Jellyfin

Install Jellyfin media server on VPS with Docker or native installation, stream your media from anywhere

Jellyfin is a free, open-source media server that lets you stream movies, TV shows, music, and photos from anywhere. It's a fully self-hosted alternative to Plex with no proprietary restrictions.

What is Jellyfin?

Jellyfin is a complete media management and streaming solution. Unlike Plex, there's no account requirement, no limits on users or devices, and complete control over your data. You own everything.

Docker Installation

Docker Compose Setup

Create /etc/docker/compose/jellyfin/docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8'

services:
  jellyfin:
    image: jellyfin/jellyfin:latest
    container_name: jellyfin
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "8096:8096"
      - "8920:8920"
    environment:
      - JELLYFIN_CACHE_DIR=/cache
      - JELLYFIN_CONFIG_DIR=/config
      - JELLYFIN_DATA_DIR=/config
      - JELLYFIN_LOG_DIR=/config/logs
    volumes:
      - jellyfin_config:/config
      - jellyfin_cache:/cache
      - /media/movies:/media/movies:ro
      - /media/tvshows:/media/tvshows:ro
      - /media/music:/media/music:ro
    devices:
      - /dev/dri:/dev/dri

Deploy:

cd /etc/docker/compose/jellyfin
docker compose up -d

Check status:

docker compose logs -f jellyfin

Native Installation (Ubuntu/Debian)

Add the Jellyfin repository:

apt install -y software-properties-common
add-apt-repository ppa:jellyfin/jellyfin
apt update
apt install -y jellyfin

Start the service:

systemctl start jellyfin
systemctl enable jellyfin

Verify it's running:

systemctl status jellyfin
ss -tlnp | grep 8096

Media Structure

Organize your media in a standard format:

/media/
├── movies/
│   ├── Movie Title (2023)/
│   │   └── Movie.Title.2023.mkv
│   └── Another Film/
│       └── Another.Film.mkv
├── tvshows/
│   ├── Show Name/
│   │   ├── Season 01/
│   │   │   ├── Show.Name.S01E01.mkv
│   │   │   └── Show.Name.S01E02.mkv
│   │   └── Season 02/
│   │       └── Show.Name.S02E01.mkv
└── music/
    ├── Artist Name/
        └── Album Name/
            ├── 01 - Song.mp3
            └── 02 - Another.mp3

Set proper permissions:

chown -R jellyfin:jellyfin /media
chmod -R 755 /media

Initial Configuration

Access Jellyfin at http://your-ip:8096 and complete the setup wizard:

Language selection
Create admin user (username and password)
Configure media library
- Click "Add Library"
- Select type (Movies, TV Shows, Music, etc.)
- Add folders matching your /media structure
- Name the library
Remote access setup (optional, covered below)
Metadata configuration

After setup, restart scanning:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8096/Library/Refresh

Nginx Reverse Proxy

Configure Nginx to proxy Jellyfin:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name jellyfin.example.com;

    client_max_body_size 20M;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost: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;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Port 443;

        # WebSocket support
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";

        # Timeouts
        proxy_connect_timeout 3600s;
        proxy_send_timeout 3600s;
        proxy_read_timeout 3600s;
    }
}

Test and reload:

nginx -t
systemctl reload nginx

In Jellyfin settings under Dashboard → General → Networking, set:

External domain: jellyfin.example.com
HTTPS: enabled

Hardware Acceleration

Intel Quick Sync (VAAPI)

In Docker, add device mapping to docker-compose.yml:

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

Verify Intel GPU is available:

docker exec jellyfin ls -la /dev/dri

In Jellyfin Dashboard → Playback → Transcoding, select:

Preferred hardware acceleration: VA-API

NVIDIA GPU

Install NVIDIA runtime:

distribution=$(. /etc/os-release;echo $ID$VERSION_ID)
curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/gpgkey | apt-key add -
curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/$distribution/nvidia-docker.list | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list

apt update
apt install -y nvidia-docker2
systemctl restart docker

Update docker-compose.yml:

services:
  jellyfin:
    runtime: nvidia
    environment:
      - NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all

Verify GPU is accessible:

docker exec jellyfin nvidia-smi

In Jellyfin Dashboard → Playback → Transcoding, select:

Preferred hardware acceleration: NVENC

Docker Updates

Update to the latest version:

cd /etc/docker/compose/jellyfin
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
docker image prune -f

Useful Commands

Check Jellyfin logs:

docker compose logs -f jellyfin

Force library scan:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8096/Library/Refresh

View active users and sessions:

curl -s http://localhost:8096/Sessions | jq

Backup

Backup Jellyfin configuration:

docker compose exec jellyfin tar czf /config/backup.tar.gz /config
docker compose cp jellyfin:/config/backup.tar.gz ./jellyfin-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz

Jellyfin is completely free and open-source. No subscriptions, no limits on users or devices, no cloud requirement. You have full control over your media library and streaming experience.

Common Issues

If transcoding fails, check that codec support is available:

docker exec jellyfin ffmpeg -codecs | grep -i h264

For "Cannot connect" errors, verify the reverse proxy headers are correct and Jellyfin's domain settings match your external URL.

If playback is slow, enable hardware acceleration. Without GPU support, CPU transcoding will be inefficient.

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