Install the IRL4YOU BOX

1. What you need

• A BELABOX with the BELABOX image. The Orange Pi 5 Plus and the Radxa ROCK 5B+ are tested. How to put the image on the card is covered in the guide Setting up the BELABOX.
• Internet on the box. The installation downloads any missing packages.
• A terminal on the box. The easiest way is SSH from your computer. A keyboard and screen connected directly to the box work too.
• A BELABOX password. The BOX interface uses the same password as the BELABOX. If your box does not have one yet, you set it in step 1.

2. The video

The video (in German) shows the installation from start to finish, just as it is described here. The terminal output in it is the real output of an installation, with the address and progress bars shortened. The BELABOX interface is redrawn schematically, and the labels can differ depending on the version. All screens show example data.

The video still has the word “Beta” in its title and description. Since version 1.0, the command on this page is the one that applies. If anything in the video differs from it, this page is correct.

Chapters in the video (video in German)

1. 0:00Overview and requirements (the order in 6 steps)
2. 0:24Set the BELABOX password
3. 0:50Turn on SSH and connect
4. 1:26Install (one command, restart)
5. 3:10Log in
6. 3:46First steps
7. 4:38Updates, the way back, and uninstalling
8. 5:16Notes and links

3. Set the BELABOX password

The BOX interface logs you in with the password of the BELABOX. There is no separate setup code.

1. In your browser, open the BELABOX interface: http://<address of the box>/. You can find the box's address, for example, in the device list of your router.
2. If the box already has a password, you are done here. Go to step 2.
3. If it does not have one yet, for example after the first start of a fresh image, set one now. Remember it. You will need it again in a moment.

4. Turn on SSH and connect

You enter the installation command on the box, not on your computer. To do that, you connect to the box over SSH.

1. Turn on SSH: The BELABOX interface has a section called “Advanced / developer”. There you start the SSH server (“Start SSH server”). “Show” displays the SSH password, and “Reset” creates a new one. The user name is user. The labels can differ slightly depending on your BELABOX version.
2. Open a terminal on your computer: On Windows, use PuTTY. On Mac and Linux, use the “Terminal” app.
3. Connect: Enter ssh user@IP-OF-THE-BOX and replace IP-OF-THE-BOX with the address of your box. Then enter the SSH password.

With a keyboard and screen connected directly to the box, you do not need SSH. You just type the command in the terminal there.

5. Run the installation command

Copy this one command, paste it into the terminal on the box, and press Enter:

cd /tmp && rm -rf irl4you-pip-main irl4you-pip.tar.gz && wget -q -O irl4you-pip.tar.gz https://github.com/IRL4YOU/irl4you-pip/archive/refs/heads/main.tar.gz && tar xzf irl4you-pip.tar.gz && cd irl4you-pip-main && sudo sh install/setup.sh

Here is what the command does, from left to right:

• cd /tmp && rm -rf irl4you-pip-main irl4you-pip.tar.gz: switches to the /tmp folder and clears out leftovers from an earlier attempt.
• wget -q -O irl4you-pip.tar.gz https://github.com/…/main.tar.gz: downloads the package from GitHub.
• tar xzf irl4you-pip.tar.gz && cd irl4you-pip-main: unpacks it and switches to the unpacked folder.
• sudo sh install/setup.sh: starts the installation.

First, the installation updates the base system of the box. Depending on its state, that can take a long time and often brings a new kernel. After that, it installs the IRL4YOU BOX.

Variants

• Without the system update: use sudo sh install/setup.sh --ohne-systemupdate instead of the last part.
• Classic, without the helper script and with full output: download and unpack the package as above, then run sudo sh install/install.sh. This does not do a system update and does not show a progress bar.

6. What you will see

1. Step 1 of 2: base system. You only see a progress bar. The script does the same thing as the update function of the BELABOX (apt-get update, then dist-upgrade). The package list appears later in the log.
2. Step 2 of 2: installation. One line per step: checking packages, creating the user and data, copying programs, the picture-in-picture component, building the SRTLA sender and encoder, starting the services. The building takes a few minutes.
3. Result. At the end, you see “Alles fehlerfrei installiert.” (German for “installed without errors”) in green, and a link to the interface. If there are notes, they appear there.

