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Managing servers

Adding a server you already run​

Click + Add in the sidebar (or Add a server on the welcome screen).

The Add a server form: server URL, auth code, display name, and device name

You'll be asked for:

  • Server URL - the address you use to reach the server, e.g. https://my-server:8080.
  • Auth code - an auth code minted on the server. For full management you want a code for an admin account: in the server's admin console, use Copy invite on your admin user (Users and invites).
  • Display name (optional) - what to call this server in the sidebar; left blank, the server's own name is used.
  • Device name - how this session appears in the server's session list (defaults to "AudioSilo Manager").
  • Allow self-signed certificate (LAN) - tick this if your server uses the default self-signed HTTPS certificate.

Clicking Connect redeems the code for a session and stores the token in your operating system's keychain. The manager then reads the server's version and capabilities and, if the code was for an admin account, lists its libraries.

:::note Connected but no libraries? A non-admin code still connects, but listing and managing libraries needs admin access. Use Enter admin auth code in the Libraries section (or ⋯ → Admin access) and paste an admin code - see Granting admin access below. :::

The server detail view​

Selecting a server in the sidebar shows its detail view.

A server's detail view: online status with capability tags, an update banner, and the library list

  • Status line - checked automatically when you select the server (and on the ↻ button): Online with the running version and capability tags (such as web_player and transcode), or Offline with the reason.
  • Update banner - when a newer server release exists, a banner shows the running and latest versions. If the manager knows how the server is deployed (see Deployment settings), an Update now button updates it in place; otherwise the banner tells you what to configure first. An up-to-date, manageable server instead offers Re-pull & restart stack.
  • Local server panel - for a server created on this computer: running/stopped state, the folder it serves, Start/Stop, and Open setup page while first-run setup is pending.
  • Libraries - every library on the server, each with a Manage menu:
    • Browse… - a read-only view of what's in the library.
    • Host path… - where on the destination machine the manager should write this library's files (required before importing - see Organizing and importing books).
    • Import… - import books into this library (disabled until the host path is set).
    • Audible - the per-library Audible backup, including the Series & Gaps tools.
  • ⋯ menu (top right) - Admin access, Settings (name, address, self-signed certificate), Transfer settings (how files are written), Deployment, and Remove.

Granting admin access​

⋯ → Admin access lets you paste an admin auth code for a server that's already in your list. You'll need this after deploying a fresh server (finish its setup wizard in the browser first, then mint a code from its admin console), or if the manager's saved session was revoked. The new session token replaces the old one and the library list is refreshed.

Removing a server​

⋯ → Remove forgets the server and its saved token in the manager only. Nothing on the server - accounts, libraries, files - is touched.

Creating a server​

Click Create in the sidebar (or Create a server on the welcome screen) and pick where it should run:

  • This computer - run a server inside the manager, optionally shared via a free Cloudflare Tunnel.
  • Linux server (SSH) - install it with Docker on a machine you already run.
  • Unraid (SSH) - the same, with Unraid's path conventions pre-filled.
  • VPS - Hetzner - provision a new always-on cloud server.

On this computer​

Creating a local server: name, audiobooks folder, and the Cloudflare Tunnel option

Give it a name, choose (or type) your audiobooks folder, and decide whether to tick Make it reachable from anywhere (Cloudflare Tunnel) - a free tunnel that gives the server a public HTTPS address without touching your router. Click Create server.

The manager starts a full AudioSilo server on your computer, serving that folder, and shows an Open setup page button: finish first-run setup in your browser (choose an admin password). Then mint an admin invite code in the server's admin console and paste it via ⋯ → Admin access so the manager can manage the libraries.

Worth knowing:

  • The server runs inside the manager app - quitting the manager stops it. Use the Local server panel on the server's detail page to start and stop it.
  • The server's data (settings, database, certificates) lives under the manager's data folder (local-servers/<id> inside it); your audiobooks stay in the folder you chose.
  • The tunnel uses Cloudflare's free "quick tunnel", so the public address is assigned fresh each time the server starts - fine for trying things out; for a permanent address, consider a proper deployment (Remote access).
  • The tunnel needs the cloudflared helper program. The manager finds an installed copy or downloads one automatically on Linux and Windows; on macOS, install it once with brew install cloudflared.

On a Linux machine or Unraid, over SSH​

This installs AudioSilo with Docker on a machine you already run - a NAS, a home server, an Unraid box. The machine needs SSH access and Docker.

  1. Connect: enter the host, port, and user, and pick how to authenticate - your SSH agent, a key file (with optional passphrase), or a password. Click Test connection: the manager shows the machine's SSH host-key fingerprint, and you confirm it with Trust & continue (the fingerprint is remembered and verified on every later connection).
  2. Configure: server name, a data folder (server settings and database), a library folder (your audiobooks - browsable remotely), the port (default 8080), whether to use plain HTTP instead of the default self-signed HTTPS, and optionally a Cloudflare Tunnel.
  3. Deploy: the manager starts the server in Docker - with Docker Compose if it's available on the machine, otherwise a plain container - with your library folder mounted into it. A log streams as it works.

When it finishes, Open setup page takes you to the server's first-run wizard: choose an admin password, and set the books folder to /library (that's where your library folder appears inside the container). The manager pre-configures itself to write content to your library folder over SFTP, so imports work as soon as you grant it admin access.

:::tip Unraid specifics The form pre-fills Unraid conventions: keep the data folder on a cache/pool path (e.g. /mnt/cache/appdata/audiosilo) so the database isn't on the slower user-share layer; the library can be any /mnt/user share. Files are written as nobody:users. Docker Compose is used if the Compose Manager plugin is installed, otherwise a plain container. :::

On a VPS (Hetzner)​

Provisions a brand-new cloud server and runs AudioSilo on it. You'll need a Hetzner Cloud API token - it is used once for the deployment and not stored - and this incurs Hetzner's normal hosting cost. Pick a region (default nbg1) and size (default cx22), name the server, and give the name of an SSH key already in your Hetzner account - that key is how the manager will upload content later.

After deployment, open the setup page (expect a browser warning - the server uses a self-signed certificate) and finish first-run setup. Content transfer over SSH (SFTP) is pre-configured; adjust it under ⋯ → Transfer settings if needed.

Editing a server's settings​

⋯ → Settings edits the basics of a server already in your list: display name, address, and whether to accept a self-signed certificate. The saved session is kept - if you point the entry at a different server, pair again via Admin access.

Deployment settings and in-place updates​

⋯ → Deployment records how a server's Docker setup lives on its host machine: Linux or Unraid, Docker Compose or docker run, the data and library folders, the port, TLS mode, container name, and image. For servers the manager deployed, these are filled in already; for a server you set up yourself, you can enter them.

With deployment details plus a working SSH connection (⋯ → Transfer settings, with the host key trusted), the update banner's Update now button can update the server in place: the manager pulls the latest server image over SSH and recreates the container, keeping your data and library exactly where they were.