Automating Camera Behavior with Thingino and rc.local

In a Thingino-powered network setup, every camera can be configured to automatically register via MQTT and record video directly to an NFS share using a small script added to /etc/rc.local on each device. This approach centralizes control and customization, allowing you to modify behavior for all cameras from a single server.

This file can be included in each firmware build by including the modified rc.local file in thingino-firmware/overlay/upper/etc/rc.local

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Setup Overview

1. On Each Camera:

   • A simple script is added to /etc/rc.local to execute custom behavior at boot by fetching a script from the central server.

2. On the Central Server:

   • A customizable script, rc-local-camera.sh, handles mounting NFS shares and starting camera-specific processes.

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Camera /etc/rc.local

The /etc/rc.local file ensures the camera fetches and executes the server-provided script at boot:

#!/bin/sh
#
# rc.local
#
# This script is executed at the end of each multiuser runlevel.
# Make sure that the script will "exit 0" on success or any other
# value on error.

curl -sSL http://router.lan/rc-local-camera.sh | sh

exit 0

Key Points:

• curl Command: Downloads and executes the rc-local-camera.sh script from the central server.
• Dynamic Behavior: Cameras automatically adopt updated scripts without requiring individual configuration changes.

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Server Script: rc-local-camera.sh

This script defines camera behavior and is served from the central server:

#!/bin/sh

# Mount shared NFS directories
mkdir -p /mnt/nfs_root
mount -t nfs -o rw,async,noatime,nolock,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576 \
router.lan:/mnt/backup/nfs_root /mnt/nfs_root

mkdir -p /mnt/nfs
mount -t nfs -o rw,async,noatime,nolock,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576 \
router.lan:/mnt/HomeAssistant/media/record/$(hostname)/ /mnt/nfs

# Start recording and MQTT registration
/mnt/nfs_root/sbin/ffmpeg-record.sh &
/mnt/nfs_root/sbin/mqtt-full.sh $(hostname)

Key Points:

1. NFS Mounts:

   • Mounts a shared root NFS directory (/mnt/nfs_root).
   • Mounts a camera-specific NFS directory (/mnt/nfs), dynamically named based on the camera’s hostname.

2. Recording and MQTT Registration:

   • ffmpeg-record.sh: Starts video recording directly to the mounted NFS directory.
   • mqtt-full.sh: Registers the camera with the MQTT broker using the camera’s hostname.

3. Custom Behavior via hostname:

   • Allows per-camera customization based on hostname, configured dynamically by the server script.

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Benefits of This Approach

1. Centralized Management:

   • Update camera behavior by modifying the server script without physically accessing each device.
   • Push custom configurations or updates instantly to all cameras.

2. Dynamic Per-Camera Behavior:

   • Use the hostname to customize NFS paths, recording settings, or MQTT topics for individual cameras.

3. Scalability:

   • Add new cameras by simply pointing their /etc/rc.local to the server’s script. No manual configuration required.

4. Ease of Maintenance:

   • No need to log into each camera to make changes.
   • A single script update propagates to all devices.

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Example Use Case

• Home Automation Integration:
  • Cameras record to an NFS share accessed by Home Assistant for media storage.
  • MQTT messages from cameras trigger automations, such as motion alerts or snapshot processing.