OliveTin for Channels: An Interface for Misc Channels DVR Scripts & Tricks

[bnhf]

@ItsMeMica

If we take a look at just the part I wanted you to post (you included Standard Error). You'll see that the Healthcheck is reporting you have very few values correct, other than the ip:port of your CDVR server. Note that I've posted your results with 3 backticks before and after to improve readability. I've added comments to your results (anything starting with a # sign):

Checking your OliveTin-for-Channels installation...
(extended_check=false)

OliveTin Container Version 2025.07.03
OliveTin Docker Compose Version 2025.03.26-ezstart # This should not show `-ezstart` at completion when the instructions are followed.

Checking that your selected Channels DVR server (10.0.0.23:8089) is reachable by URL:
HTTP Status: 200 indicates success...

% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 0
100 1276 100 1276 0 0 623k 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 1246k
HTTP Status: 200 # this is good, and what you should see.
Effective URL: http://10.0.0.23:8089/

Checking that your selected Channels DVR server's data files (/mnt/10.0.0.23-8089) are accessible:
Folders with the names Database, Images, Imports, Logs, Movies, Streaming and TV should be visible... # None of your CDVR recordings folder are visible.

If the listed folders are NOT visible, AND you have your Channels DVR and Docker on the same system:

Channels reports this path as...
C:\Users\JJW\Videos\ChannelsDVR

When using a Windows path in Portainer, change the backslashes to slashes like this...
C:/Users/JJW/Videos/ChannelsDVR

When using WSL with a Linux distro and Docker Desktop, it's also possible to use...
/mnt/c/Users/JJW/Videos/ChannelsDVR

Checking that your selected Channels DVR server's log files (/mnt/10.0.0.23-8089_logs) are accessible:
Folders with the names data and latest should be visible... # None of your CDVR program folders are visible.

If the listed folders are NOT visible, AND you have your Channels DVR and Docker on the same system:

Channels reports this path as...
C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR

When using a Windows path in Portainer, change the backslashes to slashes like this...
C:/ProgramData/ChannelsDVR

When using WSL with a Linux distro and Docker Desktop, it's also possible to use...
/mnt/c/ProgramData/ChannelsDVR

Checking if your Portainer token is working on ports 9000 and/or 9443: # Nothing related to Portainer is showing results. No response from the WebUI and no env ID.

Portainer http response on port 9000 reports version
Portainer Environment ID for local is
Portainer https response on port 9443 reports version
Portainer Environment ID for local is

Here's a list of your current OliveTin-related settings: # Even though the value of POTAINER_TOKEN would be automatically redacted, it doesn't even show on this list -- which is weird. 

HOSTNAME=olivetin-ezstart
CHANNELS_DVR=10.0.0.23:8089
CHANNELS_DVR_ALTERNATES=
CHANNELS_CLIENTS=
ALERT_SMTP_SERVER=
ALERT_EMAIL_FROM=[Redacted]@
ALERT_EMAIL_PASS=[Redacted]
ALERT_EMAIL_TO=[Redacted]@
UPDATE_YAMLS=true
UPDATE_SCRIPTS=true
PORTAINER_HOST=10.0.0.23
PORTAINER_PORT=9443
PORTAINER_ENV=2

Here's the contents of /etc/resolv.conf from inside the container:

Generated by Docker Engine.
This file can be edited; Docker Engine will not make further changes once it
has been modified.
nameserver 127.0.0.11
search
options edns0 trust-ad ndots:0

Based on host file: '/etc/resolv.conf' (internal resolver)
ExtServers: [host(127.0.0.53)]
Overrides: [search]
Option ndots from: internal
Here's the contents of /etc/hosts from inside the container:

127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
fe00:: ip6-localnet
ff00:: ip6-mcastprefix
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters
172.18.0.3 olivetin-ezstart

Here's what a successful Healthcheck should look like:

Checking your OliveTin-for-Channels installation...
(extended_check=false)

OliveTin Container Version 2025.07.03
OliveTin Docker Compose Version 2025.03.24

----------------------------------------

Checking that your selected Channels DVR server (media-server8:8089) is reachable by URL:
HTTP Status: 200 indicates success...

