Homelab as Code: Packer + Terraform + Ansible

This project automates a full homelab deployment — Packer builds the VM template, Terraform provisions it on Proxmox, and Ansible handles everything inside: Docker, Portainer, Traefik, and optional services like a media stack and Homepage dashboard.

Requirements

Architecture and Source Code

Source: meroxdotdev/homelab-as-code

What’s in the Repository

The repo covers everything needed to go from zero to a running VM with services:

• Deploy script — installs dependencies (git, curl, ansible, packer, terraform), clones the repo, and runs the full pipeline
• ansible/ — roles for Docker, Portainer, Traefik, and optional NFS mounts
• configs/docker/ — pre-configured services: Homepage, Traefik, media stack
• packer/ — builds an optimized Ubuntu template for Proxmox
• terraform/ — VM provisioning with networking and storage, based on the Packer template

Quick Start

Run this on a clean LXC:

bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/meroxdotdev/homelab-as-code/refs/heads/master/deploy_homelab.sh)"

What the Script Does

The script first asks whether your repository is public or private. For private repos, it generates an SSH key and prompts you to add it as a deploy key in your repo settings. For the public tutorial repo, use https://github.com/meroxdotdev/homelab-as-code.git directly.

Next, it asks whether you’ve already edited the required config files. Type yes to proceed with the Packer → Terraform → Ansible pipeline, or no to exit and review the guides below first.

Downloaded config files land in /home/homelab/.

Configuration Guides

The setup is split across four subposts — go through them in order before running the script:

1. Ansible Setup — inventory, roles, optional NFS mounts
2. Services Configuration — Homepage, Media Stack, Traefik
3. Infrastructure Setup — Packer and Terraform
4. Deployment & Verification — final steps and checks