homelab/start-here-docs/START-HERE.md

START HERE - Homelab Infrastructure Collection

Welcome!

You now have a sophisticated, production-ready system for collecting and documenting your Proxmox homelab infrastructure. This guide will get you operational in minutes.

What You Have

A complete automated collection system that:

• Gathers ALL Proxmox configurations (VMs, containers, storage, network, backups)
• Runs safely from your WSL2 environment via SSH
• Creates organized, documented exports
• Sanitizes sensitive information
• Supports automation and version control

Fastest Path to Success

Step 1: Configure (2 minutes)

cd /mnt/c/Users/fam1n/Documents/homelab

# Create your configuration file
cp .env.example .env

# Edit it with your Proxmox IP address
nano .env

Required change in .env:

PROXMOX_HOST="192.168.1.100"  # Replace with YOUR Proxmox IP

Save and exit (Ctrl+X, Y, Enter in nano)

Step 2: Test SSH (1 minute)

# Test connection to your Proxmox server
ssh root@192.168.1.100  # Use YOUR Proxmox IP

# If it works, exit back to WSL
exit

Optional but recommended: Set up passwordless SSH:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519
ssh-copy-id root@192.168.1.100  # Use YOUR Proxmox IP

Step 3: Run Collection (1 minute)

# Execute the collection
bash collect.sh

Watch as it:

1. Connects to your Proxmox server
2. Collects all configurations
3. Downloads results to your local machine
4. Shows you a summary

Step 4: Review Results (1 minute)

# View the summary
cat exports/homelab-export-*/SUMMARY.md

# Browse what was collected
ls -R exports/homelab-export-*/configs/

That's It!

You've just documented your entire homelab infrastructure. The export contains:

exports/homelab-export-<timestamp>/
├── configs/
│   ├── proxmox/          ← Core Proxmox settings
│   ├── vms/              ← All 8 VM configurations
│   ├── lxc/              ← All 3 container configurations
│   ├── storage/          ← Storage pool setups
│   ├── network/          ← Network configuration
│   └── backup/           ← Backup job schedules
└── exports/
    ├── system/           ← System information
    ├── cluster/          ← Resource usage
    └── guests/           ← VM/container details

What's Next?

Learn More

• Quick overview: Read INDEX.md
• Common patterns: Read README-COLLECTION.md
• Full reference: Read COLLECTION-GUIDE.md

Common Tasks

Weekly snapshots:

bash collect.sh

Full collection before maintenance:

bash collect.sh --level full --verbose

Sanitized export for sharing:

bash collect.sh --sanitize all

Version Control

Store your infrastructure in Git:

cd exports/homelab-export-*/
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Homelab snapshot $(date +%Y-%m-%d)"

Need Help?

Documentation Files

File	Purpose	Time to Read
INDEX.md	Navigation and overview	5 min
QUICK-START.md	Getting started guide	10 min
README-COLLECTION.md	Common usage patterns	15 min
COLLECTION-GUIDE.md	Complete reference	30 min
WORKFLOW-DIAGRAM.txt	Visual architecture	10 min

Quick Help

# Script help
bash collect.sh --help

# View documentation
cat INDEX.md

Common Issues

"Cannot connect to Proxmox"

• Check IP in .env
• Test: ssh root@<your-proxmox-ip>

"PROXMOX_HOST not set"

• Did you create .env from .env.example?
• Did you set PROXMOX_HOST in .env?

"Permission denied"

• Use: bash collect.sh (not ./collect.sh)
• Windows filesystem doesn't support Linux execute permissions

Your Infrastructure

Your Proxmox node "serviceslab" includes:

Virtual Machines:

• 100: docker-hub
• 101: gitlab
• 105: dev
• 106: Ansible-Control
• 108: CML
• 109: web-server-01
• 110: web-server-02
• 111: db-server-01

Containers:

• 102: nginx
• 103: netbox
• 112: Anytype

Storage:

• local, local-lvm, Vault, PBS-Backups, iso-share

All of this will be documented in your exports!

Files You Should Know About

To Execute

• collect.sh - Main command (uses .env configuration)
• collect-remote.sh - Advanced SSH wrapper
• collect-homelab-config.sh - Core engine (runs on Proxmox)

To Configure

• .env - YOUR configuration (create from .env.example)
• .env.example - Template with all options

To Read

• START-HERE.md - This file
• INDEX.md - Complete file index
• QUICK-START.md - 5-minute getting started
• README-COLLECTION.md - Overview and patterns
• COLLECTION-GUIDE.md - Full reference manual
• WORKFLOW-DIAGRAM.txt - Visual diagrams

Quick Command Reference

# Setup (one-time)
cp .env.example .env
nano .env  # Set PROXMOX_HOST

# Collect (run anytime)
bash collect.sh

# Review
cat exports/homelab-export-*/SUMMARY.md

# Help
bash collect.sh --help
cat INDEX.md

Safety Notes

✓ Completely Safe: All operations are read-only ✓ No Modifications: Script never changes your Proxmox setup ✓ Sanitized by Default: Passwords and tokens are redacted ✓ Tested: Production-ready, well-documented code

Success Indicators

After running, you should see:

[✓] SSH connection successful
[✓] Confirmed Proxmox VE installation
[✓] Script uploaded successfully
[✓] Collection completed successfully
[✓] Archive downloaded successfully

Ready?

Execute these commands:

cd /mnt/c/Users/fam1n/Documents/homelab
cp .env.example .env
nano .env  # Set your Proxmox IP
bash collect.sh

That's all you need! The rest of the documentation is there when you need it.

---

Quick Links:

• Overview: INDEX.md
• Getting Started: QUICK-START.md
• Full Guide: COLLECTION-GUIDE.md

Version: 1.0.0 | Created: 2024-11-28