this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2025
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[Solved] Looking for ... inventory management, I guess? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
56 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for a system that:

  • I can self host
  • Is slim, because I don't have beefy hardware (Intel J5040, 32GB RAM, shared by all VMs/containers)
  • can be used to create an inventory of all the tech/hardware that I have in my house (not exclusively IT, I also wasn't to track things like warranty for my chainsaws and the like)
  • does take at least the device make/model, serial number (for insurance cases) and warranty dates
  • is not some kind of enterprise-how-many-items-of-this-article-do-i-have-in-stock-things, because that seems to be the only thing I seem to be able to find, and they neither match my use case nor do they seem to be lightweight enough.

... and honestly, I don't even know where to start looking. Do you guys have any recommendations?

Of course, I could just use a spreadsheet, but where's the fun in that?

EDIT: Thank you all so much for the engaged discussion and all the suggestions, you're the best!

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[–] Saltarello@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Another shout for Homebox. I used to use a spreadsheet but over time found I simply didn't maintain it but I've found I always maintain Homebox.

Homebox allows parent/child relationship between items & exports to spreadsheet.

I dont utilise the QR code facility because my family members would not bother to use QR codes. Instead I've numbered all boxes in each location (attic, garage, basement etc), printed contents of each box & put the printout into physical folders left in each location so even the most Luddite in my family can easily locate stuff then, in theory, remember where they took it from & if the stars align & its my luck day, put the item back in the same box that they removed said item from. When that happens I always check my lottery numbers too!

They can't filter/search a physical printout but at least they can find stuff (I guess I should simply add a QR code to each printout for a best of both worlds solution).

Overall I've found Homebox a useful, simple & fun tool

[–] tankerkiller125@lemmy.world 5 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Howdy, the Hay-Kot version of Homebox has been archived and will no longer be getting updates. However, a team has taken over the development (and I'm one of the devs) over at https://homebox.software/ and we've already fixed some bugs and made some improvements (including Postgres support), and we're working on the next big release now.

[–] Saltarello@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

Thanks, I'm running the new version but linked to the old in error

[–] WalnutLum@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

Libreoffice has a database engine and frontend that's pretty applicable to Microsoft Access

[–] qaz@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I've been looking for something like this myself. I've tried:

  • NocoDB
  • Baserow
  • Homebox
  • Snipe-IT

In the end I went with Grist. It may not be specifically designed for it, but it is very flexible.

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adempiere

[–] Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 day ago

HomeBox is perfect for your use case. You could also try InvenTree, but I think HomeBox is going to better suit your needs.

[–] MummysLittleBloodSlut@lemmy.blahaj.zone 47 points 3 days ago (2 children)

LibreOffice Calc

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 23 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Indeed. What you are looking for is a spreadsheet.

Don't overcomplicate things.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago (3 children)

its just a spreadsheet, until you want to track what happens to it over time. maintenance, failures, ...

[–] sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net 1 points 1 day ago

I think Apache has an enterprise resource planning software, but it's exactly as complex as you'd expect enterprise erp

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Time to pull out the second page

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

oh, the history of this laptop must be on the 37th worksheet, now I just need to scroll there and find it

[–] Darkmoon_UK@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago

You're just not Spreading hard enough, friend. Excel is like the OG low-code App Dev platform!

[–] suzune@ani.social 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, I've even seen people making presentation slides in Excel. Why ever use anything else? 😉

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 6 points 1 day ago

I once asked somebody for a spreadsheet (they were trying to import the data into my software and it was failing), and got back a .doc file containing a screenshot of Excel running the spreadsheet.

I was in awe of how somebody could misuse so many pieces of software at once.

[–] antsu@lemmy.wtf 8 points 2 days ago

+1
This is a problem a simple spreadsheet is perfectly adequate for.

[–] conrad82@lemmy.world 40 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I use homebox and it has been good for my home usecase. I have put qr codes on boxes to easily check contents from my phone

https://github.com/sysadminsmedia/homebox

[–] N0x0n@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

While I do agree on the general sentiment to not overcomplicate things, homebox seems rather easy to use and intuitive.

Being able to create qr code to put them on boxes and also have them directly accessible through the web interface is neat !

However, there's one thing that's quite cumbersome... There isn't a one button move everything to a new location. Someone already posted a feature request and got some traction :) so cross fingers this going be implemented in the near futur !!

