Homepage Recovery and Ansible Architecture Review

July 16, 2026

Restored Homepage, integrated edge01 into the operational dashboard, and identified the next evolution of the Abbey Ansible architecture.

Tags: Abbey Root • Homepage • Ansible • Infrastructure

Homepage Recovery and Ansible Architecture Review

Summary

A Homepage update introduced new host validation, preventing the dashboard from loading. The issue was resolved through the authoritative Ansible configuration by adding the required HOMEPAGE_ALLOWED_HOSTS environment variable rather than making manual changes to the running container.

While reviewing the Homepage configuration, I also integrated edge01 into the Ansible inventory and Homepage dashboard, added Technitium DNS as an infrastructure service, and cleaned up outdated dashboard content.

The session naturally evolved into an architectural review of the Ansible playbook structure. Testing the new Raspberry Pi appliance demonstrated that the current “common” role has grown beyond a true universal baseline and should eventually be decomposed into smaller purpose-driven roles.

Accomplishments

• Restored Homepage after the host validation change.
• Updated the Homepage Ansible role with HOMEPAGE_ALLOWED_HOSTS.
• Validated deployments using Ansible --check --diff before applying changes.
• Added edge01 to the Ansible inventory.
• Added Technitium DNS to the Homepage dashboard.
• Added edge01 to the Servers section.
• Removed the duplicate Rocky Ansible service card.
• Removed the obsolete Planned Services section.
• Configured passwordless SSH access from the Ansible control node to edge01.
• Verified Ansible connectivity to the Raspberry Pi.
• Reviewed the current Ansible architecture and identified opportunities for improvement.

Lessons Learned

• Check mode continues to prove its value before infrastructure changes.
• Every new managed host helps validate the assumptions built into the automation framework.
• Operational dashboards should represent deployed infrastructure instead of future plans.
• A single “common” role eventually becomes too broad as infrastructure grows and host purposes diversify.

Next Steps

• Review the long-term Ansible architecture.
• Define host classes and the true universal host baseline.
• Split the existing common role into smaller purpose-specific roles.
• Create focused playbooks for routine operational tasks while preserving site.yml as the complete deployment playbook.
• Continue expanding Homepage as the operational dashboard for the Abbey lab.