Self-Server (Host Auto-Registration)

Anjungan can automatically detect and register the host server where it's deployed — no manual server entry needed. This gives you visibility into the Docker host's containers, metrics, and compliance directly from the dashboard.

How It Works

On startup, the backend runs a self-detection routine:

1. Check SELF_SERVER_ENABLED=true — skips if false/unset
2. Access the Docker socket (/var/run/docker.sock)
3. Detect host info — hostname, OS, kernel, CPU model, core count
4. Find or Create a server record in the database (matched by hostname)
5. Register with connection_type: docker-socket and is_self: true

The registered server appears as "anjungan-host" by default, visible in:

• Servers list — shows CPU/OS info
• Container page — lists all containers on the host
• Dashboard — host metrics (CPU, memory, disk)
• Compliance scanning — CIS Docker and Lynis scans run on the host

Configuration

Variable	Default	Description
SELF_SERVER_ENABLED	false	Set to "true" to enable auto-registration
SELF_SERVER_NAME	"anjungan-host"	Display name for the self-server
DOCKER_SOCKET_PATH	/var/run/docker.sock	Path to the Docker socket
SELF_HOST_NETWORK	—	Host IP from inside the container

Requirements

Docker Socket Access

The backend container needs the Docker socket mounted and Docker CLI installed:

backend:
  environment:
    SELF_SERVER_ENABLED: "true"
  volumes:
    - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:rw
  group_add:
    - "988"  # Docker group GID — run `getent group docker` to verify

Note: The Docker group GID (988 in the example) varies by OS. Check with:

getent group docker | cut -d: -f3

Connection Type: docker-socket

The self-server uses connection_type: docker-socket instead of SSH:

• Container management → via Docker socket directly
• Host metrics → via docker run --pid=host nsenter
• SSH Terminal → via nsenter by default

Adding SSH Access (Optional)

If you want to SSH into the self-server:

1. Generate an SSH key pair on the host
2. Add the public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
3. Store the private key in Anjungan via Settings → SSH Keys
4. Assign the key to the self-server in Server Settings

Troubleshooting

Self-server not appearing

Check backend logs:

docker compose logs backend | grep "\[self\]"

Expected output:

[self] Docker host detected: my-server
[self] self-server updated: anjungan-host (abc-123...)

If you see [self] Docker socket not accessible:

• Verify SELF_SERVER_ENABLED: "true" is set
• Verify the Docker socket is mounted
• Verify the container user is in the docker group

Container actions fail

Check that:

• The socket is mounted with :rw (read-write)
• The container has docker group access
• The docker CLI is installed in the backend container