Ubuntu Server 19.10 Zoneminder 1.33.x

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Zoneminder 1.32 made it into the "official" Ubuntu 19.04 repositories. Unfortunately the MP4 recording and playback does not work with the shipped version as there are missing libraries (libmp4v2-2). So events can only be saved in jpeg-frames, video recordings do not happen. [State: 01 MAY 2019]

These instructions will show how to install Zoneminder 1.32-3 from the iconnor ppa with mp4 support to use video recordings.

N.B.: The version from iconnor ppa has an issue with the required dependencies for libx264 on Ubuntu 19.04, we have to correct this by manually repacking the deb-package.

You will need to install LAMP then secure MySQL before installing Zoneminder. see: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ApacheMySQLPHP

Preparations

Install needed packages:

sudo apt-get install x264 x265 build-essential checkinstall gdebi

Secure MySQL or Mariadb:

mysql_secure_installation

Add entry into my.cnf:

nano /etc/mysql/my.cnf

Add the following to the end of the file:

[mysqld]
sql_mode = NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION

CTRL + o CTRL + x

Restart MySQL:

service mysql restart

Install the official repository for the current stable version 1.32:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:iconnor/zoneminder-1.32

Now installing zoneminder by "sudo apt-get install zoneminder" will not work because of missing dependencies (as of 05/01/2019)

Installing libmp4v2-2

Download and compile libmp4v2-2:

wget https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-archive-downloads/v2/code.google.com/mp4v2/mp4v2-2.0.0.tar.bz2

tar xf mp4v2-2.0.0.tar.bz2
cd mp4v2-2.0.0/
mkdir build/ && cd build/
../configure CXXFLAGS='-fpermissive' CFLAGS='-fpermissive'
make

Don't leave this folder.

Install libmp4v2-2 as debian package:

sudo checkinstall

Follow the instructions on the screen. Enter anything for the description (e.g. Libraries for Zoneminder MP4 support). On the table of values: change the entries as following:

• Name=libmp4v2-2
• Version=2.0
• Provides=libmp4v2-2

Repacking zoneminder deb-package and installation

We have to repack the zoneminder deb-package to fix the dependencies issue (libx264-155).

Download the current deb-package:

wget https://launchpad.net/~iconnor/+archive/ubuntu/zoneminder-1.32/+files/zoneminder_1.32.3-disco_amd64.deb

Extract the deb-package:

ar x zoneminder_1.32.3-disco_amd64.deb
tar xf control.tar.xz

Rewrite the required dependencies:

nano control

search for "libx264-155" and move it after "libx264-152 | ".

Repack the deb-package:

tar c {post,pre}{inst,rm} md5sums control | gzip -c > control.tar.gz
ar rcs zoneminder_1.32.3-disco_repacked_amd64.deb debian-binary control.tar.gz data.tar.xz

Install Zoneminder:

sudo gdebi zoneminder_1.32.3-disco_repacked_amd64.deb

Other missing dependencies will automaticely be installed.

Post-installation procedures

Create the Database:

The database is not created automatically. Create the database with:

mysql -uroot -p < /usr/share/zoneminder/db/zm_create.sql
mysql -uroot -p -e "grant all on zm.* to 'zmuser'@localhost identified by 'zmpass';"

mysqladmin -uroot -p reload

Fix permissions:

chmod 740 /etc/zm/zm.conf
chown root:www-data /etc/zm/zm.conf
chown -R www-data:www-data /usr/share/zoneminder/

Enable Apache features:

sudo a2enmod cgi
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo a2enconf zoneminder

sudo service apache2 restart

Add user www-data to group video, for accessing local cameras:

sudo adduser www-data video
sudo usermod -a -G video www-data

Enable Zoneminder service:

systemctl enable zoneminder.service

Add timezone to PHP:

sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini

Search for [Date] (Ctrl + w then type Date and press Enter) and make changes as follows for your time zone

[Date]
; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions
; http://php.net/date.timezone
date.timezone = Europe/Luxembourg

CTRL +o Enter to save, then CTRL +x to exit

Finally, restart Apache and zoneminder

sudo service apache2 reload
sudo service zoneminder restart

Zoneminder should work! Open Zoneminder in a web browser (http://server-ip/zm).

Install Zoneminder with MP4 support on Ubuntu 19.04 AMD64 with shell script

This will install Zoneminder by using a shell script with one basic command (how easy is that!).

You will need a Ubuntu 19.04 installed desktop or server. This script installs Apache2, Mariadb Server and PHP. If you want to use MySQL replace mariadb-server with mysql-server in the script.

Become root

sudo su

Create the install file

nano install-zm

Copy the following into the file

#!/bin/sh
clear
read -p "This script installs Apache2, Mariadb Server, PHP and Zoneminder 1.32.3 with MP4 support on Ubuntu 19.04 AMD64.
Press Enter to continue or Ctrl + c to quit" nothing
clear
read -p "You must be logged in as root using sudo su before running this script...
The script will stop and prompt for user action as required
Press Enter to continue or Ctrl + c to quit" nothing
clear
apt -y install apache2 php mariadb-server php-mysql libapache2-mod-php7.2 x264 x265 gdebi
clear
read -p "Next secure MySQL server by entering requested information. Press enter to continue" nothing
mysql_secure_installation
clear
read -p "Next we will download the libmp4v2 package and install it.
Press enter to continue" nothing
wget --no-check-certificate https://173.163.189.225/libmp4v2-2_2.0-1_amd64.deb -P /tmp/
apt -y install /tmp/libmp4v2-2_2.0-1_amd64.deb
clear
read -p "Next we will download the Zoneminder (patched) package and install it.
Press enter to continue" nothing
wget --no-check-certificate https://173.163.189.225/zoneminder_1.32.3-disco_repacked_amd64.deb -P /tmp/
awk '$0="date.timezone = "$0' /etc/timezone >> /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini
gdebi /tmp/zoneminder_1.32.3-disco_repacked_amd64.deb
systemctl enable zoneminder
service zoneminder start
adduser www-data video
a2enmod cgi
a2enconf zoneminder
a2enmod rewrite
chmod 740 /etc/zm/zm.conf
chown root:www-data /etc/zm/zm.conf
chown -R www-data:www-data /usr/share/zoneminder/
service apache2 reload
clear
read -p "Open Zoneminder in a web browser (http://server-ip/zm). 
Press enter to continue" nothing
clear 

Save and close the file

CTRL+o
CTRL+x

Set permissions

chmod 755 install-zm

Run the file

./install-zm

The script will prompt for user action several times. I have run this script installing Mariadb or MySQL with a functional system with either database server. I do, however, prefer Mariadb. I also recommend running mysqltuner after adding cameras and periodically to tune database settings as events are stored.

You do not need to add the Zoneminder PPA for this install but it may be needed in the future when Zoneminder is updated.