Blue Iris Surveillance

Version 1.9

Overview

The Blue Iris Surveillance driver provides licensed, centralized monitoring and control of one Blue Iris 6 server and up to 32 individually configured camera sources over a local authenticated HTTP connection. The driver publishes server, account-permission, storage, profile, schedule, console-view, and per-camera availability, recording, motion, trigger, alert, pause, capability, and counter feedback, with edge-driven events established only after valid baseline data. It provides global profile and schedule control, native Windows-console view selection, camera trigger, manual recording, enable and disable, timed or indefinite pause, camera-connection restart, optional supported camera hardware reboot, and property-gated discrete pan, tilt, zoom, focus, home, and preset recall. Version 1.8 adds optional on-demand JPEG snapshots for the same configured Blue Iris camera sources. Images may be retained temporarily in bounded volatile RTI processor memory and exposed as image feedback, raw local and external URLs, and an optional responsive external viewer URL. Serialized requests, authoritative post-command refreshes, duplicate-poll suppression, communication diagnostics, protected credential logging, encrypted processor-bound licensing with a persistent evaluation period, and build-channel identification support reliable commissioning and maintenance. Blue Iris remains authoritative for camera configuration, recording and alert rules, user permissions, and device support; audio, clip management, video streaming, continuous PTZ movement, preset programming, persistent snapshot storage, HTTPS termination, physical PoE control, and universal camera reboot are outside this release.

Compatibility and requirements

- RTI Integration Designer 11 or newer and an RTI XP processor running runtime 24 or newer.

- Blue Iris 6 with its web server enabled and reachable from the RTI processor.

- One Blue Iris server per driver instance and up to 32 manually added RTI camera sources.

- A dedicated Blue Iris user with only the permissions required for the commissioned functions.

- A fixed address or DHCP reservation for the Blue Iris server.

- A valid processor-bound license after the persistent evaluation period.

The validated connection is local unencrypted HTTP. Keep the Blue Iris server and RTI processor on a trusted automation network. HTTPS and certificate handling are not included.

Blue Iris preparation

1. Enable the Blue Iris web server and record its local address and HTTP port.

2. Create a dedicated RTI account. Grant camera viewing, trigger, configuration, manual-recording, profile-change, and PTZ permissions only when the commissioned functions require them.

3. Record each required camera's Blue Iris short name. The driver matches the JSON optionValue, such as Cam01 or Door_Bell, rather than the friendly display name.

4. For native-console selection, record each exact camera or group target. Valid observed values include camera short names, group values, index, and @index. Omit any leading plus sign shown with a group display name.

5. Verify any intended physical camera reboot from Blue Iris before exposing it in RTI. Support depends on the individual camera and its Blue Iris configuration.

Driver properties

Server Address: Enter the local IPv4 address or hostname without http:// or a path.

HTTP Port: Enter the Blue Iris web-server port. Default 81; valid range 1 through 65535.

Username and Password: Enter the dedicated Blue Iris account.

Camera Poll Interval: Default 3 seconds; valid range 1 through 60 seconds.

Server Status Poll Interval: Default 15 seconds; valid range 5 through 300 seconds.

Request Timeout: Default 5 seconds; valid range 2 through 30 seconds.

Offline Failure Threshold: Default 3 consecutive failures; valid range 1 through 10.

Request Spacing: Default 250 milliseconds; valid range 100 through 5000 milliseconds.

Enable Trace: Logs important startup, authentication, commands, connectivity changes, and errors.

Verbose Trace: Adds routine request summaries and every emitted RTI event. Enable temporarily for commissioning and disable afterward.

Console View Count: Select 0 through 32, then provide a display name and exact Blue Iris target for each enabled view.

Camera Name: Dealer-facing RTI source name.

Blue Iris Short Name: Exact optionValue used to match the source to Blue Iris.

Hardware Reboot Supported: Exposes Reboot Camera only after the dealer verifies Blue Iris can reboot that camera. This is not PoE or physical power control.

PTZ Controls and capability selections: Expose only the pan and tilt, zoom, focus, home or center, and preset-recall capabilities verified for the camera. Note, the physical camera must support the function, and Blue Iris must have a compatible PTZ/Control implementation under Camera Settings -> PTZ/Control. The driver does not communicate directly with the camera. Before enabling PTZ capability in the RTI driver, open the camera in Blue Iris and verify that the cooresponding command works from Blue Iris itself. Enable only the functions that have been successfully tested.

