NextNVR

A simple, single-binary IP camera recorder. Think of it as a dashcam for your property.

Why NextNVR?

The open-source NVR landscape is rich with incredible projects — Frigate, Shinobi, ZoneMinder, Blue Iris alternatives — backed by passionate communities. They're powerful. They're feature-packed. But they've also become complex. Docker containers, AI pipelines, multi-service architectures, cloud integrations — for many users, it's too much.

NextNVR is different. It does one thing: continuously record your IP cameras to disk and let you review the footage. No AI, no cloud, no Docker — just a single Go binary you can run on a Raspberry Pi 5, an old thin client, or a VM. Deploy it in 30 seconds with a one-liner.

This project was built with the help of AI — designed through conversation, refined through iteration, and shaped by the simple principle that surveillance software should be boring. It should just work.

Quick Install

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

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

Supported Systems

Distro	Package Manager	Architecture
Debian 12+ / Ubuntu 22.04+	`apt`	amd64, arm64
Fedora 40+ / RHEL 9+	`dnf` / `yum`	amd64, arm64
Arch Linux	`pacman`	amd64, arm64
Alpine Linux	`apk`	amd64, arm64
Raspberry Pi 5	any above	arm64

What It Does

Feature	Detail
📹 Recording	Up to 8 cameras simultaneously, 5-minute MP4 clips, zero transcoding
💾 Storage	Flat per-camera directories, 7-day retention, auto-cleanup
🖥️ Live Wall	4×2 grid with auto-refreshing snapshots. Click for full live stream
🔍 Playback	Browse recordings by camera and date with snapshot thumbnails
⚙️ Setup Wizard	ONVIF auto-discovery + admin password setup on first run
🔐 Two-Port Auth	`:8080` with master login, `:8090` open viewer for LAN guests
🔒 100% Local	Everything runs on your hardware. No cloud, no subscriptions, no telemetry

Authentication

NextNVR runs two HTTP servers:

Port	Audience	Auth	Access
`8080`	You (admin)	Master login	Live Wall, Playback, Settings
`8090`	Guests / LAN	None	Live Wall only

First run: the setup wizard prompts you to set a master username and password. Until you do, both ports are open. Once saved, port 8080 requires login. Port 8090 stays open — ideal for a QR code at a guesthouse: "Watch what we watch."

Viewer port 8090 can be disabled by setting viewer.enabled: false in config.yaml.

To reset the master password, edit /opt/nextnvr/config.yaml and set auth.enabled: false, then restart.

Remote Access (Optional)

Dynamic DNS — use DuckDNS, No-IP, or Cloudflare for a domain name
Port forwarding — forward port 8080 to the NextNVR server (and 8090 if you want LAN guests to have open access)
For production, put NextNVR behind a reverse proxy (Zoraxy, Nginx) with HTTPS

Roadmap

Feature	Status
Continuous recording (`-c copy`, zero transcoding)	✅ Done
ONVIF auto-discovery + web setup wizard	✅ Done
Live wall with snapshot grid + focus view	✅ Done
Playback browser with date presets	✅ Done
7-day retention with auto-cleanup	✅ Done
Camera-triggered recording (ONVIF motion/person detection events via API)	🔜 Planned
NAS/SMB storage support (record to network share)	🔜 Planned
Multi-platform builds (Raspberry Pi, ARM SBCs)	🔜 Planned

Not Planned

❌ Cloud connectivity of any kind
❌ AI/ML object detection (use your camera's built-in detection)
❌ Mobile apps (the web UI is responsive and PWA-ready)

Server Commands

sudo systemctl status nextnvr      # is it running?
sudo systemctl restart nextnvr     # restart
sudo journalctl -u nextnvr -f      # watch logs

Config file: /opt/nextnvr/config.yaml Recordings: /mnt/recordings/

License

MIT — see LICENSE

Built with ❤️ and AI in Mindelo, Portugal. 🇵🇹

4.2 KiB Raw Blame History Unescape Escape