For Developers

OpenHAB 3 Camera Widget

Create your Camera Create the Widget Template Create your Camera First we need to add our camera as an Equipment. To do this go to Settings and click on Model: Click on Create Equipment from Thing:…

4 Min

OpenHAB 3 Home Automation in Docker

Pulling the Docker Image Preparing the System Running the Container Automating Docker setup using Ansible Maintenance Clean Up when things go wrong OpenHAB CLI Pulling the Docker Image The OpenHAB 3 …

3 Min

OpenHAB 3 INSTAR Camera Binding

Add a Camera Thing Installing FFMPEG Add an Snapshot Channel Camera Control Add a Camera Thing After installing the camera binding we can continue with adding our camera. Go to Things and select the …

2 Min

OpenHAB 3 MQTT Binding

Configuring the MQTT Binding MQTT Broker MQTT Client Configuring the MQTT Binding MQTT Broker I will start by adding my INSTAR IP camera as MQTT Broker to OpenHAB. The broker is configured as follows…

3 Min

Website integration - HTML5 stream for Full HD cameras

This manual is only intended for 1080p Full HD camera models. For 720p HD models please see the HD guide here. HTML5 Video Stream With your INSTAR Full HD cameras you can integrate the HTML5 (plugin-…

2 Min

Run a INSTAR Node-RED Dashboard in Docker

Install Docker on Ubuntu 20.04 Download Node-RED Configuration Run Node-RED in Docker Configuring your Dashboard Used Node-RED Nodes: Docker is an application that simplifies the process of managing…

5 Min

Node-RED Event Timeline for your MQTT Camera

Use Case Used Nodes Node-RED Flow Use Case You are sitting in front of screen having to keep an eye on what is happening somewhere with your MQTT camera. You want to be able to see the live video fro…

3 Min

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

Preparing the Homebridge Docker Image Download How to Run Configuration Run Setting Up Homebridge Commit your Changes to the Docker Image Hombridge Configuration Template Homebridge is a lightweight …

11 Min

Youtube Videostreaming from your Camera

Installing OBS Adding your Cameras Connecting to your Youtube Account VLC Video Source You can use the free, open source OBS software to broadcast your cameras live stream to video streaming platform…

3 Min

Adding your Full HD Kameras Videostream to your Website

Integration of the live video stream in your website Edit the HTML Page Adding the h.264 Videostream Adding the MJPEG Videostream Testing Offline Upload the Page to your Server Integration of the liv…

5 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server with CloudMQTT

Creating an MQTT Instance Debugging CloudMQTT Connecting our Cameras Working with Node-RED So far we always set up our own local MQTT broker like HiveMQ or Mosquitto for use as an external MQTT broke…

4 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server with HiveMQ

Install Docker on Linux Enable the Loop Module Install Docker Start and Enable docker HiveMQ Download and Run HiveMQ Connecting your Camera Node-RED Install Docker on Linux I am going to install Dock…

4 Min

Use IFTTT as your Alarmserver

Basic Setup IFTTT Setting up a Webhook Choosing an Action (Telegram Messenger) Alarmserver Setup Basic Setup If This Then That, also known as IFTTT is a free web-based service to create chains of sim…

4 Min

Add the Live Video to the Node-RED Dashboard

Using your Cameras Snapshot Flow Export Using your Cameras MJPEG Stream Flow Export This tutorial explores several ways to add your INSTAR cameras live image to the Node-RED Dashboard. You might have…

4 Min

How to work with Alarmserver Queries

Setup What we want Node-RED Flow Alarmserver Configuration Testing Import the Flow into Node-RED INSTAR IP cameras offer an Alarmserver Function - 1080p Models, 720p Models - that allows you to send …

5 Min

Node-RED on Android

We already published a couple of articles showing you how to interact with your INSTAR HD or Full HD camera using Node-RED: Node-RED on Debian Linux Node-RED and MQTT Node-RED and SQL logging Node-RE…

2 Min

INSTAR MQTT on Android

MQTT Dash (IoT, Smarthome) Mqtt Dashboard IoT and Node-RED controller Use your INSTAR cameras MQTT interface with your Android device. There are a couple of MQTT apps available on the Google Play Sto…

