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How To Install MiniDLNA On Ubuntu

MiniDLNA is a lightweight and simple to configure DLNA server for Linux, I say simple because for this tutorial we only need to edit a single configuration file. while you can always change more settings, this tutorial will only cover the basics needed to have a working server.

MiniDLNA is server software with the aim of being fully compliant with DLNA/UPnP clients.

Preparations

Before we can install MiniDLNA make sure the installation is up to date.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Installation

MiniDLNA is available in the Ubuntu repositories, why is why we can install the package with the help of apt-get.

sudo apt-get install minidlna

For this tutorial I will be using an Ubuntu 12.04 64-Bit installation. Also, you will need access to root.

Configuration

We need to edit the MiniDLNA configuration file.

sudo nano /etc/minidlna.conf

And uncomment and change the following settings.

#network_interface=eth0
#media_dir=/opt
#friendly_name=My DLNA Server

After making the changes your configuration should look somewhat similar to mine, make changes as necessary.

network_interface=eth0
media_dir=/usr/local/media
friendly_name=Multimedia Server

Let me explain the changes. network_interface=eth0 - This is the network interface where all the content will be served to the clients. media_dir=/usr/local/media - I’ve decided to store all my media files in the /usr directory, you can change the path according to your needs. friendly_name=Multimedia - This is the name by which all the clients will recognize the server. Restart the service.

sudo service minidlna restart

And your MiniDLNA Server is configured to serve your media files. Now go over to the client and attempt to connect. In my case the client is an Xbox 360. xbox-dlna-0 BTW: If your client is an Xbox 360 you may have to use a transcoder like Handbrake to transcode all your files to an Xbox 360 friendly video file, Otherwise MiniDLNA will serve the files but they will appear as unvailable to the clients. xbox-dlna-1

Optional

In the configuration above I only specified a single directory for media files, but if you wish to add more directories all you have to do is add another line to the configuration like this one:

media_dir=/usr/local/media_video

Links MiniDLNA home page

, — Jul 15, 2012