elserverloco - MicroK8s Cluster

Infrastructure

Component	Details
KVM Host	`ubuntu@172.16.5.184` (hostname: elserverloco)
MicroK8s VM	`dcasati@172.16.5.185` (hostname: microk8s)
OS	Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
Kernel	6.8.0-101-generic
Kubernetes	v1.33.7 (MicroK8s)
Container Runtime	containerd 1.7.27
API Server	https://172.16.5.185:16443
VM Resources	8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM
VM Disk	`/vmpool/vms/microk8s.qcow2` (qcow2)

Other VMs on the Host

VM	IP	User	Purpose
haos	172.16.5.148	N/A (no SSH)	Home Assistant OS
unifi	172.16.5.186	dcasati	UniFi Network Controller
microk8s	172.16.5.185	dcasati	Kubernetes cluster

KVM Host Network

The host uses a bridge (br0) so VMs get IPs on the same LAN (172.16.5.0/24).

Netplan config (/etc/netplan/*.yaml):

network:
  version: 2
  renderer: NetworkManager
  ethernets:
    enp5s0:
      match:
        macaddress: "ac:1f:6b:01:3d:1e"
      set-name: "enp5s0"
      dhcp4: false
      dhcp6: false
  bridges:
    br0:
      interfaces:
        - enp5s0
      addresses:
        - 172.16.5.184/24
      routes:
        - to: default
          via: 172.16.5.1
      nameservers:
        addresses:
          - 172.16.5.53
          - 1.1.1.1
      parameters:
        stp: false
        forward-delay: 0

VM Disks

All disks stored in /vmpool/vms/:

File	Size	VM
`haos.qcow2`	~18 GB	haos
`unifi.qcow2`	~9.1 GB	unifi
`microk8s.qcow2`	~32 GB	microk8s
`microk8s-cidata.iso`	368 KB	microk8s cloud-init
`unifi-cidata.iso`	368 KB	unifi cloud-init

Cloud-init source files are kept in /vmpool/vms/cloud-init/{microk8s,unifi,home-assistant}/.

VM Creation Details

haos (Home Assistant OS)

Specs: 2 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, UEFI boot (OVMF), TPM 2.0 emulated, i440fx chipset

HAOS uses a pre-built qcow2 image from the Home Assistant releases. No cloud-init — the image is self-contained.

Key differences from other VMs:

UEFI firmware with OVMF (/usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_CODE_4M.fd)
NVRAM at /var/lib/libvirt/qemu/nvram/haos_VARS.fd
SCSI disk (virtio-scsi controller) instead of virtio
e1000 NIC (not virtio) — bridged to br0
TPM 2.0 emulated (tpm-crb backend)
No guest agent — no SSH access by default
No cloud-init ISO

Recreate with virt-install:

# Download HAOS image (check latest version at https://github.com/home-assistant/operating-system/releases)
wget https://github.com/home-assistant/operating-system/releases/download/<VERSION>/haos_ova-<VERSION>.qcow2.xz
xz -d haos_ova-<VERSION>.qcow2.xz
mv haos_ova-<VERSION>.qcow2 /vmpool/vms/haos.qcow2

virt-install \
  --name haos \
  --description "Home Assistant OS" \
  --ram 16384 \
  --vcpus 2 \
  --cpu host-passthrough \
  --os-variant generic \
  --boot uefi \
  --machine pc-i440fx-noble-v2 \
  --disk /vmpool/vms/haos.qcow2,bus=scsi \
  --controller scsi,model=virtio-scsi \
  --network bridge=br0,model=e1000 \
  --tpm backend.type=emulator,backend.version=2.0,model=tpm-crb \
  --graphics none \
  --noautoconsole \
  --import

Access via: http://172.16.5.148:8123

unifi (UniFi Network Controller)

Specs: 2 vCPU, 16 GB RAM (8 GB current), Q35 chipset, cloud-init provisioned

Cloud-init user-data (/vmpool/vms/cloud-init/unifi/user-data):

#cloud-config
hostname: unifi
manage_etc_hosts: true
users:
  - name: dcasati
    sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
    shell: /bin/bash
    ssh_authorized_keys:
      - ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAINY8q+Ww2leih7SMZQqaM8a7CyCD1rI8EJ9oKeQbDjq9
timezone: America/Edmonton
package_update: true
package_upgrade: true
packages:
  - net-tools
  - curl
  - wget
  - ca-certificates
  - apt-transport-https
  - qemu-guest-agent

Cloud-init meta-data:

instance-id: unifi-vm
local-hostname: unifi

Cloud-init network-config (/vmpool/vms/cloud-init/unifi/network-config):

version: 2
ethernets:
  enp1s0:
    dhcp4: false
    addresses:
      - 172.16.5.186/24
    routes:
      - to: default
        via: 172.16.5.1
    nameservers:
      addresses:
        - 172.16.5.53
        - 1.1.1.1

