CCcam Server on Linux: Full Setup & Config Guide

Setting up a cccam server linux box from scratch is one of those tasks that looks simple until you hit your first binary compatibility error at 11pm. This guide covers the full path: architecture decisions, binary installation, config file syntax, firewall rules, and what to do when things break. If you've got a smartcard in hand and a Linux machine ready, here's exactly what you need to know.

What CCcam Actually Does on Linux (and When You Need a Server)

CCcam is a card-sharing daemon. One machine runs it with a physical smartcard reader attached — that's the server. Other devices on your network (or across the internet) connect to it and request ECM decryption for the channels they're trying to watch. The server decrypts using the physical card and sends the Control Word back to the client. All of this happens over TCP, default port 12000.

The architecture matters because it determines your config. A server has a card attached locally and exposes F-lines for incoming clients. A client connects outbound using C-lines. Most people get confused because CCcam runs on both ends — it's the same binary, just configured differently.

Client vs. Server Mode: What Changes in the Config

There's no separate "server mode" flag. The distinction is entirely in which lines appear in CCcam.cfg. If you have F-lines (defining users who connect to you) and a DEVICE line pointing at a local reader, you're a server. If you only have C-lines (pointing outward to another host), you're a client. You can also be both simultaneously — connecting upstream while serving downstream clients — which is how cascades work.

Why Linux is the Preferred Host OS for CCcam

Reliability is the main reason. A Linux machine running CCcam as a systemd service will restart automatically after a crash and survive reboots without intervention. Windows has no equivalent daemon infrastructure for this. Also, most of the ARM-based satellite receivers people actually use — Dreambox, VU+, Zgemma — run Enigma2, which is Linux. So the binary, init scripts, and config paths are the same across platforms.

Hardware Requirements: CPU, RAM, and Physical Smartcard Reader Support

CCcam is not resource-hungry. A 500MHz processor and 64MB of RAM are genuinely enough for a handful of clients. Any modern Linux box is massively overqualified. The real constraint is the smartcard reader: you need either an internal reader (common on Dreambox hardware) or an external USB reader recognized by the kernel. Common options include sc8in1, phoenixrc-style readers, and standard CCID-compliant USB readers. Run dmesg | grep tty after plugging in to confirm it showed up — it'll appear as /dev/ttyUSB0, /dev/ttyACM0, or similar depending on the chipset.

Installing CCcam on Linux: Binary, Dependencies, and First Boot

CCcam 2.3.0 is the last version that ever circulated widely. It's closed-source, never updated, and the original developers are long gone. What you have is a static or semi-static binary — and on a modern 64-bit Debian or Ubuntu server, that creates problems immediately because it's a 32-bit ELF binary.

Choosing the Right CCcam Binary for Your Architecture

Run file CCcam on whatever binary you have. You'll see something like ELF 32-bit LSB executable, ARM, EABI5 or ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386. Match the binary to your hardware. ARM binaries for ARM receivers. x86 32-bit binaries for generic PC servers. If you're on a 64-bit x86 machine, you need the x86 32-bit binary plus the compatibility layer — not the ARM build, even if ARM is somehow available.

Installing 32-bit Library Dependencies on Debian/Ubuntu

On a fresh 64-bit Debian 11/12 or Ubuntu 22.04 system, the 32-bit runtime is not installed by default. Fix that first:

dpkg --add-architecture i386
apt-get update
apt-get install libc6-i386 lib32gcc-s1

On older Ubuntu versions (pre-20.04) you might see ia32-libs referenced in old guides — that package is gone. Use libc6-i386 instead. After installing, verify with ldd CCcam to check all shared libs resolve. If you're running a Docker container that's 64-bit only with no multiarch support, skip CCcam entirely and go straight to OScam (covered in section 6).

Placing the Binary and Setting Executable Permissions

cp CCcam /usr/local/bin/CCcam
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/CCcam
chown root:root /usr/local/bin/CCcam

On Enigma2 receiver images, the binary usually lives in /usr/bin/CCcam and is started by an init.d script. Don't move it on those systems — their init scripts expect it at that path.

