A MagicMirror² module that displays photos from an AWS S3 bucket with various display options and automatic synchronization.
This module was created as a result of Google Photos crippling their API and limiting how you can access your own data. While AWS is not free like Google Photos, it does provide a more open and flexible platform for storing and accessing your photos. And if configured properly, can be very inexpensive to run. My set up has a monthly cost of ~$0.60 thats not a typo 60 CENTS! if you are on the free tier it will be even cheaper. see cost breakdown for more details.
This is under active development so some minor quirks should be expected. will do my best to fix them as they are reported. See the docs folder for more details on configuration options and other details.
(absolute mode)
I'm a overworked, and underpaid, tech worker in the analytics and intelligence industry. I spend my free time creating and sharing side projects like MagicMirror modules and 3D printing STL files with the community. If you enjoy my work and want to support future projects, buy me a coffee! ☕
- Automated AWS Infrastructure Setup
- Script handles creating S3 bucket, Lambda function, and related invocation roles.
- Configurable display duration
- Minimum 10 seconds recommended
- Multiple display styles:
- Wallpaper (full screen)
- Fit-region (maintains aspect ratio)
- Absolute (fixed size)
- Optional blur effect for empty space
- Multiple display order options:
- Random
- Random with deduplication <- displays all photos once before repeating
- Newest first
- Oldest first
- Optional attribution overlay with configurable positioning
- Static (fixed position)
- Dynamic (random position)
- Photo upload from USB storage device
- Script based uploads to S3 bucket, maintains folder structure.
- Safely ejects USB device
- Optional selfieshot uploads from MMM-Selfieshot
- Uploads selfies taken from the MMM-Selfieshot module to S3 bucket.
- Delta Updates:
- Only downloads new or modified photos, reducing bandwidth usage
- Configurable Cache Lifetime:
- Set
cacheLifeDays: 0for permanent cache - Set
cacheLifeDays: Nto automatically purge cache every N days < -- NOT RECOMMENDED!! (due to increase data transfer cost.)
- Set
There are a couple options for uploading files to S3. (and by extenstion to your MagicMirror²)
-
- Included in this modules is a utility script to copy files to the cache folder and upload them to the S3 bucket. See USB Upload Instructions for more details.
-
- Manually upload files to the S3 bucket using the AWS console (Website UI).
-
- Use the AWS CLI to upload files to the S3 bucket. The user and access keys that are created as part of the setup script have the necessary permissions to directly upload files to the S3 bucket. You can pair this something like onedrive or dropbox and a simple cronjob to automatically sync your photos to the S3 bucket.
-
- if you are up for more of a techincal approach you can set up a SNS topic and Amazon SES and simply email photos as attachments to your s3 bucket.
This module uses AWS services that may incur charges.
Example details:
- 10GB of photos
- Hourly sync requests
- No cache wipes <-this one is important, wiping the cache is the bigest potental cost driver. Note there should be no reason to wipe the cache as the module will prune photos that have been deleted from the S3 bucket, but if your use case involves photos with the same file name and a need to regularly purge the cache feature is available.
NOTE Prices are for the US regions as of 10-2024 Other regions may vary. Check AWS Pricing for current rates in your region.
- First 5GB per month: FREE
- $0.023 per GB/month after first 5GB (5 x $0.023)
- S3 Total~$0.35/month
- First 1 million requests per month: FREE
- 128MB memory allocation
- Typically runs once per hour = ~720 requests/month
- Lambda total $0.00/month FREE!
- 10GB (each photo transfered once)
- Module only downloads new/modified photos (delta updates) so this usage is only incured once per photo unless you wipe the cache.
- 100GB transfer included in free tier
- Total $0.00/month: FREE!
The cost will be about the same as the free tier on a monthly basis. Howwever the first month will be ~$1.00 as you will not have the advantage of the free tier data transfer. So the inital load will hit you for about 40 cents. But after that you will only pay about $0.60 per month. (lambda remains free at such a low use)
- Video? Pi3B is limited to 720p due to resources and 4+ would around 1080p not sure if its worth supporting video
- ssh into raspberry pi
- go to Magic Mirror modules folder
cd ~/MagicMirror/modules
- clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/uphillcheddar/MMM-S3Photos.git
- create aws account and setup IAM user and access key see AWS Account Creation Steps
- go to the module directory
cd ~/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-S3Photos
- install dependencies
npm install
- run setup script - be patient this can take a while (0-10 minutes depending on aws region)
cd ~/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-S3Photos sudo node ./setup.js
- ! After Setup is complete return to aws console and reduce permissions of the IAM user (a template for permissions is generated by the setup script that can be used to reduce permissions)
Clock hard to read
Add this to your ~/MagicMirror/css/custom.css file:
.clock {
padding: 10px;
background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
}Permission Errors
sudo chmod 755 ~/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-S3Photos/cache
sudo chmod 644 ~/MagicMirror/modules/MMM-S3Photos/cache/photos.jsonAWS Credentials
- Verify credentials in
local_aws-credentialsor run setup.js again and chose not to use existing credentials. (this will create a new credential file) - Ensure IAM user has appropriate permissions
Photo Loading
- Check network connectivity
- Verify S3 bucket permissions
- Review module logs in MagicMirror console
Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss proposed changes.