[–] conrad82@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Yes, I agree, batch moving stuff is important. I haven't had that problem yet, so let's hope they add it before I move or something 😅

[–] MartianFox@lemmy.ml 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Also using Homebox. Quite intuitive UI, not too many features but also not too few. For instance you can upload the receipts, manuals, etc for euch equipment, etc

[–] DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 days ago

Thanks, that sounds really nice!

[–] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 7 points 2 days ago

A CSV file should work.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

Get Ralph it's awesome. Use it in conjunction with Zabbix too if you're monitoring your infra as well.

[–] ouch@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Besides CSV, if you want to have lots of optional fields, a YAML file in a git repository is an option. Use yq or to query it.

https://github.com/mikefarah/yq

[–] DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

Interesting option, I'm familiar with Git, YAML and yq. Thank you!

[–] SrMono@feddit.org 28 points 3 days ago (5 children)

This might be an unpopular opinion/solution but even for two small size sister companies we are doing inventory in a version controlled markdown file 🫣

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 16 points 3 days ago

Honestly, a spreadsheet would be fine for this? I'm not super familiar with what an inventory management system does tho, so maybe it does things beyond what a spreadsheet can do.

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 7 points 2 days ago

a version controlled markdown file

There's a lot of genius in this idea ...

[–] DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Not at all, I like .md, and I'm familiar with Git. A spreadsheet is not something that I would throw into Git, but an .md...

[–] 2910000@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I use markdown too, except I keep the markdown file in a self-hosted wiki (wiki.js)

It's versioned and accepts git as a backend

[–] fishynoob@infosec.pub 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm looking for something that can automatically handle markdown tables for me in git. If an application can do that then I can get off excel/LibreOffice calc.

[–] 2910000@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I haven't searched about this so I don't know, but it'd be cool if there were a way to import/export markdown tables into LibreOffice

[–] SrMono@feddit.org 5 points 2 days ago

That is the reason Markdown and Git are used for a lot shenanigans these days. Knowledge bases, awesome-lists, documentations. You name it.

If you got the right tools (sphinx, typora, mkdocs, …obsidian) you got a powerful toolchain.

[–] haverholm@kbin.earth 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Simplest possible solution, Occam's Inventory 😄

I use markdown extensively, but I'm honestly not fond of its tables function (which I assume you use for this purpose?). It works, but it's a bit static in my experience. Do you run up against the same, or is it actually an advantage in your use case?

[–] SrMono@feddit.org 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

We’re using headings for different types of inventory (hardware/office items/…) and then a block of subheading, bulletpoint combination (serialnumber, date of acquisition, whereabouts,…) for each item and associated item.

The toc is generated automatically and helps browsing through.

[–] haverholm@kbin.earth 3 points 3 days ago

Even simpler, I love it! 👍

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[–] yournamehere@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

you want a gui. so cvs is weak. give nocodb a run. can do ANYTHING. cool product overviews, easy to create tables even with attachment like images.

[–] mcmic88@feddit.org 17 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I'm suggesting HomeBox.

https://demo.homebox.software/

Small, selfhosted and centered around home use.

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 3 points 2 days ago

A CSV in git

[–] johntash@eviltoast.org 6 points 2 days ago

Snipe-it is a bit overkill but it's pretty good.

Grocy also has an inventory tracker. I'm not sure how different it is tho

[–] shrugs@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

+1 for netbox

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Snipe-IT and Shelf.nu are two of the most popular ones.

Maybe also consider just kicking one out yourself with NocoBase or something like that though.

[–] DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 days ago

HA, the term I was looking for is even on their website: "Asset Management Software". My non-native speaker ass didn't come up with this.

Thank you, I will check those out.

Though it sounds interesting for tinkering, I'm probably not doing down the NoCode route. You make it, you maintain it forever, and I don't have that kind of time.

[–] Xanza@lemm.ee 6 points 2 days ago

NocoDB.

[–] StrawberryPigtails@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

There's a couple of options.

I've used Grocy. It's not intended for that particular use case but it would work. More for Grocery management.

Might want to check out https://awesome-selfhosted.net/

[–] DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago

Oh yeah, I was planning to deploy Grocy anyway, but I never thought about using it for this. Thank you!

[–] zer0squar3d@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago

Spiceworks? Been a while since ive used it

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

I'd just roll your own with either a spreadsheet or a relational database depending on how fancy you want to get.

In fact, I've done that for comic books.

[–] Biscuit@ani.social 3 points 2 days ago

NocoDB is pretty fun if you want an AirTable-like.

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