Webcams plugin.

[Brandon Barometer]

Hi all,
Has anyone had any problems setting up the webcams plugin, for some reason it just won’t work, I had deleted and reloaded it and my settings look right. I think it’s a server problem, not sure why, but that’s my thoughts.

Any ideas?

[Jachym]

Did you set up the CRON job for it?

[Brandon Barometer]

I did and it is in order. Think it’s an issue with the permissions on the server side though. Might start it all over again and see what happens.

Permissions show “777” by the way. Although I’m not convinced it’s true.

[EveshamWeather]

I have it set up and luckily for me it was problem free.

When you say permissions say 777, what file/folder is that for? The plugin needs write access to http://www.thebrandonbarometer.com/template/plugins/webcam/images folder as this is where the images for each time slot are stored.
Looking on your site, it does look like the CRON is working as you are getting 4 updates an hour, just no images. This leads me to think it is a permissions problem on the images directory.

Also be aware that your images directory will grow fairly quickly. I am estimating around 1.5Gb a year in storage space for images.

[Brandon Barometer]

Thanks for that Vince, the folder in question does have the correct permissions but am now led to believe it’s something to do with the back end at 1and1. Will let you know if I ever get to the bottom of it !

Neal.

[blainec]

Can anyone tell me what the correct permissions are for the webcam folder and below

[Jachym]

Hi, try 650 for the folders and 640 for files

[blainec]

Well, after a lot of trial and error, I finally got it working with 755 for folders 744 for files

[sanyo76]

how many webcams can I create time-lapse? I personally have 2 and at the moment I only have a time-lapse. can I add the other webcam?

Thank you

[Jachym]

Hi,
webcam plugin - 1 webcam (timelapse, history etc.)
webcam block - unlimited (current picture updated in realtime)

[acatalano]

So I was in the process of setting up my webcam page plugin and noticed this discussion. As regards setting up the CRON job .... I've been doing this for update.php for the Meteo site, I also use Task Scheduler in Windows to upload images and time lapse videos to my other sites. For the home page webcam Block in Meteo, I am pulling the image every 900 seconds from my other website (www.boulderwx.com/image.jpg) where it has been uploaded by task scheduler via FTP and then via the other website's url and the timer within the webcam Block. I have setup the Plugin the same way and it does seem to be updating correctly. However I do not see the calendar (yet) but the day is young!

But do I still need a CRON job, and if yes, what should be the structure of this request (i.e., the url)???

[Steve Harpin]

I am gleaning quite a few useful hints from this thread. I am pretty sure that I also have an FTP problem with 1&1 as the web host. Even Cumulus is giving me a little bit of trouble at the moment, never mind the webcam. The latter is now set up wirelessly but not in the final position I have chosen for the best weather view. Images are being sent straight to the images folder inside the plugin but they are actually quite small. At 4.76kb they seem to be almost the thumbnails version and not the larger image. And, of course, they are NOT showing up in the webcam. Interesting and very annoying but I am sure the ones of us who are having similar problems will crack it in the end. Meanwhile, I have a webcam that is showing people walking down our street and buses going past every twelve minutes!!

[Dehatter]

I use 1&1 and have no issues.

I upload the image1.jpg from my camera to the ../cam directory via ftp.

You can name this folder what ever you want. Create the folder using your ftp program. I would recommend the folder NOT be in your template folder for simplicity.

My folder structure:

folder structure.png (2.59 KiB) Viewed 7647 times

You set up the ftp transfer with your camera or other software if you are using ispy etc.

I have the permissions for the cam folder at 755. The permissions for the file I did not set but are 604

In the block and the plugin, I have www.tempertasvigilate/cam/image1.jpg as the source.

image source.png (3.72 KiB) Viewed 7647 times

You may see this a bit differently as I have setup a subdomain for my images, but is is the same folder.


updateWebcam.php must be moved from the /webcam plugin folder to the ../load/crons folder.

I have a cron-job running at https://cron-job.org

The cron job executes all update php's in the /crons folder (I have others, but you might just have the webcam php).

syntax of the cron job is:

http://www.tempestasvigilate.com/templa ... tepassword

photos of the cron job set up at: viewtopic.php?f=60&t=1247&p=5843#p5843

That's it. everything else is automatic.

Area for issues:
1) camera (computer) cannot upload the latest image file [fix with camera (computer) setup]
2) camera (computer) cannot upload using the same file name every-time [bigger fix using a script and another cron job]
3) if you think your camera (computer) is working you should be able to enter the address directly and get the image. example: http://www.tempestasvigilate.com/cam/image1.jpg

4) You never moved the update file from the plugin folder to the ../load/crons folder [move or copy the file]
5) I highly recomend using https://cron-job.org It is free and you get an email if your job fails. Double check your password.

I hope this helps someone.



Tom

[wifi75]

I use 1&1 and have no issues.

I upload the image1.jpg from my camera to the ../cam directory via ftp.

You can name this folder what ever you want. Create the folder using your ftp program. I would recommend the folder NOT be in your template folder for simplicity.

My folder structure:

folder structure.png

You set up the ftp transfer with your camera or other software if you are using ispy etc.

