Configuration - Access Entries

Setting up access control is an important initial step as the system is initially wide open.

Tvheadend verifies access by scanning through all enabled access control entries in sequence, from the top of the list to the bottom. The permission flags, streaming profiles, DVR config profiles, channel tags and so on are combined for all matching access entries. An access entry is said to match if the username / password matches and the IP source address of the requesting peer is within the prefix.

'Access Entries' Tab

'Access Entries' Tab


The following functions are available:

Button Function
Save Save any changes made to the access rules.
Undo Undo any changes made to the access rules since the last save.
Add Add a new access rule.
Delete Delete the selected access rule.
Move up Move the selected rule up one level (rules are executed top to bottom).
Move down Move the selected rule down one level (rules are executed top to bottom).
Edit Edit the selected access rule.
Help Display this help page.

Grid Items

The main grid items have the following functions:

Enabled : Enable this access control rule. Uncheck the box to disable.

Username : Login name to be used. If no username is required, this entry should contain a single asterisk (*).

Password : Login password to be used. If username is * (unused), the password should be the same (i.e. match any username/password combination, or no username/password required).

Language : Preferred language for EPG and DVR strings. This setting is merged with the languages set in the General / Base configuration. If the Web Interface Language setting is empty, this setting is also used for the application web interface.

Web Interface Language : Preferred language for the web interface. This selection is used only for the internationalization of Tvheadend’s web interface. EPG and DVR strings are handled using the Language settings.

Network prefix : IPv4 prefix for matching based on source IP address. If set to 0.0.0.0/0 it will match everything. The multiple networks can be delimited using comma or semicolon.

Web interface : Required for web user interface access. Also gives access to the EPG.

Admin : Enables access to the Configuration tab.

Streaming : Enables access to streaming functionality for HTTP (web).

Advanced Streaming : Enables access to advanced streaming function for HTTP (web) - like direct service or whole MPEG-TS stream (mux)..

HTSP Streaming : Enables access to streaming for the HTSP protocol (Movian, Kodi etc.).

Streaming Profile : Specify a streaming profile to be used when this user logs in; use the (default) stream if not specified.

Connection Limit Type : Allow to restrict the limit for connections to streaming or DVR only.

Limit Connections : If set, this will limit the number of concurrent streaming connections and DVR sessions a user is permitted to have. 0=disabled

Video Recorder : Enables access to all video recording functions. This also include administration of the auto recordings.

HTSP DVR : Enables access to video recording functions for the HTSP protocol (Movian, Kodi etc.).

All DVR : Enable to access to DVR entries created by other users (read-only).

All DVR (rw) : Enable to access to DVR entries created by other users with the ability to remove the DVR entries.

DVR Config Profile : If set, the user will only be able to use the DVR config profile equal to this value. Note that this field is unset when the DVR Config Profile is removed.

Min Channel Num : If non-zero, this sets the lower limit of the channels accessible by a user, i.e. the user will only be able to access channels where the channel number is equal to or greater than this value.

Max Channel Num : If non-zero, this sets the upper limit of the channels accessible by a user, i.e. the user will only be able to access channels where the channel number is equal to or less than this value.

Channel Tag : If set, the user will only be able to access channels containing this channel tag. Note that this field is unset when the channel tag is removed.

Comment : Allows the administrator to set a comment only visible in this editor. It does not serve any active purpose.


Let’s also take a look at an example:

Access Entries Example

Access Entries Example

The first line provide admin access to an admin user. As an extra precaution this user is only allowed to log in from the home network.

The second line provides unauthenticated (password-less) access from any 192.168.2.0 - 192.168.2.255 client for streaming functions. Typically, you would use this for your local media players at home (although Movian can prompt for username and password in its HTSP client)

The third line defines an xbmc user with world wide access for streaming (e.g. from Kodi) and with access privileges to modify recordings, etc. This would perhaps be used from a user’s workplace or via a mobile ‘phone.