Apr 4
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I just got back from KubeCon, and after hearing enough buzzwords to fill an etcd cluster, I wanted to do something different. Instead, I’m building a real Kubernetes homelab using K3s and Rancher — the same tools I actually plan to use going forward. In this video: - What K3s is and why it makes sense for a homelab - How K3s compares to “full” Kubernetes - Provisioning VMs and networking for a multi-node cluster - Installing K3s and joining worker nodes - Installing Helm, cert-manager, and Rancher - Fixing real issues along the way (permissions, DNS, TLS) 00:00 – Back from KubeCon (buzzwords and reality) 01:29 – Techno-babble and why this isn’t a sales pitch 02:39 – What we’re building: K3s + Rancher 04:00 – Planning the homelab Kubernetes cluster 06:10 – Networking and VM setup 07:21 – Installing K3s and joining nodes 09:07 – Installing Helm, cert-manager, and Rancher 11:36 – Cluster complete and what’s next 📁 Commands & notes: All commands used in this video are in the repo linked below. ▶️ Next video: We’ll dig into kubectl basics, explore what Rancher actually gives us day-to-day, install MetalLB, and start preparing the cluster to run real services. If this was useful, like and subscribe. I’ll see you in the next video.