Common Issues with Zoneminder Installation on Ubuntu
05JAN15
With some changes “in-the-works” for Ubuntu installs by the hard working volunteers who keep Zoneminder up-to-date, it was recommended that we post fixes/instructions for some issues that continue to surface. One difference will be that the Zoneminder install will no longer automatically install the zm database in MySQL. This document will likely grow over time but may become obsolete as procedures become better documented.
Zoneminder "Master" PPA This is to remind you that software installed from the iconnor zoneminder-master PPA is BETA software and NOT recommended for production systems! BETA software may have some features that do not work correctly!
Zoneminder Database
See Database Tips and Tricks for more topics: http://www.zoneminder.com/wiki/index.php/General_Notes#Database_Tricks.2FTips
Enable and convert MySQL to innodb_file_per_table for Zoneminder
Note: You may wish to convert MyISAM tables to InnoDB tables before you proceed. Upgrading Zoneminder to 1.26 or newer should do this for you.
innodb_file_per_table is by default ON Mysql 5.6.6 and onwards. There is plenty of stuff on Google about pros & cons of innodb_file_per_table. This post details how to enable innodb_file_per_table on an existing database. Because innodb_file_per_table affects new tables only, created after innodb_file_per_table is enabled, we need to recreate old databases to force innodb_file_per_table on old tables and reclaim some disk space.
Become root
sudo su
Backup First Create a dir to take backups:
cd ~
Note: I found it helpful to create a file which contained the MySQL user and password. Otherwise you will have to enter the user and password for every operation.
nano .my.cnf
Enter this content
[client] user=root password=mysqlpass
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Make backup directory
mkdir backup
cd backup
Copy MySQL data files (raw) (If all goes well, we will not need this)
Stop Zoneminder
service zoneminder stop
If you have other services that use MySQL you will want to stop them and possibly Apache.
service mysql stop && cp -ra /var/lib/mysql mysqldata && service mysql start
Take mysqldump As soon as above line completes, take a mysqldump of all databases
mysqldump --routines --events --flush-privileges --all-databases > all-db.sql
Drop Databases Create a sql file to drop all databases EXCEPT mysql database
mysql -e "SELECT DISTINCT CONCAT ('DROP DATABASE ',TABLE_SCHEMA,' ;') FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA <> 'mysql' AND TABLE_SCHEMA <> 'information_schema';" | tail -n+2 > drop.sql
Verify if drop.sql has correct database names and then execute drop.sql queries.
mysql < drop.sql
Verify all InnoDB tables gone
SELECT table_name, table_schema, engine FROM information_schema.tables WHERE engine = 'InnoDB';
Remove InnoDB files Stop mysql server first
service mysql stop
Then
rm /var/lib/mysql/ibdata1 && rm /var/lib/mysql/ib_logfile0 && rm /var/lib/mysql/ib_logfile1
At this point most likely you will have only /var/lib/mysql/mysql directory only.
Enable innodb_file_per_table
Open my.cnf file
nano /etc/mysql/my.cnf
Add following line after [mysqld]
innodb_file_per_table
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Time to import from mysqldump Start mysql server now
service mysql start
Run mysql import
mysql < all-db.sql
Force mysql_upgrade (to generate performance_schema)
mysql_upgrade --force
That’s All!
Restart Zoneminder (and any other services you have stopped)
service zoneminder start
Check for proper operation and that all your events are present.
When you are satisfied that all is worling well remove the backup directory and password filr=e
cd ~
rm -r backup
rm .my.cnf
You are finished!
This procedure has been adopted from https://rtcamp.com/tutorials/mysql/enable-innodb-file-per-table. Thanks to Rahul Bansal!
Adding Permissions to allow Database Upgrade
Versions of Zoneminder up to and including 1.28.1 in Ubuntu would automatically add the zm database to MySQL. Beginning about August 2015 the development version from the iconnor-master PPA omitted this step becoming like the Debian install process. Manually adding the database to MySQL will be necessary.
To install the zm database (after doing apt-get install zoneminder)
Create Zoneminder database in MySQL (Note: this also creates the default Zoneminder user and permissions in MySQL)
This next step creates a file which contained the MySQL user and password. Otherwise you will have to enter the user and password on the command line which is not secure!
