EZ-Homelab/docs/post-setup.md

Post-Setup Next Steps

Congratulations! Your AI-powered homelab is now running. Here's what to do next.

Access Your Services

Single Server Deployment

• Homepage: https://homepage.yourdomain.duckdns.org

  • Great place to start exploring your services
  • After configuring your services, come back and add widgets with API keys (optional)
  • Or ask the AI to find the API keys and add the widgets

• Dockge: https://dockge.yourdomain.duckdns.org

  • Deploy & Manage the stacks & services
  • Your primary management interface

• Authelia: https://auth.yourdomain.duckdns.org

  • Configure 2FA for enhanced security (optional)

• Traefik: https://traefik.yourdomain.duckdns.org

  • View/Edit your routing rules
  • Tip: Let the AI manage the routing for you

• VS Code: https://code.yourdomain.duckdns.org

  • Install GitHub Copilot Chat extension
  • Open the EZ-Homelab repository
  • Use AI assistance for:
    • Adding new services
    • Configuring Traefik routing
    • Managing Docker stacks

Multi-Server Deployment

If you deployed across multiple servers:

Core Server Services (accessed from anywhere):

• All services above (Homepage, Dockge, Authelia, Traefik, code-server)
• Access these through your domain: service.yourdomain.duckdns.org

Remote Server Services (accessed through core):

• Remote services automatically routed through core Traefik
• Example: https://sonarr.yourdomain.duckdns.org → Core → Remote Server
• SSO protection applied by core Authelia

Direct Local Access (on remote server network):

• Services also accessible via local IP: http://192.168.1.100:8989
• Useful for troubleshooting or local management
• No SSO protection on local access

Management Tips:

• Use core Dockge to manage all servers (if configured)
• Each server has its own local Traefik/Sablier for container management
• All services appear under unified domain through core routing

Monitoring Services

• Use Dockge to easily view live container logs
• Configure Uptime Kuma to provide uptime tracking with dashboards
• Check Grafana for system metrics and monitoring

Customize Your Homelab

Add Custom Services

Tell the AI what service you want to install - give it a Docker-based GitHub repository or Docker Hub image. Use your imagination, the Copilot instructions are configured with best practices and a framework to add new services.

Remove Unwanted Services

To remove a stack:

cd /opt/stacks/stack-name
docker compose down
cd ..
sudo rm -rf stack-name

To remove the volumes/resources for the stack:

# Stop stack and remove everything
cd /opt/stacks/stack-name
docker compose down -v --remove-orphans

# Remove unused Docker resources
docker system prune -a --volumes

Set Up Backups

Your homelab includes comprehensive backup solutions. The default setup includes Backrest (Restic-based) for automated backups.

Quick Backup Setup

1. Access Backrest: https://backrest.yourdomain.duckdns.org
2. Configure repositories: Add local or cloud storage destinations
3. Set up schedules: Configure automatic backup schedules
4. Add backup jobs: Create jobs for your important data

What to Back Up

• Configuration files: /opt/stacks/*/config/ directories
• Databases: Service-specific database volumes
• User data: Nextcloud files, Git repositories, etc.
• Media libraries: Movies, TV shows, music (if space allows)

Backup Commands

# Manual backup of a volume
docker run --rm \
  -v source-volume:/data \
  -v /mnt/backups:/backup \
  busybox tar czf /backup/volume-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /data

# List Backrest configurations
cd /opt/stacks/utilities/backrest
docker compose exec backrest restic snapshots

# Restore from backup
docker run --rm \
  -v target-volume:/data \
  -v /mnt/backups:/backup \
  busybox tar xzf /backup/volume-backup.tar.gz -C /

For detailed backup configuration, see the Restic-BackRest-Backup-Guide.md.

Troubleshooting

Script Issues

• Permission denied: Run with sudo
• Docker not found: Log out/in or run newgrp docker
• Network conflicts: Check existing networks with docker network ls

Service Issues

• Can't access services: Check Traefik dashboard at https://traefik.yourdomain.duckdns.org
• SSL certificate errors: Wait 2-5 minutes for wildcard certificate to be obtained from Let's Encrypt
  • Check status: python3 -c "import json; d=json.load(open('/opt/stacks/core/traefik/acme.json')); print(f'Certificates: {len(d[\"letsencrypt\"][\"Certificates\"])}')"
  • View logs: docker exec traefik tail -50 /var/log/traefik/traefik.log | grep certificate
• Authelia login fails: Check user database configuration at /opt/stacks/core/authelia/users_database.yml
• "Not secure" warnings: Clear browser cache or wait for DNS propagation (up to 5 minutes)
• Check logs: Use Dozzle web interface at https://dozzle.yourdomain.duckdns.org or run docker logs <container-name>

Common Fixes

# Restart Docker
sudo systemctl restart docker

# Check service logs
cd /opt/stacks/stack-name
docker compose logs -f

# Rebuild service
docker compose up -d --build service-name

Next Steps

1. Explore services through Dockge
2. Set up backups with Backrest (default Restic-based solution)
3. Set up monitoring with Grafana/Prometheus
4. Add external services via Traefik proxying
5. Use AI assistance for custom configurations

Happy homelabbing! 🚀