diff --git a/certs/ipa-ca.crt b/certs/ipa-ca.crt
index 1894658..614814a 100644
--- a/certs/ipa-ca.crt
+++ b/certs/ipa-ca.crt
@@ -1,9 +1,25 @@
-# Placeholder — replace with the actual FreeIPA CA certificate before deploying.
-#
-# Retrieve from the IPA server (it is a public certificate, safe to commit):
-#   curl -o certs/ipa-ca.crt http://<ipa-server>/ipa/config/ca.crt
-#
-# This file must contain a valid PEM certificate for SSSD to authenticate
-# against FreeIPA over TLS.  The Nix build succeeds with a placeholder, but
-# the deployed host will not be able to join the domain until the real cert
-# is committed and the system is rebuilt.
+-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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=
+-----END CERTIFICATE-----
diff --git a/modules/ipa/client.nix b/modules/ipa/client.nix
index bf56ae3..db83042 100644
--- a/modules/ipa/client.nix
+++ b/modules/ipa/client.nix
@@ -20,9 +20,11 @@
 #        ipa host-add <fqdn> --ip-address=<ip>
 #        ipa-getkeytab -s <ipa-server> -p host/<fqdn> -k /tmp/<host>.keytab
 #
-#   3. sops-encrypt the keytab as a binary secret from your admin machine:
-#        sops -e --input-type binary /tmp/<host>.keytab \
-#          > secrets/<host>.keytab
+#   3. sops-encrypt the keytab as a binary secret from your admin machine
+#      (must run from repo root; sops matches creation rules against the file
+#      path, so copy to secrets/ first and encrypt in-place):
+#        cp /tmp/<host>.keytab secrets/<host>.keytab
+#        sops -e --input-type binary -i secrets/<host>.keytab
 #      Add secrets/<host>.keytab to .sops.yaml with the host's age key as a
 #      recipient (see the nix-cache.keytab entry for the pattern), then run:
 #        scripts/secrets/sync-host-keys.sh <target>   # if not done yet
diff --git a/secrets/nix-cache.keytab b/secrets/nix-cache.keytab
index e69de29..65aa101 100644
--- a/secrets/nix-cache.keytab
+++ b/secrets/nix-cache.keytab
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+{
+	"data": "ENC[AES256_GCM,data:z2bazlADvtWkGcY4an7NgZgIDSDq8KmYpSq8tcBleW/33HlElMNhdmje8m8hd7WxgrVvCQDdlAfodBLj2mjbgSwBptlPX2zbwcmJdm0g0Ope+YyQZucIio7NnBaYa+OK8meWqmxO2WEeOk+hnNfNPbt8MkzF/FMMbP8xv9wSTKP9CDdmO7s8rdg8G1JxVfn9dyaSDUTuA2JGNtbh+osd4CtNCV/bc84MjXDZTgTfT0W/uv8VH3iPNT7BhQbU9FIY4dsFRYBf758VtJ+3mTBiQkR38IevJBvhFB7Wiqn118LSBgjdTKJnBwmGo6lMdo0LRYHEgUnb2ejhWMNie19x+LEAErDki0RBmjc2BbnOF908kUlW2fUPo5fz/hlfqlhDLS1uOxESKhfnKt7s5qzWiMX/nohpknVfyMbmu9j/M571z9sgFnJAylpW3NLp53lX8N9mINwRGXsyL/ijbNE=,iv:M/MNquAGN+lIIyVVvFRgKR6DKAhLclc/OY1HV5Xwoog=,tag:eEuURMErSqsoh+l9ZaHY9Q==,type:str]",
+	"sops": {
+		"age": [
+			{
+				"enc": "-----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----\nYWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBqZlUxRG0zR3IzMlpDL3Vl\nNmRWQXUvc1NDek5wbWtKVEFTcTlxL3ZoWldNCmJVMkFtbDkxN1FGQ2VLTlhBUW5Q\nZ3VzL0UydUQ2YnlUMmtqa1Z0d0FSVFUKLS0tIGJFelc4Rm84T3ZHSGZDdnNUbUFM\nRXZHV3N3aVlSOXhUZk04UFRMWU5TbFUKhPU80PVYuDFUCxu1CA8+W8bqkr+Ne2fh\n+nBUPJbGxfN9TyD9tUC77AMbcL1R2L5x+SSAh0bEgSWE24/RjsuVKw==\n-----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----\n",
