OneNVR - One Network Video Recorder

A lightweight, self-hosted Network Video Recorder (NVR) designed to run on modest hardware such as a Raspberry Pi with an attached drive. Records 24/7 RTSP streams from network cameras into segmented files with a built-in web interface for browsing, playback, and management.

Features

• Multi-camera recording — any number of RTSP cameras, each in its own storage directory
• Segmented recording — streams are saved in configurable-length segments (default 5 min) to limit data loss from file corruption
• Auto-restart — recording resumes automatically after unexpected interruptions
• Manual start/stop — per-camera controls in the dashboard; manual stop suppresses auto-restart until the camera is manually started again
• Hot-reload config — camera and settings changes apply within seconds without restarting the container
• Daily concatenation — optional job merges previous-day segments into a single file and removes the originals
• Retention cleanup — old recordings are deleted automatically based on configured retention days
• Dark web UI — dashboard, recordings browser with inline video player, camera management, and settings
• Login with password reset — credentials persist across container rebuilds; locked-out reset is file-based (admin access only for security reasons)

Deployment

docker-compose (recommended)

services:
  onenvr:
    container_name: onenvr
    hostname: onenvr
    image: drprash/onenvr:latest
    ports:
      - "80:5000"
    volumes:
      - /path/to/onenvr/config:/config
      - /path/to/onenvr/storage:/storage
    environment:
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - DEBUG=false
    restart: unless-stopped

docker run

docker run -d --name onenvr \
  -p 80:5000 \
  -v /path/to/onenvr/config:/config \
  -v /path/to/onenvr/storage:/storage \
  -e TZ=America/New_York \
  drprash/onenvr:latest

Volumes

Mount	Purpose
/config	config.yaml, credentials, and reset key
/storage	Recorded video files

Configuration

Camera and system settings are managed through the web interface or by editing /config/config.yaml directly. Changes are picked up automatically within a few seconds — no container restart needed.

config.yaml structure

cameras:
  - name: frontdoor
    rtsp_url: rtsp://user:password@192.168.1.10:554/stream1
    codec: copy
    interval: 300

  - name: backyard
    rtsp_url: rtsp://192.168.1.11:554/live
    codec: copy
    interval: 300

retention_days: 7
concatenation: true
concatenation_time: "02:00"
deletion_time: "01:00"

Options

Setting	Default	Description
cameras[].name	—	Unique camera identifier (alphanumeric, -, _). Used as the storage folder name.
cameras[].rtsp_url	—	Full RTSP URL including credentials if required.
cameras[].codec	copy	FFmpeg codec. copy (recommended) passes through the stream without re-encoding. Any FFmpeg-supported codec works.
cameras[].interval	300	Segment length in seconds (minimum 60).
retention_days	7	Recordings older than this are deleted by the daily cleanup job.
concatenation	true	Merge previous-day segments into a single file at concatenation_time.
concatenation_time	02:00	Time to run daily concatenation (24-hour HH:MM, local timezone).
deletion_time	01:00	Time to run daily cleanup (24-hour HH:MM, local timezone).

Set the TZ environment variable to run scheduled jobs in your local timezone (e.g. TZ=America/New_York).

Web Interface

Access the UI at http://<host>:80 (or whichever port you mapped).

Page	Path	Description
Dashboard	/	Camera health, disk usage, per-camera start/stop
Recordings	/recordings	Browse footage by camera → date → file; inline video player
Cameras	/cameras	Add, edit, and delete camera configurations
Settings	/settings	Retention, concatenation schedule, change password

The dashboard polls for live status every 8 seconds and updates camera badges and buttons without a page reload.

Authentication

On first access, create a username and password through the web interface. Credentials are stored in /config/auth.dat and persist across container rebuilds as long as the /config volume is preserved.

Change password

Go to Settings → Change Password while logged in.

Locked out / forgot password

1. Visit /forgot_password — a reset key is written to /config/password_reset.key.
2. Retrieve the key from the host (requires filesystem access):

   docker exec <container_name> cat /config/password_reset.key

3. Visit /reset_password, enter the key, and set a new password.

This flow is intentionally file-based so that only a server administrator can reset a lost password.

Building from source

git clone https://github.com/drprash/onenvr.git
cd onenvr

TIMESTAMP="$(date '+%Y%m%d-%H%M')"
docker build -t "${USER}/onenvr:${TIMESTAMP}" .

docker run -d --name onenvr \
  -p 80:5000 \
  -v /path/to/config:/config \
  -v /path/to/storage:/storage \
  "${USER}/onenvr:${TIMESTAMP}"

Logs

docker logs onenvr

For verbose output, set DEBUG=true in your environment variables.