I have two properties, and I was curious to know if it was possible to run more than one instance of Channels Server? I'd like to set up a second server at our secondary home and I was curious to know how that works with your Channels subscription, and if so, how to differentiate the two instances? Is there a guide to do this or best practices for it? TIA!
You can have as many instances as you like. However, you can only have one set up for remote access, so if you stream to your phone while you are at a friends house, etc you would always use whatever server is set up for remote streaming.
They are local instances, so you can set them up identically if you would like. I do something similar between my parents house and my house. I even have it set up where their server uses mine as a source 
I have two properties too but want both to have remote capabilities and since each has their own Channels DVR server installed, I just have two subscriptions, under two different email addresses. And with built in TailScale networking, sharing channels between them is easy peasy
My only issue with this is logging out and logging in via web browser to switch accounts, seems there’s a bug with the redesign. I can only log out via Channels Community first.
In the end I just use Safari for managing one CDVR instance and Chrome for managing the other. With the latest macOS it’s pretty easy to make a distinct web app (essentially a site-specific browser) too. In Safari, go to File → Add to Dock.
hope this helps!
If a user has 3 client devices on the local network with multiple server instances, how does the client device know which server instance the user wishes to connect to?
On the Client you select Connect at Home or Connect Remotely to the chosen server
A client can only connect to one server at a time
Interesting, does docker sources become available to the other channels server?
Yes - any channels are shareable this way in my experience.
This would be a lot easier to just use Tailscale installed on all servers and all clients. Enable Tailscale on client and easily switch between remote servers and local via the dropdown in the app. It would be easier to switch this way then logging in to different accounts. Remote access on all servers without the second subscription.
I actually have 3 different properties I am pushing. And because Fubo allows up to 3 locations and 10 screens at one time with the elite package, I only pay 1 subscription to power all 3 sites. And only need 1 channels subscription to do that.
Thanks, but that won’t work for me because there are different sets of residents, temporary or otherwise, who will use and maybe connect remotely to server 2 who I don’t want to have any access whatsoever to server 1. It’s best these are kept separate. I don’t mind paying the 2nd subscription. Great idea for other use cases though!
1 Like
Please tell me more about "I have it set up where their server uses mine as a source".
Does that mean that you could effectively "chain" servers together, sort of bypassing the issue of only one server being remotely accessible?
Yes, that’s what I’m doing too. With Tailscale I’ve found it’s easy to share the m3u from the remote HDHomeRun with the local server, which I do, because that antenna picks up at least one OTA channel better than my own antenna does.
I first learned about this here:
Since then, the CDVR web admin has gained an easier way to copy source-specific m3u's:
That is correct. I used tailscale previously, but now I have a wireguard tunnel connecting our servers.
I export the M3U from my server as a source on theirs. When they start a channel, it queries my server and relays the feed correctly.