The Complete Home Server Beginner's Guide

This guide takes you from complete beginner to a working home server, one clear step at a time. No prior experience required.

Step 1: Decide what you want to run

Your goals determine everything else. Pick one or two to start:

• A file server / NAS for documents and backups.
• A media server (Plex or Jellyfin) for your movies and music.
• Network-wide ad blocking with Pi-hole.
• A private cloud (Nextcloud, Immich) to replace Google.

Step 2: Choose your hardware

For most beginners, a mini PC with an Intel N100/N150 and 8–16 GB RAM is the sweet spot: efficient, quiet and capable. A Raspberry Pi works for lighter tasks. See our best mini PCs guide.

Step 3: Pick an operating system

• CasaOS — friendliest, with a graphical app store. Great first choice.
• Ubuntu Server / Debian — flexible and universal; pair with Docker.
• TrueNAS — if storage and ZFS are your priority.
• Proxmox — if you want virtual machines and containers.

Compare options like TrueNAS vs OpenMediaVault and Proxmox vs VMware.

Step 4: Install Docker

Docker is how you'll run most apps. Follow our tutorial to install Docker on Ubuntu, then learn the essentials in Docker basics.

Step 5: Deploy your first app

Start with something rewarding and low-risk, like Pi-hole or a Jellyfin media server. Use Docker Compose so your setup is reproducible:

services:
  jellyfin:
    image: jellyfin/jellyfin
    ports:
      - "8096:8096"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
      - /mnt/media:/media
    restart: unless-stopped

Step 6: Access it safely

Reach your services from anywhere without opening ports by using a VPN like Tailscale or WireGuard. For clean URLs, add a reverse proxy later.

Step 7: Secure and back up

Before you rely on it, work through the security checklist and set up backups following the 3-2-1 rule. A NAS is not a backup — you need offsite copies too.

You're up and running

From here, grow at your own pace: add apps, learn networking, and explore the resource directory. Welcome to self-hosting.