  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed

  0     0    0     0    0     0      0      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--     0
100  1276  100  1276    0     0   207k      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--  207k
HTTP Status: 200
Effective URL: http://media-server8:8089/

----------------------------------------

Checking that your selected Channels DVR server's data files (/mnt/media-server8-8089) are accessible:
Folders with the names Database, Images, Imports, Logs, Movies, Streaming and TV should be visible...

total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000 4096 May 19 11:38 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4096 Jul  3 09:13 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Jul  6 15:13 Database
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Jul  6 15:13 Images
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Sep 25  2024 Imports
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Sep 25  2024 Logs
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Jun 16 20:50 Movies
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Nov 18  2024 PlayOn
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Jun  1 19:23 Streaming
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Jun 29 09:00 TV
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Jan 20 01:44 tubearchivist

Docker reports your current DVR_SHARE setting as...
/mnt/dvr

If the listed folders are NOT visible, AND you have your Channels DVR and Docker on the same system:

Channels reports this path as...
G:\dvr

When using WSL with a Linux distro and Docker Desktop, it's recommended to use...
/mnt/g/dvr

----------------------------------------

Checking that your selected Channels DVR server's log files (/mnt/media-server8-8089_logs) are accessible:
Folders with the names data and latest should be visible...

total 12
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000 4096 Jun  1 19:23 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4096 Jul  3 09:13 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Dec  7  2024 2024.12.07.0453
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Dec  9  2024 2024.12.10.0055
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Dec 28  2024 2024.12.27.0121
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Jan 21 16:30 2025.01.18.0528
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Feb 19 12:31 2025.02.19.1823
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Apr 17 13:24 2025.04.17.1651
-rwxr-xr-x 1 1000 1000  829 Jun  1 19:23 Channels DVR Server.lnk
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Jul  6 09:42 data
drwxr-xr-x 2 1000 1000    0 Jun  1 19:23 latest

Docker reports your current LOGS_SHARE setting as...
/mnt/channelsdvr

If the listed folders are NOT visible, AND you have your Channels DVR and Docker on the same system:

Channels reports this path as...
C:\ProgramData\ChannelsDVR

When using WSL with a Linux distro and Docker Desktop, it's recommended to use...
/mnt/c/ProgramData/ChannelsDVR

----------------------------------------

Checking if your Portainer token is working on ports 9000 and/or 9443:

Portainer http response on port 9000 reports version 2.27.0
Portainer Environment ID for local is 2
Portainer https response on port 9443 reports version 2.27.0
Portainer Environment ID for local is 2

----------------------------------------

Here's a list of your current OliveTin-related settings:

HOSTNAME=olivetin
CHANNELS_DVR=media-server8:8089
CHANNELS_DVR_ALTERNATES=utheater-pc:8089 192.168.110.66:8089
CHANNELS_CLIENTS=appletv4k firestick-master
ALERT_SMTP_SERVER=smtp.gmail.com:587
ALERT_EMAIL_FROM=[Redacted]@gmail.com
ALERT_EMAIL_PASS=[Redacted]
ALERT_EMAIL_TO=[Redacted]@gmail.com
UPDATE_YAMLS=false
UPDATE_SCRIPTS=false
PORTAINER_TOKEN=[Redacted]
PORTAINER_HOST=htpc6
PORTAINER_PORT=9443
PORTAINER_ENV=2

----------------------------------------

Here's the contents of /etc/resolv.conf from inside the container:

# Generated by Docker Engine.
# This file can be edited; Docker Engine will not make further changes once it
# has been modified.

nameserver 127.0.0.11
search localdomain tail[Redacted].ts.net
options ndots:0

# Based on host file: '/etc/resolv.conf' (internal resolver)
# ExtServers: [host(100.100.100.100)]
# Overrides: [search]
# Option ndots from: internal

----------------------------------------

Here's the contents of /etc/hosts from inside the container:

127.0.0.1	localhost
::1	localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
fe00::	ip6-localnet
ff00::	ip6-mcastprefix
ff02::1	ip6-allnodes
ff02::2	ip6-allrouters
172.21.0.3	olivetin

It appears to me you never generated the new list of env vars, from within EZ-Start, and then used them to spin-up the full version of OliveTin.

I'm guessing you skipped this part:

Back on the main Actions page, Run the OliveTin Environment Variables Generator/Tester OliveTin Action. For the typical user, running everything on a single system, you shouldn't need to touch any of the default values. Advanced users, or those with sophisticated setups, should be able to customize to their requirements:

You should be able to recover by deleting the current stack for the full version of OliveTin, then return to EZ-Start on port 1338 and follow instructions from the point indicated just above.

