Updated for Ubuntu 14.04 or 16.04
03-15-18
Universal Media Server is a fork off the very useful PS3 and PS4 Media Server. And although the PS3MediaServer was a great solution, it did have some shortcomings, especially with certain file formats or file containers. I tried UMS and loved it. It is easy to install and, at least for now, streams and transcodes every media file I have to support playback on any device including the PS3, PS4, and the sony SMP-N200 I use on other TVs.
So, working with any Ubuntu 14.04 or 16.04 server, here is my step by step to get UMS installed and working.
First you must have Java 8 JRE installed on the server. OpenJava will not work.
apt-get install software-properties-common apt-get update apt-get install openjdk-8-jre openjdk-8-jre-headless
With Java installed, we now need to add some other pre-reqs:
apt-get install mediainfo dcraw vlc-nox mplayer mencoder
I’m going to use the /opt directory for the install. Then we download the latest UMS package from sourceforge. You can check the UMS webpage to find the latest version. As I write this, the latest is 5.2.3. After the download is complete, unpack the file with tar. I create a softlink using /opt/ums so that when we need to upgrade, we can just point the softlink to the new directory while not touching the config files that we will be using in /etc/ later on. Note that for 6.8.0, I had to download the file with a browser and scp it over to the media host because of 301 redirects on the download pages.
cd /opt wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/unimediaserver/files/Official%20Releases/Linux/UMS-5.2.3-Java7.tgz tar -xvzf UMS-6.8.0.tgz ln -s /opt/ums-6.8.0 ums rm UMS-6.8.0.tgz
Next we need to create the init.d script to auto start the app when the server boots, as well as have better control over the service.
We will create /etc/init.d/ums.
nano /etc/init.d/ums
Copy the following into the new file:
#!/bin/bash
#
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: ums
# Required-Start: $local_fs $remote_fs $network
# Required-Stop: $local_fs $remote_fs $network
# Default-Start: 2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop: 0 1 6
# Short-Description: Starts UMS program.
# Description: Java Upnp Media Server dedicated to PS3
### END INIT INFO
#set -x
# Author: Papa Issa DIAKHATE <paissad@gmail.com>
#
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
DESC="Universal Media Server"
NAME=ums
UMS_PROFILE=/etc/UMS.conf
DAEMON=/opt/ums/UMS.sh
DAEMON_OPTS="console"
SCRIPTNAME=/etc/init.d/ums
UMS_START=1 # Wether to start or not UMS ver at boot time.
DODTIME=30 # Time to wait for the server to die, in seconds.
