Hi, I’m Daniel. I run a small homelab and a smart home, and I like to understand how things work, especially when they stop working.
Most of what I set up at home starts with a simple wish (“one login for everything”, “backups I can actually restore”) and ends with an evening of reading logs. This blog is where I write down what I learned along the way, so the next person, or future me, doesn’t have to figure it out again.
What I’m working on
- Homelab: a small, quiet Docker host running my own cloud storage, a password manager, document management and a wiki.
- Single sign-on: one login with passkeys for all self-hosted services, with each service’s own login kept as a fallback.
- Security: a reverse proxy in front of everything, plus intrusion detection and access rules that keep the attack surface small.
- Smart home: Home Assistant with Zigbee sensors, heating automations, an alarm system and notifications on my phone.
- Backups: nightly snapshots of every service, a restore script that is actually tested, and an encrypted offsite copy.
- Working with AI: I build and maintain much of this together with an AI assistant, and I write about what works well and where you still need to double-check.
What you’ll find here
How-tos, troubleshooting stories and honest experience reports. Every article starts with a short summary: the problem, the solution, and the versions I tested with. That way you can tell in a few seconds whether it fits your situation.
A note on the articles: everything here comes from my own setup. I’m not paid by any vendor, and I don’t link products for money. Software changes quickly, so check the “Tested with” line before you copy a command.
Get in touch
Found a mistake, or did something work differently for you? I’d like to hear about it: blog@selfhostjournal.eu