Homebox is an open-source toolkit for creating a self-hosting environment that includes popular tools like email, file storage, and media streaming. The following tutorial will guide you through the process of installing Homebox on Arch Linux.
Before you begin, make sure to meet these prerequisites:
mydomain.com.Homebox is built on top of Docker and Docker Compose, so the first step is to install them on your machine. You can do this by running the following commands in your terminal:
$ sudo pacman -Syu docker docker-compose
After the installation is complete, start the Docker service by running:
$ sudo systemctl start docker.service
You can check that Docker is running by running:
$ sudo docker run hello-world
The next step is to clone the Homebox repository from GitHub. We'll use the git command to do this:
$ git clone https://github.com/progmaticltd/homebox.git /home/homebox
This will clone the repository to the homebox directory under the /home folder. You can choose another directory if you wish.
Before we can start using Homebox, we need to configure it. We'll begin by creating a .env file in the /home/homebox directory using the following command:
$ cd /home/homebox && cp .env.sample .env
Then, we need to edit the .env file and modify the variables to match your setup. Open the file with a text editor like Vim:
$ sudo vim /home/homebox/.env
Here are the variables you need to modify:
HOMEBOX_FQDN: Replace the example.com placeholder with your actual domain name. In our example, we'll use mydomain.com.
HOMEBOX_CERT_EMAIL: Add your email address for Let's Encrypt to send you notifications in case of issues.
HOMEBOX_MYSQL_PASSWORD: Set a strong password for the MySQL database.
HOMEBOX_MAIL_POSTMASTER_ADDRESS: Set the postmaster address for your email.
HOMEBOX_MAIL_DOMAIN: Set the domain for your email.
HOMEBOX_MAILBOX_PASSWORD: Set a strong password for your email users.
Save and exit the file.
To start Homebox, we need to run the following command:
$ cd /home/homebox && docker-compose up -d
This command will start all the Homebox services in the background. It may take a few minutes for the services to start.
After a few minutes, the Homebox services should be up and running. You can verify this by visiting your domain in your web browser. You should see a page displaying the Homebox logo with a message saying "It works!".
Congratulations, you've successfully installed Homebox on Arch Linux!
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!
