videoxpert admin portal · word for the admin portal are both admin. it is recommended that you...

C5668M | 9/16USER GUIDE

VideoXpert Admin PortalUser Guide

Contents

Installation and Configuration Process Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5VideoXpert Hardware Vs Software Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Single Server Vs Clustered Installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Installing Core . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Logging In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Configuring your VideoXpert Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Storing Exports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Configuring a Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Device Discovery Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Changing the Core Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Changing the Address of Media Gateway Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Configuring Media Gateway Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Installing the Media Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Licensing Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Automatically Activating Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Adding and Updating Entitlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Installing Entitlements After Restoring Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

LDAP Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Configuring LDAP Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Configuring Simple Search Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Configuring Two-Stage Bind Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Discovering, Adding, and Commissioning Devices in VideoXpert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Adding Pelco Cameras and Devices or Third-Party Servers Running VideoXpert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Adding Third-Party Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Adding Pelco Devices to VideoXpert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Adding Third-Party Cameras to VideoXpert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Commissioning and Decommissioning Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Configuring Device Discovery for Clustered Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Deleting Devices from the Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Editing Friendly Names and IDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Changing Source Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Assigning Pelco Cameras to Recorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Recording Cameras Redundantly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Configuring VideoXpert Storage Recorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Using Digital Sentry Servers as VideoXpert Recorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Recording Groups, Schedules, and Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Configuring Recording Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Configure a Continuous Recording Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Configuring Event-based Recording Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Bump on Alarm Recording Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Deleting Recording Groups, Schedules, and Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Advanced VideoXpert Storage Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Checking VideoXpert Storage Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Storage Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Downloading Storage Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Configuration Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Assigning an NTP Address to VideoXpert Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Using External NAS Storage (Archive Volume Group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Configuring an External Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Database Backups and Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Restoring the Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Rebuilding the Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Configuring Failover Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Aggregating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Creating Global Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Editing Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Deleting Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Assigning Tags to Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Managing Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Internal and Restricted User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Adding Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Duplicating Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Renaming Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Deleting Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Deactivating and Activating Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Resetting Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Assigning Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Managing Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Creating a Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Renaming a Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Duplicating a Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Deleting a Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Assigning Permissions to Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Restricting Resource Access for a Permission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Permission Resource Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Plug-in Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Supervision and Reports Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Event Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32User Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Device Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33System Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Surveillance Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Investigation Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Special Cases for Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Configuring and Managing Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Setting Event Log Retention Periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Using the Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Responding to Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Watching Live Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Viewing Settings and Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Installing the Pelco Media Plugin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Video Overlay Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Using PTZ Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Engaging Presets and Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Downloading Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Event Types and Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Camera Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Online/Offline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Recorder Camera Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Recorder Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45User Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Event History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45VX Cluster Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Additional Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

About the VideoXpert Accessory Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Configuring the Accessory Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Changing the IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Enabling a Second Accessory Server (Failover) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Using the Accessory Server as an Arbiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Configuring DHCP Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Configuring NTP Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Server Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Updating the Accessory Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Restoring the Accessory Server to Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Installing an NTP Client Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Migrating to VideoXpert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Migrating the Endura Database to VideoXpert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Migrating from Digital Sentry to VideoXpert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Backing Up VideoXpert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Configuring Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Taking a One-Time Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Scheduling Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Restoring the Database (Replacing a Member of a Cluster) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Restoring the Database (Replacing an Entire Environment) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Updating Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Updating Software (Uninstall/Reinstall Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Installation and Configuration Process OverviewThe order in which you install and configure VideoXpert servers is determined by the number of servers your system contains and whether you are installing VideoXpert applications on existing hardware or purchased purpose-built hardware from Pelco.

The diagram below represents the recommended installation process for both Pelco factory-installed products, or for software-only installations on recommended hardware. It is strongly recommended that you follow the process outlined below to install and configure your VideoXpert system.

Figure 1: Recommended Installation Process Diagram

VideoXpert Hardware Vs Software DistributionsIf you purchased a VideoXpert hardware solution, you will not have to apply a license to your system. If you’ve installed VideoXpert on your own hardware, you will need to apply licensing to continue using VideoXpert past the 7-day grace period.

Single Server Vs Clustered InstallationsFor Single-Server Installations, you can host both the Core and Media Gateway server applications on the same physical server or on separate servers. You cannot have more than one of each server active on the network unless the servers are clustered behind a load balancer.

For Clustered Installations, complete each operation in the installation diagram for each server in the cluster before moving to the next operation.

Installing CoreBefore installing VideoXpert, ensure that all network interfaces besides the primary NIC are disabled. Additional network interfaces may prevent the system from discovering devices. While you can cluster Core servers through a load balancer to increase the capacity of your VideoXpert network, you cannot have separate, individual Cores operating on the same network.

Do not run Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) on your Core server.

1. Run the MSI installer. If prompted, elect to run the installer as an administrator. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. As a part of the installation process, you will:a. Accept the license agreement, and then click Next. Declining the license agreement will quit the installer.

b. Set your installation, data, and event directories, and then click Next.

2. Click Finish when the installation process is complete.

CONFIGURATION

INSTALLATION

Software-OnlyInstall

PelcoFactoryInstalled

Install & Configure

Load Balancer

FunctionalSystem

Enhanced decoder install/config

(optional)

Migrate data from Endura/DS

Install Monitoring�/Backup/Support

Servers

Install Core Software

Install Media GatewaySoftware

Configure Media Gateway

Configure Ops Center

License andRegister all

components

Register allcomponents

Install Ops CenterSoftware

Configure Core

Indicates an optional or situational process

Software-installation procedures

Configuration Procedures

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Logging InLog in to the Admin Portal to configure the system or watch video without the Ops Center application. The default user name and pass-word for the Admin Portal are both admin. It is recommended that you change the password for the admin user after logging into the system for the first time.

1. Open a browser.

2. Enter the IP address or host name of your Core in the navigation bar.

3. Enter your credentials at the login page. The default user name and password are both admin.

4. Click Log In.

Configuring your VideoXpert SiteNOTE: If you change the address of your physical Core server through Windows before configuring VideoXpert, you must restart the server before you configure (or update the configuration of) VideoXpert. If you change the physical address of one or more Cores in a cluster before setup, you should take all Core servers in the cluster offline, and then restart them all before configuring VideoXpert.

Before you configure your system and bring VideoXpert online, you should install an NTP client and edit your NTP.conf file to point all potential members of the system to the same NTP server.

When you login to the system for the first time, the system will prompt you for basic configuration information. You may return to the Config page after setting up the system to edit the system configuration.

1. Provide your company name. The company name is a field you will enter during initial setup; you cannot change the company name after setting up the system

2. Provide the Site Name; the site name identifies the particular instance of VideoXpert. If you aggregate the VideoXpert environ-ments, the site name will identify the various environments belonging to the aggregation server.

3. Provide an IP address for the Core.

4. If configuring an environment with a VideoXpert Accessory server or a cluster of Core servers, select Multiple Cores.

a. Provide a Virtual IP address for your Core Servers. This is the address by which users will access the system.

b. Click Add and addresses for additional Core servers.

c. Change settings for device discovery if your cluster is not governed by a VideoXpert Accessory Server.

5. Provide the address of your Media Gateway server. If you have multiple Media Gateway servers, provide the virtual IP address of your Media Gateway cluster.

6. Determine whether or not to store exported video in an alternate location. If you elect to store exports in an alternate network loca-tion, provide the path and credentials (if required) to the alternate location.

7. Click Save Configuration. It may take several minutes for the configuration process to complete.

Storing Exports

As a part of Core configuration, you can select the Store Exports in Alternate Location option to store exported video in a network location off the Core. This saves space and bandwidth to your Core server(s). In a clustered environment, exports are stored only on a single Core; storing exports in an alternate location ensures that the loss of a Core will not prevent you from accessing any of your exports.

Configuring a Cluster

A clustered environment requires at least two Core or CMG servers and an Accessory Server, which will act as a load balancer. When configuring a cluster, you should fully configure a single Core, including the virtual IP address and addresses of other Cores, first; after

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configuring the first Core, you can configure the accessory server. For more information about clustering an environment, refer to the system design guide.

Device Discovery Load Balancing

If you are not load balancing a VideoXpert cluster using a VideoXpert Accessory Server, and your load balancer supports UDP traffic, you can uncheck the appropriate option to reveal additional settings for load balancing device discovery traffic.

You may want to load balance discovery traffic for especially large environments, to prevent a single core from becoming overloaded with UDP discovery traffic.

Changing the Core Address

If you update the IP address of your physical Core server (through Windows), you must restart the physical server before you can re-configure your Core server through the Admin Portal.

Changing the Address of Media Gateway Servers

Within VideoXpert, Media Gateway devices are considered unique by IP address; changing the IP address of a Media Gateway will cause it to appear as a new device. Before you change the address of a Media Gateway, you should first remove it from the Devices page, then discover and commission the Media Gateway at the new IP address.

Configuring Media Gateway Communications

Your Media Gateway is capable of trans-casting to suit your network topology and needs. While the system is configured to get multicast streams from sources and to issue multicast streams to clients, you can select the appropriate communication method both from sources to the Media Gateway and from the Media Gateway to clients. Your network topology and need for users to access sources simultane-ously should inform your choice.

1. Go to the Config page.

2. Select the communication method that best supports your needs.

3. Click Save Configuration.

Installing the Media GatewayIt is recommended that you install and configure your Core server before installing the Media Gateway application.

The VideoXpert Media Gateway serves video to users connected to your VideoXpert system. You can install the Media Gateway software on the same physical server as Core or on a separate server.

As a part of the Media Gateway installation process, you will provide the IP address of your Core server, even if hosting both applications on the same physical server. You will configure your Media Gateway through the Admin Portal, hosted by your Core server.

1. Run the MSI installer.

2. Accept or reject the End User License Agreement. Rejecting the EULA will cause the installer to quit.

3. When prompted, provide the IP address of your Core server or the virtual IP address of a cluster of Core servers and press Enter.

4. Follow the instructions provided by the installer to complete the installation process.

5. Open a Web browser and log in to the Admin Portal as an administrator.

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6. Navigate to the Devices page, and click Load All; it may take several minutes for the Media Gateway to appear on the Devices page.

7. Select your Media Gateway, and click Commission to activate it within VideoXpert.

Licensing Your SystemYou must apply a license if you are installing a VideoXpert software distribution. You do not need to apply a license to use the system if using VideoXpert purpose-built hardware from Pelco; if you purchased VideoXpert Ultimate hardware, you must apply a license pack to expose the aggregation feature and use aggregated cameras.