Enable Snapshot Capability: Enables snapshot commands, variables, events, volatile image caching, and the dedicated processor HTTP listener. Snapshot-specific properties remain hidden when this feature is disabled.

Snapshot Server Port: Default 8086. The port must not duplicate another driver or processor service. Multiple processor HTTP services may operate simultaneously when each uses a different port.

External Base URL: Optional complete public HTTP or HTTPS base address provided by the commissioned reverse proxy or firewall, without a trailing slash. This property advertises an address only; the driver does not configure DNS, certificates, NAT, Caddy, or firewall rules.

Snapshot Lifetime: Sets how long each cached image and its opaque URL remain usable.

Maximum Snapshot Size: Rejects oversized JPEGs before caching. Available limits are 256 KB, 512 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB, and 4 MB.

Refresh Configured Cameras at Startup: Optionally retrieves each configured snapshot after the first authenticated camera-list response. Requests are serialized. This setting defaults off.

Remove Blue Iris Overlays: Adds the Blue Iris clean=1 option to image requests.

When Enable Snapshot Capability is selected, Number of Viewer Custom Variables exposes zero through ten optional cross-driver value definitions. Each definition includes a Friendly Name; Boolean, Integer, or String source type; the matching RTI System Variable selector; optional Boolean false/true text; an Integer Divisor; and optional Prefix and Suffix. Selecting a System Variable does not automatically copy its Integration Designer name into Friendly Name.

Each snapshot-enabled camera independently provides Show Camera Name in Viewer, Show Capture Time in Viewer, and Show Custom Variable in Viewer. When custom-variable display is enabled and at least one Viewer Custom Variable is configured, Viewer Custom Variable lists only None and the slots included by Number of Viewer Custom Variables. The selected definition's Friendly Name and formatted value appear on that camera's viewer page. None, an unavailable source value, or a disabled display option produces no custom-variable row.

Enable Snapshots: Per-camera property controlling whether that source exposes snapshot commands, variables, and events and participates in startup or Refresh All requests.

Camera commands

Refresh Camera Feedback: Requests an authoritative camera-list refresh.

Trigger: Creates an external trigger. Blue Iris camera configuration remains responsible for the resulting recording and alert behavior.

Start and Stop Manual Recording: Controls manual recording. The validated system reported a 43,200-second maximum when no shorter limit was requested.

Enable and Disable: Changes the camera's enabled state. Feedback may require several camera polls to reflect the result.

Resume, Pause for 30 Seconds, and Pause Indefinitely: Control pause state. Pause Remaining is reported in seconds; -1 means indefinitely paused.

Restart Camera Connection: Resets the Blue Iris camera window or connection. It does not reboot or remove power from the camera.

Reboot Camera: Available only when Hardware Reboot Supported is enabled. It asks Blue Iris to use that camera integration's reboot operation. A camera that is already unreachable may not accept the request.

Commands are serialized with polling. After an accepted state-changing command, the driver refreshes camera feedback and treats the returned state as authoritative instead of assuming the requested operation succeeded.

Snapshots

Refresh Snapshot retrieves the current JPEG for one configured source through the Blue Iris /image/camera-short-name endpoint and the driver's existing authenticated session. No ONVIF discovery, separate camera address, snapshot path, or camera credentials are required. Refresh All Snapshots queues all configured sources serially; images are not downloaded in parallel. Clear Snapshot removes one cached image and its URLs. Clear All Snapshots removes every cached image. A successful refresh replaces the previous image and rotates its opaque 64-character URL token.

Local Snapshot Image is the image-typed variable to bind to an RTI image object. Local Snapshot URL and External Snapshot URL return the raw JPEG. Local Snapshot Viewer URL and External Snapshot Viewer URL return the responsive HTML page containing the same image. External Snapshot URL and External Snapshot Viewer URL remain blank unless External Base URL is configured. Snapshot Available and Snapshot Unavailable support GUI visibility. Snapshot Status, Last Snapshot Capture, and Last Snapshot Error provide operator and diagnostic feedback.

