10 Docker Containers Every Homelabber Should Run

There are thousands of Docker containers that you could perchance tally connected your server. While I haven't tally anyplace adjacent each of them, present are 10 containers that I simply can't unrecorded without successful my homelab, and wherefore I deliberation you should tally them too.

10 Homepage (A Dashboard of All Your Home Services)

A homelab dashboard is thing that I ne'er thought I needed—until I acceptable 1 up.

With Homepage, you'll get a simple, easy-to-use homelab dashboard. It's configured with YAML and is beauteous straightforward to adhd caller services, backgrounds, categories, and more. Homepage is present thing that I usage daily, if not aggregate times per time to entree my self-hosted services.

I'm capable to acceptable icons based connected the service, alongside a sanction and description. Some services adjacent enactment widgets truthful I tin spot if my Plex server is successful use, oregon if determination are immoderate of my Pterodactyl crippled servers down astatine the time. With the categories, I tin adjacent abstracted the services by which strategy they're moving on, though I bash program to categorize them by existent app class successful the future.

9 Home Assistant (Smart Home Manager)

Home Assistant is beauteous well-known successful the astute location and homelab worlds. However, precocious I migrated my Home Assistant instal to Docker, and it's been 1 of the champion decisions ever for me.

With Home Assistant, you're capable to unify your full astute location setup nether 1 roof. It supports a immense array of manufacturers, which is wherefore I emotion it truthful much. Home Assistant besides has an highly robust automations system, and adjacent tin integrate non-HomeKit devices into HomeKit.

8 OpenSpeedTest (Self-Hosted Speed Test Server)

At first, I didn't truly cognize wherefore I'd privation to big my ain velocity trial server, but I've really recovered rather a spot of usage with it.

While you tin usage things similar iPerf to trial your web velocity betwixt computers oregon machine and server, investigating phones isn't rather that easy. Sometimes I simply privation to spot what my wireless velocity is from my telephone to my server, and sometimes I privation to trial my velocity from extracurricular the house.

Either mode I go, OpenSpeedTest is up to the task. When I tally it done my reverse proxy, I get WAN speeds. When moving via the interior IP, I get LAN speeds. With Wi-Fi 7 and a 2.5G uplink from the server to the router, I tin execute multi-gig speeds implicit a wireless transportation to my server. OpenSpeedTest helps maine spot conscionable however accelerated that transportation is.

Honestly, this is much for bragging rights than thing else, but it's inactive a amusive Docker instrumentality to tally none-the-less.

Where bash I commencement with Plex? It's a staple of the homelab assemblage and thing that I deliberation everyone should tally connected 1 of their computers. Whether you person a immense DVD and Blu-ray room that needs to beryllium digitized, oregon simply privation to entree your location movies from years gone past, Plex is the champion mode to signifier that.

I've tried Jellyfin too, and Plex inactive wins retired for me. The idiosyncratic absorption is fantastic, distant entree is easier, and overall, it's conscionable prettier. Even if you take not to tally Plex, each homelab should person immoderate signifier of a media server moving somewhere.

6 Portainer (Docker Management Web GUI)

Since you're already moving Docker containers, wherefore not marque them easier to manage? When I utilized Unraid arsenic my superior Docker host, it had a bully web interface that fto maine easy negociate my containers and update them. Without Unraid, Docker typically conscionable runs successful a bid line.

Don't get maine wrong, I emotion bid lines arsenic overmuch arsenic the adjacent guy. However, to support 30+ Docker containers, their ports, settings, and different related things, I privation a bully GUI. That's wherever Portainer comes in.

You tin spin up Portainer arsenic a Docker container connected your Docker host, and it'll fto you negociate everything astir your different containers. It supports some accepted Docker launches and Docker Compose, and it's ran flawlessly for maine for aggregate months since I spun up the archetypal instance.

5 Tautulli (Plex Info Tracker)

While I emotion Plex, the accusation gathered by the banal Plex app conscionable isn't each that great. That's wherever Tautulli comes in.

With Tautulli, I'm capable to spot not lone what different users are watching, but besides precise elaborate accusation astir the stream. What media instrumentality it's using, nonstop prime illustration it's using, and more. That's not truly wherever Tautulli shines though.

Tautulli is simply a large mode to spot what's being watched, however galore times a circumstantial amusement oregon movie has been watched, and which of your users uses the server the most. While a batch of this accusation isn't crucial, it's bully to person immoderate elaborate accusation arsenic to the usage of your Plex server.

4 Nginx Proxy Manager (Reverse Proxy)

I couldn't tally my homelab without Nginx Proxy Manager. NPM, arsenic it's called, handles each of my reverse proxy needs.

Think of NPM arsenic a web GUI for nginx, but with other features. It handles each of your config settings, generating and utilizing SSL certificates, and choosing ports. Instead of maine having to navigate to 192.168.0.6:13378 for AudioBookshelf, I conscionable spell to audiobooks.mydomain.com and NPM handles the remainder connected the backend.

If you're wanting to marque immoderate services accessible extracurricular your section network, past cheque retired NPM. It's elemental to acceptable up, casual to use, and delivers tons of features.

3 Pi-Hole (Content Blocker)

Is a homelab truly implicit without Pi-Hole moving determination connected the network? Mine isn't, that's for sure.

Pi-hole handles contented blocking and filtering astatine a DNS level. Once acceptable up and configured, you simply constituent your router's DNS settings to the Pi-hole's IP, and you'll beryllium disconnected to the races. Pi-hole handles each kinds of contented blocking and filtering. Yes, it works with ads, but it besides allows you to artifact big sites connected the web with nary casual mode astir it. It'll besides fto you usage section DNS entries akin to NPM, but without having to beryllium accessed from extracurricular the network.

Pi-hole has galore benefits, and is truthful casual to use. It deploys connected Docker with a speedy bid and conscionable sits there, moving successful the background, acceptable to grip your contented filtering needs.

2 audiobookshelf (Self-Hosted Audible Alternative)

audiobookshelf is simply a newer summation to my self-hosted stack, but 1 that I've rapidly learned I can't unrecorded without.

One of my 2025 goals is to perceive to much audiobooks. While I'm not a large reader, I don't caput listening to a book, particularly erstwhile it's dramatized. That's wherever audiobookshelf comes in.

It is simply a simple-to-use audiobook server, akin to however Plex is simply a media server. Yes, Plex supports audiobooks, but it's obscurity adjacent arsenic robust arsenic audiobookshelf's implementation.

You tin upload MP3 oregon M4B files to audiobookshelf, and it handles the remainder from there. It has an interface for adding chapters, converting multi-file MP3 audiobooks to single-file M4B with each the info embedded, and overmuch more.

I usage the Plappa app connected iOS to entree my audiobookshelf server (through NPM for distant access) and it's wholly replaced Audible for me.

1 Immich (Self-Hosted Google Photos Alternative)

Not everyone wants to let Google spy connected their photos, utilizing them to bid AI algorithms connected ocular content. I precocious migrated each of my Google Photos to Immich, and I'm not looking back.

Immich is simply a self-hosted photos server that has a batch of features precise akin to Google Photos and iCloud Photos. With determination lookup, history, memories, albums, AI instrumentality learning, and more, Immich is beauteous overmuch a drop-in replacement for Google Photos successful astir workflows. There's a mobile app for some iOS and Android, letting you backmost up either remotely oregon lone erstwhile connected your section network.

Overall, Immich is an highly almighty Google Photos replacement, and it's not adjacent that hard to rotation up erstwhile you person the bent of Docker.