Complete Homelab Setup: From Zero to Self-Hosted in One Weekend

The Weekend Homelab Challenge

You don't need months to build a homelab. In one focused weekend, you can set up a complete self-hosted infrastructure with cloud storage, media server, password manager, and more.

Saturday Morning: Hardware Setup

• Unbox and connect your mini PC or server
• Download Ubuntu Server ISO
• Create bootable USB with Balena Etcher
• Install Ubuntu Server (takes ~20 minutes)
• Run updates: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Saturday Afternoon: Docker Foundation

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Logout and back in, then:
mkdir -p ~/homelab && cd ~/homelab

# Create base compose file
cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
version: "3.8"
services:
  portainer:
    image: portainer/portainer-ce:latest
    ports:
      - "9443:9443"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - portainer_data:/data
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  portainer_data:
EOF

docker compose up -d

Sunday: Deploy Services

Add these services to your compose file:

• Nextcloud - cloud storage
• Vaultwarden - password manager
• Jellyfin - media server
• Pi-hole - ad blocking
• Uptime Kuma - monitoring

Sunday Evening: Security

• Set up SSH keys and disable password auth
• Configure UFW firewall
• Install Fail2ban
• Set up WireGuard for remote access

Congratulations! You now have a fully functional homelab.