SelenioFlex TM Live Manager

Transcription

1 User s Guide SelenioFlex TM Live Manager Product Version /11/2014

2 Publication Information 2014 Imagine Communications. Proprietary and Confidential. Imagine Communications considers this document and its contents to be proprietary and confidential. Except for making a reasonable number of copies for your own internal use, you may not reproduce this publication, or any part thereof, in any form, by any method, for any purpose, or in any language other than English without the written consent of Imagine Communications. All others uses are illegal. This publication is designed to assist in the use of the product as it exists on the date of publication of this manual, and may not reflect the product at the current time or an unknown time in the future. This publication does not in any way warrant description accuracy or guarantee the use for the product to which it refers. Imagine Communications reserves the right, without notice to make such changes in equipment, design, specifications, components, or documentation as progress may warrant to improve the performance of the product. Trademarks SelenioFlex, SelenioFlex Live Manager, SelenioFlex Live, StreamZ, StreamZHD and Xenio are a trademarks or trade names of Imagine Communications or its subsidiaries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective companies. Contact Information Imagine Communications has office locations around the world. For domestic and international location and contact information, visit our Contact page: Support Contact Information To create a Technical Support case for SelenioFlex Live Manager please use the following link: Technical Support is available during regular business days from 10am to 6pm based on the time zone of the following regional Imagine Communications Support Offices. North and South America 25 Dyas Road North York, Ontario Canada M3B 1V7 t: Europe, Africa, Middle East Passfield Business Centre Lynchborough Road Passfield, Hampshire GU30 7SB UK t: Asia Pacific Unit 7, 23 rd Floor, Prosperity Center No. 25 Chong Yip Street Kowloon Hong Kong t:

3 Table of Contents Live Manager Overview... 7 Features... 7 Live Manager System... 7 Installation... 9 System Requirements... 9 Installation Overview... 9 The Number of Systems in a Live Manager Setup... 9 Live Manager Setup with No Backup Server... 9 Live Manager Setup with a Backup Server... 9 With Backup/Redundancy... 9 Before Running the Live Manager Installer Running the Live Manager Installer License Server Installation Additional Instructions for a Backup License Server Setup The License Server Console The Live Manager Installer Configuration Wizard License Server System Address Live Manager Domain Name Live Manager Server Security Discovery Method Database Backup server Live Manager Server Stream Server SNMP Monitoring Router Control Services Installation Information Agent Monitor Managing the Services Managing Services Using the Control Panel Managing DRC Stream Server Service Using the Console

4 Licensing Licensing for Live Manager Server Licensing for SelenioFlex Live Encoders Licensing for StreamZ and StreamZ Live Encoders Additional Installation Notes General Networking Firewalls and Network Ports Paths and Permissions Upgrading Live Manager Software Installing New Builds on the Live Manager System Installing New Builds on non-selenioflex Live Resources Using the Console Getting Started Create the SelenioFlex Live or Stream Project SelenioFlex Live Projects Stream Projects Launch the Live Manager Console Bring Resources Online Create Groups and Assign Resources Schedule a Task Set up Alerts Monitor Jobs Monitor Network Resources Status Summary Test Your Setup SelenioFlex Live Projects SelenioFlex Live Overview Configuring a Channel Stream Projects for Live Manager Creating a Steam Project Create or Add Codec Profile(s) Select Input Type and Source Profile Adjust Preprocessing and Plugins Select Outputs Save the Project More Information about Stream Software Using Remote Desktop

5 Using Live Manager Connect to the Live Manager Server Check the Agent Systems Agent System Monitor (non-selenioflex Live systems) Resources Groups Creating Basic Groups Setting up Groups with Routers Setting up a New Router Service URL Router Routers - General Routers - Input Labels Routers - Output Resources Routers - Matrix View Router Resources on the Groups Tab Schedule Alerts Monitoring Jobs Monitoring Network Resources Status Summary Server Managed Files Testing Your Setup Remote Software Upgrades (Stream Encoders) SNMP Monitoring Advanced User Security System Requirements Installing and Configuring Third Party Databases PostgreSQL Install PostgreSQL Configure PostgreSQL Configure the Server Confirm Connectivity to the Database Automatic Index Creation Backup the Database

6 Oracle 10g Oracle Requirements Configure Live Manager Server Automatic Index Creation Backup the Database Microsoft SQL SQL Server 2005 Requirements Configure Live Manager Server Automatic Index Creation Backup the Database Troubleshooting Live Manager Network Issues Remote Software Upgrade Issues Additional Operating System Considerations Log Files Stream Project Issues Network Ports Index

7 Live Manager Overview Features Live Manager is an application that allows you to manage multiple SelenioFlex Live, SelenioFlex Ingest, StreamZ Live ABR, StreamZ or StreamZHD encoders. It includes the following functions: monitor the encoders status set up failover for live channels (attempt self-healing, assign a backup system per channel, or using a router to assign a backup group) set up scheduled encoding jobs monitor encoding jobs generate alerts based on your criteria Live Manager System Live Manager Server Live Manager Console The Live Manager system consists of: Encoder systems which include a Live Manager Agent Live Manager Server: This is the application that controls all of the management functions. The Server maintains its own database to keep track of the information required to manage all of the functions. It is normally installed on a dedicated system. If you install a backup Server it will also be on its own dedicated system. Live Manager Console: This is the application that is used to connect to a Server. It is the user interface that gives access to all of the functions of the Server. It can be installed on any machine on the same network as the Server. The Console software does not require a license in order to run. It can be installed and run on multiple systems, without restriction. Encoders: These are the systems that are used to receive live video and to encode the video into media output formats. Each encoding system includes a Live Manager Agent. The Agent is the communication channel between the Server and the local encoder. You will need to connect directly to a licensed Encoder system in order to set up the projects that will be used as scheduled Live Manager jobs. For SelenioFlex Live systems 7

8 you will be able to connect to the system using a browser-based web portal to create projects. For non-selenioflex Live encoding systems you can use Remote Desktop to connect to the encoder. License Server: The License Server controls the authorization of the Live Manager Server, including setting the number of resources (channels) which can be controlled by the Live Manager Server. Encoders are not licensed through the License Server that is used to authorize the Live Manager Server. Encoders require a license per host system to authorize the encoding channels. The Live Manager Agent does not require a license. The system will appear as an offline resource to the Live Manager Server as soon as the Agent has established communication with the Server. The resource can only be brought online if it is licensed. 8

9 Installation System Requirements Server and Console operating system: Windows 7 or Windows 2008 Server, 32-bit or 64-bit. The SelenioFlex Live systems are delivered as a fully configured encoding system. For system requirements for non-selenioflex Live systems please refer to the encoding software User's Guide. Installation Overview The Number of Systems in a Live Manager Setup The number of host systems required for a Live Manager setup will vary, depending on the backup/redundancy schemes that are required. Live Manager Setup with No Backup Server One system will be dedicated to the Live Manager Server software. For the simplest setup the following software can all be installed on the Live Manager Server host system: Live Manager Server (can also include the Live Manager Console) License Server: Used to authorize the Live Manager Server Database: Used by the Live Manager Server (by default, PostgreSQL) Live Manager Setup with a Backup Server When a Live Manager Backup Server is required at least three systems will be required for the management software as follows: 1. Primary SFX-LM Server System: Primary Live Manager Server License Server 1 2. Backup SFX-LM Server System: Backup Live Manager Server License Server 2 3. SFX-LM Database System: Database used by SFX-LM (should also be backed up independently) License Server 3 With Backup/Redundancy When a Live Manager Backup Server is required, the primary and backup SFX-LM Server will each be installed on its own system. For this type of setup the database used by the Live Manager Server is also installed on its own system, so that both the primary and backup server can use the data from the same database even when the system hosting the primary server goes down. The primary server updates the database with its health status approximately every minute. If the primary does not update its status, then the backup server will take over until the primary server comes online again and updates its status. 9

10 When a redundant License Server setup is also required, at least three systems will be required, each with its own installation of the License Server software and its own HASP. Two of the three systems must be up and running for an active License Server to be enabled. There is no "primary" license server, instead one is considered "active" and the other two are on standby. Before Running the Live Manager Installer Install the License Server. (See the instructions in the following section.) If you are updating from a previous installation that used PostgreSQL 8, and you do plan to use the default PostgreSQL 9 database that is included with the Live Manager installer, then first change the port that is being used by PostgreSQL 8 from the default port (5432) to a different port. That way the PostgreSQL 9 database that will be installed can use the default port, making setup and subsequent upgrades simpler. The port that is being used can be changed by editing the postgresql.conf file (found in the PostgreSQL data folder). After changing the port number in the config file the Postgres service must be restarted. If you install PostgreSQL 9 without changing the PostgreSQL 8 port, then it will be installed using a different port (normally by incrementing the default port number by 1). If that occurs it is possible to use the non-default port by specifying it in the JDBC URL when using the Config Wizard, for example if port 5433 was used with a password of SFXLM the JDBC URL would be jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5433/sfxlm. If you plan to use the default PostgreSQL database on a different system from the Live Manager Server, then use the Live Manager installer with the Custom Setup option to install just the default PostgreSQL 9 database before you install the other Live Manager components. In this case the default username and password will be the PostgreSQL default of postgres. Do not change the default username and password set by the installer. When you later install the Live Manager Server, and run the Live Manager Configuration Wizard on the Server system, the Config Wizard will configure the remote PostgreSQL 9 database for use with SFX-LM, and it will set the username and password to SFXLM for the SelenioFlex Live Manager database. If you are using another supported database, configure it according to the instructions in Installing and Configuring Third Party Databases on page 59. If you will be using StreamZ or StreamZ Live encoders use the Stream or Stream Live installer to install the software on the Encoding systems. Note that a Stream install includes 2 msi files: a side-by-side installer and a Stream application installer. Running the Live Manager Installer The Live Manager has different options depending on which type of software is being installed: Server, Agent or Console. There is also a Custom option to allow you to further refine what you are installing on each system. See the The Live Manager Installer section on page 14 for more information. 10

11 License Server Installation Obtain the License Server HASP from Imagine Communications before you begin the installation. Double click on the License Server msi file to launch the License Server installer. The Welcome screen will open. Click Next. Read and accept the license agreement and click Next. Select the destination folder for the install and click Next. Click Next to begin the installation. The HASP drivers will be installed (if they were not installed during a previous installation) and you will see a small additional window. A notification window will open once these drivers have been installed. Click the OK button to continue. The installation will continue. Once it has finished the License Server service will start and the License Server Console window will open in your default browser. Click the Finish button to exit the installer wizard. After the License Sever has been installed the License Sever Console will open in your default web browser to the registration page ( There are 3 sections on this page: HASP ID: Insert the HASP you received from Imagine Communications into the system s USB port (if you have not already done so) and click on the Read HASP button. Register: Click the Register Online button to go to the Registration page on the web site. Once you have registered your product you will be ed the License Package for your product. Save the license package file on the system where you installed the License Server. Login: Click the Login button. The License Server's Login page will be shown on your browser. Type in the default password (which is "password") and click the Login button. The main page of the License Server Console will be shown with the License Package tab enabled. In the left navigation bar the Load option will be selected. In the lower half of the window, in the License Package Load section, you will see a Browse button. Click the browse button, browse to the license package file, and click Open. The license package file name will appear in the box. Click the Load button to load the license package. While the package is uploading the status will change to Load Status: In Progress. Once the package has been loaded the message will change to License package loaded successfully. 11

12 Additional Instructions for a Backup License Server Setup In a backup license server setup there are three license servers, each with their own HASP. Install the License Server software on all 3 systems, and insert a HASP in each system. One of the HASPs will be marked as the "primary" HASP. Use this HASP ID to register your product. The license package that you receive will include the HASP IDs of all three HASPs in use. When you load a license package for a backup license server setup, you will see a message telling you that "Backup License Servers must be configured". A "Configure Backup Servers" button will also appear below the "Load" button. Click the "Configure Backup Servers" button. 12

