MinimServer 2.2
MinimServer 2.2 is a major new release with a number of significant improvements that make MinimServer easier to use and easier to configure.
New features
MinimServer 2.2 includes all the capabilities of previous versions of MinimServer, together with some important new features:
- The MinimServer configuration web page now has a Properties tab. From this tab, you can view and update all MinimServer configuration properties, including setting up to 8 content directories.
- The MinimServer configuration web page now has a MinimStreamer tab. From this tab, you can install or uninstall MinimStreamer and you can view and update all MinimStreamer configuration properties.
- The Properties tabs on the MinimServer configuration web page automatically track updated properties that haven't been saved and property updates that need a MinimServer restart. There are also help pop-ups for all properties.
- When a full license or trial license is activated, some additional property settings are enabled by default. You can disable these settings if you prefer not to use them.
- When you update from MinimServer 2.1 with a full or trial license activated, some additional property settings are enabled automatically. You can disable these settings if you prefer not to use them.
- Updating to MinimServer 2.2 is simpler than updating to previous versions because you don't need to download an installer package from the MinimServer downloads page. Instead, you can use a "one click" Install button on the MinimServer configuration web page to install MinimServer and relaunch MinmServer. You can also update to MinimServer 2.2 from the MinimWatch or MinimServer minim icon menus.
- [NEW] You can install new MinimServer and MinimStreamer updates using a "one click" install button on the MinimServer configuration web page.
- If you have previously taken a trial with an earlier version of MinimServer and this trial has expired, updating to MinimServer 2.2 resets this expiry so that you can start a new free 30-day trial to experience the changes in MinimServer 2.2.
The following sections describe these features in more detail.
Web-based configuration
With previous versions of MinimServer, it has not been easy for some users to configure the advanced features that are available with a full license or the free 30-day trial. If you are running MinimServer on a NAS, configuring these advanced features has required installing and running the MinimWatch program and the Java runtime on another computer on your local network. Setting this up and making it work involves too much complexity and effort for many users.
To solve this problem, MinimServer 2.2 provides a web-based configuration interface that enables you to configure all MinimServer features and properties from a web browser running on any device including a phone or iPad. You can also use this web-based interface to install and configure the optional MinimStreamer package that is available with a full license.
The new web-based interface uses property tabs that are similar in appearance to the property tabs previously provided by MinimWatch, with some significant improvements. There are help pop-ups for all properties with a brief description of what the property does and a link to a full description in the MinimServer online user guide. Any unsaved updates to property values are tracked and indicated with an asterisk next to the property name. For property updates that need a MinimServer restart, the page shows that a restart is needed and provides a button to do the restart.
New configuration defaults
In previous versions of MinimServer, purchasing and activating a full or trial license didn't make an immediate difference to what you saw when using MinimServer. This is because the default property settings in the full and trial versions of MinimServer were the same as the default property settings in MinimServer starter edition. Because of this, some people were surprised and disappointed that taking the trial or purchasing a full license didn't appear to make a difference to their experience of using MinimServer.
MinimServer 2.2 changes this by automatically enabling some of the enhanced capabilities of the full version of MinimServer when a full or trial license is activated. It does this in two different ways:
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When you activate a full license or trial license without changing any properties,
MinimServer 2.2 automatically enables some property settings that are generally useful
for most users. The following features are enabled by default:
- Index entries for recently added and played files
- Index entries for selecting files based on audio quality and audio format
- Automatic artwork for all index entries when browsing your library
- When you update from MinimServer 2.1 to MinimServer 2.2 with a full or trial license activated, the features listed above are enabled automatically if they weren't already enabled in your previous configuration.
You can disable any of all of these automatic settings if you prefer not to use them.
You can use the new web-based configuration interface to configure additional settings to enable other features that are available with the full version of MinimServer. These features include alphabetical grouping for index lists, additional indexes for custom tags in your files, customising how index lists are sorted, customising how album and track titles are displayed in your UPnP control point, and much more (see the License options page). You can explore these possibilities by selecting the Properties tab in the new web-based configuration interface and clicking on property names to see a brief description of what each property provides.
New installer for MinimServer 2.2
You can update from MinimServer 2.1 or 2.1.2 to MinimServer 2.2 without downloading a new installer from the MinimServer downloads page. Instead, you can do an "update install" of MinimServer 2.2 by using the "one click" Install button on the MinimServer configuration web page (available with MinimServer update 219 or later). Alternatively, you can install MinimServer 2.2 from the MinimWatch or MinimServer minim icon menu. To do this, select Properties from the minim icon menu and use the Packages tab to install the minimserver-2.2 package and relaunch MinimServer.
