go2rtc ACAP for Axis cameras

Run the go2rtc streaming server directly on an Axis camera as an ACAP application. go2rtc is a single, zero-dependency Go binary, so it packages cleanly into a native ACAP.

Independent, community project. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Axis Communications or the go2rtc author. go2rtc is MIT-licensed by Alexey Khit. Use at your own risk.

Use case

Watch the camera live in any modern browser over WebRTC, with sub-second latency and no plugin or RTSP client required. Because go2rtc converts the camera's RTSP into WebRTC / MSE / HLS / MJPEG on the fly, it acts as a protocol bridge for clients that can't speak RTSP, and it can restream a single feed to many viewers from the camera itself.

It is also a great building block for developing web applications: you get a standards-based WebRTC/HTTP endpoint straight from the device, so you can embed a low-latency live view in a web app, prototype against the built-in API, and test players without standing up any extra streaming infrastructure.

What you get

• The full go2rtc dashboard (WebRTC / MSE / RTSP players, config editor, stream stats) served from the camera on port 1984.
• An RTSP server on 8554 and WebRTC on 8555.
• Runs as the unprivileged ACAP user (no root required).
• Config is stored on the device and survives restarts; it is removed on uninstall.

Ports

Service	Port	URL
Web UI / HTTP API	1984	http://<camera-ip>:1984/
RTSP server	8554	rtsp://<camera-ip>:8554/<stream>
WebRTC	8555	TCP/UDP

These ports are reachable on the camera's network interface.

Security: by default the Web UI / API on 1984 has no authentication. go2rtc can run shell commands through its source modules, so an open API is effectively remote access to the device. Before exposing the app beyond a trusted network, set username / password under api: in app/go2rtc.yaml (and rtsp: if you serve RTSP), and prefer a dedicated limited-privilege device account over root in your stream URLs.

Build

Requires Docker. The go2rtc release binary is downloaded at build time, so no binaries are committed here.

./build.sh                      # builds aarch64 and armv7hf
ARCHS="aarch64" ./build.sh      # single architecture
GO2RTC_VERSION=v1.9.14 ./build.sh

The resulting go2rtc_*_<arch>.eap files are copied into the project root.

Pick the architecture that matches your camera's chip:

Architecture	Axis chips (examples)
aarch64	ARTPEC-7/8/9 (64-bit), CV25
armv7hf	ARTPEC-6/7 (32-bit), older devices

Install

1. Camera web UI → Apps → Add app → upload the .eap.

2. Start the app.

3. Click Open (or browse to http://<camera-ip>:1984/).

4. Add streams from the dashboard's Config tab. For the camera's own stream, use a local RTSP URL:

   streams:
     camera: rtsp://USER:PASS@127.0.0.1:554/axis-media/media.amp

How it works

File	Role
app/manifest.json	ACAP metadata; architecture is stamped in at build time.
app/supervisor.c	Tiny ACAP main executable (go2rtc). Launches the run script, restarts it if it dies, forwards SIGTERM for a clean stop.
app/go2rtc_run	Seeds the default config into localdata/ on first run, then execs the go2rtc binary.
app/go2rtc.yaml	Default config, copied to the persistent localdata/ dir once.
app/lib/go2rtc	go2rtc binary, downloaded during the Docker build.
app/lib/ (ffmpeg)	Not bundled. ffmpeg-dependent features are enabled by installing the separate ffmpeg ACAP (see Notes).
app/html/index.html	Settings page with a link to the dashboard.

Notes

• ffmpeg is optional and modular. No ffmpeg binary ships in this package, so it stays small. ffmpeg-dependent features (JPEG snapshots /api/frame.jpeg, transcoding such as HEVC to H.264, and any ffmpeg: source) are disabled until you install the companion ffmpeg ACAP (Mo3he/Axis_Cam_ffmpeg, non-root, OS 12+). The seed config already points ffmpeg.bin at /usr/local/packages/ffmpeg/lib/ffmpeg, so transcoding works automatically once that ACAP is present. Streaming that needs no transcoding works without it: WebRTC, MSE, RTSP, and MP4 pass the camera's H.264 through untouched. For stills only, the camera's native JPEG endpoint (http://<camera-ip>/axis-cgi/jpg/image.cgi) also works.
• WebRTC works best on the local network. For external access, port 8555 (TCP/UDP) must be reachable, or configure a TURN server in go2rtc.
• To serve the dashboard under the camera's own web server suburl instead of port 1984, set api.base_path in go2rtc.yaml and add a reverseProxy entry to the manifest. Left out by default to keep direct access simple.

Credits and license

This project packages go2rtc by Alexey Khit (MIT). The go2rtc binary is downloaded at build time and its license is bundled in the package as lib/go2rtc.LICENSE; see NOTICE.md for attribution.

The packaging in this repository is MIT-licensed (see LICENSE).