This Week in Self-Hosted (24 January 2025)

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Note From the Editor

I've always been committed to creating new and engaging content for selfh.st's readers. Late last year, I co-created a YouTube series and podcast to accompany this newsletter that I am officially putting on hiatus starting today.

In a world full of diverse perspectives, it's never a surprise that some prefer noise over nuance. In the face of this, I'm remaining dedicated to publishing content that is free from distraction and rooted in the principles of the community.

This newsletter will continue to highlight projects, content, and creators who share my passion for self-hosting – even when directly competing with the content I create. Partnering with unethical advertisers and sponsors will also remain a non-option.

I'm excited to share an updated video and podcast content strategy in the coming weeks. In the meantime, thanks – as always – for the support, and enjoy the newsletter and content that so many people work hard to make happen each week!

This Week in Self-Hosted

The past few weeks have been great for those self-hosting the open-source password manager Bitwarden (or Vaultwarden). The project recently started rolling out the revamped native mobile apps for Android and iOS that were announced early last year, as well as an updated browser extension that's been redesigned and streamlined for easier use. This week, they also announced an upcoming feature that will enable approving logins from other devices for a passwordless experience.

A few months ago, I also covered the launch of a new social media management platform called Postiz. Given the nature of their release strategy (frequent, minor releases), they're not often mentioned in the Software Updates below. However, they've added a ton of features since launch – support for additional services (Instagram stories, Telegram, Lemmy), short-linking, plugs, and some quality-of-life improvements that are absolutely worth checking out if you haven't already.

And lastly, Redditor u/abite released two hilariously-named projects this week, DumbDrop and DumbPad, for those looking for some no-frill projects to deploy this weekend. As user u/shadoodled put it, I'm officially sold on the potential Dumb™ Suite of projects – is this what we've been waiting for to finally break us free from the shackles of hosted services?

Happy selfh.st/ing!

In the News

New Year. Same Mission.

22 days into 2025. Miles to go before we sleep. It’s all hands on deck, and all eyes on our…

Plexmeghann

NodeBB Officially Joins the Fediverse - We Distribute

A popular open source software for forums marks their 4.0 release with ActivityPub support, bringing their message boards to the network.

We DistributeSean Tilley

We Need To Talk About Docker Hub

We Need To Talk About Docker Hub

linuxserver.io

Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure

Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure

Unraid

Software Updates

• Astroluma v1.0.2 | Dashboard and Tasks: Proper support for migration scripts, overhaul of integration section (now supports 17 apps), branding customization
• AudioBookshelf v2.18.0 | Audiobooks and Podcasts: Subdirectory support
• ddclient v4.0.0 | DDNS Updates: New '--mail-from' option, simultaneous/separate updating of A and AAAA records for select services, Porkbun subdomain support, Gandi personal access token support
• DefGuard v1.2.0 | VPN: Network device management, new command line client, package/plugin for FreeBSD/OPNsense, new release notifications
• FitTrackee v0.9.0 | Activity Tracker: Added social features (follow other views, view workouts, and interact), Markdown syntax in description and notes
• Immich v1.125.1 | Photos and Videos: New query builder for improved speeds, share directly to Immich on mobile apps, lens information in details panel
• Immich Power Tools v0.13.0 | Photo Management: Robust link and album sharing options, bulk delete in find page, people search
• Lingarr v0.9.5 | Subtitle Translation: Introduced personal statistics, new format support (SSA/ASS), support for ARM builds
• Many Notes v0.4.0 | Note-Taking: OAuth support, file system vault copies, SQLite bind mounts, accent support in vault names
• Maybe v0.3.0 | Personal Finances: Budgeting support, account data enrichment, nested categories
• Mealie v2.5.0 | Recipes and Meals: Migrated 'Last Made' and 'On Hand' features to household level, removed kitchen time from recipe page, security patches
• Mixpost v2.0.0 | Social Media Manager: Email notifications for broken account connections, added system status and logs pages
• NodeBB v4.0.0 | Forums: ActivityPub integration for interacting with the Fediverse
• Paperless-AI v2.3.0 | Document Management: 'Custom' API endpoints section for increased support
• Pocket ID v0.25.0 | OIDC Provider: LDAP sync, sign in with email option
• QuickDrop v1.3.0 | File Sharing: Chunked uploads, disable 'View Files' page, share button for public files, share modal overhaul, improved mobile layout
• Ryot v8.0.0 | Tracking: Time range filters, in progress media notifications, add exercises to workouts being edited, YouTube Music integration
• SWAG v3.1.0 | Reverse Proxy: Auto reload functionality added to base image
• Watcharr v2.0.0 | Watch List: Trusted header auth, search using external ID, sort and filtering updates