13 Enter the IP addresses or host name of all three systems which are hosting the license servers, then click the Update Servers button. The license package will then be pushed to the other two license server systems, and information about all three license servers will be pushed to all applications which contact the active license server. One of the three license servers will be the currently "active" license server. If the active license server can no longer be contacted, then one of the remaining two license servers will become the active license server. That is, there is no "primary/backup" role as there is with the SFX-LM Server, all of the license servers have equal status, and any of them can take over the "active" server role. Two license servers must be online in order for one of them to be an "active" license server. Once the three license servers have come on line you can use the License Server Console to access the Backup Servers page to check the status of the three license servers. The License Server Console After the license server has loaded the package you can select Features List in the left navigation bar to see what has been uploaded to the license server, to verify your license package. Note that the DRC License Server has been installed as a Windows service running on your system. Should you ever need to restart this service you can launch the License Server Console and click on the Restart Server button. You can also start and stop this service by launching the Windows Control Panel (Start > Settings > Control Panel), double clicking on Administrative Tools, double clicking on Services, then scrolling down the list of services to the DRC License Server service. 13

14 The Live Manager Installer When you run the Live Manager installer you will have to install different components, depending on whether you are setting up a Live Manager Server or an Encoder system. Live Manager Server Install: Use the Live Manager installer to install the Server component. Optional: If you plan to use the Router Control to manage backup resources, then pick the Custom setup type so that you can enable Router Control Services as part of the installation. Optional (recommended for troubleshooting): Use the Live Manager installer to also install the Console component. The PostGreSQL database is included in the Live Manager installer. If you plan to use a different database then install and configure that database according to the instructions in the appendix. You should not normally install the Agent component on Live Manger Server systems. The Agent component should only be installed on Encoders. Live Manager Console Install: Install the Console (this component does not require a license to run). Encoder and Live Manager Agent Install: SelenioFlex Live: The SFX-Live system is preconfigured and includes the encoder and the agent system. No further installation is necessary. There is a configuration settings page for Live Manager Agent settings on the SelenioFlex Live Web Portal's System tab. Non-SelenioFlex Live Encoders: Install the Stream or Stream Live software before installing the Agent on each Encoder; also install any media players required by Stream for your codecs. Note that if your encoder includes a Flux capture card then you will have to accept the certificate when you install the Flux driver. In order to do that you must initially install it locally (that is, you cannot use the Agent s remote software upgrade feature). Use the Live Manager installer to install the Agent. You will not normally install the Server on Stream Encoder systems. Optional: Install the Console app. To launch the Live Manager installer, double click the installer file (the msi file). You will be given a choice of which components to install on the system. Follow the guide above to determine which components to install. If you want to install more than one component at the same time, pick the Custom button, and disable the components that you do not want to install. 14

15 Router Control Services option: This option is only intended for use with Live Manager installations where you plan to use a video router. Configuration Wizard After you select the components, you will be given the option to Run config wizard after install. This is recommended. The Live Manager Configuration Wizard has several steps. Depending on which components you have chosen to install, different steps will be shown. You can also run the Configuration Wizard any time after the installation, in case you need to reconfigure your software. It will be available in the Windows Start menu in the Imagine Communications > Live Manager folder. License Server Enter the License Server IP address. If you are using a Redundant/Backup scheme do not use "localhost" even if your license server is on the same system as the Live Manager Server, as the backup systems will not be able to find the License Server without the IP address. Enter the License Server Port. Normally you will not change this from the default value of If you need to change this port then your license package will also need to be modified by Imagine Communications Support. Click the Test button to verify the connection to the License Server. System Address The System Address is the address used to identify the system during Live Manager communications. Live Manager uses the RMI (Remote Method Invocation) address. The options are: IP Address of this system. This can be used for systems with a single IP address (e.g., systems with a single network card). If you have more than one IP address assigned to the 15

16 system (for example, if you have more than one network adapter active in the system) you should not use this option, since any of the active addresses could be picked up, even if they are not the appropriate address. Local system s hostname. This can be used if your network is configured so that machines can be contacted by name. Specify a hostname/ip address. Note that if you choose this option and you do specify the hostname/ip address, and at a later date the machine s address is changed, then Live Manager will not be able to communicate with that system until the Config Wizard is re-run, and the new address is supplied. Specify network interface: Select your network interface, and whether or not to use IPv6. Live Manager Domain Name The Live Manager Domain Name is not related to the Windows domain name. Servers that use a particular Live Manager Domain setting will only be able to control Encoder resources whose Agent uses the same Live Manager Domain name. This will be useful if you intend to set up more than one Live Manager Server, each with their own Encoders under their exclusive control. For example, you may want to set up one domain for testing, and a second domain for your day-to-day operations. By giving each server/encoders group its own domain, they will be isolated from each other. On a SelenioFlex Live encoder, the Live Manager Domain name can be set for each encoder using the SFX-Live Web Portal. The System tab includes a Live Manager settings page. Live Manager Server Security If you enable security on the Live Manager Server, then users attempting to connect to the server using a Live Manager Console will have to provide the Username and Password that you set up here (for Administrative access) or the username and password that you set up for them later with specific user privileges. If you do not enable security in this step, then users will be able to connect to the server using the Live Manager Console without providing any authentication. If you plan to use the advanced security options to set up user lists with permissions, then you must enable the basic Live Manager Server Security in this step. When you log in using a Live Manager Console with the Admin Username and Password that you set up here you will then be able to access the advanced security options. Discovery Method The Agents, Console and backup servers use a discovery mechanism to find the Live Manager Servers on the network. By default a multicast method is used. This is normally supported. However, if the multicast method is not supported on your network, you may specify a unicast list of the Live Manager Servers that can communicate with this system. 16

17 On a SelenioFlex Live encoder, a unicast Live Manager Server List can be set for each encoder using the SFX-Live Web Portal (if multicast is not supported). The System tab includes a Live Manager settings page. (See the section above on "Live Manager Domain Name".) Database The settings at the top of the Database page provides the information that the Live Manager Server needs to communicate with the database. The default database that is installed by the Live Manager 2 installer is PostgreSQL 9. If you installed this database on the same system as your Live Manager Server then you can use the defaults provided and the Config Wizard will automatically configure the database. If you installed the database on a different system than the Live Manager Server, then you will need to modify the JDBC URL to point to the host system (that is, change localhost to the address of the system hosting the PostgreSQL server, and if the port is not the default port of 5432 then also specify the port, for example, jdbc:postgresql:// :5433/sfxlm, where SFXLM is the password used by the database). If you installed a different database, then you have to install and configure it before you can use the Live Manager Configuration Wizard. Select it from the drop-down list and provide the JBDC URL, the Username and the Password. Once you have selected your Database and provided the JDBC URL and credentials you can click the Test button to verify that you can connect to the database. If you previously installed Live Manager and you were using another database you can migrate your SFX-LM settings from the previous database to the newly installed database. This will migrate settings such as group settings, server managed files locations, router settings, etc. It will not migrate historic job data. Please backup your source database before you start the migration. In the "Migrate Settings" section click the "Select" link. Use the drop-down to select the database you are migrating the data from, enter the JDBC URL of the source database, and the Username and Password (if the source database used a Username and Password). Backup server If you purchased the option to use a Backup Live Manager Server you will have access to the Backup Server configuration page. If the system that you are currently setting up is the Live Manager backup server, then enable this option. This backup server will automatically take over all server functions if the primary Live Manager Server fails for any reason. (If the system that you are currently setting up is the primary server, then do not enable this option.) The active server (normally the primary server) updates its health status in the database approximately every minute. The backup server watches the database for the health of the active server. If the active server does not update the database with a healthy status, then after a few minutes the backup server will take over all server functions, becoming the active server. If the 17

18 primary server then comes back on line and updates the database with a healthy status, then the server functions will be taken over by the primary server once again. The backup server must have access to the same database as the primary server. Therefore, if you are setting up a primary/backup server installation, you should not install the database on the same system as the primary server or the backup server. Set the same database JDBC URL when you are configuring the backup server and the primary server. Live Manager Server The Live Manager Server runs as a service on the Server system. The startup type should be set to automatic, and you should enable the Edit checkbox and change the Account from the default LocalSystem to an Account name and password that has full administrative rights on the system, with read/write access to any network file shares to be used as watch folders or for output media. Stream Server For non-selenioflex Live encoders the Stream Server runs as a service on the Stream Encoding systems (systems that have an Agent installed). The startup type should be set to automatic, and you should enable the Edit checkbox and change the Account from the default LocalSystem to an Account name and password that has full administrative rights on the system, with read/write access to any network file shares to be used as watch folders or for output media. SNMP Monitoring If you plan to use SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) to monitor your Live Manager server, then you will need to enable and configure this component. If you would like to use an HTML Adaptor to use an html browser to monitor SNMP variables, then you can enable this component and set a port. Router Control Services The Router Control Services run as a service and provides remote control of attached video routers. Normally this service will be installed on the same system as the Live Manager Server, but it could be installed on another system on the network. The only setting is the Port used for communication by the service. Installation Information The final page is a list of additional steps you should take after the software has been installed. These are also covered in the Additional Installation Notes. When you finish the final step, if you changed any of the service settings (e.g., username and password) you will be asked if you want to start/restart the services that changed. This is necessary in order to use the new settings, so if you plan to start using Live Manager you should say Yes. 18

19 Agent Monitor On non-selenioflex Live encoding systems you will also see the Agent Monitor has been installed. Until you finish configuring the services the Monitor will not be able to contact the Agent, but once you have set up the services correctly the Agent Monitor should automatically detect your resources. Managing the Services Normally you will set up the required services using the Configuration Wizard as part of the installation process. This section describes how to check on the installed services, and manually change them if needed. Managing Services Using the Control Panel Open the Control Panel, double click on Administrative Tools and double click on Services. Once the SelenioFlex Live Manager Server is installed and configured the following Services will be present with the status set to started and startup type set to automatic : DRC License Server DRC RMI Registry Jini Services SelenioFlex Live Manager On encoding systems which include the Stream Encoding and Agent software the following Services will be present with the status set to started and startup type set to automatic : DRC Hypersonic DRC RMI Registry DRC Stream Server SelenioFlex Live Manager Agent 19

20 If the Router Control Services are installed (and configured) you will see the following service: DRC Router Control Services In the Log On As column, the SelenioFlex Live Manager and the DRC Stream Server must be an account that has administrator privileges on the local system and appropriate network privileges (not Local System). If you need to change the Log On information, you can run the Live Manager Configuration Wizard again at any time. Alternatively, you can find the SelenioFlex Live Manager and the DRC Stream Server entry and double click on it to open the Properties panel for that service. On the Log On tab, Select This account and enter a username and password that has administrator privileges on the local system and appropriate network privileges. For Live Manager, this account will need to have Read and Write permission on Network Shares where project files (and other required files used by the project, for example, graphics) will be located. If your computer is connected to the Network as part of a Domain, then you will need to enter your domain\username. If your computer is connected to the Network as part of a Workgroup, then you will need to enter hostname\username, where the username is for an account that has administrator privileges on the local machine, and access to the Network Shares where your watch folders (and other files) will be located. Note that if you are connected as part of a Workgroup, it is possible that someone changed the Full Name being used by your computer after it was set up. In order to start and stop services, you will have to Log On using the original Name. To see the original user name, right click on My Computer and choose Manage. Expand Local Users and Groups, and click on the Users folder. This will show you the user Name and the Full Name (or alias) on this local system. If you have administrator privileges, you can also right click on the user, and use the Rename option to make the Name match the Full Name. 20

21 If you make any changes to the services, you will need to restart the service for the changes to take effect. If you are manually stopping and starting services on the Live Manager Server system, please note that the DRC RMI Registry service MUST be started before the SelenioFlex Live Manager service. Managing DRC Stream Server Service Using the Console Note that for non-selenioflex Live systems you can also access the DRC Stream Server service remotely, using the Live Manager Console software. Launch the Live Manager Console software. When you launch the software you will be able to select your Server from a list of the Found Servers, and then click the Connect button. Once the Console software has successfully connected to the Server, you will see a tabbed interface. Use the main menu and select Server > Agents. This will show you a list of all of the systems with Agents that the Server can detect. Click on an Agent system to select it (or multi-select many Agent systems to change them all at once). Click the Config Stream Service button found to the right of the window. For the Startup type choose Automatic. Enable the Service Log On Edit box For Account enter a username (e.g., domain\username if you are part of a network domain, or hostname\username if you are part of a workgroup) and password that has administrator 21

22 privileges on this machine. For Live Manager this account will also need to have Read and Write permission on Network Shares where your project files will be located. Click the Save button. The service will be restarted automatically as a background task. It may take a few seconds for the changes to be made. If you ever need to manually stop or start the service, you can select the Agent system in the list (or multi-select the Agent systems) and use the buttons to the right in the Stream section to Start Service and Stop Service. Licensing The Live Manager Server and each Encoding system require a license. Licensing for Live Manager Server The Live Manager Server uses the License Server. This License Server requires a HASP. The HASP ID is used in the corresponding License Package file. The License Package file includes the following Live Manager Server features: Live Manager Authorizes the Live Manager Server service to run. SelenioFlex Live Resource Each SelenioFlex Live channel will check out one of these license features. Stream resource Each StreamZ or StreamZ Live channel will check out one of these license features. Backup Server Enabled (optional) Enables a Live Manager Backup server to run. Licensing for SelenioFlex Live Encoders Each SelenioFlex Live Encoder has its own license which uses the License ID for the system. Please see the "SelenioFlex Live User's Guide" for more information about licensing the SFX-Live encoding systems. Licensing for StreamZ and StreamZ Live Encoders Each encoder has its own license which uses the capture board ID installed the encoding system. When you purchased the Stream Live, StreamZ or StreamZHD encoder along with the Stream software, a license was generated for that system. Register online with your hardware ID in order to get the required Stream software license. You can also see the hardware ID for a system using the Console application. Select the Resources tab, and right click a resource, then select Bring Online. Once the resource s status change has changed to Available, you can right click on the resource again and select Properties. This will show you the Hardware Devices installed in the system, and the ID for each device. Once you receive the encoder license key, you will need to copy the file to the system, rename it from *.txt to *.reg, and then double click on the *.reg file. You will then need to reboot the encoder system to restart all the DRC services. 22

23 Additional Installation Notes General The information in this section is for SFX-LM Server systems and Stream Encoders. It does not apply to SelenioFlex Live Encoders. All machines should have proper Network Time synchronization Ensure Windows machines have their Firewalls turned OFF. This is found in Control Panel > Security Center. Disable Windows Automatic Update installation (it can reboot the machine). This is found in Control Panel > Security Center Disable Windows Automatic error reporting. It will prevent the encoding process from being restarted or the machine from being rebooted by Live Manager in the event of a job failure. If you are running Windows 7 you must run the Local Group Policy Editor (C:\Windows\System32\gpedit.msc), expand the left navigation tree to show Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Systems > Internet Communication Management > Internet Communication Settings, then in the right hand panel find Turn Off Windows Error Reporting and edit the policy setting and enable it. Networking Always reboot after installing Stream Encoder software on a system The Agent and Console locate the Server using a Multicast discovery mechanism by default. If the machines are on different subnets, then the networking equipment in between will need to propagate multicast traffic in order for the automatic discovery to work. If this is not an option, you should configure the system for unicast communication. See the section on Discovery Method on page 16. Firewalls and Network Ports Live Manager requires various ports to be open for communication between components. If all of the systems in a Live Manager installation are installed on a LAN with unrestricted communication between systems, then you will not need to worry about which ports are being used. However, if some of the components are behind a firewall, then some ports will need to be opened for communication. Depending on which components have been installed, and which functionality is desired, different ports will need to be opened. Please see Network Ports on page 70 for detailed information on the ports used for each service component. Paths and Permissions Use of UNC paths is strongly recommend (e.g. \\host\dir\file ) for folders and output files. That is, do not use Mapped Network Drive letters when specifying a path. If projects do not start, ensure that the server can read the folder where the project is located (the path is valid and accessible). Also ensure that the SelenioFlex Live Manager process is running as an appropriate network enabled user on the Live Manager Server system. If using a non-selenioflex Live system ensure that the DRC Stream Server process is running as an appropriate network enabled user on the Stream Encoding systems. 23

24 If projects fail immediately, check that the project output paths are appropriate (e.g., UNC paths that are valid and are accessible, for live streaming check to make sure that the streaming Media Server s information is valid). Upgrading Live Manager Software Before you upgrade to a new build please read the build s release notes. There may be instructions about incompatibilities between builds, or instructions for migrating data, or other critical information. Installing New Builds on the Live Manager System Before installing a new build you should uninstall the old build and reboot your system. Do not skip the reboot step. You must reboot, as some services will only be fully uninstalled the next time you reboot. If you do not reboot, this uninstall on next reboot command will still be present, and the new installation will have critical files removed the next time you reboot. To uninstall the software when using Windows 7, use the Control Panel s Programs and Features function to uninstall the SelenioFlex Live Manager software. Uninstalling the Selenio Live Manager software will not remove your settings or database. If you plan to migrate data from a previous database to a new database, you should not uninstall your database software until the data migration step has completed. The Live Manager Configuration Wizard includes a "Migrate Data" function, to allow you to migrate data from an existing Live Manager database to a new database. Note: The embedded Hypersonic database which was an option for Live Manager 1 is no longer supported. If you were using Hypersonic then you must update your database in order to use Live Manager 2. Installing New Builds on non-selenioflex Live Resources Using the Console Once you have upgraded the Live Manager Server to version 2, and at least one Console to version 2, you will be able to manage remote upgrades of Live Manager Agent and Stream software on Encoders from the Console. Please see Remote Software Upgrades on page 52 for more information. 24

25 Getting Started After installing the required software, applying the license to each component, and hooking up the video and audio feeds to each encoder as appropriate, follow these basic steps to get started. Create the SelenioFlex Live or Stream Project This is the project (or projects) you intend to use for your encoding jobs. SelenioFlex Live Projects You can create SelenioFlex Live projects by accessing the Encoder using the browser based web portal. On a computer on the same network as the encoding system, open a browser and enter the IP Address of the encoder to connect. Once you have connected to the system you will see a tabbed interface. Home: A summary of the status of all of the channels Channel 1 4: Used to configure projects. Start/stop for each channel. Projects: A list of the saved projects. Import/Export and Edit/Delete/Download projects. System: System configuration, logs, licensing, upgrade, reboot, other system settings. Moving the mouse pointer over titles, headings, text and icons will display tool tips. Note that if the system was being controlled as a resource by Live Manager you will have to return control to the web browser. On each Channel page, in the upper right hand corner there is a setting for "Channel Control". Click the cogwheel button to change the control mode. After you have finished creating your project be sure to return control to Live Manager if you want the channel to be seen as a resource by Live Manager. After creating a SZL project, saving it will save it to the local encoder system. Go to the Projects tab, find the project you created in the list of projects, and download using the Download link for the project. Save the project to a location on your network that will be accessible to the Live Manager server. If your project uses any other files, such as a graphic overlay file, make sure you copy it to a shared location that can be accessed by all of the encoders and by the Live Manager Server. 25

26 Stream Projects You can create Stream projects by accessing the Stream software on a system locally, or by accessing the encoder remotely using Windows Remote Desktop. In order to use the Stream software installed on an encoder system to create a project you must first take the encoder Offline using the Live Manager Console. You will be prompted to do this when you use the Console to connect to a resource using Remote Desktop. Please see the following section for a basic guide to creating a Stream project, or the Stream Software User s Guide for more details on creating a project. Note that if you would like your project to run for a set time, you should not specify a duration trigger in the project. The Live Manager scheduler should be used to set a stop time for tasks. Once you have created a project, save it to a shared location that can be accessed by all of the encoders and by the Live Manager Server. The project will also reference a Source Profile. When you schedule your encoding tasks to run, you will need to select the source profile that will be used, whether it is a local copy or a source profile file managed by the Live Manager server. If your project uses any other files, such as a graphic overlay file or GPI trigger configuration, make sure you copy it to a shared location that can be accessed by all of the encoders and by the Live Manager Server. Launch the Live Manager Console Launch the Live Manager Console software. When you launch the software you will be able to select your Server from a list of the Found Servers, and then click the Connect button. (There may only be one Server for your organization, or there may be many, depending on your setup.) Once you are connected you will see a tabbed interface that gives you access to all of the management features of the Live Manager Server. If the tabs you need are not displayed in your Live Manager Console, right click on the tab bar, unlock the tab bar and add the tabs. You will see all of the Encoder systems that can be managed by the server you are connected to currently on the Agents tab. (Note that during installation, you can set up different Live Manager domains for different tasks, and only the Server and the encoder resources that use the same domain will be able to communicate with each other. For example, this would allow you to set up one domain for a test lab, and a separate domain for the live-to-air encoders.) Bring Resources Online After you have used the Console app to connect to a Server, click on the Resources tab. You will see a list of the resources that the server can communicate with, where each channel on the encoder is listed as a separate resource. Right click on a resource. The right click menu will give you a list of possibilities. Choose Bring online. After you have done this, the resource should be listed as available. Multi-select all of the remaining resources, right click on the selected group, and choose Bring online. This will change the status of all of the remaining resources to available. Note that it will take a short time for each resource to come on line, it will not be instantaneous. Create Groups and Assign Resources Click on the Groups tab. You will need to create new groups to handle encoding resources. You can also set up resources as primary and backup encoders, where the backup resource will take over automatically if the primary resource fails. Note that if you plan to use a router to handle your encoding resources and your backup resources your setup will be different than the steps outlined here. Please refer to the Router section for more information. 26

27 Click the New Group button found to the right of the interface. Assign a group Name and choose a Role. For StreamZ or StreamZ Live systems choose a Role of either Stream: Live Stream H/W or Stream: Live Stream IP. For SelenioFlex Live systems choose the model of the encoders that will be in the group. To assign a primary resource to the group, click and drag an unassigned resource from the list at the bottom of the Groups tab and drag it on to the group. To assign a backup resource, select an unassigned resource from the list and then drag it on top of the primary resource you want it to back up. You will be given a choice about which type of backup you would like to use (active failover or standby failover). If you do not assign a backup resource, and Live Manager detects that the primary resource has failed, it will attempt to self-heal the resource. First it will attempt to restart the encoding process. If that does not succeed, then it will attempt to reboot the machine and restart the encoding process (as long as you have enabled the system to attempt a reboot). Note that for Stream Encoding systems, Live Manager does not know which resources are licensed for which specific codecs. If all of your Stream resources are authorized to use the same codecs, then you can assign all of your resources to just one group. If you have licensed an additional optional codec for just some of your resources, you should make a group for just those resources. That way you will be able to assign projects that use that specific codec to the group that is authorized to use that codec. (This does not apply to SFX-Live Encoders.) Schedule a Task Click on the Schedule tab. Click on the New button to add a new scheduled task. On the New Schedule Task window pick which one of the 3 types of tasks that you want to schedule: Configure Resource: bring it online or offline, or to reassign it to a different group. Reboot Host: reboot, normally for maintenance purposes Run Project: normally used by Live Manager to schedule a live encoding project Select Run Project and click OK. Give the Task a name, and optionally a description. Select the Targets tab, and assign the resources you want to use to run the task. Note that you can target individual resources, or entire groups of resources. On the Tasks tab, add the specific project that you want to use for this task, and specify where the Source Profile used by the project is located. Select the Schedule tab and set when you would like the task to start, and how often the task should repeat. Set the Stop duration for the job. If you leave the Stop duration field blank, the task will continue until it is manually stopped. Click Save to save the job and to add it to the Scheduled Tasks list. If you selected immediately when you set your schedule, then the encode will start when it is saved. You can add as many new Scheduled Tasks as you need. If you set up an encode to start later, but you now want it to start immediately, you can select the task, then click the Edit button, go to the schedule tab, click the Reschedule button in the upper right hand corner, revise the schedule, and then Save the job again. You can also disable a task, to pause it temporarily. Select the task that you want to disable and click the Disable button found to the right. This will stop the encode without deleting the job from the list, so you will be able to resume the job again later without needing to recreate the same job. 27

28 When you select a job the status of the job, including any error messages, will be displayed in the panel at the bottom. As with all tables in the Live Manager Console, you can right click on a column heading and select Export to export the data to a CSV file. Note that there are two Schedule view types, Calendar view or Task Entries view, selected using the drop-down box at the top of the Schedule tab. Set up Alerts All Live Manager Server activity is automatically logged on the Alerts tab. You can use the Alerts functions to set up recognized activities into categories, and to set up rules that define which person should be ed a message each time the selected activity has occurred. To use the notification feature, click on the Servers button, and then enter in your server information. Then click on the Address Book button and enter the addresses you would like to use when you send out notifications. Click on the Categories button to create the types of activities you would like to group together when you are generating notifications. Click on the Rules button to assign which people in your address book will receive notification of which categories of activities. Monitor Jobs Once a job has started, even if it has since completed, you can see it listed on the Jobs tab. If you have a lot of jobs started or completed, you can filter which ones are shown in the list using the categories at the top of the Jobs tab. When you select a job in the top half of the window, all of the events associated with the selected job will be shown at the bottom of the window. Monitor Network Resources The Network tab gives you a quick overview of the status of all of the encoding resources that can be accessed by Live Manager. There are two views: Show Status: a list of resources with status indicators Monitor Streams: a grid view of a video preview of the selected resources When you are using the Show Status mode a resource that does not have a backup will have 2 status indicators. The first one is for the encoder status and the second one is for the primary encoder status. A resource that has a backup will have 3 status indicators. The first one is for the encoder status, the second one is for the primary encoder status, and the third one is for the backup encoder status. The status indicator can show the following states: white: resource is available green: resource is encoding yellow: failover in progress or attempting to establish/re-establish contact red: failure or lost contact with the resource When you are using the Monitor Streams mode you will be able to choose which group you want to monitor and which layout to use in the grid view. If there is more than one page in the preview video mode, then you will be able to choose which page to view. Status Summary You can get an overall picture of your Server, Resources, and recent Alerts using the Summary tab. 28

29 Test Your Setup It is generally useful to test your failover scheme, and to verify that alerts are being logged and notifications are being sent out. There are many ways to simulate an encoder failure, for example powering off an individual encoder or disconnecting it from the network. For SelenioFlex Live encoding systems a simple way to force a failure is to stop the SFX-LM Agent on the encoding system. This can be found using the Web Portal, on the System tab. For StreamZ encoding systems a simple way to force a failure is to use the console s main meun to select File > Agents, then click on a system to select it, and then right click on the selected system and stop the Stream Service. This will cause the Live Manager Server to lose control over the Encoding resource without losing communication with the resource. For StreamZ encoding systems you may also force a failure by accessing the system (either locally or using remote desktop), and then launching Windows Task Manager, and on the Processes tab looking for encoder.exe. If you use the End Process function to kill the encoder.exe process, this will stop the encode, and Live Manager will respond to it as a failure. 29

30 SelenioFlex Live Projects Creating a SelenioFlex Live project for use with Live Manager is exactly the same as creating a project for use when the encoder is under local control. SelenioFlex Live Overview The system is operated using a web portal. On a computer on the same network as the encoding system, open a browser and enter the IP Address of the encoder to connect. Once you have connected to the system you will see a tabbed interface. Home: A summary of the status of all of the channels Channel 1 4: Used to configure projects. Start/stop for each channel. Projects: A list of the saved projects. Import/Export and Edit/Delete/Download projects. System: System configuration, logs, licensing, upgrade, reboot, other system settings. Moving the mouse pointer over titles, headings, text and icons will display tool tips. Configuring a Channel Add at least one Streaming Group to the channel using the Group "Add" button. Add Streaming Group Apply settings to the channel using the "apply" checkmark button. Each group can contain multiple video and audio encodes, which can be used by multiple outputs. Once the Streaming group (or groups) have been setup with video, audio and outputs, use the Channel "apply" (the checkmark button, see above) to configure the encoder. After the settings have been applied, the "start" and "stop" buttons can be used to start/stop all encoding groups. Each group has its own apply, start and stop buttons, to allow multiple groups to be controlled independently. The same is true for each Output Destination, giving even more granular control. 30 Output Destination's apply, start, stop, configuration and delete buttons.

31 When you are satisfied with your channel setup use the Save Project button (upper right hand corner) to save your settings. Use the Load Project button to load a previously saved project. For detailed information about setting up projects and using the encoding system please see the "SelenioFlex Live User's Guide". 31

32 Stream Projects for Live Manager Live Manager assigns settings to encoding jobs by assigning Stream projects to scheduled Live Manager tasks. The projects contain all of the settings that will be used to encode the video input and deliver the live stream. You can create projects using Stream or Stream Live, and these projects can use a capture board to provide the video source or a Stream Live IP input to provide the video source. Note that you will not be able to use an unlicensed copy of Stream to create a project. The following instructions are intended to be used when running a licensed copy of Stream. Creating a Steam Project There are 5 basic steps to creating a project for use with Live Manager. Create or Add Codec Profile(s) The codec profiles tell Stream what format to use for the output files. There are a number of pre-created codec profiles installed when you install Stream. You can access them by clicking on the Add button (the blue + button). You can also create your own codec profiles by clicking on the Codec Profile menu at the top of the interface. Select Input Type and Source Profile Projects created for use with Live Manager should use the Live Source input type (for projects which use a capture board) or the Transport Stream input type (for IP sources). When you are using an encoding resource with a capture board, and you create a Scheduled Task, you will be given 3 options for your Source Profile: 32

33 From Project uses the one saved in the project Local File at Resource lets you pick which one to use from the console rather than using the one that was set in the project Live Manager File uses a source profile that is managed by the MM Server replacing the one that was set in the project When you are using an encoding resource with an IP Source, you will need to specify whether you want the Transport Stream Input used to be the one set in the project or the one set in the Task. Adjust Preprocessing and Plugins Stream has audio and video hardware pre-processing controls that can be used to adjust your video before it is encoded. For example, if you are encoding a video source, and your intended playback device is a media player on a computer, then it may improve the resulting video if you adjust the gamma up slightly to compensate for the difference in a TV monitor vs. a computer monitor. Stream also has a number of optional software video processing plugins that you can add to your project. If you add a plugin, it will be used by Live Manager when encoding the media. Select Outputs Stream s output options are used by Live Manager. For live streaming you will normally use the outputs to send the encoded data stream to a media server. The other output options can also be enabled if desired. For example, you may want to create an archive file at the same time that you are encoding a live stream so that you can make it available as an on-demand file after the live event has finished. If you do plan to output archive files, be sure to use system tags when specifying your archive file name. This will allow a unique name to be generated for the archive file each time the project is run, so that you do not overwrite files should the task repeat. Some common system tags used for archive files (for a full list, please see the Stream Software Manual): %T_% Time %D_% Date When you are specifying the Archive file name use UNC paths (e.g. \\host\directory\file). Save the Project Once you have finished setting up the project, save it to a directory that can be accessed by the Live Manager Server and by all of the Stream Encoder resources. More Information about Stream Software For more information about the Stream Software and Stream Projects, please refer to the "Stream Software User s Guide" or the "Stream Live User s Guide". Using Remote Desktop You can use Windows Remote Desktop to give you direct access to the Stream software on the host system. Launch the Console application and connect to a Live Manager Server. Go to the Resources tab. All of your Stream Encoder resources will be listed. Right click on the resource you want to control, and select Advanced > Launch Remote Desktop. This will launch the Windows Remote Desktop, attempt to connect to the Host system for the selected resource, and if successful, allow you to log on. 33

34 Using Live Manager Connect to the Live Manager Server Launch the Live Manager Console software from the shortcut installed on your desktop. The Console will search the network for systems running the SelenioFlex Live Manager service and list them. By default, the Auto Connect to: option will be enabled, and after a short time-out, the Console will automatically connect to the same server you connected to during your last session. If you quickly uncheck this option you will be able to choose any of the Found Servers in the list and then click the Connect button to connect to the selected server. If you do not see your Server, you can also search for it using a specific Host or IP Address. If you set up a username/password authentication for the server, you will have to supply valid credentials before the Console will connect to the Server. If the Advanced Security options are being used, each user will be assigned a role. When you log in your role will be shown on the Console. There are 4 roles, with the Administrator role being unrestricted, the Configuration and Operator roles having some restrictions, and the Viewer role having the most restrictions. Once you are connected you will see a tabbed interface that gives you access to all of the management features of the Live Manager Server. If the tabs you need are not displayed in your Live Manager Console, right click on the tab bar, unlock the tab bar and add the tabs. After you have connected to a server, if you want to connect to a different Live Manager Server you can use the Console s main menu to select File > Connect to Live Manager menu item and pick another server. Check the Agent Systems Once your Console has successfully connected to a Server, click the Agents tab. This will show you a list of all the Encoders that are running Live Manager Agents and have been found by the Server. 34

35 These can be licensed or unlicensed Encoders. As long as they have the Live Manager Agent installed and running and the Encoder software/firmware installed they will be detected. Note that on the Agent s window you can right click on the column heading to choose which columns you would like to display, and to export all of the data currently showing to a Comma Separated (CSV) file which can then be imported into a database or spreadsheet program for report generation. This is true throughout the entire Console application. That is, all tables in the Console application have the same Export right click option. Both SFX-Live systems and non-selenioflex Live systems can use the following functions: Refresh: This simply refreshes the table, retrieving any new information since the last time the data in the table was displayed. Reboot Host: You can also use this button to reboot the system using the selected Agent. This may be useful if you have a Stream system with updated software or license key. Grab Log Files: For troubleshooting purposes, there is a Grab Log Files button. This will collect all of the log files from the selected Agent system, and copy them all to a specified location. These log files can be used by Imagine Communications Support to help analyze problems. Delete: Once the Live Manager Server has detected an Agent, it will continue to list that system even if it is no longer available (for example, if it has been shut down). The Agent status will show as Missing. If you know that a particular system has been permanently removed, then you may want to delete that system from the list. The Delete button in the bottom right hand corner has been provided for that purpose. If you later need to see the information for the deleted system, you can enable the Show Deleted checkbox. The following functions can only be used by non-selenioflex Live Stream systems: Config Service: Used to configure the DRC Stream Service that runs on the Stream Encoders. Normally the configuration will be done when the software is installed. Should you need to modify it after installation you can use the Config Service, Start Service and Stop Service buttons found on the right hand side of this Agents window. 35

36 Remote Desktop: You can select a system, right click on it, and choose Launch Remote Desktop. This will launch Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop, attempt to connect to the Host system for the selected system, and if successful allow you to log on. Software Upgrade: This function can be used to upgrade the Agent systems. Note that for resources which include a Flux capture card you will have to accept the certificate when you install the Flux driver. In order to do that you must initially install it locally (that is, you cannot use the Agent s remote software upgrade feature). To make it unnecessary to do a local install in future, check the Always trust software from Imagine Communications Corporation box before clicking the Install button. Choose the type of software package you want to run. If you choose Live Manager Agent or Stream then the currently installed software will be uninstalled, then the new software will be installed with a reboot as necessary. If you want to uninstall/install other software (for example, Flux drivers, or SxS components) then you can use the Other Uninstall and Other Install options. Fill in a Username and Password with permission to install/uninstall software on the systems. If you have a resource which includes one of the early Flux boards, revision 1 or 2, then you will need to power cycle the system after an update that includes a board firmware update. If that is the case the update must be done locally on each system, as a reboot will not be sufficient to reprogram the board. If you have a Flux board revision 3 or later then this will not be necessary. Agent System Monitor (non-selenioflex Live systems) Each non-selenioflex Live encoder that has an Agent installed and running will also have a local Agent Monitor installed. This monitor shows you some information about the resources installed on that local system. The Agent Monitor runs automatically when you log in to the system, and you will see a Live Manager icon in your system tray. If you double click on the Agent Monitor icon it will open the monitoring window. For SFX-Live systems connecting to the system using the Web Browser will provide you will information about the encoding system. Resources The Resources tab is used to monitor and control individual resources, where each channel is an individual resource. Resources are automatically found by the Live Manager Server on systems that have a Live Manager Agent installed and running. Click on the Resources tab. You will see a list of all of the resources (channels) that have been found by your Server. Look in the Status column. 36

