Better HomeLab Secret Management // Infisical Tutorial

HomeLab secrets usually start simple: one `.env` file next to a Docker Compose stack. But over time, those secrets spread into GitLab variables, deployment scripts, copied folders, backups, notes, and places where they should not live.

In this video, I show a practical Infisical workflow for managing HomeLab and Docker secrets. We’ll install and configure Infisical, create a secrets project, explain environments like `dev`, `staging`, and `prod`, manage secrets in folders, sync secrets to GitLab, use the Infisical CLI, and inject secrets into a Docker Compose workflow without committing real values into a `.env` file.

I’ll also explain the caveats: Infisical is great as a central source of truth, but automated systems like CI/CD, Portainer, Arcane, Docker Compose, and other deployment tools still need a proper way to receive those secrets.

References:
Infisical: https://infisical.com
Infisical CLI Docs: https://infisical.com/docs/cli/overview
Infisical Docker Compose Docs: https://infisical.com/docs/integratio...
Infisical Universal Auth Docs: https://infisical.com/docs/documentat...
Boilerplates: https://github.com/ChristianLempa/boi...


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Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction
02:44 - Overview and Docs
05:14 - Install Infisical in Docker Compose
09:34 - Set-Up and Configuration
11:31 - Project Types
13:35 - Managing Secrets
19:54 - GitLab Sync
22:52 - Infisical CLI
26:09 - Use in Docker Compose
29:20 - CI / CD integration
30:42 - Final thoughts


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