uShare on Ubuntu (HP Microserver build)

 

As part of the HP Microserver build: seeking to enable media sharing/streaming across the networked devices on the local area network i.e. TV's, Xbox360, iPad, Apple TV and smart phones I installed uShare. uShare is a free UPnP Audio Visual & DLNA Media Server. It implements the server component that provides UPnP media devices with information on available multimedia files. uShare uses the built-in http server of libupnp to stream the files to clients. It does not act as an UPnP Media Adaptor and thus, can't transcode streams to fit the client requirements. Read on...

uShare can be installed from Ubuntu's package manager, again I installed it via Webmin during the headless Microserver set up. Once installed uShare can be quickly configured through running:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure ushare

Follow the prompts and set up the file directories and that's the basic configuration done.

uShare can be enabled to stream to an Xbox360 and/or PS3. I've never been able to get both streaming methods to work concurrently so I'll stick with the Xbox360 option. Here's how to enable uShare to stream to an Xbox 360:

1. Edit the uShare config file:
sudo gedit /etc/ushare.conf


2. Edit this line so it reads: 
ENABLE_XBOX=yes  
 
3. Also enable the web interface:   
# Enable Web interface (yes/no)
USHARE_ENABLE_WEB=yes 

4. Restart uShare with:

sudo invoke-rc.d ushare restart


 You will also need to run this command when you add more music/videos (or reboot) to refresh uShare alternatively this can be done from the web interface.

5. Access the web interface by pointing your browser to:
http://serveripaddress:49152/web/ushare.html
 

6. Update your firewall to allow access on port 49152 


Follow Up
Sadly Apple TV (without jail breaking) at current does not support uPnP and hence uShare will not work with the Apple TV, well at least not with Apple TV 2. To overcome this I've set iTunes up on the Ubuntu box to share content to the Apple TV, see how here.