Requirements and installation options
Silo is in active development before 1.0. These guides are updated frequently.
If someone has already invited you to their Silo server, connect and start watching. Install a server when you want to manage your own media and accounts.
Choose a starting point
Section titled “Choose a starting point”Use the Docker Compose walkthrough for a new single-host installation. It runs the web app, API, scanner, and transcoder together, with PostgreSQL and Redis beside them.
The published Linux container targets x86-64 and arm64, and the walkthrough covers a Linux host. Docker on macOS or Windows adds file-sharing and networking differences, and the Linux GPU instructions do not apply there unchanged. Native host builds and multi-host deployments are covered in the server repository.
What the host needs
Section titled “What the host needs”- Docker with Compose 2.24 or newer and permission to run containers.
- A mounted directory of media files that the container can read.
- Persistent storage for PostgreSQL, artwork, and other server state.
- Free temporary space for transcodes and prepared downloads.
- Network access to your clients, and internet access for the default metadata plugins and any other providers you choose.
Direct playback uses much less processing than converting video. Before sizing a small host for everyone, test your own files with the number of people you expect to watch at once.
Do I need a GPU?
Section titled “Do I need a GPU?”Start without one if your clients can play your files directly. A GPU can reduce the CPU load when Silo must convert video for a client or a lower quality setting. Hardware support depends on the host, driver, container access, and file format. See Set up transcoding before buying hardware for that purpose.
Decide where artwork will live
Section titled “Decide where artwork will live”Local disk is the simplest choice for one server and needs no cloud account. S3-compatible storage is useful when hosts need to share artwork.
Choosing before the first library scan is simplest. Once Silo has stored files, you change the location through a storage transition that copies what you choose. See Storage and capacity.
Existing or advanced installations
Section titled “Existing or advanced installations”Keep a working server on its existing data paths until you have a tested backup. Read Updates before changing versions.
External PostgreSQL or Redis, separate transcode nodes, and Meilisearch search can all be added later. You don’t need any of them for your first playback test.