Pinnacle Systems MediaCentral - 2.2 Installation Manual
Date Revised
Version
Changes Made
March 26, 2015
1.0
First publication
Added support for HP ProLiant DL360 Gen9 server:
MediaCentral® Platform Services
Version 2.2 Installation and Configuration Gu ide
MCS Version: 2.2
Document Version: 1.1.1
Important Information
This document provides instructions to install and configure Avid MediaCentral Platform
Services (MCS) V2.2 for use with MediaCentral | UX 2.2. For a complete list of qualified
products, see the Avid MediaCentral V2.2 ReadMe.
For the latest information on the MediaCentral Platform Services, see the documentation
available from the MediaCentral Services page of the Avid Knowledge Base. Updates are
occasionally issued after initial release.
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/readme/Avid-MediaCentral-Version-2-2-xDocumentation
Important: Search the Avid Knowledge Base MCS 2.2 web page for the most up-to-date
Avid MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide, which contains the latest
information that might have become available after this document was published.
Note: For information on upgrading to MCS 2.2 from an earlier release, see the Avid MCS
2.2 Upgrading Guide, available from the Avid Knowledge Base
Note: For information on configuring Media | Index, see the Avid Media | Index
Configuration Guide, which is currently available internally only.
Revision History
April 16, 2015 1.1
MCS 2.2 web page.
- “Obtaining the Storage Controller Driver ISO for the HP
ProLiant Gen9 Server” on page 52.
- “Preparing the HP ProLiant Gen9 Server Installation USB
Key” on page 55.
- “Changing BIOS Settings and Creating RAIDs on the HP
ProLiant Gen9” on page 62.
MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Date Revised
Version
Changes Made
- Updated “Installing RHEL and the MCS Software” on page 76
Updated “Setting Up the RAID Level 1 Mirrored System Drives
to include Gen9 driver installation.
Corrected PostgreSQL port number.
April 16, 2015 1.1.1
(Gen9)” on page 66.
Updated “Setting Up the RAID Level 5 Cache Drives (Gen9)” on page
68.
About MCS 2.2
Please see the MediaCentral Platform 2.2 ReadMe and any ReadMe do cu ments pertaining to
the solution(s) by which MCS is used.
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Contents
Important Information ....................................................................................................................... 1
Revision History .................................................................................................................................. 1
P
ART I: INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................... 11
Welcome .................................................................................................................................................. 12
About this Guide ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Licensing ................................................................................................................................................... 13
Front End License Configuration .......................................................................................................... 13
Delivery of Licenses on Back-End Systems ........................................................................................... 14
Intended Audiences and Prerequisites .................................................................................................... 14
Basic Installation Skills .......................................................................................................................... 14
Clustering Skills ..................................................................................................................................... 15
Interplay | MAM Skills .......................................................................................................................... 15
Additional Documentation ....................................................................................................................... 15
Installing the MediaCentral | UX iPhone, iPad or Android Mobile Applications ................................. 15
RHEL Vulnerabilities and Patches ......................................................................................................... 16
Avid Knowledge Base ........................................................................................................................... 16
MCS Connectivity ..................................................................................................................................... 17
MediaCentral | UX Connectivity .......................................................................................................... 17
Interplay | MAM Connectivity ............................................................................................................. 17
Multi-Zone ............................................................................................................................................... 18
Media | Index ........................................................................................................................................... 18
Deployment Options ................................................................................................................................ 19
MediaCentral – iNEWS Only ................................................................................................................. 20
MediaCentral – Interplay | Production Only ........................................................................................ 21
MediaCentral – iNEWS and Interplay | Production ............................................................................. 22
Media Composer | Cloud Only ............................................................................................................. 23
Both MediaCentral and Media Composer | Cloud (Shared MCS) ........................................................ 24
Interplay | MAM................................................................................................................................... 25
Port Bonding in Interplay | MAM ..................................................................................................... 26
Port Requirements ................................................................................................................................... 26
DNS Requirements ................................................................................................................................... 27
Caching in MCS ......................................................................................................................................... 28
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
The Dedicated Caching Volume ........................................................................................................... 29
Caching for Interplay | MAM ............................................................................................................... 30
Caching for iOS Devices in MediaCentral ............................................................................................. 30
Caching for MediaCentral | Cloud ........................................................................................................ 30
Working with Linux .................................................................................................................................. 30
Installing Linux ...................................................................................................................................... 31
Linux Concepts ..................................................................................................................................... 31
Key Linux Directories ............................................................................................................................ 31
Linux Command Line ............................................................................................................................ 32
Linux Text Editor (vi) ............................................................................................................................. 34
Linux Usage Tips ................................................................................................................................... 36
Volumes in Linux .................................................................................................................................. 37
Clock Synchronization in Linux ............................................................................................................. 37
Time Zones in RHEL .............................................................................................................................. 37
RAIDs in MCS ............................................................................................................................................ 38
Introduction to Clustering ........................................................................................................................ 39
Single Server Deployment .................................................................................................................... 39
Cluster Deployment .............................................................................................................................. 40
Multicast vs Unicast ............................................................................................................................. 40
Working with Gluster ........................................................................................................................... 41
P
ART II: INSTALLING & CONFIGURING ........................................................................................................... 42
Installation Workflow............................................................................................................................... 43
Before You Begin ...................................................................................................................................... 46
Security Updates .................................................................................................................................. 46
Make Sure the Host Solutions Are Installed and Running ................................................................... 46
Make Sure You Have the Following Items ............................................................................................ 46
Make Sure You Can Answer the Following Questions ......................................................................... 47
Make Sure You Have All the Information You Need ............................................................................ 49
Make Sure You Change the Default Passwords ................................................................................... 49
Obtaining the Software ............................................................................................................................ 50
Obtaining the MCS Installation Package .............................................................................................. 50
Obtaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux ..................................................................................................... 52
Obtaining the Storage Controller Driver ISO for the HP ProLiant Gen9 Server ................................... 52
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Obtaining Gluster ................................................................................................................................. 53
Obtaining Additional Packages ............................................................................................................. 53
Preparing the MCS Installation USB Key .................................................................................................. 54
Preparing the HP ProLiant Gen9 Server Installation USB Key .............................................................. 55
Preparing the HP ProLiant Gen8 (or Other ) Server Installation USB Key ............................................ 58
Copying Gluster to the USB Key ........................................................................................................... 59
Installing the Network Interface Cards .................................................................................................... 60
