Setup a Streaming Server and WebInterface

Stub diagram:

     +-----------------+
     |                 |
     |                 |--> Ethernet -> Web Interface -> Functions available:
     |  RaspberryPi    |                             +     * Stream a movie in the browser(Choose
     |                 |                             |       from index)
     |                 |                             |     * Output the movie through HDMI
     +-----------------+                             |
        +                                            |
        |                                            |
        +-->Source HardDisk                          |
                                                     |
                                                     |
                                                     +--> Button to force the creation of an index

Build your own video streaming server! SmartStream is an apache2 server that will stream your videos directly to your device. It is great when combined with a torrent machine

On the main page it is possible to:

• Select one video to watch from Finder-like file system browsing
• Trigger the indexing/re-indexing of videos
• Upload or remove a movie (works but problems with big files! )

The index is always going to be updated to list ALL the movies. If needed indexing can be set to operate on a specific directory, for example "Films", in case you have other videos you don't want to be indexed on the main page (e.g. porn)

Supported video extensions: ('.wmv', '.mov', '.mpg', '.avi', '.mp4', '.mkv', 'm4v','.flv') [in indexer.py]

When plugged in, the HD is searched for videos. An index is created without moving the files. From the index, users can stream videos from their computers in the browser or ask the server to start the output of a video through HDMI. The indexing will likely be implemented in a Python script, run on the server when needed. Files will be embedded in HTML5. Conversion won't be possible due to the RP's limited computing capabilities. HTML5 videos can be any format and will be played as long as the default player (e.g. QuickTime on Macs) supports the format. If the user chooses to play the film on HDMI, the RP should play the video through the HDMI port.

• HDMI-output: maybe use something like os.system('/bin/vlc "MyVideo.mkv" ')
• Manually organize data on HD -> rename, move, copy, upload, remove (kind of like DropBox)

The server itself is default Apache 2. You need the videos to be in /var/www/video or in subdirs of this directory. I'm using a RaspberryPi and stored all the media in one external drive, mounted in /media/HDD. I set /var/www/video to be a soft link to /media/HDD and set Apache to follow symlinks. I left everything default, only changes I made are permissions. It should be easy-peasy to recreate the same server at home.

This guide will help you to set up an apache2 server on your raspberry pi and to configure it to use SmartStream.

First of all install apache2:

sudo apt-get install apache2 -y

Copy your files in /var/www (ovverride index.html)

Move all your python scripts python scripts in /var/www/cgi-bin and make them executable

mkdir cgi-bin
mv *py cgi-bin
cd cgi-bin
chmod +x *py

Create the directory "video", here is where you are going to put the video SmartStream will stream. You may want to create a soft symbolic link to your external HDD instead, or to wherever you keep them

mkdir /var/www/video

If you want to make the soft link here is an example (from HDD)

sudo ln -s /media/SmartStream/video /var/www/video

Set apache2 to use the pythons scripts in cgi-bin: you can copy Lorsem config file, or follow instructions at this link: http://bdhacker.wordpress.com/2011/05/21/running-your-first-cgi-program-with-apache2/

Here is Lorsem /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default , the config file you need to modify to make cgi python scripts work (First, stop Apache service:

sudo service apache2 stop

<VirtualHost *:80>
	ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
	DocumentRoot /var/www
	<Directory />
		Options FollowSymLinks
		AllowOverride None
	</Directory>
	<Directory /var/www/>
		Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
		AllowOverride None
		Order allow,deny
		allow from all
	</Directory>

	ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /var/www/cgi-bin/
	<Directory "/var/www/cgi-bin">
		AllowOverride None
		Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch
		Order allow,deny
		Allow from all
		AddHandler cgi-script .py
		AddHandler default-handler .html .htm
	</Directory>

	Alias /video/ "/var/www/video/"
        <Directory "/var/www/video/?">
                Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
                AllowOverride None
                Order allow,deny
                Allow from all
        </Directory>
	ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log

	# Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit,
	# alert, emerg.
	LogLevel warn

	CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

	#BANDWIDTH MGMT uses bw_module
	#BandWidthModule On
	#ForceBandWidthModule On
	#BandWidth 192.168.0.0/24 0
	#BandWidth all 80000
</VirtualHost>

Start apache to have changes be effective:

sudo service apache2 start

Now let's set permissions on files so that our python scrypts can modify them.

sudo touch list_of_films.txt
sudo chmod 777 list_of_films.txt
sudo chmod 777 index.html