Install phlix-server on Linux

TL;DR

phlix-server is a PHP 8.3+ media server with HLS streaming, WebSocket real-time sync, DLNA, and a Smarty web portal. This guide installs it on Linux (Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+, or Fedora 40+) in roughly 15 minutes using system packages, Composer, and systemd.

Minimum requirements: 2 CPU / 4 GB RAM. A non-root sudo user is recommended.

Quick one-liner (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y php8.3-fpm php8.3-mysql php8.3-curl php8.3-gd \
  php8.3-zip php8.3-xml php8.3-mbstring php8.3-bcmath mariadb-server ffmpeg git curl unzip && \
  sudo mkdir -p /opt/phlix && sudo chown $USER:$USER /opt/phlix && \
  git clone https://github.com/detain/phlix-server.git /opt/phlix && cd /opt/phlix && \
  composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader && \
  cp .env.example .env && php scripts/run-migrations.php && \
  sudo cp phlix.service /etc/systemd/system/ && sudo systemctl daemon-reload && \
  sudo systemctl enable --now phlix && sudo ufw allow 32400/tcp comment 'Phlix HTTP'

Then open http://your-server-ip:32400 in your browser.

Screenshots TBD

This guide is text-first. Screenshots will be added in a follow-up.

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1. Supported operating systems

Distro	Version	Package manager	Notes
Ubuntu	22.04+ (LTS)	APT	LTS recommended
Debian	12+ (Bookworm)	APT	Testing/stable
Fedora	40+	DNF/RPM	RPM Fusion needed for FFmpeg
General (source)	Any modern	Source compile	PHP 8.3 from source

Use a non-root sudo user for all steps below.

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2. Install system dependencies

2a. Ubuntu / Debian (APT)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y php8.3-fpm php8.3-mysql php8.3-curl php8.3-gd php8.3-zip \
  php8.3-xml php8.3-mbstring php8.3-bcmath mariadb-server ffmpeg git curl unzip

2b. Fedora (DNF)

First enable RPM Fusion for a full FFmpeg build:

sudo dnf install -y https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install -y php-fpm php-mysqlnd php-curl php-gd php-zip php-xml \
  php-mbstring php-bcmath mariadb-server ffmpeg git curl unzip

2c. From source (all distros)

Install PHP 8.3 from source, MariaDB from distro packages, and FFmpeg from the jellyfin-ffmpeg PPA or source.

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3. Database setup (MariaDB)

sudo mysql_secure_installation

sudo mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE phlix CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;"
sudo mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE USER 'phlix'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_strong_password';"
sudo mysql -u root -p -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON phlix.* TO 'phlix'@'localhost';"
sudo mysql -u root -p -e "FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"

Replace your_strong_password with a real strong password.

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4. Clone phlix-server

sudo mkdir -p /opt/phlix
sudo chown $USER:$USER /opt/phlix
git clone https://github.com/detain/phlix-server.git /opt/phlix
cd /opt/phlix

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5. PHP dependencies (Composer)

composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

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6. Configure environment

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your editor. Required settings:

APP_URL=http://your-server-ip:32400
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_DATABASE=phlix
DB_USERNAME=phlix
DB_PASSWORD=your_strong_password

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7. Database migrations

php scripts/run-migrations.php

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8. systemd service unit

Save this as /etc/systemd/system/phlix.service:

[Unit]
Description=Phlix Media Server
After=network.target mariadb.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=www-data
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/opt/phlix
ExecStart=/usr/bin/php /opt/phlix/public/index.php
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Install and enable:

sudo cp phlix.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable phlix
sudo systemctl start phlix

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9. Firewall configuration

UFW (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo ufw allow 32400/tcp comment 'Phlix HTTP'
sudo ufw allow 1900/udp comment 'DLNA discovery (optional)'

firewalld (Fedora)

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=32400/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=1900/udp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

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10. Verify the install

sudo systemctl status phlix
curl -I http://localhost:32400

Expected: HTTP 200 from the phlix index page.

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What can go wrong

PHP extension missing

• Symptom: Class 'PDO' not found or similar during composer install
• Fix: sudo apt install php8.3-mysql php8.3-gd (or matching extensions for your PHP version)
• Verify: php -m | grep pdo_mysql

MariaDB not running

• Symptom: Connection refused on localhost:3306 after install
• Fix: sudo systemctl start mariadb && sudo systemctl enable mariadb
• Verify: sudo mysql -u root -p -e "SELECT 1;"

FFmpeg not found / wrong version

• Symptom: Transcoding fails, "FFmpeg not found" in logs
• Fix (Ubuntu/Debian): sudo apt install ffmpeg — for better transcoding use jellyfin-ffmpeg
• Fix (Fedora): Enable RPM Fusion first, then dnf install ffmpeg
• Verify: ffmpeg -version

Permission denied on /var/lib/phlix

• Symptom: "Cannot create file /var/lib/phlix/..." in logs
• Fix: sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/lib/phlix && sudo chmod -R 755 /var/lib/phlix

Port 32400 already in use

• Symptom: bind(): Address already in use
• Fix: sudo ss -tlnp | grep 32400 to find the conflicting process, stop it or change phlix port via APP_URL env var

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Next steps

• First-run wizard — complete the browser-based setup at http://your-server:32400
• Docker install — alternative install method using containers
• Hardware transcoding — configure NVENC/VAAPI for better performance