Connecting to ISIS Proxy Storage ......................................................................................................... 61
Connecting to non-ISIS Proxy Storage .................................................................................................. 62
Changing BIOS Settings and Creating RAIDs on the HP ProLiant Gen9 ................................................... 62
Setting the System Clock and Disabling HP Power Saving Mode (Gen9) ............................................. 62
Setting Up the RAID Level 1 Mirrored System Drives (Gen9) .............................................................. 66
Setting Up the RAID Level 5 Cache Drives (Gen9) ................................................................................ 68
Changing BIOS Settings and Creating RAIDs on the HP ProLiant Gen8 ................................................... 70
Setting the System Clock and Disabling HP Power Saving Mode (Gen8) ............................................. 70
Setting Up the RAID Level 1 Mirrored System Drives (Gen8) .............................................................. 72
Setting Up the RAID Level 5 Cache Drives (Gen8) ................................................................................ 74
Installing RHEL and the MCS Software ..................................................................................................... 76
Booting RHEL for the First Time ............................................................................................................... 80
Booting from the System Drive ............................................................................................................ 81
Security Updates .................................................................................................................................. 82
Changing the root Password ................................................................................................................ 82
Verifying the Date and Time ................................................................................................................. 82
Setting the Time Zone .......................................................................................................................... 83
Editing the Network Connections ............................................................................................................ 84
Identifying NIC Interfaces by Sight ....................................................................................................... 85
Verifying the NIC Interface Name ........................................................................................................ 85
Swapping NIC Interface Names ............................................................................................................ 87
Removing the MAC Address Hardware References ............................................................................. 88
Ensuring the NIC Interface Comes Up at System Startup .................................................................... 89
Configuring the Hostname and Static Network Ro ute ......................................................................... 90
Verifying the hosts file Contents .......................................................................................................... 92
Verifying Network and DNS Connectivity ............................................................................................. 94
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Synching the System Clock ....................................................................................................................... 94
Creating the File Cache on the RAID ........................................................................................................ 96
Partitioning the RAID ............................................................................................................................ 96
Creating the Logical Volume, Filesystem and Mounting the Cache ..................................................... 97
Installing the MediaCentral Distribution Service ................................................................................... 101
Determining Where to Install MCDS .................................................................................................. 101
Before You Begin ................................................................................................................................ 102
Configuring MCS for Interplay | MAM ................................................................................................... 103
Configuring MCS for MediaCentral and/or Media Composer | Cloud .................................................. 105
Configuring Workflow ........................................................................................................................ 105
Before You Begin ................................................................................................................................ 106
Configuring the MediaCentral UI ....................................................................................................... 108
Logging into MediaCentral ................................................................................................................. 109
Setting the System ID and Changing the Administrator Password .................................................... 113
Configuring iNEWS Settings ................................................................................................................ 114
Configuring Interplay | Production Settings ...................................................................................... 115
Configuring MCPS for Interplay | Production .................................................................................... 116
Configuring the MCPS Player.............................................................................................................. 118
Configuring the MCPS Player for Media Composer | Cloud .............................................................. 119
Configuring the ISIS Connection(s) ..................................................................................................... 119
Mounting the ISIS System(s) .............................................................................................................. 121
Verifying the ISIS Mount..................................................................................................................... 122
Verifying Video Playback .................................................................................................................... 123
Configuring Wi-Fi Only Encoding for Facility-Based iOS Devices ....................................................... 123
P
ART III: CLUSTERING ................................................................................................................................ 125
Setting up the Server Cluster ................................................................................................................. 126
Clustering Workflow .............................................................................................................................. 129
Before You Begin ................................................................................................................................ 130
Configuring the Hosts File and Name Services File ................................................................................ 130
Adding Host Names and IP Addresses to the hosts file ...................................................................... 131
Optimizing the Lookup Service Order: Editing the Name Service Switch File .................................... 132
Setting Up DRBD .................................................................................................................................... 133
Starting the Cluster Services .................................................................................................................. 136
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Joining the Cluster .................................................................................................................................. 139
Replicating the Cluster File Caches using Gluster .................................................................................. 140
Gluster Workflow ............................................................................................................................... 140
Before You Begin ................................................................................................................................ 142
Mounting the USB Key ....................................................................................................................... 143
Installing Gluster ................................................................................................................................ 144
Unmounting and Removing the USB Key ........................................................................................... 145
Creating the Trusted Storage Pool ..................................................................................................... 145
Configuring the GlusterFS Volumes ................................................................................................... 147
Setting Gluster Volume Ownership .................................................................................................... 149
Making the RHEL Cache Directories ................................................................................................... 150
Changing Ownership and Mounting the GlusterFS Volumes in Linux................................................ 152
Testing the Cache ............................................................................................................................... 153
Ensuring Gluster is On at Boot ........................................................................................................... 154
Reconfiguring the MCPS Player for MediaCentral in a Cluster .............................................................. 154
P
ART IV: INSTALLING THE MAM CONNECTOR ............................................................................................. 156
Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 157
MAM Connector Installation Workflow ................................................................................................. 157
Before You Begin .................................................................................................................................... 158
Preparing the MAM Connector Installation USB Key ............................................................................ 158
Bringing the Cluster Offline .................................................................................................................... 159
Installing the MAM Connector ............................................................................................................... 160
Uninstalling the MAM Connector .......................................................................................................... 161
P
ART V: MULTI-ZONE CONFIGURATION ...................................................................................................... 163
Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 164
Making Changes to a Multi-Zone Configuration ................................................................................ 164
Multi-Zone Workflow ............................................................................................................................. 165
Creating and Installing the RSA Keys ..................................................................................................... 165
Creating the Master Zone and Initiating Multi-Zone Environment ....................................................... 167
Adding Slave Zone(s) to the Multi-Zone Environme nt .......................................................................... 169
Validating Multi-Zone Functionality ...................................................................................................... 171
Troubleshooting the Multi-Zone Setup ................................................................................................. 172
Bus Error ......................................................................................................................................... 172
