I got Jellyfin up and running, it’s 10/10. I love this thing, and it reinvigorated my love for watching movies. So I decided to tackle all the other services I wanted, starting with Paperless-ngx…
What a nightmare. It doesn’t have a Windows install so I made an Ubuntu VM. Don’t get me started on Ubuntu. I just spent about 12hrs trying to get Portainer to cooperate and had to give up. I tried just installing Paperless the “normal way” and had to give up on that too.
My point: if you’re getting started selfhosting you have to embrace and accept the self-inflicted punishment. Good luck everybody, I don’t know if I can keep choosing to get disappointed.
Edit: good news! Almost everything I wanted to do is covered by Jellyfin which can be done in Windows.
Edit2: It’s been a year, and a lot has changed. I’m currently running a NAS + Ubuntu server. I’m running over a dozen docker containers among other miscellaneous services, and these services are being used by close friends as well. I owe several people apologies for being so quick to dismiss the entire Linux community. I found a few mentors, and now I’m good. To anyone looking for help to get started, you’re going to have a much better time in the long run if you join some help groups on Discord (I hate it, but it works).
Maybe it’s hard at the beginning but as you keep doing it becomes easier. If you feel overwhelmed take a break for a few days and try again later. I think we all have been there and hit a wall. Self host, open source and Linux communities are friendly you can ask for help and find someone willing to help you, so don’t be afraid to ask for help (as I was before). Just take small steps.
Don’t give up. Have fun.