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Jellyfin

Unraid media server hosting for Jellyfin

Jellyfin Media Server

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Disclaimer

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Please read our disclaimer https://docs.ibracorp.io/#disclaimer

Credits​

RoleContributor
Writer / ProducerIBRACORP
Video Recording and VoiceIBRACORP
ContributorJellyfin Community
Testing / ProofreadingIBRACORP Community

Feature List​

Jellyfin Media Server Features:

  • Free and open-source media management platform
  • Manage movie collections with poster displays
  • Organize TV shows by season with metadata
  • Music library with playlist creation and streaming
  • Live TV integration and automatic recording (with tuner)
  • Multi-platform client support (web, mobile, streaming devices)
  • Hardware transcoding for optimal streaming performance
  • No tracking, data collection, or premium features
  • Plugin ecosystem for extended functionality
  • User management with parental controls

Prerequisites​

System Requirements:

  • CPU: 4+ cores (hardware transcoding capable recommended)
  • RAM: 4GB minimum (8GB+ recommended for transcoding)
  • Storage: Sufficient space for media library
  • Network: Gigabit ethernet recommended for 4K streaming
  • Media Library: Organized according to TRaSH Guides structure

Recommended Media Structure:

/data/media/
├── movies/
│   ├── Movie Title (2023)/
│   │   └── Movie Title (2023).mkv
├── tv/
│   ├── TV Show Name (2020)/
│   │   ├── Season 01/
│   │   │   ├── S01E01 - Episode Title.mkv
│   │   │   └── S01E02 - Episode Title.mkv
└── music/
    ├── Artist Name/
    │   ├── Album Name (2023)/
    │   │   ├── 01 - Track Name.flac

Installation​

Unraid Docker Template​

Jellyfin / Community Applications / Media Servers

Installation Steps:

  1. Head to the Community Applications store in Unraid
  2. Search for and click to install Jellyfin
  3. Configure the container settings:
    • WebUI Port: 8096
    • Media Paths: Map your media directories
    • Config Path: /mnt/user/appdata/jellyfin
    • Network Type: Bridge or custom Docker network
  4. Configure Volume Mappings:
    • Config: /mnt/user/appdata/jellyfin → /config
    • Movies: /mnt/user/data/media/movies → /data/movies
    • TV Shows: /mnt/user/data/media/tv → /data/tv
    • Music: /mnt/user/data/media/music → /data/music
  5. Click Apply and wait for the container to pull down and start
  6. Access the WebUI at http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8096

Docker Compose​

version: '3.8'
services:
  jellyfin:
    image: jellyfin/jellyfin:latest
    container_name: jellyfin
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - ./jellyfin-config:/config
      - /path/to/media/movies:/data/movies
      - /path/to/media/tv:/data/tv
      - /path/to/media/music:/data/music
    ports:
      - "8096:8096"
      - "8920:8920"  # HTTPS
      - "7359:7359/udp"  # Auto-discovery
      - "1900:1900/udp"  # DLNA
    devices:
      - /dev/dri:/dev/dri  # Hardware transcoding (Intel)
    # For NVIDIA GPU transcoding:
    # runtime: nvidia
    # environment:
    #   - NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all

Installation Steps:

  1. Save the above configuration as docker-compose.yml
  2. Update the media paths to match your library structure
  3. Configure timezone and user IDs as needed
  4. Start the container: 
    docker compose up -d
  5. Access the WebUI at http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8096

Configuration​

Initial Setup​

First-Time Configuration:

  1. Navigate to http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:8096
  2. Complete the setup wizard:
    • Language: Select your preferred language
    • User Account: Create admin user with secure password
    • Media Libraries: Add your movie, TV, and music libraries
    • Remote Access: Configure external access (optional)
    • Metadata Settings: Choose preferred metadata providers

Library Configuration:

  1. Movies Library:

    • Content Type: Movies
    • Display Name: Movies
    • Folders: /data/movies
    • Metadata Provider: The Movie Database (TMDb)

  2. TV Shows Library:

    • Content Type: TV Shows
    • Display Name: TV Shows
    • Folders: /data/tv
    • Metadata Provider: The Movie Database (TMDb)

  3. Music Library:

    • Content Type: Music
    • Display Name: Music
    • Folders: /data/music
    • Metadata Provider: MusicBrainz

User Management​

Creating Additional Users:

  1. Navigate to Dashboard → Users
  2. Click "Add User"
  3. Configure user settings:
    • Username: User display name
    • Password: Secure password
    • Library Access: Select available libraries
    • Parental Controls: Set content ratings if needed

User Permissions:

  • Administrator: Full server management access
  • Standard User: Media access only
  • Restricted User: Limited content based on ratings

Hardware Transcoding​

Intel Quick Sync (Recommended):

  1. Docker Configuration:

    devices:
      - /dev/dri:/dev/dri

  2. Jellyfin Settings:

    • Navigate to Dashboard → Playback
    • Hardware Acceleration: Intel Quick Sync Video
    • Enable Hardware Decoding: Check all supported codecs
    • Enable Hardware Encoding: Check all supported codecs

NVIDIA GPU Transcoding:

  1. Docker Configuration:

    runtime: nvidia
    environment:
      - NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all

  2. Jellyfin Settings:

    • Hardware Acceleration: NVIDIA NVENC
    • Enable Hardware Decoding: H.264, HEVC
    • Enable Hardware Encoding: H.264, HEVC

Client Applications​

Supported Platforms​

Web Browsers:

  • Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge
  • Access via http://SERVER_IP:8096

Mobile Applications:

  • Android: Jellyfin for Android (Google Play)
  • iOS: Jellyfin Mobile (App Store)

