Backend for The Tube

Tater Tube Server

The server gives every paired player the same Tube TV lineup plus Newznab Stream discovery, local movie, TV, and music libraries, resume history, activity tracking, and optional FFmpeg transcoding.

Latest server release Checking... Server release information loads from GitHub.

Open release

Tube TV

Build automatic and custom channels from local media, then tune the same scheduled lineup from every paired Tater Tube player.

Shared ScheduleGuideTaterText

Stream + Local

Use Newznab Stream for releases and Local Media for movies, series, music, resume playback, and category browsing.

NewznabLocal MediaMusic

Pair Players

Create short-lived PINs in the web UI, give players friendly names, and revoke or rename them later.

PINRenameDashboard

Docker install

Start with the latest container image.

The web UI runs on port 8080. Login is disabled by default so setup is quick on a trusted home network.

Docker pull

docker pull ghcr.io/tatertotterson/tater-tube-server:latest

docker-compose.yml

services:
  tater-tube-server:
    image: ghcr.io/tatertotterson/tater-tube-server:latest
    container_name: tater-tube-server
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    volumes:
      - /mnt/user/appdata/tater-tube-server/config:/config
      - /mnt/user/media/movies:/media/movies:ro
      - /mnt/user/media/tv:/media/tv:ro
    restart: unless-stopped

Open http://SERVER-IP:8080 after the container starts.

Tube TV

A shared, scheduled channel lineup built from your library.

The server plans the timeline ahead so every paired player sees the same program or commercial at the same moment. Automatic channels use library metadata for genres, decades, movies, and series; custom channels can include movies, entire series, seasons, or individual episodes and can claim a specific VCR-style channel number.

Automatic channels Editable custom channels Assigned channel numbers Shared timeline

Tater mascot for The Tube — Tube TV appears above Stream and Local when enabled on the server.

Station details

Commercial breaks, channel logos, a guide, and TaterText are part of the schedule.

Commercial Library

Upload local commercial videos into server categories. Tube TV selects only enabled categories, avoids repeats until the pool is exhausted, and keeps logos off during breaks.

Local UploadsCategoriesNo Repeat

Channel Logos

Choose a logo and its screen corner for each custom channel. Automatic channels can select fitting station marks from the bundled TV logo catalog.

WatermarkFour CornersPer Channel

Guide + TaterText

Channel 999 is a time-synced scrolling guide. High channel pages provide authentic blocky TaterText screens for status, now playing, server information, and controls.

CH 999Pages 100-888VCR Style

Downloads

Install the server from the Docker image.

The release publishes one multi-architecture container image tagged latest. Use the GitHub release for notes and the package page for container details.

Recommended

Docker Image

Multi-architecture container image for amd64 and arm64 hosts.

Dockeramd64arm64

Pull latest

docker pull ghcr.io/tatertotterson/tater-tube-server:latest

Open package

Release

Server Release Notes

View the current release notes, changelog, and source archives.

v1.0.0+ChangelogSource

Open release GitHub

Persistent data

Config Volume

Map one host folder to /config. It stores settings, player tokens, metadata, playback history, Tube TV schedules, commercial uploads, and working cache.

/configSettingsTV Data

Volume

- /mnt/user/appdata/tater-tube-server/config:/config

Local Media

Map host folders, then add container paths in the UI.

Mount host media folders read-only into the container. In Configuration -> Local Media, use container paths like /media/movies, not host paths. Scanned metadata powers library browsing, Continue Watching, Tape Deck music, automatic channels, and the custom channel builder.

Movies

Scans titles, dates, genres, duration, and artwork into a browsable movie library.

MoviesMetadataResume

TV Shows

Browses by series, season, and episode while tracking the next episode and current resume point.

SeriesSeasonsContinue Watching

Music + Folders

Provides server albums to Tape Deck and can also preserve a source folder's directory structure.

MusicTape DeckFolders

Dashboard + Activity

See what every player is doing.

The dashboard shows paired players and active streams. Activity keeps playback history for Tube TV, Stream, and Local with the player name, media title, time, duration, progress, and direct, software, or hardware-transcode details.

Named Players

Name each paired box for its room, then rename or revoke it from the server.

PIN PairingFriendly Names

Active Streams

See what is playing now, current progress, throughput, selected profile, and acceleration engine.

Now PlayingLive Stats

Playback Activity

Review completed and interrupted local, Tube TV, and Newznab playback in one VCR-themed history view.

HistoryPlayerHW Engine

Hardware transcoding

Enable FFmpeg profiles when the player needs a lighter stream.

The server includes CRT 480p, HDMI 1080p, and HDMI 4K profiles. The dashboard shows detected encoders and each active player card shows direct play, software transcode, or hardware transcode.

Intel/AMD/Pi device mapping

services:
  tater-tube-server:
    image: ghcr.io/tatertotterson/tater-tube-server:latest
    devices:
      - /dev/dri:/dev/dri
    volumes:
      - /path/to/tater-tube-server/config:/config

Hardware Detection

The server checks FFmpeg and available encoders from the Hardware Transcoding tab.

VAAPIQSVNVENC

Player Stats

The dashboard shows what each paired player is watching and whether hardware acceleration is active.

Now PlayingHW Status