A personal blog and self-hosting log
This is nevrast.xyz — named after a coastal realm from Tolkien's Silmarillion.
I administer this server myself. It runs this page, my email, and a private RSS reader, on my own domain, with no dependency on a single company. If the server disappears, I replace it and point the domain elsewhere. Nothing here relies on someone else staying in business.
The base setup was inspired by Derek Sivers' Tech Independence guide.
I write up the setup as I go: adding a private RSS reader, self-hosting push notifications, and self-hosting email, each with a script to reproduce it.
Not much else here yet. This page grows over time.
— Stathis
Updates
2026-08-01 — a busier day than most:
- Added a private RSS reader, reachable only from my own devices. Wrote up the process: adding a private RSS reader.
- Automated weekly backups of the RSS reader's data and server configs to the encrypted block storage. Unlocking it non-interactively means the passphrase lives in a root-only file — protects against the drive being read outside the server, not against a live root compromise.
- Self-hosted a private push notification server (ntfy), built from source since no OpenBSD package exists. The backup script now tells me directly whether it worked. Wrote up the process: self-hosting push notifications.
- Set up self-hosted email: dovecot for IMAP, outbound relay through Postmark so mail from a fresh server IP doesn't get silently filtered. Wrote up the process, including the gotchas (SSH keys and system passwords are different secrets, Thunderbird's "Re-test" isn't a real test): self-hosting email.
2026-07-25
Registered nevrast.xyz. Site launched.