Thinking about upgrading ghost & nginx

The long dark tea-time of the soul (otherwise known as winter) is currently underway and so there is more time to spend on computing at home. I've been considering when and how to upgrade my ghost install, and possibly to update nginx as well. In addition I've been looking at docker and containerisation a lot and it seems like a good idea to attempt to have all these services distinct from the machine they reside on. None of this is rocket science, but it does take a degree of careful planning to make sure that you aren't just making the system more complicated.

In addition, it looks like I'll probably need to run all this on an actual x86 machine rather that the trusty RaspPi that I've been using for the last 5 years! Why, you ask? Well I've got docker installed on the RaspPi but honestly, most of the containers I've pulled simply don't work. Either they appear to be compiled for a different ARM architecture, or something else is wrong. And I fancy something a little more powerful to run several websites and this blog. So I splashed out on this fan-less mini PC which should arrive in a few weeks. I'll probably put Bionic Beaver (such wonderful names!) on it along with docker.

And then the fun will begin! I was seriously considering converting this blog to static content and hugo to match all the other stuff I do. But then I came across Alex Ellis's post on running ghost in a container. I've already added the Let's Encrypt piece of the puzzle (probably another post there!) but linking a container running ghost and one running nginx so that they talk appropriately seems like a good idea.

So, once all the hardware has arrived I'll be enjoying setting this up. And one other thing ... the mini PC might also be able to run pfSense. Buying another mini PC and replacing my core router with this also seems appealing since I would have more confidence during an upgrade!