Hi! I’m starting out with self-hosting. I was setting up Grafana for system monitoring of my mini-PC. However, I ran into issue of keeping credentials secure in my Docker Compose file. I ended up using Docker Swarm since it was the path of least resistance. I’ve managed to set up Grafana/Prometheus/Node stack and it’s working well.

However, before continuing with Docker Swarm, I want to check if this is a good idea or will I potentially dig myself into a corner? Some of the options I’ve found while searching:

  • Continue with Docker Swarm and look into automation of stack/swarm in future

    • Ansible playbook has plugins for Docker Swarm.

  • Self-hosted vault: I want to avoid hosting my own secret/password manager at the moment.

  • Kubernetes (k8s / k3s) - I don’t wanna 😭

    • More seriously, I’m actually learning this for work but don’t see the point of implementing it at home. The extra overhead doesn’t seem worth it for a single node cluster.

  • Live dangerously - Store crdentials in plaintext. Also use admin as password for everything

Edit: Most of the services I’m planning on hosting will likely be a single replica service.

  • @phillipgreeniiEnglish
    2•5 months ago

    My personal experience with swarm has been terrible. I would not recommend it for anyone. For me it is full of foot-guns. I found it difficult to debug when things go wacky. The last time I checked, the project was dead, but it feels like it. It doesn’t seem to be many people using it, because I find it difficult finding answers. In addition, there was a docker swarm python script originally, but then it was kinda/sorta implemented into docker itself. They work similarly, but not the same. I often got hung up following directions from the wrong one. I’m in the middle of migrating to k3s and nix.

    Others have talked about a good experience with it, but that wasn’t my story. Is docker and docker compose work for you, then stick with it. If you want something more, I would recommend looking at k3s before jumping into docker swarm.

    On additional note, I have multiple nodes, which is why I went to docker swarm instead of sticking with docker compose. Having only one node might hide some of the issues I had/have with docker swarm .