Skip to content

linuxserver/calibre

Scarf.io pulls GitHub Stars GitHub Release GitHub Package Repository GitLab Container Registry Quay.io Docker Pulls Docker Stars Jenkins Build LSIO CI

Calibre is a powerful and easy to use e-book manager. Users say it's outstanding and a must-have. It'll allow you to do nearly everything and it takes things a step beyond normal e-book software. It's also completely free and open source and great for both casual users and computer experts.

calibre

Supported Architectures

We utilise the docker manifest for multi-platform awareness. More information is available from docker here and our announcement here.

Simply pulling lscr.io/linuxserver/calibre:latest should retrieve the correct image for your arch, but you can also pull specific arch images via tags.

The architectures supported by this image are:

Architecture Available Tag
x86-64 amd64-<version tag>
arm64 arm64v8-<version tag>
armhf

Version Tags

This image provides various versions that are available via tags. Please read the descriptions carefully and exercise caution when using unstable or development tags.

Tag Available Description
latest Latest Calibre releases
v4 Calibre v4 releases (x86_64 only)

Application Setup

This image sets up the calibre desktop app and makes its interface available via KasmVNC server in the browser. The interface is available at http://your-ip:8080 or https://your-ip:8181.

By default, there is no password set for the main gui. Optional environment variable PASSWORD will allow setting a password for the user abc, via http auth.

Port 8081 is reserved for Calibre's built-in webserver, which can be enabled within the desktop app settings, and the internal port must be set to 8081 although it will then be available at the host mapped port for external access.

Options in all KasmVNC based GUI containers

This container is based on Docker Baseimage KasmVNC which means there are additional environment variables and run configurations to enable or disable specific functionality.

Optional environment variables

Variable Description
CUSTOM_PORT Internal port the container listens on for http if it needs to be swapped from the default 8080.
CUSTOM_HTTPS_PORT Internal port the container listens on for https if it needs to be swapped from the default 8181.
CUSTOM_USER HTTP Basic auth username, abc is default.
PASSWORD HTTP Basic auth password, abc is default. If unset there will be no auth
SUBFOLDER Subfolder for the application if running a subfolder reverse proxy, need both slashes IE /subfolder/
TITLE The page title displayed on the web browser, default "KasmVNC Client".
FM_HOME This is the home directory (landing) for the file manager, default "/config".
START_DOCKER If set to false a container with privilege will not automatically start the DinD Docker setup.
DRINODE If mounting in /dev/dri for DRI3 GPU Acceleration allows you to specify the device to use IE /dev/dri/renderD128
LC_ALL Set the Language for the container to run as IE fr_FR.UTF-8 ar_AE.UTF-8
NO_DECOR If set the application will run without window borders for use as a PWA.
NO_FULL Do not autmatically fullscreen applications when using openbox.

Optional run configurations

Variable Description
--privileged Will start a Docker in Docker (DinD) setup inside the container to use docker in an isolated environment. For increased performance mount the Docker directory inside the container to the host IE -v /home/user/docker-data:/var/lib/docker.
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock Mount in the host level Docker socket to either interact with it via CLI or use Docker enabled applications.
--device /dev/dri:/dev/dri Mount a GPU into the container, this can be used in conjunction with the DRINODE environment variable to leverage a host video card for GPU accelerated appplications. Only Open Source drivers are supported IE (Intel,AMDGPU,Radeon,ATI,Nouveau)

Language Support - Internationalization

The environment variable LC_ALL can be used to start this image in a different language than English simply pass for example to launch the Desktop session in French LC_ALL=fr_FR.UTF-8. Some languages like Chinese, Japanese, or Korean will be missing fonts needed to render properly known as cjk fonts, but others may exist and not be installed. We only ensure fonts for Latin characters are present. Fonts can be installed with a mod on startup.

