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ZoneMinder

Zoneminder is a long runnng reliable project for setting up NVR.

Installation

Docker is the easiest way to setup ZoneMinder.

docker-compose.yaml

    zoneminder:
          container_name: zoneminder
          image: dlandon/zoneminder:latest
          restart: 'no'
          shm_size: '1gb'
          ports:
            - 8443:443/tcp
            - 9000:9000/tcp
          network_mode: "bridge"
          environment:
            - TZ=Asia/Kolkata
            - SHMEM=50%
            - PUID=99
            - PGID=100
            - INSTALL_HOOK=0
            - INSTALL_FACE=0
            - INSTALL_TINY_YOLOV3=1
            - INSTALL_YOLOV3=1
            - INSTALL_TINY_YOLOV4=1
            - INSTALL_YOLOV4=1
            - MULTI_PORT_START=0
            - MULTI_PORT_END=0
          volumes:
            - ./config:/config:rw
            - ./data:/var/cache/zoneminder:rw

Home Assistant integration

Home Assistant supports Native camera integration with ZoneMinder cameras. Add this to your configuration.yaml

zoneminder:
  host: <URL>:<PORT>
  verify_ssl: false
  ssl: true

camera:
  - platform: zoneminder

Now you can add all your cameras to your lovelace dashboard.

Detecting Camera events on ZoneMinder

The ZoneMinder docker install ships with EventServer notificiation system which can be used to generate events.

Setup your EventServer by editing the file in the /config folder: Documentation Reference

Getting events on ZMNinja App

The above config is sufficient to receive notifications on ZMNinja. Notifications still work when you are not in the same network but you will need to use ZeroTier / Tailscale / Publicly accessible ZoneMinder instance when you open the app.

Getting events on Home Assistant (MQTT)

  • Getting MQTT to work requires additional installation of MQTT Perl libraries. Log into the docker instance using docker exec --it <container_name> /bin/bash
  • Install the library perl -MCPAN -e "install Net::MQTT::Simple". You might see an error saying make not found, you might need to install it first using apt install make
  • Enable MQTT in the configuration file: Reference documentation
  • Now you can create sensors using the MQTT information publised by ZoneMinder. For instance, create a Motion detection sensor using 
binary_sensor:
  - platform: mqtt
    state_topic: "zoneminder/1"
    name: ZM camera
    value_template: '{% if value_json.state == "alarm" and value_json.eventtype == "event_start" %} ON {% else %} OFF {% endif %}'
    device_class: motion