Overview

These step-by-step Setup Guides will help you to get MediaPortal 2 up and running with basic features. Basically we designed MediaPortal 2 to be as user friendly and intuitive as possible. This includes using the most common default settings and the possibility to run and use Media Portal 2 without doing lots of configurations. But of course there are a few minor things to consider.

• If you do not wish or need to use a feature, you may skip that step or section.
• If you have not installed MediaPortal 2 yet, see Getting Started > Installing MediaPortal 2.
• Tool to transfer media infos from MP1 to MP2: Forum

After you have successfully installed MediaPortal 2 you need to configure a few things to get full benefit out of your new HTPC system.

We recommend to start with the TV Setup, if you want to use the Live TV and Recording features of MediaPortal 2.

Setup

TV

The configuration of the TV section is very similar to the one in MediaPortal 1. You may therefore follow any available MediaPortal 1 setup guide or tutorial, which will also apply to the TV setup of  MediaPortal 2. The main technical difference consists of the underlying database structure with MediaPortal 2 using a single lean and efficient database in comparison to MP1 that requires a full blown SQL server (MySQL or MSSQLExpress). The database handling is done internally by the MediaPortal 2 Server and database configuration actions in a  MediaPortal 1 tutorial can be safely skipped when applied to MediaPortal 2.

Read more on Setup TV...

Server and Client setup

Once you have finished the TV setup you're ready to configure the "rest" of your MediaPortal 2 System. Contrary to MediaPortal 1 all further configuration is done inside the client GUI and no extra configuration tool is required. Settings can be of global nature that apply to all clients (e.g. media sources and server settings), or local, i.e. specific to a client (e.g. skin selection or codec settings).

The most important global setting is the definition of media sources, i.e. the information where your media (movies, series, videos, music, etc.) are stored. Setting up media sources on any desired client will make them available to all other clients attached to the same server. This way you can for example configure the media sources on you desktop and use them instantly on your HTPC in the living room without any further action. 

Read more on Media Sources...

If you like to alter the visual appearance of your MediaPortal 2 client and / or want to configure some client plugins you can do this inside the client GUI too. No need to close the client only to exchange a theme or so. 

Read more on Client Configuration...

You can control the MediaPortal 2 client with various devices like mouse, keyboard, remote and even with touch display (skin specific). A list of devices and how they are configured can be found on the page "InputDevices"

Read more on InputDevices...