Owning the Stack: Why Building a Private Automation Engine was Easier (and Harder) Than I Thought

We often hear that setting up and securing your own infrastructure is complex and reserved for senior sysadmins. But what happens when you just... stop overthinking and start deploying?

In this session, I’ll share my journey of building a private automation engine using n8n and Traefik on a standard VPS. I'll show you why a 'clean' Docker-based architecture was the key to getting it up and running faster than I expected, and why 'perfect' shouldn't be the enemy of 'functional.'

We’ll dive into:

• The 'Action-First' Setup: How Docker on a VPS became my playground for automation.

• The Final Bosses: Real talk about the technical hurdles—from Traefik routing logic to the infamous Google OAuth redirect loops.

• The Next Sprint: Why my current 'open' setup is just the beginning, and how I’m planning to level up with Keycloak and Secret Management.

This isn't a lecture on perfection; it's a story about persistence, structured debugging, and the value of running your own containers. Whether you're a seasoned platform engineer or a curious tinkerer, you'll leave with the confidence to stop thinking and start building.

Food will be provided, remember to specify your dietary preference when signing up for the event!

Thanks to Developers Bay for providing something to eat.

Thanks to The Tribe for hosting.