+				"recipient": "age1njap586hc0q43kr03g6c8eqhdsmk8zcafkl3f83xwlc2gqhlmfgs4tmwad"
+			},
+			{
+				"enc": "-----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----\nYWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSB3M1o3S2FibHV6N2tIOFEx\nRytJRDFIUU05azNDbWlpaDdFQXFRWlBUNnlFCnBwNVB0SEVwL3NWNS9aeG4xSUI1\nV3NOcUFxUUhaODYyWXdFMEhWeFpvancKLS0tIHY4NHFQRGJwUURQbWZ2cGlSdm9s\nOFJodGZkekk3UnBRRUwxb2YrQ1ZPcU0K0tCapb1hfVHFSNpmESXexYa5k9OE9Tha\n51QpU4mZHKGrnWPK/kyj7rHiz95TLsmwUdA8Q2hOiYNSxEaVBjYDQw==\n-----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----\n",
+				"recipient": "age1jcx3yajjhghn8qh8za3yeu8nxykzlg3p4nrv03vnfvzl0mzayg2qmg940e"
+			},
+			{
+				"enc": "-----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----\nYWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSBkTmNrbUFoVFVGcytzQkk1\nMUxDdmJGL0xDcUNZaDFRQnUwNXoyMU90SEVvCi9EaTlVOGlMeUZtQzRJS1J2TTJY\neWdkMGNFMWZzQXVKOU5KcXVvalk1ekkKLS0tIDN2MlRQcG5aQnN3bUMrSDdvc09X\nM29hQ0pJRzk1amRHaS9mRlhrb2FMZG8KEWkSSP+MqGRU75qo7ctOCL7qHhyCM3l4\nL+ga1XOKxRsQkKQPozCi5Bm+k28W9hIDaC34Rw9difxICM9Z1rAbOA==\n-----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----\n",
+				"recipient": "age1ufg390ydrmma849t9xfkxxl5xvdkk6mngnlzhmy7mvuaje8sgcmsmnq6l7"
+			},
+			{
+				"enc": "-----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----\nYWdlLWVuY3J5cHRpb24ub3JnL3YxCi0+IFgyNTUxOSA1TUtxVjJ2STFpU3RNdWpJ\nVjcwUHVORVN6L1pKVC9TeWt4cTNoR2pPWVRBCkR4QVJ1bHFUa2Z5aWw1bG0vQWVy\ncjNGRDl5REZzbzdZWTFMRkU1eHFTc1kKLS0tIHNLVDFiRkRKTHhrSEx2S0J1R3cx\nSkdEQWJya1ptTTRqUjJZT3FFaFhkd0kKgecHrnzW9+Eb+b7c0z1yR+Y0Czsr9Kjh\nx1UUOfleHntJUCs8oYcOogKknEnhBJJoJ5oe/gWruRSwle1fs3cBqQ==\n-----END AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----\n",
+				"recipient": "age1jlltcv5jcnm40z5k0q6hv053k2rqpqvemtuecdwn527uw8uqz4es3x7m68"
+			}
+		],
+		"lastmodified": "2026-07-27T21:22:58Z",
+		"mac": "ENC[AES256_GCM,data:VG2ygV4X6yMxGlJgq3sN4GAzgVqiD06noyMxB2yb/FCmiFVYZAH/9LqF//G7MTInfIjFrTDyoHAny+m/ztUrJkHXI1Fzg0U8R/zYyQ6wj/GguL0gyhA70uriQhvHsRHefHPa7Km61Blo9cME6CBJWejtRvh1IMw9itAioVrSIZE=,iv:zjxNG6IYxkcNqLk08NADoDiIbS6at86y136SBzadW1U=,tag:sj4ZRR7ixU8h7aOUJmTCYg==,type:str]",
+		"version": "3.13.2"
+	}
+}
diff --git a/variables.nix b/variables.nix
index 6ebc824..e438178 100644
--- a/variables.nix
+++ b/variables.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
   dockerIp = "192.168.2.225"; # docker Proxmox VM LAN IP
   pbsIp = "192.168.2.244"; # Proxmox Backup Server LAN IP (not NixOS-managed)
   domainControllerIp = "192.168.2.253"; # FreeIPA domain controller / primary DNS (not NixOS-managed)
-  ipaServer = "ipa.sweet.home"; # FreeIPA server hostname (used by security.ipa and Kerberos; must be a resolvable FQDN, not an IP — update if different)
+  ipaServer = "domain-controller.sweet.home"; # FreeIPA server hostname (used by security.ipa and Kerberos; must be a resolvable FQDN, not an IP)
 
   # Cross-host references (LAN hostnames/users other hosts reach over the network)
   nixCacheHost = "nix-cache"; # substituter/remote-builder hostname