Build a Raspberry Pi Webcam Server in Minutes

by Gus

Updated Jan 23, 2023

This Raspberry Pi webcam server tutorial will take you through on how to have your very own Webcam that is visible on a web page.

If you’re after more of a security like system, then check out the Raspberry Pi security camera tutorial as it features fully-fledged web streaming, motion detection, recording and multi-camera functionality.

This tutorial is marked intermediate as it can be challenging to get working especially if you have hardware that differs to the versions used in this tutorial. If you find that you can’t get this to work, then the security camera solution linked above is much easier to get going.

Equipment

Below are some of the pieces of equipment that you will need to be able to complete this tutorial.

Optional

Video on Setting up the Webcam

If you’re more of a visual person and would prefer to watch how to set this up, then you check out my video below. If you like the video, then please subscribe to me, so you’re kept up to date with all the latest videos.

Unfortunately, the video is now out of date and uses an older method then what’s explained in the text version of this tutorial. I highly recommend that you follow the written tutorial, while I work to update the video.

How to Setup a Raspberry Pi Webcam Server

Firstly, we will need to install Raspbian onto the Raspberry Pi. If you haven’t already done, this then check out my awesome guide on installing NOOBs Raspberry Pi. It will take you through all the steps that you will need to do to get up and running.

In this tutorial, we will be using a package called Motion if you want to learn more about it you can check out their website at Motion.

Since the latest version of Raspbian is missing dependencies that Motion requires for it to work correctly, we will need to install a different precompiled version.

The package maintainer (Currently: Mr Dave | Previously: Calin Crisan) of Motioneye provides a package that has everything we need, and it works just fine with the Raspberry Pi.

1. We will be using the terminal, so open the terminal on the Pi or connect to it via SSH.

2. To begin, first, update the Raspberry Pi, so you’re running on the latest version.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Depending on the version of Raspbian you’re using you will need to do some different steps. For this tutorial, we will be installing Motion for Raspbian Buster. If you’re not already on it then I highly recommend that you upgrade.

3. First, install the following packages. This command will work both on the full and lite version of Raspbian Buster.

sudo apt install autoconf automake build-essential pkgconf libtool git libzip-dev libjpeg-dev gettext libmicrohttpd-dev libavformat-dev libavcodec-dev libavutil-dev libswscale-dev libavdevice-dev default-libmysqlclient-dev libpq-dev libsqlite3-dev libwebp-dev

4. Next, download the Motion deb file for Raspbian Buster from GitHub using the wget command and install it using the dpkg command.

sudo wget https://github.com/Motion-Project/motion/releases/download/release-4.5.1/$(lsb_release -cs)_motion_4.5.1-1_$(dpkg --print-architecture
).deb

sudo dpkg -i $(lsb_release -cs)_motion_4.5.1-1_$(dpkg --print-architecture).deb

That’s all you need to do before moving on to configuring Motion so that it will run on your Pi.

Configuring Motion

1. Now we need to make some edits to the configuration file, motion.conf.

sudo nano /etc/motion/motion.conf

2. Find the following lines and ensure that they are set to the following values.

daemon off
stream_localhost off

Note: Change the following two lines from on to off if you’re having issues with the stream freezing whenever motion occurs.

picture_output off
movie_output off

Optional (Don’t include the text after the #)

stream_maxrate 100 # This change will allow for real-time streaming but requires more bandwidth & resources. Needs to be added to the config file, default is 1
framerate 100 # Changing this option will allow for 100 frames to be captured per second allowing for smoother video, default is 50
width 640 #This line changes the width of the image displayed, default is 640
height 480 #This option changes the height of the image displayed, default is 480

Altering these options can drastically affect the performance. You may need to tinker to get the best results.

3. Now, we need to enable the Motion service by running the command below.

Using this command will make Motion start up when your Raspberry Pi powers on.

sudo systemctl enable motion

4. Once you’re done, simply save and exit by pressing CTRL + X then Y.

5. Now make sure the camera is connected and run the following line:

sudo systemctl start motion

6. If you need to stop the service, simply run the following command:

sudo systemctl stop motion

7. Now you should be able to check out the Webcam Stream at the IP address of our Pi so in your browser go to the following address.