Running CCcam as a systemd Service for Auto-Restart

Create /etc/systemd/system/cccam.service with this content:

[Unit]
Description=CCcam Card Server
After=network.target
[Service]
ExecStartPre=/bin/sleep 10
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/CCcam
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

The ExecStartPre=/bin/sleep 10 is not optional if your smartcard reader needs a moment to initialize after boot. Without it, CCcam starts before the kernel even finishes setting up the USB reader and logs "no card found" — then never retries properly.

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable cccam
systemctl start cccam

Verifying the Process is Listening on Port 12000

ss -tlnp | grep 12000
# or
netstat -tlnp | grep CCcam

You should see CCcam bound to 0.0.0.0:12000 or a specific interface IP. If nothing shows, check journalctl -u cccam -n 50 for startup errors.

CCcam.cfg Deep Dive: Every Directive You Need to Know

The config file lives at /etc/CCcam.cfg by default. CCcam looks there first. Some launch scripts pass the path as an argument — check yours if changes aren't being picked up. One thing that bites people constantly: Windows line endings (CRLF) in the config file cause silent parse failures on Linux. If you edited this file on Windows and transferred it over, run dos2unix /etc/CCcam.cfg before debugging anything else.

Comments use # or // — both work. Directives are case-insensitive for the keyword itself, but the values (usernames, passwords, hostnames) are case-sensitive.

Server Port and Listen Address: SERVERPORT and BIND Directives

# Listen for incoming CCcam client connections
SERVERPORT: 12000
# Bind to a specific interface (recommended)
# BIND: 10.8.0.1

If you have multiple network interfaces — say, a WAN interface and a VPN interface — CCcam will bind to all of them by default (0.0.0.0). That's a security problem. Use the BIND directive to lock it to just the VPN interface IP. More on this in the firewall section.

Defining Local Card Readers: DEVICE, CARDTYPE, and BOXKEY Lines

# Define the physical smartcard reader
DEVICE: /dev/ttyUSB0 SR
CARDTYPE: 0
BOXKEY: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

The DEVICE path must match what dmesg shows. If your reader appears as /dev/ttyACM0 instead of /dev/ttyUSB0, the config must say /dev/ttyACM0. Getting this wrong is one of the most common reasons for "no card found" errors. CARDTYPE 0 means auto-detect, which works for most cards. BOXKEY is relevant for Nagravision cards that use a boxkey — leave it zeroed if yours doesn't.

Adding C-line Clients: C: Syntax Breakdown

A C-line tells this server to connect outward to another CCcam server:

C: remote.host.example 12000 myusername mypassword {0:0:1} 01

Breaking that down: remote.host.example is the upstream server hostname or IP. 12000 is the port. myusername and mypassword are your credentials on that server. {0:0:1} is an optional CAID filter in the format {CAID:ProviderID:1} — a value of 0:0:1 means accept all CAIDs. The trailing 01 is the hop count for resharing cards received from this line.

Adding F-line Users (Incoming Connections): F: Syntax and Hop Limits

F-lines define who is allowed to connect to your server:

F: client1 strongpassword 1 0 0 0 { 1830:000000:1 }
F: client2 anotherpass 1 0 0 0 { 0:0:1 }

The fields after the password are: reshare level (1 = can reshare one hop), minimum card hop (0 = local cards), CAID group, ident group, and an optional CAID filter block. The filter { 1830:000000:1 } restricts this user to CAID 0x1830 only. Use strong, unique passwords for every F-line — these are the credentials your clients put in their C-lines.

B-line for Blocking Specific Provider IDs

B: 1234 000000

B-lines block a specific CAID/provider combination from being shared. If you have a card with multiple providers and want to withhold one, this is how. The format is B: CAID ProviderID.

SHARE LIMIT and HOP COUNT: Controlling Reshare Depth

HOP COUNT controls how many times a card can be reshared before CCcam stops passing it further. Set it in F-lines (per user) or globally:

SHARE LIMIT: 3

A HOP COUNT of 0 means the card is local and will not be reshared at all. A value of 1 means it can go one hop to clients but those clients cannot reshare it. Keep this as low as practically needed — deep reshare chains slow down ECM response times and create accountability problems.

