Tutorials
Build it, then go deeper
The groundwork gets a bare machine to the point where both books pick up. The service tutorials follow each chapter of Be Your Own Cloud and go past it — with the book's own code, so nothing you copy here disagrees with the page.
They're listed in the order to do them. Not sure which you need? Find your path.
Phone
Settings and habits for the device that goes everywhere with you.
- beginner ⏱ 15 min The Privacy Diet · Ch. 8
Encrypted DNS on Your Phone, Everywhere You Go
Android's Private DNS and an iPhone DNS profile, set up in fifteen minutes: which resolver now that Mullvad's is closing, how to check it works, and how it fits with a Pi-hole at home.
- beginner ⏱ 60 min De-Google Your Life · Ch. 5
Two-Factor Codes You Won't Lose
Off text-message codes and onto an authenticator app, out of apps that won't export, and a backup you've actually restored — so losing your phone doesn't mean losing your accounts.
Internet
Your browser, and what it gives away.
Groundwork
The machine every self-hosting guide assumes you already have.
- beginner ⏱ 60 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 5 The Privacy Diet · Ch. 9
Installing Ubuntu Server for a Home Lab
From USB stick to a headless, static-IP, auto-patching box you can SSH into — the machine every self-hosting guide assumes you already have.
- beginner ⏱ 25 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 5 The Privacy Diet · Ch. 9
SSH: Key-Only Login and Sensible Hardening
Turn off password authentication, lock down root, and stop the log noise — the twenty minutes that closes the most-attacked door on any server.
- intermediate ⏱ 45 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 6 The Privacy Diet · Ch. 9
Docker and Compose, Properly Installed
The right repository, the docker group and what it actually grants, a Compose file you can read, and the update routine that keeps a homelab from rotting.
- intermediate ⏱ 45 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 8
Reverse Proxy and HTTPS, Set Up Once
Chapter 8's Nginx Proxy Manager from empty folder to a trusted padlock: the shared proxy network, a DNS-only API token, one wildcard certificate for every service, and a way to test it all before Pi-hole exists.
Self-Hosted Services
One per Be Your Own Cloud service chapter — past what the chapter has room for.
- intermediate ⏱ 60 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 10
Pi-hole + Unbound: Going Deeper
Deploying Chapter 10's DNS stack step by step, proving Unbound is really doing the resolving, one record for every subdomain, and the IPv6 leak that quietly bypasses it.
- beginner ⏱ 45 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 11
Vaultwarden: Going Deeper
Chapter 11's password vault deployed step by step: the exact proxy settings, a hashed admin token that doesn't sit in plain text, two-factor, and the extra backup that doesn't depend on your server at all.
- intermediate ⏱ 90 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 12
Nextcloud AIO: Going Deeper
Chapter 12's Nextcloud All-in-One from folder to first login: the setup wizard, the proxy host, turning on AIO's own backup, and syncing calendars and contacts to your phone.
- intermediate ⏱ 60 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 13
Immich: Going Deeper
Chapter 13's photo library deployed step by step: a database password Immich will accept, proxy settings that survive large video uploads, the phone app, and moving between Immich versions safely.
- intermediate ⏱ 45 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 13 De-Google Your Life · Ch. 12
Google Photos to Immich, Dates and Albums Intact
Move a whole Google Photos library into your own Immich server: a Photos-only Takeout, one merged folder, immich-go with a dry run first, and the checks to make before you delete anything from Google.
- beginner ⏱ 40 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 14
Jellyfin: Going Deeper
Chapter 14's media server from first start to first film: the library path that trips everyone up, adding TV alongside movies, turning on hardware transcoding, and accounts for the household.
- beginner ⏱ 25 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 15
SearXNG: Going Deeper
Chapter 15's private search engine: what SearXNG writes on first start, where the book's engines block goes, how to run only the engines you list, and making it your browser's default.
- advanced ⏱ 90 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 16
The Sanitiser, Presidio, Ollama and Open WebUI: Going Deeper
Chapter 16's two tiers of local AI, built step by step: the Sanitiser behind your proxy, wiring Presidio in so it catches names, and Ollama with Open WebUI on a GPU.
- beginner ⏱ 60 min Be Your Own Cloud · Ch. 17
Uptime Kuma, PrivateBin and a Dashboard: Going Deeper
Chapter 17's extras set up properly: monitors that catch certificate expiry and a dead Pi-hole, PrivateBin behind HTTPS so its encryption works, and Homepage or Homarr as a front page for everything.