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Takkat
Asked: 2011-02-27 04:03:56 +0800 CST

How do I run PulseAudio in a headless server installation?

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PulseAudio is the standard audio server in desktop installations. However in a server installation audio services and thus PulseAudio are not provided.

How do I install and make use of PulseAudio in a headless server?

10.04

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Install ALSA

    $ sudo apt-get install libasound2 libasound2-plugins alsa-utils alsa-oss

    Install PulseAudio:

    $ sudo apt-get install pulseaudio pulseaudio-utils

    Set Group Memberships for PA:

    $ sudo usermod -aG pulse,pulse-access <username>

    Run the PulseaudioServer:

    $ pulseaudio -D

    Following command tells us if a sink is recognized by PulseAudio:

    $ pacmd list-sinks

    Remember sinkname for output below.

    This command will play a sound file to a given sink:

    $ pacmd play-file <filename> <sinkname>

    We may need to unmute audio devices:

    • for ALSA: use alsamixer
    • for Pulseaudio: use pacmd set-sink-mute n 0 where n is the sink index (likely 0)

    For further CLI commands see also the Pulse Audio Wiki

    To configure Pulseaudio Server to our needs we may need to edit /etc/pulse/default.pa and /etc/pulse/daemon.conf that come with self-explanatory. notes.

    For testing the soundsystem see alsoSound Troubleshooting Guide

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