RTSP Server Guide

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Overview
This guide describes how to install and configure the exacq Technologies RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) Server. You can
connect an RTSP Server to one or more exacqVision servers and provide an RTSP stream for connected cameras.
Most third party analytics applications can utilize the RTSP streams to increase the capabilities of your video security.

Supported Platforms
The following platforms support the Exacq RTSP Server:
• Windows 8 or newer, 64-bit only.
• Ubuntu 14.04 Linux or newer, 32 or 64-bit.

Installing the RTSP Server

If you want to install the RTSP Server on a Windows operating system, see Installation using Windows. If you want to install the
RTSP Server on a Linux operating system, see Installation using Linux.

Requirements
To use the RTSP Server, you need the following hardware and software requirements:
• A licensed and operating exacqVision (VMS) Server.
Note: Download the Exacq RTSP server for Windows and Linux from the Integration Plugins section on the Exacq website
at: https://www.exacq.com/support/downloads.php.
• The IP address of the exacqVision server.
• The hostname of the exacqVision server.
• The logon credentials for the server.

Installing using Windows

To install the RTSP Server using Windows, choose from one of the following two options:
• Installation using the executable file using Windows.
• Installation using Command Prompt using Windows.

Installing with the executable file using Windows

To install the RTSP Server using Windows, complete the following steps:
Note: You need administrator permissions to install this file.
1. Select the .exe executable file, and press Enter.
2. Click Run.
3. In the exacqVision RTSP Server window, click Next.
4. Select the Destination Folder where you want to install the RTSP Server, and click Install.
5. Click Finish.

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Installing with Command Prompt using Windows
To install RTSP Server on Windows using the command prompt, complete the following steps:
1. Click on the Start icon, and type command prompt into the Search field.
2. Select Command Prompt.
3. Type the name of the downloaded installer into the Command Prompt window.
4. Press Enter.

Installing using Linux

To install the RTSP Server using Linux, choose from one of the following two options:
• Installation using the Ubuntu package on Linux
• Installation using Terminal on Linux

Installing with the Ubuntu package using Linux

To install the RTSP Server using Linux, complete one of the following steps:
1. Double click on the .deb Ubuntu package icon.
2. Follow the steps in the Linux exacqVision RTSP Server installation wizard.
Note: You need administrator permissions to install this file.

Installing with Terminal using Linux

To install the RTSP Server using Windows using the command prompt, complete the following steps:
1. Go to Dash and search for terminal. You can also use the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+T.
2. Navigate to the directory with the .deb file.
3. Type sudo dpkg -i filename into the terminal.
4. Press Enter.

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Configuring the RTSP Server
To provide RTSP streams, you must configure the RTSP Server with the necessary credentials and servers.
Note: The RTSP Server does not have an access control capability, so do not host it on a machine directly connected to the
Internet. Connect the RTSP Server to a local network with access protection such as a firewall.
To configure the RTSP Server, locate the configuration file using one of the following locations:
• Windows: %ProgramFiles%\exacqVision\rtsp-server\rtsp-server.conf
• Linux: /usr/local/exacq/rtsp-server/rtsp-server.conf

Editing the configuration file using Windows

To configure the RTSP Server using Windows, choose from one of the following two options:
• Editing the configuration file using the cfgedit tool using Windows
• Editing the configuration file using a text editor using Windows

Editing the configuration file with the cfgedit tool using Windows
To configure the RTSP Server using Windows, complete the following steps:
1. Navigate to Program Files\exacqVision\rtsp-server.
2. Select the cfgedit.exe file, and press Enter.
3. Right click the Value field to open up the available options for editing.

Figure 1. exacqVision RTSP Server Configuration Editor window, and the location of the cfgedit.exe file on Windows.

Editing the configuration file with a text editor using Windows

The configuration file uses an XML format. To configure the RTSP Server using a text editor, complete the following steps:
1. Right click rtsp-server.conf, and open it using a text editor.
2. In the text editor, edit the configuration file.

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Editing the configuration file using Linux
To configure the RTSP Server using Linux, choose from one of the following two options:
• Editing the configuration file using the cfgedit tool using Linux
• Editing the configuration file using a text editor using Linux

Editing the configuration file with the cfgedit tool using Linux
To configure the RTSP Server using Linux, complete the following steps:
1. Run /usr/local/exacq/rtsp-seerver/cfgedit.
2. Right click the Port Value field to open up the available options for editing.

Editing the configuration file with a text editor using Linux

The configuration file uses an XML format. To configure the RTSP Server using a text editor, complete the following steps:
1. Right click rtsp-server.conf, and open it using a text editor.
2. In the text editor, edit the configuration file.

