I’ve been interested in self-hosting for a while, but didn’t really know where to start. I’ve never messed with Linux before and wanted to jump ship from Windows since Microsoft decided to start putting ads everywhere.
I came across this post [https://lemmy.world/post/6542543] which was exactly what I was looking for to start, and seemed like a straight-forward guide. I have two laptops, one I want to act as my media server with Docker and the other as my everyday device.
Except I’ve been met with setback after setback from the start. I tried installing Ubuntu Server on the media server laptop but just could not get it up and running. I was suggested to try using a more beginner-friendly distro, so I went with Mint. I also liked the idea of a GUI I can mess around with.
Docker was a success, but then I got to the Adguard part and when I try the docker-compose.yml step, grub just hangs. Decided to skip that part and go onto Jackett. Nope, more errors. Tried Prowlarr, different errors.
I don’t want to give up on this because its something I really want to get going for my media, home automation, cameras, etc etc. But I feel like I’m flying blind here.
I have a lot of homework to do to learn Linux, but is there a different, beginner-friendly guide out there for me to follow for now?
Edit: I appreciate everyone’s comments. Although I have no Linux experience, I know my way around Windows pretty well. I understand file systems and in one of my errors that was asked, I was getting a “No File or Directory exists” error. I edited the username to fit my what I have, but was still getting the error. I even created a new user named Prowlarr when attempting the Powlarr install to follow the steps word-for-word, no luck. It got frustrating so I gave up for the day.
I admit I do have a lot of learning to do, and I am really grateful some of you have provided start-points for my Linux journey. I’m also grateful for the “Self-hosting For Dummies” recommendations, like Yunohost and YAMS. I plan on looking over all of this info today to get a solution up for now and start my path down the Linux rabbithole. Its kinda exciting to start embarking on something like this.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who gave me great feedback!
This guy has a guide for Rpi5, debian, some disk config, docker, nginx,-proxy-manager, immich. Backup/restore… If you like hands on stuff, this is ok I think…
As a beginner myself I would recommend you installing portainer (a gui for docker) and if you need compose files I have them for all of my services on my GitHub.
I can resonate with feeling lost when first starting out with Linux. If you like learning from books, I can recommend the “Unix and Linux system adiministration handbook” by Evi Nemeth. It includes information and tips on all things Unix/Linux, including step by step tutorials on home to set up a media server etc.
Get used to Linux and keep persevering, you got this! :)
A big differentiator in how you might want to tackle this depends on one question, are you planning on getting into Linux systems administration, like for work? Because if you actually really want low level Linux skills then that’s a whole slew of things you’ll need to learn from scratch. And it’s not just your Windows-only experience that’s holding you back, managing a server is different from managing your desktop.
But if you’re not really interested in working in IT or all you really want to learn how to self host, you’re probably better off with an appliance, like UnRAID. These OSs abstract away much of the low level stuff so you don’t have to worry about it. Not the best way to learn how Linux works really well, but the easiest way to manage your self hosted environment.
Without knowing anything about your specific setup I’d guess the issue is with docker not playing nice with your OS or vice versa. Can you execute the standard docker hello-world app? https://docker-handbook.farhan.dev/en/hello-world-in-docker/
If not then my money’s on this being an issue the OS. How did you install docker on mint, using sudo with a package install?
Fyi don’t feel bad - I installed docker on 3 different Linux distros last month and each had their quirks that I had to work my way through. Docker virtualization is some crafty kernel-level magic which can go wrong very fast if the environment is not just right.
Docker installed great! Hello-World returns what it should. I reach problems whenever I try to do anything within Docker, like setting up AdGuard, Jackett, etc.
I’m a little lost on how a container would mess with your boot loader (GRUB). That aside, most of what you’re explaining to do with the containers. These are OS-agnostic. What do the container logs tell you?
I have a feeling you don’t quite understand what Docker is doing for you and how it works. I suggest looking for an intro to Docker and understand the basics around Docker volumes and networking in docker before trying to orchestrate a complex set of software in Docker.
Don’t give up! I was you about 6 years ago. I’m on my 3rd server setup now, and I’ve gone from where you are now, to being able to script my setup using Ansible and having those scripts versioned in Git, so I never have to worry about remembering how it’s all glued together.
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Can you give some more details on the errors you’re seeing? Grub and docker-compose shouldn’t be anywhere near each other.
That’s confused me as well. It probably did a kernel update and then triggered update-grub.
This guy has a guide for Rpi5, debian, some disk config, docker, nginx,-proxy-manager, immich. Backup/restore… If you like hands on stuff, this is ok I think…
edit, forgot the actual link: https://github.com/TorATB/RPI-Immich/blob/main/Immich on Raspberry PI5 Guide.md
As a beginner myself I would recommend you installing portainer (a gui for docker) and if you need compose files I have them for all of my services on my GitHub.
I can resonate with feeling lost when first starting out with Linux. If you like learning from books, I can recommend the “Unix and Linux system adiministration handbook” by Evi Nemeth. It includes information and tips on all things Unix/Linux, including step by step tutorials on home to set up a media server etc.
Get used to Linux and keep persevering, you got this! :)
I think you should start with the basics of Linux instead of diving into the deep end 😉
A big differentiator in how you might want to tackle this depends on one question, are you planning on getting into Linux systems administration, like for work? Because if you actually really want low level Linux skills then that’s a whole slew of things you’ll need to learn from scratch. And it’s not just your Windows-only experience that’s holding you back, managing a server is different from managing your desktop.
But if you’re not really interested in working in IT or all you really want to learn how to self host, you’re probably better off with an appliance, like UnRAID. These OSs abstract away much of the low level stuff so you don’t have to worry about it. Not the best way to learn how Linux works really well, but the easiest way to manage your self hosted environment.
Without knowing anything about your specific setup I’d guess the issue is with docker not playing nice with your OS or vice versa. Can you execute the standard docker hello-world app? https://docker-handbook.farhan.dev/en/hello-world-in-docker/
If not then my money’s on this being an issue the OS. How did you install docker on mint, using sudo with a package install?
Fyi don’t feel bad - I installed docker on 3 different Linux distros last month and each had their quirks that I had to work my way through. Docker virtualization is some crafty kernel-level magic which can go wrong very fast if the environment is not just right.
Docker installed great! Hello-World returns what it should. I reach problems whenever I try to do anything within Docker, like setting up AdGuard, Jackett, etc.
I’m a little lost on how a container would mess with your boot loader (GRUB). That aside, most of what you’re explaining to do with the containers. These are OS-agnostic. What do the container logs tell you?
I have a feeling you don’t quite understand what Docker is doing for you and how it works. I suggest looking for an intro to Docker and understand the basics around Docker volumes and networking in docker before trying to orchestrate a complex set of software in Docker.
Don’t give up! I was you about 6 years ago. I’m on my 3rd server setup now, and I’ve gone from where you are now, to being able to script my setup using Ansible and having those scripts versioned in Git, so I never have to worry about remembering how it’s all glued together.
You could try yunohost on the server side. (Not docker based and beginner friendly)
In general checkout LearnLinuxTV on YouTube. Lots of good guides.