Shairport-sync: multiple instances of shairport-sync on one machine

[tristan-k]

Is it possible to run more than one shairport-sync instance on one machine? I'm using a raspberry pi with shairport-sync and a bluetooth speaker but I would also like to run another instance on the same machine which makes use of a usb audio device.

First process:
start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON -- -d -a "Shairport (bluetooth)" -- -d bluetooth || return 2

Second process:

start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --pidfile $PIDFILE --exec $DAEMON -- -d -a "Shairport (USB-Audio)" -- -d hw:1 || return 2

Is this possible?

[mikebrady]

I haven't tried this, and I'm not sure about how they would interact with the start-stop stuff.
Two instances of Shairport Sync can run if:

1. Neither one uses the -d (--daemon) option. This is because an instance checks to see if another instance is running by checking for the existence of the PID file.
2. Both listen on different ports – use the -p option to select a port;
3. Both have different service names – use the -a option.

It looks like you're using the -d (daemon) option above and you don't select different ports – both of these would cause problems. I'm afraid you'll have to experiment with the start-stop mechanism to see if you can get it to daemonise.

[axel-j]

It's actually quite easy although the solution is not really beautiful: Create a symbolic link to shairport-sync named shairport-sync2 or similar. Then, duplicate the startup file in /etc/init.d and replace all references to shairport-sync by shairport-sync2. Don't forget to change the "Provides: shairport-sync" at the beginning.
Finally, run update-rc.d and you're done.

I hope, I haven't forgotten anything, but there was no real problem.

[mikebrady]

Thanks! I tried this out and it works perfectly and gets around the -d or --daemon problem I identified earlier. I think this closes the issue.

[tristan-k]

Thanks!

[rolarga]

Hello there,

I tried the solution with symbolic link. The different shairport-sync instances start and i can stream to one of them. As soon as i start the second streaming, my rasperry pi crashes and reboots.

What i did:
/usr/local/bin contains shairport-sync, shairport-sync1, shairport-sync2, shairport-sync3
/etc/ contains shairport-sync.conf, shairport-sync1.conf, shairport-sync2.conf, shairport-sync3.conf (each configuration uses its own Port and UPD Port Range as well as output_device)
/etc/init.d/ contains shairport-sync,shairport-sync1, shairport-sync2, shairport-sync3 (i renamed everything to use the corresponding shairport-sync in /usr/local/bin)

As mentioned, it populates the airports and i can see them on my iPad, iPhone and on PC but as soon as i start to stream to the second one. Buuum...

Can someone help me with this issue?

Thank you very much.

Yves

[cre8dojo]

What I did without multiple copies of /usr/local/bin/shairport-sync dir (assuming using systemd)

make one copy of the /lib/systemd/system/shairport-sync.service and name like:

sudo cp /lib/systemd/system/shairport-sync.service /lib/systemd/system/[email protected]

inside that new .service file:
`
[Unit]
Description=ShairportSync AirTunes receiver %I
After=sound.target
Requires=avahi-daemon.service
After=avahi-daemon.service

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/shairport-sync -c /etc/shairport-sync%I.conf
User=shairport-sync
Group=shairport-sync
SyslogIdentifier=shairport-sync-%I

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
`

Now make a copy of the /etc/shairport-sync.conf for ever instance/Zone you want:

/etc/shairport-syncZone1.conf
/etc/shairport-syncZone2.conf
/etc/shairport-syncZone3.conf

Modify the zone confs as needs with unique ports, upd port, names, output_device, etc

then start with:

sudo systemctl start shairport-sync@Zone1
sudo systemctl start shairport-sync@Zone2
etc

or enable to auto start with

sudo systemctl enable shairport-sync@Zone1
sudo systemctl enable shairport-sync@Zone2
etc

replace 'Zone1', Zone2' with your Zone names e.g.
sudo systemctl enable shairport-sync@Patio
sudo systemctl enable shairport-sync@Upstairs

with corresponding confs:
/etc/shairport-syncPatio.conf
/etc/shairport-syncUpstairs.conf

Note @ symbol in systemctl command and .service filename/contents BUT NOT in conf file names.

[shairportMulti]

@cre8dojo:
your solution works perfectly!

[dan-cristian]

@cre8dojo:
thanks, your solution works well but with one change, port value in conf file must be changed to a unique value for each zone (5000, 5001, etc)

general =
{
port=5000;
}

[samhorne]

Thanks @cre8dojo for your solution and @mikebrady for this project.
At first, my mistake was using %l (lowercase ell) instead of %I (capital eye).
I now have two zones (more to come) up and running!

[mdsflyer]

I've followed the guide above exactly and can see the files in the correct folders. The standard shairport-sync service for raspberrypi is running and works. However when I try the command sudo systemctl start shairport-sync@Zone1 Terminal pauses for a nano second, then goes to a new line. No second zone, I'm relatively new to raspberry pi but have run shairport for windows successfully previously. I'd be grateful if anyone could help me figure out what I am doing wrong. Looking at system monitor I can see the original shairport-sync service running but not the shairport-sync@ service.

[magichew]

Can someone please tell me how I remove the default "Raspberry Pi" speaker in the AirPlay list as pictured? I'm guessing this is the built in output but I'm using USB sounds cards for my zones as the built in output had a lot of noise on it.