An experiment exploring whether a local large language model can manage a home server without strict guardrails. By using the Pi agent harness and the Qwen3.6-35B-A3B model, the author successfully enabled an LLM to control a Proxmox VE node. The setup demonstrated impressive capabilities in managing LXC containers, checking system metrics, creating snapshots, and provisioning new virtual machines. Despite these successes, the system encountered difficulties with guest terminal command execution, persistent configuration management, and multi-node scaling.
- Implementation of the Pi agent harness with local models
- Autonomous creation of custom Proxmox extensions by the LLM
- Successful management of LXC containers and VM provisioning
- Challenges with terminal command execution and credential persistence
- Implementation of the Pi agent harness with local models
- Autonomous creation of custom Proxmox extensions by the LLM
- Successful management of LXC containers and VM provisioning
- Challenges with terminal command execution and credential persistence
The article explores how Canonical's MicroCloud works well with Raspberry Pi, particularly the Raspberry Pi 5, for home lab setups. It discusses the compatibility, performance, and features of running MicroCloud on ARM-based SBCs, highlighting its ability to run both VMs and containers.
The article discusses 5 self-hosted services (NetBox, Harvester, Terraform, Ansible, and Kubernetes) that the author finds useful in their home lab despite being potentially overkill for typical setups. It details the benefits and use cases for each service, highlighting how they enhance the author's tinkering and learning experience.
Learn how to automate your home lab using Terraform, Ansible, Packer & GitLab CI/CD for consistent, version-controlled, and scalable infrastructure.
