# Audiobookshelf on Linux (Without Docker)

> Install Audiobookshelf directly on Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, CentOS, or NixOS without Docker

Source: https://soundleafapp.com/server/server-setup-linux/

---

Don't want to use Docker? Audiobookshelf has native packages for most Linux distributions.

## Debian / Ubuntu

Official PPA maintained by the Audiobookshelf team:

```bash
# Add the signing key and repository
sudo apt install gnupg curl
wget -O- https://advplyr.github.io/audiobookshelf-ppa/KEY.gpg \
  | gpg --dearmor \
  | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/adb-archive-keyring.gpg

sudo curl -s -o /etc/apt/sources.list.d/audiobookshelf.list \
  https://advplyr.github.io/audiobookshelf-ppa/audiobookshelf.list

# Install
sudo apt update
sudo apt install audiobookshelf
```

### Configuration

The PPA writes a default config to `/etc/default/audiobookshelf` on install:

```bash
METADATA_PATH=/usr/share/audiobookshelf/metadata
CONFIG_PATH=/usr/share/audiobookshelf/config
PORT=13378
HOST=0.0.0.0
```

That binds to all interfaces, so other devices on your network can reach it right away. To restrict it to localhost (e.g., when running behind a reverse proxy on the same host), change `HOST` to `127.0.0.1`.

### Start the service

```bash
sudo systemctl start audiobookshelf.service
sudo systemctl enable audiobookshelf.service
```

### Updating

```bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade audiobookshelf
```

---

## RHEL / CentOS / Fedora

Community RPM maintained by Lars Kiesow:

```bash
# Install the repository (replace 'el9' with your version)
dnf install -y "https://github.com/lkiesow/audiobookshelf-rpm/raw/el$(rpm -E %rhel)/audiobookshelf-repository-1-1.el$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm"

# Install
dnf install audiobookshelf
```

Configuration lives at `/etc/default/audiobookshelf`:

```bash
METADATA_PATH=/var/lib/audiobookshelf/metadata
CONFIG_PATH=/var/lib/audiobookshelf/config
PORT=13378
HOST=0.0.0.0
```

Start and enable with `systemctl` the same way as Debian/Ubuntu.

---

## NixOS

```nix
# In your configuration.nix
services.audiobookshelf.enable = true;
```

Or run it directly without a system service:

```bash
audiobookshelf \
  --metadata "$(pwd)/metadata" \
  --config "$(pwd)/config" \
  --port 13378 \
  --host 0.0.0.0
```

---

## Windows

A community-maintained Windows installer exists at [mikiher/audiobookshelf-windows](https://github.com/mikiher/audiobookshelf-windows) on GitHub. Requires Windows 10 64-bit or later.

Download the installer from the releases page and follow the setup wizard.

---

## After install

1. Open `http://YOUR-IP:13378` in a browser
2. Create your admin account
3. Add a library and point it to your audiobooks folder
4. Let it scan your files

Then [connect SoundLeaf](https://soundleafapp.com/docs/getting-started/) to start listening.

## Next steps

- [Set up a reverse proxy](https://soundleafapp.com/server/server-reverse-proxy/): access your server from outside your network
- [Cloudflare Access](https://soundleafapp.com/docs/cloudflare-access-setup/): secure remote access with Cloudflare tunnels
- [Tailscale VPN](https://soundleafapp.com/docs/tailscale-vpn-setup/): access your server over Tailscale