Authorization failure: client is not allowed to set parameter

[lawzla]

I am currently updating my ACAP application from Version 3 to Version 12. The application calls ax_parameter_set function to configure the IR-Cut Filter using parameter "ImageSource.I0.DayNight.IrCutFilter" to be either "Auto" or "On".

Running my application on a Q6355-LE camera and calling the parameter set function I get the following error in the system log.

Authorization failure: client with UID=998 is not allowed to set parameter 'ImageSource.I0.DayNight.IrCutFilter'

I also have added the below to my manifest.json to configure a application user.

    "resources": {
        "linux": {
            "user": {
                "groups": ["admin"]
            }
        }

How do i add authorization to my ACAP application to allow my application to configure this parameter?

Thank You.

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[Cacsjep]

@lawzla

Try this
"linux": { "user": { "groups": [ "operator" ] } },

[vivekatoffice]

Hi @lawzla ,
The more common and robust way to modify system parameters in ACAP applications is through the VAPIX API. This involves making HTTP requests to the camera's /axis-cgi/param.cgi endpoint.

To do this, your ACAP application needs authorization to make VAPIX calls. This is achieved by adding the com.axis.HTTPConf1.VAPIXServiceAccounts1.GetCredentials D-Bus method to your manifest.json. This allows your application to retrieve credentials needed for VAPIX requests.

VAPIX access for ACAP applications

[Cacsjep]

Hi @lawzla , The more common and robust way to modify system parameters in ACAP applications is through the VAPIX API. This involves making HTTP requests to the camera's /axis-cgi/param.cgi endpoint.

To do this, your ACAP application needs authorization to make VAPIX calls. This is achieved by adding the com.axis.HTTPConf1.VAPIXServiceAccounts1.GetCredentials D-Bus method to your manifest.json. This allows your application to retrieve credentials needed for VAPIX requests.

VAPIX access for ACAP applications

I’ve found using VAPIX (e.g., param.cgi) for parameters to be much more error-prone. First you have to fetch the D-Bus credentials, which is fine, but then you still need to perform HTTP requests and correctly handle all the different failure cases. That’s especially tricky with param.cgi, since errors often come back as plain text lines that you then have to parse reliably.

With axparam, you get clearer, structured errors and you don’t need curl request handling or custom parsing logic.

Personally, axparam feels more robust and safer for updating parameters. =)

Or does AXIS internally the same ?

[vivekatoffice]

Example based on axparameter

2026-02-13T12:05:47.317+05:30 axis-xxxxxxxxxxx[ INFO    ] axparameter[5483]: Current IR-Cut Filter value: 'no'
2026-02-13T12:05:47.318+05:30 axis-xxxxxxxxxxx[ INFO    ] axparameter[5483]: Setting IR-Cut Filter to 'auto'...
2026-02-13T12:05:47.423+05:30 axis-xxxxxxxxxxx[ INFO    ] axparameter[5483]: IR-Cut Filter successfully set to 'auto'
2026-02-13T12:05:47.423+05:30 axis-xxxxxxxxxxx[ INFO    ] axparameter[5483]: Listening for changes to IrCutMode parameter...
2026-02-13T12:09:53.569+05:30 axis-xxxxxxxxxxx[ INFO    ] axparameter[5483]: Application was stopped by SIGTERM or SIGINT.
2026-02-13T12:10:15.192+05:30 axis-xxxxxxxxxxx[ INFO    ] axparameter[6884]: Current IR-Cut Filter value: 'auto'
2026-02-13T12:10:15.193+05:30 axis-xxxxxxxxxxx[ INFO    ] axparameter[6884]: Setting IR-Cut Filter to 'auto'...
2026-02-13T12:10:15.273+05:30 axis-xxxxxxxxxxx[ INFO    ] axparameter[6884]: IR-Cut Filter successfully set to 'auto'
2026-02-13T12:10:15.273+05:30 axis-xxxxxxxxxxx[ INFO    ] axparameter[6884]: Listening for changes to IrCutMode parameter...

{
    "schemaVersion": "1.9.0",    
    "resources": {
        "linux": {
            "user": {
                "groups": ["operator"]
            }
        }
    },
    "acapPackageConf": {
        "setup": {
            "appName": "axparameter",
            "vendor": "Axis Communications",
            "version": "1.0.0",
            "runMode": "respawn",
            "embeddedSdkVersion": "3.0"
        },
        "configuration": {
            "paramConfig": [
                {
                    "name": "IrCutMode",
                    "default": "auto",
                    "type": "enum:auto,yes"
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}

/**
 * - axparameter -
 *
 * This application demonstrates how to configure the IR-Cut Filter
 * using the AXParameter library. It allows toggling the filter between
 * "auto" and "on" modes via an application-defined parameter.
 */
#include <axsdk/axparameter.h>
#include <glib-unix.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <syslog.h>

#define APP_NAME "axparameter"
#define IRCUT_PARAM "ImageSource.I0.DayNight.IrCutFilter"

