zmcontrol.pl(8)

💅 zmcontrol.pl(8) — the ZoneMinder control script, bestie edition ✨

okay so this is zmcontrol.pl, straight out of the zoneminder manual, and it's literally the remote-control for your cameras 🎥✨

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

zmcontrol.pl — the ZoneMinder control script. that's it, that's the whole name, and honestly? iconic.

---

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

here's how you call her, exactly like this, no cap:

zmcontrol.pl --id {monitor_id} [--command={command}] [various options]
zmcontrol.pl --protocol {module} --address {addr} [--device {dev}] --command {cmd}

---

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

bestie. this is the ZoneMinder camera control script, and she's got two whole modes, like two personalities, both valid 💖

🦋 Monitor mode (--id)

so in monitor mode you pass --id and she connects to the control daemon for that monitor 🫶 — or, plot twist, she starts the daemon for you if you run her without --command. main character energy fr.

heads up though: this mode requires a running ZoneMinder instance with database access. no database, no vibes. 😭

🌈 Direct protocol mode (--protocol)

this one's the lowkey fave for testing ngl — she loads a ZoneMinder::Control module directly and runs one single command, and she does not need database access or a running ZoneMinder instance at all. so useful for testing control modules 🧚✨

---

💅 OPTIONS 💅

one bullet per flag, all fifteen of them, no skipping, we don't do that here:

• --id [ monitor_id ] — the monitor ID, used in monitor mode 👑
• --protocol [ name ] — the control module name, like ONVIF, used in direct mode 🌟
• --address [ addr ] — the ControlAddress, formatted like user:pass@host:port, direct mode only 🍓
• --device [ dev ] — the ControlDevice / profile token, direct mode only 🎀
• --command [ cmd ] — the command you wanna execute, e.g. moveConUp or get_config 🔥
• --autostop — the manualpage gives no description for this one, so I'm not gonna invent one 🙈 (no argument shown, just the flag)
• --xcoord [ arg ] — X-coord 💜
• --ycoord [ arg ] — Y-coord 💜
• --speed [ arg ] — speed ✨
• --step [ arg ] — description not given in the original, but she takes an argument 🦋
• --panspeed [ arg ] — description not given, takes an argument 🌸
• --panstep [ arg ] — description not given, takes an argument 🌸
• --tiltspeed [ arg ] — description not given, takes an argument 🌈
• --tiltstep [ arg ] — description not given, takes an argument 🌈
• --preset [ arg ] — description not given, takes an argument ⭐

ok real talk: several of these are listed with just a dash in the original, so I'm telling you exactly that — they exist, they take an argument, and the page doesn't spell out what they do. no guessing, that's the rule 💀

---

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

these are verbatim, copy them exactly, do not touch the syntax:

direct protocol testing, no database needed at all 💖

zmcontrol.pl --protocol ONVIF --address admin:pass@192.168.1.100 --command get_config

with a profile token 🎀

zmcontrol.pl --protocol ONVIF --address admin:pass@cam:8080 --device prof0 --command get_config

send a command to a running monitor daemon 👑

zmcontrol.pl --id 1 --command moveConUp

---

and that's the whole page, bestie 🫶 — this version is zmcontrol.pl(8) from zoneminder, and the footer stamp on the original was --stderr, dated 2026-03-04 💜✨ go forth and control some cameras, periodt.