Homelab & Self-Hosting Tutorials — TechFuel HQ

Tutorials

Step-by-step setup guides — Proxmox on a mini PC, self-hosted LLMs on a budget GPU, photo libraries that aren’t Google Photos. Each tutorial is end-to-end: hardware picks, install commands, configuration choices, and the gotchas I hit so you don’t have to.

These guides are kept honest by my own willingness to re-run them. When a step breaks against a new release, the article is revised in place and the update log records the date.

Proxmox

LXC vs VM in Proxmox: When to Use Each

A clear breakdown of LXC containers vs full VMs in Proxmox VE: real performance numbers, resource overhead, and a decision tree for every new workload.

Proxmox Cluster Setup: 2-Node and 3-Node HA (2026)

Build a Proxmox cluster from scratch: 2-node vs 3-node, corosync quorum, NFS or Ceph storage, live migration, HA groups, and fencing, with config.

ZFS on Proxmox: Pool Setup, ARC Tuning, and Scrubs (2026)

Practical ZFS guide for Proxmox VE 8: create RAIDZ1/mirror pools from the CLI, tune ARC for a shared host, set compression, and schedule scrubs and snapshots.

Proxmox Backup Server: 3-2-1 Backup Setup Guide (2026)

Set up Proxmox Backup Server for 3-2-1 backups: install PBS, configure datastores, schedule VM and LXC jobs, verify restores, and add off-site replication.

GPU Passthrough to a Proxmox VM (2026 Setup Guide)

Pass an NVIDIA RTX or AMD GPU to a Proxmox VM with VFIO: IOMMU groups, driver blacklisting, VM config, and how to test the GPU runs in the guest.

Home Assistant on Proxmox: Install HAOS as a VM (2026)

Install Home Assistant OS on Proxmox VE as a VM the proper way: automatic updates, add-ons, Supervisor, snapshots, plus USB passthrough for Zigbee/Z-Wave.

Home Assistant Zigbee and Z-Wave Integration (2026)

Home Assistant Zigbee2MQTT and Z-Wave JS UI setup: USB coordinator choice, Proxmox VM passthrough, device pairing, and fully local automations, no cloud.

Home Assistant Automations: A Practical Guide (2026)

Write real Home Assistant automations in YAML. Triggers, conditions, and actions with working examples for lighting, presence, notifications, and schedules.

Self-Hosting

Nginx Proxy Manager for the Homelab (2026 Setup Guide)

Set up Nginx Proxy Manager as your homelab reverse proxy: route subdomains to services behind one IP, issue Let's Encrypt SSL, and add access lists.

Self-Hosted Password Manager: Vaultwarden on Proxmox (2026)

Install Vaultwarden on a Proxmox LXC, set up an nginx reverse proxy with HTTPS, configure automatic backups, and connect all your devices in under an hour.

Docker Compose Starter Stack for the Homelab (2026)

The Docker Compose stack I run: Nginx Proxy Manager, Portainer, Uptime Kuma, Watchtower, and Gitea, with working compose files and a shared proxy network.

Homelab Monitoring with Grafana and Prometheus (2026)

Set up a full homelab monitoring stack in under an hour: Prometheus scrapes metrics, Grafana charts them, Alertmanager pages you. Docker Compose included.

n8n Self-Hosted on Docker (2026 Setup Guide)

Set up n8n on Docker with persistent storage, HTTPS via Nginx Proxy Manager, queue mode for reliable runs, and automatic backups. Replace Zapier yourself.

Nextcloud AIO Setup on Docker (2026 Guide)

Deploy Nextcloud All-in-One in Docker: Postgres, Redis, Nextcloud Office, Talk, and auto backup. Replace Dropbox, Google Drive, and Docs with a stack you own.

Paperless-ngx Docker Setup with OCR and Auto-Tagging (2026)

Full Paperless-ngx Docker Compose setup with PostgreSQL, Redis, Tika, and Gotenberg. OCR every document, auto-tag by rule, and search your whole paper history.

