squeezelite-docker

A Docker image for SqueezeLite

• Support for upsampling
• Presets for improved convenience.
• Multiplatform support thanks to Der-Henning
• Initial support for bluetooth, see this discussion

Support

Please see the Goal.
Please note that support goal is limited to cover running costs for subscriptions to music services.

News

Initial support for Bluetooth

Documentation available here, thanks to barrelltitor.
See this discussion for more details.

Squeezelite R2 variant

Since 2024-01-19 (see issue #268) I am including builds for Squeezelite R2, only in alsa mode.
This patched version allows server-side transcoding, also to DSD format, which some users might like to use.
These images will inclue r2-latest-alsa and r2-stable-alsa in their tags.
Like to these type of images: here.
Since 2024-01-22 we have support for the -W command line argument on sourceforge alsa binaries using new variable SQUEEZELITE_READ_FORMATS_FROM_HEADER, while AFAIK this should be the default on the r2 variant.

Alsa and PulseAudio variants

Since 2023-12-30 (see issue #254) I am including separate builds for alsa and pulseaudio only. The alsa sourceforge version results in a particularily small image. Maybe the pulse version can be reduced in size, but I still need to perform a few tests in order to verify that I can remove some packages.

Available Archs on Docker Hub

• linux/amd64
• linux/arm64/v8
• linux/arm/v7
• linux/arm/v5

Reference

First and foremost, the reference to the awesome project:

Man page of SqueezeLite
SqueezeLite binaries on SourceForge

This page will also be useful when tuning the parameters. In case you want to play with upsampling, this other page might be very helpful:

Archimago - MUSINGS: More fun with digital filters!

Links

Source: GitHub
Images: DockerHub

Why

I prepared this Dockerfile Because I wanted to be able to install squeezelite easily on any machine (provided the architecture is amd64 or arm). Also I wanted to be able to configure and govern the parameters easily using environment variables.
Configuring the container should be easy through a webapp like Portainer.

Prerequisites

See here for the prerequisites.

Get the image

Here is the repository on DockerHub.

Getting the image from DockerHub is as simple as typing:

docker pull giof71/squeezelite

See Docker Hub Tags for more information about docker hub tags.

Usage

You can start squeezelite by typing:

docker run -d --rm --network host --device /dev/snd giof71/squeezelite

Note that we need to allow the container to access the audio devices through /dev/snd.
We also need to use the host network mode so the squeezelite instance can be discovered on your network.
The host network mode is generally not necessary if you specify your server (and port) using the environment variable SQUEEZELITE_SERVER_PORT.

The following tables reports all the currently supported environment variables.

It is possible to add and additional preset configuration file using the volume /app/assets/additional-presets.conf.

Possible values for Log Level configuration

Possible values for variables SQUEEZELITE_LOG_CATEGORY_* are info, debug or sdebug.

Automatic MAC address creation

If you don't provide a value to SQUEEZELITE_MAC_ADDRESS, a random mac address will be generated and stored (if possible) under /config/mac-address.txt, so it will be reloaded on next restart. The file name can be prepended by the optional CONFIG_FILE_PREFIX.
Use a persistent volume in order to preserve the functionality in the event of container recreation (such as when you update to a newer image).
This feature can be disabled by setting DISABLE_MAC_ADDRESS_GENERATION to yes.

Volumes

Additional preset file

A preset file is a text file with a pair key=value on each line. You can specify .device, .upsampling, .rates, .codecs, .exclude-codecs for each preset. Just check /app/assets/builtin-presets.conf to understand how to create the other presets you might want to add. Blank lines are allowed, as well as commented lines.

For example, the following file defines a preset named my-usb-dac for a specific dac:

# my own usb dac
my-usb-dac.device="hw:CARD=my-dac,DEV=0"

Example docker-compose with an additional preset file

See a docker-compose example using an additional preset file. The example assumes that the additional preset file is ./config/additional.conf. The additional preset file is used in combination with other presets for upsampling using the goldilocks settings: archimago-goldilocks and rates_up_to_384k:

---
version: "3"

services:
  squeezelite-my-usb-dac:
    image: giof71/squeezelite
    container_name: squeezelite-my.usb-dac
    devices:
      - /dev/snd:/dev/snd
    environment:
      - PRESET=my-usb-dac,archimago-goldilocks,rates_up_to_384k
      - SQUEEZELITE_NAME=my-usb-dac
      - SQUEEZELITE_SERVER_PORT=192.168.1.10
      - DISPLAY_PRESETS=Y
    volumes:
      - ./config/additional.conf:/app/assets/additional-presets.conf
    restart: unless-stopped

See the Available presets table for reference.

Upsampling

In case you want to apply the Archimago's Goldilocks suggestion, the variables should be set as in the following table. Refer to the line which resembles the capabilities of your audio device.

The SQUEEZELITE_RATES displayed here are provided just as an example. You still should verify the capabilities of your particular audio device.

Available presets

PulseAudio

You can specify PulseAudio mode by setting the environment variable SQUEEZELITE_MODE to PULSE. For that configuration to work properly, /run/user/1000/pulse must be mapped correctly. It is not mandatory to use 1000: if you set PUID to 1002 for instance, the right part of the volume mount should be /run/user/1002/pulse.
The example below assumes that your current user id is 1000. You might want to set the PUID and PGID variables according to your user and groupid. Use the id command to see the uid for the currently logged in user.
Mapping the device /dev/snd is not needed in PulseAudio mode.
Most of the enviroment variables are available in PulseAudio mode, unless irrelevant or incompatible.

