ZimaBoard 2 + OmaTerm - A 10 Watt Dev Server Claude Code, Once, local send
Something different. Ice Whale sent me a ZimaBoard 2 to look at, and the timing was perfect because I was already trying to solve a problem — how to run OmaTerm, DHH's headless terminal Omarchy, on a local dev box instead of…
Something different. Ice Whale sent me a ZimaBoard 2 to look at, and the timing was perfect because I was already trying to solve a problem — how to run OmaTerm, DHH's headless terminal Omarchy, on a local dev box instead of burning money on a VPS every month.
You can get a Zimaboard 2 here
Zimaboard 2 purchase link: https://bit.ly/4dDoM5h
Amazon UK: https://bit.ly/4u9l0FQ
You can get Omaterm here https://www.omaterm.org
the script mention are here or check out my git
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You can download Omarchy here https://omarchy.org
Amazing premade Omarchy themes here and other cool stuff
https://github.com/HANCORE-linux
In this video I unbox the ZimaBoard, walk through ZimaOS, then wipe it and install my own custom Arch ISO with OmaTerm baked in. By the end I've got a local dev server running Claude Code, Once for app deployment, and a terminal-based file transfer tool — all on a 10 watt fanless box sitting on my desk.
THE ZIMABOARD 2
Intel N150, 16GB DDR5, two 2.5 gig ethernet ports, two SATA bays, PCI3 slot, mini DisplayPort, HDMI, and a 64GB eMMC for the OS. TDP of 10 watts. No power switch — plug it in and it's on. Assembly is screwdriver and Lego level. No instructions in the box which I respect.
ZIMAOS
It comes with ZimaOS pre-installed — a web-based interface you access from another machine on your network. It's got RAID configuration, Docker app store with hundreds of containers (Plex, Pi-hole, Ollama, NextCloud, Portainer, the works), VM support, remote access, and 3-2-1 backup guidance. If you're starting out with home labs and self-hosting, this is genuinely a great entry point. Everything is there and it's well presented.
But that's not what I need it for.
OMATERM ON A LOCAL BOX
OmaTerm is part of the OmaCon project on GitHub — a headless, terminal-only Omarchy built for servers and agent workflows. Shell, editors, Tmux, Claude Code, dev tools, networking, Git. It's designed to curl onto a cloud VPS, but I wrote a script that builds a bootable Arch ISO with OmaTerm pre-configured so you can install it on local hardware in minutes.
Download the latest Arch ISO, put it in the same folder as my script, run it, and you get a custom installer. Boot from it, answer a few questions, reboot, SSH in from your main machine, and OmaTerm sets itself up. Done.
WHY LOCAL INSTEAD OF CLOUD
I was running OmaTerm on a VPS and it worked great. Then I realised I was paying for a spare server I didn't need. Students, hobbyists, anyone starting out — $20-40 a month for a cloud server adds up. A ZimaBoard or any cheap mini PC gives you the same environment permanently for a one-off cost.
ONCE ON LOCAL NETWORK
Once is brilliant for deploying containerised apps to the cloud but it doesn't work on .local network domains out of the box. So I wrote a helper called Once Add that lets you deploy Once apps to your local network. In the video I deploy Writebook to book.local on the ZimaBoard and access it from my Omarchy desktop browser. Same Once workflow, local network.
OMARCHISEND
LocalSend is great on desktops but doesn't work headless. So I built a terminal-based version for Omarchy. It lets you send files between your desktop and the dev box, and critically it means Claude Code on the remote machine can send you notifications when it's finished a task. Send a brief to the dev box, Claude cooks it, pings you when it's done.
WHAT'S NEXT
I'm going to put an Oculink adapter on the ZimaBoard with an AMD GPU and benchmark it. Also planning to turn it into a media server with Jellyfin. Both coming in future videos.
THE SCRIPTS
OmaTerm local installer, Once Add, and OmarchiSend will all go on Git. OmaTerm itself is actively being developed by DHH so expect changes.
ABOUT THIS CHANNEL
I make videos about Linux, Omarchy, self-hosting, dev tools, and gaming. Subscribe if that's your thing.
00:00 - Start
00:08 - PRE AMBLE
01:52 - ZIMABOARD 2
03:33 - BOOT UP
04:42 - ZIMA OS
12:40 - LOCAL DEV BOX
16:22 - OMA TERM
18:47 - MAKE THE ISO
20:48 - INSTALL ARCH
23:04 - INSTALL OMATERM
28:15 - SET UP CLAUDE
30:10 - ONCE
32:40 - OMARCHY SEND
37:04 - FINAL WORDS