Envivio 4Sight Administrator's Manual

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4Sight

Administrator Guide

Version 5.0 rev.4

May 17, 2006

P/N 01000002

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4Sight Administrator Guide 5.0

This manual and the software described in it are furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. The content of this manual is provided for information only. It is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Envivio Inc. Envivio Inc. assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this book.

Except as permitted by such license, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Envivio.com Inc. Please remember that existing media that you may want to include in your project may be protected under copyright law. Incorporating such material into your new work could violate the rights of the copyright owner. Please be sure to obtain any required permissions from the copyright owner.

Envivio and the Envivio logo are registered trademarks of Envivio Inc. EnvivioTV, 4Caster, 4Coder, 4Manager, 4Sight, Mindshare and 4View are trademarks of Envivio Inc.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows 2000 Pro, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and Windows Server 2003 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S and/or other countries. Apple, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, QuickTime, and TrueType are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries. QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks used under license. Helvetica and Times are trademarks of Linotype-Hell AG and/or its subsidiaries. Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Flash is a trademark of Macromedia, Inc. Sun is a trademark or registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Protected by U.S. Patents [patents pending]. Envivio Incorporated, 400 Oyster Point Blvd., Suite 325, South San Francisco, California 94080 USA.

Notice to U.S. government end users. The software and documentation are “commercial items,” as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, consisting of “commercial computer software” and “commercial computer software documentation,” as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202, as applicable. Consistent with 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §§227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the commercial computer software and commercial computer software documentation are being licensed to U.S. government end users (A) only as commercial items and (B) with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in the Envivio Incorporated standard commercial agreement for this software. Unpublished rights are reserved under the copyright laws of the United States.

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Acknowledgments

Envivio Incorporated acknowledges use of software from the following sources and includes their copyright notices and required statements. here.

This software is based in part on the code of the Darwin Streaming Server (for which the source code is available under the terms of the Apple Public Source License Version 1.2 at

http://www.opensource.apple.com/projects/streaming/).

The modifications applied to the original code are available at: http://www.envivio.tv/downloads/qtss.

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Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

VOD functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Monitoring and administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Error Resilience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Supported standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Envivio Professional Services and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 2 WebAdmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Restricting access to the WebAdmin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Using the WebAdmin configuration file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Using the WebAdmin user interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Changing the WebAdmin default user name and password . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Chapter 3 Video Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Setting up Movie folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Using 4Sight as a reflector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Basic setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Configuration examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Using 4Sight as a relay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Basic setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Configuration examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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Relay a UDP stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Relay an RTSP requested stream. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Relay an SAP announced stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Connection to the output stream using an SDP file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Connection to the output stream using SAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Status of the configured relays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Stream Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Basic setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Configuration example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Connection to the output stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Status of the configured switchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Chapter 4 Playlist Broadcaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Basic setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Setting up a playlist using the WebAdmin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Chapter 5 Load Balancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Basic setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Adding a slave server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Deleting a slave server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Chapter 6 Authentication and Authorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Basic Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

User, Group, and Access files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

User file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Group file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

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Access file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

The qtpasswd utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Configuration example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Chapter 7 External authorization module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Installing the authorization module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Basic example of external authorization module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Chapter 8 SNMP monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

Using SNMP monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Monitoring 4Sight using MG-SOFT MIB Browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Enabling SNMP trap reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Appendix A How-To. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

How to update an SDP file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

How to link to a streamable content in a web page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

How to embed a streamable content in a web page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

What is a hint track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Can I use multicast over Internet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Appendix B The Video Server configuration file parameters . . . . . .85

General parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Thinning parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

More general parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Reliable UDP parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

RTSP debugging parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Specific parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Reflector module parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Access Log module parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Error Log modules parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

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Access module parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

WebAdmin parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

File module parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Flow control module parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Multiple movie folders parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Relay parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Switcher parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Licensing module parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Load balancing module parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

External authentication parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Recorder module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Appendix C The Playlist Broadcaster configuration file . . . . . . . . . . .99

Appendix D The Web Admin configuration file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

Appendix E Video Server access log file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

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Chapter 1

Introduction

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Introduction

Overview

VOD functions

The 4Sight Video Server from Envivio provides MPEG-4 and H.264 streaming capabilities for small, medium and large scale enterprise, broadband and broadcast deployments. It has been designed and optimized to meet the needs of professional video distribution applications.

Broadcasters and cable operators can use the 4Sight Video Server to manage and distribute interactive multimedia content through IP networks to EnvivioTV or any other MPEG-4 compliant player

Networking

The 4Sight Video Server can stream any MPEG-4 file that conforms to the ISO standard, whether the file is generated by the Envivio 4Coder or some other MPEG-4 encoding tool. Both Advanced Video Coding (AVC/H.264) and Advanced Simple Profile (ASP) are supported.

Files need to be hinted before being served by the 4Sight Video Server.

The 4Sight Video Server supports trick play features (fast forward, fast backward) on all MPEG-4 content. The rendering of content played in fast forward or fast backward depends on the way the content is encoded (more specifically on the key frame frequency).

The 4Sight Video Server sends media to the network using the IETF defined suite of protocols based on IP for real-time streaming, and supports HTTP tunnelling to support firewall configurations. It also uses

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the associated IETF recommendations dedicated to MPEG-4 transport over IP.

Monitoring and administration

Monitoring of the 4Sight Video Server can be done while it is online using either the 4Sight WebAdmin which is a web-based interface or using SNMP.

When the 4Sight Video Server is offline, monitoring can be done using the log files.

Performance

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In streaming, 4Sight can support up to 400 simultaneous users, at

1.5 Mbps.

Error Resilience

4Sight offers error resilience so that EnvivioTV can receive content smoothly under severe network packet loss conditions (up to 2% packet loss rate).

Both 4Sight and EnvivioTV provide a rebuffering management policy that improves the user experience when traffic is congested.

