ColocatairesDec 2

Is this thing on? 🎤

Oh, it's December. Should we do one of those month-long series things?!

Okay then.

We can call it #selfhostember because the world does not need another Advent calendar.

If you've ever asked "what would I use my own server for?" then we would like to show off ~around two dozen self-hostable pieces of software, alternatives to centralized solutions or just their own thing.

To start, here's some instructions on setting up your environment: https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/00-setup/

Self-Hostember #0: Initial Setup

Hi and welcome to a series of more than twenty but less than thirty-two daily things that you can self-host. Because we’d like to focus on things that you (and friends or family) can use and not too much tech stuff for its own sake, let’s warm up by getting a machine basically ready for the next steps. We’re going to install a reverse proxy (Caddy) and Docker. We’re going to assume that you’re using Debian 13 (Trixie) because it respects your rights, and that you’re using a hosting environment that’s more-or-less like Colocataires (that’s us , a very small hosting company in Ottawa, Canada). That means that you have at least an IPv6 address with access to the Internet (and NAT64 so you can reach the IPv4 parts of the Internet) or that you have a routable IPv4 address directly assigned to your machine.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 2

And then, co-incidentally because it's the 1st of December, here's Episode #1 -- installing and looking at #immich

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/01-immich/

Self-Hostember #1: Immich

👋 This post is part of a series, and it assumes that you’ve followed the instructions from Self-Hostember #0 first. Let’s install Immich. Immich is a self-hosted alternative to Google Photos or Apple Photos. It just had it’s 2.0 release and it features facial recognition (that stays on your server) and reverse geocoding (so you can view your photos on the map). Before we try it out, I want to point out three things:

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 3

It's day 2 of #selfhostember and today we have a post for you on how to get #jellyfin up and running and take your media back from the prying hands of the streaming ~cartel~ industry.

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/02-jellyfin/

Self-Hostember #2: Jellyfin

On Day 2 of Self-hostember, we learn how to install and setup our own Jellyfin server to manage and stream our music, movies and TV shows. We will use docker and expose it over our domain using Caddy.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 4

Did you think we forgot? No! we were just busy planning a party for day 3 of #selfhostember: a #Copyparty! 🎉

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/03-copyparty/

Self-Hostember #3: Copyparty! 🎉

On Day 3 of Self-hostember, we will install and try out Copyparty, a file management swiss army knife.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 4

A little early to #selfhostember day 4 so I can go out and get food.

Here's a look at creating a convivial place for an online community, and bringing back the best of web forums, through a Ruby on Rails app:

#Discourse (by @Discourse )

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/04-discourse/

Self-Hostember #4: Discourse

Discourse is a modern take on web forums. Let’s look at it for day 4 of Self-hostember.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 5

Have you ever wanted an IAO3: An @internetarchive of Our Own?

Day 5 of #selfhostember is installing and using ArchiveBox to save the web that you care about to your local instance:

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/05-archivebox/

Self-Hostember #5: ArchiveBox

Keep an Internet Archive of your own in day 5 of Self-hostember.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocataires

Business is a little bit more serious on Day 6 of #selfhostember but we are sowing now so we can reap later 💪

Today we take a look at securing your self-hosted services and owning your identity with Pocket ID, in which we also learn a little bit about OIDC, Passkeys and, uh, Livejournal?

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/06-pocketid/

Self-Hostember #6: Pocket ID

Day 6 of Self-Hostember brings something less fun but more secure: owning your web identity and securing your services with Pocket ID and Passkeys.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Dec 7 at 1:41amWeb
Show threadColocatairesDec 8

We promised to reap later and today we do! On day 7 of #selfhostember, we install Dawarich, an open-source alternative to Google Timeline (i.e. location tracking) and setup auth to it using Pocket ID. The installation is fairly straightforward if a bit long (no candles were held to Discourse, however).

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/07-dawarich/

Self-Hostember #7: Dawarich

Foil Google’s location tracking by hosting your own timeline with Dawarich on Day 7 of Self-hostember

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 8

DAY. EIGHT. Despair is setting in. I am dreaming of Docker Compose files. Jorge Luis Borges' Library of Babel must contain them all.

