HomesteadWatch

Support & feedback

Self-hosted software.
Clear expectations.

HomesteadWatch is aimed at technically confident home users and self-hosters, with documentation intended to make the reference setup approachable without pretending every home system is the same.

Last updated: 12 August 2026

Who is the Community Preview for?

HomesteadWatch is primarily aimed at intermediate and advanced homelab users, self-hosters, and technically confident home users who are comfortable working with Linux, networking, RTSP cameras, and command-line tools.

The documentation will still try to make the reference setup approachable for people who are newer to self-hosting, but the Community Preview should not be treated as a plug-and-play consumer appliance. Some installations will require troubleshooting and adapting instructions to suit different cameras, networks, storage layouts, and operating systems.

Community Preview support model

HomesteadWatch is being prepared as a self-service Community Preview. The documentation is intended to guide users through installation, operation, troubleshooting, backup, and recovery, including people who may be relatively new to self-hosting. Every home network, camera, Linux system, and storage setup can differ, however, so the documentation cannot cover every possible configuration.

Individual remote administration, guaranteed one-to-one setup help, and a support SLA are not included with the free Community Preview.

Before making changes to your system

Back up anything important and read each step before running it. Commands and configuration examples are guidance for the documented reference setup. Check them before applying them and adapt them carefully to your own system.

Installing and operating self-hosted software can involve changes to networking, storage, services, firewall rules, camera settings, and the host operating system. Different environments can behave differently, so do not assume that a command or configuration intended for the reference setup is automatically right for yours.

Formal Community Preview terms, including the applicable licence, warranty and liability provisions, will be presented with the public download when the software is released.

Documentation first

The planned documentation will focus on a tested reference installation and modular guides for common tasks, including turning an old laptop or small PC into a HomesteadWatch server, connecting an RTSP camera, optional local recording, secure remote access, notifications, backup, updates, and troubleshooting.

Different setup? Other Linux distributions, cameras, storage layouts, reverse proxies, VLANs, and existing NVR systems may work, but the Community Preview cannot promise individual support for every combination.

What feedback is useful?

  • Reproducible bugs and clear error messages.
  • Camera model and RTSP compatibility reports.
  • Installation steps that were confusing or incomplete.
  • Accessibility problems.
  • Useful home-camera workflows or feature suggestions.
Project feedback homesteadwatch@proton.me

Security reports

Suspected vulnerabilities should be reported privately using the guidance on the Security page rather than posted publicly first.