5 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server @Homey

Adding the Homey MQTT Client Sending a MQTT Command to your Camera In this tutorial we want to connect an INSTAR Full HD camera through it's MQTT Interface with the Athom Homey Smarthome. Adding the …

5 Min

MQTT :: First Steps

Debugging MQTT Networks Windows and macOS Software MQTT Explorer Connect to your Cameras Broker Controlling your Camera MQTT.fx Debugging MQTT Networks Windows and macOS Software There are plenty of …

5 Min

Alexa and Monocle Gateway for the Echo 5

Part 1: Installation of the Monocle Gateway (Windows) Part 1: Installation of the Monocle Gateway (Debian) Part 2: Add exception in AVM Fritzbox and possibly other routers Part 3: Create camera in Mo…

14 Min

Node-RED and SQL Logging

Working with AlaSQL in Node-RED Connect our Camera to Node-RED Writing the Data to our SQL Database Backup the Database Table to a File Backup your camera's System Log Flow Export Light Sensor Readou…

13 Min

Homematic CCU3 Hub and RedMatic

Add sensors to the control panel Creating system variables and programs Installing Node-RED Installation of an MQTT server Enabling SSH Access (Optional) Testing the MQTT server Homematic -> INSTAR I…

16 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server with Home Assistant

Home Assistant Installation on a Raspberry Pi MQTT Binding Testing our MQTT Service Adding a UI Switch Switch Component Configuring the User Interface Adding your Cameras Live Video Adding a UI Push …

12 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server with Homematic

Redmatic Getting Started with Node-RED Homematic Sensors (Motion Detector) Motion Detection Download the Node-RED Flow System Variables Download the Node-RED Flow Redmatic We already prepared a tutor…

12 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server with Mosquitto

Docker Installation Setting up Mosquitto Running the Broker User Authentication Connecting Cameras Node-RED We are going to use the Open Source Mosquitto MQTT broker to control our INSTAR Full HD IP …

6 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server with Loxone

Loxone Configuration Loxone Configuration see https://www.loxwiki.eu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=82149712 Loxone with your INSTAR IP Camera

1 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server with Node-RED

Node-RED Configuration Node-RED JSON Flows Node-RED User Interface Multi-Camera Setup Node-RED Configuration If you aren't using Node-RED already please follow our tutorials on how to set up the prog…

6 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server with OpenHAB2

OpenHAB Configuration though Paper UI MQTT Binding OpenHAB Configuration though Paper UI The Paper UI is a new interface that helps setting up and configuring your openHAB instance. It does not (yet)…

4 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server with homee

Node-RED Configuration Connecting the homee Gateway Using homee Environment Variables Flow Download Connecting a Sensor to your Camera Flow Download Node-RED Configuration If you aren't using Node-RE…

8 Min

INSTAR MQTT Server with ioBroker

Install ioBroker on CentOS 8 Setting up Node.js ioBroker Install Script Connecting to the MQTT Broker Node-RED Adapter Example Flow MQTT Adapter Visualization JSON Flow for Node-RED Live Video Alarms…

13 Min

Adding a Theme to Home Assistant

Adding your Theme Automatically switch Day / Night Theme Start by creating a themes directory in the Home Assistant configuration folder inside your home directory: Now open the Home Assistant config…

2 Min

Pure-FTPd on a Raspberry Pi

Installation Basic Configurations FTP Home Directory, Virtual User and User Group We want to use the FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to transfer snapshots between our INSTAR IP camera an our Raspberry P…

3 Min

OpenHAB 2 Home Automation

See also -> Updated OpenHAB 3 Tutorial. Camera API to Node-RED to OpenHAB OpenHAB Installation on Windows OpenHAB2 Configuration Connect the MQTT Server to openHab2 Add Items Access your SmartHome Re…

6 Min

OpenHAB 2 IP Camera Binding

See also -> Updated OpenHAB 3 Tutorial. Installation Configuration Installation Download the binding already built in JAR format from here (currently this is the version ): Place the JAR file after…

3 Min

Raspberry Pi & openHABian

See also -> Updated OpenHAB 3 Tutorial. Install openHABian on a Raspberry Pi OpenHAB & Node-RED Tutorials Use a Raspberry Pi to control your INSTAR Network Camera. The OpenHAB Linux distribution ope…

