HOME CLOUD 🏠💨

• run a cloud at home
• (i run it on a raspberry pi)
• it's basically just a docker-compose file, but it does require some prep
• add services as you go

Table of Contents

1. PREREQUISITES
2. GETTING STARTED
3. THE SERVICES
4. BACKUP
5. UPGRADE
6. CLOUD STORAGE
7. TODO

PREREQUISITES

• a server (e.g. a raspberry pi)
• docker
• make
• a domain name, unless you only care about IP access
• this has only been tested on a Linux machine

GETTING STARTED

flowchart 
  internet([internet]) -- 80, 443 --> router
  router -- 80, 443 --> rpi
  subgraph rpi [raspberry pi]
    subgraph docker
      nextcloud --> db
      wordpress --> db
      db[(db)]
      syncthing --> pcloud
      ...
    end
  end
  pcloud[cloud cache] --> cloud
  cloud([cloud])

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1. ALLOW WEB TRAFFIC TO YOUR SERVER

• in your router's web ui, find a way to give your server a static IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.100)
• in your router's web ui, port-forward ports 80 & 443 to your server
  • you may need to reconfigure your router's admin web ui to use a different port
    • e.g. change your router's web ui address from "http://192.168.1.1" to "http://192.168.1.1:8080"

2. DYNAMIC DNS

• if your ISP only gives you a dynamic IP address, it should be ok
• very likely your domain name registrar exposes a REST API (check the settings page)
• if so, there is likely an endpoint for updating IP addresses. write a script to periodically call the REST API with your current public IP address (just a crontab + curl)

3. CREATE DATABASE USERS

• nextcloud & wordpress need database access, so configure db users first
• we need a root user, and then one user per service

1. configure a root password for your db by setting the MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD environment variable in the "db" container in docker-compose.yaml
2. start the database container:

• docker compose up db

2. connect to the DB, for example:

• remote into the DB container: docker exec -it db sh
• then connect to mysql: mysql -u root -p

4. create the nextcloud DB user:

• CREATE USER 'netxclouduser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '1234'; <== change password
• GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* To 'netxclouduser'@'%';
• FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

5. create the wordpress DB user:

• CREATE USER 'wordpressuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '1234'; <== change password
• GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress.* To 'wordpressuser'@'%';
• FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

4. CONFIG

• copy .env.example to .env
• populate .env

5. CREDENTIALS

populate the following files with credentials:

• ./secrets/db_nextcloud_password
• ./secrets/db_wordpress_password
• ./secrets/pihole_password

6. GO GO GO 🏃‍♂️

• start everything with make up

THE SERVICES

1. MARIADB 💾

• DB for files & blog
• the dockerhub image does not support arm/v7, so using the https://www.linuxserver.io image

2. NEXTCLOUD 💨

• https://nc.yourwebsite.com
• private cloud
• has mobile apps

3. WORDPRESS 👨‍💻

• https://yourwebsite.com
• blog
• takes the top-level domain
• from there you can use wordpress to make a nice homepage

4. PIHOLE 🛑

• https://pihole.yourwebsite.com
• ad-blocking DNS (useful for iphones)

5. REVERSE-PROXY 🚦

• container: proxy
• simplifies hosting multiple websites on one server
• e.g. nextcloud & wordpress

6. LETSENCRYPT 🔐

• container: proxy-acme
• automatically configures HTTPS for all sites
• (auto-generates & auto-updates TLS certificates)

7. PCLOUD & SYNCTHING 🔄

• TODO
• AIM: sync a pcloud vault on phone to cloud storage (pcloud, in this case)
• a ghetto version of "obsidian sync", i.e. syncthing acts as a relay
• i.e. folder of markdown files on phone <=> syncthing <=> cloud

BACKUP

• the containers are stateless, they can be rebuilt
• however the volumes are stateful (e.g. the DB), and a backup is a good idea
• inspiration: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45714456/how-to-migrate-docker-volume-between-hosts
• copy volume to local storage
  • make backup
• then copy it to another host and start with e.g.
  • docker run -v ./LOCAL_FOLDER:/MOUNT_POINT_OF_VOLUME some_image
• TODO: store backups on cloud storage

UPGRADE

MAJOR UPGRADE

• all containers are version-pinned (i.e. never "latest")
• when upgrading, increment services' major versions +1 at a time
• increment the version, then restart the container

MINOR UPGRADE

• docker-compose pull
• docker-compose up -d --remove-orphans
• docker image prune

CLOUD STORAGE

if you can sync or backup the data above to a cloud storage provider, then this server becomes wonderfully disposable. i don't want to rely on the longevity of my server. if it dies, i want to go buy a new one, execute this repo, and be back in action. the cloud storage then acts exactly like that - a nice, dumb, backing store - and this server then adds services on top of it.

TODO

• store backups on cloud storage
• finish pcloud & syncthing (as above)
• add piwigo
  • store images on cloud store
  • use piwigo to manage images
  • presumably piwigo will have it's own DB of metadata
  • backup the DB volume, etc