# If this value is set too low you might not
# let the program to die gracefully and 'restart' will not work
test -x $DAEMON || exit 1
# Load the VERBOSE setting and other rcS variables
. /lib/init/vars.sh
# Define LSB log_* functions.
# Depend on lsb-base (>= 3.0-6) to ensure that this file is present.
. /lib/lsb/init-functions
# Include ums defaults if available
if [ -f "/etc/default/$NAME" ] ; then
. /etc/default/$NAME
fi
# May we run the init.d script ?
[ $UMS_START = 1 ] || exit 1
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Some color codes
txtred=$'\e[0;31m' # Red
txtylw=$'\e[0;33m' # Yellow
txtrst=$'\e[0m' # Text Reset
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
warnout(){
echo >&2 -e ""$txtylw"Warning:$txtrst $1"
}
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
running(){
pid=`pgrep -f 'java .*ums.jar.*'`
}
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
do_start(){
running && { warnout "$NAME is already running !"; exit 0; }
echo "Starting $DESC : $NAME"
UMS_PROFILE="$UMS_PROFILE" start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --background --oknodo \
--exec $DAEMON -- $DAEMON_OPTS
}
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
do_stop(){
running || { warnout "$NAME is NOT running !"; exit 0; }
local countdown="$DODTIME"
echo -e "Stopping $DESC : $NAME \c "
kill -9 $pid
while running; do
if (($countdown >= 0)); then
sleep 1; echo -n .;
((--countdown))
else
break;
fi
done
echo
# If still running, then try to send SIGINT signal
running && { \
echo >&2 "Using kill -s SIGINT instead"; \
echo >&2 "If you see this message again, then you should increase the value of DODTIME in '$0'."; \
kill -2 $pid; \
}
if [ -e "/usr/share/ums/debug.log" ]; then
count=9
while [ $count -ge 1 ]
do
if [ -e "/usr/share/ums/debug.log.$count" ]; then
plus=$((count+1))
mv "/usr/share/ums/debug.log.$count" "/usr/share/ums/debug.log.$plus"
fi
count=$((count-1))
done
if [ -e "/usr/share/ums/debug.log" ]; then
mv "/usr/share/ums/debug.log" "/usr/share/ums/debug.log.1"
fi
fi
return 0
}
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
do_force-stop(){
running || { warnout "$NAME is NOT running !"; exit 0; }
echo "Stopping $DESC : $NAME"
kill -9 $pid
if [ -e "/usr/share/ums/debug.log" ]; then
count=9
while [ $count -ge 1 ]
do
if [ -e "/usr/share/ums/debug.log.$count" ]; then
plus=$((count+1))
mv "/usr/share/ums/debug.log.$count" "/usr/share/ums/debug.log.$plus"
fi
count=$((count-1))
done
if [ -e "/usr/share/ums/debug.log" ]; then
mv "/usr/share/ums/debug.log" "/usr/share/ums/debug.log.1"
fi
fi
}
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
do_status(){
echo -n " * $NAME is "
( running || { echo "NOT running "; exit 0; } )
( running && { echo "running (PID -> $(echo $pid))"; exit 0; } )
}
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
case "$1" in
start|stop|force-stop|status)
do_${1}
;;
restart|reload)
do_stop
do_start
;;
force-restart|force-reload)
do_force-stop
do_start
;;
*)
echo "Usage: $SCRIPTNAME {start|stop|force-stop|restart|force-restart|reload|force-reload|status}"
exit 1
;;
esac
Now add execute permissions to the script and add the UMS script to update-rc.d
chmod +x /etc/init.d/ums update-rc.d ums defaults
A sample conf file that you could use is at /opt/ums/UMS.conf and could be copied into /etc/UMS.conf and edited to fit your needs. It has all the configurable options and is probably more than most will need. You should also copy in the WEB.conf file as well to handle web streams if you use that functionality. (Thanks Wolfgang Hochweller)
cp /opt/ums/UMS.conf /etc/ cp /opt/ums/WEB.conf /etc/
Configuration is done to the /etc/UMS.conf file. At the very least you will want to add the location of the media to share.
folders=/mnt/media/tv, /mnt/media/movies, /mnt/media/music
Pay attention to the following items, especially for those hosts with multiple NICs.
network_interface= hostname= port= folders=
Now start UMS:yty
service ums start
That’s it, it should be running and advertising itself as UPNP/DLNA on the local network.
Just a few corrections :
– the tar command seems to be wrong , should it not be something like xvzf ?
/opt/ums-3.6.1 dir should be moved to /opt/ums .
Otherwise the script will not work at all.
– Wolfgang
Just one more :
When copying the UMS.conf file to /etc, do not forget to do the same for WEB.conf or it will not start.
No need to edit, it has just to be there.
– Wolfgang
UMS actually does start without WEB.conf in etc, but you are correct that if you want web streams, image streams, etc you would need that there.
Yep – Thanks for catching the typo. Already corrected it in the article.
This does not work on Ubuntu 14.04, probably because the switch to upstart.
Excellent guide and seems to be much more robust then ps3ms option.
On 14.04(Trusty)
On the latest build at the time which I ran this I used UMS Version 3.6.2.
use openjdk-7-jre instead of 6 for trusty:
apt-get install openjdk-7-jre
Since ffmpeg package has been removed from trusty repositories, you can opt to add older versions or to move on to the alternative FFmpeg PPA
add-apt-repository ppa:jcfp/ppa
apt-get update
apt-get install ffmpeg
(don’t forget the prior packages mentioned above – mplayer mencoder mediainfo)
Or create an upstart script for yourself, something along the lines of /etc/init/UMS.conf with :
# Universal Media Server
description “Universal Media Server”
start on runlevel [2345]
stop on runlevel [!2345]
console output
expect fork
respawn
exec /opt/ums/UMS.sh
____
Then type : service UMS start
-Erik
Thanks for the great guide,
however i don’t think the line “update-rc.d /etc/init.d/UMS defaults” is working on 14.04
Thx erik for the upstart script memo.
