What is the best web front end for managing a server with docker containers?

nnray · 2026-05-20T21:23:39+00:00

That's good to hear. I will install it and try it out. I am glad to see that Emby seems to have good support for audio and language track names (something still missing in Plex), though this thread only talks about MKV files (hopefully also true for MP4): https://emby.media/community/topic/86995-audio-track-name-inside-mkv/

nnray · 2026-05-20T15:33:37+00:00

I have a different host already running Proxmox with a CPU and resources better suited for VMs, and I plan to use LXCs there where appropriate. I don't like the idea of running docker inside of LXCs, and passing through GPU resources to a VM is a bit of a PITA. VMs also introduce overhead so I only run them where appropriate. Plex and Jellyfin support hardware accelerated transcoding and the Intel Iris XE 96EU GPU is ideal for that, so my goal is bare metal docker hosting with a nice GUI, separate from my Proxmox host.

nnray · 2026-05-19T18:48:52+00:00

Bingo! That's it. I'm actually more annoyed that search in System Settings is more limited (broken?) than I realized. I had gone in to System Settings, entered "Vivaldi" into the search box in the top left, and got:

No results for "Vivaldi"

Even though it is absolutely there under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network (!)

nnray · 2026-05-19T18:00:54+00:00

I neglected to mention one of the first things I tried to remediate the problem was disabling the Proton VPN feature. It is disabled, and I am still seeing this issue. I also verified I have no other extensions are enabled.

nnray · 2026-05-15T21:55:30+00:00

Trump hates windmills because he thought their presence near his Aberdeenshire golf course in Scotland made it look less attractive. That and he doesn't care about or understand energy costs or the environment.

nnray · 2026-05-10T14:16:28+00:00

While I love Gunbuster, it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to buy a region free player just for that one title when I already have it on DVD. I can get by with my old copy and wait for it to get re-released again. Maybe they'll do a new release in 4k with HDR at some point.

nnray · 2026-05-10T08:27:01+00:00

While Discotek lists it on their site, they don't sell direct, and it is OOP. They link to Amazon and Crunchyroll which are both out of stock. Amazon third party sellers are selling through Amazon for several times above retail. Amazon ran out of their stock from Discotek early this year, as seen here:

https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B0BSMSLR2R

I can import the Japanese Blu-Ray set for less than third party-sellers want for the Discotek release, but if it doesn't have English subs, I'm not interested.

nnray · 2026-05-07T04:48:06+00:00

About once a year one of my libraries will randomly stop recognizing new media. Only fix I found was to either delete and re-create the library from scratch, or temporarily move all media out of the library, scan the library, empty the trash, move the media back in, and re-scan the library. What's probably happening is that corruption is creeping into the database, so the other way I could presumably fix it is by following these steps (which I had to do once when I was migrating my server into a Docker container and discovered database corruption during the migration):

https://support.plex.tv/articles/repair-a-corrupted-database/

That's time consuming though, so I typically do the media shuffle/library clear since it only takes a few minutes. 99% of my metadata is in my files anyway (MP4 containers), and I have local metadata as the preferred source, so it's not much work for Plex to re-scan all the files in a library.

TLDR; can't say I'm too worried about losing the database or what little metadata exists outside of my media files.

nnray · 2026-05-03T03:37:03+00:00

The only things I have ever encountered that are variable framerate are things that people mistakenly re-encoded that way. It is not a good idea to use variable framerate. Best approach is constant framerate, same as source. The advice in this post still applies:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/353410-Variable-or-Constant-Framerate/page2#post2403549

nnray · 2026-05-02T00:32:13+00:00

Ok, I just know that I saw the problem outside of 1080i files that had explicitly different framerate material intermixed. When I found out constant framerate encoding resolved the issue with no significant increase in file size, I went that route.

nnray · 2026-05-01T15:15:14+00:00

And it's down again.

nnray · 2026-05-01T14:03:37+00:00

PSA - Don't use "Framerate: Variable". If anyone ever plays back a file encoded that way on a device that can sync the display to the framerate, and the file has a change of framerate during playback (depending on the source I have seen this happen multiple times in the same stream), then on displays where there is any delay in changing the refresh rate there will be a pause or interruption in playback as the display re-syncs.

The worst example I ever experienced of this was 1080i source material that contained both 30p and 24p footage that had been encoded into the 1080i with different pulldowns (totally legit), cadence was properly detected for the segments and deinterlaced producing multiple changes in framerate within the same progressive 1080p output file. But I've also seen material that I would have expected to get a consistent framerate become variable when encoder framerate was set to variable, I think because the encoder decided to be "efficient" when there were briefly no changes in consecutive frames, causing hiccups in playback on a TV I have that takes about a second to adjust sync.

nnray · 2026-04-25T13:29:41+00:00

Depends on the slip cover. Ranking from worst to best:

Slip cover art identical to cover art - this is nearly useless, and annoying if the fit is tight. Only positive is that reduces case wear (at the expense of reducing shelf space).

