I was updating my blog’s Hugo version and PaperMod theme when I realized I hadn’t touched these dependencies in months. The Hugo Docker image was 8 versions behind, and the theme had accumulated dozens of commits. Not broken, just stale. I wanted something that would automatically check for updates and create merge requests - something I could review and merge on my own schedule, without having to remember to check. ...
How I automated Kubernetes cluster upgrades using Ansible, turning a tedious multi-hour process into a single command. The Problem My homelab Kubernetes cluster was running v1.28, several versions behind the current stable release. Kubernetes only supports upgrading one minor version at a time, meaning I’d need to go through: 1.28 → 1.29 → 1.30 → 1.31 → 1.32 Each upgrade involves: Upgrading the control plane (kubeadm, then kubelet/kubectl) Draining each worker node Upgrading packages on each worker Uncordoning and waiting for Ready state Verifying cluster health Doing this manually across 4 nodes, 4 times, is tedious and error-prone. Enter Ansible. ...