You must have your activation ID and access to the Entitlement Fulfillment Server at http://licensing.pelco.com to apply license packs to the system. If you cannot connect to the Entitlement Fulfillment Server directly, you will need to transfer your Entitlement Request File to a computer with Internet access during the activation process. If you received multiple activation IDs for VideoXpert products, you must complete the process below for each individual activation ID.

As a part of this process, you will download an Entitlement Request File and a Entitlement File; both files are specific to the product for which they were requested. It is recommended that you rename both files to reflect the system for which they are intended to prevent confusion during the licensing process.

1. Login to the Admin Portal and go to the Licensing page.

2. Click Add. If your server has an active Internet connection with access to http://licensing.pelco.com, you can select the option to activate the license online and skip the remaining steps in the licensing process.

3. Enter your activation ID in the Activation ID box, and then click Enter. A Entitlement Request File, named request.bin, will be down-loaded to your computer.

4. Open a new browser window or tab and go to the Entitlement Fulfillment Server at http://licensing.pelco.com.

5. Log on to the Entitlement Fulfillment Server. You can use your user name and password or your Activation ID.

6. Click Generate License.

7. Click Choose File, select your Entitlement Request File, and then click OK.

8. Click Generate License. The Entitlement File, named response.bin, will be downloaded to your computer.

9. Return to the Aggregation Page.

10. Click Choose file under Upload Entitlement File.

11. Select your Entitlement File, and then click OK.

12. Click Upload.

13. Click Save.

RESULT:

When the process is complete, the Web portal will display the installed license, and, if applicable, its expiration date.

Automatically Activating Licenses

If your Core server has an active Internet connection with access to http://licensing.pelco.com, you can automatically activate licenses for your system.

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Adding and Updating Entitlements

The Licensing page contains options to update or add entitlements to VideoXpert. The page shows your current entitlements and the licenses used on the system.

VideoXpert supports Enterprise and Ultimate licenses. You cannot use both Enterprise and Ultimate licenses in the same environment. If you intend to upgrade from VideoXpert Enterprise to VideoXpert Ultimate, contact Pelco Product Support at 1-800-289-9100 (USA and Canada) or+1-559-292-1981 (international) for assistance.

• Click Add to add a new license. Follow the on-screen instructions to add a license.

• Place your cursor over an existing entitlement to reveal additional options; you may delete entitlements that have not yet been fully applied.

Installing Entitlements After Restoring Your System

It is highly recommended that you back up your system and save the response file used to apply your initial entitlement.

If restoring your system after uninstalling the Core software, you can re-apply your initial entitlement or license. If you re-image your Core server, you cannot apply your previous entitlement. If you have re-imaged your system, contact Pelco Product Support at 1-800-289-9100 (USA and Canada) or+1-559-292-1981 (international) for assistance.

LDAP AuthenticationYou can configure VideoXpert to validate user credentials from an LDAP server; VideoXpert supports LDAP for Microsoft Active Directory. While the system can validate credentials over LDAP, you must create corresponding users within VideoXpert to validate credentials against. You must also assign roles and permissions through VideoXpert; there are no analogs for VideoXpert permissions in Active Directory or LDAP.

NOTE:

• After changing a password in an environment using LDAP authentication, a user’s old password may still work for a short period of time (less than one hour). This is a Windows NTLM authentication behavior, designed to allow accounts logged in to multiple computers or network services to access the network while the password change propagates.

• LDAP Authentication does not affect restricted system users. When LDAP is enabled, you can still change passwords for admin, aggregator, and rule_engine_user accounts through the Admin Portal; these accounts are authenticated by VideoXpert no matter how you authenticate other users.

While VideoXpert may support other LDAP authentication schemes, this guide focuses on -- and the product has been tested against -- two common methods for LDAP authentication: simple (single bind) and two-stage bind with a service account:

• Simple (single-bind) authentication, which associates a user name and password with a distinguished name (DN) to validate user credentials.

• Two-stage bind authentication: which uses a service DN and a service DN password to establish the initial bind with the LDAP server. Upon a successful initial bind, a search is performed using the base DN, the first key from the Search Attributes box, and the user name. If the user’s information is found, the second bind is performed using the DN to authenticate user credentials.

Configuring LDAP Authentication

1. Go to the System page and click LDAP.

2. Click Enable LDAP.

3. Enter the host name or IP address of the LDAP server in the Server Name box.

4. (Optional) Click the SSL/TLS box if your LDAP server requires SSL/TLS authentication.

5. (Optional) Edit the Server port if the LDAP server is not on the default port (389).

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6. Configure Search Settings for your LDAP server. See Configuring Simple Search Authentication or Configuring Two-Stage Bind Authentication later in this guide for more information.

7. Click Test Connection to verify that your LDAP connection and search settings are correct.

8. Click Save.

Configuring Simple Search Authentication

Configuring search settings for simple LDAP authentication only requires the Base DN and the Search Attributes. Leave other fields blank. When inputting multiple entries in a box, separate entries with commas.

1. Type a distinguished name (DN) that will be combined with a user attribute key and value pair in the Base DN box.

2. Type an attribute key name that is combined with the User Name attribute in the Search Attributes box.

Configuring Two-Stage Bind Authentication

Configuring search settings for two-stage LDAP authentication requires that all fields be populated. When typing multiple entries in a box, separate entries with commas.

1. Type the distinguished name (DN) that acts as the basis for user searches by User Name in the Base DN box.

2. Type a fully qualified DN associated with a service account that will bind with the LDAP server and perform user searches in the Service DN box.

3. Type the password that allows the service DN to bind with the LDAP server in the Service DN Password box.

4. Type the two attribute keys that are combined with the User Name attribute; separate the two keys with a comma.

• The first key identifies the attribute containing the user name.

• The second key identifies the fully qualified DN used for the second bind and credential validation.

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Discovering, Adding, and Commissioning Devices in VideoXpertThe Devices page provides an interface add and remove devices in your VideoXpert system. VideoXpert does not automatically discover devices. You can prompt the system to search for, add, and automatically commission Pelco devices. You must manually add third-party video sources for use with VideoXpert Storage.

You must commission a device to use it within VideoXpert; VideoXpert commissions devices automatically when you add them to the system. Devices with a next to them consume a license when you commission them. The License Summary on the Devices page lists the number of licenses you have for each type of device. You can reclaim licenses by decommissioning devices, or add additional licenses by applying license packs to the system.

Adding Pelco Cameras and Devices or Third-Party Servers Running VideoXpertWhen adding Pelco devices to VideoXpert, the system issues a discovery message and then listens for Pelco devices for up to 5 minutes. VideoXpert automatically adds and commissions your VideoXpert devices and Pelco cameras.

If your installation requires licenses, the discovery process will consume the necessary licenses to commission discovered devices. If you do not have the necessary licenses to commission the discovered devices, VideoXpert will add the devices it discovers but leave them decommissioned. You must then manually commission devices when you either add more licenses or decommission devices of a similar type to reclaim the necessary licenses.

The discovery process also discovers and adds third-party devices connected through Digital Sentry-based recorders and third-party devices connected through UDI5000-CAMs to VSM or NSM5200-based recorders

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Adding Third-Party CamerasYou must manually add third-party cameras to the system when using third-party cameras with VideoXpert Storage.

When adding a third party camera or video source directly through VideoXpert, you must also associate it with a VideoXpert Storage recorder; the recorder hosts the driver for the camera, and begins recording continuously. You can add the camera to recording groups, set a schedule, and configure recording triggers, but you cannot add the camera to another recorder without repeating the process to add a third party device.

Third-party cameras connected through Digital Sentry or to VSM/NSM5200 models using a UDI5000-CAM are discovered through the simple discovery process. You cannot reassign cameras connected through DS recorders within VideoXpert. You can only reassign third party cameras connected through a UDI5000-CAM from one VSM/NSM5200 recorder to another within VideoXpert; you cannot assign them to other recorders.

Adding Pelco Devices to VideoXpertWhen adding Pelco devices to the system, the system issues a discovery message and then listens for Pelco devices for up to 5 minutes. If your system requires licenses and you have the necessary licenses, VideoXpert automatically adds and commissions your Pelco devices upon discovery. If you do not have the necessary licenses, the system discovers and adds the devices, but you will not be able to commis-sion your devices for use within VideoXpert until you either add more licenses or decommission devices of a similar type to reclaim the necessary licenses.

After adding and discovery devices, you may have to click Load All to refresh the device list; Ops Center users will have to refresh their source list to show newly-added devices.

NOTE:

• If you change the address of a source device (camera, encoder, etc) that is already in the VideoXpert database, VideoXpert will not find and re-associate the device at its new address. If this happens, you must re-discover the device at its new address and reassign it to recorders. You can remove the older instance of the device (at its old address), but you should wait until its video has expired; removing a device from the database will prevent you from finding video recorded from the device.

• For some older-model Pelco cameras, audio must be enabled before you discover a device. If you discover an older device supporting audio, and then enable audio later, VideoXpert may not discover the audio source. This will prevent you from listening to audio from the camera in live or recorded video. Audio should be enabled or disabled on the camera side in accordance with the availability of an audio source; if you physically disconnect an audio source from a Sarix camera while leaving audio enabled within the camera interface, VideoXpert may continue to report that audio is available for the camera.

To add Pelco devices to VideoXpert:

1. Go to the Devices page.

2. Click Add and select Discover and Add Pelco Devices.

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Adding Third-Party Cameras to VideoXpertThis procedure is for third party devices that you want to add to VideoXpert Storage-based recorders. If adding a third-party camera to a Digital Sentry or NSM5200/VSM recorder, you should add the camera through the recorder’s native interface.

When you add a third-party video source, you must also associate it with a recorder; the recorder hosts the driver for the camera, and will begin recording the camera continuously after you add it. Once the camera is in the system, you can add the camera to recording groups, set a schedule, and configure recording triggers, but you cannot add the camera to another recorder.


2. Click Add and select Add a Third-Party Camera.

3. Provide the IP Address, credentials, and a friendly name for the camera.

4. Select the VideoXpert Storage device that will host the camera.

5. Select the driver you want to use.

6. Click Add.

Commissioning and Decommissioning DevicesYou must commission a device to use it within VideoXpert; VideoXpert typically commissions devices automatically when you add them to the system. You may want to decommission a camera if the camera has failed but you want to preserve access to recorded video for the camera.

NOTE: If operating within the licensing grace period, it may take up to 30 minutes to commission recorders. If you receive an error when commissioning a recorder, log out and back in, and then try commissioning the recorder again.


