Connect a Camera to Beacon over FTP

This guide covers LPR camera delivery to Beacon over FTP.

Use this when the camera uploads snapshots over FTP. FTP and SFTP use different Beacon servers.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• Access to your camera web interface
• Your Camera Endpoint Username and Password from Beacon (Settings → Organization)
• Your device ID from Beacon

Required camera fields

Configure the following in the camera FTP / file-upload settings:

• Protocol: FTP
• Server address: ftp.beaconlpr.com
• Server port: 21
• Username: camera endpoint username from Beacon
• Password: camera endpoint password from Beacon
• Parent directory: the camera manufacturer, or custom
• Subdirectory: the Beacon device ID
• Filename separator: _
• Filename order: timestamp_deviceID_plate
• Transfer trigger: upload the snapshot when an LPR event occurs

The SFTP path aws-transfer-ftp-bucket/images belongs to sftp.beaconlpr.com port 2222.

Directory

The upload path has two levels.

1. Parent directory — camera manufacturer, or custom when the manufacturer is not one of the names below.
2. Subdirectory — the Beacon device ID.

Parent directory names:

• custom
• Uniview
• Hike Vision
• Milesite
• Speco

<manufacturer>/<device ID>/

Example:

Uniview/device-42/

File name

Separate each part with an underscore, in this order:

timestamp_deviceID_plate

Example:

2026-09-30T18:00:00Z_device-42_ABC123.jpg

When the camera does not put a plate in the file name, use none for the plate value:

timestamp_deviceID_none

Example:

2026-09-30T18:00:00Z_device-42_none.jpg

A full path looks like this:

Uniview/device-42/2026-09-30T18:00:00Z_device-42_ABC123.jpg

Example template

Protocol: FTP
Host: ftp.beaconlpr.com
Port: 21
Username: <camera endpoint username>
Password: <camera endpoint password>
Parent directory: Uniview
Subdirectory: <device ID>
Filename: <timestamp>_<device ID>_<plate>

Configure the camera

Enter these values in the camera FTP client:

Field	Value
Protocol	FTP
Server	ftp.beaconlpr.com
Port	21
Username	Camera endpoint username
Password	Camera endpoint password
Parent directory	custom, Uniview, Hike Vision, Milesite, or Speco
Subdirectory	Beacon device ID
Filename separator	_
Filename	timestamp_deviceID_plate, or timestamp_deviceID_none when the camera has no plate value
Upload	Snapshot on each plate read

Use passive FTP when the camera offers a transfer mode.

Expected behavior

After saving settings and generating an LPR event:

• The camera uploads a snapshot to ftp.beaconlpr.com on port 21
• The file is stored under <manufacturer>/<device ID>/
• The file name is timestamp_deviceID_plate, or timestamp_deviceID_none when the camera has no plate value
• Beacon ingests the file and creates an event for that device ID

Verify success

1. Save the camera settings.
2. Trigger one known plate read.
3. Confirm the camera reports a successful FTP transfer.
4. Confirm the file name uses _ and the order timestamp_deviceID_plate (or timestamp_deviceID_none).
5. Confirm the read appears in Beacon for that device.

Troubleshooting

FTP login fails

• Set the protocol to FTP
• Set the server to ftp.beaconlpr.com and the port to 21
• Re-copy the camera endpoint username and password from Settings → Organization
• If the endpoint password was rotated, update the camera and test again

The camera cannot resolve the server

• Confirm the camera DNS server can resolve ftp.beaconlpr.com
• Confirm the camera network can reach the internet on TCP port 21

The upload path fails

• Set the parent directory to custom, Uniview, Hike Vision, Milesite, or Speco
• Set the subdirectory to the Beacon device ID
• Keep the SFTP path aws-transfer-ftp-bucket/images off this server

The file arrives but Beacon shows no event

• The subdirectory and the device ID inside the file name must match the Beacon device ID
• File name parts must be separated by _
• Order must be timestamp_deviceID_plate, or timestamp_deviceID_none when the camera does not supply a plate
• Trigger a new read after saving the path and file name