My Experience with Setting up a proper reverse proxy after getting tired of remembering port numbers: Lessons from the Homelab
I struggled with Setting up a proper reverse proxy after getting tired of remembering port numbers in my homelab for weeks before finally getting it right. Here's what I learned along the way.
Story Time: Why I Needed This
I was having issues with my networking setup in the homelab, and Setting up a proper reverse proxy after getting tired of remembering port numbers kept coming up as a potential solution. Like many things in my lab, what started as a simple weekend project turned into a multi-week deep dive.
My First Attempts (Spoiler: They Failed)
My initial approach was probably too ambitious. I tried to implement everything at once without properly understanding the underlying concepts. This led to several frustrating evenings of troubleshooting and starting over.
What Actually Worked
After taking a step back and doing more research, I realized I needed to break this down into smaller, manageable pieces. The key insights that made the difference were: Starting with a minimal viable configuration Testing each component individually before integration Documenting everything as I went (my memory isn't what it used to be) Having a rollback plan when things inevitably broke
Technical Implementation
Once I had a clear plan, the actual implementation was more straightforward than expected. I used standard tools and followed established best practices, but adapted them for my specific homelab environment.
Current Status and Lessons Learned
The implementation has been running smoothly for several weeks now. The biggest lesson was that taking time to understand the fundamentals upfront saves hours of debugging later. I also learned the importance of proper monitoring - you can't fix what you can't see.
What's Next
I'm planning to expand this setup to cover additional use cases and integrate it more deeply with my existing monitoring stack. I'll document that journey in a future post.
This is part of my ongoing homelab journey. If you're working on similar projects or have questions about this implementation, feel free to reach out!