🧪 What's Up in the Lab? - July 2026
This update is a mix of heavy homelab content and something a little lighter for the whole family. With the summer having hit, I'm taking some time to decompress, disconnect (from tech) and re-connect with nature and my family! So there will be a slight delay in my publication rate for a few weeks - but I promise I'll be back at it soon 😉
Us Canadians, we do have winter, but we absolutely have summer too and enjoy it! With 50-60C temperature swings throughout the year, you don't waste the good weather when it's here!
As always, we'll start with the hardcore infrastructure topics before switching gears to a Docker application that the entire household can actually enjoy.
You can also read the previous update, Latest from the Lab - Jun 22 '26.
🖥️ Homelab Engineering 👾
1. CrowdSec Web UI: The Dashboard CrowdSec Should Have Shipped With - Now Open to the Public!
CrowdSec told me it was working, but I wanted to see it. That's exactly why I deployed CrowdSec Web UI. Hit the link for the complete setup guide! Note: You need a running instance of CrowdSec for this.
Core Lab Joe
2. Authelia: Centralized MFA for Self-Hosted Services
One login. One MFA prompt. Every self-hosted application.
Stop exposing unsecured apps. Learn how to deploy Authelia in Docker with a KeyDB backend and SWAG to enforce centralized Multi-Factor Authentication.
Core Lab Joe
3. 🎓 New Learning Path: Reverse Proxies from Beginner to Advanced
One piece of feedback I kept hearing was that my reverse proxy guides were difficult to follow because they had grown organically over time. I've completely reorganized them into a structured learning path that takes you from your first reverse proxy all the way to a hardened deployment with CrowdSec, Fail2Ban and Authelia.! Here's the entire breakdown for ease of access:
Mastering Reverse Proxies
Learn the concepts, deploy SWAG, secure your services, understand the request flow, and confidently migrate from other reverse proxy solutions.
If you're exploring alternatives, these are two excellent guides from fellow technical creators I genuinely recommend. These fellows are experts and have their own opinionated tech stacks as well!
DIYMediaserver's NPM (Or SWAG) to Caddy 👇
KryptikWurm
FoxxMD's Migrating from SWAG/NGINX to Traefik👇
FoxxMD
🍳 Beyond the Rack (Family Tech!)
If you haven't heard of Mealie yet, here's your review from one nerd Dad who has used it extensively over the past few years.
Mealie Docker Setup Guide (2026): Build a Self-Hosted Recipe Manager Your Whole Family Will Actually Use
Core Lab Joe
That's everything from the lab for now.
Over the next few weeks I'm planning to spend less time behind the keyboard and more time hiking, barbecuing, and making the most of the Canadian summer with my family. (After surviving another Ontario winter, we've earned it!)
Thanks again for reading, sharing the site, and supporting CoreLab. I'll see you again soon with more homelab engineering, Docker projects, and probably another rabbit hole I accidentally disappear into...
-- Core Lab Joe
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