37 Initially your resources will all be Offline. Multi-select all of the resources you want to use, and then right click on the group and select Bring Online. It will take a few seconds for each resource to come online. Note that an SFX-Live system that is listed as "Not Controlled or "Not Controlled (Web Browser)" cannot be used by Live Manager. To use that resource you must either (a) right click on the resource, select Advanced, and select Take Control or (b) use the Web Browser to connect to the encoder and change the channel from Web control to Live Manager control. Once a resource has been brought online and it is available, you can right click the resource and click Properties to see the hardware and software properties for that resource. For system licensing purposes, note that: SelenioFlex Live systems show the License ID (listed as the "Serial_Number") Stream H/W systems show the hardware ID that is used to license Stream encoder resources which include a capture board. Stream IP systems show the system ID that is used to license Stream encoder resources which do not include a capture board. The right click options that are available: Bring Online Take Offline Edit Resource Properties Advanced Advanced commands: Fail Resource The server will attempt to change the status to Available so that it can control the system. If this is an SFX-Live system it will show "Not Controlled" if the system is using the Web Browser mode. The server will not be able to control the system. Name, Role, Group, Logo, and Reboot settings; If you installed the Router Control Services option you will also see a Router selection drop-down and Router Output setting. The Reboot option must be enabled if you want to allow Live Manager to reboot the system if other failover attempts have not succeeded. Shows information about the system hosting the resource. The Advanced menu gives you additional choices. For use when testing; simulates a failure 37

38 Take Control Delete Reboot Host This option will only be shown for SFX-Live resources which cannot currently be controlled by Live Manager. Using this option will switch the resource from "Web Browser" control to "Live Manager". If a job was running under Web control at the time the Take Control function was used the job will be shown on the SFX-LM Console as "Discovered Running". Remove a missing resource from the list. Reboot the encoding system. Advanced commands for use with Stream resources (not applicable to SelenioFlex Live resources): Start Resource Stop Resource For use when offline: Start encoder.exe For use when offline: Kill encoder.exe Restart Resource For use when offline: Kill then restart encoder.exe Remote Desktop This will launch Remote Desktop, attempt to connect to the Host system for the selected resource, and if successful allow you to log on. The Resources tab also shows the status of each system, including the current system Load (CPU usage), video time stamp, audio time stamp, the current encode rate (in number of times realtime, where a value of 1.0 indicates real time encoding) and the number of dropped frames (if any) for the active project. To add a logo to a resource, for example, to visually identify the station providing the video/audio input to an encoder, right click on the resource, select Edit Resource, and in the Logo field select an image file (or Add File). Choose a logo that will display well at a small size, since it will be used in the Resources list and in the Groups lists. It will also be used on the Network Monitor tab at a slightly larger size. (Logo height: 16 to 24 pixels; logo will be automatically rescaled to fit the available space, with aspect ratio maintained.) Note that there are several additional column options available to you on the Resources window that are not enabled by default: Groups Resource ID Device ID Running Project Priority Reboot Enabled Multicast Address Monitor Unicast Port Router Router Output Groups are the basic management unit used to organize resources when assigning jobs. In order to use your resources, you must first create one or more groups and assign one or more resources to the group. The groups tab is also used to setup resources that will be controlled by a Router. If you installed the Router Control Services option you will be able to assign primary resources to a group and backup resources to a group, where the input being fed to each of the resources is controlled by the router. Please see the Router section for more information about setting up groups that include the use of a router. 38

39 Creating Basic Groups To create a group, click on the Groups tab and then click on the New Group button (found on the right hand side). Assign a group Name and choose the Role which matches the type of encoder that will be used by that group. Stream: Live Stream H/W (for StreamZ systems with capture board hardware) Stream: Live Stream IP (for StreamZ systems with an IP Source) SelenioFlex Live: SDI (For SelenioFlex Live systems with SDI inputs) Once you save your group you will see a new sub-folder in the Group tree. At the bottom of the window you will see a list of your unassigned resources. To assign a primary resource to the group, select an unassigned resource from the list at the bottom of the Groups tab and drag it on to the group. To assign a backup resource to a specific primary resource, select an unassigned resource from the list and then drag it on top of the primary resource. You will be given a choice about which type of backup you would like to use (active failover or standby failover). Normally you will use "Standby Failover", that is, the encoder will be idle until the primary fails, and then it will start encoding using the same project as the primary. Note that there will be a short 39

40 delay as the backup encoder starts the encoding project. If you use active failover the backup system will be encoding at the same time as the primary, eliminating the short startup delay. However, this will require some additional configuration on the media server, in order to handle two redundant data streams being delivered to the media server simultaneously. If you do not assign a backup resource, and Live Manager detects that the primary resource has failed, it will attempt to self-heal the resource. That is, first it will attempt to restart the encoding process. If that does not succeed, then it will attempt to reboot the machine and restart the encoding process (as long as you have enabled the system to attempt a reboot). Note that Live Manager does not know which resources are licensed for which specific codecs. If you have licensed an additional optional codec for just some of your resources, you should make a group (or groups) for just those resources. That way you will be able to assign projects that use that specific codec to the group that is authorized to use that codec. You will also have to be aware of this when you schedule projects that use specific optional codecs. If tasks are starting, then failing, check the following: The project has an Output that can be written to by the Encoder system. Your license authorizes the use of the encoders (and other options) in your project. Setting up Groups with Routers Live Manager can be used to control a router, so that the router inputs can be switched to different router outputs based on automatic failover or on scheduled events. Live Manager controls which inputs are being routed to which outputs. For example, if input 1 is routed to Output 1, and the encoder assigned to Output 1 fails, then Live Manager can re-route input 1 to a backup encoder at Output 4. Setting up a New Router A NULL modem serial cable needs to be connected from the system that has the DRC Router Control Service to the router. On the Groups tab, click the New Router button found to the on right hand side of the window. This will open the Routers window. 40

41 Service URL At the top of the window is the Service URL drop-down box. Click the blue + button at the end of this drop-down box to open the Add/Edit Router Control Service. Enter the URL (for example or the Hostname of the system where the DRC Router Control Services is installed and click Save. Router Under the Service URL field is the Router drop-down box. Click the blue + button at the end of this drop-down box to open the New Router window. Enter a name for your router. In the Connection section directly under the name select a Protocol type from the drop down list. One of the available protocols is the Demo Protocol (no router) which allows you to see all of the router controls without establishing communication with a router. As implied by the name, this is intended for demo purposes. If you select a real router it will require some additional configuration for the communication connection type selected. Once the connection has been configured use the Test button in this section to verify that you can communicate with the router. Once communication has been established, move to the Geometry section. Set the primary level and either detect the router geometry (using the Detect Now button) or specify the geometry (number of inputs and outputs). If you are using the Demo Protocol and you set the geometry automatically it will use a 16 x 16 geometry. Click Ok to add the Router. You will be asked if you would like the Live Manager server to automatically create a default group structure for you. This creates two groups that will include the resources that will be controlled by your router, one group for the primary encoders and one for the backup encoders. Normally you should click Yes to create these groups. If you do not create the default groups in this step you can create them manually later, specifying the router when you create the group, and dragging the backup group folder onto the primary group folder after it has been created. The Routers window has 4 tabs that allow you to setup the router. If you have more than one router being controlled by the selected service, then you will be able to use the drop-down box to select which router you want to configure. 41

42 Routers - General This tab shows you information about the currently selected Router. Routers - Input Labels This tab allows you to assign Labels to your router inputs for reference. Double click on a row to edit the label. Routers - Output Resources This tab allows you to assign the encoder resources to specific outputs. Click on the Resource area of a row to see a drop-down box that lists all of the encoder resources currently assigned to the router s groups. If you have not yet assigned resources to the router s groups you will have to do so on the main Group window by dragging and dropping resources from the Unassigned Resources pane at the bottom of the window to the Primary Resources and Backup Resources folders for your router. Note that you do not have to close the Routers window in order to drag resources into the group folders. Routers - Matrix View This tab allows you to assign inputs to outputs. You can switch the router even when there is a live stream in progress, so take precautions when adjusting these settings. There are two buttons at the top of this window to help you to assign standard layouts: Set Diagonal and Set Constant. When you use Set Diagonal each numbered input is routed to the same numbered output. When you use Set Constant one input is routed to all outputs. If you want to change the routing for just one input/output, then you can click on the grid to show the desired change. The new routing will be shown as a green line and the routing that will be deleted will be shown as a red line. When you make changes to the routing the changes are not automatically applied. You must click the Apply button to commit the changes. If you do not want to apply your changes you can click the Revert button to remove the green/red lines showing pending changes. 42

43 To help you to see the routing assignments there are three grid modes (lines, points and none) and a zoom slider to allow you to change the size of the displayed matrix view. Once you have set up a matrix you can also save it as a preset using the Save button at the right. Previously saved presets sets can also be loaded. Router Resources on the Groups Tab After you have configured resources they will show up on the Group tab. Each resource will also list its assigned output. 43

44 Schedule Click on the Schedule tab. Click the New button to create a new scheduled task, or pick an existing task and click the Edit button to modify an existing task. There are 3 types of tasks that you can schedule. Configure Resource: bring it online or offline, or to reassign it to a different group. Reboot Host: schedule a resource to reboot for maintenance purposes Run Project: schedule a live encoding project Select Run Project and click OK. 44

45 Give the Task a name, and optionally a description. There is an Auto Purge checkbox to the right of the Task Name. Normally you will leave Auto Purge selected. This will automatically delete the task schedule from the database 10 days after it has completed. Note that this will not delete the record of the completed Job, or other recorded task information from the database. Targets: Select the Targets tab, and assign the resource you want to use to run the task (if the task type is run project) or the resources (if the task type is reboot host or configure resource). On the Targets tab there are also options to allow you to choose what to do if the targeted resource is busy. Task: On the Task tab add the specific project that you want to use for this task. The options shown on this tab will change depending on which type of resource you have selected: resource on a SelenioFlex Live encoding system Stream resource with a capture card Stream resource with a capture card which is also in a group that is using a router Stream resource which is using an IP Source For an SFX-Live resource pick the Project File that you want to use for the job. These project files have a file extension of ".szl". When you create SFX-Live project files you will have to download them from the encoder to a location that can be accessed by the Live Manager Server. Use the "Add File" button to add them to the list of projects that can be used by the SFX-LM Server. After you have added them they will appear in the drop-down menu so that you can use them to set up subsequent scheduled tasks. For a Stream resource with a capture card you will need to select a Source Profile option: From Project uses the path for the Stream source profile directory to find the source profile referred to in the project (Stream 3.x: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Digital Rapids\Stream\SourceProfiles; Stream 2.x: C:\Program Files\Digital Rapids\Stream\ColoradoSourceProfiles ) 45

46 Local File at Resource uses the source profiles found in the Stream source profile directory, but lets you pick which one to use from the console, rather than using the one that was set in the project Live Manager File uses a source profile that is managed by the Live Manager Server, replacing the one that was set in the project For a target resource which is in a group with a router, select which router Input to use when the project starts. For a target resource which is using an IP Source, specify whether you want the Transport Stream Input used to be the one specified in the project or the one specified in the Task. Schedule: Select the Schedule tab and set when you would like the task to start, and how often the task should repeat. Schedule a duration for the encode, or if you would like the encode to be continuous, leave this field blank. (Do not set a duration trigger in the Stream project.) Set a Repeat until date and time, either indefinite or a specific time. If you would like to run a user-generated Script on a scheduled basis, you can do so using the Script tab. This advanced feature is intended for users with development experience who have created their own scripts. Premade scripts are not provided. (This tab will be hidden unless you enable it in the Server > Options.) The example below schedules a 30 minute encode every 2 hours up to 11pm on December 31th. Scripts: If the Enable Scripting option has been enabled on the Server > Options window you will see a Scripts tab. This allows you to setup the Task to run a script for the following types of Events: Customize Project Before Start After Start Before Stop After Stop 46

