Homelab

Remote access and hosting for your homelab

Octelium is a free and open source, self-hosted zero trust access platform. It reaches everything on your home network from anywhere without forwarding a port, publishes what you want on your own domain with a managed certificate, and can deploy and host containerized applications itself.

  • Free and open source
  • No port forwarding
  • Runs on a small VM

Every request from a human, a browser, a CLI, a workload or an AI agent is authenticated against your identity providers, authorized per request at the application layer by the Octelium Service in front of the resource, exported to your SIEM and observability stack whether it is allowed or denied, and only then routed to the upstream HTTP API, database, SSH server, Kubernetes cluster, LLM or MCP server.

Signing in once, then reaching Services with and without a client

  • A browser opens grafana.acme.com and is redirected to the Cluster sign-in page at acme.com/login.
  • jane signs in with a passkey verified by a biometric on the device, and the browser returns to the Grafana dashboard at grafana.acme.com with no client installed.
  • In a terminal, octelium connect -d opens the browser at acme.com/callback/success/approval, where the same browser session approves the login with one click.
  • ~ ❯ octelium connect -d
  • Please authenticate yourself using Octelium web Portal
  • Waiting for you to approve the login in your browser. Press Ctrl-C to cancel.
  • You are now authenticated as jane
  • Octelium has started running in detached mode.
  • ~ ❯ curl -s my-api/v1/users/42 | jq
  • {
  • "id": 42,
  • "name": "Jane Doe",
  • "email": "jane@acme.com"
  • }
  • ~ ❯ psql -h pg-prod -d shop
  • psql (17.4)
  • Type "help" for help.
  • shop=> SELECT * FROM orders LIMIT 3;
  • id | status | total
  • -----+---------+--------
  • 981 | paid | 129.00
  • 982 | shipped | 48.50
  • 983 | paid | 310.25
  • (3 rows)
  • shop=> \q
  • ~ ❯ ssh bastion
  • Welcome to Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS (GNU/Linux 6.8.0-1021-aws x86_64)

Requests authorized one by one against CEL rules in the HTTP, LLM and Kubernetes modes

  • HTTP: the HTTP Service billing is configured as follows.
  • kind: Service
  • metadata:
  • name: billing
  • spec:
  • mode: HTTP
  • config:
  • authorization:
  • inlinePolicies:
  • - spec:
  • rules:
  • - effect: ALLOW
  • condition:
  • all:
  • of:
  • - match: '"finance" in ctx.user.spec.groups'
  • - match: ctx.request.http.method == "GET"
  • - match: ctx.request.http.path.startsWith("/invoices")
  • jane, a member of the finance Group, runs curl -i billing/invoices/42 and gets HTTP/1.1 200 OK Content-Type: application/json {"id":42,"status":"paid","total":1290}. The access log records ALLOWED GET /invoices/42 with POLICY_MATCH.
  • jane, a member of the finance Group, runs curl -i -X DELETE billing/invoices/42 and gets HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden X-Octelium-Unauthorized: true Content-Length: 0. The access log records DENIED DELETE /invoices/42 with NO_POLICY_MATCH.
  • LLM: the LLM Service openai is configured as follows.
  • kind: Service
  • metadata:
  • name: openai
  • spec:
  • mode: LLM
  • config:
  • authorization:
  • inlinePolicies:
  • - spec:
  • rules:
  • - effect: ALLOW
  • condition:
  • any:
  • of:
  • - match: '"ai-admins" in ctx.user.spec.groups'
  • - all:
  • of:
  • - match: '"ai-agents" in ctx.user.spec.groups'
  • - match: ctx.request.llm.operation == "GENERATE"
  • - match: ctx.request.llm.model == "gpt-5-mini"
  • support-bot, a member of the ai-agents Group, runs curl openai/v1/responses --json '{"model":"gpt-5-mini","input":"Hello"}' and gets { "id": "resp_68e8e1f0c4d0", "object": "response", "created_at": 1791628935, "status": "completed", "model": "gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07",. The access log records ALLOWED RESPONSES gpt-5-mini with POLICY_MATCH.
  • support-bot, a member of the ai-agents Group, runs curl openai/v1/responses --json '{"model":"gpt-5","input":"Hello"}' and gets {"error":{"message":"Octelium: unauthorized request","type":"permission_error","param":null,"code":"octelium_unauthorized"}}. The access log records DENIED RESPONSES gpt-5 with NO_POLICY_MATCH.
  • Kubernetes: the KUBERNETES Service k8s-prod is configured as follows.
  • kind: Service
  • metadata:
  • name: k8s-prod
  • spec:
  • mode: KUBERNETES
  • config:
  • authorization:
  • inlinePolicies:
  • - spec:
  • rules:
  • - effect: ALLOW
  • condition:
  • all:
  • of:
  • - match: '"sre-agents" in ctx.user.spec.groups'
  • - match: ctx.request.kubernetes.verb in ["get", "list"]
  • - match: ctx.request.kubernetes.namespace == "production"
  • - not: ctx.request.kubernetes.resource == "secrets"
  • ops-agent, a member of the sre-agents Group, runs kubectl get configmaps -n production and gets NAME DATA AGE app-config 4 12d feature-flags 2 3d kube-root-ca.crt 1 12d. The access log records ALLOWED list configmaps · production with POLICY_MATCH.
  • ops-agent, a member of the sre-agents Group, runs kubectl get secrets -n production and gets Error from server (Forbidden): Octelium: Unauthorized request. The access log records DENIED list secrets · production with NO_POLICY_MATCH.

