2025-01-17 20:42:51
Happy Friday! It was a busy week for self-hosted social media platforms. Mastodon announced a major decision to cede control of the project to a new non-profit organization later this year. At the same time, some of the recent controversies surrounding Meta and ByteDance have users flocking to federated Instagram and TikTok alternatives Pixelfed and Loops.
In other news:
Happy selfh.st/ing!
Ivan Mehta
Jason Koebler
Ethan Sholly
Akash Rajpurohit
Pete Prodoehl
Leduccc
Akash Rajpurohit
Sven van Ginkel
Meet Coolify, a platform for managing servers, applications, and databases that boasts itself as an open-source alternative to popular services like Heroku and Netlify. With Coolify, users can eliminate a number of the usual headaches that accompany managing your own infrastructure (although some might argue that's half the fun) with streamlined functionality for deploying apps (via Docker), automating SSL certs, database deployments and backups, server monitoring and logging, notifications, and collaboration.
Coolify can be easily installed via bare metal across a number of hardware options. The team also provides a hosted option for those looking to get into self-hosting but not quite ready to take things into their own hands (yet).
Links: Website, Source Code, Docs
Use the locate command to quickly populate a list of all instances of a file on the current system from the command line:
/$ location compose.yml
/home/ethan/appdata/ghost/docker-compose.yml
/home/selfhst/appdata/ghost/docker-compose.ymlClick here to view an archive of commands shared in previous newsletters.
Elena Rossini
I'm always looking for new and existing self-hosted content to share in This Week in Self-Hosted. Reach out using the button below if you'd like to have your own content featured or have a suggestion for content types you'd like to see featured in future newsletters.
2025-01-10 20:50:00
If you follow me on any of my socials, you're likely aware that my icon collection hit a major milestone this week – 1,000+ icons and built-in integrations with four self-hosted apps across the self-hosted ecosystem.
To celebrate, selfh.st featured its first ever guest post written by Akash Rajpurohit – a frequent contributor to the Community Content section of this newsletter. Akash recently developed a nifty tool for syncing git repositories to local folders and outlined how it can be used to self-host the icon collection:
Akash Rajpurohit
If you read last week's issue, you'll know I mentioned expanding the content offered on the site to include more content from other contributors – this was a great first step and I'm excited to begin featuring additional content moving forward.
Enjoy another jam-packed newsletter, and happy selfh.st/ing!
Les Pounder
Franck Nijhof
Olivier Forget
Cate Cronin
Hayden James
Meet Paperless-AI, an automated document analyzer for Paperless-ngx. With Paperless-AI, users can leverage OpenAI and Ollama-compatible APIs to perform an analysis on their Paperless documents for automatic title, tag, and correspondent assignments (with pre-defined rules as needed). OpenAI users recently also gained the ability to chat with AI about their documents for those looking to avoid sifting through large libraries via search.
Paperless-AI can be easily installed via Docker and doesn't require any additional containers to run. Users will need the relevant API info for their Paperless installation and AI of choice to complete the initial setup.
Links: Source Code
Use wc -l <file> to easily display the number of lines in a given file directly from the command line:
/$ wc -l example.txt
8 example.txtClick here to view an archive of commands shared in previous newsletters.
Khamosh Pathak
I'm always looking for new and existing self-hosted content to share in This Week in Self-Hosted. Reach out using the button below if you'd like to have your own content featured or have a suggestion for content types you'd like to see featured in future newsletters.
2025-01-08 20:52:58
selfh.st/icons is a beautiful collection of open-source icons designed specifically for modern dashboards, websites, and applications. With over 1000+ icons available in SVG, PNG, and WebP formats, it provides a consistent and minimalist design language that can enhance your user interfaces.
The project offers a comprehensive set of icons that are:
You can browse and use these icons directly from selfh.st/icons, but what if you want to self-host them for better control, reliability, and customization?
