Security and running without internet
Nielix is built for your own network. Here is what works without internet, and how the server is kept closed the way you want it.
Running without internet
Everything on your own drives works without internet. What comes from the net waits and is fetched when the net is back. Nothing is lost meanwhile.
- Works without a connection: set-up, users, libraries on local folders and network drives, scanning, playback, titles and pictures from your own files, own channels, intro detection, DLNA and messages on your local network, backup to a local folder and the licence key.
- Waits for a connection: metadata from lookup services, weather, subtitles from providers, external channels on the net and the update check.
- The server copes if the clock is wrong, for example on a Raspberry Pi without a battery-backed clock.
- For a holiday house, a boat or a caravan: a small machine and an ordinary router with no internet connection is enough.
HTTPS
Nielix can handle HTTPS itself. With a domain the server fetches a certificate from Let's Encrypt and renews it. Without a domain the server can make a self-signed certificate with a fixed fingerprint that the app can confirm.
- TLS 1.2 or newer.
- The app only sends a login over plain http on your local network. On a public address it warns.
- If you already have a proxy, it can handle HTTPS.
Sign-in and two-factor
After five wrong tries the address and the account wait 30 seconds, then twice as long, at most an hour. The answer is the same for names that exist and names that do not.
- Two-factor (TOTP) with a QR code and ten recovery codes, for anyone who wants it. The owner can require it of administrators.
- New passwords must be at least 10 characters and not among the most common.
- The owner gets a notice when someone signs in from a new device or a new network.
Permissions and children
Permissions and age limits are enforced by the server, not by the app. A child profile cannot lift its own limit. A playback link belongs to the user it was made for and stops working if the user is deleted or loses access.
Security check and remote access
The security check in the administration goes through the set-up and shows green, yellow or red per point with a button to fix it. Administration can be limited to your local network.
- If you do not want to open ports, you can use Tailscale or Cloudflare Tunnel, which come in the image and are set up in the administration.
- Entirely secure does not exist. Keep the server updated, use strong passwords and two-factor, and look at the security check.
Read next
- The Nielix player
How Nielix plays your files, from direct play and transcoding to subtitles and the next episode.
- Your own TV channels and TV guide
Build live channels from your own series and films, and watch them in a TV guide. Your own M3U and XMLTV sources can be added with Premium.
- Nielix and Home Assistant
Send messages and speech to the TV screens in the house, control playback from automations, and use MQTT, webhooks and Home Assistant. All of it is off until you choose it.
- All features
- Pricing
- FAQ
Ready to try Nielix?
Download the server and run it on your NAS, mini PC or Raspberry Pi. You do not need an account to use it.