Standalone Binary

The koel/franken distribution packages FrankenPHP (Caddy + the PHP runtime) with the compiled Koel application into a single archive — no Composer, Node, or system PHP needed on the host. Uses SQLite by default for zero-setup operation. The easiest way to get Koel running.

Install and run

Download the archive matching your platform from the releases page — available for linux-x86_64, linux-aarch64, mac-x86_64, and mac-arm64. Extract it and run:

tar -xzf koel-franken-v9.3.2-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd koel-franken-v9.3.2-linux-x86_64
# plain HTTP on :8000
./koel php-server --listen :8000
# or, with a real domain (auto-HTTPS via Let's Encrypt):
./koel php-server --domain koel.example.com

On macOS

The included FrankenPHP binary isn't code-signed, so Gatekeeper blocks it on first run with a "frankenphp can't be verified" dialog. Strip the quarantine flag from the extracted directory once and the binary will run from then on:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine .

Run this from inside the extract directory before ./koel php-server ….

On first run, Koel sets up $HOME/.koel/, generates an app key, and creates a fresh SQLite database. FrankenPHP then starts serving on the chosen port or domain. You can now set up the storage and start using Koel.

What lives where

Everything writable lives under $HOME/.koel/:

Path	What
$HOME/.koel/.env	Environment file (Koel's config)
$HOME/.koel/db.sqlite	SQLite database
$HOME/.koel/storage/	Laravel storage path (logs, sessions, cache, uploaded images)
$HOME/.koel/storage/app/artifacts/	Transcodes, downloaded podcasts, temp downloads
$HOME/.koel/php.d/koel.ini	PHP-INI overrides (display_errors off, error_reporting mask, 512M uploads)

The installation directory itself doesn't change after extraction — anything worth backing up or moving lives in $HOME/.koel/.

Running Artisan commands

The distribution ships an ./artisan shortcut next to ./koel:

./artisan koel:sync
./artisan tinker

It's a shortcut for ./koel php-cli artisan …, using the same PHP runtime and environment. See Running with FrankenPHP for the full set of caveats (notably the DB_HOST=localhost MySQL-socket gotcha).

Customization and migration

To use a different database or change any other setting, edit $HOME/.koel/.env. If you changed the database connection, run ./artisan migrate --force afterwards.

To move an existing Koel install into the standalone setup:

1. Copy your .env to $HOME/.koel/.env.
2. Copy your media files into place, or set MEDIA_PATH in .env to point at where they already live.
3. Copy storage/app/public/images/, your search indexes, and any other data from the old install into $HOME/.koel/storage/.

Update

To upgrade to a newer release:

1. Download the new archive from the releases page.
2. Extract it over the existing directory.
3. Restart the server.

Your data in $HOME/.koel/ — settings, database, uploaded images, search indexes — is preserved across upgrades.

New environment variables

New Koel versions occasionally introduce new settings. After upgrading, compare your ~/.koel/.env against app/.env.example to spot any new keys you might want to set.

Running as a systemd service (Ubuntu)

For a production deployment, run Koel under systemd so it starts on boot and restarts on failure. Place the extracted directory somewhere stable (e.g. /opt/koel) and create /etc/systemd/system/koel.service:

[Unit]
Description=Koel (standalone)
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=koel
WorkingDirectory=/opt/koel
ExecStart=/opt/koel/koel php-server --domain koel.example.com
Restart=on-failure
AmbientCapabilities=CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE
CapabilityBoundingSet=CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Adjust WorkingDirectory, User, and the --domain (or --listen) flag to match your host.

Then enable and start it:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now koel
sudo journalctl -u koel -f

Behind a reverse proxy

If you're already running nginx (or another reverse proxy) in front of Koel, bind Koel to a local port:

./koel php-server --listen 127.0.0.1:8001

Then point your existing reverse proxy at 127.0.0.1:8001 and let it terminate TLS as before.