Arch Systemctl issues

[dcb36]

I have jellyfin installed on a arch based LXC.
I installed both jellyfin-server and jellyfin-web from the extras repo.
running

Code:

$ jellyfin

starts up a web server where I can connect to the web admin portal via a regular browser and stream media via the jellyfin player on on another computer.
exiting and attempting to start jellyfin from via

Code:

$ systemctl start jellyfin

appears to just start a web client, not a server. 
I'm very confused since I can pull the command systemctl uses to start ie:

Code:

/usr/bin/jellyfin --webdir=/usr/share/jellyfin-web --restartpath=/usr/lib/jellyfin/restart.sh --ffmpeg=/usr/lib/jellyfin-ffmpeg/ffmpeg

and the server starts just fine.
Any ideas?

[TheDreadPirate]

systemctl start jellyfin is the proper command to start both web and server.

Did you open port 8096?

Check /var/log/jellyfin for logs.

[dcb36]

So yeah when I run jellyfin from the command line by calling the jellyfin executable I can get into the admin portal / web ui just fine from other computers on my network so the port is fine.
systemctl start jellyfin starts up a server but connecting to <ip-address>:8096 brings me to the web client "select a server" page... which doesn't accept any correct logins.


As an update it seems theres a small bug where the user database isn't shared between starting an app as root form the cli and starting the app via systemctl. After resetting the <IsStartupWizardCompleted> flag and restarting from systemctl seemed to fix the problem.

[TheDreadPirate]

What is probably happening is that by running jellyfin manually, and going through the setup process, the jellyfin data directory was created within your home directory. Whereas the service creates the data directory in /var/lib/jellyfin, which is the standard location.

[yprum]

What is probably happening is that by running jellyfin manually, and going through the setup process, the jellyfin data directory was created within your home directory.  Whereas the service creates the data directory in /var/lib/jellyfin, which is the standard location.

Hi, I seem to have fallen into the same situation, I run jellyfin as a command to test it so the directory was created in the user's home. Using systemctl to run it now won't allow me to enter in the server. Is there a way to fix it without reinstalling? Maybe moving the folders or something?

[TheDreadPirate]

How long did you run it as a command? Is starting over not an option?

You could try moving the files it created in your home directory to /var/lib/jellyfin and /etc/jellyfin. Making sure to change ownership to jellyfin.

[yprum]

How long did you run it as a command?  Is starting over not an option?

You could try moving the files it created in your home directory to /var/lib/jellyfin and /etc/jellyfin.  Making sure to change ownership to jellyfin.

Nowadays I progress pretty slowly with these things (hard to find the time) so at some point a couple of weeks ago or so I finally got around installing jellyfin and then run it as a command to test if it worked and how it worked.

Took me a few days to get time to investigate why I could connect in the same laptop but not externally in the same network. Of course it was the port not being open but it was a new install of endeavourOS to try it out so I wasn't aware it has a firewall running, once I realized, it was easy to fix. After that I left it running for a few days until I had the chance this weekend to make sure it starts when restarting the laptop.

Wasn't sure how to answer your question about how long I run it, so I thought I'd just provide some generic background instead.

I have moved the two folders in ~/.local/share and ~/.config to the respective folders in /var/lib and /etc, changed the permissions for everything to jellyfin:jellyfin. When I start jellyfin using systemctl it still fails. I think there's some other folder missing?

Of course I could start over everything but it feels like it would be more work than solving it as everything is done and installed and configured correctly. It works if run as a process for the user logged in, but not as a system process...? Kinda strange. Do you think caching could be an issue? I didn't bother removing it. The other folders in the configuration page of the documentation didn't seem to be related to the user.

For added details, this is the error it throws when trying to start it using systemctl:

jellyfin.service: Failed to load environment files: No such file or directory
jellyfin.service: Failed to spawn 'start' task: No such file or directory
jellyfin.service: Failed with result 'resources'.

Does that indicate what is actually missing? What is the resources it fails to load?

[TheDreadPirate]

I know that jellyfin uses some absolute paths in some places that could be causing the issue with moving the data/config files. Particularly in the database when it references metadata files.

[yprum]

I know that jellyfin uses some absolute paths in some places that could be causing the issue with moving the data/config files.  Particularly in the database when it references metadata files.

I see... Then I'm afraid I'll need to start from scratch. Alright Dread pirate, thanks for all the help!