Channels DVR pre-release update went very wrong

[rthurlow61]

I have Channels DVR on Windows 11, already on the pre-release train. An update attempt got very weird.

From the dashboard, I checked pre-release versions and saw a new update available. I requested it be installed, and waited maybe 40 minutes with the "waiting for release to be installed" spinner going.

Then I refreshed the page, and timed out connecting to Channels DVR. Now, I can't find any processes, anything that looks like a stuck install, any sign of Channels DVR software that File Explorer can show me. If I could find the server executable, I would of course try to start it.

So I can just reinstall, right? Sure - how? Channels — Channels Account shows I'm current, but I don't see a way to get new bits as an existing customer.

I finally started the binary still in my Downloads directory, and got the released 2025.10.30.0047 released bits running. I could connect to the dashboard, check status, and it downloaded and installed 2025.12.12.0245. Task Manager will open a C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest directory now that the server is running, but I still can't find it in File Explorer from the top down. My Linux VM can see that, but that won't let me run the binary.

So I'm OK, but this was seriously freaky. If I had happened to delete the setup download, I'd have just felt like I had nowhere to go.

[chDVRuser]

Check the DVR log
What directory does it show it started from

[mnwxman132]

Interesting timing of this event. I ran into strange things yesterday on my MAC with latest prerelease - it hung forever, until I had to complete some unexpected privacy authentication on my MAC detailed here:

@mnwxman132

Now heres another data point. I was upgrading at home, using a networked iPAD browser. On the iPAD I observed Channels think it was a new install. I got the welcome splash screen on the web browser. When I got to the actual server machine, my Mac mini , I noticed the popup and needed to authenticate. I also got a notification for a Chrome Browser helper, and "allowed" whatever that was. Ive never seen that before either.

I wonder if this is related. I dont have a windows based server, but perhaps this is manifesting in different ways on different platforms. On my machine, it looks like I have remnants of two installs - see my screenshot. It was a little freaky for me as well.

[rthurlow61]

The logs show:
2025/12/12 20:50:48.452941 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2025.10.30.0047 (windows-x86_64 pid:14312) in C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\data
and
2025/12/12 20:57:01.066315 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2025.12.12.0245 (windows-x86_64 pid:38640) in C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\data

[mjitkop]

I had a similar experience on my Windows 11 server.
The upgrade was taking a long time and nothing seemed to be happening.

It just happened that Windows was due for an update so I proceeded with the Windows update. The computer got restarted in the process. Once it was rebooted, Channels DVR restarted and it was at the latest version.

Not sure exactly what happened but everything was working after a computer restart.

[chDVRuser]

Do you have entries in the DVR log from before 12/12/2025?
If you do, you can check the log entries for the time when you had the problem.
To see more log entries https://getchannels.com/docs/getting-started/faqs/subscription/#how-can-i-view-more-of-the-channels-dvr-server-log

[rthurlow61]

No prior logs, no.

[slampman]

You can revert back to a previous release using symlink

Channels DVR New Release?

It is actually much simpler than that. In the channels-dvr application directory, there are the last 5 previous versions, plus the current version.... and a symlink called "latest". Whatever you set the "lastest" symlink to is what version Channels DVR will start up as. So just change the symlink and restart the DVR. [image]

[rthurlow61]

If I can't find the symlink from File Explorer, how can I change it?

[slampman]

I run all my Channels servers on Linux so I can't help you on Windows. Maybe one of the Windows guys can chime in here...

[Michael_Birk]

@rthurlow61

If I can't find the symlink from File Explorer, how can I change it?

In Windows you can use the command mklink from the Command Prompt. You will need to study the proper usage. I use the following commands to move my streaming folder to another drive, but that doesn't help you much.
List junction
dir /AL /S (drive or path of junction)

Remove Junction - remove directory
rd (link)

Create Junction
cd to (path of DVR folder)
mklink /J Streaming f:\Streaming

For Windows I would recommend not using mklink and just change the directory names or copy the files to the latest directory using File Explorer. The ChannelsDVR files are under the C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR folder. You will see all the dates of the previous versions. You would need to stop the ChannelsDVR server from running and then just copy all the files from a previous version into the latest folder. Then restart the server.

[rthurlow61]

Again - File Explorer does not show me an entry named ProgramData under C:. I feel very lucky that I even know it's there.

[Michael_Birk]

@rthurlow61

Again - File Explorer does not show me an entry named ProgramData under C:. I feel very lucky that I even know it's there.

There are lots of hidden directories and files in Windows. In File Explorer select View, Show, Hidden Items. Just be careful, they hide them so we won't accidentally delete or move the wrong item.

[slampman]

@Michael_Birk

There are lots of hidden directories and files in Windows. In File Explorer select View, Show, Hidden Items. Just be careful, they hide them so we won't accidentally delete or move the wrong item.

Or just open Explorer and manually type c:\programdata and then press enter.

[rthurlow61]

Another upgrade to the latest pre-release failed - no "latest" shortcut was made, so the service didn't start. I posted another thread about it.

[rthurlow61]

So I just launched an upgrade to the pre-release, 2026.01.14.0118. The server went away and never came back. The shortcut in the start menu was C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR\latest\channels-dvr.exe, but that path was not found. No "latest" shortcut exists in C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR. I tried to create one manually, but I could not get the syntax right. I edited the link in that start menu, so that at least this thing will start up automatically on reboot. This seems like a fixable install issue, please have a look.

[mjitkop]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

I have this upgrade that is pending and my server is also running on Windows.

Thank you for the warning and providing a manual fix for it.

Hopefully, the developers will see this thread.
@maddox @tmm1 @eric

[eric]

Our updater checks for errors on each step of the process, and if there are any errors, they are reported in the logs and the update is cancelled.

The situation we have seen where files or directories are missing have been traced to anti-virus software going in and deleting things after we have done our process. There isn't anything we can do about the things that users run on their systems that interfere with our upgrade process.

In the case of @rthurlow61 I see in the diagnostics that the first time that the user attempted the update, it failed our verification check (which shouldn't happen under normal circumstances) which is another indicator that some anti-virus software was preventing the normal operations of the DVR system.

[rthurlow61]

My system is currently in a broken state - how can I restore it? Specifically, what should the shortcuts look like? This was probably broken the prior time an upgrade failed, and right now the startup folder is hard-coded to the current release, and there's nothing that makes a "latest" shortcut work.

[eric]

If the DVR is running, make sure you make a backup, then download the DVR installer and install the DVR again.