipeline file - 15:15
Looking at an inventory PowerShell script used with my CI - 15:36
Looking at the YAML file for updating Linux servers - 16:42
Looking at the Gitlab CI YAML file - 17:25
Start with a real project - 18:56
Use Git - 19:09
Secure your secrets - 19:14
Test locally before implementing CI/CD - 19:29
Monitor and log everything - 19:36
Backup your Terraform state and Ansible Playbooks - 19:43
Wrapping up automating your home lab - 20:13