The icons collection is available on GitHub at github.com/selfhst/icons. To self-host, you can:
git clone https://github.com/selfhst/icons.git
However, the challenge comes when you want to keep your self-hosted instance up-to-date with the upstream repository. As new icons are added or existing ones are improved, you'd want these updates in your self-hosted version.
This is where git-sync comes in handy. It's a simple yet powerful tool that helps you keep your repository in sync with an upstream repository automatically.
You can install the latest binary from the releases page or use the pre-build Docker image.
Once you have git-sync installed, you can create a configuration file to define the sync behavior. Here's an example configuration for keeping selfh.st/icons in sync with your self-hosted instance:
raw_git_urls: ['https://github.com/selfhst/icons']
backup_dir: /path/to/backup
clone_type: full
Save this file as config.yaml under ~/.config/git-sync/ directory.
Run the following command to start the sync process:
git-sync
This will clone the repository (if not already cloned) and keep it in sync with the cloud repository.
This is a one-time sync process, but if you want to keep it in sync with the cloud repository, you can setup a cron job to run the git-sync command at a regular interval or use the --cron flag to run it periodically and keep the service running in the background (more preferred way if you are running it via Docker).
More details about setting up git-sync can be found in the git-sync documentation.
Self-hosting selfh.st/icons gives you complete control over your icon collection while git-sync ensures you're always in sync with the latest updates. This setup is perfect for:
By combining selfh.st/icons with git-sync, you get the best of both worlds: a beautiful, comprehensive icon collection and automated synchronization to keep everything up-to-date.
2025-01-03 20:51:00
2024 was a great year for self-hosting. There was no shortage of great new projects to explore and developers continued delivering significant updates to existing software. We also saw a few leaders in the space begin to lay out the principles as to how open-sourced and community-driven projects can operate and thrive will still maintaining their core values.
It was also a great year for selfh.st. Having only been its second year of publication, I'm overwhelmed with the community's support as the site achieved significant milestones and launched a number of new initiatives throughout the year:
I also had the opportunity to connect with a number of developers and content creators who've been incredibly willing to collaborate and provide feedback when asked, including Adam Monsen, DB Tech, Dan Brown, Daniel Brendel, Akash Rajpurohit, and Jason Crabtree – to name a few.
Looking ahead, I'm excited to share some new initiatives in the coming weeks and months as I dedicate 2025 to expanding my video offerings, welcoming guest contributors to the site, and continue developing resources to spotlight self-hosted software.
I'm incredibly grateful for this community and the opportunity to give back to the people that have shaped my own self-hosted journey. Thanks again to all for the support.
Happy new year, and happy selfh.st/ing!
Ethan Sholly
Dawn Foster
Akash Rajpurohit
Abhishek Ranjan
Meet Lurker, a self-hosted read-only frontend web client for Reddit. With Lurker, users can enjoy the benefits of saving and browsing their favorite subreddits as if they were a registered user without the privacy implications of actually registering. Features include saving subreddits, over-18/NSFW content, mobile support, pagination, invite-only multi-user support, color schemes, and comment navigation – all without a Reddit account.
Lurker can be installed via bare metal or Docker and doesn't require any additional containers to be deployed (SQLite is leverage for data storage).
Links: Source Code
Use the uniq command to easily view the unique lines of a file from the command line:
/$ cat example.txt
This
This
Week
Week
in
Self-Hosted
/$ uniq example.txt
This
Week
in
Self-HostedClick here to view an archive of commands shared in previous newsletters.
I'm always looking for new and existing self-hosted content to share in This Week in Self-Hosted. Reach out using the button below if you'd like to have your own content featured or have a suggestion for content types you'd like to see featured in future newsletters.
2024-12-30 20:45:27
2024 has undoubtedly been a fantastic year for self-hosted software. Not only were developers busy delivering significant updates to existing projects – they were also launching new projects left and right. In my weekly newsletter, I averaged featuring anywhere from 10-15 new projects a week (I'm fairly certain the record was 26 in a single week).
