VBrick
EtherneTV Portal Server
EtherneTV v4.2.1 Portal Server
Admin Guide
May 9, 2008 4410-0118-0008
Copyright
© 2008 VBrick Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Beaumont Road
Wallingford, Connecticut 06492, USA www.VBrick.com
This publication contains confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information. No part of this document may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any machine-readable or electronic format without prior written permission from VBrick. Information in this document is subject to change without notice and VBrick Systems assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies. VBrick, VBrick Systems, the VBrick logo, StreamPlayer, and StreamPlayer Plus are trademarks or registered trademarks in the United States and other countries. Windows Media is a trademarked name of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other products or services mentioned in this document are identified by the trademarks, service marks, or product names as designated by the companies who market those products. Inquiries should be made directly to those companies. This document may also have links to third-party web pages that are beyond the control of VBrick. The presence of such links does not imply that VBrick endorses or recommends the content of any third-party web pages. VBrick acknowledges the use of third-party open source software and licenses in some VBrick products. This freely available source code is posted at http://www.vbrick.com/opensource.
About VBrick Systems
Founded in 1997, VBrick Systems, an ISO 9001 certified vendor, is a privately held company that has enjoyed rapid growth by helping our customers successfully introduce mission critical video applications across their enterprise networks. Since our founding, VBrick has been setting the standard for quality, performance and innovation in the delivery of live and stored video over IP networks—LANs, WANs and the Internet. With thousands of video appliances installed world-wide, VBrick is the recognized leader in reliable, high-performance, easy-to-use networked video solutions.
VBrick is an active participant in the development of industry standards and continues to play an influential role in the Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA), the MPEG Industry Forum, and Internet2. In 1998 VBrick invented and shipped the world's first MPEG Video Network Appliance designed to provide affordable DVDquality video across the network. Since then, VBrick's video solutions have grown to include Video on Demand, Management, Security and Access Control, Scheduling, and Rich Media Integration. VBrick solutions are successfully supporting a broad variety of applications including distance learning and training, conferencing and remote office communications, security, process monitoring, traffic monitoring, business and news feeds to the desktop, webcasting, corporate communications, collaboration, command and control, and telemedicine. VBrick serves customers in education, government, healthcare, and financial services markets among others.
Contents
Portal Server v4.2.1 Admin Guide
Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x Font Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Related Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Printer-Friendly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1. Introduction
Portal Server Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Server Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Desktop Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Copyright Protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
MySQL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Portal Server Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
End User Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Administrative Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Portal Server Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
VBrick Encoders/Decoders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
ETV VOD Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
ETV Set Top Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
ETV Network Video Recorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
VB-PC Remote Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Amino Set Top Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
WM IP Receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Portal Server Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Downloading Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Port Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Installing Portal Server License Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Admin Console Login . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Admin Console Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Internet Explorer 7.0 Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2. Global Settings
Global Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Custom Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Stream Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Using Secure FTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Add/Modify VOD/FTP Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Add/Modify Video On Demand Content Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
VBricks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Advanced Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
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Control Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Adding Control Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Adding User-Defined VBIRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Connecting Control Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Configuring Control Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Control Device VBIRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Set Top Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Recorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Synchronizing the Portal Server and the NVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Script Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Creating a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Finding VBrick Parameters and Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
URLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Add/Modify a URL for a Live Video Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Add VOD Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Add Non-VOD Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Priority Alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Program Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Manage Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Access Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Extended Logging Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Using EthernetTV Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Using an Excel Spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3. Server Administration
Channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Channel Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Custom Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Modify VOD Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Purchased Content Expiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Expired Content Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Access Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Using LDAP Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Using Single Sign-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Using LDAP Servers with SSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Live Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 User Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Resource Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Logout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
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4. Users and User Groups
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Configuring Users and User Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 1. Setup and Configure ETV Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 2. Choose an Authentication Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 3. Create User Groups on the Portal Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 4. Create Resource Groups on the Portal Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 5. Create Users on the ETV Portal Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 6. Assign Resources to Users or User Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Configuring Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Add/Modify User Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Add/Modify User's Group Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Add/Modify User's Resource Group Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Add/Modify Live Channel Privileges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Add/Modify Live Program Privileges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Allow Access to Specific FTP Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Allow Access to Specific Recorder Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Allow Access to Specific VOD Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Allow Access to Specific VOD Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Allow Viewing by Content Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Allow Content Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Allow Content Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Default Content Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Allow VBrick Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 STB Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Schedule Privileges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Priority Alert Privileges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Copyright Restrictions & Expiration Privileges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Configuring User Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Add/Modify Group Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Add/Modify Group's User Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Add/Modify Group's Resource Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Resource Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Add/Modify Resource Group Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Add/Modify User's Resource Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Add/Modify Group's Resource Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 STB Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Authentication by PIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Authentication by Host Name or IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5. Configuring for SSL
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
1. Generate a Certificate Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
2. Submit a Certificate Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
3. Install the Certificate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
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4. Configure ETV Resources for SSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
6. Network Video Recording
NVR Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
NVR Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
NVR Performance Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
NVR Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Standard NVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Standalone NVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
NVR Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Synchronizing the Portal Server and the NVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
NVR Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Configuring a Standard NVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Configuring a Standalone NVR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Using an NVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7. VBPresenter
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Working with Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Configuring MCS for VBPresenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Configuring an MCS FTP User Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Configuring an MCS Presentation User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Configuring for Live Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Configuring for Stored Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
8. Auto Content Ingestion
AutoIngest Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 AutoIngest Content via XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 AutoIngestXML Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Using the XML Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Removing MPEG-4 Closed Captions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
9. EtherneTV Backup
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 ETV Backup Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Configuring ETV Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 1. Enable the Warm Backup Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 2. Enter License Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 3. Set Profile IP Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 4. Configure the Scheduler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 5. Reset Database Backup Versioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 6. Test the Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Turning a Warm Backup Server into a Live Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Bringing a Failed Machine Online as a Warm Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Bandwidth Throttling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
vi |
Contents |
Software Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
10. Amino Set Top Box
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Connecting the Amino. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Configuring the Amino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Changing the IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Configuring a Direct Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Configuring the Remote Control for a TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Configuring the Amino for a Widescreen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Setting the TV Display Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
11. ACNS Configuration
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
ACNS Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
VOD-W Server Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Portal Server Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
ACNS Server Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Verify Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
12. Rebranding the User Interface
Customizing the Portal Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Changing the Title and Header Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Rebranding the Portal Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Portal Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Rebranding Other ETV Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
VBrick Set Top Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Amino Set Top Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
VBrick IP Receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
13. NXG-to-VOD-W Content Migration
Creating an Asset List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Sample Asset List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Using the Migration Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Increasing the Ingestion Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Running the Migration Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Recovering from Migration Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Verifying the Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
14. Purchased Content Ingestion
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Configuring IIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Ingesting Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Configuring a VOD-W Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Ingesting Purchased Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
vii |
Backing Up the Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
15. Manual System Backup
System Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Index
viii |
Contents |
Portal Server v4.2.1 Admin Guide
This Portal Server Admin Guide is written for anyone who will be using or evaluating the VBrick EtherneTV Portal Server. This includes system administrators, software developers, network technicians, and others. The ETV Portal Server is a web-based portal for accessing and managing video assets including both live or stored audio and video files. The ETV Portal Server is a key component in VBrick's EtherneTV Media Distribution System. The ETV Portal Server provides a simple, intuitive interface that auto-discovers available media assets in your network. Key components in VBrick's EtherneTV solution include:
•EtherneTV-VOD Video-on-Demand Server – Provides all standard Video-on-Demand (VOD) features including support for MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and Windows Media for maximum flexibility.
•EtherneTV Digital IP Receivers – Leading-edge digital set top boxes that provide a low-cost standalone decoder for DVD-quality MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and Windows Media video assets.
•VBrick Hardware Encoders/Decoders – Rugged, reliable video appliances that can reside anywhere on your network to provide either distributed or high-density centralized encoding/decoding of MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and WM (Windows Media) video.
Note The Amino STB is a compact set top box that plays MPEG-2 streams only. It is fully integrated with the Portal Server and provides access to most Portal Server viewer functionality. It does not, however, support Access Logging, Scheduling, Device Control, Emergency Broadcast, or Copyright Restrictions.
Organization
Introduction |
provides an overview of the application including server and |
|
desktop requirements and an overview of features and |
|
functionality. |
|
|
Global Settings |
explains high-level configuration settings and parameters that |
|
apply to the entire system. |
|
|
Server Administration |
provides detailed explanations of all ETV Portal Server global |
|
settings and configuration options, as well as diagnostics and |
|
status windows. |
|
|
Users and User Groups |
explains how to configure the system for access control. It |
|
explains how to create users and groups with specific |
|
permissions and access to resources. |
|
|
Configuring for SSL |
explains how to securely configure the system using the Secure |
|
Sockets Layer. |
|
|
Network Video |
explains how to configure and use an NVR to offload recording |
Recording |
tasks from the Portal Server to a separate "recorder server" |
|
machine. |
|
|
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
ix |
VBPresenter |
explains how to configure and launch rich media presentation |
|
from the Portal Server including those created with |
|
VBPresenter. |
|
|
Auto Content Ingestion |
explains auto content ingestion. This is the process whereby |
|
video content is automatically populated on the portal server. |
|
|
EtherneTV Backup |
explains how to automatically backup the MySQL database and |
|
other key directories if you purchased EtherneTV Backup. |
|
|
Amino Set Top Box |
explains how to connect and use the Amino set top box to view |
|
MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 streams. |
|
|
ACNS Configuration |
explains how to configure the Portal Server and Cisco's |
|
Application and Content Networking System (ACNS) to work |
|
together. |
|
|
Rebranding the User Inte |
explains how to modify the Portal Server "user" interface. You |
rface |
can simply replace images or you can modify the .css stylesheets |
|
and thoroughly rebrand the look-and-feel of the application. |
|
|
NXG-to-VOD- |
explains how to migrate MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video files |
W Content Migration |
from a VBrick NXG (Linux) VOD server to a VBrick VOD-W |
|
(Windows) VOD server. |
|
|
Purchased Content |
explains how to mass ingest separately purchased video content |
Ingestion |
to any or all configured VOD servers. |
|
|
Manual System Backup |
explains how to manually backup the MySQL database and |
|
other key directories if you did not purchase EtherneTV |
|
Backup. |
|
|
Getting Help
If you need help, or more information about any topic, use the online help system. The online help is cross-referenced and searchable and can usually find the information in a few seconds. Use the tree controls in the left pane to open documents and the up and down arrows to page through them. Use the Search box to find specific information. Simply enter one or more words in the box and press Enter. The search results will return pages that have all of the words you entered—highlighted in yellow (Internet Explorer only). The Search box is not case-sensitive and does not recognize articles (a, an, the), operators (+ and – ), or quotation marks. You can narrow the search by adding words.
