Docker container for CTBRec server

CTBRec is a streaming media recorder.

NOTE: Recommend you create a new container using the info below.

Table of Content

Docker container for CTBRec server

Quick Start

NOTE: The Docker command provided in this quick start is given as an example and parameters should be adjusted to your need.

Launch the CTBRec server docker container with the following command:

docker run -d \
    --name=ctbrec-debian \
    -p 8080:8080 \
    -p 8443:8443 \
    -v /home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw \
    -v /home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw \
    -e TZ=Australia/Sydney \
    -e PGID=1000 \
    -e PUID=1000 \
    jafea7/ctbrec-debian

Where:

/home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec: This is where the application stores its configuration and any files needing persistency.
/home/ctbrec/media: This is where the application stores recordings.
TZ: The timezone you want the application to use, files created will be referenced to this.
PGID: The Group ID that CTBRec will run under.
PUID: The User ID that CTBRec will run under.

Browse to http://your-host-ip:8080 to access the CTBRec web interface, (or https://your-host-ip:8443 if TLS is enabled).

NOTE: If it's your initial use of this image then a default config is copied that already has the web interface enabled along with TLS.

Usage

docker run [-d] \
    --name=ctbrec-debian \
    [-e <VARIABLE_NAME>=<VALUE>]... \
    [-v <HOST_DIR>:<CONTAINER_DIR>[:PERMISSIONS]]... \
    [-p <HOST_PORT>:<CONTAINER_PORT>]... \
    jafea7/ctbrec-debian

Parameter	Description
-d	Run the container in the background. If not set, the container runs in the foreground.
-e	Pass an environment variable to the container. See the Environment Variables section for more details.
-v	Set a volume mapping (allows to share a folder/file between the host and the container). See the Data Volumes section for more details.
-p	Set a network port mapping (exposes an internal container port to the host). See the Ports section for more details.

Environment Variables

To customize some properties of the container, the following environment variables can be passed via the -e parameter (one for each variable). Value of this parameter has the format <VARIABLE_NAME>=<VALUE>.

Variable	Description	Default
`TZ`	[TimeZone] of the container. Timezone can also be set by mapping `/etc/localtime` between the host and the container.	`UTC`
`PGID`	Group ID that will be used to run CTBRec within the container.	`1000`
`PUID`	User ID that will be used to run CTBRec within the container.	`1000`

Data Volumes

The following table describes data volumes used by the container. The mappings are set via the -v parameter. Each mapping is specified with the following format: <HOST_DIR>:<CONTAINER_DIR>[:PERMISSIONS].

Container path	Permissions	Description
`/app/config`	rw	This is where the application stores its configuration and any files needing persistency.
`/app/captures`	rw	This is where the application stores recordings.

Ports

Here is the list of ports used by the container. They can be mapped to the host via the -p parameter (one per port mapping). Each mapping is defined in the following format: <HOST_PORT>:<CONTAINER_PORT>. The port number inside the container cannot be changed, but you are free to use any port on the host side.

Port	Mapping to host	Description
8080	Mandatory	Port used to serve HTTP requests.
8443	Mandatory	Port used to serve HTTPs requests.

Changing Parameters of a Running Container

As seen, environment variables, volume mappings and port mappings are specified while creating the container.

The following steps describe the method used to add, remove or update parameter(s) of an existing container. The generic idea is to destroy and re-create the container:

Stop the container (if it is running):
```
docker stop ctbrec-debian
```
Remove the container:
```
docker rm ctbrec-debian
```
Create/start the container using the docker run command, by adjusting parameters as needed.

NOTE: Since all application's data is saved under the /app/config and /app/captures container folders, destroying and re-creating a container is not a problem: nothing is lost and the application comes back with the same state (as long as the mapping of the /app/config and /app/captures are the same as previously used).

Docker Compose File

Here is an example of a docker-compose.yml file that can be used with Docker Compose.

Make sure to adjust according to your needs. Note that only mandatory network ports are part of the example.

version: '2.1'
services:
  ctbrec-debian:
    image: jafea7/ctbrec-debian
    container_name: "CTBRec-Debian"
    environment:
      - TZ=Australia/Sydney
      - PGID=1000
      - PUID=1000
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "8443:8443"
    volumes:
      - "/home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw"
      - "/home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw"
    restart: "unless-stopped"

QNap Installs

When you create the container using Container Station specify the PUID and PGID environment variables, (you can't do this later).

You may need to set PGID = 0 and PUID = 0, ie. CTBRec runs as root within the container.

Docker Image Update

If the system on which the container runs doesn't provide a way to easily update the Docker image, the following steps can be followed:

Fetch the latest image:
```
docker pull jafea7/ctbrec-debian
```
Stop the container:
```
docker stop jafea7/ctbrec-debian
```
Remove the container:
```
docker rm jafea7/ctbrec-debian
```
Start the container using the docker run command.

Updating using docker-compose:

docker-compose pull && docker-compose up -d

Synology

For owners of a Synology NAS, the following steps can be used to update a container image.

Open the Docker application.
Click on Registry in the left pane.
In the search bar, type the name of the container (jafea7/ctbrec-debian).
Select the image, click Download and then choose the latest tag.
Wait for the download to complete. A notification will appear once done.
Click on Container in the left pane.
Select your CTBRec server container.
Stop it by clicking Action->Stop.
Clear the container by clicking Action->Clear. This removes the container while keeping its configuration.
Start the container again by clicking Action->Start.

NOTE: The container may temporarily disappear from the list while it is re-created.

unRAID

For unRAID, a container image can be updated by following these steps:

Select the Docker tab.
Click the Check for Updates button at the bottom of the page.
Click the update ready link of the container to be updated.

Accessing the GUI

Assuming that container's ports are mapped to the same host's ports, the interface of the application can be accessed with a web browser at:

http://<HOST IP ADDR>:8080

Or if TLS is enabled:

https://<HOST IP ADDR>:8443

Shell Access

To get shell access to the running container, execute the following command:

docker exec -ti CONTAINER sh

Where CONTAINER is the ID or the name of the container used during its creation (e.g. ctbrec-debian).

Default Web Interface Access

After a fresh install and the web interface is enabled, the default login is:

Username: ctbrec
Password: sucks

Change the username/password via the WebUI, you will need to log into it again after saving.

NOTE: A fresh start of the image will include a current default server.json, (if it doesn't exist already), with the following options set:

"deleteOrphanedRecordingMetadata" : true,
"downloadFilename": "$sanitize(${modelName})_$sanitize(${siteName})_$format(${localDateTime},yyyyMMdd-hhmmss).${fileSuffix}"
"recordingsDirStructure": "ONE_PER_MODEL"
"totalModelCountInTitle": true
"transportLayerSecurity": true
"webinterface": true

These post-processing steps will be set in the default config:

Run external script dopp.sh to check the existence of the flag file to enable or disable post-processing, (see Ancillary Scripts);
Run external script plcheck.sh which checks the playlist.m3u8 generated by CTBRec is terminated correctly, (see Ancillary Scripts);
Remux/Transcode to a matroska container;
(v3/4) Rename to the following: "${modelSantizedName})_${siteSanitizedName})_${localDateTime(yyyyMMdd-HHmmss)}.${fileSuffix}";
(v5+) Rename to the following: "$sanitize(${modelName})_$sanitize(${siteName})_$format(${localDateTime},yyyyMMdd-hhmmss).${fileSuffix}";
Create contact sheet: 8x7 images, 2560px wide, timecodes enabled, same file name format as the Rename step.

Logging

All logging is to the standard Docker logs, no log file is created either external or internal to the container.

If you want a log file then use the docker logs command, see Docker Logging and Docker Compose Logs.

Extras

Ancillary Scripts

dopp.sh

This script controls post-processing by checking the existence of a flag file.

Why does this script exist?

In case you're running the server on low powered hardware, (or some other reason), it gives you a way to defer post-processing to a time of your choosing without having to:

stop the server;
remove post-processing steps;
start the server;
wait for all your recordings to finish;
stop the server;
add the post-processing steps back;
start the server;
and finally Re-run post-processing from the client.

If the file dopp exists in the mapped /app/config directory then post-processing will continue as normal.

If the file does not exist then post-processing will be aborted and the recording marked as FAILED in the interface. To run post-processing on the recording, create the dopp file and Re-run post-processing via the context menu in the client.

The relevant entry for post-processing is:

    {
      "type": "ctbrec.recorder.postprocessing.Script",
      "config": {
        "script.params": "",
        "script.executable": "/app/dopp.sh"
      }
    }

NOTE: By default this script is the first step in post-processing and the dopp file will be created whenever the container is started so that post-processing works as normal.

plcheck.sh

A simple script that will check if playlist.m3u8 is terminated correctly, only useful if you don't record as a single file.

If the container is terminated without existing captures being finished correctly the playlist.m3u8 file won't be terminated with #EXT-X-ENDLIST which will cause ffmpeg to truncate the recording and take excessive time to process.

By default this step happens before any following remux, (obviously), in post-processing, if playlist.m3u8 doesn't exist, (in the case of Record Single File being enabled), or is correctly terminated it will exit otherwise it will append #EXT-X-ENDLIST to the file which will allow post-processing to be re-run without causing problems.

The relevant entry for post-processing is:

    {
      "type": "ctbrec.recorder.postprocessing.Script",
      "config": {
        "script.params": "${absolutePath}",
        "script.executable": "/app/plcheck.sh"
      }
    }

NOTE: The following Python scripts use the server API Python script that was created by Scooter and require three environment variables to be able to run.

You can specify them in a docker run command, docker-compose.yml, or .env file.

The defaults are:

Variable	Required	Meaning
SRVURL	Mandatory	URL of the WebUI, default is `https://127.0.0.1:8443`
SRVUSR	Mandatory	WebUI username, default is `ctbrec`
SRVPSS	Mandatory	WebUI password, default is `sucks`

Examples:

docker run -d \
    --name=ctbrec-debian \
    -p 8080:8080 \
    -p 8443:8443 \
    -v /home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw \
    -v /home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw \
    -e TZ=Australia/Sydney \
    -e PGID=1000 \
    -e PUID=1000 \
    -e SRVURL=https://127.0.0.1:8443
    -e SRVUSR=ctbrec
    -e SRVPSS=sucks
    jafea7/ctbrec-debian

version: '2.1'
services:
  ctbrec-debian:
    image: jafea7/ctbrec-debian
    container_name: "CTBRec-Debian"
    environment:
      - TZ=Australia/Sydney
      - PGID=1000
      - PUID=1000
      - SRVURL=https://127.0.0.1:8443
      - SRVUSR=ctbrec
      - SRVPSS=sucks
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "8443:8443"
    volumes:
      - "/home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw"
      - "/home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw"
    restart: "unless-stopped"

reclean.py

Automatically removes orphaned JSON files from the <config>/recordings directory left there by the removal of the media file.

This step should be the last in post-processing and the factors required for a JSON file to be removed are:

the media file does not exist;
the status of the recording was FINISHED.

The relevant entry for post-processing is:

    {
      "type": "ctbrec.recorder.postprocessing.Script",
      "config": {
        "script.params": "",
        "script.executable": "/app/reclean.py"
      }
    }

reclaim.py

reclaim.py recovers drive space by automatically deleting the oldest non-pinned captures until the required amount of drive space is free.

Besides the above three environment variables it requires one more to specify the minimum amount of space to recover, it can be specified in docker run command, docker-compose.yml, or .env file.

Variable	Required	Description
RECOVER	Mandatory	Specifies the minimum amount of space to recover in bytes

NOTE: Do NOT set the value so that the resultant required free space is larger than the available drive space.

This script should be used by adding to the Events & Actions section of the settings.

For example:

  "eventHandlers": [
    {
      "actions": [
        {
          "configuration": {
            "file": "/app/reclaim.py"
          },
          "name": "execute reclaim.py",
          "type": "ctbrec.event.ExecuteProgram"
        }
      ],
      "event": "NO_SPACE_LEFT",
      "id": "5a1beebb-32dd-43cd-9848-b894121374fe",
      "name": "Delete oldest video",
      "predicates": [
        {
          "configuration": {},
          "name": "no space left",
          "type": "ctbrec.event.MatchAllPredicate"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],

Send2 Scripts

Included are four scripts that will send a contact sheet created by post-processing to a designated Discord, Telegram channel, email address, or POST to HTTP site.

The scripts are called send2discord.sh, send2telegram.sh, send2email.sh, and send2http.sh respectively, they reside in the /app directory, they are designed to be called after creation of the contact sheet, (no point calling them before a contact sheet is created).

The relevant entries for post-processing are, for example:

    {
      "type": "ctbrec.recorder.postprocessing.Script",
      "config": {
        "script.params": "${absolutePath} ${modelDisplayName} $format(${localDateTime},yyyyMMdd-hhmmss)}",
        "script.executable": "/app/send2discord.sh"
      }
    }

    {
      "type": "ctbrec.recorder.postprocessing.Script",
      "config": {
        "script.params": "${absolutePath} ${modelDisplayName} $sanitize(${siteName}) $format(${localDateTime},yyyyMMdd-hhmmss)}",
        "script.executable": "/app/send2telegram.sh"
      }
    }

    {
      "type": "ctbrec.recorder.postprocessing.Script",
      "config": {
        "script.params": "${absolutePath} ${modelDisplayName} $sanitize(${siteName}) $format(${localDateTime},yyyyMMdd-hhmmss)}",
        "script.executable": "/app/send2email.sh"
      }
    }

    {
      "type": "ctbrec.recorder.postprocessing.Script",
      "config": {
        "script.params": "${absolutePath} ${modelDisplayName} $sanitize(${siteName}) $format(${localDateTime},yyyyMMdd-hhmmss)}",
        "script.executable": "/app/send2http.sh"
      }
    }

The first variable needs to be ${absolutePath}, (needed to determine the contact sheet path/name), the following arguments can be anything and any number, (within reason), they will be concatenated with - and used as the subject.

The duration of the video will be concatenated at the end as : hh:mm:ss.

To designate the Discord channel it is to be sent to, create an environment variable called DISCORDHOOK with the Discord Webhook.

See here for how to get it.

For example:

docker run -d \
    --name=ctbrec-debian \
    -p 8080:8080 \
    -p 8443:8443 \
    -v /home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw \
    -v /home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw \
    -e TZ=Australia/Sydney \
    -e PGID=1000 \
    -e PUID=1000 \
    -e DISCORDHOOK=https://discordapp.com/api/webhooks/<channelID>/<token> \
    jafea7/ctbrec-debian

version: '2.1'
services:
  ctbrec-debian:
    image: jafea7/ctbrec-debian
    container_name: "CTBRec-Debian"
    environment:
      - TZ=Australia/Sydney
      - PGID=1000
      - PUID=1000
      - DISCORDHOOK=https://discordapp.com/api/webhooks/<channelID>/<token>
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "8443:8443"
    volumes:
      - "/home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw"
      - "/home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw"
    restart: "unless-stopped"

To designate the Telegram channel you need to set two environment variables, CHAT_ID and TOKEN.

See here on how to get both.

For example:

docker run -d \
    --name=ctbrec-debian \
    -p 8080:8080 \
    -p 8443:8443 \
    -v /home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw \
    -v /home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw \
    -e TZ=Australia/Sydney \
    -e PGID=1000 \
    -e PUID=1000 \
    -e CHAT_ID=<chat_id> \
    -e TOKEN=<bot token> \
    jafea7/ctbrec-debian

version: '2.1'
services:
  ctbrec-debian:
    image: jafea7/ctbrec-debian
    container_name: "CTBRec-Debian"
    environment:
      - TZ=Australia/Sydney
      - PGID=1000
      - PUID=1000
      - CHAT_ID=<chat_id>
      - TOKEN=<bot token>
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "8443:8443"
    volumes:
      - "/home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw"
      - "/home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw"
    restart: "unless-stopped"

To send to an email address you need to set four environment variables, MAILSERVER, MAILFROM, MAILTO, and MAILPASS.