Recreate:

# 1. Create base disk from Ubuntu cloud image
wget https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img
qemu-img create -f qcow2 -b noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img -F qcow2 /vmpool/vms/unifi.qcow2 50G

# 2. Generate cloud-init ISO
genisoimage -output /vmpool/vms/unifi-cidata.iso -V cidata -r -J \
  /vmpool/vms/cloud-init/unifi/user-data \
  /vmpool/vms/cloud-init/unifi/meta-data \
  /vmpool/vms/cloud-init/unifi/network-config

# 3. Create VM
virt-install \
  --name unifi \
  --ram 16384 \
  --vcpus 2 \
  --cpu host-passthrough \
  --os-variant ubuntu24.04 \
  --machine pc-q35-noble \
  --disk /vmpool/vms/unifi.qcow2,bus=virtio \
  --disk /vmpool/vms/unifi-cidata.iso,device=cdrom \
  --network bridge=br0,model=virtio \
  --channel unix,target.type=virtio,target.name=org.qemu.guest_agent.0 \
  --graphics none \
  --noautoconsole \
  --import

microk8s (Kubernetes Cluster)

Specs: 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, Q35 chipset, cloud-init provisioned

Cloud-init user-data (/vmpool/vms/cloud-init/microk8s/user-data):

#cloud-config
hostname: microk8s
manage_etc_hosts: true
users:
  - name: dcasati
    groups: sudo
    shell: /bin/bash
    sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
    lock_passwd: true
    ssh_authorized_keys:
      - ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAINY8q+Ww2leih7SMZQqaM8a7CyCD1rI8EJ9oKeQbDjq9 dcasati@WIN-THINK24
timezone: America/Edmonton
package_update: true
package_upgrade: true
packages:
  - net-tools
  - curl
  - apt-transport-https
  - ca-certificates
  - gnupg
  - lsb-release
  - qemu-guest-agent
runcmd:
  - systemctl enable --now qemu-guest-agent

Cloud-init meta-data:

instance-id: microk8s-vm
local-hostname: microk8s

Cloud-init network-config (/vmpool/vms/cloud-init/microk8s/network-config):

version: 2
ethernets:
  enp1s0:
    dhcp4: false
    addresses:
      - 172.16.5.185/24
    routes:
      - to: default
        via: 172.16.5.1
    nameservers:
      addresses:
        - 172.16.5.53
        - 1.1.1.1

Recreate:

# 1. Create base disk from Ubuntu cloud image
wget https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/noble/current/noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img
qemu-img create -f qcow2 -b noble-server-cloudimg-amd64.img -F qcow2 /vmpool/vms/microk8s.qcow2 100G

# 2. Generate cloud-init ISO
genisoimage -output /vmpool/vms/microk8s-cidata.iso -V cidata -r -J \
  /vmpool/vms/cloud-init/microk8s/user-data \
  /vmpool/vms/cloud-init/microk8s/meta-data \
  /vmpool/vms/cloud-init/microk8s/network-config

# 3. Create VM
virt-install \
  --name microk8s \
  --description "MicroK8s - Mattermost" \
  --ram 16384 \
  --vcpus 8 \
  --cpu host-passthrough \
  --os-variant ubuntu24.04 \
  --machine pc-q35-noble \
  --disk /vmpool/vms/microk8s.qcow2,bus=virtio \
  --disk /vmpool/vms/microk8s-cidata.iso,device=cdrom \
  --network bridge=br0,model=virtio \
  --channel unix,target.type=virtio,target.name=org.qemu.guest_agent.0 \
  --graphics none \
  --noautoconsole \
  --import

# 4. After first boot, install MicroK8s
ssh dcasati@172.16.5.185
sudo snap install microk8s --classic --channel=1.33/stable
sudo usermod -aG microk8s dcasati
microk8s enable dns hostpath-storage metallb:172.16.5.230-172.16.5.245 helm3

SSH Config

Entries are in ~/.ssh/config:

Host elserverloco  -> ubuntu@172.16.5.184
Host microk8s      -> dcasati@172.16.5.185
Host unifi         -> dcasati@172.16.5.186
Host haos          -> root@172.16.5.148

Kubeconfig

export KUBECONFIG=$(pwd)/kubeconfig
# or use direnv (.envrc is set up)

Retrieve a fresh kubeconfig:

ssh dcasati@172.16.5.185 "microk8s config" > kubeconfig

MicroK8s Addons

Enabled

dns - CoreDNS
ha-cluster - High availability configuration
helm / helm3 - Helm package manager
hostpath-storage - Storage class (allocates from host directory)
metallb - LoadBalancer for bare-metal
storage - Alias to hostpath-storage (deprecated)

