If you are performing a demo for your HomeServer on a cloud-based VPS, then you can skip this step. The following instructions are for purchasing and setting up your equipment at home.
¶ Purchasing HomeServer Equipment
When purchasing your equipment, the main factor to consider is how many active users you will have. For a typical home of around 4-6 users, here are some tips for an affordable setup:
- If shopping online, use
Desktop 32GB RAM 1TB SSDas search phrase. Check the specifications of the unit to ensure they match, i.e. 32 GB RAM and 1TB SSD. - Ensure it has SSD disk(s), rather than HDD. HDD is much cheaper, but also significantly slower.
- You will likely have to purchase another
1TB 2.5 inch SSDor1TB M.2 SSD(if available on your server's motherboard) separately for backup. The 2.5 inch does not typically come with the necessarySATA cable, so make sure you pick up a few spare. - An
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)is a MUST-have. A sudden power outage is extremely harmful to both the hardware and the software of a server. If the power goes out during the middle of a database write, it could render that entire service unusable. There are backup/recovery mechanisms to address this, but having this piece of equipment will avoid the headache of manual intervention. The majority of power outages are short-lived, ~ a few seconds. A UPS will automatically switch to battery and keep your server running on those occurrences. The battery will only keep the server running for a short period (could be only 5 minutes depending on total load, battery size, etc), so it is advisable in the event of a longer power outage to shut your server down gracefully if possible. - A 3rd-party
wireless router, preferably withOpenWRT, is also recommended, for mainly two reasons. The first is security. If you directly use the modem/router provided by your internet service provider (ISP), then your provider has internal access to your private home network. A separate router daisy-chained in between will act as a natural firewall between the outside world (including your ISP) and your private home network. The second reason is configuration. Your HomeServer must have a fixed static private IP address. During the HomeServer installation, whatever private IP address is assigned to your server will be set as a static IP within the Linux host. So you need to ensure that the subnet on the router side is always the same, this should (ideally) be in the 192.168.0.0/16 range. Having your own 3rd party router will ensure this always stays the same. If your provider changes out their equipment, or you move or change providers, no changes are needed, just plug in your configured 3rd-party router.
The Linux OS installation must be performed directly on the server machine with a keyboard, monitor, and network connection. If you do not have a monitor, you could temporarily use a TV via HDMI if your server machine has an HDMI port. After installing Linux OS, the machine can be accessed remotely over the private network, so the monitor (and keyboard) are no longer required after installing Linux. It is best to use a wired connection between your server machine and your router.
Here is a table that shows the expected costs for all necessary equipment, given current average market prices:
| Component | Suggested Brand/Model | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| HomeServer | Refurbished desktop (Dell,HP,Lenovo), 32GB RAM 1TB SSD | $200 |
| Backup SSD | New 1 TB (2.5 Inch or M.2) (Samsung,Crucial,Western Digital,Intel,Kingston,Sandisk,PNY) | $60 |
| Spare SATA cable(s) | Any | $5 |
| Spare Ethernet cable(s) | Any | $5 |
| Uninterruptible Power Supply | APC (BE425M is an inexpensive base model) | $65 |
| Wireless Router | Linksys,NetGear,GL.iNet | $50 |
| 8GB Flash Drive | Any | $5 |
| USB Keyboard | Any | $10 |
| Total Cost | ~$400 |
¶ Create Bootable USB Drive
- Go to https://ubuntu.com/download/server and download Ubuntu Server 22.04. The size of the iso file is around 2GB, so it might take a bit to download (depending on your download speed).
- As per instructions from https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/install-ubuntu-desktop, download balenaEtcher from https://etcher.balena.io/#download-etcher.
- Open balenaEtcher, press Flash from file, go to your downloads folder and select the ubuntu-22.04-server iso file that you just downloaded.
- Next, press Select target, then select your empty USB drive.
Be careful on this step. Ensure you select the correct target drive/device, as it will erase all contents of the selected drive.
- Click Flash!