Streaming Devices:

  • Roku: Jellyfin for Roku
  • Android TV: Jellyfin for Android TV
  • Amazon Fire TV: Jellyfin for Fire TV
  • Apple TV: Jellyfin for Apple TV (via App Store)

Desktop Applications:

  • Windows: Jellyfin Theater, Jellyfin MPV Shim
  • macOS: Jellyfin Theater, Jellyfin MPV Shim
  • Linux: Jellyfin Theater, Jellyfin MPV Shim

Media Centers:

  • Kodi: Jellyfin for Kodi addon
  • Emby: Limited compatibility

Remote Access Configuration​

Secure Remote Access:

  1. HTTPS Setup:

    • Navigate to Dashboard → Networking
    • Secure Connection Mode: Handled by reverse proxy
    • External Domain: jellyfin.yourdomain.com

  2. Reverse Proxy (Nginx):

    server {
        listen 443 ssl http2;
        server_name jellyfin.yourdomain.com;

        ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
        ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;

        location / {
            proxy_pass http://jellyfin:8096;
            proxy_set_header Host $host;
            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $server_name;
        }
    }

Advanced Configuration​

Plugin Management​

Popular Plugins:

  1. TMDb Box Sets - Enhanced movie collection support
  2. Trakt - Scrobbling and sync with Trakt.tv
  3. Subtitle Plugins - Additional subtitle providers
  4. LDAP Authentication - Enterprise user management
  5. Webhook - Notifications and automation integration

Installing Plugins:

  1. Navigate to Dashboard → Plugins
  2. Click "Catalog"
  3. Browse available plugins and click "Install"
  4. Restart Jellyfin to activate plugins

Library Optimization​

Metadata Refresh:

# Force metadata refresh for all libraries
# Via Dashboard → Libraries → Scan All Libraries

# Or via CLI (if SSH access available)
curl -X POST "http://localhost:8096/Library/Refresh" \
  -H "X-Emby-Token: YOUR_API_KEY"

Database Optimization:

  • Scheduled Tasks: Configure automatic library scans
  • Image Caching: Enable image extraction for better performance
  • Metadata Downloading: Optimize provider priority

Monitoring and Maintenance​

System Monitoring:

  1. Dashboard Overview:

    • Active streams and transcoding
    • Server performance metrics
    • Recent media additions

  2. Log Management:

    • Location: /config/log/
    • Log Levels: Debug, Information, Warning, Error
    • Log Rotation: Automatic cleanup of old logs

Backup Strategy:

# Backup Jellyfin configuration
tar -czf jellyfin-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /path/to/jellyfin-config/

# Backup database specifically
cp /path/to/jellyfin-config/data/jellyfin.db /backup/location/

Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

Transcoding Failures:

  • Verify hardware acceleration is properly configured
  • Check available disk space for transcoding directory
  • Review transcoding logs for specific codec errors
  • Ensure sufficient CPU/GPU resources

Library Scanning Issues:

  • Verify file permissions on media directories
  • Check media file naming conventions (TRaSH Guides)
  • Review scanning logs for specific errors
  • Ensure network connectivity to metadata providers

Playback Problems:

  • Check client compatibility with media codecs
  • Verify network bandwidth for streaming quality
  • Review transcoding settings and profiles
  • Test direct play vs. transcoded playback

Remote Access Issues:

  • Confirm port forwarding for port 8096
  • Check firewall settings on server and router
  • Verify reverse proxy configuration
  • Test local access before troubleshooting remote

Performance Optimization​

Server Optimization:

# Docker resource limits
deploy:
  resources:
    limits:
      cpus: '4.0'
      memory: 8G
    reservations:
      cpus: '2.0'
      memory: 4G

Database Optimization:

  • Regular database cleanup via scheduled tasks
  • Monitor database size and performance
  • Consider SSD storage for Jellyfin config directory

Log Analysis​

Important Log Locations:

# Main Jellyfin logs
/config/log/jellyfin.log

# FFmpeg transcoding logs
/config/log/ffmpeg-*.txt

# Plugin logs
/config/log/plugin_*.log

Log Commands:

# View real-time logs
docker logs -f jellyfin

# Search for specific errors
grep -i "error" /path/to/jellyfin-config/log/jellyfin.log

# Monitor transcoding activity
tail -f /path/to/jellyfin-config/log/ffmpeg-*.txt

Integration​

Media Automation Stack​

Recommended Companions:

  • Sonarr - TV show management and downloading
  • Radarr - Movie management and downloading
  • Prowlarr - Indexer management
  • Bazarr - Subtitle management
  • Overseerr/Jellyseerr - Request management

Integration Configuration:

  1. Configure media automation tools to use same directory structure
  2. Set up webhook notifications between services
  3. Ensure proper file permissions across all containers

Backup and Sync​

Automated Backup Script:

#!/bin/bash
# jellyfin-backup.sh

BACKUP_DIR="/backup/jellyfin"
CONFIG_DIR="/path/to/jellyfin-config"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

# Create backup directory
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

# Backup configuration
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/jellyfin-config-$DATE.tar.gz" "$CONFIG_DIR"

# Keep only last 7 backups
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name "jellyfin-config-*.tar.gz" -mtime +7 -delete

Special Thanks​

  • Jellyfin Team for their excellent open-source media server platform
  • To our fantastic Discord community and our Admins DiscDuck and Hawks for their input and documentation (as always)

Please support the developers and creators involved in this work to help show them some love. ❤️

Final Words​

We hope you enjoyed this guide. It was conceptualized, written, and implemented by our Admin Sycotix.

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