Upstream credentials injected per request by identity in the HTTP, SSH and PostgreSQL modes

  • HTTP: the HTTP Service stripe proxies https://api.stripe.com and picks the upstream credential of every request with dynamic configuration rules.
  • elena, a member of the finance-eu Group, runs curl -s stripe/v1/account | jq '{id, country}' without holding any credential. The rule "finance-eu" in ctx.user.spec.groups selects the eu config, so Octelium injects the Secret stripe-eu and the upstream authenticates the request as acct_1Pq8EuGmbH2bXvK3. The terminal shows { "id": "acct_1Pq8EuGmbH2bXvK3", "country": "DE" }
  • pay-agent, a member of the finance-us Group, runs curl -s stripe/v1/account | jq '{id, country}' without holding any credential. The rule "finance-us" in ctx.user.spec.groups selects the us config, so Octelium injects the Secret stripe-us and the upstream authenticates the request as acct_1Nf2UsQ7cLm4RtW9. The terminal shows { "id": "acct_1Nf2UsQ7cLm4RtW9", "country": "US" }
  • SSH: the SSH Service web-01 proxies ssh://10.0.4.21 and picks the upstream credential of every request with dynamic configuration rules.
  • sam, a member of the sre Group, runs ssh web-01 without holding any credential. The rule "sre" in ctx.user.spec.groups selects the root config, so Octelium injects the Secret root-key and the upstream authenticates the request as root. The terminal shows Welcome to Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 6.14.0-1015-aws x86_64) root@web-01:~# id uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root)
  • noah, a member of the developers Group, runs ssh web-01 without holding any credential. The rule "developers" in ctx.user.spec.groups selects the deploy config, so Octelium injects the Secret deploy-key and the upstream authenticates the request as deploy. The terminal shows Welcome to Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 6.14.0-1015-aws x86_64) deploy@web-01:~$ id uid=1001(deploy) gid=1001(deploy) groups=1001(deploy)
  • PostgreSQL: the POSTGRES Service orders-db proxies postgres://10.0.2.8:5432 and picks the upstream credential of every request with dynamic configuration rules.
  • priya, a member of the backend Group, runs psql -h orders-db orders without holding any credential. The rule "backend" in ctx.user.spec.groups selects the rw config, so Octelium injects the Secret pg-rw and the upstream authenticates the request as app_rw. The terminal shows psql (17.2) Type "help" for help. orders=> UPDATE orders SET status = 'shipped' WHERE id = 42; UPDATE 1
  • bi-agent, a member of the analytics Group, runs psql -h orders-db orders without holding any credential. The rule "analytics" in ctx.user.spec.groups selects the ro config, so Octelium injects the Secret pg-ro and the upstream authenticates the request as app_ro. The terminal shows psql (17.2) Type "help" for help. orders=> UPDATE orders SET status = 'shipped' WHERE id = 42; ERROR: permission denied for table orders

Signing in with a passkey and opening the Portal

  • The sign-in page of the Cluster at acme.com/login offers login with Okta, with GitHub, or with a passkey.
  • jane@acme.com chooses Login with a Passkey and verifies it with a biometric on the device through native WebAuthn.
  • The browser is redirected to the Portal at portal.acme.com/services, which lists the Services the User can access:
  • grafana.monitoring: Grafana dashboards, Web App, Namespace monitoring.
  • aws-postgres.production: Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL, PostgreSQL, Namespace production.
  • k8s-prod: Production EKS cluster, Kubernetes, Namespace default.
  • bastion.production: SSH bastion host, SSH, Namespace production.
  • github-mcp: GitHub MCP server, MCP, Namespace default.
  • openai: OpenAI API, AI / LLM, Namespace default.
Visibility and auditing

Identity-aware visibility at the application layer

Emit structured, application-layer access logs in real time and export them through OpenTelemetry OTLP to the observability, analytics and SIEM systems your organization already operates.

