denidoman / vlc-telnet-docker

VLC in Docker controlled via Telnet to play music on a host device

vlc-telnet-docker

This container contains VLC media player configured to be controlled via telnet. I need such a setup for home automation - external audio device (USB speaker) is connected to the Intel NUC where Home Assistant is running. Using VLC media player via Telnet I can control this speaker in a container way.

Usage

Running the image

❗TELNET_PASSWORD variable must be set to your custom password (not root)

docker run \
    -d \
    -p 4212:4212 \
    -e TELNET_PASSWORD="_PUT_ORIGINAL_PASSWORD_HERE_" \
    --device=/dev/snd:/dev/snd \
    ghcr.io/denidoman/vlc-telnet-docker:main

Additionally, you can set the following optional env variables:

• SOUND_CARD_NUMBER (default: 0) - number of actual sound card in your system. You can use aplay -l to see the number assigned to the relevant card. For example, my USB speaker is shown as card 1, so I use value 1 here.
• VOLUME_CHANNEL (default: Master) - name of volume channel to set a volume level. Usually it's a Master channel, you can check it using alsamixer command. In my case, PCM channel is used.
• VOLUME_LEVEL_PERCENT (default: 100) - volume level in percent. I set it to 100 and change via Home Assistant.