How I Built a Home Kubernetes Cluster With Raspberry Pi

[subnetsavy]

Hi all,

I recently set up a lightweight Kubernetes cluster at home using Raspberry Pi 4s and wanted to share my experience.

Here’s what I used:

• 3x Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB RAM)
• K3s for a minimal Kubernetes install
• MetalLB for internal load balancing
• Tailscale for secure VPN access to the cluster

The goal was to test CI/CD pipelines, self-host apps like Nextcloud, and practice DevOps workflows in a home lab environment without racking up cloud costs.

Full guide here: Build a Home Kubernetes Cluster (Subnet Savy)

Would love to hear if others have tried running Kubernetes on Pi devices or have homelab setups. Any tips or lessons learned?

 

[KGIII]

We do not normally allow new users to post links to their site, as that's usually considered spam. We usually want people to be a member of the community before they start using the site for promotion.

I let this one through. We'll see what happens.

 

[hasser33]

Hi all,

I recently set up a lightweight Kubernetes cluster at home using Raspberry Pi 4s and wanted to share my experience.

Here’s what I used:

• 3x Raspberry Pi 4 (4GB RAM)
• K3s for a minimal Kubernetes install
• MetalLB for internal load balancing
• Tailscale for secure VPN access to the cluster

The goal was to test CI/CD pipelines, self-host apps like Nextcloud, and practice DevOps workflows in a home lab environment without racking up cloud costs.

Full guide here: Build a Home Kubernetes Cluster (Subnet Savy)

Would love to hear if others have tried running Kubernetes on Pi devices or have homelab setups. Any tips or lessons learned? You could leverage Redwerk’s ai agent development services https://redwerk.com/services/ai-agent-development-company/ to create autonomous agents that monitor and manage your Raspberry Pi Kubernetes cluster—automating tasks like node health checks, scaling decisions, alerting, and integration with your cluster’s workload workflows—giving your home cluster smarter and more self-sufficient operations.

Nice setup! I’ve run a similar K3s cluster on Pi 4s and it’s amazing how capable these tiny boards are. Using MetalLB and Tailscale was a smart move — keeps things lightweight yet secure. I’d recommend adding Longhorn or NFS for persistent storage and monitoring with Grafana + Prometheus. Thermal throttling can be an issue under load, so a small fan case helps. Great way to learn DevOps without cloud bills!