Snapshot Ready fires after a valid JPEG is cached. Snapshot Failed fires when a requested image cannot be retrieved or validated. Snapshot Expired fires when an available image reaches its configured lifetime. Startup refreshes do not emit ready or failed events. A snapshot-retrieval failure does not by itself declare the Blue Iris server offline; normal server-status and camera-list transactions remain authoritative for overall communications.

Cached images exist only in volatile processor memory. Expiration, Clear commands, processor reload or power loss, and license loss make them unavailable. The driver does not create a Blue Iris saved snapshot or recording. Blue Iris credentials, secure-session identifiers, opaque tokens, and JPEG bodies are not written to TraceViewer.

Snapshot security and external access

Externally publishing surveillance images can expose private customer content. Prefer HTTPS termination through a commissioned reverse proxy, expose only the required route, protect the processor and surveillance network, verify URL expiration from outside the property, and obtain required customer authorization. The processor listener itself is HTTP. External Base URL does not establish or validate external connectivity.

PTZ commands

Blue Iris reports one general PTZ capability and does not separately identify pan, tilt, zoom, focus, home, or preset support. The dealer must therefore select the verified capabilities for every RTI camera source.

Pan and Tilt: Discrete Left, Right, Up, and Down commands.

Zoom: Discrete Zoom In and Zoom Out commands.

Focus: Discrete Focus Near and Focus Far commands.

Home or Center: One discrete home command.

Preset Recall: Presets 1 through 20. Preset programming is not included.

A PTZ command is rejected unless PTZ Controls and the corresponding capability are enabled, the account reports PTZ permission, the short name matches a current camera, and that camera reports general PTZ capability. Use the capability-specific Configured, Allowed, and Blocked variables for GUI feedback. Commands are discrete; press-and-hold movement is not included.

The physical camera must support the function, and Blue Iris must have a compatible PTZ/Control implementation under Camera Settings -> PTZ/Control. The driver does not communicate directly with the camera. Before enabling PTZ capability in the RTI driver, open the camera in Blue Iris and verify that the cooresponding command works from Blue Iris itself. Enable only the functions that have been successfully tested.

Profile and schedule commands

Set Active Profile selects profile 0 through 7 with Run, Temporary, or Hold behavior. Run returns control to the schedule, Temporary uses the Blue Iris temporary-profile timeout, and Hold retains the selection until released. Set Profile State changes only the behavior. Set Active Schedule requires an exact name reported by Available Schedules. Profile and schedule commands require administrator or profile-change permission, and the returned server status remains authoritative.

Console-view behavior

Select Console View controls the native Blue Iris Windows console. After Blue Iris accepts a request, Selection Known becomes true, Selected View Name and Selected View Target report the accepted choice, and exactly one configured view's Selected variable becomes true. A rejected request preserves the previous accepted selection.

Selection feedback is command-derived because Blue Iris does not report the current native-console selection through the status or camera-list responses. Direct changes in Blue Iris or another integration cannot be detected. Selection Known and every per-view Selected variable are false after driver or processor startup until RTI successfully selects a view.

Feedback, polling, and events

The driver serializes all HTTP work and suppresses duplicate pending status and camera-list polls. The first valid camera list establishes a silent event baseline. Later genuine edges may fire camera online or offline, signal lost or restored, recording started or stopped, manual recording started or stopped, motion started or stopped, triggered or cleared, alert started or cleared, paused or resumed, and enabled or disabled events. Repeated same-state feedback does not refire an event.

Server events cover online and offline transitions, authentication failure, warning and alert activation or clearing, and console-view command acceptance or failure. Current feedback variables should drive GUI state; events should initiate automation only when a transition is required.

Troubleshooting

Configuration Error: Enter a server address, username, and password.

Server Offline: Verify the address, HTTP port, Blue Iris web server, routing, VLAN rules, request timeout, and Offline Failure Threshold.

Authentication Failed: Verify the dedicated account credentials and inspect Last Communication Error. Do not post customer credentials in logs or support messages.

Configured Camera Count exceeds Matched Camera Count: Verify every Blue Iris Short Name against its optionValue.

PTZ command blocked: Confirm the source capability property, account PTZ permission, camera match, and PTZ Available feedback.

