Home Media Server Stack

This project is a practical, reproducible home media server stack built around Docker. It brings together media, automation, and bookmarking tools (Plex/Jellyfin, Sonarr/Radarr/Lidarr, Transmission, Prowlarr, Freshrss, Linkwarden, Calibre, Copyparty, and more) into a single, documented setup.

Why I Built It

I wanted a self-hosted media environment that was:

• Easy to reproduce on a new machine
• Easy to update without breaking everything
• Transparent enough that I fully understood what each container was doing

Instead of following a one-off YouTube tutorial and ending up with a fragile pile of containers, this repo is structured as a versioned, linted, and automated stack:

• Clear folder layout for appdata/ and data/ volumes
• Compose files that are portable and documented
• Configuration guidance for each major service in the README

It doubles as a living lab for Docker, reverse proxies, and DevOps practices.

DevOps & Automation Highlights

• Docker Compose–first design: All services are defined via docker-compose.yml variants, so the entire stack can be brought up or down with a single command.
• Portainer support: Compose files are written to be dropped into Portainer for click‑to‑deploy management, making updates and restarts trivial.
• Reverse proxy setup: Optional Traefik stack for unified, friendly URLs and TLS, adapted from community best practices and tuned for DuckDNS.
• Linter integration: A linter is used to keep the compose and configuration files clean and consistent, catching issues early.
• Renovate for dependencies: A renovate.json configuration automates dependency updates and pinning, keeping container images and versions fresh without manual tracking.

Together, these choices turn “some Docker commands in a shell history” into a maintainable, inspectable home infrastructure.

Practical Systems Configuration

The stack is designed for real-world home use:

• Opinionated folder structure for media and app data so backups and migrations are predictable
• Clear port mappings and hostnames for each service (e.g., bazarr, radarr, sonarr, transmission, calibre-web, freshrss, linkwarden)
• Step-by-step configuration tips per service, including:
  • Wiring Sonarr/Radarr/Lidarr through Prowlarr and Transmission
  • Setting up Calibre + Calibre-Web with Kobo sync for eReaders
  • Integrating Soulseek via Slskd + Soularr for music
  • Using Copyparty as a lightweight file drop server

The goal is not just to run containers, but to have a coherent home system where each service has a clear job.

What I Learned

• Designing multi-service Docker stacks that stay understandable over time
• Using tools like Portainer and Traefik to simplify day‑to‑day operations
• Applying linting and Renovate to infrastructure code, not just app code
• Documenting configuration in a way that future‑me (or someone else) can follow without digging through compose files

Links

• Source and docs: https://github.com/sogladev/home-media-server
• Full service list, folder structure, and setup instructions: see the README in the repository