This is particularly useful if you are running MinimServer in a container (Docker, LXC, etc.) Up till now, updating to a new version has required you to download a new image for the new MinimServer version and to destroy and recreate the container. With MinimServer 2.2, you can do the update in place within an existing running container.
For a new installation of MinimServer, you can download an installer package for MinimServer 2.2 in the same way as for previous versions. Installer downloads for all platforms are available from the MinimServer downloads page. Installing MinimServer 2.2 in this way gives you exactly the same functionality and license conditions as doing the "update install" described in the first paragraph of this section.
If you are running MinimServer on a NAS (Synology, QNAP or ASUSTOR), you can download MinimServer 2.2 from the MinimServer downloads page and do a manual install in Package Center or App Center. Alternatively, you can install MinimServer 2.2 using the "update install" described in the first paragraph of this section. If you use update install, your NAS Package Center or App Center will not show that MinimServer 2.2 is installed but will continue to show your previous MinimServer version number. The correct version number is shown on the MinimServer configuration web page.
"One click" install for updates
[NEW] You can install new MinimServer and MinimStreamer updates using a "one click" install button on the MinimServer configuration web page. This install button is shown on the MinimServer configuration status web page when MinimServer update 233 or later is already installed and a new MinimServer or MinimStreamer update is available for installation.
Other features
MinimServer 2.2 also provides all the features that have made previous versions of MinimServer so popular:
- Intelligent Browsing. As you browse your library with MinimServer, each menu selection you make shows a menu of further selections based on the contents of your library and your previous selections. You can browse and select by any tags in your files and in any order. For example, with a classical library and suitable tagging you can select first by Composer, then by Work, then by Artist, Orchestra or Conductor. Alternatively, you can start by selecting Artist and then select by Composer, then by Work, then by Date.
- The index menus that MinimServer shows in your control point app are fully internationalized with translations for a number of languages.
- A choice of versions. When you first install MinimServer, it runs as Starter Edition. This version is free of charge and has limited functionality. The full version of MinimServer requires a paid license and provides all the features of MinimServer including everything described below. For details of the differences between these versions, see the License options page.
- You can select recently added and recently played music and you can combine this selection with any other selections to see (for example) all recently played music with genre Baroque or with artist Pink Floyd.
- You can select by audio resolution (CD, hi-res, DSD, etc.) or by audio format (FLAC, MP3, AIFF, WAV, DSF, etc.) Again, you can combine this selection with any other selections.
- You can choose how artwork is displayed when browsing. Artwork for albums, audio files, playlists and folders is always displayed if available. For other menu selections such as artist or composer names, you have the option to show no artwork, have an artwork image selected automatically by MinimServer, or use a custom artwork image that you have provided.
- You can customise how you browse your library. for example, you can show long lists of items indexed as alphabetical groups. You can control how lists are sorted, for example sorting The Beatles under B instead of T. With suitable tagging, you can sort artists or composers by last name instead of first name.
- You can customise how albums and tracks are shown in your control point app. If you want each album title to include the artist name or each track title to include the track duration, these are just some examples of what you can do with MinimServer's tagFormat feature.
- You can install the optional MinimStreamer package to transcode audio files in your library to stream them as a different format and/or resolution. This is useful for playing a file on a renderer that can't play the original file. Also, some transcoding combinations (for example, FLAC to WAV) can improve sound quality.
- You can also use MinimStreamer to play internet radio streams. Many internet radio URLs need special processing and/or transcoding to play the stream on a UPnP renderer. MinimStreamer can also make recordings of internet radio streams, including unattended timed recordings.
- You can create multiple profiles with different configuration settings and switch between these profiles easily. You can export and import profiles for backup or sharing with other users.
Availability
MinimServer is available for the following platforms:
- ASUSTOR (all models)
- Linux (including Raspberry Pi)
- macOS (all versions from 10.7 onwards)
- Melco N1, N1 EX Series, N10 and N100 (all models)
- NETGEAR ReadyNAS (some older models)
- QNAP (all models)
- Synology (all models)
- Windows (all versions from Windows XP onwards)
The following products support MinimServer as an optional installable add-on:
- sonicTransporter (all models)
- SOtM sMS-200, sMS-200neo, sMS-200ultra, sMS-1000SQ
Installing MinimServer
For details of how to install MinimServer 2.2 as a new installation or by updating from MinimServer 2.1, see the Quick Start page.