Go to the root directory
cd ~
Create a hidden password file
nano .my.cnf
Enter this content (but use your MySQL root password!)
[client] user=root password=(mysqlpass)
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Create database permissions
mysql -e "grant select,insert,update,delete,create,alter,lock tables on zm.* to 'zmuser'@localhost identified by 'zmpass';"
Remove password file
rm .my.cnf
Continue with the Zoneminder installation
Upgrades
Ubuntu 14.04 with MySQL 5.6 and Zoneminder from PPA
Note: 10NOV15 This procedure will not work as the version of Zoneminder in the PPA was removed. It will work for the version in the development PPA (zoneminder-master)
This procedure starts with Ubuntu Server 14.04-3 with LAMP added. Zoneminder is not installed. It is possible to upgrade a system running Zoneminder but it is not covered in this procedure.
Become root
sudo su
Stop MySQL
service mysql stop
Remove MySQL
apt-get purge mysql
Install MySQL 5.6 (will upgrade the MySQL client)
apt-get install mysql-server-5.6
Add Repository
add-apt-repository ppa:iconnor/zoneminder
apt-get update
Install Zoneminder
apt-get install zoneminder
Create Zoneminder database in MySQL (Note: this also creates the default Zoneminder user and permissions in MySQL)
This next step creates a file which contained the MySQL user and password. Otherwise you will have to enter the user and password on the
command line which is not secure!
Go to the root dir
cd ~
Create a hidden password file
nano .my.cnf
Enter this content
[client] user=root password=(mysqlpass)
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Create database
mysql < /usr/share/zoneminder/db/zm_create.sql
mysql
grant select,insert,update,delete on zm.* to 'zmuser'@localhost identified by 'zmpass';
\q (enter) (to quit)
Remove password file
rm .my.cnf
Set permissions of /etc/zm/zm.conf to root:www-data 740
chmod 740 /etc/zm/zm.conf
chown root:www-data /etc/zm/zm.conf
Add delay to allow MySQL to start before Zoneminder
nano /etc/init.d/zoneminder
Add sleep 15 as shown:
start() {
sleep 15
echo -n "Starting $prog: "
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Create a symbolic link
ln -s /etc/zm/apache.conf /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/zoneminder.conf
Create a new user
adduser www-data video
Enable CGI and Zoneminder configuration in Apache.
a2enmod cgi
a2enconf zoneminder
a2enmod rewrite
Start Zoneminder
service zoneminder start
Restart Apache
service apache2 reload
Note: You may need to edit my.cnf and change the value: sql_mode= to sql_mode=NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION
Ubuntu 14.04 - ZM 1.26.5 or later to 1.28.109 or the latest PPA version
Note: 10NOV15 This procedure will not work as the version of Zoneminder in the PPA was removed. It will work for the version in the development PPA (zoneminder-master)
Note: 05DEC15 this procedure has been verified to work with the zoneminder-master PPA for Ubuntu 14.04 dated 04DEC15.
There are a couple of changes you will need to make to get ZM running with version 1.28.109
Become root
sudo su
Add Repository (not needed if you are running ZM 1.28.1) Note: if you need to remove a repository use: add-apt-repository --remove ppa:iconnor/zoneminder
add-apt-repository ppa:iconnor/zoneminder
apt-get update
Stop Zoneminder
service zoneminder stop
Upgrade the installation
apt-get upgrade (may return nothing to upgrade)
apt-get dist-upgrade
You will be asked if you want to replace /etc/init.d/zoneminder. Choose "Y"
The database will not automatically update.
Go to the root directory
cd ~
Create a hidden password file
nano .my.cnf
Enter this content (but use your MySQL root password!)
