MediaCentral | Cloud UX™

Installation Guide
Version 2024.10
Legal Notices
Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Avid Technology, Inc.

This product is subject to the terms and conditions of a software license agreement provided with the software. The product may only be used in accordance with
the license agreement.

This product may be protected by one or more U.S. and non-U.S patents. Details are available at https://www.avid.com/legal/patent-marking.

This guide is protected by copyright. This guide is for your personal use and may not be reproduced or distributed, in whole or in part, without permission of Avid.
Reasonable care has been taken in preparing this guide; however, it may contain omissions, technical inaccuracies, or typographical errors. Avid Technology, Inc.
disclaims liability for all losses incurred through the use of this document. Product specifications are subject to change without notice.

Copyright © 2024 Avid Technology, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved.

The following disclaimer is required by Apple Computer, Inc.:

APPLE COMPUTER, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES WITH
RESPECT TO ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME
STATES. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. THERE MAY BE OTHER RIGHTS THAT
YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

The following disclaimer is required by Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics, Inc. for the use of their TIFF library:

Copyright © 1988–1997 Sam Leffler

Copyright © 1991–1997 Silicon Graphics, Inc.

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software [i.e., the TIFF library] and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee,
provided that (i) the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of Sam
Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written permission of Sam Leffler
and Silicon Graphics.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY
WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR
ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY
THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

The following disclaimer is required by the Independent JPEG Group:

This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

This Software may contain components licensed under the following conditions:

Copyright (c) 1989 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are duplicated in all such forms and
that any documentation, advertising materials, and other materials related to such distribution and use acknowledge that the software was developed by the
University of California, Berkeley. The name of the University may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior
written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 by Jef Poskanzer.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. This software is
provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Copyright 1995, Trinity College Computing Center. Written by David Chappell.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. This software is
provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Copyright 1996 Daniel Dardailler.

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear
in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of Daniel Dardailler not be
used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. Daniel Dardailler makes no representations
about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Modifications Copyright 1999 Matt Koss, under the same license as above.

Copyright (c) 1991 by AT&T.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose without fee is hereby granted, provided that this entire notice is included in all
copies of any software which is or includes a copy or modification of this software and in all copies of the supporting documentation for such software.

THIS SOFTWARE IS BEING PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY. IN PARTICULAR, NEITHER THE AUTHOR NOR AT&T MAKES ANY
REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE MERCHANTABILITY OF THIS SOFTWARE OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

This product includes software developed by the University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.

2
The following disclaimer is required by Nexidia Inc.:

© 2010 Nexidia Inc. All rights reserved, worldwide. Nexidia and the Nexidia logo are trademarks of Nexidia Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners. All Nexidia materials regardless of form, including without limitation, software applications, documentation and any other information relating
to Nexidia Inc., and its products and services are the exclusive property of Nexidia Inc. or its licensors. The Nexidia products and services described in these
materials may be covered by Nexidia's United States patents: 7,231,351; 7,263,484; 7,313,521; 7,324,939; 7,406,415, 7,475,065; 7,487,086 and/or other patents
pending and may be manufactured under license from the Georgia Tech Research Corporation USA.

The following disclaimer is required by Paradigm Matrix:

Portions of this software licensed from Paradigm Matrix.

The following disclaimer is required by Ray Sauers Associates, Inc.:

“Install-It” is licensed from Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. End-User is prohibited from taking any action to derive a source code equivalent of “Install-It,” including
by reverse assembly or reverse compilation, Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. shall in no event be liable for any damages resulting from reseller’s failure to perform
reseller’s obligation; or any damages arising from use or operation of reseller’s products or the software; or any other damages, including but not limited to,
incidental, direct, indirect, special or consequential Damages including lost profits, or damages resulting from loss of use or inability to use reseller’s products or
the software for any reason including copyright or patent infringement, or lost data, even if Ray Sauers Associates has been advised, knew or should have known
of the possibility of such damages.

The following disclaimer is required by Videomedia, Inc.:

“Videomedia, Inc. makes no warranties whatsoever, either express or implied, regarding this product, including warranties with respect to its merchantability or
its fitness for any particular purpose.”

“This software contains V-LAN ver. 3.0 Command Protocols which communicate with V-LAN ver. 3.0 products developed by Videomedia, Inc. and V-LAN ver. 3.0
compatible products developed by third parties under license from Videomedia, Inc. Use of this software will allow “frame accurate” editing control of applicable
videotape recorder decks, videodisc recorders/players and the like.”

The following disclaimer is required by Altura Software, Inc. for the use of its Mac2Win software and Sample Source Code:

©1993–1998 Altura Software, Inc.

