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Learn How to Deploy Navidrome on Ubuntu VPS! This article provides a guide demonstrating how to deploy Navidrome on Ubuntu VPS. What is Navidrome? Navidrome is a free, open-source, self-hosted music streaming server that lets you create your own personal music streaming service using your existing music collection. Instead of uploading your music to a commercial service like Spotify or Apple Music, you store your audio files on your own server (or NAS), and Navidrome streams them securely to your web browser, smartphone, tablet, or desktop using its built-in web player or compatible third-party apps. Think of it as "your own private Spotify"—except you own the music, control the server, and aren't dependent on a subscription or internet service to access your library (other than connecting to your own server). Key Features Self-hosted – Your music stays on your own hardware or VPS. Modern web player – Listen directly from any modern web browser. Mobile app support – Works with a large ecosystem of Subsonic/OpenSubsonic-compatible apps for iOS and Android. Multi-user support – Each user gets their own playlists, favorites, ratings, and listening history. Large library support – Designed to efficiently manage libraries containing hundreds of thousands of songs. Automatic library scanning – Detects new music and metadata changes automatically. On-the-fly transcoding – Converts audio to lower bitrates when needed for slower connections or mobile devices. Playlist support – Create playlists or import existing .m3u playlists. Sharing – Share albums, playlists, or tracks with others via public links. External authentication – Can integrate with external identity providers if desired. Lightweight – Written in Go, requiring minimal system resources. Supported Audio Formats Navidrome can index and stream virtually any format supported by FFmpeg, including: MP3 FLAC AAC OGG Vorbis Opus ALAC WAV AIFF WMA (with FFmpeg support) Many others Compatible Clients Besides the built-in web interface, you can use many third-party clients that support the Subsonic/OpenSubsonic API, including: Symfonium (Android) Tempo Amperfy (iOS) Substreamer DSub Sonixd Supersonic Feishin Many desktop and TV clients Typical Architecture Internet │ HTTPS (443) │ Nginx/Caddy │ Navidrome (4533) │ Music Library (/srv/music) │ MP3 • FLAC • AAC • ALAC • OGG System Requirements Navidrome is remarkably lightweight: Component Recommended CPU 1–2 vCPUs RAM 512 MB minimum (1–2 GB recommended) Storage SSD plus space for your music OS Linux, Windows, macOS Docker Fully supported Raspberry Pi Supported It can even run comfortably on a Raspberry Pi Zero or other low-power hardware. Advantages No monthly subscription Full ownership of your music No advertisements Excellent FLAC and lossless audio support Fast and responsive interface Very low resource usage Open source (GPL-3.0) Large ecosystem of compatible client apps Limitations It does not provide licensed commercial music—you must supply your own legally obtained music library. Music discovery and recommendation features are much more limited than services like Spotify or Apple Music. Good organization depends on accurate metadata (artist, album, track tags) in your music files. Navidrome vs. Jellyfin vs. Plex Feature Navidrome Jellyfin Plex Purpose Music only General media server General media server Resource usage Very low Moderate Moderate Music experience Excellent Good Very good (Plex Pass adds features) Video support No Yes Yes Photos No Yes Yes Multi-user Yes Yes Yes Mobile clients Extensive (OpenSubsonic ecosystem) Jellyfin apps Plex apps Open source Yes Yes No (server is proprietary) Who Should Use Navidrome? Navidrome is an excellent choice if you: Have a personal collection of MP3, FLAC, or other audio files. Want to stream your music anywhere without relying on a commercial streaming service. Prefer open-source software and control over your own data. Need a lightweight music server for a VPS, NAS, Raspberry Pi, or home server. Want to share your music library with family or friends while maintaining separate user accounts and playlists. For users who primarily want a dedicated, self-hosted music server rather than a full media platform, Navidrome is widely regarded as one of the best options available due to its simplicity, performance, and excellent compatibility with the OpenSubsonic ecosystem. Below is a production-style Ubuntu VPS deployment guide for Navidrome, a self-hosted music streaming server. Navidrome provides Linux binaries and .deb packages, requires ffmpeg, and uses port 4533 by default. Deploy Navidrome on Ubuntu VPS To deploy Navidrome on Ubuntu VPS, follow the steps outlined below: Prepare the server Use Ubuntu 22.04 or Ubuntu 24.04. sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade -y sudo apt install -y curl wget unzip ffmpeg nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx ufw Enable a basic firewall: sudo ufw allow OpenSSH sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' sudo ufw enable Create a Navidrome user and directories sudo useradd -r -s /usr/sbin/nologin navidrome sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/navidrome sudo mkdir -p /srv/music sudo chown -R navidrome:navidrome /var/lib/navidrome sudo