This question is mainly for those that have family/friends depending on their self-hosted services/data. Does anyone have a plan for the worst case scenario in terms of data access/passwords/making sure your services are kept running if people depend on them? I know I sure don’t, it’s just a strange curiosity my brain thought up and I wondered if anyone else had considered this?
This is one of the reasons why I don’t host other people’s data. I’d consider this option if there was another technical person among users with whom I could share workload and risks like a sudden death.
I want to be buried with my treasure, and as a data hoarder I will have to leave instructions for writing it all to tape.
Since others were posting end of life style docs, here is another: https://www.erikdewey.com/bigbook.htm
That’s actually some good info there.
I decided very long ago not to pollute the gene pool, so everything dies with me.
ETA: It’s comforting to know that 10 people agreed with my life decision. /s LOL
gene poo
Indeed, sounds polluted enough 💩
I’ve learned to wear brown pants so it’s not as bad.
Ha! Spell check fail
Nearly everything you possess will end up in a landfill or the ocean within 10 years of your death, this is no exception.
hardware I’m giving to my sister most likely. Software? well that’s definitly dying with me. I’m the only one in my family that has any form of technical skill required to keep services going. They won’t know what to do with it.
The most I’m able to share is pictures and files.
https://github.com/potatoqualitee/eol-dr
Seems pretty thorough.
This is what I was trying to find for op. Well done!
My will contains the master password for my keepass file, from there someone could theoretically handle everything.
It’s the theoretically part that i haven’t figured out. I know none of my family members would have any idea what to do with anything. I feel like All the Data will just be lost when i go… which is a huge issue as everything moves to digital.
You could make a document describing what each set of data is, if its useful to anyone but yourself, or if its safe to delete. You could offer suggestions of what to do with each set. I think of it as a treasure map that you leave behind. Maybe they will be interested in it, maybe they will pass it on to someone else.
I actually started doing that. It’s a living document, shared with others. It’s the best solution I’ve come up with. Knowing whether or not I can convey enough info to make it usable and able to be followed for a less technical person like other family members drives my adoption of software/hardware solutions.
Your family members are unable to ask someone else who knows something about it to help with it? X to doubt.
But… Why do you care? What kind of information is on there? Something like the Epstein files?
At least for me, the only stuff that’s really on there is some music, photos, backups. If it gets lost, nothing important really is lost.
the only stuff that’s really on there is some music, photos, backups. If it gets lost, nothing important really is lost.
Photos are pretty important to a lot of people, I know that’s the most obvious thing on my server that people would miss and not be able to get anywhere else
that’s very smart
No :/ my server will probably die with me. My people are going to complain why homeassistant isn’t working, why automated lights don’t turn on and why nothing has been added to the plex library in forever. Just not sure who they’ll complain to lol.
At the end of the day, its my hobby and they’ll just have to live with how it was before. The hardware will be there if anyone wants to start up their own thing, but I don’t see it happening.
It’ll die with me. Albeit probably a slow death over a couple months, I have to be realistic here - none of my family members will care enough to keep anything running in the long run.
It’s the same fate your grandma’s unfinished knitted scarves and socks had a couple years ago.
I had a few cousins who took and finished all my grandma’s unfinished quilts. They were already into quilting though. YMMV, but it is a good example - if there is someone who can understand/take this over give it to them.
This is why my lab is well documented and managed by runner.ci workflows and the vault password and keys are in an encrypted file in my will. Explicit instructuons for decryption are in same will and handled via one time pad.
Also all of my loved ones know that I am not suicidal and will not under any circumstances take my own life…because reasons.
Anyone at the reading of my will can either take up administration, or put the resources on codeberg funded by a trust for 3 years after my death. If what I’ve built cannot be forked within 3 years i lt deserves to die with me.
There’s a project on github just for this, I forget what it’s called.
Basically they’ve developed a mechanism for providing instructions and access to security (usernames, passwords, etc).
I’ll see of I can find it
Looks interesting but explicitly says it’s “alpha software “ and hasn’t been updated in five years. I’d be weary of using something like this in such a critical situation.
Replying to get notified!
So you get a notification, spacelord suggested Hereditas: https://github.com/ItalyPaleAle/hereditas
Not sure if it’s the same one OP is thinking of, though.
Edit: also, from further down: https://github.com/potatoqualitee/eol-dr
My plan is using Shamir’s Secret Sharing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamir's_secret_sharing) to split my encrypted master password in 3: one for my wife, one for my mother and one for my best friend. In case I die, only 2 of those parts are needed to recover the password.
I’ve made a note in a paper notebook with my master password for the password manager for my wife, but she’s totally uninterested in anything I do with my server - she tried to understand, but it didn’t work. At least she’ll have access to my emails and other stuff in case I die before her.
When my brother’s brother-in-law passed, he gave all that to my brother. Both on the high end of tech/self-hosting capabilities. I’ve come to the conclusion much of it wasn’t worth it.
I’ll be focusing on ensuring access to financial accounts is passed on cleanly. And I’m working on digitizing all remaining physical photo negatives, then planning how to share all digitally with family while still alive. Since I don’t expect any to be interested in maintaining a server after I’m gone, I’m thinking I’ll keep it simple and just give everyone an external hard drive with all the photos. It’s up to them to do what they want with the drive. A copy to each sibling is increases odds it’s survives for a generation.
I’ll make project notes and plans available to anyone interested, but no hard feelings if no one is interested. And my music and movies can disappear for all I care. My tastes are pretty mainstream so I’m not thinking about archival value.