Anyway! I'm sure that what Owlbear Rodeo does is self-evident but just in case: it's a virtual table-top for a group to play #dungeonsanddragons or other TTRPGs together without being in the same corporeal location.

Like astral projection.

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/08-owlbear-rodeo/ #selfhostember #selfhosting

Self-Hostember #8: Owlbear Rodeo

Owlbear Rodeo is too good a name. Let’s look at this self-hostable virtual-table-top software for Day 8 of Self-hostember

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 12

We took a break! (You deserve one too.)

But we are back. This time, on Day 9, with zero pictures but SIX recommendations to secure your servers!

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/09-security-hardening/

#selfhostember #selfhosting

Self-Hostember #9: Securing and Hardening Your Server

We take a little detour from applications to learn a bit about securing our self-hosting infrastructure.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 14

A longer #selfhostember post today -- why self hosting email is important, why it's (probably) not as bad as you think and how DKIM/SPF and DMARC are things you can mostly not think about by deploying Stalwart on your server.

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/10-stalwart/

#selfhosting

Self-Hostember #10: Stalwart: Hosting your own email

Self-hosting’s white whale: hosting your own email (in this case: using Stalwart).

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 17

We are back to trying things out using Docker in today's look at Actual Budget (which does actually budget, in a rare case of literal correctness).

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/11-actual/

#selfhostember #selfhosting

Self-Hostember #11: Actual - Open Source Budgeting

Make your financial data private and work for you with Actual Budget.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 20

Man, published a blog post and we almost forgot to self-promote.

Do you suddenly have a need for a new eBook manager because the one you've got has AI in it? We look at #booklore for today's #selfhostember post.

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/12-booklore/

#selfhosting

Self-Hostember #12: Booklore

In Episode 12, we’re going to curate our book collection with Booklore.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 23

In this spooky 13th edition of #selfhostember, we take a look at #Netbird - an overlay VPN , and #tailscale competitor - to access our services from anywhere without exposing them to the public internet.

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/13-netbird/

Self-Hostember #13: Netbird - Your own private internet

On Day 13, we look at a Tailscale alternative because we want to be cool, and birds are cool.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 27

In S01E14, you learn that you've been tricked into becoming a system administrator and now you need to care about things like backups and (more importantly) restores:

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/14-backups/

#selfhosting #selfhostember

Self-Hostember #14: Backups

For #14, now that we have something to lose, let’s avoid losing it.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadColocatairesDec 29

It's the S1 finale for #selfhostember! It's a good time to bookmark the link to our blog - oh you'll need a bookmark manager first. Coincidentally we just have the thing for you: a post trying out #Linkding - a minimalist bookmarks manager - including an eulogy for a paid bookmarking service we all knew and loved.

https://blog.colocataires.dev/posts/15-linkding/

#selfhosting

Self-Hostember #15: Linkding

In the season finale, we check out linkding, a pinboard-like bookmarking tool.

colocalhost | Colocataires Blog
Show threadtahnokDec 20
@colocataires I'm not mad about the AI thing, but Calibre and Calibre web and CWA have always felt like they'd fall apart if you look at them wrong
Show threada very weeny construct 💀Dec 16

If you look in the comments section of a post about hosting email you will find a lot of “don’t bother, just give in and pay $COMPANY” and also “I’ve been hosting my own email since the 90’s and I don’t have any problems”.

Well: I’ve been hosting email since the 90’s and I think it’s full of problems and that you should try and do it anyway.

heck yeah, okay, sold, i'm gonna try and do it

... or at least, i'm giving myself permission to ignore the naysayers and try and do it

eventually

Show threada very weeny construct 💀Dec 8

@colocataires i don't care much about my location history, but i see dawarich has live location sharing! that's something that keeps my family hooked on google maps and i have been wanting to set up a self-hosted alternative for ages

there's an open source android app called hauk that has been on my to-do list to investigate for this purpose, but given your great walkthrough, dawarich feels like an easier path. tysm 😁

GitHub - bilde2910/Hauk: Open-source realtime location sharing

Open-source realtime location sharing. Contribute to bilde2910/Hauk development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub