camera.ui

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Linux (bare-metal) ​

For always-on servers without Docker: camera.ui installs from npm and runs as a systemd service. Ubuntu 24.04 (or newer) is the tested baseline. See System requirements.

Prerequisites ​

  • 64-bit Linux (x64 or arm64) with systemd

  • Node.js 24, e.g. via NodeSource:

    bash
    curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_24.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

FFmpeg, go2rtc and a portable Python runtime for the detection plugins are downloaded and managed by camera.ui.

Install ​

bash
sudo npm install -g camera.ui
sudo cameraui install --user cameraui

cameraui install creates the service user if it doesn't exist, registers a systemd service named cameraui and starts it on boot. The first start downloads the server and takes a few minutes (sudo cameraui logs --user cameraui shows progress). The web UI then runs on https://<host>:3443.

If the service user needs GPU access for hardware acceleration, add it to your distribution's video/render groups. --group video only applies when the install creates the user. For an existing user, run sudo usermod -aG video cameraui and restart the service.

Worker mode ​

To run this machine as a worker for another camera.ui server, add --worker to the install command:

bash
sudo cameraui install --user cameraui --worker

The flag is stored with the service, so the machine comes back up as a worker after a reboot. Generate a pairing code on the main server, put the snippet into this machine's config file as described on the workers page, then run sudo cameraui restart --user cameraui.

Managing the service ​

bash
cameraui status                          # service state
sudo cameraui logs --user cameraui       # tail the logs
sudo cameraui restart --user cameraui    # also: start / stop
sudo cameraui update-server              # update to the latest server release
sudo cameraui update-server 1.2.3        # or pin a specific version

The service runs as its own user, so everything except status needs sudo and the same --user you installed with. If you installed with -H <path>, pass that instead.

The Updates page does the same from the web interface; update-server is the CLI equivalent.

Data ​

Everything lives in the service user's home under ~/.camera.ui (config, database, recordings, TLS certs). That's the directory to back up. A different location can be set with -H <path> during install.

Hardware acceleration ​

Video acceleration is automatic, but on bare metal the host provides the drivers that the Docker images would otherwise bundle:

  • Intel GPU: sudo apt install intel-media-va-driver-non-free (VA-API/QSV). For OpenVINO or OpenCL inference on the GPU, also install the OpenCL runtime: sudo apt install ocl-icd-libopencl1 intel-opencl-icd
  • AMD GPU: sudo apt install mesa-va-drivers
  • NVIDIA: the regular driver (e.g. sudo ubuntu-drivers install); the Container Toolkit is Docker-only, you don't need it here. CUDA detection with the ONNX plugin additionally needs the CUDA 13 libraries and cuDNN 9 on the system (from NVIDIA's apt repo: sudo apt install cuda-libraries-13-2 cudnn9-cuda-13); the ONNX Legacy plugin wants CUDA 12 instead. The Docker images ship these, bare metal does not
  • Coral Edge TPU: the libedgetpu runtime plus (for PCIe/M.2) the gasket kernel driver, see the Coral section
  • Hailo: the kernel driver, see the Hailo section

No device passthrough is needed. The detection plugins log what they found (Available devices: …).

Uninstall ​

bash
sudo cameraui uninstall        # removes the systemd service
sudo npm remove -g camera.ui

The data directory (~/.camera.ui) is left untouched.