FreedomBox is a Debian-based self-hosting server that allows quick deployment of many applications and services with a single click through a web interface [Link].
Designed to run on SBCs (single-board computers) such as the Raspberry Pi, it also supports a wide variety of hardware, virtual machines, and cloud environments.
It requires little to no Linux knowledge.
Download the version that matches your hardware or hypervisor at [Link]. Compatible hardware includes:
- 32-bit ARM (armhf) / x86 (i386)
- 64-bit ARM (arm64) / x86 (amd64)
- A20 OLinuXino Lime / Lime 2 / MICRO
- Beagle Bone Black
- Cubieboard 2 / Cubieboard 3 / Cubietruck
- Lamobo R1
- LeMaker Banana Pro
- LinkSprite pcDuino3S
- Orange Pi Zero
- PC Engines APU 1D
- Pine A64 LTS / Pine A64+
- Pioneer Edition FreedomBox
- QEMU/KVM amd64 / i386
- RPi 2 / 3B / 3B+ / 4B
- Rock64 / RockPro64
- VirtualBox for amd64/i386
After writing the image to a microSD card (for RPi) or starting the VM (for VirtualBox), open your browser and navigate to http://freedombox.local or the IP address assigned by your router’s DHCP.
Follow the setup steps to create the administrator account:
Select the option that best describes your network:
You can now connect to the server via SSH.
Clicking Network Setup lets you review any network settings configured during setup:
At the top, there are three main tabs: Home, Apps, and System.
Cockpit comes pre-installed and lets you manage the server: operating system, services, updates, and more.
Under the Apps tab, you will find all available applications that can be installed with a single click:
The System tab contains all server configuration options, including Backups, Dynamic DNS, SSL/TLS Certificates, Firewall, and Storage.
Out of the box, FreedomBox is a complete and straightforward way to deploy and manage network services.
Remember to shut down the system before unplugging it:
