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MetaTana

These docs are for MetaTana 2.0, coming soon

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Installation

Choose the environment where MetaTana will stay available. Every option uses the same library model; the main difference is how MetaTana reaches your files and how updates are installed.

MetaTana is live in Unraid Community Applications and TrueNAS Community Apps, so on those systems you can install it from the app store rather than configuring a container by hand. The CasaOS App Store submission is waiting for approval and is not live yet; use the Docker guide on CasaOS until it is published.

Install method Best for Guide
Desktop A Mac, Windows PC, or Linux workstation with direct or mounted access to the library Desktop installation
Docker A server, NAS, or always-on host where you already use containers or Compose Docker installation
Unraid An Unraid server: search MetaTana in Apps, or use the Add Container screen Unraid installation
TrueNAS A TrueNAS system: search MetaTana in Apps under the community train TrueNAS installation
CasaOS A CasaOS system: use Docker while the App Store submission is waiting for approval Docker installation
Not sure which to choose? Use Desktop for the simplest local setup. Use Docker for an always-on service. On Unraid or TrueNAS, install from the built-in app store so the system owns the storage and container lifecycle. On CasaOS, use Docker until its submitted listing is live.

How Store Updates Arrive

Each stable release reaches Docker and the Unraid listing first. TrueNAS and CasaOS are run by outside maintainers, so the same version can appear there later; it is live only once that store publishes it. The installation choices above show the current public state.

Before You Install

  • Confirm the machine can read the folders you want to scan.
  • For Docker or Unraid, decide which host folders will be mounted into the container and whether each mount should be read-only or read/write.
  • For Docker, Unraid, or TrueNAS behind a reverse proxy or tunnel on your own domain, add that domain to METATANA_ALLOWED_HOSTS. Opening MetaTana by IP address or local name needs nothing. See Your Own Domain Or Reverse Proxy.
  • On Synology, QNAP and ASUSTOR packages, open MetaTana by the NAS's IP address or its .local name (for example http://nas.local:3000). Opening it through your own domain name isn't supported in these packages yet.
  • Keep the app data directory persistent and include it in your backup routine. MetaTana keeps daily library database backups in a backups folder inside it (/app/data/backups on Docker, Unraid, and TrueNAS). They share that disk, so still copy the directory elsewhere.

If you later change deployment methods, stop MetaTana and move a consistent backup of the full app data directory. Do not copy only a live SQLite file while MetaTana is running.

After Installation

Open MetaTana and follow Add Your First File Or Folder. It covers sign-in, the required metadata check, safe file defaults, the first scan, and review. Use the folder path MetaTana can see: on Docker, Unraid, and TrueNAS that is the container path, such as /media, not the host path.

Updating an install from an earlier version? See Upgrading to 2.0.