Installing Loombre
Loombre is a self-hosted media server that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. This guide covers the key installation paths and what hardware you need.
Quick overview: choose your platform
- Docker/Compose (recommended) — Friction-free path if you have Docker. No OS-level signing checks, no Gatekeeper/SmartScreen prompts. Single environment file,
docker composecommands. - Linux (tarball + systemd) — Bare-metal installs, containers without Docker-in-Docker. Bundled Node, ffmpeg, systemd units.
- Windows (.exe installer) — Native installer, Windows services, system tray controller. Embedded PostgreSQL and bundled ffmpeg.
- macOS (.pkg + menubar) — Native installer, LaunchDaemons, menubar controller. Runs while logged out (ideal for a shared Mac).
System requirements
Pick the tier that matches your hardware. All tiers are first-class deployments — Loombre makes no compromises on Tier-0 (the cheapest, slowest option).
Tier-0 (budget hardware — fully supported)
Reference: Intel N100, ARM Pi-5 class, 4 GB RAM, HDD
Commitment: Full functionality; ≥ 2 simultaneous 1080p hw transcodes or 8+ direct-play streams
What this means: Your library will scan and serve correctly. You'll be able to transcode or direct-play; you won't hit performance walls until you push it deliberately hard. For a home library (thousands of titles, a handful of users), this is enough.
| Component | Minimum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 4-core @ 2 GHz | Intel N100, Raspberry Pi 5, entry ARM boards |
| RAM | 4 GB | Embedded PostgreSQL + server + worker |
| Disk | HDD | NAS, external drive, or internal — whatever holds your media |
| Network | 1 Gbps | LAN to LAN; remote access needs 50+ Mbps for 4K |
Tier-1 (desktop or small server)
Reference: Quad-core desktop/laptop with iGPU or entry dGPU, 8–16 GB RAM
Commitment: 4+ simultaneous 4K→1080p hardware transcodes; sub-second library navigation at 50k items
Tier-2 (dedicated server with discrete GPU)
Reference: Server with dedicated GPU (RTX 2060 Ti class or better), 16+ GB RAM
Commitment: Worker scale-out; 10+ simultaneous transcodes
Why are the installers unsigned?
Every installer ships unsigned — no Apple notarization, no Windows Authenticode code-signing certificate. This is a deliberate choice, not an oversight.
Signing certificates cost $99–$299 per year, per platform. This project has no revenue and reports no telemetry (an architecture invariant; see CLAUDE.md). The fundamental choice: spend money we don't have on certificates, or use the open-source trust model instead.
The open-source trust model: you verify a cryptographic checksum and signature yourself, rather than delegating that judgment to a certificate authority. This is both more honest (you make the decision personally) and more verifiable (the release manager's signature is auditable; a certificate authority's reputation system is not).
Every Loombre release carries three independent verification layers:
- GitHub artifact attestation (no key handling required) — proves the artifact was built by Loombre's own CI from this exact commit.
- minisign signature (the release manager's personal blessing) — proves a human release manager deliberately published this exact file.
- SHA-256 checksums (plain integrity, no key needed) — proves your download matches what was published.
See the Verify what you downloaded section in each platform's guide for the exact commands. Treat verification as part of every install, every time — not a one-time setup step.
First run: onboarding wizard
The first time you open Loombre (after installation, on first boot), a web-based wizard walks you through:
- Admin account creation — a username and password for yourself
- Library paths — where your movies, TV shows, and music live (local folders, network mounts, or both)
- Hardware capability probe — Loombre detects what your device can do (video decoding, transcoding hardware, audio formats)
- Restricted content — an optional step to turn on restricted-content support for this server
- Restore from a backup — optionally restore a data export from another Loombre install, if this is a fresh instance
The wizard saves these settings and opens the web client. From there, you can add more users, configure remote access, and start streaming. Full step-by-step detail (including a note on the restore step's ordering requirements): docs/admin-guide/wizard.md.
After install: next steps
- Local access only — No extra configuration needed. Open
http://localhost:3000and start streaming. - Remote access (inside your own network) — Set up a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy, Traefik) if Loombre isn't already on port 80/443; see
docs/ops/reverse-proxy.md. - Remote access (from outside your network) — Use built-in ACME (Let's Encrypt) for automatic TLS, or bring your own certificate behind a reverse proxy; see
docs/ops/acme.md.
Troubleshooting
- The installer won't run — Gatekeeper (macOS) / SmartScreen (Windows) are blocking it. See your platform's guide for the exact click-through steps.
- Loombre starts but I can't access it — Check
http://127.0.0.1:3000first (localhost only). If that works, check your firewall.docs/ops/reverse-proxy.mdhas working reverse-proxy recipes for external access. - I'm getting permission errors — On Linux/macOS, Loombre runs as a dedicated system user (
loombreor_loombre). If you're bind-mounting library paths, make sure that user can read them:sudo chown -R loombre:loombre /path/to/library(Linux) or check File Sharing system settings (macOS). - The database won't start — Embedded PostgreSQL needs the data directory to be writable and owned by the service user. See the platform-specific docs for exact paths and troubleshooting.
For platform-specific issues, see:
Hardware not listed?
Loombre runs on any hardware that meets the Tier-0 minimum (4-core CPU, 4 GB RAM, network drive). If your hardware meets that, it works — the tiers above just describe what additional features you can run simultaneously.
File an issue with your hardware specs if you hit problems; Phase 4 includes a Tier-0 physical-hardware audit on an actual Intel N100 (a $100-ish fanless mini-PC).