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submitted 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) by Yesbutnotreally@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world

Hey selfhosters.

I have a question about starting self hosting; I have run Jellyfin on an old MacBook for a bit and wanna dip more than a toe into the self host pool. Are there any guides out there you’d recommend for actual, complete beginners who knows nothing but wants to learn?

I’ve searched a lot but it feels like they’re pretty advanced for beginners. Is it just a really sharp learning curve to this, or am I not finding the good ones?

Edit: To clarify what level I’m really, truly at: I run the Jellyfin server on regular macOS and have an external 5TB drive connected via usb. That’s it.

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[-] ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

If you manage to get Docker Compose installed on that Mac (I don’t know Dockers limitations with Macs) create a docker-compose.yaml file with the contents of;

services:

  jellyfin:

    image: jellyfin/jellyfin

    container_name: jellyfin

    # Optional - specify the uid and gid you would like Jellyfin to use instead of root

    user: uid:gid

    ports:

      - 8096:8096/tcp

      - 7359:7359/udp

    volumes:

      - /path/to/config:/config

      - /path/to/cache:/cache

      - type: bind

        source: /path/to/media

        target: /media

      - type: bind

        source: /path/to/media2

        target: /media2

        read_only: true

      # Optional - extra fonts to be used during transcoding with subtitle burn-in

      - type: bind

        source: /path/to/fonts

        target: /usr/local/share/fonts/custom

        read_only: true

    restart: 'unless-stopped'

    # Optional - alternative address used for autodiscovery

    environment:

      - JELLYFIN_PublishedServerUrl=http://example.com/

    # Optional - may be necessary for docker healthcheck to pass if running in host network mode

    extra_hosts:

      - 'host.docker.internal:host-gateway'

Edit the volumes so that the drive you want to use is exposed to the container and then run;

sudo docker compose up -d

In a shell while in the folder with the docker-compose.yaml file you just created. If everything works then the server should be running on port :8086 open your browser and make an http:// request to the ip of the server followed by the port.

Example; http://127.0.0.1:8096/

Documentation.

Edit: removed unnecessary \

this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2026
51 points (98.1% liked)

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