I’m already hosting pihole, but i know there’s so much great stuff out there! I want to find some useful things that I can get my hands on. Thanks!

Edit: Thanks all! I’ve got a lil homelab setup going now with Pihole, Jellyfin, Paperless ngx, Yacht and YT-DL. Going to be looking into it more tomorrow, this is so much fun!

  • chrono@apollo.townEnglish
    47·
    2 years ago

    FreshRSS, news and websites fetched your way. You can even create feeds for websites that don’t provide one

    • Drudge@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      2 years ago

      Quick question, don’t want to highjack the thread. This looks interesting, but I don’t understand why I couldn’t just install it on my regular laptop running fedora. Why does it need it’s own server?

      • chrono@apollo.townEnglish
        7·
        2 years ago

        Well you can install it locally and get the web interface via localhost, but if it’s a proper server you can access the news from your sources from anywhere and you can also use 3rd party apps in your phone to get a different interface via the API

        • null@slrpnk.netEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          Do you have any recommendations for 3rd party apps? I did a quick search but couldn’t find any apps built for FreshRSS

        • Drudge@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          Oh ok thanks. I do like the idea of access from anywhere… I’m guessing a VPN would be needed on the server and phone? Or is this a whole big thing?

          • chrono@apollo.townEnglish
            2·
            2 years ago

            Check out tailscale, the best tool ever to access a server without opening ports or doing hard stuff

          • med@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            1·
            2 years ago

            It depends on how secure you want to get with it. You could just host it with any of the hosting providers and have it public - or you could have it behind a vpn on that server

            If you were hosting it at home, you’d likely want to restrict access to behind a vpn. No sense advertising your network is any more interesting than it needs to be

        • dan@upvote.auEnglish
          3·
          2 years ago

          FreshRSS is just a PHP app so you don’t even need a VPS - you could even install it in a regular shared hosting account.

    • gkpy@feddit.deEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      i use miniflux, anyone have used both and can tell me if I’m missing out on smth :)

    • somedaysoon@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      I agree that an “average joe” shouldn’t be selfhosting unless they firstly understand that they are responsible for their data and are making proper backups.

      unless you are regularly checking your dashboards, they will happen in rapid succession

      One thing I disagree with though, you shouldn’t be having to regularly check dashboards. And I understand this goes beyond the “average joe” realm of things, but you should have notifications setup to notify you if something is not working. Personally, I use SMTP to Telegram because almost every service has an email option for notifications, but I want to be notified instantly.

      So when my healthchecks script runs and fails I’m instantly notified if one of my containers is down. If my snapraid scrub/sync fails to run or has errors or my borg backup script fails to run or has errors, I’m instantly notified of it. If my ddns script fails to update, again, I’m instantly notified of it. I’m even notified if the server has higher CPU load averages or RAM usage than expected of it, and of drive space running out, and of SMART failures. I’m even notified whenever a login to my OpenMediaVault dashboard occurs. My Omada Controller also has different network notifications, and so does HomeAssistant for different integrations.

      Basically, I will be notified if any problems arise that need my attention… you shouldn’t be depending on scheduling your time to look at dashboards to ensure services are running properly. And if you setup a good notification system, you can just set and forget your services, mostly anyway.

        • somedaysoon@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          I mean, that is just another way of checking your dashboards.

          It’s not another way of checking dashboards… dashboards don’t even come into play for me with this notification system. If I get a notification that my backup script didn’t run, I’m dropping straight to an SSH session and checking logs and fixing it. There is no dashboard in this equation.

          Unless you are dealing with a high availability setup, it matters a lot less whether you do a push/pull model for notifications so long as you are regularly checking then.

          My home is not high availability, it’s just me and my wife, that doesn’t change the fact that this is a better solution over having to constantly check in on services. Also, high availability isn’t the reason for this, it’s having the peace of mind things are working, and doing literally nothing to know it. Right now, I know all my services are working, and how do I know? Because I haven’t received a notification that told me there is a problem so I know, everything is working. Do you know if all your services are working right now? No, not unless you actively check in on them right now. That’s the difference between my way and your way of doing it. I always know the status of my services, you don’t know unless you check in on them.