192.168.1.103:8081

8. If the web page isn’t loading, try restarting the service.

sudo systemctl restart motion

9. If you’re using a Raspberry Pi camera, then you will need to do a few extra steps that are mentioned below.

There we have it a fully working Raspberry Pi Webcam server that you can place wherever you would like (Given it is within WiFi range) and be able to view the stream via the web browser.

If you want to allow external access to the camera, then check out my instructions towards the bottom of this tutorial.

Extra Steps for the Raspberry Pi Camera

If you want to use the Raspberry Pi camera module, then you will need to do a few additional steps to set it up.

Installing the Hardware

1. First, go to the CSI (Camera Serial Interface) ribbon cable slot on the Pi and with two fingers on each side of the connector pull up. This technique should now open the connector, now insert the ribbon cable with the metal leads facing away from the Ethernet Port.

2. Once you have lined it up gently press the connector back down and the cable should now be locked in one place.

Configuring the Software

To get the Raspberry Pi camera to work with Motion, we will need to do a few extra steps.

1. First make sure the camera is switched on within raspi config, enter the following command and then enable the camera (Found in interfacing options). You will need to restart once you have done this.

sudo raspi-config

2. Enter the following line to had the camera to modules. Make sure the camera is connected correctly before running this line otherwise it will thrown an error.

sudo modprobe bcm2835-v4l2

3. Alternatively, the following process should also work. First, open up the modules file by entering the following line.

sudo nano /etc/modules

4. Enter the following line at the bottom of the file if it doesn’t already exist.

bcm2835-v4l2

Once done, save and exit by pressing CTRL + X then Y.

5. Now reboot the Pi, and the stream should now work.

sudo reboot

6. You should now be able to access the Raspberry Pi webcam stream by going to the Pi’s IP address on port 8081.

192.168.1.103:8081

You should now have a fully working Raspberry Pi camera server that is accessible within your local network. If you want to allow external access to the camera, then please follow my instructions below.

Saving Motion Footage and Photos

By default, you will likely run into permission problems for saving the photos and video triggered by motion. I will go through the steps below on how to set this up to work correctly.

1. Firstly, let’s make a new directory for our photos and videos.

sudo mkdir /motion

2. Next, we need to change the group of the motion folder so motion can write into it. After that, we give the group; read, write and execute permissions using the chmod command.

sudo chgrp motion /motion 
sudo chmod g+rwx /motion

3. We now need to go back into the motion configuration file and change the target_dir to our new directory. First, open up the file with the nano text editor.

sudo nano /etc/motion/motion.conf

4. Update the target_dir line, so it looks like the one below.

Make sure you remove the ; from the start of the line.

target_dir /motion

5. Next, restart the motion service, so the configuration is loaded correctly.

sudo systemctl restart motion

6. Now, whenever the camera detects motion, it should be saved into the folder we specified above. You can check this by running the following command.

ls /motion

Be sure to check out our Linux permissions guide for more information on setting permissions correctly.

Setting Up External Access

In order to enable external access to the Raspberry Pi webcam server, we will need to change some settings on the router. However, all routers are designed differently so you may need to look up instructions for your brand of router.

Please note, opening ports to the internet comes with a security risk.

If you need a more in-depth guide, then be sure to take a look at my guide on how to set up Raspberry Pi port forwarding and dynamic DNS.

The following steps are what I did on mine in order to get it to work. My router is an AC1750 TP-Link Router.

1. Go to the router admin page (This will typically be 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.254)

2. Enter the username and password. Default typically is admin & admin.

3. Once in go to forwarding->Virtual Server and then click on add new.

4. In here enter:

Service port: In this case 48461
IP Address: 192.168.1.103 (Address of your Pi)
Internal Port: We want this to be the same as the webcam server so make it 8081
Protocol: All
Status: Enabled

5. These settings will route all traffic destined for port 48461 to the webcam server located at the IP address and port you provided. For example: 192.168.1.103:8081

6. You should now be able to connect to the Raspberry Pi webcam stream outside your network. You may need to restart the router for changes to take effect.

