DLNA Media Server Virtual Appliance

A DLNA Media Server is a device that stores media content that can be accessed by media players and rederers found in the same local network. The goal of the project was creating a minimal solution to meet theese requirements. This was achieved using the tools provided by the yocto project through the creation of the meta-dlna layer.

Introduction

Poky is a platform-independant layer that provides useful features and functionalities for embedded solutions. A Quick Start Guide and further information can be found on the main page of the Poky Project. The functionality of the Media Server was implemented as a new layer, the meta-dlna layer, which can easily be integrated over any poky distribution. Stability and reliability was achieved by using the denzil branch of the yocto project.

Package dependencies

The solution was build around rygel, an application used for media content sharing on a home network. Rygel implements its functionality through a plugin mechanism. A solution uses the MediaExport plugin which exports files and folders over the network. This was preffered because it represents a more lightweight alternative.

How to integrate DLNA to a poky distribution

The meta-dlna layer was created using the combo-layer tool. To use it follow the next steps:

• Copy the meta-dlna folder into the root directory of a poky distribution. Cd into the poky folder.
• Add the layer to build/conf/bblayers.conf:

[...]
BBLAYERS="
         $POKY_HOME/meta-dlna/meta-guacamayo
[...]

• Add some extra features to build/local.conf:

[...]
DISTRO_FEATURES = "ext2 largefile usbhost xattr nfs zeroconf pci ${DISTRO_FEATURES_LIBC} x11" 
[...]

• source the oe-init-env script
• build the image using the guacamayo-image-mediaserver target

bitbake guacamayo-image-mediaserver [TODO] 

For testing purposes, demo content can be added by inserting the following line into build/conf/local.conf:

[...]
IMAGE_FEATURES_append = " guacamayo-demos"
[...]