My old Microsoft Surface became the most useful screen in my homelab

Released Oct 30, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT

Gregory Gibson is an IT professional and technical author who concentrates on Linux and Windows Servers, Android modification, virtual personal servers, web servers, and cybersecurity.

Gregory has actually operated in business IT for over 15 years and delights in developing content to assist individuals get the most out of their homelab and self-hosted IT jobs, and to remain safe online.

When not working, he takes pleasure in photography, composing sci-fi, and digital art.

Just recently, I removed an old Microsoft Surface Pro 3 tablet while clearing out my closet. The keyboard had actually long quit, however I wasn’t all set to retire the screen together with it.

My Proxmox server beings in my workshop, and it required a real-time control panel I might look at without needing to boot up a PC. The old Surface Pro appeared worth a shot, because it in some way fit completely inside the server case.

Naturally, offering this Microsoft-built Windows tablet a 2nd chance at life began with setting up Linux on it.

The Surface no longer required to be a laptop computer

Its screen was currently ideal for a devoted display screen

Because its Type Cover keyboard just had 4 working secrets, the Surface had actually ended up being too uncomfortable to utilize for anything that needed typing. The touchscreen, however, still worked completely, and a control panel wasn’t going to need any essay writing.

I likewise didn’t require the tablet to run the tracking service itself. I currently had a devoted VM for random Docker containers on Proxmox, so I simply set up Pulse there and provided the Surface the simple task of showing its web user interface.

Its Core i5-4300U and 4G GB of RAM were ample for the tasks I wanted:

This implied I might reboot the tablet without requiring to take the tracking service down with it.

For the Surface itself, I purged it of Windows 10 and set up Linux Ultramarine KDEa distro with an image that’s created to work on Surface tablets.

Safe and secure boot obstructed the preliminary USB boot up until I disabled it, and getting the remote desktop working took a great deal of persistence thanks to a recognized kRDP authentication bug in KDE variation 6.8. Given that the tablet didn’t have a working keyboard, this ended up being a significant thorn in my side throughout setup.

Pulse for Proxmox offered me beneficial factors to sign in frequently

Resource charts are quite, however the backup caution made an asset

I eventually picked Pulse due to the fact that of its Proxmox-focused user interface that arranged the info I desired out of package. I was more thinking about making the Surface beneficial, and developing a control panel from scratch would’ve been an entire other job.

After linking my Proxmox host through its API, Pulse occupied the control panel with all my VMs, containers, storage, and resource use. Checking out the CPU temperature level required an additional action, so I set up Pulse’s representative on the physical host. The sensing unit readings then appeared together with whatever else.

That currently offered me 4 beneficial things to watch on:

1. Host health, which covered CPU load, memory use, and temperature level with charts revealing current activity.

2. Visitor and storage use for private VMs and capability throughout the Proxmox storage drives, all on one page.

3. Backup protection that highlighted visitors that either had not had actually a backup carried out or were past due for one.

4. Attention notifying that offers beneficial triggers by means of user-defined filters when a VM reaches a particular threat limit.

The backup caution in fact triggered me to do something. My network-ops VM was running, however its information consisted of a brilliant”No finished backup discovered”message that I could not neglect.

I ran a backup through Proxmox, then examined Pulse once again. Sure enough, Pulse instantly got that the backup was finished and the caution vanished. This was precisely the sort of real-time reaction I was trying to find.

The storage view was simply as useful, positioning all my 5 storage drives and their development in time in one location. This, plus the compact view of private VM resource usage, was ample to validate the different screen.

Now, the Surface might reveal me what the server depended on without requiring to drag a laptop computer with me to my workshop.

Pulse is a self-hosted tracking control panel for Proxmox, Docker, Kubernetes, and other facilities.

It brings resource use, temperature levels, storage, backup status, and signals into one web user interface.

Platform (s)

Web-based, self-hosted

Designer

rcourtman[ 19659040]Cost design

Free Community edition

Kiosk mode was the ending up touch

On such a little screen, the design was simply as essential as the tracking software application

My very first issue was that Pulse looked far too hectic to show effectively on the high-resolution Surface display screen. The broadened host charts used up a great deal of area, which pressed the visitor list well listed below the screen. A control panel that required scrolling wasn’t actually what I desired when it sat behind a tempered glass case.

As it ended up, Pulse had a kiosk mode that got rid of all the navigation and filters. I might keep the host charts broadened and still see the visitor list on one screen. Luckily, Pulse’s kiosk mode worked without an interactive login.

To allow it, I went to Settings → API gain access to and produced a token utilizing the Kiosk/ Monitoring pre-programmed. Pulse then created a Magic Kiosk Linkwhich I might utilize as Firefox’s start-up URL.

Turning the Surface into picture mode orientation reorganized the charts into 2 cool columns, which fit its position next to the server hardware completely.

Making the Surface into a devoted standalone screen took a couple of more modifications:

• I disabled screen dimming and sleep while plugged in, together with automated screen locking.

• I set up an automated desktop login.

• I altered the session settings to require a new desktop when rebooting.

• I included a desktop autostart entry to release Firefox with the control panel.

That last modification needed production of a devoted web browser profile plus the kiosk link created by Pulse:

firefox --no-remote -P surface-dashboard --kiosk "http://pulse-dashboard.home.arpa:7655/?token=xxxxkiosk=1”

Firefox’s own kiosk mode got rid of all the web browser controls and opened Pulse in fullscreen. Pulse’s kiosk mode streamlined the page inside it. Together, Firefox and Pulse provided me an ideal screen that needed little to no intervention when established.

Offer the screen its own monitoring-only Pulse token. Kiosk mode conceals all the controls, however the token’s approvals eventually identify what can be accessed.

The case fit was pure luck, however the effectiveness wasn’t

Discovering a useful task for hardware I currently owned was really gratifying

The most rewarding part of this job needed definitely no setup. In some way, the Surface fitted vertically inside the case, with its bezel matching the slope of the plastic trim so specifically it could not fall out.

I ‘d like to declare that I prepared this, however it was simply pure luck.

That fit specified to my case and tablet. Sitting the Surface on the desk would’ve been great, however it does not look as cool and supplies a best target for my feline to push off the table and damage.

Naturally, I might open Pulse on my primary PC. A devoted display screen includes another powered gadget to keep, and the setup plainly took more effort than simply opening another internet browser tab. The primary advantage was having info readily available where my server was.

I ‘d recycled hardware I currently owned, put Proxmox’s keeping an eye on details where I required to see it, and discovered a design that in some way dealt with the Surface screen’s odd element ratio. The Surface still had a damaged keyboard, however it now likewise had a brand-new task that no longer required one.

In my viewpoint, that’s a far better result than tossing a completely great touchscreen tablet in the garbage.

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