Your LocalNode comes with a fast 1TB internal SSD, but as your movie and photo collections grow, you may need more space. LocalNode makes it incredibly easy to add infinite external storage via USB.
Overview
You can plug any standard USB external hard drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD) into the back of your LocalNode. Once mounted in the dashboard, the storage becomes instantly available to all your apps like Jellyfin, Nextcloud, and Immich.
💡 Tip: We recommend using the blue USB 3.0 ports on the back of the device for external drives, as they provide significantly faster transfer speeds than the black USB 2.0 ports.
Step 1: Connecting the drive
Ensure your external drive is formatted to a standard file system (exFAT, NTFS, or ext4). LocalNode supports all major formats.
Plug the USB cable from your external drive into one of the blue USB 3.0 ports on the back of the LocalNode.
If your external drive requires a separate power cable, ensure it is plugged into the wall and powered on.
Step 2: Mounting the drive in the dashboard
Unlike Windows or Mac, Linux servers require you to explicitly "mount" a drive so the system knows exactly how to handle the files securely.
Open your web browser and go to http://localnode.local.
Log in with your username and password.
In the sidebar, click on Storage Manager.
You will see your internal drive listed, and below it, an "Available Devices" section. You should see your new USB drive listed here (e.g., "Seagate Expansion 4TB").
Click the green Mount Drive button next to your external drive.
When prompted, give the drive a simple, memorable name like "Movies" or "BackupDrive". Avoid using spaces.
Click Confirm.
Illustration pending
LocalNode Storage Manager listing mounted USB or SATA volumes ready for Docker bind mounts.
Reserved for a LocalNode product screenshot when available; UI layout may differ from third-party docs.
Step 3: Pointing your apps to the new storage
Now that the drive is mounted, it will appear as a folder in your file system, typically under /mnt/storage/[YourDriveName]. You can now tell your apps to save or read files from this location.
For Jellyfin:
Open Jellyfin and go to Dashboard > Libraries.
Click "Add Media Library" or click an existing one.
Click "Add Folder" and navigate to /mnt/storage/[YourDriveName]. Select your media folder and click OK.
⚠️ Warning: Never physically unplug an external drive without clicking the "Unmount" button in the Storage Manager first. Unplugging a live drive can corrupt your data.