I forwarded this to my neighbour who is really into self hosting, particularly home automation stuff - has a pretty awesome Home Assistant set up. First thing they said? “But I’m 70, this only goes to 69”

I told him in that case he must dismantle his self hosted servers immediately 😁

Late arrival but in case it helps:

I’m 100% self taught. I’d never used Linux before I got my first Pi & struggled to get Nextcloudpi working, which I did eventually. But support came to an end so maintenance was going to become an issue so I had to learn.

I found this excellent video on how to read Docker requirements & apply them step by step into Portainer. He explains slowly & methodically exactly what he is doing & why.

Portainer is a method of handling Docker stacks/containers via a web UI. Both Docker & Portainer are simple to install.

It’s easier to use Docker Compose files and/or .env (environment variable) files (both are even simpler to deploy through Portainer) but this video taught me what was going on & gave me confidence to have a go. What attracted me to Docker is you can easily remove stacks/containers if/when you make a mess rather than wiping the drive & start again, which is how I went about things initially.

This gave me the tools to set up Nginx Proxy Manager & I never looked back. Highly recommend a robust backup solution as stuff will inevitably go wrong along the way (I see Borg, Restic mentioned often, I went for Kopia).

I can’t recommend highly enough making detailed notes along the way. I rely on my Joplin notes all the time.

One more tip. Once you start using Docker, dont fall into the trap of using the “latest” tag. If you know the version number its far easier to re-deploy if an update is bad.

Enjoy your new time consuming, teeth clenching, frustrating …and rewarding hobby 👍

Save notes? Joplin has a configurable backup plugin built in. From memory you need to go to Options >Plugins & enable it.

Edit: I just saw you meant sync. Several ways with Joplin. Been syncing through Nextcloud with WebDAV which has worked great syncing between several devices ever since I started using Joplin. On Android you need to keep the screen on during initial sync which can take a while but after that sync is a couple of seconds.

No it doesnt. It leans that way on the official site but self hosters tend to use github or similar rather than official websites.

Source: Been self hosting it for months for free (I intend to donate to Linkwarden when I do my next round of self host/FOSS donations)

I remember looking at some docs about upgrading versions, but I don’t know how to tell which version I have.

• User icon (top right) > ≡ menu (top left) to open side bar. Current version is displayed at the bottom of the side bar

As a general rule when installing anything with Docker Compose, rather than using “latest” I prefer to specify a version as it makes it easier to roll back should i find issues with an update.

I use a Pi5 with SSD (running Raspberry OS Lite 64bit). It runs Nextcloud, Nginx, DuckDNS, Docker, Portainer & also syncing Joplin & Memories for other family members to see holiday photos/special events (I run Immich on an alternative server not exposed to www). Only 1 user but its run flawlessly & seems pretty fast to me

No major difference its just what works for you. I used Hoarder (KaraKeep) in the early days but found I preferred the Linkwarden UI particularly on mobile so switched. But they’re both great.

Strangely I’ve found I tend not to use it for everyday bookmarks use (I’ve put those in a Joplin note). Instead I use Linkwarden for interesting stuff I might need at some point - long read articles or information for projects that I’ll be undertaking in the future, be that videos or written guides. You can set folders (topics) & tags for ease of retrieval.

I tried Hoarder (KaraKeep) & Linkwarden. Both excellent but I preferred the UI for Linkwarden, particularly on mobile, so I stuck with that - i found Hoarder awkward to edit thumbnails for example though things may have changed in KaraKeep. From Android perspective both have apps but I prefer to use browser plugin. With Linkwarden there’s some hoops to jump through on Android Firefox but it works perfectly once set up. Both excellent choices.

Thanks, I’m running the new version but linked to the old in error

Another shout for Homebox. I used to use a spreadsheet but over time found I simply didn’t maintain it but I’ve found I always maintain Homebox.

Homebox allows parent/child relationship between items & exports to spreadsheet.

I dont utilise the QR code facility because my family members would not bother to use QR codes. Instead I’ve numbered all boxes in each location (attic, garage, basement etc), printed contents of each box & put the printout into physical folders left in each location so even the most Luddite in my family can easily locate stuff then, in theory, remember where they took it from & if the stars align & its my luck day, put the item back in the same box that they removed said item from. When that happens I always check my lottery numbers too!

They can’t filter/search a physical printout but at least they can find stuff (I guess I should simply add a QR code to each printout for a best of both worlds solution).

Overall I’ve found Homebox a useful, simple & fun tool

Pi5 8GB with SSD. Only 1 user but often sharing folders with others including Memories photo sharing add on. Syncs between several machines & mobile. Also syncs Joplin notes. Pi5 also hosts variety of other (lightweight) stuff with no issues at all (Portainer, Nginx Proxy Manager, Linkwarden etc).

Previously hosted on Pi4B (4GB) with external hard drive. I’ve found the Pi5 + SSD faster & more robust so for me it’s been a worthwhile upgrade

Never knew I needed? Another vote for Paperless-ngx. I still feel like I’m living in the future using it. The trick I’ve found was initially setting up a good document naming & management convention & following it religiously for every document. The search function is fantastic at narrowing down results. Used in conjunction with specific coloured tags I can immediately see what I need from search results.

Fired up Immich recently. Amazing. Will be donating as I like their stance.

I also enjoy Linkwarden. Switched from the also excellent Hoarder as I prefer the UI.

Most used? Nextcloud with Joplin.

I moved from Nextcloudpi some time back & found THIS TUTORIAL far & away the most useful. Instead of just saying copy/paste a Docker Compose file he shows how to build it step by step using Portainer so i found it invaluable for future projects.

It seems a bit overwhelming initially but once you’ve installed it a few times you’ll be able to do it from scratch in less than an hour. Probably less as it sounds like you already know what’s what having used Ansible