If you’re unable to connect outside your local network then you can try the following.

Check your router settings and confirm they are correct.
Check your IP hasn’t changed. Some internet service providers will provide you with a dynamic IP rather than a static IP) You can set up something called dynamic DNS to counter this you can find out more information via the link mentioned above.
Restart the router.

I hope that you have enjoyed this tutorial on how to build a Raspberry Pi webcam server if you want more then, please check out all my Raspberry Pi projects I currently have completed. There will be much more coming in the future.

300 Comments

Adil on June 26, 2015 at 4:59 pm

great project!can we send video stream with audio?

Reply
Cobusje on June 20, 2015 at 5:53 am

Great project, works directly.
Now I’m going to test it and see if it is possible to record motion. 🙂

Reply
kenny ball on June 18, 2015 at 5:06 am

where do i view the stream….the pi looks like its doin what it should be with no errors…just cant view…any help ??? cheers

Reply
1. Gus on June 19, 2015 at 1:23 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Kenny,
  
  You should be able to view the stream at your Pi’s IP address followed by the port 8081.
  
  For example my Pi address is 192.168.1.103 so if I typed 192.168.1.103:8081 into the browser I will be able to see my stream. If that doesn’t work try replacing 8081 with 8080. If that still doesn’t work try a different browser.
  
  Let me know how you go!
2. kenny ball on June 24, 2015 at 4:41 am
  
  it now says the connection is too busy does the camera have to be on first ??
Danny Martin on June 17, 2015 at 4:06 pm

Hey Gus, how are you coming with your project using multiple cameras. Anxious to see this in action.
Have a great day.

Reply
1. Gus on June 17, 2015 at 4:23 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Danny,
  
  I am currently working on it, I am hoping to have it up by the end of this week or sometime next week!
2. Andre on June 18, 2015 at 5:22 pm
  
  When using Multiple cameras will that be one usb and one rapberry pi cam, or many usb cams
3. Gus on June 19, 2015 at 1:20 pm
  
  Editor
  
  At the moment I have only tested with one Raspberry Pi camera + 1 USB camera but I am pretty sure you could add more.
  
  You will be able to also run other Pi camera setups and then hook them up all under the one interface.
  
  I should have the full tutorial + video up over the weekend
squattingdog on June 5, 2015 at 4:55 pm

Besides having trouble figuring out what to specifically put in my Netgear Blackhawk router, I am also having trouble following the directions which seem very clear. Any help would be appreciated. BTW, I am not Linux savvy. I am running Raspbian on my Pi and using my Ubuntu desktop with Putty. Looks like thing aren’t going to well for me. I would appreciate any help given.

Regards,
SD:

Reply
1. Gus on June 16, 2015 at 10:07 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi SD,
  
  Can you please let me know if you have this running on the Raspberry Pi 2? There is an issue with dozencrow’s motion program on the new Pi. I am looking into a solution for this.
  
  If you’re running anything before Raspberry Pi 2 then please let me know and I will look into the problem!
SD on June 5, 2015 at 7:28 am

Would it be possible for someone to tell me how to setup my Netgear Blackhawk R7000 as outlined in “Setting up outside External Access” mentioned above? I think Netgear calls it port forwarding. Here’s a screen capture of the fields I need to fill in.

Regards,
-SD:

Reply
Wade on May 24, 2015 at 9:57 pm

HI Gus,

This is perfect. Works great for me.

Any way I can get the cd mmal and ./startmotion to start at reboot?

