I have a Pixel 8… a PC with Linux Mint. How do I learn to “self host”. Mainly for photo storage backup. Where do I start? I know nothing, absolutely nothing
[deleted]
Where do I even start?
Submitted 3 weeks ago by Toasted_Breakfast@lemmy.today to selfhosted@lemmy.world
Comments
net00@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Toasted_Breakfast@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
How his looks like exactly what I needed! Thanks. Is this “self hosting”?
TehNomad@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
I started self-hosting on my desktop first with Plex and the *arr stack, before buying a mini-PC and spinning up these apps on Proxmox.
huquad@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
I’m surprised I had to go this far to find immich. I 100% recommend it, and yes it’s selfhosting if you run it yourself. Still selfhosted even if you use a VPS as long as you control and administer it.
For hardware, I actually recommend against raspberry pis these days. You can get a cheap mini PC that’s much more performant and better supported for the same price as a pi plus the accessories (SD card, case, power supply, etc). Use Debian or Ubuntu as host and follow the guide on the github for installation.
BlindFrog@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Think of self-hosting as - instead of depending on cloud services from other entities (google/apple/whoever), you host those services yourself by running them on your own pc or maybe your secondary pc running 24/7 (usually locally, in your own home).
Some common services might be automatic photo backup and storage (like immich), or running an adblocker for your home network, or streaming movie/music from your hard drive to your phone/TV (like jellyfin).
Toasted_Breakfast@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
So I successfully set it up, but I don’t understand why I have to be hooked onto the same internet in order for it to work. What kind of crap server is that? How on earth do I connect to it or set up a connection so I can access it from anywhere?
kossa@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
How do I learn
…you say in your OP. Yet instead of learning, you complain “what kind of crap server is that”. You don’t learn by thinking anything is the softwares fault.
It is perfecthy normal, that you can reach the server IN your home network only when you are connected TO your home network. That is a security feature by your router and thus by design. But in order to learn how to open it up, you would need to be willing to learn.
But for the beginning: how is that even bad or crap? Like, it saves your photos when you come home and connect to wifi. Awesome, congrats!
abeorch@friendica.ginestes.es 2 weeks ago
@net00 @Toasted_Breakfast Now you need to start getting some knowledge around routing and networking. Have a look at #Wireguard or #Tailscale to securely access your network remotely. Remember its a journey .. you are going to learn things bit by bit.
pepperprepper@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Documentation, take notes on what you setup, ports opened, accounts created. This will be very valuable when you envitally get services setup and forget about them.
irmadlad@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Documentation, take notes on what you setup, ports opened, accounts created. This will be very valuable when you envitally get services setup and forget about them.
@Toasted_Breakfast@lemmy.today OP this is advice you can take and apply throughout your selfhosting journey. This advice is worth it’s weight in gold right here. I lean heavily on my notes and they are prolific. My memory is shit for a lot of reasons including medical, and my notes have saved my ass many times.
Awesome advice!
fafferlicious@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m curious if you have recommendations on how to structure or keep the notes. I find that I struggle reading technical documentation or how to structure notes so they’re easy to refer to. Have any tips or guides you can share?
pepperprepper@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I keep a small sized notebook with the first page or so an index of sort, and then a page for each service or server. Doesn’t have to be a lot, but be sure to give your future self all the info that will be needed. For instance not just a password, but also the username. Any problems you have had and how you resolved it. Depending on the sophistication of your network, vlans, firewall info, is it wired to your router or switch. What slot of your multi button power bar it is plugged into, so if you need to cut power or restart you dont have e to randomly push switch accidently turning something else off. Basic server specs, what type/size of raid or HDs, do you have room for more HDs later, RAM slots and what’s in them currently.
I might get some flack from writing down passwords, but a password manager can remedy that. I still keep some of mine on paper tbh, I have had pw managers break or go offline and I am not terribly worried about normal theifs knowing how to ssh into my linux boxes.
mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Judging from your comments, you seem to be lacking some basic knowledge and skills to get started.
None of the comments here are useful without getting those up to speed.
You definitely might want to start of looking into networking: how do computers connect to each other and the internet.
Since you’re using Linux Mint, I do assume you have some basic knowledge of using the terminal and basic commands.
