--- title: "Install Nomad, Podman, and Traefik for Home Selfhosting" description: "Nomad is a _scheduler_ developed by\nHashicorp, which can be used to schedule\n_containers_, _raw execution_, and other applications. This unique feature\nmakes Nomad capable of running various types of ..." publishedAt: 2025-02-15 locale: en urlSlug: install-nomad-untuk-selfhosting isDraft: false defaultLocale: en --- [TOC] ## Background [Nomad](https://www.nomadproject.io/) is a _scheduler_ developed by [Hashicorp](https://www.hashicorp.com), which can be used to schedule _containers_, _raw execution_, and other applications. This unique feature makes Nomad capable of running various types of applications, not just containers through the [Task Driver](https://developer.hashicorp.com/nomad/docs/drivers) concept. ## Prerequisites ### Knowledge Requirements - Basic understanding of containerization (Docker, Podman, etc.) - Basic knowledge about Load balancer (Traefik) ### Required Environment What needs to be prepared: - Host server with Ubuntu 21.04 OS - [hashi-up](https://github.com/jsiebens/hashi-up) - CLI tool to simplify the installation process ### Important Notes - Installation will be done in _single-node_ mode - The Nomad server will serve dual purposes: - As a server - As a client to run workloads - This mode is chosen to reduce resource requirements ## Installation Make sure the target server can be accessed via SSH key. Then run the following command: ```bash hashi-up nomad install \ --ssh-target-addr 192.168.1.10 \ --ssh-target-user ubuntu \ --ssh-target-key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 \ --server ``` Please make sure to replace the IP, user, and SSH key address according to your environment. ## Podman Task Driver Podman is one of the task drivers supported by Nomad. Why choose Podman? Because recently I've been using Podman as my daily driver. The installation process can follow the guide from Nomad's official documentation on [this page](https://developer.hashicorp.com/nomad/plugins/drivers/podman#installation). Additionally, make sure Podman is already installed. ```bash sudo apt install podman ``` Next, we need to ensure that Nomad recognizes this plugin. ```bash sudo vim /etc/nomad.d/nomad.hcl ``` Add the following lines. ```hcl # generated with hashi-up datacenter = "dc1" data_dir = "/opt/nomad" plugin_dir = "/opt/nomad/data/plugins" # [!code ++] server { enabled = true bootstrap_expect = 1 } plugin "nomad-driver-podman" { # [!code ++] enabled = true # [!code ++] } # [!code ++] ``` Restart the Nomad server. ```bash sudo systemctl restart nomad ``` Make sure the plugin appears in the task driver section. ```bash nomad node status -self -short | grep Drivers CSI Drivers = Drivers = exec,podman ``` ## Nomad Single Node To run Nomad as a _single-node_, we need to enable client mode on this Nomad server. Edit the file `/etc/nomad.d/nomad.hcl` again and add the following lines: ```hcl # generated with hashi-up datacenter = "dc1" data_dir = "/opt/nomad" plugin_dir = "/opt/nomad/data/plugins" server { enabled = true bootstrap_expect = 1 } client { # [!code ++] enabled = true # [!code ++] } # [!code ++] ``` Don't forget to restart the nomad service ## Traefik and Nomad service discovery Open nomad webui through your browser, usually at `http://192.168.1.10:4646/ui`. Then click the "Run job" button and add the following job specification: ```hcl job "traefik" { datacenters = ["dc1"] type = "service" group "traefik" { count = 1 network { port "http" { static = 8080 } port "admin" { static = 8081 } } service { name = "traefik-http" provider = "nomad" port = "http" } task "server" { driver = "podman" config { image = "docker.io/traefik:v2.11.20" ports = ["admin", "http"] args = [ "--api.dashboard=true", "--api.insecure=true", # Traefik will be installed in insecure mode, preferably not exposed to the internet "--entrypoints.web.address=:${NOMAD_PORT_http}", "--entrypoints.traefik.address=:${NOMAD_PORT_admin}", "--providers.nomad=true", "--providers.nomad.endpoint.address=http://${NOMAD_IP_http}:4646", "--providers.nomad.exposedByDefault=false" ] } } } } ``` ## Deploy demo application Next, we'll deploy an application that demonstrates simple load balancing through Traefik that is already connected to Nomad service discovery. ```hcl job "demo-webapp" { datacenters = ["dc1"] group "demo" { count = 3 network { port "http"{ to = -1 } } service { name = "demo-webapp" port = "http" provider = "nomad" tags = [ "traefik.enable=true", "traefik.http.routers.demo-webapp-http.rule=Host(`demo-webapp-192-168-1-10.nip.io`)", "traefik.http.routers.demo-webapp-http.tls=false", ] check { type = "http" path = "/" interval = "2s" timeout = "2s" } } task "server" { env { PORT = "${NOMAD_PORT_http}" NODE_IP = "${NOMAD_IP_http}" } driver = "podman" config { image = "docker.io/hashicorp/demo-webapp-lb-guide" ports = ["http"] } } } } ``` After the above job is run, the `demo-webapp` application will go through the _Load balancing_ process by Traefik first, then be directed to each container. ```bash ubuntu@nomad01:~$ curl http://demo-webapp-192-168-1-10.nip.io:8080 Welcome! You are on node 192.168.1.10:20190 ubuntu@nomad01:~$ curl http://demo-webapp-192-168-1-10.nip.io:8080 Welcome! You are on node 192.168.1.10:25458 ubuntu@nomad01:~$ curl http://demo-webapp-192-168-1-10.nip.io:8080 Welcome! You are on node 192.168.1.10:25482 ubuntu@nomad01:~$ curl http://demo-webapp-192-168-1-10.nip.io:8080 Welcome! You are on node 192.168.1.10:20190 ``` As you can see, responding to our requests are _several containers_ each with _different_ ports, those ports are allocated by Nomad dynamically. That's the short tutorial, in the next article I will discuss how to run _stateful_ applications like _databases_ with _host volumes_ in Nomad.