This chapter explains how to install Helix Universal Server on Windows and UNIX platforms. It also introduces you to Helix Administrator, the Web-based tool for configuring Helix Universal Server. As soon as you start Helix Universal Server, it is ready to stream media, and the last section walks you through the processes for streaming clips and broadcasting live input.
Before you install Helix Universal Server, you need to make basic set-up and deployment decisions, as described in the following sections.
You need to choose where to place Helix Universal Server in relation to firewallseither your firewall or an outside organization's firewallfor optimal communication. Chapter 11 explains general issues involving firewalls. If your organization has a firewall, and you are not sure of its impact on Helix Universal Server communication, be sure to read "Placing Helix Universal Server in a Network".
| Tip: If you have questions about which ports are available on your network to allow traffic through a firewall, consult with your firewall administrator. |
RealNetworks suggests that you do not install Helix Universal Server on the same physical machine that runs your Web server. This eliminates conflicts over ports, and helps to balance loads so that Helix Universal Server is not affected by heavy Web server use, and vice versa. If you need to install Helix Universal Server on the same computer as your Web server, observe the following precautions.
Although HTTP is not a streaming protocol, Helix Universal Server supports HTTP, primarily to handle media requests made by Web browsers, as well as to operate with the HTML-based Helix Administrator. Web browsers and media players typically make HTTP requests on port 80, and if a Web server and Helix Universal Server reside on the same computer, they cannot both use port 80. There are two ways to avoid this port conflict.
During installation, you can specify a different HTTP port for Helix Universal Server. In this case, though, all HTTP URLs to Helix Universal Server must specify the port number so that clients make the request on the correct port. This creates potential for errors in writing URLs, and may limit client access if firewalls restrict HTTP requests to port 80.
| For More Information: See "Handling Communication through Nonstandard Ports" and "Streaming to Client Software Behind Firewalls". |
The second, better approach is to use two IP addresses for the same computer, one for Helix Universal Server, the other for the Web server. This requires a multi-homed machine that has two or more network interfaces. In this configuration, you assign an IP address to each network interface, then bind Helix Universal Server to one of the IP addresses. In this way, Helix Universal Server and your Web server both use port 80 on different network addresses.
Note, though, that Helix Universal Server may fail to start after installation because of an HTTP port conflict if all of the following conditions are true:
The conflict arises because Helix Universal Server binds to network interface 0 after installation. If the Web server is using this address, the two servers will both try to claim port 80. (No problem arises, though, if the Web server uses a network interface other than 0.) The following procedure explains how to work around this problem.
| To prevent an HTTP port 80 conflict on a multihomed machine: |
Helix Universal Server works with any Web server that supports configurable
MIME types. The following table lists the recommended MIME types. Helix
Universal Server requires only that the Web server use the MIME types given
below for the .ram and .rpm extensions. See your Web server documentation
for information about defining MIME types.
| For More Information: Helix Universal Server can also deliver files over HTTP. For information about configuring its MIME types, see "Adding MIME Types for HTTP Communication". |
To install Helix Universal Server, you need a binary installation file and a license file, which enables Helix Universal Server features. Although you can install Helix Universal Server without the license file, Helix Universal Server will not operate until you have obtained a valid license file. License files are delivered by e-mail after you download or purchase Helix Universal Server. To install Helix Universal Server as a Windows NT Service, you must have administrative access.
| To install Helix Universal Server: |
License subdirectory under the main Helix Universal Server directory. On startup, Helix Universal Server reads that copy of the license.| Note: On Windows, the default installation path for Helix Universal Server differs from previous versions of RealSystem Server. For more information, see "Upgrading in a Different Directory". |
root to start Helix Universal Server if you accept the default value.If you are upgrading, and you install Helix Universal Server in a path that differs from that of your previous RealSystem Server, move your existing content from the previous installation directory to the new directory after the installation. You'll need to do this, for example, if you chose the default installation path on Windows:
C:\Program Files\Real\Helix Server |
Content you need to move includes files in the Content and Secure directories,
and, optionally, the Logs directory. If you are using authentication, you'll also
need to move the files described in Appendix C.
