Good evening, I need some assistance

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Good evening. I joined this forum just over two and a half years ago because, like others, my first system was a Lorex 4K system purchased from Costco. Due to the poor night capability of the cameras, I started researching, and fortunately for me, found this forum. I have been reading ever since and now that we are in a new home and with the knowledge acquired from this forum, we have started over on a new system.

We have purchased cameras from Andy (IPC-T5442T-AS), HP computer from eBay, POE switch, two NIC cards, and Blue Iris. I consider myself computer literate but not super techie. Blue Iris is a steep learning curve form me and I would not normally reach out as I like the thrill researching and find answers myself. But... I have hit the limits of my capabilities and now find myself needing the help of those who are more knowledgeable than me.

My dilemma:
  • I would prefer to run Blue Iris as a service which will not run UI3
  • The BI computer has no monitor, keyboard or mouse and I prefer to access it using Windows Remote Desktop which requires that the logon/lock screen have a password.

My question is that if I use ZeroTier with my system and mobile device will I be able to access the BI computer remotely using the BI mobile app with my preferred configuration? I have read the help on remote access in Blue Iris but due to the steep learning curve and a case of “my eyes are looking but my brain isn’t seeing” I haven’t been able to answer my own question.

Hopefully I described by situation clearly, if not please ask and I will try to clarify.

Thanks in advance and for the opportunity to learn from all of you that take the time to assist noobs like me!
 

wittaj

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You said:

My dilemma:
  • I would prefer to run Blue Iris as a service which will not run UI3
  • The BI computer has no monitor, keyboard or mouse and I prefer to access it using Windows Remote Desktop which requires that the logon/lock screen have a password.

So are you saying that you want to run BI as a service but you do not want it to run UI3 or you are running it as a service and then you are unable to get UI3 to work?

Most here run BI headless and RDP in to it - you simply put in the login credentials as part of RDP to access the computer.

Once you zerotier into your system, it is just like you are at home and can do everything you are able to do from home.
 
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You said:

My dilemma:
  • I would prefer to run Blue Iris as a service which will not run UI3
  • The BI computer has no monitor, keyboard or mouse and I prefer to access it using Windows Remote Desktop which requires that the logon/lock screen have a password.

So are you saying that you want to run BI as a service but you do not want it to run UI3 or you are running it as a service and then you are unable to get UI3 to work?

Most here run BI headless and RDP in to it - you simply put in the login credentials as part of RDP to access the computer.

Once you zerotier into your system, it is just like you are at home and can do everything you are able to do from home.
Maybe I misread the help file but I thought if you run BI as a service UI3 will not run. Am I mistaken?
 
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My dilemma:
  • I would prefer to run Blue Iris as a service which will not run UI3
  • The BI computer has no monitor, keyboard or mouse and I prefer to access it using Windows Remote Desktop which requires that the logon/lock screen have a password.
What I take from your dilemma is that IF you run BI as a service, you will NOT be able to run UI3.

I do not know the answer to this as I do not run BI as a service.

But I do know that even though my server uses a lock screen/logon password, I have no problem using ZeroTier from my iPhone using the BI app and I can use ZeroTier from my laptop outside of my LAN and run UI3.
 

wittaj

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In fact it is almost the opposite. If you are not running as a service and the UI isn't up and running, then UI3 won't work.

BI has to be running either in the background as a service or the BI console open for BI and thus UI3 to work.
 

Ri22o

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Thanks, I was confused reading the help file and was under the impression that if you run BI as a service UI3 would not run. It appears that my reading comprehension needs improvement...
With BI running as a service I am able to login to UI3 on my PC upstairs even with the BI PC sitting at the Windows login screen after a reboot.
 

kjinxx2

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For your ZeroTier question... as long as your BI PC is connected to ZeroTier it will remain connected even if you lock the PC. You can then access remotely via RDP. You will provide your login credentials when establishing the connection via RDP and will not see a 'login/lock' screen because those credentials will automatically unlock the PC.
 

Flintstone61

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I noticed that if I wait about 24 hours between zerotier logins on my phone, I may have to toggle the "switch" icon in the app from grey to yellow to re-enable it.
 

kjinxx2

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I tend to only turn the ZT app on in my phone if I am going to use it, then turn it off after I am done.
This is exactly what I do as well - my primary BI server is on VPN and I use zero tier to access a secondary BI server at another location, I toggle zerotier on to access that location
 
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