X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/db88e99868bfc41f7cec806200e3e83a47a731e9..8e167f249dd4b19cda439a325a53ac7bf3bb5172:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index b718f90889..868adb561c 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -6,6 +6,49 @@ https://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/ + + wmbusmeters, parse data from your utility meter - nice free software + https://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/wmbusmeters__parse_data_from_your_utility_meter___nice_free_software.html + https://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/wmbusmeters__parse_data_from_your_utility_meter___nice_free_software.html + Fri, 19 May 2023 21:50:00 +0200 + <p>There is a European standard for reading utility meters like water, +gas, electricity or heat distribution meters. The +<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter-Bus">Meter-Bus standard +(EN 13757-2, EN 13757-3 and EN 13757–4)</a> provide a cross vendor way +to talk to and collect meter data. I ran into this standard when I +wanted to monitor some heat distribution meters, and managed to find +free software that could do the job. The meters in question broadcast +encrypted messages with meter information via radio, and the hardest +part was to track down the encryption keys from the vendor. With this +in place I could set up a MQTT gateway to submit the meter data for +graphing.</p> + +<p>The free software systems in question, +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/rtl-wmbus">rtl-wmbus</a> to +read the messages from a software defined radio, and +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/wmbusmeters">wmbusmeters</a> to +decrypt and decode the content of the messages, is working very well +and allowe me to get frequent updates from my meters. I got in touch +with upstream last year to see if there was any interest in publishing +the packages via Debian. I was very happy to learn that Fredrik +Öhrström volunteered to maintain the packages, and I have since +assisted him in getting Debian package build rules in place as well as +sponsoring the packages into the Debian archive. Sadly we completed +it too late for them to become part of the next stable Debian release +(Bookworm). The wmbusmeters package just cleared the NEW queue. It +will need some work to fix a built problem, but I expect Fredrik will +find a solution soon.</p> + +<p>If you got a infrastructure meter supporting the Meter Bus +standard, I strongly recommend having a look at these nice +packages.</p> + +<p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +<b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p> + + + The 2023 LinuxCNC Norwegian developer gathering https://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_2023_LinuxCNC_Norwegian_developer_gathering.html @@ -552,91 +595,5 @@ activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address - - Managing and using ONVIF IP cameras with Linux - https://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Managing_and_using_ONVIF_IP_cameras_with_Linux.html - https://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Managing_and_using_ONVIF_IP_cameras_with_Linux.html - Wed, 19 Oct 2022 12:30:00 +0200 - <p>Recently I have been looking at how to control and collect data -from a handful IP cameras using Linux. I both wanted to change their -settings and to make their imagery available via a free software -service under my control. Here is a summary of the tools I found.</p> - -<p>First I had to identify the cameras and their protocols. As far as -I could tell, they were using some SOAP looking protocol and their -internal web server seem to only work with Microsoft Internet Explorer -with some proprietary binary plugin, which in these days of course is -a security disaster and also made it impossible for me to use the -camera web interface. Luckily I discovered that the SOAP looking -protocol is actually following <a href="https://www.onvif.org/">the -ONVIF specification</a>, which seem to be supported by a lot of IP -cameras these days.</p> - -<p>Once the protocol was identified, I was able to find what appear to -be the most popular way to configure ONVIF cameras, the free software -Windows tool named -<a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/onvifdm/">ONVIF Device -Manager</a>. Lacking any other options at the time, I tried -unsuccessfully to get it running using Wine, but was missing a dotnet -40 library and I found no way around it to run it on Linux.</p> - -<p>The next tool I found to configure the cameras were a non-free Linux Qt -client <a href="https://www.lingodigit.com/onvif_nvcdemo.html">ONVIF -Device Tool</a>. I did not like its terms of use, so did not spend -much time on it.</p> - -<p>To collect the video and make it available in a web interface, I -found the Zoneminder tool in Debian. A recent version was able to -automatically detect and configure ONVIF devices, so I could use it to -set up motion detection in and collection of the camera output. I had -initial problems getting the ONVIF autodetection to work, as both -Firefox and Chromium <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/1001188">refused -the inter-tab communication</a> being used by the Zoneminder web -pages, but managed to get konqueror to work. Apparently the "Enhanced -Tracking Protection" in Firefox cause the problem. I ended up -upgrading to the Bookworm edition of Zoneminder in the process to try -to fix the issue, and believe the problem might be solved now.</p> - -<p>In the process I came across the nice Linux GUI tool -<a href="https://gitlab.com/caspermeijn/onvifviewer/">ONVIF Viewer</a> -allowing me to preview the camera output and validate the login -passwords required. Sadly its author has grown tired of maintaining -the software, so it might not see any future updates. Which is sad, -as the viewer is sightly unstable and the picture tend to lock up. -Note, this lockup might be due to limitations in the cameras and not -the viewer implementation. I suspect the camera is only able to -provide pictures to one client at the time, and the Zoneminder feed -might interfere with the GUI viewer. I have -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/1000820">asked for the tool to be -included in Debian</a>.</p> - -<p>Finally, I found what appear to be very nice Linux free software -replacement for the Windows tool, named -<a href="https://github.com/sr99622/libonvif/">libonvif</a>. It -provide a C library to talk to ONVIF devices as well as a command line -and GUI tool using the library. Using the GUI tool I was able to change -the admin passwords and update other settings of the cameras. I have -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/1021980">asked for the package to be -included in Debian</a>.</p> - -<p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my -activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address -<b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p> - -<p><strong>Update 2022-10-20</strong>: Since my initial publication of -this text, I got several suggestions for more free software Linux -tools. There is <a href="https://github.com/quatanium/python-onvif">a -ONVIF python library</a> (already -<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/824240">requested into Debian</a>) and -<a href="https://github.com/FalkTannhaeuser/python-onvif-zeep">a python 3 -fork</a> using a different SOAP dependency. There is also -<a href="https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/onvif/">support for -ONVIF in Home Assistant</a>, and there is an alternative to Zoneminder -called <a href="https://www.shinobi.video/">Shinobi</a>. The latter -two are not included in Debian either. I have not tested any of these -so far.</p> - - -