Supported standards

The following protocols and standards are implemented in the 4Sight Video Server:

• RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol), IETF RFC 2326

• SDP (Session Description Protocol), IETF RFC 2327

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Introduction

• UDP (User Datagram Protocol), IETF RFC 769

• TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), IETF RFC 793

• IP (Internet Protocol), IETF RFC 791

• RTP (Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications), IETF RFC

3550

• SAP (Session Announcement Protocol), IETF RFC 2974

• IGMP v2 (Internet Group Management Protocol), IETF RFC 2236

• SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), IETF RFC 1157

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Envivio Professional Services and Support

You may contact us for specific projects requiring customized options or specific development, available through our service organization. For contact information, see the Envivio website at

http://www.envivio.com.

If you have support questions, contact Envivio Customer Services.

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Introduction

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Chapter 2

WebAdmin

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Overview

4Sight WebAdmin is a web based administration tool that allows the administrator to monitor and configure the 4Sight Streaming Server. Using this tool, you can setup and monitor relays, switcher and playlists. You can also setup movie folders, authorization and streaming ports.

In order to connect to this administration tool, you can either:

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Restricting access to the WebAdmin

Using the WebAdmin configuration file

To restrict access to the WebAdmin, you can use the two keywords, allow

deny, in your streamingadminserver.conf.

For example, at the end of the file, add the following:

allow=192.168.105.187 127.0.0.1 deny=192.168.105.113

This allows access to the WebAdmin from local host and

192.168.105.187 and explicitly denies it from 192.168.105.113.

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Using the WebAdmin user interface

You can restrict access to the WebAdmin by using a login screen. The user will have to provide a user name and password to connect to the WebAdmin.

1. Using a web browser, connect to the WebAdmin (see “WebAdmin” on page 17).

2. Click on the

3. Select the to the WebAdmin, then click the Save changes button. You will be disconnected from theWebAdmin.

Server Configuration>General Settings menu item.

Authentication for the web admin check box to restrict access

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Web Admi n

4. Reconnect to the WebAdmin using the default user name (admin) and password (admin).

Changing the WebAdmin default user name and password

5. Using a web browser, connect to the WebAdmin: (see “WebAdmin” on page 17).

6. Select the Server Configuration>General Settings menu item.

7. Click the Change Admin Username/Password... link. The following page should be displayed:

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8. Fill the different fields, then click the Change password button. You will be disconnected from the WebAdmin.

9. Reconnect to the WebAdmin using the new user name and password.

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Chapter 3

Video Server

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Video Server

Setting up Movie folders

To serve on-demand MPEG-4 files stored on your server, 4Sight needs to know where your files are located.

You can change the default movie folder or add new ones using the WebAdmin:

1. Open a web browser and connect to your WebAdmin (see "WebAdmin" on page 17 for further details).

2. Click the Movie Folders menu item. You will see a list of movie folders as shown in the figure below:

3. To change the default movie folder, click the button.

4. To add a movie folder to your list, click the Then enter the complete path of your folder.

NOTE The path to the movie folder must respect the path format of the

operating system where 4Sight is installed.

Edit default movie folder

New movie Folder button.

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5. Click the Saves Changes button to add this new folder, as shown in the figure below.:

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Video Server

Using 4Sight as a reflector

Overview

Most routers on the Internet cannot properly interpret multicast information as they are set up to transfer traditional Internet Protocol (IP) unicast packets that have a single, specific destination.

A reflector is a built-in mechanism of the server that converts one multicast stream to a series of individual unicast streams. The server's reflector module feeds each client with an individual stream.

Basic setup

In most cases, the reflector receives either a multicast or unicast stream from a broadcaster (an application which sends RTP packets) such as 4Caster. The reflector forwards the RTP streams upon request, in real time. The SDP file generated by the broadcaster must be placed in one of the movie folders of 4Sight.

Configuration examples

Once your broadcaster is setup and has started to broadcast to a multicast address, you can get the SDP associated with the multicast stream. Then, without changing anything in the SDP file, you can copy it into one of the server's movie folders. You are then ready for accessing the multicast stream using the 4Sight Video Server reflecting capabilities.

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Figure 1. Example of reflecting

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For example, if the SDP file referring to the multicast stream is called

live.m4e, once it is copied on the server, you can access the multicast

stream using the following URL:

e-rtsp://server_name:7070/live.m4e

A unicast session will then be created for your client that will be a reflected copy of the multicast stream.

WAR NIN G If you use reliable UDP (see "reliable_udp" on page 90), check that the

M4E file does not contain the following line:

b=RR:0

This may prevent the player from sending the RTCP packets that are mandatory for using reliable UDP.

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Video Server

Using 4Sight as a relay

Overview

A relay is a built-in mechanism of the server that accepts a stream from another video server or a broadcaster and sends it or "relays" it to one or more unicast or multicast destinations.

Basic setup

To set up the relay using the WebAdmin, follow these steps:

1. Using a web browser, connect to the WebAdmin (see "WebAdmin" on page 17).

2. Select the Relay Settings menu item. You will see a list of your configured relays.

3. Click on New Relay to create a new relay. The following page is displayed:

4. Fill in the different fields, then click the Save Changes button.

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5. Your relay will then be listed in the relay list, followed by its status that can be either Started or Stopped.

NOTE You can click the or buttons to respectively start or stop the relay.

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Configuration examples

Relay a UDP stream

Consider the following graph where the user wants to relay a multicast stream to another multicast address and simultaneously to a unicast client.

Figure 2. Relaying a UDP stream

In this case, the relay module of the 4Sight Video Server Streaming Server will fetch the multicast stream coming from the broadcaster

(1) and send

it to both the multicast address and the unicast client (2).

To relay a UDP stream, you need to follow these steps:

1. Specify the source address (this address can be either multicast or unicast to the server).

2. Select the Relay a UDP Source radio button.

3. Specify the ports you want to listen to (ports number can be separated by commas, semicolons or spaces).

4. Provide the information about the destination (you can add more destinations if needed).

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5. Click the Save Changes button.

4Sight will then start relaying the source address to the configured destination addresses:

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You can define the network interface card that you want to use for sending packets by specifying the Local Output Interface parameter in the

Destination section.

The SAP session name for outputs is only available when relaying an SAP source.

