How to Install Jellyfin on Ubuntu

Jellyfin is a free, open-source media server that organizes movies, TV shows, music, and photos, then streams them to browsers, phones, TVs, and set-top boxes on your LAN or over the internet. Unlike Plex, there is no paid tier for core features—you host everything yourself.

This guide shows how to install Jellyfin on Ubuntu the way it actually works today: the official apt repository on 22.04 (jammy) and 24.04 (noble) LTS, and Docker when you are on a newer interim release. We tested on Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) and document honestly that pointing the noble apt repo at 25.04 does not install—dependency resolution fails before packages land.

Tested on: Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin); kernel 6.14.0-37-generic; Docker 29.2.1.

What is Jellyfin—and when do you need it?

Jellyfin replaces commercial media servers for home labs and small offices. Typical uses:

Jellyfin runs on modest hardware—a NAS, old desktop, or Ubuntu VM—and uses FFmpeg for on-the-fly transcoding when a client cannot play the source format directly.

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS, or newer (25.04 tested here) on amd64 for the commands below.
• sudo for apt installs, systemd, and UFW rules.
• Enough disk for your media (Jellyfin itself needs only a few GB; libraries live wherever you mount them).
• curl and gpg when adding the Jellyfin apt repository.
• Docker (Method 2) if you are on Ubuntu 25.04 or prefer containers—install with sudo apt install -y docker.io and add your user to the docker group, or use Docker Engine from Docker’s docs.

Check your release codename—Jellyfin apt repos are keyed to jammy (22.04) or noble (24.04):

. /etc/os-release && echo "$PRETTY_NAME ($VERSION_CODENAME)"

See check Ubuntu version if you are unsure.

Choose an install method

On 24.04 LTS, use Method 1. On 25.04, use Method 2 until Jellyfin ships plucky packages.

Method 1: Install Jellyfin from the official apt repository

Use this on Ubuntu 22.04 (jammy) or Ubuntu 24.04 (noble). Jellyfin’s install script is the fastest path; the manual steps below match what the script does with modern signed-by keyrings (not deprecated apt-key).

Option A: Official install script (quick)

Download, verify checksum, and run:

curl -fsSL https://repo.jellyfin.org/install-debuntu.sh -o install-debuntu.sh
curl -fsSL https://repo.jellyfin.org/install-debuntu.sh.sha256sum -o install-debuntu.sh.sha256sum
sha256sum -c install-debuntu.sh.sha256sum
sudo bash install-debuntu.sh

The script installs /etc/apt/keyrings/jellyfin.gpg, writes /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jellyfin.sources, and runs apt install jellyfin.

Option B: Manual repository setup

Set CODENAME to your Ubuntu release—jammy on 22.04, noble on 24.04:

CODENAME="$(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME")"

Install prerequisites and import the signing key into /etc/apt/keyrings (not apt-key):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y curl gnupg apt-transport-https ca-certificates

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://repo.jellyfin.org/ubuntu/jellyfin_team.gpg.key \
  | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/jellyfin.gpg
sudo chmod 644 /etc/apt/keyrings/jellyfin.gpg

Add the Jellyfin Deb822 source (replace the suite if you are not on jammy/noble):

sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jellyfin.sources <<EOF
Types: deb
URIs: https://repo.jellyfin.org/ubuntu
Suites: ${CODENAME}
Components: main
Architectures: amd64
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/jellyfin.gpg
EOF

Remove any legacy one-line list file if it exists:

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jellyfin.list

Refresh indexes and inspect the candidate before installing:

sudo apt update
apt-cache policy jellyfin

On Ubuntu 24.04 you should see a candidate from repo.jellyfin.org (for example 10.11.11+ubu2404). Install:

sudo apt install -y jellyfin

Ubuntu 25.04: apt fails here (verified)

If you point the noble suite at Ubuntu 25.04 (plucky)—manually or via an unsupported codename override—apt-cache policy jellyfin may still show a candidate, but install fails:

sudo apt install -y --dry-run jellyfin

Example solver output on 25.04:

Unsatisfied dependencies:
 jellyfin-ffmpeg7 : Depends: libx265-199 (>= 3.5) but it is not installable
 jellyfin-server : Depends: libicu74 but it is not installable
Error: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

This is expected until Jellyfin publishes packages built against plucky’s library versions. Do not force-install with --fix-broken hacks—use Docker instead.

Continue with post-install setup after a successful apt install on 22.04/24.04.

Method 2: Install Jellyfin with Docker (recommended on Ubuntu 25.04)

Docker sidesteps the noble-vs-plucky library mismatch. On our test host, Docker 29.2.1 pulled jellyfin/jellyfin:latest successfully.

Install Docker if needed:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker.io
sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"
# log out and back in so group membership applies

Pull the image (optional but confirms registry access):

docker pull jellyfin/jellyfin:latest

Create local directories for config, cache, and media:

mkdir -p ~/jellyfin/{config,cache,media}

Run Jellyfin with port 8096 published to the host:

docker run -d \
  --name jellyfin \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  --publish 8096:8096 \
  --publish 7359:7359/udp \
  --volume "$HOME/jellyfin/config:/config" \
  --volume "$HOME/jellyfin/cache:/cache" \
  --volume "$HOME/jellyfin/media:/media:ro" \
  jellyfin/jellyfin:latest

Adjust paths as needed—/srv/media on a NAS mount is common. The :ro flag keeps the container from modifying source files.