[TV_Ken]

I'm a dumb user, and really don't know what I'm doing here. I just installed Portainer and Olive Tin on Windows 10 Pro, and it seems to be doing something.

I generated a channel list and it said
"Writing the channel information to the CSV file...
Channel information available in channels_dvr_channel_list_20250707_191717.csv"

Where do I find this file on my Windows system?

[TV_Ken]

My Olive Tin time zone is wrong on my Windows 10 install. I installed with:
docker run -d --name olivetin-ezstart --pull always -p 1338:1337 -e "TZ=$(readlink etc/localtime)" -e EZ_START=-ezstart -e CHANNELS_DVR=192.168.0.232:8089 -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock bnhf/olivetin:latest

How do I get the time zone correct?

[bnhf]

@TV_Ken

Where do I find this file on my Windows system?

In the directory you have bound to /config in your Docker Compose.

For example, on my system:

HOST_DIR=/data

And, to that parent directory /olivetin is added, so on my Docker host system the file is found under /data/olivetin.

[bnhf]

@TV_Ken

How do I get the time zone correct?

Check your Olivetin stack to be sure the timezone is set correctly there. For example, mine is:

TZ=US/Mountain

If you want to be absolutely sure the correct timezone is used inside the container, exec into it and:

root@olivetin:/# date
Mon Jul  7 19:08:34 MDT 2025

[bnhf]

New bnhf/olivetin:latest (aka bnhf/olivetin:2025.07.09) pushed today with a change to the way the Standard Error output and debug information are treated.

The original idea was for users to view output from a particular Action in Standard Output, and to leave Standard Error closed unless there was an issue that required deeper inspection. However, a fair number of users that have posted in this thread appear to have both types of output open at all times.

So, what I've decided to do is to redirect debug output to a specific file for each Action. That file can now be viewed, when needed, using its own Action. This way, if there are no actual errors, Standard Error won't even show as an option.

For example, with the OliveTin Post-Install Healthcheck, note that there is no Standard Error section to expand:

If you'd like to look at the debug output for a particular Action, or if you want to post it (being aware of possible sensitive data in some debug output), you can go to this new Action:

EDIT: Forgot to mention this change also has a positive impact on what displays in the OliveTin Portainer log. It's no longer a mixture of Standard Output and Standard Error (which was almost always debug info). Now it's Standard Output only, resulting in a much cleaner looking startup log.

[jsfullam]

HELP! I accidentally stopped and removed my perfectly functioning Olivetin container. Is there an easy way to recover it without starting from scratch?

[bnhf]

@jsfullam

I accidentally stopped and removed my perfectly functioning Olivetin container.

Just the container? Is the olivetin stack still there? If so, you might try stopping the stack and then starting it again.

[jsfullam]

Unfortunately, the stack is gone. The only thing remaining is the latest image or two.

[bnhf]

@jsfullam

Unfortunately, the stack is gone. The only thing remaining is the latest image or two.

Go ahead and delete that image, and use this EZ-Start process:

OliveTin EZ-Start: A New Way to Deploy OliveTin-for-Channels Using Just Two Environment Variables to Get Started!

EDIT 2025.03.29 - If you're looking for an easier way to install OliveTin-for-Channels, and you already have Portainer installed, this is the place. If you don't have Portainer installed either, there's an even easier way ot get Portainer and OliveTin-for-Channels up-and-running: Given the kind of download numbers OliveTin-for-Channels has enjoyed (pushing towards 25K), it's clear that most users have been able to spin-it-up without assistance. Having said that, there's also clearly another …

Two variables will get you OliveTin EZ-Start running, then the parent path to where your OliveTin data is stored is about the only mandatory variable. In your case you should probably have the data for the ALERT_xxx variables too, as I know you use e-mail alerts.

Either delete your current OliveTin Portainer token before you start, or re-use your current one if you have it saved somewhere.

[jsfullam]

I have been curious to test your Olivetin EZ-Start. Now, I have a good reason to give it a shot.
Fortunately, I still have my Portainer token saved. I may have found some of the other variables I used before.

[jsfullam]

So, I almost have it back to normal.