NOTE The multicast time to live (TTL, see "Glossary" on page 109) is

mandatory if you relay towards a multicast address, and it must be greater than 0. It can be omitted if relaying to a unicast address.

Relay an RTSP requested stream

This configuration is for the scenario where you have a server configured and running that you would like to relay, but the server is not broadcasting anything, it is just accepting and handling requests from clients. In order to relay requests, you will need to have an incoming stream.

Figure 3. Relaying an RTSP requested stream

Source

Multicast

(1)

(2)

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SAP

(4)

237.52.51.50

(3)

192.178.105.25

(3)

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The 4Sight Video Server Video Server will request a stream from the RTSP server specified in the source settings (1), get the video stream back

(2) and relay it to the destinations (3). If an output SAP session is

specified, then the relay will also announce the new session using SAP (4). A player will then be able to connect using SAP to the relayed stream.

By setting the IP address and the filename of the movie you want to relay, and selecting the Request Incoming Stream radio button, your server will get the stream as if it was a client and relay it to the destinations you configured.

If the origin server needs authorization, provide a user name and password in your relay configuration as shown in the figure below:

Let's consider the same use case than in the previous paragraph, but instead of having a broadcaster as a source, we have a second video server that is able to handle RTSP requests and serve videos. In this case, we can configure our relay to request the video on the source server and relay it the different outputs we set up.

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Relay an SAP announced stream

Figure 4. Relaying an SAP announced stream

In this last case, we suppose that we have a broadcaster that is able to announce the session to the SAP address. In this case, the 4Sight's relay module is able to connect to the announced stream and to send it to the different outputs we set up.

Source

(1)

(2)

SAP

Multicast

236.25.53.48

Outputs

SAP

(4)

237.52.51.50

(3)

192.178.105.25

(3)

The 4Sight Video Server will wait till it gets the announcement specified in the source settings

(1), then, it will connect to the announced

stream (2) and relay it to the destinations (3). If an output SAP session is specified (as shown in the screen capture below), then the relay will also announce the new session using SAP (4). A player will then be able to connect to the relayed stream using SAP.

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The following capture shows the source setup for an SAP relay:

When the 4Caster sends a unicast stream to the 4Sight Video Server Video Server, it also sends a unicast stream with the connection SDP. This stream is interpreted as an SAP stream by the 4Sight Video Server which acts exactly the same way than in the setup described above.

Figure 5. Relaying a 4Caster unicast stream

Source

(1)

SDP

(2)

Multicast

Outputs

SAP

(4)

237.52.51.50

(3)

192.178.105.25

(3)

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Connection to the output stream using an SDP file

To connect to an output stream of the relay, you will need to provide the description file of the stream (SDP file). The easiest way to do it is to get the SDP file from the source and modify it according to the output address and ports values that you set in the relay.

Once the SDP file is modified, you can feed it directly to the client or put it in the movie folder of the 4Sight Streaming Server and access it using an RTSP request.

For further details on how to modify the SDP file, see "How to update an SDP file" on page 80".

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Connection to the output stream using SAP

In the case of an SAP relay, there is a simpler way to connect to the output stream. In the destination settings of your relay, you can specify an SAP session name. The relay will then forward the SAP messages containing the new connection settings for the relayed stream.

Then, if your player supports SAP URLs, you can feed it with an URL such as the following:

sap://session_name

Status of the configured relays

Once everything is configured, you can check that the source stream is effectively relayed by going to the Relay status page.

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The following window should be displayed:

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Stream Switching

Overview

The Stream Switcher is a tool for relaying one stream out of a number of sources towards one output with the ability to select the source to be relayed using a control tool such as the WebAdmin. The switch operation is seamless for the clients connected to the output of the switcher.

Basic setup

To set up the Stream Switcher using the WebAdmin, follow these steps:

1. Using a web browser, connect to the WebAdmin (see "WebAdmin" on page 17 for more details).

2. Select the Switcher Settings menu item. You will see a list of your configured switchers.

3. Click on New Switcher to create a new switcher. The following page is displayed:

4. Fill in the different fields you need to set up your Stream Switcher and then click the Save Changes button.

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5. Your switcher will then be listed in the switcher list, followed by its status that can be either Enabled or Disabled.

NOTE You can click the or buttons to respectively start or stop the

relay.

Configuration example

We will use the following network topology to demonstrate the configuration of a switcher.

To setup this switcher, you need to follow these steps:

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1. Specify the output address (this address can be either multicast or unicast), the description, the local output interface, the UDP port list and the multicast TTL.

You can define the network interface card that you want to use for sending packets by specifying the Local Output Interface parameter in the

Destination section.

NOTE The multicast time to live (TTL, see "Glossary" on page 109) is

mandatory if you relay towards a multicast address, and it must be greater than 0. It can be omitted if relaying to a unicast address.

2. Provide the information about the input. Enter the hostname or IP address, then specify the ports you want to listen to (ports number can be separated by commas, semicolons or spaces).

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3. You can add more sources by clicking the Add source link.

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4. Then click the Save Changes button.

WAR NIN G If you change an existing active switcher, when saving the modifications,

the active source will switch to the first source declared in the switcher.

Connection to the output stream

To connect to the output stream of the switcher, you will need to provide the description file of the stream (SDP file). The easiest way to do it is to get the SDP file of one of the sources and modify it according to the address and port values that you set in the switcher.

Once the SDP file is modified, you can feed it directly to the client or put it in the movie folder of the 4Sight Video Server Streaming Server and access it using an RTSP request.

For further details on how to modify the SDP file, see "How to update an SDP file" on page 80.

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Status of the configured switchers

Once everything is configured, you can check that the source stream is effectively relayed by going to the Switcher status page.

The following window should be displayed:

You can switch to the other source by clicking the link Switcher source 2.

Connection to the output stream using an SDP file

To connect to the output stream of the switcher, you will need to provide the description file of the stream (SDP file). The easiest way to do it is to get the SDP file of one of the sources and modify it according to the output address and ports values that you set in the switcher.

