Run motion as a user process in Ubuntu

Configuring motion version 4.3.2-1ubuntu0.1 as a user process in Ubuntu 22.04. Commands and scripts refer to $USER (your login) and $HOME which is probably /home/$USER on your system.

1. Install motion.
  $ sudo apt install motion

2. Create a directory for motion config.
  $ mkdir 775 $HOME/motion

3. Create a directory for motion pictures and video.
  $ mkdir 700 $HOME/Dropbox

4. Stop the motion daemon.
  $ sudo systemctl stop motion.service

5. Prevent motion running automatically as a daemon.
  $ sudo systemctl disable motion.service

6. Create a config file in $HOME/motion/motion.conf. This is the config I use to record one image each second of motion at 640x480 resolution. Feel free to make your own config.

### start of motion.conf ###
daemon off
setup_mode off
log_level 6
target_dir $HOME/Dropbox
# Video device (if you used /dev/video1 before, use /dev/video0 in this version of motion)
videodevice /dev/video0
width 640
height 480
framerate 1
text_left CAMERA1
text_right %Y-%m-%d\n%T
emulate_motion off
threshold 12000
noise_level 32
despeckle_filter EedDl
minimum_motion_frames 1
event_gap 2
pre_capture 0
post_capture 0
picture_output on
picture_filename %Y%m%d%H%M%S
movie_output off
webcontrol_port 8080
webcontrol_localhost on
webcontrol_parms 0
### end of motion.conf ###

7. Create a script to start motion process at $HOME/start_motion.sh.

### start of start_motion.sh ###
#!/bin/bash
IMGDIR=$HOME/Dropbox
VARDIR=$HOME/motion
PIDFILE=$VARDIR/motion.pid
LOGFILE=$VARDIR/motion.log
CONFIGFILE=$VARDIR/motion.conf
if [ -f "$PIDFILE" ]; then
  pkill -F $PIDFILE
  sleep 1
  rm $PIDFILE
fi
if [ ! -d "$VARDIR" ]; then
  mkdir 775 $VARDIR
fi
if [ ! -f "$CONFIGFILE" ]; then
  echo "Config file not found."
  exit 1
fi
if [ ! -d "$IMGDIR" ]; then
  mkdir 700 $IMGDIR
fi
if [ -f "$LOGFILE" ]; then
  rm $LOGFILE
fi
/usr/bin/motion -b -c $CONFIGFILE -p $PIDFILE -l $LOGFILE
### end of start_motion.sh ###

8. Create a script to stop motion process at $HOME/stop_motion.sh.

### start of stop_motion.sh ###
#!/bin/bash
PIDFILE=$HOME/motion/motion.pid
if [ ! -f "$PIDFILE" ]; then
  echo "Not running."
  exit 1
fi
pkill -F $PIDFILE
sleep 1
rm $PIDFILE
### end of stop_motion.sh ###

9. Create a script to restart motion process at $HOME/restart_motion.sh.

### start of restart_motion.sh ###
#!/bin/bash
$HOME/stop_motion.sh
$HOME/start_motion.sh
### end of restart_motion.sh ###

10. Make the scripts executable.
  $ chmod +x $HOME/start_motion.sh
  $ chmod +x $HOME/stop_motion.sh
  $ chmod +x $HOME/restart_motion.sh

11. Add your user to the 'video' group.
  $ sudo usermod -a -G video $USER

12. Create a startup entry for motion.
 12.1. Run 'Startup Applications' from the menu.
 12.2. Add a program 'Motion' with command '$HOME/start_motion.sh' and delay 5.

13. Start the motion application now. Test your pictures are saved to $HOME/Dropbox. If they are not, motion is being stubborn. Restart the process with $HOME/restart_motion.sh.

@version 1.1