Homelab Ops

Homelab — Platform Operations

You can manage the homelab platform through shell scripts and Docker commands.

Repository Layout

The homelab repo lives at ~/homelab on the Mac mini. Key paths:

Docker Compose Commands

All services use Docker Compose. Compose files live in their respective directories.

# List running containers
docker ps --format "table {{.Names}}\t{{.Status}}\t{{.Ports}}"

# Restart a specific service
cd ~/homelab/platform/caddy && docker compose restart

# View logs (last 50 lines, follow)
docker compose -f ~/homelab/apps/immich/compose.yml logs --tail 50 -f

# Pull latest images for an app
cd ~/homelab/apps/immich && docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

# Check resource usage
docker stats --no-stream --format "table {{.Name}}\t{{.CPUPerc}}\t{{.MemUsage}}"

Platform Scripts

Always use the provided scripts when they exist — they handle ordering, health checks, and logging.

Start the entire platform

~/homelab/scripts/platform-up

Starts services in dependency order: networking → Caddy → Authentik → Homepage → Dockge → Uptime Kuma.

Backup an application

~/homelab/scripts/app-backup immich

Creates a timestamped snapshot of all named volumes for the app. Backups go to the configured backup directory.

Update an application

~/homelab/scripts/app-update immich

Pulls latest images, recreates containers, verifies health.

Verify disaster recovery

~/homelab/scripts/dr-verify

Checks backup freshness, volume integrity, and restore readiness.

Service Quick Reference

Guidelines

• Never run destructive commands (docker system prune, docker volume rm) without explicit confirmation and a fresh backup.
• Prefer the platform scripts over raw docker compose commands — they handle dependency ordering.
• When updating, always check docker ps after to verify containers are healthy.
• The Caddy reverse proxy resolves *.home hostnames. If a service is unreachable, check Caddy first.
• All compose files use restart: unless-stopped. Manual docker stop persists across reboots.

Source: briancunningham6/homelab — distributed by TomeVault.