In 2012, Logitech closed its line of internet radios and network players acquired through the company Slimdevices under the name Squeezebox. Today, the management would probably be wiser – the manufacturer known for producing mice and keyboards missed out on the business of multi-room speakers and music streaming in the Internet of Things. In early 2024, Logitech also shut down the MySqueezebox.com service, which gave the still-functioning boxes access to streaming services and internet radio.

What is still alive is the Logitech Media Server (LMS), which has undergone many name transformations: previously known as Squeezebox Server, Slimserver, and Squeezecenter, it is now called Lyrion Media Server, standing by the abbreviation “LMS” while dropping the name “Logitech.” The Media Server has survived because the software is free and open source, maintained by a community based in the former Slimdevices forum, which is now the Lyrion Community. With a self-hosted server, Squeezebox owners can still listen to internet radio and use streaming services – almost like they did with MySqueezebox.com before. Only the streaming service Tidal cannot be integrated anymore.

A media server not only for Squeezeboxes

While Squeezeboxes relied on “their” server as pure clients and/or controllers for any sound to be heard, the LMS can supply any standard-compliant DLNA/uPNP clients with music, so it works not only with Squeezeboxes, but is an efficient solution to store, search and play any musik collection. Video is also transmitted; however, transcoding only works for audio material.

The LMS can be operated via a web interface accessible through a browser using the server’s IP address with port 9000.

Installation

Unfortunately, the Debian repository was abandoned long ago by Logitech. The current deb package, suitable for Ubuntu as well, must be downloaded from lyrion.org/lms-server-repository/ and then installed manually, for a 64-bit system:

sudo dpkg -i logitechmediaserver_8.5.0_amd64.deb

Alternatives

Plex is a well-known media server for audio and video, but it is not completely free and open source. Subsonic and its fork Madsonic are more specialized in audio than video. Gerbera is a media server for home networks.