(Noob q) How to edit YAML config files when I can't find them locally, ssh or /bin/bash into the container?

[rzm25]

Description

I am new to docker, and struggling to learn how to edit the config files. Every tutorial, whether in the documentation of docker, homepage, or online video tutorials, seems to skip over how to actually find and edit them, and instead begins at the actual editing step, assuming I already know how to do all that.

My main questions are:

1. How the hell do I edit the settings.yaml file?
2. Why isn't there any clear, step-by-step instructions on how to do this? It seems like the first step anyone would need to take.

Here is a detailed list of the steps taken so far:

I successfully set up the homepage container in docker, on an Ubuntu 22.04 install.

I used the command
sudo docker run --name homepage \ -e PUID=1000 \ -e PGID=1000 \ -p 3000:3000 \ -v /path/to/config:/app/config \ -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \ --restart unless-stopped \ ghcr.io/gethomepage/homepage:latest

This worked, copied the settings, and I could confirm that it was running by visiting localhost:3000

It is worth noting the code described on the github is different to that provided in the instructions, and I am not sure which is more recent or better to follow. Nonetheless this is the code from the github page.

So now, I need to figure out how to edit the settings.yaml described in the terminal process and documentation.

First, I try to find the files locally on my computer. A forum post here says I will be able to find the files by using the path input in the install code. In my case, that would be:
/var/run/docker.sock

Unfortunately, ubuntu's text editor will not open the .sock files. So I try nano.
sudo nano docker.sock

This does not work, an error reads:
[. Error reading docker.sock: No such device or address. ]

Ok. No idea what that means. I begin learning further about docker and how it works. One person on a forum explains that, no, silly, you can't edit anything that will be used inside the docker container if you aren't in it. Ok, time to figure how to then go into the container.

The most common seems to be to use ssh. Every tutorial, documentation site and video I could find just starts the 'editing settings' step (or equivalent) having already ssh'd in to the homepage container.

So I had to follow another two different tutorials on how to ssh. One tutorial said I would first need to find the network location of the container:

sudo docker inspect --format='{{range .Networksettings.Network}}{{.IPAdress}}{{end}} homepage

I receive:
template parsing error: template: :1:24: executing "" at <.Networksettings.Network>: map has no entry for key "Networksettings"

Ok. I have no idea what this means, so my best guess is that maybe the ssh server itself has not been installed inside the container.

So next, I go looking for other ways to access it. I find multiple videos on bin bash, because of course the docker documentation itself for some reason doesn't list the exec command at all in the config help section. I follow the steps found on both a video tutorial and a docker forum post that says to:

sudo docker exec -it homepage /bin/bash

I receive:
OCI runtime exec failed: exec failed: unable to start container process: exec: "/bin/bash": stat /bin/bash: no such file or directory: unknown

Ok. So I do some more reading on forum posts and follow another tutorial to find this means that likely the bash function or folder has not been installed in the container.

One tutorial suggests copying the docker image and completely rewriting the install instructions in the docker file to include either ssh or bash so that I can use it. This seems like a length rabbit hole to go down to edit what seems to be a very basic config file.

My logic at this point stops me. Surely this package wouldn't be shipped without a way to edit the config file to do basic set up to begin with, right? So what am I missing here?

P.S. I know some people will read this and think I am adding a bunch of unnecessary contextual information. I am intentionally adding this extra information about the steps I've taken and my learning process, because I simply cannot find anywhere online a step by step walkthrough of how to edit docker YAML files at all on ubuntu, let alone specifically for homepage, that involves a step by step of the whole process. Rather, every tutorial seems to be a small niche bit of information on that specific subject, which as a new user makes learning feel more laborious than it normally would. Hopefully someone finds it helpful in future if I find a solution.

homepage version

v0.8.12

Installation method

Docker

Configuration

All default config

Container Logs

N/A

Browser Logs

N/A

Troubleshooting

N/A

[glime-ai[bot]]

Thanks for posting a discussion about homepage here on GitHub. Homepage now uses a fancy new AI tool thanks to our friends at Glime, so the answer below is the AI bot's attempt to answer your question. If you feel it's sufficient you can mark the answer and close this post, otherwise feel free to leave it open of course!

