AREC's own VOD platform – MSR

Please be aware that this is one of the longer lessons and will require a bit more time than usual.

MSR is a free VOD platform that is designed to work with AREC Media Stations. The installation package is available for free upon request to ADENA Limited partners who purchased a Media Station.

MSR is designed as a convenient and minimalistic server for small and medium-sized organisations and educational institutions that can be used to host and manage videos and streams created by AREC Media Stations. MSR administrators can share uploaded videos and streams with registered users and restrict access to materials with keys.

Note that MSR is limited to 1500 users maximum and a single server that you install it on, so if your organisation expects more viewers, we recommend using integrated third-party VOD/VCMS solutions, such as Panopto, Kaltura, and Opencast.

MSR must be installed on a Linux Ubuntu 16.04. The following section of this lesson will cover Ubuntu installation.

Installing Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Requirements

Note that MSR must be installed specifically on Linux Ubuntu 16.04 – other versions of this operating system and other operating systems are not supported.

In addition, note that MSR has minimum and recommended system requirements. Make sure that your Linux computer matches or exceeds at least the minimum specifications before installing it.

Minimum requirements:

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-4590

• RAM: 4 GB

• Disk space: 500 MB (space required for MSR installation)

• Network: at least 100 MB network bandwidth

Recommended requirements:

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-4590 or stronger

• RAM: 8 GB+

• Network: Gigabit Ethernet or faster. The higher the bandwidth, the more users can connect and use MSR simultaneously.

• Disk space: 2 TB+

Setting up Ubuntu

For the purposes of this lesson, we will provide an installation walkthrough for Ubuntu. If you already have installed the right version of Ubuntu, you can skip to Installing MSR – extracting the MSR archive.

To install Ubuntu on a computer, create a bootable USB flash drive with the Ubuntu .iso file on it. You can download the required version of Ubuntu from Ubuntu Releases via this link: https://releases.ubuntu.com/16.04/ or from ADENA Limited NAS. If you do not have access to our NAS, you can request it from your ADENA Limited primary contact or by emailing info@a-dena.com.

Note that you need to select the right version of Ubuntu for your computer's processor. If it is a 64-bit processor, download "ubuntu-16.04.7-desktop-amd64.iso". If the computer has a 32-bit processor, download "ubuntu-16.04.7-desktop-i386.iso" instead.

Next, boot the computer with this flash drive connected. Depending on your computer's system configuration, you may need to enter BIOS settings first and prioritise booting from the USB. Follow the instructions provided by the Ubuntu installer and the operating system will install shortly.

Alternatively, virtual machine software can be used to install MSR on a virtual Ubuntu machine. While there are many options available for such software, we will provide installation steps using the VMware Workstation Player 17 Pro. Note that your hardware must support virtualisation for tools like VMware to work.

Setting up Ubuntu – launching VMware

To begin with, download and install VMware Workstation from https://www.vmware.com. After the application successfully installs, launch it and click "Create a New Virtual Machine".

Setting up Ubuntu – VM installation process

This will open the "New Virtual Machine Wizard" window. Select "Typical (recommended)" configuration and click "Next". Select "Installer disc image file (iso)" and click "Browse". Locate the Ubuntu installation .iso and select it. Click "Next" to proceed.

Setting up Ubuntu – customise user credentials and available space

Enter the username and password that will be used to log in the Ubuntu computer (for example, MSR). Click "Next" and specify how much space will be available to this virtual machine. To make the virtual machine work faster, choose to "Store virtual disk as a single file". Click "Next" and "Finish" to finalise the virtual machine and proceed to Ubuntu installation.

Setting up Ubuntu – Ubuntu installation

The virtual machine with Ubuntu should now boot up and finish the installation. If the machine doesn't start automatically, you can start it manually by right-clicking its name in the list of available machines and powering it on. Simply wait until the Ubuntu sign-in page appears and enter the credentials you specified during installation.

Setting up Ubuntu – changing network settings

By default, this virtual machine's network adapter will be set to "NAT". To enable easier networking, we recommend setting "Bridged". This will give the Ubuntu machine a separate IP address that will be used to access the MSR later on.

Setting up Ubuntu – decline updates

Make sure to decline Ubuntu upgrades. AREC MSR was made for Ubuntu 16.04 and does not support other Ubuntu versions.

This concludes the Ubuntu installation process. You can now proceed with the installation of MSR.

