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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

General Infrastructure

Q: How do I access services?

A: All services are accessed via HTTPS at https://SERVICE_NAME.collabrains.eu. See Services Overview for full list.

Q: What if a service stops working?

A: Check these in order: 1. Is the container running? docker ps | grep SERVICE_NAME 2. Check logs: docker logs SERVICE_CONTAINER --tail 50 3. Are dependencies running? (database, Redis) 4. Try restarting: docker restart CONTAINER_NAME or docker compose restart

See Troubleshooting for detailed solutions.

Q: How do I backup my data?

A: Automatic daily backups run at 2 AM UTC. Manual backup:

/usr/local/bin/backup-collabrains.sh
ls -lh /backups/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)/

See Backups & Recovery for restoration procedures.

Q: Is my data secure?

A: Yes: - ✅ HTTPS encryption (Let's Encrypt) - ✅ Daily automated backups - ✅ 30-day retention with auto-cleanup - ✅ Database passwords in environment - ⚠️ Single-server architecture (no HA)

Service-Specific

Q: Why is Paperless/n8n/Immich using so much memory?

A: Common reasons: - Paperless: OCR processing is memory-intensive - Immich: AI indexing or large photo sets - n8n: Concurrent workflow executions

Solutions: 1. Let process complete 2. Restart if stuck: docker restart SERVICE_NAME 3. Check docker stats for memory usage

Q: How do I upload documents to Paperless?

A: Two methods:

Method 1: Copy files to consume directory

cp documents/*.pdf /data/coolify/services/woq978nbzog6dmddhrmeujvk/consume/
# Paperless processes automatically

Method 2: Use web interface

https://docs.collabrains.eu → Upload → Select files

Q: How do I restore a deleted Paperless document?

A:

  1. Database has soft-delete
  2. Restore from backup: bash BACKUP_FILE="/backups/YYYY-MM-DD/paperless-postgres.sql" docker exec -i postgres-woq978nbzog6dmddhrmeujvk psql -U paperless paperless < $BACKUP_FILE

Q: Can I add SSO to other services?

A: Depends on service: - Paperless: ✅ Supports OIDC/OAuth2 via Authentik - Immich: ✅ Supports SSO - n8n: ✅ Built-in OAuth2 - Grist: ✅ Can use SSO - Others: Check service documentation

See Authentik for configuration.

Q: Where are my photos/documents stored?

A:

Immich:

/var/lib/docker/volumes/IMMICH_VOLUME/_data/

Paperless:

/data/coolify/services/woq978nbzog6dmddhrmeujvk/media/

Check with:

docker volume inspect VOLUME_NAME
docker exec SERVICE_NAME df -h /

System & Administration

Q: How much disk space do I have?

A:

df -h /              # Root filesystem
df -h /data          # Service data
df -h /backups       # Backups
du -sh /data/coolify # Total service size

Q: How do I clean up old backups?

A:

# Find backups older than 30 days
find /backups -mtime +30 -type d

# Remove them
find /backups -mtime +30 -exec rm -rf {} \;

# Verify
ls -lh /backups/ | tail -10

Q: Can I access the server via SSH?

A: Yes, with SSH key authentication:

ssh root@collabrains.eu

No password login allowed (key-based only).

Q: How do I update a service?

A:

cd /data/coolify/services/SERVICE_ID

# Pull latest image
docker compose pull

# Restart
docker compose down
docker compose up -d

# Verify
docker compose logs -f

Q: Can I upgrade Docker/system?

A:

Docker upgrades: Safe, with downtime window

apt update && apt upgrade -y docker.io
systemctl restart docker

System upgrades: Plan 30 minutes downtime

apt update && apt upgrade -y
reboot

Q: What if I run out of disk space?

A:

# Check sizes
du -sh /backups /data/coolify /var/lib/docker

# Remove old backups
find /backups -mtime +30 -exec rm -rf {} \;

# Clean Docker
docker system prune -a --volumes  # CAREFUL!

# Check again
df -h /

If still full, contact Hetzner or resize partition.