The log: Everything that was printed during the installation is saved in ~/install-ausgabe.txt. You can read it with cat ~/install-ausgabe.txt. Harmless lines from Ubuntu packages, for example “rehash: warning: skipping ca-certificates.crt”, appear only there.

If the installation of the Bluetooth library bleak, which the DJI service needs, does not work, the installation stops with a message before anything has been changed.

7. Open the interface and log in

1. In your browser, open http://<address of the box>:8780 (or the link that the installation shows at the end). The important part is the ending :8780.
2. Log in with the BELABOX password. If you tick Stay logged in, you stay logged in for 30 days, even across updates.
3. The first time you open it, you choose the language. There are 14 languages. Apart from German, they are machine translated and have not been checked by native speakers.

If no password is set yet, the page tells you that you first have to set one in the BELABOX interface. The login then appears on its own.

The interface only accepts requests from private networks, from the box itself, and over Tailscale. Public addresses are rejected. After 5 failed login attempts, you are locked out.

8. What comes next?

The BOX is running now. You take the next steps in the interface. The guides in the project walk you through the individual areas (they are in German):

• Connecting cameras: RTMP, DJI, HDMI, and USB, plus GoPro
• Sending: SRTLA, sending paths, building the picture, live and preview
• Twitch chat, moderation, and battery warning
• Operation and maintenance: update, backup, logs, reporting bugs
• Remote access over Tailscale
• Hardware: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi stick, Wi-Fi of the cameras

For sending, you need a server that bonds the paths back together. The SRTLA server with Docker and the SRTLA relay server both work for that.

9. Updates, backup, and the way back

Software update of the BOX

A yellow dot in the header bar (labeled as an interface update) shows that a newer version is available. Cameras, servers, and settings are kept during the update.

1. End any running broadcast. The update is locked while a broadcast is running.
2. Open the Software update (IRL4YOU BOX) card and click Check for updates.
3. Click Install update and confirm. The interface restarts briefly during this, for about half a minute. After that, the page reloads on its own.

The current version is backed up first, and the last 5 versions stay backed up. If an update does not work, the update helper restores the previous version automatically. Under “Switch to a specific version”, you can go back to an earlier version if needed. You do not need to run the installation command again for that.

System updates of the BELABOX

The System updates (BELABOX) card installs real system updates, including kernels. Use it only when no broadcast is running and the power supply is stable. A restart is usually needed afterward, and you should check the cameras again. There is no automatic rollback here.

Back up settings

This helps, for example, when you write the image to the memory card again. In the Back up settings card, you download a file. If it contains passwords, it is always encrypted (AES-256). The password for the file is not stored anywhere, so remember it well. Not included are the interface password, SSH, keys, the Twitch token, Tailscale, and the Bluetooth pairing of the DJI cameras. After restoring, you pair the DJI cameras again, log in to Twitch again, and reconnect Tailscale.

The way back

You can remove the BOX again: in the folder irl4you-pip-main, run the command sudo sh install/install.sh uninstall. This removes the services and programs. State, backups, logs, and the user pipbox stay behind. If the folder is gone, download the package again with the first three parts of the command from step 3.

10. If something does not work

Report a problem: The easiest way is in the BOX interface under Options → Report a problem / make a request. The box prepares the form on GitHub. Before you pass the log on, download it in the Logs card and skim through it. You can also ask questions on Discord.

11. Security in brief

• Trust the repository. During updates, code from the repository runs as root on your box.
• Guest Wi-Fi networks: On the network that the box sends over, the interface is unencrypted (HTTP). Anyone there can read along. Use it there only over Tailscale (HTTPS), or turn on “Block over guest Wi-Fi networks”.
• From out and about: Use Tailscale instead of a public share. The “Funnel” button makes the interface public on the internet, protected only by the BELABOX password. Turn it on only if you really want that.
• Credentials (BELABOX password, stream ID, Wi-Fi details) are stored only on the box, with restricted permissions.
• SSH: turn it on only when you need it.

12. Common questions

More about the BOX

• IRL4YOU BOX: features, test status, and tested hardware
• IRL4YOU BOX 1.0 is here: what is new
• Setting up the BELABOX: the basis for everything else
• GitHub with source code and guides, questions and ideas on Discord

Independent add-on project: The IRL4YOU BOX is not a product of BELABOX, Radxa, or DJI.