Installing MSR

Installing MSR – copying the archive

Use shared folders, USB drives, or other methods to transfer files between the host computer and Ubuntu.

Installing MSR – extracting the MSR archive.

To install MSR, copy its archive to the "Home" folder of Ubuntu and extract it there.

Installing MSR – extracted MSR archive

To simplify the installation, do not change the MSR folder name. If you do change it, make sure to use the new folder name when inputting terminal commands in the next step.

Installing MSR – installation through the terminal

Press "Ctrl" + "Alt" + "T" on the keyboard to open the "Terminal". Enter the following command:

cd MSR3_Setup_release_v1.0.0.48/

Press "Enter".

This specifies the directory where the following commands will be used. Note that if you have changed MSR's folder name, you need to type the new folder name instead.

Installing MSR – command to install MSR

Next, to install MSR, enter the following command:

sudo ./msr_init.sh

The command requires entering your user password. Type it and press "Enter" to start the installation.

Installing MSR – enter the password

The command requires entering your user password. Type it and press "Enter" to start the installation.

Installing MSR – wait until the installation finishes

If you have followed the steps accurately, the installation should now begin. It can take a few minutes. The installation finishes when the "Terminal" allows entering commands again and the last messages in it show removed files and directories as on the image above.

Installing MSR – find the IP address

This concludes the installation of MSR. To access it, find the IP address of your Ubuntu computer. Click on the "Ethernet Network" → "Connection Information" to find it. Enter the IP address displayed on that page on any computer or phone in the same network to access MSR.

Note that it is not necessary to log in to Ubuntu after this step. As long as the Ubuntu computer remains turned on and connected to the network, MSR will be accessible.

Using MSR

MSR web pages

MSR has two web pages:

1. Administrator

2. Media Center

Entering the IP address of the computer hosting MSR opens the Media Center page. Its URL is:

IP address of the MSR computer/portal/login_portal.php

To enter the Administrator page, type the URL as follows:

IP address of the MSR computer/admin/

The default username and password for both pages are admin

Administrator

"Administrator" → "System Settings" → "General" page

Much like on the Media Stations, the "Administrator" page is used to configure various settings of MSR. Available settings are divided into three categories:

1. System Settings

2. Account Management

3. Application

The first page of "System Settings" is used to change the general settings of MSR. Under "Media Center settings" you can define which port and folder are used for the Video on Demand function. Videos uploaded to MSR can be found in that folder on the Ubuntu computer.

On the same page, under "Live broadcast settings" you can change MSR's streaming server settings, including the URL, "Live application name" and port number. This is necessary only if you plan to port forward MSR or make it possible for Media Stations located in other networks to stream to it.

"Administrator" → "System Settings" → "Template" page

The "Template" page is used to do minor customisations of the MSR appearance. You can change the banner at the top of the page.

You are able to set a custom name for the Media Center page under "Portal login title settings". Select "User define" and type the name in "Title description" field. This name will be displayed above the username and password on the Media Center page.

"Administrator" → "System Settings" → "Upgrade" page

The "Upgrade" page can be used to update MSR version or reset it to default settings. The latest public version of MSR is 1.0.0.48.

"Administrator" → "Account Management" → "Group" page

The "Group" page shows currently active user groups in the MSR. It is not possible to add, delete, or change groups in the latest public version of MSR.

"Administrator" → "Account Management" → "User" page

The "User" page shows all users and allows managing them: creating, deleting, and editing their permissions.

"Administrator" → "Account Management" → adding a user

Clicking "New" opens a "New User" menu. To create a general user account, select "user" in the "Group" dropdown menu. If you want that user to have administrative privileges, select "admin" instead. Next, enter a username and password. If you want this user to be able to download videos, tick "Enable download". To activate this user's account, tick "Enable account". When finished, click "Apply" to create a new user.

You can edit or delete existing accounts by clicking the corresponding icons in "Edit" and "Delete" columns.

Note that only users with administrative permissions can access the "Administrator" page of MSR. Also, it is highly recommended to edit the default admin account to ensure that only authorised users can access the platform's settings.

"Administrator" → "Application" → "Video On Demand" page

Example of Media Station upload settings for MSR

The "Video On Demand" page shows all videos uploaded to MSR. To configure a Media Station to upload to MSR, open the station's "Administrator" → "Upload" page and change the "Transfer settings" as follows:

• Mode: FTP

• URL: IP address of the computer hosting MSR

• Port: 21

• Folder: leave blank

• Authentication: Normal

• Username: user

• Password: user

Media Stations and MSR are integrated to use the same metadata fields. Thus, if a video has any tags filled out through the "Video Manager" or "Administrator" → "Video" → "Content" page, they will carry over to MSR when the video is uploaded.

