Path: replace your cloud subscriptions
Five tutorials, in this order. Tick each one when it works; your progress stays in your browser.
- 1Homelab 1: Proxmox, the base under every serviceOne machine, many isolated servers, snapshots and backups. The foundation of the series that replaces Google and subscriptions.
Prove this step
Run this command on your machine and paste its output. Your browser checks it: nothing is sent.
pveversionUnlocked tips
- Take a snapshot of a machine before every major update: rolling back costs one click.
- The Proxmox community scripts install a common service as one LXC container; read them before you run them.
Open-source apps for this step
- 2Homelab 2: one HTTPS entrance for all your servicesA reverse proxy with free certificates: how this very site went online, in fifteen minutes.
Prove this step · +80 XP
Run this command on your machine and paste its output. Your browser checks it: nothing is sent.
curl -sI https://your-domain.exampleUnlocked tips
- Every new service now goes through the proxy: one name, one certificate, no extra port opened on the router.
- Uptime Kuma watches your addresses and tells you when one of them goes down.
Open-source apps for this step
- 3Homelab 3: your own password manager with VaultwardenReplace the password manager you rent. The server never sees your passwords, and the backup that actually restores.
Prove this step · +70 XP
Run this command on your machine and paste its output. Your browser checks it: nothing is sent.
docker compose psUnlocked tips
- Install the Bitwarden browser extension and mobile app, then point them at your server.
- Turn on two-factor authentication on your account before you store anything important in it.
Open-source apps for this step
- 4Homelab 5: backups that survive an attack on your serverTwo copies, two machines, and the detail that matters most: the second copy is pulled with a read-only key, never pushed.
Prove this step · +90 XP
Run this command on your machine and paste its output. Your browser checks it: nothing is sent.
rsync -a --delete --stats <source> <destination>Unlocked tips
- A backup only counts once restored: pick a random file every month and bring it back.
- restic adds encryption and deduplication when your copy leaves your home.
Open-source apps for this step
- 5Homelab 7: replace Google Photos with ImmichAutomatic phone backup, faces, maps and search, at home. And the two things you must back up, not one.
Prove this step · +60 XP
Run this command on your machine and paste its output. Your browser checks it: nothing is sent.
curl -sI http://127.0.0.1:2283Unlocked tips
- Turn on automatic backup in the Immich mobile app: your photos leave the phone without you thinking about it.
- Add Immich's folder to the backup from the previous step: photos without a copy are not safe.
Open-source apps for this step