Thanks

Wade

Reply
1. Gus on May 24, 2015 at 10:45 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hey Wade,
  
  Great question, If you do the following it should start back up on reboot. I have tested it and it worked for me, please let me know how you go with it.
  
  sudo nano /etc/rc.local
  
  And add the following line just before the exit 0. (If your path to the startmotion is different then make sure you update the following so it’s the same)
  
  su - pi -c /home/pi/mmal/startmotion &
  
  Save the file and reboot. The motion service should now start.
Danny Martin on May 17, 2015 at 1:03 pm

Hey Gus thanks again for the tutorial. I got everything working now even being able to access the camera remotely. I have an ASUS router and had to enable DMZ to make it work. Is there anyway to improve the stream coming out of the camera, such as what you might see with raspivid?
Thanks,
Danny

Reply
1. Gus on May 21, 2015 at 12:46 am
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Danny,
  
  In the sudo nano /etc/motion/motion.conf file try changing the following settings. (Changing these should allow for a much smoother playback like you will find from raspvid.
  
  webcam_maxrate 100
  framerate 100
  
  Let me know how you go, if you’re still having trouble Ill look further into it for you!
Dan on May 11, 2015 at 5:51 am

Gus, thanks a lot for posting this great tutorial. Had 1 question for you. I went through steps 12-17, but after running ./startmotion my webcam is working as expected, but I’m not able to do anything else on the Pi. My screen shows “nohup: ignoring input and appending output to ‘nohup.out'” The only way I can exit that is Ctrl+C, which also disconnects my camera. I thought the point of the startmotion file was to allow use of the Pi while the camera is running?
Thanks,
Dan

Reply
1. Gus on May 11, 2015 at 1:01 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Dan, The startmotion file is meant to prevent the command line from locking up. I’ll take another look at it and find out what is going wrong.
2. Nick on September 12, 2015 at 1:14 am
  
  Did you ever figure out why some of use are getting the “nohup: ignoring input and appending output to `nohup.out’ [/n] Segmentation fault” message from the ./startmotion command?
3. Gus on September 21, 2015 at 9:20 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Nick,
  
  Yes! This is because the package I used for the Pi camera isn’t supported on the Raspberry Pi 2 and looks unlikely to be updated for it.
  
  If you check out my Raspberry Pi Security camera tutorial this will give you pretty much the same thing (Raspberry Pi Webcam Server) but with a nicer UI.
cuyler on May 10, 2015 at 6:40 pm

Any word on a tutorial for a full security like setup. I am looking at embarking on such an evdevor in about a month. Thanks !

Reply
1. Gus on May 11, 2015 at 1:09 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Cuyler, I have it scheduled to be worked on after the next couple of projects. I aim to do about a Raspberry Pi project a week so I should have it ready within 2 months.
Danny Martin on May 9, 2015 at 3:36 am

Have working webcam portion of tutorial. While doing second part upon entering command “sudo apt-get install motionsudo apt-get install libjpeg62″I get the following message:
Reading package lists…Done
Reading state information… Done
E: Unable to locate package motionsudo
E: Unable to locate package apt-get
E: Unable to locate package install
Can you give me some insight what the problem is?
Thanks,

Reply
1. Gus on May 9, 2015 at 3:46 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Danny,
  
  Sorry there was a formatting issue with that line (It should’ve been two lines) I have fixed it now.
  
  It should have been the following:
  sudo apt-get install motion
  sudo apt-get install libjpeg62
nachofly on May 7, 2015 at 11:56 am

didn’t twice… still same error :/

pi@raspberrypi ~/mmal $ ./motion -n -c motion-mmalcam.conf
[1978606456] [NTC] [ALL] conf_load: Processing thread 0 – config file
motion-mmalcam.conf
[1978606456] [NTC] [ALL] motion_startup: Motion mmaltest Started
[1978606456] [NTC] [ALL] motion_startup: Logging to file
(/home/pi/mmal/motion.log)
mmal: mmal_vc_component_create: failed to create component
‘vc.ril.camera’ (1:ENOMEM)
mmal: mmal_component_create_core: could not create component ‘vc.ril.camera’ (1)
Segmentation fault
pi@raspberrypi ~/mmal $

Reply
1. Gus on May 9, 2015 at 3:47 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Nahcofly,
  
  Are you doing this on the Raspberry Pi 2 ? I think there may be an issue with the package on the pi 2. I am looking into it.
2. kirikenz on June 28, 2015 at 4:49 pm
  
  I’m on the Pi 2 and am getting this output as well, any news on a workaround?
3. Marco on August 3, 2015 at 2:43 am
  
  After 3 attempts with RPi2 getting nowhere….
  
