Currently in that “sifting through online resouces” phase, but less because of broken stuff, and more because I want to set up everything prefectly the first time. Which is probs impossible lol. I am majoring in Cyber, so tech is my life, but this homelab is how I actually put what I’ve learned to use and learn even more than what college will probably teach me.

I’m on winter break and having a blast (kind of 😅) setting up my Proxmox to have all the services I want. I have gotten stuck several times, but I can find info eventually, and keep moving forward. Thankfully there’s a website that contains Proxmox setup scripts for almost every service imaginable, making a homelab way more accessible.

Linux skills/terminal knowlege helps this process go by faster, and my networking knowledge helps too. But that’s basically all I got lol. I can understand an okay amount of what scripts do, but I’m no programmer/scripter. I screw up mount points, look up how to check ssh key fingerprints every 10 mins, I fail to get VPN tunnel configs to work, a whole slew of issues. But I always end up learning something in the end, and get one step closer to that sweet sweet setup. So just learn and break things while you don’t care about it. Who cares if I fuck up the jellyfin config? It only had like two videos in it anyway. Best to screw up now so when I go data hoarder I know how to save my info.

Edit: Just got SMB to work for both my VM and LXCs, and I’m so happy. Every accomplishment with my homelab has me fistbumbing the air and floating on clouds. Make a homelab just the high it gives you when you do something right.

Just curious, what about a secondary (burner I guess) smartphone? I have an old phone I stopped using years ago that I flashed LineageOS onto, it has no SIM card, I keep it fully shut down until I leave my house, and it only has Signal on it for messaging purposes and ProtonVPN. Is that also a big enough threat? I used it while at a No Kings protest.

Are dummy phones the only way to go?

Okay, but people still need emails for basic services and accounts, so would you rather them use Gmail or Proton?

Like duh don’t email your mom with a detailed plan on how you’re gonna do a terrorist attack. Crazy idea, I know.