Proxmox VE → Azure Arc → Hybrid Cloud Stack

Complete end-to-end implementation package for transforming two Proxmox VE hosts into a fully Azure-integrated Hybrid Cloud stack with high availability, Kubernetes orchestration, GitOps workflows, and blockchain infrastructure services.

🎯 Overview

This project provides a comprehensive blueprint and automation scripts to deploy:

• Proxmox VE Cluster: 2-node high-availability cluster with shared storage
• Azure Arc Integration: Full visibility and management from Azure Portal
• Kubernetes (K3s): Lightweight Kubernetes cluster for container orchestration
• GitOps Workflow: Declarative infrastructure and application management
• Private Git/DevOps: Self-hosted Git repository (Gitea/GitLab)
• Hybrid Cloud Stack: Complete blockchain and monitoring services

🏗️ Architecture

Azure Portal
    ↓
Azure Arc (Servers, Kubernetes, GitOps)
    ↓
Proxmox VE Cluster (2 Nodes)
    ↓
Kubernetes (K3s) + Applications
    ↓
HC Stack Services (Besu, Firefly, Chainlink, Blockscout, Cacti, NGINX)

See Architecture Documentation for detailed architecture overview.

🖥️ Azure Stack HCI Architecture

This project now includes a complete Azure Stack HCI integration with Cloudflare Zero Trust, comprehensive network segmentation, and centralized storage management.

Key Components

• Router/Switch/Storage Controller Server: New server acting as router, switch, and storage controller

  • 4× Spectrum WAN connections (multi-WAN load balancing)
  • OpenWrt VM for network routing and firewall
  • Storage Spaces Direct for 4× external storage shelves
  • Intel QAT 8970 for crypto acceleration

• Proxmox VE Hosts: Existing HPE ML110 Gen9 and Dell R630

  • VLAN bridges mapped to network schema
  • Storage mounts from Router server
  • Azure Arc Connected Machine agents

• Ubuntu Service VMs: Cloudflare Tunnel, reverse proxy, observability, CI/CD

  • All VMs with Azure Arc agents
  • VLAN-segmented network access

• Cloudflare Zero Trust: Secure external access without inbound ports

  • Tunnel for WAC, Proxmox UI, dashboards, Git, CI
  • SSO/MFA policies
  • WAF protection

• Azure Arc Governance: Complete Azure integration

  • Policy enforcement
  • Monitoring and Defender
  • Update Management

Network Topology

• VLAN 10: Storage (10.10.10.0/24)
• VLAN 20: Compute (10.10.20.0/24)
• VLAN 30: App Tier (10.10.30.0/24)
• VLAN 40: Observability (10.10.40.0/24)
• VLAN 50: Dev/Test (10.10.50.0/24)
• VLAN 60: Management (10.10.60.0/24)
• VLAN 99: DMZ (10.10.99.0/24)

Documentation

• Complete Architecture: Full Azure Stack HCI architecture
• Hardware BOM: Complete bill of materials
• PCIe Allocation: Slot allocation map
• Network Topology: VLAN/IP schema and routing
• Bring-Up Checklist: Day-one installation guide
• Cloudflare Integration: Tunnel and Zero Trust setup
• Azure Arc Onboarding: Agent installation and governance

Quick Start (Azure Stack HCI)

1. Hardware Setup: Install Router server with all PCIe cards
2. OS Installation: Windows Server Core or Proxmox VE
3. Driver Installation: Run driver installation scripts
4. Network Configuration: Configure OpenWrt and VLANs
5. Storage Configuration: Flash HBAs to IT mode, configure S2D
6. Azure Arc Onboarding: Install agents on all hosts/VMs
7. Cloudflare Setup: Configure Tunnel and Zero Trust
8. Service Deployment: Deploy Ubuntu VMs and services

See Bring-Up Checklist for detailed steps.

📋 Prerequisites

Hardware Requirements

• 2 Proxmox VE hosts with:
  • Proxmox VE 7.0+ installed
  • Minimum 8GB RAM per node (16GB+ recommended)
  • Static IP addresses
  • Network connectivity between nodes
  • Internet access for Azure Arc connectivity

Software Requirements

• Azure subscription with Contributor role
• Azure CLI installed and authenticated
• kubectl (for Kubernetes management)
• SSH access to all nodes
• NFS server (optional, for shared storage)

Network Requirements

• Static IP addresses for all nodes
• DNS resolution (or hosts file configuration)
• Outbound HTTPS (443) for Azure Arc connectivity
• Cluster communication ports (5404-5412 UDP)

🚀 Quick Start

1. Clone Repository

git clone <repository-url>
cd loc_az_hci

2. Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file from the template:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and fill in your credentials:

• Azure: Subscription ID, Tenant ID, and optionally Service Principal credentials
• Cloudflare: API Token and Account Email
• Proxmox: PVE_ROOT_PASS (shared root password) and URLs for each host
  • ML110: PROXMOX_ML110_URL
  • R630: PROXMOX_R630_URL

Note: Proxmox uses self-signed SSL certificates by default. Browser security warnings are normal. For production, use Cloudflare Tunnel (handles SSL termination) or configure proper certificates.

