EdgeCaster RTSP Gateway

EdgeCaster is a lightweight edge gateway that converts Rhombus secure raw streams into RTSP streams using MediaMTX. It runs on a Raspberry Pi 5 and allows legacy VMS, NVR, and third-party AI/video systems that require RTSP to consume video from Rhombus cameras.

Rhombus does not support RTSP natively because it is not a secure protocol. EdgeCaster bridges this gap for environments that require RTSP compatibility by converting Rhombus’s encrypted raw streams locally on your network. Deploy EdgeCaster only on trusted networks.

How It Works

Rhombus Camera
     │
     │ Secure Raw Stream (HTTPS H.264)
     ▼
EdgeCaster (Raspberry Pi)
     │ FFmpeg stream copy (no transcoding)
     ▼
MediaMTX (RTSP server, port 8554)
     │
     ▼
External Systems (VMS / NVR / AI)

EdgeCaster uses the Rhombus API to discover cameras, creates secure raw streams via createRawHttpStream, and pipes them through FFmpeg (stream copy — no transcoding) to MediaMTX which serves them as standard RTSP.

Features

Automatic camera discovery via Rhombus API
Web UI for enabling/disabling streams per camera
Up to 10 concurrent streams (stream copy, no CPU-intensive transcoding)
Automatic stream recovery on failure with configurable retry logic
Persistent stream state across reboots
Auto-updates via configurable nightly window
Ready-to-flash Raspberry Pi SD card image builder

Hardware Requirements

Component	Requirement
Device	Raspberry Pi 5
RAM	8 GB recommended
Storage	32 GB SD card minimum
Network	Gigabit Ethernet
OS	Ubuntu Server 24.04

Setup

Install Script
SD Card Image

Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/RhombusSystems/edgecaster-stream-converter.git
cd edgecaster-stream-converter
sudo bash scripts/install.sh

The installer handles all dependencies: FFmpeg, Python, Node.js, Nginx, MediaMTX, systemd services, and log rotation.

Configure via web UI

Open http://<device-ip> in a browser:

Enter your Rhombus Org API Key
Cameras are discovered automatically
Toggle cameras on to start RTSP streams

Connect your systems

Point your VMS, NVR, or video analytics to the RTSP endpoints:

rtsp://<device-ip>:8554/front_door
rtsp://<device-ip>:8554/warehouse
rtsp://<device-ip>:8554/parking_lot

Test with VLC: vlc rtsp://<device-ip>:8554/<stream-name>

Build a ready-to-flash image instead of installing manually:

# Clone the repo on a build machine
git clone https://github.com/RhombusSystems/edgecaster-stream-converter.git
cd edgecaster-stream-converter

# Cloud-init mode (smaller image, needs internet on first boot)
sudo bash image/build-image.sh

# Pre-baked mode (larger image, no internet needed)
sudo bash image/build-image.sh --prebaked

Flash the .img.xz file to an SD card with Raspberry Pi Imager.On first boot the device:

Sets hostname to edgecaster
Creates the edgecaster user (default password: edgecaster)
Installs dependencies and starts services
Is accessible at http://edgecaster.local

Change the default password immediately after first login: passwd edgecaster

Web UI

The web interface at http://<device-ip> provides:

Dashboard — View all discovered cameras with stream status
Stream control — Toggle individual cameras on/off for RTSP conversion
Settings — Configure API key, refresh camera discovery, set auto-update window
System status — Health metrics and service status

The web UI has no built-in authentication in v1. Deploy EdgeCaster only on trusted networks where access to port 80 is restricted.

Network Ports

Port	Purpose
80	Web UI (Nginx reverse proxy)
8554	RTSP streams (MediaMTX)
8000	Backend API (internal, localhost only)

Rhombus API Endpoints Used

EdgeCaster interacts with 5 Rhombus API endpoints automatically:

Endpoint	Purpose
`POST /api/camera/getMinimalCameraStateList`	Discover cameras in your organization
`POST /api/camera/createRawHttpStream`	Create a secure raw stream for a camera
`POST /api/camera/deleteRawHttpStream`	Clean up stream when disabled
`POST /api/camera/getRawHttpStreams`	List existing raw streams
`POST /api/location/getLocationLabelsForOrg`	Resolve location names for the UI

