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Jellyfin, a versatile media server

Are you looking for another homelab project? Well, why don’t set up a media server?
A media server is a nice thing to set up in a homelab, also because it’s something that anyone in the house can use.
There are a ton of options out there, but I decided to go for Jellyfin simply because it’s versatile.
If you would like to see a comparison between different media servers, take a look at this on GitHub.
I know what you are thinking and the answer is “yes, we are going to use docker-compose”. Also, we are going to use the Docker image from linuxserver.io.
Without further ado, let’s set it up!
I’m going to set up some shared folders in my NAS (you don’t have to), so I can have a good amount of space for my media, and then…

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mkdir jellyfin
cd jellyfin
touch docker-compose.yml
nano docker-compose.yml

docker-compose.yml

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---
version: "2.1"
services:
  jellyfin:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/jellyfin
    container_name: jellyfin
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Europe/London
    volumes:
      - /path/to/library:/config
      - /path/to/tvseries:/data/tvshows
      - /path/to/movies:/data/movies
    ports:
      - 8096:8096
    restart: unless-stopped

After writing, saving and closing the file, execute the usual…

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sudo docker-compose up -d

Wait until the container is up and running. Now go to the ip address:port where Jellyfin lives and start the final set up.
Jellyfin has mobile and Smart TV applications, so you can access it even from your couch or on the go.

Warning: Don’t let the CPU die

Something to consider when setting up a media server is that without a graphics card, the CPU will do all the heavy lifting. This may not be a good thing on older hardware, and because (surprise, surprise) I have old hardware, I decided to buy a graphics card. Remember, you don’t need the latest and greatest hardware, just something to do the job smoothly and leave the CPU in peace. Just to give you an example, I bought a GeForce GT610, and it works amazingly well. So, if you are in the same situation, do yourself a favor and don’t let your CPU die.

This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.