secubox-openwrt/luci-app-media-flow

LuCI Media Flow - Streaming Detection & Monitoring

Version: 1.0.0
Last Updated: 2025-12-28
Status: Active

Real-time detection and monitoring of streaming services with quality estimation and configurable alerts.

Features

Streaming Service Detection

Automatically detects and monitors:

Video Streaming:

• Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, Prime Video, Twitch
• HBO, Hulu, Vimeo

Audio Streaming:

• Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer
• SoundCloud, Tidal, Pandora

Video Conferencing:

• Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet
• Discord, Skype, WebEx

Quality Estimation

Estimates streaming quality based on bandwidth consumption:

• SD (Standard Definition): < 1 Mbps
• HD (High Definition): 1-3 Mbps
• FHD (Full HD 1080p): 3-8 Mbps
• 4K (Ultra HD): > 8 Mbps

Real-time Monitoring

• Active streams dashboard with live updates
• Bandwidth consumption per stream
• Client IP tracking
• Service categorization (video/audio/visio)

Historical Data

• Session history with timestamps
• Usage statistics per service
• Usage statistics per client
• Configurable retention period

Alerts

Configure alerts based on:

• Service-specific usage thresholds
• Daily/weekly limits
• Automatic actions (notify, limit, block)

Dependencies

• netifyd: Deep Packet Inspection engine for application detection
• luci-app-netifyd-dashboard: Netifyd integration for OpenWrt
• jq: JSON processing (for historical data)

Installation

opkg update
opkg install luci-app-media-flow
/etc/init.d/rpcd restart
/etc/init.d/uhttpd restart

Configuration

UCI Configuration

File: /etc/config/media_flow

config global 'global'
    option enabled '1'
    option history_retention '7'    # Days to keep history
    option refresh_interval '5'     # Seconds between updates

config alert 'netflix_limit'
    option service 'Netflix'
    option threshold_hours '4'      # Hours per day
    option action 'notify'          # notify|limit|block
    option enabled '1'

Adding Alerts

Via LuCI:

1. Navigate to Monitoring → Media Flow → Alerts
2. Click "Add"
3. Configure service name, threshold, and action
4. Save & Apply

Via CLI:

uci set media_flow.youtube_alert=alert
uci set media_flow.youtube_alert.service='YouTube'
uci set media_flow.youtube_alert.threshold_hours='3'
uci set media_flow.youtube_alert.action='notify'
uci set media_flow.youtube_alert.enabled='1'
uci commit media_flow

ubus API

Methods

# Get module status
ubus call luci.media-flow status

# Get active streaming sessions
ubus call luci.media-flow get_active_streams

# Get historical data (last 24 hours)
ubus call luci.media-flow get_stream_history '{"hours": 24}'

# Get statistics by service
ubus call luci.media-flow get_stats_by_service

# Get statistics by client
ubus call luci.media-flow get_stats_by_client

# Get details for specific service
ubus call luci.media-flow get_service_details '{"service": "Netflix"}'

# Set alert
ubus call luci.media-flow set_alert '{"service": "Netflix", "threshold_hours": 4, "action": "notify"}'

# List configured alerts
ubus call luci.media-flow list_alerts

Data Storage

History File

• Location: /tmp/media-flow-history.json
• Format: JSON array of session entries
• Retention: Last 1000 entries
• Rotates automatically

Statistics Cache

• Location: /tmp/media-flow-stats/
• Aggregated statistics per service/client
• Updates every refresh interval

How It Works

1. Detection: Integrates with netifyd DPI engine to detect application protocols
2. Classification: Matches detected applications against streaming service patterns
3. Quality Estimation: Analyzes bandwidth consumption to estimate stream quality
4. Recording: Saves session data to history for analysis
5. Alerting: Monitors usage against configured thresholds

Dashboard Views

Main Dashboard

• Current streaming status
• Active streams with quality indicators
• Top services by usage
• Auto-refresh every 5 seconds

Services View

• Detailed statistics per service
• Total sessions, duration, bandwidth
• Service details modal

Clients View

• Usage statistics per client IP
• Top service per client
• Total consumption

History View

• Chronological session list
• Filter by time period
• Quality and duration indicators

Alerts View

• Configure service-based alerts
• Set thresholds and actions
• Enable/disable alerts

Troubleshooting

No streams detected

1. Check netifyd is running:

   /etc/init.d/netifyd status
   

2. Verify netifyd configuration:

   uci show netifyd
   

3. Check netifyd flows:

   ubus call luci.netifyd-dashboard get_flows
   

Quality estimation inaccurate

Quality estimation is based on instantaneous bandwidth and may not reflect actual stream quality. Factors:

• Adaptive bitrate streaming
• Network congestion
• Multiple concurrent streams

History not saving

1. Check permissions:

   ls -la /tmp/media-flow-history.json
   

2. Check jq availability:

   which jq
   opkg install jq
   

Performance

• CPU Usage: Minimal (parsing only, netifyd does DPI)
• Memory: ~2-5 MB for history storage
• Disk: None (tmpfs)
• Network: No additional overhead

Privacy

• All data stored locally on device
• No external telemetry or reporting
• History can be disabled or purged anytime

License

Apache-2.0

Author

CyberMind.fr