Once the SDP file is modified, you can feed it directly to the client or put it in the movie folder of the 4Sight Streaming Server and access it using an RTSP request.

For further details on how to modify the SDP file, see "How to update an SDP file" on page 80.

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Playlist Broadcaster

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Overview

The Playlist Broadcaster is a tool for broadcasting a set of movies.

This section describes how to configure and start a playlist. It also describes simple use cases and applications of the Playlist Broadcaster.

A detailed description of the config file parameters is provided along with troubleshooting hints.

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Basic setup

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There are two ways to set up a playlist and broadcast it using the Playlist Broadcaster:

• using the WebAdmin,

• or by editing the playlist configuration files and running the Playlist

Broadcaster in command line mode.

These two methods are not mutually exclusive and can be combined for advanced use of the Playlist Broadcaster.

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Setting up a playlist using the WebAdmin

Using a web browser, connect to the WebAdmin (see “WebAdmin” on page 17 for more details). Click the Playlists menu item. You will see a list of your configured playlists. Click New MPEG4 Movie Playlist to create a new playlist. The following page is displayed:

Drag and drop the content you want to broadcast from the left panel to the right list.

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Second part of the page lists the broadcast parameters

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Fill in the different fields you need to set up your playlist and then click on the Save Changes button.

Example:

To broadcast the mp4profile.mp4 file in continuous loop mode, you should follow these steps:

1. Name the playlist: myPlaylist

2. Give a path to the SDP file: myPlaylist.m4e

3. In the Play Mode combo box, select Sequential Looped

4. Click and drag the mp4profile.mp4 file from the list of files to the Playlist items

5. Then click the Save Changes button

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Your playlist will then appear in the list of available playlists.

You can then start and stop it directly by clicking on the play/stop icon on the right of the playlist.

If an error occurs, a red stop sign appears near the play icon. You can click on it to look at the log file.

You can test that your playlist is working by opening the SDP file in your player.

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Restrictions

All the MPEG-4 files that you hint and include in your playlist must be ISMA-compliant and have exactly the same characteristics:

• contain one audio plus one video that have the same duration

• same video properties (video size, frames per second)

• same audio encoding parameters (frequency, stereo/mono).

NOTE You can put files encoded at different bit rate in your playlist only if the

sdp_reference_movie or the first movie in the list has the highest bit rate.

If they do not have the same characteristics, EnvivioTVTM client will play the first stream fine and will probably stop whenever the video size, the number of streams, or any parameter is different in the next MPEG-4 file. This is due to the fact that the SDP file is generated only with regard to one MPEG-4 file (either the sdp_reference_movie or the first movie in the list).

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Chapter 5

Load Balancer

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Load Balancer

Overview

The Load Balancer distributes traffic efficiently among video servers so that no individual server is overburdened. The master server redirects the player towards a randomly chosen slave server.

1. The player connects to the server.

2. The master server makes a random selection, and redirects the player to another server (4Sight #2).

NOTE The master server can also accept connections acting as a slave server.

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Basic setup

Adding a slave server

To set up the load balancing using the WebAdmin, follow these steps:

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1. Click the configured servers.

2. Check the balancing mechanism on the server.

3. Click New Slave server to add a slave server to the list. The following page is displayed:

4. Enter the IP address, followed by the port number of your slave server, then click the

NOTE If you do not specify the port number, the server will use the default

streaming port.

Load Balancing menu item. You will see a list of your

Enable Load Balancing check box to activate the load

Save Changes button.

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5. The slave server will then be listed, followed by its status (either

Enabled or Disabled).

6. Click Save Changes to confirm your modifications.

Deleting a slave server

To remove a server from the server list, select the IP address of the server you want to delete and click the Delete Slave server link. The server is removed from the list after your confirmation.

NOTE If you remove all the servers from the server list, the default server IP

address will be automatically added to the server list. To remove the default server IP address, add a new address, then delete the default server IP address.

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Chapter 6

Authentication and

Authorization

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Authentication and Authorization

Overview

4Sight provides authentication and authorization services. This is configured using three types of configuration files:

• Access file (for example, qtaccess)

• User file (for example, qtusers)

• Group file (for example, qtgroups)

and the

qtpasswd executable.

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If you want the end user to be prompted for a user name and password when he/she tries to stream a content from the server, follow the steps described below:

1. Create a user file and/or a group file to define the users and groups allowed on your video server.

2. Create passwords for the new users using the qtpasswd utility.

3. Create an access file.

The content of each file and the use of the qtpasswd utility is described in the following sections.

Before going further, you should check that the two properties

modAccess_groupsfilepath and modAccess_userfilepath are set correctly.

The modAccess_qtaccessfilename property specifies the name given to the access files. By default, access files are called qtaccess.

Here is the QTSSAccessModule section of the streamingserver.xml file:

<PREF NAME="modAccess_qtaccessfilename" >qtaccess </PREF>

<PREF NAME="modAccess_groupsfilepath" >/usr/Envivio/4Sight/ Config/qtgroups</PREF>

<PREF NAME="modAccess_usersfilepath" > /usr/Envivio/4Sight/Config/ qtusers</PREF>

</MODULE>

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The streamingserver.xml file also contains two parameters that are used for authentication and authorization:

• default_authorization_realm

The text to display by default in the password dialog boxes

• authentication_scheme

The default authentication scheme to be used by the server (basic, digest, or none)

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User, Group, and Access files

By default, three files are provided as examples in/usr/Envivio/4Sight/

Config

name

User file

The user file contains the list of users and their encrypted passwords. The first line of this file is the realm to be used. This file should not be modified manually (unless you want to modify the realm); use the

qtpasswd utility to edit it.

: qtusers, qtgroups and qtaccess. These files create a user with user

admin, password admin and group admin.

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This is an example of a user file with only one user called admin:

realm Envivio Streaming Server

admin:$dufr$.S5.....$DCUFFaEjQuyqcFbq9XXEk0:e7b400d4a5bb4e1020621ab

84d7c5ed1

NOTE User names cannot be more than 255 characters long and must not

include a colon. Passwords cannot be more than 80 characters long.

