Setting Up and Running Dashy on a Raspberry Pi

Dashy is a powerful and customizable dashboard application that allows you to manage and visualize your favorite web services, tools, and resources in one place. Running Dashy on a Raspberry Pi enables you to have a centralized control panel for your network and applications, perfect for home servers and small networks.

What You Will Need

1. Raspberry Pi (3, 4, or later is recommended)
2. MicroSD Card (at least 8GB, Class 10 or better)
3. Power Supply (5V, 2.5A minimum for Pi 3; 5V, 3A for Pi 4)
4. Raspberry Pi OS (Lite or Desktop, depending on preference)
5. Internet Connection
6. Docker Installed (or Node.js if running manually)

Step 1: Prepare the Raspberry Pi

1. Update the Raspberry Pi:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
   

2. Install necessary tools:

   sudo apt install -y curl git
   

3. If not already installed, install Docker:

   curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
   sudo sh get-docker.sh
   

   Add your user to the Docker group:

   sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
   

   Reboot the Raspberry Pi:

   sudo reboot
   

Step 2: Install Dashy Using Docker

Dashy can be quickly deployed using Docker. Follow these steps to get Dashy up and running:

1. Pull the Dashy Docker image:

   sudo docker pull lissy93/dashy
   

2. Create a directory for Dashy configuration:

   mkdir -p ~/dashy/conf
   

3. Run the Dashy container:

   sudo docker run -d \
     -p 8080:80 \
     -v ~/dashy/conf:/app/public/conf \
     --name dashy \
     lissy93/dashy
   

4. Access Dashy in your browser:

   http://<raspberry-pi-ip>:8080
   

Step 3: Configure Dashy

Dashy uses a config.yaml file to define the layout and content of your dashboard.

1. Open the configuration directory:

   nano ~/dashy/conf/config.yaml
   

2. Modify the file to include your services. Here’s a simple example:

   appConfig:
     title: "My Dashboard"
     description: "Centralized control panel for my services"
   
   sections:
     - name: "Network Tools"
       items:
         - title: "Router"
           url: "http://192.168.1.1"
           icon: "fas fa-network-wired"
         - title: "NAS"
           url: "http://192.168.1.100"
           icon: "fas fa-server"
         - title: "OctoPrint"
           url: "http://192.168.1.50"
           icon: "fas fa-print"
   

3. Save the file and restart Dashy to apply changes:

   sudo docker restart dashy
   

Step 4: Optional Enhancements

1. Enable HTTPS: Use a reverse proxy like Nginx or Traefik to secure Dashy with HTTPS.

2. Customize Appearance: Dashy supports themes and layout customization. Modify the appConfig section in config.yaml:

   appConfig:
     theme: "hacker"
   

3. Run Dashy on a Custom Port: Change the port mapping when running the Docker container:

   sudo docker run -d -p 3000:80 ...
   

4. Set Up Auto-Start: Ensure Dashy starts on boot by creating a Docker systemd service:

   sudo systemctl enable docker
   

Troubleshooting

1. Dashy Not Accessible:

   • Verify the container is running:

     sudo docker ps
     

   • Check for errors in the container logs:

     sudo docker logs dashy
     

2. Configuration Changes Not Applied:

   • Ensure config.yaml is saved in the correct directory.
   • Restart the Dashy container after making changes.

3. High Resource Usage:

   • Reduce the number of services and widgets in your dashboard.
   • Upgrade to a Raspberry Pi 4 for better performance.

Applications of Dashy

1. Centralized control panel for managing network services.
2. Quick access to home automation tools and media servers.
3. Monitoring IoT devices and local applications.
4. Personalized dashboard for daily productivity.

Conclusion

Dashy provides a versatile and customizable dashboard solution for organizing and managing your web services. By following this guide, you can set up and run Dashy on a Raspberry Pi, creating a centralized hub for your tools and resources. Experiment with different configurations and themes to make Dashy your ultimate control panel!