I will be using the desktop version as we will need a display manager and X anyway to make Kodi work but these could also be installed on the server version if desired.Ĭlick through the installer, selecting whichever settings you prefer regarding language and keyboard layout. I will be setting my server up on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS but the process is broadly the same on other Linux distributions, Windows or macOS so if you’re more comfortable with those operating systems you may still be able to follow these instructions and achieve similar results. We’ll want to make sure we have at least enough storage for our media library with room for future expansion so if you do plan on using an old PC it may be wise to invest in additional storage. When we add additional clients you can even use a Raspberry Pi for these although this will probably not be powerful enough for our server. You can build your own custom set top box or simply use an old desktop or a laptop.
To start with we’ll need our media server hardware. We can solve both of these problems by turning our Kodi box in to a fully fledged media server complete with a file share to upload our media and a database which can be shared with other Kodi instances to synchronise our media library and watch history with all our devices
Does this mean we now need to have multiple separate libraries, possibly taking up hundreds of gigabytes in space and update each of them when we load another show? We might want to start watching a show in the living room and then finish it of in bed or have something to watch in the kitchen while we’re cooking.
One pitfall of having Kodi on its own dedicated PC is that certain maintenance tasks such as adding media to the library may require access to a full desktop environment, another is that we may later decide we want a separate Kodi installation in another room. With version 18 Kodi also includes DRM support meaning it is possible to include add-ons for Netflix and other popular home streaming services, making it an excellent choice for both local and streaming media. Kodi has long been a favourite among media centre enthusiasts, its full screen interface gives a set-top-box like feel to your media PC and its remote control apps for iOS and Android make for a much better TV-watching experience than having to constantly reach for a keyboard and mouse.