          But listen, I’m not trying to persuade you, if you like to take time to check in and babysit your services to make sure everything is running correctly instead of setup a simple notification system, that’s your preference, but in my opinion it’s not the best way to do it. This is about working smarter instead of harder.

  • sylverstream@lemmy.nzEnglish
    62·
    2 years ago

    Home Assistant. It’s a rabbit hole, but it’s great. I’ve got motion enabled lights, thermostats for “dumb” heaters, and I track device usage (tablet, xbox) of my kids.

    • a1studmuffin@aussie.zoneEnglish
      24·
      2 years ago

      And it’s so nice having zero dependence on the cloud. If the internet drops out, everything still works, including the mobile app.

      • sylverstream@lemmy.nzEnglish
        03·
        2 years ago

        Not necessarily, I have devices that are cloud dependent. Locally in NZ there aren’t a lot of options, all smart plugs are cloud dependent. Also things like weather integrations will stop working.

          • sylverstream@lemmy.nzEnglish
            11·
            2 years ago

            Unfortunately not. I mostly get my stuff from Aliexpress; I’ve found some good Zigbee plugs there.

            New Zealand is awesome, but not if you want to have many online shopping options :)

        • redcalcium@c.calciumlabs.comEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          There should be plenty of zigbee stuff in the market, right? Ikea and Phillips stuff are mostly zigbee and can work with homeassistant + zigbee dongle (zha). Some tuya switch and smart plugs are zigbee too and can pair directly to homeassistant + zha without using a cloud account.

          • sylverstream@lemmy.nzEnglish
            11·
            2 years ago

            Locally in NZ we only have Hue which is very expensive. Aliexpress has options but is a bit hit and miss quality.

            • redcalcium@c.calciumlabs.comEnglish
              3·
              2 years ago

              If you can buy stuff from aliexpress, then look for tuya devices with explicit zigbee support as they usually can work with ZHA. Avoid tuya wifi devices if you can.

        • tburkhol@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          Look for z-wave or zigbee plugs. You’ll need to buy a hub, but unless NZ has banned the protocol, it should get you smart switches, outlets, thermostats and more.

          • sylverstream@lemmy.nzEnglish
            2·
            2 years ago

            Yeah, I’ve recently bought a HA SkyConnect & some plugs from AliExpress and they work well. Whenever I’ll be in Australia I’ll get some Ikea stuff too. Locally the only Zigbee option is Hue which I find too expensive.

        • a1studmuffin@aussie.zoneEnglish
          4·
          2 years ago

          It’s up to you to make it cloudless, but Home Assistant is the only solution I know of out there that even allows this possibility. I refuse to use anything in my home that requires a third party app or cloud connection (aside from initial pairing so I can flash it with ESPHome or some other local-only firmware). Admittedly it complicates things, but the payoff is so worth it.

          • remus@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            2 years ago

            I use Home Assistant as well, but Apple HomeKit (and the new Matter protocol) can also be cloudless I think.

            • ScoobyDoo27@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              2 years ago

              Yup, HomeKit can 100% work without internet. It’s a requirement of being HomeKit certified. I block internet access to all my HomeKit devices and they work just fine.

          • sylverstream@lemmy.nzEnglish
            1·
            2 years ago

            Yeah you are right, think all other alternatives require the cloud. I’ve just started with HA so I’m still pretty new to it. I’ve found some good Zigbee plugs on Aliexpress that pair well with ZHA. Over time I can replace the un-flashable cloud based smart plugs from TP Link and Brilliant.

  • slackj_87@lemmy.worldEnglish
    452·
    2 years ago

    Vaultwarden is pretty game changing. No more reusing passwords and they aren’t in the cloud.