As someone who keeps a close eye on many of these projects after launch, I thought it'd be helpful for others to compile a list of those I've found to be particularly noteworthy. I've included them based on a number of informal 'scoring' factors, which include functionality (uniqueness, etc.), community reception, and development activity.
And while I've compiled this list to help those who might not have the bandwidth to explore every option, I'd still recommend readers make an effort to discover and support other projects as well (I do have my own biases, after all). If you're new to selfh.st, I have a helpful directory of self-hosted software and alternatives that might also be helpful.
Ethan Sholly
It’s hard to ignore the impact Hoarder has had in the read later and bookmarking software space, especially given Omnivore's recent news. The application came running right out of the gate with a clean interface for cataloguing links while also seamlessly integrating AI to assist users with tagging and organizing their articles. As a bonus, Hoarder comes with its own mobile apps for both iOS and Android while also supporting single sign-on.
We’ve witnessed many YouTube frontends and downloaders come and go over the last several years, but Pinchflat’s release earlier this year turned a new page for those looking to collect and manage their favorite YouTube channels and playlists. Featuring a minimal interface and easy-to-spin up Docker container, Pinchflat makes subscribing to and downloading YouTube content a breeze – especially when streaming it through popular media servers like Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby.
Glance is a Swiss Army Knife dashboard that consolidates various feeds into a single page, with built-in support for RSS feeds, subreddits, bookmarks, Hacker News, YouTube feeds, calendars, stocks, Twitch channels, GitHub releases, and more. Its iFrame widget also allows easy integration with webpages and other dashboards for those looking to combine functionality with other unsupported tools.
Docmost is a promising documentation and collaboration platform that quickly became a fan favorite with its initial launch halfway through the year. Featuring a modern, clean interface, Docmost supports multiple workspaces, real-time collaboration, comments, page history, attachments, and integrations with a few diagram services. The software is under active development and is expected to continue receiving new features that should make it a more than adequate alternative for other tools in the space.
Postiz is a social media consolidation and scheduling tool with a touch of AI for those strategically managing multiple accounts. The application currently supports most popular social networks, and the development team has been extremely receptive to adding more. Postiz is also a one-stop-shop for post analytics, while standing out from the competition with its lack of paywalled features in its self-hosted edition.
Beszel is a lightweight resource monitoring tool that made a huge splash in the community given its lack of overhead versus similar tools like Grafana. The platform can be used to easily monitor system and Docker stats with configurable alerts for a number of resources. Its split installation functionality between hub and agents means it can be installed on multiple systems while leveraging multi-user support and SSO to ensure users only have access to the specific systems.
ByteStash is a sleek code snippet platform that launched just a few months ago. It features a modern interface that easily allows users to capture code snippets in various languages, with extensive search capabilities for later finding snippets by programming language or other keywords. The application also supports features like multiple users (including single sign-on) and fragments for storing the same snippet in various languages.
The launch of Beaver Habit Tracker scratched a very popular itch in the self-hosted world — habit tracking. Built for mobile use, the software features a mobile screen-friendly view for adding, managing, and tracking habits on-the-go. For those who need a little motivation to complete their tasks, Beaver Habit Tracker also features a GitHub streak-like chart for visualizing progress over a given period of time.
Streamyfin is a Jellyfin client that was very well-received across the community with its Android and iOS launches earlier this year. The application features a modern interface with support for a ton of official and unofficial Jellyfin capabilities, including Trickplay images, intro/credits skipping, background audio, picture-in-picture, media downloads, and Chromecast support. Streamyfin makes a very compelling case for those who’ve previously been afraid to make the jump to Jellyfin from Plex due to a lack of capable clients.
Pocket ID takes a novel approach to authentication capabilities by acting as a simple OIDC provider with support for passkeys only (yes, this means no passwords). Users can leverage Pocket ID’s functionality to replace similar but slightly more complex tools like Authelia, Authentik, or Keycloak for logging into their self-hosted services – eliminating the need for separate accounts for every service.
