Like soup-to-nuts. I know I need to document what I’m doing and I’ve started several times, but then I never go back and make updates. I don’t know if it’s just the ADHD or if I’m just going about it or thinking about it in the wrong way.
So I’m curious about:
- what you use for your documentation
- how you organize it
- what information you include
- how you work documentation into your changes/tinkering flow
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I run Adguard Home containers (the primary auto-syncs to the secondary) and use redirect filters to assign hostnames to each of my containers. I have a “services” folder of bookmarks for each container host so I don’t have to remember each service’s port number. I use KeePassXC to track all my passwords and certificates so authentication is a breeze (someday I’ll get around to setting up an SSO solution). I also keep a .txt file with my basic network info that doesn’t always translate well to dns hostname redirects in adguard. I occassionally remember to update my hosts listed in the file. My individual config files aren’t backed up beyond my automated container backups, but so far none of my services have been that complicated I couldn’t just rebuild from scratch.
It’s not perfect, but combined with my automated backups I have barely enough to rebuild if/when my hardware fails.
README.mdREADME_I_AAM_VERY_IMPORTANT.md
Bookstack in a docker container. You can export pages with revision numbers and dates. I print out the emergency stuff and keep it in a binder. https://www.bookstackapp.com/ I’ve been using it at work for like a decade now. No apps or anything though, just a decent web interface.
I used to try and do it all in obsidian but I’d forget a lot. Now I use nix and it’s all done for me basically
Yeah, I’m currently using Wiki.js. I will definitely check out how you’ve got things organized. It looks really good!
BTW, this gent’s wiki is worth a bookmark. Stumbled on it before I knew the originator.
Thanks you, it means a lot. Just to be clear for whomever didn’t go there: there is zero monetization, no ads, no profiling.
That’s the neat part, I don’t.
The theory is I use Docmost. The reality is I don’t, and I hope my backups are solid.
I have an obsidian document where I write changes I want to do in the future that I never look at; does that count?
I just found my todo list and half of it is irrelevant and half of it is done.
I even had a work todo list for my old job lol.
Ouh! I have a checklist of things I need to add/update too, that I never check. Maybe we could mutualize! ;)
“I don’t need to, I have it stored all in my head.”
Famous last words.
That’s the devil talking Bobby Boucher.
“I can remember that” is my cue to write it down, because I won’t.
Documentation is for onboarding other people. Why on earth would I need to onboard other people to something self-hosted?
Sometimes future me has the memory of a goldfish, and I fear that, for future me, the online sources that guided me before won’t be there for me anymore
It’s not like anyone needs to support it when I’m gone.
- I use Obsidian
- Usually, what I do is write the documentation as I am engaged with the project at hand. Then clean everything up, and transfer to Obsidian.
- I include everything. I don’t leave anything for my mind to wonder about. If I didn’t write it down, it didn’t happen.
- Date any addenda or changes (4-2-26: Firewall rules review)
The fun thing about infrastructure as code is that the terraform, ansible and k8s manifests are documentation.
I only really need to document some bootstrap things in case of emergency and maybe some “architectural” things. I use joplin for that (and many other things).
This is the way
Yep. It feels good knowing I can take a few hundred KB of text files and rebuild my whole system.
That’s the direction I’m moving my lab in. Plus a bit of supplemental markdown to keep track of which guides I’m referencing (and which parts can be ignored because I baked it into the terrafom). It’s really nice to know that as long as I tweak the terraform for changes, I don’t have to worry about forgetting what I changed.
Without really knowing much about it, I just always figured it was overkill for me. Plus I don’t know that I’d even consider myself much more of a beginner with Docker. But you all are making me consider looking into it.
I get that - it’s difficult to see the point in it until you’ve gone along without it. Especially as a beginner since you don’t have a strong sense of what problems you will encounter and how these tools solve those problems.
At some point the learning curve for IaaC becomes worth the investment. I actually pushed off learning k8s myself for some time because it was “too complicated” and docker-compose worked just fine for me. And now that I’ve spent time learning it I converted over very quickly and wouldn’t go back… It’s much easier to maintain, monitor and setup new services now.
Depending on your environment something like Ansible might be a good place to start. You can begin even with just a simple playbook that does an “apt update && apt upgrade” on all your systems. And then start using it to push out standard configurations, install software, create users, etc. The benefit pays off in time. For example - recently (yesterday) I was able to install Apache Alloy on a half-dozen systems trivially because I have a set of Ansible scripts that manage my systems. Literally took 10 mins. All servers have the app installed, running, and using the same configuration. And I can modify that configuration across all those systems just as easily. It’s very powerful and reduces “drift” where some systems are configured incorrectly and over time you forget “which one the correct one?” For me the “correct one” is the one in source control.
I’m just rewriting everything in Ansible and I think is worth the effort, it’s self-documented and as an added bonus I won’t have to keep backups of the whole VMs, just the ZFS pool with the data/databases.
I’m surprised no one else has answered mediawiki. Love my mediawiki instance.
- what you use for your documentation
Markdown files
- how you organize it
What ?
- what information you include
The commands that worked and the stuff that didn’t work and the links to the source of information
- how you work documentation into your changes
I write as I go. I keep it as part of a git repository when relevant
Had to scroll down this far just to get to markdown files. Although I write with a bit of a delay. Once I get something working. Then I document what worked and what didn’t. Alternative methods and issues I had with the alternatives.
I write everything in text editor first, apply later.
- emacs + org-roam
- by using descriptive names for articles and tags
- everything at the start, trim it down later
At work, since I’m the sole IT, I’ve been putting everything into MkDocs and it’s been working out great for the team. Only complaint is that I can’t seem to figure out how to update anything without just relaunching the Docker container every time. They mention that you can live reload, but not how.
ADHD: functional notes in abbreviated version on fat strips of painter’s tape on server case or shelf. Passwords go on page dedicated to that server or service in a little black notebook, then eventually in a password manager.
Readme file if my brain lets me, usually 3 months later after hyperfocus on troubleshooting.
Honestly, the tape idea is one of the most practical ones in the thread!
I just create a README.md file wherever I setup services with docker compose which keeps top level docs so I know how and why certain things work.
Other than that, if comments are supported inside configuration files, also document stuff in there too.
That’s been good enough for me.
