Media Server Magic: Streaming and Storing Your Entertainment at Home with Jellyfin

/ Home server, Media Server / By

Introduction

In the era of digital content, the desire to have complete control over our media is stronger than ever. Enter Jellyfin, an open-source media server that lets you organize, stream, and share your music, movies, and TV shows on your terms. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of installing and configuring Jellyfin on your home server, making it accessible for all your devices.

Step 1: Choose method of installation

Jellyfin can be installed in linux, windows, mac, or as a container. It even has support for Synology.
I’m using Debian so, will document Debian and docker installation

Step 2: Installing Jellyfin

Bare-metal on Debian

Jellyfin can be installed in Debian or any Debian based distro with a one liner

curl https://repo.jellyfin.org/install-debuntu.sh | sudo bash
Using Docker compose

Create a docker-compose.yml file with the following contents. Add in the UID and GID that you would like to run jellyfin as in the user line below, or remove the user line to use the default (root).

version: '3.5'
services:
jellyfin:
image: jellyfin/jellyfin
container_name: jellyfin
user: uid:gid
network_mode: 'host'
volumes:
- /path/to/config:/config
- /path/to/cache:/cache
- /path/to/media:/media
- /path/to/media2:/media2:ro
restart: 'unless-stopped'
# Optional - alternative address used for autodiscovery
environment:
- JELLYFIN_PublishedServerUrl=http://example.com
# Optional - may be necessary for docker healthcheck to pass if running in host network mode
extra_hosts:
- "host.docker.internal:host-gateway"

Then while in the same folder as the docker-compose.yml run:

docker compose up

Step 3: Configuring Jellyfin

  1. Accessing the Web Interface:
    Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:8096 or use your server’s IP address. The Jellyfin login page will appear.
  2. Creating an Admin Account:
    Follow on-screen instructions to create your Jellyfin admin account. This account enables you to manage your media library and server settings.
  3. Adding Media Libraries:
    After logging in, Jellyfin prompts you to add your media libraries. Click “Add Library” and choose the type of media you want to include (Movies, TV Shows, Music, etc.). Specify the path to your media files, and metadata source (you can add more sources later), then let Jellyfin organize your content.
  4. Setting Up Remote Access (Optional):
    To access your media server beyond your home network, configure remote access. In the Jellyfin dashboard, navigate to “Networking” and set up remote access using a secure connection.

Enjoying Your Media.

Resources

https://jellyfin.org/docs/

https://github.com/awesome-jellyfin/awesome-jellyfin