Important: Never commit .env to version control. It's already in .gitignore.

Load environment variables in your shell:

# Source the .env file (if your scripts support it)
export $(cat .env | grep -v '^#' | xargs)

Or use a tool like direnv or dotenv to automatically load .env files.

3. Configure Proxmox Cluster

On Node 1:

export NODE_IP=192.168.1.10
export NODE_GATEWAY=192.168.1.1
export NODE_HOSTNAME=pve-node-1

./infrastructure/proxmox/network-config.sh
./infrastructure/proxmox/cluster-setup.sh

On Node 2:

export NODE_IP=192.168.1.11
export NODE_GATEWAY=192.168.1.1
export NODE_HOSTNAME=pve-node-2
export CLUSTER_NODE_IP=192.168.1.10

./infrastructure/proxmox/network-config.sh
export NODE_ROLE=join
./infrastructure/proxmox/cluster-setup.sh

4. Onboard to Azure Arc

On each Proxmox node:

export RESOURCE_GROUP=HC-Stack
export TENANT_ID=$(az account show --query tenantId -o tsv)
export SUBSCRIPTION_ID=$(az account show --query id -o tsv)
export LOCATION=eastus

./scripts/azure-arc/onboard-proxmox-hosts.sh

5. Deploy Kubernetes

On K3s VM:

./infrastructure/kubernetes/k3s-install.sh

export RESOURCE_GROUP=HC-Stack
export CLUSTER_NAME=proxmox-k3s-cluster
./infrastructure/kubernetes/arc-onboard-k8s.sh

6. Deploy Git Server

Option A: Gitea (Recommended):

./infrastructure/gitops/gitea-deploy.sh

Option B: GitLab CE:

./infrastructure/gitops/gitlab-deploy.sh

7. Configure GitOps

1. Create Git repository in your Git server
2. Copy gitops/ directory to repository
3. Configure GitOps in Azure Portal or using Flux CLI

8. Deploy HC Stack Services

Deploy via GitOps (recommended) or manually:

# Manual deployment
helm install besu ./gitops/apps/besu -n blockchain
helm install firefly ./gitops/apps/firefly -n blockchain
helm install chainlink-ccip ./gitops/apps/chainlink-ccip -n blockchain
helm install blockscout ./gitops/apps/blockscout -n blockchain
helm install cacti ./gitops/apps/cacti -n monitoring
helm install nginx-proxy ./gitops/apps/nginx-proxy -n hc-stack

📁 Project Structure

loc_az_hci/
├── infrastructure/
│   ├── proxmox/          # Proxmox cluster setup scripts
│   ├── kubernetes/       # K3s installation scripts
│   └── gitops/           # Git server deployment scripts
├── scripts/
│   ├── azure-arc/        # Azure Arc onboarding scripts
│   └── utils/            # Utility scripts
├── terraform/
│   ├── proxmox/          # Proxmox Terraform modules
│   ├── azure-arc/        # Azure Arc Terraform modules
│   └── kubernetes/       # Kubernetes Terraform modules
├── gitops/
│   ├── infrastructure/   # Base infrastructure manifests
│   └── apps/            # Application Helm charts
│       ├── besu/
│       ├── firefly/
│       ├── chainlink-ccip/
│       ├── blockscout/
│       ├── cacti/
│       └── nginx-proxy/
├── docker-compose/
│   ├── gitea.yml        # Gitea Docker Compose
│   └── gitlab.yml       # GitLab Docker Compose
├── docs/
│   ├── architecture.md  # Architecture documentation
│   ├── network-topology.md
│   ├── deployment-guide.md
│   └── runbooks/        # Operational runbooks
├── diagrams/
│   ├── architecture.mmd
│   ├── network-topology.mmd
│   └── deployment-flow.mmd
└── config/
    ├── azure-arc-config.yaml
    └── gitops-config.yaml
├── .env.example          # Environment variables template
└── .gitignore            # Git ignore rules (includes .env)

📚 Documentation

• Architecture Overview: Complete system architecture
• Network Topology: Network design and configuration
• Deployment Guide: Step-by-step deployment instructions
• Runbooks: Operational procedures
  • Proxmox Operations
  • Azure Arc Troubleshooting
  • GitOps Workflow

🔧 Configuration

Environment Variables (.env)

This project uses a .env file to manage credentials securely. Never commit .env to version control.