47 Save the Task: Click Save to save the task and to add it to the Scheduled Tasks list. If you selected immediately when you set your schedule, then the encode will start. If you have scheduled a time Live Manager will start the project in prepared mode 15 seconds before the scheduled time, so that there will be no delay for start up once the scheduled start time arrives. (Prepared mode requires Stream 3.3.) Managing Scheduled Tasks: You can add as many new Scheduled Tasks as you need. On the main interface s Schedule tab, all scheduled tasks you have created will be shown. Note that there are two Schedule view types, Calendar view or Task Entries view, selected using the drop-down box at the top of the Schedule tab. When you are using the Calendar view the time scale shown at the top of the table can be changed from the default 12 hour AM/PM clock to a 24 hour clock using the Server > Options. If you set up an encode to start later, but you now want it to start immediately, you can select the task, then click the Edit button, go to the schedule tab, click the Reschedule button that will now appear in the upper right hand corner, revise the schedule, and then Save the job again. You can also pause a task. Select the task that you want to pause, and then click the Pause button found to the right. This will stop the encode without deleting the job from the list, so you will be able to resume the job again later without needing to recreate the same job. When you are using the Calendar view, and a task is currently running if you want to stop it immediately you can right click on the task and select Stop Now. If your task does not start on schedule, you can click on the task and you will see some details about the task in the panel at the bottom of the window (e.g., Success, Missed allowable run window, etc.). There is a Video Tool Tip option available when you are in the calendar view. If your task is currently running and it is outputting a video stream, then when you place your cursor over the task a thumbnail of the video will be shown. There are two modes in the Calendar view: Normal and Edit. In Edit mode all the unscheduled time will be highlighted in dark blue. In Edit mode you will be able to reschedule a task by positioning your cursor inside the task until the cursor changes to a double-headed arrow, and then clicking and dragging it back and forth on a row. You can also copy an existing scheduled task by holding the CTRL button and then positioning your cursor over the task until the cursor changes to a double arrow. You can then click and drag the task to other resources or to a new time for the current resource to create a new copy of the task. While you are in Edit mode you can also change the start and/or end times of a task by positioning your cursor near the edge of the task rectangle until it changes shape to an I with arrows, and clicking and dragging back and forth. In Normal mode the task schedule cannot be altered by clicking and dragging tasks or edges of tasks. 47

48 Alerts All Live Manager Alerts are automatically logged, stored in the integrated database for 30 days, and shown on the Alerts tab. You can decrease the number of days that records are kept in the database before being purged, but you cannot increase it to more than 30 days. To set the number of days before Alerts are purged, use the main menu to select Server > Options > Server Prefs. You can use the Alerts functions to set up recognized activities into categories, and to set up rules that define which person should be ed a message each time the activities in a selected category have occurred. On the Alerts tab, click the Categories button, then on the Alert Categories window click on the New button. This will open the Edit Category window. Give the category a name, and then choose the types of events you want to be in this category from the Available Alert Types list, and use the > button to move them to the Selected Alert Types. Then click the Save button to create your new category. Once you have created a category, you can set up message rules to send an to a designated person whenever an event in that category is detected. To use the notification feature, you must setup the server that will be used, and set up addresses. Click on the Servers button, and then enter in your server information. Save the server information. Return to the Alerts tab, click on the Address Book button and enter the addresses you would like to use when you send out notifications. Return to the Alerts tab, click on the Rules button. Use this to set messaging rules to assign which people in your address book will receive notification of which categories of alerts. To create a new messaging rule, click on the New button. 48

49 Give the messaging rule a name. On the Filter tab you will see a list of all of the alerts categories you created previously. Pick the ones that you want to use for this messaging rule. On the Notify tab you will see a list of all of the addresses you previously added to your Address Book. Pick the Addresses that you want to use when messages are sent. Once you have saved the new rule, s will be sent out to the appropriate people based on the settings. As you use Live Manager, alerts will be generated, and items will be entered into the database whether or not they are ed to an individual using a messaging rule. You can filter the alerts that are displayed using the criteria at the top of the window. You may also see a Bulk Alert displayed in the Alerts list. This type of alert will be generated if the same alert is generated over and over. Instead of displaying (and ing) the same alert repeatedly, the individual alerts will be accumulated into a bulk alert, and displayed (or sent) after 10 minutes and then every 30 minutes after that if the alert keeps repeating. If you highlight an item in the Alerts list, then additional information about that alert will be displayed in the bottom half of the window, including a record of whom the alert was ed to (if it was selected in a messaging rule). As with all tables displayed in the Console, you can export the items shown in the Alerts table by right clicking on the column headings and choosing Export. Alternatively, you can click on the Export button found above and to the right of the table. Monitoring Jobs A job is a task that has been assigned to an individual instance of the Stream Encoder software. Once a job has started, even if it has since completed or failed over, you can see it listed on the Jobs tab. If you select an individual job, then you will see some job details in the panel at the bottom of the window. 49

50 If you select a job and then right click on the selected job, you will see the option Cancel Job, which you can use to end the job immediately. You will also see the option Get Project. You can filter which jobs are shown in the Jobs list using the categories at the top of the Jobs tab. In the Misc. section, if you leave the date range set to All and the other fields blank, then you will be shown all the job records in the database that meet the other criteria. Note that job records are only kept in the database for the number of days you have set in Server > Options > Server Pref, and then the oldest records are purged. If you want to just see the job records for a specific project (as shown in the Project column) you can type in the specific project you are interested in. The Resource and Group categories have drop down boxes that show you the resources and groups that Live Manager has a record of, even if that resource or group doesn t currently have job record. In the Current State section, you can choose all possible states, or just the job states you are interested in. Leaving them all blank is the same as selecting All. If you would like to see job events instead of the current state, you can choose to filter by Failover or Dropped Frames. You cannot see job events and current jobs at the same time. While a job is running, a progress bar will be shown in the Progress column. If you want to export the table shown on the Jobs tab, right click on the columns heading, and choose Export. Monitoring Network Resources The Network tab gives you a quick overview of the status of all of the encoding resources that can be accessed by Live Manager. There are two views: Show Status: a list of resources with status indicators 50

51 Monitor Streams: thumbnail views of the video inputs and audio meters for the audio inputs of the selected resources When you are using the Show Status mode a resource that does not have a backup will have 2 status indicators. The first one is for the encoder status and the second one is for the primary encoder status. A resource that has a backup will have 3 status indicators. The first one is for the encoder status, the second one is for the primary encoder status, and the third one is for the backup encoder status. The status indicator can show the following states: white: resource is available green: resource is encoding yellow: failover in progress or attempting to establish/re-establish contact red: failure or lost contact with the resource When you are using the Monitor Streams mode you will be able to choose which group you want to monitor and which layout to use in the grid view. If there is more than one page in the preview video mode, then you will be able to choose which page to view. The Monitor Streams function can be enabled or disabled in the Server > Options. The Monitor Streams function encodes a thumbnail video preview (width = 160, height = 120, adjusted to match aspect ratio) and audio data for the VU meters for each encoding resource to the LAN. If you know that you will not be using this feature then you can disable it to reduce the small amount of extra traffic this will generate per encoder on your LAN. 51

52 By default the video preview and audio data is multicast on your LAN. If multicast is not supported on your LAN you can choose to Unicast the monitoring data instead, and add the specific IP Addresses that will be used by the systems running the Live Manager Consoles that will be used to monitor the resources. Status Summary You can get an overall picture of your Server, Resources, and recent Alerts using the Summary tab. Server Managed Files The Live Manager Server keeps track of the files it needs in order to assign jobs. To see a complete list of all of the files that are being managed by the Server, choose File > Server Managed Files from the main menu. You can edit, delete and add files and folders. Testing Your Setup Normally you should test your failover scheme and verify that alerts are being logged and notifications are being sent out. There are many ways to simulate an encoder failure, from pulling the network cable on an individual encoder to rebooting the system manually. Another way to force a failure on a Stream encoder would be to use File > Agents and then click on a system to select it and then right click on the selected system and stop the Stream Service. This will cause the Live Manager Server to lose control over the Encoding resource without losing communication with the resource. You may also force a failure on a Stream encoder by accessing the system (either locally or using remote desktop), and then launching Windows Task Manager, and on the Processes tab looking for encoder.exe. If you use the End Process function to kill the encoder.exe process, this will stop the encode, and Live Manager will respond to it as a failure. Remote Software Upgrades (Stream Encoders) The Remote Software Upgrades feature may only be used to update Stream Encoders. It is not available for SelenioFlex Live Encoders for this release. Once you have upgraded the Live Manager Server and at least one Console to version 2, you will be able to manage remote upgrades of Live Manager Agent and Stream software on Encoding Resources from the Console. If you plan to upgrade the Stream software it is recommended that you apply any new key upgrades before you do the upgrade. That way you will not need to reboot the host system after applying the new license. 52

53 Note that if your encoder includes a Flux capture card then you will have to accept the certificate when you install the Flux driver. In order to do that you must initially install it locally (that is, you cannot use the Agent s remote software upgrade feature). If you have a resource which includes one of the early Flux boards, revision 1 or 2, then you will need to power cycle the system after an update that includes a board firmware update. If that is the case the update must be done locally on each system, as a reboot will not be sufficient to reprogram the board. If you have a Flux board revision 3 or later then this will not be necessary. From the main Console menu select Server > Agents. Select the host system or systems that you would like to upgrade. Click the Software Upgrade button. Choose the Software Package you would like to upgrade: Live Manager Agent, Stream software, Other Install or Other Uninstall Browse to the Installer to use for the software install/uninstall. Enter a username and password for the system that will be upgraded; this user should have administrative privileges on the Host system(s). While the software is being upgraded you can select Server > Software Upgrades to see a Software Upgrade Status window. Note that when you run the Live Manager Agent or Stream upgrade the host system that is being upgraded will be rebooted as required by the update. If you are getting an error when you try to use this feature then you may need to modify your network access sharing and security settings. Please see the Troubleshooting section for details. 53

54 SNMP Monitoring Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) exposes management data in the form of variables on managed systems, which describe the system configuration. These variables can then be queried by managing applications. A software component called an agent runs on each managed system and reports information via SNMP to the managing systems. SNMP agents expose management data on the managed systems as variables (such as "free memory", "system name", "number of running processes", "default route"). The variables accessible via SNMP are organized in hierarchies. These hierarchies, and other metadata (such as type and description of the variable), are described by Management Information Bases (MIBs). When you install the Live Manager Server one of the Configuration Wizard options is Use SNMP Adapter. If you enable this option an SNMP extension agent will be registered with the Windows SNMP service, and traps will be set in response to Live Manager alert events. You can also choose to enable the Use HTML Adapter option. This will allow you to use a simple, browser based view of the server s management parameters. To view this page, open your browser and enter or address>:port. For more information see the SNMP_Monitoring_in_Media_Manager.pdf file installed by default in C:\Program Files\Imagine Communications\Live Manager\docs. Advanced User Security If you enabled basic Live Manager Server security during installation, providing an Admin Username and Password, you will also be able to access the Advanced user security options. From the main Console menu select Server > Security. There are two options for managing your user lists. You may set up a user list using your Live Manager database using the Local Users tab. Alternatively you can use External Authentication Providers to select an LDAP server to manage your users. When managing your Local Users list you can click the New button to add a user or Edit to modify an existing user. Type in the Username and Password that your users will enter when they launch the Live Manager Console. There are 4 available Roles for users: Viewer - see information, search for information (e.g., jobs, alerts), grab log files Operator - all privileges of Viewer plus: schedule tasks, run tasks, pause/resume/delete tasks, set priority on tasks Configuration - all privileges of Operator plus: create groups and assign resources, configure routers, configure watch folders, configure QC servers, configure Agents, setup alerts Administrator - all privileges of Configuration role plus: set up security roles for users, update software on Agents 54