Read about visibility and auditing
AccessLogOTLP
ALLOWlinus@acme.compg-prod.dbPOSTGRESquery: select id, email from users limit 50
ALLOWci-runnerprod-k8sKUBERNETESverb=list resource=pods namespace=production
DENYagent-07tools-mcpMCPtools/call name=transfer policy=mcp-tools
ALLOWjane@acme.combastionSSHsession recorded, upstream user=deploy
ALLOWagent-07openaiLLMCHAT_COMPLETIONS model=gpt-5-mini tokens=1284

Cluster resources applied declaratively from YAML with octeliumctl and managed programmatically with the Go, TypeScript, Python and Rust SDKs

  • GitOps: cluster.yaml in the main branch of the ~/octelium repository describes the desired state of the Cluster. Its diff reads as follows, with + for added, ~ for changed and - for removed lines.
  • + kind: Group
  • + metadata:
  • + name: payments
  • + spec: {}
  • + ---
  • + kind: User
  • + metadata:
  • + name: alice
  • + spec:
  • + type: HUMAN
  • + email: alice@acme.com
  • + groups: ["payments"]
  • ---
  • kind: User
  • metadata:
  • name: bob
  • spec:
  • type: HUMAN
  • ~ groups: ["payments"]
  • ---
  • kind: Service
  • metadata:
  • name: billing
  • spec:
  • mode: HTTP
  • config:
  • upstream:
  • ~ url: http://10.0.3.24:8080
  • - ---
  • - kind: Service
  • - metadata:
  • - name: billing-legacy
  • - spec: ⋯
  • - ---
  • - kind: User
  • - metadata:
  • - name: john
  • - spec: ⋯
  • ~/octelium ❯ octeliumctl apply --prune .
  • Group: payments Created
  • User: alice Created
  • User: bob Updated
  • Service: billing.default Updated
  • Service: billing-legacy.default Deleted
  • User: john Deleted
  • Cluster Core resources successfully applied
  • 2 resources created
  • 2 resources updated
  • 2 resources deleted
  • Go: main.go uses the octelium-go SDK to list the Users of the Cluster and update the email and Policies of linus.
  • client, err := octelium.New(ctx)
  • if err != nil {⋯}
  • conn, err := client.Conn(ctx)
  • if err != nil {⋯}
  • api := corev1.NewMainServiceClient(conn)
  • users, err := api.ListUser(ctx, &corev1.ListUserOptions{})
  • if err != nil {⋯}
  • for _, u := range users.Items {
  • fmt.Println(u.Metadata.Name)
  • }
  • user, err := api.GetUser(ctx, &metav1.GetOptions{Name: "linus"})
  • if err != nil {⋯}
  • user.Spec.Email = "linus@acme.com"
  • user.Spec.Authorization = &corev1.User_Spec_Authorization{
  • Policies: []string{"db-readonly"},
  • }
  • if _, err := api.UpdateUser(ctx, user); err != nil {⋯}
  • fmt.Println("updated", user.Metadata.Name)
  • ~/app ❯ go run .
  • alice
  • bob
  • linus
  • updated linus
  • TypeScript: main.ts uses the @octelium/sdk SDK to list the Users of the Cluster and update the email and Policies of linus.
  • const client = await OcteliumClient.create({
  • domain: "acme.com",
  • auth: {⋯},
  • });
  • const users = await client.coreV1.listUser(ListUserOptions.create());
  • for (const u of users.response.items) {
  • console.log(u.metadata?.name);
  • }
  • const { response: user } = await client.coreV1.getUser(
  • GetOptions.create({ name: "linus" }),
  • );
  • user.spec!.email = "linus@acme.com";
  • user.spec!.authorization = User_Spec_Authorization.create({
  • policies: ["db-readonly"],
  • });
  • await client.coreV1.updateUser(user);
  • console.log("updated", user.metadata?.name);
  • await client.close();
  • ~/app ❯ npx tsx main.ts
  • alice
  • bob
  • linus
  • updated linus
  • Python: main.py uses the octelium-sdk SDK to list the Users of the Cluster and update the email and Policies of linus.
  • async with await OcteliumClient.create() as client:
  • users = await client.core_v1.list_user(ListUserOptions())
  • for u in users.items:
  • print(u.metadata.name)
  • user = await client.core_v1.get_user(GetOptions(name="linus"))
  • user.spec.email = "linus@acme.com"
  • user.spec.authorization.policies = ["db-readonly"]
  • await client.core_v1.update_user(user)
  • print("updated", user.metadata.name)
  • ~/app ❯ python main.py
  • alice
  • bob
  • linus
  • updated linus
  • Rust: main.rs uses the octelium SDK to list the Users of the Cluster and update the email and Policies of linus.
  • let client = Client::from_env().await?;
  • let mut api = client.core_v1();
  • let users = api.list_user(ListUserOptions::default()).await?;
  • for u in users.into_inner().items {
  • println!("{}", u.metadata.unwrap_or_default().name);
  • }
  • let options = GetOptions {
  • name: "linus".into(),
  • ..Default::default()
  • };
  • let mut user = api.get_user(options).await?.into_inner();
  • let spec = user.spec.get_or_insert_default();
  • spec.email = "linus@acme.com".into();
  • spec.authorization.get_or_insert_default().policies = vec!["db-readonly".into()];
  • let user = api.update_user(user).await?.into_inner();
  • println!("updated {}", user.metadata.unwrap_or_default().name);
  • ~/app ❯ cargo run -q
  • alice
  • bob
  • linus
  • updated linus
Homelab needs

