Piped

Piped is a free and open source frontend for viewing YouTube videos and supports login, subscriptions, feeds, playlists without needing a YouTube account.

Pre-requisites

To self-host Piped, you will need the following on your system:

1. Docker and Docker Compose: Needed for running the services in a containerized manner. Ensure you have Docker and Docker Compose by running:

   docker -v
   docker compose -v

2. Git: This is needed for cloning the project to obtain configuration files and scripts

   git -v

Getting started

1. Clone the repository.

   git clone https://github.com/TeamPiped/Piped-Docker

2. Configure the instance's details

   cd Piped-Docker
   ./configure-instance.sh

   This should prompt for the following details:

   • Frontend hostname
   • Backend hostname
   • Proxy hostname
   • Reverse proxy: Caddy, nginx, standalone
   • Connectivity: HTTPS or HTTP

   Local configuration

   When using local system without any domain configuration, you will have to suffix the hostnames with localhost for generation of certificates without hassle.

   Enter a hostname for the Frontend (eg: piped.kavin.rocks):
   `piped.localhost`
   Enter a hostname for the Backend (eg: pipedapi.kavin.rocks):
   `pipedapi.localhost`
   Enter a hostname for the Proxy (eg: pipedproxy.kavin.rocks):
   `pipedproxy.localhost`
   Enter the reverse proxy you would like to use (caddy, nginx or standalone):
   `caddy`
   Is your hostname reachable via HTTP or HTTPS? (eg: https)
   `https`

   Configuration with a domain

   When using a custom domain, create the needed A or AAAA records for the subdomains for frontend, backend and proxy with the server machine's public IP address with the DNS provider of your choice, this will usually be of domain registrar or other services.

   Assuming your domain is example.com, you can enter the values as follows (but not necessarily the same):

   Enter a hostname for the Frontend (eg: piped.kavin.rocks):
   `piped.example.com`
   Enter a hostname for the Backend (eg: pipedapi.kavin.rocks):
   `pipedapi.example.com`
   Enter a hostname for the Proxy (eg: pipedproxy.kavin.rocks):
   `pipedproxy.example.com`
   Enter the reverse proxy you would like to use (caddy, nginx or standalone):
   `caddy`
   Is your hostname reachable via HTTP or HTTPS? (eg: https)
   `https`

   This should create the Docker Compose file (docker-compose.yml) needed for running Piped.

3. Start the service using Docker Compose

   docker compose up

   You should be able to access the application at https://piped.example.com or https://piped.localhost (if you're running locally) on your web browser.

   NOTE

   While using a localhost domain with HTTPS, browsers generally display a warning saying your connection is not private, which is a common occurence with self-signed certificate. You can ignore this warning and proceed.

   

   This is applicable for other requests from backend as well and the domains (pipedapi.localhost, pipedproxy.localhost) have to be visited in browser tab once to rectify this error.

   

Congratulations! You're all set to browse YouTube privately.

References

1. https://docs.piped.video/docs/self-hosting/