Getting started
Quick start
Install the server, add your first library, and open Fliks on your other devices.
1. Install the server#
Pick whichever fits the machine that holds your video files. Every option gives you the same Fliks.
Each guide ends with the server listening on port 4848, except TrueNAS, whose app publishes
port 30485 by default.
2. Open it and log in#
Open http://<host>:4848 in a browser (http://localhost:4848 on the machine itself, port
30485 on TrueNAS). Fliks creates one account the first time it starts with no users in its
database:
| Username | Password |
|---|---|
admin |
password |
Change that password immediately: user menu > Account settings > Password. It is a well-known default, and anyone who can reach the server can log in with it until you do.
3. Add a library#
The user menu (your avatar) opens three settings areas, and these docs name each page after its entry in that area's sidebar:
- Settings > X is an admin page, under user menu > Administration: Settings > Libraries means the Libraries entry there.
- App settings > X holds your own preferences (playback, subtitles, display, ...), under user menu > App settings (for example App settings > Playback).
- Account settings > X is a page about your account, under user menu > Account settings (for example Account settings > Password).
Go to Settings > Libraries and click Add a library. The wizard has three steps:
- Information: give it a name and choose its media types (Movies, Series, or both).
- Users: pick who can see it (administrators always can).
- Media: set the Root path to a folder on the server (type it or use Browse...).
Under Docker that's the path you mounted at
/medias(or a subfolder of it); on Windows or macOS it's any folder on disk. Click Scan the folder, review what it found, then click Create the library.
Fliks matches what it finds against TMDB or TVDB and downloads covers, backdrops and cast information. A large library can take a while on the first pass.
4. Check the setup checklist#
Settings > General shows a setup checklist with the steps most self-hosters want next; the pending ones also appear on an admin's home page. Some are marked required, others recommended:
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| Add at least one library | Required: nothing shows up in Fliks without one. |
| Create a quality profile | Marked required, but only used when downloading: which qualities are acceptable or preferred. |
| Create a language profile | Marked required, but only used when downloading: preferred audio and subtitle languages. |
| Enable a subtitle provider | Lets Fliks search for subtitles automatically instead of only using what's embedded. |
| Create a non-administrator user | Give the rest of the household an account without admin rights (see Users and permissions). |
| Configure notifications | Get pinged on Discord, ntfy, Slack or similar when something happens. |
| Configure an auto-approval rule | Requests matching the rule are approved without you clicking anything. |
Dismiss any item you don't need. It disappears from the home page, and Settings > General keeps a Re-enable button for it.
5. Install the clients#
Point the web app, or any native client, at the same address and log in with your account. Web, iOS, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Samsung and LG TVs, the desktop app and Chromecast are all covered in Clients. On a TV you don't have to type your password with the remote: pick your account, choose Quick Connect, and approve the request from your phone (see Pairing). Start a film on one device and pick it up on another: the position syncs live.
Where to go from here#
- Concepts if some of the terms above (library, quality profile, request) aren't obvious yet.
- Users and permissions to set up accounts for the rest of the household.
- Hardware acceleration if playback on a slow connection or an incompatible device is transcoding instead of playing the file directly.