Currently my home server runs a few services that have a web UI. I currently access them by typing in the IP address and port number, but it’s now starting to get annoying to remember the ports.
What’s the best way to handle this?
I’ve thought of two solutions:
- I’m running a local DNS server, so I probably would be able to make CNAMEs from something like
adguard.server.localto the IP, and do a reverse proxy with something like Caddy - Maybe there’s some unified dashboard app that is a reverse proxy with some simple frontend where I can just navigate to
server.localand click a button to choose which specific service I want to see?
What are your opinions on this?
A reverse proxy will achieve what you’re looking for, yes. I do precisely what you’re describing. I use “local DNS” on my pihole, with CNAMEs for each service pointing to my server IP address. I’m running Caddy on the server, specifically this (because my services are running in Docker containers): https://github.com/lucaslorentz/caddy-docker-proxy
As far as a “dashboard” app, you have options there as well. I’m using Heimdall currently, but Homarr also looks pretty nice.
Is pihole alone enough to do the reverse proxy, or do you need caddy as well? I’m only somewhat familiar with how these things work
PiHole can’t specify specific ports for each cname, which is what you need a reverse proxy for.
Typically, you create all of your cnames in pihole and direct them to your reverse proxy server IP. From your reverse proxy of choice, you specify each url to the specific ip:port of your service.
How can I use my Pi-hole as DNS Server also over VPN? I run Wireguard on Unraid. And while the VPN works, I can’t seem to the DNS over VPN to go my way.
Lots of good suggestions, but no one has mentioned the simple option of browser bookmarks?
Any good browser has built in sync, so bookmarks are already shared across all of your devices.
Unfortunately I specifically opted out of any sync, because I want everything in my NixOS config also on mobile I use a different browser
I mean, if you’re problem is just remembering to type “10.0.0.100:8080” you could just have browser bookmarks. But that’s not very selfhosty. 😁
Personally, I’ve got a bit of #1 and #2 going on.
I’ve got Nginx Proxy Manager in docker that rev proxies pretty much everything and adds SSL on top. I am running an inside DNS zone, so I have a bunch of CNAMEs that all point to the host running NPM. Lastly, I’m using Dashy as the front end to it all.
Heimdall
I don’t know why people keep suggesting reverse proxy when this is what OP is looking for.
Short answer: something like nginx proxy manager with a single wildcard dns entry makes this super simple.
Wait, does it mean I can use something like *.example.com in my pihole for all services? Atm Im using jellyfin.example.com, nextcloud.example.com, etc.
Exactly.
As long as you don’t need something like mail.example.com to point somewhere else.
I have a subdomain for my home stuff (so jellyfin.h.example.com and h.example.com is the wildcard) so that any other subdomains are still usable for internet things.
Only thing is, Pihole doesn’t have it in the UI. It’s widely requested, so I’m sure it will come soon™
If you are happy SSHing in, tweaking some files, then it’s doable.
https://hetzbiz.cloud/2022/03/04/wildcard-dns-in-pihole/
Edit: I actually use my router as my DNS, with its DNS set to be the pihole. My router can do wildcard DNS overrides. However, I do lose insights from the pihole metrics: all requests are from 10.0.0.1