If you can't find the information you need from the online help, or from your certified VBrick reseller, you can contact VBrick Support Services on the web. Support Services can usually answer your technical questions in 24 business hours or less. Also note that our publications team is committed to accurate and reliable documentation and we appreciate your feedback. If you find errors or omissions in any of our documents, please send e-mail to documentation@vbrick.com and let us know. For more information about any VBrick products, all of our product documentation is available on the web. Go to www.vbrick.com/ documentation to search or download VBrick product documentation.
x |
Preface |
Font Conventions
Arial bold is used to describe dialog boxes and menu choices, for example: Start > All
Programs > VBrick
Courier fixed-width font is used for code elements (C++, HTML) as well as filenames, directories, etc.
Black Courier fixed-width font is used to indicate user input in keyboard commands, scripts, etc.
Folder names and user examples are displayed in this sans serif font.
Folder names and user input are displayed in this bold sans serif font.
Italics are used to emphasize specific words or phrases.
Related Documents
ETV Portal Server User Guide
ETV IPR Receiver Admin Guide
ETV STB Admin Guide
ETV STB Quick Start Guide
ETV NXG Server Quick Start Guide
ETV VOD-W Server Admin Guide
ETV VOD-WM Server Admin Guide
VBPresenter User Guide
Printer-Friendly
Click on the following link to print a hard copy of the document.
ETV Portal Server User Guide
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide
ETV Portal Server Release Notes
TTo save or print a PDF document:
1.Click once to open the PDF document in Acrobat Reader.
2.To save or print a PDF document, right-click and select Save Target As or Print Target.
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
xi |
xii |
Preface |
Chapter 1F
Introduction
Topics in this chapter
Portal Server Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Portal Server Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Portal Server Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Portal Server Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Admin Console Login . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Portal Server Overview
VBrick's EtherneTV Media Distribution System consists of a group of products that includes the EtherneTV Portal (ETV Portal Server), EtherneTV Encoders, the EtherneTV-VOD Video-on-Demand Server, EtherneTV Set-Top Boxes and StreamPlayer software. This integrated system delivers both live and on-demand audio and video over an IP-based infrastructure. The ETV Portal Server functions as a video portal, permitting end users to view live and on-demand MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and WM (Windows Media) streams on a Window PC, a Macintosh, a Linux PC (or a set top box). The ETV Portal Server comes as software-only solution that can be installed on a Windows Server or as a pre-configured hardware/software combination.
Figure 1. EtherneTV Media Control Server Suite
The VBrick EtherneTV (ETV) Portal Server is a web-based portal for accessing Live and On-Demand audio and video files. A key component of VBrick's EtherneTV Media Distribution System, the ETV Portal Server provides a simple interface to easily locate
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
1 |
available media assets on your network. Upon accessing the main portal page, users can navigate or search for specific videos, select the video, and immediately begin viewing DVD quality video. For on-demand videos, users can Fast Forward/Rewind and Seek to specific points in the video. Standard access control functionality provides restriction of certain content to particular users, user groups, or set top boxes. An optional scheduling module allows users to schedule devices to send video, receive video, record video, or to initiate a two-way conference.
Server Requirements
The minimum server requirements include:
•Windows Server 2003 (Web Edition or Standard Edition with Service Pack 2).
•Pentium IV or Xeon Processor 1.26 GHz Minimum (2 GHz or higher recommended).
•RAM 512 MB Minimum (1 GB or more recommended).
•Hard Drive 36 GB Minimum (larger for frequent recording).
Note VBrick has tested the ETV Portal Server on Windows 2003 Server Web Edition and Standard Edition. Note also that ETV Portal Server also will not operate correctly on a server that is configured as a primary domain controller or with other networkrelated services and software.
Desktop Requirements
Windows-based PC and Macintosh users access the ETV Portal Server through a web browser. For Windows-based PCs, on the first access to the server, VBrick StreamPlayer software is automatically downloaded to the PC. StreamPlayer software lets end users select a stream and view TV-quality video directly on a PC. Macintosh users view MPEG-4 video through the QuickTime player.
Table 1. Desktop Requirements
PC Type |
Requirements |
|
|
Windows PCs |
• Windows 2000, XP (Service Pack 2), or Vista. |
•300 MHz Pentium II processor for MPEG-1 streams.
•500 MHz Pentium III processor for MPEG-2 streams.
•500 MHz (minimum), 750 MHz Pentium III processor (recommended) for MPEG-4 streams.
•128 MB RAM.
•SVGA video card 640x480, 256 colors, video card acceleration recommended.
•Minimum 10 MB hard disk space for installation.
•Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher.
•Microsoft Windows Media Player 9.0 or higher.
•Firefox 2.0 or higher.
•DirectX Media Version 8.1 and higher.
2 |
© 2008 VBrick Systems, Inc. |
Introduction
PC Type |
Requirements |
|
|
|
|
Macintosh PCs |
• |
Mac OS 10.3 or higher for PowerPC. |
|
• Mac OC 10.4 or higher for Intel-based PC. |
|
|
• Firefox for Macintosh 2.0 or higher. |
|
|
• QuickTime Player 6.0 or higher. |
|
|
• Internet Explorer on a Macintosh is not supported. |
|
|
|
|
Linux PCs |
• |
Red Hat Fedora Core 3. |
|
• |
FireFox 2.0. |
|
• |
512 MB RAM. |
|
|
|
Copyright Protection
The Portal Server uses copyright restrictions and content expiration to protect the rights of content owners and to enforce rules against unauthorized usage or distribution. Copyright restrictions are specifically used to enforce license requirements. Content is often restricted to a limited number of viewers and you may need a license, for example, to view MPEG-2 content. In the Portal Server, Max. Concurrent Viewers is used to enforce copyright restrictions for any live, stored, or recorded video. If the number of concurrent viewers exceeds the configured value, the content will not play. (The Max. Concurrent Users restriction does not apply to viewers who tune in to a scheduled broadcast.)
Content expiration controls the length of time that specific content can be viewed. Content expiration is used for time-sensitive, copyrighted, or otherwise protected content that cannot be legally displayed after a specified date or a period of time. Users with appropriate permissions (see Copyright Restrictions & Expiration Privileges on page 99) can assign expiration dates or a viewing period when they use the Add Video feature. The viewing period starts at the time the content is added to the server. If desired, administrators can restrict expiration privileges to particular users or groups in which case only those specified users or groups (and administrators) can set content to expire.
Administrators can also assign an Expiration Date or Viewing Period for any stored video using the Modify VOD Content page. By default, recordings from live streams have no expiration date. However administrators can set default viewing periods for content recorded from specific live streams (see "Viewing Periods" in Stream Restrictions on page 26).
The ETV Portal Server enforces content expiration by preventing the streaming or scheduling of content that is expired or will expire before the scheduled event. Once content has expired, administrators can set a new expiration date or viewing period. By default, expired content will remain in storage indefinitely unless you choose to delete it automatically
using the Set Expired VOD Content Treatment option in Global Assignments.
The Portal Server writes to a log that tracks content expirations; administrators can view or purge this log as necessary (see Expired Content Log on page 78). In many installation an administrator is assigned to monitor and/or renew content that is about to expire. To facilitate this process, the Portal Server can be configured to automatically generate e-mail that notifies the designated administrator when content is about to expire by using the option in Global Assignments.
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
3 |
MySQL
EtherneTV Portal Server is shipped with MySQL as the database. The MySQL database is installed as part of the Portal Server installation package. If the hardware/software combination was purchased from VBrick, MySQL will already be installed on your machine; the default user name is root. To protect the integrity of the database, you should change the default password (vbrick_18) after initial installation and periodically thereafter as explained below. To backup the MySQL database, see EtherneTV Backup on page 127.
Note MySQL Query Browser is an Open Source front-end that provides a graphical interface to the MySQL database. MySQL Query Browser is available with the free software/open source GNU General Public License at to http://www.mysql.com.
TTo change the MySQL password:
1.Open a Command Prompt window.
2.At the C: prompt type cd program files\mysql\mysql server 4.1\bin and press Enter.
3.Type mysql -uroot -pvbrick_18 and press Enter.
4.Type set password for 'root'@'localhost'=password ('new_password'); (where
'new_password' in single quotes is the new password) and press Enter.
5.Type exit.
Portal Server Features
End User Features
•Windows-based PCs, Macintoshes, or STBs (connected to televisions or display monitors) can all access the Portal Server.
•Users can view video at Full Screen for a television-like user experience.
•Users can view Video-On-Demand assets with full VCR/DVD control, including Play,
Pause, Stop, Fast Forward, Rewind, and Seek.
•Video can be viewed in a preview window or launched in multiple external, re-sizeable player windows (PC and Macintosh).
4 |
© 2008 VBrick Systems, Inc. |
Introduction
•Set Top Box users can use familiar Channel Up/Down keys and other hot keys on the IR remote control to navigate through video listings.
•Users can search through the list of Live or On-Demand videos by Title, Keyword, Description, or other custom fields defined by an ETV Portal Server administrator.
•Users can record and store videos on the EtherneTV-VOD Video-on-Demand server via ETV Portal Server.
•Users can publish pre-recorded content and thumbnails directly to the VOD server.
•Users can view closed caption text (Windows-based PCs and set-top boxes only).
•Users can launch pre-configured emergency broadcasts. (Optional. Requires Scheduling module.)
•Users can schedule recordings or broadcasts. (Optional. Requires Scheduling module.)
