Disks+ Overview

New in 2.1.4.82+

Disks+ is the physical disk browser module inside File Explorer. While the other File Explorer backends stay within HomeDock OS’s own scope, Storage for general-purpose files, Drop Zone for encrypted storage, and App Drive for Docker container volumes, Disks+ steps outside and exposes every disk mounted on the host machine: internal drives, external USB storage, NVMe, optical, network shares, everything the OS sees.

Access Model

Disks+ sits behind a dedicated authentication layer separate from your main HomeDock OS login:

Unlock session (10 min, sliding TTL): to open Disks+ you enter your HomeDock OS password. A successful unlock creates a 10-minute session that auto-extends on every authorized file operation. Closing the tab or staying idle for 10 minutes ends the session.
Danger zones: certain system paths (/etc, /boot, /root, /DATA/HomeDock, /System on macOS, C:\Windows on Windows, etc.) require a second password confirmation per zone before they can be listed, downloaded, or modified. Grants are per-session and per-zone: unlocking /etc doesn’t grant /boot.
Lockout: 5 failed password attempts within 5 minutes trigger a 5-minute cooldown (keyed per user, not per IP, so spoofed headers can’t reset it).
Default password block: if your admin password is still passwd (the factory default), Disks+ refuses to unlock. Change it in Settings → Account first.

_{The unlock session is independent from your HomeDock OS login. Closing Disks+ or idling past 10 minutes requires re-authentication, even if your main session is still active.}

What You Can Do

List all mounted disks with capacity, filesystem, media type (HDD / SSD / NVMe / USB / optical) and removable status.
Browse files and folders.
Upload, download, delete, rename, create folders, multi-select.
Live hotplug detection via SSE: plugging/unplugging a USB updates the disk list in real time (bare-metal installs only; see Docker caveat below).

Running Inside Docker

Disks+ works on bare-metal HomeDock OS installations out of the box. Inside Docker it works with a caveat rooted in Docker’s design, not a HomeDock OS limitation.

Why Disks+ Can’t See Host Disks in Docker by Default

Docker isolates each container inside its own mount namespace. The container only sees the filesystems you explicitly pass with -v / volumes:; it cannot introspect the host’s /proc/mounts or access host device nodes. There is no --disk=host flag analogous to --network=host, sharing the mount namespace with the host would bypass the entire container isolation model.

The only flags that would expose host disks universally (--privileged, --cap-add=SYS_ADMIN, -v /:/host) effectively grant root-on-host to the container and are strongly discouraged.

How to Make Host Disks Visible

Bind-mount each host path you want to browse via your docker-compose.yml:

volumes:
  - /mnt/my-disk:/mnt/my-disk

Any bind-mounted path, regardless of source, appears in Disks+ automatically once the container starts. Use :ro at the end of the volume line to make it read-only.

Common examples:

Host OS	Typical bind-mount
Linux (auto-mounted USB)	`- /media:/media`
Linux (manually mounted drives / NAS)	`- /mnt:/mnt`
macOS (user home)	`- /Users:/host_users`
macOS (external volumes)	`- /Volumes:/host_volumes`
WSL2 (Windows drive)	`- /mnt/c:/host_c`

Docker Caveats

No hotplug. Disks plugged in after the container starts are not seen unless the host’s mount propagation is configured as rshared and the parent mount is also shared on the host.
HomeDock OS internals are hidden. The container’s own bind-mounts (/DATA, /homedock/config, /homedock/logs, etc.) are automatically excluded from Disks+ so they don’t clutter the UI.
Danger zones assume host paths. If you bind-mount /etc at /host_etc, the container-side path (/host_etc) doesn’t match the built-in danger zones list. That means the second-password confirmation for system paths won’t trigger. Not a security hole, unlocked Disks+ already gives full access, but fewer guardrails. Prefer bind-mounting user data directories rather than system ones.

Comparison With the Other File Explorer Backends

Feature	Storage / Drop Zone	App Drive	Disks+
Scope	HomeDock OS data only	Volumes of installed Docker apps	Entire host filesystem
Auth	Main HomeDock OS login	Main HomeDock OS login	Separate 10-min unlock session
Danger zones	N/A	N/A	Per-zone password re-confirm
Works in Docker	✅	✅ (via container mount introspection)	✅ for bind-mounted host paths only
Typical use	Uploaded files, packages, drop zone	App configs, app data	Browsing external drives, USBs, NAS