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ZoneMinder smart home integration, free and open source

ZoneMinder integration for Gladys Assistant

ZoneMinder monitors: images, alarms, events, modes and forced alarms, from your own server.

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Brings the monitors of a ZoneMinder server into Gladys: their image, whether they are in alarm, their mode (Monitor, Modect, Record, Mocord, Nodect), whether they capture, and the number of events of the day. A new event fires a scene trigger with its cause and score, and the image of the moment, so a scene can send it to you. Scenes can also switch every monitor to Modect when you leave, and start a forced alarm.

Tested against real ZoneMinder servers in Docker (1.36.4 and 1.38.6) with simulated network cameras, not yet on a long-running installation: feedback welcome on GitHub or on the Gladys forum.

What you need​

  • Gladys 5.1 or later.
  • A ZoneMinder server reachable from Gladys on the local network, version 1.36 or later. 1.36 and 1.37+ are both supported: from 1.37 on, the mode is made of the "Analysing" and "Recording" settings, and the integration reads and writes those.
  • The API turned on: Options → System → OPT_USE_API (on by default).
  • If ZoneMinder asks for a login (OPT_USE_AUTH), an account with API Enabled ticked in Options → Users. Reading needs "Monitors: View" and "Events: View"; changing the mode needs "Monitors: Edit".

Set up​

  1. In Gladys, open Integrations, find ZoneMinder and install it.
  2. In its Configuration tab, fill in:
    • ZoneMinder address: the address of the ZoneMinder web page, e.g. http://192.168.1.20/zm. Without a path, /zm and then / are tried (some Docker images serve ZoneMinder at the root). Write https:// or a port when needed.
    • User name (admin by default) and Password. Leave the user name empty if ZoneMinder has no login.
    • Alarm check: how often the alarm state and the new events of the monitors added in Gladys are read (2, 5, 10 or 30 seconds, 5 by default).
    • Image refresh: how often each camera image is sent to Gladys (10 seconds to 15 minutes, 1 minute by default). An alarm or a new event also sends one at once.
    • Language of the names: the language of the feature names given when a camera is added.
  3. Save, then open the Discovery tab: one device per monitor. Add the ones you want.
  4. Use Check the connection to see what the integration reads: the ZoneMinder version, each monitor, whether it receives images and its mode.

The Gladys devices​

Each monitor becomes a Gladys camera, named like the monitor, with:

FeatureWhat it is
ImageThe image of the camera, sent at the chosen pace and at once on an alarm or event.
Alarm1 while ZoneMinder says the monitor is in alarm (motion, forced alarm), else 0.
ModeMonitor, Modect, Record, Mocord or Nodect. It can be changed from the dashboard.
Capture on1 when the monitor is enabled and captures, 0 when it is turned off in ZoneMinder.
Events todayEvents started since midnight on this monitor.

The Mode is a list, on purpose: a deliberate choice, never a switch a voice assistant could turn off by mistake. Capture on is read only: turning a surveillance camera off stays a decision made in ZoneMinder. A monitor that receives no images from its camera shows as unreachable in Gladys (checked every minute).

Dashboard widget​

ZoneMinder camera shows the image of a camera, whether it is in alarm, its mode, the events of the day, and two buttons: Start an alarm (or Cancel the alarm while one runs; only for a monitor in Modect, Mocord or Nodect) and New image.

Scenes​

Triggers​

  • ZoneMinder: new event: ZoneMinder starts recording an event. Filters: the camera (empty = every camera) and the Kind of event: Motion, Forced alarm, Continuous recording (the segments of Record and Mocord), Signal lost, Linked monitor, Other. Variables: camera name, kind, cause (as ZoneMinder writes it, e.g. Motion: All), score (the highest score when the event is seen; it may still grow) and event number. The image of the moment is sent to Gladys first.
  • ZoneMinder: camera offline: a monitor stops receiving images from its camera, or ZoneMinder itself stops answering. Not fired for a monitor turned off in ZoneMinder.

