Hey guys!

I want to convert my now corebooted Thinkpad T430 into a Nextcloud server and possibly more (Syncthing, maybe Tor, maybe more)

1 500GB SSD, 1 1TB SSD

Currently runs Fedora Kinoite, I could rebase to something like secureblue uCore, Fedora IoT, uBlue uCore, …

Not sure if those would have broken configs though.

Maybe I would prefer something with slower pace, but tbh the pace of CentOS bootc becoming a thing is quite frustrating. This would likely be the perfect ‘install and forget’ distro for many, a KDE Image would be there in no time.

I wouldnt want to use a traditional distro, even though a base Debian or AlmaLinux/ Rockylinux (what the hell was that of a hydra? Cut off one head, spawn 2? what are the differences??) could just be fine. I used Debian in the past, it really just works.

I would like

  • Nextcloud AIO docker image, maybe with podman? It is supposedly more secure but the world runs on Docker, and all is fine. Podman is a pain quite often.
  • some nice management like Cockpit
  • dyn DNS, for example with NoIP, best free
  • secure ssh, that should be no issue
  • btrfs? or zfs? with backups to a secondary drive
  • automatic updates with snapshot creation. Atomic system would be easiest here.
  • easy to use and secure reverse proxy, with DynDNS for reliable address on the internet. NGINX, Traefik, Caddy, what is the best here??

Here I am not sure if I should use 1TB + 1TB, or 500GB used and 1TB backup. BTRFS backups can be incremental.

while I made a list of BTRFS tools I still have no idea what the best tool for this job is.

  •  leetnewb   ( @leetnewb@beehaw.org ) 
    2•5 days ago

    Atomic automatic updates with snapshot creation? Maybe consider opensuse microOS if you are going headless…didn’t quite understand from your description. I have a VPS running microOS that has been doing its automatic updates/reboot thing for a year+ now without a single issue. Opensuse’s rolling stuff works very well, and you get native btrfs and snapper integration out of the box.

    Easy to use reverse proxy - I really like Caddy. Reading/writing the config for that clicks better for me than others.

    I like the novelty of using filesystem tools for backups, but can’t shake the feeling that tools like restic and borg are more widely deployed and battle tested.

    •  boredsquirrel   ( @boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net ) OP
      1•5 days ago

      Yes microOS ticks those 2 boxes.

      Fedora on its own doesnt do backups at all, which I find crazy.

      rpm-ostree or bootc though are better, as they allow rebasing, resetting etc. This is not possible with microOS, which is a huge dealbreaker for having a server that will never have the need to be reinstalled.

      I will try Caddy! Did you use NGINX before?

      •  leetnewb   ( @leetnewb@beehaw.org ) 
        1•5 days ago

        Re reverse proxies, not exactly. Tried reading vanilla nginx configs and trying to understand nginx proxy manager, couldn’t grasp either. Also gave haproxy a shot.

        rpm-ostree

        I guess I don’t exactly understand the value of rebasing the core system. Small atomic core with snapshot-based rollbacks, with containerized beyond core stuff seems to get you 99% of the way there, no?

        •  boredsquirrel   ( @boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net ) OP
          2•5 days ago

          Rebasing is not important, for the most people.

          I like to try variations of the same system, like Fedora Kinoite, uBlue kinoite-main, uBlue Aurora, secureblue Kinoite-main, went back.

          But resetting is the key.

          Also rebasing would allow you to switch from normal deployment to a local image host, like in your LAN. This could already be worth it if all your family uses the same system, even more a company.

          You can do uBlue style stuff at home on your own server, mostly with podman and buildah