Group file

The group file is a list of groups, each of which lists the users in that group.

To add, remove or modify a group, use a simple text editor and modify the group file.

The syntax of a line in the group file is:

groupname : <username> <username> … <username>

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Access file

An access file is a text file containing parameters to control access to a directory for a specific realm, a specific user or a specific group.

There is one access file per protected directory. If an access file is placed in a directory, all the subdirectories are protected in the same way, unless another access file is present in the subdirectory.

The following is a list of parameters accepted in the access file and their possible values.

Parameter name Value

AuthName This is the realm name.

Realm name is displayed in the password dialog boxes.

AuthScheme Can be either "basic" or "digest".

• If basic is selected, a simple

authentication is done with realm, user and password (base64 encoded).

• If digest is selected, a MD5 based

authentication system is used.

AuthUserFile The user file to use in this directory.

AuthGroupFile The group file to use in this directory.

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Parameter name Value

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require user require group

A space separated list of user names or group names. This parameter specifies which users and/or groups are allowed to access the media in this folder.

Two specific cases can be used:

• require any-user

any user is allowed

• require valid-user

any authenticated user is allowed

<Limit [READ|WRITE]>…</Limit> Specifies access control for read and/or

write privileges. If this parameter is not present or set,

all parameters apply for read privileges.

The parameters AuthName, AuthUserFile, AuthGroupFile and require can be defined between the two "Limit" tags.

NOTE Parameter names and values are case sensitive. Respect the case for the

following words:

AuthName, AuthScheme, AuthUserFile, AuthGroupFile, require, Limit, basic, digest

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The qtpasswd utility

The qtpasswd utility lets you create a user file, and to add and delete users. To create a user, the name of the user is mandatory.

The syntax is the following:

qtpasswd -f filename [-F] [-c] [-r realm] [-p password] [-d] username

The following are optional flags that can be used:

[-f] Password file to modify (defaults to the value set in

streamingserver.xml)

[-F] Does not confirm when deleting users or overwriting existing

files

[-c] Creates a new user file

[-r] Realm to use when creating a new file with "-c"

Default: "

[-p] Allows entry of the password at command line rather than

prompting for it

[-P] File to read the password from rather than prompting for it

[-d] Deletes the specified user

[-h] Displays usage

Envivio Streaming Server"

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Configuration example

You can have multiple access files, user files, and group files. One way to configure your server is to have one movie folder associated to each realm.

For example, if you want to serve both Europe and US from your video server, follow the steps below:

1. Create two movie folders, one called Movie_US, and one called

Movie_Europe.

2. Create a qtaccess file in each of those movie folders with the following parameters:

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Parameter

AuthName 4Sight for US 4Sight for Europe

AuthUserFile path_to_qtusers_US path_to_qtusers_EU

require user user_US1 user_US2 …

Value for US Value for Europe

user_EU1 user_EU2 …

user_USN

user_EUN

3. Create the password file with a specific realm by running:

qtpasswd -f _to_qtusers_US -c -r "4Sight US" user_US1 qtpasswd -f _to_qtusers_EU -c -r "4Sight EU" user_EU1

4. Then create a password entry for all the other users by running:

qtpasswd -f qtusers_US user_USx qtpasswd -f qtusers_EU user_EUx

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Chapter 7

External authorization

module

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External authorization module

Overview

The Authorization module allows you to develop your own access control for the movies stored on the server.

By adding specific information into the URL, you will be able to apply your own dedicated authorization mechanism.

4Sight calls a function in the Authorization module for every incoming RTSP request:

bool ESSRequestAuthorization(char* inURL, char* inIPAddress, char* inQueryString);

where:

• inURL is the path to the movie – for example, if the request is

rtsp://192.178.155.10/tutorial1/file.mp4, the URL is tutorial1/ file.mp4.

• inIPAddress is the IP address of the player requesting the movie,

• inQueryString is extra information from the player that is included in

the URL after '?'. This information can include a user name and any specific information that you need. The field is

NULL if nothing has

been specified in the URL.

• The return value is true if you want to accept the RTSP request or

false to refuse the RTSP request.

URL example:

rtsp://192.178.155.10/tutorial1/file.mp4?user=julien&auth=123

See “Basic example of external authorization module” on page 68.

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Installing the authorization module

This document explains how to install the external authorization module.

1. Stop 4Sight.

2. Create a new directory called plugins in your server directory.

3. Copy your authorization library into the plugins directory.

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4. Open the server configuration file,

5. Update the following lines in the

<PREF NAME="auth_lib_file">path_to_your_library</PREF>

</MODULE>

streamingserver.xml.

ESSExternalAuthModule section:

6. Restart the server.

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Basic example of external authorization module

AuthModuleTestLib.h

extern "C" { bool ESSRequestAuthorization(char* inURL, char* inIPAddress, char* inQueryString); }

AuthModuleTestLib.cpp

#include "AuthModuleTestLib.h" #include <stdio.h> bool ESSRequestAuthorization(char* inURL, char* inIPAddress, char* inQueryString) { char buf[256]; bool authorize = false; if(inQueryString != NULL) { sprintf(buf, "IP Address : %s\nRequested URL: %s\nQuery String: %s\nAuthorize ?",

inIPAddress, inURL, inQueryString);

} else { sprintf(buf, "IP Address : %s\nRequested URL: %s\nAuthorize ?", inIPAddress, inURL);

} char c; int result; printf( "%s (y)es (n)o ?", buf); do { c = getchar();

} while ( c!='y' && c!='n' ); if ( c == 'y') { authorize = true;

} else { authorize = false;

} return authorize; }

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SNMP monitoring

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Using SNMP monitoring

The 4Sight Video Server supports monitoring using the SNMP protocol. This makes 4Sight Video Server plugable into any of the network monitoring software like HP OpenView for example.

You can also use an SNMP browser like the one from MG-SOFT monitor one or more 4Sight Video Server at the same time. Open source solution like NET-SNMP

During the installation, all the necessary MIBs are copied to the

c:\Envivio\snmp\mibs directory (or /usr/Envivio/snmp/mibs for Linux

and MacOSX). You can find them there.