To install cjk fonts on startup as an example pass the environment variables:

-e DOCKER_MODS=linuxserver/mods:universal-package-install
-e INSTALL_PACKAGES=fonts-noto-cjk
-e LC_ALL=zh_CN.UTF-8

The web interface has the option for "IME Input Mode" in Settings which will allow non english characters to be used from a non en_US keyboard on the client. Once enabled it will perform the same as a local Linux installation set to your locale.

Lossless mode

This container is capable of delivering a true lossless image at a high framerate to your web browser by changing the Stream Quality preset to "Lossless", more information here. In order to use this mode from a non localhost endpoint the HTTPS port on 8181 needs to be used. If using a reverse proxy to port 8080 specific headers will need to be set as outlined here.

Usage

To help you get started creating a container from this image you can either use docker-compose or the docker cli.

---
services:
  calibre:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/calibre:latest
    container_name: calibre
    security_opt:
      - seccomp:unconfined #optional
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Etc/UTC
      - PASSWORD= #optional
      - CLI_ARGS= #optional
    volumes:
      - /path/to/data:/config
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
      - 8181:8181
      - 8081:8081
    restart: unless-stopped

docker cli (click here for more info)

docker run -d \
  --name=calibre \
  --security-opt seccomp=unconfined `#optional` \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ=Etc/UTC \
  -e PASSWORD= `#optional` \
  -e CLI_ARGS= `#optional` \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -p 8181:8181 \
  -p 8081:8081 \
  -v /path/to/data:/config \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  lscr.io/linuxserver/calibre:latest

Parameters

Containers are configured using parameters passed at runtime (such as those above). These parameters are separated by a colon and indicate <external>:<internal> respectively. For example, -p 8080:80 would expose port 80 from inside the container to be accessible from the host's IP on port 8080 outside the container.

Ports (-p)

Parameter Function
8080 Calibre desktop gui.
8181 Calibre desktop gui HTTPS.
8081 Calibre webserver gui.

Environment Variables (-e)

Env Function
PUID=1000 for UserID - see below for explanation
PGID=1000 for GroupID - see below for explanation
TZ=Etc/UTC specify a timezone to use, see this list.
PASSWORD= Optionally set a password for the gui.
CLI_ARGS= Optionally pass cli start arguments to calibre.

Volume Mappings (-v)

Volume Function
/config Where calibre should store its database and library.

Miscellaneous Options

Parameter Function
--security-opt seccomp=unconfined For Docker Engine only, many modern gui apps need this to function as syscalls are unkown to Docker.

Environment variables from files (Docker secrets)

You can set any environment variable from a file by using a special prepend FILE__.

As an example:

-e FILE__MYVAR=/run/secrets/mysecretvariable

Will set the environment variable MYVAR based on the contents of the /run/secrets/mysecretvariable file.

Umask for running applications

For all of our images we provide the ability to override the default umask settings for services started within the containers using the optional -e UMASK=022 setting. Keep in mind umask is not chmod it subtracts from permissions based on it's value it does not add. Please read up here before asking for support.

User / Group Identifiers

When using volumes (-v flags), permissions issues can arise between the host OS and the container, we avoid this issue by allowing you to specify the user PUID and group PGID.

Ensure any volume directories on the host are owned by the same user you specify and any permissions issues will vanish like magic.

In this instance PUID=1000 and PGID=1000, to find yours use id your_user as below:

id your_user

Example output:

uid=1000(your_user) gid=1000(your_user) groups=1000(your_user)

Docker Mods

Docker Mods Docker Universal Mods

We publish various Docker Mods to enable additional functionality within the containers. The list of Mods available for this image (if any) as well as universal mods that can be applied to any one of our images can be accessed via the dynamic badges above.

