Mediarium on Linux

On a Linux server (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit, and so on) Mediarium runs in Docker. There is no installer without Docker for now (see What runs where).

This is the short version, with Linux tips. The full walk-through is in the install guide.

1. Install Docker

Follow docs.docker.com/engine/install for your distribution. Then check:

docker compose version

To run docker without sudo, add yourself to the docker group (sudo usermod -aG docker $USER, then log out and in again).

2. Make the folders

Use one parent folder for downloads, movies and TV so finished downloads are hardlinked (instant, no extra space), and a small folder for Mediarium's settings. For example:

sudo mkdir -p /srv/data/downloads /srv/data/movies /srv/data/tv /opt/mediarium/config
sudo chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) /srv/data /opt/mediarium
id

The last command prints your uid and gid: those are your PUID and PGID.

Want music too? Make the folder inside /srv/data, for example sudo mkdir -p /srv/data/music and sudo chown $(id -u):$(id -g) /srv/data/music, then take the # off MUSIC_DIR=/data/music in the compose file. Ebooks and audiobooks (EBOOKS_DIR, AUDIOBOOKS_DIR) work the same way. Nothing more needs mapping. To add one later, create the folder, add the line and run docker compose up -d again.

3. Create the compose file and start

cd /opt/mediarium
nano docker-compose.yml

Paste the compose file from the install guide, then change:

PUID and PGID to the numbers from id, and TZ to your timezone;
the two volumes lines to /opt/mediarium/config:/config and /srv/data:/data. Folders in the compose file that don't exist are created by Docker as root, so make yours first, as above.

Save (Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X in nano) and start it:

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f mediarium

When the log says Mediarium listening on :8264, open http://<server-ip>:8264 and follow the setup wizard.

Updating

cd /opt/mediarium
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

When a new version is out, administrators see a card on the dashboard and on Settings → General. If the release is signed, the card also has an Update now button. See Update now.

Starting at boot

Nothing extra is needed: Docker starts at boot, and restart: unless-stopped in the compose file starts Mediarium with it.

Raspberry Pi

Use a 64-bit system: uname -m must print aarch64. Raspberry Pi 3, 4 and 5 can run the 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS. 32-bit systems (armv7l) are not supported yet.
Keep /config and your media on a USB SSD or hard disk formatted ext4, not on the SD card, and not on exFAT/FAT (they cannot hardlink).
A small Pi unpacks and repairs large downloads slowly, but it works.

Firewall

If you use ufw: sudo ufw allow 8264/tcp, plus sudo ufw allow 58264 if you publish the torrent port. Do not open port 8264 on your router: to reach Mediarium from outside, use a VPN or a reverse proxy with HTTPS.

Troubleshooting

See INSTALL.md troubleshooting. The most common Linux issue is ownership: ls -ln /srv/data shows the owner numbers, and they must match PUID/PGID.