Check the container:

docker ps --filter name=jellyfin
docker logs jellyfin --tail 20

For hardware transcoding (Intel Quick Sync / NVIDIA), add device passthrough per Jellyfin Docker documentation. A basic CPU-only homelab does not require it.

Continue with post-install setup. For Docker, skip the systemctl jellyfin unit—use docker restart jellyfin instead.

Method 3: Install individual .deb packages (optional)

Jellyfin publishes .deb files under https://repo.jellyfin.org/ubuntu/pool/main/. You can download the metapackage manually on 22.04/24.04:

wget https://repo.jellyfin.org/ubuntu/pool/main/j/jellyfin/jellyfin_10.11.11+ubu2404_all.deb
sudo apt install ./jellyfin_10.11.11+ubu2404_all.deb

apt install ./package.deb still resolves jellyfin-server, jellyfin-web, and jellyfin-ffmpeg7 from the repository—and hits the same dependency errors on Ubuntu 25.04. This method helps only when apt metadata is confused on a supported LTS release, not as a workaround for plucky.

Post-install: enable systemd, open the firewall, and run the wizard

These steps apply after Method 1 (apt). Docker users should enable --restart unless-stopped (already in the run command above) and open the same firewall port.

Enable and verify the Jellyfin service (apt only)

sudo systemctl enable --now jellyfin
sudo systemctl status jellyfin

You want Active: active (running) and enabled for boot.

Allow port 8096 through UFW

Jellyfin’s default HTTP port is 8096/tcp:

sudo ufw allow 8096/tcp
sudo ufw status

If UFW is inactive, enable it only after confirming SSH access is allowed (sudo ufw allow OpenSSH).

First-run web setup wizard

On the server or another machine on the network, open:

http://<server-ip>:8096

Replace <server-ip> with the host’s LAN address (hostname -I | awk '{print $1}') or use http://localhost:8096 locally.

The wizard walks you through:

1. Preferred language and admin account (username + password).
2. Media libraries—add folders for Movies, Shows, or Music. Example paths:
   • /srv/media/movies
   • /srv/media/tv
   • /srv/media/music
3. Metadata language and remote access preference (leave remote access off until you understand port forwarding or a reverse proxy).
4. Finish—land on the dashboard and sign in with the admin user you created.

Add or change media libraries later

In the dashboard: Administration → Dashboard → Libraries → Add Media Library. Pick the content type, add display name, and set folder paths Jellyfin can read. For TV shows, use Show Name/Season XX/episode layouts; for movies, Movie Name (Year)/Movie Name (Year).mkv works well with default metadata providers.

Ensure the jellyfin system user (apt) or container user can read your files:

# example: grant read access to a library mount
sudo chown -R jellyfin:adm /srv/media
sudo chmod -R g+rX /srv/media

For Docker, mount media with permissions your container user can read, or map --user $(id -u):$(id -g) if you manage ownership from the host.

Client apps

Beyond the browser UI at port 8096, install official clients from jellyfin.org/downloads:

Enable remote access in Jellyfin only when you have HTTPS or a trusted reverse proxy in front of the server.

Rerun the setup wizard (system.xml)

If you need to repeat first-run setup on an apt install, edit the config flag:

sudo nano /etc/jellyfin/system.xml

Change:

<IsStartupWizardCompleted>true</IsStartupWizardCompleted>

to:

<IsStartupWizardCompleted>false</IsStartupWizardCompleted>

Restart and reload the wizard:

sudo systemctl restart jellyfin

For Docker, edit config/config/system.xml inside your mounted config volume, then docker restart jellyfin.

Uninstall Jellyfin

Apt install:

sudo systemctl stop jellyfin
sudo apt purge -y 'jellyfin*'
sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jellyfin.sources /etc/apt/keyrings/jellyfin.gpg
sudo apt update

Optional: sudo apt autoremove -y — see remove unused packages on Ubuntu if apt still reports auto-installed dependencies you no longer need.

Docker:

docker stop jellyfin
docker rm jellyfin
docker rmi jellyfin/jellyfin:latest   # optional
rm -rf ~/jellyfin                     # only if you do not need config/cache

See how to remove software on Ubuntu for broader cleanup patterns.

Troubleshooting

Summary

Install Jellyfin on Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS with the official apt repository—modern signed-by key in /etc/apt/keyrings, correct jammy or noble suite, then sudo apt install jellyfin. On Ubuntu 25.04, the noble repo fails dependency resolution (libicu74, libx265-199); run jellyfin/jellyfin in Docker on port 8096 instead. After install, enable systemd (apt), allow 8096/tcp in UFW, complete the web wizard, add media libraries, and use official client apps for phones and TVs.

References

• Jellyfin Linux installation
• Jellyfin Docker documentation
• Jellyfin downloads
• On-site: apt command, check Ubuntu version