Videos uploaded to MSR are not instantly visible to users. To make a video visible, it must be published. You can edit or delete existing videos by clicking corresponding icons in "Edit" and "Delete" columns.

For the purpose of this lesson, we have uploaded two short video clips from an LS-410 and we will now edit one of them.

"Administrator" → "Application" → editing a video in "Video On Demand"

When editing a video in MSR, you have the following options:

• Edit metadata

• Replace thumbnail

• Assign a video key

• Preview

• Download

• Publish

As we mentioned previously, metadata is taken automatically from videos uploaded by Media Stations. It is possible to manually edit every field through MSR.

To replace the video's thumbnail, browse and select an image that matches the requirements. Only .jpg files with 480x270 resolution are accepted.

Video keys are used to restrict access to videos and provide a quicker way to access them for authorised users. They can be entered manually or generated automatically.

The preview function of this page is similar to the "Video Manager" preview on the Media Stations. Users can choose which channel to watch, create and use bookmarks for navigation, and check the video's metadata.

Click the "Download" icon to download the video. If the Media Station was set to upload all files, then this will also download individual video channel recordings.

To publish a video, tick "Publish video" and click "Save" on the top-right part of the page. Published videos have an orange-coloured icon in the "Publish" column and appear on the "Media Center" page.

"Administrator" → "Application" → "Live Broadcast"

The streams on the "Live Broadcast" page are created and edited exactly like the videos on the "Video On Demand" page. Click "New" to create a stream. Just like videos, streams must be published to be visible to users. You can edit or delete existing streams by clicking the corresponding icons in "Edit" and "Delete" columns.

When a stream is receiving data from the Media Station (i.e., the Media Station is streaming), the stream's status changes to red.

"Administrator" → "Application" → editing a stream in "Live Broadcast"

Example of Media Station streaming settings for MSR

As we mentioned, streams on MSR are edited just like videos. Fill out the tags as needed. Tick "Publish video" and "Save" to make this stream visible to users.

The stream URL and stream key are provided in the "Live stream URL" field. They are already written together in the Media Station format. Copy the whole field and paste in your Media Station to stream to MSR. It is not necessary to enter username or password to stream to MSR from AREC Media Stations.

Media Center

The Media Center page is used to access all published videos and streams. Enter the credentials to log in.

If you also enter the video key, the page will instantly take you to the video with that key. This can be used to provide a quick way to users to access a particular video.

"Media Center" → "Videos" page

Published videos are displayed on the "Videos" page. You can use the search function to find a particular video and narrow down displayed videos by applying metadata tags (device used, presenter, video title).

Clicking on the "Account" button will open a menu to change your current password.

"Media Center" → "Videos" page → accessing a locked video

If a video is locked by a key, only its thumbnail, bookmarks, and description can be seen. To watch a locked video, click on it and enter its key in the player area. Locked videos cannot be downloaded until the key is entered.

"Media Center" → "Videos" page → watching a video

To download a video, tick checkboxes next to the channels you need and click "Download" (provided your user account has permissions to download).

Same as on the "Video Manager" page of Media Stations, bookmarks can be used to jump to different parts of the video.

"Media Center" → "Live" page

To access published streams, click on "Live" at the top-right corner of the "Media Center" page. Same as on the "Videos" page, you can use metadata and keywords to find the right stream.

Click on a stream to watch it. Active streams are marked by red "LIVE" on their thumbnails.

"Media Center" → "Live" page → watching a stream

When watching streams, you can see their description and use standard player features, such as volume and screen size control.

That concludes the lesson. You can now test your knowledge and understanding by answering the questions on the lesson's form and watching the linked videos before moving on to the next lesson.

After you submit your answers on the form, make sure to click "View Scores" to see whether you answered correctly. You will also receive an email at the address you used when starting this lesson, containing your answers and a "View Scores" link.

Training Videos

Training Video – AREC's own Video on Demand platform MSR

ADENA Hacks

Please read this ADENA Hack on our website:

• ADENA Hack: How to use AREC’s own VCMS platform.

  https://www.a-dena.com/post/how-to-use-arec-s-own-vcms-platform