What is image-watcher?

The image-watcher is a really simple docker container that will monitor and aggregate multiple image URLs into a security camera console like image grid. It will then distribute this image according to user preferences either via writing to local disk or by sending to Seafile. It currently supports up to 9 images.

How to use this image

Using with an environment variable file.

$ docker run --name some-image-watcher --env-file ./env.list -d cscheide/image-watcher

There is a sample.env file contained within the distribution for you to reference if needed.

Running via docker-compose

Example docker-compose.yml for image-watcher:

camerawatch:
  image: cscheide/image-watcher:latest
  environment:
    CAM_LOG_DEBUG: "true"
    CAM_PHP_TIMEZONE: America/New_York
    CAM_STORAGE_METHOD: seafile
    CAM_STORAGE_DIRECTORY: /Images
    CAM_SEAFILE_URL: https://your.seafile.server:443
    CAM_SEAFILE_APITOKEN: <your Seafile API token>
    CAM_SEAFILE_LIBRARY_ID: <your Seafile library id>
    CAM_SEAFILE_ENCRYPTION_KEY: <your key>
    CAM_RETENTION_TIME_HOURS: 2
    CAM_CLEAN_TIME_MINS: 30
    CAM_ENCRYPT_TIMEOUT_MINS: 30
    CAM_FONT_SIZE: 14
    CAM_FONT_COLOR: #ff0000
    CAM_IMAGE_URL1: http://your.first.webcam/image.jpg
    CAM_IMAGE_URL2: http://your.second.webcam/image.jpg
    CAM_IMAGE_URL3: http://your.third.webcam/image.jpg
    CAM_IMAGE_URL4: http://your.fourth.webcam/image.jpg
    CAM_IMAGE_URL5: http://some.other.webcam/image.png
    CAM_IMAGE_URL6: http://yet.another.webcam/image.png

Not that this service supports up to 9 cameras via the environment variables CAM_IMAGE_URL1 through CAM_IMAGE_URL9.

Environment Variables

This container utilizes environment variables for configuration. The following shows the required and optional environment variables

Required Variables

The following environment variables are minimally required in order for the container to work properly:

• CAM_STORAGE_DIRECTORY : The directory in which to store resulting images
• CAM_STORAGE_METHOD : The method to store images. Should be set to local or seafile
• CAM_IMAGE_URL1 : At least a single URL to an image file or image feed

Camera URLs

URLs to the images you which to retrieve are specified in the environment variables CAM_IMAGE_URL1 through CAM_IMAGE_URL9. At present. this configuration only supports up to nine (9) separate images.

Optional Variables

In addition, the container supports the optional configurations:

General Configuration

• CAM_PHP_TIMEZONE : The timezone to utilize for logging purposes. Utilizes PHP timezone formats.
• CAM_LOG_DEBUG : Setting this to true will result in more verbose logging
• CAM_MAX_WIDTH : The maximum width in pixels of the composited image (Default: 1280)
• CAM_OUTPUT_QUALITY : The JPG compression quality of the composited image (Default: 80)
• CAM_INTERVAL_TIME_SECS : The interval of time in seconds between image creation (Default: 60)
• CAM_CLEAN_TIME_MINS : The interval of time in minutes to regularly check for older images to be removed (Default: 60)
• CAM_RETENTION_TIME_HOURS : The period in hours over which to retain images (Default: 24)
• CAM_FONT : The path to a different TrueType font to be utilized for the overlay
• CAM_FONT_COLOR : The hexadecimal color value for the font overlay (Default: #ff0000)
• CAM_FONT_SIZE : The point size for the font overlay (Default: 12)

Seafile Configuration

• CAM_SEAFILE_URL : The url of your seafile server in the form of http(s)://your.seafile.server:port
• CAM_SEAFILE_APITOKEN : The access API token for Seafile
• CAM_SEAFILE_LIBRARY_ID : The library ID of the Seafile library you would like to store the images on
• CAM_SEAFILE_ENCRYPTION_KEY : The Seafile encryption key to utilize for encrypted libraries
• CAM_SEAFILE_ENCRYPT_TIMEOUT_MINS : How often to renew the encryption authorization in Seafile (Default: 30)

Note: The Seafile will also utilize the required CAM_STORAGE_DIRECTORY parameter specified above.

Feedback / Contribution

Issues

If you have any problems with or questions about this image, please post a GitHub issue.

Contributing

This started out as a hobby project for a particular issue that I had. However, anyone is invited to contribute new features, fixes, or updates, large or small; I will be happy to receive any ideas on how to make this better. Please feel free to fork or submit pull requests.

Before you start to tackle a new issue, please discuss your plans through a GitHub issue, especially for more ambitious contributions. This gives other contributors a chance to point you in the right direction, give you feedback on your design, and help you find out if someone else is working on the same thing.