My two cents-- Docker allows ease of development for software to be useable between different operating systems. Think of it like Java famously said "Write once, run anywhere."
I totally get Docker is a bit foreign to most people, but seriously it's really easy. You can download Docker Desktop for Windows and be up and running in 15 minutes.
Absolutely agree. I was afraid of Docker until I tried it, and then I was like "wow this is so easy!"
You have my complete respect, and thanks for coming here and dedicating your time and effort to support such a small audience. With all the forum posts pointing folks back to this endeavor, I just thought I'd ask. Apologies for causing such a rucus, that was not the intent.
Some things though, do not work well with Docker for Windows.
Homebridge, mentioned will have issues with it, devices can not connect to it. something about networking support with Docker for Windows. They still have notices about their old, last i looked, no longer supported native installer on Windows.
MacOS I also have seen notes on issues with some docker setup.
(i thought i had read somewhere here that CDVR Server in Docker for Windows had some issues or quirks of its own to deal with, vs the native Win server setup, but can't recall)
Linux based setup seems best for Docker use. In my mild experience with Docker in general.
I just wanted to clarify for any native Windows users that come across this, there absolutely is a Channels DVR app for Windows. It's what I pay for and have been using for years, and it works pretty darn good.
What? There is no native Windows Channel DVR Client app. **
You can use Plex or Emby etc as a front end for CDVR server...those have windows apps.
I assume u mean Channels Server application.
** Well, there is this in progress by a community member:
Feral HTPC: A Community Windows HTPC client - Playground / Hacks - Channels Community
And, if you need a FAST provider app that runs on Windows, there is this one for PLUTO TV.
Pluto-Windows_4C Released - Playground / Hacks - Channels Community
There isn't a Windows Channels client app as it clearly shows here:
What there is is a Channels DVR server software for Windows, but that isn't the same thing as the client app.
Ah, no native CLIENT app. Got it! I just didn't want to turn Windows users away from the software from some off-the-cuff comment.
No worries. The first and foremost goal of this project was to make this easy. I said even I was overwhelmed with all these excellent plugins made by the community. So I started making it for myself and just had to share.
I’m happy everyone is enjoying it and I’ve had fun creating it. And for me, developing as a docker container has been the easiest to make it shareable.
I’ll say it one last time - Docker isn’t hard! It runs right on Windows as another software. FastChannels just runs inside it.
Portainer, also has made it a lot easier for me.
People posting docker run commands vs docker compose...like...whaaat? 
The "Stacks" editor where you post the Compose code, just makes it easy to set this up.
And, i found out, the built in Backup feature in Portainer does include and will restore those stacks. You have to re-pull and re-deploy them, does not save the containers it self or the data of them, but retains the thing that you need to just go in and re-install it. Do not have to hunt for my notes or the thread here to find the install code again.
that was a poor choice- upgrade to a non ltsc variant
This is the absolute truth for me. Portainer, Olivetin for Channels, and Project One-Click have made most of these CDVR add-on projects accessible for an aging, retired guy like me.
I am getting "This Stream has Ended" guide data on a few Pluto channels suddenly.
Oh. Just the Pluto CA Star Trek channels.
Stream audit does not catch this.
Has valid Guide data, and a active video stream though, so i guess that is why it not marked as dead.
May be just Canada.
I'm scraping local every 6 hrs and getting 12 hrs guide each time.
Stream Audit doesn't look at guide data.
Yea. I like to enable multiple regions, cause those most channels air different episodes of the same show.
Like to Channel Surf in my collections when bored and see what various episodes are on across the available channel streams.
I don't yet have Channels set up - waiting for a decent block of time to finish setting up my new-ish Windows 11 PC to my liking, and would likely install it there. However, I have never used Docker (though I have Docker Desktop installed on my daily driver Win10 box - I haven't actually managed to install or run any containers in it) and am very nervous about it.
Can FastChannels (or other add-ons that are Docker-only) work if Channels itself is running in Windows instead of a Docker? I'm just nervous about needing to put everything Channels-related into Docker, given that I'm totally mystified about how to use it.
Yes, since most Docker apps are accessed via HTTP address, not through a "local" install. That is the whole point of Docker - the app is containerized so that it can only interact directly with what is in the container.
If you want easy, nothing beats the UnRaid implementation of Docker. It's extremely easy to use. Uses XML templates to define containers which are then displayed in a nice GUI. Most of the time you don't even have to worry about the templates because you can just "download" the template from their community applications store and it will automatically download the template and install the app for you.
For FastChannels I did have to create my own template, but again its pretty easy to do. I had been meaning to ask @KineticMan if he wanted me to see about adding FastChannels to the UnRaid community applications store (or point him to the docs on how to do it).
I love this program but maybe someone can help me. My scheduled scrapes never run on schedule and always show as missed. The logs show this:
WARNING apscheduler.executors.default: Run time of job "_schedule_due_scrapes (trigger: interval[0:01:00], next run at: 2026-04-01 12:48:25 UTC)" was missed by 0:00:04.058372
Thanks
