174 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
174 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
# Downloading, installing, and configuring Moonfire NVR
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This document describes how to download, install, and configure Moonfire NVR
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on a Debian-based Linux system (such as Ubuntu or Raspbian).
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(In principle, Moonfire NVR supports any POSIX-compliant system, and the main
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author uses macOS for development, but the documentation and scripts are
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intended for Linux.)
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## Downloading
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See the [github page](https://github.com/scottlamb/moonfire-nvr) (in case
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you're not reading this text there already). You can download the
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bleeding-edge version from the commandline via git:
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```
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$ git clone https://github.com/scottlamb/moonfire-nvr.git
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```
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## Building and installing from source
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There are no binary packages of Moonfire NVR available yet, so it must be built
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from source. To do so, you can follow either of two paths:
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* Scripted: You will run some shell scripts (after preparing one or two files,
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and will be completely done. This is by far the easiest option, in
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particular for first time builders/installers. Read more in [Scripted
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Installation](install-scripted.md).
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* Manual: see [instructions](install-manual.md).
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Moonfire NVR keeps two kinds of state:
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* a SQLite database, typically <1 GiB. It should be stored on flash if
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available.
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* the "sample file directories", which hold the actual samples/frames of
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H.264 video. These should be quite large and are typically stored on hard
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drives.
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(See [schema.md](schema.md) for more information.)
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By now Moonfire NVR's dedicated user and database should have been created for
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you. Next you need to create a sample file directory.
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## Dedicated hard drive seutp
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If a dedicated hard drive is available, set up the mount point:
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```
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$ sudo vim /etc/fstab
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$ sudo mkdir /media/nvr
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$ sudo mount /media/nvr
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$ sudo install -d -o moonfire-nvr -g moonfire-nvr -m 700 /media/nvr/sample
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```
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In `/etc/fstab`, add a line similar to this:
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```
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/dev/disk/by-uuid/23d550bc-0e38-4825-acac-1cac8a7e091f /media/nvr ext4 nofail,noatime,lazytime,data=writeback,journal_async_commit 0 2
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```
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You'll have to lookup the correct uuid for your disk. One way to do that is
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via the following command:
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```
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$ ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid
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```
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If you use the `nofail` attribute in `/etc/fstab` as described above, your
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system will boot successfully even when the hard drive is unavailable (such as
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when your external USB storage is unmounted). This is convenient, but you
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likely want to ensure the `moonfire-nvr` service only starts when the mounting
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is successful. Edit the systemd configuration to do so:
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```
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$ sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/moonfire-nvr.service
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$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
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```
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You'll want to add a line similar to the following to the `[Unit]` section of
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the file:
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```
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RequiresMountsFor=/media/nvr
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```
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## Completing configuration through the UI
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Once your system is set up, it's time to initialize an empty database,
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and add the cameras and sample directories to moonfire. You can do this
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by using the `moonfire-nvr` binary's text-based configuration tool.
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```
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$ sudo -u moonfire-nvr moonfire-nvr init # Initialize empty db
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$ sudo -u moonfire-nvr moonfire-nvr config 2>debug-log # Configure cameras and storage
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```
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In the user interface,
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1. add your sample file dir(s) under "Directories and retention".
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If you used a dedicated hard drive, use the directory you precreated
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(`/media/surveillance/sample`). Otherwise, try
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`/var/lib/moonfire-nvr/sample`. Moonfire NVR will create the directory as
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long as it has the required permissions on the parent directory.
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2. add cameras under "Cameras and streams".
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* See the [wiki](https://github.com/scottlamb/moonfire-nvr/wiki) for notes
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about specific camera models.
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* There's a "Test" button to verify your settings directly from the add/edit
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camera dialog.
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* Be sure to assign each stream you want to capture to a sample file
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directory and check the "record" box.
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* `flush_if_sec` should typically be 120 seconds. This causes the database to
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be flushed when the first instant of one of this stream's completed
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recordings is 2 minutes old. A "recording" is a segment of a video
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stream that is 60–120 seconds when first establishing the stream, about
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60 seconds midstream, and shorter when an error or server shutdown
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terminates the stream. Thus, a value just below 60 will cause the
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database to be flushed once per minute per stream in the steady state. A
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value around 180 will cause the database to be once every 3 minutes per
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stream, or less frequently if other streams cause flushes first. Lower
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values cause less video to be lost on power loss. Higher values reduce
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wear on the SSD holding the SQLite database, particularly when you have
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many cameras and when you record both the "main" and "sub" streams of
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each camera.
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3. Assign disk space to your cameras back in "Directories and retention".
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Leave a little slack (at least 100 MB per camera) between the total limit
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and the filesystem capacity, even if you store nothing else on the disk.
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There are several reasons this is needed:
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* The limit currently controls fully-written files only. There will be up
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to two minutes of video per camera of additional video.
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* The rotation happens after the limit is exceeded, not proactively.
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* Moonfire NVR currently doesn't account for the unused space in the final
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filesystem block at the end of each file.
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* Moonfire NVR doesn't account for the space used for directory listings.
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* If a file is open when it is deleted (such as if a HTTP client is
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downloading it), it stays around until the file is closed. Moonfire NVR
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currently doesn't account for this.
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4. Add a user for yourself (and optionally others) under "Users". You'll need
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this to access the web UI once you enable authentication.
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## Starting it up
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Note that at this stage, Moonfire NVR's web interface is **insecure**: it
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doesn't use `https` and doesn't require you to authenticate
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to it. You might be comfortable starting it in this configuration to try it
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out, particularly if the machine it's running on is behind a home router's
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firewall. You might not; in that case read through [secure the
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system](secure.md) first.
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The following commands will start Moonfire NVR and enable it for following
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boots, respectively:
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```
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$ sudo systemctl start moonfire-nvr
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$ sudo systemctl enable moonfire-nvr
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```
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The HTTP interface is accessible on port 8080; if your web browser is running
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on the same machine, you can access it at
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[http://localhost:8080/](http://localhost:8080/).
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If the system isn't working, see the [Troubleshooting
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guide](troubleshooting.md).
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Once the web interface seems to be working, read through [securing Moonfire
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NVR](secure.md).
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