    • palitu@lemmy.perthchat.orgEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      yeah, password manager for me. love it. I am looking at using the home assistant addon to manage it now, it may make life a little easier.

    • Gubb@lemmy.worldEnglish
      41·
      2 years ago

      I second this, bonus points if you get a domain through Cloudflare and use their tunnel service to access shrike away from home!

    • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
      253·
      2 years ago

      This is a rare one for which i wouldnt bother self hosting; i trust the centralized server provider, i can take an offline backup of my passwords and it only costs $10. And im the sort to run my own email server because i don’t trust the cloud providers.

      • constantokra@lemmy.oneEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        Vaultwarden is super easy. I’ve not had a single problem with it and I’ve been running it for a couple years.

      • peregus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        2 years ago

        I second your opinion about not selfhosting Bitwarden. About email, have a look at Proton mail. All the emails are encrypted in the server and are decripted client side with your password only when you open them.

    • Elkenders@feddit.ukEnglish
      201·
      2 years ago

      I did this and it led to hosting a baby within my wife. Was pretty steep learning curve and now have zero downtime.

  • Acid@startrek.websiteEnglish
    99·
    2 years ago

    Honestly Plex/Emby/Jellyfin whichever you prefer is a gamechanger because if you have a large library of content then it just cuts the cord from the subscription services.

    I’ve always been happy to pay for them until I went on holiday last January and realised that none of my services were working due to going to a country that was out of the way and the only way to access them was to use a VPN.

    So having my own Netflix is a great thing.

    Tailscale while doing the above is also really cool

    • baked_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      11·
      2 years ago

      Probably an ignorant question but the content you use is pirated right? Should I wonder about legal issues since I would keep it at home and connected to Internet? Protected of course I just don’t see too deep into the issue

      • f1g4@feddit.itEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        If you don’t explicitly set a DNS to allow access from outside the local network, all your stuff is private and confined within your local network. As it is with all, let’s say, wifi stuff that goes on in your home.

        Edit. What @notorious said

        • Notorious@lemm.eeEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          I think you mean explicitly open the port on your router, but even then that’s not true. Plex by default will proxy your traffic so that even closed off servers can be reached. It is pretty easy to disable remote access in the server settings though.

    • HamSwagwich@lemmy.worldEnglish
      27·
      2 years ago

      Yep. 100% agree. I have a 175TB server. Sure it was expensive to set up initially, but I have all shows and movies I want, always. From all the different services I would have to subscribe to, I imagine I have recovered my initial outlay and I never have to worry about media being removed from the service or it going out of business.

      I have things that aren’t even available if I wanted to subscribe. Best thing you can do for yourself.

      No commercials, always high quality. Available anywhere, at any time.

      • Silviecat44@vlemmy.netEnglish
        21·
        2 years ago

        Is it useful without piracy though? It would still be expensive to buy all that media? And usually you can’t even download movies etc that you buy online. Am I missing something?

      • InverseParallax@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 years ago

        Same here, 192tb, but sonarr, radarr, plex, and the source that shall not be named (I respect the 2 rules).

        It’s not about outlay, I can watch what I want, when I want, how I want, without anyone tracking, even wrote my own video player interface in python so the mouse buttons handle all the settings.

        Completely ruins you for normal media :/

          • RxBrad@lemmy.worldEnglish
            16·
            2 years ago

            It just takes a really long time to restore from those backups. And weirdly, they’re scattered all over the place…

            • Sabin10@reddthat.comEnglish
              3·
              2 years ago

              Depends on your source and connection but I managed to recover 8tb of movies in a couple weeks.

    • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      2 years ago

      Other than Disney stuff, you can’t really guarantee on your kids favorite show or movie always being available on a streaming service you’re already paying for. Jellyfin has been great for those moments. Used to use Plex, and it’s very good software, but I got tired of the non-free aspects. Made me feel like I was subscribing to one more streaming service.