PdfDing is a PDF manager, viewer, and as of recent – editor – inspired by the likes of the popular bookmark manager Linkding in both name and design. PdfDing gives users an intuitive interface for tracking and accessing PDF files, with the ability to easily share with others – with or without password protection and expiration dates. For those managing multiple users, the application also supports single sign-on.
WhoDB is a lightweight database visualization and management tool meant to compete with existing database management solutions. The tool features a clean interface, fast performance, and broad support for various database systems. WhoDB’s integration with AI tools also makes it easy to quickly generate complex SQL queries directly from the application’s interface.
Dawarich is a self-hosted location tracking alternative to Google Maps Timeline. The application integrates with a number of services for tracking user locations — OwnTracks and Home Assistant, to name a few — and provides an interactive map and statistics for later revisiting. Dawarich also provides import capabilities for users migrating to the platform who may not want to start from scratch.
While a ton of new projects have popped up that leverage existing photo solutions to share media with others, Slink is a dedicated app for easily doing the same independently from other projects. Akin to hosted services like Imgur, Slink features the ability to upload several file types – which can be set to public or private – while allowing administrators to select from a number of backend storage providers to store the data.
GoDoxy is a lightweight, easy-to-use reverse proxy developed to challenge some of the more traditional options in the space like NGINX and Traefik. Unlike many of the others, GoDoxy comes packaged with a web interface and dashboard while also supporting other common features like auto SSL cert management. However, what really sets it apart is its Docker integration with support for auto-configuration and the ability to stop idle containers and wake them when traffic is detected.
2024-12-27 20:53:40
Happy Friday! Despite the chaos of the holidays, I still managed to capture a ton of notable software updates, launches (16!), and new directory apps for those looking for new software to deploy during their time off (sorry, but not sorry). The Community Content section also has a ton of great new guides for apps like Jellyfin and Authentik if you've been dragging your feet and are a looking for an excuse to finally deploy them.
If you follow my content, you're probably aware of a new project called Astroluma – a dashboard for self-hosted apps and services that also centralizes functionality like tasks, system monitoring, and weather. This week, it dropped a release that includes support for icon packs, featuring selfh.st/icons as the default pack for new installs. If you're unfamiliar with either, check them out!
In other news, I received my delivery of the new Home Assistance Voice preview device a few days early and have had a blast getting it up-and-running. While onboarding was a bit clunky, I've been incredibly impressed – especially with its microphone, which picks up audio so well that half of my commands fail because they're a combination of my voice and audio from a Bluey episode my daughter is streaming from across the house.
Lastly, if you're a regular listener of the YouTube/podcast version of this newsletter, you'll notice there is no release this week. The production involved in publishing an episode requires a bit more time than I had given the holiday and having been a bit under the weather. Rest assured, it'll be back next week!
As usual, thanks for the support and happy selfh.st/ing!
Paulus Schoutsen
Ethan Sholly
Ethan Sholly
Anand
fabriziosalmi
DoTheEvo
Meet Hemmelig, an open-source secret sharing platform. Hemmelig gives users a minimal, modern interface for uploading secrets and sensitive files that can easily be shared with others. Features include client-side encryption, password protection, expiration dates, limited view counts, limited IP address access, account management, and auto-deletion after expiration.
Hemmelig can be deployed via Docker and doesn't require any additional containers to get up-and-running.
Links: Website, Source Code
Use head -n 5 <file> to quickly view the first five (or any number of) lines of a file from the terminal:
/$ head -n 5 example.txt
This
is
This
Week
inClick here to view an archive of commands shared in previous newsletters.
Sourav Rudra
I'm always looking for new and existing self-hosted content to share in This Week in Self-Hosted. Reach out using the button below if you'd like to have your own content featured or have a suggestion for content types you'd like to see featured in future newsletters.