Monitoring & Alerts

Q: How do I monitor system health?

A: Three options:

  1. Command line: bash docker stats free -h df -h /

  2. Grafana dashboards: https://grafana.collabrains.eu

  3. System metrics
  4. Container stats

  5. Service-specific data

  6. Prometheus queries: http://localhost:9090

  7. Raw metric queries
  8. PromQL language

Q: Can I set up alerts?

A: Yes, in Grafana: 1. Create alert rules 2. Configure notification channels 3. Set thresholds (CPU, memory, disk)

See Monitoring for details.

Q: Is there a status page?

A: Currently no public status page. Check: - Services: docker ps -a - Logs: docker logs SERVICE_NAME - Grafana: https://grafana.collabrains.eu

GitHub Integration

Q: How does auto-deploy work?

A:

  1. You push to GitHub
  2. GitHub sends webhook to https://collabrains.eu:5000/webhook/github
  3. Webhook receiver triggers deployment
  4. Service redeploys with new code

See GitHub Integration for setup.

Q: Why isn't the webhook triggering?

A:

# Check webhook receiver
docker logs webhook-receiver-webhook-1 --tail 20

# Verify webhook URL in GitHub is correct:
# https://collabrains.eu:5000/webhook/github

# Test webhook endpoint
curl -I https://collabrains.eu:5000/webhook/github

# Check secret matches
cat /data/webhook-receiver/.env | grep GITHUB_SECRET

Troubleshooting

Q: Where do I find logs?

A:

# Service logs
docker logs CONTAINER_NAME

# System logs
journalctl -xe
systemctl status docker

# Traefik/proxy logs
docker logs traefik --tail 50

# Specific time
docker logs CONTAINER_NAME --since 1h

Q: How do I report a problem?

A:

  1. Check Troubleshooting guide
  2. Collect logs: docker logs SERVICE_NAME > issue.log
  3. Check monitoring: https://grafana.collabrains.eu
  4. Contact: dijkstra247@gmail.com

Include: - Affected service - Error message/behavior - Recent changes - System metrics (memory, disk, CPU)

Q: Can I restore to an older date?

A:

Yes, backups kept for 30 days:

# List available backups
ls -lh /backups/

# Restore specific backup
BACKUP_DATE="2026-04-15"
docker exec -i postgres-SERVICE_ID psql -U user db < /backups/$BACKUP_DATE/service-postgres.sql

See Backups & Recovery for full procedures.

Performance & Scaling

Q: Why is everything slow?

A:

Check in order: 1. Disk space: df -h / (should be >20% free) 2. CPU: docker stats (high CPU?) 3. Memory: free -h (using swap?) 4. Network: netstat -i (packet loss?) 5. Service logs: docker logs SERVICE_NAME

Solutions: - Free disk space - Restart heavy service - Increase swap if needed - Check for stuck processes

Q: Can I add more resources?

A:

Currently limited to Hetzner VPS specs: - 8-core AMD EPYC - 16GB RAM - 8GB swap

Options: - Upgrade Hetzner instance (plan downtime) - Optimize service settings - Move to larger server

Q: Can multiple people access services?

A:

Yes! Create users in each service: - Paperless: Admin → Users - Immich: Web UI → Admin - Grist: Invite users - n8n: Create accounts - Others: Service-specific

For centralized auth, use Authentik + OAuth2/OIDC.

Contact & Support

Q: Who manages this?

A: Infrastructure managed by dijkstra247@gmail.com

Q: Where is the server hosted?

A: Hetzner Cloud, Falkenstein (FSN1) region

Q: What if the server goes down?

A:

  1. Check Hetzner console (hardware issue?)
  2. SSH from backup method
  3. Restart via Hetzner console if needed
  4. Restore from backups if needed

See Backups & Recovery for disaster recovery.

Q: Can I modify/add services?

A: Yes! Follow Services Overview and Architecture.

For major changes, discuss first to ensure: - Sufficient resources - Backup/recovery plan - Integration with existing services

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