Setting Up Your Docker Home Lab: PART II - Installation and First Steps

Summary

In this blog post, we explore the setup of a modern Docker home lab, perfect for IT students and tech enthusiasts. We'll guide you through creating a workspace featuring Docker containers and essential tools like Portainer and Homepage. This setup ensures a productive and organized environment for managing your Docker projects. Whether you're new to Docker or looking to optimize your current setup, this guide will provide valuable insights and practical tips to enhance your home lab.

Ready to turn that old laptop or your Windows 11 machine into a powerful development server?

In our first post, we covered why Docker home labs are perfect for IT students and what you can accomplish with modest hardware. Now it's time to get our hands dirty with the actual installation and setup.

By the end of this guide, you'll have Docker running smoothly, Portainer managing your containers through a beautiful web interface, and Homepage providing a dashboard to access all your services. We'll cover both paths – dedicated Linux servers and Windows 11 with WSL2 – so you can follow along regardless of your chosen setup.

Path 1: Setting Up Docker on Linux

Choosing Your Linux Distribution

If you're going the dedicated server route, Ubuntu Server is hard to beat for beginners. It has excellent documentation, a huge community, and long-term support versions that stay stable for years. Here's why I recommend it:

• Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS: Rock-solid stability, supported until 2032
• Minimal installation: No GUI overhead, perfect for servers
• Extensive package repository: Almost everything you need is available
• Great Docker support: Official Docker packages and documentation

Installing Ubuntu Server

The installation is straightforward, but here are some tips that aren't always obvious:

During Installation:

• Enable OpenSSH server (you'll want to manage this remotely)
• Don't install Docker during OS setup – we'll do it properly afterward
• Set a static IP address if possible (makes accessing services much easier)
• Create a user account with a strong password

Post-Installation Essentials:

# Update everything first
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install essential tools
sudo apt install curl wget git htop nano ufw

# Set up basic firewall
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw allow ssh

Installing Docker on Ubuntu

Here's the official Docker installation method that actually works reliably:

# Remove any old Docker installations
sudo apt remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc

# Install prerequisites
sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

# Add Docker's official GPG key
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg

# Add Docker repository
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Install Docker
sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

# Add your user to the docker group (avoid sudo for docker commands)
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Log out and back in for group changes to take effect

Test your installation:

docker --version docker compose version docker run hello-world

If that last command pulls and runs a container successfully, you're ready to go!

Path 2: Setting Up Docker on Windows 11 with WSL2

Enabling WSL2

Windows Subsystem for Linux version 2 is a game-changer for developers. It gives you a real Linux kernel running inside Windows with near-native performance.

Step 1: Enable Windows Features
Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

# Enable WSL and Virtual Machine Platform
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart
# Restart your computer

Step 2: Set WSL2 as Default
After restart, run:

wsl --set-default-version 2

Step 2.5: Update WSL (Important!)
Before installing Ubuntu, update WSL to the latest version to avoid compatibility issues:

wsl --update

Wait for the update to complete before proceeding to the next step.

Step 3: Install and Set Up Ubuntu
Open Microsoft Store and install "Ubuntu 22.04 LTS". After installation:

1. Launch Ubuntu from the Start menu (this completes the installation)
2. Wait for the initial setup to complete (may take a few minutes)
3. Create a username when prompted (use lowercase, no spaces)
4. Create a strong password when prompted (save them somewhere safe)
5. You'll now have a Linux terminal running in Ubuntu

You can close the Ubuntu window for now - we just needed to complete the initial setup.

Step 4: Convert Ubuntu to WSL2 (if needed)
Open PowerShell as Administrator and check which version of WSL your Ubuntu is running:

wsl -l -v

If Ubuntu shows "VERSION 1", convert it to WSL2:

wsl --set-version Ubuntu-22.04 2

This conversion may take a few minutes. Once complete, verify it's now running WSL2:

wsl -l -v

You should now see "VERSION 2" next to Ubuntu-22.04. After this conversion, restart Docker Desktop and check the WSL Integration settings again.

Installing Docker Desktop

Download Docker Desktop from the official Docker website. During installation:

• Make sure "Use WSL 2 instead of Hyper-V" is checked
• Enable integration with your Ubuntu distribution

After installation, Docker Desktop will automatically configure WSL2 integration. You can verify everything works by opening your Ubuntu terminal and running:

docker --version docker compose version

Note -- If Docker shows "New Version Available" go ahead and update it now.

