Your server, running in five minutes.

Create a free account

Your account is what you sign in with everywhere, and what your server is linked to. Create one here if you haven't already.

Install the server

Kinonode runs on Linux today; Windows and Mac apps are coming. On the machine with your films and shows, run:

curl -fsSL https://kinonode.com/install.sh | sudo bash

It installs Kinonode as a service that starts at boot, running as its own kinonode user, and asks which folders hold your media so it can read them. It works on Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 35 or newer, and most other Linux systems with systemd.

Or with Docker

Change the two /path/to/your/… folders to where your films and TV shows are, then run:

# Change /path/to/your/films and /path/to/your/tv to your own folders.
docker run -d --name kinonode --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 32600:32600 \
  -v kinonode-data:/data \
  -v /path/to/your/films:/media/films:ro \
  -v /path/to/your/tv:/media/tv:ro \
  connect.kinonode.com/kinonode-server:latest

Your media has to be mounted: the container only sees the folders you give it with -v, and they show up under /media inside it. Its folder browser shows the container's files, not your machine's. Add a -v line for each folder, and mount network shares and USB drives on the machine at boot so they're there before the container starts. Keep the kinonode-data volume: it remembers your libraries and which account the server belongs to. The download page has more.

Open the setup page

In a browser on the same network, open http://<server>:32600, using the server machine's address, such as http://192.168.1.20:32600. On the server machine itself it's http://localhost:32600. The installer prints the address when it finishes, and kinonode status shows it again. With Docker, it's in docker logs kinonode.

Link it to your account

Sign in on the setup page and the server is linked to your account. Until it's linked, a new server won't share or play anything, so nobody else can take it over. If you'd rather not type your password there, get a one-time claim token from Add a server and paste it in instead.

Add your libraries

Pick the folders with your films and TV shows. Kinonode scans them right away, and you can add more later from Libraries. If a folder is missing or looks empty, the server isn't allowed to read it yet. Give it access with sudo kinonode grant "/path/to/folder" and look again. With Docker, pick the folders you mounted under /media, such as /media/films.

Watch

At home, the server's own address is a complete Kinonode web app. From anywhere, sign in at kinonode.com. Watching away from home needs Kinonode Remote, $5 a month for your server and everyone you share it with.