Signing In to an NVR
PanoPaper signs in to your NVR with a user name and password, the way UniFi Protect's own web page does. You sign in once; PanoPaper stays signed in from then on, also after a restart.
To sign in, open Settings ▸ NVRs and double-click the NVR, or select it and click 'Sign In…'. To add an NVR PanoPaper did not find, click +. The sheet asks for:
- Address - the NVR's host name or IP address. A web address such as
https://192.168.1.10works too. For an NVR found on the network it is filled in already. - User name and Password - an account on the NVR (see below).
Click 'Sign In'. If it fails, the sheet stays open and says why in red; correct it and try again.
To sign in with another account or password later, double-click the NVR again.
Which account to use
Use an account that lives on the NVR itself - ideally one made just for PanoPaper. In the NVR's UniFi OS settings, add a user for local access only and give it a UniFi Protect role that may watch live video, such as View Only. PanoPaper cannot answer a two-factor authentication prompt, so the account must sign in with its password alone.
PanoPaper only watches: it never changes a camera's settings. The one exception is a PTZ camera, which it turns and zooms when you ask it to - see PTZ Cameras.
What the account may do
With a signed-in NVR selected, the line under the NVR list says what its account may do - only what PanoPaper uses:
- live video - needed for any camera to show.
- sound - needed to hear a camera.
- PTZ control - needed to turn and zoom PTZ cameras.
For example: "Signed in as panopaper: live video and sound. Can't use PTZ." An owner or administrator account reads full access. To give the account more, change its role in UniFi Protect.
Your password
PanoPaper keeps the password in your keychain, and nowhere else. Removing the NVR from the list deletes it.
The NVR's address
When the NVR has a name on your network - for example nvr-main.local - PanoPaper connects by that name rather than by its IP address, even if you entered the IP address, so it still finds the NVR after its IP address changes. A host name you enter is kept as it is. The Address column shows the address in use; hold the pointer over a name to see its IP address.
The NVR's certificate
The first time you sign in, PanoPaper remembers the NVR's security certificate. From then on it refuses to connect to a device with a different one, because something else could be pretending to be your NVR. If you reset or replaced the NVR, its certificate changed legitimately: remove it from the list and sign in again.
When signing in fails
- "The user name or password is incorrect." - check both; the password is case-sensitive. Remember that the account must sign in without two-factor authentication.
- "The NVR refused too many sign-in attempts. Wait a few minutes, then try again." - the NVR blocks sign-ins for a while after several failed ones.
- "The NVR's security certificate has changed." - see above.
- "This device does not run UniFi Protect." - the address belongs to another UniFi device, such as a gateway without Protect.
- "The NVR could not be reached." - check the address, that the NVR is on, and that PanoPaper may use your local network (see Troubleshooting).
An NVR that cannot be reached for a while - after sleep, or while the network is down - is not a problem: PanoPaper keeps trying on its own, and at once when your Mac wakes or the network comes back.