Zoneminder python scripts using fastAPI that can run on ANY computer (windows, linux) with a Nvidia GPU independently of the zoneminder hardware. No need to any modifications to the ZM machine, uses the ZM API's only.

Tested under ubuntu 24.04/windows 11 with python 3.12 and zoneminder 1.37.68 with or without apache basic auth enabled and zoneminder builtin OPT_USE_AUTH enabled. Zoneminder API have to be enabled.

The need came from my zoneminder computer not having a GPU. So this uses my other desktop (with NVIDIA GPU) to do the analysis over the network.

In short, zm_ai uses 4 scripts that can run independently

1. poll_zm_for_events.py (polls zoneminder events every 10 seconds)
2. yolo8_analyze.py (AI detection using yolo8 on ZM event video)
3. email_notify.py (Optional, emails stills of detections)
4. zm_ai.py (Dashboard to the above)

The dashboard also includes:

• Script start/stop control
• Detected image file management
• Settings (note: email settings have to be changed in the file directly)
• Link to zoneminder
• Camera Montage (includes go2rtc if setup)
• Video export function
• Log review

Dashboard

SETUP

1. Setup in a folder say zm_ai:

   Windows (PowerShell / Windows Terminal)

   setup_zm_ai.ps1

(if powershell has execution policy issues, simply bypass it as so "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\setup_zm_ai.ps1")

Ubuntu Linux

./bash setup_zm_ai.sh

Must install before running setup

• python 3.10 - 3.12 at https://www.python.org/downloads/
• X64 Redistributable package at https://aka.ms/vc14/vc_redist.x64.exe
• ffmpeg at https://www.ffmpeg.org/download.html

Setup will download all pip requirements, pytorch and yolo8 (ultralytics) and activate the python environment *** ensure you have plenty of space because yolo8, pytorch and opencv takes a lot of disc space ***

2. Start the script Review settings.ini and email_settings.ini to match your installation (or do this later through the front end)

   Windows (PowerShell / Windows Terminal)

   start_zm_ai.ps1

(if powershell has execution policy issues, simply bypass it as so "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .start_zm_ai.ps1")

Ubuntu Linux

bash start_zm_ai.sh

This will activate the python environment and execute the zm_ai.py script. All other script should start automatically and be managed from the dashboard.

3. Go to your browser and enter http://localhost:8001/zm_ai *** Adjust settings as required. The file "settings.ini.template" includes a GO2RTC field. Update your existing settings.ini if you need GO2RTC which opens the GO2RTC stream from the montage page by clicking on the TV icon on each monitor.

Note that if any ZM camera zones are created with the name "no_yolo", the AI will skip any detections in those zones. This is to eliminate false positives (e.g. a bush that may be detected as a person)

4. If you have access to your zoneminder computer through the internet, you can reverse proxy zm_ai.py through apache. ** Note that the communication between the zm_ai.py and zoneminder machines are not encrypted so I recommend to keep those on a local network. Unsure about how safe this reverse proxy is. Use at own risk.

SETTINGS.INI

[general]
mon_camid = 1,2,3 # Cameras to monitor
zm_host = https://192.168.1.10:443 # host of zoneminder machine. Assumes /zm and /zm/api. Can be http or https, any ports
GO2RTC_HOST = http://192.168.1.10:1984\ log_enable = True
log_retention_days = 1

[paths] # Folders relative to location of python scripts
zm_alarm_queue = to_be_processed
zm_ai_detections_dir = detected_frames
yolo_config_path = yolo

[credentials]
zm_user = zm_user # Zoneminder use_auth
zm_pass = zm_pass
bauth_user = bauth_user # apache basic auth
bauth_pwd = bauth_pass

[detection]
use_gpu = True # always true, not used
use_box = True
confidence_threshold = 0.80
obj_list = person, bird, cat, dog # from coco.txt
threshold = 10 # will skip analyzing events if rate exceeds threshold/time_window (e.g. 10 Events/60s)
time_window = 60

[email]
email_batch_interval = 60 (wait in seconds before emailing. Prevents getting bunch of emails.
email_camid = 2

If you want to reverse proxy through https, apache configuration below

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    RewriteEngine on

    # FastAPI/zm_ai

    # Optional: redirect HTTP to HTTPS
    RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
    RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

    # Pass X-Forwarded-Proto so FastAPI knows the original scheme
    RequestHeader set X-Forwarded-Proto "https"

    #
    ProxyPass /zm_ai http://192.168.1.XXX:YYYY/zm_ai
    ProxyPassReverse /zm_ai http://192.168.1.XXX:YYYY/zm_ai

</VirtualHost>

*** I am not a programmer so constructive comments welcomed. AI was used in the generation of this code.