Hi! Im new to self hosting. Currently i am running a Jellyfin server on an old laptop. I am very curious to host other things in the future like immich or other services. I see a lot of mention of a program called docker.

search this on The internet I am still Not very clear what it does.

Could someone explain this to me like im stupid? What does it do and why would I need it?

Also what are other services that might be interesting to self host in The future?

Many thanks!

EDIT: Wow! thanks for all the detailed and super quick replies! I’ve been reading all the comments here and am concluding that (even though I am currently running only one service) it might be interesting to start using Docker to run all (future) services seperately on the server!

  • CodeBlooded@programming.devEnglish
    23·
    5 days ago

    Docker enables you to create instances of an operating system running within a “container” which doesn’t access the host computer unless it is explicitly requested. This is done using a Dockerfile, which is a file that describes in detail all of the settings and parameters for said instance of the operating system. This might be packages to install ahead of time, or commands to create users, compile code, execute code, and more.

    This instance of an operating system, usually a “server,” is great because you can throw the server away at any time and rebuild it with practically zero effort. It will be just like new. There are many reasons to want to do that; who doesn’t love a fresh install with the bare necessities?

    On the surface (and the rabbit hole is deep!), Docker enables you to create an easily repeated formula for building a server so that you don’t get emotionally attached to a server.

  • Cenzorrll@lemmy.worldEnglish
    191·
    7 days ago

    EDIT: Wow! thanks for all the detailed and super quick replies! I’ve been reading all the comments here and am concluding that (even though I am currently running only one service) it might be interesting to start using Docker to run all (future) services seperately on the server!

    This is pretty much what I’ve started doing. Containers have the wonderful benefit that if you don’t like it, you just delete it. If you install on bare metal (at least in Linux) you can end up with a lot of extra packages getting installed and configured that could affect your system in the future. With containers, all those specific extras are bundled together and removed at the same time without having any effect on your base system, so you’re always at your clean OS install.

    I will also add an irritation with docker containers as well, if you create something in a container that isn’t kept in a shared volume, it gets destroyed when starting the container again. The container you use keeps the maintainers setup, for instance I do occasional encoding of videos in a handbrake container, I can’t save any profiles I make within that container because it will get wiped next time I restart the container since it’s part of the container, not on any shared volume.

      • Cenzorrll@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        5 days ago

        Agreed, I just spent a week (very intermittently) trying to figure out where all my free space had gone, turns out it was a bunch of abandoned docker volumes taking up. I have 32gb on my laptop, so space is at an absolute premium.

        I guess I learned my lesson about trying out docker containers on my laptop just to check them out.

  • state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    132·
    7 days ago

    Docker is a set of tools, that make it easier to work with some features of the Linux kernel. These kernel features allow several degrees of separating different processes from each other. For example, by default each Docker container you run will see its own file system, unable to interact (read: mess) with the original file system on the host or other Docker container. Each Docker container is in the end a single executable with all its dependencies bundled in an archive file, plus some Docker-related metadata.

  • Professorozone@lemmy.worldEnglish
    101·
    7 days ago

    I’ve never posted on Lemmy before. I tried to ask this question of the greater community but I had to pick a community and didn’t know which one. This shows up as lemmy.world but that wasn’t an option.

    Anyway, what I wanted to know is why do people self host? What is the advantage/cost. Sorry if I’m hijacking. Maybe someone could just post a link or something.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      20·
      7 days ago

      It usually comes down to privacy and independence from big tech, but there are a ton of other reasons you might want to do it. Here are some more:

      • preservation - no longer have to care if Google kills another service
      • cost - over time, Jellyfin could be cheaper than a Netflix sub
      • speed - copying data on your network is faster than to the internet
      • hobby - DIY is fun for a lot of people

      For me, it’s a mix of several of reasons.

