How to install Homepage on Saplo (dashboard)

If you're running more than one application on a Box, sooner or later you'll lose track of where n8n is located, where the Uptime Kuma panel is, or where your client's Grafana instance is. The solution is a single start page with a list of links that you open instead of searching for a browser bookmark. Homepage does exactly that, as an open-source dashboard that you set up on your own Box, without a database and without a monthly bill. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to set up Homepage on Saplo.

Why Homepage instead of browser bookmarks

Browser bookmarks work as long as the number of applications is small and you open them all from one computer. The problem begins when:

• The number of applications grows - an agency with several clients and several internal tools (n8n, monitoring, CMS panel) quickly reaches a dozen addresses that need to be remembered or saved.
• More than one person uses the tools - bookmarks in a private browser won't help the team, everyone needs to get a list of addresses separately, and when the domain changes, it needs to be resent.

Homepage solves this as a single Docker container on your Box: one page with links that you provide to everyone on the team, with no limit on the number of applications and no fee beyond the cost of the Box itself.

Requirements

To set up Homepage on Saplo, you need:

• A Box with Docker running (the engine automatically enables it when installing from the catalog, container nesting is required, which Saplo has by default),
• A minimum of 512 MB RAM free on the Box and 2 GB of disk space, meaning a Box S plan is sufficient ($29 per year),
• A domain or subdomain *.saploapp.pl included with every plan, where the dashboard will be hosted,
• You do NOT need a separate database, Homepage stores all its configuration in YAML files within the Docker volume.

Step-by-step installation

1. In the Saplo panel, go to App Catalog and select Homepage (under the "Business" category).
2. Choose a Box with at least 512 MB of free RAM where the dashboard will be hosted, and the domain or subdomain it will run on.
3. Confirm the installation. The engine deploys a container from the official ghcr.io/gethomepage/homepage image, exposes it only to the Box's loopback, and connects it to nginx, which serves it under the specified domain with free SSL. Only port 443 is exposed externally, not the container's raw port 3000.
4. After docker compose up, the engine also checks if the dashboard is actually responding via HTTP on the /api/healthcheck endpoint, because the status "container running" doesn't mean that the process inside didn't fall into a restart loop a moment later.
5. After the installation is complete, the Homepage panel is available at the specified domain, secured by a password automatically generated during installation (saved in the SETUP file on the Box).

First-time setup

Homepage doesn't have a wizard or an admin account. It only has built-in, single-password authorization that's enabled right after installation.

1. Go to your domain address, for example, start.saploapp.pl, and log in with the password from the HOMEPAGE-SETUP.txt file on your Box.
2. You add your own application links manually in the services.yaml file in the configuration volume. Each entry includes a name, address, and optional icon.
3. You configure weather widgets, Docker container status, or statistics from other tools in widgets.yaml, and external website bookmarks in bookmarks.yaml.
4. You set the dashboard's appearance and layout (colors, number of columns, background) in settings.yaml.
5. Integration with the Box Docker socket is intentionally disabled in Saplo, so Homepage DOES NOT automatically detect other containers. You add each application manually. This is the same limitation as with any other recipe on a Box shared with other clients.

Homepage on Saplo vs. browser bookmarks

FAQ

Does Homepage need a separate database? No, the entire configuration resides in YAML files within the Docker volume. The Saplo engine does not provision any additional database containers for it.

Does Homepage automatically detect other applications on the Box? No, integration with the host's Docker socket is intentionally disabled for security reasons on a Box shared with other clients. You add application links manually in the services.yaml file.

How do I change the dashboard password? You edit the HOMEPAGE_AUTH_PASSWORD variable in the container options in the Saplo panel and restart the application. The default password is random and stored in the HOMEPAGE-SETUP.txt file on your Box.

Do I need to install Docker myself before deploying Homepage? No, the Saplo engine automatically installs Docker CE with the first installation of any containerized application on a given Box.

If you have several applications on your Box and want a single starting point for them instead of searching through tabs, contact us. We'll help you choose the right Box for your set of tools.