About a year and a half ago I bought a wee Dell Optiplex PC off of Amazon, I purchased it refurbished and for a nice price. It came with Windows 11 which was promptly replaced with Debian 12, which was just out at the time. I added Xfce for my GUI as it is lightweight and I would only rarely be interfacing with the desktop environment. 99% of interaction is via ssh.
On this machine I run a variety of Docker containers to host different services, some I use daily such as my FreshRSS reader that keeps me up-to-date with latest tech headlines among other subjects from my favourite sources. This machine is running 24/7 connected to internet, so it has media containers that can upload/download to the net at any time without having to leave my powerful PC on overnight. This saves money and it means there are fewer things to explode through the night and wake me from my dreams.
The focus of this wee writeup is on Portainer which is what I use for Docker container management. Portainer CE (Community Edition) is free for personal use. This simplifies the management routine which I had hitherto before done on the command line. I used this initially to enhance my command line and linux commands knowledge, plus it is a nice environment to work in, satisfactorily geeky.
Now with Portainer everything is done via the Portainer GUI (which I access over IP on a browser on my main PC) and which is functional and not unattractive. It speeds up maintenace considerably. One feature I have utilised several times is the ability to edit/configure Docker compose files and redeploy the container seamlessly. This is a boon. Below I have a list of Portainers positives as outlined by generative AI. These apply to my use case and most other people’s I’m sure.
- Quickly deploy new containers or stacks by filling out forms instead of manually writing YAML.
- Monitor all running containers, including their CPU, RAM, and network usage, at a glance—critical for a modest machine like the Optiplex.
- View logs and console output without jumping between SSH sessions.
- Restart, stop, or update containers with just a couple of clicks.
- Set up networks, volumes, and persistent storage in an organized way.
- Use templates to rapidly redeploy frequently used applications.
Instead of remembering sometimes lengthy commands to perform tasks it is now a case of simply editing fields and clicking clicky buttons. I feel sad though at the commands that will have lapsed from my memory.
The following is also generated by AI for a polished conclusion. Generative AI is going to change people’s writing styles and abilities in the future, it’ll make us all sound like corporate hacks. This may be a good or a bad thing depending on viewpoint.
“Overall, having Portainer on top of Debian has turned my Optiplex into a polished, approachable self-hosting platform. It’s an excellent example of how good tooling can make Docker accessible and efficient, even if you’re running everything on repurposed hardware at home.”
Portainer Website: https://www.portainer.io/
Portainer CE: https://docs.portainer.io/start/install-ce