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Failed to Resolve Zone URL ............................................................................................................ 173
Errors in Zone Configuration .......................................................................................................... 173
Errors During Setup ........................................................................................................................ 174
Dismantling a Multi-Zone Environment ................................................................................................. 174
P
ART V: POST-INSTALLATION ..................................................................................................................... 177
Determining the Installed MCS Version ................................................................................................. 178
Verifying ACS Bus Functionality ............................................................................................................. 178
Verifying Cache Directory Permissions .................................................................................................. 179
Validating the FQDN for External Access ............................................................................................... 180
Securing the System ............................................................................................................................... 181
Enabling and Securing the Player Demonstration Web Page ................................................................ 181
Backing up the MCS System Settings and the MCS Database ............................................................... 182
Monitoring Services and Resources ....................................................................................................... 185
Identifying the Master, Slave and Load-Balancing Nodes ..................................................................... 186
Tables of Services, Resources and Utilities ............................................................................................ 187
Single Node Deployment .................................................................................................................... 187
Cluster — All Nodes ............................................................................................................................ 189
Cluster — Master Node Only ............................................................................................................. 192
Cluster — Pacemaker Resources ........................................................................................................ 193
Monitoring the AAF Generator Service ................................................................................................. 194
Monitoring MCS High-Availability .......................................................................................................... 195
Monitoring Load Balancing .................................................................................................................... 197
Observing Failover in the Cluster ........................................................................................................... 198
Testing the Cluster Email Service ........................................................................................................... 201
Changing the Cluster Administrator Email Address ............................................................................... 202
Reconfiguring MediaCentral Settings in a Cluster ................................................................................. 203
Taking a Cluster Node Off-Line Temporarily .......................................................................................... 203
Permanently Removing a Node from a Cluster ..................................................................................... 203
Adding a New Node to a Cluster ............................................................................................................ 204
Retrieving MCS Logs ............................................................................................................................... 206
Log Cycling ............................................................................................................................................. 207
Using SNMP Monitoring on the MCPS Server........................................................................................ 207
Migrating the ICP Database from Windows to Linux ......................................................................... 208
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Backing up and Restoring the MCS Database ........................................................................................ 208
Reconfiguring the ISIS Connection(s) ..................................................................................................... 209
Appendix A: Installing MCS on Non-HP Hardware ................................................................................. 211
Non-HP Installation Notes .................................................................................................................. 211
Appendix B: Installing MCS on Dell Hardware ....................................................................................... 213
Setting Performance Profile ................................................................................................................... 213
Verifying RAIDs ....................................................................................................................................... 213
Deleting the RAIDs ................................................................................................................................. 213
Creating the RAIDs ................................................................................................................................. 213
Deleting the System Disk Partition Table on Preconfigured Systems .................................................... 214
Editing the Kickstart File ........................................................................................................................ 219
Booting from the USB Key...................................................................................................................... 219
Additional Notes .................................................................................................................................... 221
Appendix B: Configuring Port Bonding for Interplay | MAM (Optional) ............................................... 221
Verifying the Ethernet Ports ............................................................................................................... 222
Configuring the Port Bonding ............................................................................................................. 222
Appendix C: Migrating the UMS Database with the User Management Utilities Tool .......................... 225
Appendix D: Installing the Chrome Extension for MediaCentral MOS Plug-Ins .................................... 228
Setting Up Your Browser .................................................................................................................... 228
Enabling MOS ..................................................................................................................................... 228
Installing Plug-Ins ............................................................................................................................... 228
Uninstalling the Chrome Extension .................................................................................................... 229
Appendix E: Enabling MediaCentral MOS Plug-Ins in IE9 ...................................................................... 229
Sample ActiveX Object in the Preferences File .................................................................................. 230
Appendix F: Unicast Support in Clustering ............................................................................................ 231
Appendix G: Installing the Interplay | Production License for MediaCentral........................................ 234
Appendix H: Configuring iNEWS for Integration with MediaCentral ..................................................... 235
Verifying MediaCentral Licenses on iNEWS ....................................................................................... 235
Editing SYSTEM.CLIENT.VERSIONS ..................................................................................................... 236
Editing SYSTEM.CLIENT.WINDOWS .................................................................................................... 237
Appendix I: Installing and Configuring the Avid MediaCentral | UX Mobile Application for iPad or iPhone
............................................................................................................................................................... 239
Before You Begin ................................................................................................................................ 239
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
iNEWS Configuration for iPad and iPhone Integration ...................................................................... 239
Editing SYSTEM.CLIENT.VERSIONS ..................................................................................................... 240
Adding iPad and iPhone Devices to the iNEWS Configuration File .................................................... 241
Installing Avid Central on the iPad or iPhone ..................................................................................... 243
Appendix J: Installation Pre-Flight Checklist .......................................................................................... 244
System ID and Default Password Information ................................................................................... 244
Contact Information ........................................................................................................................... 244
Hardware ............................................................................................................................................ 245
Software ............................................................................................................................................. 245
Network Settings ................................................................................................................................ 246
NTP Time Server ................................................................................................................................. 246
MCS Server Information ..................................................................................................................... 246
Cluster Information ............................................................................................................................ 247
iNEWS Information ............................................................................................................................. 248
MediaCentral and Media Composer | Cloud Information ................................................................. 248
Interplay | Production Information.................................................................................................... 249
ISIS Information .................................................................................................................................. 250
Interplay | MAM Information ............................................................................................................ 251
Copyright and Disclaimer ....................................................................................................................... 252
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
PART I: INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Welcome
Welcome to the MCS Installation and Configuration Guide. This document will guide you
through the installation and set up of the MediaCentral Services (MCS) software components. It
provides step by step instructions to visually verify the hardware setup, install Linux and the
MCS software, and configure the software systems that will make use of MCS. It also provides
detailed steps for optional activities, for example: setting up a cluster of MCS servers, or
configuring for an iPad-only deployment.