Figure 2. ETV Portal Server Live Broadcasts
Administrative Features
•Access Control - allows administrators to allow/deny access to specific functions of the ETV Portal Server server. Access control functionality can use the local ETV Portal Server database or authenticate to an LDAP directory server.
•Clustering support – multiple EtherneTV-VOD Video-on-Demand servers can be clustered to increase total throughput. The ETV Portal Server will automatically load balance all servers defined in ETV Portal Server; no additional configuration is necessary. See Servers on page 27 for more.
•SSL/TLS security – the ETV Portal Server can be set up to provide encrypted access to the Login pages and/or the Admin pages. See Configuring for SSL on page 105.
•Customer defined URLs – can be entered into the system and displayed in the ETV Portal Server interface. The URLs can point to video assets or other assets such as PDFs or PowerPoint documents.
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5 |
•Autoingestion to the EtherneTV-VOD server – content placed in autoingestion folders on the ETV Portal Server will be automatically transferred and ingested into the EtherneTV-VOD server.
•Customized global messages can display on the ETV Portal Server interface.
•Channel numbers can be assigned to live streams.
•Define a startup channel for STBs – the STB will automatically tune into this channel when users select the Live TV option.
•Emergency broadcasts – can define pre-configured emergency broadcast templates that can be launched instantaneously. See Priority Alert on page 57 for more.
•Status window – shows the status of videos being added, recorded, or ingested.
•Diagnostics window – displays a complete log of system events by source, time, and IP address.
•Custom fields and streams – the ability to add customized information and search parameters to live and stored streams.
•A Channel Guide Server can be configured to automatically provide third-party programming data for configured TV Stations.
Portal Server Components
VBrick Encoders/Decoders
VBrick's VB4000-5000-6000 Series MPEG-2 network video appliances provide DVD quality video and CD quality audio at 1–15 Mbps of bandwidth. MPEG-2 is the world's most popular digital compression technology and is used to encode DVDs as well as Digital Cable and Digital Satellite broadcasts. VBrick's VB4000-5000-6000 Series MPEG-4 encoders and decoders are versatile and reliable video appliances for one or two-way interactive communications over low or medium bandwidth IP networks. The VBrick MPEG-4 encoder/decoder can be used for webcasting, multicasting, transcoding, and two-way interactive video. Designed for streaming over the Internet at lower bit rates (56K, 128K, 384K) and over a LAN at higher rates (1Mbps and above). VBrick's WM (Windows Media) video appliances provide scalable quality at webcasting rates up to 2 Mbps. It features built-in live streaming server, automatic multicasting, and state-of-the-art reliability. A key benefit of the WM appliance is its compatibility with the Windows Media Player, thus eliminating the need for desktop player installation.
ETV VOD Servers
EtherneTV Video on Demand (VOD) servers provide the ETV Portal Server with a source of available video content organized in folders. The VOD content is displayed by name in the ETV Portal Server user interface, along with the duration of the video, and associated descriptions, key words, and other custom information entered by an administrator. You play content from the VOD server by selecting the program name from the application interface (see the Portal Server User Guide for details). The ETV Portal Server currently supports all of the VOD servers shown in Table 2. The configuration for each server is essentially the same (see Servers on page 27 for details) and there is little difference in functionality for end users.
ETV servers can be LAN-based or Internet-based depending on how the range of Internet addresses is defined (see "Assign LAN/Internet Address Range" in Global Assignments on page 19). VOD servers accessible to Internet users are called Internet-zone servers; VOD
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Introduction
servers assessable to LAN users only (within a secured corporate network and behind a firewall) are called LAN-zone servers.
Content added by users in the LAN zone will be ingested to all VOD servers for which they have permissions using the Add Video page. Users in the Internet zone have the Add Video page available only if they have permissions for at least one VOD server that is also in the Internet zone. Content added by LAN users is added to all configured servers that can handle the content (for example you cannot add MPEG content to a Windows Media server) and for which you have permission. The content available for viewing may also be limited by the server type. For example, Internet users will see only MPEG-4 and Windows Media content on VOD-D and VOD-WM servers respectively. LAN users however will see all content on all servers.
Table 2. Supported EtherneTV VOD Servers
Server Type |
Description |
Zone |
|
|
|
NXG |
Linux-based NXG1/2 VOD server. |
LAN only |
|
|
|
VOD-W |
Windows-based VOD-W VOD server. Available in |
LAN only |
|
three versions depending on throughput: VOD-50W, |
|
|
VOD-125W, and VOD-300W |
|
|
|
|
VOD-D |
Darwin Open Source server for Linux, Windows, Mac, |
LAN or Internet |
|
etc. Ingests and plays MPEG-4 content only. Requires |
|
|
an FTP server. |
|
|
|
|
VOD-WM- |
Microsoft Windows Media Server (unicast only). |
LAN or Internet |
Standard |
Requires an FTP server. |
|
|
|
|
VOD-WM- |
Microsoft Windows Media Server (unicast or multicast). |
LAN or Internet |
Enterprise |
Requires an FTP server. |
|
|
|
|
ETV Internet-Based Servers
ETV Portal Server supports the installation of LAN-based servers and Internet-based servers. As part of an ETV Server installation, you can configure a VOD-W, VOD-WM or VOD-D server (see Table 2) to run on your LAN or on the public Internet. Before server configuration, you assign a range of IP addresses that define the LAN domain, or vice versa, that define the Internet domain. Any IP address outside that range will assumed to be from an Internet source, or vice versa, from a LAN source. (See "Assign LAN/Internet Address Range" in Global Assignments on page 19.)
You can purchase an Internet-based VOD-W or VODWM server from VBrick (in which case they are configured by VBrick) or you can purchase and configure a VOD-WM yourself using the Microsoft documentation (not recommended). You can also install a Darwin Open Source server which is fully-compatible with ETV Portal Server but is not sold or supported by VBrick. (For more about downloading, installing, and configuring a Darwin server, go to: http://developer.apple.com/opensource/server/streaming/index.html) As noted, ETV users can be on the Internet or on a LAN; Internet users can only access MPEG-4 and Windows Media content stored on Internet-based servers. LAN users can access all content on all servers both inside and outside the firewall. To summarize, Internet-based servers and users are subject to the following limitations:
•Internet servers support MPEG-4 and Windows Media content only.
•Internet servers support unicast only (they do not support multicast).
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7 |
•Internet ETV users can add video only to VOD servers in the Internet zone.
•Internet users can only see MPEG-4 and Windows Media content stored on Internetbased servers.
•Internet servers do not support ETV scheduling features.
ETV Set Top Box
EtherneTV-STBs access the ETV Portal Server through a web browser within the Set Top Box. Using the Set-Top Box remote control, users can navigate and search for specific ondemand content or live video streams, select a stream, and begin viewing television-quality video. Set-Top Box users can also record video directly on the ETV Portal Server using the remote control or the wireless keyboard. See the Set Top Box documentation for more about how to configure and use an ETV Set Top Box.
ETV Network Video Recorder
The ETV Network Video Recorder and the ETV Live Portal Server are optional components that are purchased and installed separately. They have different license files that must be installed separately. See Installing Portal Server License Files on page 14. The ETV Network Video Recorder lets you off-load all recording tasks from the ETV Portal Server machine to one or more separate "recorder server" machines. This optimizes recording performance and improves ETV Portal Server performance as well. The Network Video Recorder uses ETV Portal Server components and typically requires two machines: the ETV Portal Server is installed on one machine; the Network Video Recorder software is installed on a different machine. Once installed, the NVR machine is used for all ETV Portal Server recording tasks. See Network Video Recording on page 109 for more information.
Note A standard ETV Portal Server permits two concurrent recording operations. If you purchase a Network Video Recorder, the number of concurrent recording operations (10 or 40) is fixed by the terms of your licensing agreement with VBrick.
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Figure 3. Live Portal Server User Interface
VB-PC Remote Controller
The VB-PC Remote is a handheld infrared device you can use to control (stop/start/pause, etc.) any stream running on the Portal Server. The VB-PC Remote is compatible with Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher; it is not compatible with Firefox. The VB-PC Remote can be used for all Portal Server streams (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and WM) and has a line-of-sight range of approximately 40 feet.
After you manually start a stream using the Portal Server interface, you can use the VB-PC Remote to control it. When
using the remote controller, the computer running the Portal Server basically acts like a set top box that you can control with the remote control. The VB-PC Remote includes an IR Remote Control and an IR Remote Receiver. The computer to which it's attached must have an available (1.1 or 2.0) USB port. Note that the VB-PC Remote is installed on client machines connected to the Portal Server. It is not part of the Portal Server installation and must be installed separately on each client machine. See the VB-PC Remote Product CD for details and installation instructions.
Amino Set Top Box
The AmiNet110 is a compact set top box for the Portal Server manufactured by Amino Systems. It connects to a standard TV and only plays MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 streams; no other streams are selectable for viewing on the Portal Server interface. There is no software installation required. Simply connect and configure the device as explained in Amino Set Top Box on page 135. The Portal Server User Guide explains how to use the Amino infrared remote control unit that comes with the device.
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WM IP Receiver
VBrick's WM IP Receiver is similar to a conventional set top box but is significantly more stable, rugged, and reliable. It is designed for 24x7 operation, and built for enterprise networks that require a high degree of stability, security, and scalability. The WM IP Receiver is a robust, state-of-art device that meets the demanding requirements of VBrick's EtherneTV Media Distribution System. The WM IPR plays Windows Media streams from VBrick WM appliances and Windows Media servers. The WM IPR is also a fully-featured VBrick EtherneTV client. This means that in addition to the ability to deliver video, subsequent WM IPR releases will provide scheduling, access logging, and device control from the Portal Server. For more information about the WM IPR, see the IPR Admin Guide in the Portal Server online help.
Portal Server Installation
Complete installation instructions for the Portal Server are provided in the ETV Portal Server Release Notes. Once the Portal Server is installed, end users on Windows, Macintosh, and Linux machines may be prompted for additional download components as explained below. This only happens the first time they access the Portal Server. The Portal Server supports a wide variety of clients and video formats. See Supported VBrick Clients and Video Formats for a complete list.
