The Video Disk Recorder (VDR) is a free (open source), non-commercial project from Klaus Schmidinger to create a digital video recorder using standard PC components. It is possible to receive, record and playback digital TV broadcasts compatible with the DVB standard.

lapicidae/vdr-server

Image based on Arch Linux, VDR4Arch and s6-overlay.

Features

• regular and timely application updates
• easy user mappings (PGID, PUID)
• plugin ciplus, ddci2 and dvbapi support
• eMail notifications via msmtprc - a very simple and easy to use SMTP client
• adjustable niceness and I/O scheduling priority
• built-in png channel logos
• daily naludump cron
• simple web server to provide channel logos, epg images (e.g. for plugin-roboTV), m3u channel list and XMLTV file (e.g. for Jellyfin).
• integrate your own PKGBUILD packages
• log to file with built-in log rotation
• creation of a VDR channel ID list

Note

The image is automatically rebuilt when any of the following sources receive an update:

• Arch Linux Official Docker Image - latest
• VDR4Arch GitHub repository

Getting Started

Usage

Here are some example snippets to help you get started creating a container.

⚠️ WARNING: The first start might be slow.
The first start can take longer, as non-integrated plugins are built from the AUR.

docker-compose (recommended)

Compatible with docker-compose v2 schemas.

services:
  vdr-server:
    image: ghcr.io/lapicidae/vdr-server
    container_name: vdr-server
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin
      - PLUGINS=epgsearch live streamdev-server vnsiserver    #optional
    volumes:
      - /path/to/system:/vdr/system
      - /path/to/config:/vdr/config
      - /path/to/recordings:/vdr/recordings
      - /path/to/cache:/vdr/cache
    ports:
      - 8008:8008
      - 3000:3000
      - 34890:34890
    devices:
      - /dev/dvb:/dev/dvb     #optional
    # -------------------- STRICTLY NECESSARY --------------------
    cap_add:
      - SYS_NICE 
    security_opt:
      - "seccomp=unconfined"
    ulimits:
      nice:
        soft: -20
        hard: -20
      rtprio:
        soft: 99
        hard: 99
    stop_grace_period: 60s    # Required for clean shutdown
    # ------------------------------------------------------------
    restart: unless-stopped

docker cli (example)

docker run -d \
  --name=vdr-server \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e LANG=de_DE.UTF-8 \
  -e TZ=Europe/Berlin \
  -e PLUGINS="epgsearch live streamdev-server vnsiserver" \
  -p 8008:8008 \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -p 34890:34890 \
  -v /path/to/system:/vdr/system \
  -v /path/to/config:/vdr/config \
  -v /path/to/recordings:/vdr/recordings \
  -v /path/to/cache:/vdr/cache \
  --device /dev/dvb:/dev/dvb \
  --cap-add=SYS_NICE \
  --security-opt seccomp=unconfined \
  --ulimit nice=-20:-20 \
  --ulimit rtprio=99:99 \
  --stop-timeout 60 \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  ghcr.io/lapicidae/vdr-server

Important: Permissions and Threading

To ensure smooth video processing and prevent dropped frames, VDR attempts to set higher-priority scheduling for its internal threads.
Without specific configuration, for example, the error ERROR (thread.c,259): Permission denied will appear in your logs.
Furthermore, a proper shutdown window is essential to avoid data loss.

The following options are strictly necessary:

• cap_add - SYS_NICE: Grants the container the kernel capability to raise process priority and set real-time scheduling policies.
• security_opt - "seccomp=unconfined": Bypasses the default Docker security profile that often restricts the sched_setscheduler system call.
• ulimits - nice: Defines the range of "niceness" available to the container. Setting this to -20 allows VDR to reach the highest possible priority.
• ulimits - rtprio: Allows VDR to use Real-Time (RT) scheduling, critical for handling DVB data streams without interruption.
• stop_grace_period / --stop-timeout: VDR requires time to stop active recordings and save its state properly. Setting this to 60s prevents the container from being killed prematurely.

Parameters

Container images are configured using parameters passed at runtime.
These parameters are separated by a colon and indicate <external>:<internal> respectively.
For example, -p 8080:80 would expose port 80 from inside the container to be accessible from the host's IP on port 8080 outside the container.

