Hi all!
So I want to get back into self hosting, but every time I have stopped is because I have lack of documentation to fix things that break. So I pose a question, how do you all go about keeping your setup documented? What programs do you use?
I have leaning towards open source software, so things like OneNote, or anything Microsoft are out of the question.
Edit: I didn’t want to add another post and annoy people, but had another inquiry:
What ReverseProxy do you use? I plan to run a bunch of services from docker, and would like to be able to reserve an IP:Port to something like service.mylocaldomain.lan
I already have Unbound setup on my PiHole, so I have the ability to set DNS records internally.
Bonus points if whatever ReverseProxy setup can accomplish SSL cert automation.
i recently made the switch from doing k3s+flux to have everything in code with bundlewrap and anemos/makeimg
I have a couple Libre Office files where I document the non-technical stuff for my own quick reference, like network layout in Draw, or IP and port assignments in Calc. I use a git repo to store and organize podman scripts, systemd unit files, configs, etc. Probably not the most elegant solution, but it’s simple and FOSS.
Reverse proxy is Nginx Proxy Manager.
One day, I moved all services I really wanted from a couple of random VPS to a nice little proxmox machine at home (and then added some more services, of course). That was the day I swore to document stuff better, and I’m pretty satisfied with how well I was able to keep up with that.
In the proxmox web interface, you can leave notes per container. I note down which service the container is running including a link to the service’s web interface if applicable, plus the source, and a note about how it auto-updates (green check mark emoji) or if it requires manual updates (handiman emoji).
Further I made a concious effort to document everything into a gollum wiki running on that proxmox host (exposes a wiki like web interface, stores all entries as plaintext .md files into a local git repo - very “portable”). Most importantly, it also includes a page of easy to understand emergency measures in case I die or become unresponsive, which I regularly print out and put into a folder with other important documents. The page contains a QR code linking to itself on the wiki too in case the printed version might be outdated here or there.
The organization of the wiki itself (what goes into which folder) is a bit of a work in progress, but as it offers full text search, that’s not too much of a problem imo.
I’m a grumpy linux greybeard type, so I went with… plain text files.
Everything is deployed via docker, so I’ve got a docker-compose.yml for each stack, and any notes or configuration things specific to that app is a comment in the compose file. Those are all backed up in a couple of places, since all I need to do is drop them on a filesystem, and bam, complete restoration.
Reverse proxy is nginx, because it’s reliable, tested, proven, works, and while it might not have all those fancy auto-config options other things have, it also doesn’t automatically configure itself into a way that I’d prefer it didn’t, either.
I don’t use any tools like portainer or dockge or nginx proxy manager at this point, because dealing with what’s just a couple of config files on the filesystem is faster (for me) and less complicated (again, for me) than adding another layer of software on top (and it keeps your attack surface small).
My one concession to gui shit for the docker is an install of dozzle because it certainly makes dealing with docker logs simple, and it simplifies managing the ~40 stacks and ~85 containers that I’ve got setup at the moment.
I appreciate that mentality though. When things break, if your understanding of your setup is there, it’s less to deal with.
I am forgoing the Portainer route this time. I am going to strictly use Docker Compose for my containers. I had too many issues with Portainer to consider using it.
For reverse proxy, I just need/want it for simple ip:port to sub.domain.lan type addresses locally. Anything I need outside of my home will be tunneled through wireguard.
I always quite liked Dozzle. It was handy, and has helped me comb through logs in the past.
Yeah, exactly: if you know how it works, then you know how to fix it. I don’t think you need a comprehensive knowledge about how everything you run works, but you should at least have good enough notes somewhere to explain HOW you deployed it the first time, if you had to make any changes as well as anything you ran into that required you to go figure out what the blocking issue was.
And then you should make sure that documentation is visible in a form that doesn’t require ANYTHING to actually be working, which is why I just put pages of notes in the compose file: docker doesn’t care, and darn near any computer on earth made in the last 40 years can read a plan text file.
I don’t really think there’s any better/worse reverse proxy for simple configurations, but I’m most familiar with nginx, which means I’ve spent too long fixing busted shit on it so it’s the choice primarily because, well, when I break it, I already probably know how to fix what’s wrong.
My documentation problem was largely fixed by using Nixos. The actual OS instances are self-documenting that way.
As far as the documentation for the network setup itself goes, a simple wiki does the rest of the trick for me.
