Automatic IPTV Network¶

The IPTV Automatic Network parses a playlist (in m3u format) and creates all muxes from this list.

Identifier¶

The URL (including query string) is used as the identifier. Changes to a URL (on a reload of the playlist) would mean Tvheadend sees the entry as a new "mux", existing muxes/URLs that are no longer present in the playlist will be removed.

Scanning¶

Tvheadend will (by default) probe each entry in the playlist for service details, depending on the size of the playlist, this can take a very long time. Some service providers don't allow this kind of probing/mass scanning and may deny (or rate limit) access to the streams, leading to scan failures. In such cases you must disable the probing, or set the maximum number of input streams.

Disable Service Probing/Speed up Scanning/Create Services Without Scanning¶

To create services without scanning/service probing you must set a Service ID (usually this value is 1) and turn off Scan after creation during the creation of an IPTV Automatic Network, existing networks can be edited and then forced scanned to achieve the same outcome. The prerequisite is that the imported IPTV MPEG-TS stream(s) only have one service with identical service identification (Service ID - SID).

Maximum Input Streams¶

If your provider only allows you to view a limited number of concurrent streams you'll need to enter this value into the _Maximum # input streams field for your network, not doing so may lead to scanning and/or tuning failures.

Determining Service ID (SID)¶

To determine the correct SID for your playlist follow these steps:

1. Open the m3u playlist in your favourite text editor and copy a URL, any url as long as it points to a MPEGTS stream. If you've already imported your playlist, done a scan & have successfully scanned service(s) you can skip this and the next two steps.
2. Create a new (temporary) IPTV network (not a IPTV Automatic Network) and add the copied URL as a new mux.
3. Tvheadend should now probe the URL for service details.
4. Now, In the Services tab, you should see a service in the grid, along with lots of other details, take note of the value under the Service ID column. See notes 1/2 below if you can't see the column or value.
5. Now that you have the correct SID, you can enter it into the Service ID field when creating (or editing) your automatic IPTV network. See note 1 below.

Notes¶

1. In order to see both Service ID and Scan after creation, or the Service ID column, the user interface View level must be set to Expert.
2. If you have no value under the Service ID column, Tvheadend has yet to probe the service or has failed to do so, check the log (click the bar at the bottom of the webui) for details. You can also force a scan/probe of a service by copying the play link (play icon, from the Services tab) into your favourite media player.

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The information on this page applies to Tvheadend version 4.2.1+.