Playout Software Installation

Playout Software Installation

Installation of Icareus Playout 6.1.0.0


Introduction

This page assumes you have obtained the Playout software in a folder from Icareus. You should also have changed to that directory and unzipped all zip files as described on the page Rocky 8 Operating System Configuration.

Playout server installation

Change to the playout install folder and run the install.sh script:
  1. cd playout-6.1.0.0-el8
  2. bash install.sh
The installation might take a few minutes so please wait.  When done you will see:
  1. ...
  2. To finish installation, connect to this server with
  3. Playout Management Console.

  5. Done
Remove the /etc/playout/phase-2 file.
  1. sudo rm /etc/playout/phase*

Get Dongle Id

The Playout license is tied to the server's dongle id. You can find the dongle id using the command:
  1. /opt/playout/bin/get-dongle-id 
Send the Dongle ID number to Icareus and Icareus will provide a license file for this server.

Playout API installation

Install Playout API.
  1. cd ../api-6.1.0.0
  2. bash install-api.sh
You will see some files being copied and after this a prompt for entering the management IP (example value: 192.168.1.105).
Enter the IPv4 number of the interface you intend to use for configuring Playout using Playout Webconsole.
  1. Enter IP number of admin interface:
After you've entered the IP number, you should see output such as:
  1. Admin interface IP configured.
  2. To change the admin interface IP of Playout API edit the following files:
  3. /opt/playout/api/config/spoolers.json
  4. /opt/playout/api/config/replicate.conf
  5. daemon reloaded
  6. service enabled
  7. service started
  8. ● playout-api.service - Icareus Playout JSON API
  9.    Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/playout-api.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
  10.    Active: active (running) since Fri 2025-01-31 12:38:24 EET; 6min ago
  11.      Docs: https://helpdesk.icareus.com/
  12.  Main PID: 69876 (node)
  13.     Tasks: 48 (limit: 50536)
  14.    Memory: 144.0M
  15.    CGroup: /system.slice/playout-api.service
  16.            ├─69876 /opt/node-v22.13.0-linux-x64/bin/node /opt/playout/api/server.js
  17.            └─69908 /opt/node-v22.13.0-linux-x64/bin/node /opt/playout/api/server.js
  18. Jan 31 12:38:24 playout-main systemd[1]: Started Icareus Playout JSON API.
  19. Done


Playout API configuration files

The installation script places the IP number mentioned above into files /opt/playout/api/config/replicate.conf and /opt/playout/api/config/spoolers.json. For example if the IP number is 192.168.1.105 the contents of the files will be:
replicate.conf:
  1. 192.168.1.105
and spoolers.json:
  1. [{"name":"master","address":"192.168.1.105","type":"master"}]
At a later point, these files can be edited to provide Playout Redundancy.
At this point, an admin username is needed to login with Playout Webconsole (see below). By default, no user exists.


Creating an admin user for Playout Webconsole

Creating an admin user for Playout webconsole is done by issuing the commands:
  1. cd /opt/playout/api/
  2. bash make-admin-user.sh
For example, you can use playout or admin as the username for the admin user. Enter the username and password:
  1. prompt: username:  playout
  2. prompt: password:  q1w2e3r4t5
You can create multiple admin users if needed.
After the API has installed, install Playout Webconsole.

Installing Playout Webconsole

Change the the webconsole directory and run the install script:
  1. cd /root/Downloads/6-1-0-0/webconsole-6.1.0.0-el8/
  2. bash install-webconsole.sh
After files have been copied you should see output such as:
  1. webconsole copied
  2. daemon reloaded
  3. Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/playout-webconsole.service → /usr/lib/systemd/system/playout-webconsole.service.
  4. service enabled
  5. service started
  6. ● playout-webconsole.service - Icareus Playout Web Console
  7.    Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/playout-webconsole.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
  8.    Active: active (running) since Fri 2025-01-31 12:55:57 EET; 11ms ago
  9.      Docs: https://helpdesk.icareus.com/
  10.  Main PID: 151531 (node)
  11.     Tasks: 2 (limit: 50536)
  12.    Memory: 664.0K
  13.    CGroup: /system.slice/playout-webconsole.service
  14.            └─151531 /opt/node-v12.22.12-linux-x64/bin/node /opt/playout/webconsole/server.js
  15. Jan 31 12:55:57 playout-main systemd[1]: Started Icareus Playout Web Console.
  16. Done


Checking webconsole status

To check that the webconsole is up and running, issue the command:
  1. /opt/playout/webconsole/statuswebconsole.sh


Login to webconsole

To connect to the webconsole, open your favorite web browser and enter the management IP in the address field. You should see a page with the Icareus Playout Management Console Login screen.
Enter the Playout Webconsole username and password you created earlier and click the Login button. If login succeeds you should see a User Info page.

