Unable to Access Web Client on Fresh Install

[cappn_bappn]

I'm setting up my first Jellyfin server, and on a fresh install, I can't seem to get the web client to work for the life of me. I'm running it on Ubuntu 22.04.3, and whenever I run the install script from the documentation, everything seems to go through just fine. But, when I type in "jellyfin" into the terminal to check the status, it throws out the error "The server is expected to host the web client, but the provided content directory is either invalid or empty: /usr/lib/jellyfin/bin/jellyfin-web" Upon further inspection, I found a Reddit thread where someone ran into the same issue, and they found that instead of the files for the webclient being there, they were instead in /usr/share/jellyfin/web. They fixed it by running "sudo apt purge jellyfin --autoremove" then reinstalling. I tried that, but I still seem to get the same error. Would be possible to edit a config file somewhere to make it so the latter path is used when trying to find the files for the web client? Or would there be a way to migrate the files to the right place?

Thanks in advance!

[TheDreadPirate]

You just typed "jellyfin" and nothing else to check the status? It should be "sudo systemctl status jellyfin".

[Sam Crowther]

I Tried What Had Been Said And I Still Having The Same Issue As The Orignal Post

[TheDreadPirate]

Describe your setup. OS, specs, post your logs to pastebin.

[theguymadmax]

The mistake you're making is attempting to start Jellyfin by typing jellyfin in the terminal after installing it with the script

Code:

curl -s https://repo.jellyfin.org/install-debuntu.sh | sudo bash

 

Jellyfin runs as a system service, so you should not start it manually from the terminal. If you try, you'll encounter an error message like this:

Code:

The server is expected to host the web client, but the provided content directory is either invalid or empty: /usr/lib/jellyfin/bin/jellyfin-web. If you do not want to host the web client with the server, you may set the '--nowebclient' command line flag, or set 'hostwebclient=false' in your config settings.

After running the script, the next step is to configure Jellyfin by accessing it via your web browser at http://localhost:8096/ . If needed, rerun the installation script and then proceed with the web-based configuration.

[silajim]

I am on the same boat, I restarted the whole server and it does not work anymore with the same message

[TheDreadPirate]

I am on the same boat, I restarted the whole server and it does not work anymore with the same message

We need more info.  What OS, what distro, how did you install jellyfin, what specific message?

[silajim]

I am on the same boat, I restarted the whole server and it does not work anymore with the same message

We need more info.  What OS, what distro, how did you install jellyfin, what specific message?

Installed with:
curl -s https://repo.jellyfin.org/install-debuntu.sh | sudo bash

error:

The server is expected to host the web client, but the provided content directory is either invalid or empty: /usr/lib/jellyfin/bin/jellyfin-web. If you do not want to host the web client with the server, you may set the '--nowebclient' command line flag, or set 'hostwebclient=false' in your config settings.

Ubuntu server 22.04.5

[TheDreadPirate]

How did you start jellyfin? Did you type literally "jellyfin"? Or did you start the service?

sudo systemctl start jellyfin

[Pollo]

How did you start jellyfin?  Did you type literally "jellyfin"?  Or did you start the service?

sudo systemctl start jellyfin

Hello! I am having the same issue as these other people. I have had trouble since upgrading from 10.9.11 to 10.10. I used the sudo apt upgrade method to update my Ubuntu 24.04 server but the web service wouldn't load when updated. I shutdown the Jellyfin server before I upgraded and ran this command beforehand (sudo ufw allow 8096) to fix this problem I had on 10.9.11, but running sudo ufw status gives me an inactive status.

I get this error when attempting to reinstall Jellyfin (curl -s https://repo.jellyfin.org/install-debuntu.sh | sudo bash) after purging and removing the jellyfin packages/dependencies:

Code:

× jellyfin.service - Jellyfin Media Server
    Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/jellyfin.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
    Drop-In: /etc/systemd/system/jellyfin.service.d
            └─jellyfin.service.conf
    Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2024-10-29 03:46:23 UTC; 1min 36s ago
  Duration: 6ms
    Process: 11711 ExecStart=/usr/bin/jellyfin $JELLYFIN_WEB_OPT $JELLYFIN_FFMPEG_OPT $JELLYFIN_SERVICE_OPT $JELLYFIN_NOWEBAPP_OPT $JELLYFIN_ADDITIONAL_OPTS (code=e>
  Main PID: 11711 (code=exited, status=200/CHDIR)
        CPU: 2ms

Oct 29 03:46:23 serverofalltime systemd[1]: jellyfin.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5.
Oct 29 03:46:23 serverofalltime systemd[1]: jellyfin.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Oct 29 03:46:23 serverofalltime systemd[1]: jellyfin.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Oct 29 03:46:23 serverofalltime systemd[1]: Failed to start jellyfin.service - Jellyfin Media Server.

I ran sudo systemctl start jellyfin, but the server doesn't seem to start (before it would show the Jellyfin logo, a loading icon, then a black screen before losing connection). What can I do to fix this?