UniFi Camera Proxy

About

This enables using non-Ubiquiti cameras within the UniFi Video/Protect software. This is particularly useful to view existing RTSP-enabled cameras in the same UI and mobile app.

Things that work:

• Live streaming
• Full-time recording
• Motion detection
• Smart Detections with Frigate

Installation

Dependencies:

• ffmpeg and netcat must be installed
• Python 3.7+

Usage

In order to use this, you'll need a client certificate. This can be acquired in one of two ways:

1. If you have a UniFi camera: scp ubnt@<your-unifi-cam>:/var/etc/persistent/server.pem client.pem
2. You can also create your own client certificate via:

openssl ecparam -out /tmp/private.key -name prime256v1 -genkey -noout
openssl req -new -sha256 -key /tmp/private.key -out /tmp/server.csr -subj "/C=TW/L=Taipei/O=Ubiquiti Networks Inc./OU=devint/CN=camera.ubnt.dev/emailAddress=support@ubnt.com"
openssl x509 -req -sha256 -days 36500 -in /tmp/server.csr -signkey /tmp/private.key -out /tmp/public.key
cat /tmp/private.key /tmp/public.key > client.pem
rm -f /tmp/private.key /tmp/public.key /tmp/server.csr

Running natively

pip install unifi-cam-proxy
# RTSP stream
unifi-cam-proxy --host <NVR IP> --cert client.pem --token <Adoption token> rtsp -s rtsp://wowzaec2demo.streamlock.net/vod/mp4:BigBuckBunny_175k.mov

Running with Docker

docker run --rm -v "/full/path/to/cert.pem:/client.pem" keshavdv/unifi-cam-proxy unifi-cam-proxy --verbose --ip "<Camera IP>" --host <NVR IP> --cert /client.pem --token <Adoption token> rtsp -s rtsp://wowzaec2demo.streamlock.net/vod/mp4:BigBuckBunny_175k.mov

Acquiring adoption token

Unifi Protect

1. On the Protect UI, click 'Add Devices' and select 'G3 Micro'. Select 'Continue on Web' and type in a random string for the SSID and Password fields and click 'Generate QR Code'
2. Take a screenshot of the QR code and upload it to https://zxing.org/w/decode.jspx
3. Decode the QR code and extract the token from the second to last line in the 'Raw Text' field.

Unifi Video

Follow the 'Token Adoption' step from here to generate a new token

Multiple Cameras

To deploy multiple cameras, run multiple instances of the proxy, taking care to specify different MAC addressess:

unifi-cam-proxy --host <NVR IP> --mac 'AA:BB:CC:00:11:22' --cert client.pem --token <Adoption token> rtsp -s rtsp://camera1
unifi-cam-proxy --host <NVR IP> --mac 'AA:BB:CC:33:44:55' --cert client.pem --token <Adoption token> rtsp -s rtsp://camera2

Brand-specific Instructions

Hikvision

• Tested: Hikvision DS-2DE3304W-DE (Uses brightness/contrast settings to control PTZ movements)

unifi-cam-proxy -H <NVR IP> -i <camera IP> -c client.pem -t <Adoption token> hikvision -u <username> -p <password>

Reolink:

• Standalone cameras
  • Tested: RLC-410-5MP

unifi-cam-proxy -H <NVR IP> -i <camera IP> -c client.pem -t <Adoption token> rtsp -s <rtsp stream> --ffmpeg-args '-c:v copy -vbsf "h264_metadata=tick_rate=60000/1001:fixed_frame_rate_flag=1" -ar 32000 -ac 2 -codec:a aac -b:a 32k'

• NVR (Note: Camera/channel IDs are zero-based)

unifi-cam-proxy -H <NVR IP> -i <camera IP> -c client.pem -t <Adoption token> reolink_nvr -u <username> -p <password> -c <camera_id>

Dahua/Lorex/Amcrest:

Lorex is a subsidiary of Dahua, and most Amcrest cameras are also rebranded Dahuas.

• Tested: Lorex LNB4321B (supports motion events)
• Tested: Amcrest IP8M-T2599E (supports motion events)

Lorex:

unifi-cam-proxy -H <NVR IP> -i <camera IP> -c client.pem -t <Adoption token> lorex -u <username> -p <password>

Dahua/Amcrest:

unifi-cam-proxy -H <NVR IP> -i <camera IP> -c client.pem -t <Adoption token> dahua -u <username> -p <password> --motion-index 0 --snapshot-channel 1 --ffmpeg-args '-c:a copy -c:v copy -bsf:v "h264_metadata=tick_rate=30000/1001:fixed_frame_rate_flag=1"'

Notes:

• Camera configuration:
  • Video codec must be H.264 (H.265/HEVC is not supported).
  • Audio codec should be AAC. If not, adjust the ffmpeg args to re-encode to AAC.
  • Ensure the sub stream is enabled.
  • If desired, ensure motion detection is enabled with the desired anti-dither and detection area.
• The -bsf:v parameter is needed to make live video work. The first tick_rate value should be fps * 2000. See this comment.

Frigate: Supports smart detections

• Note: Do not use the RTMP stream from frigate, use the original RTSP stream from your camera

unifi-cam-proxy  -H <NVR IP> -i <camera IP> -c client.pem -t <Adoption token>  frigate -s <rtsp source> --mqtt-host <mqtt host> --frigate-camera <Name of camera in frigate>