The web gets loud at dusk — dashboards blinking, feeds shouting, algorithms jangling their loose change.
Up here, the Lighthouse stays steady.
Quiet servers. Human pace. No bait, no burn.

If you’re tired of the noise, you know where we are.
The light’s on. Always was.

#LighthouseLore #Fediverse #CalmTech #SelfHosting #DigitalQuiet

I wish there would be end-to-end encrypted, federated micro-blog social media. Social media entries and media aren't stored in plain text, but rather encrypted on the server, and only users who have subscribed to them have the ability to decrypt it.

#Fediverse #Mastodon #DecentralisedWeb #EndToEndEncryption #PrivacyMatters #SecureSocialMedia #ActivityPub #DigitalRights #DataOwnership #OnlinePrivacy #FederatedNetworks #CryptoSocial #PrivacyFirst #SelfHosting #OpenSource #DigitalFreedom #SafeSpacesOnline #EncryptionNow #SocialMediaReform #UserControl #NoSurveillance #DecentralisedSocial #TechForGood #PrivacyTools #DigitalSovereignty #StopDataHarvesting #OwnYourData #SecureMessaging #PrivacyActivism #DigitalJustice #Web3 #InformationSecurity #CyberSecurity #OnlineFreedom #ResistSurveillance

My way of rebelling against techbros and autocrats:

December 2024: quit all Big Tech platforms and start #selfhosting essential services

December 2025: write guides for newbies about how to self-host

I'm also in discussion with a blogger I admire to start a podcast about tech... where we'll focus on solutions (instead of problems)... aiming to inspire others to join in...

It's been a really heavy year but these little acts of rebellion give me hope ✨

Monday morning.
The world boots loudly, throws pop-ups, demands passwords and obedience.
Out here, we check the weather, scan the logs, and get on with it.
No stand-up meetings with a thousand ghosts. No growth hacks.
Just quiet systems, owned end-to-end, doing exactly what they’re told.
Light steady. Coffee strong. Let’s begin.

#LighthouseLore #MondayMorning #SelfHosting #Fediverse #QuietPower

So I bought a full-sized rack for the garage. Might be a bit too big to call it a #homelab any more 😜

It came with 2 PDUs that take 3-phase, 60A, 250V AC. I, um, won’t be plugging those into the house. My servers run on 240V, 2-phase. This plug is just a monster. My hand in the photo for scale.

I’m tickled that it says “Sun” on the side. I got my start in #sysadmin work on Sun IPCs and Sparc 4s back in the day.

#selfhosting

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Photo of the PDU mounted in the rack. It has 6 banks of 6 plugs each.

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Photo of the side of the rack with the “Sun Oracle” logo on it. I like the Sun icon with the 4 S’s

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The IEC309 power plug. My hand for scale. Just the wire itself is huge.

It’s coming together. I have 2 out of 6 racked. All the power is in the rack. Network and all the actual workloads are still on the bread rack behind and to the right. I will get these 2 servers online, move a bunch of workloads to them, and then I’ll be able to move more servers off the bread rack to the new rack.

I don’t see any way to redo the networking without some brief outages. I’ll have to disconnect the router, move it, and reconnect. A few minutes of disruption.

That’s going to be the hardest part: the main network wire runs through the whole basement and pops out in the garage and it’s basically at its limit. I have about 5-6 feet in the garage and that’s it. So when the main router finally moves to the rack, the rack has to be in its final location and then it can’t really move much.

Either that, or I just stick one of these RJ45 couplers on there and extend the line. I only have 200Mbit service, so I’m not worried about losing bandwidth to a coupler.

#homelab #selfhosting

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Photo of a full size 42U rack. There’s a monitor at the top showing the blue Dell EMC logo, and 2 servers on rails beneath it. At the bottom are 2 UPSes.

Today was the last move. It is all in one rack. It’s all halfway decent. I had a major downtime though because I had a stupid #xcpng goof that required upgrading a server that had live workloads on it. I couldn’t migrate them off. That sucked.

But it looks ok now. And it is so much more compact. I am using some air filter fabric over the front door to filter the air. And I have the front facing inside and the back blowing out toward the outside. I figure the air is cleaner on the house side of the garage.

#homelab #selfhosting #nicerack

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Photo of a 42-U rack with about 6 different servers racked in it. There’s also a few UPSes at the bottom

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Rear view of the same rack. Plenty of wires dangling, but I’ve got some cable management in there. It could be worse. (It was worse for many years)

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View of the front. But it is obscured by white fabric that covers the grill of the front door.

Midnight.
The sensible world is snoring.
This is when the keepers walk the stairs, check the logs, listen for odd noises in the dark.
No applause. No metrics. Just systems that either hold… or don’t.
We don’t chase the tide at this hour — we wait, watch, and keep the light burning.
If you’re still awake, you already know why you’re here.

