Homebox (Inventory & Organisation)

What this is

Self-hosted inventory management system used to track items and organise my hobby room (man cave).

Why I set this up

To keep track of tools, cables, tech gear, and storage locations without relying on memory or spreadsheets.

Where it runs

Host: micropc
Network: Bridge (port mapped)
Access (local): http://192.168.86.100:3100
External access: Not exposed

Docker Compose

services:
  homebox:
    image: ghcr.io/sysadminsmedia/homebox:latest
    container_name: homebox
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - HBOX_LOG_LEVEL=info
      - HBOX_LOG_FORMAT=text
      - HBOX_WEB_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE=10
      - HBOX_OPTIONS_ALLOW_REGISTRATION=false
      - TZ=America/Santo_Domingo
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
    ports:
      - 3100:7745

Key Configuration Notes

Storage

./data → /data
Stores:
- Inventory database
- Uploaded images
- Item metadata

Access Control

Registration disabled:
```
HBOX_OPTIONS_ALLOW_REGISTRATION=false
```
Prevents unauthorised account creation

Upload Limits

Max upload size:
```
HBOX_WEB_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE=10
```
Useful for images of items

Logging

Log level set to info
Text format for readability in logs (Dozzle)

Setup Steps

Create data directory:
```
./data
```
Start container:
```
docker compose up -d
```
Open web UI:
```
http://192.168.86.100:3100
```
Create initial user account

Problems / Fixes

Cannot access web UI

Cause: container not running or port issue
Fix:
- Check container status
- Verify port 3100 is free

Permission errors on /data

Cause: incorrect ownership
Fix:
```
chown -R 1000:1000 ./data
```

Data not saving

Cause: volume not mounted correctly
Fix:
- Check ./data:/data mapping
- Ensure correct permissions

Result

Centralised inventory system for hobby room
Easy tracking of stored items
Simple and lightweight setup

Notes

Not exposed externally (local use only)
Simple container with minimal maintenance
Useful for tracking small technical equipment