The following disclaimer is required by 3Prong.com Inc.:

Certain waveform and vector monitoring capabilities are provided under a license from 3Prong.com Inc.

The following disclaimer is required by Interplay Entertainment Corp.:

The “Interplay” name is used with the permission of Interplay Entertainment Corp., which bears no responsibility for Avid products.

This product includes portions of the Alloy Look & Feel software from Incors GmbH.

This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).

© DevelopMentor

This product may include the JCifs library, for which the following notice applies:

JCifs © Copyright 2004, The JCIFS Project, is licensed under LGPL (http://jcifs.samba.org/). See the LGPL.txt file in the Third Party Software directory on the
installation CD.

Avid Interplay contains components licensed from LavanTech. These components may only be used as part of and in connection with Avid Interplay.

Portions © Copyright 2003-2007 of MOG Solutions.

This product includes FFmpeg, which is covered by the GNU Lesser General Public License.

This product includes software that is based in part of the work of the FreeType Team.

This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

This product includes libjpeg-turbo, which is covered by the wxWindows Library License, Version 3.1.

Portions copyright 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Funded under Grant

P41-RR02188 by the National Institutes of Health.

Portions copyright 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Boutell.Com, Inc.

Portions relating to GD2 format copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Philip Warner.

Portions relating to PNG copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Greg Roelofs.

Portions relating to gdttf.c copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 John Ellson ([email protected]).

Portions relating to gdft.c copyright 2001, 2002 John Ellson ([email protected]).

Portions relating to JPEG and to color quantization copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, Doug Becker and copyright (C) 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
2002, Thomas G. Lane. This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group. See the file README-JPEG.TXT for more information. Portions
relating to WBMP copyright 2000, 2001, 2002 Maurice Szmurlo and Johan Van den Brande.

3
Permission has been granted to copy, distribute and modify gd in any context without fee, including a commercial application, provided that this notice is present
in user-accessible supporting documentation.

This does not affect your ownership of the derived work itself, and the intent is to assure proper credit for the authors of gd, not to interfere with your productive
use of gd. If you have questions, ask. "Derived works" includes all programs that utilize the library. Credit must be given in user-accessible documentation.

This software is provided "AS IS." The copyright holders disclaim all warranties, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to this code and accompanying documentation.

Although their code does not appear in gd, the authors wish to thank David Koblas, David Rowley, and Hutchison Avenue Software Corporation for their prior
contributions.

This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.openssl.org/)

MediaCentral may use OpenLDAP. Copyright 1999-2003 The OpenLDAP Foundation, Redwood City, California, USA. All Rights Reserved. OpenLDAP is a
registered trademark of the OpenLDAP Foundation.

Attn. Government User(s). Restricted Rights Legend

U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS. This Software and its documentation are “commercial computer software” or “commercial computer software
documentation.” In the event that such Software or documentation is acquired by or on behalf of a unit or agency of the U.S. Government, all rights with respect
to this Software and documentation are subject to the terms of the License Agreement, pursuant to FAR §12.212(a) and/or DFARS §227.7202-1(a), as applicable.

Trademarks

Avid, the Avid Logo, Avid Everywhere, Avid DNXHD, Avid DNXHR, Avid NEXIS, Avid NEXIS | Cloudspaces, AirSpeed, Eleven, EUCON, Interplay, iNEWS, ISIS, Mbox,
MediaCentral, Media Composer, NewsCutter, Pro Tools, ProSet and RealSet, Maestro, PlayMaker, Sibelius, Symphony, and all related product names and logos,
are registered or unregistered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. The Interplay name is used with the permission of
the Interplay Entertainment Corp. which bears no responsibility for Avid products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For a full list of
Avid trademarks, see: https://www.avid.com/legal/trademarks-and-other-notices.

Adobe and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Apple and
Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Windows is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Footage

Ice Festival, London Zoo, Feng Shui - Courtesy of Reuters.

Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Installation Guide • Created 11/18/2024 • This document is distributed by Avid in online (electronic) form only, and is not available
for purchase in printed form.

