Installation

Litmus NVR runs on Windows, macOS, and a wide range of Linux devices such as Raspberry Pi, Jetson, and Radxa. All installation files are available on the download page.

Supported single-board computers include Raspberry Pi 3/4/5 and Zero 2 W, NVIDIA Jetson (Nano, Orin Nano, AGX Orin), and Radxa Rock (5A, 5B, 5C, Zero 3W).

Windows and macOS

Download the installer (Windows: .exe, macOS: .pkg) from the download page, run it, and follow the instructions. Litmus starts automatically once installation completes.

Pre-installed Image (Raspberry Pi)

Write a Raspberry Pi OS image with Litmus pre-installed to an SD card. Litmus starts automatically as a system service on boot, making this the simplest option for first-time users. A full image with desktop and a CLI-only lite image are provided.

The downloaded image file (.img.xz) can also be written with general image writers such as balenaEtcher, but Raspberry Pi Imager is recommended because it lets you set up Wi-Fi and the user account while writing the card. The steps and screens below are based on Raspberry Pi Imager 1.9. Select Use custom in the operating system selection and choose the image file.

Under storage, select the SD card to write to and click Next. A dialog asks whether to apply OS customisation settings.

In this dialog, select Edit Settings to pre-configure the hostname, user account, Wi-Fi, and locale. For a headless setup without Ethernet, be sure to configure Wi-Fi. If you did not edit the settings, the default Raspberry Pi OS login is litmus / litmus.

Enabling SSH on the Services tab lets you reach the device over the network without a monitor. When you are done, click Save, return to the OS customisation dialog, and click Yes. Confirm the warning that existing data on the SD card will be erased, and writing starts.

When writing completes, insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi and connect the power. Litmus starts automatically as a system service on every boot, without requiring a login.

Home Assistant Add-on

On Home Assistant OS or Supervised, install Litmus as an add-on. The add-on connects to Home Assistant automatically, with no manual hardware setup.

1. In Home Assistant, open Settings > Apps > App store and add https://github.com/grablo/litmus-hass-addons under Repositories in the top-right menu. Clicking the button below opens the repository dialog directly.
2. Find Litmus NVR in the store and click Install.
3. When installation finishes, click Start.

Once the add-on is running, open the local screen in a browser on the same network at http://<Home Assistant IP address>:8128. The setup code required the first time you open it appears in the add-on's Log tab the first time the add-on starts. For details, see Opening the Local Screen.

Docker

On mini PCs, NAS and other Docker hosts, install Litmus as a container. If you run Home Assistant OS or Supervised, the add-on above is recommended instead.

git clone https://github.com/grablo/litmus-docker.git
cd litmus-docker
docker compose up -d

Once the container is running, open the local screen in a browser on the same network at http://<Docker host IP address>:8128. Run docker exec litmus cat /etc/litmus/local/setup_code.txt to find the setup code required the first time you open it.

Identity and data are kept in named volumes, so the container remains the same device across updates and recreation. The container does not self-update; apply a new version with docker compose -f docker-compose.yml pull followed by docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d. See the install guide for details.

Direct Installation (.deb)

Users familiar with Linux can download the .deb package for their architecture (ARM64/x64) and install it directly. On a desktop, open the .deb file from the file manager to install it; from the command line, copy the package to the device and run sudo apt install -y ./litmus-nvr*.deb. Once installed, Litmus starts as a system service and launches automatically on boot, without requiring a login.