kenpat
1e8319ee75
Complete documentation suite for KiteStacks covering all 11 services across 2-host active-active architecture. Includes beginner track (with AI, 8 files) and advanced track (without AI, 7 files) with time estimates, real troubleshooting cases, and command-by-command explanations. Updates certifications roadmap to reflect July 7 2026 A+ Core 2 exam goal. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
85 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
85 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
# KiteStacks Build Guide — Choose Your Path
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This guide teaches you how to build the entire KiteStacks homelab from a blank machine.
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There are two tracks. Pick the one that fits where you are right now.
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---
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## Track A — With AI (Beginner)
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**Who this is for:** Someone with zero or very little tech experience.
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You do not need to know Linux, Docker, or networking. You just need to be able to
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follow instructions and copy commands.
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**How it works:** You use an AI assistant (Claude, ChatGPT, or similar) as your guide
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throughout the build. The AI explains what each command does in plain language before
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you run it. You never copy something without understanding what it does — the AI makes
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sure of that.
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**Time to complete:** 2–4 weeks of evenings and weekends (2–3 hours per session).
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**What you will have at the end:** A fully working homelab identical to KiteStacks.
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→ **[Start the AI-Assisted Build](with-ai/01-what-you-need.md)**
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---
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## Track B — Without AI (Advanced)
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**Who this is for:** Someone who wants to understand everything deeply and build skills
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along the way — not just copy commands but know what every line does and why.
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**How it works:** You build the homelab from scratch, learning Bash scripting, Python,
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Docker internals, Linux administration, and networking as you go. Every command is
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explained in full. No shortcuts.
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**Time to complete:** 3–6 months of consistent part-time study and building
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(evenings and weekends). Full-time: 6–10 weeks.
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**What you will learn:** Linux, Bash scripting, Python, Docker, networking (DNS, ports,
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TLS, firewalls), OAuth2/OIDC, infrastructure design, and troubleshooting methodology.
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→ **[Start the Advanced Build](without-ai/01-linux-foundations.md)**
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---
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## What Both Tracks Build
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By the end of either track you will have:
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- ✅ A public domain (e.g. kitestacks.com) serving real websites
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- ✅ Eleven self-hosted services running in Docker
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- ✅ Single sign-on — one account for everything
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- ✅ A cloud VPS as a permanent backup — site stays up when your home PC is off
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- ✅ Private networking between home and cloud via Tailscale VPN
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- ✅ Real-time monitoring with Grafana and Uptime Kuma
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- ✅ A desktop widget showing live service status
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---
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## Hardware and Accounts Needed (Both Tracks)
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### Hardware
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- Any PC or laptop running Linux (or you can install Linux on it) — minimum 8GB RAM, 100GB disk
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- A domain name — buy from Cloudflare Registrar, Namecheap, or similar (~$10–15/year)
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- A credit card for the cloud VPS (~€4–5/month on Hetzner — less than a coffee)
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### Accounts to Create
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- **Cloudflare** — free account at cloudflare.com
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- **Hetzner** — cloud VPS provider at hetzner.com (or any VPS: DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode)
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- **Tailscale** — free at tailscale.com (up to 100 devices)
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- **OpenRouter** — free AI model access at openrouter.ai (for the AI chat service)
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### What You Are Building On
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```
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Home PC (monk)
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└── Ubuntu or similar Linux OS
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└── Docker + Docker Compose
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└── ~15 containers running
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Cloud VPS (kscloud1)
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└── Ubuntu Linux
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└── Docker + Docker Compose
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└── Same 15 containers running (replica)
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└── Shared PostgreSQL + Redis
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```
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