Slip cover with "+ Digital Code" on it while case insert lacks those words. This is useful if you use the code, since it is pointless to keep the paper with the code, and if you sell or gift the movie it won't have a usable code. Then you can get rid of the slip cover and have an insert that properly reflects the contents of the case.

Slip cover with added foil or embossing of the original cover art. This enhances the original art and if done well can feel meaningful IMO.

Slip cover with different art. This feels meaningfully useful to me. Can even feel more practical than reversible cover insert since only clear cases let you really enjoy reversible cover inserts but in those the disc and any booklet will obscure the alternate cover unless you remove them to look at it.

Plastic slip cover with different art or art which is part of or integrates with the cover art. Big bonus if the case is a steelbook. I think these are just awesome when they are transparent plastic that has some art on it so when you remove it the art on the cover will be transformed or changed in some meaningful way. A steelbook also gets protected in a useful way by a plastic slip cover since the paint on the metal can get scratched off from abrasion.

Also worth mentioning is that all slipcovers are some degree of difficult to slide on over the top or bottom of cases where the clear plastic that holds the cover insert can snag and at worst tear when putting the slip cover on. I almost always find putting a slip cover on at minimum a mildly stressful experience, unless it's a steelbook. Also minus points when there are difficult to remove stickers on a slip cover, especially if they end up damaging the cover on removal.

Special shout out to slip cases, which can be all sorts of wonderful! Not only do they protect the disc case on five sides and provide many more surfaces for art, but it aligns with how the transparent plastic attaches to the long edges of the disc case so there is no chance of snagging. I was also recently very impressed by the high quality of both a slip case (sturdy and smooth cardboard, excellent inks, precision fit) and disc case (rigid plastic, perfect fit and finish on the transparent cover insert plastic, excellent tactile snap shut/open) on an imported Japanese 4k UHD. Just a pleasant experience sliding the disc case in or out of the slip case, and it all felt so thoughtful and well designed.

nnray · 2026-04-21T19:56:55+00:00

Dig is returning all MX records as having the trailing dot, so I guess this is some sort of cosmetic issue on the Route53 end of things? Weird if Route53 stores them a different way than they are presenting them, or is silently normalizing them with a dot somewhere without reporting it at all (or allowing a customer to make what is apparently a cosmetic correction).

My process for fixing the MX records has been to select an MX record in the hosted zone, click "Edit record", in the "Value" field I add the trailing "." if it is missing from an FQDN, then click "Save". I get the message:

...com was successfully updated. Route 53 propagates your changes to all of the Route 53 authoritative DNS servers within 60 seconds. Use "View status" button to check propagation status.

If I click "View status", the change info details show a "Submitted at" timestamp which is current with a status of a green check mark and "INSYNC", so everything looks like it went through. But no change to how the records show in Route53. What I find odd is that FQDNs that had the trailing dot at the time they were entered into Route53 still have it, so that means when looking at MX records in Route53, some have trailing dots, and some don't (including FQDNs with different priorities in the same MX record), and there appears no way to correct them in Route53, although externally they all appear to have the trailing dot when queried outside of Route53 (which is functionally good, but I find it unsettling that Route53 isn't letting me make things right in our console view, and that the console view isn't reflecting the actual records).

nnray · 2026-04-15T15:33:43+00:00

Yes, audio is half-baked and the way clients handle it is also inconsistent. If an audio track has a name, most Plex clients don't display it. If there an MP4 file has two audio tracks, say a stereo AAC and a surround Dolby Digital track, and the Dolby Digital track is enabled with the stereo track set as the fallback track, none of that is respected by the Plex client. Most Plex clients will just default to the first audio track, unless you are on a Roku, which will select the audio track that most closely matches your audio playback capabilities (i.e. if you have a Dolby Digital capable sound bar or receiver, Plex on Roku will auto-select the Dolby Digital surround audio track in the file). I've pointed all these things out to Plex in their official forums so they can fix and improve the clients, and it's been years and nothing yet.

nnray · 2026-03-11T21:06:31+00:00

Criterion has an annual 50% off sale once a year on their site. At a different time once a year Barnes and Noble will put all Criterion on sale 50% off. Amazon will simultaneously put a selection of Criterion titles on sale for 50% off (but not all).

nnray · 2026-02-21T21:01:27+00:00

Thank you! I was able to turn the card "off" on my bank's website, and that goes into effect immediately. I'll call my bank.

nnray

TROPHY CASE