Downloading Components
Windows PCs
If configured with the appropriate components, Windows PCs (with Internet Explorer or Firefox) can play all stream types including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and Windows Media. For Windows-based PC users, the Portal Server uses VBrick StreamPlayer softwarebased components to decode video streams on user desktops. The Portal Server downloads these components to each client machine the first time you access the Portal Server
(depending on the Specify Components to Download to Clients setting in Global
Assignments). No download is necessary for subsequent access. If this is a new installation, end users must answer Yes to security requests to download these components. After a download, you don’t have to restart your computer but must you must close the browser. These components are downloaded using .cab files.
In certain circumstances however, the use of .cabs is either not allowed or not feasible. In these cases, VBrick provides an .msi installer called VBrickComponents.msi. This installer installs the same components and allows end-users who cannot download .cabs to have full Portal Server functionality. This installer is located in the Program Files\VBrick\MCS\utils folder.
Note The component download setting will not affect previously-installed components. For example if you have StreamPlayer installed, you will be able to play MPEG-2 streams regardless of what components you specify for download.
With Firefox, users will also be prompted to install additional components the first time they launch a stream—if they are configured to receive these download components. Links for the appropriate stream types (MPEG-1/2/4 and/or WM) will be displayed in the area where the embedded player is normally displayed. These additional plugins must be installed. Firefox
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Introduction
users will also be required to install an additional plugin when they use Add Video for the first time (again, if they are configured with this privilege).
Table 3. Supported Operating Systems and Browsers – Windows
Operating System |
Browser |
|
|
Windows 2000 |
Internet Explorer 6.0 †, Firefox 2.0 † |
|
|
Windows XP |
Internet Explorer 6.0 †, Firefox 2.0 † |
|
|
Windows Vista |
Internet Explorer 6.0 †, Firefox 2.0 † |
|
|
† or higher |
|
Locked-Down Windows PCs
As described above, the Portal Server automatically downloads components to client PCs depending on the Global Assignment setting. This download can be an issue in environments that have restrictions on client software installation. For playback of WM files, Portal Server uses the existing Windows Media Player components on the client PC and there is no need for the extra components to be downloaded. This means that Portal Server and WM can be used in some but not all restrictive or "locked-down" environments.
Even if downloads are configured, a client PC will still refuse to accept the component download if the Internet Explorer security feature Download signed ActiveX controls is disabled. When using Portal Server 4.0 exclusively with WM streams and a WM VOD, the client PC can refuse to accept the downloaded components and all Portal Server features except Add Video will work. In this case you should uncheck the Add Video Utility in Global Assignments.
Some sites also require that their PCs be configured with certain Internet Explorer security settings. The Portal Server will not work on clients with Internet Explorer security set to High. The Portal Server will work at any level at or below Medium. If you start at High, the client will still work with Portal Server if you enable Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins, Script
ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting, and Active scripting.
Since firewalls on LAN client PCs can also cause problems with Portal Server, it is recommended that firewalls be disabled on LAN clients. (In Windows XP with Service Pack 2, the firewall is enabled by default.) Portal Server's support for Internet clients is designed to work through firewalls. If you have Internet clients with firewalls see the description of LAN/Internet address ranges in Global Assignments on page 19.
Macintosh PCs
If configured with the appropriate components, Macintosh PCs (with Safari or Firefox) can play all stream types including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and Windows Media. In a Macintosh environment, if downloads are configured in Global Assignments, when you launch the ETV Portal Server for the first time, the Home page (see Figure 2) displays a link prompting you to download components that are appropriate for your computer. If you agree, these components are automatically installed and no additional download is necessary for subsequent access. On Macintosh PCs, Portal Server functionality is the same as in Windows except that the Add Video feature is not available. Table 4 shows the stream types supported for each environment; Table 5 shows the operating systems that are tested and supported. Note that there are certain performance limitations in Macintosh environments; see the ETV Portal Server Release Notes for information and recommendations.
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11 |
Configuring a Macintosh for Tunneled Streams
You may need to perform certain configuration steps on a Macintosh before you can use QuickTime to view streams tunneled over HTTP from a VOD-W server.
TTo configure QuickTime for tunneled streams:
1.Launch QuickTime on a Macintosh and click on the Apple QuickTime player to set focus on the task bar at the top of the screen.
2.Click QuickTime Player in the task bar and go to QuickTime Preferences.
3.On the Advanced tab, click on Transport Setup and then Custom.
4.Check the Port ID used for the HTTP Transport Protocol. The Port ID must match the HTTP Tunneling Port set on the Portal Server for the VOD-W server (default = 8000). If necessary, get this port number from your system administrator. See the VOD-W Admin Guide for more information.
Linux PCs
If configured with the appropriate components, Linux PCs running Fedora or Red Hat (on Firefox) can play MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and WM streams. However, the Portal Server must download Linux components to each-end user desktop before any streams will play. This should only be performed by a system administrator. When you access the Portal Server for the first time, you will see a message in the embedded player window indicating that the appropriate plugins are not installed. See "Installing Linux Components" in the Portal Server Release Notes for detailed instructions. On Linux PCs, Portal Server functionality is the same as in Windows except that the Add Video feature is not available. Table 4 shows the stream types supported for each environment; Table 5 shows the operating systems that are tested and supported. Note that there are certain performance limitations in Linux environments; see the ETV Portal Server Release Notes for information and recommendations.
Table 4. Supported Stream Types – Macintosh and Linux
Environment |
Supported Streams |
Closed Captions |
||
|
|
|
|
|
Macintosh |
Safari – MPEG-1, |
Supported for MPEG-1/MPEG-2 streams, and |
||
|
MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WM. |
for MPEG-4 and WM with VBrick plugin. |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Firefox – MPEG-1, |
Supported for MPEG-1/MPEG-2 streams, and |
||
|
MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WM. |
for MPEG-4 and WM with VBrick plugin. |
||
|
|
|
|
|
Linux |
Firefox – MPEG-1, |
Supported for MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, |
||
|
MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WM. |
and WM streams. |
||
|
|
|
|
|
Table 5. Supported Operating Systems and Browsers – Macintosh and Linux |
||||
|
|
|
|
|
Operating System |
Browser † |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) |
Safari 1.2, Firefox 2.0 |
|||
|
|
|
||
Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) |
Safari 2.0, Firefox 2.0 |
|||
|
|
|
||
Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) |
Safari 3.0, Firefox 2.0 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Linux Red Hat 9.0 |
Firefox 1.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Linux Fedora Core 3 |
Firefox 1.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Operating System |
Browser † |
|
|
Linux Fedora Core 4 |
Firefox 2.0 |
|
|
†Use version shown or higher.
Port Requirements
The drawing below, and the table that follows, show the required port configuration for various Portal Server devices. All ports in the drawing are TCP except as noted.
Table 6. Port Requirements†
Zone |
Port(s) |
Protocol |
Description |
|
|
|
|
Internet > DMZ |
80 |
TCP |
Web request from client to MCS. |
|
|
|
|
Internet > DMZ |
9876/9878 |
UDP |
Management/RTSP SAP announce from VBrick to MCS. |
|
|
|
|
DMZ > Internet |
21 |
TCP |
FTP from MCS to VOD Server (Darwin/Windows Media/ |
|
|
|
FTP). |
|
|
|
|
LAN > DMZ |
80 |
TCP |
Web request from client to MCS. |
|
|
|
|
LAN > DMZ |
9875/9876/ |
UDP |
Multicast/Management/RTSP SAP announce from VBrick to |
|
9878 |
|
MCS. |
|
|
|
|
LAN > DMZ |
21 |
TCP |
FTP from VBStar to MCS (auto-FTP to MCS autoingest |
|
|
|
directory). |
|
|
|
|
DMZ > LAN |
21 |
TCP |
FTP from MCS to VBStar (content discovery). |
|
|
|
|
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
13 |
Zone |
Port(s) |
Protocol |
Description |
|
|
|
|
DMZ > LAN |
80 |
TCP |
Management command from MCS to VBrick/STB. |
|
|
|
|
DMZ > LAN |
80/8080 |
TCP |
Web service request from MCS to VOD Server (VOD-W/ |
|
|
|
NXG). |
|
|
|
|
DMZ > LAN |
21 |
TCP |
FTP from MCS to VOD Server (Darwin/Windows Media/ |
|
|
|
FTP). |
|
|
|
|
LAN > DMZ |
21 |
TCP |
FTP from VOD Server (NXG/VOD-W) to MCS. |
|
|
|
|
DMZ > LAN |
135 |
TCP |
Management command from MCS to Windows Media |
|
|
|
(DCOM). |
|
|
|
|
DMZ > LAN |
80 |
TCP |
Web service request from MCS to Network Video Recorder. |
|
|
|
|
DMZ > LAN |
80 |
TCP |
Web service request from Network Video Recorder to MCS. |
|
|
|
|
DMZ > LAN |
389 |
TCP |
LDAP lookup from MCS to LDAP Server (e.g. Active |
|
|
|
Directory). |
|
|
|
|
† All ports are TCP except as noted.
Installing Portal Server License Files
You are prompted to install a license (.lic) file as part of the ETV Portal Server installation process. Different Portal Server functionality is available depending on the type of license you purchase and install. (For example if you do not install a Scheduler license, you will not see a Scheduled Programs, as shown above, option in the Portal Server client application.) After initial installation you can install a different license as necessary by using Add or
Remove Programs.
TTo install or modify a Portal Server license file:
1.Go to Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs > VBrick Media Control Server
Suite.
2.Click Change/Remove and select the appropriate license file type (see below).
3.Click Next, then browse to the file and click Open.
4.When done, manually close the window and launch the application. There is no need to restart the host machine.