BookStack Self-Hosted on Docker: Wiki Setup (2026)

Complete BookStack Docker setup: install with MySQL, configure Nginx Proxy Manager HTTPS, build your first wiki, and migrate from Notion or Confluence free.

AudioBookshelf Docker Setup: Self-Hosted Audiobooks (2026)

Complete AudioBookshelf Docker setup: install, organize your library, set up mobile apps for progress sync, and add podcasts. Replace Audible in under 30 min.

Authentik Self-Hosted SSO for the Homelab (2026)

Authentik Docker setup guide: deploy your own SSO identity provider with LDAP, SAML, OAuth2, and OIDC. Unified login for Nextcloud, Portainer, and more.

Networking & Remote Access

Tailscale Remote Access for the Homelab (2026 Setup Guide)

Set up Tailscale on your homelab fast: install on Proxmox, configure subnet routing, enable MagicDNS, and reach every LAN device without port forwarding.

AdGuard Home + Local DNS on Proxmox (2026 Setup Guide)

Set up AdGuard Home as your homelab DNS server on Proxmox: ad-blocking, local *.lan resolution, DHCP, and an optional Unbound recursive resolver.

WireGuard Self-Hosted VPN on Proxmox (2026 Setup Guide)

Run your own WireGuard VPN in a Proxmox LXC: server setup, phone and laptop client configs, split vs full tunnel, and an honest comparison to Tailscale.

OPNsense on a Mini PC: Firewall Router Setup Guide (2026)

Replace your ISP router with OPNsense on a cheap mini PC: install, set up WAN/LAN, DHCP and DNS, enable IDS/IPS with Suricata, and connect your homelab.

VLANs for the Homelab: Network Segmentation Guide (2026)

How to set up VLANs in your homelab: isolate IoT, separate a guest network, add a management VLAN. Covers OPNsense, MikroTik bridge VLAN filtering, and Proxmox VLAN-aware bridges.

Self-Hosting (Media & AI)

Jellyfin Setup on Docker (2026 Complete Guide)

Install Jellyfin in Docker with hardware transcoding (Quick Sync, NVIDIA CUDA, AMD VAAPI), Nginx Proxy Manager HTTPS, and Tailscale remote access.

Self-Hosted Photo Library 2026: Immich vs PhotoPrism vs Ente

Picking one self-hosted photo library to replace Google Photos in 2026. Real version numbers, hardware footprints, license costs, and a verdict per use case.

Immich Setup and Google Photos Migration Guide (2026)

Install Immich on a Proxmox LXC or VM, migrate from Google Photos via Takeout, enable CUDA/QSV hardware ML, set a backup strategy, and configure the mobile app.

How to Self-Host a Local LLM on a Single RTX 5060 in 2026

Run a private LLM on a $300 RTX 5060. VRAM tradeoffs, software stack picks, Windows + Linux setup, real tokens/sec numbers, and an honest verdict.

Backup & Storage

Sanoid + Syncoid: Automated ZFS Snapshots & Replication (2026)

Set up Sanoid for policy-driven ZFS snapshot automation and Syncoid for encrypted replication. Covers retention policies, naming, and snapshot health.

Automated Off-Site Backups with restic (2026)

Set up restic to back up your homelab to Backblaze B2 automatically: initialize a repo, schedule backups, set retention, verify restores, and alert on failures.

More from this section

Proxmox VE 8 to 9 Upgrade: The Gotchas to Know First (2026)

The Proxmox VE 8→9 in-place upgrade is supported but has real gotchas — LVM autoactivation, NIC renames, the new kernel, cluster order. A pre-flight checklist, current for 9.2.

Move a Proxmox VM to a New Host Without a Cluster (2026)

Three ways to move a Proxmox VM or LXC to a new host with no cluster: qm remote-migrate, vzdump + restore, and PBS — exact commands and the pitfalls.