Disabled (available to enable)

cert-manager, cis-hardening, community, dashboard, gpu, host-access
ingress, kube-ovn, mayastor, metrics-server, minio, nvidia
observability, prometheus, rbac, registry, rook-ceph

Enable an addon:

ssh dcasati@172.16.5.185 "microk8s enable <addon-name>"

MetalLB Configuration

IP Address Pool: 172.16.5.230 - 172.16.5.245

Pool name: default-addresspool
Mode: L2 Advertisement (default-advertise-all-pools)
Auto-assign: yes

Recreate MetalLB Config

apiVersion: metallb.io/v1beta1
kind: IPAddressPool
metadata:
  name: default-addresspool
  namespace: metallb-system
spec:
  addresses:
    - 172.16.5.230-172.16.5.245
  autoAssign: true
---
apiVersion: metallb.io/v1beta1
kind: L2Advertisement
metadata:
  name: default-advertise-all-pools
  namespace: metallb-system

Storage

Storage Class: microk8s-hostpath (default)
Provisioner: microk8s.io/hostpath
Reclaim Policy: Delete
Volume Binding: WaitForFirstConsumer

Namespaces & Services

caal

Voice AI assistant stack.

Service	Type	External IP	Port(s)
agent	ClusterIP	—	8889
frontend	ClusterIP	—	3000
kokoro	ClusterIP	—	8880
livekit	ClusterIP	—	7880, 7881
n8n	ClusterIP	—	5678
n8n-external	LoadBalancer	172.16.5.236	5678
nginx	LoadBalancer	172.16.5.235	3443, 7443
ollama	ClusterIP	—	11434
speaches	ClusterIP	—	8000
speaches-external	LoadBalancer	172.16.5.237	8000

Deployments: agent, frontend, kokoro, livekit, n8n, nginx, speaches

PVCs:

Name	Size	Purpose
caal-config	100Mi	Config storage
caal-memory	1Gi	Memory/state
kokoro-cache	5Gi	Kokoro TTS cache
n8n-data	2Gi	n8n workflow data
nginx-certs	10Mi	TLS certificates
speaches-cache	5Gi	Speaches model cache

Secrets: caal-secrets (16 keys)

mattermost

Team chat deployed via Helm.

Service	Type	External IP	Port(s)
mattermost-team-edition	LoadBalancer	172.16.5.230	8065
mattermost-postgresql	ClusterIP	—	5432

Helm Release:

Chart:       mattermost-team-edition-6.6.93
App Version: 11.4.2
Namespace:   mattermost

Reinstall:

helm repo add mattermost https://helm.mattermost.com
helm install mattermost mattermost/mattermost-team-edition \
  -n mattermost --create-namespace \
  -f mattermost/helm-values.yaml

PVCs:

Name	Size
mattermost-mattermost-team-edition	10Gi
mattermost-mattermost-team-edition-plugins	1Gi
mattermost-postgresql-data	10Gi

iot-stack

MQTT broker for IoT devices.

Service	Type	External IP	Port(s)
mosquitto-service	LoadBalancer	172.16.5.241	1883, 9001

Deployments: mosquitto

PVCs:

Name	Size
mosquitto-data-pvc	1Gi

home-assistant

Voice processing services for Home Assistant.

Service	Type	External IP	Port(s)
piper	ClusterIP	—	10200
piper-external	LoadBalancer	172.16.5.239	10200
whisper	ClusterIP	—	10300
whisper-external	LoadBalancer	172.16.5.238	10300

Deployments: mqtt-discovery-bridge, piper, whisper

PVCs:

Name	Size
piper-data-pvc	2Gi
whisper-data-pvc	5Gi

wikipedia-offline

Offline Wikipedia served via Kiwix.

Service	Type	External IP	Port(s)
kiwix-serve	LoadBalancer	172.16.5.244	80

PVCs:

Name	Size
zim-data	200Gi

LoadBalancer IP Summary

IP	Service	Namespace
172.16.5.230	mattermost-team-edition	mattermost
172.16.5.235	nginx (CAAL frontend)	caal
172.16.5.236	n8n-external	caal
172.16.5.237	speaches-external	caal
172.16.5.238	whisper-external	home-assistant
172.16.5.239	piper-external	home-assistant
172.16.5.241	mosquitto-service	iot-stack
172.16.5.244	kiwix-serve	wikipedia-offline

Custom Docker Images

Two locally-built images are loaded directly into the microk8s containerd store (not pulled from a registry):

Image	Size	Namespace	Exported To
`docker.io/library/caal-agent:latest`	907.9 MiB	caal	`caal/images/caal-agent.tar`
`docker.io/library/caal-frontend:latest`	246.0 MiB	caal	`caal/images/caal-frontend.tar`

Source code for these images is also backed up in caal/agent-src/ and caal/frontend-src/.