#LighthouseLore #MidnightKeepers #Fediverse #SelfHosting #NightShift

So, I have been using Zitadel as my IDP so far, but it’s far too clunky and slow to my taste
I’ve been thinking about moving to Authentik, but now I see this project, PocketID, and I’m starting to think it would do the job at hand very easily

Only this is it’s only supporting passkeys, but I guess Bitwarden will take care of that

Convince me not to use PocketID, how has the experience been with this around here ?

#homelab #selfhosted #selfhosting #pocketid #authentik #zitadel #idp #oidc #security #passkeys

So this #Gotosocial instance is running on an old Zotac Zbox ID18 that I bought way back in 2018. It has 2gb ram and a 64gb ssd drive. Should be sufficient, I hope.

I have quite a complex routing setup at home and I struggle to get reverse proxy to work. As a solution I am using a Cloudflare Tunnel to run it on the web. So far it works well.

#selfhosting #socialmedia #fediverse

Le temps investi dans la prévention (mise à jour) est toujours infiniment plus court que le temps passé à résoudre une compromission. La sécurité et la stabilité ont un prix : celui de la veille technologique.

Point final.

#homelab #selfhosting #proxmox

Self-hosting does not make your data safe.

If you don't put in place, review, *and test* backup and recovery plans,,and security measures appropriate to the risk, your data are not "safe".

Your data might be less affected by the whims of third parties, which can be valuable for sure, but don't confuse that with your data being "safe".

And I say this as someone who loves self-hosting.

Any "beginners' guide to self-hosting" which doesn't lead with, or at least focus on, security and resiliency, is getting it wrong, IMHO.

#SelfHosting

I also want to add: I hope this doesn't discourage people from messing around and trying things.

If you're new to homelabs and selfhosting it totally makes sense that these are one and the same thing, my warning isn't a "you MUST" but a "please consider" kind of message.

If anyone wants help or advice what makes most sense in their personal context, feel free to shoot me a DM

I would only encourage people to start homelabbing and #selfhosting; both to learn, to break free, and to have fun.

pro tip: a Homelab and Selfhosted infra are two different things.

If you use your #homelab for #selfhosting your personal stuff, one of two things happens:

- you can no longer use your homelab as homelab and for experimentation

- your selfhosted infra is constantly offfline

Selfhosted infra should be seen as a PRODUCTION environment, which homelabs are not.

It should have automated backups, and ideally receive automated updates for security; you should avoid touching it as much as possible.

☕ Lighthouse Lore — Saturday Morning

The kettle clicks off.
Coffee steams.
The sea doesn’t care about deadlines.

No alerts. No stand-ups.
Just a keeper, a warm mug,
and a lighthouse doing what it’s always done.

Take it slow, travellers.
The light works weekends too. 🌤️⚓

#LighthouseLore #SaturdayMorning #CoffeeFirst #Fediverse #SelfHosting #SlowTech

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a lighthouse on a concrete promontory

🕯️ Lighthouse Lore — 23:59

The hour when the loud ones log off.
When dashboards dim, pings fall silent,
and the lighthouse keeps watch without applause.

No algorithms. No rage.
Just steady light, self-hosted calm,
and a keeper still at the desk.

Sleep easy, travellers.
The light stays on. 🌊⚓

#LighthouseLore #Fediverse #SelfHosting #DigitalCalm #QuietTech

#selfhosting

Po zmianie sprzętu, na którym stoi linuksowy serwer (spory upgrade, bo z i5/2gen i 4 GiB RAM n i7/10gen i 16 GiB RAM), mam więcej zasobów i trzeba to wykorzystać. ;-)

Na pierwszy ogień — przeniesienie istniejących usług, czyli Endurain i BookLore. Bez problemów.

Teraz dorzuciłem:
1) Dawarich — thx @tymoteuszjozwiak
2) PhotoPrism
3) Immich

Najpierw PhotoPrism, aby sprawdzić integrację z Dawarich.

No i tutaj coś nie działa jak powinno, bo owszem, Dawarich ściąga lokalizację zdjęć z PP, ale zdjęcia nie są wyświetlane (tak, włączone warstwa photos).

Dlatego postawiłem też Immich. I tutaj podobnie. Lokalizację zdjęć pobiera, ale nie są wyświetlane zdjęcia w Dawarich.
No nic to.

Ale!

Mam teraz PhotoPrism i Immich i nie wiem, które zostawić. ;-)

Seit ein paar Wochen folge ich @HolosSocial, weil ich die Idee einer eigenen Instanz, die vollständig als Smartphone-App läuft (ggf. plus eigener Relay-Server), ziemlich interessant finde.