Support Info

  • Shell access whilst the container is running:

    docker exec -it calibre /bin/bash
    
  • To monitor the logs of the container in realtime:

    docker logs -f calibre
    
  • Container version number:

    docker inspect -f '{{ index .Config.Labels "build_version" }}' calibre
    
  • Image version number:

    docker inspect -f '{{ index .Config.Labels "build_version" }}' lscr.io/linuxserver/calibre:latest
    

Updating Info

Most of our images are static, versioned, and require an image update and container recreation to update the app inside. With some exceptions (noted in the relevant readme.md), we do not recommend or support updating apps inside the container. Please consult the Application Setup section above to see if it is recommended for the image.

Below are the instructions for updating containers:

Via Docker Compose

  • Update images:

    • All images:

      docker-compose pull
      
    • Single image:

      docker-compose pull calibre
      
  • Update containers:

    • All containers:

      docker-compose up -d
      
    • Single container:

      docker-compose up -d calibre
      
  • You can also remove the old dangling images:

    docker image prune
    

Via Docker Run

  • Update the image:

    docker pull lscr.io/linuxserver/calibre:latest
    
  • Stop the running container:

    docker stop calibre
    
  • Delete the container:

    docker rm calibre
    
  • Recreate a new container with the same docker run parameters as instructed above (if mapped correctly to a host folder, your /config folder and settings will be preserved)

  • You can also remove the old dangling images:

    docker image prune
    

Image Update Notifications - Diun (Docker Image Update Notifier)

Tip

We recommend Diun for update notifications. Other tools that automatically update containers unattended are not recommended or supported.

Building locally

If you want to make local modifications to these images for development purposes or just to customize the logic:

git clone https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-calibre.git
cd docker-calibre
docker build \
  --no-cache \
  --pull \
  -t lscr.io/linuxserver/calibre:latest .

The ARM variants can be built on x86_64 hardware using multiarch/qemu-user-static

docker run --rm --privileged multiarch/qemu-user-static:register --reset

Once registered you can define the dockerfile to use with -f Dockerfile.aarch64.

Versions

  • 10.02.24: - Update Readme with new env vars and ingest proper PWA icon.
  • 31.01.24: - Fix fullscreen on start.
  • 17.11.23: - Install libxcb-cursor0 for v7 support.
  • 18.03.23: - Rebase to KasmVNC base image.
  • 19.10.22: - Set the window title to Calibre. Remove websocat as it is now handled properly in the baseimage.
  • 18.10.22: - Deprecate Arch branch.
  • 07.10.22: - Start calibre window maximized.
  • 16.09.22: - Rebase to jammy.
  • 24.07.22: - Add arm64 build for master branch.
  • 11.07.22: - Update dependencies for Calibre 6.
  • 28.05.22: - Rebase to focal.
  • 31.03.22: - Fix umask.
  • 28.02.22: - Add speech support to bionic image.
  • 05.01.22: - Add arch branch for arm platforms.
  • 20.04.21: - Fix the HOME folder.
  • 19.04.21: - Add libnss3 back in. Make sure Calibre can access environment variables.
  • 18.04.21: - Start calibre on container start rather than gui connect.
  • 15.04.21: - Rebase to rdesktop-web baseimage. Deprecate GUAC_USER and GUAC_PASS env vars. Existing users can set the new var PASSWORD for the user abc.
  • 25.09.20: - Switch to python3, add various new dependencies for calibre 5.0.
  • 10.05.19: - Add new env var CLI_ARGS to pass start arguments to calibre.
  • 18.03.19: - Let Calibre access environment variables, add optional umask setting.
  • 23.10.19: - Remove reccomended deps and zenity for character compatibility.
  • 18.10.19: - Add python-xdg.
  • 08.10.19: - Add fonts-wqy-microhei ttf-wqy-zenhei fcitx-rime dependency to resolve issue with Chinese encoding.
  • 04.10.19: - Add libxkbcommon-x11-0 dependency to resolve issue with Calibre 4.
  • 08.08.19: - Add zenity for international character support in dialog boxes.
  • 12.07.19: - Download binary from calibre website instead of github.
  • 29.04.19: - Initial release.