FTP Images from Hikvision Cam to Personal Website

[jonathanbutton]

I have been trying to setup my Hikvision Camera to FTP images to my personal website. I have setup the camera to take a photo every 10 minutes and save it to an SD card in the camera. This works properly and I can access the images with no concerns. However, I am having difficulites on setting up the FTP process. I go to the FTP portion of the Hikvision admin pages, and there I enter all the specifics of my FTP Server. I have tried this many times but can never seem to get it setup. When clicking on TEST, the Hikvision connection always fails to connect. I have tried entering my server in both numeric values 182.194.xxx.xxx and ftp.website.com. I know the password is correct as it always works properly when I send files from my computer to my FTP server via another FTP client such as FireFTP, just never from the Hikvision camera/admin site. Can anyone help me with this process. The camera is a DS-2CD2347G1-LU.

 

[JeffCharger]

I would suggest posting pictures of your setup on the FTP page. (you can black out the parts you don't want to share). I have found that different cameras - even from the same manufacturer - expect different formats of things like, (1) where the slashes appear, (2) whether you have specify "http:", (3) directory naming.

 

[TonyR]

+1^^.
Of course, the cam will need access to the Internet in order to FTP...is that the case?
The working LAN gateway IP will need to be included in the network settings.

FYI, this practice of letting a cam have access to The Internet and vice versa, is VERY risky.

 

[jonathanbutton]

+1^^.
Of course, the cam will need access to the Internet in order to FTP...is that the case?
The working LAN gateway IP will need to be included in the network settings.

FYI, this practice of letting a cam have access to The Internet and vice versa, is VERY risky.

Thanks for the feedback. This camera is outside and is mainly used as a weather cam for a weather station, so its ok if others view it. However, I wouldn't want it to be an entry point for others to gain access into my main network. As for whether the camera has access to the internet....Im not 100% sure. I'm ok at networking but there are so many settings with the Hikvision system I can get confused. It is connected via a POE switch on my network, and not directly connected to my NVR. It has an IP addressed of 192.168.XXX.XXX assigned by my router and not an IP address via the NVR. Therefore, I thought it was able to access the internet, but maybe I am wrong. Any advise here on how I can check?

 

[TonyR]

It has an IP addressed of 192.168.XXX.XXX assigned by my router and not an IP address via the NVR. Therefore, I thought it was able to access the internet, but maybe I am wrong. Any advise here on how I can check?

FWIW, 192.168.XXX.XXX IP's are private IP's on your LAN (Local) meaning we all have them so it's OK to share, you'll see mine below. It's your WAN (wide) IP that you need to redact or keep to yourself, as well as MAC addresses and camera serial numbers.

To find the gateway IP as well as others, from a PC that is part of your LAN, press Windows Key and R at the same time, in the popup window type "cmd' and hit <enter>.
In the black command prompt window, type "ipconfig" and hit <enter>.
Your gateway IP should be listed as is mine below:



In a typical home network, when you enter that gateway IP in your browser it will bring up your router's embedded webGUI. Log into the camera's webGUI, go to settings=>network and check if that gateway IP is in the cam's settings.

This camera is outside and is mainly used as a weather cam for a weather station, so its ok if others view it. However, I wouldn't want it to be an entry point for others to gain access into my main network.

NOTE: The main issue is not so much someone seeing your feed it's not only gaining access to your network but also hacking the cam and using it as a bot to execute DoS (Denial of Service) to your network or other networks outside your LAN.

 

[jonathanbutton]

FWIW, 192.168.XXX.XXX IP's are private IP's on your LAN (Local) meaning we all have them so it's OK to share, you'll see mine below. It's your WAN (wide) IP that you need to redact or keep to yourself, as well as MAC addresses and camera serial numbers.

To find the gateway IP as well as others, from a PC that is part of your LAN, press Windows Key and R at the same time, in the popup window type "cmd' and hit <enter>.
In the black command prompt window, type "ipconfig" and hit <enter>.
Your gateway IP should be listed as is mine below:

View attachment 93785

In a typical home network, when you enter that gateway IP in your browser it will bring up your router's embedded webGUI. Log into the camera's webGUI, go to settings=>network and check if that gateway IP is in the cam's settings.


NOTE: The main issue is not so much someone seeing your feed it's not only gaining access to your network but also hacking the cam and using it as a bot to execute DoS (Denial of Service) to your network or other networks outside your LAN.

Thanks Tony, much appreciated. I have completed what you suggest and I have success. Thanks! Now the next process/question is, how to I beef up the security on this method to help prevent any anyone from gaining access to my networks/cams etc.

 

[SamM]

Use a VPN to create a tunnel between your device and the ftp server

 

[jonathanbutton]

Use a VPN to create a tunnel between your device and the ftp server

Thanks Sam, Could I get you to elaborate a bit more. I have some ideas what you mean, but I'm not certain. I do use OPEN VPN to connect my phone/computer back to my personal network at my home. Is this a similar idea/method to what you were thinking? I don't really know how I would set that up in the Hikvision WebGui.

 

[SamM]

Hi

1. OpenVPN will be a start.
2. You can also limit incoming traffic on your router from the source that is capturing the images /stream of the camera. (would require a static IP address from the source or perhaps a ddns)

This is could assist:

VPN Primer for Noobs

The internet is a force of nature; no video surveillance system made was designed to be exposed to those forces.. NEVER FORWARD PORTS to your NVR or Cameras, doing such things not only exposes you to severe security problems, but everyone else on the internet too.. Hackers dont want your video...

ipcamtalk.com

I use a managed firewall (Fortigate) however this is a bit costly.


hope this helps.

 

[jonathanbutton]

I have an ASUS router which has both VPN Server and VPN Client capabilities. I use the VPN Server to login to my private networks while I am away. If I was to setup the VPN client side of things via OpenVPN, would this be valid protection?