Has Anyone Ever Installed ZoneMinder?

[Carlosinfl]

I was looking into this tool called ZoneMinder. It looks really cool but however it requires a MySQL database which I have never configured and or managed. I am sure installing MySQL is simple and in fact, ZoneMinder is available as a .deb package in the "unstable" repo which I have installed but now that it's installed, I really don't know where to go from here.

I checked their README.debian file and it says:

There is one manual step to get the web interface working.
You need to link /etc/zm/apache.conf to /etc/apache2/conf.d/zoneminder.conf,
then reload the apache config (i.e. /etc/init.d/apache2 reload)

-- Peter Howard <pjh@northern-ridge.com.au>, Wed, 10 Jan 2007 16:35:51 +1100

I really don't understand what they are telling me to do. I know how to restart Apache but how do I create the link they specify.

[chrismortimore]

Code: Select all

ln -s /etc/apache2/conf.d/zoneminder.conf /etc/zm/apache.conf

Is all they are looking for.

When apache is started, it reads each file in /etc/apache2/conf.d/ and configures anything described in those files. Whats basically happening with zoneminder is they have shipped the apache config that you need, but they have put it in /etc/zm/apache.conf to keep all of the zoneminder stuff together. By linking /etc/zm/apache.conf to /etc/apache2/conf.d/zoneminder.conf using the above command, when apache loads, it'll read zoneminder's configuration and set up the interface for you. Clear as mud?

[Carlosinfl]

Ah - so I guess we're creating a link of some kind to /etc/zm/apache.conf then, huh?

I ran the command and here is what I got:

# ln -s /etc/apache2/conf.d/zoneminder.conf /etc/zm/apache.conf
ln: creating symbolic link '/etc/zm/apache.conf' to '/etc/apache2/conf.d/zoneminder.conf': File exists

Does this mean there was a problem or did I do something wrong?

[chrismortimore]

Run "ls -l /etc/apache2/conf.d/". It might have made the link when it was installed...

[Carlosinfl]

When I run the ls -l command, this is all I see...

Code: Select all

cwilliams@watcher:~$ ls -l /etc/apache2/conf.d/
total 4
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 24 2007-05-06 09:56 charset


[chrismortimore]

Doh! Do "ln -s /etc/zm/apache.conf /etc/apache2/conf.d/zoneminder.conf". Sorry, I always get those things backwards. Never figured out why.

[Carlosinfl]

OK - I did the following which returned me back to the CLI prompt with no errors and or messages...

Code: Select all

watcher:/home/cwilliams# ln -s /etc/zm/apache.conf /etc/apache2/conf.d/zoneminder.conf


I assume at this point, I just need to restart Apache service, correct?

Thanks so much for your input.

[chrismortimore]

I assume at this point, I just need to restart Apache service, correct?

I'd double check with "ls -l /etc/apache2/conf.d/" and make sure zoneminder.conf is there and pointing to /etc/zm/apache.conf. If it is, then just restart apache and you're good to go.

Thanks so much for your input.

You're welcome

[Carlosinfl]

Yes - there appears to be a valid symbolic link.

Code: Select all

watcher:/home/cwilliams# ls -l /etc/apache2/conf.d/
total 4
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 24 2007-05-06 09:56 charset
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 2007-05-08 13:09 zoneminder.conf -> /etc/zm/apache.conf


[chrismortimore]

Cool. Just restart apache, and cross your fingers

[Carlosinfl]

Yes - I was able to hit the web interface and now I assume I just need to manage my camera and all that good stuff.

I for some reason thought I had to create a MySQL database and do all this nasty stuff to get this working but I assume not since I got this far. That or the .deb package did this all for me...

[chrismortimore]

I for some reason thought I had to create a MySQL database and do all this nasty stuff to get this working but I assume not since I got this far. That or the .deb package did this all for me...

If the mediawiki .deb is anything to go by, you'll have to do it yourself. I hate installing mediawiki, my knowledge of SQL is very very limited. On the plus side, the mysql manual is amazing.

[Carlosinfl]

I don't know what mediawiki is - do I need that for ZoneMinder to work?

[chrismortimore]

I don't know what mediawiki is - do I need that for ZoneMinder to work?

Nope, sorry I was rambling off on a tangent. Just ignore me

[Carlosinfl]

Ok - cool. Everything worked great so far however I can't get any video feed from my one and only added "monitor".

It appears that since I installed ZoneMinder via Apt-Get, I have a permissions issue using the USB camera located at /dev/video0.

You can see my troubles here...

http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewto ... 1266#31266