4
 Contents

Contents
Contents 5
Using This Guide 18
Important Terms and Notes 19

Symbols and Conventions 19

If You Need Help 20

Avid Training Services 20

1 Installation Prerequisites 21
Before You Begin 21

Network Interface Cards and Network Connections 24

Remote Client Connections 24

Understanding Kubernetes and Containers 24

Operating System and Security 25

Obtaining the MediaCentral Installation Packages 27

(Preview) Avid Ada Transcribe 28

MediaCentral | Phonetic Index 30

Additional Configuration for Integrated Modules 31

Accessing the Cloud UX Server 31

Copying Software to the MCUX Server 32

Creating the Installation Media 32

2 Software Installation and Configuration 33

Configuring Your System Hardware 34

Verifying Disk Partitioning 35

Installing and Configuring Ubuntu 37

Initiating the Ubuntu Installation 37

Configuring the Ubuntu Networking Options 38

Configuring the Installation Destination 40

Finalizing the Installation 43

Logging in to Ubuntu for the First Time 44

Elevating your User Privileges 45

5
 Contents

Additional Network Configuration 46

Correcting the Hosts File 46

Configuring DNS 46

Verifying the Hostname 47

Verifying Network Connectivity 48

Installing Ubuntu Software Updates 48

Updating Servers via a Direct Internet Connection 49

Updating Servers - Proxy Method 50

Removing Unnecessary Packages 51

Installing and Configuring Additional Features 52

Installing an NVIDIA® Driver 53

Installing the Platform Software 57

Verifying Access to USB Devices 57

Installing the Avid NEXIS Client 59

Running the Post-Install Setup Scripts 60

Installing Ansible and SSHpass 62

Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX Setup Script 63

Configuring Avid Ada Nodes 67

Configuring Alternate Domain Names 72

Creating a Site Key 73

Creating Certificate Files 74

Deploying the Transport Layer Security Certificates 81

Configuring an Authentication Provider 82

Connecting to MediaCentral Production Management 92

Connecting to MediaCentral Archive Production 93

Connecting to Avid NEXIS Shared Storage 94

Configuring Avid NEXIS API Services 96

Configuring the Avid XFER and XFORM Services 98

Configuring Temporary File Cleanup Settings 101

Configuring MediaCentral Search 102

Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index 104

6
 Contents

Configuring the Change Event Agent 106

Connecting to MediaCentral Ingest 107

Connecting to Avid Maestro 108

Configuring Collaborate App User Groups 109

Configuring Acquire and Router Control 109

Configuring Servers for Clip Mover 111

Configuring the MediaCentral Sync Controller 112

Configuring the Frame-Ancestor Security Policy 112

Enabling a Multi-Site Configuration 114

Enabling System Monitoring 115

Configuring Audit Logging 122

Configuring the Email Settings 124

Configuring a Licensing Proxy Connection 125

Configuring the Chat App 125

Integrating with Microsoft Entra 126

Running the Feature Pack Deployment Script 127

Deploying System Monitoring 131

Installing Software Updates 132

Signing in to MediaCentral Cloud UX 132

Administrator App Overview 135

Continuing the Installation 137

3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid 139

Search Grid Prerequisites 139

Hardware Sizing Information 140

Language Packs 140

Installing the Operating System 141

Installing the Search Grid Software 142

Installing Search Grid 142

Configuring Search Grid 144

Installing Additional Language Packs 145

Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index 146

7
 Contents

Configuring Asset Management Media Path 146

Creating the Phonetic Index Configuration File 147

Indexing Your Audio Media 147

Phonetic Index and Search Grid Log Files 148

Disabling Phonetic Index 148

4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules 150

Configuring Interplay Administrator Settings 150

Signing in to the Interplay Administrator 151

Enabling Server Settings 151

Configuring the MediaCentral Platform Settings 151

Configuring the Interplay Transfer Settings 151

Creating the NrcsID Property 152

Configuring the Application Database Settings 153

Configuring Send to Playback Settings 153

User Authentication Providers 154

Multiple Authentication Providers 154

Configuring the Authentication Providers 156

Configuring the MediaCentral Search Connector 157

Reviewing the Manage Status Tab 157

Reviewing the Property Selection Tab 160

Reviewing the Phonetic Indexing Tab 161

Configuring the Search Properties 163

Starting the Search Agent 164

Editing the Phonetic Indexing Tab 165

Resetting the Search Instance 165

Reconfiguring Asset Visibility 166

5 Using the License App 168

Understanding the License Types 169

License Distribution 176

Activating a License 178

Activating a Subscription License Online 178

8
 Contents

Activating a License Offline 180

Exporting a License 181

Resetting the System ID and Device ID 182

Reviewing the Licensing Results Panel 183

Filtering and Sorting the Results Panel 184

User Profile Menu 185

6 Using the User Management App 187

User Management: Groups Area 188

Icons Shown in the Groups Area 188

Filtering and Sorting the Groups Area 189

User Management: Users Area 190

Filtering and Sorting the Users Area 191