// Structure used for passing data to the deferred callback.
struct message {
    AXParameter* handle;
    char* value;
};

static gboolean signal_handler(gpointer loop) {
    g_main_loop_quit((GMainLoop*)loop);
    syslog(LOG_INFO, "Application was stopped by SIGTERM or SIGINT.");
    return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
}

__attribute__((noreturn)) __attribute__((format(printf, 1, 2))) static void
panic(const char* format, ...) {
    va_list arg;
    va_start(arg, format);
    vsyslog(LOG_ERR, format, arg);
    va_end(arg);
    exit(1);
}

/**
 * Read and log the current value of the IR-Cut Filter parameter.
 */
static void log_current_ircut_value(AXParameter* handle) {
    GError* error = NULL;
    gchar* value  = NULL;

    if (!ax_parameter_get(handle, IRCUT_PARAM, &value, &error))
        panic("Failed to get %s: %s", IRCUT_PARAM, error->message);

    syslog(LOG_INFO, "Current IR-Cut Filter value: '%s'", value);
    g_free(value);
}

/**
 * Set the IR-Cut Filter to the specified mode ("auto" or "yes").
 */
static void set_ircut_filter(AXParameter* handle, const char* mode) {
    GError* error = NULL;

    if (strcmp(mode, "auto") != 0 && strcmp(mode, "yes") != 0) {
        syslog(LOG_WARNING,
               "Invalid IR-Cut Filter mode '%s'. Must be 'auto' or 'yes'. Ignoring.",
               mode);
        return;
    }

    syslog(LOG_INFO, "Setting IR-Cut Filter to '%s'...", mode);

    if (!ax_parameter_set(handle, IRCUT_PARAM, mode, TRUE, &error))
        panic("Failed to set %s to '%s': %s", IRCUT_PARAM, mode, error->message);

    syslog(LOG_INFO, "IR-Cut Filter successfully set to '%s'", mode);
}

/**
 * Deferred callback invoked from the GLib main loop.
 * Safe to call ax_parameter_* functions here (no deadlock risk).
 */
static gboolean apply_ircut_setting(void* msg_void_ptr) {
    struct message* msg = msg_void_ptr;

    set_ircut_filter(msg->handle, msg->value);
    log_current_ircut_value(msg->handle);

    free(msg->value);
    free(msg);
    return FALSE;
}

/**
 * Callback registered with ax_parameter_register_callback().
 * Must NOT call ax_parameter_* functions directly to avoid deadlock.
 * Defers actual work via g_timeout_add_seconds().
 */
static void yes_ircut_mode_changed(const gchar* name,
                                  const gchar* value,
                                  gpointer handle_void_ptr) {
    syslog(LOG_INFO, "Parameter '%s' changed to '%s' — scheduling IR-Cut Filter update", name, value);

    struct message* msg = malloc(sizeof(struct message));
    if (!msg)
        panic("Failed to allocate memory for callback message");

    msg->handle = handle_void_ptr;
    msg->value  = strdup(value);

    g_timeout_add_seconds(1, apply_ircut_setting, msg);
}

int main(void) {
    GError* error   = NULL;
    GMainLoop* loop = NULL;

    openlog(APP_NAME, LOG_PID, LOG_USER);

    AXParameter* handle = ax_parameter_new(APP_NAME, &error);
    if (handle == NULL)
        panic("Failed to create AXParameter handle: %s", error->message);

    // Log the current IR-Cut Filter state at startup.
    log_current_ircut_value(handle);

    // Set an initial value for the IR-Cut Filter.
    set_ircut_filter(handle, "auto");

    // Register a callback on the app-defined parameter "IrCutMode".
    // Users can change this parameter to "auto" or "yes" via the device's
    // Settings page, and the callback will apply it to the IR-Cut Filter.
    if (!ax_parameter_register_callback(handle,
                                        "IrCutMode",
                                        yes_ircut_mode_changed,
                                        handle,
                                        &error))
        panic("Failed to register callback for IrCutMode: %s", error->message);

    syslog(LOG_INFO, "Listening for changes to IrCutMode parameter...");

    // Run the GLib main loop to process callbacks and signals.
    loop = g_main_loop_new(NULL, FALSE);
    g_unix_signal_add(SIGTERM, signal_handler, loop);
    g_unix_signal_add(SIGINT, signal_handler, loop);
    g_main_loop_run(loop);

    g_main_loop_unref(loop);
    ax_parameter_free(handle);
    closelog();

    return 0;
}

Edit
Updated "on" to "yes"

[vivekatoffice]

Hi @lawzla ,

Please ignore my previous code as referred in Day/night mode action, this parameter cannot be set to "On". We can only set it to "yes", "no", and "auto".

acap-axparameter@axis-xxxxx:~$ parhandclient --showaccess getgroup root.ImageSource.I0.DayNig
ht.IrCutFilter
root.ImageSource.I0.DayNight.IrCutFilter="auto" accessControl="admin:3;operator:3;event:3;wsd:3;wsauth:3;light:3"
acap-axparameter@axis-xxxxx:~$