How to self-host an Audiobookshelf server

Listen to your audiobooks and podcasts anywhere, with good phone apps. Cresdock runs it on a server you own, from a catalogue, with no Docker and no reverse proxy to configure.

What Cresdock does for you with Audiobookshelf

Audiobookshelf owns its own first-run setup, so Cresdock locks that wizard to your IP address until you finish it. Nobody else can reach the box in the minute between the app starting and you claiming it.
Given its own web address, with its own login seeded in advance. Audiobookshelf can't live under a shared path, and apps like this are reached by clients that don't carry a browser session — so it gets a real password rather than being left open.
Your Downloads and Media folders are already mounted, and they are the SAME folders your other apps see — so files land where the rest of your setup expects them, with no path mapping to work out.
If your library lives on cloud storage rather than the server's own disk, this app can read it from there.
Gets its own web address; create your account right away on first open — until then it's only reachable from the IP you installed from, and that lock lifts on its own.
Put audiobooks and podcasts in your media folder, then add a library pointing at it — no separate upload step.

Why run Audiobookshelf yourself

Streaming services remove things. A film you paid to watch last year can simply stop being there, and nothing tells you in advance. Running your own means the library is whatever you put in it, and it stays.

What kind of server Audiobookshelf needs

A media server is the one category where the hardware matters. Direct play — where the app hands the file straight to your TV or phone — costs almost nothing, and 2 GB of memory is plenty. Converting on the fly for a device that can't play the original is what gets expensive; if you expect that often, a machine with hardware video support pays for itself immediately.

Cresdock itself is undemanding — it runs on a small rented server, an old desktop or a mini PC, on Ubuntu or Debian. Everything it installs shares that machine, so the honest question is not "will this app run" but "how much am I going to put on here in total".

Where to run Audiobookshelf

Audiobookshelf runs wherever Cresdock runs, and the choice is about the machine, not the app:

At home, on hardware you already own. A mini PC, an old desktop or a NAS that can run Debian. Cresdock works behind a home router with no port forwarding and no domain, so Audiobookshelf is reachable on your own network first and from outside only if you choose.
On a rented server. A small VPS is enough for most apps and is the usual answer when Audiobookshelf should be reachable from anywhere. The setup guide covers the specs and the one-command install.
Through a provider that runs Cresdock. Hosting companies deploy Cresdock workspaces for their customers, so Audiobookshelf can come with a server you rent rather than one you set up — ask your provider, or see how providers offer it.

Installing Audiobookshelf

Put Cresdock on a server
One line on any Ubuntu or Debian machine — a rented VPS, a spare PC, a home server. It sets itself up.
Pick Audiobookshelf from the catalogue
Click Install. The panel pulls the image, writes the configuration, gets a certificate and starts it.
Open it from your dashboard
Its address and any login details are on its card. Start, stop, update, roll back or remove it from the same place, any time.

What's left for you to do

Cresdock does not pretend to do the parts that are genuinely yours to decide. After it's running:

Open Audiobookshelf and create your account. Do this now: the first visitor becomes the owner.
Add a library pointing at /media

What this replaces

Doing it by hand means writing something like this, then keeping it working:

services:
  audiobookshelf:
    image: ghcr.io/advplyr/audiobookshelf:v2.35.1
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Etc/UTC
    volumes:
      - ./audiobookshelf/config:/config
      - ./downloads:/downloads
      - ./media:/media

And that is the easy half. Still to do:

Install a reverse proxy and write a server block for it
Get a TLS certificate and set up automatic renewal
Create the folders above with the right ownership, or it will not start
Point a DNS record at the server, because Audiobookshelf cannot run under a shared path
Repeat all of it for the next app, and again on every server rebuild

On Cresdock, Audiobookshelf is one click and none of the above exists.

Common questions

Do I need to know Docker to run Audiobookshelf?

No. Cresdock installs Audiobookshelf in one click from its catalogue: it pulls the image, writes the configuration, gets an HTTPS certificate and starts it. Audiobookshelf runs its own first-time setup, and Cresdock locks that screen to your IP address until you have finished it.

What happens to my files when Audiobookshelf updates?

Cresdock changes Audiobookshelf's own configuration only. Your downloads and your media are never touched by an update, a rebuild or a reinstall — that is a rule the software enforces, not a promise in a document.

How is Audiobookshelf protected if it isn't behind the panel login?

It gets its own password, generated and set before it first starts, shown on its card in your dashboard. Apps end up here when they are reached by programs rather than a web browser, so a shared login can't be used.

Can someone else claim my Audiobookshelf before I do?

No. Its setup screen is locked to your IP address until you have finished it. This is the window that catches people out on a self-managed server.

Can my family use Audiobookshelf too?

Yes. Cresdock is built for sharing a server: each person you add gets their own space, with their own apps and their own folders. The free plan covers one person, and adding more is what Pro is for. Audiobookshelf also keeps its own accounts, so everyone signs in as themselves.

Can I run Audiobookshelf at home instead of on a VPS?

Yes. Cresdock runs on a mini PC, an old desktop or anything that boots Debian, behind a normal home router with no port forwarding, and Audiobookshelf is reachable on your own network first. A rented server is only needed when Audiobookshelf must be reachable from anywhere without a VPN.

Can I remove Audiobookshelf later?

Yes. Cresdock removes Audiobookshelf in one click, and asks whether to keep its configuration for a future reinstall. Nothing else you have installed is affected.

Looking for what Audiobookshelf itself can do? That lives in its own documentation — this page is only about running it.

Pairs well with: Calibre-Web · Emby · autobrr

Before you start: where to rent a server · what it needs to run · Cresdock vs CasaOS