Managing Services

EdgeCaster runs as systemd services:

# Check status
sudo systemctl status edgecaster
sudo systemctl status mediamtx

# View logs
journalctl -u edgecaster -f
journalctl -u mediamtx -f

# Restart
sudo systemctl restart edgecaster

Auto-Updates

EdgeCaster checks for updates hourly and applies them during a configurable window (default: 2:00–5:00 AM). Configure via the web UI Settings page or directly:

# /etc/edgecaster/config.yaml
auto_update_enabled: true
update_hour_start: 2
update_hour_end: 5

Manual update:

sudo bash scripts/edgecaster-update.sh

Local Development

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
cd backend
uvicorn app.main:app --reload --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

EdgeCaster API

The EdgeCaster backend exposes a local REST API:

Method	Path	Description
`GET`	`/api/auth/status`	Check setup state
`GET`	`/api/settings`	Get app settings
`POST`	`/api/settings/api-key`	Set Rhombus API key
`PUT`	`/api/settings/update-schedule`	Configure auto-update window
`POST`	`/api/settings/discovery/refresh`	Refresh camera list from Rhombus
`GET`	`/api/cameras`	List discovered cameras
`GET`	`/api/streams`	List active RTSP streams
`POST`	`/api/streams/{uuid}/enable`	Start RTSP stream for a camera
`POST`	`/api/streams/{uuid}/disable`	Stop RTSP stream
`GET`	`/api/system/status`	System health metrics

Limitations

Maximum 10 concurrent streams (Raspberry Pi CPU constraint, configurable via max_streams)
RTSP authentication is not enabled in v1 — restrict access via network controls
Cameras must be accessible on the local network for raw stream URLs
Secure raw stream tokens expire automatically; EdgeCaster recreates them on failure
No HTTP authentication on the web UI — trusted network deployment only

Security Notes

Your API key is stored in /etc/edgecaster/config.yaml (owned by edgecaster user, not world-readable)
API keys are never logged or exposed in API responses
The systemd service runs with hardened security: NoNewPrivileges, ProtectSystem=strict, ProtectHome, PrivateTmp
RTSP streams are unauthenticated — restrict port 8554 access at the network level

Troubleshooting

No cameras found

Verify your Rhombus API key is valid and has access to cameras. Check that the device can reach api2.rhombussystems.com. Try refreshing discovery from the Settings page.

Stream not starting

Check FFmpeg is installed (ffmpeg -version), MediaMTX is running (systemctl status mediamtx), and the camera is online. View logs with journalctl -u edgecaster -f.

RTSP URL not working

Confirm the stream shows “running” in the web UI. Test with VLC: vlc rtsp://<device-ip>:8554/<path>. Check that port 8554 is not blocked by a firewall.

Auto-update not running

Check the timer: systemctl status edgecaster-update.timer. Verify the installation is git-based (.git folder exists) and the current time falls within the update window.

Resources

GitHub Repository

Source code, image builder, and issue tracker

Streaming Video Guide

Direct streaming integration without RTSP conversion

React SDK

Embed camera streams in React applications

API Reference

Full documentation for raw stream and camera endpoints

Getting Started

Implementation Guides

Real-time Events

How It Works

Features

Hardware Requirements

Setup

Web UI

Network Ports

Rhombus API Endpoints Used

Managing Services

Auto-Updates

Local Development

EdgeCaster API

Limitations

Security Notes

Troubleshooting

Resources

GitHub Repository

Streaming Video Guide

React SDK

API Reference

Getting Started

Implementation Guides

Real-time Events

​How It Works

​Features

​Hardware Requirements

​Setup

​Web UI

​Network Ports

​Rhombus API Endpoints Used

​Managing Services

​Auto-Updates

​Local Development

​EdgeCaster API

​Limitations

​Security Notes

​Troubleshooting

​Resources

GitHub Repository

Streaming Video Guide

React SDK

API Reference

How It Works

Features

Hardware Requirements

Setup

Web UI

Network Ports

Rhombus API Endpoints Used

Managing Services

Auto-Updates

Local Development

EdgeCaster API

Limitations

Security Notes

Troubleshooting

Resources