This site is essentially my documentation hub (at least, that’s the plan for now).
Why?
For a long time, I’ve been thinking about creating documentation for myself to record what I’ve been working on. Since mid-2022, I’ve been actively developing a Home Lab, exploring new technologies, and experimenting with various setups. However, I didn’t document any of it, which has been a recurring challenge.
Here’s the problem: I’d encounter an issue, solve it through extensive Googling, browsing Reddit, reading blogs, articles, and forums, and finally fix it after much trial and error. Then, weeks or months later, while tinkering or altering something, I’d face the same or a similar issue. I’d vaguely remember the solution but not the specific commands or configuration syntax.
I’d then have to repeat the whole process of searching, only to sometimes realize that the “miraculous” blog or command I previously found had become elusive. To overcome this frustration, I started thinking of ways to preserve and organize the solutions I discovered.
Around this time, one of my cousins, who also works in IT, suggested that I start documenting everything I do. He pointed out that this wouldn’t just help me reflect on my work but also serve as a reference for my future self. Additionally, it could showcase my skills and projects as a portfolio.
How?
Once I decided to document things, the next question was how to do it and where. Initially, I started using a notebook to create an IP table for my home network and a network map of my servers. However, I quickly realized that writing everything by hand was time-consuming—tasks that normally took an hour were stretching to 2–3 hours when I included documentation.
It didn’t take long for me to abandon the pen-and-paper approach. Working in a digital domain, I figured a digital solution made more sense. So, I explored various options for digital documentation. I particularly liked Notion and markdown-based note-taking apps, but even those didn’t last long for me.
Eventually, I settled on using markdown (via Obsidian) and a static site generator (Hugo). This combination allowed me to document and publish my work seamlessly. My journey with static site generators began with Jekyll when I followed Techno Tim’s setup guide. However, I found the process overly complex at the time and gave up.
Recently, Network Chuck posted a video about static site generators, which inspired me to revisit the idea. This time, his explanation simplified things for me, and I decided to give Hugo a try. Thanks, Chuck!
I’ll share the full details of my workflow and setup in another post. For now, I’ll mention that I’ve taken a different approach to hosting than Chuck did. I’ve self-hosted the site on my home server, using GitHub webhooks and some custom scripts to automate deployments.
The Real Challenge
The real challenge now is staying consistent with this journey. Documenting everything takes time and effort, often longer than the task itself.
One of my main goals is to reduce the friction involved in documenting as much as possible. For that, I’ve created some scripts to streamline the process.
Let’s see how it goes!