How to Install Jellyfin Media Server on Debian 11

Want to learn how to install Jellyfin Media Server on Debian 11? This guide shows you the step-by-step process.

Having the ability to manage and stream your favorite media on your desired device is pretty handy. It gives you control over your entertainment system. That’s what Jellyfin was made for.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Jellyfin Media Server, how to configure it, and other quality-of-life adjustments you can make to get a smooth media control experience. So let’s dive right in!

How to Install Jellyfin Media Server on Debian 11

Before installing Jellyfin, you must have these tools and packages installed beforehand.

Install Necessary Tools and Packages

Let’s first update the system before you install anything. To update Debian, run this command:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Now install all these packages with a single command:

$ sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates gnupg2 curl git

Output:

Once you’re done installing the prerequisites, we can now move on to installing the Jellyfin server.

Install Jellyfin Media Server Using Installer Script

This is the easiest way to get Jellyfin installed on Debian. Using this installer script, you can configure the Jellyfin APT repository. To download and use the script, run this command:

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

If you don’t have curl installed (which you should have if you followed the previous step), then you can use wget. To do this, you have to run this command:

$ wget -O- https://repo.jellyfin.org/install-debuntu.sh | sudo bash

Install Jellyfin Media Server Manually

Of course, you may manually install the software rather than run a script on your device. So what you need to do is add the GPG key signed by the Jellyfin Team. And to download the GPG key, you must run these commands:

$ sudo wget -O- https://repo.jellyfin.org/jellyfin_team.gpg.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/jellyfin.gpg

Output:

Next, we need to import the Jellyfin repo. Let’s import the stable deb repo. To do so, run the below command:

$ echo "deb [arch=$( dpkg --print-architecture ) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/jellyfin.gpg] https://repo.jellyfin.org/debian bullseye main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jellyfin.list

After that, update your system once more. Use this command:

$ sudo apt update

Now we are ready to install Jellyfin. Install it with this command:

$ sudo apt install jellyfin

Output:

Wait for the installation to complete. Once it’s complete, check if it’s working using this command:

$ systemctl status jellyfin

Output:

It should be active and running. You can also manually start it using this command:

$ sudo systemctl start jellyfin

Another option is to enable it on system startup. Enable it with this command:

$ sudo systemctl enable jellyfin

Configure Jellyfin Media Server

After installation, you can start setting up the server. You can launch the Jellyfin server directly from your web browser. We will use the local host for that. Open your web browser and enter this URL:

http://127.0.0.1:8096

Jellyfin uses the 8096 port. If everything went well, you should now be able to see a welcome page like this:

You can go ahead and read the Quick Start Guide if you like or follow our tutorial. Choose your preferred display language from the dropdown menu and press ‘Next’.

In the next window, you have to enter your username and password.

Then enter your password again in the confirmation field and press ‘Next’. Now you can start setting up your media library.

Tap on the plus sign to add your media library.

Choose a Content type from the dropdown menu. Fill in the box for the Display name. You can choose as you wish. Then press on the plus button beside ‘Folders’.

In the next screen, you enter the directory path in the ‘Folder’ field. You also have the option to enter Shared network folders in case you want to access the media from other devices in the same network.

Once done, press ‘OK’. And depending on what content type you’ve chosen earlier, you have more configuration options. For example, if you chose Photos, then you can tweak Library settings such as Display, Embedded titles, Real-time monitoring, metadata savers, image fetchers, and more. After that, press ‘OK’.

After adding a media library, you will be brought back to the previous screen.

If you’re done adding libraries, proceed by pressing ‘Next’. In this screen, choose your preferred metadata language and country.

Then press ‘Next’. The next screen is about remote access. Allowing remote access means devices outside the server can access the libraries. Choose your desired settings and press ‘Next’

You’re done setting up. Press ‘Finish’ to complete the configuration.

You will be asked to sign in. Use the username and password you created earlier to log in.

You should be inside your dashboard now if you entered the correct information.

Feel free to explore the different settings and features in the top right corner of the screen.

Setup Permissions for Media Drives

You may notice in the configuration phase that you need to grant the service user read access to the media storage location. That’s what we’re going to do now.

First, you install the Access Control Lists (ACLs) tool if you don’t have it installed already. Install it with this command:

$ sudo apt install acl

Now run this command to grant permission for all located directories and subdirectories:

$ sudo setfacl -R -m u:jellyfin:rx [location of all media folders and files]

Substitute the last argument with the correct location. If you want to grant permission to each directory or file individually, you can run the command like this:

$ sudo setfacl -m u:jellyfin:rx [media_location/filename]

Remove (Uninstall) Jellyfin Media Server

If you don’t want to use Jellyfin anymore, you can remove it with this command:

$ sudo autoremove install jellyfin --purge

After uninstalling, you can remove its source list using this command:

$ sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jellyfin.list

Final Thoughts

And that marks the end of this article. Here, we walked you through the necessary steps in setting up Jellyfin Media Server on your Debian 11 device. We also showed you how to install, configure, and add media libraries to it. If perhaps you’re still facing any problems installing it, let us know in the comments below.

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