2. Select the devices you want to commission or decommission.

3. Click Commission to make the device available within VideoXpert or Decommission to render devices unavailable.

Configuring Device Discovery for Clustered EnvironmentsWhen configuring your cluster, you must manually edit device discovery settings to optimize device discovery and subscriptions for your Core servers.

1. Open Program Files/Pelco/Core/config/deviceDiscovery.yml using Notepad or another plain text editor.

2. Set useMulticastSourceSpoof to 1 if using the loadBalancerIP and Port settings. This spoofs the device discovery virtual IP address as the discovery callback IP address, preventing each Core server in the cluster from sending and receiving device discovery messages individually; this reduces discovery times and load on the Cores in the cluster.

3. Set loadBalancerIP to the Device Discovery IP Address that you set on the load balancer governing your cluster; this is the IP address over which your cluster will receive device subscriptions.

4. Set port to the port your load balancer uses for Device Discovery.

5. Save and close the file.

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Deleting Devices from the RegistryOnce discovered, a device will persist in the system’s device registry until deleted, even if the device no longer exists on the network.

Deleting a device will prevent you from retrieving any associated recordings through VideoXpert Storage. If you want to preserve access to recordings on VideoXpert Storage devices, you should decommission the devices until video for the device has expired or you are sure you will no longer need to access recordings for the device.


2. Select the device you want to remove from VideoXpert.

3. Click Remove.

Editing Friendly Names and IDs

Users with appropriate rights can edit the name and ID of a video source or device. IDs are not assigned by default. Well formed friendly names and IDs can help you search for and sort cameras.

NOTE: Changing the name of a device listed on the Devices page doesn’t affect video sources listed on the Live page or within the Ops Center. This is because the Devices page lists physical devices, which are not necessarily a 1:1 relation with video streams.

On the Live page, right an item in the source list and click Edit Source to assign an ID or assign a friendly name.

On the Devices page, click next to an item to change or assign a friendly name to a physical device.

Changing Source Settings

From the Live page, you can right click a source and opt to go directly to the web interface for the source (where applicable), and change settings directly for the camera or source device.

You must make changes to settings for devices connected through a Digital Sentry server using DS Admin or DS Quick Setup on the host DS server.

Changing certain settings may interrupt video streaming or recording for a source within the VideoXpert system. For example, changes made to video compression settings for a particular source may not register with the Media Gateway for up to 15 minutes; during this time, users will be unable to stream video from the source.

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Assigning Pelco Cameras to RecordersFrom the Storage tab of the Recording page, you can add data sources originating from Pelco devices to VideoXpert Storage and VSM/NSM5200 recorders. If a device produces mutliple datas ources (i.e. an encoder or a camera with a microphone), and you assign a data source from that device to a recorder, VideoXpert will automatically assign all data sources belonging to the device to the recorder. You cannot split data sources from a device among different recorders.

You cannot add third-party cameras to storage through this page. You must either add the camera to VideoXpert through the Devices page or directly through the Digital Sentry interface (for DS recorders).

For NSM5200 and VSM recorders, you should assign cameras through the VideoXpert Admin Portal and not through the storage manager’s interface. The Admin Portal may not immediately reflect camera assignments made through the storage manager’s interface, resulting in inaccurate reports and camera searches or filters based on recording status and recording assignments.

Figure 1: The Storage Page

1. Go to the Recording page, and select the Recorders tab.

2. Select the recording device or pool to which you want to add or remove cameras, and then click Add or Remove Cameras.

3. Select the cameras you want to add or remove, and then click Add to Recorder or Remove from Recorder to preform the appro-priate action. You can sort the list of available cameras using the tags or search box above.

Recording Cameras Redundantly

You can assign cameras to one or more recorders through VideoXpert to record video redundantly. To record redundantly using Digital Sentry recorders, you should assign a camera to one or more Digital Sentry recorders through DS Admin.

When recording redundantly, VideoXpert will populate video timelines to fill gaps across recorders. However, when the system reaches a recording gap on the recorder currently fulfilling the request for video, playback may stop; click again on the timeline to fulfill the request for video from the redundant recorder. The likelihood of this happening is dependent on the recorders to which your cameras are redundantly assigned.

If you are adding a recorder to VideoXpert that belongs to (or previously belonged to) an Endura environment, VideoXpert will get camera associations from the NSM5200 or VSM model directly; you do not need to duplicate the camera assignment in VideoXpert. You can assign cameras to a redundant VXS recorder and record redundantly across recording platforms. In some cases, depending on the recorder primarily responding to requests for recorded video, historical video may not appear within VideoXpert; the historical video is still available from Endura, and the potential for this issue will end when the recordings pre-dating your VideoXpert installation have dropped off.

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Configuring VideoXpert Storage RecordersYou can configure the transmission method and maximum retention period for VideoXpert Storage recorders directly through the Admin Portal; these settings appear when you select a VideoXpert Storage recorder on the Recorders tab of the Recording page.

The Maximum Retention Period is the maximum number of days for which VideoXpert Storage stores video; the recorder will discard video after the number of days you specify on the Recording page. Set the Retention Period to zero if you want to discard video only when the recorder reaches its maximum capacity.

The Transmission Method determines whether VideoXpert Storage will get unicast or multicast streams from the cameras you assign to it. The transmission method you set for VideoXpert Storage is not related to the Media Gateway transmission method setting.

Stream to Record indicates wehther you want to record the primary or secondary streams. This setting applies to all data sources assigned to the recorder.

Figure 2: Recorder Configuration for VideoXpert Storage

Using Digital Sentry Servers as VideoXpert Recorders

Digital Sentry servers operating on version 7.9 or later can be used as VideoXpert storage servers. To fully support VideoXpert, your Digital Sentry server must have the DSFrameServerService, DSPelcoAPI, and DSNSMRest services installed and running.

While Digital Sentry servers will appear as recorders within VideoXpert, you cannot add or remove cameras to Digital Sentry through the Recording page within the Admin Portal. You must add or remove cameras directly from the DS Admin application on the DS server.

Cameras belonging to Digital Sentry servers are named in the format DS System Name - Camera Name and display the IP address of the DS server through which they are connected, rather than the source IP address. When using Optera cameras through Digital Sentry systems operating as VideoXpert recorders, set the camera’s connection speed to 100 Mbps to ensure the best possible viewing and recording experience

Digital Sentry returns search results for recorded video in 15-minute intervals. If the DS server acting as a VideoXpert recorder recorded any video within the 15 minute interval covered by your search, VideoXpert will report that recorded video is available for the entire 15 minute period; the timeline displaying recorded video in the Ops Center will be green for the 15-minute period, even if a point in time contains no recorded video.

If the Ops Center reaches a recording gap when playing back video from a DS recorder, it may loop video from within the gap, rather than skipping to the next recording or indicating that there is no video available. Move playback to a different time to correct the issue.

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Recording Groups, Schedules, and TriggersWhen recording cameras, you will group cameras into recording groups, set the schedule during which the group of cameras records, and then determine the event triggers that initiate recording during the scheduled period.

A camera can only belong to one recording group. If you add a camera to a recorder before adding it to a schedule (which you must do for third party cameras, and may do for Pelco-cameras), VideoXpert will record it continuously as a part of a “default” schedule. If you want to add a camera to a schedule other than the default, you must first remove it from the default schedule.

You can set a schedule to record continuously, or to record based on one or more event triggers. You cannot switch between the two. If you want to switch between continuous or event-based recording, you must first delete the current recording method and then configure a new one.

Configuring Recording Groups

A Recording Group is a group of cameras to which you want to apply the same recording schedule and triggers. A camera can only belong to one group.

If you add a camera to a recorder before adding it to a schedule (which you must do for third party cameras, and may do for Pelco cameras), VideoXpert will record it continuously as a part of a “default” recording group. If you want to add a camera in the default group to another group, you must first remove it from the default schedule.

1. Go to the Recording page and select the Scheduling tab.

2. Click to create a new schedule or to edit an existing schedule.

3. Give the schedule a name and click Add.

4. Click next to Sources to add video sources to the recording group.

• Use the Selected Resources and choose the individual cameras you want to associate with the schedule. The list of avail-able sources will only show cameras that have not yet been assigned to a schedule.

• Select All Resources to add all cameras that have not yet been assigned to another recording schedule to the recording schedule you are configuring.

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Figure 3: Selecting Resources for the Recording Group

5. Click Done.

Configure a Continuous Recording Schedules

When recording continuously, you can opt to record the full frame rate or a reduced frame rate for the primary camera stream. The Full Frame Rate setting records the primary video stream at the maximum framerate; the Reduced Frame Rate setting records the primary video stream in i-frame only mode. Select the Reduced Frame Rate setting if you want to schedule “Bump on Alarm” recording.


2. Select the recording group for which you want to create or edit a recording schedule.

3. Click under Schedules and Triggers to add a new trigger or click to edit an existing trigger.

4. Select Continuous and then choose between Full Frame Rate, and Reduced Frame Rate modes.

5. Click Save.

6. If you selected one or more event triggers, determine recording parameters for each event.

• Under Start Recording, set the number of seconds to record before an event.

• Under Stop Recording, you can either set the number of seconds to record after an event, or you can set the system to record until the corresponding event occurs (Motion Not-Detected or Alarm Inactive).

Configuring Event-based Recording Schedules

An event-triggered schedule records video in accordance with VideoXpert events. When triggering recording from events, you can deter-mine the amount of time to record before and after an event.


2. Select the recording group for which you want to create or edit a recording schedule.

3. Select the event types you want to trigger recording

4. Click under Schedules and Triggers to add a new trigger or click to edit an existing trigger. Select Alarm-Triggered High Quality.

5. Under Start Recording, determine the VideoXpert events that will trigger recording and the amount of time, in seconds, you want to record before the event:

• Motion Detected records video when the system detects motion.

• Alarm Active records video when cameras’ physical alarm inputs are active.

6. Under Stop Recording, determine when to end recording for each event.

• Select Timeout to end recording after the specified number of seconds.

• Select Event to record until the corresponding event occurs (Motion Not-Detected, Alarm Inactive, etc).

7. Click Save.

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Bump on Alarm Recording Schedules

A Bump on Alarm records continuous i-frame only video during normal situations, and records high-quality recording during an alarm or event activity. The video timeline for cameras set to record using a bump on alarm schedule shows a small green bar for continuous recording and a larger blue bar during event or alarm-driven recordings.

