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CLI agents make self-hosting on a home server easier and fun

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Re: CLI agents make self-hosting on a home server easier and fun

#51

Post by PaulKeeble »

simonw wrote: post #3

This posts lists inexpensive home servers, Tailscale and Claude Code as the big unlocks. I actually think Tailscale may be an even bigger deal here than sysadmin help from Claude Code at al. The biggest reason I had not to run a home server was security: I'm worried that I might fall behind on updates and end up compromised. Tailscale dramatically reduces this risk, because I can so easily configure it so my own devi…

Its especially important in the CGNAT world that has been created and the enormous slog that IPv6 rollout has ultimately become.

Re: CLI agents make self-hosting on a home server easier and fun

#52

Post by PaulKeeble »

chaz6 wrote: post #42

I would really like some kind of agnostic backup protocol, so I can simply configure my backup endpoint using an environment variable (e.g. `-e BACKUP_ENDPOINT= https://backup.example.com/backup -e BACKUP_IDENTIFIER=xxxxx`), then the application can push a backup on a regular schedule. If I need to restore a backup, I log onto the backup app, select a backup file and generate a one time code which I can enter into th…

At the moment I am docker compose down everything, run the backup of their files and then docker compose up -d again afterwards. This sort of downtime in the middle of the night isn't an issue for home services but its also not an ideal system given most wont be mid writing a file at the time of backup anyway because its the middle of the night! But if I don't do it the one time I need those files I can guarantee it will be corrupted so at the moment don't feel like there are a lot of other options.

Re: CLI agents make self-hosting on a home server easier and fun

#55

Post by buildfocus »

sauercrowd wrote: post #37
drnick1 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather expose a Wireguard port and control my keys than introduce a third party like Tailscale. I am not sure why people are so afraid of exposing ports. I have dozens of ports open on my server including SMTP, IMAP(S), HTTP(S), various game servers and don't see a problem with that. I can't rule out a vulnerability somewhere but services are containerized and/or run as separate UNIX users. It's the way the Inter…

People are not full time maintainers of their infra though, that's very different to companies. In many cases they want something that works, not something that requires a complex setup that needs to be well researched and understood.

Wireguard is _really_ simple in that sense though. If you're not doing anything complicated it's very easy to set up & maintain, and basically just works.

You can also buy quite a few routers now that have it built in, so you literally just tick a checkbox, then scan a QR code/copy a file to each client device, done.

Re: CLI agents make self-hosting on a home server easier and fun

#56

Post by devonhk »

notesinthefield wrote: post #30

I find myself a bit overwhelmed with hardware options during recent explorations. Seemingly everything can handle what I want a local copy of my Bandcamp archive to stream via jellyfin. Good times we’re in but even having good sysadmin skills, I wish someone would just tell me exactly what to buy.

> I wish someone would just tell me exactly what to buy.

I’ll bite. You can save a lot of money by buying used hardware. I recommend looking for old Dell OptiPlex towers on Facebook Marketplace or from local used computer stores. Lenovo ThinkCentres (e.g., m700 tiny) are also a great option if you prefer something with a smaller form factor.

I’d recommend disregarding advice from non-technical folks recommending brand new, expensive hardware, because it’s usually overkill.

Re: CLI agents make self-hosting on a home server easier and fun

#57

Post by indigodaddy »

1shooner wrote: post #50

Others here mention Coolify for a homeserver. If you're looking for turnkey docker-compose based apps rather than just framework/runtime environments, I will recommend the runtipi project. I have found it to be simple and flexible. It offers an 'app store' like interface, and supports hosting your own app store. It manages certs and reverse proxy via traefik as well. https://runtipi.io/

Cosmos Cloud is great too. I use it on a free tier OCI Ampere 24G VM

https://cosmos-cloud.io/

Re: CLI agents make self-hosting on a home server easier and fun

#59

Post by ryandrake »

drnick1 wrote: post #34
ryandrake wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm dumb, but I still don't quite understand the value-add of Tailscale over what Wireguard or some other VPN already provides. HN has tried to explain it to me but it just seems like sugar on top of a plain old VPN. Kind of like how "pi-hole" is just sugar on top of dnsmasq, and Plex is just sugar on top of file sharing.

> Kind of like how "pi-hole" is just sugar on top of dnsmasq, and Plex is just sugar on top of file sharing. Speaking of that, I have always preferred a plain Unbound instance and a Samba server over fancier alternatives. I guess I like my setups extremely barebone.

Yea, my philosophy for self-hosting is "use the smallest amount of software you can in order to do what you really need." So for me, sugar X on top of fundamental functionality Y is always rejected in favor of just configuring Y."

Re: CLI agents make self-hosting on a home server easier and fun

#60

Post by shamiln »

Tailscsle was never the unlock for me, but I guess I never was the typical use case here.

I have a 1U (or more), sitting in a rack in a local datacenter. I have an IP block to myself.

Those servers are now publicly exposed and only a few ports are exposed for mail, HTTP traffic and SSH (for Git).

I guess my use case also changes in that I don’t use things just for me to consume, select others can consume services I host.

My definition here of self-hosting isn’t that I and I only can access my services; that’s be me having a server at home which has some non critical things on it.

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