2 Min

FHEM IPCAM Module for INSTAR Cameras

FHEM Installation Make FHEM look Pretty(ier) The IPCAM Module Adding your INSTAR HD or Full HD Camera Camera Control Timed snapshots Adding your Cameras Live Video Tablet UI Automate Camera Functions…

31 Min

FHEM with the INSTAR MQTT Server

FHEM Installation Perl Installation Setup FHEM MQTT Broker Add Devices Adding a Test Device Go to Position Node-RED Node-RED flow (FHEM->Camera) Just to get a quick overview over the FHEM user interf…

13 Min

Node-RED Installation on Windows

nodeRED on Windows Installing Node.js Installing nodeRED Run nodeRED Configuring nodeRed Create a Static directory nodeRED on Windows Setting up nodeRED in a Microsoft Windows environment. The instru…

3 Min

Mosquitto Broker Installation on Windows

Mosquitto on Windows Installing Mosquitto Testing the MQTT Server with MQTT.fx Troubleshooting MQTT Binding for OpenHAB Mosquitto on Windows Eclipse Mosquitto is an open source (EPL/EDL licensed) mes…

3 Min

OpenHAB 2 Installation on Windows

openHAB 2 on Windows Prerequisites Installation openHAB 2 on Windows The following instructions will guide you through the process of setting up openHAB 2. Prerequisites First we need to Download and…

2 Min

No FireMotD ExportFile detected

If you see the Error message after starting openHABian for the first time, follow this Guide to get FireMotD set up: Go to the FireMotD directory And run the following command (you will be prompt…

1 Min

Node-RED Setup under openHABian

OpenHAB CLI Tool Setting up Node-RED Troubleshooting Manual Installation (optional) OpenHAB CLI Tool We want to set up the Node-RED flow that we were already working with in our Windows Installation,…

4 Min

Mosquitto Setup under openHABian

OpenHAB CLI Tool Troubleshooting Manual Installation (optional) OpenHAB CLI Tool Just as Node-RED, Mosquitto (our Broker for the MQTT Protocol) can be installed through the OpenHAB-CLI. First, login …

3 Min

OpenHAB Setup under openHABian

OpenHAB CLI Securing your Installation OpenHAB Setup OpenHAB CLI As to be expected from a LINUX distro maintained by OpenHAB, there isn't much to do anymore to set up OpenHAB once you installed openH…

3 Min

OpenHAB 2 IP Camera Control

Camera API to Node-RED to OpenHAB OpenHAB Troubleshooting Items Switch String Transformation Services Sitemap Setting up Node-RED Source Code home.items home.sitemap Node-RED Flow Camera API to Node-…

66 Min

Node-RED and Alexa

A Node-RED node to control things via Amazon Alexa. Use voice commands to control your INSTAR IP camera without the need for an Amazon Alexa Skill - no Cloud required. We are going to use the node-re…

20 Min

IFTTT and INSTAR Full HD Cameras

Basic Setup IFTTT Basic Setup If This Then That, also known as IFTTT is a free web-based service to create chains of simple conditional statements, called applets. Build your own applets to connect w…

2 Min

IOBroker on Raspberry Pi

ioBroker Tutorials ioBroker (ioBroker Website, Github) is an integration platform for the Internet of Things, focused on Building Automation, Smart Metering, Ambient Assisted Living, Process Automati…

2 Min

Node-RED and IFTTT

Basic Setup Node-RED Introduction IFTTT Setting up a Webhook Node-RED Contacting the external Webhook IFTTT Contacting a Node-RED Endpoint Basic Setup If This Then That, also known as IFTTT is a free…

12 Min

Node-RED and MQTT

Installation Securing Node-RED Setting Application Port and URLs Creating a Public Directory Creating an Administrator login Starting Node-RED Node-RED Tutorials Node-RED is a programming tool for wi…

6 Min

Using your XiaoMi Home Hardware without the Cloud

ZigBee Communication without a proprietary Hub Setting up the bridge Running the bridge Determine location of CC2531 USB sniffer and checking user permissions Installation Configuration Running ZigBe…