Actions​

  • ZoneMinder: change the mode: sets the mode of one camera, or of every camera when the camera is left empty. Every camera means those added in Gladys and capturing. Only the monitors whose mode changes are written (each restarts for a few seconds). Output: the number of cameras changed.
  • ZoneMinder: forced alarm: Start makes ZoneMinder record an event (cause "Forced Web") until Cancel. Only for a monitor in Modect, Mocord or Nodect.
  • ZoneMinder: read a camera: reads a camera now. Outputs: receives images, in alarm, capture on, mode (monitor, modect…) and events today, for the conditions of the next actions.

The core's Send a camera image action sends the last image of a camera: right after ZoneMinder: new event, it is the image of that event.

Scene ideas​

  • Alarm armed: when everybody has left, ZoneMinder: change the mode to Modect for every camera; back to Monitor when someone comes home.
  • Intrusion: ZoneMinder: new event, kind Motion, camera "Garden", while the alarm is armed → Send a camera image of that camera to your phone.
  • Door opened at night: a door sensor opens → ZoneMinder: forced alarm, Start, on the hall camera; Cancel two minutes later.
  • Camera lost: ZoneMinder: camera offline → send a message with the camera name.

Troubleshooting​

  • "ZoneMinder refuses the user name or password": check them on the ZoneMinder login page.
  • "This ZoneMinder user may not use the API": tick API Enabled for this user in Options → Users.
  • "ZoneMinder answers, but not as expected": the address may lack its path. Try http://<address>/zm, or the address you use in a browser, without index.php.
  • "Insufficient privileges" when changing a mode: the account needs "Monitors: Edit".
  • A forced alarm is refused: the monitor does not analyse its images (Monitor or Record). Put it in Modect, Mocord or Nodect first.
  • A camera stays unreachable: ZoneMinder receives no images from it (its status is not "Connected" in the ZoneMinder console). Check the camera in ZoneMinder.
  • More detail: the logs of the integration (Integrations → ZoneMinder → Logs); set LOG_LEVEL to debug for every request.

Limits​

  • No live video: Gladys shows images, sent at the chosen pace (Gladys keeps 12 images a minute per camera at most). Watch the live stream in ZoneMinder.
  • Alarms and events are read every few seconds (the alarm check): a very short alarm between two checks shows as an event, not as an alarm state.
  • Events today counts from midnight, in the time zone of ZoneMinder: Gladys and ZoneMinder should share it.
  • One ZoneMinder server per integration. With several ZoneMinder servers (multi-server), the images of a monitor are asked to the address of the configuration.
  • The mode "None" (no capture) and turning a monitor off are not offered: do it in ZoneMinder.
  • On ZoneMinder 1.37+, Nodect means no analysis: a forced alarm there needs a monitor that analyses (Modect, Mocord). A monitor turned off in ZoneMinder keeps its mode.
  • Developed without a long-running ZoneMinder installation: feedback welcome.

This integration is not affiliated with the ZoneMinder project.

Configuration settings​

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

SettingTypeRequiredDescription
Your ZoneMinder serversectionNoZoneMinder 1.36 or later, with "OPT_USE_API" on. Enter the address of its web page and an account with "API Enabled" (Options → Users). Then open the Discovery tab: one device per monitor.
ZoneMinder addressstringYesWithout a path, /zm then / are tried. Add https:// or a port if needed.
User namestringNoLeave empty if ZoneMinder has no login (OPT_USE_AUTH off). Changing modes needs "Monitors: Edit".
PasswordsecretNo
Alarm checkselectNoHow often the alarm state and new events of the monitors added in Gladys are read.
Image refreshselectNoHow often each camera image is sent to Gladys. An alarm or a new event also sends one at once.
Language of the namesselectNoNames given to the features when a camera is added (Alarm, Mode…).

How to install ZoneMinder in Gladys​

  1. In Gladys, open Integrations: ZoneMinder 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-zoneminder: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-zoneminder.

ZoneMinder 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​

ZoneMinder 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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