Zoneminder Monitors

Overview

This role automates the addition of camera monitors to ZoneMinder via the REST API. It authenticates with the ZoneMinder API, retrieves the list of existing monitors to prevent duplicates, and creates new camera monitors with customizable settings including name, RTSP path, resolution, recording function, video encoding parameters, and audio recording options. The role is idempotent and will only add monitors that don’t already exist.

What This Role Does

Camera addition workflow:

1. Authenticate: Login to ZoneMinder API and get access token
2. Check existing: Retrieve list of currently configured monitors
3. Compare: Identify which cameras need to be added
4. Add new: Create monitors that don’t already exist (role is idempotent)
5. Configure: Set all camera parameters (resolution, function, encoding)

Role Variables

Variable	Description
zoneminder_monitors_api_user	ZoneMinder API username
zoneminder_monitors_api_password	API password (from vault)
zoneminder_monitors_list	List of camera monitors to add
zoneminder_monitors_api_url	ZoneMinder API URL
zoneminder_monitors_validate_certs	Validate SSL certificates
zoneminder_monitors_defaults	Default settings applied to all cameras

Default camera settings (zoneminder_monitors_defaults):

zoneminder_monitors_defaults:
  type: "Ffmpeg"
  method: "rtpRtsp"
  colours: 4
  save_jpegs: 0
  video_writer: 2       # 2 = passthrough (recommended for H.264)
  record_audio: 1

Camera definition fields:

Field	Description
name	Display name (used for duplicate detection)
path	Full RTSP URL including credentials
width	Video width in pixels
height	Video height in pixels
function	Record, Modect (motion detect), or Mocord

Notes

• No longer in production. Frigate is now the active NVR; this role is kept in case ZoneMinder is ever reinstalled
• Monitors are identified by name. Cameras with the same name are not duplicated
• Modect records only when motion is detected; Record records continuously; Mocord does both
• RTSP URLs contain camera credentials. Store them in Ansible Vault
• Run zoneminder_install before this role