Note: Beginning with version 2.0, the term “MediaCentral Services” replaces “Interplay
Central Services.” In addition, the term “MediaCentral Playback Services” replaces
“Interplay Central Playback Services.”
MCS is a set of software services running under the Linux operating system. MCS serves layouts
for applications, provides user authentication, manages system configuration settings, and
provides proxy-based playback of video assets over the network to web-based and mobile
clients.
MCS supports several different Avid Integrated Media Enterprise (IME) solutions, including
MediaCentral | UX, and Media Composer | Cloud, and Interplay | MAM. MCS installs on its own
set of servers, distinct from the IME solution it is supporting. Multiple MCS servers can be
clustered together to obtain one or more of high-availability, load balancing and scalability.
Note: Refer to the “MediaCentral Platform Services Hardware Guide” for detailed
information on hardware specifications and deployment options. The guide is available
on the Avid Knowledge Base
The installation and configuration steps vary depending on the deployment model, target
hardware, and optional steps. For example, installations on qualified HP servers can use an
express process involving a USB key and the Avid-supplied kickstart (ks.cfg) file. Kickstart files
are commonly used in Linux installs to automatically answer questions for hardware known in
advance. On non-HP servers you must install Red Hat Enterprise Linux manually.
Note: All decisions pertaining to hardware, deployment model, optional activities (such
as setting up a cluster), network connections (GigE vs 10GigE), must be made before
beginning the installation. If these decisions have not been taken, or, to verify a non-HP
server, please consult an Avid representative.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux — sometimes just called Red Hat, but referred to in this guide as RHEL
— is a commercially supported, open source version of the popular Linux operating system. No
matter what the deployment model and target hardware, the installation of RHEL is mandatory.
Note: MCS requires RHEL 6.5. Do not install any OS updates or patches if they are not
approved by Avid. Do not upgrade. Do not run the Linux yum update command. For more
information, see “
RHEL Vulnerabilities and Patches” on page 16.
MCS 2.2 web page.
For more information on Red Hat see “Working with Linux” on page 30. RHEL licensing and
support options are covered in the “MediaCentral Platform Services Hardware Guide”,
available on the
12
Avid Knowledge Base MCS 2.2 web page.
MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Note: Clock setting and synchronization play an important role in some MCS
deployments. For a discussion of the issues associated with clock synchronization and
using a time server to set the system clock, see “Clock Synchronization in Linux
37.
” on page
About this Guide
This guide provides all the instructions you need to set up MCS 2.2. The installation and
configuration is complex and can be difficult, particularly if you are unfamiliar with Linux.
The following tips will ensure a smooth installation:
• Read the whole guide, thoroughly and all the way through, before beginning the
installation process.
• Gather all the information required to perform the install before you start. Waiting until
the information is called for by an installation step will result in considerable delays.
• For a list of required information, see “Appendix J: Installation Pre-Flight Checklist
• Complete all the relevant sections in the pre-flight checklist for your deployment.
Licensing
Licenses must be installed on an iNEWS server, an Interplay | Production server, or both. No
licenses are installed on the MediaCentral Services server.
For Interplay | Production, the license types are J (Interplay | Production Base license) and G
(Advance license).
• Base license: Can connect to only one system type: iNEWS or Interplay | Production.
• Advance license: Can connect to both system types: iNEWS and Interplay | Production,
” on
page 244.
Access is limited to specific panes.
with access to all panes.
Note: Please refer to the “MediaCentral Administration Guide” for licensing details, such
as the panes and features made available by each license type. The guide is available
with other MediaCentral v2.2 documentation on the Avid Knowledge Base:
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/readme/Avid-MediaCentral-Version-2-1-xx-Documentation
Front End License Configuration
You specify the type of license for each MediaCentral role in the Details tab of the Users layout.
For more information, see "MediaCentral Client Licensing" in the Avid MediaCentral
Administration Guide.
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Delivery of Licenses on Back-End Systems
An iNEWS client license or an MediaCentral mobile license for a specified number of clients is
sent to the customer through email along with specific installation instructions. However, to
ensure proper licensed integration between MediaCentral and iNEWS, additional modification
to system files in the iNEWS database is also required.
For more information see “Appendix H: Configuring iNEWS for Integration w ith Me d i a C e ntral
on page 235.
An Interplay | Production license for a specified number of clients is supplied to the customer on
a USB flash drive as a file with the extension nxn.
For more information, see “
MediaCentral” on page 234.