Camera reboot unavailable or ineffective: Verify Hardware Reboot Supported and test the operation directly in Blue Iris. Use separate PoE or power control for physical power cycling.

Console selection appears stale: Direct Blue Iris console changes cannot be detected; issue Select Console View again from RTI.

Snapshot unavailable or failed: Confirm Enable Snapshot Capability and the camera's Enable Snapshots property, verify the Blue Iris Short Name and account viewing permission, then inspect Snapshot Status and Last Snapshot Error. Confirm that the JPEG does not exceed Maximum Snapshot Size.

Snapshot URL does not open: Confirm Snapshot Available, Snapshot Lifetime, and Snapshot Server Port. For external access, verify External Base URL, DNS, reverse-proxy routing, HTTPS certificate, and firewall configuration separately from the driver.

Developed & Supported By

Buttonwood Technologies, LLC

rti@buttonwoodtechnologies.com

https://www.buttonwoodtechnologies.com

Version history

Version 1.9: Added zero-to-ten typed cross-driver viewer variables; per-camera controls for showing Camera Name, Capture Time, and one formatted custom value; count-filtered custom-variable selectors; and the missing Local Snapshot Viewer URL variable while retaining the existing Local Snapshot Image, raw local/external URLs, and External Snapshot Viewer URL.

Version 1.8: Added optional authenticated Blue Iris JPEG snapshots using existing camera sources and the driver's secure session; bounded volatile caching; serialized single and all-camera refresh; clearing and expiration; image-typed RTI feedback; tokenized local and external raw and viewer URLs; capture status and errors; and per-camera ready, failed, and expired events.

Version 1.7: Standardized dealer documentation, Buttonwood Technologies support information, third-party driver notice and disclaimer, and surveillance/network-control safety and operational warnings. Runtime communications, commands, variables, events, and Blue Iris behavior are unchanged from version 1.6.

Version 1.6: Added camera-connection restart and optional property-gated camera. Supports one Blue Iris 6 server per driver instance and up to 32 manually added camera sources over local HTTP. Audio, clip management, live video streaming, continuous PTZ movement, PTZ preset programming, HTTPS, physical camera power control, and a universal camera reboot mechanism are not included. Blue Iris and each camera's hardware, firmware, permissions, recording rules, alert rules, and network operation remain outside the driver's control.

Version 1.5: Added command-derived console-view selection feedback, selected-view identity, mutually exclusive per-view feedback, and restart-safe unknown selection state.

Version 1.4: Added property-gated discrete pan, tilt, zoom, focus, home, and preset recall with permission, camera-match, and capability safeguards.

Version 1.3: Added processor-bound licensing, expanded account and server capabilities, detailed storage reporting, and global profile and schedule control.

Version 1.2: Added validated camera trigger, manual-recording, enable and disable, timed and indefinite pause, authoritative post-command refresh, and related feedback and events.

Version 1.1: Refined the initial local monitoring and manually added RTI camera-source implementation after processor testing.

Version 1.0: Initial Blue Iris 6 server monitoring, per-camera feedback and events, authenticated session handling, and native console-view command foundation.

Product Specific Warning

This driver is a supplementary interface to Blue Iris and is not a certified alarm, access-control, or life-safety system. Commands can trigger cameras, start or stop manual recording, pause or disable cameras, restart connections, change profiles or schedules, operate supported PTZ functions, and, when separately supported and enabled, reboot camera hardware. Snapshot images and URLs may contain private surveillance content and may become stale, expire, or become unavailable because of processor, network, Blue Iris, authentication, or camera conditions. The dealer must verify Blue Iris user permissions, camera capabilities, recording and alert rules, command targets, retention behavior, snapshot exposure, external-access security, and recovery after server or network failure. Do not rely on RTI feedback, events, or snapshots as the sole means of detecting, recording, reporting, or responding to a security incident.

Third-Party Driver Notice and Disclaimer

This driver is independently developed by Buttonwood Technologies, LLC and is not developed, endorsed, supported, or certified by the manufacturers or service providers with which it interoperates, unless expressly stated otherwise. The driver is provided “AS IS” and “WITH ALL FAULTS,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Buttonwood Technologies, LLC shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, loss of data, loss of use, service interruption, or lost profits arising from installation or use of the driver. Nothing in this notice excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.