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Introduction
Table 7. Portal Server License Files
License File |
Description |
License Errors |
|
|
|
Warm Backup Server If you purchased ETV Backup, two Portal Servers |
Not applicable. |
|
|
will be present—one of which must be configured |
|
|
as a warm backup. Use this option (and the popup |
|
|
shown below) to enable or disable the backup |
|
|
server. If you enable one server, you must disable |
|
|
the other. Default = Disable. |
|
Portal Server |
Use this option, as directed, to install a Portal |
Not applicable. |
|
Server license file. |
|
|
|
|
Player |
The embedded Windows Media Player has |
If not installed, popup |
|
restrictions on the number of licensed users. Use |
message displayed when |
|
this option to select a license file that modifies the |
you try to launch a stream. |
|
number of allowed users for various MPEG-1, |
|
|
MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 streams. |
|
|
|
|
Scheduler |
Enables the broadcast or recording of future |
If not installed, the Add |
|
events. See the ETV Portal Server User Guide for |
option will not be shown |
|
more information. |
on Scheduler page. |
|
|
|
Network Video |
A Network Video Recorder is a standalone |
If not installed, there will |
Recorder |
recorder option that can speed up recording |
be a "record" failure for |
|
operations and/or enhance Portal Server |
more than two concurrent |
|
performance. (See ETV Network Video Recorder |
record requests. |
|
on page 8.) |
|
|
|
|
Channel Guide |
Enables access to the Channel Guide Server for |
If not installed, there will |
Server |
TV Stations that are typically provided by a third- |
be no TV Stations or |
|
part content provider. |
access to the Channel |
|
|
Guide server. |
|
|
|
Content |
Use this window to install third-party content |
If not installed, the |
|
purchased from VBrick. |
purchased content |
|
|
ingestion will fail. |
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
15 |
License File |
Description |
License Errors |
|
|
|
Modify Host Name |
Lets you auto-detect or manually change the |
Not applicable. |
or IP Address |
Portal Server Host Name. This name must match |
|
|
the machine name on which ETV Portal Server is |
|
|
installed. If you change the host machine name, |
|
|
use this option to change the Portal Server Host |
|
|
Name. |
|
|
|
|
Uninstall Media |
Remove all ETV Portal Server components. You |
Not applicable. |
Control Server Suite |
are prompted to save the database as desired. |
|
|
|
|
Admin Console Login
The ETV Portal Server can be administered from Windows-based PCs using Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher only. The Admin Console pages are best viewed at 1024x768 resolution. The Admin Console is not supported on Macintoshes or Set Top Boxes, or with Firefox or other browsers. In order to access the administrative functions enter the following address in the Internet Explorer browser of the PC where myserveraddress is the host name or IP address of the ETV Portal Server. The session will timeout after 20 minutes of inactivity. admin is both the default user name and password.
http://myserveraddress/admin/
Note As a standard best practice, VBrick recommends changing the default administrator User Name and Password. Go to on the Admin Console.
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Introduction
Admin Console Options
Login to the ETV Portal Server Admin pages with a valid user name and password to display the following window. This window provides access to all admin configuration options.
Table 8. Admin Options
Option |
Description |
|
|
Getting Started |
The ETV Portal Server splash page shown above. |
|
|
Global Settings |
Provides system-wide configuration parameters to connect to |
|
VBrick encoders and VOD servers as well as to customize the look |
|
of the ETV Portal Server pages. |
|
|
Channels |
Lets you define TV stations and custom stations that obtain |
|
programming data from a third-party provider. |
|
|
Modify VOD Content |
Provides the ability to Move, Rename, or Delete assets on the |
|
EtherneTV-VOD Video-on-Demand server. (Not supported on |
|
some legacy NXG servers.) |
|
|
Diagnostics |
Displays system log messages by source, time, and (generally) IP |
|
address. |
|
|
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
17 |
Option |
Description |
|
|
Status |
Shows the status of events in progress including recordings, Add |
|
Video commands, ingestion to the VOD server, and FTP |
|
downloads. |
|
|
Expired Content Log |
Shows all expired content still present on the Portal Server. Use |
|
Purge All to delete unwanted content. |
|
|
Access Control |
Provides the ability to limit access to the ETV Portal Server system |
|
to different users or groups of users. |
|
|
Live Presentations |
Provides the ability to view and remove current live presentations |
|
from the Live Broadcasts page. |
|
|
Users† |
Used in conjunction with Access Control to limit access to the ETV |
|
Portal Server system to different users. |
|
|
User Groups† |
Used in conjunction with Access Control to limit access to the ETV |
|
Portal Server system to different groups of users. |
|
|
Resource Groups† |
Used in conjunction with Access Control to group resources which |
|
can then be provided to users or user groups. |
|
|
Help |
Displays the ETV Portal Server online help system in a new |
|
window. |
|
|
Logout |
Logs out the user who is currently logged in. |
|
|
†Users, User Groups, and Resource Groups are only displayed if Access Control is enabled. See Users and User Groups on page 89 for a description of these functions.
Internet Explorer 7.0 Configuration
The Admin Console and the Portal Server user interface support the browsers shown in Table 3 and in Table 5. When using Internet Explorer 7.0, there are additional security settings required for compatibility with the Portal Server.
TTo configure the Portal Server for Internet Explorer 7.0:
1.Go to Tools > Internet Options > Security and select Custom level.
2.Under Active X controls and plugins set the following parameters:
•Allow previously unused ActiveX controls to run without prompt – Enable
•Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls – Disable
•Display video and animation on a webpage that does not use external media player –
Enable
•Download signed ActiveX controls – Prompt
•Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins – Enable
•Script ActiveX controls marked as safe for scripting – Enable
18 |
© 2008 VBrick Systems, Inc. |
Chapter 2
Global Settings
Global Settings include configuration settings and parameters that apply to the entire system. Global Settings include all of the following.
Topics in this chapter
Global Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Custom Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Stream Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
VBricks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Control Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Set Top Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Recorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Script Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
URLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Priority Alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Program Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Manage Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Access Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Global Assignments
Global Assignment are listed below. Most are self-explanatory and consist of text boxes where you enter appropriate values.
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
19 |
Table 9. Global Assignments
Item |
Description |
|
|
Assign a Global Message |
The global message will be displayed in the message area of |
|
the Portal Server user interface when there is no program |
|
information available. Enter the message text and click |
|
Submit. Example: There will be an all hands meeting today at |
|
4:00 PM in the boardroom. Note that if you are running the |
|
Portal Server on a Set Top Box, the message area will not |
|
display more than 4 lines of text. |
|
|
Define Set Top Box Startup |
When an STB (in ETV Portal Server Start mode) accesses the |
Channel |
Watch live broadcasts page, it can be set to automatically play |
|
a defined channel in the Preview Window. Highlight that |
|
channel from the list and click Submit. If there are no |
|
channels listed, channels must first be defined as Customized |
|
Live Streams. |
|
|
Change Admin User Name |
Change the default admin user name of admin. Use any |
|
combination of alphanumeric and special characters except |
|
slashes, quotes, or commas. |
|
|
20 |
© 2008 VBrick Systems, Inc. |
|
|
Global Settings |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Item |
Description |
|
|
|
|
Change Admin Password |
Change the default admin password of admin. Use any |
|
|
combination of alphanumeric and special characters except |
|
|
slashes, quotes, or commas. |
|
|
|
|
Define FTP User Name |
ETV Portal Server is defaulted for "anonymous" FTP access |
|
|
which is configured in Windows IIS Default FTP Site. If a |
|
|
more secure FTP access is desired, the User Name can be |
|
|
changed in IIS (see the Windows Server documentation for |
|
|
details). The same User Name should be entered here. Use any |
|
|
combination of alphanumeric and special characters except |
|
|
slashes, quotes, or commas. If configuring for VBPresenter, |
|
|
see Configuring an MCS FTP User Account on page 116. |
|
|
|
|
Define FTP User Password |
ETV Portal Server is defaulted for "anonymous" FTP access |
|
|
which is configured in Windows IIS Default FTP Site. If a |
|
|
more secure FTP access is desired, the Password can be |
|
|
changed in IIS (see the Windows Server documentation for |
|
|
details). The same Password should be entered here. Use any |
|
|
combination of alphanumeric and special characters except |
|
|
slashes, quotes, or commas. If configuring for VBPresenter, |
|
|
see Configuring an MCS FTP User Account on page 116. |
|
|
|
|
Define a Record Duration |
Applies to the on-demand Record pushbutton only (not to |
|
|
scheduled recording). Defines the maximum duration (default |
|
|
120 minutes) allowed for a continuous recording. Maximum |
|
|
record duration limited only by size of hard drive. |
|
|
|
|
Change Title |
Changes the text (i.e. VBrick Systems) that is displayed on the |
|
|
upper left hand corner of the Portal Server User Interface. To |
|
|
leave blank, enter at least one space. Note that the title text is |
|
|
white and cannot be changed. |
|
|
|
|
Change Announcement |
Changing these from the defaults is highly discouraged and should |
|
Addresses |
only be done if advised by a VBrick technician or Network |
|
|
Administrator. Changes the Management, Multicast, and RTSP |
|
|
addresses on which Announcements (SAPs) are received. By |
|
|
default all VBrick devices are set to the same addresses and |
|
|
ports as the defaults in ETV Portal Server. These have to |
|
|
match on all devices for proper functionality. |
|
|
|
|
Change Announcement |
Filters SAP announcements so that only the specified IP |
|
Filter |
addresses are shown on the Live Broadcasts page in ETV |
|
|