    • James R Kirk@startrek.websiteEnglish
      12·
      7 days ago

      People are talking about privacy but the big reason is that it gives you, the owner, control over everything quickly without ads or other uneeded stuff. We are so used to apps being optomized for revenue and not being interoperable with other services that it’s easy to forget the single biggest advantage of computers which is that programs and apps can work together quickly and quietly and in the background. Companies provide products, self-hosting provides tools.

    • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      7 days ago

      Anyway, what I wanted to know is why do people self host?

      Wow. That’s a whole separate thread on it’s on. I selfhost a lot of my services because I am a staunch privacy advocate, and I really have a problem with corporations using my data to further bolster their profit margins without giving me due compensation. I also self host because I love to tinker and learn. The learning aspect is something I really get in to. At my age it is good to keep the brain active and so I self host, create bonsai, garden, etc. I’ve always been into technology from the early days of thumbing through Pop Sci and Pop Mech magazines, which evolved into thumbing through Byte mags.

    • Domi@lemmy.secnd.meEnglish
      5·
      7 days ago

      Anyway, what I wanted to know is why do people self host?

      For the warm and fuzzy feeling I get when I know all my documents, notes, calendars, contacts, passwords, movies/shows/music, videos, pictures and much more are stored safely in my basement and belong to me.

      Nobody is training their AI on it, nobody is trying to use them for targetted ads, nobody is selling them. Just for me.

    • CocaineShrimp@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      7 days ago

      Yeah, 100% a whole separate post on its own. If you ask the same question in a new post, you’ll get more visibility and more answers

      • Professorozone@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        5 days ago

        As I mentioned, I didn’t really know where to post it. I guess my lemmy-foo isn’t up to snuff. I saw that this appears to be in lemmy.world, but only 10 options came up when I tried to post and none of them really seemed right. Advice?

  • Wytch@lemmy.zipEnglish
    4·
    6 days ago

    Thanks for asking this question. These replies are so much more helpful in understanding the basic premise than anything I’ve come across.

  • Matt@lemmy.mlEnglish
    5·
    6 days ago

    It’s the platform that runs all of your services in containers. This means they are separated from your system.

    Also what are other services that might be interesting to self host in The future?

    Nextcloud, the Arr stack, your future app, etc etc.

  • 0^2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    51·
    6 days ago

    Now compare Docker vs LXC vs Chroot vs Jails and the performance and security differences. I feel a lot of people here are biased without knowing the differences (pros and cons).

  • Professorozone@lemmy.worldEnglish
    41·
    6 days ago

    Wow! Thank you all for the civilized responses. This all sounds so great. I am older and I feel like I’ve already seen enough ads for one lifetime and I hate all this fascist tracking crap.

    But how does that work? Is it just a network on which you store your stuff in a way that you can download it anywhere or can it do more? I mean, to me that’s just a home network. Hosting sounds like it’s designed for other people to access. Can I put my website on there? If so, how do I go about registering my domain each year. I’m not computer illiterate but this sounds kind of beyond my skill level. I’ll go search Jellyfin, weird name, and see what I can find. Thanks again!

    • y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      8·
      6 days ago

      You’re asking a lot of questions at one time and will be better served understanding you’re knocking at the door of a very deep rabbit hole.

      That said, I’ll try to give you the basic idea here and anyone who can correct me, please do so! I doubt I’ll get everything correct and will probably forget some stuff lol.

      So, self hosting really just means running the services you use on your own machine. There’s some debate about whether hosting on a cloud server - where someone else owns and has physical access to the machine - counts as self hosting. For the sake of education, and because I’m not a fan of gatekeeping, I say it does count.

      Anyway, when you’re running a server (a machine, real or virtualized, that is running a program connected to a network that can - usually - be accessed by other machines connected to that network), who and what you share with other machines on your network or other networks, is ultimately up to you.

      When using a “hosted” service, which is where another entity manages the server (not just the hardware, but the software and administration too, and is therefore the opposite of self hosting. Think Netflix, as opposed to Jellyfin), your data and everything you do on or with that service on that network belongs to the service provider and network owners. Your “saved” info is stored on their disks in their data center. There are of course exceptions and companies who will offer better infrastructure and privacy options but that’s the gist of non-self-hosted services.

