Davinci Resolve Project Server

Simple Resolve project server with automatic backups

Table of Contents

• Davinci Resolve Project Server
  • Table of Contents
  • Introduction
    • Features
  • Configuration
    • PostgreSQL Server
    • Backup Server
  • Installation
    • QNAP Installation
    • Synology
    • Linux
  • Different PostgreSQL versions
    • Setting up a PostgreSQL 11 Project Server
    • Using PostgreSQL 11 on Windows
    • Using PostgreSQL 11 on Mac
  • 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

Configuration

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

PostgreSQL Server

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

...
services:
  postgres:
    ...
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=database
      - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=DaVinci
      - TZ=America/Chicago
    ...
...

Environment Variable	Meaning
POSTGRES_DB	This is the name of your database. Name it whatever you like.
POSTGRES_USER	This is the username you will use to connect to your database. The Resolve default is "postgres"
POSTGRES_PASSWORD	This is the password you will use to connect to your database. The Resolve default is "DaVinci"
TZ	This is your timezone, here is a list

Backup Server

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

...
services:
  ...
  pgbackups:
    ...
    volumes:
      - "(Whatever location you want backups stored):/backups"
    ...
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_HOST=postgres
      - POSTGRES_DB=database
      - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=DaVinci
      - POSTGRES_EXTRA_OPTS=--blobs --format=custom --quote-all-identifiers
      - BACKUP_SUFFIX=.backup
      - SCHEDULE=@daily
      - BACKUP_KEEP_DAYS=7
      - BACKUP_KEEP_WEEKS=4
      - BACKUP_KEEP_MONTHS=6
      - HEALTHCHECK_PORT=8080
      - TZ=America/Chicago
    ...
...

First, we will want to decide on a backup location and edit the volumes: section. You will need the full path to the folder you want backups stored in. On a QNAP NAS for example, if I wanted to use a folder called "Backups" inside a shared folder named "Videos", the path would be /shares/Videos/Backups/, and my volumes: section would look like this:

volumes:
      - "/shares/Videos/Backups:/backups"

On Ubuntu, if I wanted to use a folder named "Backups" in the home directory of the user named "johndoe", the path would be /home/johndoe/Backups/, and my volumes: section would look like this:

volumes:
      - "/home/johndoe/Backups:/backups"

There are also some variables in the environment section. Many of these don't need to be edited, but here are the ones you might want to change:

Environment Variable	Meaning
POSTGRES_DB	This is the name of the database from the previous step. Can also be a comma/space separated list of database names if you create more in the future
POSTGRES_USER	This is the database username from the previous step
POSTGRES_PASSWORD	This is the database password from the previous step
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 daily backups to keep before removal.
TZ	This is your timezone, here is a list

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 #5

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 QNAP 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