Restoring Custom Images

# Import images into microk8s containerd
microk8s ctr images import caal/images/caal-agent.tar
microk8s ctr images import caal/images/caal-frontend.tar

Directory Structure

~/clusters/elserverloco/
├── README.md              # This file
├── kubeconfig             # Cluster kubeconfig
├── .envrc                 # direnv config (sets KUBECONFIG)
├── caal/
│   ├── deploys.yaml
│   ├── services.yaml
│   ├── configmaps.yaml
│   ├── secrets.yaml
│   ├── pvcs.yaml
│   ├── files/             # Bespoke config files from configmaps
│   │   ├── nginx.conf
│   │   ├── livekit.yaml
│   │   ├── generate-certs.sh
│   │   ├── mcp_servers.default.json
│   │   └── settings.default.json
│   ├── agent-src/         # caal-agent custom image source
│   │   ├── voice_agent.py
│   │   ├── entrypoint.sh
│   │   ├── src/caal/
│   │   └── prompt/
│   ├── frontend-src/      # caal-frontend custom image source
│   │   ├── server.js
│   │   ├── package.json
│   │   └── public/
│   └── images/            # Exported custom Docker images
│       ├── caal-agent.tar     (908 MB)
│       └── caal-frontend.tar  (247 MB)
├── mattermost/
│   ├── deploys.yaml
│   ├── services.yaml
│   ├── configmaps.yaml
│   ├── secrets.yaml
│   ├── pvcs.yaml
│   └── helm-values.yaml
├── iot-stack/
│   ├── deploys.yaml
│   ├── services.yaml
│   ├── configmaps.yaml
│   ├── secrets.yaml
│   ├── pvcs.yaml
│   └── files/
│       └── mosquitto.conf
└── home-assistant/
    ├── deploys.yaml
    ├── services.yaml
    ├── configmaps.yaml
    ├── secrets.yaml
    ├── pvcs.yaml
    └── files/
        └── bridge.py

Recreating the Cluster

Install MicroK8s: sudo snap install microk8s --classic --channel=1.33/stable

Enable addons:

microk8s enable dns hostpath-storage metallb:172.16.5.230-172.16.5.245 helm3

Apply MetalLB config (IPAddressPool + L2Advertisement) from above

Create namespaces:

for ns in caal mattermost iot-stack home-assistant wikipedia-offline; do
  kubectl create namespace $ns
done

Import custom Docker images:

microk8s ctr images import caal/images/caal-agent.tar
microk8s ctr images import caal/images/caal-frontend.tar

Deploy each namespace from the saved YAMLs:

for ns in caal iot-stack home-assistant; do
  kubectl apply -f $ns/ -n $ns
done

Deploy Mattermost via Helm:

helm repo add mattermost https://helm.mattermost.com
helm install mattermost mattermost/mattermost-team-edition \
  -n mattermost -f mattermost/helm-values.yaml

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 101 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
caal		caal
home-assistant		home-assistant
infra		infra
iot-stack		iot-stack
mattermost		mattermost
print		print
.gitignore		.gitignore
README.md		README.md
workstation-setup.md		workstation-setup.md

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Repository files navigation

elserverloco - MicroK8s Cluster

Infrastructure

Other VMs on the Host

KVM Host Network

VM Disks

VM Creation Details

haos (Home Assistant OS)

unifi (UniFi Network Controller)

microk8s (Kubernetes Cluster)

SSH Config

Kubeconfig

MicroK8s Addons

Enabled

Disabled (available to enable)

MetalLB Configuration

Recreate MetalLB Config

Storage

Namespaces & Services

caal

mattermost

iot-stack

home-assistant

wikipedia-offline

LoadBalancer IP Summary

Custom Docker Images

Restoring Custom Images

Directory Structure

Recreating the Cluster

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Repository files navigation

elserverloco - MicroK8s Cluster

Infrastructure

Other VMs on the Host

KVM Host Network

VM Disks

VM Creation Details

haos (Home Assistant OS)

unifi (UniFi Network Controller)

microk8s (Kubernetes Cluster)

SSH Config

Kubeconfig

MicroK8s Addons

Enabled

Disabled (available to enable)

MetalLB Configuration

Recreate MetalLB Config

Storage

Namespaces & Services

caal

mattermost

iot-stack

home-assistant

wikipedia-offline

LoadBalancer IP Summary

Custom Docker Images

Restoring Custom Images

Directory Structure

Recreating the Cluster

About

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