What Exactly is Jellyfin?

According to the Jellyfin website, Jellyfin is a community-driven media solution that gives you control over your media. You can stream content to any device via your own server, completely free of charge. Your media, your server, your choice.

Initially stemming from the well-known Emby project, Jellyfin emerged when Emby began adopting a more proprietary model. Jellyfin remains a free service with no hidden fees or obligations, making it a perfect choice for enjoying your favorite content across multiple devices. Access is possible through web browsers, Roku apps, Android TVs and tablets, and even via Chromecast or existing Kodi setups.

Now, let's proceed to install the Jellyfin server on a Raspberry Pi, specifically using a Raspberry Pi 4 B with 2GB of RAM.

Installing Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Setting up Ubuntu on your Raspberry Pi is a straightforward process. For comprehensive guidance, refer to the official Ubuntu documentation. After installation and startup, you can log in through SSH to view the familiar Ubuntu server welcome screen.

This welcome screen not only greets you but also displays vital system information, including load, temperature, memory usage, and more.

Setting Up Media Sharing

Jellyfin organizes and provides access to your media library, so you’ll need to have media files available. In my scenario, I use a Synology NAS for storage. To enable access from the Raspberry Pi, I set up an NFS share on the NAS.

NFS is an efficient way to share and connect to remote folders, particularly with Synology NAS. To connect the Raspberry Pi to the share, use the following commands:

# Create the mount point directory

ubuntu@rpi4b:~$ mkdir /nfs/movies

# Mount the remote folder

ubuntu@rpi4b:~$ sudo mount 192.168.2.250:/volume1/Movies /nfs/movies

# Verify the mounted folder

ubuntu@rpi4b:~$ df -h

Installing Jellyfin

Installing Jellyfin on your Raspberry Pi running Ubuntu is as easy as it is on traditional Ubuntu systems. The following commands will guide you through the process:

# Install dependencies for adding a new repository key

ubuntu@rpi4b:~$ sudo apt install apt-transport-https

# Add the GPG signature for the Jellyfin repository

# Add Jellyfin repository to your sources

# Update package lists

ubuntu@rpi4b:~$ sudo apt update

# Install Jellyfin

ubuntu@rpi4b:~$ sudo apt install jellyfin

With this, Jellyfin is installed and set to start automatically upon reboot.

Configuring Jellyfin

To configure Jellyfin, navigate to the URL http://192.168.2.31:8096/ (replace with your Raspberry Pi's IP address). The initial setup begins with a welcome screen where you can select your preferred language.

Next, create a username and password for user access, which will also serve as an admin account. Following that, configure your media libraries by specifying the paths to your media files, including movies and TV shows.

You can also set a default metadata language for Jellyfin to use when retrieving information about your media. If desired, enable remote access to allow streaming outside your local network.

After completing these steps, your Jellyfin server will be fully set up, and you can always return to add more media libraries or configure additional features.

Using Jellyfin

Once your media libraries are configured, you can access the Jellyfin home dashboard to enjoy your media. For instance, here’s a glimpse of the Jellyfin playback interface running on my desktop, showcasing the media served by the Raspberry Pi.

The picture quality is impressive, and video playback is smooth and high-quality. Monitoring the Raspberry Pi's performance during playback reveals manageable load levels, with memory usage remaining below 1GB of the available 2GB.

Home Media Server - Jellyfin Setup On Raspberry Pi: This video provides a visual walkthrough of setting up Jellyfin on a Raspberry Pi, demonstrating the process from start to finish.

Raspberry Pi Media Center with JellyFin Media Server & H/W Acceleration: Discover how to utilize hardware acceleration with Jellyfin on your Raspberry Pi for enhanced media performance.