Appendix G: Installing the Interplay | Production License for
Intended Audiences and Prerequisites
This guide is aimed at the person responsible for performing a fresh install of MCS, or upgrading
or maintaining an existing MCS installation. It can also be used by someone creating a cluster of
MCS nodes out of a non-clustered setup. In particular, the following audiences have been
identified:
• Avid Professional Services: Avid personnel whose responsibilities include installing and
upgrading the MCS system, at a customer’ facility.
• Avid Channel Partners and Resellers: Selected organizations qualified by Avid to educate,
market, sell, install, integrate and provide support for the Avid product line, including MCS.
• In-House Installers: Clients with a sophisticated in-house IT department that has expertise
in systems integration and Linux (including networking, port-bonding, etc.). This kind of
person might be called on to add a new server to an already established cluster of MCS
servers, for example.
”
Basic Installation Skills
The following skills are needed to perform the basic installation:
• Windows: Format a USB key, unzip files, etc.
• Server: Access to the physical server, booting/rebooting, interrupting startup screens to
enter BIOS and other utilities, navigating and altering BIOS, setting up RAIDs.
• Network Interface Cards (NICs): Identify a NIC, knowledge of which NIC interface is
being used.
• Linux (install): Previous experience installing Linux is preferred but not essential,
knowledge of manually installing RPM files will be helpful.
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
• Linux (general): Work with Linux directories (cd, mkdir, ls), create volumes,
mount/unmount directories, volumes and devices (e.g. USB key), verify the status of a
Linux service.
• Linux (file editing): Use the Linux text editor (vi) to open/create files, add/delete text,
save/close files, etc.
• Networking: An understanding of network topologies and Ethernet protocols (TCP/IP),
using ping command, verify/change a NIC card Ethernet interface (i.e. eth0).
• System Clocks: Setting the system clock in BIOS and in Linux. For a discussion of system
clock options, see “Clock Synchronization” on page 37
.
Clustering Skills
The following skills are desirable for setting up a cluster of MCS nodes:
• Gluster: Familiarity with Gluster, as it is used to create a shared pool of storage,
including starting/stopping Gluster services, creating shared storage pools, creating
GlusterFS volumes, etc.
• Networking: A basic understanding of unicast or multicast and IP networking. An
advanced understanding of networking in Linux would be helpful, but is not essential,
since all instructions are provided.
Interplay | MAM Skills
The following skills are desirable or setting up MCS for Interplay | MAM (port bonding optional):
• Port Bonding (general): Knowledge of theory and practice of port bonding (also called
link aggregation).
• Port Bonding (Linux): Understanding contents and purpose of Linux network-scripts
directory, editing interface configuration (ifcfg-ethN) files, restarting network services.
Note: Port bonding is an option that is exclusive to Interplay | MAM installations. Do not
perform port bonding when performing any other kind of install.
• Interplay | MAM configuration: Ability to work as administrator in Interplay | MAM.
Additional Documentation
This section points to sources of additional documentation the might be required to complete
the installation.
Installing the MediaCentral | UX iPhone, iPad or Android Mobile Applications
The Avid MediaCentral | UX mobile application is a native user interface designed to run on the
Apple iPad, Apple iPhone, or supported Android device. The mobile apps enable direct, secure
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
access to your station’s iNEWS system. The iPad and iPhone apps additionally provide ac ce ss to
your Interplay | Production databases.
For iOS installation information, see “
MediaCentral | UX Mobile Application for iPad or iPhone” on page 239.
For Android installation information, see the “Media C en tr al | UX User’s Guide”, or the Android
app help. The Android app can be downloaded here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avid.avidcentral
Appendix I: Installing and Configuring the Avid
.
RHEL Vulnerabilities and Patches
Once you have installed RHEL, please apply any RHEL patches. For a list of approved patches, see
the “Avid MediaCentral Platform v2.2 ReadMe”.
Avid Knowledge Base
The Avid KB is a good resource for up-to-date information and additional documentation,
including instructions on installing SSL certificates, applying approved RHEL patches, etc. To
search for documentation related to MCS 2.0 use the search terms “mediacentral 2.0
documentation” at the following link:
http://www.avid.com/US/search?q=&site=kbase&filter=0&subfilters
For instructions on installing SSL certificates see the following article:
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/how_to/SSL-Certificates-for-server-to-browserconnections
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
MCS Connectivity
Before examining specific deployment optio ns it can be helpful to have an understanding of
where MCS sits in terms of connectivity to other Avid components.
MediaCentral | UX Connectivity
Interplay | MAM Connectivity
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Multi-Zone
By default, MCS operates within a single environment such as a particular facility, or department
within a facility. A single facility may in fact house numerous MCS systems, each of which, by
default, operates independently. In a multi-zone configuration, two or more single-zone systems
are joined together. These can even be separated geographically — for example, one server or
cluster could be located in Toronto and another in Munich.
Once joined together as multi-zone environment, user information and media assets are
sharable between the different zones. For example, a user in one zone can find media assets in
remote zones, and transfer them to their local zone for use in their local work. In addition,
multi-zone features centralized user management across all zones.
Multi-zone is configured once you install and set up the independent zones.
For more information, including instructions for configuring a multi-zone environment, see
“P
ART V: MULTI-ZONE CONFIGURATION” on page 163.
Media | Index
MediaCentral UX provides two methods of searching your asset databases. First, federated
search allows you to query single or multiple databases in your local zone to find media
available to your local MediaCentral UX configuration. Second, Media Index allows you to search
using the central index, which comprises both storage and a query engine.
The central index receives its data from the original data sources — generally, the databases of
multiple asset management systems, including Interplay Production, MAM and iNEWS — and
then pushes the data to the service that does the indexing.
