What do you use for your server administration?

2026-03-28 19:07 UTC

I was using webmin, but since my last server died and I’m making a new one, I decided I’d look into something different, personally I liked webmin but didn’t use most of its functionality and felt a little clunky for my basic use. I’ve also testran casaos but felt weirdly limited and couldn’t smoothly migrate docker containers to interact with its interface. I can do with just the terminal, but it’s nice having a gui that I can glance at my phone and quickly do stuff like update and reboot. I personally haven’t seen or found much conversation into the topic so I figured I’d ask and see what you peeps use and why.

Replies (31)

@sk@utsukta.org 2026-03-28 19:10

@@Fierro@piefed.social the terminal? i try to keep overhead to a minimum, its simpler to just learn the commands and use the terminal, can use it from my phone remotely, ssh is pretty secure and using other tools that act as middle-ware just adds to the attack surface.

Open ##2366636
@Impromptu2599@lemmy.world 2026-03-28 19:16

Ansible or ssh

Open ##2366637
@Sunspear@piefed.social 2026-03-28 19:26

My setup is a barebones Alpine Linux with ssh and docker, and everything I run on it is a container (except backups). Those I manage remotely (remote Docker context), so the only time I have to log in is to do an update for the few system packages and that’s it. And for that ssh is more than enough

Open ##2366638
@otacon239@lemmy.world 2026-03-28 19:32

I’m running OMV with the Docker Compose plugin and I just SSH in for everything else. I run this stack both at home and work. It’s a good middle ground for me of stability and customizability.

Open ##2366639
@neidu3@sh.itjust.works 2026-03-28 19:39

ssh

Open ##2366641
@synae@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-03-28 20:01

I guess, K3s & argocd? Not sure exactly what you’re asking

Open ##2366642
@tofu@lemmy.nocturnal.garden 2026-03-28 20:16

Proxmox GUI for restarting hosts or vms Komodo for restarting containers Forgejo for configuring and updating containers (deployed by komodo) Ansible for OS updates Prometheus + Grafana for monitoring Those for basic stuff, ssh for everything else.

Open ##2366644
@slazer2au@lemmy.world 2026-03-28 20:58

ssh and portainer.

Open ##2366645
@poVoq@slrpnk.net 2026-03-28 21:05

Cockpit is nice for that. The Podman integration of it is also useful.

Open ##2366646
@Fijxu@programming.dev 2026-03-28 21:38

NixOS and SSH I guess?

Open ##2366649
@exu@feditown.com 2026-03-28 22:19

SSH and Ansible using SSH

Open ##2366650
@lietuva@lemmy.world 2026-03-28 23:12

Ssh, dockhand, beszel. They have nice GUI and setting up notification providers is easy. I am using ntfy, so if my CPU is peaking at 90% for a while, or I if any of the containers become unhealthy I get notification to my phone.

Open ##2366651
@Tolstoy@lemmy.world 2026-03-28 23:16

For system and docker stats I can only recommend beszel. Portainer for docker management and anything else ssh.

Open ##2366652
@GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2026-03-29 01:26

ssh 🤔 yeah, that and I guess docker?

Open ##2366654
@osanna@lemmy.vg 2026-03-29 01:41

I use tugtainer for managing updates to containers (not automatic). and aside from that, I just apt upgrade every so often.

Open ##2366655
@Egonallanon@feddit.uk 2026-03-29 01:58

Opentofu for all the looking after the config on my proxmox boxes and networking gear. Ansible for everything else. I don’t currently have any monitoring set up but it’s in the to do list when I feel like it.

Open ##2366656
@eodur@piefed.social 2026-03-29 02:18

So many things. Mostly Kubernetes and FluxCD, but also doco-cd for managing a few deployments on my NAS with GitOps.

Open ##2366657
@irmadlad@lemmy.world 2026-03-29 02:27

Portainer for Docker containers ssh for most real administration tasks Olive Tin for repetitive tasks like sudo apt update Netdata for server metrics and ntopng for metrics on standalone pFsense box

Open ##2366658
@ShortN0te@lemmy.ml 2026-03-29 06:43

The cli. I have used management interfaces like coxkpit in the last but i do not really like it that much. I have E-Mail Notifications setup for updates via aptitude and monitor using prometheus and grafana and get additional notifications via prometheus alarm manager. For an easy to use docker interface i use dockge, since i found it in this use case to be faster with a good, working, independend Interface. But for the Linux underneath, for all 10-20 servers i managae, CLI.

Open ##2366662
@osanna@lemmy.vg 2026-03-29 06:51

nothing wrong with yunohost. We all started out as noobs at one point in time. My advice though: Don’t think that’s the end point. Branch out when you have motivation/time/etc, and see what happens. The best way to learn is to break shit, then have to fix it. at least IMHO

Open ##2366663
@bruhduh@lemmy.world 2026-03-29 07:24

Virtualmin and cockpit

Open ##2366666
@Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 2026-03-29 07:48

Does proxmox count? Then I run lots of docker containers in lxcs

Open ##2366667
@BruisedMoose@piefed.social 2026-03-29 11:33

I had started out with CasaOS and ran it for a year or so. Last week, I took some time to move everything out of Casa’s file structure and cleaned up the compose files. For container management, I’m using Dockhand. It’s been great. Otherwise, like most others have said, SSH when I need to do more.

Open ##2366669
@atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 2026-03-29 12:56

Terraform, ansible and kubernetes (microk8s). K8s in particular has been a huge change to simplifying my network despite the complexities involved and the initial learning curve. Deploying and updating services is much easier now.

Open ##2366670
@Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz 2026-03-29 13:00

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread: Fewer Letters More Letters Git Popular version control system, primarily for code LXC Linux Containers NAS Network-Attached Storage SSH Secure Shell for remote terminal access k8s Kubernetes container management package 5 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 9 acronyms. [Thread #198 for this comm, first seen 29th Mar 2026, 13:00] [[FAQ](http://decronym.xyz/)] [[Full list](http://decronym.xyz/acronyms/selfhosted@lemmy_world)] [[Contact](https://hachyderm.io/@Two9A)] [Source code]

Open ##2366671
@antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-03-29 17:19

Proxmox gui and ssh for my LXCs

Open ##2366674
@Scrath@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-03-29 17:29

Proxmox to manage my VMs, SSH for anything on the command line and portainer for managing my docker containers. One day I will switch probably switch to dockge so my docker-compose files are stored plain on the hard drive but for now portainer works flawlessly.

Open ##2366676
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2026-03-29 17:53

Bash? (and Ansible)

Open ##2366678
@Strit@lemmy.linuxuserspace.show 2026-03-30 06:00

ssh, git and docker compose files.

Open ##2366682
@shellington@piefed.zip 2026-03-30 21:37

Unpopular answer, but Unraid; as i have mixed sized drives.

Open ##2366684
@osanna@lemmy.vg 2026-03-29 09:04

one thing i really really hate is videos/screenshots of instructions. I just want to read text damn it! i can only imagine how much more frustrating it is being visually impaired.

Open ##2715294