Audacity

Welcome back to the Selfhosters blog! Today we’re diving into an exciting Docker image that brings one of the most popular open-source audio editors straight to your selfhosted environment: Audacity.

Yes, you heard that right—Audacity, the legendary cross-platform audio software, is now available as a Docker container thanks to LinuxServer.io. Whether you’re a podcaster, musician, or just someone who loves editing audio, having Audacity selfhosted gives you the freedom and flexibility to access your audio editing environment from anywhere—without the bloat of a dedicated local install.

Why Run Audacity in Docker?

Isolation: Running Audacity in a container keeps it isolated from the rest of your system—great for security and avoiding dependency conflicts.
Portability: Easily move your setup between machines.
Access Anywhere: With containerized GUI apps, access Audacity through a web browser interface via VNC or noVNC.

Setting Up the Docker Image

To get started, you’ll need to have Docker and Docker Compose installed on your server. Once ready, you can use the following docker-compose.yml file as provided on the official docs:

version: "2.1"
services:
  audacity:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/audacity:latest
    container_name: audacity
    environment:
      - PUID=1000  # Replace with your user ID
      - PGID=1000  # Replace with your group ID
      - TZ=Europe/London  # Change to your timezone
      - DISPLAY_WIDTH=1280
      - DISPLAY_HEIGHT=768
    volumes:
      - /path/to/config:/config
      - /path/to/audio:/audio
    ports:
      - 3000:3000
    restart: unless-stopped

Just replace the volume paths with appropriate paths on your server to store configuration and audio files. You can also adjust the DISPLAY settings for your own preferences.

Accessing and Using Audacity

Once up and running, Audacity will be accessible through your browser via noVNC at:

http://<your-server-ip>:3000

This interface gives you full control over Audacity’s GUI just as if you were running it natively on your desktop.

What Can You Do With It?

Audacity in Docker remains as powerful as the desktop version:

Multi-track audio editing
Noise reduction and effects
Recording live audio through a microphone or mixer
Batch processing with Chains/Macros

Tips for Best Performance

Ensure your server has sufficient audio latency and system resources.
Configure GPU acceleration if available, although many use cases work perfectly with software rendering.
Pair with an NGINX reverse proxy for HTTPS access and domain-based routing.

Final Thoughts

Selfhosting GUI applications like Audacity truly showcases the power and flexibility of containers. Whether editing your next big podcast or cleaning up old audio recordings, this setup is a great example of how traditional applications can thrive in the homelab world.

Happy selfhosting, and I will see you in the next post!

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audacity