Portal Server. Wildcards are allowed. For example 255.*.*.* |
|
|
displays only those addresses in the range 255.0.0.0 – |
|
|
255.255.255.255. |
|
|
|
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
21 |
Item |
Description |
|
|
Assign LAN/Internet |
Define the range(s) of IP addresses that define the LAN or |
Address Range(s) |
the Internet domain. Any IP addresses outside the range are |
|
assumed to be from the domain you did not select. Check one |
|
option and, if necessary, use the text box to enter the range(s) |
|
separated by a comma, a semicolon, or a new line. For details, |
|
see ETV Internet-Based Servers on page 7. |
|
• All Users, Servers, and VBricks are in the LAN Domain |
|
(default). |
|
• All Users, Servers, and VBricks are in the Internet |
|
Domain. |
|
• Specify LAN Address Range(s); assume users/servers/ |
|
VBricks outside this range(s) are in the Internet domain. |
|
• Specify Internet Address Range(s); assume users/servers/ |
|
VBricks outside this range(s) are in the LAN domain. |
|
• Always use TCP protocol (HTTP Tunneling/RTSP |
|
Interleaving) for MPEG-4 and Windows Media content – |
|
Use only with Internet-compatible (VOD-D, VOD-W, and |
|
VOD-WM) servers. If checked, the Portal Server will |
|
always use HTTP tunneling or RTSP interleaving using the |
|
HTTP Tunneling Port defined for the server (see Add/ |
|
Modify VOD/FTP Servers on page 28). |
|
Note: Standard VBrick Set Top Boxes do not support |
|
HTTP tunneling and will not play MPEG-4 content if this |
|
option is selected. |
|
|
Assign Multicast Address |
Defines the current multicast IP address range and port range. |
Range |
The default multicast IP range is 225.1.1.0– 239.128.255.255. |
|
The default port range is 1040–65534. |
|
|
Assign VOD Polling |
Not generally changed. Defines the interval at which the |
Interval |
Portal Server polls the VOD server(s) for new content |
|
(default 120 minutes). This is only used to poll for content |
|
added to the VOD from an interface other than ETV Portal |
|
Server. When adding a server, use Sync Now to sync the |
|
program listings on the client Browse Video Library page with |
|
the content on the new server. |
|
|
Assign VoD Content |
Defines the maximum number of simultaneous video files that |
Ingestion Maximum |
can be ingested to the VOD Video-on-Demand server. The |
|
default is set to 2. Increasing the default may increase the |
|
speed at which files will be transferred to the VOD server, but |
|
may result in playback issues from the Video-on-Demand |
|
server. VBrick recommends keeping the default of 2 for all |
|
supported VOD servers. |
|
|
Assign Default Max. |
Defines the default maximum concurrent viewers allowed for |
Concurrent Viewers |
new live or stored (VOD) content. An entry on the Stream |
|
Restrictions page or the Modify VOD Content page will |
|
override these value for live and stored streams respectively. |
|
|
22 |
© 2008 VBrick Systems, Inc. |
|
|
Global Settings |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Item |
Description |
|
|
|
|
Set Expired VOD Content |
Specifies whether expired content will be kept or |
|
Treatment |
automatically deleted at the expiration date. |
|
|
|
|
Assign Content Expiration |
Enter one e-mail address for the person who is responsible |
|
Warning Recipient |
for renewing copyrighted or otherwise protected content. |
|
|
When you configure or change either the recipient or the mail |
|
|
server, the Portal Server will attempt to send a test message. |
|
|
Check that this message is successfully delivered. The Portal |
|
|
Server validates the e-mail address but cannot detect other |
|
|
mail delivery failures. If the user's mail box is full, for |
|
|
example, the message will not reach its intended recipient to |
|
|
warn of impending content expiration. For more about |
|
|
content expiration, see Copyright Protection on page 3. |
|
|
|
|
Assign Mail Server |
Required field. SMTP mail server name. In Microsoft |
|
|
Exchange, for example, go to Tools > E-mail Accounts > E- |
|
|
mail > Microsoft Exchange Server > servername. An e-mail |
|
|
to the assigned Content Expiration Warning Recipient is |
|
|
generated when you configure or change this field. |
|
|
|
|
Assign Presentations |
VBPresenter is used to create multimedia presentations that |
|
|
can be launched from the Portal Server. The Current |
|
|
Presentations Directory defines the virtual directory on the |
|
|
Portal Server where the live presentations are stored—the |
|
|
default is Presentations. During a new Portal Server |
|
|
installation, the required virtual and physical directories are |
|
|
automatically created. To use a different virtual directory, |
|
|
create the virtual directory in IIS and enter only the virtual |
|
|
directory name in this field—do not enter the complete path. The |
|
|
Current Presentations User is a pseudo VBPresenter user who |
|
|
will be given permission to publish to specified directories and |
|
|
VOD servers. Configuring an MCS Presentation User on |
|
|
page 117 explains how to create this user; contact VBrick |
|
|
Support Services if you need help. |
|
|
If you are upgrading from Portal Server v4.0.1 or earlier and |
|
|
using VBPresenter, you will need to manually create two |
|
|
virtual directories (Presentations for live presentations and |
|
|
MCSPresentations for stored presentations), giving the user |
|
|
Everyone full permissions, and mapping the local paths |
|
|
respectively to: |
|
|
C:\Program Files\VBrick\MCS\Presentations |
|
|
C:\Program Files\VBrick\MCS\MCSPresentations |
|
|
|
|
Select Macintosh Player for |
Select the player to use for MPEG-4 content on Macintosh |
|
MPEG4 Content |
clients: |
|
|
• VBrick Player – users will be prompted to install a VBrick |
|
|
plugin the first time they launch MPEG-4 content. |
|
|
• Apple QuickTime Player – no plugin required. Does not |
|
|
support access logging. |
|
|
|
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
23 |
Item |
Description |
|
|
Assign AutoIngest |
The current autoingest via XML user name that has access |
|
and publishing rights to a VOD server. See AutoIngest |
|
Content via XML on page 123 for more information. |
|
|
Delete Recorded Files After |
Used with scheduled recording and push button recording. |
Ingestion |
Specifies whether or not to delete the recorded file from the |
|
NVR after ingestion. Enabled by default. |
|
|
Specify Components to |
This setting defines whether the Portal Server will download |
Download to Clients |
additional components to client machines when the client first |
|
makes contact with the Portal Server—before any streams or |
|
assets are selected for playback (see Downloading |
|
Components on page 10 for more information.) Any changes |
|
to these settings apply to new client machines only and will not affect |
|
previously configured machines. The settings here apply to |
|
Internet and/or LAN users as defined in the Assign LAN/ |
|
Internet Address Range(s) in Global Assignments (see above). |
|
The default is to download all components to all clients. For |
|
Windows clients you can selectively choose any combination |
|
of settings; for Macintosh or Linux clients, any one selection |
|
will download all components for all clients. |
|
• MPEG-1 Video Support – makes MPEG-1 files playable. |
|
• MPEG-2/1 Video Support – makes both MPEG-2 and |
|
MPEG-1 files playable. |
|
• MPEG-4 – makes MPEG-4 files playable. |
|
• WM Video Support for Firefox on Windows PC – makes |
|
Windows Media files playable on Firefox. |
|
• 'Add Video' Utility – enables or disables the "add video" |
|
functionality on client machines. |
|
|
MPEG-2 Packet Ordering |
Network hardware infrastructure determines the order in |
at Schedule End |
which packets arrive at a destination. To improve video |
|
quality, VBrick MPEG-2 appliances reorder packets by |
|
default. Since this reordering can cause an increase in latency |
|
and affect applications like video conferencing, you can set |
|
packet ordering to disabled at schedule end. |
|
|
Stored Schedule Mode |
Used when creating a live broadcast schedule for stored |
|
content. Note that the following parameters are "sticky." They |
|
remain associated with the schedule even if the Stored |
|
Schedule Mode is subsequently changed. |
|
• Content Centric – content titles are shown; content servers |
|
are not shown. The content is downloaded from load- |
|
balanced servers. |
|
• Server Centric – content servers are shown with a tree |
|
control for selecting content. The content is downloaded |
|
from a specific server and is not load balanced. |
|
|
24 |
© 2008 VBrick Systems, Inc. |
|
|
Global Settings |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Item |
Description |
|
|
|
|
External Player Mode |
Windows only. Determines whether or not multiple streams |
|
|
can be displayed by launching external player windows. |
|
|
Default = Single. You can launch multiple windows but you |
|
|
can only record one stream at a time. |
|
|
|
|
Client Multiple Monitor |
The Portal Server supports dual client monitors. However, if |
|
Setup |
you experience problems when using a second monitor, |
|
|
disable the DirectX component VMR9. |
|
|
|
|
Set Cisco ACNS Manifest |
Check the box to enable generation of a Cisco ACNS Manifest |
|
Options |
File. (The Cisco ACNS server must be configured to point to |
|
|
this file.) Select the files (MPEG-4 and/or WM) to include in |
|
|
the file, and specify a Manifest Generation Interval (default = |
|
|
10 minutes) that defines how often the file will be |
|
|
regenerated. Click Generate Now to create an "on demand" |
|
|
file. ACNS copies all MPEG-2 and WM video files to all |
|
|
(Windows Media, Darwin, and VOD-W) servers in your |
|
|
EtherneTV system. Additional configuration steps are |
|
|
required on the VOD-W server only. See ACNS Configuration |
|
|
on page 141 for more about ACNS. |
|
|
|
Custom Fields
Custom fields are used to add additional fields to the Info pages associated with stored videos and live broadcast streams. All stored videos, and those live streams that have been "customized," have an Info hyperlink. By default, the Info page has fields for Description and Keywords. The Custom Fields functionality lets you add additional "custom" fields that are appropriate to your business or application. This lets you provide more information on the page and it also makes it easier to search for specific streams. (All defined fields are listed in the dropdown list box next to the Search button.)
When you add a custom field using this function, the field is available to administrators as a selection in the Customize Streams window. It is also available to end users as the Modify Info button on the Info pages associated with stored videos (if they have content publishing permissions).
TTo create a Custom Field:
1.Go to Global Settings > Custom Fields.
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
25 |
2.Enter a Field Name and a Field Type. If you select Dropdown, you can add items one at a time followed by Add Item. These items will populate a dropdown list box on the
Customize Streams page.
3.When done, click Add Custom Field. The field will be added to the panel at the top of the window; it will also be available as an option when you are customizing a stream.