LOG and DEBUG Directives for Troubleshooting

LOGFILE: /var/log/cccam.log
LOGLEVEL: 1
DEBUG: 0

LOGLEVEL 1 gives you connection events and ECM activity without flooding the disk. Set DEBUG to 1 temporarily when chasing a specific problem — it's verbose and you'll want to turn it back off. The web interface at port 16001 (default credentials: admin/admin — change these immediately) shows live card status, connected clients, and ECM timing, which is far easier to read than raw logs during diagnosis.

Firewall, Networking, and Port Forwarding for CCcam

This is where a cccam server linux setup most commonly gets stuck. The service is running, the config looks right, but clients can't connect. Nine times out of ten it's a firewall rule or a NAT issue.

Opening TCP Port 12000 with iptables and ufw

Using iptables directly:

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 12000 -j ACCEPT
# Save rules so they survive reboot:
iptables-save > /etc/iptables/rules.v4

Or if you're using ufw:

ufw allow 12000/tcp
ufw reload

If you want to restrict to known client IPs only (much better practice):

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 12000 -s 203.0.113.45 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 12000 -j DROP

Binding CCcam to a Specific Interface to Avoid Exposure

If your server has a public interface (eth0) and a VPN interface (wg0 or tun0), don't leave CCcam listening on both. Add the BIND directive in CCcam.cfg with the IP of the private/VPN interface. Clients connect through the VPN, and port 12000 is never exposed to the public internet at all. This is the right way to do it.

Using a VPN Tunnel (WireGuard/OpenVPN) Instead of Exposing Port 12000 Publicly

WireGuard is the better choice these days — less overhead than OpenVPN, simpler config, and the kernel module is now mainlined since Linux 5.6. Set up a WireGuard peer between your server and each client, assign them addresses in a private subnet (e.g., 10.8.0.0/24), bind CCcam to 10.8.0.1, and put that address in the C-lines on the client side. Nobody scanning the internet will ever see port 12000.

NAT and Port Forwarding if the Server is Behind a Home Router

If your Linux box is on a home network, you need to forward TCP port 12000 on your router to the server's local IP. Most routers call this "port forwarding" or "virtual server." Set the external port to 12000, protocol TCP, internal IP to your server's LAN address (make it static, either via DHCP reservation or manual config), internal port 12000. Then clients use your public IP in their C-lines.

One major problem: if your ISP uses CGNAT (carrier-grade NAT), you don't actually have a public IP — you share one with dozens of other customers and there's no way to forward inbound connections. The fix is renting a cheap VPS, running WireGuard on it, and tunneling CCcam traffic through that. The VPS becomes the public endpoint; your home server talks back through the tunnel.

Dynamic DNS for Servers Without a Static IP

If your public IP changes, clients with your old IP in their C-lines will fail to connect. Use a dynamic DNS service and put the hostname (e.g., myserver.ddns.net) in C-lines instead of a bare IP. Run a DDNS update client like ddclient on your Linux server to keep the record current. Most home routers have this built in too.

Also: if your ISP blocks inbound TCP on port 12000 specifically (some do), change SERVERPORT to something less conspicuous like 15000 or 8080, update your router's port forward rule, and update every client's C-line to match.

Troubleshooting Common CCcam Server Problems on Linux

Debugging a cccam server linux setup follows a pretty consistent pattern: eliminate layers one at a time, starting from the bottom (is the process even running?) up through networking, then config, then card detection.

CCcam Starts but Clients Cannot Connect: Checklist

• Confirm the process is actually running: systemctl status cccam
• Confirm it's listening: ss -tlnp | grep 12000
• Test locally first: telnet 127.0.0.1 12000 — if this fails, the problem is the service, not networking
• Check firewall: iptables -L -n | grep 12000
• Check the F-line: username and password must exactly match what the client uses in their C-line
• Confirm the client's C-line IP/hostname resolves correctly from the client machine

'No Card Found' or Card Not Detected After Reader Definition

Start with dmesg | tail -30 right after plugging in the reader. You should see a line about a new USB device and the device node it was assigned. If you don't see it, the reader isn't recognized at the kernel level — could be a driver issue or a hardware fault.

