My repeatable homelab baseline is five Docker containers: Nginx Proxy Manager, Uptime Kuma, Scrutiny, Portainer, and Duplicati. Together, they cover service access, uptime checks, drive visibility, Docker administration, and backups—so I can handle recurring setup needs before moving on to other services. This is one author’s preferred workflow, not a required stack for every Docker host.
What each container does in this homelab setup
The five tools address different jobs; they are not five versions of the same management interface.
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| Container | Role in the setup |
|---|---|
| Nginx Proxy Manager | Configure proxy hosts, route domains or subdomains to services, manage SSL certificates, and apply access controls such as basic authentication. |
| Uptime Kuma | Check whether services respond and show their availability on a dashboard. |
| Scrutiny | Surface SMART information and historical readings for supported hard drives and SSDs. |
| Portainer | View and manage Docker containers, images, networks, and volumes through a web interface; work with Compose stacks and inspect logs. |
| Duplicati | Schedule backups, choose data and destinations, set retention, and encrypt backup files. |
How I use the five tools
Nginx Proxy Manager: route services through domains
Nginx Proxy Manager provides a web interface for configuring proxy hosts. In this routine, it routes domains or subdomains to services and handles SSL certificate management. Its reported access-control options include basic authentication. These are feature descriptions, not an independent assessment of security; proxying a service does not by itself establish that the service or the wider host is secure.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesUptime Kuma: check whether services respond
For self-hosted service availability checks, Uptime Kuma is the uptime monitor in this stack. The article describes HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, ping, and DNS checks, along with configurable check intervals and failure thresholds, notification integrations, and an uptime dashboard. A monitor can report that a check is failing; it does not repair the underlying service.
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Scrutiny: see SMART data and history
Scrutiny presents SMART information for supported hard drives and SSDs, including temperature, power-on hours, health status, and SMART attributes, with historical readings. That makes it a convenient way to review drive information without relying only on command-line tools. Monitoring can reveal information about a drive, but it cannot guarantee that the drive will not fail or predict every failure.
Portainer: manage Docker from a web interface
Portainer is the day-to-day Docker management interface in this setup. The described functions include viewing containers, images, networks, and volumes; deploying or editing stacks from Docker Compose files; and inspecting logs. It is a convenience layer, not a prerequisite for using Docker.
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Duplicati: schedule and encrypt backups
Duplicati is used to choose data and a destination, schedule backups, configure retention, and encrypt backup files. The described destination options include local folders, network storage, and cloud providers. The useful destination is the one you can maintain and recover from—not simply the one that is easiest to select in a setup screen.
Make the backup destination and restore plan explicit
Scheduling and encryption help organize a backup workflow, but neither proves that the backed-up data can be restored. Choose the data to protect and a destination you can access, then verify that you can retrieve the files you need. The article describing this routine does not report a restore test or prescribe a particular storage device or capacity, so those choices depend on your own data and recovery requirements.
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- Decide which files and service data need protection.
- Select a local folder, network-storage location, or cloud destination that fits your access and recovery needs.
- Set a schedule and retention policy appropriate to how often the data changes and how much history you need.
- Confirm that encryption settings and any credentials required for recovery are understood and available to you.
- Test restoring data before relying on the backup for recovery.
Is this five-container stack necessary?
No. It is one repeatable baseline for a homelab whose owner wants convenient access and management, availability checks, drive information, and scheduled backups. You can omit tools that do not solve a problem you have: Portainer is optional if you prefer another Docker workflow, Scrutiny is useful only if its supported drive information is relevant to your setup, and a proxy manager or uptime monitor is not mandatory for every service. The aim is to cover recurring needs, not to turn five containers into a universal checklist.
Quick Recap
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