Thema: FTP profiles

FTP Profiles

Using the FTP Profiles dialog, you can create and manage profiles for automatically uploading images to FTP servers.

You need to create at least one profile that you can select in the Time Tasks or Actions dialogs for transferring images via FTP.

What is FTP?

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is an Internet protocol used for exchanging data between computers. This protocol is used frequently for uploading modified HTML pages or images to the server of an Internet provider.

Using the MOBOTIX Camera for FTP Transfer

The MOBOTIX camera can transfer images via FTP to a server, so that your homepage always shows an up-to-date image, for example. In this setting, the camera functions as sender (FTP client) while the remote computer acts as the receiver (FTP server).

You may define one or multiple FTP profiles. Every FTP profile features the entire set of FTP transfer information. The transfer can be triggered either by a task defined in the Time Tasks dialog or by an event defined in the Actions dialog.

Creating Profiles

For each profile, set the following parameters in the FTP Profiles dialog:

Parameters Description

Profile name

Enter a unique profile name.

You can select stored profiles in the Time Tasks and Actions dialogs, in order to perform time or event-controlled file transfers.

Camera Name

Enter the IP address or the name of the FTP server (recipient), e.g.:

IP Address:	`10.24.123.129` or
Host	`ftp.myftpserver.com`

If you would like to use a symbolic name, make sure that at least one DNS server has been specified in the Ethernet Interface dialog so that the camera can obtain an IP address for this server.

Port

Enter a port number for the FTP connection if you do not want to use the standard port 21.

When you do not know the port number, do not change this setting.

Username

Enter the user name for logging on to the FTP server.

You will be assigned a user name either by your Internet provider or by your system administrator.

Password

Enter the password for logging on to the FTP server.

You will be assigned a password either by your Internet provider or by your system administrator.

Directory

Enter the FTP server directory where the images are stored.

You may use any name that is valid for your FTP server and that is accessible for you. If the specified directory does not yet exist, it will be created during FTP transfer. If you are using Variables (as is the case in the factory default setting), the directories are created using the corresponding names.

If you leave this field empty, the images are stored directly at the root level ("/") of the FTP server. Make sure that the user you entered has the necessary access rights for storing files and for creating directories.

File Name

Enter the file name (e.g. my_image.jpg) for the stored image.

You may use any name that is valid for your FTP server. If you are using Variables (as is the case in the factory default setting), the files are created using the corresponding names.

Active FTP

Provided that a router or a firewall is located between the camera and the Internet, FTP connections are established using passive FTP.

If your FTP server does not support this, you need to activate the Active FTP option. When you are not sure which setting is supported by your FTP server, do not change this setting.

Temp. name

When this option is active, the image is stored in a temporary file during FTP transfer.

The image will be renamed after it has been transferred completely. This prevents visitors from seeing incomplete images, empty frames or error messages as the image transfer has not been completed.

Event subdirs

Activate this option if you would like to create an individual subdirectory for every event and its pre- and post-alarm images.

Remove

Activate this option to delete a profile. The profile will be deleted as soon as you click on the Set button in the lower part of the dialog.

Note:	This option is displayed only if at least one profile has been created before.

Customize Format

For every FTP profile, you can define a specific image format that is independent of the image format currently displayed by the camera.

Notes:

The custom image format will only be created when the FTP transfer is triggered by Time Tasks.
When using event-controlled FTP transfers, the camera will always transfer the image from the live display.
This feature is not available for Basic cameras.

Set the following parameters if you would like to use the custom image format:

Parameters	Description
Image size	Select one of the three pre-defined image sizes.
Lens	For a dual camera, specify the lens from which you would like to create the image.
Quality	Select the JEPG quality for your image.
Text display	Specify if you would like the camera to display text information on the image. The Date & Time option, for example, displays the time stamp.

Saving Created Profiles

Click on the Set button to check the created profiles. If a profile is faulty or entries are missing, you will be prompted to correct or complete your entries for this profile. When no errors are detected, the profile is saved temporarily and a new set of fields for another FTP profile will be displayed.

Below every saved FTP profile, the camera will display the current target path on the FTP server.

Click on the Close button to close the dialog. While closing the dialog, the system checks the entire configuration for changes. If changes are detected, you will be asked if you would like to store the entire configuration permanently.

Notes:

Any newly created or modified profile is saved permanently only when the entire camera configuration is stored.
In order to activate the newly created or modified FTP profiles, you do not have to reboot the camera.

Directory and File Name Placeholders

In order to create unique directory or file names, you can use the placeholders listed below. Using placeholders is helpful for creating e.g. a daily history.

In this example, the date and time placeholders are replaced by the current date and time of the event.

Placeholder Description

~D

MOBOTIX pre-defined directory

The placeholder is replaced by a unique directory structure following the pattern below:

cameraname/YYYY/MM/DD/hh/

Camera Name	The Camera Name that you have defined in the Ethernet Interface dialog or that has been assigned via DHCP.
YYYY	Year, four digits
MM	Month, two digits with leading zero
DD	Day, two digits with leading zero
hh	Hour, two digits with leading zero

~F

MOBOTIX pre-defined file name

The placeholder is replaced by a unique file name following the pattern below:

mYYMMDDhhmmssmmm.jpg

m	The letter "m"
YY	Year, two digits with leading zero
MM	Month, two digits with leading zero
DD	Day, two digits with leading zero
hh	Hour, two digits with leading zero
mm	Minute, two digits with leading zero
ss	Second, two digits with leading zero
mmm	Milliseconds, three digits with leading zeros

~H The Camera Name that you have defined in the Ethernet Interface dialog or that has been assigned via DHCP.

~E The current IP address of the camera's Ethernet interface

~N The camera's factory default IP address

~S Serial number of the camera

~c Image number, six digits with leading zeros

~C Image number, ten digits with leading zeros

%H Hours (00 to 23)

%I Hours (00 to 12)

%p AM or PM

%M Minutes (00 to 59)

%S Seconds (00 to 59)

~M Milliseconds, three digits with leading zeros

%Z Time Zone

%a Day of the week (Mon .. Fri)

%A Day of the week (Monday .. Friday)

%b or %h Month (Jan .. Dec)

%B Month (January .. December)

%d Day of the month (00 ... 31)

%j Day of the year (001 ... 366)

%m Month (00 .. 12)

%U Week of the year (01 .. 53), Sunday is the first day of the week

%w Day of the week (0 .. 6), 0 = Sunday

%W Week of the year (01 .. 53), Monday is the first day of the week

%y Year, two digits

%Y Year, four digits

Notes:

Make sure placeholders and variables are typed correctly.
Note, that placeholders are case-sensitive, but Variables are not.
Click on the Set button and compare the results on the last line of the FTP profile with the version you envisioned.

Additional Possibilities for Creating Dynamic Directory and File Names

Apart from the placeholders listed above, you can also use Variables.