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====== Raspberry Pi Camera on ZoneMinder ======

I spent a lot of time trying to find some good software to run on a Raspberry Pi to turn it into a camera. Even tried to write my own using Perl, but all the libraries are in Python, so it took too much for a simple project.

I found the v4l2rtspserver (https://github.com/mpromonet/v4l2rtspserver) and decided to try it. The author has a good page, but assumes I knew how to configure ZoneMinder (which was mistaken).

Anyway, no GUI needed, so I did the Raspberry Pi OS Lite (https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/operating-systems/) and set it up, then did the following. Ended up with a pretty decent camera that is not "phoning home" with all your images.

===== Configure Raspberry Pi =====

  - Enable wlan by adding the following to /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf<code bash>country=US
network={
   ssid="your ssid"
   psk="your psk"
}</code>
  - Enable camera interface<code bash>
raspi-config
# go to Interface, and enable camera
</code>
  - Verify camera works<code bash>
raspistill -v -o test.jpg
</code>

===== Install v4l2rtspserver on camera =====

<code bash>
# get pre-req's
apt -y install cmake liblog4cpp5-dev libv4l-dev git
git clone https://github.com/mpromonet/v4l2rtspserver
cd v4l2rtspserver
cmake .
make
sudo make install
</code>

<code conf v4l2rtspserver.service>
# systemd configuration for v4l2rtspserver
# /etc/systemd/system/v4l2rtspserver.service

[Unit]
Description=v4l2rtspserver rtsp streaming server
After=network.target

[Service]
#ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/v4l2-ctl --set-ctrl vertical_flip=1
ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/v4l2-ctl --set-ctrl h264_i_frame_period=5
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/v4l2rtspserver -F 5 -W 640 -H 480
#ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
Type=simple
User=root
Group=video
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
</code>

<code bash>
systemctl start v4l2rtspserver
</code>

===== Zoneminder Configuration =====

Create a new monitor in ZoneMinder with the following parameters

  * Source Type: Remote
  * Remote Protocol: RTSP
  * Remote Method: RTP/Unicast
  * Remote Host Name: Hostname or IP
  * Remote Host Port: 8554
  * Remote Host Path: /unicast
  * Capture Width: 640
  * Capture Height: 480


You should soon see the output in zoneminder.

===== Production =====

For production, change the resolution of //both// the camera and the ZoneMinder configuration

  - Edit /etc/systemd/system/v4l2rtspserver.service
    - Change -W and -H (width and height) to your desired parameters
      - 1920 x 1080 (1080p) Gives you a lot of details, but also transfers a lot of traffic and is fuzzy
      - 1280 x 720 (720p) Is a lot lower bandwidth and "prettier" picture
      - <code bash>
# reload the systemctl daemon
systemctl daemon-reload
# reload the config for v4l2rtspserver
systemctl restart v4l2rtspserver
# Set v4l2rtspserver to autostart
systemctl enable v4l2rtspserver
</code>
  - Edit Monitor on ZoneMinder
    - Set Capture Resolution to same values as camera

===== Links =====
  * https://zoneminder.blogspot.com/p/rasbpeery-pi-zero-camera.html
  * https://carlos-journal.blogspot.com/2017/05/setting-up-rtsp-server-in-raspberry-pi.html
  * https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/322720/why-wont-my-enabled-systemd-service-start-on-boot