Configuring WSL2 Integration

After installing Docker Desktop, you need to enable WSL2 integration:

1. Open Docker Desktop
2. Go to Settings (gear icon in the top-right)
3. Click on "Resources" in the left sidebar
4. Click on "WSL Integration"
5. Make sure "Enable integration with my default WSL distro" is checked
6. Under "Enable integration with additional distros," toggle ON your Ubuntu distribution
7. Click "Apply & Restart"

After Docker Desktop restarts, you should be able to run docker commands from your Ubuntu terminal.

Installing Portainer: Your Docker Management Interface

Portainer transforms Docker from a command-line tool into something you can manage through a beautiful web interface. It's perfect for beginners and incredibly powerful for advanced users.

Why Portainer Matters

Think of Portainer as your Docker control center. Instead of remembering complex docker commands, you get:

• Visual container management (start, stop, view logs, access terminals)
• Stack deployment with docker-compose files
• Image management and registry integration
• User management and access control
• Resource usage monitoring

Installing Portainer

The installation is remarkably simple:

The installation is remarkably simple. You can run this as one command:

# Create a volume for Portainer data
docker volume create portainer_data

# Run Portainer (single line)
docker run -d -p 8000:8000 -p 9443:9443 --name portainer --restart=always -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock -v portainer_data:/data portainer/portainer-ce:latest

Windows users: When running this command, Windows Defender Firewall may show a security alert asking to allow Docker to communicate through the firewall. Click "Allow access" - this is required for Portainer to be accessible from your browser.

For Windows 11/WSL2 users: Run this command in your Ubuntu terminal, not Windows PowerShell. To access your Ubuntu terminal:

• Click Start menu and search for "Ubuntu" or "Ubuntu 22.04 LTS"
• Or press Windows key + R, type wsl, and press Enter
• Or if you have Windows Terminal installed, open it and click the down arrow next to the + tab button to select Ubuntu

First-Time Portainer Setup

1. Open your browser and navigate to https://localhost:9443 (or https://your-server-ip:9443 for Linux servers)
2. You'll see a security warning – click "Advanced" and "Proceed to localhost" (this is normal for local development)
3. Create your admin account (make it secure – this controls your entire Docker environment)
4. Portainer will automatically detect and connect to your local Docker environment
5. You'll be taken directly to the dashboard showing your local Docker statistics

Understanding Your Portainer Dashboard

After logging in, you'll see your Docker environment dashboard. Here's what the information means:

• Environment name: "local" (your local Docker installation)
• Status: Should show "Up" with a timestamp
• Type: "Standalone" (single Docker host)
• Docker version: Shows your installed Docker version
• Connection: "/var/run/docker.sock" (how Portainer connects to Docker)

The resource summary shows:

• Stacks: 0 (docker-compose applications)
• Containers: 1 (just Portainer itself)
• Volumes: 1 (the portainer_data volume we created)
• Images: 1 (the Portainer image)
• System resources: Available CPU cores and RAM

If you see "Disconnected" status, refresh the page - this sometimes happens on first login.

Pro Tip: Bookmark this URL! You'll be using Portainer constantly to manage your containers.

Installing Homepage: Your Service Dashboard

Homepage is a modern, customizable dashboard for all your self-hosted services. Instead of remembering different IP addresses and ports, you get a beautiful landing page with everything organized.

Why You Need a Dashboard

As your home lab grows, you'll have services running on different ports:

• Portainer on port 9443
• A media server on port 8096
• A database interface on port 8080
• Development tools on various other ports

Homepage solves this by giving you a single place to access everything, plus it looks professional enough to show off to friends and potential employers.

