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Getting Started

PinePods is a Rust based podcast management system that manages podcasts with multi-user support and relies on a central database with clients to connect to it. It's browser based and your podcasts and settings follow you from device to device due to everything being stored on the server. You can subscribe to podcasts and even hosts for podcasts with the help of the PodPeopleDB. It works on mobile devices and can also sync with a Nextcloud server or gpodder compatible sync server so you can use external apps like Antennapod as well!

Features#

Pinepods is a complete podcast management system and allows you to play, download, and keep track of podcasts you (or any of your users) enjoy. It allows for searching and subscribing to hosts and podcasts using The Podcast Index or Itunes and provides a modern looking UI to browse through shows and episodes. In addition, Pinepods provides simple user management and can be used by multiple users at once using a browser or app version. Everything is saved into a MySQL or Postgres database including user settings, podcasts and episodes. It's fully self-hosted, open-sourced, and I provide an option to use a hosted search API or you can also get one from the Podcast Index and use your own. There's even many different themes to choose from! Everything is fully dockerized and I provide a simple guide found below explaining how to install and run Pinepods on your own system.

Try it out! ⚡#

I maintain an instance of Pinepods that's publicly accessible for testing over at try.pinepods.online. Feel free to make an account there and try it out before making your own server instance. This is not intended as a permanant method of using Pinepods and it's expected you run your own server so accounts will often be deleted from there.

Installing 🏃‍♂️#

There's potentially a few steps to getting Pinepods fully installed. After you get your server up and running fully you can also install the client editions of your choice. The server install of Pinepods runs a server and a browser client over a port of your choice in order to be accessible on the web. With the client installs you simply give the client your server url to connect to the database and then sign in.

Server Installation 💾#

First, the server. You have multiple options for deploying Pinepods:

You can also choose to use MySQL/MariaDB or Postgres as your database. Examples for both are provided below.

Docker Compose#

Compose File - PostgreSQL (Recommended)#

services:  db:    image: postgres:latest    environment:      POSTGRES_DB: pinepods_database      POSTGRES_USER: postgres      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: myS3curepass      PGDATA: /var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata    volumes:      - /home/user/pinepods/pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data    ports:      - "5432:5432"    restart: always
  valkey:    image: valkey/valkey:8-alpine    ports:      - "6379:6379"
  pinepods:    image: madeofpendletonwool/pinepods:latest    ports:      - "8040:8040"    environment:      # Basic Server Info      SEARCH_API_URL: 'https://search.pinepods.online/api/search'      PEOPLE_API_URL: 'https://people.pinepods.online'      # Default Admin User Information      USERNAME: myadminuser01      PASSWORD: myS3curepass      FULLNAME: Pinepods Admin      EMAIL: user@pinepods.online      # Database Vars      DB_TYPE: postgresql      DB_HOST: db      DB_PORT: 5432      DB_USER: postgres      DB_PASSWORD: myS3curepass      DB_NAME: pinepods_database      # Valkey Settings      VALKEY_HOST: valkey      VALKEY_PORT: 6379      # Enable or Disable Debug Mode for additional Printing      DEBUG_MODE: false    volumes:      # Mount the download and backup locations on the server      - /home/user/pinepods/downloads:/opt/pinepods/downloads      - /home/user/pinepods/backups:/opt/pinepods/backups    depends_on:      - db      - valkey

Compose File - MariaDB (Alternative)#

services:  db:    image: mariadb:latest    command: --wait_timeout=1800    environment:      MYSQL_TCP_PORT: 3306      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: myS3curepass      MYSQL_DATABASE: pinepods_database      MYSQL_COLLATION_SERVER: utf8mb4_unicode_ci      MYSQL_CHARACTER_SET_SERVER: utf8mb4      MYSQL_INIT_CONNECT: 'SET @@GLOBAL.max_allowed_packet=64*1024*1024;'    volumes:      - /home/user/pinepods/sql:/var/lib/mysql    ports:      - "3306:3306"    restart: always
  valkey:    image: valkey/valkey:8-alpine    ports:      - "6379:6379"
  pinepods:    image: madeofpendletonwool/pinepods:latest    ports:      - "8040:8040"    environment:      # Basic Server Info      SEARCH_API_URL: 'https://search.pinepods.online/api/search'      PEOPLE_API_URL: 'https://people.pinepods.online'      # Default Admin User Information      USERNAME: myadminuser01      PASSWORD: myS3curepass      FULLNAME: Pinepods Admin      EMAIL: user@pinepods.online      # Database Vars      DB_TYPE: mariadb      DB_HOST: db      DB_PORT: 3306      DB_USER: root      DB_PASSWORD: myS3curepass      DB_NAME: pinepods_database      # Valkey Settings      VALKEY_HOST: valkey      VALKEY_PORT: 6379      # Enable or Disable Debug Mode for additional Printing      DEBUG_MODE: false    volumes:      # Mount the download and backup locations on the server      - /home/user/pinepods/downloads:/opt/pinepods/downloads      - /home/user/pinepods/backups:/opt/pinepods/backups    depends_on:      - db      - valkey

Make sure you change these variables to variables specific to yourself at a minimum.