If you plan to use a configuration file from an earlier version of RealSystem Server, you need to edit the configuration information manually to reflect the new installation directory. Look for the variables that give full paths, and change their values accordingly.
| Warning! Because editing the configuration file with a text editor can potentially disable Helix Universal Server, be sure to read Appendix A before attempting modifications. |
Reinstallation is generally not necessary, but if needed, you can reinstall Helix Universal Server by repeating the installation procedure described in "Installing Helix Universal Server". A reinstallation does not affect media content, but it resets your Helix Universal Server configuration values to their defaults. If you tailored your system configuration after the initial installation, the following tips allow you to retain your data and make your reinstallation process smoother:
rmserver.cfg) to preserve the configuration information. After the reinstallation, replace the file created by the installer with your backup.slta.cfg file if you used that file for running SLTA. For more information on SLTA, see Chapter 10.adm_b_db, con_r_db, and so on) that you've revised or added. This step is necessary only if you've added more users and passwords for authentication than those added during installation. Appendix C explains authentication databases.Cache and Logs subdirectories of the main installation directory.This section describes how to start and stop Helix Universal Server on Windows and UNIX. It lists command line options that you can use when starting Helix Universal Server manually. Additionally, it explains how to configure Helix Universal Server as a Windows service if you did not select that option during installation.
When you start Helix Universal Server manually, you can select which configuration file you want to use. You can also specify command line options on both Windows and UNIX. As described in "Restarting Helix Universal Server", you can use Helix Administrator to restart Helix Universal Server following a configuration change.
In its default Windows installation, Helix Universal Server is set up as service
named "Helix Server." In this case, Helix Universal Server always runs in the
background, and you do not need to start it. If you did not install Helix
Universal Server as a Windows service, you can start it from the Start menu or
the command line.
From the Start menu, select Programs>Helix Server>Helix Server. Helix
Universal Server loads the default configuration file, rmserver.cfg.
From the Start menu, open the command prompt. Navigate to the Helix Universal Server folder, and enter the following command to start Helix Universal Server with its default configuration file. You can use a different configuration file if you wish:
Bin\rmserver rmserver.cfg |
If you performed a default installation of Helix Universal Server, the RTSP
port is set lower than 1024, requiring the user who starts Helix Universal
Server to log in as root. If you do not want Helix Universal Server to inherit
root privileges, you can switch Helix Universal Server to another user and
group name immediately after it starts up. For instructions, refer to "Setting
UNIX User and Group Names".
You can start Helix Universal Server as an application or as a background
process. The following procedure uses the default configuration file
(rmserver.cfg), but you can specify a different file. If your machine has multiple
processors, first see "Setting Processor Count".
| To start Helix Universal Server on UNIX: |
| Warning! If you do not start Helix Universal Server from its Bin directory, it cannot resolve the relative paths in the configuration file. |
Bin/rmserver rmserver.cfg & |
Bin/rmserver rmserver.cfg |
-m parameter, where the number after -m specifies the amount of memory in Megabytes (must be greater than 32). The following example starts Helix Universal Server as an application:Bin/rmserver rmserver.cfg -m 512 |
The next example starts Helix Universal Server as a background process:
Bin/rmserver rmserver.cfg -m 512 & |
Helix Universal Server creates a text file that records the current value of the
process ID of the parent Helix Universal Server process, rmserver. The file is
stored in the directory indicated by the PidPath variable, and is named
rmserver.pid at installation. If PidPath is omitted from the configuration file,
Helix Universal Server stores the information in the directory specified by the
LogPath variable.
On UNIX systems with multiple CPUs, you should set the ProcessorCount
variable in the configuration file to the number of processors available to
Helix Universal Server. If this variable is not configured, or set to the default
value of 0, Helix Universal Server uses its automatic processor test, which may
not be accurate if the operating system is busy with other tasks while the test
runs. In addition, if you are running Helix Universal Server with a user ID
other than root, the CPU detection system is not enabled.
| Tip: Be sure to back up the configuration file before you edit it. Appendix A explains the configuration file syntax. |
| To set the processor count in the configuration file: |
rmserver.cfg by default.ProcessorCount variable to the number of processors on your machine. For example, on a host system with two processors, the setting is:<Var ProcessorCount="2"/> |
rmserver process with the --sct command. For example:./ |
starts Helix Universal Server with 512 MB of memory while skipping the CPU detection test. See "Starting on UNIX" for more startup options.
On both Windows and UNIX, you can include options when starting Helix
Universal Server from the command line. In most cases, use these options for
debugging. You list options after the rmserver executable name, preceding each
option with one or two hyphens as shown here:
Bin/rmserver |
Command line options have both short names and long names, as summarized in the following table. Additional, Windows-only command line options are described in "Configuring Helix Universal Server as a Windows Service".
It's generally not necessary to stop Helix Universal Server when it's running. If you make configuration changes that require a restart, you can restart through Helix Administrator, as described in "Restarting Helix Universal Server".
