Can TVHeadend use an XMLTV URL?

Yes. Enable TVHeadend's XMLTV URL grabber, or curl a gzipped XMLTV URL, decompress it, and pipe it into xmltv.sock. Paste your private EPGWise .xml.gz URL. Full steps are at https://epgwise.com/setup/tvheadend-xmltv.

Why do I get 'Permission denied' when piping to xmltv.sock?

Run your cron task as the 'hts' system user or root so the script has write access to the TVHeadend socket file.

TVHeadend Server Setup

How to Set Up XMLTV Guide Data in TVHeadend

Q: How do I pipe XMLTV feeds into TVHeadend running in Docker?

Use docker exec to pipe into the container socket: curl -s https://epgwise.com/epg/YOUR_TOKEN.xml.gz | gzip -dc | docker exec -i tvheadend socat - UNIX-CONNECT:/config/epggrab/xmltv.sock

TVHeadend can ingest an XMLTV URL: use the XMLTV URL grabber, or curl a gzipped .xml.gz feed, decompress it, and pipe it into xmltv.sock. EPGWise is the remote programme file, not a TVHeadend plugin. The steps below use the socket method so gzip decompression is explicit.

⚙️ Step-by-Step Configuration

Enable the Internal XMLTV Socket Grabber

In your TVHeadend web interface (default port 9981):

Go to Configuration > Channel / EPG > EPG Grabber Modules
Find External: XMLTV or Internal: XMLTV
Check the Enabled box and click Save at the top bar

Pipe Feed to TVHeadend Socket (Automated Cron)

On bare-metal Linux hosts, pipe your decompressed feed directly into the TVHeadend socket:

curl -s https://epgwise.com/epg/YOUR_TOKEN.xml.gz | gzip -dc | socat - UNIX-CONNECT:/home/hts/.hts/tvheadend/epggrab/xmltv.sock

Docker Containers (linuxserver/tvheadend):

curl -s https://epgwise.com/epg/YOUR_TOKEN.xml.gz | gzip -dc | docker exec -i tvheadend socat - UNIX-CONNECT:/config/epggrab/xmltv.sock

Add to your crontab (crontab -e) to run daily at 04:00 AM:

0 4 * * * curl -s https://epgwise.com/epg/YOUR_TOKEN.xml.gz | gzip -dc | socat - UNIX-CONNECT:/home/hts/.hts/tvheadend/epggrab/xmltv.sock

Trigger Manual Grabber Run

In the TVHeadend web interface under Configuration > Channel / EPG > EPG Grabber, click the Re-run Internal EPG Grabbers button in the top toolbar to process the piped schedule.

Assign EPG to Channels

Navigate to Configuration > Channel / EPG > Channels.

TVHeadend automatically links channels with matching names. For any blank channel, double-click the EPG Source cell, select the corresponding channel from the dropdown list, and click Save.

Reliable DVR Recording Timers

TVHeadend DVR scheduled recordings rely on accurate stop and start timestamps. EPGWise feeds use standardized ISO-8601 UTC times with zero timezone drift.

Broadcast Channel Logos Included

All XMLTV channels include transparent high-definition station logos in <icon src="..." /> tags, which automatically populate TVHeadend channel picons.

Start Your Private TVHeadend XMLTV Feed

Private, high-availability XMLTV URLs across every supported country. No CLI scraper breakages, no scraper maintenance, 7-day free trial where eligible.

Browse countries All Setup Guides