Self-Hosted Web Mode

Run Nightingale on a Linux box at home, then open it from phones, laptops, tablets, or TVs on your LAN.

You get one local URL:

http://<hostname>.local

Use plain HTTP for browsing, playback, queues, and most features. Use HTTPS if you want browser features like microphone capture, fullscreen, and clipboard (unless they work via http).

Quick install

On the Linux host:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rzru/nightingale/master/scripts/install.sh | bash

When system changes start, the installer shows the first sudo command, asks for confirmation, then prints each admin command before it runs.

When it finishes, open the URL shown by the installer, usually:

http://<hostname>.local

The installer is safe to re-run. Re-running upgrades Nightingale and keeps your data.

What the installer does

It sets up:

• nightingale.service — runs the Nightingale web server.
• caddy.service — serves Nightingale on HTTP and HTTPS.
• avahi-daemon — makes <hostname>.local work on your LAN.
• A system user named nightingale (optional).
• A default data folder at /var/lib/nightingale.

Your music folder is not configured by the installer. You choose it in the app.

Requirements

• Linux host with systemd.
• Root access with sudo.
• Internet access to download Nightingale and setup dependencies.
• Ports 80, 443, and 5353/udp allowed on your LAN if you use a firewall.
• Optional: NVIDIA GPU for faster analysis.

The installer can install caddy and avahi-daemon with apt, dnf, pacman, zypper, or apk. If your distro uses something else, install those packages first, then run the installer.

First launch

1. Open http://<hostname>.local from any device on your LAN.
2. Follow setup in the browser.
3. Choose a data folder with enough space for models, cache, videos, and analysis files.
4. Wait while Nightingale downloads ffmpeg, Python, PyTorch, WhisperX, Demucs, UVR models, and other dependencies.
5. Open the library menu, choose a music folder, and scan your songs.

If your songs are on the server at /srv/music/karaoke, enter that full path in the app.

Microphone support and HTTPS

Browsers block microphone capture on normal HTTP pages unless the page is localhost. Since <hostname>.local is not treated as secure, mic capture needs HTTPS. When Nightingale asks for microphone access, allow it so the browser can list your inputs.

Nightingale already serves HTTPS at:

https://<hostname>.local

Before browsers trust it, install Nightingale’s local certificate once on each device.

Download the certificate from your LAN:

curl -O http://<hostname>.local/root.crt

Then trust it:

• macOS — open root.crt, add it to Keychain, set it to Always Trust.
• iPhone / iPad — send root.crt to the device, install the profile, then enable it in Settings → General → About → Certificate Trust Settings.
• Windows — double-click root.crt, install it to Trusted Root Certification Authorities.
• Android — install it as a CA certificate in security settings. Some browsers may need their own certificate import too.
• Linux — copy it to /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/nightingale.crt, run sudo update-ca-certificates, and import it separately in Firefox if needed.

After that, use https://<hostname>.local for microphone scoring.

Firewall

If your firewall is active, open these inbound LAN ports:

Port	Protocol	Used for
80	TCP	HTTP app access
443	TCP	HTTPS app access and microphone support
5353	UDP	.local discovery with Avahi / mDNS

Ubuntu / Debian / Raspberry Pi OS with ufw:

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp   comment 'nightingale http'
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp  comment 'nightingale https'
sudo ufw allow 5353/udp comment 'nightingale mdns'
sudo ufw reload

Fedora / RHEL / openSUSE with firewalld:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=mdns
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

If your firewall is inactive, you do not need to do anything.

Music folder permissions

Nightingale runs as the nightingale user by default, or any other user you prompt during the setup. That user needs read access to your songs.

For a common /srv/music/karaoke folder:

sudo setfacl -m u:nightingale:rx /srv/music
sudo setfacl -R -m u:nightingale:rx /srv/music/karaoke

You can also grant access with normal Unix groups if that fits your setup better.

Updating

Run the installer again:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rzru/nightingale/master/scripts/install.sh | bash

This replaces the server binary and restarts Nightingale. Your config, library, cache, and music stay in place.

To install a specific version:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rzru/nightingale/master/scripts/install.sh | NIGHTINGALE_VERSION=v1.3.0 bash

Useful commands

systemctl status nightingale caddy
journalctl -u nightingale -f
journalctl -u caddy -f
sudo systemctl restart nightingale

Change the local name

To use a friendlier URL like nightingale.local, follow the setup prompts or use an environmental variable:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rzru/nightingale/master/scripts/install.sh | NIGHTINGALE_HOSTNAME=nightingale.local bash

Then open:

http://nightingale.local

If your router supports DHCP reservations, reserve a stable IP for the host too.

Run with Docker

Prefer containers? You can skip the systemd / Caddy / Avahi installer entirely and run the server in Docker (CPU or CUDA/GPU). See Docker.

Build from source

Use this if you are testing local changes or no release exists yet:

git clone https://github.com/rzru/nightingale.git
cd nightingale
bash scripts/install.sh --from-source

You need cargo, node, and pnpm available in your user shell.

Advanced installer options

Most users do not need these.

Variable	Default	Use
NIGHTINGALE_VERSION	latest	Install a specific GitHub Release tag.
NIGHTINGALE_REPO	rzru/nightingale	Install from another repo.
NIGHTINGALE_HOSTNAME	$(hostname -s).local	Publish a different .local name.
NIGHTINGALE_USER	nightingale	Run service as another system user.
NIGHTINGALE_DATA_DIR	/var/lib/nightingale	Bootstrap config and service data path.
NIGHTINGALE_FORCE_AVAHI_HOSTNAME	unset	Overwrite an existing Avahi hostname override.
NIGHTINGALE_FORCE_CADDYFILE	unset	Let installer replace an existing Caddyfile after backing it up.

The installer tries not to overwrite your existing Caddy or Avahi setup. If it detects a conflict, it stops and prints what to fix.

Uninstall

sudo systemctl disable --now nightingale
sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/nightingale.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/nightingale /usr/local/bin/nightingale.etag /usr/local/bin/nightingale.version
sudo rm -f /etc/avahi/services/nightingale.service
sudo systemctl restart avahi-daemon

If the installer created Nightingale’s Caddy snippet, remove it and reload Caddy:

sudo rm -f /etc/caddy/Caddyfile.d/nightingale.caddy
sudo systemctl reload caddy

Data is kept by default. Remove it only if you are done with it:

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/nightingale
sudo userdel nightingale