If Helix Universal Server was started as a Windows service, stop it through the
Services control panel. Give the Start>Settings>Control Panel command and
double-click Services. Locate Helix Server on the list (your service name may be
different), highlight it, and click Stop.
If you started Helix Universal Server manually, switch to the command
window and press Ctrl+c. You can also use the Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) to
end the Helix Server application.
To stop Helix Universal Server on UNIX, obtain the parent process
identification number, and then issue the kill command with that process
number. The process ID is stored in the rmserver.pid file, which is usually kept
in the Logs directory. (The PIDPath variable in the configuration file specifies
this location.) You can perform both actions with one command. From the
command line, navigate to the directory that contains the Helix Universal
Server PID file, and type the following, where pidfile is the name of the PID file:
kill `cat |
If you did not set up Helix Universal Server to run as a Windows service during installation, you can do so at any time by following the procedure below.
| To set up Helix Universal Server as a Windows service: |
rmserver.exe -import[: |
For example, the following command:
rmserver.exe -import:Server1 ..\rmserver.cfg |
imports all of the values in the rmserver.cfg file into the following key of the Windows registry:
|
Note that you can then start Helix Universal Server using this configuration by typing the following at a command line:
rmserver.exe registry:Server1 |
rmserver.exe -install[: |
using the following variables:
ServiceName |
The name that will appear in the Services dialog box. If you omit ServiceName, Helix Server is used. |
parameters |
Either the name of the configuration file, or the Windows registry and key name, as entered in Step 3. The format of the Windows NT registry and key name is registry:key. Any command line parameters can be used. |
Note:
The quotation marks surrounding parameters are
required. In addition, you must supply the path to the
configuration file. Helix Universal Server will not start if it
cannot find the configuration file.
|
The next time you start Helix Universal Server from the Services dialog, it will use the settings specified in parameters, and will be configured to start automatically. For example, the following command:
rmserver.exe -install:HelixInternet "registry:Server1" |
installs Helix Universal Server with the service name HelixInternet, and uses the settings in the Server1 key.
ServiceName, and click Start.At a command prompt, type the following:
rmserver.exe -remove[: |
in which ServiceName is the optional name of the service. If you omitted a
service name when you installed the service, you can omit it here to indicate
the default value Helix Server.
Helix Administrator is Helix Universal Server's HTML-based, graphical user interface. It allows you to modify and manage Helix Universal Server from a browser anywhere on your network. The following sections explain how to start Helix Administrator and use it to manage your Helix Universal Server configuration.
To start Helix Administrator, you need to know the port number it uses, as
well as the user name and password selected during Helix Universal Server
installation. The password is stored in the MonitorPassword variable of the
configuration file. For background on the configuration file, see Appendix A.
| To start Helix Administrator: |
http:// |
If your browser is on the same computer as Helix Universal Server, you can typically use the localhost address:
http://localhost: |
| Tip: You can create additional user names and passwords to let other people access Helix Administrator. For more information, see "Administrator Authentication". |
Helix Administrator consists of HTML pages that you use to configure Helix Universal Server. The left-hand frame groups features into functional areas, as described in "Helix Administrator Sections". Pages that display in the right- hand frame typically consist of forms that include fields and pull-down lists. In pages that list multiple elements, you can use the control icons depicted in the following illustration.
When you change configuration information on a Helix Administrator page, click Apply at the bottom of the page to save the changes. An arrow appears next to the Apply button and the page title tab to indicate that changes require saving. A confirmation dialog appears when you click Apply. Note that Helix Administrator discards changes if you navigate to a different page before clicking Apply. As well, clicking Reset returns the current page to its stored values.
| Tip: If you are familiar with earlier versions of RealSystem Server, note that you no longer have to click an Edit button to update an element definition. You simply enter the new element information in the appropriate field, and click Apply at the bottom of the page to save the change. |
Some configuration changes you make in Helix Administrator require a Helix Universal Server restart, which breaks open connections for live events or clips streamed on demand. It's best, therefore, to make these changes during periods of low use. The Helix Administrator interface indicates feature changes that require a Helix Universal Server restart. It also prompts you when a change requires a server restart when you click Apply. Click the Restart Server button to restart Helix Universal Server.
It is not necessary to restart Helix Universal Server immediately after you make a configuration change. In this case, the Pending Changes flag appears in the upper-right corner of Helix Administrator. This flag reminds you that all pending changes will go into effect the next time Helix Universal Server is started.