If the reader shows up but the card isn't detected, verify the DEVICE line in CCcam.cfg points to the exact path shown in dmesg. Remember: /dev/ttyACM0 and /dev/ttyUSB0 are different devices and the wrong one will silently fail. Also check that the CCcam process user has read/write permission on the device: ls -l /dev/ttyUSB0 and add the CCcam user to the dialout group if needed.

Wrong ECM Responses and Decode Failures (CAID Mismatch)

The client connects, you see it in the CCcam web interface on port 16001, but the channel doesn't decrypt. Almost always a CAID mismatch. Open the web interface, look at what CAIDs the server is actually advertising. Then check what CAID the channel uses — your STB's channel info screen or a CAM menu will show this. If they don't match, the server can't help that client regardless of connection status.

Also check HOP COUNT. If the F-line for that client has a reshare value of 0 and the card was received from an upstream C-line (not local), the client gets nothing. HOP COUNT 0 blocks resharing of non-local cards.

High Load / Slow ECM Response Times

A single physical card can only process one ECM at a time. If you have 10 clients all requesting decryption simultaneously, they queue up and response times climb. The channel may stutter or go black momentarily. The fix is either fewer clients, additional physical cards, or additional upstream C-lines with different cards. There's no software workaround for this — it's a hardware constraint.

Log File Location and How to Read CCcam Debug Output

If LOGFILE is defined in CCcam.cfg, logs go there. Otherwise, when running under systemd, use journalctl -u cccam -f for a live tail. Look for lines containing "connected", "ECM", "card", and error codes. An ECM response of "0x00" usually means the card responded correctly. Errors like "N/A" or timeout messages point to card issues.

CCcam Crashing on Startup: Binary Incompatibility Fix

Run file CCcam first. Then run ldd CCcam. If you see "not a dynamic executable" the binary is statically linked and should just run. If you see unresolved libraries ("not found"), install the missing 32-bit packages. If CCcam exits immediately with "Exec format error", you have a complete architecture mismatch — an ARM binary on x86, for example. Get the right binary for your platform.

CCcam vs OScam as a Linux Server: When to Switch

If you're starting fresh today, seriously consider OScam. CCcam 2.3.0 is abandonware — no patches, no updates, no source code to audit. OScam is actively maintained, open-source (GPL), and supports a superset of what CCcam does. The only reason to stay on CCcam is if you specifically need CCcam client compatibility with legacy devices that don't support OScam's native protocol — and even then, OScam handles that.

Key Differences in Architecture

CCcam is a black box. You take the binary, configure it, and hope it works — there's no way to inspect or modify the internals. OScam is fully open source, actively patched for new card types and security issues, and has a much richer configuration model with per-reader and per-user filtering at a granularity CCcam can't match. The web interface in OScam is also substantially better than CCcam's basic port 16001 page.

OScam's Superior CAID and Provider ID Filtering

In OScam you can filter by CAID, provider ID, service ID, and even specific ECM pids — all independently per reader, per user, and per profile. CCcam's filtering is coarse by comparison. If you're running a card with multiple provider packages and need surgical control over what each client can access, OScam is the tool for the job.

Running OScam as a CCcam Protocol Server (cs378x / cs357x Listeners)

OScam can speak the CCcam protocol natively. This means your existing CCcam clients don't need to change their C-lines at all — OScam answers on port 12000 and they never know the difference.

In /etc/oscam/oscam.conf, add a listener block:

[cs378x]
port = 12000
key = 0102030405060708091011121314151617181920

The cs378x module handles CCcam protocol version 2.x connections. Use cs357x for older CCcam protocol variants. Users are then defined in /etc/oscam/oscam.user with protocol = cccam.

Migration Path: Converting CCcam.cfg to OScam Config Files

CCcam C-lines become reader entries in /etc/oscam/oscam.server:

[reader]
label = upstream1
protocol = cccam
device = remote.host.example,12000
user = myusername
password = mypassword
caid = 1830
ident = 1830:000000

CCcam F-lines become user entries in /etc/oscam/oscam.user:

[account]
user = client1
pwd = strongpassword
protocol = cccam
group = 1
caid = 1830

The conversion is mechanical but requires going line by line. There's no automatic tool that handles every edge case reliably. Take an hour and do it manually — it's worth it for the long-term maintainability of a proper OScam setup over a legacy cccam server linux install.