Hello,
The attached script will do the job.
Usage:
# Save the script inside any folder (e.g. $HOME/scripts/autodelete)
# Give it the executable access rights:
chmod a+x <path to autodelete>
# By default, the script runs in simulation mode and will not delete any file. It allows you to check its behaviour before you can use it in production.
Try a test run using:
/path/to/autodelete --space 20 <recordings_path>
where 20 is the amount (in GB) of space you want to free and recordings_path is the path where you keep your recordings.
# Sample output:
2012-05-18 22:51:00,275 INFO Cleaning 20.0 GB of .mkv files in folder /pchc_f/Recorded TV/
2012-05-18 22:51:00,348 INFO Current free space in /pchc_f/Recorded TV/ is 12.45 GB
2012-05-18 22:51:00,348 INFO At least 7.55 GB need to be cleaned
2012-05-18 22:51:00,348 INFO The following files need to be deleted:
2012-05-18 22:51:00,348 INFO * 01.33 GB - Sun Apr 1 10:05:00 2012 - /pchc_f/Recorded TV/Karambolage/ARTE-HD-Karambolage.2012-04-01.09-45.mkv
2012-05-18 22:51:00,349 INFO * 02.91 GB - Sun Apr 1 13:05:00 2012 - /pchc_f/Recorded TV/Philosophie/ARTE-HD-Philosophie.2012-04-01.12-30.mkv
2012-05-18 22:51:00,349 INFO * 02.37 GB - Sun Apr 1 15:10:00 2012 - /pchc_f/Recorded TV/Sherlock/France-4-Sherlock.2012-04-01.13-30.mkv
2012-05-18 22:51:00,350 INFO * 00.91 GB - Sun Apr 1 20:15:00 2012 - /pchc_f/Recorded TV/Karambolage/ARTE-HD-KARAMBOLAGE.2012-04-01.20-01.mkv
2012-05-18 22:51:00,350 INFO * 01.01 GB - Mon Apr 2 00:35:00 2012 - /pchc_f/Recorded TV/L'Øcho-des-lois/LCP-L'écho-des-lois.2012-04-02.00-00.mkv
# When you are sure that you have found the right settings, you can use the script in production by adding the --production switch. The files which were found in simulation mode will REALLY be deleted!
/path/to/autodelete --space 20 <recordings_path> --production
# You can then automate the execution of this script after each recording. Since I could not configure Tvheadend to run a post-processing script with arguments, you will have to create a script (e.g.
my_autodelete@) by copying and pasting the line you have come up with:
#!/usr/bin/env sh
/path/to/autodelete --space 20 <recordings_path> --production
# Give it the executable rights:
chmod a+x /path/to/my_autodelete
# Ask Tvheadend to run it after each recording by using the "web interface":http://localhost:9981/extjs.html, going to Configuration / DVR and set "Post-processor command" as /path/to/my_autodelete
You can then regularly check the work performed by the script by looking at the @/tmp/autodelete.log
file.
Richard Lloyd
A handy script, but beware about tvheadend directory permissions if you decide to delete an empty directory. If someone is recording in, say, /data/recordings, and records all programmes "flat" (no date or channel sub-directories), then if all the recordings are deleted in that dir (e.g. manually or by the autodelete script), then the next time autodelete runs, it will actually delete the /data/recordings empty dir itself.
Now, it may be that /data is writable by the tvheadhead user and it can just create /data/recordings again and carry on, but there's a decent chance it's a root-owned mount point and therefore future recordings will fail to start because /data/recordings isn't creatable.
What the script probably needs is to test that the parent directory of the empty dir to be deleted is writable by the tvheadend user (if it isn't, don't delete the empty dir).
Sébastien Aubry
Hi,
This new version (1.1) checks, before deleting an empty directory:
- that it has the write access rights on this directory
- that it is not the root directory
Moreover, the logs (including the exceptions) are now written to ~/.config/autodelete, using automatic rolling logs (like syslog).
I have been using this script in production for 3 weeks now, and I am extremely happy: I now record about 20 programs per day using Tvheadend, which are automatically deleted after about one month. I never run out of free space, which was a major cause of bugs when I did not have this script.
Richard Lloyd
I use XBMC as a front-end with tvheadend as the back-end and XBMC does offer the option to manually delete recordings (one at a time, ho hum), though there is an option in XBMC's System -> Settings -> Appearance -> File Lists to toggle this on or off. However, if I write click on a finished recording (Live TV -> Recordings), I'm presented with a "Delete" option even when I've turned off the rename/delete option in the XBMC Settings (duh! Bug?!).
What's a double whammy, though, is that if I attempt to delete a TV recording via XBMC as detailed above (and with the XBMC rename/delete option enabled), it will indeed remove it from the recordings list on XBMC, but doesnot delete it from the tvheadend backend, leaving potentially large files hanging around on the tvheadend server that - as people here seem to do - have to be deleted "again" from outside of XBMC.
As I've said in another thread, tvheadend leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to space management - there needs to be some status page with filestore stats and a warning appearing if it's getting now. As my above experience shows, deletion requests from the front-end should be passed back to the backend and acted upon (assuming permissions are OK), rather than giving the impression a programme has been deleted on the tvheadend filestore when it clearly hasn't.
Sébastien Aubry
Hi,
I just improved the "autodelete" script in order to allow to only keep the last 3 episodes of some shows (e.g. TV series, daily or frequent shows).
In combination with #1083 we will now get a much better space management, until #1398 is implemented.
