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

Use the Docker Compose walkthrough for a new single-host installation. Silo’s image runs the web app, API, scanner, and transcoder in one container, with PostgreSQL and Redis inside it.

On a NAS or in a container manager that doesn’t use Compose, start the same image with docker run. To keep PostgreSQL, Redis, and Meilisearch in containers of their own, use the advanced Compose file.

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. To spread Silo across several hosts, see Transcode nodes and Server configuration. Native host builds are covered in the server’s development guide.

What the host needs

• Docker and permission to run containers, with Compose 2.24 or newer if you use Compose.
• A mounted directory of media files that the account Silo runs as (PUID and PGID) 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?

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

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

Keep a working server on its existing data paths until you have a tested backup. Read Updates before changing versions. A server that already runs PostgreSQL and Redis in containers of their own needs a few changes before its next update; see If your server runs PostgreSQL and Redis in their own containers.

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.