Introduction
In the beginning there were two 16 GB DDR4 RAM sticks and a 1 TB M.2 SSD that were gathering dust. After researching mini PCs, I decided to purchase the GMKtec NucBox M5 Ultra as a bare-bones system. The AMD Ryzen 7 7730U processor provides plenty of power for virtualization, and the compact form factor makes it perfect for a home lab setup. I got it on Black Friday sale for $255.89. Surprisingly, there were no import taxes added to the $255.89. The PC arrived from China after about two weeks.
Specifications
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7730U
- RAM: 2x16 GB DDR4 (32 GB total - my existing hardware)
- Storage: 1TB M.2 SSD (also repurposed from my spare parts)
- Form Factor: Mini PC (perfect for a quiet homelab)
Installing Proxmox VE
With the hardware assembled, the next step was to install Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE).
The installation was straightforward:
- Downloaded the Proxmox VE ISO from the official website
- Created a bootable USB drive
- Booted the GMKtec NucBox from the USB drive
- Followed the installation wizard
Within minutes, I had a fully functional hypervisor ready to host virtual machines and containers.
Setting Up SSL Certificates
One of the first things I wanted to tackle was proper SSL/TLS certificate management. Running services over HTTPS is essential for security, even in a homelab environment. Additionally I will not have to set some Terrform insecure variable to accept self signed certificates. I documented the entire process in my GitHub repository: homelab-self-signed-cert-setup.
The setup involved:
- Creating a Certificate Authority (CA) for my homelab
- Generating self-signed certificates for various services
- Configuring trust stores on client devices
Securing Home Assistant
I also have a Raspberry Pi 4 running Home Assistant for home automation. As part of my “security initiative”, I configured TLS for the Home Assistant instance as well. This ensures that all communication with my smart home devices and automation platform is encrypted.
The process involved:
- Generating SSL certificates for the Home Assistant domain
- Configuring Home Assistant to use HTTPS with self signed certicates
- Updating client applications to trust the new certificates e.g. an old Lenovo Tab 8 which is used as a home display
What’s Next?
Using Terraform to manage all my VMs on my new Proxmox server. I have another 16GB DDR4 RAM stick and another 500GB M2, maybe I’ll add another serverd to the mix and setup a proxmox cluster…