Move your Strand addons to a cloud Trellis server

Before you start

The order matters. Add your addons to Trellis first, then add Trellis to Strand, then run Strand's migration tool. Doing it in that order means your home screen keeps all its shelves exactly as they are.

Already have your own server? Skip to Part 7. Just make sure port 8477 is open in your provider's firewall first.

Two placeholders appear in the commands, shown in yellow. Replace them with your own details after pasting, before you press Return:

• YOUR_EMAIL — the email you sign up to Oracle with
• YOUR_PUBLIC_IP — your server's address, which you get in Part 4

Set aside about an hour.

1Create an Oracle account

Oracle gives away a server for free: 2 cores, 12 GB memory, 200 GB disk. Nothing is charged.

1. Go to oracle.com/cloud/free and click Start for free.
2. Use a real credit or debit card. Prepaid and virtual cards are rejected.
3. Enter your billing address exactly as your bank has it.
4. Save your Cloud Account Name, email and password in a password manager. You need all three to log in later.

2Create a security key

This is the key your Mac uses to log in to the server.

Open Terminal: press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, press Return. Then run:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "YOUR_EMAIL"

Press Return to accept the default location, then type a passphrase twice. You won't see the characters as you type; that's normal.

You'll need the key file in the next part. To find it: in Finder press Cmd + Shift + G, type ~/.ssh, press Return. Leave that window open. The file you want is id_ed25519.pub.

3Create the server

1. In the Oracle dashboard, click Create a VM instance. Name it trellis.
2. Under Image and shape:
   • Change image → Ubuntu → Canonical Ubuntu 24.04 → Select image
   • Change shape → Ampere → click the arrow to expand VM.Standard.A1.Flex → set OCPUs to 2 and memory to 12 → Select shape
3. Under Networking, tick Assign a public IPv4 address.
4. Under Add SSH keys, choose Upload public key files and drag in id_ed25519.pub from the Finder window.
5. Under Storage, set boot volume size to 200 and performance to 120.
6. Ignore the cost estimate and click Create.

4Get your server's address

On the instance page, copy the Public IPv4 address. That's your YOUR_PUBLIC_IP for the rest of this guide.

5Open the port

This lets Strand reach your server.

1. Instance page → Networking tab → click the Subnet link.
2. Security tab → click Default Security List for vcn-…
3. Click Add Ingress Rules and fill in:
   • Source CIDR: 0.0.0.0/0
   • IP Protocol: TCP
   • Destination Port Range: 8477
4. Click Add Ingress Rules to save.

6Connect to the server

In Terminal:

ssh ubuntu@YOUR_PUBLIC_IP

Type yes when it asks, then your passphrase from Part 2. You're now typing on the server.

Update it and restart:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo reboot

Wait a minute, then connect again with the same ssh command above. Now open the port on the server itself:

sudo iptables -I INPUT 6 -m state --state NEW -p tcp --dport 8477 -j ACCEPT
sudo netfilter-persistent save

7Install Docker

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker ubuntu
exit

That last line logs you out on purpose. Connect again:

ssh ubuntu@YOUR_PUBLIC_IP

8Install Trellis

One paste does everything:

mkdir -p ~/trellis && cd ~/trellis
cat > docker-compose.yml << 'YML'
services:
  trellis:
    image: ghcr.io/lpierpoint/trellis:latest
    container_name: trellis
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8477:8477"
    volumes:
      - trellis-config:/config

volumes:
  trellis-config:
YML
docker compose up -d
docker logs trellis

The last line should end by saying setup is required. That means it's working.

9Set your admin password

1. On your phone or computer, open http://YOUR_PUBLIC_IP:8477 using your real address. Keep the :8477 on the end.
2. Create a username and a long, unique password. Strand signs in with these.

10Add your addons to Trellis

In the Trellis admin page you just logged into, add each addon using its manifest URL, the same link you'd paste into Stremio.

Trellis reads each one and turns its catalogues into shelves that Strand can use.

A future Strand update will move your addons across for you as part of the migration. If the migration tool offers to do that, let it and skip this part.

11Connect Strand and migrate

Back up first. In Strand: Settings → Share Setup → include everything → save the .strand file, not the link. That file restores everything if you need it.

1. Settings → Media Servers → Add a Server → choose the manual form, not Plex or Emby Connect.
   • Server URL: http://YOUR_PUBLIC_IP:8477
   • Remote URL: leave blank
   • Username and Password: the ones from Part 9
2. Save. The dot next to the server should turn green.
3. Settings → Addons → tap the migration row → pick your Trellis server → run it.

Your shelves are now pointed at Trellis, keeping their titles, artwork and order.

4. Check your home screen looks right, then turn off the old addons under Settings → Addons. They're switched off, not deleted.

12If something goes wrong

• Server dot isn't green: check the URL ends in :8477, and that Parts 5 and 6 both saved.
• A shelf didn't get matched: make sure that addon is in Trellis, then run the migration again.
• A shelf is empty: that catalogue isn't returning anything. Check it in the addon itself.
• You want to undo it all: open your .strand backup file.

13Useful commands

Connect first with ssh ubuntu@YOUR_PUBLIC_IP, then:

cd ~/trellis && docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

cd ~/trellis && docker compose restart

cd ~/trellis && docker run --rm -v trellis_trellis-config:/c -v "$PWD":/out alpine \
  tar czf /out/trellis-config.tar.gz -C /c .

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

14Keeping it free

• Stay at 2 cores, 12 GB memory and 200 GB storage, with just this one server.
• Run the monthly update above. Reboot if it asks; Trellis restarts on its own.
• Oracle may shut down servers it thinks are idle. It emails you first, and stops rather than deletes.

Disclaimer. This is an unofficial community guide, written and shared by a Strand user. It is not made, reviewed, or endorsed by Strand, Trellis, Oracle, or Cloudflare, and no affiliation with any of them is implied. Follow it at your own risk: you are responsible for your own server, its security, and any addons you configure on it. If something breaks, your .strand backup is your safety net.