Bare-Metal Local Cloud & CI/CD Pipelineline

I used an old, bare-minimum PC (Core2Duo, 4GB DDR2 RAM). It was lying around useless, so I decided to turn it into my own mini home server. Now, it hosts a custom web application and updates automatically whenever I write and push new code.

Setup

I wiped the old PC and installed Debian Linux. I run it "headless," which means there is no monitor attached, and I control the server entirely remotely from my main PC.

Internet Bridge

The server PC required internet, so I connected it directly to my main PC using a LAN cable. I set up custom routing rules on my main machine to share its internet connection down the wire. (This networking part was the biggest headache, but it works perfectly now).

Hosting the Website

I containerized a text-based web game using Docker, ensuring it runs cleanly in an isolated local environment on the server.

Auto-Update Pipeline

Manually logging into the server every time I update the code would be a drag. Instead, I set up a background agent using GitHub Actions. Now, whenever I push new code to GitHub, the home server automatically detects it, pulls the changes, and restarts the live website in seconds.

Going Public

To make the local site accessible anywhere, I set up a tool called Ngrok. It runs securely in the background and punches a tunnel straight from my server to the public internet.

Hardware & Networkwork

The Server: Repurposed old PC (Core2Duo)

Main PC: Dell OptiPlex

OS: Debian Linux (headless server) & Arch Linux (Main PC) PC)

Networking: 5G mobile data routed from the main PC to the server via a physical LAN cable.

Software Pipeline

Containerization: Docker

Automation: GitHub Actions

Public Tunneling: Ngrok

Stack: Python & Flask, HTML, CSS, JS, JS

Images

Because the software is tied directly to physical hardware sitting in my room, direct server contributions aren't possible. However, if you are into homelabbing or hardware infrastructure, I welcome recommendations and advice on how to improve this setup!

This project is heavily focused on hardware and networking infrastructure, so a permanent live demo link isn't practical. Instead, here is a video demonstration showing the physical hardware and the entire automated pipeline in action:

Link: [https://youtu.be/NTnkVOlnWc8]