Lantube:

Youtube video player from LAN

• Converts any computer into a Youtube video player, controlled from a browser or command line tools (optional, requires Python, cURL and/or SSH)
• Uses local media player software, like OMXPLAYER (tested, default), MPV and VLC (not all features working)
• Runs as a service in a media center computer, like a Raspberry Pi, with very few configs
• Users in the same LAN area can add and play (and stop) any Youtube video
• Use of Lantube in untrusted LANs or over the Internet is possible but not recommended at all
• Supports Chromecast (tested with Googlecast) with castnow

Requirements and Notices:

• Lantube is tested only on Debian-based systems
• This installation works out of the box if Node.js and REDIS or MongoDB are installed (and running)
• Requires a local media player like OMXPLAYER (Raspberry Pi only), MPV, VLC, etc. to work. If no player is set (or if .env file is missing), it will try to use MPV as default player
• If your player fails to play Youtube streams, you can search for answers online for your particular case, as players, systems and distros can have different configurations
• DB connection can be a remote MongoDB, like mLab, AWS Cloud, Openshift (only DB service)
• Chromecast dongle [optional]

Supported players

• MPV
• VLC (fails? see Updating the VLC YouTube parser)
• OMXPLAYER (Raspberry Pi)
• Chromecast with castnow

Installation

• Clone this repo with:

$ git clone https://github.com/andrrrl/lantube

• Install Lantube:

$ npm install

• Will auto-run npm install
• Also will run node ./tools/install.js, a tiny tool that creates a default .env file (see below)

Server:

Just run one of the following commands:

Livereload mode (default, better for dev):

 $ npm start 

It will transpile typescript to javascript and serve nodemon

Client (Browser):

• Use project lantube-mobile, which runs in http://localhost:8100 in any modern browser
• LAN: Get your server's IP number and navigate to http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3000 from any modern browser

Client (CLI):

• WIP Python CLI (full featured):
  1. $ cd cli/python
  2. $ python lantube-cli.py help
• WIP Node.js CLI (for quick tests):
  1. $ cd cli/node/
  2. $ node lantube-cli.js help

Security:

• Use it only on trusted LAN networks
• Lantube is limited to LAN, any external IP will not be allowed
• Lantube is just for fun, don't rely too much on it for serious matters

TODOs:

• Volume controls (Where compatible)
• Firefox/Chromium extension (?)
• API auth with passport (?)
• Make it work use outside LAN (?)
• Googlecast support