To configure a bump on alarm schedule, you’ll create a Continuous Low-Quality recording trigger and a concurrent Alarm-Triggered High-Quality recording trigger for the same recording group.

Deleting Recording Groups, Schedules, and Triggers

Click to delete a recording schedule or trigger. If you delete a recording schedule to which you have assigned cameras, these cameras may remain assigned to a recorder but will not record until you assign them to another schedule.

Advanced VideoXpert Storage ConfigurationWhile you can perform basic storage assignments and configuration through the VideoXpert Admin Portal. The Storage Web portal provides access to advanced settings and status that can help you fine-tune and monitor your VideoXpert Storage devices. Access the Web interface by opening a browser and pointing to the IP address of your recorder.

Checking VideoXpert Storage Status

The Status page provides basic status information about your recorder, including the assigned bit rate of the recorder, retention period, and the number of events you are recording per hour. Use this page to determine whether you are underutilizing or over-burdening your recorder.

Storage Assignments

You can check the status of individual streams and whether or not they are recording from the Assignments page in the Storage Inter-face.

Figure 4: Bump on alarm in the Ops CenterFigure 5: Bump on alarm (when hovering) in the Ops Center

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Downloading Storage Logs

Storage logs can provide insight to an anomaly with the recorder or one of the sources recording to it. When requesting support from Pelco, a Pelco technician may request logs from the recorder. To get Storage logs:

1. Go to the Status page within the Storage Web interface.

2. Click Generate Logs....

3. Click Download Logs.

The Configuration Page

The Configuration page is where you will assign an NTP address to the recorder. You should assign the recorder to the same NTP server as the rest of your VideoXpert network to ensure time is properly synchronized.

From this page, you can also change the Transmission Method and retention period for the recorder; this option is also available from within the Admin Portal.

Assigning an NTP Address to VideoXpert Storage

1. Connect to your recorder at <ipaddress>:9091.

2. Go to the Configure page.

3. Provide the IP address of your NTP server.

4. Click Save.

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Using External NAS Storage (Archive Volume Group)

By connecting an external volume (network storage/NAS), you can extend your retention time for VideoXpert Storage recorders. When your VideoXpert Storage recorder achieves its maximum capacity and would normally begin to delete the oldest video, it will send video over to the NAS instead. Video will still adhere to retention parameters, even when moved over to external storage. The experience in accessing video is the same, whether a recording is served from a the VXS recorder or an external server.

To use external storage, the external storage server reside on the VideoXpert network, and should not have login credentials. If the server requires login credentials, VXS will not be able to transfer video to the external server.

As video transfers from a VXS recorder to an external storage server, bandwidth of your incoming cameras is equal to the bandwidth out to external storage. When using external storage, you should plan storage distribution to ensure bandwidth availability for incoming cameras, storage overflow, and user impact in viewing recorded video.

NOTE: While each VXS recorder can only have a single archive group, multiple VXS recorders can use the same NAS server. In this case each VXS must point to a different path/folder on the NAS server; pointing multiple VXS recorders to the same archive group network path will cause video to expire earlier than expected and without warning.

Configuring an External Volume

1. Connect to your recorder at <ipaddress>:9091.

2. Go to the Volumes page.

3. Click to add a new Volume Group.

4. Provide a name for the group and select the Designate this Volume Group as the Archive Volume Group option.

5. Click to add a new Volume.

6. Provide the address and folder location where you want to store data in the format //1.2.3.4/folder1/folder2.

7. Click Save.

Database Backups and Recovery

VideoXpert Storage takes database recovery points daily, and stores recovery points for 8 days. If your database enters an error state, you can restore to one of the available points from the Database page. If you have performed some maintenance or made changes to your recorder, you can click Create Database Backup to initiate a manual restore point.

Restoring the Database

Restoring the database restores camera associations (provided the camera still exists within the VideoXpert environment) and Storage settings; restoring the database will not affect video directly; you will not lose video when restoring to an earlier time. However, if you have added cameras to the recorder after a backup was taken, and restore to that backup, you will lose access to video for any cameras the database restore process removes from the database.

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Rebuilding the Database

If there are no suitable restore points, and your database or recorder are not in working states, you can click Rebuild Database to recover the recorder. Clicking Rebuild Database will attempt to restore the recorder to a working state bu creating an empty database and restoring all available files from the present database instance. While rebuilding the database should restore functionality to the unit, you should not expect to regain your lost video or camera associations.

Rebuilding the database takes significantly longer than restoring the database.

Configuring Failover Recording

Putting a recorder in Failover mode allows you to assign the recorder to monitor and act as a hot standby for one or more recorders; if any of the recorders the failover unit is assigned to monitor fails, the failover unit will take over and record the camera groups and sched-ules assigned to the failed recorder.You should not over-assign failover capacity. If the failover unit is already engaged and another recorder fails, those cameras will go unrecorded until you can correct the issue.

While a recorder acting as a failover can monitor up to 8 active recorders, the failover will only support a single failure within any group of recorders; you should implement a failover strategy that ensures full time recording and video availability.

During a failover, you should expect a recording gap of up to 30 seconds.

1. Open a Web browser and connect to the IP address of the Storage recorder you want to configure as a failover unit.

2. Go to the Failover page.

3. Click Designate this VxStorage as a Failover.

4. Click and provide the IP address for each unit you want the recorder to monitor.

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Aggregating SystemsVideoXpert Ultimate Core systems support an aggregation server, providing centralized access to a series of member systems and cameras.

When you add a system to the VideoXpert Ultimate aggregation server, the video for the member system becomes available at the aggre-gation level. However, you may not be able to change settings for the member system and some components from the aggregation level; you may have access the member system directly to change settings.

When adding a member system to the aggregation server, you will use the aggregator account. This user account is visible only to VideoXpert system administrators. and authorizes connections between the aggregation server, the member system you are aggre-gating, and other member systems. The system administrator can change the password for the aggregator user, but the account cannot be otherwise modified or deleted.

1. Go to the Config page and select the Aggregation tab.

2. Click Add System, or click to edit a system.

3. Provide the IP address of the system you want to aggregate in the Server Address field. If aggregating a clustered system, enter the IP address of the load balancer governing the cluster of systems you want to aggregate.

4. Enter the port number the system uses for HTTP/HTTPS communications in the Port field.

5. Provide the connection speed between the Core acting as the aggregation server and the VideoXpert system you are aggregating in the Bandwidth field. The higher the connection speed, the better aggregated devices will perform within VideoXpert. Selecting speeds lower than 100 Mbps will cause all cameras for the aggregated system to return MJPEG video.

NOTE: The Media Gateway transcodes MJPEG video, and returns the full I-Frame rate requested by the camera. Cameras configured to deliver more than 2 I-frames per second will stress the performance of the Media Gateway and consume more bandwidth. It is recommended that cameras expected to return MJPEG video are configured to deliver no more than 2 I-frames per second to prevent cameras from taxing the Media Gateway.

6. Enter the password for the aggregator user.

7. Click Add System or Save.

TagsTags are custom attributes that users with sufficient rights can create and assign to cameras and devices, helping organize resources within your VideoXpert environment. Tags can help users find items in searches where normal search fields (name, number, etc.) may not reveal all the right results. In search fields, tags populate as tokens, ensuring that users cannot search for a tag that does not exist.

Through the Admin Portal, you can create global tags only. Global tags are available to all users within the system. All users can filter sources, exports, and bookmarks according to the listed tags. If you want to create personal tags, you must do so through the Ops Center Client.

The ability to assign tags is determined by permissions. Likewise, a search for a particular tag will only reveal components a user has permission to view.

Figure 1: The Tags Page

Creating Global TagsWithin the Admin Portal, you can only create and edit global tags. If you want to create or edit personal tags, you must do so through the Ops Center Client.

1. Go to the Tags page.

2. Select the devices or sources to which you want to apply the tag.

3. Enter the name of the tag you want to create in the field under Tags shared by all selected Sources.

4. Press Enter.

Editing TagsEditing a tag does not affect tag assignments; any resources to which the original tag was assigned will reflect the edited tag title.

1. Go to the Tags page.

2. Click next to the tag you want to edit.

3. Click .

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Deleting TagsOn the Tags page, click next to any tag you want to delete.

Assigning Tags to Sources1. Go to the Tags page.

2. Search for the source or sources to which you want to assign tags.

3. Select the source or sources to which you want to assign tags.

4. In the Tags shared by all selected sources box, type the name of the tags you want to assign.

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Managing UsersThe Users page is the interface for managing user accounts, the roles assigned to each user, and the permissions assigned to each role. Each user must be assigned at least one role to be effective within the system.

If authenticating users via LDAP, see See “LDAP Authentication” on page 9.

Figure 1: The Users Page and Tab

Internal and Restricted User AccountsVideoXpert contains some hard-coded user accounts that are integral to the system. You cannot edit, disable, delete these accounts, nor can you change roles or permissions for these users. You can, however, change the password for these accounts; in the case of the admin and aggregator accounts, it is recommended that you change the password from the default.

User Description

admin The basic administrative user for VideoXpert. This user account possesses the “administrator” role is granted all available permissions within the system.

aggregator Used internally by VideoXpert’s aggregation feature to communicate accross sites.

rule_engine_user Supports the rules engine.

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Adding UsersWhen adding users to the system, you give them a temporary password. Upon logging in for the first time, the system will require users to change their passwords.

You can also provide the user’s real name, to easier associate user names with real names; real names appear anywhere the system provides a user name.

1. Go to the Users tab on the Users page.

2. Click New User.

3. Enter a user name and password.

4. Provide the user’s real first and last name.

5. Click Save.

Duplicating UsersDuplicating a user creates a new user with the same name as another user, but does not grant the new user the same permissions as the original. You must assign permissions after duplicating a user.


2. Click and select Duplicate.

3. Enter a password for the user. You can also change the user’s name.

4. Click Save.

Renaming Users1. Go to the Users tab on the Users page.

2. Select the user you want to rename.

3. Click and select Rename.

4. Enter a new user name.

5. Click Save.

Deleting Users1. Go to the Users tab on the Users page.

2. Select the user you want to remove.

3. Click and select Delete.

4. Confirm your selection.

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Deactivating and Activating UsersYou can prevent a user from accessing the system for a period of time without deleting the user from the system by deactivating the user. You can then re-activate the user at a later time.

Deactivated user accounts still appear in the list of users, but are struck through.


