ZoneMinder Forums

New user here.
I'm attempting to install ZoneMinder 1.34 for the first time on my Debian 10 system.
I'm following the instructions provided here: https://wiki.zoneminder.com/Debian_10_B ... om_ZM_Repo
All steps proceed normally without error until I attempt to enter this command: sudo apt install zoneminder
I get this result:

david@debian:~$ sudo apt install zoneminder
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
zoneminder
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 3,010 kB of archives.
After this operation, 25.5 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://www.deb-multimedia.org buster/main amd64 zoneminder amd64 2:1.32.3-dmo4+deb10u2 [3,010 kB]
Fetched 3,010 kB in 5s (667 kB/s)
(Reading database ... 182554 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../zoneminder_2%3a1.32.3-dmo4+deb10u2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking zoneminder (2:1.32.3-dmo4+deb10u2) ...
Setting up zoneminder (2:1.32.3-dmo4+deb10u2) ...
I: Generating /etc/zm/core.php from /usr/share/zoneminder/www/api/app/Config/core.php.default ...
apache2_invoke cgi: already enabled
apache2_invoke rewrite.load: already enabled
apache2_invoke: Enable configuration zoneminder
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/zoneminder.service → /lib/systemd/system/zoneminder.service.
Job for zoneminder.service failed because the control process exited with error code.
See "systemctl status zoneminder.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.62) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (241-7~deb10u7) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.5-2) ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.23-4) ...

entering "systemctl status zoneminder.service" gives this result:

david@debian:~$ systemctl status zoneminder.service
● zoneminder.service - ZoneMinder CCTV recording and surveillance system
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/zoneminder.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2021-05-17 00:02:44 AEST; 43s ago
Docs: http://zoneminder.readthedocs.org/en/latest/

And entering "journalctl -xe" gives this result:

root@debian:/home/david# journalctl -xe
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Reloading.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Reloading.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Starting ZoneMinder CCTV recording and surveillance system...
-- Subject: A start job for unit zoneminder.service has begun execution
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- A start job for unit zoneminder.service has begun execution.
--
-- The job identifier is 8725.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: DBI connect('database=zm;host=localhost','zmuser',...) failed: Access denied for user 'zmuser'@'localhost' at /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder/Config.pm l
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: Can't connect to db at /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder/Config.pm line 166.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder/Config.pm line 166.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: Compilation failed in require at /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder.pm line 33.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder.pm line 33.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/zmpkg.pl line 34.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/bin/zmpkg.pl line 34.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: zoneminder.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION
-- Subject: Unit process exited
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- An ExecStart= process belonging to unit zoneminder.service has exited.
--
-- The process' exit code is 'exited' and its exit status is 255.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: zoneminder.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
-- Subject: Unit failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- The unit zoneminder.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Failed to start ZoneMinder CCTV recording and surveillance system.
-- Subject: A start job for unit zoneminder.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- A start job for unit zoneminder.service has finished with a failure.
--
-- The job identifier is 8725 and the job result is failed.
May 17 00:02:45 debian systemd[1]: Reloading.
May 17 00:02:46 debian sudo[478]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
May 17 00:03:37 debian su[1458]: (to root) david on pts/0
May 17 00:03:37 debian su[1458]: pam_unix(su:session): session opened for user root by (uid=1000)
lines 1876-1918/1918 (END)
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Reloading.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Reloading.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Starting ZoneMinder CCTV recording and surveillance system...
-- Subject: A start job for unit zoneminder.service has begun execution
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- A start job for unit zoneminder.service has begun execution.
--
-- The job identifier is 8725.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: DBI connect('database=zm;host=localhost','zmuser',...) failed: Access denied for user 'zmuser'@'localhost' at /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder/Config.pm
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: Can't connect to db at /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder/Config.pm line 166.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder/Config.pm line 166.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: Compilation failed in require at /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder.pm line 33.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/share/perl5/ZoneMinder.pm line 33.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: Compilation failed in require at /usr/bin/zmpkg.pl line 34.
May 17 00:02:44 debian zmpkg.pl[938]: BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/bin/zmpkg.pl line 34.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: zoneminder.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION
-- Subject: Unit process exited
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- An ExecStart= process belonging to unit zoneminder.service has exited.
--
-- The process' exit code is 'exited' and its exit status is 255.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: zoneminder.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
-- Subject: Unit failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- The unit zoneminder.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Failed to start ZoneMinder CCTV recording and surveillance system.
-- Subject: A start job for unit zoneminder.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- A start job for unit zoneminder.service has finished with a failure.
--
-- The job identifier is 8725 and the job result is failed.
May 17 00:02:45 debian systemd[1]: Reloading.
May 17 00:02:46 debian sudo[478]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
May 17 00:03:37 debian su[1458]: (to root) david on pts/0
May 17 00:03:37 debian su[1458]: pam_unix(su:session): session opened for user root by (uid=1000)
lines 1876-1918/1918 (END)
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Reloading.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Reloading.
May 17 00:02:44 debian systemd[1]: Starting ZoneMinder CCTV recording and surveillance system...
-- Subject: A start job for unit zoneminder.service has begun execution
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
I have truncated this file as it is incredibly long and appears to repeat the same message over and over.
I have tried installing several times, and get the same result, even on a fresh new Debian installation.
Being a first time user here, I'm probably doing something silly, but any suggestions will be most welcome.

