BlumeOps Docs

Core Services

3 min read

Core Services Setup

Audiences: Replicator

Prerequisites: Tailscale Setup

This tutorial walks through setting up the foundational services that your GitOps infrastructure depends on: a git forge and optionally a container registry.

Why Core Services First?

Before Kubernetes and ArgoCD, you need somewhere to store your infrastructure definitions. forgejo provides:

  • Git hosting for your GitOps repository
  • CI/CD workflows for building and deploying
  • A web interface for code review and PRs

The zot container registry is optional but useful for hosting your own container images.

Step 1: Install Forgejo

Forgejo runs directly on your server (not in Kubernetes) because Kubernetes depends on it.

Using Ansible (BlumeOps Approach)

BlumeOps manages Forgejo via an Ansible role. See Ansible Roles.

Manual Installation

  1. Download Forgejo from forgejo.org
  2. Create a service user and directories
  3. Configure with app.ini
  4. Set up as a system service

Key configuration points:

  • SSH on a non-standard port (e.g., 2222) to avoid conflicts
  • Database (SQLite works fine for personal use)
  • Domain and URL settings for your Tailscale hostname

Step 2: Configure SSH Access

Set up SSH for git operations:

# Add your SSH key to Forgejo via the web UI
# Then test access:
ssh -T git@your-server.tailnet.ts.net -p 2222

Step 3: Create Your GitOps Repository

  1. Create a new repository in Forgejo (e.g., infrastructure or homelab)
  2. Initialize the standard directory structure:
your-repo/
├── ansible/           # Host configuration
│   ├── playbooks/
│   └── roles/
├── argocd/            # Kubernetes GitOps
│   ├── apps/          # ArgoCD Applications
│   └── manifests/     # K8s manifests per service
├── pulumi/            # IaC for Tailscale, DNS
└── docs/              # Documentation
  1. Push your initial commit

Step 4: Set Up CI/CD Runner (Optional)

Forgejo Actions runs workflows defined in .forgejo/workflows/. To use it:

  1. Register a runner on your server
  2. Configure runner to access your build tools
  3. Create workflow files for builds and deployments

BlumeOps runs a Forgejo runner in Kubernetes - see forgejo for details.

Step 5: Container Registry (Optional)

If you’ll build custom container images, set up zot:

  1. Install Zot on your server
  2. Configure authentication
  3. Set up TLS (via Caddy or similar)

For getting started, you can skip this and use public registries.

What You Now Have

  • Git hosting for infrastructure code
  • SSH access for git operations
  • Foundation for CI/CD workflows
  • Optionally, a private container registry

Next Steps

  • Bootstrap Kubernetes - Now that you have a git repo, set up your cluster
  • Configure Forgejo webhooks for ArgoCD (after ArgoCD is running)

BlumeOps Specifics

BlumeOps’ Forgejo setup includes:

  • Ansible role for installation and updates
  • SSH on port 2222, proxied via Caddy
  • Integration with ArgoCD via deploy keys
  • Forgejo runner in Kubernetes for CI/CD

See forgejo and zot for full details.

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