JenerOS

Early preview

JenerOS

Your stuff lives at home.

JenerOS is a free home server OS. It turns an old PC into your own little cloud for photos, files and movies, with one friendly dashboard for the whole family.

Download Watch the preview See it on GitHub
What it does

One box for your whole digital home

The things you keep in other people's clouds, on a computer you own.

Photos

Back up every phone in the house and keep the family album in one place.

Coming soon

Files

Your documents and folders, reachable from any phone or computer at home.

Coming soon

Movies and TV

Stream your own movies and shows to the TV, tablet or phone.

Coming soon

Smart home

Lights, plugs and sensors run from your box, not from a far-away server.

Coming soon

Ad blocking

Fewer ads and trackers on every device on your Wi-Fi, with nothing to install on them.

Coming soon

Dashboard and app store

See your whole box at a glance. Add apps from its own store when you want them.

Dashboard works today

JenerOS is an early preview. The dashboard, safe updates and phone setup work today. The apps are on the way, and we will say so here when each one is ready.

Less e-waste

Give an old PC a second life

That computer in the closet still has years of work left in it. It does not need to be fast. It just needs to stay on.

JenerOS turns it into something the whole family uses every day, instead of something that ends up in a landfill.

  • Most 64-bit PCs from 2012 or later will do
  • 4 GB of memory and a 32 GB drive to start
  • Old desktops, mini PCs and laptops all count
An old desktop computer showing the J logo, with a small sprout growing from its tower
Setup

Ready in three steps

No keyboard tricks, no command line. You finish setup on your phone.

  1. Flash

    Download JenerOS and write it to the PC's drive with a free tool like balenaEtcher.

  2. Boot

    Put the drive in the PC, turn Secure Boot off and switch it on. JenerOS starts by itself.

  3. Scan the QR

    The screen shows a QR code. Scan it with your phone, enter the 6-digit code and finish setup there.

Setup stays on your home network. Nothing goes through our servers. See the full guide.

Safe updates

Updates with a safety net

Your box keeps two copies of the system. Updates always go into the spare one, so the working copy stays untouched.

  1. 1. Press Update

    One button on the dashboard. The new version downloads into the spare copy.

  2. 2. Restart and check

    The box restarts into the new version and checks that it started properly.

  3. 3. Keep it or go back

    All good? It stays. If it fails to start, the box goes back to the old version by itself.

Changed your mind? There is also a button to go back to the previous version.

A look inside

Screenshots

Real screens from the JenerOS dashboard. Take the full tour.

The JenerOS dashboard: a clock, CPU and memory rings, disk use and a network graph on the left, notices and app tiles on the right.
The dashboardYour box at a glance
The App Store, Discover page, with a featured Photos banner and popular apps: Photos, TV, Drive and Home.
The app storePick the apps you want
JenerOS setup on a phone: welcome, language, privacy policy, the 6-digit code field and a Continue button.
Setup on your phoneScan, type the code, done
Questions

Good to know

Is it free?

Yes. JenerOS is free to download and use, with no subscription and no account with us. It is open source under the GNU GPL 3.0, so anyone can read and check the code.

What hardware do I need?

A 64-bit (x86-64) PC with UEFI, which covers most PCs from 2012 on. Plan for 4 GB of memory and a spare drive of 32 GB or more. Installing erases that drive. You turn Secure Boot off in the PC's settings. You can also try it in a virtual machine first.

Full hardware list

Is my data private?

Your photos, files and settings stay on your box. We don't run accounts, collect analytics or see what you store. The box only reaches out to check for updates, set its clock, and download apps you choose to install.

Read the privacy policy

Can I go back if an update breaks?

Yes. Each update goes into a spare copy of the system. If the new version fails to start, your box goes back to the old one by itself. You can also go back to the previous version with one button.

Is it ready for my family's photos?

Not yet. JenerOS is an early preview. It boots, updates itself and rolls back bad updates, but the apps are still coming. Please don't trust it with your only copy of anything yet.

Bring your stuff home

The first preview release is coming soon. Follow along on GitHub to hear when it lands.

Download See it on GitHub