Habt ihr Einwände, die dagegen sprechen würden?

mastodon.social/@HolosSocial/115691449342113089

#HolosSocial #SelfHosting #FediVerse

🌅 Friday Evening at the Lighthouse

As the week exhales, the Lighthouse glows a little warmer.
Servers hum, seas settle, and the noise of the wider web fades into mist.

No rush. No shouting. Just steady lights and quiet signals for those who prefer calmer waters.

⚓ Welcome in.

#LighthouseLore #Fediverse #SelfHosting #QuietWeb #DigitalCalm #forgejo #githosting

Dear Fedi friends,

I just hit "publish" on my blog post "A newbie's guide to #selfhosting with #YunoHost. Part 1: reasons + requirements". It's here if you wanna read it:

🔗​: https://blog.elenarossini.com/a-newbies-guide-to-self-hosting-with-yunohost-part-1-reasons-requirements/

This guide is intended for true newbies who are curious about self-hosting some essential digital services. I'm hoping to dispel some myths about self-hosting and make it appear accessible to all. Well, at least to people curious about it but hesitant to get started because they think it's too complicated. That was me up to a year ago.

Special thanks and shout-out to @ilja for setting my journey in motion. And eternal gratitude to @yunohost for the way they are empowering us all with the tools to self-host

#MySoCalledSudoLife #blog #BigTech #rebellion #digitalsovereignty #NextCloud

Folks who own a #domain. What trend or logic do you use for subdomains?

I'm a mulling over a good strategy for subdomain v/s CNAME v/s folder

#selfhosting

P.S: Do you keep different domains for different #fediverse services (like one for gotosocial, one for pixelfed, etc)?

Slight WAN speed update.

#HomeLab #SelfHosted #SelfHosting

This perfectly matches something I've been telling friends for years: if your data exists only in "the cloud", then you don't actually own your data - you're just being granted permission to access it.

This applies to every online service.
Telegram is a whole separate story: people store tens of gigabytes of personal files there, trusting them to a platform with a questionable history and a very blurred idea of privacy.

If your photos live only in iCloud - then you don’t have your photos.
If your files exist only in Dropbox - then you don’t have your files (just one example - https://www.reddit.com/r/dropbox/comments/scflkf/dropbox_account_disabled/).

I don't know who said it first, but the phrase fits perfectly here: "the cloud is just someone else’s computer".
If your data lives only in the cloud, it simply means it's sitting on someone else's machine. And the question becomes: do you trust that machine more than your own?

Having cloud storage is fine - it's convenient and useful.
But it should never be your only storage. Never.

You always need backups. Preferably encrypted backups. And you must test them, because an untested backup is the same as having no backup at all.

#Privacy #DataOwnership #CloudComputing #SelfHosting #Backup #Encryption
#CyberSecurity #DigitalSovereignty #InfoSec #Mastodon #Fediverse

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All you data are belong to us or the painful truth of using Telegram and other online services Yesterday, Telegram logged me off from all my devices without showing any warnings or notifications, even though | wasn't using it at the time. | don't participate in any illegal groups. In fact, I'm not subscribed to or part of any public groups except those created by my company. | only chat with my friends and coworkers. This prompted me to remind everyone that: Your Telegram account or any online account does not actually belong to you. The company behind it can take it from you any time they want or by sheer negligence, e.g. "we've been compromised and lost our backups". Telegram essentially has no support. Nothing. Nil. Nada. Zero. Zilch. Only the powers that be can restore their Telegram accounts due to sheer publicity and public channels. If your care about your Telegram chats and contacts, perform regular backups. Please do, you'll thank me later. Unlike other messengers that implement end to end encryption, Telegram does read your messages and can ban you at its own discretion without telling you anything at all. Telegram has private chats with the same E2EE encryption, but hardly anyone knows about or uses them. They also come with all sorts of "perks" (no synchronization between devices is one of them).

Lighthouse Lore XIII — The Long Watch

Keepers never die;
they just age like stone and salt.

Stacks change, storms come and go,
but the duty remains:
hold the beam steady,
watch the horizon,
and leave a warm place for anyone drifting in from the dark.

Some of us aren’t fading.
We’re simply deep into the watch.

#LighthouseLore #SelfHosting #CalmCorner #HauntedTech

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lighthouse keeper peering over the balcony

Reaching out to fellow #selfhosting fans and #DevOps using #S3 Storage. Since #minio is no more and is now just in "Maintenance Mode", what alternatives are you recommending?
currently thinking between SeaweedFS (https://seaweedfs.com/) and and Garrage (https://garagehq.deuxfleurs.fr/)

Boost welcome.

At the point where I don't really want to talk about what personal projects I'm working on. When I do, I get negativity, push back, or at best, indifference.
#FOSS #Selfhosting #Unplugtrump

Lighthouse Lore XI — The Witching Hour

At midnight the Lighthouse holds its breath.
The sea goes quiet, the logs go cryptic,
and something old prowls the server room —
a shadow that knows every cable by name.