      USERNAME: pinepods      PASSWORD: password      FULLNAME: John Pinepods      EMAIL: john@pinepods.com      # DB vars should match your values for the db you set up above      DB_TYPE: postgresql      DB_HOST: db      DB_PORT: 5432      DB_USER: postgres      DB_PASSWORD: myS3curepass      DB_NAME: pinepods_database

Most of those are pretty obvious, but let's break a couple of them down.

Admin User Info#

First of all, the USERNAME, PASSWORD, FULLNAME, and EMAIL vars are your details for your default admin account. This account will have admin credentails and will be able to log in right when you start up the app. Once started you'll be able to create more users and even more admins but you need an account to kick things off on. If you don't specify credentials in the compose file it will create an account with a random password for you but I would recommend just creating one for yourself.

Note on the Search API#

Let's talk quickly about the searching API. This allows you to search for new podcasts and it queries either itunes or the podcast index for new podcasts. The podcast index requires an api key while itunes does not. If you'd rather not mess with the api at all simply set the API_URL to the one below.

SEARCH_API_URL: 'https://search.pinepods.online/api/search'

Above is an api that I maintain. I do not guarantee 100% uptime on this api though, it should be up most of the time besides a random internet or power outage here or there. A better idea though, and what I would honestly recommend is to maintain your own api. It's super easy. Check out the API docs for more information on doing this. Link Below -

https://www.pinepods.online/docs/API/search_api

Start it up!#

Either way, once you have everything all setup and your compose file created go ahead and run

sudo docker-compose up

To pull the container images and get started. Once fully started up you'll be able to access pinepods at the port you configured and you'll be able to start connecting clients as well.

Helm Deployment#

Alternatively, you can deploy Pinepods using Helm on a Kubernetes cluster. Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes that simplifies deployment. Adding the Helm Repository

First, add the Pinepods Helm repository:

helm repo add pinepods http://helm.pinepods.online/PinePodshelm repo update

Installing the Chart#

To install the Pinepods Helm chart, run:

helm install pinepods pinepods/pinepods -f my-values.yaml --namespace pinepods-namespace

Customizing Values#

Create a my-values.yaml file to override default values - Any value with {{ }} are things you need to set yourself.:

## Container image configurationimage:  repository: madeofpendletonwool/pinepods  tag: latest  pullPolicy: Always
service:  type: ClusterIP  port: 8040

ingress:  enabled: true  className: ""  annotations:    annotations:      # Whatever you need to set here  hosts:    - host: {{ pinepods_domain }}      paths:        - path: /          pathType: Prefix

persistence:  enabled: true  downloads:    storageClass: {{ storage_class }}    accessMode: ReadWriteOnce    size: {{ downloads_size }}  backups:    storageClass: {{ storage_class }}    accessMode: ReadWriteOnce    size: {{ backups_size }}
postgresql:  enabled: true  auth:    username: postgres    password: {{ postgres_password }}    database: pinepods_database  persistence:    enabled: true    storageClass: {{ storage_class }}    size: {{ postgres_size }}
valkey:  enabled: true  architecture: standalone  auth:    enabled: false  replica:    replicaCount: 0  primary:    persistence:      enabled: false  service:    port: 6379
env:  SEARCH_API_URL: "https://search.pinepods.online/api/search"  PEOPLE_API_URL: "https://people.pinepods.online"  USERNAME: {{ admin_username }}  PASSWORD: {{ admin_password }}  FULLNAME: {{ admin_fullname }}  EMAIL: {{ admin_email }}  DB_TYPE: "postgresql"  DB_USER: "postgres"  DB_NAME: "pinepods_database"  DB_PORT: "5432"  DEBUG_MODE: "false"
# Backend and Podpeople can be disabled (set to false) if you plan to use the ones I maintain.# To do that set to false and simply keep the SEARCH_API_URL and PEOPLE_API_URL above as their defaultsbackend:  enabled: true  image:    repository: madeofpendletonwool/pinepods_backend    tag: latest    pullPolicy: Always  service:    type: ClusterIP    port: 5000  secrets:    apiKey: {{ backend_api_key }}    apiSecret: {{ backend_api_secret }}# This ingress is specific to pinepods backend. If you don't use that change to disabled.  ingress:    enabled: true    className: ""    annotations:      # Whatever you need to set here    hosts:      - host: {{ backend_domain }}        paths:          - path: /            pathType: Prefix
podpeople:  enabled: true  image:    repository: madeofpendletonwool/podpeople_db    tag: latest    pullPolicy: Always  service:    type: ClusterIP    port: 8085  persistence:    enabled: true    storageClass: {{ storage_class }}    size: {{ podpeople_size }}    accessMode: ReadWriteOnce  auth:    adminUsername: {{ admin_username }}    adminPassword: {{ admin_password }}  environment:    ntfyUrl: {{ ntfy_url }}    ntfyTopic: {{ ntfy_topic }}    searchApiUrl: {{ search_api_url }}    baseurl: {{ pod_people_base_url }}# This ingress is specific to podpeople db. If you don't use that change to disabled.  ingress:    enabled: true    className: ""    annotations:      # Whatever you need to set here    hosts:      - host: {{ podpeople_domain }}        paths:          - path: /            pathType: Prefix

