External access to services via configured domain names (using ${DOMAIN})
Internal-only access to admin interfaces (via internal.${DOMAIN} subdomains)
Secure traffic routing with automatic TLS
Reliable networking with proper load balancing

Architecture

Internet → External DNS → MetalLB LoadBalancer → Traefik → Kubernetes Services
                                    ↑
                                 Internal DNS
                                    ↑
                              Internal Network

Key Components

MetalLB - Provides load balancing for bare metal clusters
Traefik - Handles ingress traffic, TLS termination, and routing
cert-manager - Manages TLS certificates
CoreDNS - Provides DNS resolution for services
Kubernetes Dashboard - Web UI for cluster management (accessible via https://dashboard.internal.${DOMAIN})

Configuration Approach

All infrastructure components use a consistent configuration approach:

Environment Variables - All configuration settings are managed using environment variables loaded by running source load-env.sh
Template Files - Configuration files use templates with ${VARIABLE} syntax
Setup Scripts - Each component has a dedicated script in infrastructure_setup/ for installation and configuration

Idempotent Design

All setup scripts are designed to be idempotent:

Scripts can be run multiple times without causing harm
Each script checks for existing resources before creating new ones
Configuration updates are applied cleanly without duplication
Failed or interrupted setups can be safely retried
Changes to configuration will be properly applied on subsequent runs

This idempotent approach ensures consistent, reliable infrastructure setup and allows for incremental changes without requiring a complete teardown and rebuild.