Once you start a Jellyfin server and give it your personal media collection, you can start streaming it just like you would a regular streaming service.It doesn't cost a dime, and unlike competitors Plex and Emby, it's totally open source.Here's how to get started.
Choose a host device Before you install a Jellyfin server, it's important you consider what you're going to install it on.This will depend on what you plan to do with it.Technically, you can install Jellyfin on almost any reasonably modern computer.
However, the server is only as powerful as the hardware it's installed on and configured to use.To help you make a decision, here's some general guidance: OK: Jellyfin will run, but you'll be limited to a few simultaneous streams at best, and even more limited if your media requires transcoding (more on this later).Good: A NAS is usually designed to make setting up servers and accessing media easy, while a modern PC's hardware will handle streams better.
Best: This will ensure maximum compatibility, capability, and support, especially if you have a NAS or DAS storing your media.If this is your first time self-hosting a media server, or if you just want to see what the Jellyfin experience is like, don't overthink this step.I recommend just going with the platform you're most comfortable with.
Learn More I Won't Buy a Mini PC for Plex Without These 4 Features This guide is written for Plex, but virtually the same rules apply for Jellyfin.Posts By Andrew Heinzman If no one is going to be streaming from your Jellyfin server except yourself, one of the OK devices will suit you well.Just keep in mind that in the long run, if you decide to fully replace regular streaming services with Jellyfin, I can tell you from experience you'll end up wanting to upgrade hardware.
Transferring Jellyfin server data to a new device, unfortunately, is difficult to impossible.So beware that down the line you'll likely end up restarting from scratch in terms of configuration, watch history, and media metadata.Zettlab D4 NAS Brand Zettlab CPU RK3588 The Zettlab D4 NAS features four 3.5-inch hard drive bays with a M.2 NVMe SSD slot, perfect for your home storage server needs.
The powerful RK3588 chip features built-in AI acceleration that is leveraged throughout the OS.There's also a built-in SD and microSD card slot on the front for automatic backup of your photos, videos, and more.Memory 16GB LPDDR4x Drive Bays 4x 3.5-inch, 1x M.2 NVMe Ports USB-A and USB-C at USB 3.1 speeds OS ZettOS LAN Ports 1x 2.5Gb/s, 1x 1Gb/s $700 at Zettlab Expand Collapse Install Jellyfin on the host device Having settled on a device, it's time to start installation.
Go to the Jellyfin server downloads page and, at the top, click the platform you're installing on.You'll see a link to either a list of download options for a specific architecture or a set of command instructions.If you're installing on Windows, and you aren't sure which architecture you should choose, go with AMD64.
Run the installer or otherwise follow the instructions for installing on your platform.From that point on, the process should be pretty self-explanatory.Point Jellyfin to your media Once you have the server installed, it's time to access the Jellyfin web interface for the first time and take care of the most important step: giving it access to your media.
You'll find the web interface at this address, which you can copy and paste into your browser: http://localhost:8096 If that doesn't work, find your private IP address (something like 192.168.1.1) for the device the server is running on and replace localhost with that.It should look similar to this: http://192.168.1.1:8096 Once you've arrived at the setup page, follow Jellyfin's prompts to create an admin account and name the server.You may want to make a non-admin account for streaming and for each person you want to share your server with.
Be prepared to create a library by choosing a type of media (movies, TV shows, music, etc.) and then giving the folder path of your media to Jellyfin.I recommend reading Jellyfin's advice on organizing media so it can easily fetch metadata (poster artwork, critic ratings, cast and crew, etc.) to make your collection look nice.Get a Jellyfin client and start streaming Now that your server is up, running, and configured, it's time to start streaming.
You need to get a "client" for Jellyfin, which is just a fancy term for any app that lets you stream your Jellyfin content.There are tons of Jellyfin clients to choose from, but on most platforms you'll find an app simply called "Jellyfin" that's developed by the same people who develop the Jellyfin server software.This first-party client usually isn't the most fully featured, but it works.
When you download any client, you'll be asked first for your server address (the same one you used to configure the server) and the login credentials you want to stream with.Optionally, you can skip downloading any apps altogether and just type your server address into any web browser; most modern browsers can act as a streaming client.And don't worry, you're always free to switch to a different client if you find one lacking.
Troubleshooting: The issues I've solved I've been using Jellyfin for years, and I've encountered and typically fixed several problems.Here are a few I can help you with.Client can't connect to server If you're trying to connect to your server and you get an error message saying the server can't be reached, first triple-check the URL you put in the server address field.
Pay attention especially to the http part.If you haven't set up security certificates for your server, then you need to type http, not https.You also need to make sure you typed the IP address and the port number (typically 8096) correctly.
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Otherwise, make sure you're connected to the exact same network as your server.Also confirm that you don't have a firewall on your server's computer that's blocking the port that Jellyfin uses.Related How to Check Open TCP/IP Ports in Windows Everything that connects to the Internet uses ports in one way or another, Posts 1 Media goes missing If your movies and TV shows disappear, can't be played, or if the media folder is totally inaccessible to your Jellyfin library configuration, it's likely a problem with file permissions.
The Jellyfin server needs to have the right access permissions to your media files, and sometimes these get misconfigured either at the start or with an update.How you fix an access error depends on the system you've installed.On Linux, you need to give the Jellyfin user read, like sudo chown -R jellyfin:jellyfin /path/to/media.
Playback freezes, crashes, or you get encoding errors If playback is choppy, or if the stream freezes and crashes, and you've ruled out your internet connection as the culprit, then it's probably a transcoding problem.Either you need to properly configure transcoding on your system, or you have more users attempting to transcode simultaneously than your system can handle.I can tell you from experience, reading the Jellyfin documentation on transcoding will help you solve a lot of these issues.
Now that you have your Jellyfin server up and running, it's time to have fun with it.Learn how to apply custom theming to your server, or how to set up automated newsletters for your Jellyfin users.
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