nixfiles/docs/README.md

Deployment documentation

Note: these pages are a work in progress and were agent-generated from the repository. They may be incomplete or out of date — treat the Nix configuration as the source of truth.

This directory documents the boxes managed by this flake: their roles, network assignments, hierarchy, and the services they run. For the mechanics of the repo itself (conventions, module system internals for contributors, agent guidance), see AGENTS.md.

The two big sites follow the pattern:

physical host (VM host)
└── VM (for things impractical to containerise)
    └── container host VM
        └── NixOS containers (one per application group)

Not every box fits this pattern, but colony and home are organised this way.

Cross-cutting topics

• architecture.md — the custom module system, my.* namespace, multiple nixpkgs channels, shared module inventory.
• networking.md — network assignments, domains, site topologies, router HA, the AS211024 L2 mesh, BGP, WireGuard, Tailscale.
• deployment.md — deploy-rs, devshell commands, secrets workflow, CI.

Site: colony (Amsterdam)

Physical host and public-infrastructure hub — see sites/colony/README.md.

colony (physical VM host, ams1)
├── estuary ── edge router: WAN, firewall/NAT, DNS, BGP (AS211024), WireGuard
├── shill ──── NixOS container host ──┬── middleman    (reverse proxy, ACME, nginx-sso, librespeed)
│                                     ├── vaultwarden  (password manager)
│                                     ├── colony-psql  (shared PostgreSQL)
│                                     ├── chatterbox   (Matrix Synapse + bridges)
│                                     ├── jackflix     (media stack)
│                                     ├── object       (MinIO, Harmonia Nix cache, Sharry, HedgeDoc, wastebin)
│                                     ├── toot         (Bluesky PDS; Mastodon disabled)
│                                     ├── waffletail   (Tailscale subnet router / exit node)
│                                     ├── qclk         (WireGuard management appliance)
│                                     ├── gam          (Terraria server)
│                                     └── jam          (raw nspawn customer container)
├── whale2 ─── podman/OCI host for game servers
├── git ────── Gitea + Gitea Actions runner
├── mail ───── Debian VM running mailcow (not NixOS)
└── darts ──── third-party/customer VM (opaque, not NixOS)

Site: home

Redundant routers, VM host, storage, IoT containers and the workstation — see sites/home/README.md. The hand-configured switch fabric (jim/dave/brian) and the Digiweb WAN path are documented in sites/home/switches.md.

h.nul.ie
├── palace (physical VM host — AMD, 100G, SR-IOV)
│   ├── river ── primary router VM (PPPoE / Digiweb WAN)
│   ├── cellar ─ NVMe-oF / SPDK storage target VM
│   └── sfh ──── container host VM ("services for home")
│       ├── hass ── Home Assistant + Frigate + MQTT (container)
│       └── unifi ─ UniFi controller (container)
├── stream (physical secondary router — Virgin Media WAN)
└── castle (workstation / gaming desktop — netboot, NVMe-oF root)

Remote boxes

Edge VPSes and the remote kelder site — see remote/README.md.

• remote/britway.md — London VPS: headscale control plane, Tailscale exit node, BGP edge.
• remote/britnet.md — Birmingham VPS: Tailscale exit node, WireGuard hub.
• remote/kelder.md — secondary home server: container host, Nextcloud, Samba, WireGuard to estuary.
  • remote/kelder-acquisition.md — media acquisition container.
  • remote/kelder-spoder.md — Nextcloud + nginx container.

Mobile boxes

• mobile/tower.md — laptop workstation.

Misc

• misc/installer.md — the custom NixOS installer image.

A note on the assignment tables

The "Network assignments" tables in box pages (between <!-- assignments: … --> markers) are generated from the flake (nixos.allAssignments) by nix run .#update-docs-assignments — CI refreshes them on push. Hand-written prose and the table's Notes column are preserved; don't hand-edit the other cells.