1. Copy the template:

   cp .env.example .env
   

2. Edit .env with your credentials:

   • Azure: AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID, AZURE_TENANT_ID, AZURE_CLIENT_ID, AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET
   • Cloudflare: CLOUDFLARE_API_KEY (or CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN), CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID, CLOUDFLARE_ZONE_ID, CLOUDFLARE_DOMAIN, CLOUDFLARE_TUNNEL_TOKEN

   Note: Cloudflare API Key and Tunnel Token are configured. Zero Trust features may require additional subscription/permissions.

   • Proxmox: PVE_ROOT_PASS (shared root password for all instances)
   • Proxmox ML110: PROXMOX_ML110_URL (use internal IP: 192.168.1.206:8006 for local network)
   • Proxmox R630: PROXMOX_R630_URL (use internal IP: 192.168.1.49:8006 for local network)

   Note:

   • The username root@pam is implied and should not be stored. For production, use RBAC accounts and API tokens instead of root credentials.
   • Use internal IPs (192.168.x.x) for local network access. External IPs are available for VPN/public access.

3. Load environment variables:

   # In bash scripts, source the .env file
   if [ -f .env ]; then
       export $(cat .env | grep -v '^#' | xargs)
   fi
   

See .env.example for all available configuration options.

Azure Arc Configuration

Edit config/azure-arc-config.yaml with your Azure credentials (or use environment variables from .env):

azure:
  subscription_id: "your-subscription-id"
  tenant_id: "your-tenant-id"
  resource_group: "HC-Stack"
  location: "eastus"

Note: Scripts will use environment variables from .env if available, which takes precedence over YAML config files.

GitOps Configuration

Edit config/gitops-config.yaml with your Git repository details:

git:
  repository: "http://git.local:3000/user/gitops-repo.git"
  branch: "main"
  path: "gitops/"

🛠️ Tools and Scripts

Prerequisites Check

./scripts/utils/prerequisites-check.sh

Proxmox Operations

• infrastructure/proxmox/network-config.sh: Configure network
• infrastructure/proxmox/cluster-setup.sh: Create/join cluster
• infrastructure/proxmox/nfs-storage.sh: Configure NFS storage

Azure Arc Operations

• scripts/azure-arc/onboard-proxmox-hosts.sh: Onboard Proxmox hosts
• scripts/azure-arc/onboard-vms.sh: Onboard VMs
• scripts/azure-arc/resource-bridge-setup.sh: Setup Resource Bridge

Kubernetes Operations

• infrastructure/kubernetes/k3s-install.sh: Install K3s
• infrastructure/kubernetes/arc-onboard-k8s.sh: Onboard to Azure Arc

Git/DevOps Operations

• infrastructure/gitops/gitea-deploy.sh: Deploy Gitea
• infrastructure/gitops/gitlab-deploy.sh: Deploy GitLab
• infrastructure/gitops/azure-devops-agent.sh: Setup Azure DevOps agent

🎨 Diagrams

View architecture diagrams:

• Architecture Diagram
• Network Topology
• Deployment Flow

🔒 Security

• Network isolation and firewall rules
• Azure Arc managed identities and RBAC
• Kubernetes RBAC and network policies
• TLS/SSL with Cert-Manager
• Secrets management via .env file (excluded from version control)
• Proxmox VE RBAC best practices (see Proxmox RBAC Guide)
• Consider Azure Key Vault integration for production deployments

📊 Monitoring

• Cacti: Network and system monitoring
• Azure Monitor: Metrics and logs via Azure Arc
• Kubernetes Metrics: Pod and service metrics
• Azure Defender: Security monitoring

🔄 High Availability

• Proxmox 2-node cluster with shared storage
• VM high availability with automatic failover
• Kubernetes multiple replicas for stateless services
• Load balancing via NGINX Ingress

🚨 Troubleshooting

See runbooks for common issues:

• Azure Arc Troubleshooting
• Proxmox Operations
• GitOps Workflow

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Submit a pull request

📝 License

This project is provided as-is for educational and deployment purposes.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Proxmox VE team for excellent virtualization platform
• Microsoft Azure Arc team for hybrid cloud capabilities
• Kubernetes and K3s communities
• All open-source projects used in this stack

📞 Support

For issues and questions:

1. Check the Documentation
2. Review Runbooks
3. Open an issue in the repository

🎯 Next Steps

After deployment:

1. Review and customize configurations
2. Set up monitoring and alerting
3. Configure backup and disaster recovery
4. Implement security policies
5. Plan for scaling and expansion

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Happy Deploying! 🚀

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Archived Projects

This project contains archived content from related projects:

PanTel (6G/GPU Archive)

• Archive Location: Archive beginning with 6g_gpu* in this repository
• Project: PanTel telecommunications and connectivity infrastructure project
• Joint Venture: PanTel is a joint venture between Sankofa and PANDA (Pan-African Network for Digital Advancement)
• Status: Archived content - see pan-tel project directory for project information
• Note: This content is archived here and will be unpacked to the pan-tel project directory when ready for integration into the panda_monorepo

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