User Management: Properties Area 192

Group Details and Entitlements 193

User Details and Entitlements 195

Adding or Removing User Groups (AD Mode) 196

Managing User Groups (OpenID Mode) 198

Creating Local User Groups (OpenID Mode) 200

Using the Auto-Create Feature for Groups and User Assignment (OpenID Mode) 201

Defining the Default User Groups (OpenID Mode) 202

Editing User Groups (OpenID Mode) 203

Deleting User Groups (OpenID Mode) 204

Viewing and Releasing User Sessions 205

Editing the Group Assignment of a User (OpenID Mode) 206

Adding Client License Types 207

Working with Group Quotas 209

Working in Disconnected Mode 210

Notes for Active Directory User Accounts 210

7 Using the Configuration Settings App 212

Configuring the General Settings 213

Configuring Active Directory Single Sign-On 214

9
 Contents

Managing Service Accounts 215

Configuring Enterprise Editing Sync Settings 217

Configuring the Publisher Settings 219

Configuring Database Access for Specific User Profiles 220

Configuring External Applications 221

Configuring System Modules 222

Reviewing the Asset Management Module 223

Configuring the Newsroom Management Module 223

Configuring the Production Management Module 225

Configuring the Clip Mover Settings 226

8 Using the Workflow Settings App 229

Configuring the Playback Settings 230

Working with the Send to Playback Settings 231

Creating a Send To Playback Profile 231

9 Using the Search Index Monitor App 234

Reviewing the Search Index Monitor Header 234

Viewing and Working with Sites 236

Rebuilding an Index 239

Removing a Search Index 240

Resolving Search Errors 241

Reviewing the Search Analyzers 242

Search Analyzers: Metadata Searching 243

Search Analyzers: Phonetic Searching 244

10 Using the Legal List Administrator App 245

Configuring Legal Lists 247

Setting a Default Value 248

Re-sorting Legal Lists 249

Downloading Legal Lists 252

Uploading Legal Lists 253

Downloading Legal List Labels 254

Uploading Legal List Labels 255

10
 Contents

Creating and Configuring Legal List Entries 256

Creating a Legal List Entry 256

Assigning Labels 257

Deleting Entries 258

11 Using the Multi-Site Settings App 260

Configuring User Mapping 261

Adding a Rule 262

Reordering Rules 263

Editing an Existing Rule 264

Deleting a Rule 264

Reviewing the System Configuration 264

12 Using the Collaborate Settings App 268

Using the Attributes Panel 268

Filtering and Sorting the Attributes Panel 271

Creating a Custom Attribute 272

Editing an Existing Attribute 275

Editing Common Attribute Settings 275

Editing Dropdown, Priority and Status Values 275

Editing Specific Priority and Status Options 278

Deleting an Attribute 280

Using the Forms Builder 280

Creating a New Form 282

Editing an Existing Form 284

Configuring Default Forms 285

Duplicating a Form 285

Deleting a Form 286

Collaborate User Permissions 286

Filtering the User Permissions Panel 287

Configuring User Permissions 287

13 Using the Acquire App 289

Configuring Acquire System Settings 289

11
 Contents

Channel Profiles 289

Scheduling Options 294

Working with the Acquire Form Builder 297

Creating a New Form 298

Editing an Existing Form 300

Configuring Default Forms 301

Duplicating a Form 302

Deleting a Form 302

Working with Acquire Attributes 303

Acquire Metadata Mapping 306

Acquire User Permissions 306

Assigning User Permissions 308

14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control 309

Avid Router Engine Service 309

Router Settings Application 309

Configuring Router Engine Service Settings 309

Selecting a Route Engine Service Instance 310

Protocol Types 311

Configuring Common Settings 311

Configuring Emulator Protocol 312

Configuring Blackmagic Protocol 313

Configuring Evertz Quartz Protocol 313

Configuring Evertz Magnum Protocol 313

Configuring ProBel SWP08 Protocol 313

Configuring Crosspoints 314

15 Using the Rules Editor App 318

Understanding the Rules Editor App Layout 320

The Sidebar 322

The Rules and Items Panel 323

The Define Rule Panel 332

The Details Panel 333

12
 Contents

Importing Default Rules 338

Importing Production Management Default Rule 339

Importing Collaborate Default Rules 341

Pausing and Resuming Rules Engine Event Processing 343

Reviewing Rules Editor App Status Information 343

Creating Rules 344

Creating a Collaborate Rule 345

Creating a Production Management Rule 350

Creating an Asset Management Rule 353

Defining Triggers 356

(Collaborate) Defining the Linked/Unlinked Trigger 356

(Collaborate) Defining the Status Transition Trigger 357

Defining Entities 357

Conditions: Attributes and Operators 358

Using the Is Set and Is Not Set Operator 363

Using the Is Updated and Is Not Updated Operator 363

Using the True and False Operator 364

Using the Is Any of and Is None of Operator (Single Value Attribute) 364

Using Operators for Multi-Value Lists 367

Using the Contains and Does not Contain Operator (Single Value Attribute) 368

Using the Starts With and Ends With Operator 370

Using Date-Related Operators 370

Using Number-Related Operators 373

(Asset Management) Defining the Asset Type 374

Defining Actions 375

Defining a Send to Playback Action 378

Defining a Platform Notification Action 381

