Rocky Linux 9 Fresh Install: Every Anaconda Decision That Matters
The Anaconda installer presents everything at once — a summary screen full of spokes, each hiding a
painfully·useful
Field
Notes
The Tool That Builds the Tool
AI assistants are now programmable in a way that didn't exist two years ago.
Matrix, Matrix Admin, and Maubot on Docker: The Lean Homelab Stack
Every Matrix homelab guide assumes you want PostgreSQL. The official docs say SQLite is testing-only. Community
Why I Stopped Building My Home Lab Like Work
My lab looked redundant until the night the shared storage failed. In seconds, every VM was gone. I got lucky with the warranty replacement, but that outage forced me to admit I was copying work patterns into a home environment, and containers became the way out.
How Much to Write Before Claude Builds It
N.O.R.A is a self-hosted homelab monitoring platform built with Claude Code as the primary executor. The workflow is settled: design sessions produce specifications, specifications become GitHub issues via PowerShell scripts, Claude Code builds against them. The question this post is about is not whether to use this
Deploying Diun and Watchtower: The Decisions That Determine Whether It Actually Works
Starting point The decision to use Diun alongside Watchtower has already been made: Diun handles notification, Watchtower handles execution, and the combination restores a human checkpoint to a change surface that running :latest tags makes otherwise invisible. What that setup actually looks like, and whether it holds under real operating
Container Update Workflows: Decoupling Awareness from Action
The default is dangerous, but not for the reason you think Most containers in most homelabs run on :latest tags. The reasons are familiar: introductory Docker content defaults to it, most Compose examples don't specify versions, and pinning feels like extra work for uncertain benefit. The result is
The Recovery Runbook You Should Have Written Six Months Ago
Halfway through writing the recovery procedure for a stack you've been running for two years, you realize you don't know where the .env file actually lives, whether the named volume is app_data or app-data, or what network_mode: host is doing on that one service
How Deep Does the Recovery Documentation Need to Go?
The Architecture post for this idea draws the line between data resilience and operational resilience , between the backup job completing and actually being able to rebuild your environment. That line is the reason you're here. The decision this post is about is what comes next: given that the
The 3-2-1 Rule Covers Data. It Doesn't Cover Knowledge.
The 3-2-1 backup rule is useful because it's specific. Three copies of your data. Two different storage media. One offsite. That specificity is what made it spread — it's a checklist, not a philosophy. You can implement it, verify it, and cross it off. The backup job
Building the Home Assistant Docker Stack: MariaDB, Z-Wave JS UI, and the One USB Path That Survives a Reboot
The Z-Wave USB stick is invisible inside the container. Every setup guide tells you to add a devices: entry to your compose file and pass the path /dev/ttyUSB0. On first boot it works. After a reboot, the path has rotated to /dev/ttyACM0, or shifted to /dev/ttyUSB1 because
Getting Home Assistant Off Your Local Network: Remote Access Decisions That Actually Matter
The Docker stack is running. Z-Wave devices are responding. MariaDB is handling the recorder. The local experience is solid. Then someone asks whether they can control the lights from their phone when they're away from home, and the comfortable self-contained feeling of the stack immediately collides with the
When Home Automation Becomes Infrastructure
There's a moment in most home automation projects when the framing shifts. It doesn't announce itself. One day you're automating a light, the next you're thinking about database backend selection, container isolation boundaries, and whether your remote access method is actually secure