First steps

Install an app, find where to log in, and learn your way around the dashboard.

Install an app

Open the Apps page, pick something, and press Install. The dashboard shows the image download and the start-up as they happen. When it is done, the app appears on your home page with a link straight to it.

The same from a terminal:

homebox list                 # everything available, and what is running
sudo homebox install photos  # install one app

Log in to it

Every app page on this site has a First login column, and the dashboard shows the same note under the app. Some apps create their account on first visit; some use a password HomeBox generated at install. To print a generated password:

homebox secrets passwords

Generated passwords live in /opt/homebox/.env, readable only by you.

Find your way around

Home — your apps, what is running, host CPU, memory and disk, and one line that says whether anything needs attention.
Live Logs — any app's output, one entry per row, in your own timezone. Filter it to find an error.
Updates — new HomeBox releases and app updates, each with a backup and a way back. See Updates.
Settings — backups, remote access, passwords, network and the app catalog.

If something does not start

Open Live Logs and pick the app. The last lines usually say why.
From a terminal, homebox status lists every container and its health.
homebox doctor checks the environment and every app definition.