Defining a Collaborate Notification Action 382

Defining an AM Orchestration Action 383

Defining a Create Entity Action 385

Defining an Update Metadata Action 389

13
 Contents

Defining a Create Folder Action 393

Defining an Add to Folder Action 397

(Preview) Defining a Media Analytics Action 400

Defining the Input Type: Literal, Property or Expression 401

Using Expressions 403

Editing a Rule 409

Duplicating a Rule 414

Copying and Moving Rules 415

Exporting Rules 417

Importing Rules 418

Deleting Rules 420

Rules Validation 421

Rules and Items Panel: Rules Tab 421

Define Rule Panel 422

Details Panel 424

Validate on Save 426

Using Rules of Unavailable Systems 427

UI for Rules of an Unavailable System 427

Options for Rules of an Unavailable System 428

Using the Category Other 429

UI for Rules in the Category Other 429

Options for Rules in the Category Other 430

Troubleshooting 432

Issues Indicated by Rules Editor Health Indicators 433

Unavailable Modules Shown in the Rules Editor Sidebar 434

Issues Shown for Actions in Rules Editor 435

What to Check if an Expected Rule or Action is Not Executed 439

Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for Troubleshooting 441

Checking Kafka Topics for Troubleshooting 443

16 Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Mobile App 444

Before You Begin 444

14
 Contents

Installing MediaCentral | Cloud UX for iOS 444

Upgrading the Mobile App 445

A Additional Topics 446

Power Cycling and Maintenance Mode 446

Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode 447

Rebooting or Shutting Down a Node 448

Power Cycling a MediaCentral Cloud UX Cluster 449

MediaCentral Cloud UX System Maintenance 450

Copying Software to the MCUX Server 451

Copying Software Using an SFTP Client 451

Copying Software Using a USB Drive 453

Mounting an ISO Image 455

Using the vi Editor 456

Version Information 457

Customizing the User Experience 458

Adding Custom Graphics 458

Adding Custom Icons 460

Configuring Custom Columns and Property Filters for the Process App 463

System Drive Partitioning 464

Disk Usage Report 465

MediaCentral Cloud UX Services 465

MediaCentral Cloud UX Clustering 466

MediaCentral | Hoverscrub 470

Reconfiguring Hoverscrub 471

Altering the Hoverscrub Configuration 471

Cleaning the Hoverscrub Cache 473

Working with the Search App 474

Resetting the MediaCentral Search Index 474

Deleting a Topic from Kafka 478

Increasing the Elasticsearch Resources 479

Configuring a Secure Kafka Connection 482

15
 Contents

Working with MongoDB 484

Reviewing the MongoDB Replica Status 485

Reviewing the Databases 485

Backing up the Mongo Database 486

Restoring the Mongo Database 486

Reconfiguring SeaweedFS Volumes 487

Backing Up the PostgreSQL Database 488

Importing Custom Logging Data 489

Exporting Custom Logs from MediaCentral UX 489

Deploying the Asset Logger Tools 490

Importing the Custom Log Files 490

Migrating the Custom Log Data 491

Removing the Asset Logger Tools 493

Configuring the Archiving of Jobs and Purging of Archived Jobs 494

Job Monitor Blacklist for Bus Channel Notifications 495

Configuring the Maximum of Groups for Notification Actions 496

B Importing TLS Certificates 498

Importing Certificates on Local Workstations 499

Configuring Windows 499

Configuring macOS 503

Verifying the TLS Certificate 505

Importing Certificates on iOS Devices 507

C System Administration 509

Upgrading a Single Server to a Cluster 509

Adding a Worker Node to an Existing Cluster 511

Removing Nodes from a Cluster 512

Removing a Single Node 512

Removing Multiple Worker Nodes 513

D Troubleshooting 514
MediaCentral Cloud UX and System Logs 514

Log locations 514

16
 Contents

Viewing Log Files 515

Collecting Logs 516

Working with Kubernetes 517

Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard 520

Collecting Logs Through the Dashboard 522

Understanding Kubernetes Certificates 523

Understanding the Config Store 526

Kubernetes Device Plugin 529

Troubleshooting Kubernetes 530

Working with Grafana 531

Altering the Keyboard Layout 534

Troubleshooting Your Network 534

Troubleshooting the Network Connection 534

Verifying the resolv.conf Configuration File 535

Verifying the nsswitch.conf Configuration File 536

Disabling the System Wide Proxy 536

Troubleshooting Playback 537

Verifying Access to Shared Storage 537

Clearing the Player Cache 537

Reviewing the Default Quota for the Gluster Cache 538

Using the Player Demo Page 539

Troubleshooting the Acquire App 540

Check-in Does Not Work 540

Recording Does Not Start 541

Ingest Server Not Available 541

Router Not Available 543

Assets Cannot Be Played By the Cloud UX Media Viewer 543

Assets Cannot Be Found in the Search App 543

Production Management Connection Issues 543

Troubleshooting the Multi-Site Configuration Process 544

Troubleshooting the XFER Service 545

17
 Using This Guide

Using This Guide

This document provides instructions for installing and configuring a new Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX
system. Avid recommends that you read all the information in both this document and the Avid
MediaCentral | Cloud UX ReadMe thoroughly before installing or using the corresponding software release.