Two MIBs are necessary for monitoring a 4Sight Video Server using SNMP:

(2)

can also be used.

(1)

• ENVIVIO-COMMON-MIB.txt that is needed for all Envivio products

• ENVIVIO-4SIGHT-MIB.txt that is specific for 4Sight

1. MG-SOFT MIB Browser, http://www.mg-soft.com

2. NET SNMP, http://net-snmp.sourceforge.net

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Monitoring 4Sight using MG-SOFT MIB Browser

NOTE This example is for windows only.

Once you have downloaded and installed the MIB Browser, follow these steps to compile the two MIBs mentioned above:

1. From the

Compiler

Start>Program Files>MG-Soft MIB Browser menu, select MIB

2. Compile the MIB: go to the Tools>Batch Compile menu, select the

C:\Envivio\snmp\mibs folder and click OK.

3. Click the Save All button, then click OK. This will save all the compiled MIBs in the correct folder for MIB Browser.

4. Exit the MIB compiler.

Your MIBs are now ready to be used in the MIB Browser. Follow these steps to tell the MIB Browser which MIBs to use:

5. From the Start>Program Files>MG-Soft MIB Browser menu, select MIB Browser.

6. From the

MIB tab, select the MIBs that you want to load from the

bottom panel, then click the up arrow to load them. You need to select at least

4SIGHT-MIB.txt

ENVIVIO-COMMON-MIB.txt and ENVIVIO-

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Your MIB Browser is now ready to be used with the 4Sight Video Server:

7. In the MIB Browser, return to the Query tab and enter the 4Sight IP address in the Remote SNMP agent field and select in the menu. Select

SNMP>Contact, then expand the MIB tree to see the 4Sight Video

Server.

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You can now query all the fields available in the 4Sight Video Server MIB. The following graphic gives the output of a "walk" query on the envivio node.

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Enabling SNMP trap reception

The 4Sight Video Server uses traps to notify the SNMP monitor of events and alarms. To receive those traps, the monitor needs to be registered as a trap listener for 4sight. Each 4Sigth Video Server can send traps to up to ten trap listeners

Follow the steps below to register the MIB Browser (IP Address

192.168.105.32) as a trap receiver for 4Sight Video Server (IP Address

192.168.105.138):

1. In the MIB Browser look for the TrapConfig node in the common MIB.

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2. Right click on the destinationIpAddress node and select Set.

3. Double click on the first instance and specify the IP address of the MIB Browser

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4. Repeat the operation for the first instance of the destinationEnable node and set it to On.

Your MIB Browser is now configured to receive the traps generated by the 4Sight Video Server.

The following graphic is an example of a "Disk Full" alarm.

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Appendix A

How-To

Page 78

How to update an SDP file

In order to successfully open a multicast stream, you simply need to open the associated SDP file in a player. In the case of a relay or a switcher, you will need to update the information contained in the SDP file before opening it.

For example, let's say we are relaying multicast address 236.130.82.35, ports 6850 and 6852 towards address 235.55.58.54 ports 6002 and 6004. You will need to follow these steps to visualize the final stream:

1. Retrieve the SDP file created by one of the sources, for example, Envivio 4Caster.

2. Change the IP address (c=) and port (m=) to those defined in the output settings.

In our example, change:

• c=IN IP4 236.130.82.35/1 to c=IN IP4 235.55.58.54 for the IP

address,

• m=video 6850 RTP/AVP 96 to m=video 6002 RTP/AVP 96,

• m=audio 6852 RTP/AVP 97 to m=audio 6004 RTP/AVP 97 for the port

numbers and so on for each m= line.

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How to link to a streamable content in a web page

You can link to an MPEG-4 streamed file directly into an HTML page. Opening the link will start an external player that will be used to read the file.

The two ways of doing that are listed below:

1. Use an anchor element pointing to an M4E file:

<a href="movie.m4e">Movie</a>

where movie.m4e contains: url=rtsp://server/movie.mp4

2. Or use an anchor with an RTSP URL:

<a href="e-rtsp://server/movie.mp4">Movie</a>

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How to embed a streamable content in a web page

When you embed a content in a web page, no external player is used and the content is played directly in the web page.

This can be done either with the Windows Media Player or with EnvivioTV ActiveX plugin:

• With the Windows Media Player

standby="Loading file in Windows Media Player..."

classid="clsid:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"

codebase="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/ nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,0,02,902"

type="application/x-mplayer2">

</object>

• With the EnvivioTV ActiveX plugin

91D48AE1F4D1" >

</object>

You can display an MPEG-4 streamed file directly into an HTML page.

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What is a hint track

To be streamed, an MPEG-4 file has to be hinted. The server uses hint tracks in an MPEG-4 file to packetize the media into RTP streams.

During the preparation of the MPEG-4 file for streaming, one hint track is added to the MPEG-4 file for each track whose media will be streamed over RTP. The hint tracks within the MPEG-4 file provide the information needed to turn the media into RTP packets.

These hint tracks are part of the MPEG-4 atom structure, and are similar to Apple QuickTime file format.

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Can I use multicast over Internet?

Multicast will work on a LAN if multicast forwarding is enabled on the routers between the network segments (unless your router does not support multicast mode). However, this will not usually work across the Internet since most of the routers are not configured to support multicast, and you cannot be sure which routers will be used by your streams. Clients that are located behind routers, that do not implement multicasting can still receive a multicast by requesting the stream from a reflector.

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Appendix B

The Video Server

configuration file parameters

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General parameters

The following are general parameters, valid across all modules of the server:

Keyword Value

rtsp_port

default_authorization_realm

authentication_scheme Set this to be the authentication scheme

do_report_http_connection_ip_address When behind a DNS round robin, the client

Port(s) for accepting client connections NOTE: Add port 80 to this list if you are

streaming across the Internet and want clients behind firewalls to be able to connect to the Video Server.