  /startmotion
  sudo: unable to execute ./startmotion: No such file or directory
  
  Perhaps this only works with RPi 1 Models B+ or A+…
  which do you recommend?
  Thanks for helping me learn Linux!
4. Gus on August 4, 2015 at 1:10 am
  
  Editor
  
  Hey Marco,
  
  That error is claiming the file isn’t there.
  
  If you try the following it should work:
  
  sudo /home/pi/mmal/startmotion
  
  It is highly likely that you will get a segmentation fault when trying to run this. (An issue with the motion package on the Pi 2)
  
  I recommend taking a look at the security camera tutorial. It works on the Pi 2 and you get a pretty good stream from it!
  
  Hope this helps
5. yohnnyjoe on October 11, 2015 at 3:18 pm
  
  I had this problem too on my B+. I tried running raspivid and got an error about the vchiq. vchiq (in /dev) is in the video group. Anyone who created a separate user from the default pi is not part of video group. Fix this by typing: usermod -G video (username) . Then reboot.
6. Gary on April 27, 2016 at 12:12 am
  
  I found another user on another site that used the LD_PRELOAD command to point to libuv4lext.so prior to execution. This worked for me.
  
  Just stop the motion service and run the command "LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/uv4l/uv4lext/armv6l/libuv4lext.so" and restart the service.
  
  For more info go to https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=50639&start=25
Danny on May 2, 2015 at 2:39 am

Trying to set up webcam with your configuration. I get all the software installed and updates run and successfully start motion. However I cannot see anything on my PC using 192.168.2.137:8081 (this is my Hostname for the Pi). Must I use a browser other than IE or is there some additional software needed to be installed on the Pi? I have a Microsoft webcam and it has worked with other applications. Hope you can help.
Thanks,
Danny

Reply
1. Danny on May 4, 2015 at 11:24 am
  
  Thanks Gus for this tutorial, I did get the first part working, after I installed Firefox. Still a little confused on how to access from the internet (outside my network). Thanks in advance
2. Gus on May 9, 2015 at 3:51 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Danny,
  
  On your router you will need to port forward to port 8081 to 192.168.1.137 (eg. your Pi).
  
  If you router varies way too much from what I have explained you can try googling port forwarding “your router model here”.
3. Danny on May 11, 2015 at 2:41 am
  
  Gus when I have all the port forwarding correct what address to I type into a web browser to access my Pi from outside the network?
4. Dan on May 11, 2015 at 11:29 am
  
  Try this website – https://www.whatismyip.com/ – find out what your IP is and then enter that “:8081” (without the quotes, assuming you’re using that port) in the URL of you browser and it should work. Only seems to work with Firefox, not sure why.
5. Gus on May 11, 2015 at 1:06 pm
  
  Editor
  
  As dan already mentioned check out the what is my ip website to get your external IP. Then use that IP to connect outside your network (with the relevant port)
  
  If you have a dynamic IP (an ip that changes often) you can setup dynamic DNS by following my other tutorial here: Raspberry Pi Dynamic DNS
6. Placid7 on January 14, 2017 at 5:28 am
  
  Just to throw in my 2 cents. Depending on your Router, even if you have EVERYTHING 100% configured correctly, some just do not like it. I had a router I struggled with for a long time, thinking I was the problem. When it died and I bought a higher end router port forwarding was never a problem.
  Just keep that in mind. Routers are designed to be secure and some companies don’t want people exposing risk even at their own peril.
magbob on April 25, 2015 at 6:01 am

Hi Gus,

Thanks for the great tutorial, but it’s not working for me. I think I must be doing something wrong. I can see the control page at port 8080 but when I try going to port 8081 it gives me the error “unable to load the webpage because the server sent no data.” I really don’t know why it’s doing this, do you have any idea what I could have configured incorrectly?

Thanks a lot

Reply
1. Alexander Boothby on April 22, 2016 at 5:16 am
  
  Hi!
  
  Mine does the exact same thing! Any ideas how to fix?
Jeff on April 14, 2015 at 4:08 am

Is there any way to get up to 800×600 or even 1024×768 or better using the picam module? As soon as I change the values in the conf file the page stops loading.