20 Min

Run ZoneMinder inside a Docker Container

Installation of Docker on CentOS Zoneminder and MySQL Accessing the Zoneminder applications Configuring ZoneMinder FirewallD Adding a INSTAR 1080p Camera Adding your cameras MJPEG Stream Adding your …

4 Min

ioBroker Installation

Installation of ioBroker Installation of ioBroker Create a directory and install ioBroker using the node package manager: Check if ioBroker is up with your webbrowser:

5 Min

ioBroker Setup

1 Min

ioBroker Installation

Installation of ioBroker under Windows 10 Install the latest version of Node.js, create a directory and install ioBroker using the node package manager: You can start the ioBroker service by typing …

10 Min

IOBroker on a Raspberry Pi

Raspbian Required Hardware Required Software Raspbian Installation Raspbian We are going to use a clean installation of Raspian (a Debian based LINUX Dist for your Raspberry Pi) to set up ioBroker. P…

11 Min

motionEye on Raspberry Pi

ioBroker Preparation Installation of motionEye Adding your IP Camera JPG Camera MJPG Camera RTSP Camera Adding motionEye to ioBroker Vis ioBroker Preparation MotionEye uses the port 8081 to stream yo…

28 Min

Node-RED and MQTT Advanced

Building a functional User Interface JSON Code export Global Login UI Buttons SET Audio Detection State Building a functional User Interface In the last course we created a Login Form in our dashboar…

12 Min

Node-RED and MQTT Intermediate

Using a UI Form Element to set a Global Login Login Form MQTT Node getserverinfo Flow JSON Code export Global Login CGI Response for getserverinfo Using a UI Form Element to set a Global Login In the…

12 Min

Control your Camera over MQTT with your Android Phone

The MQTT Protocol is supported by a wide range of third-party software. In the following we want to take a look at two Android apps that will allow us to use the MQTT Endpoints we added to our Node-R…

3 Min

Node-RED and MQTT Introduction

Creating your first Flows MQTT Deploy your Flows Exported Sourcecode Creating your first Flows You can find the exported source code for this example at the end of the article - The JSON code contain…

7 Min

ioBroker Blockly Script Engine

ioBroker comes with a Blockly Adapter that - very similar to Node-RED - allows you to create small scripts with a graphical user interface. You can install it from the Adapters tab: Click on the Sc…

27 Min

ioBroker Cloud Adapter

ioBroker Cloud Adapter Amazon Alexa IFTTT ioBroker Cloud Adapter Amazon Alexa IFTTT

38 Min

ioBroker MQTT Adapter

First we need to be able to communicate with our camera using the MQTT Protocol. We choose to install the MQTT Broker/Client Adapter from the lists of available adapters in ioBroker. You can use this…

15 Min

ioBroker Node-RED Adapter

ioBroker offers you Node-RED as an easy to install adapter. Please be aware that we ran into a few problems here - that might not affect you. But we decided to use our earlier Node-RED Installation i…

7 Min

ioBroker Smartphone Integration

ioBroker offers adapter for 3 different smartphone notification apps - Pushbullet, Pushsafer and Pushover. All of them work pretty much the same. We want to show the basic setup here, based on two of…

38 Min

IOBroker Visualization

VIS installation The VIS Admin Panel Communication via MQTT Display Camera Settings Display the Camera Live Stream Use VIS to Change Camera Settings GET Flow SET Flow VIS Widgets VIS installation The…

65 Min

Tasker Android App - Activate Nightvision Task

Create a Tasker scene to switch the IR LEDs In the following we will create a Tasker Scene - a user interface that can combine a large number of buttons to control your camera - and provide buttons f…

2 Min

Tasker Android App - Deactivate Nightvision Task

Create a Tasker scene to switch the IR LEDs In the following we will create a Tasker Scene - a user interface that can combine a large number of buttons to control your camera - and provide buttons f…

2 Min

Tasker Android App - Schedule Alarm Task

Add a task to timed adjust motion detection In the PREVIOUS STEP we have defined 2 tasks that will cause the camera to pan between a daytime and a nighttime position. Now we want to adjust the motion…

5 Min

Tasker Android App - Nightvision Scene

Create a tasker scene to switch the IR LEDs In the following we will create a Tasker Scene - a user interface that can combine a large number of buttons to control your camera - and provide buttons f…

