Practical guides

Build a media server around your library

Detailed, practical answers about hardware, native playback, transcoding, remote access and privacy. Start with the problem you need to solve, not a list of specifications.

From foundations to details

Choose the right path

Each guide separates what happens on the server from what depends on the client, so you can design a system around your files and screens.

01 Docker guide

Bring Quven Server to Docker

A complete guide to running Quven Server on Linux with Docker Compose, protecting its data and choosing the right hardware acceleration for your host.

Read the guide
02 Disc playback guide

DVD and Blu-ray in a self-hosted media library

How disc folders, ISO images, remuxing and HLS differ across native and browser playback, including menus, bitmap subtitles and HD audio.

Read the guide
03 HDR guide

HDR transcoding and tone mapping on a home media server

What a server reads as HDR, which graphics backend converts it on the card and which one leaves the job to the processor, and which clients never ask for the conversion at all.

Read the guide
04 Subtitle generation guide

How to generate subtitles for a film that has none

A practical guide to Quven's local subtitle generation: installing the speech model, choosing the dialogue audio, and knowing when a generated track is the right answer.

Read the guide
05 Library organisation

How to organise films and TV shows for a media server

A practical folder and naming structure for films and series, for editions and for subtitles, that stays understandable to you and to a media server.

Read the guide
06 Subtitle translation guide

How to translate subtitles with AI in Quven

A practical Quven guide to translating subtitle tracks with AI, choosing a useful source and understanding local PGS OCR and speech-to-text fallbacks.

Read the guide
07 Library migration guide

Move a media library without making a mess of the files

A calm, reversible way to bring an existing film and TV library into a new media server without renaming everything or losing useful versions.

Read the guide
08 Remote access guide

Reach a self-hosted media server outside your home

Compare self-managed remote access with Quven's managed relay, including NAT, CGNAT, security boundaries and playback consequences.

Read the guide
09 Integration guide

Read a Quven server from your own dashboard

Issue a read-only key and point Homepage, Grafana or a script at your server: the six reads, both ways to send the key, and what the API will not tell you.

Read the guide
10 Linux guide

Run a headless media server on Linux x64 or ARM64

How the Quven Server-only AppImage fits Linux hosts, what is available on x64 and ARM64, and why the Linux desktop client is not part of v1.

Read the guide
11 macOS guide

Run a media server on macOS, Intel or Apple silicon

A practical macOS media-server guide covering signed native packages, Bundle versus Server-only, direct playback and Apple silicon availability.

Read the guide
12 Windows guide

Run a media server on Windows with a native desktop client

How Quven runs on Windows x64 and ARM64, when to choose the coupled desktop bundle, and what affects direct play and hardware transcoding.

Read the guide
13 Self-hosting guide

What a self-hosted media server actually does

A practical guide to running a media server on your own hardware, organising a personal library and choosing between direct play and transcoding.

Read the guide
14 Privacy guide

What stays local on a privacy-conscious media server

Where every piece of your data sits in Quven: local media, cloud identity and profile state, product analytics, managed AI, subtitle work, diagnostics and the relay.

Read the guide
15 Playback guide

Why native media playback changes the server workload

Direct play, remux and transcode explained through native media clients, with practical consequences for video quality, HD audio and subtitles.

Read the guide

Bring your library home.

Free for home use and yours to run on your own hardware. Install it in minutes.