In case we have to connect remotely to our multimedia center (for example, to carry out some maintenance task), we can do it through SSH. The default data to connect to LibreELEC by this protocol are:
- user: root
- password: freeelec
And these data, moreover, cannot be changed. If you don’t want to expose your media center, it’s best to disable SSH when not in use, or switch to certificate-based authentication.
Add-ons for Kodi
To facilitate the implementation of the multimedia center, the LibreELEC developers have included a series of add-ons in their system thanks to which we will be able to play any type of multimedia content without complications. The main ones we can find are:
- Audio Encoders
- Audio Decoders
- Image Decoders
- inputstream parsers
- PVR clients
- screensavers
- Virtual Filesystems
- Visualizations
In addition to these, we can also find another series of accessories included, which will allow us to improve services, such as:
- .net Core Runtime
- Adafruit Libraries
- BTRFS Tools
- dvb-tools
- FFmpegTools
- Game Tools
- JRE for BD-J menus
- Media Tools
- Network Tools
- Raspberry Pi Tools
- System Tools
- VDR Configuration
All the “Tools” add-ons include, within the same binary, all kinds of functions. For example, various games in the case of “Game Tools”, or FTP and SSH servers in the case of “Network Tools”.
Of course, once we have our Kodi in LibreELEC running, we can also install the add-ons or plugins that we want on the computer. In this way we can expand the functionality of the multimedia center beyond what comes by default.
Differences between KODI and LibreELEC
Although in broad strokes it may seem “the same”, there are slight differences between Kodi and LibreELEC. For starters, LibreELEC is a very small Linux distribution that Kodi runs on top of. Its developers optimize the Kernel to be able to install Linux on the corresponding devices and nothing else.
Kodi, on the other hand, is a program. We can download and install this multimedia center on any computer with Windows, macOS, Linux, and even for other operating systems (Android, iOS) and even for consoles.
When using Kodi on Windows or LibreELEC it is the same. There are no differences in that sense. The difference is that while one is designed as a standalone program, LibreELEC shapes Kodi as an operating system.
download and install
LibreELEC is a totally free distro for all users. Each version is characterized mainly by updating the Kernel and including the latest version of Kodi at the time. We can download the latest version from the .
There are several ways to download LibreELEC on our computer. The first, and easiest, is by using bootable USB or SD creation software. This program allows us to choose which device we are going to use LibreELEC for, and download the latest version available for that device.
In addition, by the way, it allows us to directly create the installation medium. Thus, in a single step, we can have our distro ready to work on the device we want. The supported devices are:
- Raspberry Pi 0/1/2/3/4
- x86_64 computers with Intel, AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards
- WeTek Core, Play 1 & 2, Hub
- Odroid C2
- Slice / Slice 3
- Khadas VIM (AML S905X)
- LePotato (AML S905X)
- Rockchip RK3288, RK3328 and RK3399
In addition, we can also manually download the image to the computer where we are going to use it. We can find the generic image of LibreELEC to use it on AMD, Intel or NVIDIA computers, images for Raspberry Pi, OrDroid or WeTek, and an image (OVA) prepared to run in a virtual machine.
Update
From time to time, the developers of this distro will release new versions of it with new features, fixes, and optimizations. For this reason, it is very important to make sure that the system is always up to date so that we can make the most of our multimedia center and get the most out of it.
There are several ways to update this system. The first one is to do it manually. For that, we have to download the corresponding .tar package from the web and copy it to the server through FTP, SSH or through the SAMBA protocol. We must place the update in the “.update” directory of the system, which we can also access through SAMBA in “LIBREELECUPDATE”.
The next method is via SSH. To do this, we will place ourselves in the download directory with the command:
cd /storage/.update
And, immediately afterwards, we check that it is empty (that is, that there are no pending updates) with the command:
ls -la
Now, we proceed to use wget to download the update package that we want to apply. This can be an “img.gz” for a full update, or the “tar” for a partial update. We must change the name of the package (LibreELEC-xxxx.img.gz) for the corresponding one that we want to download.
wget http://releases.libreelec.tv/LibreELEC-xxxx.img.gz
The other is through automatic updates, which are activated by default, which we can find in this operating system. Thanks to these automatic updates, while we are using Kodi the patches will be downloaded automatically without us having to do anything. And, when you restart your device, these updates will be installed automatically.
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