The text to display as the login entity "realm" in the client is defined by default_authorization_realm. If the default realm is not defined here, then the default realm is set to "Streaming Server". The realm used in a response can also be dynamically set by authorizing modules.

you want the server to use. "basic", "digest", and "none" are the currently supported values.

needs to be told the specific IP address of the server handling its request. This preference tells the server to report its IP address in the reply to the HTTP GET request when tunneling RTSP through HTTP.

tcp_seconds_to_buffer

The "scaling factor" to appropriately scale the buffer size. Using the bitrate of the movie as a guide, the server will set the TCP send buffer to fit this number of seconds of data.

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max_tcp_buffer_size

min_tcp_buffer_size

error_logging

screen_logging

logs_folder

module_folder

pid_file

safe_play_duration

Maximum size the send buffer can be set to.

Minimum size the send buffer can be set to.

Either "true" or "false". This toggles error logging on and off.

If screen_logging is true, all error messages will be written to the terminal window.

Note that in order to see these messages on screen, the server must be launched from the command-line, and must be launched in foreground mode (triggered by the addition of the -d flag).

Path to the folder containing the log files.

Path to the folder containing dynamic loadable server modules.

Path to the pid file.

If the server discovers it is serving more than its allowed maximum bandwidth (using the average bandwidth computation) it will attempt to disconnect the most recently connected clients until the average bandwidth drops to acceptable levels. However, it will not disconnect clients if they have been connected for longer than this time, in seconds. If this value is set to 0, it will never disconnect clients.

average_bandwidth_update

total_bytes_update

This is the interval in seconds between computations of the server's average bandwidth.

The interval in seconds between updates of the server's total bytes and current bandwidth statistics.

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bind_ip_addr

rtp_timeout

maximum_bandwidth

maximum_connections

real_rtsp_timeout

This tells the server what IP address(es) it should accept client connections on. A value of 0 means all IP addresses currently enabled for the machine.

Amount of time in seconds the server will wait before disconnecting idle RTP clients. This timer is reset each time the server receives an RTCP status packet from the client.

Maximum amount of bandwidth (in kbps) the server is allowed to serve. If this limit is exceeded, new client requests for additional streams will receive the RTSP error 453, "Not Enough Bandwidth"

Maximum number of concurrent connections allowed by the server.

rtsp_timeout is the time-out that gets reported to the client. This is the actual time-out value.

rtsp_timeout

Thinning parameters

The following preferences configure the server thinning algorithm. They are all in milliseconds.

Keyword Value

drop_all_packets_delay If a packet is only sent this far ahead of when

drop_all_video_delay If a video packet passes this delay, it is dropped.

Amount of time in seconds the server will wait before disconnecting idle RTSP clients. This timer is reset each time the server receives a new RTSP request from the client.

the client needs to play it, it is dropped

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always_thin_delay If a packet passes this delay, thin some more.

thin_all_the_way_delay If a packet is only sent this far ahead of when

the client needs to play it, the server thins the stream as much as possible.

start_thinning_delay If a packet is this late, we might thin some more.

start_thicking_delay If the server is sending packets this far ahead of

when the client needs them, it will attempt to add a little bandwidth to the stream

thick_

quality_check_interval The server checks packet delay differences at

all_the_way_delay

More general parameters

Keyword Value

append_source_addr_in_transport If this is true, the server will add its source

alt_transport_src_ipaddr The server appends its own IP address into the

send_interval Minimum time in msec the server will wait

If a packet is this late, restores full quality.

this interval.

address to its transport headers. This is necessary on certain networks where the source address is not necessarily known.

transport header. If you want an alternate address placed there, use this preference to specify the address.

between sending packet data to a client.

max_send_ahead_time The server tries to get ahead of clients.

overbuffer_rate Rate at which to overbuffer the

This is the farthest ahead in seconds that the server can go.

max_send_ahead_time.

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Reliable UDP parameters

Keyword Value

max_retransmit_delay Maximum interval between when a retransmit

small_window_size If the client does not explicitly say what its

medium_window_size If the client does not explicitly say what its

is supposed to be sent and when it actually gets sent. Lower values means smoother flow but slower server performance.

window is, the server will use this as a default value. Specified in kilobytes.

large_window_size If the client does not explicitly say what its

window is, the server will use this as a default value. Specified in kilobytes.

window_size_threshold Bit rate (in kbps) at which the server switches to

medium window size.

window_size_max_threshold Bit rate (in kbps) at which the server switches to

large window size.

rtcp_poll_interval Time in msec between server checks for

incoming RTCP packets. Longer interval means better server performance but less accurate estimates of packet round-trip-times.

rtcp_rcv_buf_size Size in kilobytes for the RTCP UDP socket

receive buffers. This needs to be large to absorb bursts of RTCP ACKs. Lower value may mean ACKs will get dumped by the kernel.

reliable_udp Enable/disable reliable UDP protocol.

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reliable_udp_dirs If reliable UDP is enabled, specify the

reliable_udp_slow_start Enables or disables reliable UDP slow start.

RTSP debugging parameters

Keyword Value

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directories in which it is enabled. Directories should be relative to the movies folder, with a leading slash but no trailing slash. For example: /reliable_udp_dir

Disabling this may lead to an initial burst of packet loss due to the misestimation of the client's available bandwidth. Enabling this may lead to early thinning.

RTSP_error_message Enable debugging error messages in RTSP error

response.

RTSP_server_info Enable the server to send informations about

itself.

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Specific parameters

These parameters are module-specific.

Reflector module parameters

Keyword Value

enforce_static_sdp_port_range Turns on or off checking static ports in SDP files

against a valid range. If an SDP file is played and it contains a port outside the static SDP range, then an invalid media error is returned to the client. Announced broadcasts will also receive the invalid media error from the server for setups on an invalid static port.

maximum_static_sdp_port The maximum value for a static port.

minimum_static_sdp_port The minimum value for a static port.

Access Log module parameters

Keyword Value

enabled

filename

rotation_size

enforce_static_sdp_port_range.

See

enforce_static_sdp_port_range.

See

Either "true" or "false". This toggles access logging on and off.

