Jellyfin - Media Server Management¶

Overview¶

The jellyfin command manages Jellyfin media server instances using Podman Quadlet containers. It supports hardware transcoding and FUSE filesystem compatibility for network mounts.

Key Concept: Multi-instance support allows running multiple media libraries. FUSE compatibility enables rclone/sshfs mounts for cloud or remote storage.

Quick Reference¶

Action	Command	Description
Config	`ujust jellyfin config`	Configure Jellyfin
Delete	`ujust jellyfin delete`	Remove instance config and container
Logs	`ujust jellyfin logs [--lines=N]`	View container logs
Restart	`ujust jellyfin restart`	Restart server
Shell	`ujust jellyfin shell [-- CMD]`	Open shell or execute command in container
Start	`ujust jellyfin start`	Start Jellyfin media server
Status	`ujust jellyfin status`	Show instance status
Stop	`ujust jellyfin stop`	Stop Jellyfin media server
URL	`ujust jellyfin url`	Show web UI access URL

Configuration¶

Parameters¶

Parameter	Long Flag	Short	Required	Description
Config Dir	`--config-dir`	`-c`	Yes	Configuration directory
Cache Dir	`--cache-dir`	-	Yes	Cache directory (transcoding)
Media Dir	`--media-dir`	-	Yes	Media library path
Instance	`--instance`	`-n`	No	Instance number (default: 1)
GPU Type	`--gpu-type`	`-g`	No	GPU: nvidia, amd, intel, auto
Image	`--image`	`-i`	No	Container image
Tag	`--tag`	`-t`	No	Image tag (default: stable)
Workspace	`--workspace-dir`	`-w`	No	Optional mount to /workspace
Bind	`--bind`	`-b`	No	Bind address
Port	`--port`	`-p`	No	Service port
Lines	`--lines`	`-l`	No	Log lines to show

Configuration Examples¶

# Basic installation (long form)
ujust jellyfin config --config-dir=~/jellyfin/config --cache-dir=~/jellyfin/cache --media-dir=~/media

# With NVIDIA GPU for transcoding
ujust jellyfin config -c ~/jellyfin/config --cache-dir=~/jellyfin/cache --media-dir=~/media --gpu-type=nvidia

# Second instance for different library
ujust jellyfin config -c ~/jellyfin2/config --cache-dir=~/jellyfin2/cache --media-dir=~/videos --instance=2

# With short forms
ujust jellyfin config -c ~/config --cache-dir=~/cache --media-dir=~/media -n 1 -g nvidia

Update Existing Configuration¶

Running config when already configured will update the existing configuration, preserving values not explicitly changed.

Shell Access¶

# Interactive bash shell
ujust jellyfin shell

# Run specific command (use -- separator)
ujust jellyfin shell -- df -h

# Shell in specific instance
ujust jellyfin shell --instance=2 -- ls /media

Lifecycle Commands¶

Start/Stop¶

# Single instance
ujust jellyfin start --instance=1
ujust jellyfin stop --instance=1

# Short form
ujust jellyfin start -n 1
ujust jellyfin stop -n 1

# All instances
ujust jellyfin start --instance=all
ujust jellyfin stop --instance=all

View Logs¶

# Follow logs
ujust jellyfin logs

# Specific instance with line count
ujust jellyfin logs --instance=1 --lines=100

# Short form
ujust jellyfin logs -n 1 -l 100

Get URL¶

ujust jellyfin url
# Output: http://localhost:8096

# Specific instance
ujust jellyfin url --instance=2

Port Allocation¶

Instance	Port
1	8096
2	8097
3	8098
N	8095+N

Hardware Transcoding¶

GPU Types¶

GPU	Flag Value	Transcoding
NVIDIA	`--gpu-type=nvidia` or `-g nvidia`	NVENC/NVDEC
AMD	`--gpu-type=amd` or `-g amd`	VAAPI
Intel	`--gpu-type=intel` or `-g intel`	QuickSync

Enable GPU¶

ujust jellyfin config -c ~/config --cache-dir=~/cache --media-dir=~/media --gpu-type=nvidia

Verify GPU¶

# Check inside container
ujust jellyfin shell -- nvidia-smi  # or vainfo for AMD/Intel

FUSE Filesystem Support¶

Jellyfin containers support FUSE mounts (rclone, sshfs) for remote storage.