55 Features permitted based on role (Viewer, Operator, Configuration, Administrator) Feature V O C A Network Monitor: switch between "Show Status" and "Monitor Streams" Y Y Y Y Network Monitor: Monitor Streams: change Group, Layout, Page, Auto Cycle Y Y Y Y Groups: Can see groups, expand tree Y Y Y Y Groups: Add, Edit or Delete group x Y Y Y Groups: Add, Edit or Delete router x x Y Y Groups: drag-and-drop to move resources x Y Y Y Resources: right click: can only select Properties Y Y Y Y Resources: right click: can select all options x Y Y Y Schedule: can view, change view Y Y Y Y Schedule: add, copy, delete, disable task x Y Y Y Schedule: Can select Edit to see details of task, but cannot save changes Y Y Y Y Schedule: Can select Edit to see details of task, can save changes x Y Y Y Jobs: Can view jobs, search jobs Y Y Y Y Jobs: right click options: see Transcode Task window Y Y Y Y Jobs: right click options: Get Project Y Y Y Y Jobs: right click options: Cancel Job x Y Y Y Alerts: Can view alerts, search alerts Y Y Y Y Alerts: set up Servers, Address Book, Categories, Rules x x Y Y Server > Agents: can see Agents, copy system ID, nothing else Y Y Y Y Server > Agents: Can Grab Log Files Y Y Y Y Server > Agents: Can Reboot Host x Y Y Y Server > Agents: Software Upgrade x x x Y Server > Agents: can Start, Stop Stream Service x Y Y Y Server > Agents: Delete and config service x x Y Y Server > Server Managed Files: Can see and search, nothing else Y Y Y Y Server > Security x x x Y 55

56 Server > Software Upgrades x x x Y Server > Options: can view, but cannot Save Y Y Y Y Server > Options: can view and Save x x Y Y Broadcast > Routers: allow viewing but not changing Y Y Y Y Broadcast > Routers: able to configure x x Y Y Transcode > Watch Folders: Can use Edit to view setup Y Y Y Y Transcode > Watch Folders: Can "open folder" and "Disable/Resume" x Y Y Y Transcode > Watch Folders: Can use New, Edit and Delete to configure watch folders x x Y Y Transcode > QC Servers: allow viewing but not changing Y Y Y Y Transcode > QC Servers: configure x x Y Y Transcode > Transcode Tasks > Tasks: view all Y Y Y Y Transcode > Transcode Tasks > Tasks: Get Project Y Y Y Y Transcode > Transcode Tasks > Tasks: full permission x Y Y Y Transcode > Transcode Tasks > Work Queues: Can see list Y Y Y Y Transcode > Transcode Tasks > Work Queues: Can set Priority or Cancel Task x Y Y Y Transcode > Statistics: can select Resource, Project and Refresh Y Y Y Y Transcode > Statistics: can Delete x x Y Y 56

57 If you want to manage your users with an LDAP server, you can access the settings using the External Authentication Providers tab. The administrator of the LDAP server will also have to add the Live Manager Roles, and add members (users) to the roles. 57

58 System Requirements Supported Operating Systems Windows 7 or Windows 2008 Server, 32-bit and 64-bit OS Live Manager Server The Live Manager Server s CPU is used most intensively for messaging between Encoders (resources). Minimum system: Pentium D 3GHz or equivalent, 1 GB RAM. A multi-core CPU and/or faster CPU is recommended for Live Manager solutions where you expect to manage many Encoders (more than 10). Stream Encoders The number of real-time streams that can be encoded at one time will vary based on both your system s CPU speed, the number of CPU cores, and the codec that you plan to use. Note that some codecs can use multiple cores efficiently, while others cannot. As of this writing, the following codecs could use multiple cores efficiently: AVC/H.264 MainConcept MPEG2 and MPEG1 JPEG2000 (Kakadu) As of this writing the following codecs had the following restrictions for multiple cores: Dicas can only use 16 cores and crashes if there are more cores available Windows Media VC-1 can only use up to 4 cores On2 for Flash 8 can only use 1 core Real Helix 10 can only use 1 core Codecs continue to evolve, so check with Imagine Communications Support if you have a question about a specific codec. 58

59 Installing and Configuring Third Party Databases The default Live Manager database is PostgreSQL 9. This database is included in the Live Manager installer and if you choose to install it using the installer the database will be configured for you by the Live Manager Configuration Wizard. The following databases can be used by Live Manager: Notes: Oracle 10g Oracle 11g PostgreSQL 8 PostgreSQL 9 (default database, included in the Live Manager installer) SQL Server 2005 SQL Server 2008R2 SQL Server 2012 The database integration with Live Manager is what is supported. The other supported databases have their own installers and may require licenses with their own associated license fees. Job records and task records are only kept in the database for the number of days you have set in Server > Options > Server Pref. Alert records are only kept in the database for 30 days before they are purged. PostgreSQL 8 The following instructions are for Live Manager and PostgreSQL Please contact Imagine Communications for use with other versions of the product. Install PostgreSQL 8 Run postgresql-8.1.msi to install PostgreSQL. This database may be installed on the system where the Live Manager Server will be running, or it may be installed on another system on the LAN. Note that if you intend to set up a backup server, then you should install the database on a different system, so that the database is available to the backup server if the primary server fails. All the installer defaults should apply except for the Initialize database cluster screen. Change the Encoding to UTF-8 and select a Password for the postgres user. If security is not a concern on this machine, use postgres as the password for simplicity. By default the database will only accept connections locally, from the system it has been installed on. If you have installed the database on a different system than the server, you will need to change this default by enabling the Adresses checkbox. Configure PostgreSQL 8 Use the Windows Start Menu, to select Start > Programs > PostgreSQL 8.1 > pgadmin III. 59

60 Right click on the PostgreSQL Database Server and choose Connect. You will be asked to for your password. Use the password for postgres that you entered when you installed the database. Once you have connected, right click on the Databases (1) icon. choose New Database, and create a new database named MM. Configure the Server Install Live Manager Server, or if already installed, run the MM Config Wizard from the Start menu. Go to the Database step. - Choose PostgreSQL 8 from the list of databases 60

61 - In the JDBC URL, change to jdbc:postgresql://localhost/mm, where localhost is the host name of the system running PostgreSQL - change Username / Password to the values you set when you installed the database Finish the Config Wizard and allow it to restart the Live Manager Server. When the Live Manager Server successfully connects to the Postgres database, it will create the database tables required. Confirm Connectivity to the Database Launch the pgadmin III tool (if it is not already running), right click on the PostgreSQL Database Server and choose Connect, and log in with your username and password. Right click on the MM database in the pgadmin III tool and select Refresh. You should now see approximately 30 tables listed under MM/Schemas/public/Tables Automatic Index Creation Live Manager Server creates database indexes automatically, so there is no required index creation step. Backup the Database Please refer to the Postgres documentation for more information about backing up the database correctly. Oracle 10g The following instructions are for Live Manager and Oracle 10g. Please contact Imagine Communications for use with other versions of the product. Oracle Requirements It is generally recommended that the Oracle DB Administrator creates a User dedicated to Live Manager. The User must have Connect and Resource roles since the Live Manager Server will connect to the Database with this user and it will create and alter its own tables. JDBC is the connection technology used. For Example: CREATE USER "MM" PROFILE "DEFAULT" IDENTIFIED BY "MM" ACCOUNT UNLOCK; GRANT "CONNECT" TO "MM"; GRANT "RESOURCE" TO "MM"; Configure Live Manager Server Install Live Manager Server, or if it is already installed, run the MM Config Wizard from the Start menu. Go to the Database step. Choose Oracle 10g from the list of databases 61

62 In the JDBC URL, change to jdbc:oracle:thin://localhost:1521:mm, where localhost is the host name of the system running Oracle and MM is the name of the database change Username / Password to the values you use to connect to the database When Live Manager successfully connects to Oracle for the first time, it will create the database tables required. This will confirm the connection parameters are correct. If the Live Manager Server does not startup properly, you will need to review the mm-server.log file. Automatic Index Creation Live Manager Server creates database indexes automatically, so there is no required index creation step. Backup the Database Please refer to the Oracle documentation for more information about backing up the database correctly. Microsoft SQL The following instructions are for Live Manager and SQL Server 2005 SP1. Please contact Imagine Communications for use with other versions of the product. SQL Server 2005 Requirements It is generally recommended that the SQL Server 2005 Server provides a Database dedicated to Live Manager. The Live Manager Server will require a User to connect to this Database that has permission to create and alter tables. JDBC is the connection technology used. The SQL Server database must be configured to allow snapshot isolation. If not already configured, execute the following SQL against the Live Manager Database: ALTER DATABASE MM SET ALLOW_SNAPSHOT_ISOLATION ON; Configure Live Manager Server Install Live Manager Server, or if it is already installed, run the MM Config Wizard from the Start menu. Go to the Database step. Choose SQL Server 2005 from the list of databases In the JDBC URL, change to jdbc:sqlserver://localhost;databasename=mm where localhost is the host name of the system running the database and MM is the name of the database change Username / Password to the values you use to connect to the database 62

63 When Live Manager successfully connects to the database for the first time, it will create the database tables required. This will confirm the connection parameters are correct. If the Live Manager Server does not startup properly, you will need to review the mm-server.log file. If you have problems, the most causes will be that SQL Server is not configured to allow connections from remote hosts, or that SQL Server s Network Configuration has not enabled TCP/IP connections. Automatic Index Creation Live Manager Server creates database indexes automatically, so there is no required index creation step. Backup the Database Please refer to the SQL documentation for more information about backing up the database correctly. 63

64 Troubleshooting Live Manager When the console is launched, the server does not appear in the list of found servers, even after waiting a minute or more. Make sure the SelenioFlex Live Manager service is running and set to automatic. Refer to Managing the Services on page 19 for more information. The Server cannot connect to the Agent system Did you upgrade your Agent system? If so, did you reboot after the uninstall phase, before moving on to the new install phase? You must reboot, as some services will only be fully uninstalled the next time you reboot. If you do not reboot, this uninstall on next reboot command will still be present, and the new installation will have critical files removed the next time you reboot. All Resources are not showing up on the Server > Agents window, or the Agent Host field cycles back and forth between more than one system Other possible symptoms of the same problem: Resources will not display properties (an error is shown instead) Failover does not work correctly (the backup system does not pick up the job, instead the primary is restarted) This problem is caused by more than one system having the same unique Agent ID. The Agent ID is created on each system when the SelenioFlex Live Manager Agent service is run for the first time. This problem will occur if a disk image is created after an Agent has been installed and the Agent service has been started, thereby generating an ID which is saved as part of the disk image. If that image is then used to setup other systems then the ID will not be renewed. To correct this issue delete the registry setting found at: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Prefs\ca\digitalrapids\mediamanager\agent] "uuid"="1a06b24b c46-89d9-b1d5bba87141" (Note the uuid shown above is just an example.) Then restart the SelenioFlex Live Manager Agent service and it will generate a new UUID. The Resources show a Status of Missing after an upgrade (Stream Encoders) Did you upgrade your license? If so, you must reboot in order to restart the necessary services (on the Agent system both the SelenioFlex Live Manager Agent and DRC Stream Server services, on the Server system the SelenioFlex Live Manager service). Did you upgrade the Stream software? When you upgrade Stream the settings for the DRC Stream Server service get set back to manual start and the service does not run. You can change this using the Live Manager Config Wizard or using the Windows Services. Set the startup type to auto and to assign a user account login that has permissions for your LIVE shares and then start the service. 64

