Downloading files behind a reverse proxy with VLC on iOS

rohtua

Hi, I've been running TVHeadend for a while now and recently setup access behind a reverse proxy (with SSL). Through a browser everything works fine. I can access the UI and download recordings etc.

However when I try to download recordings via the VLC app on iOS they fail or an unplayable file is downloaded. If I access TVHeadend directly via the IP address (without SSL) the recordings download just fine as expected on iOS.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what the problem could be. The only thing changing is whether I'm accessing the files through the proxy or not but they download just fine through the proxy when using a browser. It's only when downloading through VLC on iOS using the proxy there's a problem (VLC on desktop downloads just fine as well).

I'm using NGINX Proxy Manager:

Scheme: http
IP: <<internal IP>>
Port: 9981

Block Common Exploits: Enabled
Websockets Support: Enabled

SSL:
Force SSL Enabled
HSTS: Enabled

Custom NGINX Configuration:

proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
proxy_buffering     off;
proxy_set_header Host $host$server_port;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;

Any help would be much appreciated.

DeltaMikeCharlie

rohtua Any help would be much appreciated.

I'm not saying that this is definitely NOT a TVH issue. Perhaps there is some unknown bug, for example.

However, have you tried posting your question to a VLC or iOS forum? Maybe someone there has encountered similar issues with other servers.

There is also this document on making TVH work behind a reverse proxy. See if it helps.

https://docs.tvheadend.org/documentation/https-access-via-reverse-proxy

rohtua

DeltaMikeCharlie Not as yet, given that it works without the proxy in front it seems more like a proxy/tvheadend issue. I've been through everything with a fine toothcomb at this point, all the headers etc. are being sent correctly by NPM and after further testing I realised that VLC is downloading the file but it isn't playable/recognisable until the extension is manually changed.

It appears to be something to do with combination of reverse proxy and lack of an extension in the URL that's causing VLC to not recognise the file. I say combination because without the proxy the file downloads as expected with the correct filename so something must be happening with a header somewhere but I've no idea what it could be as I've checked them with curl/postman on my laptop and everythings identical with/without the proxy.

If I add the below into the NPM config it wil download a playable file but doesn't pick up on the filename, just adds the .ts to the URL VLC sees and the GUID from the URL becomes the filename, and it isn't really a workable solution long term or for the others using tvheadend that aren't technical as the URL has to be manually modified to add the .ts in before attempting the download.

location ~ ^/dvrfile/(.*)\.ts$ { proxy_pass http://192.168.1.228:9981/dvrfile/$1; }