2. Select the user you want to activate or deactivate.

3. Click and select Activate or Deactivate.

Resetting PasswordsBy default, users must change their passwords every 60 days. Users with appropriate permissions can either reset users’ passwords or force users to change their passwords early.

Resetting a user’s password will allow you to grant the user a temporary password. Upon logging in, the system will require the user to change his or her password. You may want to reset a user’s password if a user does not remember his or her password, or the user is locked out of the system because he or she is locked out of the system due to failed login attempts or let the password change timer lapse.


2. Select the user whose password you want to affect.

3. Click and select Reset Password or Force User to Reset Password depending on your application.

4. If you selected Reset Password, provide a new password for the user, and click Save.

Assigning Roles1. Go to the Manage Users page.

2. Select the user for whom you want to assign or remove roles.

3. Click the checkboes corresponding to the roles you want to add or remove from the user. You can filter roles using the box under Assigned Roles. Selecting a system provides the user with all roles within the aggregated system.

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Managing RolesA role is a group of permissions defining abilities and responsibilities within a system. A user must be assigned at least one role to perform actions within the system.

Figure 2: The Roles Tab on the Users Page

Creating a Role

1. Go to the Roles tab on the Users page.

2. Click New.

3. Provide a name for the new Role

4. Click OK.

Renaming a Role

Renaming a role does not affect the users to whom the role is assigned.



3. Provide a new name for the role. Click OK.

Duplicating a Role

By default, a duplicate role retains the permissions of the original role.



3. Provide a name for the duplicated role, and click OK. Deselect edit permissions now if you want to leave the duplicate roles with identical permissions.

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Deleting a Role



3. Click Delete, and confirm your selection.

Assigning Permissions to Roles

By default, a new role contains no permissions. When assigning permissions to a role, you can determine resource restrictions, if any, for the permission.

Permissions assigned to a user display the resource restrictions associated with the permission.

1. Go to the Users page and select the Roles tab.

2. Select the role for which you want edit permissions.

3. Select the permission you want to assign or edit.

4. Select the Resources the user can access.

• Any Camera indicates that the permission is not restricted for the role; the permission applies to all cameras.

• Restricted Resources, Selected Cameras, etc allows you to restrict the permission to a particular set of resources. (Do restricted cameras start out with all permissions?)

Restricting Resource Access for a Permission

Changing a permission’s Resource Access setting to Selected Cameras disables all cameras for the permission. You must then assign cameras to the permission, making them available to users possessing that permission.

Use the Search Cameras field to quickly determine whether or not the permission allows access to a camera.

Figure 3: Selecting the Resources Available to a Permission

1. When Resource Access is set to Selected Cameras, click Configure Resources.

2. Use the search fields to locate cameras you want to assign or unassign. Assigned cameras are available to users possessing the permission; unassigned cameras are not.

3. Click Done when you have finished assigning resources to the permission.

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Permissions

Permissions define the actions a user can perform within the system. You can assign permissions to roles from the Roles tab on the Users page within the Admin Portal. Where necessary, permissions are defined in a parent-child hierarchy; to assign a child permission, you must first define the parent permission.

Some features are not mapped to an obvious permission. And, in some cases, a feature may require compounding permissions. For example, users may have the “Place Cameras on Map” permission. However, users must also possess the “View Video Sources” permis-sion for cameras they want to place in order to view video thumbnails and verify that they are placing maps in the right locations on the map. Pay attention to compound or complex cases listed below to ensure that your users have the permissions they require to perform their surveillance roles within VideoXpert.

Permission Resource Restrictions

Permissions grant access to resources. Some permissions allow all-or-nothing access, using the “Any” setting; some permissions allow you to select the resources to which a user has access using the “selected resource” settings.

Any indicates that a permission is available in all cases. If the permission does not support restrictions, but is an “on/off” permission, “Any” is the only resource option; if the permission allows “Selected Resources,” selecting “Any” allows a user to all resources covered by the permission. For example, selecting “Any” for the “View Video Sources” permission grants a user access to view live video from all video sources within VideoXpert. If that same user was restricted to “Selected Resources” for the “Use PTZ Mode” permission, then the user would be able to view video from all cameras but could only initiate PTZ controls for the cameras to which he or she had access.

Plug-in Permissions

Plug-in permission provide access to plug-ins and related features within plug-ins. Plug-ins operate in accordance with the “View Live Video” surveillance permission; even if a user has access to a plug in, the user may not be able to effectively use the plug-in without access to related cameras.

Permission Actual Resource Any

Sele

cted

Description

Use eConnect eConnect plug-in ✔ This permission provides access to eConnect data. The permission is for “Any Resource” but operates in accordance with the “View Video Sources” permission. If a user has access to “View Video Sources” for a particular camera, and this permission is enabled, a user can view eConnect data for that camera.

Use Map Mapping plug-in ✔ Allows users to access the mapping plug-in.

View Maps Drawing (Map) ✔ ✔ Determines the maps to which a user has access. Maps only show cameras for which the user possesses the “View Video Sources” permission.

Manage Map Files Drawing (Map) ✔ ✔ Allows users to upload, delete, and select available map layers

Place Cameras on map

Drawing (Map) ✔ ✔ Allows users to add and arrange cameras on the map; camera availbility is limited by the “View Video Sources” permission.

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Supervision and Reports Permissions

Supervision and Report permissions provide access to supervisors checking user activities auditing the system. These permissions are not hierarchical.

Event Management

Event management permissions enable users to view, act on, and configure event notifications. There is no hierarchy for these permis-sions, but in most cases, a user that can configure events should have access to the eevent log and be able to handle events.


Sele

cted

Description

Multiview Users ✔ Enables a supervisor to see users that are viewing a camera in real time.

Access Reports Reports ✔ Allows users to export reports

Audit User Activity User Action Report ✔ Allows users to export User Actions reports.

Access User Views Users ✔ ✔ Provides access to workspaces and tabs created by other users. Note that you can restrict this permission by user, but not by tab or workspace. Users with this permission can access all tabs or workspaces created by selected users.

Manage System Views Views ✔ Allows users to delete, rename, etc user views.


Sele

cted

Description

Handle Events Event notifications ✔ Allows a user to act on event notifications, marking them as “in progress” or acknowledging them. Note: this permission does not guarantee that a user will receive events, only that the users with this permission can act on event notifications the receive. event notifications are defined within each event; the ability to modify events is granted by the “Configure Events” permission.

Configure Events Events ✔ Provides the ability to configure events.

View Event History Events ✔ Allows users to view the event history (both from within the Admin Portal or using the Event Viewer in the Ops Center.

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User Management

Device Management

These permissions grant users the ability to edit devices on the devices page, or tags at the system level -- both through the Admin Portal’s Tags page and the Ops Center.

System Management

System Management permissions should be reserved for administrators. Users with these permissions can modify system configuration settings; these changes should be carefully planned by administrators to ensure that they do not interfere with video recording or inter-rupt surveillance operations.


Sele

cted

Description

Manage User Accounts Users ✔ ✔ Grants the ability to create, update, or delete user accounts.

Manage Aggregator Account

Aggregator User ✔ Grants the ability to manage (change the password for) the “Aggregator” user account.

Assign Roles to Users Users ✔ Grants the ability to assign roles to users.

Manage Roles Roles ✔ Grants the ability to create, delete, and assign permissions to roles.


Sele

cted

Description

Configure Monitor Wall Decoders

Decoders/Workstations

✔ ✔ Provides the ability to configure decoders through the Devices page in the Admin Portal; presently, Ops Centers operating in Shared Display Mode are the only devices appearing as decoders.

Setup Edge Devices Devices ✔ ✔ Allows configuration of devices.

Manage System Tags Tags ✔ Provides the ability to create, edit, delete, and assign System/Global tags. This permission does not apply to personal tags created or assigned through the Ops Center; personal tags only appear to the creating user and only the creating user can assign, modify, or delete his or her own personal tags.


Sele

cted

Description

Configure Recording Recorders ✔ Allows configuration of recording, including recording schedules, camera assignments, and retention periods; this permission does not affect access to the VXS Recorder interface (hosted by the VXS recorder, independent of the Admin Portal).

Manage System Servers Core ✔ Provides the ability to edit settings on the Config page of the Admin Portal.

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Surveillance Permissions

Surveillance permissions are common permissions required by operators in your VideoXpert environment. These permissions grant access to view live or recorded video, control cameras, ad bookmark moments of interest.

Investigation Permissions

Investigation permissions grant access to recorded video and the ability to export video from the system. Typical setups will want to assign the same access level to “view recorded video” permissions as to “view video sources”


Sele

cted

Description

View Video Sources Cameras/Audio Sources

✔ ✔ Enables users to access live video or audio. Audio sources are tied to video sources; granting access to a video source automatically grants access to associated audio sources.

Launch Saved Views Remotely

Views ✔ Allows a user to send a view to another user. Users with this permission can also force recipients to accept views.

Create System Bookmarks

Bookmarks ✔ Allows a user to create or edit bookmarks. This permission also requires

Delete System Bookmarks

Bookmarks ✔ Allows a user to delete bookmarks

Use PTZ Mode Cameras ✔ ✔ Provides the ability to pan, tilt, and zoom a camera. This permission includes a priority; priority determines who can control a camera in the event of competing users. If two or more users attempt to control a camera, the user with the highest priority will take command and lower priority users will be locked out.

Manage PTZ Mode

Cameras (Any/Selected)

✔ ✔ Provides the ability to set PTZ priorities?

Lock PTZ Mode Cameras (Any/Selected)

✔ ✔ Provides the ability to lock a camera into a particular PTZ position. PTZ locks may be overridden by users with higher priority than the user who set the lock.


Sele

cted

Description

View Recorded Video Cameras/Audio Sources

✔ ✔ Enables users to access live video or audio. Audio sources are presently tied to video sources; granting access to a video source automatically grants access to associated audio sources.

Manage Exports Exports ✔ Allows a user to edit or delete entries in the “Manage Exports” window.

Export Media Clips Exports ✔ Allows a user to export and download recorded video; a user can only export recorded video for sources defined in the “View Recorded Video” permission.

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Special Cases for Permissions

Some features don’t map directly to a permission; they may either require compound permissions, or a permission that is not plainly apparent. To use the following features, ensure that the user has the listed permissions.