Media | Index is installed with MCS by default, b ut the Media Index services are not started. You
configure Media Index after you have installed and set up the MCS system.
You can configure Media Index in both a single- and a multi-zone configuration. If you use MCS
in a multi-zone environment, you must first configure the multi-zone components.
The following key services are needed for delivering media and assets between Interplay
Production workgroups or MediaCentral zones:
• Elasticsearch
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
• Interplay Media Services Automation
• Interplay Consolidate
• Interplay Delivery
• Production Engine Bus Connector (PEBCo)
For more information, see the Avid Media | Index Configuration Guide.
Deployment Options
MCS is a collection of software services designed to sup po r t a number of Avid enterprise
solutions and deployment options. Since each deployment scenario has different hardware and
software configuration requirements (and playback characteristics), it will be helpful to have a
high-level overview of the deployment of interest before proceeding.
As noted, the installation follows one of these basic deployment models:
• MCS for MediaCentral
o iNEWS only
o Interplay | Production only
o iNEWS and Interplay | Production
• MCS for Media Composer | Cloud
• MCS for MediaCentral and Media Composer | Cloud (Shared MCS)
• MCS for Interplay | MAM
This section provides an overview of each of these deployments.
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
MediaCentral – iNEWS Only
One of the most straightforward deployments is MCS for MediaCentral in an iNEWS-only
environment; that is, with connections to iNEWS but no connection to Interplay | Production. In
this deployment MCS provides the ability to browse and edit iNEWS content (queues, stories)
from a remote web client. The ability to browse, play and edit associated video requires
Interplay | Production and is not provided by the iNEWS-only deployment.
The iNEWS-only deployment typically requires a RAID 1 (mirrored RAID) for the Linux operating
system. Since MCS is not providing playback of any video assets, there is no need for caching, so
the media cache volume referred to in this guide is not required. Typically, a single MCS server is
sufficient. Two MCS servers configured as a cluster provide high-availability.
Note: The iNEWS-only deployment can be
on smaller, less expensive server hardware.
Refer to the “MediaCentral Platform Services Hardware Guide” for detailed information
on hardware specifications and deployment options. The guide is available on the
Avid
Knowledge Base MCS 2.2 web page.
Deployment Summary:
• Browse and edit iNEWS content
• RAID 1 required
• Media cache volume not required
• Clustering yields high-availability
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
MediaCentral – Interplay | Production Only
MCS for MediaCentral with Interplay | Production has connections to Interplay | Production
only. In this deployment MCS serves layouts for applications, provides user authentication,
manages system configuration settings, and provides proxy-based playback of video assets over
the network to web-based and mobile clients.
images and sound to the remote web-based Media Central | UX c
MCS decodes the source format and streams
li
ent.
This deployment typically requires two HDs configured as a RAID 1 (mirrored RAID) for the Linux
operating system. No iOS devices implies no special caching requirements; however, Multicam
requires a media drive. You can configure two or more MCS servers as a cluster to obtain highavailability and load balancing.
Deployment Summary:
• Browse and play video assets
• RAID 1 required
• Media cache volume required
o RAID 5, or
o RAID 1, or
o Single HD
• Clustering yields high-availability and load-balancing
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
MediaCentral – iNEWS and Interplay | Production
MCS for MediaCentral with iNEWS and Interplay | Production has both iNEWS connectivity and
Interplay | Production connectivity. Similarly to the iNEWS-only deployment, this provides the
ability to browse and edit iNEWS content (queues, stories) from a remote web client. Interplay |
Production connectivity provides the ability to browse, play and edit associated video.
In this deployment MCS serves layouts for applications, provides user authentication, manages
system configuration settings, and provides proxy-based playback of video assets over the
network to web-based and mobile clients. MCS decodes ISIS source formats and streams images
and sound to the remote web-based MediaCentral client.
This deployment typically requires two HDs configured as a RAID 1 (mirrored RAID) for the Linux
operating system. In a configuration where the iOS application is used, the MCS server should
also have a media cache volume. Multicam also requires a media cache volume. You can
configure two or more MCS servers as a cluster to obtain high-availability and load balancing.
Deployment Summary:
• Browse and edit iNEWS content
• Browse and play the associated video assets
• RAID 1 required
• Media cache volume required
o RAID 5, or
o RAID 1, or
o Single HD
• Clustering yields high-availability and load-balancing
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Media Composer | Cloud Only
MCS for Media Composer | Cloud provides playback of different format video assets
reg
i
stered by Interplay | Production and residing on an ISIS. MCS decodes the source format
and streams images and sound to the remote Media Composer | Cloud enabled Media
.
Composer or NewsCutter
This deployment typically requires two HDs configured as a RAID 1 (mirrored RAID) for the
Linux operating system. A media cache is also required. In its most basic form, the Media
Composer | Cloud deployment is a single MCS server.
servers as a cluster to obtain high-availability and load balancing
You can configure two or more MCS
.
Deployment Summary:
• Browse and play the video assets for MediaCentral | Cloud enabled Media Composer
and/or NewsCutter
• RAID 1 required
• Media cache volume required for iOS deployments and/or multicam workflows. It is not
required for Media Composer | Cloud alone.
o RAID 5, or
o RAID 1, or
o Single HD
• Clustering yields high-availability and load-balancing
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Both MediaCentral and Media Composer | Cloud (Shared MCS)
MediaCentral and Media Composer | Cloud can easily share the same MCS server(s). In this
deployment, MCS serves layouts for applications, provides user authentication, and manages
system configuration settings. MCS also
different format v
i
deo assets registered by Interplay | Production and residing on an ISIS.