I think that I may have my DVR_SHARE and/or LOGS_SHARE folders incorrectly identified.
From the Olivetin Post-Install Healthcheck:

/volume1/ChannelsDVR

If the listed folders are NOT visible, AND you have your Channels DVR and Docker on the same system:

Channels reports this path as...
/volume1/ChannelsDVR

----------------------------------------

Checking that your selected Channels DVR server's log files (/mnt/192.168.1.100-8089_logs) are accessible:
Folders with the names data and latest should be visible...

total 0
drwxrwxrwx 1 root   root       36 May  4 13:50 #recycle
d--------- 1 root   root      124 Jun 19 20:19 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 root   root      124 Jul 11 15:59 ..
drwxrwxrwx 1 root   root       24 Jun 17 09:58 @eaDir
d--------- 1   1026 users    1320 Jul 11 00:05 Database
d--------- 1   1026 users  491078 Jul 11 15:36 Images
d--------- 1   1026 users      28 May  5  2024 Imports
d--------- 1   1026 users      32 Aug 31  2022 Logs
d--------- 1   1026 users  224824 Jul 11 02:59 Movies
drwx------ 1 242120 242120     16 Dec  5  2022 PlayOn
d--------- 1   1026 users      40 Jun 19 20:19 Streaming
d--------- 1   1026 users   15646 Jul 10 19:59 TV

Docker reports your current LOGS_SHARE setting as...
/volume1/ChannelsDVR

If the listed folders are NOT visible, AND you have your Channels DVR and Docker on the same system:

Channels reports this path as...
/var/packages/ChannelsDVR/target/channels-dvr

[jsfullam]

I fixed it. I dug around to find that you helped me with this exact problem on my first Olivetin deployment.

Project One-Click: All-in-One Installations of Docker Extensions and CDVR Custom Channels

For anybody else wondering about this, the path can be derived in OliveTin, using: [screenshot-htpc6-2024.04.11-15_55_22] Search the last 100000 lines for [SYS] Starting Channels: [screenshot-htpc6-2024.04.11-15_59_41] And: [screenshot-htpc6-2024.04.11-16_03_44] The path you want for LOGS_SHARE is everything up to, but not including /data, in the path shown. This is for people where OliveTin and Channels DVR are on the same system. For those where they are separate, this is the path yo…

I needed to make the following change to the ENV:
LOGS_SHARE=/var/packages/ChannelsDVR/target/channels-dvr

I also see that the Health check I ran today suggested that very same thing. My aging brain couldn't quite put it all together.

[cyoungers]

I've moved my channelsDVR server over to a MINI-S PC running Ubuntu and that seems to be working. So I ran the EZ start to install OliveTin and got that running. Now I want to run the Fix YouTube Thumbnails script but I'm getting errors. Here is the Standard Error. Any ideas what might be happening?

+ for id in "${ids[@]}"
+ echo 'Fixing thumbnails for video_group videos-e1a94ec86060971a293bcf7223a9a6998d15ef92bd2ef48e44e4984d58a30fef'
+ ruby /config/fix_thumbnails.rb videos-e1a94ec86060971a293bcf7223a9a6998d15ef92bd2ef48e44e4984d58a30fef
/usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:960:in `initialize': Failed to open TCP connection to :8089 (Connection refused - connect(2) for nil port 8089) (Errno::ECONNREFUSED)
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:960:in `open'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:960:in `block in connect'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/timeout.rb:95:in `block in timeout'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/timeout.rb:105:in `timeout'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:958:in `connect'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:943:in `do_start'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:932:in `start'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:1483:in `request'
	from /var/lib/gems/2.7.0/gems/httparty-0.23.1/lib/httparty/request.rb:157:in `perform'
	from /var/lib/gems/2.7.0/gems/httparty-0.23.1/lib/httparty.rb:621:in `perform_request'
	from /var/lib/gems/2.7.0/gems/httparty-0.23.1/lib/httparty.rb:531:in `get'
	from /var/lib/gems/2.7.0/gems/httparty-0.23.1/lib/httparty.rb:654:in `get'
	from /config/fix_thumbnails.rb:7:in `<main>'
/usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:960:in `initialize': Connection refused - connect(2) for nil port 8089 (Errno::ECONNREFUSED)
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:960:in `open'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:960:in `block in connect'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/timeout.rb:95:in `block in timeout'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/timeout.rb:105:in `timeout'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:958:in `connect'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:943:in `do_start'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:932:in `start'
	from /usr/lib/ruby/2.7.0/net/http.rb:1483:in `request'
	from /var/lib/gems/2.7.0/gems/httparty-0.23.1/lib/httparty/request.rb:157:in `perform'
	from /var/lib/gems/2.7.0/gems/httparty-0.23.1/lib/httparty.rb:621:in `perform_request'
	from /var/lib/gems/2.7.0/gems/httparty-0.23.1/lib/httparty.rb:531:in `get'
	from /var/lib/gems/2.7.0/gems/httparty-0.23.1/lib/httparty.rb:654:in `get'
	from /config/fix_thumbnails.rb:7:in `<main>'```

[bnhf]

@cyoungers

Now I want to run the Fix YouTube Thumbnails script but I'm getting errors.

