Introduction and Network Setup

This guide will walk you through setting up your home server environment, including network configuration, domain setup, and basic system preparation.

System Requirements

Before starting, ensure your system meets these requirements:

• A computer with Ubuntu Server freshly installed
• Minimum 4GB RAM (8GB or more recommended for running all services)
• At least 50GB of free disk space
• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• SSH server configured and accessible
• Static WAN IP address
• Router with ports 80 and 443 forwarded to your server

Network Configuration

Static IP Setup

For a reliable home server, you should configure a static internal IP address:

1. Identify your network interface:

   ip a

2. Edit the Netplan configuration:

   sudo nano /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml

3. Configure a static IP (example configuration):

   network:
     version: 2
     ethernets:
       ens18:  # Replace with your interface name
         dhcp4: no
         addresses: [192.168.1.100/24]  # Choose an IP outside your router's DHCP range
         gateway4: 192.168.1.1  # Your router's IP
         nameservers:
           addresses: [1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8]

4. Apply the configuration:

   sudo netplan apply

Port Forwarding

Configure your router to forward ports 80 and 443 to your server's internal IP address:

1. Access your router's admin interface (typically http://192.168.1.1)
2. Navigate to port forwarding settings (may be under "Advanced" or "NAT/Gaming")
3. Create two port forwarding rules:
   • Forward external port 80 (HTTP) to internal port 80 on your server's IP
   • Forward external port 443 (HTTPS) to internal port 443 on your server's IP

Domain Setup

For accessing your services remotely, you'll need a domain name:

1. Purchase a domain from a registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, etc.)
2. Set up DNS A records pointing to your static WAN IP:
   • Create an A record for your root domain (e.g., example.com)
   • Create wildcard A records for subdomains (e.g., *.example.com)

If you don't want to purchase a domain, you can use a free dynamic DNS service like Duck DNS or No-IP.

System Preparation

Update System

First, ensure your system is up to date:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Required Packages

Install some essential packages:

sudo apt install -y curl wget git nano htop

Docker Setup Verification

Verify Docker is installed and running:

docker --version
docker-compose --version
sudo systemctl status docker

If Docker is not installed, install it:

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

# Add your user to the docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Install Docker Compose
sudo apt install -y docker-compose

Log out and log back in for group changes to take effect.

Create Docker Network

Create a shared Docker network for all your services:

docker network create proxy

Create Directory Structure

Create a directory structure for your services:

mkdir -p ~/docker/nginx-proxy-manager
mkdir -p ~/docker/authelia
mkdir -p ~/docker/monitoring/prometheus
mkdir -p ~/docker/monitoring/grafana
mkdir -p ~/docker/monitoring/alertmanager
mkdir -p ~/docker/logging/loki
mkdir -p ~/docker/logging/promtail

Next Steps

Now that your system is prepared, you can proceed to the next section to set up Nginx Proxy Manager and Authelia for secure access to your services.