Schedules Direct XMLTV Docker Service

This project provides a Docker container that automatically fetches TV schedule data from Schedules Direct on a schedule, converts it to XMLTV format, and serves it via HTTP for use with various home media applications.

This is particularly useful to connect Schedules Direct with Threadfin

Features

• Automatically fetches TV listings from Schedules Direct
• Converts listings to XMLTV format compatible with media center software
• Serves the XMLTV file via HTTP
• Periodically updates the listings data
• Runs in a Docker container for simple deployment

Quick Start - Docker Compose

Copy the docker-compose.yaml file from this project and deploy it using your favorite docker deployment software (such as Dockge, Portainer, or just docker compose up -d)

Set the environment variables for your setup as described below.

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose
• Schedules Direct subscription (username and password)

Setup

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/johnpc/schedules-direct-update-and-serve.git
   cd schedules-direct-update-and-serve

2. Create a .env file with your Schedules Direct credentials:

   SCHEDULES_DIRECT_USERNAME=your_username
   SCHEDULES_DIRECT_PASSWORD=your_password

3. Start the container:

   docker-compose up -d

Configuration

The service can be configured with custom lineups using the SD_LINEUPS environment variable. By default, it includes:

• USA-0000001-CUSTOM
• USA-DITV505-X
• USA-MI21464-X
• USA-YOUTUBE-X

You can modify these lineups by setting the SD_LINEUPS environment variable in your docker-compose.yaml file:

environment:
  - SD_LINEUPS=USA-0000001-CUSTOM,USA-DITV505-X,USA-MI21464-X,USA-YOUTUBE-X

Multiple lineups should be separated by commas.

Usage

Once running, the XMLTV file is available at:

http://your-server-ip:51969/tvxml.xml

You can use this URL in your media center software (such as Threadfin, Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, TVHeadend, etc.) as the source for your TV guide data.

How It Works

• The container runs a cron job that regularly updates the TV listings data
• tv_grab_zz_sdjson tool fetches data from Schedules Direct in JSON format
• The data is converted to XMLTV format
• Nginx serves the XMLTV file via HTTP on port 51969

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
SCHEDULES_DIRECT_USERNAME	Your Schedules Direct username
SCHEDULES_DIRECT_PASSWORD	Your Schedules Direct password
SD_LINEUPS	Comma-separated list of lineups to fetch (default: USA-0000001-CUSTOM,USA-DITV505-X,USA-MI21464-X,USA-YOUTUBE-X)
TZ	Timezone (default: UTC. Since it runs every day at midnight, choose a TZ where that is the time you want it to run.)

Volumes

The Docker Compose configuration creates a volume named xmltv_data to store the fetched data, ensuring it persists between container restarts.

Acknowledgements

This project uses the tv_grab_zz_sdjson tool to interact with the Schedules Direct API.