2 Min

Tasker Android App - Schedule Profile

Add a timed motion detection: day mode In the following example, we will write a profile that will trigger the Motion Detection Task and the Positions Task every morning at 6:00 am and accordingly at…

3 Min

Tasker Android App - Schedule PTZ Task

Add a task for timed start-up of stored positions You want to see your camera in a different direction during the day than at night? In the following example, we will create 2 tasks that will drive o…

4 Min

Tasker - Activate IR Shortcut

Add a Tasker Shortcut to your homescreen (enable IR LEDs) In the following we will create a short cut on our home screen, with which we can turn on the IR LEDs of our INSTAR HD IP camera. By the same…

2 Min

Tasker - Deactivate IR Shortcut

Add a Tasker Shortcut to your homescreen (disable IR LEDs) In the following we will create a short cut on our home screen, with which we can turn off the IR LEDs of our INSTAR HD IP camera. By the sa…

2 Min

CGI Commands

Control your INSTAR IP camera from your default web browser CGI: Common Gateway Interface Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a standard method used to generate dynamic content on web pages. CGI provid…

2 Min

VPN Tunnel

General information for the Fritz.box VPN function In order for the Fritz! Box to become the VPN server, first check System / Update, if the latest firmware version is installed. Then, make sure that…

3 Min

CGI Commands for INSTAR VGA Cameras

Complete CGI Instruction Set for the VGA Series For all developers that want to integrate our cameras in their software or for everyone that wants to experiment a little, we now offer a full list of …

6 Min

IP vs CCTV

What’s The Difference Between Analog and IP Cameras? One of the most significant technological changes in CCTV market is the advent of so called IP cameras. When choosing security cameras for your ho…

14 Min

Restore your Camera after a faulty WebUI Upgrade

You updated your camera´s web user interface - but now you are unable to log into your camera with your web browser. You still "see" the camera inside your network and might even be able to access th…

2 Min

Tasker Android App

Use CGI commands to automate functions of your camera Tasker :: Android Macro Tool To automate your IP camera with your Android phone you need a macro tool, like the app Tasker. The current (paid) ve…

4 Min

Restore your HD Camera after a faulty Firmware Upgrade

VGA Cameras VGA Models 720p CAMERAS Set Up a Serial Connection Restore the Firmware

1 Min

Website Integration

Add your Cameras Image to your personal Homepage

1 Min

Tasker - Add a Profile to deactivate Motion Detection

How do you disable motion detection when you are at home? Add a profile (motion detection disabled) Now we just have to automate the just created action. Go to the profile tab and press the plus to a…

2 Min

Tasker - Add a Task to deactivate Motion Detection

How do you disable motion detection when you are away from home? Add a task (motion detection disabled) Press the + at the bottom of the task tab. Press the + again to open the Action Category dial…

2 Min

Tasker - Add a Task to activate Motion Detection

How do you activate motion detection when you are at home? Add a task (motion detection enabled) Start Tasker and switch to the Task tab. Press the plus down in the middle. Start the Android app and…

2 Min

Tasker - Add a Profile to activate Motion Detection

How do you activate motion detection when you are at home? Hinzufügen eines Profils (Bewegungserkennung aktiviert) Now we just have to automate the just created action. Go to the profile tab and pres…

1 Min

Restore your VGA Camera after a faulty Firmware Upgrade

VGA Cameras What do you need? USB to serial UART Interface (3.3 logic needed) available online. 4x connection cable with female pins on both sided and 4 pin plugs. Software HyperTerminal (Windows X…

4 Min

Website Integration - Cambozola

Cambozola JAVA Plugin In order to integrate your IP camera in a website we recommend you the Cambozola Java plugin. The plugin will allow to display the MJPEG cameras live stream in any web browser. …

3 Min

Website Integration - Open IP Camera Manager

Snowman UPDATE The free software Open IP Camera Manager was superseded by the software Simple And Open Webcam Management. Parts of the information below are still relevant for an installation on a Wi…

1 Min

Website Integration - HD Camera Integration

Integration of the live video stream in your website There is two ways to integrate the HD video stream of your camera in your website. h264: This method will use the H264 video stream of your camera…

3 Min