[client] user=root password=(mysqlpass)
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Change permissions in your "ZM database to allow the creation of a table
mysql -e "grant select,insert,update,delete,create,alter,lock tables,index on zm.* to 'zmuser'@localhost identified by 'zmpass';"
Run the database upgrade
/usr/bin/zmupdate.pl
Remove password file
rm .my.cnf
Add back the delay to allow MySQL to start before Zoneminder
nano /etc/init.d/zoneminder
Add sleep 15 as shown:
start() {
sleep 15
echo -n "Starting $prog: "
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Remove symbolic link
rm /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/zoneminder.conf
Set permissions of /etc/zm/zm.conf to root:www-data 740
chmod 740 /etc/zm/zm.conf
chown root:www-data /etc/zm/zm.conf
Enable Zoneminder and rewrite
a2enconf zoneminder
a2enmod rewrite
Start Zoneminder
service zoneminder start
Add timezone to PHP
nano /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
Search for [Date] and make changes as follows for your time zone
[Date] ; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions ; http://php.net/date.timezone date.timezone = America/New_York
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Restart Apache
service apache2 restart
Open Zoneminder. Click on Options - Paths
Change PATH_ZMS to /zm/cgi-bin/nph-zms
Ubuntu 15.04 - ZM 1.26.5 or later to 1.28.109 or the latest PPA version
Note: 10NOV15 This procedure will not work as the version of Zoneminder in the PPA was removed. It will work for the version in the development PPA (zoneminder-master)
Note: This procedure verified for teh zoneminder-master PPA version dated 04DEC15
Become root
sudo su
Add Repository (not needed if you run 1.27.x or later)
add-apt-repository ppa:iconnor/zoneminder
apt-get update
Stop Zoneminder
systemctl stop zoneminder.service
Upgrade the installation
apt-get upgrade (may return nothing to upgrade)
apt-get dist-upgrade
Note: the 04DEC15 1.28.109-vivid from the PPA master does a database upgrade automatically. The following database upgrade is not needed but I left it in place just-in-case...
This next step creates a file which contained the MySQL user and password. Otherwise you will have to enter the user and password on the command line which is not secure!
Go to the root dir
cd ~
Create a hidden password file
nano .my.cnf
Enter this content
[client] user=root password=(mysqlpass)
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Change permissions in your "ZM database to allow the creation of a table
mysql -e "grant select,insert,update,delete,create,alter,lock tables,index on zm.* to 'zmuser'@localhost identified by 'zmpass';"
Run the database upgrade
/usr/bin/zmupdate.pl
Remove password file
rm .my.cnf
Configure Apache
rm /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/zoneminder.conf
a2enmod rewrite
a2enmod cgi
a2enconf zoneminder
Start Zoneminder
service zoneminder start
Fix Permissions
chown -R www-data:www-data /usr/share/zoneminder/
Add timezone to PHP
nano /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
Search for [Date] and make changes as follows for your time zone
[Date] ; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions ; http://php.net/date.timezone date.timezone = America/New_York
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Restart Services
service apache2 reload
systemctl start zoneminder.service
Open Zoneminder. Click on Options - Paths
Italic text
Change PATH_ZMS to /zm/cgi-bin/nph-zms
If Zoneminder does not start when you boot your server, run these commands:
systemctl stop zoneminder.service
systemctl disable zoneminder.service
systemctl enable zoneminder.service
systemctl start zoneminder.service
Reboot your server and check that Zoneminder started.
Ubuntu 15.10 - ZM 1.28.1 to 1.29.0 the the latest PPA version
Become root
sudo su
Add Repository (This adds the PPA master which is for testing only!)
add-apt-repository ppa:iconnor/zoneminder-master
Update package list
apt-get update
Stop Zoneminder
systemctl stop zoneminder.service
Upgrade the installation
apt-get upgrade
Note: You may have to do apt-get dist-upgrade
Configure Apache
rm /etc/apache2/conf-enabled/zoneminder.conf
a2enmod rewrite a2enconf zoneminder
Fix Permissions
chown -R www-data:www-data /usr/share/zoneminder/
Add timezone to PHP
nano /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
Search for [Date] and make changes as follows for your time zone
[Date] ; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions ; http://php.net/date.timezone date.timezone = America/New_York
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Restart Services
systemctl start zoneminder
service apache2 reload
Open Zoneminder in a browser. Click on Options - Paths
Check that PATH_ZMS is set to: /zm/cgi-bin/nph-zms
Zoneminder 1.29.0 from PPA Master on Ubuntu 14.04
Note: this is for testing purposes only!
