Lots of good suggestions here

I’m a bit surprised by your budget. For something just running plex and next cloud, you shouldn’t need a 6 or even 3k system. I run my server on found parts, adding up to just $600-$700 dollars including (used) SAS drives. It runs probably a dozen docker containers, a dns server, and homeassistant. I don’t even remember what cpu I have because it was such a small consideration when I was finding parts.

I’d recommend keeping g your synology as a simple Nas (maybe next cloud too, depending on how you’re using it) and then get a second box with whatever you need for plex. Unless you’re transcoding multiple 4k videos at once, your cpu/GPU really don’t need much power. I don’t even have a dedicated GPU in mine, but I’m basically unable to do live 4k transcodes (this is fine for me)

Yup, I ended up frankensteining a nas from various craigslist parts (i actually found a low-power business-class server motherboard that has worked out well for the purpose). Had to get a SAS HBA card and a couple SFF-8087 cables to do the job right, and I grabbed an old gaming case from the 2010’s to hold it all, but it was relatively seamless. I had one of the drives go out already, but luckily I had it in a raid configuration with parity so it was just a matter of swapping out the drives and rebuilding.

It’s been fun and rewarding, for sure! I’m glad I didn’t sell them like these other dweebs told me to lol

if you continue to try { thisBullshit(); } you are going to catch (theseHands)

This is the most beautiful thing I’ve read all year

Yup, I was only pointing out that i was having trouble doing the same thing in my docker compose (using the webui_port env variable did not avoid port collisions at deployment)

I haven’t tried this particular compose outline though. It could also be the pirate_network they’re initiating or the depends_on variables they’re using, I just haven’t played around with it yet.

Question: how are you deploying your arr apps? do you do that in a separate compose file?

AFAIK the thing that complicates this is trying to run it behind gluetun

docker makes it really easy to specify a unique port on deployment, but when you’re using a network bridge (as in the case of gluetun) the networking settings are controlled there instead, so you can’t use the normal port declarations. It’s apparently not impossible to do it with gluetun but it seems it’s not as straightforward.

lmao. I’m starting to really wonder what the WEBGUI_PORT variable does if not exactly what you’re changing in the GUI… someone else mentioned they got multiple instances to deploy from the same compose file by placing the gluetun service at the end of the file. I wonder if the order in which the containers are deployed is the thing that makes this work. i’ll test more when I have the time

I might need to try this… I wonder if it makes a difference that the gluetun service is listed last. I noticed that trying to start the containers in the wrong order results in port collision errors, maybe this is why it works for you?

This worked!!

Shame that it’s a little bit of a runaround, but not only did this work, it also persists after restarts and updates.

I’ll be editing my post and offering it as a solution to the other places I have seen this question asked, thank you a ton!

I’m looking at hotio now.

their documentation isn’t as comprehensive as linuxserver.io, i’ll probably have to just try it out and see if it works. looks like they also have one that has wireguard bundled but it’s really unclear how that works

Can I ask what your compose file looks like? Or how you deployed?

yea, i just tried a couple things to no avail:

publish a new port in gluetun, e.g. - 8082:8082 then set webui port in the new instance:

- environment:
  - WEBUI_PORT: 8082

error on deployment

Then I tried spinning up the new container separately, declaring the pots eg:

- ports:
  - 8082:8082

and then manually switching the network to gluetun and turning off the port declaration, and it still ends up on the default port. Bummer.

nah, it seems like it’s a known problem, no worries. There’s an unresolved issue open on the gluetun github about it. I just figured someone would have had a workaround at this point since I see people recommend separate client instances to keep things organized all the time.

I think the people who do that just don’t use a VPN, but I have strong feelings against exposing my IP

edit: that’s interesting. I’ve tried a few variations, but maybe I didn’t try that one

Also, the point of HA is usually to avoid 3rd party servers, so you don’t just need something that runs HA, you need something that can receive data signals that may not be over wifi. Unless you can connect 3rd party receiver dongles to your phone, it’ll end up limiting which devices you can use on your network.

Fair point, Margot Robbie

I just dragged out my wife’s old college hp inkjet printer, and I was delighted to discover that it doesn’t even have a networking function on it. No wifi and no ethernet. It’s not even 10 years old.

Of course, to use it I have to be within usb-cord range, but small sacrifice for a printer that won’t hold itself hostage over outdated credit card information.

Actually though, that seems pretty consistent with my experience on lemmy so far

I highly recommend this one.

If all you’re looking for is a way to send files from your phone to your server, this is the simplest way to do it.

Share your server volume as a SMB, mount to phone via Material Files.

These devices are home-polling, which means commands/info is managed through WAN and their home servers.

Even if you don’t use their app, it still uses their servers.

FWIW, i also use home assistant. But some of the devices I have were not choices I made, so it’s a slow trudge replacing them all with locally-managed devices.

Couple things:

• Most people aren’t aware of these terms when purchasing, installing, or acquiring a home with these products. Removing and replacing devices throughout a home is expensive and time consuming, and they assume (rightfully) that most people won’t go to the trouble
• Even if you are aware of products that may require internet access or poll home to work, it’s still difficult not to end up with them in your house anyway. Try buying a tv or bluetooth speaker without smart features today - it’s not as easy as it should be. And there’s no guarantee that even locally hosted products will stay air-gapped in the future. Why should we normalize the practice now?
• most of these products start out as cheap and noninvasive options when they hit the market, and switch their ToS and brick their products through firmware updates without internet connections (e.g. Hue bulbs)

That said: of course i advocate against these brands. I have several zigbee dimmer switches ready to swap out with leviton already. But that doesn’t mean this information shouldn’t be widely circulated when it surfaces, so that other people know the landscape better when they go to purchase.