  • palitu@lemmy.perthchat.orgEnglish
    1371·
    2 years ago

    As far as changed your life, there are not too many that i really love, that made a massive difference to how i do things. But there is one:

    Paperless_ngx

    ALL of my paper work, receipts, transcripts, tax, shares, council rates. Everything goes in there. We no longer have paper lieing everywhere (well, my wife is another matter, still keeps grocery shopping reciepts…). when i get soimething in the mail, i used the paperless app to “scan” it, upload it, then bin the paper.

    An actual life change that i didn’t know i needed.

    • MaggiWuerze@feddit.deEnglish
      3·
      2 years ago

      How is your work flow from scanning to paperless? Does it support some kind of upload folder?

      • hogofwar@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        Yep, supports upload folder, normal upload in the application and also automatically importing from email based on folder/label

      • AnAnxiousCorgi@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        7·
        2 years ago

        Yeah paperless supports an upload folder. My scanner has an ability to scan to a network drive, so I scan things onto a shared drive on my homelab box, paperless consumes the scanned PDF and places it into the paperless “inbox”.

        • MaggiWuerze@feddit.deEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          Cool, that’s really easy. I’ll have to bring that up with my gf. She’s basically hoarding printouts and stuff (she’s a teacher) and this might help her in getting it a bit more organized

    • haulyard@lemmy.worldEnglish
      20·
      2 years ago

      Is it possible for the scans to be stored as files that are readable should paperless crash and I’m not around to get it up and running, or are files stored as weird non-standard file formats?

      edit: looks like scans are saved as pdf’s. Thanks for the insight!

      • mosjek@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        2 years ago

        The files are stored in a directory and you can define the default path with an environment variable ( file-name-handling ). If you need a more fine graint solution you can also use storage paths and select it on file level ( storage-paths ). I’m using syncthing to sync the folder structure to my other devices.

      • palitu@lemmy.perthchat.orgEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        yeah, and it will order them in a configurable manner, based on dates, tags, people, etc. and as things change in the meta-data of the document, it moves/renames the file to suit.

    • sylverstream@lemmy.nzEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      That looks really cool. At the moment I scan everything with OneDrive, and sync it with my NAS. However, it doesn’t have e.g. OCR features, it’s pretty basic. Will have a look, thanks!

      • palitu@lemmy.perthchat.orgEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        definitely try it out. You can auto-ingest from the scanner folder and it will do all the rest of the sorting for you. I go in every few weeks/months and look at the recent documents to sort and fix up any meta-data/sorting.

          • palitu@lemmy.perthchat.orgEnglish
            2·
            2 years ago

            awesome. i think that the initial install “just works”, then you can start to tweak it. just make sure you mount actual directories, not docker volumes, otherwise you cannto see the files on the disk.

            • sylverstream@lemmy.nzEnglish
              1·
              2 years ago

              Thanks for the suggestion! I tried to do that and have the files reside on a mount (on my NAS) but that didn’t work, resulted in a “chmod” error. So, instead I’ve created a shell script that runs every night and creates a backup & copies the resulting zip file to my NAS :)

              By the way, when using docker volumes, you can see the actual files as well. In my case (RPI4) they are located here: /var/lib/docker/volumes/paperless_media/_data/documents

    • constantokra@lemmy.oneEnglish
      4·
      2 years ago

      Why is this better for you than using a folder structure with a decent naming convention? I’ve tried to get started a couple times, but I just haven’t managed to get what’s better about it. I know i’m missing something, and I feel like if I knew what it is i’d be more likely to out in the work to transition.

