Polycom RAS200A
Administrator’s Guide
Version 1.0.0
August 2006
P/N 3725-18101-001B
Trademark Information
Polycom®, the Polycom logo design, SoundStation®, SoundStation VTX 1000®, ViaVideo®, ViewStation®, and
Vor tex ® are registered trademarks of Polycom, Inc. Conference Composer™, Global Management System™,
ImageShare™, iPower™, MGC™, PathNavigator™, People+Content™, PowerCam™, Pro-Motion™, Siren™,
StereoSurround™, Visual Concert™, VS4000™, and VSX™ are trademarks of Polycom, Inc. in the United States and
various other countries.
All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Patent Information
The accompanying product is protected by one or more U.S. and foreign patents and/or pending patent applications
held by Polycom, Inc.
Disclaimer
This software is provided 'as is' with no explicit or implied warranties in respect of its properties, including, but not limited
to, correctness and fitness for purpose.
Copyright Information
© 2006 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved.
Polycom Inc.
4750 Willow Road
Pleasanton, CA 94588-2708
USA
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for
any purpose, without the express written permission of Polycom, Inc. Under the law, reproducing includes translating
into another language or format.
As between the parties, Polycom, Inc. retains title to, and ownership of, all proprietary rights with respect to the software
contained within its products. The software is protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty
provision. Therefore, you must treat the software like any other copyrighted material (e.g., a book or sound recording).
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is accurate. Polycom, Inc. is not responsible
for printing or clerical errors. Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Portions of the VSX software are copyright © 2001 by Dr. Brian Gladman. The following terms and
disclaimer apply only to Dr. Gladman's AES encryption implementation:
Copyright © 2001, Dr. Brian Gladman, brg@gladman.me.uk, Worcester, UK. All rights reserved.
License Terms
The free distribution and use of this software in both source and binary form is allowed (with or without
changes) provided that:
1. distributions of this source code include the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the
following disclaimer;
2. distributions in binary form include the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
disclaimer in the documentation and/or other associated materials;
3. the copyright holder's name is not used to endorse products built using this software without specific
written permission.
Contents
About This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Documentation Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -v
Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -v
Contacting Polycom Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -vi
1 Overview of Polycom RAS200A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Features and Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Minimum System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
2 Configuring the Polycom RAS200A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Logging In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Entering Licensing Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Changing the Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Viewing or Changing Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Changing System Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Setting up MGC Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Editing MGC Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Deleting MGC Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Contents
3 Maintaining the Polycom RAS200A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Shutting Down the Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Rebooting the Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Downloading Log Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Upgrading the Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Performing a Factory Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Maintaining the Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Backing up the Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Restoring the Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
4 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Checking the Server Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Verifying the MGC Device Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Using the Failure Viewer Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
iii
Administrator’s Guide
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
iv
About This Guide
This document, Polycom RAS200A Administrator’s Guide, describes how to
configure, maintain, and troubleshoot errors for the Polycom RAS200A server.
Documentation Resources
In addition to this guide, the available documentation that describes the
Polycom RAS200A server includes:
• Polycom RAS200A Getting Started Guide
• Deployment Guide
• Alcatel OmniPCX Enterprise User’s Guide
Conventions
This guide follows these conventions:
• Boldface indicates an action that you perform in the application.
• Blue italics indicate references to other sections in this document.
• Italics indicate another related document.
v
Polycom RAS200A Administrator’s Guide
Contacting Polycom Technical Support
For additional help, contact your Polycom Administrator or Polycom
Technical Support at one of the following:
• 1-800-POLYCOM
• 408-474-2050
• techsupport@polycom.com
vi
Overview of Polycom RAS200A
The Polycom RAS200A server provides a video conferencing management
application that enables video communications in point-to-point and
multipoint video conferences.
Features and Capabilities
The Polycom RAS200A has the following features and capabilities
• Registration, maintenance, and management of VSX and PVX video
endpoints.
1
• Registration, maintenance, and management of MGC devices, to enable
multipoint video conferences.
• Video conference creation, modification, and deletion.
• Enabling of point-to-point and multipoint calls.
Minimum System Requirements
To interact with the Polycom RAS200A, the client computer must meet the
following minimum system requirements:
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional, SP2
• Internet Explorer 5.5
• Intel Pentium-II processor
• 64 MB RAM (128 MB is recommended)
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Administrator’s Guide
1 - 2
Configuring the Polycom RAS200A
This chapter describes how to configure the Polycom RAS200A.
Logging In
You access the Polycom RAS200A through Microsoft Internet Explorer.
