Скачать или смотреть Automating libcamera-vid RTSP Streaming on Raspberry Pi with Cron Jobs

Discover how to set up a `libcamera-vid` RTSP stream on your Raspberry Pi with cron jobs for flawless automation and streaming adjustments.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/75847717/ asked by the user 'grawgan' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/21493920/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/75896478/ provided by the user 'grawgan' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/21493920/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Automating libcamera-vid RTSP Streaming on Raspberry Pi with Cron Jobs

If you're using your Raspberry Pi as a security camera, you might find yourself wanting to automate the streaming process using libcamera-vid. This task can become a bit tricky, especially when you want it to start on reboot and modify settings throughout the day. Fortunately, we’ve got a solution to address these issues seamlessly.

The Challenge

You might be familiar with the need to start the libcamera-vid stream automatically on reboot, but some users encounter problems when setting it up to run through a cron job. Here is what typically occurs:

The libcamera-vid commands in your script fail to execute, and only the streaming command is processed.

The connection errors arise when audio options like --libav-audio attempt to connect to PulseAudio but fail, causing frustration and confusion.

Understanding the Problem

The crux of the issue lies in how cron handles the execution environment. Cron jobs run in a minimal environment, which often leads to failures when trying to connect to audio services like PulseAudio. This results in errors such as:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

A Solution to the Problem

After some research and troubleshooting, we discovered a solution that ensures your cron job executes successfully. Here’s a breakdown of how to implement it:

Step 1: Modify Your Shell Script

Ensure that your shell script (rebootcam.sh) contains the necessary commands to start libcamera-vid. The full script can look something like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Update Your Cron Jobs

Next, you’ll need to adjust your cron jobs to include the necessary environment variable that sets up the correct XDG_RUNTIME_DIR for the session. This should look like the following in your crontab:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 3: Verify and Test

Once you have modified your script and cron jobs, save the changes and test them by rebooting your Raspberry Pi.

Check the logs defined in the cron job (in this case, my.log) for any errors or confirmations that the stream has started successfully.

Conclusion

By adapting your cron job to include the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR variable, you enable the necessary environment for your libcamera-vid process to run correctly. This small adjustment can save you time and hassle, streamlining your Raspberry Pi as an effective security camera solution. Happy streaming!