Name of the access log file (default is 4SightAccess)

Maximum allowed size in bytes for the access log. A value of 0 means unlimited

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rotation_interval Amount of time in days between rolls of the access

use_gmt_time Either "true" or "false". Log date time field in GMT if

Error Log modules parameters

Keyword Value

enabled Either "true" or "false".

filename Name of the access log file (default is 4SightAccess)

rotation_size Maximum allowed size in bytes for the access log. A

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log. A value of 0 means unlimited.

true and in local time if false

This toggles access logging on and off.

value of 0 means unlimited

rotation_interval Amount of time in days between rolls of the access

verbosity Verbosity of the logger (between 0 and 10)

Access module parameters

Keyword Value

modAccess_qtaccessfilename The file name for the Access module access file as it

modAccess_groupsfilepath The default path and file name for the Access module

modAccess_usersfilepath The default path and file name for the Access module

log. A value of 0 means unlimited.

appears in controlled directories.

group list.

user list.

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WebAdmin parameters

Keyword Value

RequestTimeIntervalMilli The minimum delay (in milliseconds) between

LocalAccessOnly Only requests from 127.0.0.1 are allowed if

Authenticate Require admin requests to authenticate with the server.

enable_remote_admin Turn on or off remote admin request processing.

IPAccessList A list of IP addresses that are allowed to make admin

processing each admin request.

LocalAccessOnly is true If set to false, then IP addresses as defined by the IPAccessList may make requests.

requests. LocalAccessOnly must be set to false before network addresses will be accepted. A wildcard of * is allowed for designating ranges. *.*.*.* means all addresses.

AdministratorGroup The user has to belong to this group in order to be

File module parameters

Keyword Value

sdp_url This URL will be included in the

admin_email This email address will be included in the

authorized by the admin module for admin requests.

dynamically generated SDP returned to the client. Typically, this should be set to your default web URL.

dynamically generated SDP returned to the client.

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max_allowed_speed

max_allowed_scale Maximum scale for fast forward and fast

flow_control_probe_interval When sending packets to the client, the

enable_shared_file_buffers enable_private_file_buffers num_shared_buffer_increase_per_session shared_buffer_unit_k_size private_buffer_unit_k_size num_shared_buffer_units_per_buffer num_private_buffer_units_per_buffer max_shared_buffer_units_per_buffer max_private_buffer_units_per_buffer add_seconds_to_client_buffer_delay record_movie_file_sdp enable_movie_file_sdp

File module accepts the RTSP Speed header, which controls the overall play rate. This is the maximum rate it will allow.

backward.

connection may sometimes get flow controlled. When that happens, the server periodically checks to see if the condition has been lifted. This is how often it checks.

Parameters used for file management.

Flow control module parameters

Keyword Value

loss_thin_tolerance num_losses_to_thin

If a client reports loss percentages greater than loss_thin_tolerance, over the course of num_losses_to_thin consecutive RTCP (status) packets, the server will drop the bitrate of stream.

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loss_thick_tolerance num_losses_to_thick

num_worses_to_thin After this number of RTCP packets where the client is

If a client reports loss percentages l loss_thick_tolerance, over the course of

num_losses_to_thick consecutive RTCP (status) packets,

the server will increase the bitrate of the stream.

reporting degrading quality, the server will drop the bitrate of the stream.

Multiple movie folders parameters

Keyword Value

movies_folders List of extra movie folders.

Relay parameters

Keyword Value

ess than

relay_prefs_file Path to the relay preferences file.

Switcher parameters

Keyword Value

switcher_prefs_file

time_to_wait_for_synchro

switch_timeout

Path to the stream switcher preferences file.

After this amount of time (in ms), the switcher will try to force the switch.

If switch did not occur by this time (in ms), it will be cancelled.

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Licensing module parameters

Keyword Value

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license_file_dir

Path to the license file.

Load balancing module parameters

Keyword Value

enabled

slave_server

Enable/disable load balancing.

List of server IP addresses for load balancing.

External authentication parameters

Keyword Value

enabled

auth_lib_file

Enable/disable an external authentication library.

Path to the authentication library.

Recorder module

Keyword Value

record_folder

Location of the recorder movies

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Appendix C

The Playlist Broadcaster

configuration file

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Figure 1. Playlist configuration file parameters

Keyword Value

playlist_file

play_mode

sdp_reference_movie

broadcast_name

destination_ip_address

destination_base_port

Playlist filename and path. The path can be absolute or relative.

Three modes are available

• sequential: The media is broadcast in the order it

appears in the playlist file. When the last media file is done playing, the broadcast stops.

• sequential_looped: The media is broadcast in the order it

appears in the playlist file. When the last media file is done playing, the playlist repeats in the same order.

Reference movie file path and name. The absolute or relative pathname of the reference movie, which can be one of the media files you are broadcasting.

Name of the playlist

The default value is the loopback address 127.0.0.1.You can also specify a unicast or multicast IP address

The base port number for the broadcast must be an even number. If you do not specify a port number, the default port (5004) is used.

sdp_file

destination_sdp_file

announce_type

session_name

broadcast_SDP_is_dynamic

Path and name of the SDP file. The path can be absolute or relative path. This parameter is mandatory.

Needs to be set to the same value as sdp_file.

Specify the announce type for this playlist. Value can be "SAP", "RTSP" or "None". If not specified, value will be "None"

Name of the SAP session if announce_type is SAP.

Can be either "enabled" or "disabled".

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Keyword Value

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broadcaster_name

broadcaster_password

multicast_ttl

pid_file

logging

log_file

sap_session_name

User name if one needs to be provided to the destination address.

Password to be provided to the destination address.

Time to live of the multicast packets in the case of a multicast playlist.

PID file of the broadcaster. This file is mandatory if you want to use the Playlist Broadcaster in both command line and WebAdmin.

Can be either "enabled" or "disabled". If you enable logging, the Playlist Broadcaster records information about the broadcast in the log file, including error messages.

Path and name of the log file. If you enable logging but do not specify a file, then the Playlist Broadcaster creates a file with the name of the playlist followed by "." in the same directory as the playlist configuration file.

In case of an SAP announce, use this session name

output_interface

Use this local interface to broadcast the playlist

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