I’ve been trying to install Roon Server on Ubuntu 20.4. I’m new to Linux. My Roon Core is currently on a Windows 10 Pro machine. Installing that was easy. So far, trying to get it on the Linux machine has been frustrating to say the least.
I’ve read the page found at Knowledge Base / Roon Labs / Advanced / Installing Roon on Linux.
When I try downloading the files under the Easy Installation heading I get the following:
For the file labeled Roon Server (x64)[4], the compressed file that downloads is titled RoonBridge_linuxarmv7hf.tar.bz2 .
I thought maybe the links got reversed so I tried to download the file labeled Roon Bridge (x64)[5]. However, instead of downloading a file, a new tab opened up with what appears to be a text file.
Under the heading Manual Installation, the file labeled Roon Server (x64)[1] downloads a compressed file with the name RoonServer_linuxx64.tar.bz2 .
This looks like the only Roon Server file that is available is for a manual install. The instruction page says a manual install is not a good idea if you don’t know what you are doing with Linux. This is me. So I would need an Roon Server easy installer file whic does not appear to be available.
Also, once the compressed file is downloaded, the instructions talk about untaring the file. I assume this is the equivalent of unzipping a file?
The instructions also say … Our recommended settings are:
Installation in `/opt/RoonBridge` or `/opt/RoonServer`
Data is stored in `/var/roon/RoonBridge` or `/var/roon/RoonServer`
The app will run as `root`
The app is launched immediately, and will relaunch automatically at boot
How do I go about following these instructions and installing the Roon Server?
The server is on a Windows 10 system. Support for this OS is ending next year and the computer is not upgradeable to Windows 11 so I need a new setup. I can either buy a new windows 11 machine or switch to something different. I want to give Linux a try. If possible, I’d like to keep the current machine. It has a Xeon quad core processor with 32GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD for the OS and programs, and a 4TB SSD for the music library. However, before I try to change that machine, I want to know exactly what I’m doing and make sure everything works on another machine I have on hand that I just replaced the Windows 10 OS with Ubuntu 20.4.
I’m dusting off skills I had back in the 70s and 80s working with CPM and DOS based machines and applying that to Linux but there is still a learning curve.
Some of my computers are using a version of Win 10 is supported until 2029. But, even so, on other machines, I wouldn’t bother going to Win 11 which I am not a fan of. Or, you can just get around Win 11’s install limitations and use that on the older hardware
But, if you are set on Linux, I greatly suggest using DietPi for the PC. DietPi - Lightweight justice for your SBC! Download the UEFI version if your PC uses UEFI, or, the BIOS/CSM if your PC uses.
Super simple, download the image, burn to a USB key, boot with the key, hit install, on first run a software manager loads you can choose what you want to install. Just go down the list, check off RoonServer and/or Roon Extension Manager. Done.
I second the use of DietPi advocated by @Rugby. It really is as simple as he describes to get it running!
At the software selection stage, I might also choose to install Samba server (so that the user data area can be exposed to other computers using an Smb share) and Dietpi-dashboard (so that simple admin task like starting/stopping Roon server or even shutting down the computer can be done using a WebUI from another computer or a mobile device.
I’ve read and attempted to follow that guide. Apparently, there is something about how to execute those instructions that is obvious to others but escapes me. Specifically, how do I get a shell script that is displayed line by line in a browser tab (1) saved to my computer and (2) executed like a binary executable file to install Roon? In other words, what are the specific steps and/or commands that are needed to download and run the shell script?
It’s been 40 years since I worked from the command line and then it was with DOS,Basic, and Fortran. While there are similarities between Linux and DOS, there are also differences plus 40 years to both forget how to use the command line and of using Windows to do things.
I apologize if I’m being obtuse. It’s frustrating to me to not understand how to do this when I used to write statistical analysis programs in Fortran and convert business operations from paper to computer with dBase (up to 3+).
I’ll check that out, though I still want to get it to work with Ubuntu. I don’t like losing to a computer so once I get stumped, it becomes a challenge I won’t drop until I get it figured out.
I would also second dietpi, btw., you could try that as well. The web UI is really cool, access it on :5252. You can also install the software from there.
On Ubuntu you could install cockpit if you wish a gui.
I checked that out. I’m not interested in using a light weight processor. My music library has file formats from redbook to DSD256 and the server streams to five different systems with different DACs that have different capabilities. This could have it sending DSD256 files natively to one DAC and transcoding DSD256 to four different formats at the same time. I’ve used a number of different processors over the years from lightweight ARM to Xeon with ROON and JRiver before that. I’ve found the Xeon processors to do the best job.
Not sure what you mean when you say “change to you dl”. What does dl stand for?
I understand how to input the commands to install ROON, thanks. How do I get the shell from the web browser saved to the PC so the commands can find and run it?
You are misunderstanding the term lightweight.
I run DietPi to 6 or 7 Roon endpoints like yourself and play some as DSD256 and some as PCM 768 etc and DietPi does it all easily. That is more down to the power of your processor.
DietPi is a striped down Linux that is perfectly suited to running Roon server (and Plex server etc) and gives great performance while being very easy to run and maintain.
There are a lot of us that have moved to using it as we have been very happy after testing it out.
If you want to beat your Ubuntu blues then carry on, but then check out DietPi after that and just enjoy the music
If I understand this correctly, the “curl” command downloads the shell, the “chmod” command makes it executable, and the “sudo ./roonserver-installer-linuxx64.sh” command executes the install. Is that correct?
Once I get this figured out I’ll look into DietPi more. When I go to the link that was posted, all the downloads appear to be for ARM based computers which none of mine are. My computers are all Intel Xeon, Core i7, or i9 based devices running either Windows 10 Pro or Windows 11 Pro,
From what I can tell from the DietPi website, I would either need to buy or build an ARM based computer. Is that correct, or am I missing something?
You can also download the shell script in a browser, just right-click it and choose Save. It’s just a text file.
Some people have had problems with the curl command on Ubuntu because by default Ubuntu has a curl from a Snap package, which has some restrictions compared to the curl command one gets by installing its .deb package with apt.
Michael DietPi is a diverse ecosystem that started for Pi’s as per its name. There are now X64 builds, ProxMox and VMware based builds as well as builds for other VM environments.
I run mine on a bare metal X64 based Nuc and it has been a big upgrade from Rock for me. Finding the right download can be fun, but once you have it burned onto a USB stick you will be completely up and running in under 20 minutes and Room server is an out of the box supported app (along with Plex etc).
I imagine it will work great on a Xeon based computer