Next you might want to learn Docker, which is useful when learning self-hosting, as most solutions will have an option to use that.
bytesonbike@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
Ooof, yeah reading their comments, I agree.
OP, if you’re reading this, start even smaller. Not everything has to be right in your house.
I been deploying web apps since 2010, and I jumped right into self hosting during the pandemic and it was a massive headache or challenges I wasn’t prepared to face or maintain.
I gave up (for now) and just used open-source apps and AWS, because I needed availability. And every few months, I do a bit more to one day move everything to pure self hosting.
abeorch@friendica.ginestes.es 2 weeks ago
@Hawk @Toasted_Breakfast I get where the thought is coming from - Playing around with a cheap #OpenWRT router can be a way of getting an idea of routing and networking. - They have a gui and config files you can edit directly. You can figure out things like a #firewall #portforwarding - That kind of thing.modus@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Do you have any favorite starting points for Docker? I’m still learning myself.
giyila7033@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Stop freaking out, you can do this. Don’t try to build a full server farm on day one. Start small, get something that actually works, then iterate.
Practical path: plug an external HDD into your Linux Mint box and install Syncthing on both the Pixel 8 and the PC. Syncthing is dead simple for backups, it syncs your phone photos to the PC with no cloud, no port forwarding, and it Just Works. Install with apt on Mint, install the Android app on the Pixel, share the camera/DCIM folder, accept the device link. You’ll have automatic backups within an hour and you’ll actually learn how files move around.
When you’re comfortable, add a second copy or offsite backup (cheap VPS, friend’s house, or a rotating drive). If you want a web gallery, user accounts, or calendar/email too, then move to Nextcloud or a small NAS OS like OpenMediaVault or TrueNAS SCALE on a dedicated box or a Raspberry Pi. Use Docker if you want portability, and always put HTTPS and a firewall in front if you expose anything to the internet.
Bottom line, stop reading dozens of guides. Do Syncthing + external drive today, then upgrade. You’ll learn a lot faster by doing than by overplanning.
turdas@suppo.fi 3 weeks ago
Thank you Mr ChatGPT
irmadlad@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The mods have been busy today
abeorch@friendica.ginestes.es 3 weeks ago
@Toasted_Breakfast How aboit starting with something like #yunohostXirup@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
I can confirm that Yunhost is one of the best ways to start learning self-hosting. The only “bad thing” I can say is that sometimes it’s so easy that you actually don’t learn any thing.
artyom@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
The only “bad thing” I can say is that sometimes it’s so easy that you actually don’t learn any thing.
I learned a lot. Definitely a whole lot less than if I had done it “from scratch”. But also, I never would have done that. I tried and failed several times.
oeuf@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
Another +1 for YUNOhost. I went from zero experience self-hosting to having my own email, fediverse instance, file server and several websites on a VPS. I would never have had the patience to figure this out without it.
irmadlad@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
So, for all you ^5’ing Yunohost, I have a question that’s bothered me for years. Like I said, their app catalog beats anything else in it’s category, but they also list apps that don’t work…separately of course and labeled as such. I’ve always wondered why. Is it in hopes that someone will fix them? …or what?
irmadlad@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
+1 for Yunohost. Easy to deploy, and their app catalog is substantial.
bastion@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
KDE connect and/or Synching/Syncthing-fork
weee@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Agreed. Syncthing is the first thing everybody should have. Takes care of some many things already that half the (self-)hosting is not even necessary anymore.
fin@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Buy a PC, install debian, install tailscale, install immich. Done.
Fizz@lemmy.nz 2 weeks ago
This is kind of an info dump and I havent fully gone through to verify everything but this is a guide from a trusted ytber explaining step by step how he setup and managed his self hosting environment.
wiki.futo.org/…/Introduction_to_a_Self_Managed_Li…
For a more bite sized entry into self hosting just join the community (like you are now) and learn about the different services people are hosting and when one sounds good then look into how to set it up and ask questions along the way.
abeorch@friendica.ginestes.es 2 weeks ago
@Fizz @Toasted_Breakfast I had a look at a few guides. They all come with a few assumptions and get into details but I was thinking that any guide needs to cover:
options:
Infrastructure - e.g. VPS/bare metal at home ,
Applications - nextcloud, media server, home automation etc.