      • palitu@lemmy.perthchat.orgEnglish
        10·
        2 years ago

        well, there are a few things:

        1. using the app to take photos (in a scan sort of mode, where it trims it to be at right angles), really quick and easy, no matter where i am.
        2. remote access - i can view all of my documents where ever i am.
        3. easy & sophisticated search. I have my documents assigned to people (me, wife, child, etc). I also assigned them to things like payslips, tax, shares, legal documents, education docs, receipts, etc. it also helps to automatically tag them to some degree of accuracy
        4. Automatic dating, it is quite good at picking out the date of the document, as seperate to the upload date. and it is easily updatable if it is wrong
        5. OCR - the documents content is searchable!
        6. Ease of tax time. I have some financial year views that make it really easy for me to do my tax (Australia), and i dont need to go hunting for paper that has faded in the heat and is no longer legible.
        7. folders - the documents are placed in a folder structure of your choosing. if you change the details in the document meta-data, it will move it to the correct place.

        so, whilst a folder structure would work. this is SOOO much easier, and provides much more functionality as it is not just storage. it also has WAF!

        • constantokra@lemmy.oneEnglish
          3·
          2 years ago

          That was a really clear explanation, thanks. Decent remote scanning would be nice. I guess I just have to wrap my head around tags for some of the niceties to make sense, though I guess i’d be no worse off if I just used folders if that’s an option as well.

          • palitu@lemmy.perthchat.orgEnglish
            2·
            2 years ago

            you’re welcome.

            I tend to use document types more than tags now. note that there are a number of meta-data fields:

            • correspondent
            • docuemnt type
            • tag

            i started with tag, but now mostly use a combination of the doc date, type and correspondent. Then use the search bar for specific documents.

  • harsh3466@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    2 years ago

    The one that was lifechanging for me is audiobookshelf. I LOVE having full ownership and control over all of my audiobooks, and the ability to enjoy them on any device I choose.

  • ilco@feddit.nlEnglish
    18·
    2 years ago

    These are some things I recommend. Vault warden. (paswoord manager). Jellyfin. (a great web based media player)… Portainer

  • i_lost_my_bagel@seriously.iamincredibly.gayEnglish
    22·
    2 years ago

    A NAS or Nextcloud or some other way of having files available remotely.

    Having a big box with a lot of storage that you can put things on from anywhere is so incredibly useful.

    • fulano@lemmy.eco.brEnglish
      6·
      2 years ago

      Do you think it’s safe for the average joe to forward ports in the router to access things from the outside?

      • constantokra@lemmy.oneEnglish
        5·
        2 years ago

        Nope. But wireguard works fine and is super easy. I’d recommend something like WG-easy running on the nas. That’s just one port to forward, with a reliable service behind it that does not advertise its presence. That is pretty safe.

        • bosnia@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          Do you have a good tutorial for setting up Wireguard? I was able to setup OpenVPN easily but haven’t been able to get Wireguard to let me access the internet while connected to it. Plus the Android app always says successfully connected even if the server is misconfigured.

          • BumbleBear@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            2 years ago

            I’m using pivpn inside a Debian container in Proxmox instead of using a raspberry pi. You can pick either OpenVPN or WireGuard during install. Mine is running WireGuard with no issues. I feel it’s very easy to use.

      • peaceb@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        2 years ago

        Have it be accessible over Tailscale (or similar) and that alleviates a lot of the access concerns. No need to setup port forwarding either.

        • ElectroVagrant@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          Similar might be running Wireguard yourself, right? Albeit if memory serves that setup tends to require port forwarding, so maybe not (or maybe I set it up wrong).

          • Techviator@infosec.pubEnglish
            4·
            2 years ago

            Tailscale uses the Wireguard protocol (in userspace, not kernel) along with a user and IP management system, a STUN system and a relay so they can provide easy management and connectivity even behind NAT or CGNAT. The relay uses https headers to hide the traffic, which provides a slower connection but allows connectivity in networks that block UDP or VPN traffic.

            Installing a Wireguard server would use a kernel implementation of the WG protocol, but you have to open a port on the server side for it, and manually create the peer configuration and public/private keys for them. It is slightly faster, but not as easy to deploy or as versatile when dealing with complicated networks, dual NAT or CGNAT. Also very easy to block on networks as it does not obfuscates the traffic.