Helix Administrator's left-hand navigation pane groups Helix Universal Server features under functional areas such as Broadcasting. Click the name of a functional area to expand or collapse the list of features it contains. The following tables summarize all features, and point you to the sections of this manual that explain each feature. Features vary according to your operating system and your license agreement, so you may not see all features listed here.
The server setup features let you configure the basic functions of Helix Universal Server. Many of these features are preconfigured at installation.
| Feature | Function | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ports | Define ports for communications protocols. | click here |
| IP Binding | Select IP addresses Helix Universal Server uses. | click here |
| MIME Types | Create additional Web serving MIME types. | click here |
| Connection Control | Limit connections by type or bandwidth. | click here |
| Redundant Servers | Define failover servers for on-demand content. | click here |
| Mount Points | Create mount points for on-demand content. | click here |
| URL Aliasing | Shorten long URLs by creating aliases. | click here |
| HTTP Delivery | Define Web serving directories. | click here |
| Cache Directives | Control proxy caching and splitting. | click here |
| Shared Licensing | Set up license publishers and subscribers. | click here |
| User/Group Name | Create UNIX user and group name. | click here |
| Media Samples | Play sample files. | click here |
The security features let you limit connections to Helix Universal Server, as well as set up user name and password validation for content viewers.
| Feature | Function | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Access Control | Limit media player connections by IP address. | click here |
| User Databases | Select authentication databases. | click here |
| Authentication | Create authentication passwords and realms. | click here click here |
| Commerce | Define commerce rules. | click here |
The logging and monitoring features let you view current Helix Universal Server activity, as well as review past, recorded activity.
| Feature | Function | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Server Monitor | Display statuses of current connections. | click here |
| Access and Error Logging | Compile user and error statistics. | click here |
| Custom Logging | Create templates for reports. | click here |
| License Monitor | View connections in distributed license pool. | click here |
Using the broadcasting features, you can unicast live events in any media format.
| Feature | Function | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| RealNetworks Encoding | Broadcast in the RealMedia format | click here |
| QuickTime and RTP Encoding | Broadcast QuickTime or RTP-based media. | click here |
| Windows Media Encoding | Broadcast Windows Media. | click here |
| Live Archiving | Archive RealMedia broadcasts. | click here |
| Broadcast Redundancy | Define backup encoder features. | click here |
Broadcast distribution builds on the basic broadcasting features, enabling you to multicast live events, as well as distribute broadcast streams to different Helix Universal Servers.
| Feature | Function | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Transmitter | Set up a splitting transmitter. | click here |
| Receiver | Define a splitting receiver. | click here |
| Scalable Multicasting | Multicast to large numbers of RealPlayers. | click here |
| Back-Channel Multicasting | Multicast to RealPlayers using a control channel. | click here |
| Windows Media Multicasting | Multicast in the Windows Media format. | click here |
| Session Announcement | Publicize a multicast automatically. | click here |
The content management section groups useful features for managing on- demand clips.
| Feature | Function | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Content Caching | Distribute on-demand content to various servers. | click here |
| ISP Hosting | Provide streaming services for ISP customers. | click here |
| Content Browsing | List all content stored on your Helix Universal Server. | click here |
| View Source | Make source markup and clip information available. | click here |
The advertising features appear only if you use Helix Universal Server's Advertising Application.
| Feature | Function | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ad Serving | Create ad serving mount points. | click here |
| Ad SMIL Generator | Generate SMIL files with ads automatically. | click here |
| Ad Timeouts | Define ad serving timeouts. | click here |
The text-based license file resides in the License subdirectory of Helix Universal Server's installation directory. It is in an XML format that you can read with any text editor. Making any changes invalidates the file, however. You can also display the license file through Helix Administrator by clicking About. You generally do not need to do anything with the license file, as long as Helix Universal Server reads it correctly on startup.
| Tip: If you have multiple license files, Helix Administrator shows the values for all of them at once. In this case, you need to read each file individually and calculate additive features, such as the total number of licensed streams. |
| Note: If all license files are invalid, Helix Universal Server reports an error message, adds the error to the error log file, and shuts down. To resolve this, contact RealNetworks for a valid license file. |
In Helix Administrator, click Server Setup>Media Samples to display a page containing links to sample clips. You can quickly test your installation by playing these clips if RealOne Player or another supported media player is installed on your computer. To play RealVideo 9 in RealOne Player, for example, click Play RealVideo 9 Sample.
