Hey all, I know the purists might sneer at me for this, but I just spun up a server via Hetzner so I could run Docker in the cloud. Since my ISP uses CGNAT, my only options for hosting services at home are either via Tailscale Funnel or CloudFlare Tunnel. If you remember my previous post about Yattee, that’s not available on the public internet, but was meant for my private use only. The idea behind this new project is hosting things I intend for public access. I’m debating if I’m going to use a domain I already own that ends in the .us TLD or if I should wait until I get paid in a couple of days and buy a new one from Pork Bun that doesn’t have the .us TLD and all the potential baggage that carries. Three questions come to mind:
- How practical is running Portainer on my Docker instance? (I’ve got it installed, but I’m new to Portainer and Docker for the most part.)
- Other than Friendica, Mastodon, Matrix, PeerTube and PieFed, what’s worth running on a Docker instance with 8 VCPUs, 16GB of RAM and around 300GB of storage?
- Is there a Matrix room for those wishing to discuss self-hosting, especially via Docker?
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I know the purists might sneer at me for this, but I just spun up a server via Hetzner so I could run Docker in the cloud
Not an answer to your question, but don’t let some gatekeeper… well, gate keep. There are many ways to selfhost. Running your own hardware is one, renting a VPS but hosting the services yourself is another one. One is not better than the other.
Just pick what is the best solution for you and your problem.
I was using Portaner for a while, then moved to Dockge (super light) and now I’m on Dockhand which is so far my favourite. Dockhand has auto-update, resource monitoring, schedule auto-prune, etc. Setting up notifications through ntfy was super easy. It’s well designed ui.
Other than Friendica, Mastodon, Matrix, PeerTube and PieFed, what’s worth running
Maybe Nextcloud (not only for storage, but also calendar, video conferences, office, when combined with Collabora,…)? Also Immich (basically Google Photos) comes to mind. Your own instance of SearXNG.
Any kind of ToDo-list, Kanban board, …?
A ticketing system?
A Wiki to host your documentation? Note, that you may want to access it if the server fails, so…
Some stack of components around Grafana or such to visualize some data? Since you mentioned Hetzner, I’m guessing you’re from Germany. You could build a small container, ingest the gas prices that the gas station are required to publish and build a dashboard for the gas prices in your area? (Hint, here’s an API licensed under Creative Commons - https://creativecommons.tankerkoenig.de/ )
Nope, from the West Coast of the United States. Although, for some odd reason, the server wound up being in Helsinki.
To manage my docker containers I migrated from and to multiple tools. I started directly with Unraid with individual containers. Then I discovered docker compose and stacks. So I migrated to portainer. Splitting the postgres and mariadb databases were the worst thing in this. Then I tried dockge, so migrated from portainer to that. It lacked some portainer functionality, but was fine for a short while.
Finally I discovered Komodo and migrated to that as it’s FOSS. Now I’m only on Komodo, I have no server limit (5 on portainer), had all the functionality of portainer and more. It is my go-to docker manager and the one I recommend to everyone. The only “issue” is that you need to write the name of the stack and click confirm twice if you want to redeploy, restart, stop, destroy. Or you have to click confirm twice after saving when you edit your files. Not much of an issue and it can also protect from accidental clicks. My next step will be to migrate my stacks compose and env files from UI defined to files on the server that I can sync.
Other than Friendica, Mastodon, Matrix, PeerTube and PieFed, what’s worth running on a Docker instance with 8 VCPUs, 16GB of RAM and around 300GB of storage?
I usually do it the other way around. I figure out what I want to run and at what scale and then I get the server.
OK, on second thought, I might consider go to social and possibly PeerTube as I’ve never been able to find an instance that I can host a channel on successfully. A XMPP/Movim server might be a possibility as well.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
Fewer Letters More Letters NAT Network Address Translation VPN Virtual Private Network VPS Virtual Private Server (opposed to shared hosting)
3 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 7 acronyms.
[Thread #117 for this comm, first seen 25th Feb 2026, 20:50] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
Hey all, I know the purists might sneer at me for this, but I just spun up a server via Hetzner so I could run Docker in the cloud
Don’t let 'em give you shit about your ponytail
Tailscale Funnel or CloudFlare Tunnel
I use Tailscale as an overlay VPN & Cloudflare Tunnels/Zero Trust. You will need a cheap domain name you can change the nameservers to Cloudflare assined nameservers if you go the Cloudflare Tunnels/Zero Trust route. Cloudflare will sell you a domain, but I think a lot of people just get the cheapest from NamesCheap or Pork Bun. With Cloudflare Tunnels/Zero Trust, you don’t have to worry about opening ports, fiddling with NAT, or anything else. You just install on the server, and it creates a secure tunnel. If you decide to go the Cloudflare Tunnels/Zero Trust route, I have some notes and instructions you may find helpful.
How practical is running Portainer on my Docker instance?
Very. It’s what I use. Rather simple interface, and it’s easy to get spooled up on how to drive that bus. There are other options available similar to or better than Portainer. I just learned how to do Portainer and stuck with it.
Other than Friendica, Mastodon, Matrix, PeerTube and PieFed, what’s worth running on a Docker instance with 8 VCPUs, 16GB of RAM and around 300GB of storage?
Just about anything but LLMs.
Is there a Matrix room for those wishing to discuss self-hosting, especially via Docker?
I have no experience with Matrix. A user here posted his Matrix Tracker: https://masl.dev/ Maybe that might prove helpful.
I use portainer extensively and am quite fond of it. I normally live on the CLI so picking a GUI tool over cli management is unusual for me but I’ve found portainer largely just makes typical management easier and doesn’t get in my way at all.
For your other questions I have no answers. I self host everything so to me “what is worth running” is not a question that makes sense. I run what I need and my needs therefore define what I run.
I stick to IRC over matrix.
+1 for Portainer. It’s just such a great tool to use.
Another +1 for Portainer.