Middleware - identity/authentication/ reverse proxy, backup, email, Patching/updates , xdav and other support tools for mobile,
Networking - home network, subnets, vpn/tailscale, firewall, port forwarding, static ips., ipv6
irmadlad@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
One option you could explore since you didn’t list any other equipment, is a cheap VPS. You can pick one up at LowEndBox for cheap. I have a couple VPS test servers that run about $25 a year. That would help you get your feet wet a bit. You could learn how to deploy Linux server along with the standard defense systems in place like Fail2Ban, UFW, etc.
Or even a small NUC or RPi.
frongt@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Agreed. For actual backup, I’d put it in the cloud.
Really, I’d run immich locally, and then back that up to the cloud, but that depends on how valuable the data really is to you.
irmadlad@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Really, I’d run immich locally,
There ya go. Encrypted of course. That way OP can still learn to stand up a proper server and defenses before it almost instantaneously attracts the attention of literally any or all of the 1.5 billion known, active, automated bot accounts at this moment +/- show up at your port 22 doorstep and helping themselves to your resources.
The very first linux server I stood up on a vps, was taken over quite quickly. So, that spurred me on to read tutorials, scour chans and forums, just looking for guidance and knowledge. Now, I understand a lot more that I did way back when so it’s gotten easier. Not that I house a vast trove of wisdom or knowledge…pffffttt…that does not exist. I learn something new all the time. That’s one of the aspects I really love about self hosting.
amorpheus@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Going by your comments, I think you need to know a few basics before you get into people’s suggestions for actual services. Start with this: more or less, “the cloud” is just someone else’s computer. It’s bigger, the connection is faster, etc., but it’s most likely a Linux computer like the one you already have.
For experimenting with the topic, it would be good to have another computer that you can mess around with and not worry about having a usable machine. If you can cobble together a desktop from old parts it will be enough to start the learning process.
freedom@lemy.lol 2 weeks ago
Get yourself the cheapest n150 box you can, the 4 port versions are good im case you decise to upgade and convert it to a fw later. Get a 4tb 2.5 ssd if you afford it and a chewp dual or more jbod external for safe backups.
Every year upgrade and stick to proxmox and opnsnese untill/unless you have reason otherwise.
rapchee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
why sdd for storage? 4 tb hd costs less than half of an ssd. even for the system it’s enough, if you can stomach a 20 sec boot instead of 5
Fractionalsense@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
I keep seeing similar pricing for both, 110-130€. Could you please share where i might find cheaper?
merde@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
for “photo storage backUp”, you can simply use syncthing.
unless you want to really learn to “self host” that is.
mr_pip@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
apart from syncthing not being a backup solution, the question revolves around seldhosting im general, not purely on photo backup.
merde@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
apart from syncthing not being a backup solution, the question revolves around seldhosting im general, not purely on photo backup.
☞ "Mainly for photo storage backup."
- this is from syncthing-fork tips tips
BootLoop@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Immich is a fantastic photo backup service that is a replacement for Google Photos both in form and function.
There’s a demo at demo.immich.app to see what it looks like and what you can do with it. As far as self hosting stuff goes it’s relatively easy to setup. Work through the setup guide and see if you can understand that to get it running.
What it will do is make it available on any devices on your local (WiFi or wired) network. You will need to open a port on the Linux box’s firewall, but that step is easy and I can show you how to do that on Mint. Then you’ll be able to connect to it from your phone or any other devices (or right from a browser right on the server).
SharkStudios@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Well for starters if you want something more out-of-the box, just buy a NAS. But what woult be better is to buy a Raspberry Pi 5 and add a micro sd with good amount of storage or maybe some additional extermal storage and insta CasaOS(this is basically a easy UI that allows you to self-host mostly without commands) and install Immich within its App Store, and link it up with your phone.
abeorch@friendica.ginestes.es 3 weeks ago
@SharkStudios @Toasted_Breakfast If you are going RaspberryPI - Isn't an SSD a better starting point for storage? - But the best is to work with what you have - the PCirmadlad@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
CasaOS
I tried CasaOS. Pretty slick piece of software.
thelittleblackbird@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
If you are interested if rue photo storage then start… With the storage.
So pick up a nas or something similar, pay a bit more for the super intuitive fancy gui product and the start from there.