Feature Required Permission(s)

Collaborative Tabs Manage System Views

Bookmarking View Video Sources; View Recorded Video; Create System Bookmarks

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Configuring and Managing EventsOn the Manage Event Types page, you can configure the way in which the system reports events and the users who will receive notifi-cations for each event type.

1. Go to the Events page, and select the Manage Event Types tab.

2. Select the event you want to configure. Click next to the event details you want to edit, and configure the event.

3. Edit the Display Name to change the name of the event in both notifications and reports.

4. (Optional) Change the Status to determine whether or not the system logs events. By default, all events are active.

5. (Optional) Change the Notification Type to determine whether or not the event is reported in a banner; enabling a banner will cause the system to send notifications through both the Admin Portal and the Ops Center.

6. (Optional) Set the Notification Details if you enabled a notification.

a. Determine whether or not to play a sound accompanying the event notification banner. You can upload a custom audio file for the alert, and set the number of times to play the sound.

b. If you selected the Banner Requiring Acknowledgment option, determine whether or not to allow the snooze function for the event and set the number of minutes for which users can snooze the event.

c. If you selected the Banner option, determine whether or not to automatically acknowledge the event after some period of time. By default, all banners are set to persist until manually acknowledged.

d. Determine whether or not to hide Cell Alerts. Events associated with individual video sources provide alerts within Ops Center cells; these alerts automatically hide after 3 seconds. Select this option to prevent the alert from hiding.

7. (Optional) If you enabled a banner, determine the User Roles to Notify for the event.

8. Click Done.

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Setting Event Log Retention PeriodsBy default, events expire every 30 days. However, you can opt to keep events for up to 90 days, and you can set different expiration periods for both events local to the system and events from aggregated sites. These event retention settings are listed in the upper right corner of the page in a statement: System events discarded after <x> days. <y> days for events coming from remote systems.

NOTE: Event retention settings for aggregated events only affect the event log on the local system. The event log on the remote system has its own event log and may have different retention settings.

To change event retention settings:

1. Go to the Events page and click Manage Events.

2. Click <pencil> next to the event retention statement in the upper right corner of the page.

3. Set the retention periods for both local events and events coming from remote systems.

4. Click Save.

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Using the Event LogBy default, the Event Log contains a list of events that have occurred in the last 30 days, initially sorted between events that require attention, and events that have either been acknowledged or do not require acknowledgment. Use the Filter functions to find specific events in the log. Select events in the log to reveal more information and options to respond to the event.

Responding to EventsUsers with appropriate permissions can respond to events that trigger notifications. Users’ responses to events are logged with the system, indicating whether or not the event has been acknowledged and by whom.

Figure 1: The Event Log

1. Go to the Events page. If an event triggers a notification banner, you can click the banner to go to the Events page.

2. Select the event requiring your attention.

3. Select an action.

• Acknowledge indicates that you have alleviated the condition causing the event.

• In Progress indicates that a user is in the process of correcting an event condition or performing work on the system that may result in additional events.

• Snooze Hides an event notification for up to 60 minutes. The snooze function only affects notifications locally; it does not hide event notifications from other users.

Watching Live VideoThe Live page provides access to live video. Live video is subject to the network bandwidth restrictions set by your administrator and the transcoding limitations of aggregated systems. Surpassing either limitation will prevent you from watching additional video streams.

1. Go to the Live page.

2. Click one of the layout icons to arrange cells in your workspace

3. Locate the camera or cameras you want to view in the sidebar. You can sort cameras by location or group; you can also search for cameras by name or number.

4. Add the camera to the page. You can double-click the camera to add it to the next video cell, or you can click and drag the camera to the video cell of your choice.

Viewing Settings and BehaviorsClick Viewing Settings to reveal settings determining the behavior of video playback. Viewing settings are available on the Live or Search pages, but affect video playback on any page of the interface.

Display camera names on videos: Select whether or not camera names appear over your video cells.

Video Quality Preference: Choose whether video performance aims for better picture quality or higher frame rates.

Connection Speed: Set your connection speed to match the connection speed of the client you are using to access the Web portal. Your connection speed setting determines the quality of video streamed through the Web portal; setting your connection speed too high or too low (by comparison with your client’s actual connection speed) can impact video performance. The client-side Connection Speed setting is subject to bandwidth restrictions set by the administrator.

Sidebar: Choose whether the sidebar, containing cameras, viewing settings, and server information, appears on the left or right side of the interface.

View Video Using: Choose whether you want to view video using the Pelco Media Plugin (PMP) or your browser’s native motion JPEG viewer. The PMP displays H.264 video, resulting in better picture quality, a higher framerate, and potentially lower resource usage, but it is only available in certain network configurations (typically LAN). It is recommended that you stream video using the PMP when avail-able.

Installing the Pelco Media Plugin

Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 11 and Mozilla® Firefox® support the Pelco Media Plugin; Google Chrome does notsupport the Pelco Media Plugin.

The Pelco Media Plugin (PMP) enables you to view H.264 video through your Web browser. To view video using the PMP, you must be able to receive UDP traffic directly from the system containing the camera you want to view; the port over which you receive the UDP traffic is auto-negotiated when you access a PMP video stream. This typically means that you should be able to use the PMP when you have access to systems over LAN, but you will likely be limited to motion JPEG viewing when accessing systems over WAN.

It is recommended that you update your graphics driver before installing the Pelco Media Plugin.

1. Click the link in the web interface. If you have Internet access, the Web portal will attempt to direct you to the Pelco Media Plugin page on www.Pelco.com. If you do not have Internet access, you will download the version of the PMP stored directly on the Vx server through which you’re accessing the Web portal.

2. Run the PMP installer.

3. Restart your Web browser.

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Video Overlay Controls

Place your mouse cursor over a video cell to reveal additional controls.

Using PTZ ControlsWhen watching live video, you can issue PTZ controls to cameras identified by the dome icon . PTZ controls are subject to user permissions (determined by roles) and prioritization rules. If your user account does not have the appropriate role or permissions to issue PTZ controls to a camera, or a user with a higher priority is already controlling the camera, you will be unable to control the camera.

1. Click the PTZ icon to enable PTZ controls.

• Pan and Tilt: Click within the video to center the camera’s field of view on your cursor. You can double-click to center the camera’s field of view and zoom in on a particular point.

• Zoom: Use the slider or the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom in or zoom out.

• Lock: Click the lock icon to prevent lower priority users from controlling the camera. Priority is determined by user roles defined within each aggregated system. The camera will automatically unlock after 15 minutes or when the user who has locked the camera closes the video stream.

2. Click the PTZ icon again when you have finished positioning the camera to disable PTZ controls.

Engaging Presets and Patterns

When PTZ controls are engaged for a camera, you can execute PTZ presets and patterns. A preset is a set PTZ position; calling the preset will move the camera to the preset location. A pattern is a series of presets, causing the camera to move at a particular interval. Presets and patterns are set and stored on the camera; you must go to the camera’s interface to set or change presets and patterns.

1. Click the PTZ icon to enable PTZ controls.

2. Right click within the cell containing the PTZ-enabled camera, and select whether you want to engage a pattern or preset.

3. Select the pattern or preset you want to engage.

Opens one or more video cells in a new browser window. Click over an individual cell to expand the cell in a separate browser window; click the icon in the sidebar to expand your entire workspace in a separate browser window.

Closes a video cell; open video cells consume the resources of the system from which the video stream originates. Closing a stream makes those resources available to other users.

Enables and disables PTZ control. Click when the icon is gray to enable PTZ; click when the icon is blue to disable PTZ. PTZ controls are only available to PTZ cameras in Live view, and are subject to user roles and prioritization rules.

Plays back video; playback controls are available when previewing recorded video.

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Downloading Reports

From the Reports page, you can download reports from the system. Reports are exported in CSV format contained within a ZIP archive. Reports using the require a start-date and time; other reports provide current data.

Generating reports containing a large number of events may take some time. You can navigate away from the Reports page while the system generates your report. If your report parameters are too large, the request may time-out and the system may ask you to narrow your search.

NOTE: In all reports, cameras and other devices connected through Digital Sentry servers display the IP address of the DS server through which they are connected rather than their direct IP address.

1. Select the reports you want to download.

2. Set start and end dates for the report you want to download. Reports based on events logged by the system must be captured within the event-retention time period; by default, the system stores events for 30 days.

3. Click Export Reports.

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Event Types and ReportingYou can pull reports (in CSV format) containing events and configuration information to audit your system and VideoXpert users. Reports requiring a start date and time include an event history; reports that do not require a start date and time provide current configuration information only. Depending on the date and time range you set, some reports may take several minutes for the system to process.

Event types typically refer to who or what is the cause of an event, and do not necessarily determine the report in which an event will appear:

• Admin events typically occur at the administrative level.

• Analytic events are the result of software analytics.

• Client events that are reported by the client.

• External events, which are injected into the system by a third party.

• Hardware events resulting from physical hardware issues and sensor readings.

• System events are typically the result of normal operator actions.

The system holds events for 30 days. You cannot obtain reports past the 30 day threshold.

