Merge pull request #68 from joshuaboniface/hardware-acceleration

Add docs on VAAPI acceleration permissions

docs/administrator-docs/hardware-acceleration.md

@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Hardware Acceleration in Jellyfin
+
+Jellyfin supports hardware acceleration of video encoding/decoding/transcoding using FFMpeg. It supports multiple acceleration types, including  AMD AMF, Intel Quick Sync, OpenMax OMX, nVidia NVENC, Intel/AMD VAAPI, and others.
+
+## Enabling hardware acceleration
+
+Hardware acceleration options can be found in the Admin Dashboard under the Transcoding section. Select a valid "Hardware acceleration" from the drop-down, indicate a device if applicable, and, if supported, "Enable hardware encoding" as well as decoding.
+
+Once set, the acceleration is available immediately for playback; no server restart is required.
+
+## Setting up hardware acceleration
+
+Each hardware acceleration type, as well as each Jellyfin installation type, requires different setup options before it can be used. It is always best to consult the FFMpeg documentation on the acceleration type you choose for the latest information.
+
+### Configuring VAAPI acceleration on Debian/Ubuntu from `.deb` packages
+
+Configuring VAAPI on Debian/Ubuntu requires some additional configuration to ensure permissions are correct.
+
+1. Configure VAAPI for your system by following the [relevant documentation](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Hardware_video_acceleration). Verify that a `render` device is now present in `/dev/dri`, and note the permissions and group available to write to it, in this case `render`:
+
+    $ ls -l /dev/dri
+    total 0
+    drwxr-xr-x 2 root root        100 Apr 13 16:37 by-path
+    crw-rw---- 1 root video  226,   0 Apr 13 16:37 card0
+    crw-rw---- 1 root video  226,   1 Apr 13 16:37 card1
+    crw-rw---- 1 root render 226, 128 Apr 13 16:37 renderD128
+
+   **NOTE:** On some releases, the group may be `video` instead of `render`.
+
+2. Add the Jellyfin service user to the above group to allow Jellyfin's FFMpeg process access to the device, and restart Jellyfin:
+
+    sudo usermod -aG render jellyfin
+    sudo systemctl restart jellyfin
+
+3. Configure VAAPI acceleration in the "Transcoding" page of the Admin Dashboard. Enter the `/dev/dri/renderD128` device above as the `VA API Device` value.
+
+4. Watch a movie, and verify that transcoding is occurring by watching the `ffmpeg-transcode-*.txt` logs under `/var/log/jellyfin` and using `radeontop` or similar tools.

docs/index.md

@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ Want to know more about administering a Jellyfin server? Check out these pages!
 * [Migrating from Emby](/administrator-docs/migrate-from-emby): How to migrate an existing Emby 3.5.2 installation to Jellyfin.
 * [Plugins](/administrator-docs/plugins): How to install plugins in Jellyfin.
 * [Port Bindings](/administrator-docs/port-bindings)
+* [Hardware Acceleration](/administrator-docs/hardware-acceleration)
 
 ## Contributing to Jellyfin
 

mkdocs.yml

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ pages:
     - Reverse Proxy: 'administrator-docs/reverse-proxy.md'
     - Tasks: 'administrator-docs/tasks.md'
     - Users: 'administrator-docs/users.md'
+    - Hardware Acceleration: 'administrator-docs/hardware-acceleration.md'
   - Contributors:
     - Contributing: 'contributor-docs/contributing.md'
     - GitHub Issues: 'contributor-docs/issues.md'