Add/Modify |
This panel shows the existing custom fields that have previously been |
Custom Field |
defined. |
|
|
Field Name |
The field name you want to display on the Info page for this stream or |
|
video. |
|
|
Field Type |
This determines how the field will be displayed on the Customize |
|
Streams page, either as a text field or as a dropdown list box. |
|
|
Stream Restrictions
Use this page to set and the viewing period for live stream recordings and the maximum number of concurrent viewers. There are no default expiration dates for live streams when a recording is made but administrators can automatically set the content from a specific stream to expire by setting a viewing period. For more about content expiration see Copyright Protection on page 3.
26 |
© 2008 VBrick Systems, Inc. |
Global Settings
Live Stream |
Click on any live stream shown in the list to populate this field. |
|
|
Max. Concurrent |
Set the maximum number of concurrent viewers for this stream to |
Viewers |
unlimited or any number greater than zero. |
|
|
Viewing Period of |
Set the length of the viewing period for a file recorded with this |
Stream Recordings |
stream in hours, days, weeks, months, or years. The file will no longer |
|
be available for viewing at the end of the period and will be deleted |
|
or saved as configured in Global Assignments > Set Expired VOD |
|
Content Treatment. |
|
|
Servers
Use the Servers page to add or modify VOD or FTP servers, or to add or modify VOD Content Folders. Note that you can cluster multiple servers to increase throughput: the ETV Portal Server will automatically load balance all servers defined on the Servers page; no additional configuration is necessary. Note that content added by users in the Internet zone will only be ingested to VOD servers in the Internet zone for which they have permissions. Content added by users in the LAN zone will be ingested to all VOD servers to which they have permissions. See ETV VOD Servers on page 6 for more about ETV servers.
Note It may take up to 20 minutes for new server content to be displayed in the ETV Portal Server. To make content available immediately, go to Global Settings > Global
Assignments > Assign VOD Polling Interval and click Sync Now.
Using Secure FTP
In v4.2 or higher, VBrick's FTP client supports secure FTP connections from the end user (client), Portal Server and NVR to the VOD servers. This is accomplished using FTP over SSL (FTPS protocol). Having a client that supports FTPS however, is not enough to have secure FTP connections throughout the system. The FTP servers on all VOD servers also
ETV Portal Server Admin Guide |
27 |
need to support FTPS for a secure connection to exist. If a secure connection cannot be established, the client will revert to the standard FTP protocol. The FTP server on Windows platforms (IIS) does not currently support FTPS. Therefore, to have secure connections, you must install a third-party add-in on all Windows VOD servers. Of the various solutions available, VBrick recommends FTP Guardian. FTP Guardian is a wrapper for IIS that serves as a proxy between a secure client and an unsecured IIS. You change the FTP port of IIS to an arbitrary port (10021 for example), then you start the FTP Guardian service. It binds to port 21 and all incoming FTP clients communicate using a secure front that proxies the calls to IIS on port 10021. Be aware that this add-on, for Windows servers only, is not sold or supported by VBrick. It requires a server wrapper and additional .dlls.
TTo install FTP Guardian:
1.Go to http://www.tcpdata.com/ftpg_license.shtml
2.Click and run Download ftp Guardian Server Wrapper - 600K on the VOD server.
3.Click Download SSL Libraries - 380K on the VOD server.
4.Then open the .zip file and copy libeay32.dll and ssleay32.dll into C:\Program
Files\ftpgs
Add/Modify VOD/FTP Servers
Use this window to add Video-On-Demand Server(s) to the ETV Portal Server. If the network supports Windows 98 users, you must use the IP address of the VOD server—not the host name. After selecting a Server Type VBrick recommends you keep the default settings for FTP Password, Publishing Local Path, Publishing Directory, etc. unless there is a compelling reason to change them. Nor is it necessary to create a Streaming Alias. Leave this parameter blank unless you are using HTTP Tunneling.
Adding NXG, VOD-W, and VOD-D Servers
Figure 4. Add VOD-W Server
28 |
© 2008 VBrick Systems, Inc. |
Global Settings
IP or Domain |
This is the primary IP address or Host Name of the VOD server for |
|
LAN users (see also Secondary Server Address below). The Server |
|
Name or IP address entered into the ETV Portal Server must be |
|
accessible by the ETV Portal Server. (If the network supports |
|
Windows 98 users, you must use the IP address.) |
|
|
Server Description |
This allows the administrator to define a descriptor such as location. |
|
|
FTP User Name |
This is the FTP user name that the Portal Server uses when |
|
publishing content to the server. The default user name for NXG, |
|
VOD-D, VOD-WM, and FTP servers is vbrickuser. The default user |
|
name for VOD-W servers is anonymous. The FTP User Name |
|
refers to a user account that already exists on the server. If the FTP |
|
User Name is changed on any VOD server, it must be changed here |
|
as well. Use any combination of alphanumeric and special |
|
characters. |
|
|
Server Type |
• NXG – Linux-based Kasenna VOD server. |
|
• VOD-W – Windows-based InfoValue VOD server. |
|
• VOD-D – Darwin Open Source server for Linux, Windows, |
|
Mac, etc. Ingests and plays MPEG4 content only. Requires an |
|
FTP server. See Creating a VOD-D FTP Server on page 34. |
|
• VOD-WM-Standard – Microsoft Windows Media Server |
|
(unicast only). Requires an FTP server. See Creating a VOD-WM |
|
FTP Server on page 33. |
|
• VOD-WM-Enterprise – Microsoft Windows Media Server |
|
(unicast or multicast). Requires an FTP server. See Creating a |
|
VOD-WM FTP Server on page 33. |
|
• FTP – Use FTP only if you want to copy from the Recorder |
|
server to another FTP server in which case it records to |
|
ftp:\root. |
FTP Password |
The FTP password the Portal Server uses when publishing content |
|
to the server. The default FTP password for NXG, VOD-D, |
|
VOD-WM, and FTP servers is vbrickuser. The default FTP |
|
password for VOD-W servers is anonymous. If the FTP Password is |
|
changed on the server, it must be changed here as well. Use any |
|
combination of alphanumeric and special characters. |
|
|
Publishing Local Path |
Maps the Publishing Directory to the physical location on the VOD |
|
server. |
|
|
Publishing Directory |
Used for Add Video, FTP, or Record. The logical path to a folder |
|
under FTP root. This is the staging area on the VOD server from |
|
which files are ingested to the destination folder. |
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Streaming Alias (IP or |
Some content hosts (PowerStream, Akamai, etc.) use one host name |
Domain) |
for FTPing and indexing content, and another host name for |
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streaming content. If necessary, use this field to identify the host |
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name alias for streaming content. |
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HTTP Tunneling Port VOD-W, VOD-WM and VOD-D servers can stream to clients via the HTTP protocol. By default this uses port 80. If another process on the server (for example a web server) is also using the HTTP protocol, there will be a conflict on this port. This setting lets you select a different port (1–65535 with limitations) to be used when streaming via HTTP. This setting must correspond with the port setting on the server. See "Assign LAN/Internet Address Range > Always use TCP protocol for MPEG-4 content" in Global Assignments on page 19.
Supports HTTP |
VOD-W only. Determines whether or not the server supports |
Tunneling? |
HTTP tunneling. Default = checked. Go to Global Assignments to |
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actually enable HTTP tunneling. See "Assign LAN/Internet |
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Address Range > Always use TCP protocol for MPEG-4 content" |
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in Global Assignments on page 19. Uncheck if you are using a |
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VOD-W server installed before Portal Server v4.2. |
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Web Service Port |
The Portal Server and the VOD-W communicate using a web |
(HTTP) |
service configured to use port 80 by default. If you choose to tunnel |
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over port 80, you must use a different port for the web service |
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communication using this parameter. You must configure the |
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VOD-W to use this same port for the web service. See "Using |
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HTTP Tunneling" in the VOD-W Admin Guide for more details. |
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Secondary Server |
A VOD server can have two addresses: one for Internet users and |
Address |
one for LAN users (see also IP or Domain name above). This is the |
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secondary server address for Internet users. It is the IP address or |
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domain name of a second NIC or a NAT. |
Enable URL Password VOD-W only. Default = unchecked. To enable URL password Protection protection, check the box and enter and confirm a password. The
password must match the password configured on the VOD-W server.
Default password = vbrickkey. If checked, all video requests sent to VOD-W servers by the ETV Portal Server will have a security token embedded in the URL. The VOD-W server will validate and deny the request if the token is absent or invalid.
Adding WM Servers
Although the VOD-WM Enterprise server supports numerous multicast types, the Portal Server creates and displays only "File" multicasts which stream a single file. A Windows Media server administrator can create other multicast types using the Windows Media Services interface but these multicast types are not supported and may not be displayed in the Asset Library.
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Global Settings
Figure 5. Add VOD-WM Server
Domain or |
When the ETV Portal Server and the VOD-WM server reside in the same |
Machine Name |
domain, this is the name of that domain. When workgroups are being used, |
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this is the machine name of the VOD-WM server. Note: the machine name |
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is not the IP address of the server. |
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User Name |
The name of a valid user that has administration privileges on the |
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VOD-WM server or the network domain. If the VOD-WM Server is within |
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a domain, the name entered here will be a domain user. That domain user |
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must have administration privileges on the VOD-WM Server. If the |
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VOD-WM Server is part of a workgroup, the name entered here will be a |
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local user with administration privileges on the VOD-WM Server. A local |
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user with administrator privileges having the same name must also exist on |
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the MCS Portal Server. |
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Note: The MCS Portal Server and VOD-WM Server(s) must all be within a |
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domain or part of a workgroup. Any topology that mixes servers in |
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domains and servers in workgroups will not work or will be extremely slow. |
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User Password |
The valid password of the user specified above. |
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WM Publishing |
Name |
The publishing point on the VOD-WM (default = VBP) server |
Points |
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where content will be accessed and managed by the ETV |
|
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Portal Server. Note: this setting must correspond to an existing, |
|
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valid publishing point on the server. |
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Source |
Local path to the publishing point. Default = d:/wmpub/ |
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WMRoot. Do not change for first publishing point. |
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FTP |
Path to user-created FTP directory. See Creating a VOD-WM |
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Directory |
FTP Server. |
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Low Space |
Default = 20 MB. If the available disk space on this publishing |
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Threshold |
point is less than the specified value, the publishing point with |
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the largest amount of free space will be used. |
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Free Space |
The free space (in GB) available on disk is automatically |
|
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recalculated when you add a new publishing point or refresh |
|
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the publishing point list. |
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Adding Publishing Points to a WM Server
In a typical scenario, first you configure the publishing point on the Windows Media server, then you configure the publishing point on the Portal Server with matching values. Additional publishing points are required to make content available when you add disk space to a Windows Media server. As shown on the previous window, a Windows Media Server supports multiple publishing points. In this context, publishing points are used to discover your content via FTP. Use the following steps, in the order shown, to create a new publishing point. Note that as explained below, you must create a virtual FTP directory in IIS for each publishing point on the WM Server.
