LATEST watchnexus/watchnexus:latest-standard

Install WatchNexus

Standard is free forever and ships as a single Docker image. Here’s everything you need to get it running on your server.

Docker

Docker 20.10+ or Docker Compose v2. Runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows via WSL2.

Hardware

2+ CPU cores and 2 GB RAM minimum. 4 GB+ recommended if you stream to several devices.

Storage

About 500 MB for the application, plus whatever your media library needs.

Install Standard

Three steps to showtime.

Use docker run for a quick start, or Compose if you like your config in a file. Either way, you’re pulling the same image.

Replace /path/to/media with the folder that holds your movies and shows, and set TZ to your timezone.

01 Pull the latest image

bash

$ docker pull watchnexus/watchnexus:latest-standard

02 Start the container

$ docker run -d \
    --name watchnexus \
    -p 8001:8001 \
    -v watchnexus-data:/app/data \
    -v /path/to/media:/data/media \
    -e WATCHNEXUS_TIER=standard \
    -e TZ=America/Toronto \
    --restart unless-stopped \
    watchnexus/watchnexus:latest-standard

# compose.yml — then run: docker compose up -d
services:
  watchnexus:
    image: watchnexus/watchnexus:latest-standard
    container_name: watchnexus
    ports:
      - "8001:8001"
    volumes:
      - watchnexus-data:/app/data
      - /path/to/media:/data/media
    environment:
      - WATCHNEXUS_TIER=standard
      - TZ=America/Toronto
      - TMDB_API_KEY=            # optional, can also be set in the app
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  watchnexus-data:

03 Finish setup in your browser

Open http://your-server:8001The setup wizard walks you through creating your admin account.
Settings → LibrariesAdd a media root such as /data/media/Movies.
Settings → IntegrationsPaste your free TMDB v3 API key so posters and metadata load.
Settings → SystemConfirm the Fortress integrity status is green. You’re done.

Stay current

Updating is a re‑pull.

New releases land on the latest-standard tag. Your library, settings and watch history live in the watchnexus-data volume, so they survive every update.

Back up first. Before a big update, copy the watchnexus-data volume — it holds all of your user data.

$ docker compose pull
$ docker compose up -d

$ docker pull watchnexus/watchnexus:latest-standard
$ docker stop watchnexus
$ docker rm watchnexus
# then run the same docker run command from step 02

Reference

Volumes & options

The defaults work out of the box. These are the knobs worth knowing.

-p 8001:8001: Web UI and API. Change the left side to use a different host port.
/app/data: Database, settings, thumbnails and logs. Keep this on a named volume or a backed-up folder.
/data/media: Your media library. Mount as many sub-folders as you like underneath it.
WATCHNEXUS_TIER: standard for this image.
TZ: Your timezone, e.g. America/Toronto. Defaults to UTC.
TMDB_API_KEY: Optional. TMDB v3 key for metadata — you can also paste it in Settings.
ALLOWED_ORIGINS: Comma-separated CORS origins if you serve the UI from your own domain.
TRUSTED_PROXY_IPS: CIDR ranges of your reverse proxy, so forwarded headers are trusted.
FORCE_HTTPS: Set to true behind a TLS-terminating proxy to enable HSTS.

Want more?

Unlock Pro or Ultra.

Buy a one-time serial from the license portal. It’s emailed to you once payment clears — then enter it under Settings → Activation.

Pro — $35 CAD Ultra — $60 CAD

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