Set Up Jellyfin

Minimum specs

Step 1 — Install Jellyfin

Pick your platform

services:
  jellyfin:
    image: jellyfin/jellyfin:latest
    container_name: jellyfin
    user: 1000:1000
    network_mode: host   # simplest for DLNA/discovery; or map ports below
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
      - ./cache:/cache
      - /path/to/media:/media
    restart: unless-stopped
    # devices:
    #   - /dev/dri:/dev/dri   # Intel/AMD hardware transcodingcopy

    ports:
      - "8096:8096"   # http
      - "8920:8920"   # https (optional)copy

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f jellyfincopy

curl https://repo.jellyfin.org/install-debuntu.sh | sudo bashcopy

sudo systemctl status jellyfin
sudo systemctl enable --now jellyfincopy

sudo ufw allow 8096/tcpcopy

brew install --cask jellyfin
brew services start jellyfincopy

Step 2 — First-run setup wizard

Open http://SERVER_IP:8096 in a browser (use localhost if you're on the machine itself). The wizard runs once:

1. Language — display language for the UI.
2. Admin account — your username and password. This is the account that manages everything; make the password a real one, it's the only thing between the internet and your server if you ever expose it.
3. Add media libraries — one library per content type. Pick the right Content type (Movies / Shows / Music), give it a display name, and point it at the folder. On Docker that's the path inside the container (/media/movies), not the host path.
4. Metadata language & country — controls which artwork and titles get pulled.
5. Remote access — leave "Allow remote connections" on for LAN use; leave automatic port mapping (UPnP) off. Don't port-forward Jellyfin to the open internet.

After the wizard, go to Dashboard → Libraries and hit Scan All Libraries. First scan on a big library takes a while — it's downloading artwork and metadata for everything.

Step 3 — Turn on hardware transcoding

Go to Dashboard → Playback → Transcoding and set Hardware acceleration to match your hardware:

Then tick the codecs your hardware can decode (H.264, HEVC, and VP9 on most modern chips), plus Enable hardware encoding. Leave Enable Tone mapping on if you have HDR content and clients that can't play it natively.

Docker: pass the GPU through

Intel/AMD — uncomment the devices block from Step 1:

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

NVIDIA — install the NVIDIA Container Toolkit on the host, then add:

    deploy:
      resources:
        reservations:
          devices:
            - driver: nvidia
              count: 1
              capabilities: [gpu]copy

Recreate the container after either change (docker compose up -d) — a restart isn't enough.

Linux: fix permissions

On a bare-metal Linux install the jellyfin user needs access to the GPU device:

sudo usermod -aG render,video jellyfin
sudo systemctl restart jellyfincopy

Verify it's actually working

Play something that forces a transcode (change quality to a lower bitrate in the player), then open Dashboard → Activity. The stream should read Transcoding (hardware) — if it says Transcoding with no hardware note, the GPU isn't being used and it's falling back to CPU.

source: jellyfin.org — hardware acceleration

Step 4 — Jellyfin outside of the house

It is preferred that you do not port forward and use other options instead.

The low-effort, low-risk option is a mesh VPN — Tailscale, NetBird or WireGuard. Everyone installs a client, joins your network, and browses to the server's mesh IP. Works with CGNAT.

Another option is Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). This provides an inverse to a mesh VPN, not allowing any permissions to any services until given.

Ports reference

Quick reference

# Docker — bring it up
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f jellyfin
 
# Linux — install + enable
curl https://repo.jellyfin.org/install-debuntu.sh | sudo bash
sudo systemctl enable --now jellyfin
sudo ufw allow 8096/tcp
 
# Linux — GPU permissions for hardware transcoding
sudo usermod -aG render,video jellyfin
sudo systemctl restart jellyfin
 
# Config/data locations
# Docker    ./config volume
# Linux     /etc/jellyfin (config), /var/lib/jellyfin (data)
# Windows   C:\ProgramData\Jellyfin\Server
# macOS     ~/.local/share/jellyfin
 
# Web UI: http://SERVER_IP:8096copy

Next: automate the library

Jellyfin is the media player, pair it with the Arr stack like Prowlarr, Sonarr, Radarr, and even Lidarr to help name, organize, and provide automatic library refreshes.

→ Set up the Arr stack (Prowlarr, Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr)