NextNVR

A lightweight, self-hosted video recorder for IP cameras. Records 8 RTSP streams into 5-minute MP4 clips with near-zero CPU usage. Built for the Casa Alba Mindelo guesthouse.

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Quick Install

Copy and paste this single line into your terminal:

curl -sSL https://git.lohmar.co.uk/cclohmar/NextNVR/raw/branch/main/setup.sh | bash

That's it. The script installs everything needed and starts NextNVR automatically.

Once done, open the web interface in your browser (the script prints the URL).

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Supported Systems

Distro	Package Manager	Status
Debian 12+ / Ubuntu 22.04+	apt	✅ Tested
Fedora 40+ / RHEL 9+	dnf / yum	✅
Arch Linux	pacman	✅
Alpine Linux	apk	✅
Other (systemd)	auto-detect	✅
Other (no systemd)	fallback to nohup	✅

• ARM64 (Raspberry Pi, etc.) — auto-detected
• Root or sudo — handles both

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What It Does

Feature	Detail
📹 Recording	8 cameras simultaneously, 5-minute MP4 clips
💾 Storage	Saves to /mnt/recordings/ — keeps 18 days, auto-deletes older
🖥️ Live Wall	4×2 grid showing all cameras at once. Click one to enlarge.
🔍 Playback	Browse recordings by camera and date with presets (Today, Yesterday, Last 7 Days)
⚙️ Setup Wizard	Scans your network for cameras and helps you name them
🔒 Local Only	Everything runs on your own hardware. No cloud, no subscriptions.

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Remote Access (Optional)

To access NextNVR from outside your home network:

1. Dynamic DNS — use a free provider like DuckDNS, No-IP, or Cloudflare to get a domain name (e.g. myhouse.duckdns.org)
2. Port forwarding — in your router settings, forward these ports to the NextNVR server:

Port	Service	Required
8080	Web UI	Yes
1984	Live streaming	Yes — live view won't work without it

Then access your cameras from anywhere: http://myhouse.duckdns.org:8080

⚠️ For production use, put NextNVR behind a reverse proxy (like Zoraxy or Nginx) with HTTPS to secure your connection.

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Server

What	Detail
Web interface	http://<server-ip>:8080
Config file	/opt/nextnvr/config.yaml
Recordings	/mnt/recordings/
Logs	sudo journalctl -u nextnvr -f (systemd) or tail -f /opt/nextnvr/nextnvr.log (nohup)

Useful Commands

sudo systemctl status nextnvr     # is it running?
sudo systemctl restart nextnvr    # restart after changing config
sudo systemctl stop nextnvr       # stop recording
sudo journalctl -u nextnvr -f     # watch live logs

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How It Works

IP Cameras                    NextNVR                        Your Browser
───────────                 ──────────                      ─────────────
192.168.1.201 ─┐                                          
192.168.1.202 ─┤   RTSP      FFmpeg -c copy      .mp4     http://192.168.1.10:8080
192.168.1.203 ─┼──────────►  (no re-encoding) ────────►   Live Wall + Playback
    ...        ┤              5 min segments               Settings + Setup
192.168.1.209 ─┘              auto-delete >18d

• Zero transcoding — FFmpeg copies the video stream directly. CPU stays under 5%.
• Crash-proof — if a camera disconnects, it auto-reconnects after 5 seconds.
• Atomic files — recording in progress uses .part.mp4. Only renamed to .mp4 when complete. No corrupted files.

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Adding or Changing Cameras

1. Open the web interface in your browser
2. Click the Settings tab
3. Click 🔍 Scan Network to find your cameras
4. Give each camera a name and description
5. Click 💾 Save Configuration
6. Restart: sudo systemctl restart nextnvr

Or edit the config file directly:

sudo nano /opt/nextnvr/config.yaml
sudo systemctl restart nextnvr

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Updating

curl -sSL https://git.lohmar.co.uk/cclohmar/NextNVR/raw/branch/main/setup.sh | bash

The script pulls the latest version and restarts the service automatically.

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Check
Can't open the web page	Is NextNVR running? sudo systemctl status nextnvr
No cameras showing	Check config.yaml — are camera IPs and passwords correct?
Recordings not saving	Does /mnt/recordings/ exist? Is the disk mounted? (df -h)
Disk full	Recordings older than 18 days are auto-deleted. Check df -h /mnt/recordings

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Built with ❤️ in Mindelo, Portugal. 🇵🇹