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motionEye smart home integration, free and open source

motionEye integration for Gladys Assistant

motionEye cameras: images, motion detected, detection and recording switches, snapshots.

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Brings the cameras of a motionEye server (motionEye on a Raspberry Pi, a NAS or in Docker, motionEyeOS) into Gladys: their image, the motion they see right now, and the motionEye switches for motion detection, still images and movie recording. Motion fires a scene trigger with a fresh image, so a scene can send it to you.

Tested against real motionEye servers in Docker (0.42 and 0.45 in development) with a simulated network camera, not yet on a Raspberry Pi running motionEyeOS: feedback welcome on GitHub or on the Gladys forum.

What you need​

  • Gladys 5.1 or later.
  • A motionEye server reachable from Gladys on the local network, version 0.42 or later. Its web page is usually at http://<address>:8765.
  • The administrator account of motionEye (user admin by default, the one that opens the settings). The surveillance user only sees the images: it cannot change a switch.
  • One motionEye server per integration. Cameras of other motionEye servers can be added to that one as "Remote motionEye camera", and then come into Gladys with it.

Set up​

  1. In Gladys, open Integrations, find motionEye and install it.
  2. In its Configuration tab, fill in:
    • motionEye address: the address of the motionEye page, e.g. 192.168.1.20:8765. Port 8765 is used when none is given; write https:// or a path (http://nas.lan:80/motioneye) for a reverse proxy.
    • Administrator user name (admin by default) and Password.
    • Motion check: how often each camera added in Gladys is read (2, 5, 10 or 30 seconds, 5 by default). It is the delay before motion is seen.
    • Image refresh: how often each image is sent to Gladys (10 seconds to 15 minutes, 1 minute by default). Motion also sends one at once.
    • Language of the names: the language of the feature names (French by default), given when a camera is added.
  3. Save, then open the Discovery tab: one device per motionEye camera. Add the ones you want.
  4. The Check the connection button of the Configuration tab lists the cameras motionEye has, whether they answer and whether motion detection is on.

The Gladys devices​

Each motionEye camera becomes a Gladys camera named as in motionEye, with:

FeatureWhat it is
ImageThe camera image, for the camera box of the dashboard and the "Send a camera image" scene action.
MotionMotion seen right now by motionEye (detected / nothing), when motion detection is on.
Motion detectionSwitch: motion detection of the camera in motionEye.
Still imagesSwitch: the still images of the camera in motionEye (taken in the mode chosen in motionEye: on motion, at intervals…).
Movie recordingSwitch: the movies of the camera in motionEye (recorded in the mode chosen in motionEye: on motion, continuous…).

The switches follow the motionEye page: a change made there reaches Gladys within a minute. A camera that stops answering shows as unreachable on its device card.

Changing a switch restarts the motionEye cameras for a few seconds (motionEye restarts its motion process after every change of settings): the images pause during that time.

Dashboard widget​

motionEye camera (widget settings: the camera) shows the image with its time, whether motion is seen, whether motion detection and movie recording are on, and two buttons: one turns motion detection on or off, the other makes motionEye save a picture and brings back the new view.

Scenes​

Triggers​

  • motionEye: motion detected: a camera starts seeing motion (motion detection on in motionEye). Choose a camera, or leave empty for every camera. Its image is sent to Gladys at once: a "Send a camera image" action right after it sends the moment of the detection. The camera name is passed on to the actions.
  • motionEye: camera offline: a camera stops answering (motionEye has no image from it any more, or motionEye itself is down), after three failed readings in a row. Same camera choice.

Actions​

  • motionEye: motion detection: turns motion detection on or off, for one camera, or for every camera at once when the camera is left empty (one single restart of motionEye). Returns the number of cameras changed.
  • motionEye: take a picture: motionEye saves a picture with its media files, and Gladys gets the new image (for "Send a camera image").
  • motionEye: read a camera: reads a camera now. Returns whether it answers (online), sees motion, and whether motion detection, still images and movie recording are on, for a condition of the next steps.

Scene ideas​

  • Alarm armed: when the house alarm is armed, "motionEye: motion detection" On, for every camera; Off when it is disarmed.
  • Motion at the entrance: trigger "motionEye: motion detected" on the entrance camera, then "Send a camera image" of that camera to your phone.
  • Camera lost: trigger "motionEye: camera offline", then a message "{camera name} no longer answers".

Troubleshooting​

  • "motionEye refuses the user name or password": enter the administrator account (the one that opens the motionEye settings), not the surveillance user.
  • "motionEye does not answer at this address": open the address in a browser from the Gladys network; check the port (8765 by default) and that motionEye listens on the network, not only on localhost.
  • A camera is unreachable: motionEye has no image from it either; check it in the motionEye page.
  • "Motion" never moves: motion detection must be on (switch Motion detection), and motionEye must detect the motion itself (threshold, mask… in its settings).
  • Logs: the integration logs only its life (start, server or camera lost and back, actions); set LOG_LEVEL=debug on the integration to see every reading.

Limits​

  • Motion is read every few seconds (the Motion check setting): a motion shorter than that, and shorter than the motionEye event, may be missed. motionEye cannot notify Gladys directly: its web hooks would need a port of the integration open on the network.
  • One motionEye server per integration (others as remote cameras, see above).
  • "Simple MJPEG" cameras of motionEye are left out: motionEye only relays their stream, with no motion detection or settings.
  • The image of Gladys is not a live stream: it refreshes at the chosen pace, and at once on motion.
  • The pictures and movies stay in motionEye; Gladys only shows the last image.

Configuration settings​

These are the settings motionEye asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.

SettingTypeRequiredDescription
Your motionEye serversectionNoEnter the address of the motionEye web page and its administrator account (the "admin" user of motionEye, not the surveillance user). Then open the Discovery tab: one device per camera.
motionEye addressstringYesPort 8765 when none is given. Add https:// or a path for a reverse proxy.
Administrator user namestringNo
PasswordsecretNo
Motion checkselectNoHow often each camera added in Gladys is read: the delay before motion is seen.
Image refreshselectNoHow often each camera image is sent to Gladys. Motion also sends a new one at once.
Language of the namesselectNoNames given to the features when a camera is added (Motion, Motion detection…).

How to install motionEye in Gladys​

  1. In Gladys, open Integrations: motionEye appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
  2. Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (ghcr.io/guim31/gladys-motioneye:1.0.0), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration).
  3. Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
  4. You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/guim31/gladys-motioneye.

motionEye 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​

motionEye 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 guim31, not by the Gladys core team.

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