How do results look when you run the OliveTin Post-Install Healthcheck? It looks like you're not reaching your CDVR server in what you posted. Did you install Ubuntu Server or Ubuntu Desktop?

[cyoungers]

I believe desktop. Was that a mistake?

Checking your OliveTin-for-Channels installation...
(extended_check=false)

OliveTin Container Version 2025.04.22
OliveTin Docker Compose Version 2025.03.26

----------------------------------------

Checking that your selected Channels DVR server (:8089) is reachable by URL:
HTTP Status: 200 indicates success...

curl: (3) URL using bad/illegal format or missing URL
HTTP Status: 000
Effective URL: http://:8089

----------------------------------------

Checking that your selected Channels DVR server's data files (/mnt/-8089) are accessible:
Folders with the names Database, Images, Imports, Logs, Movies, Streaming and TV should be visible...


If the listed folders are NOT visible, AND you have your Channels DVR and Docker on the same system:

Channels reports this path as...

----------------------------------------

Checking that your selected Channels DVR server's log files (/mnt/-8089_logs) are accessible:
Folders with the names data and latest should be visible...


If the listed folders are NOT visible, AND you have your Channels DVR and Docker on the same system:

Channels reports this path as...

----------------------------------------

Checking if your Portainer token is working on ports 9000 and/or 9443:

Portainer http response on port 9000 reports version 
Portainer Environment ID for local is 
Portainer https response on port 9443 reports version 
Portainer Environment ID for local is 

----------------------------------------

Here's a list of your current OliveTin-related settings:

HOSTNAME=olivetin
CHANNELS_DVR=:8089
CHANNELS_DVR_ALTERNATES=
CHANNELS_CLIENTS=
ALERT_SMTP_SERVER=
ALERT_EMAIL_FROM=[Redacted]@
ALERT_EMAIL_PASS=[Redacted]
ALERT_EMAIL_TO=[Redacted]@
UPDATE_YAMLS=true
UPDATE_SCRIPTS=true
PORTAINER_HOST=
PORTAINER_PORT=9443
PORTAINER_ENV=2

----------------------------------------

Here's the contents of /etc/resolv.conf from inside the container:

# Generated by Docker Engine.
# This file can be edited; Docker Engine will not make further changes once it
# has been modified.

nameserver 127.0.0.11
search 
options ndots:0

# Based on host file: '/etc/resolv.conf' (internal resolver)
# ExtServers: [host(192.168.0.80) host(192.168.0.166) host(100.100.100.100)]
# Overrides: [search]
# Option ndots from: internal

----------------------------------------

Here's the contents of /etc/hosts from inside the container:

127.0.0.1	localhost
::1	localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
fe00::	ip6-localnet
ff00::	ip6-mcastprefix
ff02::1	ip6-allnodes
ff02::2	ip6-allrouters
172.18.0.3	olivetin```

[bnhf]

@cyoungers

I believe desktop. Was that a mistake?

Generally you want to use Server, unless you have a specific reason to use Desktop. You'll have the occasional unexpected hoop to jump through with Desktop.

Check your OliveTin Portainer stack, it doesn't appear you have a value entered for CHANNELS_DVR_HOST or PORTAINER_HOST at a minimum.

[cyoungers]

How embarrassing. I installed OliveTin via EZ-Start but I did not continue to follow your remaining directions on generating the environment variables.

I'm getting the Fix YouTube thumbnails to work. Thanks for the help.

[jsfullam]

@bnhf , After reinstalling OliveTin, I notice that it seems to behave a little differently now.

In the past, when choosing one of the actions, the window which opened to make entries for some of the variables used to populate with the last used previous value.

For instance, dvr: 192.168.1.100:8089, as below:

Now, it seems to only populate with blanks or default arguments,
For instance, dvr: none, as below:

To fill the variable entry box, I have to clear the "none" value and click or start typing. Then, previous values appear in a drop-down list.

[bnhf]

@jsfullam

I notice that it seems to behave a little differently now.

Could you post the full Standard Output from the OliveTin Post-Install Healthcheck. The one from 9 days ago is only part of the output.