If you are performing an upgrade of an existing installation, see the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX ReadMe
for upgrade instructions.

The following list details some of the documents that are referenced in this guide:
l Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX ReadMe — Read prior to completing any MCUX installation.
l Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide — Refer to this guide for detailed information on the apps
and features of the MediaCentral Cloud UX user interface.
l Avid MediaCentral | Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools ReadMe and Avid MediaCentral | Panel for 3rd
Party Creative Tools Installation and User's Guide.
l Avid MediaCentral | Sync Administration Guide — Includes information on the MediaCentral Sync
app.
l Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Process Modeler User’s Guide — Includes information on the Process
Modeler app.
l Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Hardware Guide — Includes information on Avid qualified servers as
well as scaling and configuration options.
l Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Cloud UX Best Practices for VMware® — A reference document for
building a MediaCentral Cloud UX server in a virtual environment using VMware.
l Avid Networking Port Usage Guide — A reference document for configuring network ports for firewalls
and other security purposes.
Important: See the following link on the Avid Knowledge Base for the latest updates to this guide and all
related documentation:

https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_US/user_guide/MediaCentral-CloudUX-Documentation

n For a list products qualified for use with Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX, see the Software Compatibility
Matrix on the Avid Knowledge Base.

Revision History

Date Revised Changes Made

November 18, 2024 Corrected Step 1 in the process for "Connecting to Avid NEXIS Shared Storage" on
page 94.
November 14, 2024 Initial release. See the ReadMe for a list of new features and updates.

18
 Using This Guide

Important Terms and Notes

Throughout this document, “Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX” might be referred to as “MCUX” for brevity.

The Ubuntu Linux deployment used in an MCUX environment is command-line based operating system. The
processes described in this guide might require you to edit various system files. Although multiple text
editors exist, the tool used throughout this document is “vi”. If you are unfamiliar with vi, you can refer to
"Using the vi Editor" on page 456 for a short introduction to the text editor.

c If copying / pasting commands from this document into a command line interface tool such as Putty©,
be sure to verify the command after pasting. It is possible that some characters might be replaced
during the paste process which can lead to a failed or problematic installation.

Beta Apps
This release of MediaCentral Cloud UX might contain features that are included as beta. Apps or features
that fall into this category are clearly identified with a Beta label in the user interface and/or the
MediaCentral Cloud UX documentation. All other features discussed in this document are fully implemented
and are not considered beta.

What is a Beta?

Avid Technology defines the term beta as a feature that is offered to customers for experimentation with the
understanding that Avid expects to fully implement the feature in a future release. Beta features are
officially unsupported and potentially incomplete or unsuitable for production systems. It is possible that
due to unforeseen circumstances, the feature will be altered or altogether removed from the shipping
product. In the future, beta features might be licensed and sold by Avid and use of the feature does not
constitute receipt of a permanent license.

Customer feedback regarding the beta is welcome. Customers may contact Avid Customer Care to create
support cases regarding beta features. However, cases specifically related to beta features will not be
escalated to critical status and might not be resolved.

Symbols and Conventions

Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

n A note provides important related information, reminders, recommendations, and

strong suggestions.

c A caution means that a specific action you take could cause harm to your computer
or cause you to lose data.
This symbol indicates menu commands (and subcommands) in the order you select

> them. For example, File > Import means to open the File menu and then select the
Import command.

t This symbol indicates a single-step procedure. Multiple arrows in a list indicate that
you perform one of the actions listed.
Bold font Bold font is primarily used in task instructions to identify user interface items and
keyboard sequences.
Italic font Italic font is used to emphasize certain words and to indicate variables. Variables are
often enclosed in angled brackets: < >.
Courier Bold font Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.
Ctrl+key or mouse Press and hold the first key while you press the last key or perform the mouse action.
action For example, Command+Option+C or Ctrl+drag.

