The new version of the Gerbera media server , 1.9, has just been released, featuring several changes and bug fixes. Among the main improvements are enhanced customization options and support for Samsung TVs, among other enhancements.
For those unfamiliar with Gerbera, it's an application that continues the development of the MediaTomb project after its completion. Gerbera supports UPnP protocols, including the UPnP MediaServer 1.0 specification , and allows you to stream multimedia content over a local network, enabling you to watch videos and listen to audio on any UPnP-compatible device, including TVs, game consoles, smartphones, and tablets.
It features automatic generation of video thumbnails and on-the-fly content transcoding for output in formats compatible with the specified device.
The control of the transmission is done through the web interface. The metadata is automatically extracted from the multimedia files and a collection is created that is available for browsing from all devices equipped with a web browser. Directories are automatically scanned for new files by inotify or scheduled scan. Additional information about the content of the last.fm service can be downloaded.
Main novelties of Gerbera 1.9
In this new version, the code in the database layer has been refactored, eliminating legacy code to make it even faster and easier to maintain. As a result, support for older columns has been removed, meaning that after upgrading to 1.9.0, the database is migrated and can no longer be used with earlier versions.
Another important change highlighted in this new version is the expanded customization options , including defining resources to download album art, configuring DLNA profiles, and changing UPnP settings.
In addition, it is noted that support for selective transcoding has been implemented, in which videos are transcoded only for certain old devices and for new ones it is provided as is.
We can also find that support has been added for displaying dynamic containers , whose content is calculated at the time of opening (for example, you can organize the display of recently added or modified files), and compatibility with Samsung TVs has been greatly improved.
Of the other changes that stand out:
- Improved search capabilities for UPnP devices and content.
- A correction was made to the wrong definition
- Container updates shipped
- For lastfm it was changed to the C ++ API
- Added more documentation
- Cleanup performed on SQL startup code
- Added DLNA Profile Strings and Visible File System Directories to Configuration
Finally, if you are interested in learning more about this new version, you can find the details at the following link.
How to install Gerbera on Linux?
For those who are interested in installing Gerbera in their favorite distribution, they should follow any of the following instructions that we share below.
For users of Ubuntu, Linux Mint, or any other Ubuntu-based or derivative distribution , you can install the application by adding its repository to your system. To do this, simply open a terminal and type the following:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stephenczetty/gerbera-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install gerbera
As for those who are Debian users or any derivative of this:
sudo apt install gerbera
Now if they are Gentoo users the command that they must use to perform the installation is the following:
emerge -va net-misc / gerbera
While for those who are users of Arch Linux, Manjaro, Arco Linux or any derivative of Arch, they must have the AUR repository enabled to be able to install Gerbera. The command to perform the installation is:
yay -s gerbera-git
For those who are openSUSE users:
sudo zypper in gerbera
Finally for those who are Fedora users, they can perform the installation by typing the following command:
sudo dnf install gerbera