            I chose to deploy a Wireguard server because it works well for my needs, but if I was behind CGNAT or connected through restrictive networks I would move to Tailscale.

            • ElectroVagrant@lemmy.worldEnglish
              3·
              2 years ago

              Makes sense!

              I set up Wireguard simply to get a rough understanding of how to do so & to try to access some home resources while away, which works well enough across simpler network situations, but as you indicate, breaks down against more complicated network situations.

          • limit@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            2 years ago

            Port forwarding a wg udp port is way safer than port forwarding some application to login to from the internet. At least with WG you can’t even brute force it or anything, it’s a lightweight protocol that requires a client cert.

          • Hexarei@programming.devEnglish
            1·
            2 years ago

            Tailscale basically uses NAT hole-punching, doesn’t require any port-forwarding ever, it’s great

  • dinosaurdynasty@lemmy.worldEnglish
    351·
    2 years ago

    An RSS reader (I use Miniflux), ended up being extremely useful

    • Almost every piece of software worth selfhosting has an RSS feed for updates (e.g., every GitHub releases page has an RSS feed). I started selfhosting a good deal more after setting up Miniflux.
    • Like omg there is this whole internet out there outside of Reddit/Twitter/etc that does RSS. The vast majority of blogs have RSS (e.g., Wordpress and Substack). I wish I had discovered RSS decades ago, so many websites I’ve forgotten because I would check updates manually and eventually just forget. I even host a personal Nitter instance so I can follow Twitter people in Miniflux.
    • fung@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      12·
      2 years ago

      I should get back into RSS. I used to follow a ton of web comics way back in the day, but once google RSS shut down I never picked it back up. I’ll look into Miniflux, thanks.

  • itpcc@lemmy.worldEnglish
    47·
    2 years ago

    PiHole!

    One of the easiest installer I’ve ever seen. Significantly less ads to be shown especially one on non-browser.

    • Jason@lemmy.weiser.socialEnglish
      3·
      2 years ago

      I feel like this one needs to be higher up. It so immediately and instantly changes your browsing experience (especially on a phone), that I VPN into my own home network when I’m out just to stay on the PiHole.

      Plus, when you get further along in your selfhosting journey you can use the custom DNS to re-route domain names so you never need to leave your network to use your own services.

    • darcmage@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      2 years ago

      This was my gateway into the selfhosting world. I don’t think I would’ve kept going if it didn’t make such drastic difference to my browsing experience.

      • itpcc@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 years ago

        For me, at least, is a custom CNAME DNS record. I’ve both internal (point to device directly) and external (via reverse proxy) domains. I use a CNAME record to point the external domain back to the internal one for my local split DNS. Technically it can be applied on Adguard; not as easy as PiHole though.

    • Silver Golden@lemmy.brendan.ieEnglish
      3·
      2 years ago

      for better or worse it is, (though I don’t recommend newcomers to boot up a bind server to manage their dns, pihole is probally the best starting point)

      • MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 years ago

        Indeed, dnsmasq would be much easier to handle than BIND OOTB. I have personally not come across a reason to use BIND for myself, and struggle to see its appeal out of the enterprise/enterprise-like labs, but I don’t really know much about homelabbing either

        • Silver Golden@lemmy.brendan.ieEnglish
          2·
          2 years ago

          In my (our) case we use bind to run an authoritative resolver for our domain (I am sysadmin for a uni computer society, we have our own (physical) servers)

          • MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            2 years ago

            Well, that is an enterprise-like environment. I’m curious though, why BIND over other DNS implementations? Unless you have very specific requirements I’m sure other DNS solutions would scale too

            • Silver Golden@lemmy.brendan.ieEnglish
              1·
              2 years ago

              Bind is well established, got plenty of documentation, is what the previous iteration of the resolver used and on top of all that it works really well with NixOS