Hey,
I am running Ubuntu 14.04 and try to get UMS working.
DudeBud, you mentioned “update-rc.d /etc/init.d/UMS defaults” won’t work on 14.04., so I used “update-rc.de UMS defaults” which returned : “warning: /etc/init.d/UMS missing LSB information”
Could anyone tell how to change the script above to make it working?
thanking you in advance!
Johannes
Use “update-rc.d UMS defaults” as update-rc.d knows the path.
This how to is written for advanced users.
Many steps are assumed to be knowledge and not mentioned.
I for one, need more complete step-by-step instructions.
I’m getting stuck at “Now add execute permissions to the script and add the UMS script to update-rc.d”
Also at
cp /opt/ums/UMS.conf /etc/
cp /opt/ums/WEB.conf /etc/
Following your instructions after unpacking the tarball I have a folder named UMS plus the version number.
Since I already invested four hours in this I would like to get it working. Not ending up stuck with half-installed files.
to add the execute permissions type: chmod +x filename
for the (Use “update-rc.d UMS defaults” as update-rc.d knows the path) just type: sudo update-rc.d UMS defaults
for this line just type sudo in front and past in: cp /opt/ums/UMS.conf /etc/
e.g. : sudo cp /opt/ums/UMS.conf /etc/
Hope this helps?
Mike, thank you for good guidance, but due to actual version of Ubuntu server is 14.04 could you correct something point of this guidance in order to actualize it.
regards.
I’m also finding this very difficult to setup on Ubuntu 14.04
Ubuntu 14.04’s problems with Sun Java JRE and ffmpeg have defeated me. Sad, because I really wanted to try UMS.
I hope the Ubuntu folk had good reasons for making it so tough 🙁
Works on Ubuntu 14.04 Server LTS. Only a little modification to the startup script is required. Add “.sh” to the following line:
DAEMON=/opt/ums/$NAME
so it looks like
DAEMON=/opt/ums/$NAME.sh
Then everything works out quite well.
I installed java using this HowTo:
http://de.wikihow.com/Installation-von-Oracle-Java-unter-Ubuntu-Linux
yay ! Thanks Thorsten, I would never have found that!
FYI, Thorsten’s suggestion allowed me (Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS) to start/stop the service manually. To have it start on boot, I had to make the additional changes:
if [[ -f “/etc/default/$NAME” ]] ; then
becomes
if [ -f “/etc/default/$NAME” ] ; then
and
[[ $UMS_START = 1 ]] || exit 1
becomes
[ $UMS_START = 1 ] || exit 1
Works neat now! Thanks to all!
Also, you might want to run the service as a non-root user (as explicitly recommended in UMS’s readme). Add –chuid username to the start-stop-daemon command:
UMS_PROFILE=”$UMS_PROFILE” start-stop-daemon –start –quiet –background –oknodo –exec $DAEMON — $DAEMON_OPTS
becomes
UMS_PROFILE=”$UMS_PROFILE” start-stop-daemon –chuid username –start –quiet –background –oknodo –exec $DAEMON — $DAEMON_OPTS
where username is to be replaced with your (non-root) user name.
Note that, in case you ran UMS as root before, you may fail to start it as non root, with a message such as “java.io.IOException: Temp folder is not writeable: /tmp/universalmediaserver”. That’s because /tmp/universalmediaserver has been created with root privileged during your previous runs. Just delete it (as root):
sudo rm -rf /tmp/universalmediaserver
sudo rmdir /tmp/universalmediaserver
and try again as non root.
Cheers
You should really just use Plex Media Server… It’s absolutely magical and super functional. Also DLNA compliant and very pretty…
Doesn’t work on Ubuntu 14.04
No any messages, no any logs. Just nothing happens on any command to run service
hi!
i found the same problem, but i see that in the /etc/init.d script there was an error: DAEMON=/usr/ums/UMS.sh
this parameter try to find the daemon in the /usr/ folder but we put the sources in the /opt/ folder, so, if you change that line with,
DAEMON=/opt/ums/UMS.sh the service will start!
