Watcher - self-hosted video streaming server written in Go

Features

• Stream media on any device
  • Transcode files to .mp4 (H264/AAC)
  • Web-based remote client
  • Nothing to download or install
  • Files are stored and downloaded on your server
• Share downloads with friends
  • View all your friends’ shared downloads
  • High speed server-to-server transfer
• Mobile friendly web interface for torrenting
  • Private podcast URL for mobile devices (offline downloads)
  • Save files from your server to your computer
• Simple self-hosting
  • Public Docker image
  • Single Go binary
  • Automatic TLS using Let's Encrypt
  • Redirects http to https

Running

1. Get a server

Recommended Specs

• Type: VPS or dedicated
• Distribution: Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial)
• Memory: 1GB+
• Storage: 20GB+

Recommended Providers

• OVH
• Scaleway

2. Add a DNS record

Create a DNS A record in your domain pointing to your server's IP address.

Example: watcher.example.com A 172.16.1.1

3. Enable Let's Encrypt

When enabled with the --letsencrypt flag, watcher runs a TLS ("SSL") https server on port 443. It also runs a standard web server on port 80 to redirect clients to the secure server.

Requirements

• Your server must have a publicly resolvable DNS record.
• Your server must be reachable over the internet on ports 80 and 443.

4. Standalone

# Install ffmpeg.
$ sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:jonathonf/ffmpeg-3
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install -y wget ffmpeg x264

# Download the watcher binary.
$ sudo wget -O /usr/bin/watcher https://github.com/watchercloud/watcher/raw/master/watcher-linux-amd64

# Make it executable.
$ sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/watcher

# Allow it to bind to privileged ports 80 and 443.
$ sudo setcap cap_net_bind_service=+ep /usr/bin/watcher

# Enable Let's Encrypt using your domain for automatic TLS configuration.
$ watcher --http-host watcher.example.com --http-username $USER --download-dir $HOME/Downloads --letsencrypt
INFO[0000] Watcher URL: https://watcher.example.com/watcher
INFO[0001] Login credentials: <username> / <password>

Usage

Example usage:

$ watcher --letsencrypt --http-host watcher.example.com --download-dir /home/ubuntu/Downloads

Usage of watcher-linux-amd64:
  -backlink string
    	backlink (optional)
  -debug
    	debug mode
  -download-dir string
    	download directory (default "/data")
  -http-addr string
    	listen address (default ":80")
  -http-host string
    	HTTP host
  -http-prefix string
    	HTTP URL prefix (not supported yet) (default "/watcher")
  -http-username string
    	HTTP basic auth username (default "watcher")
  -letsencrypt
    	enable TLS using Let's Encrypt
  -metadata
    	use metadata service
  -reverse-proxy-header string
    	reverse proxy auth header (default "X-Authenticated-User")
  -reverse-proxy-ip string
    	reverse proxy auth IP
  -torrent-addr string
    	listen address for torrent client (default ":61337")
  -version
    	display version and exit

Run as a Docker container

The official image is watchercloud/watcher, which should run in any up-to-date Docker environment.

Follow the official Docker install instructions: Get Docker CE for Ubuntu

# Your download directory should be bind-mounted as `/data` inside the container using the `--volume` flag.
$ mkdir /home/<username>/Downloads

$ sudo docker create                            \
    --name watcher --init --restart always      \
    --publish 80:80 --publish 443:443           \
    --volume /home/<username>/Downloads:/data   \
    watchercloud/watcher:latest --letsencrypt --http-host watcher.example.com

$ sudo docker start watcher

$ sudo docker logs -f watcher
time="2027-01-19T00:00:00Z" level=info msg="Watcher URL: https://watcher.example.com/watcher"
time="2027-01-19T00:00:00Z" level=info msg="Login credentials: watcher / 924433342"

INFO[0000] Watcher URL: https://watcher.example.com/watcher
INFO[0001] Login credentials: watcher / 398032092

Updating the container image

Pull the latest image, remove the container, and re-create the container as explained above.

# Pull the latest image
$ sudo docker pull watchercloud/watcher

# Stop the container
$ sudo docker stop watcher

# Remove the container (data is stored on the mounted volume)
$ sudo docker rm watcher

# Re-create and start the container
$ sudo docker create ... (see above)

Using screen to run in debug mode

If you're having problems, it might help to run watcher in a screen session with debug logging enabled.

# Install screen
$ screen || sudo apt-get install -y screen

# Launch in a detached screen session.
$ screen -S watcher -d -m watcher --debug --letsencrypt --http-host <your domain name>

# List all screen sessions.
$ screen -ls

# Attach to the running session.
$ screen -r watcher

# Press ctrl-a + ctrl-d to detach.

Building

The easiest way to build the static binary is using the Dockerfile.build file. You can also build a docker image for running the binary.

# Download the git repo.
$ git clone https://github.com/watchercloud/watcher.git
$ cd watcher/

# Compile the code and create a Docker image for it.
$ sudo docker build --build-arg WATCHER_VERSION=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD) -t watcher:build -f Dockerfile.build .

# Create a container based on the image we just built.
$ sudo docker create --name watcherbuild watcher:build

# Extract the binary from the image.
$ sudo docker cp watcherbuild:/usr/bin/watcher-linux-amd64 watcher-linux-amd64

# We're done with the build container.
$ sudo docker rm watcherbuild

# Inspect the binary.
$ file watcher-linux-amd64
watcher-linux-amd64: ELF 64-bit LSB  executable, x86-64, version 1 (GNU/Linux), statically linked, for GNU/Linux 2.6.32, BuildID[sha1]=c2a6f5a9e12c8c35117ec52c3572bf844c510957, stripped

# Run the binary.
$ ./watcher-linux-amd64 --help

# Build a tiny alpine "runner" image.
$ sudo docker build -t watcher:latest .

Thanks

Thanks to all the projects and developers that made this project possible.

• The free certificate for your server comes from Let's Encrypt, which is doing a lot of good in the world. Get your company to sponsor them!