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Anjeleno edited this page Jul 23, 2026 · 6 revisions

Installing Rivolution From the .deb Package

For installing a pre-built release .deb package instead of building from source. See Build From Source if you want to build your own .deb from a checkout instead — everything from "Verify it installed" onward on this page applies there too, once it's installed. Either way, Start Here's OS/desktop setup (OS/hostname setup, creating the rd user, installing a desktop, xRDP if this is a cloud box) is a prerequisite not repeated on this page.

Tip

This walk-through assumes you have already installed virgin Ubuntu 26.04 or 24.04 server, either on physical hardware, a local VM, or on a cloud VPS.

1. Download and install the package

Check the Releases page for the current version tag — the commands below use v6.0.0-rc1-5 as a real, concrete example; substitute whatever tag is current.

wget https://github.com/anjeleno/rivolution/releases/download/v6.0.0-rc1-5/rivolution_6.0.0.rc1-5_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./rivolution_6.0.0.rc1-5_amd64.deb

Note

The downloaded filename uses a plain dot (6.0.0.rc1-5), not the ~ the package's own internal version string uses (6.0.0~rc1-5) — GitHub Releases silently substitutes . for ~ in uploaded asset filenames. This is cosmetic only; apt/dpkg read the real version from the package's own control data, not the filename.

Verify it installed:

dpkg -l rivolution

The rivapi dashboard is reachable at http://<this-box's-address>:8080 once the install finishes — that's where the remaining steps happen. See Web Dashboard for a full walkthrough of every page, including how to log in.

Tip

RDAdmin's Help → System Information dialog shows the full installed version, including the Debian revision (e.g. 6.0.0~rc1-5, not just 6.0.0~rc1) — useful for confirming exactly which build is on a box without dropping to a terminal.

2. Set the audio driver to JACK — required, every install

Launch RDAlsaConfig — Applications menu → Rivolution → Configuration → RDAlsaConfig.

RDAlsaConfig's device list now has an explicit PipeWire/JACK entry at the top, alongside any real ALSA device it finds — select it the same way you'd select any other device in the list, no hidden convention involved.

  • On a VM or cloud box with no audio hardware (the common case — confirmed on a real DigitalOcean droplet): only PipeWire/JACK will be listed. Select it and click Save.
  • On a box that does list a real device (physical hardware, or a hypervisor-exposed one like "Intel HDA" under some VM platforms): select PipeWire/JACK to use this fork's JACK/PipeWire routing — the driver path this fork's dashboard, Stereo Tool integration, and VLC routing (below) all depend on. Selecting PipeWire/JACK automatically deselects any selected real device, and vice versa — they're enforced mutually exclusive live in the dialog itself, not just by convention.

Verify: open RDAdmin → the Audio Devices/Ports editor for your station. Card 0's Card Driver should read PipeWire/JACK.

Important

On an xRDP virtual desktop specifically (not a physical desktop), RDAlsaConfig needs to run as root and would otherwise fail to open a window at all with an X11/xcb authorization error — as of this release, postinst symlinks root's .Xauthority to rd's own automatically on every install, so this no longer needs a manual step. If you're on an older install predating this fix, run sudo ln -s /home/rd/.Xauthority /root/.Xauthority once yourself.

3. Set Program Source, then Save & Deploy once

Rivolution's audio routing has two separate controls that both need to be set, in order, the first time:

  • /patchbay's Program Source field — what feeds Stereo Tool (or every stream directly, if you're not using Stereo Tool).
  • /broadcast's Save & Deploy button — the action that actually applies your current Program Source to Stereo Tool's live audio routing.
  1. Go to /patchbay and set Program Source to whatever actually feeds your streams (typically Stereo Tool, if you're using it).
  2. Go to /broadcast and click Save & Deploy — even if nothing else on that page changed. This step is what actually applies the routing.

Verify: back on /patchbay, the Connections list should show real, Saved links — both rivendell_0 output ports connected to Stereo Tool's input, and both Stereo Tool output ports connected to your stream(s).

Tip

If this drifts out of sync later — Stereo Tool's routing target changes underneath it, or its ALSA-JACK bridge's Device ID ever gets reset — the dashboard self-heals it automatically within 30 seconds, and surfaces an actionable banner with a one-click fix on /broadcast if it detects a target that genuinely can't resolve on its own. You shouldn't need to repeat steps 1–2 above after the first time unless you're deliberately changing Program Source.

4. Routing VLC into Rivolution's input (optional)

VLC (Applications menu → Sound & Video → VLC media player) is already wired to feed Rivolution's system-scope JACK graph directly — this is for remote broadcast via an Icecast relay, replacing a rack of outboard RPU/codec gear: a remote encoder (e.g. BUTT) streams to an Icecast source (like an AzuraCast relay in the middle), and VLC at the studio end plays that stream with its output patched persistently into Rivendell's input. A normal desktop-launched VLC would otherwise land in a completely separate, per-session audio graph that never reaches Rivolution at all; this install's VLC shortcut already points at a wrapper that avoids that, and a default connection into Rivolution's first input bus is seeded automatically the first time the dashboard starts.

Nothing to configure for the default case — open VLC, play a stream, and check /patchbay for the live connection. If you want it routed somewhere other than the first input bus, just redraw the connection on /patchbay and save — your own choice is remembered and won't be overwritten by the automatic default.

Troubleshooting

Stereo Tool's own Log window shows "Error opening (2 ch, srate 48000): I/O error" repeating every second, for both Input and Normal output — confirm step 2's RDAdmin check (Card 0 driver = PipeWire/JACK) first, then step 3's /patchbay Connections check.

RDAlsaConfig's device list only shows PipeWire/JACK, no real ALSA device — expected on any box with no real audio hardware (every bare cloud VM). Not an error; select PipeWire/JACK, per step 2 above.

Stereo Tool shows up as an Input under /patchbay Connections but never as an Output — same root cause as the Log window error above; its output client can't fully register until its ALSA-JACK bridge actually has somewhere valid to connect to (step 3).

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