Managed to get some progress after trawling through some old posts.
I had not created a database in mariaDB, so I created it as shown below:
database: zm
user: zmuser
password: zmpass.

This wasn't mentioned in the instructions in the wiki, and being a total newbie, I'm on a steep learning curve.
I retried the installation, and it still fails. However the error messages have changed as shown below. As before, I have truncated the error file as it is extremely long and repeats over and over. I'm probably still missing something fundamental for the installation. Is there somewhere where I can find complete instructions?

root@debian:/home/david# journalctl -xe
-- Subject: Unit process exited
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- An ExecStart= process belonging to unit zoneminder.service has exited.
--
-- The process' exit code is 'exited' and its exit status is 11.
May 17 12:43:47 debian systemd[1]: zoneminder.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
-- Subject: Unit failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- The unit zoneminder.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'.
May 17 12:43:47 debian systemd[1]: Failed to start ZoneMinder CCTV recording and surveillance system
-- Subject: A start job for unit zoneminder.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- A start job for unit zoneminder.service has finished with a failure.
--
-- The job identifier is 5549 and the job result is failed.
May 17 12:43:48 debian systemd[1]: Reloading.
May 17 12:43:48 debian sudo[23564]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
May 17 12:44:20 debian su[25167]: (to root) david on pts/0
May 17 12:44:20 debian su[25167]: pam_unix(su:session): session opened for user root by (uid=1000)
lines 1834-1858/1858 (END)
-- Subject: Unit process exited
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- An ExecStart= process belonging to unit zoneminder.service has exited.
--
-- The process' exit code is 'exited' and its exit status is 11.
May 17 12:43:47 debian systemd[1]: zoneminder.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
-- Subject: Unit failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- The unit zoneminder.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'.
May 17 12:43:47 debian systemd[1]: Failed to start ZoneMinder CCTV recording and surveillance system.
-- Subject: A start job for unit zoneminder.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: https://www.debian.org/support
--
-- A start job for unit zoneminder.service has finished with a failure.
--
-- The job identifier is 5549 and the job result is failed.
May 17 12:43:48 debian systemd[1]: Reloading.
May 17 12:43:48 debian sudo[23564]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
May 17 12:44:20 debian su[25167]: (to root) david on pts/0
May 17 12:44:20 debian su[25167]: pam_unix(su:session): session opened for user root by (uid=1000)
lines 1834-1858/1858 (END)

Finally solved the problem.
I completely wiped my system and reinstalled Debian 10 for a second time. This time the installation proceeded smoothly.
I don't know why the previous attempts failed, but it seems there was some error in a config file somewhere which messed up the install procedure.
Next task is to see if I can set up my camera.....

And now I have found out exactly why I was having huge problems.

There is a third party multimedia repository I use (http//deb-multimedia.org/ buster). It contains what appears to be version 1.32 of ZoneMinder, which appears to be non functional. The real problem is that the repository has it listed under an incorrect version number 2:1.32.3, making the system think its a newer version than what it really is. The result is that doing any global updates from that repository will clobber an existing ZoneMinder install. To make things worse, it seems to mess up other files in my system so that any attempt to reinstall the correct ZoneMinder will fail. The only solution is to completely reinstall Debian from scratch.

In order to prevent this, I have locked my ZoneMinder installation version in Synaptic, however if you are using apt-get, you will need to be vigilant!

Ouch!

Maybe contact deb-multimedia about the issue, save someone else the pain you just went through.

Mine's been on 1.32.3 with a sources.list entry showing 1.34 since day 1.

I won't waste my time trying to figure it out and just build a new box at 1.4x someday. See how that goes.

You're not getting any support here.