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Quick Start

To use Cardinal you will need to self-host Cardinal Home Server. It's available with Docker, it includes all the web apps, and it supports both SQLite and PostgreSQL.

Docker Compose​

Use the sample docker-compose.yaml files below. If you aren't sure which database to use, go with SQLite.

SQLite​

docker-compose.yaml
services:
  cardinal:
    image: cardinalapps/home-server:stable
    container_name: cardinal-home-server
    ports:
      - 24900:24900
    volumes:
      - cardinal-home-server-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-home-server-data:

PostgreSQL​

docker-compose.yaml
services:
  cardinal:
    image: cardinalapps/home-server:stable
    container_name: cardinal-home-server
    ports:
      - 24900:24900
    environment:
      - CARDINAL_POSTGRES=true
    volumes:
      - cardinal-home-server-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
  postgres:
    image: postgres:latest
    container_name: cardinal-postgres
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=cardinal
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=cardinal
    ports:
      - 24910:5432
    volumes:
      - cardinal-home-server-postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
volumes:
  cardinal-home-server-data:
  cardinal-home-server-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.