Adding a server using the cfgedit tool

To add a server in the top level of the exacqVision RTSP Server Configuration Editor, complete the following steps:
1. From the Choose RTSPServer field dropdown menu, select Server.
2. Click Add Field.
3. Right click a Value field to open up the available options for editing.
4. In the Path Value field, enter the short name of the server that the RTSP path uses, and press Enter.
5. In the Address Value field, enter the hostname or IP address of the exacqVision VMS server, and press Enter.
6. In the Username Value field, enter the username that the RTSP server will use to authenticate to exacqVision VMS server,
and press Enter.
7. In the Password Value field, enter the password used to authenticate the exacqVision VMS server, and press Enter.
Note: To save the new server, you must enter details into all the fields provided.
8. Optional: Edit the Port Value field if the server is on a non-standard port, and is different to the default value of 22609.
Note: Create a dedicated, non-administration account on your exacqVision VMS server for the RTSP Server to use. The
RTSP Server needs to have live and search permissions for the cameras you wish to stream.
Note: You must restart the server after a configuration change.

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Starting and stopping the RTSP Server
To stop, start or restart the RTSP Server, choose from one of the following options:
• Starting and stopping the RTSP Server using Windows
• Stopping and starting the RTSP Server using Command Prompt using Windows
• Starting and stopping the RTSP Server using Linux

Starting and stopping the RTSP Server using Windows

To stop, start or restart the Exacq RTSP Server using the Service Control Manager on Windows, complete the following steps:
1. Open the Services application.
2. Select exacq RTSP Server.
3. Choose one of the following options:
• Click the Stop icon in the menu bar to stop the server.
• Click the Play icon in the menu bar to start the server.
• To restart, click the Stop icon to stop, and then click the Play icon to start the server.

Figure 2. Stopping/starting the RTSP server using Service Control Manager.

Stopping and starting the RTSP Server using Command Prompt using
Windows
To stop, start or restart the Exacq RTSP Server using Command Prompt on Windows, choose one of the following steps:
• To stop the server, type sc stop exacqRTSPServer.

• To start the server, type sc start exacqRTSPServer.

• To restart the server, type sc stop exacqRTSPServer to stop, then type sc start exacqRTSPServer to
start the server.

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Figure 3. Starting and stopping the RTSP Server using Command Prompt.

Starting and stopping the RTSP Server using Linux

To stop, start or restart the Exacq RTSP Server using the Systemd Command Line tool on Linux, choose one of the following
steps:
• To start the server, type systemctl start rtsp-server.

• To stop the server, type systemctl stop rtsp-server.

• To restart the server, type systemctl restart rtsp-server.

Viewing log files

The RTSP Server stores system log files, and names them using the following format: YYYYMMDD.txt.

Viewing log files using Windows

To view the logs using Windows, open the file with a text editor. The system stores the system log files in the installation folder:
%ProgramFiles%\exacqVision\rtsp-server\logs

Viewing log files using Linux

To view the logs using Linux, you can use systemd’s log viewer, journalctl. To view the most recent system log files, type the
following:
journalctl -eu rtsp-server
Note: You can use other tools to view the system log files if your system does not have systemd/journalctl.

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Connecting to a stream
To connect to a stream, you can input the RTSP URL of a camera into a third party video application. The following factors
determine the RTSP URL for a camera’s live RTSP stream:
• The value given in the Path field. You can find this in the configuration file of the VMS server hosting the stream.
• The hostname or IP address of the computer running the RTSP server.
• The ID of the camera.
Note: You can find the base URL and list of available cameras in the log file. To view the logs, see Viewing log.

Figure 4. Example of RTSP log files

Connecting to a stream with a third party video application

To view streams, you can use a third party video application.
To connect to a stream with VideoLAN’s VLC Media Player, complete the following steps:
1. Open VLC player.
2. Select the Media tab, and select Open Network Stream.
3. Type the RTSP URL into the Please enter a network URL or Address field.
4. Click Play.
Note: If you can not connect to a stream, ensure that you can view the video from the exacqVision Client using the same
username, password, and camera. Check the log files for any failure messages.

Figure 5. Connecting to a stream using the RTSP URL in the VLC media player

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Testing an RTSP IP camera on the exacqVision server
To test the RTSP Server, you can create an RTSP IP camera on the exacqVision server. To create an RTSP IP camera on the
server, complete the following:
1. In the exacqVision client, click the Configuration (setup) icon.
2. From the navigation tree, expand the exacqVision server.
3. Expand the Configure System node, and then select Add IP Cameras.
4. Click New.
5. In the IP Camera Information pane, select a device from the Device Type list.
6. Type the RTSP URL in the Hostname/IP Address field.
7. In the Username field, enter a username.
8. In the Password field, enter a password. To confirm the password, enter it again in the Password Confirm field.
9. To connect to the cameras and to save the camera configuration, click Apply.
Note: You can not change the Port field. The main URL provides the port number.

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