Thanks for all of your work!

Reply
Jason on April 13, 2015 at 9:59 am

Gus, Thanks for the instructions. I can watch my stream in VLC, but not in my web browser on my pc or tablet. Any thoughts?

Reply
1. Gus on April 13, 2015 at 12:40 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Interesting, can you please let me know the browser you’re using and Ill take a look and see if I can reproduce the problem. Are you getting any errors at all ?
Alessio on April 5, 2015 at 1:04 am

Very nice and clear post. great!

I followed all the instructions but the result is a gray rectangle with the text:

unable to get to open video device
since 2015-04-04 16:20:40

and in the bottom, the seconds that flow

(so something is arriving)

i suppose that the streaming (as itself) is working and then camera doesn’t.
How may i test the webcam directly on then raspberry with a player (possibly oxmplayer) to see if the camera works?

Another possibility can be that, for my webcam(an old one) the settings in the file /etc/motion/motion.conf are different from those you posted.

note aside:
– the webcam is a creative ct6840.
– the pc from where i want to see the stream is on the same subnet of the raspberry.
– i see the gray rectangle with FireFox and Vlc player.
– with InternerExplor i see a black page but starts automatically the downlod (i think this proves that some packets are coming).
– with crome doesn’t happen anything .
– if can be useful, the output of the command: ls -ltr /dev/video* is crw-rw—-+ 1 root video 81, 0 Nov 11 09:06 /dev/video0

Reply
1. Shane Greer on February 24, 2017 at 3:43 am
  
  I have having the same issue. I am using a Rasperry Pi 3 with a Rasperry Pi v2.1 camera and just get the gray box. If I use a USB webcam it works tho.
2. Gus on February 25, 2017 at 4:15 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Have you completed the extra steps for the Raspberry Pi camera? If not then you will get errors.
3. Shane on February 26, 2017 at 2:05 am
  
  Hello Gus. Yes I did the rest of the steps for adding a PI camera. Still get a gray box with it. A Logitech camera works no problem. Just the PI camera v2.1 doesn’t.
  
  Thanks
4. Billy on July 27, 2017 at 12:00 pm
  
  Has anyone solved this issue? I have the same problem.
5. Gary on August 5, 2017 at 4:54 am
  
  I am having the same issue. USB camera works, PI v2 camera does not.
  Also ls /dev/video* — No such file or directory.
  I think that I did all of the steps.
6. Gary Kahrau on August 5, 2017 at 5:12 am
  
  Sorry, I found a typo. Pi camera is now working 🙂
7. Maureen on August 5, 2017 at 5:11 am
  
  I had this problem and it may have been due to other Motion processes that were not shut down properly. I found this suggestion:
  Note that Motion occasionally fails to start up due to previous Motion processes that have failed to shut down properly and are running in the background. If you suspect this, try running the following:
  
  ps aux | grep motion
  sudo kill -9 [pid]
  pid refers to the Process ID that you get from the ps aux command.
  
  It worked for me.
8. Ricardo on December 28, 2017 at 2:25 am
  
  Go to : sudo nano /etc/modules,
  add : bcm2835-v4l2
  
  save and reboot 😉
9. Stuart on January 27, 2018 at 6:24 pm
  
  I also had a typo and initially only got a grey screen.
  Be careful – it’s an l (ell) not a 1 (one) in bcm2835-v4l2
Barry on March 14, 2015 at 6:23 am

Trying to unpack motion-mma1.tar.gz as per your project instructions but get this error message:

gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

any suggestions?

Reply
1. Gus on March 14, 2015 at 2:26 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Just been testing it out again for you. Did you copy and paste the command ? I have found that has been causing issues for me. I have fixed this now and should work correctly.
  