Event Event Type Online/Offline User Actions Event History

Device Added Admin ✔ ✔

Device Commissioned Admin

Device Decommissioned Admin

Device Modified Admin ✔ ✔

Device Removed Admin ✔ ✔

Drawing Added Admin ✔ ✔

Drawing Image Modified Admin ✔ ✔

Drawing Image Removed Admin ✔ ✔

Drawing Image Retrieved Admin ✔ ✔

Drawing Marker Added Admin ✔ ✔

Drawing Marker Modified Admin ✔ ✔

Drawing Marker Removed Admin ✔ ✔

Drawing Modified Admin ✔ ✔

Drawing Removed Admin ✔ ✔

License Expired Admin ✔

Notification Added Admin ✔ ✔

Notification Added Role Admin ✔ ✔

Notification Removed Admin ✔ ✔

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Notification Removed Role Admin ✔ ✔

Privilege Added Admin ✔ ✔

Privilege Modified Admin ✔ ✔

Privilege Removed Admin ✔ ✔

Role Added Admin ✔ ✔

Role Modified Admin ✔ ✔

Role Removed Admin ✔ ✔

Schedule Added Admin ✔ ✔

Schedule Modified Admin ✔ ✔

Schedule Removed Admin ✔ ✔

Situation Added Admin ✔ ✔

Situation Modified Admin ✔ ✔

Situation Notification Added Admin ✔ ✔

Situation Notification Removed Admin ✔ ✔

Situation Removed Admin ✔ ✔

User Added Admin ✔ ✔

User Modified Admin ✔ ✔

User New Password Admin ✔ ✔

User Removed Admin ✔ ✔

User Role Added Admin ✔ ✔

User Role Removed Admin ✔ ✔

Motion Detected Analytic ✔

No Motion Detected Analytic ✔

User Logged Off Client ✔ ✔

User Logged On Client ✔ ✔

Client Snoozed Event Client ✔ ✔

CPU Load Hardware ✔

Disk Failure Hardware ✔

Fan Failure Hardware ✔

Link Speed Changed Hardware ✔


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Memory Load Hardware ✔

Packet Loss Hardware ✔

Power Supply Failure Hardware ✔

Temperature Issue Hardware ✔

UPS Low Hardware ✔

Volume Full Hardware ✔

Alarm Active System ✔

Alarm Inactive System ✔

Bookmark Added System ✔ ✔

Bookmark Modified System ✔ ✔

Bookmark Removed System ✔ ✔

Client Push System ✔

Client Push Acknowledged System ✔

database_fault System ✔

Device Offline System ✔ ✔

Device Online System ✔ ✔

Export Deleted System ✔ ✔

Export Download System ✔ ✔

Export Failure System ✔

Export Started System ✔ ✔

Export Successful System ✔

Fault System ✔

PTZ Lock System ✔ ✔

PTZ Pattern Triggered System ✔ ✔

PTZ Preset Triggered System ✔ ✔

PTZ Unlock System ✔ ✔

Quick Report Downloaded System ✔ ✔

Retention Low System ✔

Stream Loss System ✔

Stream View Denied System ✔


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Camera Configuration

The Camera Configuration report provides the address, name, and number (if set) for cameras in the system (appearing on the Devices page in the Admin Portal), and the recorders to which each camera is assigned.

Online/Offline

The Online/Offline report provides a list of all device_online and device_offline events happening in the time frame you specify with relevant details for devices associated with each event.

Recorder Camera Assignment

The Recorder Camera Assignment report contains the complete list of recorders and the video sources assigned to each recorder. It contains similar information to the Camera Configuration report, but is sorted by recorder.

Recorder Diagnostics

The Recorder Diagnostic report provides the current status and health of your VideoXpert recorders, including hard drive status.

User Actions

The User Actions report lists the events in the system for which users are directly responsible within VideoXpert. For example, the report would not show a device_offline event, but would show a device_decommissioned event, listing the user responsible for decom-missioning the device. The complete list of events in the User Actions report is available in the table above.

Event History

The Event History report provides a complete list of all events that occurred within the time frame you specify, including the source of the event (device, user, etc) and the state of the event (acknowledged, in progress, etc.).

VX Cluster Configuration

The Cluster Configuration report provides a list of the Core and Media Gateway servers in your VideoXpert system and their online or offline status.

Stream View Started System ✔ ✔

Stream View Stopped System ✔ ✔

Stream View Timeout System ✔

Tag Added System ✔ ✔

Tag Linked System ✔ ✔

Tag Merged System ✔ ✔

Tag Modified System ✔ ✔

Tag Removed System ✔ ✔

Tag Unlinked System ✔ ✔


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Additional SetupDepending on your system configuration, you may need to install additional software or perform additional operations to ensure your VideoXpert system performs optimally.

Getting StartedBefore setting up a VideoXpert Accessory Server, you should have already set up and configured your Core or CMG servers. If using multiple servers in a small cluster, all servers must have their virtual IP address configured before you begin configuring the Accessory Server.

The VideoXpert Accessory Server operates in conjunction with servers running Core versions 1.7.8617.34 or later and Media Gateway versions 1.6.8616.18 or later.

Before you start the Accessory Server, ensure that it is connected to the same network as your VideoXpert resources. Take care when assigning the Accessory Server’s IP address; you cannot change the address after initial setup, as it becomes an integral part of your VideoXpert network.

1. Start the accessory Server.

2. Provide the IP address you want to assign to the Accessory Server.

3. Provide the Netmask and Gateway of the Accessory Server.

RESULT:

The system completes the setup process and returns you to a command prompt. You can now connect to the Accessory Server’s Web interface using the IP address you assigned to it, through which you can configure services supporting your VideoXpert network.

About the VideoXpert Accessory Server

The VideoXpert accessory Server is designed to provide supplemental services for VideoXpert, offloading your system’s support require-ments to a separate server. The Accessory Server provides the following services:

• Act as a load balancer for a small cluster and provide active failover services: The Accessory Server acts as a load balancer for multi-CMG clusters. Presently, the accessory Server’s load balancer functionality is recommended for clusters of 2 CMG servers; the servers in the cluster must use the same virtual IP address to utilize the accessory Server as a load balancer. The load balancer maximizes the processing throughput of your VideoXpert servers while maintaining the availability of your VideoXpert servers; should one of the servers in the cluster fail, the other(s) will continue operating as normal.

NOTE: The failover model supports failure of a single server in a dual CMG environment. It does not provide protection against more than one failed server (e.g. 2 CMG’s, 2 Accessory Servers, or a CMG and an Accessory Server) in this sort of environment.

• Act as an arbiter for your cluster: VideoXpert clusters must contain an odd number of servers. If your cluster has an even number of servers, you can enable the Accessory Server’s Arbiter service. The arbiter provides the deciding vote in elections determining the primary server in the cluster; the arbiter does not contain the system database. Setting your accessory Server as the cluster’s arbiter prevents you from having to run another server to provide arbitration services for the cluster.

• DHCP Server: The accessory server can act as the DHCP server for devices in your VideoXpert network. You can define the address ranges supported on your network.

• NTP Server: VideoXpert servers must be time-synchronized to ensure proper operation. The accessory Server can act as both an NTP server for your VideoXpert network, or simply as an NTP client to remain synchronized with the rest of your VideoXpert devices.

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You must configure the accessory Server as either an NTP server or client; you cannot save the accessory Server’s configuration without selecting NTP options.

Configuring the Accessory Server

The accessory Server’s web interface allows you to select the support services you want to run. If, after configuring a service, you want to turn it off, simply deselect the option in the web interface.

Load Balancer functionality requires all servers in the cluster to use the same virtual IP address. You do not need to enable the func-tionality; the load balancer takes effect as soon as you point the accessory Server to the address of a CMG server in the cluster.

1. Open a web browser and go to the IP address of your accessory Server.

2. Provide the IP address of a Core server. If your VideoXpert environment contains a cluster of CMG servers, provide the virtual IP address of the CMG cluster.

3. Provide the password of the admin user for VideoXpert.

4. Select the support services you want to employ.

5. Select an NTP option. The accessory Server can act as an NTP client, or an NTP server for your VideoXpert network.

Changing the IP Address

You cannot change the address of the accessory Server through the Web interface. You must SSH into the accessory Server, edit the interfaces file and then restart the server.

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Enabling a Second Accessory Server (Failover)

Select Enable 2nd Accessory Server if running two accessory Servers in a failover (high-availability) configuration. In a high-avail-ability configuration, the accessory Server that you configure first will act as the primary accessory Server; the secondary server will come online only if the primary falls offline.

You only need to run the initial setup on the secondary server. The primary server transfers settings to the secondary automatically. You cannot configure the secondary server independent of the primary server; in the event of a failover, you must wait until the original primary server comes back online to make configuration changes to the accessory Server.

NOTE: The failover model supports failure of a single server in a dual CMG environment. It does not provide protection against more than one failed server (e.g. 2 CMG’s, 2 Accessory Servers, or a CMG and an Accessory Server) in this sort of environment.

Using the Accessory Server as an Arbiter

Select Run Arbiter if your CMG environment contains an even number of servers and you want the accessory Server to act as the cluster’s arbiter. The arbiter serves as the deciding vote in elections determining the primary server for the cluster, but does not actually store the VideoXpert database or serve data to users.

NOTE: If you re-image or replace your primary Core server, you must disable, and then re-enable the Arbiter service, so that the Accessory Server will recognize the new server.

Configuring DHCP Services

Select Run DHCP if you want the accessory server to act as a DHCP server for your VideoXpert network. Provide the subnet IP, Netmask, Broadcast Address, Gateway Address, and IP Range to configure DHCP services. Select ranges with an ample number of extra addresses to cover any cameras or VideoXpert devices you may add to the system later; presently. To add additional IP ranges, click Add Another. You cannot set or delete MAC reservations through the accessory Server interface at this time.

Configuring NTP Services

You must configure the accessory server as an NTP server or client before you can save your accessory server’s configuration. Servers and devices within VideoXpert must be time-synchronized. The accessory server can act as an NTP client if your VideoXpert network already contains an NTP server; if you opt to run as an NTP client, you must provide the address of an NTP server on the network. Other-wise, you should configure the accessory server as an NTP server. When enabling the NTP server, you can provide time in one of two ways:

• Get time from another NTP server: select this option to get and verify time against another time server; you must provide the address of the NTP server providing time before you can save your configuration.

• Set time manually. Select this option to manually set a date, time, and timezone for the VideoXpert system.

NOTE: Changing time within an active VideoXpert system is likely to cause errors in data access and retrieval.

Server Status

Go to the Status page of the Accessory Server’s web interface to view the up/down status for the Accessory Server’s services. If DHCP is enabled, the Status page will also list leases.

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Updating the Accessory Server

The Accessory Server will fall offline while updating. It is recommended that you schedule the update to prevent impact on the network. Updates for the Accessory Server come in the form of zip files. Do not unpack the zip files to update the server.

1. Go to the Update page.

2. Click Browse and select the .zip update package.

3. Click Update Server.

Restoring the Accessory Server to Defaults

You can go to the Restore Defaults page to return the Accessory Server to its factory defaults. The Accessory Server does not have a “backup” function; you will lose your current settings if you restore the server to its factory defaults.

Installing an NTP Client ApplicationAll servers in your VideoXpert system must reference a time server to ensure that all devices belonging to the system use the same time. Time disparities may result in errors when recording and recalling video. It is recommended that your NTP server be independent of your VideoXpert servers.

As a part of the setup process, you must install an NTP application separate from VideoXpert. VideoXpert has been tested with Meinberg NTP client software, versions 2.4.6 and later. The software is available at https://www.meinberg-global.com/english/sw/ntp.htm#ntp_stable.

1. Run the Meinberg installer as an administrator.

2. Follow the installation process.

3. When requested, select Create an initial configuration file with the following settings and specify the address of your NTP server and then click Next. You may add or edit servers later directly from the NTP.conf file.

