Sockso Music Server on WHS

I am always looking for new and better ways to do things with my Windows Home Server.  Lately, it has been pretty stale… finding new things that is.  Then, when not looking for something, I found something; Sockso Music Server.

Sockso is a free, open-source, personal music server for everyone! It’s designed to be as simple as possible so that anyone with a mouse and some mp3’s can get their friends listening to their music across the internet in seconds!

Sockso has litteraly NO INSTALL! You just double click a shortcut and it is running! There is built in support for MP3, OGG, Flac and WMA.  The web interface is simple and to the point.  The software supports downloading (if you choose), most played, popular, and much more.

So lets get to the meat.

Website: http://sockso.pu-gh.com/

The only requirement Sockso needs to run is your finger and Java.  If you don’t have Java installed on your server you can download the installer from Java.com.

As usual, all work will need to be completed from your WHS. Initiate a Remote Desktop connection to your home server.  This will allow you to work on your Home Server as if there were a monitor, keyboard, and mouse attached to it.  This article will also assume that you have some computer knowledge and are able to use RDC or the Add-in Asoft AutoExit, but I will try to be as thorough as possible anyway.

Download and install Java if you don’t have it installed already.

Extract the Sockso zip file to an appropriate folder on your Windows Home Server.  I chose C:\Program Files\MusicServer\

Ok… so now the install is done! Now double click “windows.bat” to run the application and start the configuration. By the time the application is running you should have been prompted to allow the application through the windows firewall.

Our configuration will start at the General Tab of the runner.  The default for the application can work for most, but I like to have some things changed for streaming my audio to my office.  I changed the port from 4444 to 8000.  The rest is arbitrary unless you want to allow uploads. You will be prompted to restart Sockso after the change.