Self-Host Everything: Run StartOS on Your Own Hardware

// Before you start

What you need

A spare PC, mini PC, or Raspberry Pi (x86-64 or ARM64 hardware)
A USB drive (8 GB or larger) to flash the installer
A separate computer to download and flash the image
Balena Etcher or Raspberry Pi Imager installed on that computer
A wired ethernet connection for the target machine
About 30–60 minutes of free time

Step 1 of 6

Download the latest StartOS image

5 min

Start9 publishes pre-built disk images so you never have to compile anything. Go to the Start9 GitHub releases page and download the image file that matches your hardware. For most modern PCs and mini PCs, that is the x86-64 image. The file will end in .img.gz.

Terminal · mac

$ # Open this URL in your browser and download the correct .img.gz file:

$ https://github.com/Start9Labs/start-os/releases/latest

What you should see

A file named something like startos-0.3.x.x_raspberrypi.img.gz or startos-0.3.x.x_x86_64.img.gz lands in your Downloads folder.

This might happen

The releases page shows many files and it is easy to grab the wrong one.

x86_64 covers most laptops and desktops. raspberrypi covers Raspberry Pi 4/5. Check the filename carefully before downloading.

Step 2 of 6

Flash the image onto your USB drive

10 min

Balena Etcher writes the StartOS image directly onto your USB drive and makes it bootable. Everything already on the USB drive will be erased, so use a blank or expendable one. You do not need to unzip the file first — Etcher handles compressed images automatically.

Terminal · mac

$ # 1. Open Balena Etcher (download free from https://etcher.balena.io if needed)

$ # 2. Click 'Flash from file' and select your downloaded .img.gz file

$ # 3. Click 'Select target' and choose your USB drive

$ # 4. Click 'Flash!' and wait for it to finish

What you should see

Etcher shows a green 'Flash Complete!' screen with a checkmark. The USB drive is now a bootable StartOS installer.

This might happen

Etcher may ask for your computer's admin password to write to the drive.

Enter your password when prompted — this is normal and required to write to a physical disk.

Step 3 of 6

Boot your server hardware from the USB drive

5 min

Plug the USB drive into the machine that will become your server. You need to tell that machine to boot from USB instead of its internal drive. This usually means pressing a key like F12, F2, Delete, or Esc right as the machine powers on to open a boot menu.

Terminal · mac

$ # 1. Plug the flashed USB drive into your target machine

$ # 2. Power the machine on

$ # 3. Immediately press the boot-menu key for your hardware:

$ # - Most PCs/mini PCs: F12 or F11

$ # - Dell: F12

$ # - HP: F9

$ # - Lenovo: F12

$ # - ASUS: Esc or F8

$ # 4. Select your USB drive from the boot menu list

What you should see

The machine boots into the StartOS installer screen instead of its normal operating system.

This might happen

The machine boots straight into Windows or its old OS and ignores the USB drive.

You may need to disable Secure Boot in BIOS settings. Restart, enter BIOS (usually Delete or F2), find Secure Boot, set it to Disabled, save, and try again.

Step 4 of 6

Install StartOS to the internal drive

10 min

The StartOS installer is a simple screen that asks which internal drive to install onto. Select your internal SSD or HDD. The installer will erase that drive and write StartOS to it. When it finishes, it will tell you to remove the USB drive and reboot.

Terminal · mac

$ # Follow the on-screen installer prompts:

$ # 1. Select your internal drive as the install target

$ # 2. Confirm the installation (this erases the selected drive)

$ # 3. Wait for the progress bar to complete

$ # 4. Remove the USB drive when prompted

$ # 5. Press Enter or wait for the automatic reboot

What you should see

The machine reboots without the USB drive and starts loading StartOS from the internal drive. You will see a Start9 logo or a plain boot screen.

This might happen

You accidentally select the USB drive itself as the install target.

Look at the drive sizes listed. Your internal drive is typically larger. If unsure, unplug any extra USB drives before starting.

Step 5 of 6

Complete the setup wizard in your browser

10 min

StartOS runs a web-based setup wizard on your local network. From any computer or phone on the same network, open a browser and go to the address shown on your server's screen (something like http://start.local or an IP address like http://192.168.1.x). The wizard walks you through creating a password and initializing your server storage. This is a one-time process.

Terminal · mac

$ # On another device connected to the same network:

$ # 1. Open a web browser

$ # 2. Type the address shown on your server screen, for example:

$ # http://start.local

$ # or

$ # http://192.168.1.x (use the IP shown on your server)

$ # 3. Follow the on-screen setup wizard to create your admin password

$ # 4. Wait for initialization to complete (can take 2-5 minutes)

What you should see

You land on the StartOS dashboard — a clean web interface showing your server status, with a Marketplace link to browse installable services.

This might happen

http://start.local does not load in the browser.

Try the numeric IP address instead. Find it by checking your router's connected-devices list, or connect a monitor to the server — StartOS displays its IP on screen.

Step 6 of 6

Install your first service from the Marketplace

5 min

The StartOS Marketplace is built into your dashboard. Click Marketplace, browse available services like Nextcloud (file storage), Vaultwarden (password manager), or a Bitcoin node, and click Install. StartOS handles downloading, verifying, and running the service in an isolated container. No command line needed.

Terminal · mac

$ # In the StartOS web dashboard:

$ # 1. Click 'Marketplace' in the left sidebar

$ # 2. Browse or search for a service (e.g. 'Nextcloud' or 'Vaultwarden')

$ # 3. Click the service name, then click 'Install'

$ # 4. Wait for the download and install to finish

$ # 5. Click 'Launch' to open the service

What you should see

The service appears in your dashboard under 'Services' with a green running status. Clicking it opens the app's own web interface.

This might happen

A service shows 'needs dependencies' and will not start.

Some services require other services first (e.g. a Lightning node needs a Bitcoin node). StartOS will tell you exactly what is missing — install those first, then retry.

// Status

cooked. baked. worked.

A personal server running on your own hardware, accessible from your local network via a browser, with a point-and-click interface for installing and managing self-hosted apps — no cloud accounts, no subscriptions, no third-party access to your data.

// the honest bit

The honest part

StartOS is real, mature software — not a weekend project — but it is still a Linux OS install, which means hardware compatibility is not guaranteed. Very new or unusual hardware (especially Wi-Fi chips and some NVMe controllers) may not work out of the box. A wired ethernet connection is strongly recommended; Wi-Fi support is limited. Building from source (the GitHub repo) requires a full Rust and Node.js toolchain and is not covered here — this guide uses the pre-built images Start9 publishes. The Marketplace has a growing but finite list of services; not every app you want will be available. Backups are your responsibility — StartOS has a built-in backup tool, but you must configure it.