How to stream a webcam to a web browser in Ubuntu

motion.md

Grr this took hours to figure out. I was trying to install MJPG-streamer and running VLC command lines and all this crap but nothing worked.

First install motion:

~> sudo apt-get install motion

Then create a config file:

~> mkdir ~/.motion
~> nano ~/.motion/motion.conf

In it, the bare minimum to run a web server and view it on other computers:

stream_quality 98
stream_maxrate 5
stream_port 8080
stream_localhost off
output_pictures off
framerate 30
ffmpeg_video_codec mpeg4
http://192.168.0.34:8080/ozzz1.cgi
width 320
height 240
auto_brightness off
contrast 0
saturation 0

Then run motion:

~> motion

Now you can view the webcam at http://hostname:8081 If it doesn't work, try rebooting between steps or something.

Isn't that easy? >:(

See also: How to run webcam software only when I am not home