---
version: "3"

services:
  sq-pulse:
    image: giof71/squeezelite
    container_name: sq-pulse
    volumes:
      # change only on the left side according to your uid
      - /run/user/1000/pulse:/run/user/1000/pulse
    environment:
      - SQUEEZELITE_MODE=PULSE
      - PUID=1000 #optional, default is 1000
      - PGID=1000 #optional, default is 1000
      - SQUEEZELITE_NAME=sq-pulse #optional
      - SQUEEZELITE_SERVER_PORT=192.168.1.10 #optional

I would avoid to add a restart strategy to the compose file with PulseAudio. On my desktop setup, doing so led to all sort of issues on computer startup/reboot. Instead, I would use a user-level systemd service. An example is container in the pulse directory of this repository. Remember to use host networking if you need the player to be automatically discovered. Also, when using a docker run command and not using host mode, I'd suggest to create a dedicated network. This should be covered by the service in the pulse directory.

The buster build without sourceforge binaries has been since dropped, because the squeezelite-pulseaudio package is not available.

Multiple Configurations on the same dac, and multi-dac configurations

I am using the same host and I am connecting two dacs. I (generally) do not play music on multiple DACs at the same time, but I like to have multiple configurations a click away from the Logitech Media Server web interface. If you are interested, have a look at the following sample docker-compose.yaml files:

Remember to always specify the SQUEEZELITE_SERVER_PORT for these compose files, otherwise the player discovery on Logitech Media Server with not be able to find all the configured players.

Configuration changes

See here.

A few examples

As contributed by vespadj in Issue #6, have a look at this simple docker-compose service for the Raspberry Pi using its onboard headphone jack as the output device (I only added host network mode so the player is discoverable):

---
version: "3.3"

services:
  squeezelite:
    image: giof71/squeezelite
    container_name: squeezelite
    network_mode: host
    devices: 
      - /dev/snd:/dev/snd
    environment:
      - SQUEEZELITE_NAME=home-pi
      - STARTUP_DELAY_SEC=1
      - SQUEEZELITE_AUDIO_DEVICE=hw:CARD=Headphones,DEV=0
    restart: unless-stopped

Please note that STARTUP_DELAY_SEC is optional. The equivalent docker run command should be the following:

docker run \
    -it \
    --rm \
    --name squeezelite \
    --network host \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_NAME="home-pi" \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_AUDIO_DEVICE="hw:CARD=Headphones,DEV=0" \
    --device /dev/snd \
    giof71/squeezelite

As another example, here you can find the docker run command I use for a Fiio E18, which supports sampling rates up to 96kHz (but notably not 88.2kHz) enabling upsampling to 96kHz:

docker run \
    -it \
    --rm \
    --name squeezelite \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_NAME="FiioE18" \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_SERVER="192.168.1.10:3483" \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_AUDIO_DEVICE="hw:CARD=DACE18,DEV=0" \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_RATES="96000" \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_UPSAMPLING="v::4:28:95:105:45" \
    --device /dev/snd \
    giof71/squeezelite

Another example, with a Topping D10 USB DAC, which supports every sample rate including DSD, you might want to use the following:

docker run \
    -it \
    --rm \
    --name squeezelite \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_NAME="ToppingD10" \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_SERVER="192.168.1.10:3483" \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_AUDIO_DEVICE="hw:CARD=D10,DEV=0" \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_DELAY=500 \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_RATES="44100-384000" \
    -e SQUEEZELITE_UPSAMPLING="v::4:28:95:105:45" \
    --device /dev/snd \
    giof71/squeezelite

Note that the previous commands are interactive (-it) and that the container is automatically removed (--rm) when you kill squeezelite for example by using CTRL-C. You might want to use daemon flag (-d) and optionally a restart strategy (you might want to use --restart unless-stopped if you want your container to restart automatically, unless you explicitly stop it).

Here is my docker-compose.yaml file for my office-pi, using tailscale networking, equipped with an hifiberry-pro hat (the one with the headphone amp). Full upsampling up to 176.4/192 kHz thanks to ArchImago.

---
version: "3.3"

services:
  squeezelite-hifiberry:
    image: giof71/squeezelite
    container_name: squeezelite-hifiberry
    devices:
      - /dev/snd:/dev/snd
    environment:
      - SQUEEZELITE_NAME=office-pi
      - SQUEEZELITE_AUDIO_DEVICE=hw:CARD=sndrpihifiberry,DEV=0
      - SQUEEZELITE_SERVER_PORT=100.100.100.100:3483
      - SQUEEZELITE_RATES="44100-192000"
      - SQUEEZELITE_UPSAMPLING="v::4:28:95:105:45"
      - STARTUP_DELAY_SEC=0
    restart: unless-stopped

Note that network_mode is not specified because we are specifying the server we want to connect to.
When using SQUEEZELITE_RATES and SQUEEZELITE_UPSAMPLING, please be sure to use sampling rates that are effectively supported by your DAC.

Another docker-compose.yaml, this time leveraging presets. This one is for my Gustard X12, setting upsampling again. The file looks more concise and readable, at least IMO.

--
version: "3"

services:
  squeezelite-gustard-x12:
    image: giof71/squeezelite
    container_name: squeezelite-gustard-x12
    devices:
      - /dev/snd:/dev/snd
    environment:
      - PRESET=gustard-x12,goldilocks,rates_up_to_384k
      - SQUEEZELITE_NAME=gustard-x12-usb
      - SQUEEZELITE_SERVER_PORT="192.168.1.10"
    restart: unless-stopped

Build

See build instructions here.

Docker Hub tags

From this repository I create all the versions of the image. Each of them feature different base images and different way to obtain the squeezelite binary. See the following table for the details.

Release History

The change log is available here.