Self-hosting basics

Creating your own server isn't hard, a server is a computer that gives(serves) data to other computers(clients). All you need to do to create a server is have a computer that can share data to another computer. This can be a Pi, old desktop or even a chromebook.

The box#

You probably already own it:

• A laptop with a cracked screen that still boots.
• A Raspberry Pi in a drawer.
• The desktop in the basement nobody uses.

If it turns on and stays on, it can serve your house. You don't need anything big, fancy, all you need is internet(preferable ethernet), a device, and power

# Ubuntu/Debian laptop: don't sleep when the lid shuts.
sudo systemctl mask sleep.target suspend.target hibernate.target

One file starts the whole thing#

Almost everything worth running uses a Docker Compose file. You paste it in and run one command:

services:
  jellyfin:
    image: jellyfin/jellyfin
    container_name: jellyfin
    ports:
      - "8096:8096"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
      - ./cache:/cache
      - /mnt/media:/media
    restart: unless-stopped

docker compose up -d      # start it, in the background(note older docker verisons use "docker-compose" instead of "docker compose")
docker compose logs -f    # watch it boot; ctrl-c to stop watching
docker compose down       # stop it

That's the key to nearly every service you'll run. Learn to read that file and most of self-hosting stops being mysterious.

Reach it from anywhere, safely#

You do not need a static IP, and you should not open ports on your home router to get started. A mesh VPN puts your phone and your server on the same private network in about five minutes:

1. Install Tailscale on the server and on your phone.
2. Sign in to the same account on both.
3. Use the server's Tailscale address instead of its local IP. It works from anywhere, on any network.

Safety first#

It's a bit costly but no one wants to lose their family photos. Two copies, one of them somewhere else. That's the whole rule, and it's the part people skip until they lose something.

• Copy one is the drive the service runs on.
• Copy two is anywhere that isn't in the same building another drive you take somewhere, or discs/SSDs, which is what the blank spindles in the program shop are for. you can even use google drive for this(ironically)

Test the restore, not just the backup. An untested backup is a hope.

Then what#

Get the thing you built running the same way a repo someone else can clone and a container they can start. Submitting your project covers what that has to look like.