Mount Before Starting¶

# Mount cloud storage
rclone mount gdrive:media ~/media --daemon

# Then start Jellyfin
ujust jellyfin start 1

Why Host Networking?¶

Jellyfin uses host networking for:

DLNA discovery
mDNS/Bonjour
Chromecast

Configuration Files¶

File	Purpose	Location
Quadlet unit	Service definition	`~/.config/containers/systemd/jellyfin-1.container`
Instance config	Settings	`~/.config/jellyfin/instance-1.env`
Jellyfin data	Libraries, users	`<CONFIG>/`
Transcoding cache	Temp files	`<CACHE>/`

Common Workflows¶

Initial Setup¶

# 1. Create directories
mkdir -p ~/jellyfin/{config,cache}

# 2. Configure Jellyfin
ujust jellyfin config -c ~/jellyfin/config --cache-dir=~/jellyfin/cache --media-dir=~/media --gpu-type=nvidia

# 3. Start it
ujust jellyfin start

# 4. Access web UI
ujust jellyfin url
# Open http://localhost:8096

Multiple Libraries¶

# Movies library
ujust jellyfin config -c ~/jellyfin-movies/config --cache-dir=~/jellyfin-movies/cache --media-dir=~/movies -n 1

# TV library
ujust jellyfin config -c ~/jellyfin-tv/config --cache-dir=~/jellyfin-tv/cache --media-dir=~/tv -n 2

# Start both
ujust jellyfin start --instance=all

Cloud Storage¶

# 1. Mount cloud storage
rclone mount gdrive:media ~/cloud-media --daemon --vfs-cache-mode writes

# 2. Configure Jellyfin pointing to mount
ujust jellyfin config -c ~/jellyfin/config --cache-dir=~/jellyfin/cache --media-dir=~/cloud-media

# 3. Start
ujust jellyfin start

Initial Configuration¶

First-time setup via web UI:

Open http://localhost:8096
Create admin user
Add media libraries
Configure transcoding (if GPU)
Set up remote access

Troubleshooting¶

Jellyfin Won't Start¶

Check:

ujust jellyfin status
ujust jellyfin logs --lines=50

Common causes:

Port conflict (8096 in use)
Invalid paths
GPU driver issues

Transcoding Fails¶

Check:

# View logs for transcoding errors
ujust jellyfin logs | grep -i transcode

Common causes:

GPU not passed through
Missing codec support

Fix:

# Reconfigure with GPU
ujust jellyfin delete
ujust jellyfin config -c ~/config --cache-dir=~/cache --media-dir=~/media --gpu-type=nvidia

Media Not Found¶

Check:

Media directory exists
Correct path in config
Permissions

Fix:

# Verify path
ls ~/media

# Reconfigure with correct path
ujust jellyfin delete
ujust jellyfin config -c ~/config --cache-dir=~/cache --media-dir=/correct/path

DLNA Not Working¶

Cause: Network isolation

Jellyfin uses host networking, but ensure:

Firewall allows mDNS (5353/udp)
Same network as clients

Cross-References¶

Related Skills: configure gpu (GPU setup)
Jellyfin Docs: https://jellyfin.org/docs/
Web UI: http://localhost:8096

When to Use This Skill

Use when the user asks about:

"install jellyfin", "setup media server"
"jellyfin not working", "jellyfin transcoding"
"jellyfin GPU", "hardware transcoding"
"multiple jellyfin", "jellyfin instances"