19
 Using This Guide

If You Need Help

If you are having trouble using your Avid product:

1. Retry the action, carefully following the instructions given for that task in this guide. It is especially
important to check each step of your workflow.
2. Check the latest information that might have become available after the documentation was
published. You should always check online for the most up-to-date release notes or ReadMe because
the online version is updated whenever new information becomes available. To view these online
versions, select ReadMe from the Help menu, or visit the Knowledge Base at
https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_US/user_guide/MediaCentral-CloudUX-Documentation.
3. Check the documentation that came with your Avid application or your hardware for maintenance or
hardware-related issues.
4. Visit the online Avid Knowledge Base. Online services are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
Search this online Knowledge Base to find answers, to view error messages, to access troubleshooting
tips, to download updates, and to read or join online message-board discussions.

Avid Training Services

Avid makes lifelong learning, career advancement, and personal development easy and convenient. Avid
understands that the knowledge you need to differentiate yourself is always changing, and Avid continually
updates course content and offers new training delivery methods that accommodate your pressured and
competitive work environment.

For information on courses/schedules, training centers, certifications, courseware, and books, please visit
https://www.avid.com/learn-and-support and follow the Training links, or call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID
(800-949-2843).

20
 1 Installation Prerequisites

1 Installation Prerequisites
The purpose of this chapter is to guide you through the preparation of all materials and resources that you
might need to complete the MediaCentral Cloud UX installation process. This chapter also includes
information on requirements for systems that you might integrate with MCUX.

Before You Begin

Every successful installation starts with careful planning. Before you begin the installation process, you
should verify that you have identified answers for each of the following data points.

Networking
l Identify the names and/or IP addresses of your Domain, DNS, NTP, etc.
l Identify the host name and IP address of any system that you plan to integrate with MediaCentral
Cloud UX. Examples include: MediaCentral Production Management, Avid NEXIS, or others.
l Define host names for each of your MediaCentral Cloud UX servers.
The short hostname of your server(s) can include a maximum of 31 characters to maintain
compatibility with some Avid systems, including Avid NEXIS. The FQDN of the server can be longer
than 31 characters.
Avid recommends that you keep host names under 15 characters to maintain backwards
compatibility with older systems. The only “special character” allowed in a hostname is a dash “ -”.
Underscores are not allowed.
Hostnames must comply with “RFC 952” and “RFC-1123” standards. Contrary to the RFC 952
standard, you must use all lower-case when entering the MediaCentral Cloud UX server host name in
both DNS and during the Ubuntu installation process. Additionally, MediaCentral Cloud UX does not
support server host names that begin with a leading numerical value — such as “2mcux”.
For more information on RFC specifications, see https://ietf.org/standards/rfcs/. For additional
information on host name restrictions in Microsoft Windows domains, see
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/identity/naming-conventions-for-
computer-domain-site-ou.
l Define a static IP address for each of your MediaCentral Cloud UX servers.
MediaCentral Cloud UX does not support configuring the server with Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol (DHCP).
l If you are configuring a cluster, all nodes must be included in the same subnet. The internal
Kubernetes network cannot communicate between nodes on different subnets.
l During the deployment process, the avidctl platform host-setup script requires you to define
two internal networks that can be used by Kubernetes for internal communication:
– Kubernetes Service Network: The default range of this network is 172.16.40.0/21.
– Kubernetes Pod Network: The default range of this network is 172.16.0.0/19.
While you can configure multiple MediaCentral Cloud UX systems within the same network to use the
same Kubernetes network ranges, you must not assign the IP addresses in these ranges to any
external systems. If any of the IP addresses included in the default ranges of 172.16.40.0/21 or
172.16.0.0/19 are already in use in your network, you must assign different ranges to Kubernetes to
avoid network conflicts.
For more information, see "Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX Setup Script" on page 63.

21
 1 Installation Prerequisites

l If your organization has purchased MediaCentral Phonetic Index, you must define a host name for
the Nexidia Search Grid™ server and a dedicated IP address.
For more information, see "MediaCentral | Phonetic Index" on page 30.
l If you plan on installing multiple servers in a clustered configuration, you also must define a host
name and a static IP address that will be assigned to the cluster.
When users connect to a cluster, they do not connect to an individual server. Instead, users connect
to the cluster name — a virtual representation of all cluster nodes. For example, a three node cluster
configuration might look like the following:
Host Name (FQDN) IP Address Description

wavd-mcux.wavd.com 192.168.10.50 Cluster host name and IP

wavd-mcux01.wavd.com 192.168.10.51 Cluster node 1
wavd-mcux02.wavd.com 192.168.10.52 Cluster node 2
wavd-mcux03.wavd.com 192.168.10.53 Cluster node 3

l You must work with your on-site IT Department to manually enter each MCUX server in both Forward
and Reverse DNS. If you are configuring a clustered environment, you must also enter the host name
and IP address that you plan to associate with the cluster into the DNS. When entering the host name
in DNS, you must enter all text in lower-case.
If you configure your network settings with two DNS servers, you must ensure that the two servers
contain entries for all connected Avid systems, and that the servers maintain proper synchronization.
l Verify that all network ports required for your installation are open between network switches and
across firewalls.
For more information, see the Avid Networking Port Usage Guide on the Avid Knowledge Base.
l MediaCentral Cloud UX does not support port-bonding or teaming of the server’s network interfaces.
System Storage

