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Local Device Preparation

Before starting infrastructure deployment, you need to prepare a local device for managing the entire system. This device will have tools installed for working with Ansible, Terraform, Kubernetes, and other components.

Installing Required Tools​

Ansible​

Ansible is used for automating deployment and server configuration.

macOS:

brew install ansible

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ansible

Installation Check:

ansible --version

Terraform​

Terraform is used for infrastructure management and inventory file generation.

macOS:

brew install terraform

Linux:

# Download the latest version from https://www.terraform.io/downloads
wget https://releases.hashicorp.com/terraform/1.6.0/terraform_1.6.0_linux_amd64.zip
unzip terraform_1.6.0_linux_amd64.zip
sudo mv terraform /usr/local/bin/

Installation Check:

terraform --version

kubectl​

Kubectl is a command-line tool for working with Kubernetes clusters.

macOS:

brew install kubectl

Linux:

curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl

Installation Check:

kubectl version --client

Helm​

Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes.

macOS:

brew install helm

Linux:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

Installation Check:

helm version

Helmfile​

Helmfile is a tool for managing multiple Helm charts.

macOS:

brew install helmfile

Linux:

wget https://github.com/helmfile/helmfile/releases/download/v0.155.0/helmfile_0.155.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf helmfile_0.155.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz
sudo mv helmfile /usr/local/bin/

Installation Check:

helmfile version

Helm Secrets Plugin​

Plugin for working with encrypted secrets via SOPS.

helm plugin install https://github.com/jkroepke/helm-secrets

Installation Check:

helm plugin list

GPG and SOPS​

GPG is used for encrypting secrets, SOPS is for working with encrypted files.

macOS:

brew install gpg sops

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y gnupg sops

Installation Check:

gpg --version
sops --version

Docker (optional)​

Docker can be used for local development and testing.

macOS:

brew install --cask docker

Linux:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Installation Check:

docker --version

SSH Key Configuration​

You need to configure SSH keys to access remote servers.

SSH Key Generation​

If you don't have an SSH key yet:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

Follow the instructions and save the key in the standard location ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.

Adding Key to SSH Agent​

macOS:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Linux:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Copying Public Key to Server​

After gaining access to the VPS server, copy the public key:

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub user@your-vps-ip

Or manually:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub | ssh user@your-vps-ip "mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

GPG Key Configuration for SOPS​

SOPS uses GPG for encrypting secrets.

GPG Key Generation​

gpg --full-generate-key

Choose:

  • Key type: RSA and RSA (default)
  • Key size: 4096
  • Expiration: you can choose 0 (no expiration)
  • Real name and email

Exporting Public Key​

After generating the key, export it for use in SOPS:

gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format LONG

Find a line like sec rsa4096/XXXXXXXXXXXX 2024-01-01, where XXXXXXXXXXXX is the key ID.

Export the public key:

gpg --armor --export YOUR_KEY_ID > my-gpg-key.pub

Save this key - it will be needed for configuring .sops.yaml.

GPG_TTY Configuration​

For GPG to work in the terminal, set the environment variable:

echo 'export GPG_TTY=$(tty)' >> ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc
source ~/.bashrc  # or source ~/.zshrc

Cloning the Repository​

Clone the project repository:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/self-hosted.git
cd self-hosted

.sops.yaml Configuration​

Create a .sops.yaml file in the project root for automatic secret management:

---
creation_rules:
  - pgp: YOUR_GPG_KEY_ID

Replace YOUR_GPG_KEY_ID with your GPG key ID that you obtained earlier.

Example .sops.yaml file:

---
creation_rules:
  - pgp: 1E89965BF6B3B6D4AA02D096FEB9EA0B2906786F

Checking Remote Server (VPS) Access​

Before deployment, make sure you have:

  1. VPS server IP address
  2. SSH access to the server
  3. Root rights or user with sudo rights

Check access:

ssh user@your-vps-ip

If the connection is successful, you are ready for the next step - remote device configuration.

Checking All Installed Tools​

Make sure all tools are installed correctly:

echo "=== Checking Installed Tools ==="
ansible --version
terraform --version
kubectl version --client
helm version
helmfile version
helm plugin list
gpg --version
sops --version
docker --version  # if installed

All tools should be installed and ready to use.

Next Steps​

After completing local device preparation, proceed to:

  1. Connecting and Configuring Remote Device - VPS server configuration and Pangolin deployment