The Keeper tightens his coat, nods once,
and whispers into the dark:
“Alright then. Show me your worst.”

#LighthouseLore #WitchingHour #SelfHosting #Fediverse #GhostInTheMachine

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green terminal in a server room with a ghost

Here are my go-tos — show me your runners.
Out on the rock, these are the tools that keep the Lighthouse glowing through every storm: nvim, rclone, Tailscale, MinIO, htop, systemctl, mosh, Proton Drive.
Your turn — what keeps your setup alive?

#SelfHosting #Linux #SysadminLife #LighthouseLore

After Storm Bran tore across the coast
the Lighthouse iust shakes off the salt
and carries on
The Keeper does the same - pacing
the racks, listening for any trouble Bran
might've slipped into the cables
But everything hums.
Out there. chaos
In here, calm
Some lights refuse to bow to any
storm.
#LighthouseLore #SelfHosting
#IndieWeb

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sunrise over a lighthouse

🌙 Tonight’s Lighthouse Lore

Some nights the Lighthouse feels older than the storms around it.
Built on equal parts Linux, late nights, and a stubborn belief that small corners of the internet can still be kind.
No boardroom, no shareholders — just one bloke, a pile of servers, and a flame that refuses to go out.
#LighthouseLore #SelfHosting #MastodonAdmin #IndieWeb

@nicholasburns Most of it is SAS. But where local storage bit me was in migrating from one host to another as I upgraded XCP 8.2.1 to 8.3. When you have shared storage, moving a node from one compute to another is trivial. When I have only local storage, migrating VMs has been really difficult. It's either time-consuming (20-120 minutes to move a big VM) or even impossible (version-to-version migration on XCP has been difficult with only local storage).

#homelab #selfhosting

@unixorn

I'm going to admit that I am doing something immature in my #homelab and I'm looking for opinions. I've got multiple #XCPng hosts, all using local storage. I have no NFS or iSCSI storage. That's kinda silly. Shared storage is super useful and I'm literally not using it.

Unless I go to some serious effort to make a high-performance SAN, I expect network storage performance to be so-so for VM storage, but maybe I'm too pessimistic. I currently only have copper gigabit in the rack. No fiber, no 2.5G copper or anything like that. I'm not sure if that's going to be viable for NFS or iSCSI.

I could dedicate a host to running TrueNAS Core with a bunch of storage. But what has always bugged me about this is that my storage host becomes a single point of failure for all the compute nodes. #TrueNAS is super reliable but everything has to reboot once in a while, and these stupid enterprise-grade servers take anywhere from 4-8 minutes to boot. If I had a single storage node, and I needed to reboot it for an OS upgrade, everything would hang for a while. That's no good. Not updating the OS on the storage system is also not good.

So what am I supposed to be doing for shared storage on a #Xen cluster? How do I avoid a storage host becoming a single point of failure? How do you update and reboot a storage node, without disrupting everything that depends on it?

#selfhosting #san #storage

I just published a new blog post about my #selfhosting plans for 2026 and... I remembered to add this pic (a scan of my own handwriting) at the bottom of the post.

It's now more important than ever: "written by a human"

🔗: https://blog.elenarossini.com/my-so-called-sudo-life/my-adventures-in-self-hosting-day-357

#NoAI

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a screenshot of a blog post... there is a picture inserted that is a scan of my own handwriting that reads: "written by a human" with a heart symbol drawn in, too

🏕️ my adventures in self-hosting: day 357 (big picture edition) 🖼️

a blog post in which I discuss my big #selfhosting plans for Q1 and Q2 of 2026... involving a major #PeerTube migration.

as I wrote in the post, if you're a sysadmin based in Paris and you could help me with this task, I could offer you in exchange a professional photo shoot for you and your family 🤗​

🔗​: https://blog.elenarossini.com/my-so-called-sudo-life/my-adventures-in-self-hosting-day-357/

Psst: the blog is now federated and you can follow it here: @ele

#MySoCalledSudoLife

I think this is the end of #Immich experiments for now. Will try again in a couple of years more.

Got 10k photos uploaded successfully, but the second 10k fails continuously.

#selfhosting #SelfHosted #selfhost #homelab

Tom on #Immich

#HomeLab #SelfHosted #SelfHosting

I Moved to Immich… Can It Really Replace Google Photos? - Lawrence Systems (Lawrence Systems) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5tdK10CRFE

#Immich first impressions

Well, not really first, but current. Last time I tried it was a couple of years ago, I think.

1. Looks and feels like a polished product.
2. I still can’t have two separate libraries. I really like the idea of two libraries - shared and personal. Like in Synology Photos or iCloud Photos.

#selfhosting #SelfHosted #selfhost #icloudphotos #synologyphotos #photo #homelab