Davinci Resolve Project Server

Simple Resolve project server with automatic backups

Table of Contents

• Davinci Resolve Project Server
  • Table of Contents
  • Introduction
    • Features
  • Configuration
    • Database
    • Backups
    • PGAdmin
    • Volume Locations
  • Installation
    • QNAP Installation
    • Synology
    • Linux
  • Different PostgreSQL versions
    • Setting up a PostgreSQL 9.5 or 11 Project Server
  • Thanks

Introduction

There are a lot of ways to host a Resolve project server, but each of them has their own set of issues. The official project server requires manual backups, and other options can be complicated for those that don't have access to an IT team. Hopefully this is a more reliable and simpler solution for smaller teams!

Features

• Lightweight - Docker based, so doesn't require a full macOS or Windows machine or VM.
• Platform Independent - can be installed on Windows, Mac, Linux, QNAP, Synology, RPi, really anything that can run Docker.
• Compatible with Resolve's existing backup/restore functions - All backup files use the standard Resolve *.backup file syntax, and can be restored from the Resolve UI
• Built-in PGAdmin Server - PGAdmin is a tool for administering a PostgreSQL Server, and is helpful for diagnosing problems and migrating/updating entire servers

Configuration

There are a few things we'll need to edit at the top of the docker-compose.yml file to configure our installation:

---
version: '3.8'
x-common:
  database: &db-environment
    POSTGRES_DB: database
    POSTGRES_USER: &pg-user postgres
    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: DaVinci
    TZ: America/Chicago
    POSTGRES_LOCATION: &db-location "???:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
  backup: &backup-environment
    SCHEDULE: "@daily"
    BACKUP_KEEP_DAYS: 7
    BACKUP_KEEP_WEEKS: 4
    BACKUP_KEEP_MONTHS: 6
    BACKUP_LOCATION: &bk-location "???:/backups"
  admin: &admin-environment
    PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL: admin@admin.com
    PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD: root
    PGADMIN_PORT: &pgadmin-port "3001:80"
...

Database

To configure the server itself, we'll want to configure the environment variables below:

Environment Variable	Meaning
POSTGRES_DB	Name of your database. Name it whatever you like.
POSTGRES_USER	Username you will use to connect to your database. The Resolve default is "postgres"
POSTGRES_PASSWORD	Password you will use to connect to your database. The Resolve default is "DaVinci"
TZ	Your timezone, here is a list
POSTGRES_LOCATION	Location your database will be stored. See Volume Locations

Backups

To configure the backups, we'll want to configure the variables below:

Environment Variable	Meaning
SCHEDULE	This is a cron string for how often backups are created. can be "@daily", "@every 1h", etc
BACKUP_KEEP_DAYS	Number of daily backups to keep before removal.
BACKUP_KEEP_WEEKS	Number of weekly backups to keep before removal.
BACKUP_KEEP_MONTHS	Number of monthly backups to keep before removal.
BACKUP_LOCATION	Location your backups will be stored. See Volume Locations

PGAdmin

To configure PGAdmin, we'll want to configure the variables below:

Environment Variable	Meaning
PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL	Email used for PGAdmin login. Default is "admin@admin.com"
PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD	Password used for PGAdmin login. Default is "root"
PGADMIN_PORT	String configuring port to expose PGAdmin on. Syntax is "YOUR_PORT:80"

Volume Locations

The location of your database and backups depend on what platform you are installing on. You will need the full path to the folder you want them stored in. On a QNAP NAS for example, if I wanted to use a folder called "Backups" inside a shared folder named "Videos" for my backups location, the path would be /shares/Videos/Backups/, and my BACKUP_LOCATION value would look like this:

BACKUP_LOCATION: &bk-location "/shares/Videos/Backups/:/backups"

On Ubuntu, if I wanted to use a folder named "database" in the home directory of the user named "johndoe" for my database location, the path would be /home/johndoe/database/, and my POSTGRES_LOCATION value would look like this:

POSTGRES_LOCATION: &db-location "johndoe/database/:/var/lib/postgresql/data"

I recommend putting your database on an SSD, your access speed will be noticeably slower on a spinning drive.

Once you have configured these settings, save your modified docker-compose.yml file and move on to installation!

Installation

QNAP Installation

Installing on a QNAP NAS is relatively simple. One note, please put the database files on an SSD. You will thank me later

1. If you don't already have it, install Container Station from the QNAP app store.
2. In Container Station, click "Create", then click "Create Application"
3. Name your application whatever you like (eg. ResolveServer)
4. Copy/Paste your modified docker-compose.yml file, hit "Validate YAML" to test it, and if it passes, click "Create"
5. Container Station will download the files it needs and start the app. Once it's done, you should be able to connect Resolve to the IP address of your QNAP using the database name and credentials

Synology

See this discussion

Linux

1. Follow the Docker installation instructions for your Linux distribution
2. Install Docker Compose
3. Move your modified docker-compose.yml file to a folder on your Linux machine, then navigate to that folder in the terminal.
4. Run: docker-compose up -d
5. Docker-compose will download the files it needs and start the app. Once it's done, you should be able to connect Resolve to the IP address of your Linux Server instance using the database name and credentials

Different PostgreSQL versions

Generally, Resolve is not very tolerant of mismatched PostgreSQL versions. Resolve 18 uses PostgreSQL 13, which is what this repository now defaults to. Resolve 17 and below use PostgreSQL 9.5. Unfortunately the major release 9.5 is EOL, and 9.5.4 in particular has a lot of vulnerabilities that make it insecure. Since most people are still using the default Resolve credentials for their server, security generally isn't the biggest concern, but if you are trying to secure your project server with an older version of Resolve, you will want to move to a supported version of PostgreSQL.

Resolve 17 and below still use a legacy feature that has been removed in PostgreSQL 12, so the latest major version that is useable is 11, which will be maintained until November 9, 2023.

Setting up a PostgreSQL 9.5 or 11 Project Server

To setup a PostgreSQL 9.5 or 11 server instead of 13, there are 2 lines that need to be changed in docker_compose.yml:

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:13
    ...
  pgbackups:
    image: prodrigestivill/postgres-backup-local:13
    ...
...

to the following:

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:9.5
    ...
  pgbackups:
    image: prodrigestivill/postgres-backup-local:9.5
    ...
...

Thanks

-prodrigestivill for his PostgreSQL Backup docker image