MCS decodes the source format and streams images and sound to the remote web-based
MediaCentral and/or Media Compose r | Cloud c
This is the most sophisticated deployment model, since other elements can also be present,
including iNEWS and/or iOS applications.
provides proxy-base playback over the network of
li
ents
.
This deployment typically requires a RAID 1 (mirrored RAID) for the Linux operating system. In a
configuration with iOS devices (as with iNEWS), the MCS server should also have a media cache
volume. If iOS devices are not deployed, it has no media cache volume requirements; however,
multicam requires a media cache volume. You can configure two or more MCS servers as a
cluster to obtain high-availability and load balancing.
Deployment Summary:
• Browse and play video assets
• Browse and play video assets
for MediaCentral | Cloud enabled Media Composer and/or NewsCutter
• RAID 1 required
• Media cache volume required
o RAID 5, or
o RAID 1, or
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
o Single HD
• Clustering yields high-availability and load-balancing
Interplay | MAM
In an Interplay | MAM deployment, MCS provides playback of video assets registered as a
browse proxies by Interplay | MAM. The registered browse proxies can reside on standard
filesystem storage, or proprietary storage that provides a stand ard system gateway. The
Interplay | MAM deployment presents two main options – setting up a media cache volume,
and port bonding to improve throughput.
This deployment typically requires a RAID 1 (mirrored RAID) for the Linux operating system.
Under some circumstances – see “Caching in MCS” on page 28
– the MCS server should also
have a media cache volume. You can configure two or more MCS servers as a cluster to obtain
high-availability and load balancing.
Deployment Summary:
• Browse and play video assets
• RAID 1 required
• Media cache volume might be required
o RAID 5, or
o RAID 1, or
o Single HD
• Clustering yields high-availability and load-balancing
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
MediaCentral
80
TCP inbound
MediaCentral Playback Services (MCPS)
443
Secure TCP
MediaCentral HTTPS calls (communication
843
TCP Inbound
Serving Flash Player socket policy files
5000
TCP Inbound
Playback service (loading assets, serving
MediaCentral
80
TCP Inbound
MediaCentral Playback Services (MCPS)
443
Secure TCP
MediaCentral HTTPS calls (communication
Port Bonding in Interplay | MAM
Port bonding (also called link aggregation) is an OS-level technique for combining multiple
Ethernet ports into a group, making them appear and behave as a single port. Ethernet ports
correspond to the physical connectors in a NIC card where network cables are plugged in.
Bonded ports retain their individual cable connections to the network router or switch.
However, they are seen by the network as a single port.
Port bonding must be configured in “round-robin” mode. In this mode, Ethernet packets are
automatically sent, in turn, to each of the bonded ports, reducing bottlenecks and increasing the
available bandwidth. For example, bonding two ports together in round-robin increases
bandwidth by approximately 50% (some efficiency is lost due to overhead).
In MAM deployments of MCS, port bonding improves playback performance when multiple
clients are making requests of the MCS server simultaneously. With port bonding, more
concurrent playback requests can be sustained by a single server, especially for file-based
playback. File-based playback is a playback method for which a single port-bonded MCS server
can support thousands of requests.
For instructions on port bonding see “
MAM (Optional)“ on page 221.
Port Requirements
The following table lists the MCS port requirements for the client-side applications (the browserbased MediaCentral application and mobile applications). Ports 80 and 443 are required for the
HTTP(S) traffic. In addition, the Adobe Flash Player (running inside the browser) requires ports
843 and 5000.
For more information see the MCS Security Architecture and Analysis document.
Component Port Protocol and
Web application
Appendix B: Configuring Port Bonding for Interplay |
Usage
Direction
HTTP calls (file streaming from MCPS)
Inbound
with MediaCentral server)
mobile applications
26
Inbound
JPEG images, and audio, etc.). Output flow
to client serving inbound request.
HTTP calls (file streaming from MCPS)
with MediaCentral server)
MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
MediaCentral
80, 443
MCPS
843 (Flash), 80, 5000, 26000
MCS
8000 (optional Admin UI), 8183 (bus cluster info)
ISIS
5000 – 5399 (UPD and TCP)
RabbitMQ
5672 (AMQP), 15672 (Management UI/API)
MongoDB
27017
PostgreSQL
5432
System
22, ICMP, 111, 24007, 24008, 24009-(24009 + number of bricks
The following table lists the server-side port requirements. For more information see the MCS
Security Architecture and Analysis document.
Service Name Port
across all volumes for Gluster). If you will be using NFS, open
additional ports 38465-(38465 + number of Gluster servers). Some
MAM configuration might require additional NFS ports (111, 2049
tcp & udp) or CIFS (137,138 udp and 137,139 tcp). Other filesystems
will have to be checked individually (Isilon, Harmonic Omneon,
etc.).
DNS Requirements
A complete discussion of Domain Name System (DNS) requirements for MediaCentral is a
network topology issue beyond the scope of this document. The principal requirement is that
the host names you assign to the MCS nodes must be resolvable by the DNS name servers
encountered by the MediaCentral client.
Some deployments — such as those making use of Network Address Translation (NAT) — can
fall short when the DNS name resolution process succeeds from inside the corporate firewall,
but fails from outside. In such cases, end-users can log in to MediaCentral and browse storage,
but clips refuse to play.
Note: Currently, connecting to MediaCentral through NAT is supported only for single-server
configurations, not clusters.
The following diagram illustrates the process by which the MediaCentral client uses DNS to
establish a playback session. In particular, note that if the fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
and host name fail to resolve, the playback session makes use of the private-range IP address
supplied by the load-balancing algorithm running on the master node. This is fine when the
MediaCentral client is operating within the corporate firewall.
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
However, outside the corporate firewall (not shown) the private-range IP address (e.g.
