Ubuntu – How to set up a DLNA server on Ubuntu 14.04

dlnamediaserverminidlnaserver

I've tried a few DLNA servers (including MiniDLNA, uShare, MediaTomb, Rygel), but none of these works as expected. The problem with MiniDLNA is that most of the shared content simply didn't appear on the TVs list or if they appeared the TV couldn't play them (unsupported or unregistered format). uShare didn't want to work. First i runned it manually using the screen ushare -c /mnt/Films/ --content /mnt/Music/ --content /home/savanweylyn/Képek, and it was working well. After i configured it with sudo dpkg --reconfigure ushare, it suddenly stopped working. The error message on the TV was 'no media detected'. MediaTomb was removed pretty fast, because it was hard to configure and the TV didn't even detect it. And finally: Rygel. I absolutely don't know how to configure it.

So please could you tell me an easy-to-use DLNA server for a GUIless server?

Best Answer

The simple way is to use MiniDLNA, because it should be on Ubuntu repositories and it is a simple tool.

You can try all DLNA apps and still your TV is not going to run some file types. You need to check what type of files your capable DLNA TV support.

I recommend you to check the Community Wiki entry on how to configure MiniDLNA or watch an instructional video. Very simple and straight forward.

For MiniDLNA follow these steps:

  1. Install MiniDLNA

    sudo apt-get install minidlna
    
  2. Edit configuration file

    gksu gedit /etc/minidlna.conf
    
  3. Add the following text to the file. Replace the folders name by the ones you use. You can just use one type if you want.

    inotify=yes
    media_dir=P,/home/user/Pictures
    media_dir=V,/home/user/Videos
    media_dir=A,/home/user/Music
    media_dir=/home/user/Videos
    friendly_name=UbuntuDLNA
    
  4. Then restart the service to apply changes

    sudo service minidlna restart
    
  5. Make sure the file list is rebuild

    sudo service minidlna force-reload
    
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