4. Installing Cardinal Home Server

Step 1: Create a docker-compose.yaml file

Knowledge

Installing a Docker app is a bit different from installing a regular desktop app. Instead of using some kind of .exe or .dmg, you're going to copy and paste some text into a plain text file and save it somewhere on your computer. Then, you'll let Docker read that file and it will handle everything else.

1. Create an empty text file anywhere on your computer called docker-compose.yaml. Normally, a plain text file ends with .txt, but in this case you need to make sure it's actually .yaml. You can move the file around later too.
2. Open your docker-compose.yaml file with a plain text editor like Notepad or TextEdit and paste in this big blob of text.

Linux & macOS

docker-compose.yaml

services:
  cardinal:
    image: cardinalapps/home-server:stable
    container_name: cardinal
    ports:
      - 24900:24900
    volumes:
      - cardinal-data:/config
      - PATH_TO_MY_MUSIC_FILES:/music   # Update or remove this
      - PATH_TO_MY_PHOTO_FILES:/photos  # Update or remove this
      - PATH_TO_MY_TV_FILES:/tv         # Update or remove this
      - PATH_TO_MY_MOVIE_FILES:/movies  # Update or remove this
    restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
  cardinal-data:

Windows

Important

Windows users must make sure to change their backward slashes (\) to forward slashes (/).

docker-compose.yaml

services:
  cardinal:
    image: cardinalapps/home-server:stable
    container_name: cardinal
    ports:
      - 24900:24900
    volumes:
      - cardinal-data:/config
      - "C:/PATH/TO/MY/MUSIC/FILES:/music"   # Update or remove this
      - "C:/PATH/TO/MY/PHOTO/FILES:/photos"  # Update or remove this
      - "C:/PATH/TO/MY/TV/FILES:/tv"         # Update or remove this
      - "C:/PATH/TO/MY/MOVIE/FILES:/movies"  # Update or remove this
    restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
  cardinal-data:

3. See those four highlighted lines? You'll need to replace the text in all caps on the left side of the colons with your real folder paths.
   1. If you don't want to use a specific media type, erase the entire line.

If you aren't sure how to find a folder path on your computer, here's a simple way to do it in a few operating systems.

Windows 11

1. In Explorer, right-click the folder.
2. Click Copy as Path.

Windows 10

1. In Explorer, right-click the folder.
2. Click Properties.
3. Copy the Path.

macOS

1. In Finder, right-click the folder.
2. Press and hold ⌥ option.
3. Click Copy "Folder" as Pathname.

Linux with GNOME

1. In Files, right-click the folder.
2. Click Open in Terminal.
3. Type pwd and press enter.

4. Once you've added all the media paths you want to use, save your docker-compose.yaml file and close it.

Step 2: Start up Cardinal Home Server

Knowledge

The main way to run apps that use a docker-compose.yaml file is to run commands in a terminal in the same folder as your docker-compose.yaml.

Now that your docker-compose.yaml file is ready, you can use it to start up Cardinal Home Server.

1. Open a terminal and navigate to the folder with your docker-compose.yaml file.

If you aren't sure how to do that, here's how to navigate to a folder in a terminal in a few operating systems.

Windows 11

1. In Explorer, right-click the folder that has your docker-compose.yaml file.
2. Click Open in Terminal.

Windows 10

1. In Explorer, right-click your docker-compose.yaml file.
2. Click Properties.
3. Copy the Where path.
4. Open a terminal and type cd [folder] where "[folder]" is the path you just copied, and press enter.

macOS

1. In Finder, right-click your docker-compose.yaml file.
2. Click Get Info.
3. Click Copy "Folder" as Pathname.
4. Open a terminal and type cd [folder] where "[folder]" is the path you just copied, and press enter.

Linux with GNOME

1. In Files, right-click your docker-compose.yaml file.
2. Click Properties.
3. Copy the Parent Folder path.
4. Open a terminal and type cd [folder] where "[folder]" is the path you just copied, and press enter.

You have navigated to your docker-compose.yaml file, and you can operate your Cardinal Home Server from here.

2. Enter docker compose up -d and press enter. This tells Docker to read the file and start the app.
   1. You may see database connection errors the first time you start up Cardinal Home Server. This is fine; the Home Server simply initialized before PostgreSQL did. Everything will continue normally once PostgreSQL finishes its first time startup.

Congratulations! Cardinal Home Server is now running. You can verify that it's working by running the command docker ps in your terminal. You should see it in that list.

Step 3: Open the Cardinal Home Server dashboard

Your Cardinal Home Server dashboard will be running on port 24900 of the computer you installed it on. You can enter docker logs cardinal to see the URL where you can access it. You cannot use localhost to access your server.

When you visit your dashboard for the first time, it will take you to the First Time Setup.