To access the Polycom RAS200A
1. Launch Internet Explorer.
2
2. Type the IP address of the system in the Address line, and press Enter.
For example:
To log in to the Polycom RAS200A
>>
Enter the Administrator’s password, and click Login. The default
password is
To download documentation for PVX VOA
1. On the Login screen, click the Downloads link.
2. In the screen that appears, select the guides or guides that you want to
download, and click OK.
http://YOUR_SERVER’S_IP_ADDRESS
admin
.
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Administrator’s Guide
Figure 2-1 Login Screen
To log out of Polycom RAS200A
>>
Click the red arrow, , in the upper-right corner of the screen.
Entering Licensing Information
The Polycom RAS200A server includes a trial license for 50 seats, which allows
you to start using the product immediately. The trial license is valid for up to
60 days, starting with the date of first time setup. In addition, you receive one
or more license certificates, according to your order. You must activate each
license to receive a license number.
Note: Licenses are available in 50, 100, and 200 seats. The Polycom RAS200A
supports a maximum of 500 seats.
To obtain a software license number
1. Go to System Setup > Licensing. Record the Polycom RAS200A serial
number, which is listed in the middle of the Licensing screen.
____________________
2. Go to http://extranet.polycom.com/.
3. Log in or create a new user account.
4. Go to Polycom Resource Center Home > Product Activation.
5. Enter the Polycom software license number listed on the license
certificate and the serial number you recorded in step 1.
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6. Click Generate.
Configuring the Polycom RAS200A
7. When the license number appears, record it.
__________-__________-_________-___________
__________-__________-_________-___________
To enter the license number in Polycom RAS200A
1. Go to System Setup > Licensing.
2. On the Licensing screen, enter the new license number and serial number,
and click Update.
The license number appears in the list.
Figure 2-2 Licensing Screen
Changing the Password
Make sure you change the administrative system password after you have
completed the first time setup.
To change the password
1. Open Internet Explorer and log in to the Polycom RAS200A server.
2. Go to System Setup > Change Password.
3. In the Change Password screen, enter the new password, confirm it, and
then click Update.
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Administrator’s Guide
Figure 2-3 Change Password Screen
Viewing or Changing Profiles
The Polycom RAS200A uses a profile to create conferences on the MGC and
can create a profile automatically when you add an MGC to the Polycom
RAS200A.
Note: You can only view or change the profile name.
To view or change the current profile name
1. Go to System Settings > Profiles.
The current profile name appears in the Profiles screen.
2. In the Profiles screen, enter the name of the new profile in the Profile
Name field, and click Update.
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Figure 2-4 Profiles Screen
Changing System Settings
You can modify Polycom RAS200A system settings.
Configuring the Polycom RAS200A
To change Polycom RAS200A settings
1. Go to System Setup > System Settings.
2. On the System Settings screen, enter required changes and click Update.
Figure 2-5 System Settings Screen
Note: If you change the IP address, the system requests that you restart the
Polycom RAS200A.
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Administrator’s Guide
In this screen, you specify the following information:
Item Description
System Name Defines the NetBIOS name of the Windows
server. Must be between 6 and 16 characters
long; dashes and underscores are valid
characters.
IP Address Defines the static IP address of the server.
Subnet Mask Defines the network’s subnet mask for the
server’s IP address.
Default Gateway Defines the static IP address of the server’s
gateway.
DNS Server Defines the static IP address of the DNS server.
Current Date Specifies the current system date of the
Polycom RAS200A. If you change the date, the
system date of the Polycom RAS200A also
changes.
Current Time Specifies the current system time of the
Polycom RAS200A. If you change the time, the
system time of the Polycom RAS200A also
changes.
System Time Zone Specifies the time zone in which the system
Auto adjust for daylight savings Select this check box to adjust the clock
Setting up MGC Devices
To monitor and manage MGC devices, you must add them to the Polycom
RAS200A server.
To add MGC devices
1. Go to Directory Setup > Devices.
The List of MGC Devices screen appears. In this screen, you can add,
change, delete, and update the status of MGC devices.
Note: The Polycom RAS200A only lists MGC devices that have registered
with it. You manually register the MGCs by adding them to the List of
MGC Devices screen.
resides.
automatically for daylight savings time.
2 - 6
Figure 2-6 List of MGC Devices Screen
2. Click Add.
The Add Device screen appears.
