Logitech Media Server (formerly SlimServer, SqueezeCenter and Squeezebox Server) is a streaming audio server supported by Logitech (formerly Slim Devices), developed in particular to support their Squeezebox range of digital audio receivers. The following post describes how to install Logitech Media Server for Squeezebox on Ubuntu Server 12.04.5.

Logitech Media Server installation was done 12.09.2014. The following post reflects the software/version situation at that time.

Prerequisites

Ubuntu Server 12.04.5 [tested !].
Ubuntu Server 14.04.1 [tested !].
Other Ubuntu releases might work as well.

Player Model: Squeezebox Radio (Firmware: 7.7.3-r16676) [tested !]

Install Logitech Media Server using the shell

First, the correct repository needs to be added. Add one of the 3 different Logitech Media Server release repositories at the end of /etc/apt/sources.list.

For the released version of Logitech Media Server you should use one of the following lines:

For the “released” version use deb http://debian.slimdevices.com stable main.
For the “stable beta” version use deb http://debian.slimdevices.com testing main [tested !].
For the “unstable beta” version use deb http://debian.slimdevices.com unstable main.

root@ganymede:~# cat /etc/apt/sources.list
...
deb http://debian.slimdevices.com testing main
root@ganymede:~# apt-get update
...
root@ganymede:~# apt-get install logitechmediaserver
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libgs9-common ttf-dejavu-core linux-headers-3.2.0-63-generic-pae linux-headers-3.2.0-58-generic-pae libjpeg8
  libpixman-1-0 linux-headers-3.2.0-60-generic-pae linux-headers-3.2.0-55-generic-pae liblcms2-2
  linux-headers-3.2.0-53 linux-headers-3.2.0-54 linux-headers-3.2.0-60 linux-headers-3.2.0-55 linux-headers-3.2.0-61
  linux-headers-3.2.0-56 linux-headers-3.2.0-57 linux-headers-3.2.0-63 linux-headers-3.2.0-58 linux-headers-3.2.0-64
  linux-headers-3.2.0-59 linux-headers-3.2.0-65 libpoppler19 libcairo2 libfontconfig1 fontconfig-config libxcb-render0
  libpaper-utils linux-headers-3.2.0-64-generic-pae linux-headers-3.2.0-59-generic-pae
  linux-headers-3.2.0-61-generic-pae linux-headers-3.2.0-56-generic-pae libijs-0.35 gs-cjk-resource libjbig2dec0
  linux-headers-3.2.0-53-generic-pae libjpeg-turbo8 libxrender1 libgs9 libtiff4 libjasper1
  linux-headers-3.2.0-65-generic-pae libcupsimage2 ghostscript cmap-adobe-japan1 linux-headers-3.2.0-57-generic-pae
  linux-headers-3.2.0-54-generic-pae libxcb-shm0 gsfonts libpaper1
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  logitechmediaserver
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 113 MB of archives.
After this operation, 288 MB of additional disk space will be used.
WARNING: The following packages cannot be authenticated!
  logitechmediaserver
Install these packages without verification [y/N]?
Get:1 http://debian.slimdevices.com/ testing/main logitechmediaserver all 7.7.4~1410420843 [113 MB]
Fetched 113 MB in 4min 30s (417 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package logitechmediaserver.
(Reading database ... 410424 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking logitechmediaserver (from .../logitechmediaserver_7.7.4~1410420843_all.deb) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead ...
Setting up logitechmediaserver (7.7.4~1410420843) ...
Adding system user `squeezeboxserver' (UID 108) ...
Adding new user `squeezeboxserver' (UID 108) with group `nogroup' ...
Not creating home directory `/usr/share/squeezeboxserver'.
Making sure that Logitech Media Server is not running first: No process in pidfile '/var/run/logitechmediaserver.pid' found running; none killed.
Starting Logitech Media Server.

How to access Logitech Media Server once it has been installed

Once Logitech Media Server has finished downloading and installing, you can launch Logitech Media Server by typing http://MyMediaServer:9000 into the address bar of your browser where MyMedia Server is the name you gave your server when you installed Ubuntu. The IP address of your server will work as well if you can’t remember your server name.

The first time you launch Logitech MediaServer you’ll be asked a series of questions (e.g. where your music is stored and where you keep your playlists etc). Just follow the prompts and you should be good to go.

Where is the Logitech Media Server log stored?

If you ever need to consult the main log file then it can be found in /var/log/squeezeboxserver/server.log.

How to start and stop Logitech Media Server

When you change settings in the Logitech Media Server web GUI you’re sometimes informed that “the settings will become effective the next time you restart Logitech Media Server”. With previous versions you had to do this manually. With this new version you are given the opportunity to perform the restart using the GUI.

If you ever wish to restart Logitech Media Server using the shell, use the following command:

root@ganymede:~# service logitechmediaserver restart
Restarting squeezeboxserver.

If you want to stop Logitech Media Server for any reason then use stop instead of restart in the command above. To start the service again use start.