      To your specific questions:

      But how does that work?

      Hopefully the above helps, but this question is pretty open ended lol. Your next few questions are more pointed, so I’ll try to answer them better.

      Is it just a network on which you store your stuff in a way that you can download it anywhere or can it do more?

      Well, kind of. If you’re hosting on a physical machine that you own, your services will be accessible to any other machine on your home network (unless you segment your network, which is another conversation for another time) and should not, by default, be accessible from the internet. You will need to be at home, on your own network to access anything you host, by default.

      As for storage of your data, self hosted services almost always default to local storage. This means, you can save anything you’re doing on the hard-drive of the machine the server is running on. Alternatively if you have a network drive, you can store it on another machine on your network. Some services will allow you to connect to cloud storage (on someone else’s machine somewhere else). The beauty is that you decide where your data lives.

      I mean, to me that’s just a home network. Hosting sounds like it’s designed for other people to access. Can I put my website on there?

      Like almost anything with computers and networking, the defaults are changeable. You can certainly host a service on the internet for others to access. This usually involves purchasing the rights to a domain name, setting that domain up to link to your private IP address, and forwarding a port on your router so people can connect to your machine. This can be extremely dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing an isn’t recommended without learning a lot more about network and cyber security.

      That said, there are safer ways to connect from afar. Personally, I use a software called Wireguard. This software allows devices I approve (like my phone, or my girlfirend’s laptop) to connect to my network when away from home though what is called an “encrypted tunnel” or a "Virtual Private Network (VPN) ". These can be a pain to set up for the first time if you’re new to the tech and there are easier solutions I’ve heard of but haven’t tried, namely Tailscale, and Netbird, both of which use Wireguard but try to make the administration easier.

      You can also look into reverse proxies, and services like cloudflare for accessing things away from home. These involve internet hostng, and security should be considered, like above. Anything that allows remote access will come with unique pros and cons that you’ll need to weigh and sort for yourself.

      If so, how do I go about registering my domain each year.

      Personally, I use Porkbun.com for cheap domains, but there are tons of different providers. You’ll just have to shop around. To actually use the domain, I’m gonna be linking some resources lower in the post. If I remember correctly, landchad.net was a good resource for learning about configuring a domain but idk. There will be a few links below.

      I’m not computer illiterate but this sounds kind of beyond my skill level.

      It was beyond my skill level when I started too. It’s been nearly a year now and I have a service that automatically downloads media I want, such as movies, shows, music, and books. It stores them locally on a stack of hard drives, I can access them outside of my house with wireguard as well. Further, I’ve got some smaller services, like a recipe book I share with my girlfriend and soon with friends and family. I’ve also started hosting my own AI, a network wide ad-blocker, a replacement for Google photos, a filesharing server, and some other things that are escaping me right now.

      The point is that it’s only a steep hill while you’re at the bottom looking up. Personally, the hike has been more rejuvenating than tiresome, though I admit it takes patience, a bit of effort, and a willingness to learn, try new things, and fail sometimes.

      Never sweat the time it takes to accomplish a task. The time will pass either way and at the end of it you can either have accomplished something, or you’ll look back and say, “damn I could’ve been done by now.”

      I’ll go search Jellyfin, weird name, and see what I can find. Thanks again!

      Also check these out, if you’re diving in:

      YouTube:

      Guides:

      Tools:

      Hopefully this helps someone. Good luck!

  • Professorozone@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    5 days ago

    Thank you for the thorough response. After looking carefully at what you wrote I didn’t really see a difference between the term self-hosting and home network.

