Funkwhale

What it's good for#

If you've got a music collection that's been sitting on a hard drive since the days of buying CDs, Funkwhale gives it a proper home. You upload the files, it sorts them into artists and albums, and you can play them from anywhere. Each person gets their own account, their own playlists and favourites, and their own libraries they can keep private or share.

It can also host podcasts as channels, and because it speaks the same language as Mastodon and the rest of the fediverse, people on other servers can follow them.

Before you install: decide on its address#

This is the one decision you can't change later, so it's worth a minute.

Funkwhale builds every link, every account and every item in its library around the address it was installed with, and stores that address in its database. Its own developers are clear that it can't be changed afterwards without breaking the server.

• If you have a domain set up in LibrePortal, with Traefik running, Funkwhale takes audio.<your domain>. LibrePortal writes that down for good the first time, so it stays put even if your domain settings change later. This is the only kind of address that can federate.
• If you don't, Funkwhale uses your server's own address and port on your network, like http://192.168.1.50:5123. That's perfect for a household. Other servers can never follow it, though, and if the server's network address changes, older items in the library keep links to the old one.

Signing in#

Sign-ups are switched off in a new Funkwhale, so the way in is the admin account LibrePortal makes for you. It's called lpadmin (Funkwhale doesn't allow names like admin), and its password is in the Login Details shown when the install finishes. Press Welcome on the app's page to see it again.

The first start takes a while: Funkwhale sets up its database before it answers, and LibrePortal waits up to five minutes for it before making the account.

Adding people#

Use the Tools tab rather than opening sign-ups to the world.

The other tools do what they say: Reset User Password (leave it empty to generate one), Set Admin Status, List Users and Delete User Account.

Getting your music in#

The simplest way is the web page. Sign in, open Upload, create a library (private, shared with people you approve, or public), and drop your files in. Funkwhale reads the tags and sorts everything into artists and albums.

Each file can be up to 100 MB. If you have long mixes or audiobooks that are bigger, raise Largest Upload, for example to 1G. It's in Funkwhale's config file rather than on the Config tab for now; see Settings below.

Listening on your phone#

Funkwhale speaks the Subsonic protocol, which dozens of music apps understand, on Android and iPhone alike. In the app, add a Subsonic server with:

• Server: your Funkwhale's address, exactly as you open it in the browser.
• Username: your Funkwhale username.
• Password: not your normal password. In Funkwhale, open your account settings and set a separate Subsonic API password, and use that. It means a phone app never holds your real password.

LibrePortal keeps Funkwhale's port open to anyone who can reach your server, without an extra login in front, precisely so phone apps (and other fediverse servers) can talk to it. If you only ever listen at home, you can make it private instead, and use the LibrePortal VPN when you're out.

Podcasts and the fediverse#

A channel in Funkwhale is a place to publish your own podcast or music. Other Funkwhale, Mastodon and Friendica users can follow it, and it has an RSS feed for ordinary podcast apps.

If you also run Mastodon or Friendica on this server, Funkwhale's Works with list shows whether they can follow each other. Apps that are only ever followed, like WriteFreely or Owncast, get a row saying what Funkwhale can follow there instead. Each row has a Check button that tests everything another server would need, and Follow links that open the follow page in the other app. LibrePortal never follows or posts anything for you; you press Follow yourself.

Following needs a domain on both sides. Without one, there's a fallback: Friendica can follow a channel's RSS feed on your own network, but only once API Requires authentication is switched off in Funkwhale's settings (it's on in a new Funkwhale).

Good to know#

• Updates wait for you. Every Funkwhale release changes its database the first time it starts, and there's no going back. So LibrePortal pins an exact version (2.0.11), and nothing changes until you press Update. That only brings rebuilds of the same version, with a backup taken first; if the Updates tab offers a newer release, Upgrade can't move Funkwhale to it yet.
• It's a bigger app. LibrePortal runs it with two web workers and two import workers, which keeps it to around a gigabyte of memory. If lots of people use it at once, Web Workers and Import Workers can go up, and memory use goes up with them.
• Email isn't sent. Funkwhale has no mail server to use here, so anything it would email, like a password reset link, is written to its log instead. Use the Reset User Password tool.
• Backups include everything: the database, your uploads and cover art, and the music folder.
• One per server. Funkwhale can't run as several copies side by side.