If your Helix Universal Server machine does not include a supported media player, you can play a sample clip from another machine on your network by logging into Helix Administrator from that machine. You can also open a clip directly in a media player. In RealOne Player, for example, give the File>Open Location command, then enter a media clip URL such as this:
rtsp://helixserver.example.com/real9video.rm |
| For More Information: Chapter 5 explains media clip URLs. |
This section gives you step-by-step instructions for performing the basic tasks of streaming a prerecorded clip, and setting up a simple broadcast. These steps will familiarize you with these basic procedures. Keep in mind that there are many options for encoding, streaming, and broadcasting, as described in this guide and Helix Producer User's Guide.
To perform these tasks, you'll need the following software and hardware on a computer other than the one that runs Helix Universal Server:
This section provides instructions for using Helix Producer. Although you can use an earlier version of RealProducer, the encoding steps will be different, and you should refer to your user's guide or online help for encoding instructions.
| Note: Helix Producer and RealOne Player are included with some Helix Universal Server packages. They are also available in free download versions from the RealNetworks Web site at http://www.realnetworks.com and http://www.real.com. |
This section explains how to encode and stream a simple music clip. To do this, you'll need a music CD and Helix Producer.
This step encodes a streaming music clip directly from a music CD. Perform this step on the computer that has Helix Producer installed.
| To encode the music clip: |
| Note: RealJukebox and RealOne Player do not initialize the audio device needed for encoding. If one of these programs launches to play the CD, stop the playback, start the computer's general CD player, and play the CD. |
ondemand.rm, and choose a directory for the clip.Copy the ondemand.rm clip you created in the preceding step to the Helix
Universal Server Content directory. On Windows NT/2000/XP, the path is:
C:\Program Files\Real\Helix Server\Content |
On UNIX, installation locations may vary, but paths look like this::
/usr/local/Real/HelixServer/Content |
Create a link for the clip in an HTML page served by your Web server. Use the
following link format, in which you substitute your Helix Universal Server's
computer name or IP address for address:
<a href="http:// |
You do not need to include the HTTP port number if you selected port 80 during the installation. Here is an example:
<a href="http://helixserver.example.com/ramgen/ondemand.rm">Click here</a> |
If your RealOne Player is on the same machine as your Helix Universal Server, you can typically use the local host address:
<a href="http://localhost/ramgen/ondemand.rm">Click here</a> |
For More Information:
The /ramgen/ parameter, which is
described in "Launching Media Players and Opening URLs",
causes the Web browser to start RealOne Player.
|
If you added the link to a Web page, browse the page and click the link. If you did not create a Web page link, launch RealOne Player, give the File>Open Location command, and enter the following URL:
rtsp:// |
You do not need to include the RTSP port number if you selected port 554 during the installation. Here is an example:
rtsp://helixserver.example.com/ondemand.rm |
If your RealOne Player is on the same machine as your Helix Universal Server, you can typically use the local host address:
rtsp://localhost/ondemand.rm |
This section explains the basic steps for broadcasting a stream without creating a clip. Perform this step on the computer that has Helix Producer installed.
This step sets up Helix Producer to encode a continuous stream from the music CD, and send the stream to Helix Universal Server.
| To create a live stream: |
| Note: RealJukebox and RealOne Player do not initialize the audio device needed for encoding. If one of these programs launches to play the CD, stop the playback, start the computer's general CD player, and play the CD. |
live.rm.127.0.0.1.Create a link for the clip in an HTML page served by your Web server. Use the
following link format, in which you substitute your Helix Universal Server's
computer name or IP address for address:
<a href="http:// |
You do not need to include the HTTP port number if you selected port 80 during the installation. Here is an example:
<a href="http://helixserver.example.com/ramgen/broadcast/live.rm">Click here</a> |
If your RealOne Player is on the same machine as your Helix Universal Server, you can typically use the local host address:
<a href="http://localhost/ramgen/broadcast/live.rm">Click here</a> |
For More Information:
The /ramgen/ parameter, which is
described in "Launching Media Players and Opening URLs",
causes the Web browser to start RealOne Player.
|
If you created a Web page link, browse the page and click the broadcast link. If you did not create a Web page link, launch RealOne Player, give the File>Open Location command, and enter the following URL:
rtsp:// |
You do not need to include the RTSP port number if you selected port 554 during the installation. Here is an example:
rtsp://helixserver.example.com/broadcast/live.rm |
If your RealOne Player is on the same machine as your Helix Universal Server, you can typically use the local host address:
rtsp://localhost/broadcast/live.rm |
| Note: There may be few seconds of delay before playback commences. This slight broadcasting latency helps to ensure reliability. |
|
|
© 2002 RealNetworks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more information, visit RealNetworks Click here if the Table of Contents frame is not visible at the left side of your screen. |