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Windows? #490

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@CapivaraTupiniquim

It would be good if there were support for Windows.

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  1. changed the title [-]Wiindows?[/-] [+]Windows?[/+] on Aug 16, 2026
  2. matteius commented on Aug 16, 2026

    @matteius
    Contributor

    You can run from windows via the published docker containers. There is no desire to add alternative code paths to call windows bindings on bare metal.

  3. matteius commented on Aug 17, 2026

    @matteius
    Contributor

    Closing with the documented support decision: Windows is supported through the published Docker containers. Native Windows bindings and separate bare-metal code paths are not planned.

  4. CapivaraTupiniquim commented on Aug 17, 2026

    @CapivaraTupiniquim
    Author

    Thanks for the reply! I'm going to try venturing into Docker and WSL. Do you recommend any guide or tutorial?

  5. matteius commented on Aug 17, 2026

    @matteius
    Contributor

    There is now — I wrote one prompted by your question: Running LightNVR on Windows with Podman + WSL2.

    It uses Podman rather than Docker Desktop. Both work and the container is identical, but Podman on WSL2 is the lighter setup: no background desktop service, no daemon running as SYSTEM, and no subscription requirement if you are somewhere that cares about that. If you would rather use Docker Desktop, DOCKER.md applies unchanged.

    The guide is written for someone starting from a clean Windows install, and it spends most of its length on the four things that are specific to running a recorder on Windows rather than Linux:

    • Reaching the web UI from other devices. Podman publishes ports to 127.0.0.1 only, so out of the box the UI works on the PC itself and nowhere else. Two documented ways to fix that.
    • Where the database lives. Do not put it on a C:\ path. Windows drives are exposed to Linux through DrvFs, which does not implement file locking the way SQLite expects — that combination corrupts databases. Named volumes instead.
    • ONVIF camera discovery. Multicast does not cross WSL's NAT, so set LIGHTNVR_ONVIF_NETWORK to your camera subnet and discovery works through a unicast sweep instead.
    • Staying running. Four separate things stop a recorder on a desktop OS — the container, the Podman machine (which starts at logon, not boot), Windows sleeping, and Update reboots. All four are covered.

    Roughly 20 minutes to a working install, most of it downloads.

    It is new, so if any step does not match what you actually see, say so here and I will correct it.

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