- After the process has completed, disconnect the USB drive. Disregard any warnings that state that the drive needs to be formatted.
¶ Install Linux Ubuntu
Installing the Linux operating system onto your computer will entirely erase the contents of the drive that you are installing it on. You should use dedicated hardware for this purpose (or a VM).
- From a powered off state, insert the USB bootable drive into your HomeServer machine, then power it on. You should see a screen that says "*Try or Install Ubuntu". If not, then you will need to modify the BIOS settings to ensure that it allows for booting from USB drive and that the USB drive is first in the boot order. This is difficult to explain as there is a wide range of BIOS interfaces, with the settings in different places. Getting this to work correctly can be a headache, so don't lose patience if you cannot figure it out right away. If you have any problems, just ask on the Forum
- First, determine the method to access the BIOS, typically one of the function keys along the top of the keyboard, i.e. F1, F2, F4, F10, etc. The key(s) must be pressed as soon as the system is powered on. Slowly tap the appropriate key until the BIOS utility comes up. You might have to do an internet search on your model/brand to see how to access the BIOS. Here is a list for common manufacturers:
Brand BIOS Key(s) Acer F2 or DEL ASRock F2 or DEL ASUS F2 for all PCs, F2 or DEL for Motherboards Award Software (Phoenix Technologies) DEL Dell F2 or F12 ECS DEL Gigabyte/Aorus F2 or DEL HP F10 Lenovo (Desktops) F1 MSI DEL Origin PC F2 Samsung F2 Toshiba F2 Zotac DEL - Then, search through the settings and look for boot options and/or boot order. Select the USB drive and ensure it is first in boot order.
- You may also have to disable things like SecureBoot if enabled.
- Ensure to save settings and reboot once the settings have been changed appropriately.
- First, determine the method to access the BIOS, typically one of the function keys along the top of the keyboard, i.e. F1, F2, F4, F10, etc. The key(s) must be pressed as soon as the system is powered on. Slowly tap the appropriate key until the BIOS utility comes up. You might have to do an internet search on your model/brand to see how to access the BIOS. Here is a list for common manufacturers:
- After the installation utility loads, select your language.
Within the installation utility, the keyboard is the only type of input (i.e. no mouse). Use Up and Down arrows and/or Tab to navigate. Use the spacebar to select/deselect option boxes.
- If prompted, select Update to the new installer.
- Select your keyboard layout.
- Select Ubuntu Server (default).
- Take note of the IP address assigned by the router. You will need this later to log in remotely.
- Leave Proxy address blank.
- Leave Mirror address to default and press Done when it says "This mirror location passed tests."
- For the storage layout, select "Custom storage layout".
- If there are any pre-exising partitions on your hard disk, then you will need to completely remove the partitions and reformat the drive (which can be done within this utility).
a. Select free space under AVAILABLE DEVICES -> Add GPT Partition. Set the size of the new partition to 1G, leave Format to ext4, and the Mount point to /boot, then Create.
b. Select free space again -> Add GPT Partition. Set the size to 16G, set the Format to swap, then Create.
c. Select free space again -> Add GPT Partition. Leave the size blank (to use all remaining space), then set Format to Leave unformatted, then Create.
d. Select Create volume group (LVM). Leave the name to default. Under Devices, select the newly created partition, then Create.
e. Select free space under the newly created volume group then -> Create Logical Volume. Leave all the options to default, and select Create.
f. Select Done at the bottom, then select Continue on the next prompt.
- Fill out the fields on the next screen, i.e. Your name, your server's name, your username and password. Take note of the username and password, you will need these credentials later to log in remotely.
- Leave the default Skip for now when prompted about upgrading to Ubuntu Pro.
- On next screen, when prompted to install OpenSSH server, select the box to install it.
- Finally, when prompted to install any other packages, leave them blank and go to done. This will initiate the installation process.
- The installation will take at least 5-10 minutes. It will also likely install security updates at the end. Wait until it says Reboot Now at the bottom. After that, the installation is complete. Let the system reboot and log in.