    You said you have software that automatically downloads media. The way I see this using movies for instance, if I own the movies and have them on my machine, then I can stream them over my network and have full control. Whereas if I “own” them on Amazon and steam it from there, they can track the viewing experience, push ads, or even remove the content completely. I understand that… But if I want a NEW movie, I’m back to Amazon to get it in the first place (or Netflix, or Walmart, etc. I get it). I’m fact, personally I’ve started actually buying disks of the movies/music I like most so that it can’t really be taken away and I can enjoy it even without an Internet connection. Am I missing something? Unless of course the media you are downloading is pirated.

    I know I’m asking what seems to be a huge question but I’m really only asking for a broad description, sort of an ELI5 thing.

  • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
    513·
    6 days ago

    Its an extremely fast and insecure way to setup services. Avoid it unless you want to download and execute malicious code.

      • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
        4·
        5 days ago

        Package managers like apt use cryptography to check signatures in everything they download to make sure they aren’t malicious.

        Docker doesn’t do this. They have a system called DCT but its horribly broken (not to mention off by default).

        So when you run docker pull, you can’t trust anything it downloads.

        • Darioirad@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          5 days ago

          Thank you very much! For the off by default part i can agree, but why it’s horribly broken?

          • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
            2·
            5 days ago

            PKI.

            Apt and most release signing has a root of trust shipped with the OS and the PGP keys are cross signed on keyservers (web of trust).

            DCT is just TOFU. They disable it because it gives a false sense of security. Docker is just not safe. Maybe on 10 years they’ll fix it, but honestly it seems like they just dont care. The well is poisoned. Avoid. Use apt or some package manager that actually cares about security

            • Darioirad@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              5 days ago

              So, if I understand correctly: rather than using prebuilt images from Docker Hub or untrusted sources, the recommended approach is to start from a minimal base image of a known OS (like Debian or Ubuntu), and explicitly install required packages via apt within the Dockerfile to ensure provenance and security. Does that make sense?

              • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
                2·
                5 days ago

                Install the package with apt. Avoid docker completely.

                If the docker image maintainer has a github, open a ticket asking them to publish a Debian package

                • Darioirad@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  2·
                  4 days ago

                  I see your point about trusting signed Debian packages, and I agree that’s ideal when possible. But Docker and APT serve very different purposes — one is for OS-level package management, the other for containerization and isolation. That’s actually where I got a bit confused by your answer — it felt like you were comparing tools with different goals (due to my limited knowledge). My intent isn’t just to install software, but to run it in a clean, reproducible, and isolated environment (maybe more than one in the same hosting machine). That’s why I’m considering building my own container from a minimal Debian base and installing everything via apt inside it, to preserve trust while still using containers responsibly! Does this makes sense for you? Thank you again for wasting your time to reply to my dumb messages

        • ianonavy@lemmy.worldEnglish
          22·
          5 days ago

          A signature only tells you where something came from, not whether it’s safe. Saying APT is more secure than Docker just because it checks signatures is like saying a mysterious package from a stranger is safer because it includes a signed postcard and matches the delivery company’s database. You still have to trust both the sender and the delivery company. Sure, it’s important to reject signatures you don’t recognize—but the bigger question is: who do you trust?

          APT trusts its keyring. Docker pulls over HTTPS with TLS, which already ensures you’re talking to the right registry. If you trust the registry and the image source, that’s often enough. If you don’t, tools like Cosign let you verify signatures. Pulling random images is just as risky as adding sketchy PPAs or running curl | bash—unless, again, you trust the source. I certainly trust Debian and Ubuntu more than Docker the company, but “no signature = insecure” misses the point.

          Pointing out supply chain risks is good. But calling Docker “insecure” without nuance shuts down discussion and doesn’t help anyone think more critically about safer practices.

          • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
            3·
            5 days ago

            Oof, TLS isnt a replacement for signatures. There’s a reason most package managers use release signatures. x.509 is broken.

            And, yes PGP has a WoT to solve its PKI. That’s why we can trust apt sigs and not docker sigs.

    • festus@lemmy.caEnglish
      32·
      6 days ago

      Entirely depends on who’s publishing the image. Many projects publish their own images, in which case you’re running their code regardless.