TTo add a publishing point:
1.Create an FTP server on the WM server. See Creating a VOD-WM FTP Server on page 33.
2.Create a publishing point on the WM Server.
a.Go to Start > Administrative Tools > Windows Media Services.
b.Right-click on the server_name and select Add Publishing Point (Wizard).
c.Add a meaningful publishing point name and click Next.
d.Select Files (digital media or playlists) in a directory and click Next.
e.Select On-demand publishing point and click Next.
f.Specify the location of your content, for example d:\WMPub\WMRoot and click Next.
g.Skip through the remaining steps and click Finish when done.
3.To create a virtual directory on the WM server for this publishing point:
a.Go to Start > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
b.Navigate to the Default FTP Website. Right-click and select New > Virtual Directory.
c.For Alias, use the Publishing Point name from Step 3 above and click Next.
d.Enter the path to the content directory for this FTP site and click Next.
e.Allow Read and Write permissions and click Next.
f.Click Finish when done.
4.In the Portal Server, configure the publishing point Name, Source, and FTP Directory to match the values you used for the publishing point on the Windows Media server.
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Global Settings
Note • The publishing point name within a server must be unique. You cannot add a publishing point that already exists in MCS database.
•The publishing point FTP directory within a server must be unique.
•If free space information is available at the time a publishing point is added, it must be greater than the entered Low Space Threshold.
•Publishing points located within another publishing point are not supported although publishing points on the same drive are supported. For example, two publishing points with Source c:\pub1 and c:\pub2 are supported but two publishing points with Source c:\pub1 and c:\pub1\pub2 are not supported.
Adding FTP Servers
Figure 6. Add FTP Server
Creating a VOD-WM FTP Server
If you are using a VOD-WM-Enterprise or VOD-WM-Standard (Microsoft Windows Media) server, you must install and configure a standard FTP server on the VOD-WM server as explained below. (For more about Microsoft Windows Media servers see ETV VOD Servers on page 6.)
T To create a Microsoft Windows Media FTP server:
On the Microsoft Windows Media Server:
1.Install the FTP server.
2.Set the default FTP directory to the Microsoft Windows Media Server's default Publishing Point directory.
3.Create and configure an FTP user account with full permissions (read/write, rename/ delete etc.) on the directory specified above. If using the VBrick default, this account's user name is vbrickuser and the password is vbrickuser. Hint: use the settings of the anonymous account as an example.
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4.Verify that the directory specified in Step 2 above is set to allow the FTP user account full permissions.
On the Portal Server:
5.When the Microsoft Windows Media Server is created or modified, specify the user name and password created in Step 3 above in the FTP User Name and FTP Password fields on the Add/Modify VOD/FTP Servers page
Creating a VOD-D FTP Server
If you are using a VOD-D (Darwin) server, you must install and configure a standard FTP server on the VOD-D server as explained below. (For more about Darwin servers see ETV VOD Servers on page 6.)
T To create a Darwin FTP server:
On the Darwin Server:
1.Install a standard FTP server on port 21.
2.Set the default FTP directory to the Darwin Server's Media Folder directory (also called the Publishing Point) or create a virtual directory of the FTP root pointing to the Darwin server's Media Folder.
3.Create and configure an FTP user account with full permissions (read/write, rename/ delete etc.) on the directory created above. If using the VBrick default, this account's user name is vbrickuser and the password is vbrickuser. Hint: use the settings of the anonymous account as an example.
4.Verify that the directory created in Step 2 above is set to allow the FTP user account full
permissions.
On the Portal Server:
5.When the Darwin Server is created or modified, specify the user name and password
created in Step 3 above in the FTP User Name and FTP Password fields on the Add/Modify page.
Add/Modify Video On Demand Content Folders
Add/Modify Video On Demand Content Folders can be used to organize content on a specific
Video-on-Demand server. The Portal Server periodically polls certain folders for presence of content and if found ingests the content onto multiple VOD servers. Any files FTPed into a particular folder in the Autoingest folder will automatically be ingested into the corresponding folder on the VOD server(s). You must add these folders using the window shown below. (See Auto Content Ingestion on page 121 for more about autoingestion.) Existing folder structures on a VOD server will be mirrored in the Portal Server. However you will still need to associate those folders with other server(s) if the file is to be autoingested onto multiple servers.
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Global Settings
This function is useful for VBrick VBStar appliances to easily transfer content from their hard drives to the VOD server. (It can also be helpful for users who acquire content outside of the ETV Portal Server, for example from StreamPlayer Plus.) When a folder is created, you must check a box in Add/Modify Folders on Selected Servers to associate the folder with a server for autoingestion. ETV Portal Server checks these folders every 5 minutes and ingests new content if present. This feature only applies to Autoingest; it does not apply to Record or
Add Video.
Note that empty folders are not displayed on the Portal Server client interface. These folders are only displayed when they have content. As the folder structure is created in this section, autoingest folders will be created in the FTP root path. For example, if the FTP root path is d:\inetpub\ftproot, then folders that are created in the Add/Modify On-Demand content folders will also be created in the d\inetpub\ftproot\mcs\autoingest folder.
Autoingested content can go into any folder that has been associated with a server or servers using the Add/Modify Folders on Selected Servers check boxes shown above. If using a VBStar, be sure to associate a folder with a server for autoingest. This enables the folder that the VBStar will FTP files into. This function is not associated with a user or group permission and is controlled only by the Administrator. See Auto Content Ingestion on page 121 for a more detailed description of the Autoingestion functionality.
Note Use the Delete button to remove non-empty folders only. Use the Modify button to change AutoIngest settings in the Add/Modify Folders on Selected Servers pane.
Creating Subfolders
Use the following steps to create a subfolder in an existing folder.
TTo create a subfolder:
1.Highlight any existing folder name, for example /Bill as shown in the previous window, and click New.
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2.Type the new subfolder name in the text field, preceded by a forward slash, for example
/Bill/temp, and click Submit when done.
VBricks
All VBricks must be configured in ETV Portal Server before they can be managed and used for scheduled events. (VBrick configuration is only required if you are using the Scheduling feature. Once configured, all VBricks in the system are shown on the following window. In the ETV Portal Server, SAP (Session Announcement Protocol) announcements are sent to the Portal Server by network-connected VBrick devices (encoders and/or decoders). The Select VBrick panel in the next screen shows VBrick appliances (encoders and decoders) that have announced their presence on the network but have not been configured for use in ETV Portal Server. (Note that if you delete a VBrick from the Currently Configured VBrick List, it will not be shown as available until you logout and log back in to the Admin Console.)
TTo add a VBrick configuration:
1.Go to Global Settings > VBricks.
2.Select Add VBricks and click Submit.
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Global Settings
3.In Select VBrick, select one or more existing VBricks for which a SAP has been received. If you select one VBrick, this populates the VBrick Configuration panel. (If you select multiple VBricks, it does not populate the panel; if you need to configure the VBricks, you must add them one at a time.)
4.Complete or modify the fields in VBrick Configuration as necessary. Note that you must enter a User Name and Password and confirm that Password or the configuration will fail.
5.Click Submit when done. This adds the new configuration to the list of configured VBricks shown on the previous page.
Note The only time you will manually complete the VBrick Configuration fields is when you are defining the configuration for a VBrick that will be added to the network at a later time. In this case, you will need to know the following configuration data in advance.
Host Name |
Required. Host name of VBrick. |
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IP Address |
Required. IP address of VBrick. |
|
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User Name |
Defaults to system-defined value if blank. |
|
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User Password |
Defaults to system-defined value if blank. |
|
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Confirm Password |
Defaults to system-defined value if blank. Must match User Password |
|
if entered above. |
|
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Software Revision |
Optional. To get the Software Revision in IWS, go to Status > System |
|
Information > Release Revision. |
|
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HTTP Port |
Optional. To get the HTTP Port in IWS, go to Configuration > System |
|
> Security > IWS Server Port. |
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37 |
VBrick Model |
Select from dropdown. Advanced settings are enabled if you select an |
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encoder or a VBStar. |
|
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Advanced Settings
Advanced settings are enabled if you select a VBrick encoder or a VBStar. Note that the Portal Server will attempt to retrieve and autofill the Multicast IP addresses and Port numbers. You can modify these fields as necessary.
Note The following values are stored in the Portal Server database only. Depending on how a scheduled event is configured, they may be saved and written back to the VBrick device after the scheduled event runs.
Multicast IP |
Destination multicast IP address. |
|
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Video Port |
Destination video port. |
|
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Audio Port |
MPEG-4 devices only. Destination audio port. |
|
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CC Port |
MPEG-4 devices only. Closed captioning port. |
|
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Control Devices
Control devices let you configure a video source device so that it can be controlled by end users from the Portal Server user interface. (An example of a video source device is a DVD or VCR directly connected to a VBrick encoder.) Once configured, a special icon on the Live Broadcasts page indicates you can control the stream using a "virtual" remote control panel as shown in Figure 7 below. VBrick currently supports DVDs and VCRs from several different manufacturers as well as the VBrick VBIR remote controller that can be customized for use with a wide variety of source devices. See Adding User-Defined VBIRs below for more about VBIRs.
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