Lightweight Distro That Will Run Emby in A VM

[Xplorer4x4]

I am looking for a lightweight linux distro that will run Emby media server and a lightweight VM that can run in Linux and Windows. I have an AMD Ryzen 5 5500, 16 GB RAM, and an AMD RX 580 GPU. So not like it's a major slouch of a PC but far from top of the line. I just want to access my media collection via both Windows and Linux(CachyOS). Other then using a DE to set up the VM, I would probably later remove the DE and run headless.

 

[Magrid0]

You could use ubuntu server/ubuntu LTE if you want to use it only as a headless server. Or maybe debian if ubuntu is not your thing.

 

[Fae3iSUx]

Debian, Devuan, will make a nice VM guest. Not much is being preinstalled on these, no flatpacks, no snaps. You could do a headless server or install basic desktop environment.

 

[Xplorer4x4]

You could use ubuntu server/ubuntu LTE if you want to use it only as a headless server. Or maybe debian if ubuntu is not your thing.

I was thinking more like arch than Ubuntu server. Both come headless but isn't arch lighter out of the box? I was also thinking puppy Linux. It uses like 250 MB of ram out the box and uses Ubuntu repos.

As for Debian, hey if that's your thing, go for it. Debian Testing maybe. Debian stable update path is just to slow for me.

Literally all I want is emby media server running in as lightweight of a vm as possible on bare metal Linux vm. Emby can be run via Docker. I'm wondering if that could be a solution in some way if that's possible. I usually shy away from docker because I can do whatever I need without the extra overhead but if this is an option, I know a few services I might migrate to Docker as well.

 

[Fae3iSUx]

I was thinking more like arch than Ubuntu server. Both come headless but isn't arch lighter out of the box? I was also thinking puppy Linux. It uses like 250 MB of ram out the box and uses Ubuntu repos.

As for Debian, hey if that's your thing, go for it. Debian Testing maybe. Debian stable update path is just to slow for me.

Literally all I want is emby media server running in as lightweight of a vm as possible on bare metal Linux vm. Emby can be run via Docker. I'm wondering if that could be a solution in some way if that's possible. I usually shy away from docker because I can do whatever I need without the extra overhead but if this is an option, I know a few services I might migrate to Docker as well.

You’re contradicting yourself. An Arch-based server, like Debian Testing, is a rolling release distribution, meaning constant updates and unnecessary maintenance to keep it current. What’s the benefit? None.

For a 24/7 service like your Emby media server, you need a stable, rock-solid distro with a standard release model. Rolling releases only add maintenance overhead without any real advantage for your use case.

You can experiment on your own desktop, but for VM? There's no point.

 

[kc1di]

Stick to debian for this purpose. No sense in using Arch for a server. You don't gain any thing that way. Debian is stable and solid.

 

[Magrid0]

I was thinking more like arch than Ubuntu server.

I don't know if I would do that since arch is a rolling release distro and might be more prominent to breaking.

Both come headless but isn't arch lighter out of the box?

As fare as I know they have a similar memory footprint if run headless.

 

[Xplorer4x4]

You’re contradicting yourself. An Arch-based server, like Debian Testing, is a rolling release distribution, meaning constant updates and unnecessary maintenance to keep it current. What’s the benefit? None.

For a 24/7 service like your Emby media server, you need a stable, rock-solid distro with a standard release model. Rolling releases only add maintenance overhead without any real advantage for your use case.

You can experiment on your own desktop, but for VM? There's no point.

I think you need to clean up the wording a bit. You make it sound like Debian Testing is Arch-based, but it's still Debian-based from my understanding. The only thing I can see that has changed since I last looked in-depth or ran Debian years ago was that there was only one testing branch instead of two. That was probably 10 years ago, when I first started dabbling in Linux, though. Maybe it's worth another look. With Debian Stable, I am just concerened how soon it would take for the latest major Emby release to roll out.