Thanks for using Homepage! ❤️

---

I understand that you're new to Docker and trying to figure out how to edit the settings.yaml file for your Homepage installation. Let's clarify the process step by step:

1. Locate the Configuration Files:
   The command you used to run the Homepage container includes a volume mapping -v /path/to/config:/app/config. The /path/to/config part should be a path on your host machine where the configuration files are stored. You need to replace /path/to/config with an actual directory on your Ubuntu system where you want to store your configuration files.

   For example, if you want to store your configuration files in /home/yourusername/homepage/config, you would run the following command:

   sudo docker run --name homepage \
     -e PUID=1000 \
     -e PGID=1000 \
     -p 3000:3000 \
     -v /home/yourusername/homepage/config:/app/config \
     -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \
     --restart unless-stopped \
     ghcr.io/gethomepage/homepage:latest

   After running this command, you should find the settings.yaml and other configuration files in /home/yourusername/homepage/config on your host machine.

2. Edit the Configuration Files:
   Once you have the correct path to your configuration files on your host machine, you can edit them using any text editor you prefer, such as nano, vim, or a graphical text editor.

   For example, to edit the settings.yaml file with nano, you would use the following command:

   nano /home/yourusername/homepage/config/settings.yaml

   Make your changes, save the file, and exit the editor.

3. Apply the Configuration Changes:
   After editing the configuration files, you may need to restart the Homepage container for the changes to take effect. You can do this by stopping and starting the container:

   sudo docker stop homepage
   sudo docker start homepage

   Alternatively, if you set up Homepage using Docker Compose, you would use docker-compose down and docker-compose up to restart the services.

Please replace yourusername with your actual Ubuntu username and ensure that the directory you choose exists and has the appropriate permissions.

Remember, the .sock file you mentioned (/var/run/docker.sock) is not a configuration file; it's a Unix socket used by Docker to communicate with the Docker daemon and should not be edited.

If you have any further questions or need clarification on any of the steps, please let me know!

This comment was generated by Glime.

[rzm25]

Cheers AI bot you beautiful piece of software you.

I took the following steps:

sudo docker stop homepage
sudo docker rm homepage

Then, I input:
sudo docker run --name homepage \ -e PUID=1000 \ -e PGID=1000 \ -p 3000:3000 \ -v /home/nimda/homepage/config:/app/config \ -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \ --restart unless-stopped \ ghcr.io/gethomepage/homepage:latest

This created, the folder 'config', but the contents of said folder are empty.
~/home/[username]/homepage/config

What should I do now?

As an aside:
I can see that I missed the very basic step of changing the path. Thanks for pointing that out. i can see why this might seem obvious to those in ITdev or familiar with docker, but for dumb idiots like me can someone PLEASE, PLEASE, put a little bit in the github and documentation "Installation" section that clearly says "the path needs to be changed." and also "this path will be where the .yaml files are created". This would have saved me literally two days of reading tutorials going in circles.

Yes, I know it shouldn't have to be said, but my (and I'm sure others out there) level of stupidity is simply beyond mortal comprehension.

[rzm25]

Ok so I have fixed it. I removed the docker container:

sudo docker stop homepage
sudo docker rm homepage

Then I removed the files and folders that were leftover in my home folder and user.

Then I followed the install instructions again:

sudo docker run --name homepage
-e PUID=1000
-e PGID=1000
-p 3000:3000
-v /home/[yourusername]/homepage/config:/app/config
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
--restart unless-stopped
ghcr.io/gethomepage/homepage:latest

And then only once I opened the homepage at localhost:3000 did it add the files.

I will say though, please do still update the documentation.

Otherwise, thanks so much to the homepage team for the awesome program!

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