What is it?

Yunohost enables users to manage a Linux server entirely via a web UI. This includes server administration, application deployment, and integration into existing infrastructure.

In general, Yunohost is available under the AGPL 3.0. However, since it is based on Debian, there may be deviations, as may also be the case with the applications used.It is developed primarily by a general group of developers rather than a dedicated company or association.

The goal is to give users a simple and convenient way to host their own applications without having to rely on potentially proprietary or paid services.

Further details can also be found in the project’s FAQ.

Structure

Yunohost is based on the free operating system Debian (version 10 “buster”), including various repositories. Administration is handled via a custom-developed web UI, which can be used for various system tasks such as updates as well as managing the applications installed on the server. The application catalog is provided via a dedicated Yunohost APT repository; otherwise, only the standard Debian repositories are configured.

Yunohost itself can also handle multiple domains as targets and provide applications multiple times in different areas. It also includes integrated Let’s Encrypt and an integrated mail server, making it easy to handle SSL certificates and emails. Overall, it comes with a solid base set of features, which still needs to be tailored.

If using the web UI is too cumbersome, there is also a CLI tool that covers the most common UI functions for domains, user/group management, and other areas.

Requirements

The basic hardware requirements are fairly minimal; however, the final requirements depend on the applications used later. For example, a small Raspberry Pi will likely be too limited to handle multiple databases, web apps, and collaborative office tools. An overview from the developers themselves can be found in the documentation.

Installation

Various images are available for different platforms (including Raspberry and ARM devices) and can be downloaded and used directly.
As with many Linux distributions, installation can be performed either via a graphical interface or in text mode. The installation is highly guided and automated, so even a less experienced user should be able to complete it without any issues. This does, of course, come at the expense of customization. For example, in the current version it is not possible to configure a custom disk layout.

After installation is complete, Yunohost can be initially configured via the web interface by accessing the IP/hostname. In the web UI, you are also prompted to set an initial admin password, which is then also set for the root SSH user. The initial SSH password without setup is `yunohost` and should be changed as soon as possible by completing the setup.

Yunohost is able to work with various external systems, e.g., for authentication and DynDNS. Depending on your infrastructure, it is helpful to review the documentation in advance to avoid effort later on.

Applications

Yunohost offers a large catalog of apps that can be installed and basically configured via the interface.
Please note that only a rough configuration is possible via the interface, such as setting a URL and the application’s hostname, as well as creating an administrative user from the Yunohost user base. For granular settings, you will need to use SSH on the host again. While the applications are provided with a general best-practice configuration rather than completely unconfigured, this is not necessarily sufficient, especially for more complex or more flexible applications such as the Matrix server Synapse.
However, after the initial (possibly manual) configuration, ongoing management for further updates and upgrades can at least be handled directly from the web UI.

When installing an application, you can also specify whether it should be publicly available or only available to users registered in Yunohost. However, these users are independent of any users that may need to be created within the application itself, but they do provide a way to separate applications into public and internal areas.

Conclusion

This is only intended as a brief initial overview of the project. Especially for private users who do not want to deal with deploying and maintaining services, but only want to make adjustments to the applications, it may well be worth a look. The large catalog of already supported applications is also regularly expanded, and integration is continuously improved.

The documentation is generally available in German, but localization is not yet fully complete, so if in doubt it makes sense to use the English documentation where possible. However, this primarily affects specific sub-areas; most general topics are also available in German. Thanks to the fairly intuitive operation of the web interface, you can, if necessary, also do without these parts of the documentation.

There is a dedicated link for contributing to the project.

If you would like to get an impression of the web UI and its capabilities before installing it yourself, you can also use the public demo instance.

We are Happy to Support You

Whether Yunohost, Debian, or Postgres: with more than 22+ years of development and service experience in the open source space, credativ GmbH can support you professionally with unparalleled, individually configurable support and fully assist you with all questions relating to your open source infrastructure.

Do you have questions about our article, or would you like credativ’s specialists to take a look at another software solution of your choice?
Then drop by and get in touch via our contact form or email us at info@credativ.de.

About the author

Danilo Endesfelder

Berater

about the person

Danilo ist seit 2016 Berater bei der credativ GmbH. Sein fachlicher Fokus liegt bei Containertechnologien wie Kubernetes, Podman, Docker und deren Ökosystem. Außerdem hat er Erfahrung mit Projekten und Schulungen im Bereich RDBMS (MySQL/Mariadb und PostgreSQL®). Seit 2015 ist er ebenfalls im Organisationsteam der deutschen PostgreSQL® Konferenz PGConf.DE.

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