Part of the reason I considered Arch, besides being more lightweight, is I have run CachyOS for months now, and I was concerned about this when I first migrated from Windows. Yet it hasn't been an issue yet. Plus if it's running Emby only, I figured the chances of this being an issue would be very slim compared to if I were running a full-fledged system. with Steam (and games) and so forth that are going to require a lot of different dependencies. I am looking for as barebones Linux as I can get while running Emby. I would kind of like to stay Arch or Ubuntu/Debian-based as I am familiar with these systems (although quite rusty on Ubuntu). I suppose going to something Suse-based or whatever wouldn't kill me, just would prefer to avoid the learning curve. If it best fits the job, though, so be it.

I don't know if I would do that since arch is a rolling release distro and might be more prominent to breaking.


As fare as I know they have a similar memory footprint if run headless.

Thanks for clarifying the resource part of things.


On another note, I am considering it might be worth using my Android TV Box to use in this case. It runs an Amlogic S905X3. I forget how much RAM it has. The only thing is all my media is stored on internal drives. Maybe I could set up a linux distro on that and eliminate the overhead on my system, but how would I get the content to my TV? I suppose I could set up DLNA or SMB on the Android box and PC to share to the Android box and then to the TV. But my wireless network maxes out at 100 Megabits so stream to stream might be too heavy for the network in some cases. Maybe I could go USB to USB from the PC to the Android box?

 

[Fae3iSUx]

I think you need to clean up the wording a bit. You make it sound like Debian Testing is Arch-based, but it's still Debian-based from my understanding. The only thing I can see that has changed since I last looked in-depth or ran Debian years ago was that there was only one testing branch instead of two. That was probably 10 years ago, when I first started dabbling in Linux, though. Maybe it's worth another look. With Debian Stable, I am just concerened how soon it would take for the latest major Emby release to roll out.

Yes you are right, my wording wasn't precise. So let me explain it fully, best to my knowledge:

Arch - fully rolling
Debian Unstable - fully rolling
Debian Testing - semi-rolling. It's following Debian Unstable with 10-day delay, unless Stable it's about to be released, then packages are frozen (bug or security fixes only), usually for couple of months.
Debian Testing is not recommended for server or desktop use, because security patches can be delayed by 10-days.

I've checked, and Emby media server is not packaged for Debian. It means, you download DEB file yourself and install it by hand. Same with updates, you can download new version regularly.
So, no problem with Debian Stable repo version being outdated.

 

[Fae3iSUx]

Part of the reason I considered Arch, besides being more lightweight, is I have run CachyOS for months now, and I was concerned about this when I first migrated from Windows. Yet it hasn't been an issue yet.

Yet you still have to do updates and reboot often. New mainline kernel is landing often. Old kernels must be removed often. Regression is possible anywhere, many packages change, merge, new libraries are being added and removed often. It's a non-zero maintenance cost, and extra write fatique on SSD media (if you use one). And it brings no benefit to Emby service.

With Debian Stable, you can enable unattended upgrades, and don't worry about ever looking into the VM, it will just work for years without any intervention needed. You can occassionally reboot (to apply LTS kernel updates) and download new version of Emby, that's it. Nothing else will change without your knowledge.

 

[Xplorer4x4]

Yet you still have to do updates and reboot often. New mainline kernel is landing often. Old kernels must be removed often. Regression is possible anywhere, many packages change, merge, new libraries are being added and removed often. It's a non-zero maintenance cost, and extra write fatique on SSD media (if you use one). And it brings no benefit to Emby service.

With Debian Stable, you can enable unattended upgrades, and don't worry about ever looking into the VM, it will just work for years without any intervention needed. You can occassionally reboot (to apply LTS kernel updates) and download new version of Emby, that's it. Nothing else will change without your knowledge.

I am certain Shelly package manager can auto update but that requires a gui. Even then I am sure there has to be some way to enable unattended updates on arch.

As for reboots, I never really understood that argument on a home PC or Media server. I mean I have to update CachyOS and reboot about once a week. It takes me like 30 seconds to a minute. How will I ever survive? I can understand on a corporate level production server especially if it's going to take an hour for all your services to restore.

