MJPEG & snapshot cameras smart home integration, free and open source
ESP32-CAM, MJPEG and JPEG snapshot IP cameras of your network in Gladys, without RTSP.
Published by LM1LC3N7
- Devices
- Version 0.1.1
- Requires Gladys >=5.1.0
- ★ 0
Brings the cameras that speak plain HTTP into Gladys: an ESP32-CAM, an
older IP camera, a webcam served by motion, motionEye or mjpg-streamer. Two
kinds of address work: a JPEG snapshot URL and an MJPEG stream
(multipart/x-mixed-replace). No ffmpeg, no RTSP, nothing in the cloud:
everything stays on your local network.
For an RTSP camera, use the RTSP camera integration built into Gladys instead: this one is the light path for the cameras that only offer HTTP. Not affiliated with any camera maker; the brand names below only identify compatible products.
What you get
| Surface | Content |
|---|---|
| Device | One camera device per address, with its image on the dashboard camera widget |
| Live view | A fresh image each time Gladys asks for one (live view, "show me the camera", the "send a camera image" action) |
| Scene triggers | Camera offline (3 failed captures in a row) and Camera back online |
| Settings button | Test cameras: one image of each camera, with its kind, resolution, size and time, or the error |
| Device badge | "Local" while the camera answers, "Unreachable" once offline, an orange dot when its images must be downscaled |
Setup
Type the addresses in Cameras, separated by commas. Each address may be
followed by a name, after a space or a |:
http://192.168.1.50:81/stream Garden, http://192.168.1.20/cgi-bin/snapshot.cgi|Front door
Then open Discovery and add the cameras. Only the cameras you add are read. Press Test cameras to check each address.
Common addresses (check the documentation of your camera; <ip> is its
address on your network):
| Camera | Snapshot | Stream |
|---|---|---|
| ESP32-CAM ("CameraWebServer" sketch) | http://<ip>/capture | http://<ip>:81/stream |
| mjpg-streamer | http://<ip>:8080/?action=snapshot | http://<ip>:8080/?action=stream |
| motionEye | http://<ip>:8765/picture/1/current/ | http://<ip>:8081/ |
| motion | - | http://<ip>:8081/ |
| Many IP cameras (Dahua, Amcrest…) | http://<ip>/cgi-bin/snapshot.cgi | - |
| Hikvision | http://<ip>/ISAPI/Streaming/channels/101/picture | - |
| Axis | http://<ip>/axis-cgi/jpg/image.cgi | http://<ip>/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi |
| "IP Webcam" Android app | http://<ip>:8080/shot.jpg | http://<ip>:8080/video |
A snapshot address is the lightest choice when the camera offers one. An
ESP32-CAM serves its stream to one client at a time: while a browser
watches :81/stream, Gladys waits; /capture avoids that.
Passwords
- Type them in the address:
http://user:[email protected]/…. A special character of the password is written in percent-encoding (@is%40, a comma%2C). - Or type only the user name in the address (
http://[email protected]/…) and the password in Camera password: it stays hidden in the configuration screen, unlike a password typed in the address. - Basic and Digest (MD5, SHA-256) authentication are supported. The password is never sent before the camera asks for it, it is never sent in clear text to a camera that offers Digest, and it goes to that camera only (never to another address it redirects to, except the same camera over https).
- An address carrying a token in its query (
?user=…&pwd=…) works too: the logs and the statuses never show an address, only the camera name and host. - An https camera with a self-signed certificate needs Accept self-signed certificates.
Images and pace
- Every camera added sends an image to Gladys every 10 seconds by default (Image refresh, 5 seconds at least: Gladys takes 12 images a minute per camera; 0 for on demand only). The live view and the scenes get a fresh image whatever this setting.
- Gladys takes images of 150 KB at most. A bigger image is downscaled (halved until it fits) inside the integration, which costs CPU: such a camera is then refreshed every 30 seconds at most, and the status and the device badge say so. Set a lower resolution on the camera instead: VGA (640×480) or SVGA (800×600) with a JPEG quality around 12 on an ESP32-CAM.
- An image is read once per camera at a time, whoever asks: the periodic image, the live view and the test button share it.
- An MJPEG stream is never watched continuously: the integration takes its first image, then closes the connection.
Scenes
- Camera offline: a camera that was sending images failed 3 captures in
a row. Variables:
name,error,failures. - Camera back online: the same camera sends images again. Variables:
name,offline_minutes.
Both have an optional Camera filter (empty: any camera). They come in pairs: a camera that is already down when the integration starts announces nothing, and its return is not announced either. An offline camera is tried again every minute.
To send an image in a message, use the "send a camera image" action of Gladys with one of these cameras.
Status messages and errors
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
no image within 10 s | The camera does not answer (address, power, an ESP32-CAM busy with a browser) |
the camera asks for a user name and password | Add them to the address (see Passwords) |
user name or password refused | Wrong credentials |
not a JPEG image (text/html) | The address shows a web page (a login page, the camera's home page): fix the path |
certificate not trusted | An https camera with a self-signed certificate: see Passwords |
TLS handshake failed | An old https camera (TLS 1.0 or 1.1): use its http address |
frame over 4 MB or too big to downscale here | Lower the camera resolution |
Privacy
Nothing leaves your network and nothing is written on disk: the images go to your Gladys only. The configuration keeps the addresses; the camera devices only show the host of each camera.
Configuration settings
These are the settings MJPEG & snapshot cameras asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.
| Setting | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameras without RTSP | section | No | For the cameras that speak plain HTTP: an ESP32-CAM, an older IP camera, a webcam behind motion, motionEye or mjpg-streamer. Each address below becomes a camera in Discovery; its image reaches the dashboard every few seconds and whenever you open the live view. Both kinds of address work: a JPEG snapshot URL and an MJPEG stream (the first frame is taken, then the connection is closed). Everything stays on your local network, no ffmpeg. For an RTSP camera, use the RTSP camera integration built into Gladys instead. Not affiliated with any camera maker. |
| Cameras | string | No | Addresses separated by commas, each followed by an optional name after a space or |. A password can go in the address (http://user:password@…, Basic or Digest), or only the user name, with the password in the field below. |
| Camera password (optional) | secret | No | Used for the addresses that carry a user name without a password (http://[email protected]/…): it stays hidden here, unlike a password typed in the address. |
| Image refresh (seconds) | number | No | How often each camera's image is sent to Gladys: 5 at least (Gladys takes 12 images a minute per camera), 0 for on demand only (the live view and the scenes still get a fresh image). |
| Accept self-signed certificates (https cameras of your network) | boolean | No |
How to install MJPEG & snapshot cameras in Gladys
- In Gladys, open Integrations: MJPEG & snapshot cameras appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
- Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (
ghcr.io/lm1lc3n7/gladys-mjpeg-camera:0.1.1), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration). - Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
- You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/LM1LC3N7/gladys-mjpeg-camera.
MJPEG & snapshot cameras requires Gladys >=5.1.0. The catalog inside Gladys refreshes every hour, so a new version becomes available at most one hour after its release.
Not running Gladys yet? It is free and open source: follow the installation guide to get started.
About external integrations
MJPEG & snapshot cameras is an external integration: a community integration packaged as a Docker container and published on GitHub, that Gladys installs in one click and runs in a sandbox isolated from its core. It is published and maintained by LM1LC3N7, not by the Gladys core team.
- Browse all integrations, native and community
- Build and publish your own external integration
- Source code on GitHub — source of this documentation