Configuring the Polycom RAS200A
Figure 2-7 Add Device Screen
3. In the Device Name field, enter the name of the MGC.
4. In the IP Address field, enter the IP address of the MGC controller.
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Administrator’s Guide
5. In the Admin User ID field, enter the administrative user’s login ID for
the MGC.
6. In the Password field, enter the password of the administrative user for
the MGC.
7. In the Priority drop-down list, select High, Medium, or Low. The priority
specifies the order of MGCs to use when you have multiple MGCs. Five is
the lowest priority; zero is the highest priority.
8. Click Update.
9. Repeat steps 7 through 13 to add multiple MGCs.
Editing MGC Devices
You can change device settings for MGCs.
To edit MGC device settings
1. Go to Directory Setup > Devices.
2. In the List of Devices screen, select the device you want to change and
click Edit.
3. In the Edit Device screen, make your changes. You can change the IP
address, the administrative user’s login ID, the administrative user’s
password, and the priority.
Figure 2-8 Edit Device Screen
4. When you are done, click Update.
2 - 8
The List of MGC Devices screen updates to reflect your changes.
Deleting MGC Devices
When you no longer use a specified MGC, you can delete it from your
network.
To delete MGC devices
1. Go to Directory Setup > Devices.
2. In the List of Devices screen, select the device you want to remove and
click Delete.
A confirmation message asks whether you want to delete the selected
item.
3. Click Yes to confirm the deletion or No to cancel your request.
4. If you click Yes, the List of MGC Devices screen updates to remove the
selected item from the list.
Configuring the Polycom RAS200A
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Administrator’s Guide
2 - 10
Maintaining the Polycom RAS200A
This chapter describes how to maintain the Polycom RAS200A server.
Shutting Down the Server
If you need to shut down the Polycom RAS200A system, turn off the power
with the button on the front panel or use remote access to shut d own t he se rver
gracefully.
3
Rebooting the Server
You can reboot the server.
Note: You should only restart the server when a fatal error has occurred.
To restart the server
1. Go to System Settings > Maintenance.
The Maintenance screen appears.
Figure 3-1 Maintenance Screen
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Administrator’s Guide
2. Click Reset Server.
A confirmation message appears asking whether you want to reboot the
server. The following warning message appears.
Figure 3-2 Warning Message
3. Select Continue.
The system automatically reboots.
Downloading Log Files
You can download log files to send to Polycom Technical Support for
troubleshooting purposes.
To download log files
1. Go to System Settings > Maintenance.
The Maintenance screen appears.
2. Click Download Logs.
3. When the File Download dialog box appears, click Save to save the
LogFiles.zip file to your local drive.
Upgrading the Server
You can update the system software by doing one of the following:
• Open Internet Explorer. In the Address line, type the URL
http://www.polycom.com/resource_center and download the updated
software from this location.
• Request a software update on CD-ROM from your Polycom Sales
Representative.
To install a software upgrade
1. Do one of the following:
3 - 2
— If you downloaded the software update from the Polycom Web site,
double-click the executable file to start the installation process.
— If you ordered a CD-ROM, insert it in the CD drive. The installation
process should start automatically.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions in the Installation wizard to complete
the upgrade installation.
Performing a Factory Reset
A factory reset returns the system to its original state, without any
configuration. A factory reset may be required only when an internal system
error has occurred or the server does not start. If possible, you should back up
the database before you perform a factory reset.
Note: You should perform a factory reset only if Polycom Technical Support
informs you it is required. To ensure a successful implementation, you
and Polycom Technical Support should go through this procedure
together.
Maintaining the Polycom RAS200A
To perform a factory reset
1. Insert the System Rescue CD into the CD drive and restart the system.
The system automatically restores the factory default settings. A success
message appears when the original disk image has been restored, which
may take up to ten minutes.
2. Remove the CD from the CD drive and restart the server by turning it off
and then on.
3. Complete the first time setup according to instructions listed in the
Polycom RAS200A Getting Started Guide.
4. Reinstall all software upgrades and restore the database.
Maintaining the Database
Polycom provides a utility, RAS200ABackupRestore.exe, to back up and
restore the internal database. You can run this utility remotely, directly on the
server, or in unattended mode from the command line. If you want to perform
periodic backups, use the following command:
RAS200BackupRestore -backup <backup folder>
For example: RAS200ABackupRestore -backup c:\tmp backs up the database
to the c:\tmp folder.
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Administrator’s Guide
To start this utility
>>
On the server’s desktop, double-click the RAS200ABackupRestore.exe
file.
The Polycom RAS200A Backup and Restore Utility dialog box appears.