Update License

THE PLAYOUT LICENSE FILE MUST BE UPLOADED TO THE SERVER IN ORDER IT TO WORK PROPERLY AND TO OFFER THE CORRECT FEATURES.

When you have obtained a Playout license file you can update the Playout license. In Playout Webconsole, navigate to Server > Update License. On the Update License page, click the Select file button opens a file selection dialog. Select the license file. The server should reply with License updated.

Restart Playout services and verify Server Info

To activate the license a few more steps are needed. Issue these commands in a server root terminal:
  1. /opt/playout/bin/restartall.sh
  2. /opt/playout/bin/statusall.sh
The statusall.sh command should output that each Playout service is active, e.g.:
  1. playout-api:               active
  2. playout-admin:             active
  3. ...
After this step log out from Playout Webconsole at the small gear icon to the top right of the page, click Log Out.

After this, login again to Playout Webconsole and navigate to Server > Info. You now see some Supported Features. With a valid license you might see for example:

Server Version: 6.1.0.0
License Version: 6.1
Dongle ID: 664338807
Licence Expiration Date: -
Supported Features:
  • EPG Server
  • Multinetwork support
  • XMLTV Data Source


Configuring server cluster

Now it is also possible to configure a whole cluster of Playout servers with a browser. This can be done, by adding needed ip addresses of all servers in cluster to the files mentioned above.

Info
Please note, that the first ip address is always an address of the so called "master server" meaning, that the ip address of the actual Playout server that is used for current browser session must be listed first in these files. In case of a cluster of Playout servers is used, the file replicate.conf contains a list of the ip addresses of NICs that are used for replication between the "master server" and other servers in the cluster. In theory, the addresses in this list list can be identical with the one in a file servers.conf, but often different NICs are desired to be used for this purpose, than the NICs used for management traffic.

At this point, if you've installed 2 or more Playout servers, e.g. as a 1+1 configuration, proceed to set up Playout Redundancy.


Optionally use legacy Playout Management Console (PMC)

The legacy Playout Management Console (PMC) is a Java application that runs on a computer desktop, for example on Microsoft Windows or on a Linux desktop.

Info
Icareus recommends using Playout Webconsole for configuration of Icareus Playout.

Installing PMC on the server

If you've logged in on your server you can install PMC directly there using the commands
  1. cd /root/Downloads/6-1-0-0/pmc-6.1.0.0
  2. bash update-linux-pmc.sh


Running PMC and logging in

Log in to the server's graphical desktop and run PMC on Linux using the provided script:
  1. cp run-linux-pmc.sh /opt/playout/bin
  2. /opt/playout/bin/run-linux-pmc.sh
When PMC opens it will be in a Not connected mode. Add the server you just installed by clicking the Add new server icon. Enter the management IP as Server address and press OK. To login, use the playout username and the password q1w2e3r4t5.

Next we will describe installing PMC on Microsoft Windows. If you're not running Windows, skip that part.


Installing PMC on a Microsoft Windows PC

Copy the pmc-6.1.0.0.exe installer from the pmc-6.1.0.0 folder to your Windows machine. For the PMC - server communication to work in this case the Windows machine has to be in the same network as the server. On Windows, you can install for example the  FileZilla Client to copy the PMC installer to Windows. Alternatively, use a USB stick or download it directly from Icareus to the Windows machine, if this suits you better.

Running the installer in Windows, you might get a dialog about "unknown publisher", press yes and the installation wizard Icareus Playout 6.1.0.0 starts. Click Next >, agree to the License and select the destination folder where to install PMC. The default Destination Folder is C:\Program Files (x86)\Icareus\Playout. For convenience, you can edit this to a version specific directory, e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Icareus\Playout-6.1.0.0 which will allow you to have multiple versions of PMC installed if necessary. Perform the last few steps to Finish. After the installation finishes, the Windows start menu should include a folder for Icareus Playout.

Alternatively drag the Icareus Playout icon to your desktop, creating a shortcut. For your convenience, you can rename the shortcut icon to Icareus Playout 6.1.0.0.

Connecting to the Playout server using PMC on Microsoft Windows

To run PMC, click on the Icareus Playout icon in the start menu or on your desktop.

A window with the title Icareus Playout Management Console 6.1.0.0 should open. At the top there are menus File, Server, etc. Under this there is a dropdown menu for servers. In the beginning this menu is empty. Press the server icon with the + to the right of the dropdown menu to add your server, which opens an Add Server dialog. Enter the server's management IP address. Press OK to connect. Use the username playout and password q1w2e3r4t5.

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