A modern, plug-and-play Docker image for JDownloader 2 on Unraid with a fully dark and ad-free UI out of the box: a monochrome IBM Carbon #161616 dark across the entire interface (download list, link grabber and settings, not just the menu bar), with light fills + readable text on the progress bars and a borderless, maximised kiosk window. JDownloader's built-in advertisements are switched off, so the download graph keeps its full height. Full GUI in your browser via Selkies, zero first-run setup.

A one-knight job: I build it, keep it running, work through the issues and add what people ask for, until nothing is missing. It is free, with no accounts, no telemetry, no ads and no paid tier. No asterisk anywhere. Nothing readable ever leaves your own walls. Forged on evenings and weekends, with heart and stubbornness.

If it has earned a place on your server or computer, toss a coin to your knight: it helps cover the costs and keeps the project alive. It also makes this knight's heart beat a little faster. Three ways below, whichever suits you.

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Screenshots
3. Quick Start
4. Configuration
5. Customisation & Persistence
6. Troubleshooting
7. Architecture
8. Contributing / License
9. License
10. How AI is used here
11. Support this project
    

1. Overview

This image packages JDownloader 2 into a self-contained Docker container that runs in any modern web browser. It is built on top of linuxserver/baseimage-selkies, so it benefits from LSIO's actively-maintained Selkies desktop-streaming stack (a hybrid VNC/H.264 pipeline) and weekly security updates, while everything JDownloader-specific (dark theme, ad-free defaults, Java runtime, auto-install) is layered on top.

What's included beyond bare JDownloader:

• Selkies instead of noVNC: a hybrid VNC/H.264 pipeline for a smooth 60fps web desktop, real bidirectional browser clipboard, native file upload and download, high-DPI ready
• Complete Dark Mode pre-applied: a monochrome IBM Carbon (#161616) dark across the entire GUI (download list, link grabber and settings, not just the menu bar), in a maximised kiosk window; switch to a matching Light theme with one variable
• Ad-free by default: JDownloader's built-in advertisements (the "Become premium user" banner, the premium-alert column nags, the special-deal popups) are switched off, so the GUI stays clean and the download speed graph keeps its full height
• Java 21 JRE: full AWT/Swing support for the JDownloader GUI, not headless
• Auto-install: downloads and installs JDownloader 2 on first container start, no manual JAR setup
• Self-updating: JDownloader updates itself on every start as it normally does
• Update-safe config: all settings, links and session state live in /config and survive every docker pull
• Multi-arch: amd64 and arm64

2. Screenshots

Download list in monochrome Carbon #161616: right-click menu, per-file priority, live speed/ETA.

Multiple packages downloading: uniform dark rows, light progress bars, green speed graph.

Settings → User Interface: fully dark, the same Carbon palette across the whole app.

3. Quick Start

Step 1: Install the template

In Unraid: Apps → search for JDownloader → click Install.

The Community Applications template is published from the unraid-apps feed (one feed for all of junkerderprovinz's apps). If the Template dropdown in Docker → Add Container no longer accepts a URL on your Unraid version, drop the XML directly into the templates-user folder via SSH (or WinSCP). Important: the filename must be my-JDownloader.xml with the my- prefix and capital J; otherwise Unraid sees it as a separate template and a Force Update will reset all customizations.

wget -O /boot/config/plugins/dockerMan/templates-user/my-JDownloader.xml \
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junkerderprovinz/unraid-apps/main/jdownloader/jdownloader.xml

Step 2: Adjust paths and start

The defaults work out of the box, but you may want to tweak:

• Config (/config): defaults to /mnt/user/appdata/jdownloader
• Downloads (/downloads): defaults to /mnt/user/downloads; this is where JDownloader saves files
• Theme: default Dark (JD Plain Dark, Carbon #161616 palette); switch to Light, or JDDEFAULT for the classic official JDownloader look, any time
• WebUI Password: leave empty for LAN-only, set anything for exposure beyond the LAN

Click Apply.

⏳ First start: wait for the READY banner

On the first start (and after every image update) JDownloader installs/updates itself and applies the dark theme. The WebUI stays black for a few minutes. Open the container log and wait for this banner before you open the WebUI:

############################################################
 JDOWNLOADER IS READY  ->  open the WebUI now (HTTPS 3001)
############################################################

Do not restart the container while it installs. The banner is shown only once the GUI is up and the dark theme is fully applied, so when you see it, the UI is already dark and ready. (It self-heals JDownloader's first-run theme reset, then prints the banner.)

Step 3: Open the WebUI

Use https://<unraid-ip>:3001/ (this is what the template's WebUI button opens) and accept the self-signed certificate warning once. HTTPS is required for direct access: the Selkies web client needs a browser secure context, both for the WebCodecs video decoder it streams through and for seamless clipboard (copy on your PC, paste straight into JD). Opening http://<unraid-ip>:3000/ therefore stops at a "This application requires a secure connection (HTTPS)" error and never loads the desktop. Port 3000 exists for a reverse proxy that terminates TLS in front of the container and forwards plain HTTP to it.

The JDownloader GUI appears automatically once the install completes.

services:
  jdownloader:
    image: junkerderprovinz/jdownloader:latest
    container_name: jdownloader
    environment:
      - PUID=99
      - PGID=100
      - TZ=Europe/Vienna
      - JD_THEME=Dark
    volumes:
      - /mnt/user/appdata/jdownloader:/config
      - /mnt/user/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - 3000:3000
      - 3001:3001
    restart: unless-stopped
    shm_size: 1gb

4. Configuration

Screen size and memory use

The desktop follows your browser window: Selkies resizes the screen to the size the browser reports, so there is no screen size to set and memory only grows with the window you actually use (about 500 MB at idle in a 1600x900 window). A 1600x1000 window on a laptop set to 200 % counts as 1600x1000. With HiDPI switched on in the Selkies sidebar the same window counts in physical pixels, 3200x2000.