chown -R navidrome:navidrome /srv/music Recommended layout: /var/lib/navidrome Navidrome database, cache, config /srv/music Your music library Upload your music files into: /srv/music Example using rsync from your local machine: rsync -avz ./Music/ root@YOUR_SERVER_IP:/srv/music/ Then fix permissions: sudo chown -R navidrome:navidrome /srv/music Install Navidrome The official Linux install docs recommend using the prebuilt package or binary. Check the latest release URL from: https://github.com/navidrome/navidrome/releases For Ubuntu x86_64, download the latest .deb. Example: cd /tmp wget https://github.com/navidrome/navidrome/releases/download/v0.63.1/navidrome_0.63.1_linux_amd64.deb sudo apt install ./navidrome_0.63.1_linux_amd64.deb -y If the version has changed, replace v0.63.1 and the filename with the latest release. Confirm installation: navidrome --version Create the Navidrome config file Navidrome loads configuration from a navidrome.toml file, and its docs list many configurable options including address, port, music folder, data folder, scanner behavior, logging, and UI options. Create the config: sudo nano /var/lib/navidrome/navidrome.toml Add: MusicFolder "/srv/music" DataFolder "/var/lib/navidrome" Address "127.0.0.1" Port 4533 LogLevel "info" ScanSchedule "@every 1h" EnableTranscodingConfig true EnableSharing false BaseURL "" Save and exit. Fix ownership: sudo chown navidrome:navidrome /var/lib/navidrome/navidrome.toml sudo chmod 640 /var/lib/navidrome/navidrome.toml Create a systemd service sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/navidrome.service Add: DescriptionNavidrome Music Server Afternetwork.target Usernavidrome Groupnavidrome Typesimple ExecStart/usr/bin/navidrome --configfile /var/lib/navidrome/navidrome.toml WorkingDirectory/var/lib/navidrome Restarton-failure RestartSec5 NoNewPrivilegestrue PrivateTmptrue ProtectSystemfull ProtectHometrue ReadWritePaths/var/lib/navidrome /srv/music WantedBymulti-user.target Reload systemd: sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable --now navidrome Check status: sudo systemctl status navidrome View logs: journalctl -u navidrome -f Test Navidrome locally From the server: curl -I http://127.0.0.1:4533 You should receive an HTTP response. At this point, Navidrome is running locally but not exposed directly to the internet. Configure Nginx reverse proxy Replace music.example.com with your real domain. Create the Nginx site: sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/navidrome Add: server { listen 80; server_name music.example.com; client_max_body_size 100M; location / { proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:4533; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade"; proxy_buffering off; } } Enable it: sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/navidrome /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/navidrome sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl reload nginx Point DNS to the VPS Create an A record: music.example.com → YOUR_SERVER_IP Wait for DNS propagation. Test: curl -I http://music.example.com Install SSL with Let’s Encrypt Certbot with the Nginx plugin is commonly installed on Ubuntu using certbot and python3-certbot-nginx. Run: sudo certbot --nginx -d music.example.com Choose the redirect option when prompted. Test renewal: sudo certbot renew --dry-run Access Navidrome Open: https://music.example.com On first login, Navidrome will prompt you to create the first admin account. Create Navidrome Admin Account Navidrome scans the music folder in the background. Large libraries may take several minutes or longer to appear fully. Watch logs: journalctl -u navidrome -f Add music safely Upload files to: /srv/music Then run: sudo chown -R navidrome:navidrome /srv/music Navidrome will automatically rescan based on your ScanSchedule. Navidrome Music Player You can also restart it: sudo systemctl restart navidrome Optional: lock down direct port access Because Nginx proxies traffic, port 4533 should not be publicly open. Confirm: sudo ss -tulpn | grep 4533 It should bind to: 127.0.0.1:4533 Not: 0.0.0.0:4533 Backup Navidrome Back up: /var/lib/navidrome /srv/music /etc/systemd/system/navidrome.service /etc/nginx/sites-available/navidrome Example backup: sudo tar -czf /root/navidrome-backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz \ /var/lib/navidrome \ /srv/music \ /etc/systemd/system/navidrome.service \ /etc/nginx/sites-available/navidrome Update Navidrome Check the latest release: https://github.com/navidrome/navidrome/releases Then: cd /tmp wget https://github.com/navidrome/navidrome/releases/download/vNEW_VERSION/navidrome_NEW_VERSION_linux_amd64.deb sudo systemctl stop navidrome sudo apt install ./navidrome_NEW_VERSION_linux_amd64.deb -y sudo systemctl start navidrome Verify: navidrome --version sudo systemctl status navidrome Useful commands Restart Navidrome: sudo systemctl restart navidrome Check logs: journalctl -u navidrome -n 100 --no-pager Follow logs live: journalctl -u navidrome -f Check Nginx config: sudo nginx -t Reload Nginx: sudo systemctl reload nginx Finished Your Navidrome instance should now be available at: https://music.example.com Conclusion You now know how to deploy Navidrome on Ubuntu VPS.

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