FileFlows Server: Windows
.NET
Download and install .NET SDK 6.0.1 or greater for your platform.
If in doubt, download the x64 one.
FileFlows
Download the FileFlows Windows Installer
FAQ
- I get a blank screen after opening FileFlows
- Ensure you have the ASP.NET Core Runtime installed if you did not install the .NET SDK
FileFlows Node: Windows
Download and install .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0.1 or greater.
Download the FileFlows Windows Installer
FileFlows Server: Linux
For detailed instructions how to install .NET on linux refer to this guide from Microsoft.
Install .NET 6 (Ubuntu)
Add Microsoft package signing key to your list of trusted keys
wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/16.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb
rm packages-microsoft-prod.deb
Install dotnet
sudo apt-get update; \
sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https && \
sudo apt-get update && \
sudo apt-get install -y aspnetcore-runtime-6.0
Test dotnet is installed by running dotnet and confirming
> dotnet
Usage: dotnet [options]
Usage: dotnet [path-to-application]
Options:
-h|--help Display help.
--info Display .NET information.
--list-sdks Display the installed SDKs.
--list-runtimes Display the installed runtimes.
path-to-application:
The path to an application .dll file to execute.
Install and run FileFlows
wget -O FileFlows.zip https://fileflows.com/downloads/zip
unzip FileFlows.zip -d FileFlows
cd FileFlows/
chmod +x run-server.sh
sudo ./run-server.sh
This will launch the server with a GUI. To launch it without a GUI, use
cd Server
sudo dotnet FileFlows.Server.dll --no-gui true
You should now be able to view FileFlows in the browser on http://localhost:5000/
FFMPEG
If you wish to use the Video Nodes to process videos, you must download FFMPEG for your system.
apt-get install ffmpeg
In order for plugins to find the FFMPEG tool, it must be added under the Tools Page.
- Open the FileFlows UI on http://localhost:5000/
- Navigate to the "Tools" Page
- Edit the "FFMPeg" Tool, if not there click "Add" and add it
-
Enter
Name Variable Description Name FFMpeg The name of the tool, this is case insensitive Path /usr/bin/ffmpeg The path to your ffmpeg intance - Click "Save"
FileFlows Node: Linux
For detailed instructions how to install .NET on linux refer to this guide from Microsoft.
Install .NET 6 (Ubuntu)
Add Microsoft package signing key to your list of trusted keys
wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/16.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb
rm packages-microsoft-prod.deb
Install dotnet
sudo apt-get update; \
sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https && \
sudo apt-get update && \
sudo apt-get install -y aspnetcore-runtime-6.0
Test dotnet is installed by running dotnet and confirming
> dotnet
Usage: dotnet [options]
Usage: dotnet [path-to-application]
Options:
-h|--help Display help.
--info Display .NET information.
--list-sdks Display the installed SDKs.
--list-runtimes Display the installed runtimes.
path-to-application:
The path to an application .dll file to execute.
Install and run FileFlows
NOTE: Replace [SERVER_ADDRESS] with the FileFlows Server address you are connecting to. For example http://tower:5000/
wget -O FileFlows.zip https://fileflows.com/downloads/zip
unzip FileFlows.zip -d FileFlows
cd FileFlows
chmod +x run-node.sh
sudo ./run-node.sh
This will launch the FileFlows node GUI.
You can optionally specify the server address
cd Node
sudo dotnet FileFlows.Node.dll --server [SERVER_ADDRESS] --no-gui
If you omit the --server variable, FileFlows.Node will look for fileflow.config file and read the server information from there.
If that file is missing, a new one will be created and the process will exit, or if no server is defined in that file the process will exit.
With the fileflows.config file correctly configured, there is no need to specify the server via the --server switch
FileFlows Server: Docker
Docker Command Line
docker run -d \
-name=FileFlows\
-p 5000:5000 \
-v /path/to/data:/app/Data\
-v /path/to/logging:/app/Logs \
-v /path/to/temp:/temp \
-v /path/to/media:/media \
--restart unless-stopped \
revenz/fileflows
Docker Template
services:
fileflows:
image: revenz/fileflows
container_name: fileflows
environment:
- TZ=Pacific/Auckland
volumes:
- /path/to/data:/app/Data
- /path/to/logs:/app/Logs
- /path/to/media:/media #optional
ports:
- 5000:5000
restart: unless-stopped
Docker with NVIDIA Hardware Encoding
docker run -d \
-name=FileFlows\
-p 5000:5000 \
-v /path/to/data:/app/Data\
-v /path/to/logging:/app/Logs \
-v /path/to/temp:/temp \
-v /path/to/media:/media`#optional` \
-v GPU_UID:NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES \
--runtime=nvidia \
--restart unless-stopped \
revenz/fileflows
Parameters
| Name | Variable |
|---|---|
| -p 5000 | The port of the FileFlows interface |
| -v /app/Data | The data directory of FileFlows. Where the database and configuration will be saved |
| -v /app/Logs | Where logs will be saved |
| -v /temp | The temp directory for the internal processing node. |
| -v /media | Optional mapped path. You can map as many as you want |
| -v NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES | The Nvidia GPU UID that identifies your GPU, eg GPU-0d5bb4da-23e4-9e65-15b2-8c6d30 |
FileFlows Noded: Docker
Docker Command Line
docker run -d \
-name=FileFlows-Node\
-e FFNODE=1 \
-e ServerUrl=http://server:5000/ \
-v TempPath:/path/to/temp \
--hostname MyFFNode
--restart unless-stopped \
revenz/fileflows
Docker Template
services:
fileflows:
image: revenz/fileflows
container_name: FileFlows-Node
hostname: MyFFNode
environment:
- FFNODE=1
- ServerUrl=http://server:5000/
volumes:
- TempPath=/path/to/temp
restart: unless-stopped
Docker with NVIDIA Hardware Encoding
docker run -d \
-name=FileFlows-Node\
-e FFNODE=1 \
-e ServerUrl=http://server:5000/ \
-v TempPath:/path/to/temp \
--hostname MyFFNode
--runtime=nvidia \
--restart unless-stopped \
revenz/fileflows
Parameters
| Name | Variable |
|---|---|
| -v ServerUrl:http://server:5000 | The URL of the FileFlows Server |
| -e FFNODE 1 | This switches the container to run as a Node |
| --hostname MyFFNode | The unique hostname of the external processing node |
| -v TempPath:/path/to/temp | The temp directory for temporary files created. |
| -v NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES | The Nvidia GPU UID that identifies your GPU, eg GPU-0d5bb4da-23e4-9e65-15b2-8c6d30 |
FileFlows Server: Unraid
FileFlows can be found in the unRAID Community Application store.