Learn what is nas and how to connect to a pc Thne learn how to do the same with your smartphone Then learn a bit about networking Then… Continuous for the hardest itch and try to Scratch it
And you need support, come back here, check videos and web pages or even chatgpt, for the basic stuff is quite acceptable
Rooster326@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
If you really want to self host but you aren’t interested in a lot of dirty work then you can get a Synology and use Synology photos, right next to Synology drive and everything else.
It “just works” and it handles all of the updates for me. Even includes secure enough secure access via quickconnect
That said it costs more than diy.
HelloRoot@lemy.lol 3 weeks ago
Start by searching for how to selfhost a photo storage backup. There are multiple ways to do it and the decision depends on your circumstances and preferences, which only you know.
Faltsm@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Take this anyway you want but one good thing about ai is they’ve hoovered up all the guides, instruction manuals, and troubleshooting forums. They can give you advice, help you install, and troubleshoot when it breaks.
abeorch@friendica.ginestes.es 2 weeks ago
@Toasted_Breakfast @Faltsm Garbage in . Garbage out. If the content is focused in applications AI will just relfect that. Its not a thinking function.
And even if its only trained with the best content you still need to know the questions to ask.
portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
This was just posted itsfoss.com/self-hosting-starting-projects/
abeorch@friendica.ginestes.es 2 weeks ago
@portnull @Toasted_Breakfast I don't think these self hosting articles are that useful and much more than a list of applications. They send people off in the wrong direction.
They only answer that 'what do I want/could I do' but they don't answer the 'what device do I want to do it on' and 'where do I want to be able to do it' questions - They also don't answer the 'what do I need to learn to do it' - what do I need to protect my data?
And frankly I think they take the wrong approach when there are now more comprehensive solutions that could put selfhosters in a better position and get them thinking about questions like 'What happens when the cheap laptop I'm running this on dies/house catches fire/ How can I stop someone get into my application - How do I not forget all these passwords? - Sure they are great to play around with but would you really recommend anyone start ouy by spinning up Nextcloud and then putting stuff on it they really don't want to lose?
Sorry that might sound grumpy.. I don't mean it to be. Its great that people are being encouraged to try - but they should also be really early on talking about things like 'doing things with a friend or a group of similarly interested people' (I know that sound weird - but you need offsite backup people .. and someone to be able to step in of something happens to you .. or things go wrong. (It takes a village to raise a baby)
portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Nah not grumpy just good additional advice. Thanks for taking the time to add to the conversation
Initial self hosting should be non critical for yourself only for the reasons you mention. After you have worked out kinks and learned more about it all you can start using software for more critical tasks. I still don’t use my self hosting for anything apart from myself (except jellyfin for family) because I don’t need the pressure of availability :)
workerONE@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I would buy a Nas with raid and keep a copy both on your PC and on the NAS
AmazingAwesomator@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
i started in january of this year because i upgraded my wife’s computer. that gave me an old computer to tinker with.
i recommend getting an old computer, installing an OS (look up thinks like truenas, proxmox, unraid… there are more and they are different; try them all out if you want to see what you like)
then go onto youtube and search for things like “<OS> beginner” and you will get a bunch of tips/tricks/tutorials/etc. for starting out with your favorite.
higgsboson@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
KDE Connect works for both
MalReynolds@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
Zeroth, consider GrapheneOS on that Pixel.
First, Syncthing on the PC and Syncthing-Fork. Now you can sync (and anything else) your photo files from phone to PC and vice versa. Congrats, you have photo storage backup.
Second, either a vpn to your home network so you can backup on the road, or Immich (as elsewhere suggested) for your own google photos experience.
Third, whichever of second you didn’t choose.
Fourth, get ye an offsite backup (search 3-2-1 backup). rclone is your friend, but encrypt first locally with Cryptomator, then you don’t have to trust your storage provider.
UndergroundGoblin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
I would personally recommend starting with a Pi-hole. It’s easy to set up and provides an immediate improvement to your whole internet experience.
Try to follow the official guide or use a Docker container.
lauha@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
But pihole is not a photo backup
UndergroundGoblin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
But a great start to get into selfhosting. What’s an IP? What is a DNS? How do I connect to via ssh? What’s the job of DHCP? Pretty basic stuff, your learning in the process.