What is Lyrion Music Server (LMS)?

Updated

Lyrion Music Server (LMS) is open-source software that controls and manages music players and your media library. It was formerly called Logitech Media Server and is often abbreviated as "LMS." If you have Squeezebox hardware or software players, or you want a self-hosted music server that ties them together, LMS is the central piece you install first.

What LMS actually does

LMS runs as a server on a computer or NAS on your network. It indexes your music library, then streams and controls playback on connected players. You interact with it through a web interface or through the players themselves.

In practical terms, LMS handles:

  • Library management — scanning and organizing your local music files, including metadata handling.
  • Player control — sending audio to and controlling one or many players at once.
  • Playback features — playlists, favorites, random play, alarms, and notifications.
  • Extensibility — plugins and applications that add functionality.

The Lyrion/Squeezebox ecosystem

LMS is one part of a larger ecosystem. The documentation describes it as "The Lyrion Music Server (LMS) ecosystem," which includes the server software plus the players and controllers that connect to it.

Players fall into two broad categories:

Category Examples
Hardware-based Squeezebox Touch, Radio, Boom, Duet (Controller and Receiver), Transporter, Classic, Squeezebox 2/1, SLIMP3
Software-based Squeezelite, Jivelite, SqueezePlay, SoftSqueeze, piCorePlayer

This split matters: you don't need original Logitech hardware to use LMS. Software players like Squeezelite let you turn a Raspberry Pi, a PC, or another device into a player.

Getting started

The documentation organizes setup by platform and use case, so you can pick the path that matches your hardware:

  • Download & Installation — the general starting point.
  • Beginner's guides — including a full-featured LMS on a Raspberry Pi, plus Docker setups for Synology, QNAP, and OMV.
  • Getting started on macOS — a platform-specific walkthrough.
  • Creating a media library — how to get your music organized, with guidance on metadata and classical music.

A typical flow is: install LMS on a always-on machine or NAS, point it at your music folder, let it scan, then connect a player and control playback from the web interface or a controller.

Where to go next

Once LMS is running, the documentation branches into deeper topics depending on what you need:

  • Help Guides and FAQs — troubleshooting and common questions, including changes in version 9.0.
  • Advanced guides — OpenVPN on SB Radio/Touch, migrating from UE Smart Radio, LMS on ReadyNAS, and adding locales to a Docker container.
  • Plugins and Applications — extending LMS with community and official add-ons.
  • Reference — technical detail on the database structure, the SqueezePlay menu system, and the JSON/RPC command line interface.
  • Community forums — where users and developers discuss problems and projects.

If you're deciding whether LMS fits your setup, the key question is whether you want a self-hosted server driving dedicated or software players on your own network. If so, start with the Download & Installation page and the beginner's guide for your platform.