Parameter	Function
Required
--cap-add=SYS_NICE	Allows adjusting niceness and real-time scheduling priorities
--security-opt seccomp=unconfined	Required for the kernel to apply scheduling and priority changes
--ulimit nice=-20:-20	Sets the priority range (soft:hard) to the highest level
--ulimit rtprio=99:99	Sets the real-time priority limit (soft:hard) for DVB streaming
--stop-timeout 60	Ensures VDR can finish recordings and save state before stopping
System
-e PUID=1000	UserID for file permissions
-e PGID=1000	GroupID for file permissions
-e TZ=Europe/London	Specify a timezone
-e LANG=en_US.UTF-8	Default locale; see list
-v /vdr/system	Start parameters, recording hooks and msmtprc config
-v /vdr/config	Config files (e.g. setup.conf or channels.conf)
-v /vdr/recordings	Recording directory (video directory)
-v /vdr/cache	Cache files (e.g. epgimages or cam.data)
--device /dev/dvb	Passthrough for DVB hardware (required for reception)
Networking
-p 8008	HTTP VDR-Live plugin
-p 3000	Streamdev Server (http Streaming) 1
-p 8009	HTTPS VDR-Live plugin (requires your own certificate)
-p 6419	Simple VDR Protocol (SVDRP)
-p 6419/udp	SVDRP Peering
-p 2004	Streamdev Server (VDR-to-VDR Streaming)
-p 34890	Kodi VDR-Network-Streaming-Interface (VNSI)
-p 8099	HTTP port for the simple Web Interface 2
Config
-e PLUGINS="..."	Space separated list of VDR Plugins
-e LOG2FILE=true	Write log to file in /vdr/log
-e PROTECT_CAMDATA=true	Write protect cam.data to avoid unwanted changes
-e DISABLE_WEBINTERFACE=true	Disable web interface (live plugin)
-e LOGO_COPY=false	Use your own station logos in /vdr/channellogos
-v /vdr/channellogos	TV and radio station logos
-v /vdr/log	Logfiles if LOG2FILE=true
-v /vdr/timeshift	VNSI Time-Shift buffer directory
-v /vdr/pkgbuild	Path for custom build packages
VDR Priority (needs SYS_NICE)
-e NICE=-1	Adjusted niceness via renice (default: 0)
-e IONICE_CLASS=2	I/O scheduling class via ionice (default: 0)
-e IONICE_PRIO=3	I/O scheduling priority via ionice (default: 0)
Extras
-e START_NALUDUMP=true	Start naludump daily at 4 am 3
-e START_NALUDUMP_AT=...	Crontab schedule for naludump (default: 0 4 * * *)
-e START_WEBSERVER=true	Web interface with support for live streaming and asset delivery (port: 8099) 2
-e START_XMLTV=true	Generate m3u and XMLTV daily at 12 am 4
-e START_XMLTV_AT=...	Crontab schedule for XMLTV creation (default: 0 0 * * *)
-e XMLTV_DAYS=3	Number of days in xmltv file (default: 7)
-e XMLTV_DOMAIN_NAME=...	Hostname/IP used in the m3u file (e.g. vdr.example.com)
-e XMLTV_STREAM_PORT=4561	Video stream port in m3u (default: 3000)
-e XMLTV_LOGO_PORT=1654	Web server port for station logos in m3u (default: 8099)
-e XMLTV_LOGO_URL=...	URL for external png station logos (e.g. https://example.com/logos)
Not recommended
--cap-add=SYS_TIME	Warning: Allows the container to change the Host's system clock 5

User / Group Identifiers

When using volumes (-v flags) permissions issues can arise between the host OS and the container, we avoid this issue by allowing you to specify the user PUID and group PGID.

Ensure any volume directories on the host are owned by the same user you specify and any permissions issues will vanish like magic.

In this instance PUID=1234 and PGID=4321, to find yours use id user as below:

  $ id username
    uid=1234(dockeruser) gid=4321(dockergroup) groups=4321(dockergroup)

VDR Configuration

Directory Structure

Standard paths and their Container counterpart.

• /etc/vdr -> /vdr/system
• /var/lib/vdr -> /vdr/config
• /srv/vdr/video -> /vdr/recordings
• /var/cache/vdr -> /vdr/cache
• /usr/share/vdr/channel-logos -> /vdr/channellogos

Application Setup

Please read the VDR Wiki.

Command line parameters can be changed in vdr/system/conf.d/00-vdr.conf and
configuration files are located in vdr/config/.

WebUI (live plugin) can be found at http://<your-ip>:8008.
Most VDR settings can be edited via the remote control in the WebUI.

Plugins

First, see if there is anything to adjust in the "WebUI / Remote Control" section.

Parameters are passed via the corresponding file in vdr/system/conf.d/.
Most other files related to plugins are located in vdr/config/plugins/.

eMail Notification

For example, the VDR plugin epgsearch can send a notification by e-mail (sendmail).
To provide sendmail functionality msmtp is used and the configuration is done in vdr/system/eMail.conf.
Please refer to the msmtp documentation for configuration instructions.

Bonus

Channel IDs

A list of VDR channel IDs is automatically created when the container is stopped and can be found in vdr/cache/channelids.conf.

Recording Error Check

Scan the recordings before 'VDR 2.6.0' for errors (continuity counter), e.g. to display them in the web interface.
Just put an empty file named checkrec into the main directory of your recordings (vdr/recordings).
The process is executed at container start and runs until everything is checked.
The check is done via vdr-checkts by eTobi and the basic script comes from MarkusE.

Support the VDR Project

While VDR is free and open-source, the developers enjoy knowing how many people use their software.
If you enjoy using VDR, please consider registering at the official VDR User Counter.

"Developing a program is more fun if the programmers know that it is being used by a great many people."
Klaus Schmidinger

Thanks

• Klaus Schmidinger (kls)
• vdr-portal.de
• VDR4Arch
• Tobias Grimm (eTobi)
• just-containers
• linuxserver.io
• ...and all the forgotten ones

Footnotes

1. Simple interface is avalable at http://<your-ip>:3000 ↩

2. When the web interface is running, you will find instructions on how to use media assets (xmltv, epgimages, iptv) at: http://<your-ip>:8099/assets_usage.html ↩ ↩²

3. WARNING: The whole process has been designed to be as safe as possible! Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that the recordings will not be damaged during the cleanup. ↩

4. Plugin streamdev-server is required for playback. The default server in m3u for channels and channel images is the network alias of the container. Currently, only the German language is fully supported when converting to XMLTV format. ↩

5. If you want to use VDRs "SetSystemTime = 1" use parameter "--cap-add=SYS_TIME" (untested) ↩