The things a homelab ends up needing, and what serves each

Most homelabs accumulate a tunnel, a reverse proxy, a certificate tool, a dynamic DNS client, an authentication portal and a pile of forwarded ports. These are the needs behind that, next to the mechanism in an Octelium Cluster that serves each one.

  1. 01

    Reaching things at home from anywhere

    A connected host serves the upstream over its own outbound tunnel, so nothing is port forwarded, no dynamic DNS is needed and the router configuration is untouched. That works for a NAS, a Raspberry Pi, a container or a laptop.

    Read more
  2. 02

    Publishing something to the internet

    The very same Service can be published over HTTPS on your own domain, either behind authentication or anonymously for a personal site or a public API, with the public DNS record and the TLS certificate managed by the Cluster.

    Read more
  3. 03

    Hosting the application itself

    There does not have to be a machine at home at all. Managed containers deploy, scale and serve a container image as the Service upstream, which covers a static site, a Next.js or Vite application or any small service.

    Read more
  4. 04

    Logging in without another password

    GitHub OAuth2 works as an identity provider out of the box, as does any OpenID Connect or SAML 2.0 provider, including a self-hosted Keycloak, Authentik or Dex that the Cluster can also serve.

    Read more
  5. 05

    Letting other people in, carefully

    Family, guests and your own automation can be separate Users in separate Groups with separate Policies, so sharing a media server does not also share the router, the NAS shell or the database.

    Read more
  6. 06

    Shell access to small devices

    The embedded SSH mode serves SSH from inside the octelium client itself, without a standalone SSH server on the host and without root privileges, which suits fleets of containers and small devices.

    Read more
  7. 07

    Your own DNS, reachable remotely

    A DNS Service puts a home resolver such as Pi-hole behind identity and can authorize on the question name and record type, so ad filtering follows you off the home network.

    Read more
  8. 08

    A remote development environment

    A code server or a remote IDE endpoint is just another Service, reachable in a browser or over the tunnel, with the upstream credential held by the Cluster rather than typed into a bookmark.

    Read more

The point is not that each of these is hard on its own. It is that they are usually six separate pieces of software with six configurations, and here they are fields on the same resource.

Questions

Frequently asked

What does it take to run this at home?
The quick installer provisions a complete single-node Cluster, including Kubernetes itself, on one fresh Linux VM with 2 vCPUs, 2 GB of RAM and a domain you own. That is enough for personal and homelab use. The Cluster itself is normally on a cheap cloud VM with a public address, while the resources it protects stay at home behind NAT.
Do I have to forward ports or run dynamic DNS?
No. A Service upstream can be an address that is only reachable from the side of a connected client. That client runs octelium connect with the --serve or --serve-all flag and serves the resource to the Cluster over its own outbound tunnel, so nothing inbound is opened on the home network and no dynamic DNS record has to track a changing address.
Can I host a public website with it?
Yes. Anonymous public access publishes an HTTP-based Service to the internet with authentication and authorization switched off, which makes the Cluster a hosting platform for a personal site or a public API. Anonymous authorization can then still be enabled so the Service filters on path, method, headers and body content while staying publicly reachable.
Is the enterprise package needed for personal use?
No. Octelium is free and open source and complete on its own. The enterprise package adds capabilities such as a web console, SCIM provisioning and secret encryption at rest, and it is free for personal, homelab and evaluation use.
Do I need to know Kubernetes?
No. An Octelium Cluster runs on top of Kubernetes, but you do not need Kubernetes experience to install, operate or use it. Day-to-day management is a set of YAML resources and a single octeliumctl apply, in the same shape as the examples on this page.
Can family members use it without installing anything?
Yes. HTTP-based resources can be published clientlessly, so a media server or a dashboard opens in an ordinary browser on a phone, a tablet or a television after a normal sign-in. The octelium client is only needed for protocols a browser cannot speak, such as SSH, databases and generic TCP and UDP.
Get started

Run Octelium on your own infrastructure

Install a self-hosted Cluster and start applying identity-aware access control to your Services.