New Software

• Caddy Defender: Plugin for blocking bots, cloud providers, and AI scrapers
• DumbDrop: Stupidly simple file upload application
• DumbPad: Stupidly simple modern notepad application
• Fork Recipes: Web app for managing food recipes
• GoobyDesk: Lightweight service desk for homelabbers and very small businesses
• Home-DMS: Document management system
• LogoAI: AI-powered logo generator
• Nextflux: Modern web-based front end for Miniflux
• ParadeDB: Elastisearch alternative built on PostgreSQL
• Smart Home API: API for managing smart home devices via watch
• Thrifty: Simple monthly income and expense tracker
• Tinyauth: Simple way to secure Traefik apps with a login screen
• Tok-DL: TikTok video downloader
• wol: Wake-on-LAN via CLI and web interface

Breaking Changes

• Astroluma v1.0.2: Two new required volume mounts, new variable for network scanning
• ddclient v4.0.0: Various breaking changes as outlined in release notes
• Kutt v3.2.0: Default SQLite driver changed from sqlite3 to better-sqlite3
• LinuxServer.io: daapd (Owntone) container being deprecated

Latest Directory Apps

• Actual AI: Categorize transactions in Actual Budget using AI
• Bugsink: Self-hosted error tracking
• Cerbos: Open-source, policy-based authorization solution
• copyparty: Turn almost any device into a file server accessible from any browser
• Cupdate: Zero-config service for keeping container images up-to-date
• Dribdat: Self-hosted challenge board for sweeter hackathons
• Loops: Federated short video sharing platform
• Many Notes: Markdown note-taking app designed for simplicity
• Webmin: Powerful and flexible server management control panel

Community Content

Host your own analytics with Umami, Supabase and K3s

We are going to explain how we can setup our own analytic server with the help of Umami, Supabase, K3s and more.

Zaher's BlogDecember 28th, 2024

How to get Valid SSL on your Pi home lab

Having a home lab is great but do you want to get rid of those self signed ssl certificate errors? Well here’s how to do it by running traefik as a reverse proxy on your Raspberry Pi.

Pi SourceRic

Self-hosted Alternatives to Popular Software – OpenAlternative

Self-hosting involves running and managing applications on your own server(s) rather than utilizing SaaS providers. Below is a list of services and web applications that can be hosted on your own server(s).

OpenAlternative

Understanding Home Assistant’s Database Model

Detailed breakdown of Home Assistant’s database model for short and long-term statistics. Should you replace the default SQL database?

SmartHomeScene.comSHS

Securing Self-Hosted Apps with Pocket ID / OAuth2-Proxy | theSynAck

theSynAck

Content Spotlight: Many Notes

Meet Many Notes, a Markdown-based note-taking app designed for simplicity. With Many Notes, users can easily create collections of notes (called vaults) that store a hierarchy of individual notes based on a user's needs. From there, thoughts and ideas can be easily captured via a smart Markdown editor. Other features include OAuth support, import/export capabilities, light/dark themes, file search, and a mobile-friendly interface.

Many Notes can be installed via Docker and requires users to build their own images using a variety of customization options.

Links: Source Code

What I'm Watching

• Kutt URL Shortener: Easy Installation, Password Protection, and More! | DB Tech
• How to Self-Host Hoarder: The Ultimate Bookmark Tracker | Techdox
• 3 Different Ways to Connect to Unraid over HTTPS | SpaveInvader One
• Authentik proxy outposts for Traefik, Docker and K8S | Christian Lempa
• Best Kubernetes Management Tools for Beginners 2025! | VirtualizationHowto
• PiKVM Switch: The Best KVM Solution Yet? | Techno Tim
• Which Firewall is RIGHT for YOU? pfSense vs. UniFi | Lawrence Systems

Command Line Corner: groups

Use the groups command to view a list of the groups the current user belongs to:

/$ groups
  sholly cdrom floppy sudo audio video users docker selfhst

Click here to view an archive of commands shared in previous newsletters.

Related News and Content

Here’s the tech that could turn millions of Zigbee light bulbs into motion sensors with a single update

This technology could be coming to Philips Hue very soon.

The Verge

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