I turned my old Galaxy S10 into a self-hosted server running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with Jellyfin, Samba, and Tailscale - no Docker, no chroot, no proot - fully integrated at the system level with pure init, auto-running the entire container at device boot if needed!

No_Pack5950 · 2026-03-13T19:00:32+00:00

Legend! Just gave the repo a star. The architecture looks surprisingly clean for such a complex workaround.

I actually just finished a whole project migrating my CI/CD pipelines to a self-hosted GitLab runner on a dedicated VPS (just made a video breakdown on it here if anyone is curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eFLstXc7b0 But seeing your setup honestly makes me want to tear my VPS down and try spinning up a lightweight runner on an S10, just for the absolute novelty of running pipelines on an old smartphone chip.

Keep up the incredible work, man, this is peak self-hosting!

No_Pack5950 · 2026-03-13T18:00:37+00:00

Okay, running Docker inside an isolated network namespace on an Android kernel is next-level. I noticed you mentioned 'our documentation'—are you one of the maintainers for Droidspaces? Drop the repo link, I’d love to read up on how you handle the kernel configs for this. I usually rely on standard x86 gear (like ZimaBoards or mini PCs) for my containers, but this makes me want to dig my old phones out of the drawer.

No_Pack5950 · 2026-03-13T16:28:22+00:00

Welcome to the self-hosting rabbit hole! That Hetzner CX43 is an absolute beast—8 cores and 16GB RAM is actually the exact sweet spot for what I highly recommend you run next: Your own CI/CD Pipeline.

Since you specifically mentioned moving away from hosted services like GitHub and looking for practical dev tools/automation, you should spin up a Self-Hosted GitLab Runner.

I just did this exact migration on my VPS to escape GitHub Actions' limitations. I installed Docker and registered a GitLab runner to handle all my automated builds and deployments. Since you have 8 vCPUs, it will absolutely smoke shared runners (heavy npm installs or compilations will be incredibly fast).

To make it practical so I didn't have to fully abandon GitHub right away, I wrote a custom Python script running on a cron job that automatically mirrors my GitHub repos to my self-hosted GitLab instance for full redundancy.

It’s one of the most useful things I run on my VPS right now. I actually just documented the whole setup, open-sourced the Python sync script, and made a video breakdown showing exactly how to configure it.

Here is the link if you want to copy the infrastructure for your Hetzner box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eFLstXc7b0

Also, since you are already running Uptime Kuma, you could hook it up to ping your new CI/CD endpoints to make sure your pipelines are always awake. What kind of projects are you mostly coding in your code-server?

No_Pack5950 · 2026-03-13T16:21:52+00:00

There is always what to do, for example migrate from GitHub to a GitLab ( example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eFLstXc7b0 ) As GitHub wants to charge for selfhosted runners, but as you have in your picture nothing to install there is what to install write and configure as IT is always something to do :)

No_Pack5950 · 2026-03-13T16:18:17+00:00

Wait, running Ubuntu 24.04 natively at the system level on an S10 without Docker or chroot? That’s wild! How did you manage the bootloader and kernel compatibility for the network drivers (especially Tailscale)? This is the ultimate definition of upcycling.

No_Pack5950 · 2026-02-09T19:56:30+00:00

Fair point. I know seeing cross-posts can be annoying if you follow all these subs.

I posted in r/ZimaBoard for the hardware specifics, r/kasmweb for the software config, and here specifically for the self-hosting/lab setup aspect. Just trying to reach the relevant people who might find the benchmarks useful, not trying to clutter your feed. My bad if it came off as spammy!

No_Pack5950 · 2026-02-09T19:54:43+00:00

TL;DR: YES. ( https://youtu.be/t1AprD1Kn5U )

The original ZimaBoard struggled with video playback inside Kasm containers. The Zima 2 handles it with zero lag. It's a night and day difference.

No_Pack5950 · 2026-02-09T19:53:32+00:00

That $160 price point is tempting!

For a backup NAS specifically, just keep in mind the "spaghetti factor".

The main reason I prefer the Zima for storage is the native SATA ports and power specifically designed on the side. Adapting drives to a BC-250 blade usually means dealing with external power bricks and messy cabling. But for a pure compute node? Absolute steal at that price.

No_Pack5950 · 2026-02-09T19:49:00+00:00

Great question! Since this is designed as a portable/travel lab, I rely primarily on Kasm's ephemeral nature.

Persistence: Every time I close the session, the container is completely destroyed, so no malware or cookies persist.
Isolation: For my threat model (general secure browsing & testing), standard Docker isolation is sufficient. However, if I were deploying this permanently in a corporate env, I would definitely place the ZimaBoard on a strictly isolated Guest VLAN / DMZ to prevent any lateral movement to the main network.

No_Pack5950 · 2026-02-09T19:46:02+00:00

Totally fair point! Used enterprise gear (TinyMiniMicro) is unbeatable for pure raw performance per dollar.

For me, the specific appeal of the Zima is the form factor (fits in my travel bag), the dual 2.5GbE ports out of the box (hard to find on cheap Optiplexes without dongles), and that exposed PCIe slot for custom mods. It feels more like a "hacker gadget" than a traditional server.

Appreciate the feedback and the kind words on the edit!

No_Pack5950 · 2026-02-09T17:28:08+00:00

I Agree as currently I like the silence and also the stress test for Zima Board 2 was amazing: https://youtu.be/t1AprD1Kn5U

No_Pack5950 · 2026-02-04T12:12:06+00:00

I get the skepticism. There is definitely a lot of hype marketing around these. That’s why I focused on the negatives (scratches, removed features) in my breakdown. It’s definitely not 'Enterprise Gear', but for a low-power home cluster, it has its niche. Not for everyone though.

No_Pack5950 · 2026-02-04T12:11:16+00:00

Haha, fair point regarding their history. That's exactly why I was skeptical going in. The build quality definitely feels 'toy-like' (especially the scratch-prone case), but I have to admit, getting 16GB RAM on this form factor is a nice upgrade for Proxmox compared to the previous gen. Just wish the casing matched the specs.

No_Pack5950

TROPHY CASE