Variable	Required	Meaning
MAILSERVER	Mandatory	Address of the mail server in the form: `smtps://smtp.<domain>:<port>`
MAILFROM	Mandatory	Email address the emails are sent from.
MAILTO	Mandatory	Email address to send the emails to.
MAILPASS	Mandatory	Password for email account sending the emails.

For example:

docker run -d \
    --name=ctbrec-debian \
    -p 8080:8080 \
    -p 8443:8443 \
    -v /home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw \
    -v /home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw \
    -e TZ=Australia/Sydney \
    -e PGID=1000 \
    -e PUID=1000 \
    -e MAILSERVER=smtps://smtp.gmail.com:465 \
    -e MAILFROM=my_really_cool_email@gmail.com \
    -e MAILTO=woohoo_another_capture@gmail.com \
    -e MAILPASS=my_really_super_secret_p4ssw0rd \
    jafea7/ctbrec-debian

version: '2.1'
services:
  ctbrec-debian:
    image: jafea7/ctbrec-debian
    container_name: "CTBRec-Debian"
    environment:
      - TZ=Australia/Sydney
      - PGID=1000
      - PUID=1000
      - MAILSERVER=smtps://smtp.gmail.com:465
      - MAILFROM=my_really_cool_email@gmail.com
      - MAILTO=woohoo_another_capture@gmail.com
      - MAILPASS=my_really_super_secret_p4ssw0rd
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "8443:8443"
    volumes:
      - "/home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw"
      - "/home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw"
    restart: "unless-stopped"

NOTE: The following was a request by someone to add to the image and was written by them. I have no way to test it so I don't know if it works or not.

Send a POST request to an URL with postprocessing parameters.

Data will be sent as multipart/form-data.

Form Field	Description
file	relative path of the recording
sheet	the contact sheet file
duration	recording file length, format: `hh:mm:ss`
argv	`script.params` string set in server.json, base64encoded

You need three environment Variables: HTTP_URL, CURL_ARGS, and CURL_GET.

Variable	Required	Meaning
HTTP_URL	Mandatory	the url will send the http request to
CURL_ARGS	Optional	extra CURL arguments
CURL_GET	Optional	Send GET requests instead, no contact sheet

For example:

docker run -d \
    --name=ctbrec-debian \
    -p 8080:8080 \
    -p 8443:8443 \
    -v /home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw \
    -v /home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw \
    -e TZ=Australia/Sydney \
    -e PGID=1000 \
    -e PUID=1000 \
    -e HTTP_URL=http://some.url.org \
    -e CURL_ARGS=some_args \
    -e CURL_GET=true \
    jafea7/ctbrec-debian

version: '2.1'
services:
  ctbrec-debian:
    image: jafea7/ctbrec-debian
    container_name: "CTBRec-Debian"
    environment:
      - TZ=Australia/Sydney
      - PGID=1000
      - PUID=1000
      - HTTP_URL=http://some.url.org
      - CURL_ARGS=some_args
      - CURL_GET=true
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "8443:8443"
    volumes:
      - "/home/ctbrec/.config/ctbrec:/app/config:rw"
      - "/home/ctbrec/media:/app/captures:rw"
    restart: "unless-stopped"

For docker-compose you can also add the variables to the .env file and reference them from within the docker-compose.yml file.

Jafea7/ctbrec-debian

Docker container for CTBRec server

Table of Content

Quick Start

Usage

Environment Variables

Data Volumes

Ports

Changing Parameters of a Running Container

Docker Compose File

QNap Installs

Docker Image Update

Synology

unRAID

Accessing the GUI

Shell Access

Default Web Interface Access

Logging

Extras

Ancillary Scripts

dopp.sh

plcheck.sh

reclean.py

reclaim.py

Send2 Scripts