As I said I am wondering if I could offload emby server to my android TV box but I also don't know how would be the best way to access the internal storage drives on my PC. Maybe it would be worth investing in a Raspberry PIor similar when I can afford it? But then there still the network concerns.

 

[osprey]

Arch - fully rolling
Debian Unstable - fully rolling
Debian Testing - semi-rolling. It's following Debian Unstable with 10-day delay, unless Stable it's about to be released, then packages are frozen (bug or security fixes only), usually for couple of months.
Debian Testing is not recommended for server or desktop use, because security patches can be delayed by 10-days.

The canonical information about debian is supplied by debian.

The stable version of debian, currently Trixie, is the distro that debian releases. It's described as stable because its software doesn't change, except for security updates and for fixes if they are necessary. Bug fixes have usually been ironed out before it's released, so that keeps it stable. The release is also stable in the sense that it doesn't normally "fall over", or misbehave or crash, which is a result of it having been well tested before release. Debian stable is a curated distribution with "release-like quality assurance." See here: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianReleases.

Debian testing is a branch or version of debian for testing, and not a release. It's primary function is for testing of software before it can eventually be included in the next debian release. The testing version gets lots of new updated software. Software updates appear as frequently as daily. At some point in the future, the testing branch is frozen, so no more software is added. That happens a while before the approximately two year interval between debian releases. The tested software, and remaining bugs are fixed as much as possible during the freeze, and then when declared good enough, it becomes the new stable release. See here: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianTesting

Debian unstable is a development version or branch of debian which accepts new software continually, and is also not a release. It's unstable in so far as package content is continually changing. It's also less stable in the sense of possible problems with the software misbehaving since it's all the latest software that debian has accepted from the maintainers. If packages survive life in the unstable branch without overt issues, after a few days, often between 2 and 10, the software is moved to testing, for testing. See here: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianUnstable

Debian testing generally only receives security updates from the unstable branch, so security is always a later addition for the testing branch as the unstable packages are passed down to testing. Those security elements are however, those provided by the maintainers and developers in the software contributed rather than from the debian security team, the latter concentrating more on the debian stable release.

Neither debian testing or unstable are rolling releases in the sense of a curated rolling release like arch. Arch, with the continual rolling in of new packages, is carefully constructed to be a coherent distribution by the arch maintainers. The curated nature of it is managed by the maintainers who can make any small or large changes to the whole system to present it as a polished distribution at any point in its rolling journey. With debian testing and unstable, packages are uploaded by maintainers as they become available from developers. The packages may be broken, hence need testing and bug fixes. They may be waiting for dependencies. There is little or no sense of the polished integrated whole, rather, these branches of debian are primarily for development.

The question often arises as to the "rolling release" nature of debian testing and unstable, because they can appear to be just like an authentic rolling release like arch because they continually accept new packages as time rolls on. To consider them rolling releases however, obscures the facts and nuances of their actual nature and function in the debian ecosystem.

With debian testing and unstable, it's usually recommended that users have some experience with repairing and rescuing systems because of the nature of those branches and the relative absence of that carefully maintained aspect inherent to authentic rolling releases.

In considering the needs of the OP mentioned in post #1, if debian is chosen, it can be made quite light and economical with resources depending on what the user chooses to install. If it needs to be expanded later, debian has a huge repository available. I can't say more without experience of that sort of server.

 

[Fae3iSUx]

As for reboots, I never really understood that argument on a home PC or Media server. I mean I have to update CachyOS and reboot about once a week. It takes me like 30 seconds to a minute. How will I ever survive? I can understand on a corporate level production server especially if it's going to take an hour for all your services to restore.

Think about your situation:
Why would you ever log in to your VM to manage it? Why the burden? If you select stable & slow release distro, then you don't need to worry about anything. The only thing you will have to do there is occasional reboot (to apply kernel upgrades) and install new version of emby.
If you go another route and select rolling, high-churn distro like Arch, then you will be at that VM much more often, weekly, maybe daily, all unnecessarily - Emby doesn't care what distro it's being run on.