Install Basic Server (if you used the mini.iso), OpenSSH Server, and LAMP Server
Log in then become root:
sudo su
Make sure you are up to date
apt-get update apt-get upgrade apt-get dist-upgrade
Add Repository
add-apt-repository ppa:iconnor/zoneminder-master
Update Sources
apt-get update
Install Zoneminder
apt-get install zoneminder
You may be prompted to set up Nulmailer. You may accept the defaults and set this up later if you want to use it.
Create Zoneminder database in MySQL (Note: this also creates the default Zoneminder user and permissions in MySQL)
This next step creates a file which contained the MySQL user and password. Otherwise you will have to enter the user and password on the command line which is not secure!
Go to the root dir
cd ~
Create a hidden password file
nano .my.cnf
Enter this content
[client] user=root password=(mysqlpass)
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Create database
mysql < /usr/share/zoneminder/db/zm_create.sql
mysql -e "grant select,insert,update,delete,create,alter,lock tables,index on zm.* to 'zmuser'@localhost identified by 'zmpass';"
Remove password file
rm .my.cnf
Set permissions of /etc/zm/zm.conf to root:www-data 740
chmod 740 /etc/zm/zm.conf
chown root:www-data /etc/zm/zm.conf
Add delay to allow MySQL to start before Zoneminder
nano /etc/init.d/zoneminder
Add sleep 15 as shown:
start() {
sleep 15
echo -n "Starting $prog: "
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Create a new user
adduser www-data video
Enable CGI, Zoneminder and rewrite configuration in Apache.
a2enmod cgi
a2enconf zoneminder
a2enmod rewrite
Start Zoneminder
service zoneminder start
Add timezone to PHP
nano /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
Search for [Date] (Ctrl + w then type Date and press Enter) and make changes as follows for your time zone
[Date] ; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions ; http://php.net/date.timezone date.timezone = America/New_York
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Restart Apache
service apache2 reload
Open Zoneminder in a web browser (http://server-ip/zm).
Click on Options - Paths Change PATH_ZMS to /zm/cgi-bin/nph-zms
Zoneminder 1.29 from PPA Master on Ubuntu 15.04 or 15.10
Note: this is for testing purposes only!
Install Basic Server (if you used the mini.iso), OpenSSH Server, and LAMP Server
Log in then become root:
sudo su
Make sure you are up to date
apt-get update apt-get upgrade apt-get dist-upgrade
Add Repository
add-apt-repository ppa:iconnor/zoneminder-master
Update Sources
apt-get update
Install Zoneminder
apt-get install zoneminder
You may be prompted to set up Nulmailer. You may accept the defaults and set this up later if you want to use it.
As of 05JAN16 you will see a message "Errors were encountered while processing: zoneminder" This is because the installer was expecting the database to be set up. Ignore this and continue setting up the database.
Create Zoneminder database in MySQL (Note: this also creates the default Zoneminder user and permissions in MySQL)
This next step creates a file which contained the MySQL user and password. Otherwise you will have to enter the user and password on the command line which is not secure!
Go to the root dir
cd ~
Create a hidden password file
nano .my.cnf
Enter this content
[client] user=root password=(mysqlpass)
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Create database
mysql < /usr/share/zoneminder/db/zm_create.sql
mysql -e "grant select,insert,update,delete,create,alter,lock tables,index on zm.* to 'zmuser'@localhost identified by 'zmpass';"
Remove password file
rm .my.cnf
Set permissions of /etc/zm/zm.conf to root:www-data 740
chmod 740 /etc/zm/zm.conf
chown root:www-data /etc/zm/zm.conf
Create a new user
adduser www-data video
Enable CGI, Zoneminder and rewrite configuration in Apache.
a2enmod cgi
a2enconf zoneminder
a2enmod rewrite
Start Zoneminder
service zoneminder start
Add timezone to PHP
nano /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini
Search for [Date] (Ctrl + w then type Date and press Enter) and make changes as follows for your time zone
[Date] ; Defines the default timezone used by the date functions ; http://php.net/date.timezone date.timezone = America/New_York
Ctrl+o Enter to save
CTRL+x to exit
Restart Apache
service apache2 reload
Open Zoneminder in a web browser (http://server-ip/zm).
Click on Options - Paths Change PATH_ZMS to /zm/cgi-bin/nph-zms
