Okay, here’s my attempt at a blog post, based on your instructions.
## 9/22 l – My Little Project Log
Alright, so yesterday, 9/22, I decided to finally tackle this little project I’d been putting off. It was one of those things where I kept thinking, “Oh, I’ll get to it,” but never actually did. It involved cleaning up my home server, so it was kinda important.
First things first, I needed to figure out what exactly needed cleaning. My server had become a dumping ground for all sorts of files, old backups, and forgotten software. So, I started by listing everything. I literally opened a text file and wrote down every service running, every folder shared, and every piece of software installed. It looked like a mess, which, frankly, it was.
Then I went through each item on my list. “Okay,” I thought, “Do I still need this?” A lot of stuff was easy to cut – old game servers I wasn’t using anymore, backups from like, 2018. Boom, deleted. Felt good. Some stuff was trickier. Like, I had a Plex server running, but I hadn’t used it in months. I decided to keep it, for now, but made a note to check back in a month and see if I actually used it. If not, it’s gone.
Next up was dealing with the files. Oh man, the files. So many random documents, downloads, and images. I decided to be brutal. If I didn’t know exactly what it was, and couldn’t remember when I last used it, it was gone. I created a new folder called “Old Junk – Maybe Important?” and dumped everything questionable in there. My plan is to go through that folder eventually, but let’s be honest, most of it will probably just get deleted after a few weeks.
After the great file purge, I tackled the software. I uninstalled a bunch of stuff I didn’t need anymore. It was mostly old utilities and random programs I’d downloaded for one specific task and then forgotten about. The uninstall process took some time, but it was worth it.
The biggest pain was dealing with Docker. I had a ton of old containers just sitting there, taking up space. I stopped and removed all the unused containers. This freed up a surprisingly large amount of disk space. I also updated all the containers that I was still using to the latest versions. That was a bit nerve-wracking, but thankfully, everything went smoothly.
Finally, I reorganized my shared folders. I gave them more descriptive names, and I made sure that the permissions were set correctly. Before, it was a free-for-all, with everyone having access to everything. Now, it’s much more organized and secure.
After all that, I ran a system update and rebooted the server.
Here’s a quick recap of what I did:
- Listed everything running on the server.
- Deleted old and unneeded files.
- Uninstalled unused software.
- Cleaned up Docker containers.
- Reorganized shared folders.
- Updated the system.
Honestly, it took most of the day, but it was worth it. The server feels much faster and more organized now. I’m hoping it’ll be easier to maintain in the future. I even created a reminder in my calendar to do this kind of cleanup on a regular basis. Hopefully, I’ll actually stick to it this time!
