Roon Sever in Docker

Roon Server in a docker container.

Features

• Downloads and installs latest Roon Server on first container start
• Subsequent in-app Roon Server upgrades persist
• Audio input from a local music library
• Audio input from Tidal or Qobuz
• Audio output to USB DAC devices connected to the Roon Server host
• Audio output to RAAT devices such as the Roon app, Roon Bridge, RoPieee, etc.
• Audio output to local audio output on the Roon Server host
• Local timezone support for accurate last.fm tagging
• Persistent cache
• Secure execution (unprivileged execution, macvlan network)
  • Privileged execution mode and host network are supported

Running

Install host prerequisites

Install the following audio packages into your host:

apt-get install alsa-utils libasound2 libasound2-data libasound2-plugins

Create persistent data volumes and paths

Create persistent docker volumes to retain the binary installation of Roon Server and its configuration across restarts of the service:

docker volume create roon-server-data
docker volume create roon-server-cache

Create the folder on your host while which contains your local music library. Example: /home/myuser/roon/music.

• This folder can also be used as a Samba or NFS share for network access to your library.
• This folder is optional. Omit if you plan to exclusively stream music.

mkdir -p ~/roon/music

Option 1: Run in least secure mode (easiest)

Run using privileged execution mode and host network mode:

docker run \
  --name roon-server \
  --volume roon-server-data:/opt/RoonServer \
  --volume roon-server-cache:/var/roon \
  --volume ~/roon/music:/music:ro \
  --network host \
  --privileged \
  elgeeko/roon-server

Option 2: Run in macvlan mode (more secure)

Run in an unprivileged container using macvlan network mode. Replace the subnet, gateway and IP address to match your local network.

Create docker macvlan network

docker network create \
  --driver macvlan \
  --subnet 192.168.1.0/24 \
  --gateway 192.168.1.1 \
  -o parent=eth0 \
  roon

Run using unprivileged execution mode and macvlan network mode

docker run \
  --name roon-server \
  --publish-all \
  --volume roon-server-data:/opt/RoonServer \
  --volume roon-server-cache:/var/roon \
  --volume ~/roon/music:/music:ro \
  --network roon \
  --ip 192.168.1.2 \
  elgeeko/roon-server

Option 3: Bridge mode

This works but with a significant limitation. Docker containers on bridged networks don't receive broadcast or multicast communication, which is used by Roon Server to discover RAAT devices such as Roon Bridge or RoPieee. Hence, Roon Server is limited to USB DACs or your Roon App on your PC.

See the Dockerfile source below for ports to open. See Docker documentation for creating and using a bridged network.

Additional functionality

Useful docker flags

You may optionally want to add the -d flag to output to syslog instead of the console, and --restart-unless-stopped flag to restart the container if it fails.

Use USB DACs connected to the host

Add the following arguments to the docker run command:
--volume /run/udev:/run/udev:ro - allow Roon to enumerate USB devices
--device /dev/bus/usb - allow Roon to access USB devices (/dev/usbmon0 for Fedora)
--device /dev/snd - allow Roon to access ALSA devices
--group-add $(getent group audio | cut -d: -f3) - add container user to host 'audio' group

Synchronize filesystem and last.fm timestamps with your local timezone

Add the following arguments to the docker run command:
--volume /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro - map local system clock to container clock
--volume /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro - map local system timezone to container timezone

Known Issues

• USB DACs connected to the system for the first time do not appear in Roon. The workaround is to restart the container. Once the device has been initially connected, disconnecting and reconnecting is reflected in Roon.
• Mounting network drives via cisfs may require root access. The workaround is to run the container with the user=root option in the docker run command.
• Fedora CoreOS sets a system paramenter ulimit to a smaller value than Roon requires. Add the following argument to the docker run command:
  --ulimit nofile=8192

Building from the Dockerfile

docker build .

Resources

• elgeeko/roon-server on Docker Hub
• Ansible script to deploy the Roon Server image, as well as an optional Samba server for network sharing of a local music library: https://github.com/elgeeko1/elgeeko1-roon-server-ansible
• Roon Labs Linux install instructions: https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/linux-install