Thanks for catching that. Updated the page with the correct path.
Pingback: How to install and/or run Universal Media Server on Ubuntu 14.04? | DL-UAT
Pingback: How to install and/or run Universal Media Server on Ubuntu 14.04? | TUTNEW
Hi there,
Thanks for the steps, however I am stuck at update-rc.d step. It keeps giving me the following errors:
insserv: Script UMS is broken: incomplete LSB comment.
insserv: missing `Provides:’ entry: please add.
insserv: missing `Required-Start:’ entry: please add even if empty.
insserv: missing `Required-Stop:’ entry: please add even if empty.
insserv: missing `Default-Start:’ entry: please add even if empty.
insserv: missing `Default-Stop:’ entry: please add even if empty.
insserv: Default-Start undefined, assuming empty start runlevel(s) for script `UMS’
insserv: Default-Stop undefined, assuming empty stop runlevel(s) for script `UMS’
I am running this on Debian and I got an error when I tried this command:
sudo apt-get install update-sun-jre
Error: unable to locate package
Please help.
I managed to fix mine on 15.04, the above worked but UMS.sh in /opt/ums needed to be renamed as UMS
service started and all was working.
I stuck on the screen after i paste & enter script to create /etc/init.d/UMS
what do i do there?
UMS is the startup script, make sure it is saved and can be executed. update-rc.d sets the UMS script to run on host startup.
This article will help the internet visitors for setting up
new web site or even a blog from start to end.
I followed the steps and it worked for me. Thanks Mike
Hi there, I just used your solution in Raspbian in a model B PI Raspberry, thank you.
However, there are some issues, for example, mencoder won’t install anymore; I’m able to see all the files of the system through the DNLA client (a SONY BDP-S490); and cannot play the main media file but the trans-coded file or something like that.
Is there a way you could please update these problems or if possible create a similar set-of-steps for Raspbian??
Thank you in advance.
Hi,
thanks for the guidance
Did not find a hint to add samba shares as source for shared folders
How to add those?
Thanks for the hints
Google is your friend here. There are lots of tutorials on how to get a samba share on an Ubuntu directory. Maybe I’ll write a tut for this someday….
Hello,
Thanks for your advices.
i’ve got a question.
I have a computer (Ubuntu 14.04 ) which is connected to Internet via a wire.
So I bought an USB wifi key to be able to make it as a wifi server or a wireless access point.
I haven’t done that yet.
For now I can just broadcast wifi signals (from my neighbors) including the one delivered by my sony bravia TV I can connect to.
When I start UMS, my TV is detected on UMS but I do not see UMS on my TV and I cannot broadcast anything. So I must turn it into an access point ?
Am I correct ?
Thanks
I guess that my computer should be the wifi server to be seen by my TV?
You would want to have an Accesspoint that the machine and the TV can use. The linux box can be that access point and could route between the public internet and private network if you like also.
I don’t have instructions for it, but just search for how to create turn your distro into an internet router and AP.
Thanks , works flawlessly, perfect tutorial.
I just need to tune the transcoding options for FLAC to my sony blu-ray.
Hello,
This is great tutorial, but unfortunately it is not working Ubuntu 18.04 LTS:
● ums.service – LSB: Starts UMS program.
Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/ums; generated)
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2018-11-27 22:28:41 EET; 5min ago
Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
Process: 20010 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/ums start (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
systemd[1]: Starting LSB: Starts UMS program….
systemd[1]: ums.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=1
systemd[1]: ums.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: Starts UMS program..
Does someone have a solution for latest Ubuntu?
Regards,
Ivaylo
I setup UMS 8.0.1 under Ubuntu 18.04 and got it working. I wrote up a howto. Maybe it will help you out.
https://steamforge.net/wiki/index.php/How_to_setup_Universal_Media_Server_8.0.1_under_Ubuntu_18.04
Thanks I was thinking about trying this on 18.04. I’ll run through it.
You’re welcome! And thank you for this guide. It helped a lot. Especially the init.d file.
I believe the main updates in my guide are vlc-nox became vlc-bin and sourceforge changed the format of their download paths.
works great on Debian 10 Buster with a little tweaking to package names, vlc-nox is vlc-bin as noted above. Other than that was up and running in minutes.