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PTZControlConsole on Linux

PTZControlConsole-linux-x64-beta.tar.gz is an experimental Linux release-candidate build. It is intended to verify packaging, camera discovery, and standard V4L2 pan, tilt, and zoom controls before the Linux backend is marked stable.

Requirements

  • Linux x64
  • .NET 8 Runtime or a later major .NET runtime installed
  • Access to the camera device, usually /dev/video*

On Ubuntu, install the .NET 8 runtime with:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-runtime-8.0

If your Ubuntu installation does not provide dotnet-runtime-8.0 from its configured package sources, follow Microsoft's .NET installation instructions for your Ubuntu version:

The app targets .NET 8 and is configured to roll forward to later major .NET runtime versions. This means that an installed .NET 10 runtime should be enough to start the app, even without .NET 8 installed. If runtime selection still fails on a specific machine, set DOTNET_ROLL_FORWARD=Major before starting the app.

Installation

Download PTZControlConsole-linux-x64-beta.tar.gz from the GitHub release page and unpack it:

tar -xzf PTZControlConsole-linux-x64-beta.tar.gz
cd PTZControlConsole-v2.4.2.4-linux-x64-beta

Run the device discovery command:

./PTZControlConsole list-devices

The preview backend lists /dev/video* devices and tries to read display names from /sys/class/video4linux/<device>/name.

Test standard V4L2 camera controls:

./PTZControlConsole zoom-relative 10 --mode percent --camera "PTZ"
./PTZControlConsole zoom-relative -10 --mode percent --camera "PTZ"
./PTZControlConsole move-relative --mode percent --pan 10 --camera "PTZ"
./PTZControlConsole move-relative --mode percent --pan -10 --camera "PTZ"
./PTZControlConsole move-relative --mode percent --tilt 10 --camera "PTZ"
./PTZControlConsole move-relative --mode percent --tilt -10 --camera "PTZ"
./PTZControlConsole zoom-absolute 0 --mode percent --camera "PTZ"
./PTZControlConsole zoom-absolute 50 --mode percent --camera "PTZ"
./PTZControlConsole zoom-absolute 100 --mode percent --camera "PTZ"

-c/--camera matches a device name fragment from list-devices. -d/--device-path selects a concrete device path such as /dev/video0. -x/--pan controls pan. -y/--tilt controls tilt.

Metadata Configuration

On Linux, preset names and camera slot aliases are stored in:

~/.config/PTZControl/ptzcontrol.json

If XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, the app uses:

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/PTZControl/ptzcontrol.json

Export the current metadata configuration to stdout:

./PTZControlConsole config --export

Export it to a file:

./PTZControlConsole config --export ptzcontrol-config.json

Import a metadata configuration file:

./PTZControlConsole config --import ptzcontrol-config.json

Guided Camera Test

The release package includes scripts/test-console-camera-linux.sh. It runs a guided command sequence, records exit codes, stdout, stderr, cam-device-info, and list-devices, and asks the tester to confirm the visible camera result after each action.

Example:

scripts/test-console-camera-linux.sh --exe ./PTZControlConsole --camera "PTZ"

Or select by device path:

scripts/test-console-camera-linux.sh --exe ./PTZControlConsole --device-path /dev/video0

Current Limitations

Linux camera control currently uses standard V4L2 absolute pan, tilt, and zoom controls:

  • V4L2_CID_PAN_ABSOLUTE
  • V4L2_CID_TILT_ABSOLUTE
  • V4L2_CID_ZOOM_ABSOLUTE

If a camera or driver does not expose one of these controls, the related command fails with a clear error and an exit code other than 0.

Preset and home support is not implemented on Linux yet. restore-home, restore-preset, and save-preset currently fail with a clear NotSupportedException message.

The next implementation step for Linux preset and home support is Logitech UVC extension-unit access through Linux ioctl calls. This must be validated with a real PTZ Pro 2 camera.