Web file transfers: the Selkies sidebar's upload/download panel uses FILE_MANAGER_PATH, which defaults to /config/Desktop, so anything you upload through the browser lands there, inside the persisted /config volume, and survives a container update. Point FILE_MANAGER_PATH somewhere else if you prefer (e.g. a folder under /downloads), but pick the directory deliberately: without PASSWORD set, anyone who can reach the WebUI can browse and download it.

Language: the UI is English by default. Change it any time in JDownloader's own language menu (top toolbar → the flag icon, or Settings → Language); your choice is saved and persists across restarts.

5. Customisation & Persistence

On the first start, JDownloader installs itself into /config/JDownloader/. All settings, link lists, accounts and download history live there and survive every docker pull and container update.

/config/
└── JDownloader/
    ├── cfg/
    │   └── laf/      # the Carbon #161616 colorfor* palette (re-applied every start)
    ├── libs/laf/     # JD's own STOCK FlatLaf (unpatched) — the dark chrome comes from the image, not from here
    ├── themes/flat/  # bundled flat icon set (re-seeded from the image every start)
    └── JDownloader.jar

The env-driven setting JD_THEME is re-applied on every start, so you can change it at any time via the Unraid template.

The base image also supports /config/custom-cont-init.d/ for your own init scripts, see the LinuxServer docs.

6. Troubleshooting

7. Architecture

ghcr.io/linuxserver/baseimage-selkies:ubunturesolute   (s6-overlay v3 · Selkies · weekly LSIO updates)
      │
      ▼  cont-init.d/10-jdownloader-setup        (runs once, before the desktop starts)
      │     • writes JD's native Carbon #161616 colorfor* palette   → cfg/laf
      │     • seeds the bundled flat icon set                       → themes/flat
      │     • language · tray off · openbox kiosk (no title bar, dialogs not maximised)
      ▼
   svc-de  →  /defaults/autostart   (the JDownloader launcher loop)
      │     • FIRST install: silent HEADLESS pre-install (no GUI = no forced
      │       dialogs), then the GUI starts with the core already in place
      │     • java -jar JDownloader.jar     (the regular GUI launch)
      │     • re-applies the colorfor*/icons theme config before each launch
      │     • a -javaagent auto-confirms JD's forced install dialogs AND registers
      │       /opt/JDownloader/flatlaf-defaults as a FlatLaf custom-defaults source
      │       (official API) — the #161616 chrome; flatlaf.jar stays STOCK
      │     • theme auto-heal: restarts JD once if a self-update reset the theme
      │       (ground truth: the LAF actually applied inside the JVM, max 3/hour)
      │     • prints "JDOWNLOADER IS READY" only when the JVM confirms the dark LAF
      ▼
   JDownloader 2   (Java Swing GUI, streamed to your browser by Selkies)
      ▲
   svc-de/finish  →  SIGTERMs the JVM on stop so it flushes column layout / settings

8. Contributing / License

Pull requests welcome. Issues: https://github.com/junkerderprovinz/jdownloader/issues.

Licensing: dual:

• This wrapper repository (Dockerfile, rootfs/, scripts, Unraid template, README and banner/icon artwork) is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0).
• JDownloader 2 itself retains its own license (see jdownloader.org/license). When you run or redistribute the resulting container image, you must comply with JDownloader's license as well.

# Run lints locally (same as CI)
docker run --rm -i hadolint/hadolint < Dockerfile
find rootfs -name '*.sh' | xargs shellcheck --severity=warning --shell=bash
find . -name '*.xml' | xargs xmllint --noout

Credits

• JDownloader 2, AppWork GmbH & the JDownloader team
• LinuxServer.io, for the excellent baseimage-selkies
• Selkies, for a modern, actively-developed browser desktop stack
• Icons8, the bundled "JD Plain" flat icon set uses JDownloader's Icons8 icons, redistributed verbatim under CC BY-ND 3.0
• Inspiration: jlesage and jaymoulin JDownloader containers, they paved the way

9. License

Copyright (C) 2026 Junker der Provinz.

This repository packages JDownloader as a container for Unraid. The packaging in this repository (Dockerfile, scripts, theme, web assets and everything else original here) is free software under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0); see LICENSE. If you distribute it, or run a modified version as a network service, you must release your source under the same AGPL-3.0 terms and keep the existing copyright and attribution notices intact.

Scope. The AGPL applies to this repository's own code and assets. JDownloader itself is a separate project under its own license and name; this repository does not claim it. The banner, logo, theme and other branding original to this repository remain reserved: a fork must use its own branding and may not present itself as this project.

10. How AI is used here

One knight builds this, and AI is one of the tools I work with, the same way I work with an editor or a compiler. It helps me write code and documentation and it checks my work, and that saves me a good many evenings. It does not make the decisions, though. I read and understand everything before it ships, and if something here breaks, that is on me and not on the tool.

You do not have to take my word for it. The code is open and every release note is written by hand. The issue tracker shows how problems actually get handled, including the ones I got wrong the first time. If you find something that is not right, open an issue and I will look at it.

11. Support this project

Questions? Check the support thread. Bugs, ideas or feature requests? Please open a GitHub issue.

A one-knight job: I build it, keep it running, work through the issues and add what people ask for, until nothing is missing. It is free, with no accounts, no telemetry, no ads and no paid tier. No asterisk anywhere. Nothing readable ever leaves your own walls. Forged on evenings and weekends, with heart and stubbornness.

If it has earned a place on your server or computer, toss a coin to your knight: it helps cover the costs and keeps the project alive. It also makes this knight's heart beat a little faster. Three ways below, whichever suits you.