Configuration
Parameters
| Name | Variable | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Temp Directory | /mnt/cache/temp/fileflows | The directory where temporary files will be created. Recommend to put this on a cache drive for improved performance |
| /media/ | /mnt/user/media | Maps a directory into the docker application. You can add multiple paths using this as a template to expose more folders |
NVIDIA Hardware Encoding
In order to use an NVIDIA GPU for hardware encoding you must do the follow
Get your GPU ID
Go to Settings > NVIDIA Driver
Here mine is "GPU-7f326d12-d4c8-4011-9db1-36c47710daf6"
Update the FileFlows Docker
- Inside editing the Docker container (or when adding)
-
Switch to Advanced view
- Under "Extra Parameters" insert "--runtime=nvidia"
-
Add a custom variable by clicking "Add another Path, Port, Variable, Label or Device"
-
Enter the new variable:
Config Type: Variable Name: NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES Key: NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES Value: [YOUR GPU UID, EG GPU-7f326d12-d4c8-4011-9db1-36c47710daf6]
- Click Save and apply the changes.
- You should now be able to process videos using your NVIDIA GPU, assuming your GPU supports hardware encoding Add a custom footer
FileFlows Node: Unraid
FileFlows Node can be found in the unRAID Community Application store.
Configuration
Parameters
| Name | Variable | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Server URL | http://tower:5000/ | The URL of the FileFlows Server |
| NodeName | DockerNode | A unique name to identify the node |
| Temp Directory | /mnt/cache/temp/fileflows | The directory where temporary files will be created. Recommend to put this on a cache drive for improved performance |
FileFlows Server: Generic
FileFlows can run on any system supported by the .NET 6 SDK, this includes Windows, Linux and MacOS operating systems and x64, x86 and ARM architectures.
Download and install .NET 6.0 SDK or greater.
FileFlows Node: Generic
FileFlows can run on any system supported by the .NET 6 Runtime, this includes Windows, Linux and MacOS operating systems and x64, x86 and ARM architectures.
Download and install .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0.1 or greater.
Download and Run FileFlows
Download the FileFlows zip extract it then inside the "Server" directory, run dotnet FileFlows.Server.dll
FileFlows should now be accessible from http://localhost:5000/ or http://[host]:5000/
FFMPEG
If you wish to use the Video Nodes to process videos, you must download FFMPEG for your system.
In order for plugins to find the FFMPEG tool, it must be added under the Tools Page.
- Open the FileFlows UI on http://localhost:5000/
- Navigate to the "Tools" Page
- Click "Add"
-
Enter
Name Variable Description Name FFMpeg The name of the tool, this is case insensitive Path /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg The path to your ffmpeg intance - Click "Save"
Download FileFlows
Download the FileFlows zip extract it then from the Node directory, run dotnet FileFlows.Node.dll
FFMPEG
In order to use the Video Processing node, you must download FFMPEG for your system.
FileFlows Node Configuration
In order for the FileFlows Node to communicate with the FileFlows Server, it must be told where the Server is.
Download and Run FileFlows Node to generate a sample configuration file "fileflows.config".
dotnet FileFlows.Node.dll
FileFlowsNode will exit as you need to set the configuration.
Open the newly created "fileflows.config" file. Which is a JSON configuration file.
{
"ServerUrl": "",
"TempPath": "C:\\Users\\john\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\FileFlows",
"Runners": 0,
"Enabled": false
}
| Name | Variable |
|---|---|
| ServerUrl | The URL of the FileFlows Server. For example http://tower:5000/ |
| TempPath | The temporary path when files will be saved on the Node. Any \ need to be escaped which means you enter \\ eg c:\\fileflows\\temp |
| Runners | The amount of execution runners this node has. This can be set in the main FileFlows UI on the server |
| Enabled | If this node is enabled and will process files. This can be set in the main FileFlows UI on the server |
Save the configuration file and start FileFlows Node again using dotnet FileFlows.Node.dll
The node will now be running and can be stopped pressing the Escape key.
FileFlows Server Configuration
Now that the FileFlows Node is up and running you need to configure some mappings in FileFlows Server.
These mappings let FileFlows map from a Server path/application to one local to the Node.
Open FileFlows server application UI, go to "Nodes" and edit the node.
| Server | Node | Description |
|---|---|---|
| C:\Users\john\AppData\Roaming\FileFlows\Server\Tools\ffmpeg.exe | C:\Users\john\AppData\Roaming\FileFlows\Node\Tools\ffmpeg.exe | The FFMPEG instance on the Server and the Node |
| c:\media/movies | \\server\movies | This is an example mapping for a library |
| Server | Node | Description |
|---|---|---|
| /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg | /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg | The FFMPEG instance on the Server and the Node, this example demostrates a docker setup. |
| /media/movies | \\server\movies | This is an example mapping for a library |