this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2023
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What do you use to document your home lab? (lemmy.procrastinati.org)
submitted 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) by SeeJayEmm@lemmy.procrastinati.org to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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My home lab has a mild amount of complexity and I'd like practice some good habits about documenting it. Stuff like, what each system does, the OS, any notable software installed and, most importantly, any documentation around configuration or troubleshooting.

i.e. I have an internal SMTP relay that uses a letsencrypt SSL cert that I need to use the DNS challenge to renew. I've got the steps around that sitting in a Google Doc. I've got a couple more google docs like that.

I don't want to get super complicated but I'd like something a bit more structured than a folder full of google docs. I'd also like to pull it in-house.

Thanks

Edit: I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten on this post so far. There have been a lot of tools suggested and some great discussion about methods. This will probably be my weekend now.

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[–] stardustsystem@lemmy.world 20 points 3 years ago (2 children)

I've been using Obsidian for a lot of other purposes for a couple years now, so I was comfortable adding my documentation into my existing vault there. I made a couple templates that I fill out for any hardware/software/networking equipment.

Since the app's selling point is storing all your notes in plain text I wouldn't put anything security-related in there without some encrypted container. I use KeePass for that part, and keep the file it generates in the same folder as Obsidian so I can link to it within notes. Click the link in the note, KeePass opens the vault and asks for its password.

[–] rickdgray@lemmy.world 4 points 3 years ago (1 children)

I use obsidian too. It supports mermaid too so you can make your network diagram with it.

[–] SeeJayEmm@lemmy.procrastinati.org 2 points 3 years ago (1 children)

This is the 2nd ref I've seen to mermaid. I need to check that out.

[–] Deebster@lemmyrs.org 3 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (2 children)

I love Mermaid, although I don't think you can currently do network diagrams. I've seen Kroki recommended here for doing that, which supports Mermaid plus many similar markup-based diagrammers.

[Edit: added link and more info]

[–] med@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 years ago

I would not consider Mermaid complete enough for network diagramming. The very basics are possible, but try to describe anything more complicated throws off the placement and makes the pathing whacky.

Straight flow charts are the closest you can get to a network diagram, so if you try to draw a link that travels back up the chart, it breaks mermaid’s brain trying to figure out the order of decision points (network devices).

The allure of text based diagrams is so tantalizing - but if you need them to be functional, it’s not going to happen

There’s an issue tracking the need a new diagram type to handle it.

[–] shertson@lemmy.world 2 points 3 years ago

This is the first I've heard of Kroki. A quick glance at their site and wow! So many options for markup. I'll be trying this out for sure

[–] Gutless2615@ttrpg.network 2 points 3 years ago (1 children)

Mind sharing your template?

[–] stardustsystem@lemmy.world 6 points 3 years ago (1 children)

Sure.

I left everything in, so no doubt there's stuff in there specific to my vault you won't need like metadata - adjust these to your needs or use them as a starting point for something new. There's no network device template, I usually use the hardware one and just delete the irrelevant bits.