My Ultimate Self-hosting Setup
“The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner, now I am the master (of this setup anyway)."
I’ve spent a few years trying different approaches for self-hosting, such as using multiple Docker compose files or Ansible. I’ve done some neat things (such as setting up Pi-Hole with Docker and Traefik), but I never really committed to any approach. I wanted to find something that was “perfect” and that meant I spent a lot of time tinkering and received little actually benefit from self-hosting.
So I did some self-reflection and decided it was time for “good enough”. I laid out my goals and requirements to stay focused. I put together a step by step plan. And then after quite a bit of work, I’ve actually achieved my goal and been running this setup without major issue for over six months!
I’ve written this to share a little about the process I went through as well as some specific problems I solved along the way. I’ve really benefited from the content and software folks have freely shared, and hope I can continue that and help others.
Table of Contents
Goals
There are a lot of reasons folks get into self-hosting. Some to learn skills they can use in their career. Others to create an autonomous smart home. And yet others just love to tinker.
I primarily want control of my data and the services that use it. It’s better for privacy and can reduce the ability for companies to pull a Darth Vader and shut down services I depend on or drastically change them. Having that control makes me feel comfortable actually incorporating those services into my life. And I want to offer the same benefit to my family and friends.
Requirements
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