Quick Start

To use Cardinal you will need to get Cardinal Home Server up and running. It's available with Docker, it comes with all the web apps, and it supports both SQLite and PostgreSQL.

Choosing a database

See the Database guide for information about each type of database. If you aren't sure, go with SQLite.

Docker Compose

Use the sample docker-compose.yaml files below, or customize them for your environment.

With SQLite

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:

With PostgreSQL

docker-compose.yaml

services:
  cardinal-home-server:
    image: cardinalapps/home-server:stable
    container_name: cardinal
    ports:
      - 24900:24900
    environment:
      - CARDINAL_POSTGRES=true
    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
    depends_on:
      - postgres
    links:
      - postgres
    restart: unless-stopped
  cardinal-postgres:
    image: postgres:latest
    container_name: cardinal_postgres
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=cardinal
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=cardinal
    ports:
      - 24910:5432
    volumes:
      - postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
volumes:
  cardinal-data:
  postgres-data:

Note 1: If you want to change either the POSTGRES_USER or POSTGRES_PASSWORD values, you must also pass them to the Cardinal environment.

Note 2: You cannot change the POSTGRES_USER or POSTGRES_PASSWORD values after PostgreSQL creates its volume.

Docker CLI

You can use the Docker CLI instead of Docker Compose to run Cardinal Home Server with SQLite. Using PostgreSQL with the CLI is not officially supported.

docker run \
  -d \
  --name cardinal \
  -p 24900:24900 \
  -v cardinal-data:/config \
  -v PATH_TO_MY_MUSIC_FILES:/music \
  -v PATH_TO_MY_PHOTO_FILES:/photos \
  -v PATH_TO_MY_TV_FILES:/tv \
  -v PATH_TO_MY_MOVIE_FILES:/movies \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  cardinalapps/home-server:stable

Environment Variables

See the Environment Variables guide.

Next Steps

There are a few suggestions for what to do next in the Next Steps.