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Beginner in need of real help!

I've been interested in self-hosting for a while, but didn't really know where to start. I've never messed with Linux before and wanted to jump ship from Windows since Microsoft decided to start putting ads everywhere.
I came across this post [https://lemmy.world/post/6542543] which was exactly what I was looking for to start, and seemed like a straight-forward guide. I have two laptops, one I want to act as my media server with Docker and the other as my everyday device.
Except I've been met with setback after setback from the start. I tried installing Ubuntu Server on the media server laptop but just could not get it up and running. I was suggested to try using a more beginner-friendly distro, so I went with Mint. I also liked the idea of a GUI I can mess around with.

Docker was a success, but then I got to the Adguard part and when I try the docker-compose.yml step, grub just hangs. Decided to skip that part and go onto Jackett. Nope, more errors. Tried Prowlarr, different errors.

I don't want to give up on this because its something I really want to get going for my media, home automation, cameras, etc etc. But I feel like I'm flying blind here.

I have a lot of homework to do to learn Linux, but is there a different, beginner-friendly guide out there for me to follow for now?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-~.

Edit: I appreciate everyone's comments. Although I have no Linux experience, I know my way around Windows pretty well. I understand file systems and in one of my errors that was asked, I was getting a "No File or Directory exists" error. I edited the username to fit my what I have, but was still getting the error. I even created a new user named Prowlarr when attempting the Powlarr install to follow the steps word-for-word, no luck. It got frustrating so I gave up for the day.

I admit I do have a lot of learning to do, and I am really grateful some of you have provided start-points for my Linux journey. I'm also grateful for the "Self-hosting For Dummies" recommendations, like Yunohost and YAMS. I plan on looking over all of this info today to get a solution up for now and start my path down the Linux rabbithole. Its kinda exciting to start embarking on something like this.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who gave me great feedback!

Humorless4483 ,

As a beginner myself I would recommend you installing portainer (a gui for docker) and if you need compose files I have them for all of my services on my GitHub.

monkeyman512 ,

In general checkout LearnLinuxTV on YouTube. Lots of good guides.

EncryptKeeper ,

A big differentiator in how you might want to tackle this depends on one question, are you planning on getting into Linux systems administration, like for work? Because if you actually really want low level Linux skills then that’s a whole slew of things you’ll need to learn from scratch. And it’s not just your Windows-only experience that’s holding you back, managing a server is different from managing your desktop.

But if you’re not really interested in working in IT or all you really want to learn how to self host, you’re probably better off with an appliance, like UnRAID. These OSs abstract away much of the low level stuff so you don’t have to worry about it. Not the best way to learn how Linux works really well, but the easiest way to manage your self hosted environment.

doctorzeromd ,

Are you sure that docker is configured properly? What do you see if you do docker ps

atzanteol ,

Why not just ask for help with the issues you're having?

jaykay ,
@jaykay@lemmy.zip avatar

Follow this series of guides and you’ll be golden https://www.smarthomebeginner.com/ultimate-docker-server-1-os-preparation/

aStonedSanta ,

THis looks like an excellent resource. Ty.

jaykay ,
@jaykay@lemmy.zip avatar

This is what I personally used to start this journey. Remember you don’t have to go all the way with Traefik and all if you don’t need to access things from outside home. If you do, do it with a VPN instead of a domain

Decronym Bot , (edited )

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
Git Popular version control system, primarily for code
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the Web
IP Internet Protocol
NAS Network-Attached Storage
PCIe Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
Plex Brand of media server package
RAID Redundant Array of Independent Disks for mass storage
RPi Raspberry Pi brand of SBC
SATA Serial AT Attachment interface for mass storage
SBC Single-Board Computer
SSH Secure Shell for remote terminal access
VPN Virtual Private Network
nginx Popular HTTP server

[Thread for this sub, first seen 19th May 2024, 05:35]
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RicoBerto ,

YAMS.

https://yams.media/

Not perfect, but if you just want the ding dang thing to start so you can see what a working setup looks like, then bam. Use yams.

phanto ,

There's a series of Lemmy posts called the Linux upskill challenge that goes step by step through setting up and using Linux. I tried self hosting and jumping straight in too, and it sucked.

What worked for me:

  1. Start using open source versions of stuff, like switching from Chrome to Firefox, Office to Libre Office.
  2. Set up Virtual Box, and practice running server apps on Linux on virtual machines, until you've done a few Linux VMs and gotten used to the interfaces and commands.
  3. Dual boot a laptop or desktop, one by one getting your daily use apps working in Linux.
  4. Distro hop a bit. I never thought I'd land on Fedora, but here I am.
  5. Get used to running and configuring servers from the command line.
  6. Host some stuff with VMs and get used to the networking and bridging and stuff.
  7. Containers!

I'm still in the middle of 6+7. Not super comfy with Docker quite yet, but getting there. I really do love having my stuff self-hosted though. Well worth the effort.

aStonedSanta ,

To expand on this also. If you are just wanting something that works. You can always install docker on your windows PC and play around with it there before worrying about Linux and its intricacies. Or hell run something like pop_os or Linux mint as your main. And windows as your “server pc” and once it’s setup you rarely have to use the windows server pc it’ll just do its thing.

phanto ,

You mean I didn't need to spend years and thousands of dollars learning Linux and servers? Oh man!
Oh wait, I'm getting ads in Windows on the start menu.
Yeah, I'm happy.

pete_the_cat ,

I think you should start with the basics of Linux instead of diving into the deep end 😉

realbadat ,

So a few comments...

  • I'm not a fan of Ubuntu server, in part because their distribution of docker through snap can conflict with snap from the docker repo. My preference here is either Debian or Proxmox (debian + great virtualization setup). Mint is good, though I like LMDE (Debian edition) more, in part because I prefer Debian in general.
  • You may want to check out dockge. You do need to have docker running for it, but it's a simple setup, and it has a clean interface for docker compose. Good for getting used to it imo.
  • grub has no part in docker, so it's something else hanging.
  • What are the exact errors when you enter "docker-compose up"?
  • what is in your docker-compose for each of these?
LimaPatina ,

I found dockstarter to be helpful to get me going with docker. https://dockstarter.com

BeatTakeshi ,
@BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world avatar

You could try yunohost on the server side. (Not docker based and beginner friendly)

h3ndrik , (edited )

I'd recommend YunoHost, too. It's pretty beginner friendly and you'll probably get some positive results without learning all at once. I mean you have quite something on your plate if you're learning Linux, Docker, Docker-Compose and maybe networking and Dev-Ops all at the same time.

mydude , (edited )

This guy has a guide for Rpi5, debian, some disk config, docker, nginx,-proxy-manager, immich. Backup/restore... If you like hands on stuff, this is ok I think...

edit, forgot the actual link:
https://github.com/TorATB/RPI-Immich/blob/main/Immich%20on%20Raspberry%20PI5%20Guide.md

AbidanYre ,

Can you give some more details on the errors you're seeing? Grub and docker-compose shouldn't be anywhere near each other.

pete_the_cat ,

That's confused me as well. It probably did a kernel update and then triggered update-grub.

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