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Phase 6 — Family Onboarding

Goal: Get family members set up to stream movies and request new content with minimal technical effort on their part. The experience should feel like Netflix — open an app, browse, watch.

Time estimate: 1–2 hours total across all households
What you need: Phase 5 complete (Jellyfin and Overseerr live at their public URLs), family members' devices
Prerequisites: watch.ahanabipin.in and request.ahanabipin.in both loading correctly

Overview

Family members need two things:

  1. Jellyfin — to watch content
  2. Overseerr — to request new movies or shows

They do NOT need Tailscale. They do NOT need to know anything about the NAS, Docker, or any of the underlying setup. They just need the two apps and their login credentials.

Step 1 — Create Jellyfin Accounts for Family

Do this before handing anything to family members.

  1. Open http://localhost:8096 on the mini PC
  2. Go to Dashboard → Users → Add User
  3. Create one account per family household — not per person. One account per TV/household is easier to manage:
Account Name Who Uses It
Use a simple name per household e.g. uncle_rajan, cousin_priya
  1. Set a simple password for each — something they can type easily on a TV remote (avoid special characters)
  2. Under User permissions, configure:
  3. Enable Allow media playback ✅
  4. Enable Allow audio playback ✅
  5. Disable Allow media deletion — family should not be able to delete content
  6. Disable Allow content downloading
  7. Save each user

Step 2 — Create Overseerr Accounts for Family

Overseerr syncs users from Jellyfin automatically.

  1. Open http://localhost:5055 on the mini PC
  2. Go to Settings → Users
  3. Click Import Jellyfin Users — all Jellyfin accounts you created in Step 1 will appear
  4. For each imported user, configure permissions:
  5. Request ✅ — they can request movies and shows
  6. Auto-approve — leave OFF — you review and approve requests first (optional — turn on if you trust all family members)
  7. Set a request limit if desired — e.g. 5 requests per week per user — to avoid the queue getting overwhelmed

Step 3 — Set Up Family TVs (Fire Stick / Android TV)

For family members who want to watch on a TV, the best experience is a Fire Stick or Android TV stick with Jellyfin pre-installed and configured before you hand it to them.

Install Jellyfin on Fire Stick: 1. On the Fire Stick, go to the Amazon App Store 2. Search for Jellyfin and install it 3. Open Jellyfin → Add Server 4. Enter server address: https://watch.ahanabipin.in 5. Log in with their household Jellyfin credentials 6. Test playback — confirm a movie plays correctly

Install Jellyfin on Android TV: 1. Open the Play Store on Android TV 2. Search for Jellyfin and install 3. Same setup as Fire Stick above

Pre-configure before handing over: Do this yourself and hand the device to family members already configured. All they need to do is turn on the TV and open Jellyfin — it should go straight to their library.

Step 4 — Set Up Family Phones

For family members watching on their phone or tablet:

Android: 1. Install Jellyfin from Play Store 2. Open → Add Server → https://watch.ahanabipin.in 3. Log in with their credentials

iPhone: 1. Install Jellyfin from App Store 2. Open → Add Server → https://watch.ahanabipin.in 3. Log in with their credentials

For requesting movies, install Overseerr separately:

Android / iPhone: 1. Search for Overseerr in Play Store / App Store - If not available, they can use https://request.ahanabipin.in directly in a mobile browser — it's mobile-friendly 2. Server address: https://request.ahanabipin.in 3. Log in with the same Jellyfin credentials

Tip: Have them bookmark request.ahanabipin.in on their phone's home screen. On iPhone: open in Safari → Share → Add to Home Screen. On Android: open in Chrome → menu → Add to Home Screen. It will appear and behave like an app icon.

Step 5 — Walk Family Through the Experience

Do a quick walkthrough with each household the first time — either in person or over a video call:

How to watch: 1. Open Jellyfin on TV or phone 2. Browse Movies or TV Shows 3. Tap any title → Play 4. If a title is not available — go to Overseerr to request it

How to request a movie: 1. Open Overseerr (request.ahanabipin.in) 2. Search for the movie or show by name 3. Tap Request 4. Optionally add a note (e.g. "Hindi dubbed please") 5. You will get a notification when it becomes available

What happens after a request: - You receive a notification in Overseerr - If auto-approve is off, you review and approve it - Radarr/Sonarr automatically finds and downloads it - It appears in Jellyfin within a few hours - Family member gets a notification that it's ready

Step 6 — Share the Family Guide

Point all family members to the documentation site for reference:

docs.ahanabipin.in/family

The Family Guides section has simple pages covering: - How to request a movie - How to watch on TV or phone - What to do if something is not working

This means they can self-serve for basic questions without calling you.

Set up notifications so family members know when their requested content is ready.

In Overseerr: 1. Go to Settings → Notifications 2. Enable Email notifications — enter your email and family members' emails 3. Alternatively enable Telegram or WhatsApp notifications if you prefer — Overseerr supports both via webhooks

This means when a requested movie finishes downloading and appears in Jellyfin, the person who requested it gets an automatic message.

Managing the Queue

As the admin, you'll occasionally need to:

Review pending requests: - Open Overseerr → Requests tab - Approve or decline pending requests

Check download progress: - Open qBittorrent at http://localhost:8080 - See all active downloads and their progress

Add content manually (without a family request): - Open Radarr (http://localhost:7878) → Movies → Add New - Search for the movie, select quality, add it

Remove content (to free up space): - Delete from Z:\Movies or Z:\TV directly in File Explorer - In Jellyfin, trigger a library scan to update the catalogue

Verification Checklist

  • [ ] Jellyfin user accounts created for all family households
  • [ ] Overseerr accounts imported and permissions configured
  • [ ] Jellyfin installed and configured on family TVs / Fire Sticks
  • [ ] Jellyfin installed on family phones
  • [ ] Overseerr accessible on family phones (app or browser bookmark)
  • [ ] Test request submitted by a family member and processed
  • [ ] Test playback confirmed on at least one family device
  • [ ] Family Guide pages filled in at docs.ahanabipin.in/family
  • [ ] Notifications configured in Overseerr

Troubleshooting

Family member cannot log in to Jellyfin: Confirm their account exists in Jellyfin Dashboard → Users. Reset their password there if needed. Passwords are case sensitive.

Jellyfin app cannot find server: Confirm they entered https://watch.ahanabipin.in exactly (with https). Confirm the Cloudflare Tunnel is active (Healthy status in Cloudflare dashboard). Confirm the mini PC is powered on.

Video starts then buffers or stops: This is usually an upload speed issue. In Jellyfin → Dashboard → Playback, set a remote streaming quality limit (e.g. 10 Mbps). The player will transcode to a lower bitrate for that viewer.

Requested movie not appearing after several hours: Check Radarr → Activity → Queue for errors. Common issues are no indexer having the requested title, or qBittorrent having a stalled download. Check qBittorrent for any torrents showing as errored.

Family member accidentally deleted something: If they have deletion disabled in their Jellyfin permissions this should not happen. If it does, the file needs to be re-downloaded via Radarr/Sonarr — just search for it and add it again.

Overseerr not sending notifications: Check Overseerr → Settings → Notifications → test each notification channel. Confirm email addresses are correct. Check spam folders.

Phase 6 complete. Proceed to Phase 7 — NAS Backup.