User guide

Everything to run Janus: getting an image, booting and provisioning nodes, the Controller that manages them, HAProxy, the network and the optional extensions, and keeping a fleet running. A Janus node has no shell and no SSH: everything here goes through the node’s mTLS API - from the Controller’s web UI, from janusctl, or from Terraform.

Getting started

• Quick start - a node in a virtual machine on your workstation, configured through its API, serving HTTP: ten minutes.
• Images and extensions - the images each release publishes, and how to build one with the optional extensions you need (BGP, VRRP, firewall, Consul, Let’s Encrypt…).
• Provisioning a node - four ways to turn a blank machine into a node that registers itself with a Controller. Deploying many, on a hypervisor or bare metal: Janus in a private cloud.

The Controller

• The Controller - the web UI for a fleet: installing it, accounts and roles, adding nodes, backups, updates.
• Hypervisors - nodes the Controller creates itself, on libvirt/KVM or Proxmox VE.

janusctl

• Using janusctl - installing it, signing in to a Controller, reaching nodes; shell completion.
• janusctl reference - every command, its arguments and its flags.
• A fleet without a Controller - the same trust model, driven from janusctl alone.

HAProxy

• Your haproxy.cfg - what to change in an existing configuration to run it on Janus.
• Files, maps and certificates - error pages, maps, ACL files and certificates next to the configuration.
• Let’s Encrypt - certificates obtained and renewed by the node itself.

Network

• Network configuration - interfaces, VLANs, routes and DNS, applied on trial and reverted unless confirmed.
• Firewall, VRRP, BGP and Consul - the optional network extensions.

Operate

• Updating nodes - A/B updates with an automatic revert, from the Controller or janusctl; going back.
• Metrics - the Prometheus exporter every node serves.
• Packet capture - tcpdump-style captures streamed over the API.
• Troubleshooting - where each problem shows, without a shell: registration, access, HAProxy, the network, VRRP and BGP, updates.
• Security policy - supported versions and how to report a vulnerability.