homelab: kubernetes

I got a nuc the other day and decided (for some stupid reason), that it would be a great idea to learn to bootstrap a production install of kubernetes. Even with handholding this felt like blundering through a dark forest where one gets murdered for no apparent reason. If I were to go back in time to give my past self some advice, it would be:

• the kubernetes manual needs a manual;
• there is a pretty strict order in which things need to be installed and the kubernetes website is infuriatingly diffident about this;
• when the site says “you may have issues if you don’t address a, b, or c,” you should absolutely reinterpret that as “you WILL have issues if you don’t address a, b AND c so STOP what you are doing RIGHT now and deal with them” and
• you should treat the kubernetes instructions how to as not a series of instructions to execute, but rather a recipe in which you should absolutely read ahead because they will warn you after the fact and not before (e.g., run this line to install this .toml but by the way, you might need to edit the configuration).

If I were to change just one thing about the site, it needs to move from its diffidence to the imperative. It’s like having a friend that tells you “well, it depends” for every question you ask of him or her. Yes, life is full of uncertainties but my god that is a not a helpful answer.