Basic Homeserver Docker Setup

In this tutorial, we’ll walk through setting up a basic homeserver using Docker. We’ll cover the installation and configuration of several useful services, including Nextcloud, MariaDB, Redis, SearXNG, Nginx Proxy Manager, and Portainer.

Prerequisites

• A Linux-based system (e.g., Ubuntu, Debian)
• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• Basic knowledge of command-line operations

Step 1: Create the Dockerfile for Nextcloud with FFmpeg

This is required to have video thumbnails and playback support. Create a file named nextcloud-ffmpeg in your project directory with the following content:

FROM nextcloud:latest
RUN set -ex; \
    apt-get update; \
    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
        ffmpeg \
    && apt-get clean \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

This Dockerfile extends the official Nextcloud image and adds FFmpeg support.

Step 2: Create .env & Docker Compose Files

To separate sensitive information like passwords, create a .env file in the same directory as your docker-compose.yaml:

MYSQL_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_secure_root_password

Create a file named docker-compose.yaml in your project directory with the following content:

version: '3.8'

services:
  # IT Tools - Collection of useful IT tools
  it-tools:
    image: corentinth/it-tools:latest
    container_name: itt
    ports:
      - "8081:80"
    restart: unless-stopped

  # MariaDB for Nextcloud
  mariadb:
    image: linuxserver/mariadb:latest
    container_name: mariadb
    environment:
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=nc
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=${MYSQL_PASSWORD}
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD}
      - MYSQL_USER=username
      - PGID=1000
      - PUID=1000
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin
    ports:
      - "3306:3306"
    volumes:
      - /appdata/mariadb/config:/config
    restart: unless-stopped

  # Nextcloud
  nextcloud:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: nextcloud-ffmpeg
    container_name: nextcloud
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "10081:80"
      - "10444:443"
    volumes:
      - /appdata/nextcloud/var/www/html:/var/www/html

  # Redis for Nextcloud caching
  redis:
    image: redis:latest
    container_name: redis
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"
    volumes:
      - /appdata/redis/data:/data
      - /appdata/redis/config:/usr/local/etc/redis
    restart: unless-stopped

  # SearXNG - Private search engine
  searxng:
    image: searxng/searxng:latest
    container_name: searx
    ports:
      - "8085:8080"
    environment:
      - INSTANCE_NAME=SearXNG
      - SEARXNG_SETTINGS_PATH=/etc/searxng/settings.yml
      - UWSGI_SETTINGS_PATH=/etc/searxng/uwsgi.ini
      - UWSGI_THREADS=4
      - UWSGI_WORKERS=%k
    volumes:
      - /appdata/searxng:/etc/searxng
    restart: unless-stopped

  # Nginx Proxy Manager
  app:
    image: 'jc21/nginx-proxy-manager:latest'
    container_name: nginx
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - '80:80'
      - '81:81'
      - '443:443'
    volumes:
      - /appdata/nginx-proxy-manager/data:/data
      - /appdata/nginx-proxy-manager/letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt

  # Portainer - Container management
  portainer:
    image: portainer/portainer-ce:latest
    container_name: portainer
    restart: always
    ports:
      - '8000:8000'
      - '9443:9443'
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - /appdata/portainer:/data

Step 3: Create the Update Script

Create a file named dockerupdate.sh with the following content:

#!/bin/bash

docker-compose pull
docker-compose down --remove-orphans
docker-compose build
docker-compose up --detach

Make the script executable:

chmod +x dockerupdate.sh

Step 6: Deploy the Services

Now, you can deploy all the services using Docker Compose:

docker-compose up -d

This command will download the necessary images, build the Nextcloud image with FFmpeg, and start all the containers in detached mode.

Step 7: Access the Services

After the containers are up and running, you can access the services using the following URLs:

• IT Tools: http://your_server_ip:8081
• Nextcloud: http://your_server_ip:10081
• SearXNG: http://your_server_ip:8085
• Nginx Proxy Manager: http://your_server_ip:81
• Portainer: https://your_server_ip:9443

Replace your_server_ip with the actual IP address or domain name of your server.

Step 8: Initial Configuration

1. Nextcloud: Access the Nextcloud URL and follow the setup wizard. Use the MariaDB database with the credentials specified in the .env file.

2. Nginx Proxy Manager: Access the NPM URL and log in with the default credentials (Email: admin@example.com, Password: changeme). Change these credentials immediately.

3. Portainer: Access the Portainer URL and create your initial admin user.

4. SearXNG: The search engine should be ready to use. You may want to customize its settings by editing the settings.yml file in the /appdata/searxng directory.

5. Cockpit: If you followed my Debian guide, you can access your system using tailscale-ip:9090 and manage your server.

Step 9: Updating the Services

To update all services to their latest versions, run the update script:

./dockerupdate.sh

This script will pull the latest images, rebuild any custom images, and restart all containers.

Note: If you’re interested in creating a live website, please refer to my separate article on Nginx Manager for guidance.

Conclusion

You now have a basic homeserver setup with several useful services running in Docker containers. Remember to regularly update your services and keep your system secure by following best practices for server administration.