The top half enables you to back up the database. For instructions, see
Backing up the Database. The bottom half enables you to restore the
database. For instructions, see Restoring the Database.
Figure 3-3 Polycom RAS200A Backup and Restore Utility Dialog Box
Backing up the Database
When you back up the database, the resulting file that the utility creates has a
.bak extension and a pre-defined name of “DirServicesYYYYMMDD.” For
example, a file created on March 1, 2006 is automatically named
“DirService20060301.bak.”
Note: You can only back up the database to a local drive. It is recommended
that you store the database backup file in a safe network location.
To back up the database
1. In the Server Backup section, in the Folder for backup files: field, type the
Note: Do not include a back slash (\) at the end of the folder name.
2. Click Backup to start the backup process, which takes only a few seconds.
3. If the process is successful, an informational message appears. If the
destination folder name for the database backup file. Alternatively, click
Browse to locate this folder on your local drive.
process is not successful, an error message appears.
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4. If an error message appears, retry the backup procedure.
5. If the error message reappears, contact Polycom Technical Support.
Restoring the Database
Before you start the restoration process, complete the following:
• Lock the database to prevent access during the restoration process.:
• Stop the Polycom service. Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel >
To restore the database
Note: You can only restore the database to a local drive.
1. In the Server Restore section, in the Folder for backup files: field, type the
Maintaining the Polycom RAS200A
Administrative Tools > Services.
full path and name of the input file to use for restoring the database.
Alternatively, click Browse to locate this file.
Note: To prevent database corruption, make sure you identify the correct source file
to use for restoring the database.
2. Click Restore to start the restoration process.
3. If the process is successful, an informational message appears. If the
process is not successful, an error message appears.
4. If an error message appears, retry the restoration procedure.
5. If the error message reappears, contact Polycom Technical Support.
6. After the database has been restored, restart the Polycom service.
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Administrator’s Guide
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Troubleshooting
This chapter describes how to troubleshoot problems on the Polycom
RAS200A server.
Checking the Server Status
On the Login screen, make sure the status of the Polycom RAS200A system is
“Ready.” If the status is “Not Ready,” click the Status link. The server’s status
should change to “Ready” in about five minutes.
4
Verifying the MGC Device Status
On the List of MGC Devices screen, you can check the status column to view
the device status of each MGC. Make sure the status is “Available.” If the
status is “Not Available,” click Refresh. The device’s status should change to
“Available” in about five minutes.
Using the Failure Viewer Utility
The failure viewer utility can provide additional technical information for
Administrators and Polycom Technical Support when calls do not go through
successfully. For example, if a device was busy and rejected a call as a result,
the associated line in the failure viewer includes the participant’s name and the
error description: “Error 486 - Busy here.” This utility is installed and
accessible on the desktop of the Polycom RAS200A server.
To use the failure viewer utility
1. Double-click the Failure Utility icon on the desktop.
The Polycom RAS200A Failure Viewer Utility screen appears.
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Administrator’s Guide
Figure 4-1 Polycom RAS200A Failure Viewer Utility Screen
2. The default path for the log file appears in the Input Log File field. To
select a different input log file, click Browse.
3. Enter the requested information in the Filtering Options section.
4. Click Show Log to display the list of errors based on the specified
filtering options below this section.
5. Click the Close box when you are done.
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Administrator’s Guide
Index
B
backup and restore utility 3-3
C
changing the password 2-3
contacting Polycom Technical Support -vi
conventions in documentation -v
creating conferences 2-4
D
database
backing up 3-4
restoring 3-5
database maintenance 3-3
device documentation
downloading 2-1
documentation resources -v
downloading device documentation 2-1
E
error handling 4-1
F
factory reset 3-3
Failure Viewer utility 4-1
features and capabilities 1-1
L
licensing information 2-2
log files
downloading 3-2
troubleshooting 3-2
logging in 2-1
O
obtaining a license number 2-2
P
password
changing
product overview 1-1
profiles
changing 2-4
viewing 2-4
S
server
accessing 2-1
checking status 4-1
configuring 2-1
resetting 3-3
restarting 3-1
shutting down 3-1
upgrading 3-2
system settings
modifying 2-5
T
troubleshooting 4-1
V
viewing errors 4-1
2-3
M
MGC devices
adding 2-6
changing settings 2-6, 2-8
checking status 4-1
deleting 2-6, 2-9
setting up 2-6
MGC Manager 2-6
minimum system requirements 1-1
Index–1
Index
Index-2
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