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Deploy and Manage Applications

This guide explains how I deploy and manage applications on my Kubernetes cluster using GitOps with ArgoCD.

Quick Start​

Applications live in /k8s/applications/ organized by function:

  • ai/ - AI tools like OpenWebUI, KaraKeep
  • automation/ - Home automation (Frigate, MQTT)
  • media/ - Media servers and tools (Jellyfin, *arr stack)
  • network/ - Network apps (AdGuard Home, Omada)
  • tools/ - Utility apps (IT-Tools, Whoami, Unrar)
  • web/ - Web applications (BabyBuddy, Pedrobot)
  • external/ - Services outside Kubernetes but referenced internally

How Application Deployment Works​

I use ArgoCD ApplicationSet to automatically deploy apps from Git. Here's the process:

  1. Add your app files to a category folder (e.g., /k8s/applications/media/myapp/)
  2. For most applications, ensure they are discoverable by the main ApplicationSet in /k8s/applications/application-set.yaml (which scans subdirectories).
  3. For applications in the external/ category (like HAOS, Proxmox, TrueNAS), these are managed by a separate ApplicationSet located at /k8s/applications/external/application-set.yaml. This ApplicationSet specifically scans paths like k8s/apps/external/*.
  4. ArgoCD detects the change and deploys automatically.

Key Files​

  • kustomization.yaml - Groups apps in each category
  • project.yaml - Sets ArgoCD permissions and controls
  • application-set.yaml - Main deployment configuration (additional ApplicationSets may exist for specific categories like external)

Application Structure​

Each app folder should contain:

myapp/
├── kustomization.yaml    # App configuration
├── namespace.yaml        # Kubernetes namespace
├── deployment.yaml      # Container settings
├── service.yaml         # Network exposure
├── pvc.yaml            # Storage for Deployments (optional)
├── statefulset.yaml     # Stateful workloads with volumeClaimTemplates
├── http-route.yaml     # External access
└── values.yaml         # Helm values (only if the app uses a Helm chart)

Example: KaraKeep Configuration​

Here's how KaraKeep (/k8s/applications/ai/karakeep/) is structured:

  1. Basic Setup

    • Uses namespace: karakeep
    • Configures non-sensitive settings via ConfigMap
    • Manages versions through Kustomize

  2. Security

    • Runs as non-root
    • Drops unnecessary privileges
    • Uses default security profiles
    • Helm charts explicitly set runAsUser, runAsGroup, and fsGroup to 1000 with seccompProfile: RuntimeDefault and allowPrivilegeEscalation: false.
    • Default UID and GID for Meilisearch are set to 1000. Adjust runAsUser and runAsGroup in meilisearch-deployment.yaml if those IDs conflict with your environment.

  3. Storage

    • Uses Longhorn for app data via PersistentVolumeClaims (e.g., data-pvc, meilisearch-pvc), which use the default StorageClass (Longhorn).
    • While a shared NFS media store exists for other media applications, KaraKeep primarily uses its dedicated PVCs for its operational data.

  4. Network Access

    • The primary web interface is exposed via a LoadBalancer service (e.g., karakeep-web-svc with IP 10.25.150.230). Internal components like Meilisearch or Chrome might use ClusterIP services.
    • External access through Gateway API
    • Custom IPs via Cilium

  5. Secrets

    • Managed by ExternalSecrets
    • Stored in Bitwarden
    • Automatically synced to Kubernetes

Shared Resources​

Media Storage​

I use NFS for shared media files:

  • Location: 172.20.20.103:/mnt/wd1/media_share
  • Access: ReadWriteMany
  • Retention: Persistent
  • Used by: All media apps

Best Practices​

  1. Use Kustomize for configuration
  2. Store secrets in Bitwarden
  3. Set resource limits
  4. Configure security contexts and keep the root filesystem read-only when possible. s6-overlay containers like Frigate must run as root (runAsUser: 0), mount /run as an emptyDir so writes stay ephemeral, and require the CHOWN, FOWNER, SETGID, and SETUID capabilities so startup scripts can change permissions. If the container needs to write to /etc during startup, disable readOnlyRootFilesystem for that pod
  5. Use automated sync with ArgoCD
  6. Use the Recreate strategy for any Deployment that mounts a PVC.
  7. Be aware that Recreate causes downtime during updates, so plan a short maintenance window.
  8. Pin container images to explicit versions and set imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent.

OpenWebUI Notes​

OpenWebUI provides a chat interface backed by local AI models. The deployment integrates with Authentik using OIDC and merges accounts by email so users can sign in with any provider. The OLLAMA_BASE_URL variable is intentionally omitted because the Ollama stack is not managed in this repository.

Chrome and Ollama define both liveness and readiness probes so Kubernetes can restart them if they crash and only route traffic when each pod is ready. Mosquitto and Unrar use similar probes. Pedro Bot relies on PersistentVolumeClaims for logs and data, and Jellyfin and Unrar can run on any available node.

Karakeep Notes​

Karakeep authenticates through Authentik using OIDC. The client ID and secret live in Bitwarden and sync to a Kubernetes secret via ExternalSecrets. Password logins are disabled so users sign in only with Authentik. The container keeps its root filesystem read-only. Temporary paths like /run and /tmp come from emptyDir volumes so s6-overlay can write runtime files.

BabyBuddy Notes​

BabyBuddy runs on port 3000 and is deployed purely with Kustomize manifests. The deployment does not include a values.yaml file, avoiding confusion. Update your service and readiness probes to point to this port if you override the default configuration.

Home Assistant Notes​

Home Assistant runs as a StatefulSet. Configuration, media, and data paths each use their own persistent volume created through volumeClaimTemplates. It connects to the shared mosquitto service in the mqtt namespace—configure the integration to use mosquitto.mqtt.svc.cluster.local and your Bitwarden credentials. A ConfigMap provides configuration.yaml so the cluster gateway can proxy requests using the X-Forwarded-For header. The main container starts as root so its init system can run, but Kubernetes sets the volume group to 1000 so Home Assistant can drop privileges. The BlueZ sidecar now drops all capabilities and runs unprivileged, reducing risk.

Zigbee2MQTT Notes​

Zigbee2MQTT manages the Zigbee adapter without privileged mode. The zigbee2mqtt namespace is labeled pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=baseline so it adheres to the cluster's standard policies.

Need help? Check the application examples in /k8s/applications/ for reference implementations.