If you’ve ever wanted to get hands-on with Kubernetes without paying for expensive cloud resources, building your own home lab is the perfect solution.
This guide walks you through setting up a lightweight Kubernetes cluster using Raspberry Pi devices, K3s, MetalLB, and Tailscale for secure networking.
🏠 Why Build a Home Kubernetes Cluster?
- Practice DevOps and cloud-native workflows locally.
- Avoid recurring cloud costs.
- Learn cluster networking, persistent storage, and scaling in a safe environment.
🚀 Step-by-Step Setup
1. Flash Raspberry Pi OS
Use Raspberry Pi Imager to install Raspberry Pi OS Lite. Configure SSH access and Wi-Fi/Ethernet.
2. Install K3s on Each Node
On your master node:
curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -
Get the join token for worker nodes:
sudo cat /var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/node-token
On worker nodes, join them to the cluster:
curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | K3S_URL=https://<MASTER_NODE_IP>:6443 K3S_TOKEN=<TOKEN> sh -
3. Configure MetalLB
Enable load balancing for your cluster by installing MetalLB:
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/metallb/metallb/v0.13.7/config/manifests/metallb-native.yaml
Create a MetalLB ConfigMap to define the IP address pool:
apiVersion: metallb.io/v1beta1
kind: IPAddressPool
metadata:
name: my-ip-pool
namespace: metallb-system
spec:
addresses:
- 192.168.1.240-192.168.1.250
Apply it with:
kubectl apply -f metallb-config.yaml
4. Secure with Tailscale
Install Tailscale on all nodes for secure VPN access to your cluster from anywhere.
On each node:
curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
sudo tailscale up
Once connected, you can access your cluster securely from any device.
📊 Next Steps: Add Monitoring
Set up Prometheus and Grafana for monitoring, or deploy test apps using Helm charts to validate your setup.
📌 Original Post: Build a Home Kubernetes Cluster (Subnet Savy)
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