Jellyfin

Stream your own media with a private server and administrator setup.

Choose your deployment and the way you want to use Selfhost. The instructions below follow that choice.

Deployment Use Selfhost with

Set up Jellyfin

Editable Compose files in your own directory.

Mount your media folders separately from the persistent /config volume.
Use Automatic app setup to create the selected administrator and finish the initial wizard.

selfhost app --directory ./jellyfin init jellyfin

Initialization writes portable files and does not start the app. Review compose.yaml, the private .env and any files in files/, then start it:

selfhost app --directory ./jellyfin start

No Selfhost dashboard or background service is needed. You can also start these files directly:

cd jellyfin
docker compose -f compose.yaml up -d

Connect an existing installation

Use Existing apps → Link an app in the dashboard, or the CLI’s existing-app commands. Choose Jellyfin, its URL and, optionally, its exact Docker container on a connected server.

Save existing.json with your app URL. Add server_id and container for container inspection and actions.

{
  "profile": "jellyfin",
  "name": "Jellyfin",
  "url": "https://app.example.com"
}

selfhost existing link --file existing.json
selfhost existing list
selfhost existing inspect EXISTING_ID

Linking enables the existing-app profile’s supported inspection and actions. It does not import Compose or attach the new-deployment settings and onboarding profiles described below.

Existing app commands, permissions and unlinking

Actions for a linked container

Check server health

Check Jellyfin's local HTTP health endpoint.

selfhost existing action EXISTING_ID check-health

Before configuring integrations

Advertised server URL and transcoding probe limits use Jellyfin native environment configuration.
SSO requires a separately supported plugin; no core OIDC contract is assumed.
Media libraries and hardware acceleration need explicit host paths/device permissions.

Jellyfin integrations

Compose service: jellyfin. These operations use the profile saved when this deployment is created.

Media libraries, devices and SSO plugins require separate Jellyfin configuration.

Initialize and connect

Supported setup modes: bootstrap.

Initializes a new server and its administrator. Existing installations are never changed. Media libraries and hardware transcoding remain configurable in Jellyfin.
Remote access stays enabled for Docker networking and proxies. No router configuration is performed. Keep the published port private until setup finishes.

Setup fields

Administrator username username: string · requiredDefault: "admin"Length: 1 to 128 characters
Administrator password password: secret · requiredLength: 12 to 255 characters
Server name server: string · requiredDefault: "Jellyfin"Length: 0 to 128 characters

Save onboarding.json, replace example values and supply env: secrets privately through your shell. Empty apps adds no links; add explicit links when this profile supports them.

{
  "mode": "bootstrap",
  "inputs": {
    "username": "admin",
    "password": "env:SELFHOST_PASSWORD",
    "server": "Jellyfin"
  },
  "apps": []
}

selfhost app --directory ./jellyfin setup jellyfin
selfhost app --directory ./jellyfin setup-plan jellyfin onboarding.json
selfhost app --directory ./jellyfin setup-apply jellyfin onboarding.json --revision REVIEWED_REVISION

Setup modes, secret references and recovery

Native settings

Changes use the app’s Compose environment. Unrelated settings are preserved.

Supported fields (3)

Advertised server URL published-url: URL advertised to discovery clients; configure the proxy separately. string
FFmpeg probe size probe-size: string
FFmpeg analysis duration analysis-duration: string

Save a JSON map of the field IDs you want to change as changes.json. Replace FIELD_ID with an ID from the supported fields above, and use its declared value type. Review the plan and replace REVIEWED_REVISION with the revision it returns.

{
  "FIELD_ID": "YOUR_VALUE"
}

selfhost app --directory ./jellyfin config jellyfin
selfhost app --directory ./jellyfin plan jellyfin changes.json
selfhost app --directory ./jellyfin apply jellyfin changes.json --revision REVIEWED_REVISION

Saved changes need service recreation to become active. Existing interpolated environment values stay under your control in .env or Compose.

App actions

Check server health

Check Jellyfin's local HTTP health endpoint.

selfhost app --directory ./jellyfin action jellyfin check-health

App configuration reference

Versions and updates

This deployment uses the following images. Existing projects retain their saved recipe and images. A new catalogue version does not silently update them.

jellyfin: jellyfin/jellyfin:12.1

Review compatibility and back up app data before an update. Choose an image version and review the change.

Keep control of your setup

Selfhost remains optional. Your app runs using ordinary Compose files, its own settings and persistent data. Keep the Compose project name and volumes to preserve storage. Configuration exports and setting backups do not include application data.

Standalone CLI guide · Backups and removal · Jellyfin documentation