4. When setting up NTP services, it is recommended that you select Create and use a special NTP account, and then click Next. This account is used only for NTP services.

5. Specify the name and password for the Windows user account that will run NTP services.

6. Finish the installation process.

Migrating to VideoXpertYou can migrate your database from Endura or Digital Sentry to VideoXpert using the appropriate migration utility. You can migrate from your previous system permanently, or you can run your VideoXpert system in tandem with another video management system. If running systems in tandem, you can run the migration process periodically to capture the change from your Endura or Digital Sentry system and “catch up” the VideoXpert system.

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Migrating the Endura Database to VideoXpert

It is highly recommended that you perform an SM backup from Endura Utilities before migrating to VideoXpert.

If your Endura environment contains an SM5200 operating on version 1.5 or later, you can migrate your entire Endura database from Endura to VideoXpert to ensure a relatively seamless transition between video management systems using the sm_export and sm_im-port utilities. However, due to the differences between the Endura and VideoXpert databases, the migration process translates some aspects of your Endura database for use with VideoXpert.

The migration process transfers user names, roles, permissions and the associations for all three items. Passwords for accounts in Vide-oXpert must be 8 characters or more; if an Endura user’s password was less than 8 characters, their password will be appended with 1s until it reaches 8 characters. For example, a password of “ABC” would become ABC11111. Users with a password appended in this way will have to change their passwords upon logging into VideoXpert.

The migration process transfers all camera names, numbers, groups, and locations to VideoXpert. Locations and Groups are converted to VideoXpert tags during the migration process. For example, a camera that was assigned to the “PTZ Cameras” group in the “Parking Deck” location in your Endura environment becomes a camera that is assigned “PTZ Cameras” and “Parking Deck” tags in your VideoX-pert environment.

The migration utility does not import cameras. Your VideoXpert system must have access to cameras – they must appear in the Admin Portal’s Devices Tab – for the migration tool to successfully import their data.

1. Go to the Devices page in VideoXpert and discover your Pelco cameras and devices or manually add third-party devices to Vide-oXpert. The migration process only migrates groups, locations, and other information (as tags) for cameras that are already recog-nized by VideoXpert.

2. Run the sm_export utility.

3. Provide the address of your primary system manager, in the format sm_export -s 192.168.0.1.

• By default, the backup utility will attempt to use the default administrative account to export the database. If necessary, you can specify another user account using the -user and -password arguments in the format: sm_export -s 192.168.0.1 -user username -password password.

• The utility outputs a SQL file in the formatexport_192.168.0.1.sqland a JSON file in the format migrate_192.168.0.1.json. You can change the name of the JSON file with the -o argument in the format: sm_export -s 192.168.0.1 -o outputFileName.json

4. Run the ve_import utility providing the IP address of the system to which you want to import a database, the credentials of an administrative user, and the name of the file exported in previous steps. Use the format: ve_import 192.168.0.2 user password migration_192.168.0.1.json.

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Migrating from Digital Sentry to VideoXpert

Before migrating your Digital Sentry database, you should perform a complete system backup.

The Digital Sentry export process captures users, roles, permissions, friendly names of cameras, and groups. User passwords will not migrate; upon logging into VideoXpert for the first time, a users migrated from Digital Sentry must provide a new password.

VideoXpert does not have a direct analog for Digital Sentry’s groups. When migrating from Digital Sentry to VideoXpert, groups become tags, maintaining the same associations as in the Digital Sentry database. The migration utility does not import cameras. Your VideoX-pert system must have access to cameras – they must appear in the Admin Portal’s Devices Tab – for the migration tool to successfully import their data.

1. Go to the Devices page in VideoXpert and discover your Pelco cameras and devices or manually add third-party devices to Vide-oXpert. The migration process only migrates groups, locations, and other information (as tags) for cameras that are already recog-nized by VideoXpert.

2. Run the ds_export utility.

3. Provide the IP address of the server from which you want to export the database in the format: ds_export -s 192.168.0.1

• The utility attempts to use the dsserviceuser account with the default password. If this account has changed, you can specify new credentials with the -user and -password paramaters. in the format ds_export -s 192.168.0.1 -user username -password password

• The utility outputs filenames in the format migrate_192.168.0.1.json. You can change the filename with the -o parameter in the format: ds_export -s 192.168.0.1 -o outputName

4. Run the ve_import utility providing the IP address of the system to which you want to import a database, the credentials of an administrative user, and the name of the file exported in previous steps. Use the format: ve_import 192.168.0.2 user password migration_192.168.0.1.json.

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Backing Up VideoXpertIt is recommended that you back up your system after initial setup, when you have configured a significant number of users and devices, and after significant changes to your system configuration.

A system backup will contain the system database, including the previous 30 days’ events. Backups will not capture exported video or any settings that you may have changed outside the Admin Portal application (for example, changes made to configuration scripts directly).

The speed of each backup is dependent on the size of the VideoXpert database, network bandwidth constraints, and other variables. For a large database, a backup can take up to several hours.

Configuring Backups1. Go to the Config page in the Admin Portal and click Backup.

2. Provide the network location where you want VideoXpert to store backups. If necessary, provide the username and password required to access the network location.

3. Determine the number of backups you want to retain. If the retention quantity is met in the download location, VideoXpert will delete the oldest backup and add the newest.

4. Determine whether or not to backup automatically. If you elect to run automatic backups, determine the time of day during which you want to take backups and how often you want to take system backups.

5. Click Save Configuration to save your configuration.

6. Click Backup Now to take an immediate backup.

Taking a One-Time BackupIf backups are already correctly configured, you can take a one time backup at any time.

1. Go to the Config page in the Admin Portal and click Backup.

2. Click Backup Now.

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Scheduling BackupsEnsure that you have configured your backup location before attempting to schedule backups.

1. Go to the Config page in the Admin Portal and click Backup.

2. Select the option to Backup Automatically.

3. Indicate the time of day during which you want to take backups. and the interval between backups. Remember, backups can consume system resources, so you should schedule backups when they will have the least impact on the system.

4. Set the Expiration period for backups, in number of days. The Expiration period is the interval between backups.

5. Click Save Configuration.

Restoring the Database (Replacing a Member of a Cluster)Before you attempt to restore a database, you must install, but not configure, VideoXpert Core on all servers to which you want to restore the database. You cannot restore a database backup on a system that has already been configured.

You should configure your replacement servers with the same IP addresses as the severs you want to replace. Replacing failed servers with servers operating on different IP addresses will result in incorrect configurations on your replacement servers.

Use this process to replace a member of a cluster that is still operational; the restore process will run in your live VideoXpert environment and will not cause VideoXpert to fall offline.

1. Configure the Windows instance(s) on the servers to which you will restore VideoXpert; the server(s) should use the same IP address(es) as the servers you are replacing.

2. Install VideoXpert on all Cores to which you will restore the database; do not configure VideoXpert.

3. On each Core server you are restoring, run the following command and provide the IP address of an operational Core server in the cluster:

"c:\program files\pelco\core\tools\restoreUtil.bat" –-coreIp IPAddressOfWorkingCore

This may take a few minutes, depending on your network, the size of the database you want to restore, etc. The restore utility does not indicate progress, but will tell you when the restoration process is complete.

RESULT:

When the restoration utility has finished copying the database from the live server to the server you are restoring, it will start the Core and other applicable services, and the server will become a functional member of your VideoXpert environment.

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Restoring the Database (Replacing an Entire Environment)Before you attempt to restore a database, you must install, but not configure, VideoXpert Core on all servers to which you want to restore the database. You cannot restore a database backup on a system that has already been configured.

The servers to which you restore the database should use the same IP addresses as the servers from which you took your backup. Attempting to restore the backup on servers with different IP addresses than the servers recorded by the backup will result in incorrect configuration information on your restored servers.

Use this process to recover from a catastrophic failure of all VideoXpert servers in an environment. Following this process will restore all Core instances in a VideoXpert environment. Do not use this process to restore one or more Core servers in a clustered VideoXpert environment that is still operational. Pay careful attention; some steps are specific to certain versions of the VideoXpert Core software.

All file paths specified assume that you have installed the Core server application to the default directory, C:\Program Files\Pelco\Core. When running commands or opening a command prompt as a part of this process, you must execute commands as an administrator.

1. Configure the Windows instance(s) to which you will restore VideoXpert; the server(s) should use the same IP address(es) as the environment from which you took your backup.

2. Install VideoXpert on all Cores to which you will restore the database; do not configure VideoXpert.

3. Make your backup directory available to the Core server(s) to which you are restoring VideoXpert if it is not already.

• Mount the network share containing the backup to the Core server(s).

• Copy the contents of the backup directory to a local disk on each Core server.

4. On each server, open a command prompt and run: "c:\program files\pelco\core\tools\restoreUtil.bat" -–backup <path-to-configuration.txt>

RESULT:

When the restore process has completed, the utility starts Core and other applicable services.

AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK:

Go to the Devices page in the Admin Portal for your newly restored Core, and remove, and then re-discover all Media Gateway devices. Failing to remove and re-discover Media Gateways may prevent video streaming in the newly-restored VideoXpert environment.

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Updating SoftwareIt is recommended that you update your Core server by running an updated installer; the upgrade process preserves your configuration and database. During the update process, the Core will fall offline and the system will restart. Ensure that you are prepared for the Core to go offline, either by failover or by scheduling maintenance at an appropriate time before attempting to update the Core.

Updating Software (Uninstall/Reinstall Method)NOTE: This is not the preferred method to update your Core software; in most cases, you should simply run the updated installer in your Core environment to update, rather than uninstalling and then reinstalling Core.

The uninstall process does not delete your data and events folders. If you must uninstall the Core software before installing a newer version of the software, you may recover your data and events manually.

When reinstalling the Core software, install in the same directory as your previous installation to recover your Core data and events.

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Pelco, the Pelco logo, and other trademarks associated with Pelco products referred to in this publication are trademarks of Pelco, Inc. or its affiliates. © Copyright 2015, Pelco, Inc. ONVIF and the ONVIF logo are trademarks of ONVIF Inc. All other product names and services are the property of their respective companies. All rights reserved.Product specifications and availability are subject to change without notice.

Pelco by Schneider Electric3500 Pelco Way Clovis, California 93612 USA(800) 289-9100 Tel (800) 289-9150 Fax+1 (559) 292-1981 International Tel+1 (559) 348-1120 International Faxwww.pelco.com

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