Installing Homepage

We'll use docker-compose for this, which makes configuration much easier:

# Create a directory for Homepage
mkdir ~/homepage
cd ~/homepage
# Create the docker-compose.yml file
nano docker-compose.yml

Paste this configuration:

version: '3.3'
services:
homepage:
image: ghcr.io/gethomepage/homepage:latest
container_name: homepage
ports:
- 3000:3000
volumes:
- ./config:/app/config # Make sure your local config directory exists
- /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro # optional, for docker integrations
restart: unless-stopped

For Windows 11/WSL2 users: Replace the docker.sock line with:

- //var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro

First-Time Homepage Configuration

# Create the config directory
mkdir config
# Start Homepage
docker compose up -d
# Check that it's running
docker compose logs

Visit http://localhost:3000 (or http://your-server-ip:3000) and you should see Homepage running!

Basic Homepage Configuration

Homepage uses YAML files for configuration. Let's create a basic setup:

# Create the main configuration file
nano config/settings.yaml

Add this basic configuration:

title: My Home Lab theme: dark
color: slate
layout:
- Developer Tools:
style: row
columns: 4
- Media & Files:
style: row
columns: 4
- System Management:
style: row
columns: 4

Now create your services file:

# Create services configuration
nano config/services.yaml

Add your first services:

- Developer Tools:
- Portainer:
href: https://localhost:9443
description: Docker container management
icon: portainer.png
- System Management:
- Homepage:
href: http://localhost:3000
description: Service dashboard
icon: homepage.png

Restart Homepage to see your changes:

docker compose restart

Essential Configuration Tips

Setting Up Proper Networking

For Linux Servers:

# Check your server's IP address
ip addr show
# Make sure Docker containers can communicate
sudo ufw allow from 172.16.0.0/12 to any

For Windows 11/WSL2:
Your services will be accessible at localhost or 127.0.0.1 from Windows applications.

Managing Container Startup

Add restart policies to ensure your services start automatically:

# In your docker-compose.yml files
restart: unless-stopped # Restart unless manually stopped
# or
restart: always # Always restart, even after manual stops

Backing Up Your Configuration

Create a simple backup script:

#!/bin/bash
# backup-homelab.sh
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
mkdir -p ~/backups
tar -czf ~/backups/homelab_backup_$DATE.tar.gz ~/homepage/config
docker run --rm -v portainer_data:/data -v ~/backups:/backup alpine tar czf /backup/portainer_backup_$DATE.tar.gz -C /data .

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"Permission denied" errors

# Make sure your user is in the docker group groups $USER # If docker isn't listed, run: sudo usermod -aG docker $USER # Then log out and back in

Containers won't start

# Check container logs
docker logs container_name
# or in Portainer, click on the container and view logs

Can't access services from other devices

# Check if ports are actually listening
netstat -tlnp | grep :9443
# Make sure your firewall allows the ports
sudo ufw allow 9443

WSL2 performance issues

• Ensure Docker Desktop is using WSL2 backend
• Allocate sufficient RAM to WSL2 in Docker Desktop settings
• Keep your files in the Linux filesystem (/home/user/) rather than Windows (/mnt/c/)

What's Next

At this point, you should have:

• ✅ Docker installed and running smoothly
• ✅ Portainer providing a web interface for container management
• ✅ Homepage giving you a dashboard to organize your services
• ✅ Basic understanding of docker-compose for multi-container applications

You're now ready to start adding real services to your home lab! In our next post, we'll dive into setting up a private search engine with SearXNG, running AI models locally with Ollama, and creating a ChatGPT-like interface with Open WebUI. We'll also add Apache Tika for document processing – setting the stage for some seriously impressive capabilities.

The foundation you've built today will support everything we add going forward. Docker's consistency means that whether you're running on an old laptop with Ubuntu or your main Windows 11 machine, the container configurations will work exactly the same way.

Quick Reference Commands

Essential Docker Commands:

docker ps # List running containers
docker ps -a # List all containers
docker logs container_name # View container logs
docker exec -it container_name /bin/bash # Access container terminal

Docker Compose Commands:

docker compose up -d # Start services in background
docker compose down # Stop and remove containers
docker compose restart # Restart all services
docker compose logs -f # Follow logs in real-time

System Maintenance:

docker system prune # Clean up unused containers, networks, images
docker volume prune # Remove unused volumes (be careful!)

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Ready to add some serious functionality to your home lab? Next week, we'll set up private search, local AI models, and document processing. The real fun is just getting started!

Revised 9/7/26 added missing details and fix code snips

Questions or issues with the setup? Drop them in the comments – I've probably run into the same problems and can help you troubleshoot.