  If that doesn’t work can you type ls and let me know the contents of that directory.
2. Barry on March 19, 2015 at 4:29 am
  
  Hi Gus
  
  Thanks for reply. Afraid it still doesn’t work – I get the same error message. I did ls and the directory contains only motion-mma1.tar.gz. There seems to be an issue with the file format as my Pi keeps reporting the error not in gzip format. So for now my webcam project is on hold until I can work out what is wrong.
3. Brad on May 29, 2015 at 7:54 am
  
  rm motion-mmal.tar.gz
  
  check your address for the file for typos, download and try again
Zach on March 7, 2015 at 2:50 pm

Thanks for the walk through! I am trying to locally view the video but my browser will not display the video. I am using Chrome. Am i missing an extension?
Thanks

Reply
1. Gus on March 7, 2015 at 3:35 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Zach,
  
  The stream should work without any modification to chrome, can you please let me know the exact error(if any) you’re getting?
2. Zach on March 27, 2015 at 12:08 pm
  
  Thanks for the reply Gus. I am able to view the stream locally but not from a different PC. I think this has something to do with my router settings. I do not quite understand the 48461 port use. Will this be different in each application?
  Thanks for you help,
  Zach
3. Gus on April 13, 2015 at 12:36 pm
  
  Editor
  
  Hi Zach,
  
  The port 48461 is an example if you want to access the stream outside your network. Port 8081 is a common port thus probably should be avoided if port forwarding from the outside world.
  
  If you’re on another PC within your local/home network you should be able to type the IP of your Raspberry PI with the port 8081 and get the stream.
  
  For example: 192.168.1.103:8081
4. Isaac on October 31, 2015 at 4:06 pm
  
  Hey, great guide. I’ve been breaking my head the whole day trying to make this thing work with old guides. I am glad to have found yours but I am stuck on step 9. I’m using the rpiB with the camera module. I was doing okay until it was time to test it using ./motion -n -c motion-mmalcam.conf . Running the commands basically tells me that I am missing libavformat.so.53 . I am stuck here for the day. Can’t think anymore. Already did all the updates and rechecked my work to make sure I did everything okay. I’ll give it another go tomorrow but any tips or help would be appreciated. Thanks!
5. Stefan on January 14, 2016 at 8:08 am
  
  Hi Gus,
  
  Thanks for great guides and I’ve tried the first one today!
  
  But I didnt get it to work and I was stuck at the same place as Isaac (from October 31) and I couldn’t run the test: ./motion -n -c motion-mmalcam.conf and I get the same fault message.
  
  I tried to look after a ‘solution’ or some guiding from you that may help me get on with my camera project.
  
  Thanks in advance,
  
  Stefan
6. Rich on April 9, 2016 at 5:12 pm
  
  Because, as usual, nothing EVER works first time in a Linux operating system. If this was Windows it would have worked first time. I am also stuck and am unable to connect to: IP:8081 after following this guide to the letter.
  
  Another failed Linux / PI project that will no doubt never get up and running.
  
  Linux….great.
7. Matt on May 1, 2016 at 2:02 pm
  
  You’re probably right. Of course, had this been a Windows project, you wouldn’t be using a $40 Pi, since just the copy of Windows by itself is $100. Then also because Windows is more resource intensive, you’d need more RAM, a better processor, much more storage, all of which rack up the cost and size of the device. The entire point of the Pi is to have a small, cheap, easy-to-replace platform that encourages exploration and experimentation. So experiment a little instead of giving up the moment you run into something that the tutorial doesn’t explain. Isn’t that the fun part?
8. Tristan on July 14, 2016 at 12:43 pm
  
  Did you try typing “localhost:8081” instead of the provided IP address?
9. Peter on October 17, 2016 at 12:31 pm
  
  I have several of these little cameras running on different Pi’s. Both with webcams and the Pi Cams.
  
  Yes they do work. Chances are Windows would work the first time as well (Assuming you could set it up correctly the first time). Difference here is that After it works in Windows the first time, MS would add a security update, patch or enhancement that would kill the video and other aspects of the OS.
  
  Or the more I understand Windows the more I like Linux. 🙂
  
  Have a nice day!!
10. Jason on September 16, 2017 at 3:39 pm
  
  Tristan For The Win!
  localhost worked for me!
Paul jelly on March 1, 2015 at 10:08 am

Awesome project I need a webcam server to keep an eye on our new puppie when we are out the house.

Thank!

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