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Setting-up-a-Home-Server

Setting up a home server using an old laptop

Hardware

• Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-5005U CPU @ 2.00GHz
  • configuration: cores=2 enabledcores=2 microcode=47 threads=4
• 4 Gib DDR3L @ 1600 MHz (0.6 ns)
• 465 GiB (500GiB)

(Hardware Details)

The OS

Using Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS as OS for the server.
Ubuntu Server is very stable, widely documented, has 5 years of support, and is extremely lightweight when no desktop is installed.

Architecture Overview

Internet
   ↓ (Blocked by firewall)
Tailscale VPN
   ↓
[ Ubuntu Server ]
   ├── SSH (2222, LAN + Tailscale)
   ├── Samba (445, LAN + Tailscale)
   ├── File Browser (8080, LAN + Tailscale)
   ├── Cockpit (9090, LAN + Tailscale)
   ├── Nginx (80/443 optional)
   └── PostgreSQL (local only)

Automated Installation

⚠ Run on a fresh Ubuntu Server 24.04 system.

Clone Repository

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git -y
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/YOUR_REPO.git
cd YOUR_REPO/Scripts
chmod +x *.sh

Run Installer

sudo ./install.sh

After Installation

sudo reboot

Manual Installation Order

Follow modules in this exact order:

1. 1_OS_installation.md
2. 2_Base_system.md
3. 3_Access_ssh.md
4. 4_System_behavior.md
5. 5_Networking_remote.md
6. 6_Core_services.md
7. 7_Optional_desktop.md
8. 8_Backups.md

Purpose

• host web servers,
• host files sharing (samba),
• host web files sharing (File Browser),
• able to ssh from other PCs (local and non-local),
• able to monitor resources (like using ubuntu web monitoring),
• able to access files from other PCs from the file explorer,
• able to remote desktop connect from other PCs - xrdp + xfce,
• have a development server
• VPN + Remote access that is secure,
• a lightweight, performance monitoring tools having the laptop lid close without turning off
• auto login after power cut, no need to insert password, just press the power button and it auto launch the server
• have ports assign to different things
• have virtual Ram support to ease ram usage, even if its slow for some activity

Goals:

• Headless by default (CLI only)
• File sharing (Samba + File Browser)
• Web server & development (Nginx, Python, Node.js, Go, PostgreSQL)
• Secure remote access (Tailscale)
• Remote desktop access (XRDP + XFCE)
• Monitoring via Cockpit (web) and btop (terminal)
• Laptop lid can be closed without suspending
• Auto-login after power-on / power loss
• Ports assigned per service
• Optimized memory usage using swapfile + zram (4 GB RAM system)

---

Feature	Software / Tool	Notes / Purpose
OS	Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS	Headless, stable, 5+ years support
Web server	nginx	Reverse proxy, hosting small apps
LAN File Sharing	Samba	Windows / Linux network shares
Web File Access	File Browser	Browser-based file manager (best via Tailscale)
SSH	OpenSSH	Secure command-line access
Remote Desktop (optional)	XRDP + XFCE	Desktop starts only when someone connects via RDP
Monitoring	Cockpit + btop	Web dashboard + terminal resource monitor
Secure Remote Access (VPN)	Tailscale	Secure, zero-config, works behind NAT
Development	Python, Node.js, Go, PostgreSQL	Local development and learning environment
Memory Optimization	Swapfile + zram	Disk swap + compressed RAM for low-memory systems
Power Optimization	Lid ignore	Laptop-friendly 24/7 operation
Utilities	curl, wget, git, zip/unzip	Common system tools

---

Hardware Detail

*-cpu
     description: CPU
     product: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-5005U CPU @ 2.00GHz
     vendor: Intel Corp.
     physical id: 2c
     bus info: cpu@0
     version: 6.61.4
     serial: NULL
     slot: SOCKET 0
     size: 1577MHz
     capacity: 2GHz
     width: 64 bits
     clock: 100MHz
     configuration: cores=2 enabledcores=2 microcode=47 threads=4
     
*-memory
     description: System Memory
     physical id: 2e
     slot: System board or motherboard
     description: SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1600 MHz (0.6 ns)
     size: 4GiB
     width: 64 bits
     clock: 1600MHz (0.6ns)
*-disk
     description: ATA Disk
     product: TOSHIBA MQ01ABF0
     vendor: Toshiba
     physical id: 0
     bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
     logical name: /dev/sda
     version: 1D
     serial: 15ULC3PXT
     size: 465GiB (500GB)
     capabilities: gpt-1.00 partitioned partitioned:gpt