65 The job is not starting (Stream Encoders) If you updated your software recently, make sure you correctly re-apply the licenses for Stream Encoders and rebooted your systems. Tasks are starting, then failing Make sure that the Outputs (as specified in the Stream project or SFX-Live project) exist and that they are accessible to the encoder. Check to make sure that you have permission to use the codec profile specified by your project. After modifying a project, changes are not being used When assigning a project to a scheduled task there are two options: Copy file to server, or Copy and reference a network shared file. If you choose the first option, and you later modify the project, you will have to update the copy of the file that is stored on the Live Manager Server before changes will take effect. If you choose the second option, then changes to the project in the network shared location will be saved in a project file that is already accessible to the Live Manager Server, and the modified project will automatically be used by the Server. When using the Live Manager Monitor Streams the VU Meters are not displayed The Live Manager Monitor Streams mode (where each live resource displays a thumbnail and audio VU meters) will not display VU meters for Stream encodes that use a group profile in the project. Network Issues If the Server cannot communicate with the Agents (they do not appear in the Agents list, or they are always missing or offline), then you may have a network issue. More than one network adapter If you are using a system that has more than one network adapter, for example both a wireless network connection and a wired network connection, you may have problems establishing a connection between the Server and the Agent. Both types of connections will appear to be valid IP Addresses, and the first one detected by the Live Manager software will be used to attempt communication. If this is not the one that you are actually using for communication, then your Server and Agent systems will not be able to communicate. Use the Live Manager Configuration Wizard to either use the Local hostname, or to specify a hostname/ip address. Different Subnets: discovery mechanism The Agent and Console locate the Server using a Multicast discovery mechanism by default. If the machines are on different subnets, then the networking equipment in between will need to propagate multicast traffic in order for the automatic discovery to work. If this is not an option, you should use the Configuration Wizard to configure the system for unicast communication. See Discovery Method on page

66 Different Subnets: thumbnails If you are using the Live Manager Monitor Streams mode (thumbnail monitoring) and you have more than one Server then you will need to assign a different multicast address range for each Server to use for the thumbnails. Open the server s C:\Program Files\Digital Rapids\Live Manager\conf\ global.custom.properties file in a text editor and add this line with the multicast prefix you want to use: mm.multicast.prefix= Remote Software Upgrade Issues The following issues only apply to Stream Encoders (they do not apply to SFX-Live encoders). Upgrading the Flux Driver If your encoder includes a Flux capture card then you will have to accept the certificate when you install the Flux driver. In order to do that you must initially install it locally (that is, you cannot use the Agent s remote software upgrade feature for the initial install). Error: Logon Failure When a Live Manager software upgrade is attempted the following error may occur: Test remote commands Error - exit code: 1326, Logon Failure. This is an unknown user name or bad password error code as determined by the application that is used in the background to perform the upgrade (PsTools > PsExec). If the username and password are correct then most likely this is because a network access sharing and security setting must be changed. Follow these steps to correct this error: 1. On the host system that you are attempting to upgrade, go to the following location from the windows desktop: Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy 2. Expand local policies and select security options. In the right hand pane scroll down and find the following policy: Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts 3. Change the setting to Classic local users authenticate as themselves then click apply and ok. Additional Operating System Considerations All machines should have proper Network Time synchronization Ensure Windows machines have their Firewalls turned OFF. This is found in Control Panel > Security Center. Disable Windows Automatic Update installation (it can reboot the machine). This is found in Control Panel > Security Center Disable Windows Automatic error reporting. It will prevent the encoding process from being restarted or the machine from being rebooted by Live Manager in the event of a job failure. If you are running Windows 7 you must run the Local Group Policy Editor (C:\Windows\System32\gpedit.msc), expand the left navigation tree to show Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Systems > Internet Communication Management > Internet Communication Settings, then in the right hand panel find Turn Off Windows Error Reporting and edit the policy setting and enable it. 66

67 UAC (user account control) for Windows 7, Server 2008 Disable the UAC (user account control) before installing the Stream software (including drivers for the Stream hardware). Keep the UAC off when using the Stream software. Server 2008 Encoding Performance To improve performance change the following setting for Server 2008: Right click on "My Computer" and select Properties. Click on Advanced system settings. In the Performance section click the Settings button. Click the Advanced tab. In "Processor scheduling" set "Adjust for best performance of" to "Programs". Log Files If you require troubleshooting help from Imagine Communications Support, you will probably be asked to send the log files. You can get the log files from any connected system using the Console. From the Console s main menu choose Server > Agents. Choose the agent system you are trying to troubleshoot. Click the Grab Log Files button. This will collect the log files and copy them to a location you specify. For reference, Live Manager Server log files are located here (by default): C:\Program Files\Imagine Communications\Live Manager\logs Stream Server Log files are located here (by default): C:\Program Files\Imagine Communications\Stream\stream-server-service.log SelenioFlex Live log files can also be downloaded using the Web Portal. Use the System tab to go to the Logs page to download the log files stored on the system. Stream Project Issues Can t control the hardware using Windows Remote Desktop If you are logged on using Remote Desktop, you must be the first person logged in. To force this (logging out other users) run Mstsc in a Command window with the following -v and -console options (replacing the server.ip.address with your server ip address): For XP Service Pack 3: Mstsc -v:server.ip.address -admin For XP Service Pack 2 or older: Mstsc -v:server.ip.address -console Can t set project on a dual-channel board If a dual-channel DRC-2000 or 2600 board is installed in the encoder, and the "use external timing" option is turned on in the Stream project, it will fail to set project on the dual channel board. This is due to the fact that the shared hardware clock on the board cannot be generated for two instances of Stream. 67

68 Checking SD DRC-Stream hardware If you suspect that you have a problem with your capture board, you can run the Test App that was installed with your Stream software. Open the Stream folder (by default it is in C:\Program Files\Digital Rapids\Stream). If you have a DRC-500 board run the DRIdahoTest.exe file. If you have a DRC-1000 to 2600 run the DRColoradoTest.exe file. Run the automated test, and if you see any failures then please contact Imagine Communications Support. Unable to select live source as an input type Your capture card has not been properly installed or drivers have not been properly installed. To check on the capture card drivers right click on My Computer and choose Manage. Click Device Manager. Click the + symbol next to Digital Rapids Devices. Right click on the Digital Rapids device and choose Properties. The Device Status will be displayed on the Device Properties window. No outputs are being encoded No codecs will be enabled until the Encoder or Transcode Engine product has been licensed. Can t encode: check codec profile If you see this error, log on to the Stream Encoder box either locally or using Remote Desktop to access the software. When you can t encode you will normally see a red X next to the codec profile. Double click the profile to open an error window or hover your mouse over the codec profile to see the message as a tool tip. Common problems are no archive file name or other output modes selected, or trying to encode only video with a codec that is expecting video and audio. When starting Stream software, a message appears saying that the hardware is disabled The product has not been registered within 30 days of the software installation and your grace period has expired. You can register your product on line from the web site by selecting Tools > Register Online from the Stream menu. Video preview is not updating Occasionally you will change a setting and the video preview will not update correctly. If this happens toggle the Monitor Source button off then on again. Can t preview the audio You will not be able to preview the audio until you have at least one codec profile in your list. If you have more than one audio channel enabled in your source profile, each codec profile in your list can be assigned an audio channel independent of the other codec profiles using the Audio dropdown box on the input tab. Video preview stops during encoding Check to make sure you have selected Video Preview > Source. The Video Preview > Encoder option only works for some codecs. 68

69 Buffer usage is higher than normal during encoding Check to make sure you have selected Video Preview > Source. The Video Preview > Encoder option requires some buffering so it will increase your Buffer usage. Dropping frames when encoding video Not all codecs perform well in a real time environment. Codec factors include file resolution (width x height), data rate, encoder complexity, and codec type. System factors include CPU, memory PCI bandwidth and hard drive speed. You should be able to encode a full sized (720x480 or 720x576) uncompressed AVI on most systems. Other efficient codecs include WM9 (Microsoft) and MPEG1 and MPEG2 (MainConcept). Less efficient codecs include QuickTime, Real Helix, MPEG4 and Flash 7 (with Sorenson ACE) or Flash 8 (with On2 VP6). With these less efficient codecs you should be able to encode to a 320x240 sized file in real time on most systems. Should you need to encode to a full sized clip on a system that cannot encode to the file format you want in real time, encode to an uncompressed AVI in real time, and then transcode to your final output format. When encoding the CPU status at the bottom of the Stream window will climb up as you put more demands on the system. If the CPU usage reaches 100% then the buffer will start to fill. If the buffer reaches 100% then the encoded file will start to drop frames. If you are using a system with multiple CPU cores, but the codec you have selected cannot use multiple cpu cores, then your CPU usage may look low when the buffer begins to fill. For example, the Flash 8 On2 codec can only use one CPU core, so on a quad-core system, a CPU usage of 25% (or slightly more) during encoding indicates that 100% of 1 of the 4 CPU cores is being used by the codec, and since none of the other CPU cores can be used by the codec simultaneously, you have reached your processing limit for that codec. 69

70 Network Ports The following tables show which ports should be open on a machine running the given Component. Live Manager is designed to function adequately when all but the following ports are blocked. Most of these ports can be changed from their default values by manually changing the appropriate Config Property. The exceptions are the default port numbers used for RMI registry and Jini lookup (ports 1099 and 4160). Service Component: SelenioFlex Live Manager Function Needed by Default Port Proto Config Property ServerRemote RMI Agent & Console TCP mm.server.rmi.port Server JERI Agent & Console TCP mm.server.jeri.port Web Services API clients to MM Server TCP mm.server.webservice.port SNMP Agent UDP mm.server.management.snmp.port JMX HTML Adaptor TCP mm.server.management.html.port JMX RMI TCP mm.server.management.jmxrmi.port Jini Multicast Discovery Agent & Console 4160 UDP (cannot be configured) Live Monitoring from the Console If live monitoring is not required, the following Live Manager Console ports can be closed. Function Needed by Default Port Proto Config Property Live Video Monitoring (Stream Projects in LIVE) Agents to Console UDP mm.live.monitor.video.port Live VU Meter Monitoring (Stream Projects in LIVE) Agents to Console UDP mm.live.monitor.custom.rtp.port 70

71 Service Component: SelenioFlex Live Manager Agent Function Needed by Default Port Proto Config Property AgentRemote JERI Agent & Server TCP mm.agent.jeri.port Service Component: Jini Services Function Needed by Default Port Proto Config Property Multicast Discovery 4160 UDP (cannot be configured) Unicast Discovery 4160 TCP (cannot be configured) Jini Support Services (reggie, fiddler ) TCP mm.jini.jeri.port Jini Codebase Server TCP mm.jini.classserver.port Service Component: DRC RMI Registry Service Function Needed by Default Port Proto Config Property RMI Name server Agent local comms, Console (with secured server) 1099 TCP (cannot be configured) Service Component: DRC Router Control Service Function Needed by Default Port Proto Config Property Web Services MM Server, Console TCP routercontrol.ws.port Service Component: DRC License Server Function Needed by Default Port Proto Config Property License Server License Server Console License authorization License Management TCP Configured in the License Package TCP (cannot be configured) 71

72 Index A Address Book for alerts Agent Monitor Agent Systems Alert types Alerts... 28, 47 B Backup server Bring online Bring Online C Categories of Alerts Codec Profile Comma Separated (CSV) Components of LSM Manager... 9 Config Stream Service Configuration Wizard Configure Resource Connect to Resource Connect using Stream Console Console Install D Database... 17, 59 Discovery Method Domain Name DRC Services... 19, 64 DRC Stream Server DRC Stream Service E Edit Resource server Encoder Install Export Alerts Export Jobs table F Fail Resource Failover - testing... 29, 52 Firewalls... 23, 66 G Grab Log Files Group - change Groups... 26, 38 I Input Type Installation Information Installer... 10, 14 J Jobs... 28, 49 L LDAP server Licensing Live Manager Console Live Manager Server Install Log Files Log On As Logo, add to resource M Matrix View Media Files input Media Manager Server (service) Microsoft SQL Missing Agent Monitoring Files Multicast discovery... 23, 65 N Network Ports... 23, 70 Network Resources... 28, 50 Networking O Offline Online Oracle 10g Outputs Outputs from Stream

73 P Paths Permissions Plugins Ports... 23, 70 PostgreSQL Properties R Reboot Host Remote Desktop Remote Software Upgrades Resources RMI Exported Address Roles Router Control Services Installation Routers Rules for Alerts S Schedule... 27, 44 Security... 16, 54 services SNMP SNMP Monitoring Status Summary Stream Projects Stream Remote Stream Server (service) Summary... 28, 52 System Address System Requirements... 9 system tags T tags Take Offline U UNC paths unicast list Upgrades Upgrading Users W Watch Folders Windows Automatic error reporting... 23, 66 Windows Automatic Update... 23, 66 73