How I Run My Entire Homelab on Docker (And Why You Should Too)

When it comes to homelabbing, determination are a batch of services and apps you mightiness privation to run. While installing them individually is an option, I chose to spell the Docker way instead—and there's nary going back.

What Exactly Is Docker?

If you've ne'er heard of Docker before, the easiest mode to deliberation astir it is that it's a clump of ultra-small and lightweight virtual systems moving wrong 1 environment.

Docker's "virtual systems" are called containers, and each 1 is lone the bare essentials of immoderate Linux distro is needed for the work itself to run.

Containers instrumentality up precise small resources and abstraction connected your computer. This allows you to deploy a batch of services that are self-contained without hogging resources. It besides means that, erstwhile you region a work from Docker, it wholly removes itself without leaving immoderate traces behind.

All dependencies and everything are gone erstwhile it's removed. A tiny measurement mightiness beryllium near behind, but it's precise casual to prune unused volumes, too.

Docker, I Choose You

There are galore options retired determination erstwhile it comes to containerized services. For the longest time, TrueNAS utilized jails (though it precocious switched to Docker), there's Kubernetes, virtual machines, LXC containers, and apt more. Docker is conscionable 1 work of many. Why'd I take it?

Docker is, successful my opinion, simply the easiest containerization bundle to acceptable up, and besides among the astir robust. There are over 10,000 Docker containers successful the Docker Hub, and that's conscionable 1 spot to root apps from. No substance what you're wanting to run, chances are, there's a Docker instrumentality for it.

Jails are much constricted successful their relation and availability. Kubernetes, portion based astir Docker, and runs Docker containers, is conscionable much analyzable to acceptable up for a homelab situation arsenic it's much geared toward endeavor use. Virtual machines are bully and all, but that's conscionable installing bundle bare metallic into an operating system, and doesn't execute what I want. LXC containers are precise akin to Docker containers, but aren't rather arsenic elemental to negociate arsenic Docker is.

I primitively started utilizing Docker successful 2021 erstwhile I spun up my archetypal Unraid server. It was a request of excavation adjacent backmost then, arsenic I was starting to truly dive into the satellite of homelabbing. To this day, it's a request of excavation connected immoderate server I run. Whether it's an Ubuntu virtual instrumentality oregon a bare-metal NAS, it has to person Docker capabilities.

Docker is besides conscionable highly casual to usage and understand. While I've tally web servers for galore years, installing dependencies, configuring JSON files, and trying to debug services was ne'er elemental for me. Uninstalling things was adjacent much analyzable fractional the time. Docker simplifies that.

I emotion however casual I tin rotation a work up successful Docker, trial it out, measure it, and determine whether I'm going to support it.

Just the different day, I had Uptime-Kuma moving connected my main Docker host. I liked the work but wanted to tally it connected a instrumentality that has a amended uptime than my main Docker instance. So, I conscionable spun different Uptime-Kuma instrumentality up connected different Docker big I person and, wrong minutes, I was acceptable to spell again.

I Run Over 30 Services, All On Docker

My full homelab runs connected Docker. I tin lone deliberation of a azygous work that doesn't tally connected Docker, and I'm really reasoning of moving it to a Docker container.

A speedy database of conscionable immoderate of the services I tally successful my homelab:

• AudioBookshelf
• Calibre
• Calibre-Web
• Home Assistant
• Immich
• Nginx Proxy Manager
• Plex
• Scrypted
• Pi-Hole

These are services that tally connected my superior Docker instance. I besides person Docker moving connected my Raspberry Pi, which handles Uptime-Kuma and volition soon tally my backup Pi-Hole instance.

I bash person 2 secondary virtual machines that tally Docker. These VMs usage Ubuntu 24.04 arsenic a base, and Docker arsenic the instrumentality host. The crushed they're 2 abstracted VMs from my superior Docker VM is due to the fact that the services simply tally amended erstwhile separated connected antithetic machines. Those 2 VMs tally my Pterodactyl crippled server and absorption panel.

Docker Makes Homelabbing Easy

Whether you're wanting to get into homelabbing, oregon you're already doing it, Docker is thing that I genuinely deliberation everyone should beryllium using.

If you've not experienced the beingness of a containerized homelab, past you're missing out. There's truthful overmuch Docker is susceptible of, including moving into the realm of precocious availability, thing I program to research aboriginal this year.

Having each of your services arsenic self-contained containers simply makes them easier to manage. Whether it's updating 1 work and not another, removing thing you're nary longer using, oregon conscionable spinning up aggregate containers that each speech to each different but are segregated from your main OS, Docker is the instrumentality for the job.

My homelab couldn't tally arsenic it does without Docker. I deliberation if you springiness it a try, you'll spot conscionable however utile of a instrumentality it is for your setup too.

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Are you work to dive head-first into Docker containers? Here are 10 Docker containers I deliberation everyone should run. This database volition get you started with immoderate of the halfway services that tally my homelab done Docker, and they're each beauteous casual to rotation up, too!