Create a namespace for Pinepods:#

Create a namespace to hold the deployment:

kubectl create namespace pinepods-namespace

Starting Helm#

Once you have everything set up, install the Helm chart:

helm install pinepods pinepods/Pinepods -f my-values.yaml

This will deploy Pinepods on your Kubernetes cluster with a postgres database. MySQL/MariaDB is not supported with the kubernetes setup. The service will be accessible at the specified NodePort.

Check out the Tutorials on the documentation site for more information on how to do basic things.

https://pinepods.online/tutorial-basic/sign-in-homescreen.md

Client Installs#

Any of the client additions are super easy to get going.

Linux Client Installs 💻#

AppImage, Fedora/Red Hat Derivative/Debian based (Ubuntu)#

First head over to the releases page on Github

https://github.com/madeofpendletonwool/PinePods/releases

Grab the latest linux release. There's both an appimage a deb, and an rpm. Use the appimage of course if you aren't using a debian or red hat based distro. Change the permissions if using the appimage version to allow it to run.

sudo chmod +x pinepods.appimage

^ The name of the app file will vary slightly based on the version so be sure you change it or it won't work.

For the rpm or deb version just run and install

Once started you'll be able to sign in with your username and password. The server name is simply the url you browse to to access the server.

Arch Linux (AUR)#

Install the Pinepods Client right from the AUR! Replace the command below with your favorite aur helper

paru -S pinepods

Flatpak#

You can search for Pinepods in your favorite flatpak installer gui app such as Gnome Software.

Flathub link and install command will be here soon (post 0.7.0 launch and compile)

Snap#

Quick snap install away!

snap install pinepods

Windows Client Install 💻#

Any of the client additions are super easy to get going. First head over to the releases page on Github

https://github.com/madeofpendletonwool/PinePods/releases

There's a exe and msi windows install file.

The exe will actually start an install window and allow you to properly install the program to your computer.

The msi will simply run a portable version of the app.

Either one does the same thing ultimately and will work just fine.

Once started you'll be able to sign in with your username and password. The server name is simply the url you browse to to access the server.

Mac Client Install 💻#

Any of the client additions are super easy to get going. First head over to the releases page on Github

https://github.com/madeofpendletonwool/PinePods/releases

There's a dmg and pinepods_mac file.

Simply extract, and then go into Contents/MacOS. From there you can run the app.

The dmg file will prompt you to install the Pinepods client into your applications fileter while the _mac file will just run a portable version of the app.

Once started you'll be able to sign in with your username and password. The server name is simply the url you browse to to access the server.

Android Install 📱#

For now, it's a manual install and there are some issues with the app. Check the releases page for the latest apk.

ios Install 📱#

Coming Soon - The web app works great for phones.

PodPeople DB#

Podpeople DB is a project that I maintain and also develop. Podpeople DB is a way to suppliment Person tags for podcasts that don't support them by default. This allows the community to maintain hosts and follow them to all podcasts! I maintain an instance of Podpeople DB at podpeopledb.com. Otherwise, it's an open source project and you can maintain and instance of your own if you prefer. For information on that go here. You can download the database yourself and maintain your own instance. If you do decide to go this route please still add any hosts for your favorite podcasts at the instance hosted at podpeopledb.com. The community will thank you!

For additional info on Podpeople DB check out the docs.

Additionally, I've written a blog post discussing the rational around it's creation.

Finally, you can check out the Repo for it here!

Pinepods Firewood#

A CLI only client that can be used to remotely share your podcasts to is in the works! Check out Pinepods Firewood!

Platform Availability#

The Intention is for this app to become available on Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, and IOS. Windows, Linux, Mac, web, and android are all currently available and working. The android app is in a sort of beta currently as I finalize any remaining issues with it. Track those here. This app is built with Tauri, therefore once the Android version is in a final state there's no reason I can't just compile it to ios as well.

For a podcast sync app I recommend Opodsync, but nextcloud sync works great too! This is only required if you use an app like AntennaPods. So then your Pinepods and Antennapods sync up podcasts.

OpodSync

Nextcloud Podcast Sync App

ARM devices are also supported including raspberry pis. The app is shockingly performant on a raspberry pi as well. The only limitation is that a 64bit OS is required on an arm device. Setup is exactly the same, just use the latest tag and docker will auto pull the arm version.

Runners#

Arm Images made possible by Runs-On: https://runs-on.com