Camera Live View
Camera Live View
For a device that is an IP camera, PrivateLAN lets you record its connection details and then view a live, periodically refreshed image directly from the device page — alongside the device's other information, such as its IP address and LLDP discovery data.
Linking a camera
Tick Is camera on the device, fill in the device's IP address as usual, then open the camera panel and provide:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Onvif Username / Onvif Password | Login credentials for the camera's ONVIF service |
| Port | Optional override — left blank, PrivateLAN tries the standard ONVIF ports automatically |
| Profile / Snapshot path | Filled in automatically by ONVIF discovery, not entered by hand |
The camera's IP address is not requested separately — PrivateLAN uses the IP address already registered for the device.
ONVIF discovery
Once the IP address, username and password are filled in and saved, a Discover via ONVIF button appears next to Save. PrivateLAN then queries the camera directly on its already-known IP address (no network-wide search/multicast), trying a secure HTTPS connection first and falling back to HTTP if the camera doesn't offer it, and automatically fills in the correct video profile and snapshot location.
You never need to change anything in the camera's own video or encoder settings — PrivateLAN only uses the camera's standard ONVIF capabilities, exactly as it ships from the manufacturer.
Viewing the live feed
The camera panel on the device page refreshes the image every 5 seconds:
- When there is no image — camera unreachable, incorrect credentials, or not yet discovered — the panel shows a clear status message instead of a broken image.
- Once images are coming in, the date and time of the most recently received frame is shown on screen.
- The Snapshot button downloads the current frame straight to your own computer, named after the device's hostname and the current date and time.
- The feed stops automatically when you leave the page, or after 5 minutes without mouse or keyboard activity.
Autostart
A system-wide setting (System → Devices → Camera Autostart, enabled by default) controls whether the live feed starts automatically as soon as you open a camera's device page, or only once you press Start stream yourself.
Security and roles
- Camera login credentials are encrypted at rest, using a key that only exists on the appliance itself — never stored in the database. A database-only leak therefore cannot expose these credentials.
- Two separate roles control access:
- View camera — may view the live feed.
- Edit camera — may enter and change the camera connection settings and run discovery.
- Without the right role, the camera panel is not shown to a user at all, even when Is camera is ticked for the device.
Availability
Camera live view is an optional add-on to your license. See the pricing page for current rates.