Here is how I use it: I added a post-processor command to a script containing:
autodelete /pchc_f/Recorded\ TV --space 30 --production --limit_folders "Philosophie;Le-dessous-des-cartes;Yourope;Metropolis;Ludo;Le-petit-journal;Entrée-libre;Envoyé-spécial;Suspect-n°1;Silence,-ça-pousse;Personne-ne-bouge;Mystères-d'archives;Des-mots-de-minuit;Un-livre,-un-jour;Karambolage;La-grande-librairie;Ce-soir-(ou-jamais-\!);Le-blogueur;Les-aventuriers-d'Explô;Archipels;28-minutes"
the
--limit_folders
argument will only keep the last 3 recordings of the shows passed as an argument.
Mark Kirkpatrick
How does this clean the tvheadend DB of the recording so it is not under failed "File Missing" ?
Sébastien Aubry
Hi,
It does not clean the database automatically, but to my knowledge it is not needed anymore since the latest version of Tvheadend seems to notice that the recording was removed and to update the database automatically. Under XBMC I do not get any "file missing" issues anymore since a few versions of Tvheadend.
Mark Kirkpatrick
I still see them in tvheadend with a git build from 11 days ago. I wound up building a python script from the samples to delete the recordings from tvheadend. Some initial tests worked fine, I have not had time to use it in my automated scripts ( update the perl script that does comskip, CC capturing and handbrake re-encoding at very high compression 60min ~ 220MB ish ) But I think this fix will do the trick and I will have a clean process for comercial skipping -> transcoding -> and moving into xbmc that will run unattended for many months. Now if only I could get the episode data from the free listings program to match I would have a near perfect FREE TV recording system.
Sébastien Aubry
Hi,
What do you mean by "in Tvheadend"? In the web interface? Or in XBMC?
I am using the current stable version: Tvheadend 3.4.27. I have just made the test:
* Last file deleted by my script:
2013-10-29 07:25:00,168 INFO Cleaning 30.0 GB of ['mkv', 'ts'] files in folder /
pchc_f/Recorded TV
2013-10-29 07:25:00,223 INFO Current free space in /pchc_f/Recorded TV is 27.87
GB
2013-10-29 07:25:00,223 INFO At least 2.13 GB need to be cleaned
2013-10-29 07:25:00,223 INFO Now deleting the following files:
2013-10-29 07:25:00,226 INFO * 02.59 GB - Tue Oct 22 07:50:00 2013 - /pchc_f/R
ecorded TV/Yourope/ARTE-HD-Yourope.2013-10-22.07-15.mkv
* In the web interface > Finished recordings: I don't see it anymore!
* In XBMC > Live TV > Recordings: I don't see it anymore!
Sébastien Aubry
Hi,
As a matter of fact, you are right, it is now filed under "Failed recordings > File missing" in the web interface.
But it is not annoying since it is not listed anymore under XBMC. It is even a good thing that Tvheadend notices that the file is missing and does not list it to the clients!
This said, it is not a Failed recording. It could be an improvement in Tvheadend: the "Failed recordings" tab should be renamed for instance: "Failed or deleted recordings". Apart from that, I cannot see why you want to delete the recording from the database: it is an interesting fact, from a logging point of view, to remember that there used to be such a recording, and that it was deleted by the user. I can file a new demand if you think it would have an interest.
Mark Kirkpatrick
In my case the database is just full of old inaccurate junk after a few months since "all" the recordings are marked as failed and the original files *.mpg no longer exist. That is not tvheadends fault I am snatching files it created and transcoding/renaming/relocating them. Hence my original desire to have a command line recording delete. Since I have figured out how to do this with the python library and examples I am good to go. tvheadend is doing the correct thing since the file IS missing and no one told it to stop managing the recording.
Mark Kirkpatrick
I take the nice and small mkv files with the edl comercial cuts and move to my XBMC TV library then tell xbmc to refresh the library and all is good. I don't manage recordings from the tvheadend plugin because there are none (Since they all get marked as failed ). Only Live TV and EPG and scheduling of recordings.
Sébastien Aubry
Hi,
After a given number of days set up in the web interface (30 days for me), Tvheadend should not keep on managing the recordings. Doesn't it then delete the database record?
Do you lose any quality after transcoding with Handbrake? Can you share your scripts?
With my autodelete script, I do not have the problem you mention. The database is perhaps full of junk but it does not have any impact on my script nor on my XBMC setup (same as you: Live TV, EPG, recordings). I still don't get it why you want to delete these junk records.
Regards
Mark Kirkpatrick
I had not noticed it deleting recordings, I'll pay closer attention but there were a huge number.
Quality -- technically allways loose some but practically speaking none and from 5 GB -> 220MB is a no brainer, and you can allways adjust to suit your taste. You can get the commands from the scripts
Yes this is about keeping tvheadend clean not XBMC I understand that would not be an issue.
I guess the reason is I don't like the idea of endless litter accumnulating in the tvheadend configs. If the 30 days is true then it's probably not worth chasing.
I'll attach the scripts but i have never had much luck with forum restrictions. I hope they go thru. I've taken no time to make them "pretty".
Cheers
Mark
( mk_mp4_tv.pl is the postprocessor run from tvheadend the other mk* are just more conversion/transcode examples )
I also feed tvheadend EPG data with a simple script running two commands from cron :
./mc2xml -c us -g <zipcode>
cat xmltv.xml | tv_sort --by-channel | socat - UNIX-CONNECT:/root/.hts/tvheadend/epggrab/xmltv.sock
Mark Kirkpatrick
some screenshots to tie it together.