I have the permissions for the cam folder at 755. The permissions for the file I did not set but are 604

In the block and the plugin, I have www.tempertasvigilate/cam/image1.jpg as the source.

image source.png

You may see this a bit differently as I have setup a subdomain for my images, but is is the same folder.


updateWebcam.php must be moved from the /webcam plugin folder to the ../load/crons folder.

I have a cron-job running at https://cron-job.org

The cron job executes all update php's in the /crons folder (I have others, but you might just have the webcam php).

syntax of the cron job is:

http://www.tempestasvigilate.com/templa ... tepassword

photos of the cron job set up at: viewtopic.php?f=60&t=1247&p=5843#p5843

That's it. everything else is automatic.

Area for issues:
1) camera (computer) cannot upload the latest image file [fix with camera (computer) setup]
2) camera (computer) cannot upload using the same file name every-time [bigger fix using a script and another cron job]
3) if you think your camera (computer) is working you should be able to enter the address directly and get the image. example: http://www.tempestasvigilate.com/cam/image1.jpg

4) You never moved the update file from the plugin folder to the ../load/crons folder [move or copy the file]
5) I highly recomend using https://cron-job.org It is free and you get an email if your job fails. Double check your password.

I hope this helps someone.



Tom

hi Dehatter, sorry but I but I did not understand, my ip camera saves images with folders via ftp and then subfolders with a suot file name that I cannot change
I have not really understood why in the plugin but set the line like this:
www.tempertasvigilate / cam / image1.jpg

can you help me?

[Dehatter]

Wow. Sorry I have not seen this earlier.

If your camera does not upload with the same filename, there are 2 ways to fix it.

1) Use a third party software program such as Ispy or ipTimelapse to capture an image at a set time off your rtsp stream, and upload that image to your ftp server.

2) Use a script to rename the image the camera uploads to a fixed name and delete the original image.

Fix 1 requires a computer be on 24/7 in order to capture the file, but is very easy to actually make happen.
Fix 2 is considerably harder to accomplish, but runs off your web server and does not require you to have a running computer. I can provide you with an old script i used to use, but I cannot guarantee that it works on the latest versions of PHP.

I actually use Fix 1 personally.

Tom

[spd2612]

I have been trying to get this plugin to work
I know my problem just cant find a work around
I use netcam studio to get my stream from my webcams onto my website, I can even get it into the webcam block it outputs MJPEG, I have a timelaps feature in netcam studio however it creates folders and adds to the file names those folders change dates every day
I can also upload ftp from my reolink camera however again it creates folders and sub folders with add ons in the names and again changes daily

I can just rename and move some files into the image directory and I see them in the plugin so I know its all working and yes the cron is setup and working

I need a way to rename and move them to a static folder that can then be processed. I could be missing something here
Any ideas ?

Just noticed my sticker is not working now

[Daali]

If I am understanding the issue is:
*current image producer is using dynamic names and the plugin wants a static name.

you can batch pre-process the dynamic names to static with some scripting,

or

if cameras have rtsp:// use IPTimelapse to both take screenshots with static names and timelapse at end of day.

[spd2612]

If I am understanding the issue is:
*current image producer is using dynamic names and the plugin wants a static name.

you can batch pre-process the dynamic names to static with some scripting,

or

if cameras have rtsp:// use IPTimelapse to both take screenshots with static names and timelapse at end of day.

Does anyone have a script preferably powershell that I could batch pre-process the dynamic names to static and move them to a single folder

[Jolumarali]

Hello

Script for a Foscam

<?php
$filename = 'webcam/camera.jpg';
$content = file_get_contents('http://************.ddns.net:8088/cgi-bin/CGIPrixy.fcgi?cmd=snapPicture2&usr=meteo&pwd=*******/');
file_put_contents($filename, $content);
?>
And you use a Cron

good installation

José Luis

[spd2612]

where did you put this? It looks like its a PHP FILE

I probably can adapt that using reolink cmd

http://(ip address)/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=0&rs=(any combination of
numbers and letters)&user=(user name)&password=(user password)
(Every time you refresh the website it will snap a new picture)

[Jolumarali]

You put me in the root

You put me in the root and you created a cron direction https://hurricanepub.com/wtemplate/uploadreolink.php

and you get your image in the 'webcam / camera.jpg' folder

[spd2612]

Well my webcam folder is now getting good images but there is nothing going to the plugins/webcam/images
or thumbnails

In the plugins setup I have http://hurricanepub.com/WTemplate/webcam/camera.jpg

It did move one image to the plugins/webcam/images but is not updateing any clue here

[spd2612]

Ahhh
looks like its working I had the save set to 15 min I changed it to 1

It looks like even setting it to that it only updates every 2 min
What is the best reccomended settings for the control panel and time on the cron job

[Jolumarali]

Hello
for the plugin, personally, I put every hour and only during the day, being in the countryside and it is absolute black.
For you to see for your configuration

see you

[spd2612]

How can I get my timelaps plugin to have a play button with a way to advance it
I have seen others with this function

Well it looks like I found this answer that comes from IPTIMELAPS software
Is there a tutorial somewhere that integates that into Meteotemplate.
and could I run the iptimelaps off my webserver or whould it be better to build a new Virtual Machine just for it.


I got it all figured out