192.XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX) supplied by the load-balancing algorithm is not accessible. Thus, if the
MediaCentral client is to connect from outside the corporate firewall, the FQDN must also be
resolvable from outside the firewall. For VPN connections this is a non-issue. In the NAT
deployment model, NAT must be configured to resolve the FQDN.
For a browser-based query to validate the data — host, FQDN, IP address — returned by the
load-balancing algorithm see “Validating the FQDN for External Access” on page 180
Caching in MCS
In its work to provide proxy-based playback of video assets over a network, MCS generates
temporary files in certain workflows. For example, MCS deployed for Interplay | MAM typically
generates a multitude of temporary files as it converts proxies from their native MAM formats
into formats compatible with the player. The MCS multicam feature introduced in ICS 1.5
produces numerous temporary files. By default, MCS caches temporary files on the system
drive. Better performance is achieved by allocating a dedicated media cache volume (separate
from the system drive) for the temporary files. In a clustering setup, an open-source software
solution called GlusterFS is also used.
.
Note: All
media caching. The open-source GlusterFS is also required, for file replication between
clustered caches.
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MediaCentral deployments making use of multicam require a dedicated volume for
MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
/cache
Stores GlusterFS volumes. It is also used to store some MCS related
/cache/metadata
This is the result of gathering resolution and frame rate info from
/cache/fl_cache
Files rendered for http-based streaming are saved here. For Interplay |
/cache/download
Links to media available in /cache/fl_cache. This is used to obfuscate
/cache/render
Contains jpeg proxies used for the Multicam 2x2 and 3x3 playback.
/cache/spooler
Contains the dynamic relink request queue and replies from the Media
/cache/mob-fetch
The AAF parsing and quality match folder. Cache of per-track DR result
/cache/gluster
Volume used by GlusterFS directly. It is used to support
Note: This document provides instructions for creating a media cache volume as a RAID
5 using multiple disks in the server enclosure. However, other configurations are
possible, including two drives in a RAID 1 configuration, or a single drive. For details, see
the “MediaCentral Platform Services Hardware Guide”.
The Dedicated Caching Volume
All MCS servers require a RAID 1 that mirrors the operating system across two HD drives. Some
deployments also require a media cache volume consisting of the remaining disks in the
enclosure, used exclusively for MCS file caching. In a RAID 5 volume (recommended), the disk
controller automatically distributes (stripes) data across all the disks in the RAID 5, yielding
increased performance and redundancy.
In an MCS server cluster the media cache volume is taken one step further. An open source
software solution called GlusterFS (or just Gluster) is used to replicate the contents of the media
cache volumes across each server in the cluster. In this way, each MCS server in the cluster can
make use of file data already transcoded and cached by the others.
Note: All
volume for caching. The open source GlusterFS is also required, for file replication between
clustered caches.
MediaCentral deployments making use of multicam require a dedicated media cache
The following table summarizes what is stored in the cache volumes:
Component Usage
information.
media file opened by Central. Deprecated.
MAM this means media converted to FLV for file-based playback. For
MediaCentral UX this includes media converted to Mpeg2TS for iOS
playback (e.g. iPhone, iPad).
the path to the media and simplify the link for iOS playback.
Index (MI).
in a format internal to ICS.
/cache/fl_cache, /cache/download and /cache/render.
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MCS 2.2 Installation and Configuration Guide
Caching for Interplay | MAM
For caching, it is important to understand how MAM browse proxies get from proxy storage to
the MAM desktop. For each playback request, MCS does one of the following:
• File-based playback (native): When MAM proxies are in a format that an Adobe Flash-
based player can play natively, MCS serves the proxy file as-is to the remote web-based
client. Adobe Flash-based players natively play MP4-wrapped h.264/aac or FLV. This is
the least CPU-intensive playback mode.
• File-based playback (alternate): When file-based playback requests are made of proxy
formats that cannot be played natively by an Adobe Fl a s h-based player, MCS transcodes
the proxy into FLV, which is stored in the MCS file cache on the media cache volume.
This is then served to the remote web-based client. MCS regularly scans the media
cache, and, when necessary, the least-requested files are purged.
The above playback method has a one-time CPU hit on initial playback request for each
asset, but is subsequently very light because the same cached file is served.
• Frame-based playback: This playback mode is the same one used by MediaCentral, and
is required in MAM for “growing file” workflows and variable-speed playback. In this
case MCS decodes the proxy and streams images and audio to the remote web-based
client frame-by-frame. This is the most CPU-intensive playback mode.
MCS for Interplay | MAM requires a dedicated media cache volume when registered browse
proxies include formats that cannot be natively loaded in the Adobe Flash player. For example, if
MAM registered browse proxies are MPEG-1, Sony XDCAM, MXF or WMV, a media cache
volume are needed in MCS. This guide includes instructions for setting up a RAID level 5 cache.
Caching for iOS Devices in MediaCentral
In a MediaCentral deployment where an iOS application is used, the MCS server should have a
dedicated media cache volume.
Caching for MediaCentral | Cloud
Media Composer | Cloud
Composer and/or NewsCutter). With the introduction of multicam support for MediaCentral
| Cloud (in ICS 1.5) there is a lso a dedicated media cache volume requirement for
MediaCentral | Cloud. This is a result of server-side caching of the multicam “grid” of proxy
images. MediaCentral | Cloud continues to cache video and audio locally.
Working with Linux
caches the video and audio it receives locally on the editor (Media
As noted, RHEL is a commercially supported, open source version of the Linux operating system.
If you have run DOS commands in Windows or have used the Mac terminal window, the Linux
environment will be familiar to you. While many aspects of the MCS installation are automated,
much of it requires entering commands and editing files using the Linux command-line.
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