MediaCentral Cloud UX servers are often configured with two volumes:

l A RAID 1 volume consisting of a mirrored set of two physical drives. This is where the operating system
and Avid applications are installed.
l A RAID 5 volume consisting of multiple physical drives (usually 6 to 8). These drives are used to store
various databases, Hoverscrub proxies, playback cache data, and more.
If you plan to deploy System Monitoring and you plan to use a MediaCentral Cloud UX server as a logging
node, Avid recommends that you mount the monitoring data root directory (/var/data/local/pv/mon)
to a dedicated disk or a dedicated partition of at least 150GB of an existing disk. For more information on
this feature, see "Enabling System Monitoring" on page 115.

Before you deploy Ubuntu on your server, Avid recommends that you refer to the “Storage Requirements”
section of the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Hardware Guide to learn more about the storage requirements
for this release.

Time Synchronization

If you do not have an NTP server already configured, contact your local IT department about creating one
prior to beginning the MediaCentral Cloud UX installation process. Maintaining precise time
synchronization between MediaCentral Cloud UX and connected systems (Avid NEXIS, MediaCentral
Production Management, etc) is critical to the operation of the system. If you do not properly time-sync
your back-end systems, users might be unable to play media in the Asset Editor, find newly created assets
through Search, lock or save stories in the Rundown app, or other.

22
 1 Installation Prerequisites

When working in a multi-site environment, Avid recommends that you connect all sites to a common time
source to ensure that both local and remote systems are in sync.

Users and User Management

l The Ubuntu installation process requires you to define a user name and password that can be used to
log in to the operating system. When you run the MediaCentral Cloud UX platform host-setup
script, the system asks you for your ssh password. If you plan to configure your servers in a cluster,
you must ensure that this same user and password is available on all nodes.
l MediaCentral Cloud UX requires a connection to either Windows Active Directory, Okta, Keycloak,or
Microsoft Entra ID (Azure Active Directory) for user management and authentication. Later in the
installation and configuration process, you will connect MediaCentral Cloud UX to your
authentication provider and import users or user groups.
For additional requirements, see "Configuring an Authentication Provider" on page 82.
l Identify all users and user groups that you want to import from your authentication provider.
MediaCentral Cloud UX client licenses are assigned to user groups and not to individual users. If you
have not organized your users into logical groups, it might be beneficial to do so now. For instance,
you might combine a group of users into an “Editor” group. Alternatively, you could group all users
that share a common department such as “Promotions”.
For more information about assigning licenses and understanding the different license types, see
"Using the License App" on page 168.
l Due to a limitation in Active Directory, users whose smAccountName is longer than 20 characters are
not able to sign into MediaCentral Cloud UX. The system truncates the name at the 20 character
limit. If you import a user whose name exceeds this limit, the User Management app displays the
truncated name.
l Define a user group in your authentication provider that will act as the Administrators group for
MediaCentral Cloud UX. Any users that are included in this group have access to the MediaCentral
Cloud UX Administrator apps. This user group does not require any additional rights on your domain.
The users included in this group do not need to be domain admins — standard domain users are
acceptable.
For more information about the Administrator apps, see "Administrator App Overview" on page 135.
l If you plan to integrate with MediaCentral Production Management, you must identify a user in the
Production Management database that can be used by MediaCentral Cloud UX. This user must have
minimum read access to the top level of the Production Management database (the entire database).
l If you plan to integrate with Avid shared storage, you must identify an Avid NEXIS user that has
read/write access to all workspaces that include media that you plan to access through
MediaCentral Cloud UX.
l If your system is licensed for MediaCentral Sync, you must refer to the Avid MediaCentral | Sync
Administration Guide for additional information on User Account Requirements.
Integrated systems
l After you have identified the systems that you plan to integrate with MediaCentral Cloud UX, you
must verify that each system is available and operating normally. Examples of integrated systems
are MediaCentral Production Management, Avid NEXIS, 3rd party systems, or others.
l If your installation includes an Send to Playback workflow for MediaCentral Production Management
assets, you must install the Avid MediaCentral Distribution Service.
For more information and installation instructions, see the MediaCentral Distribution Service ReadMe
on the Avid Knowledge Base at: https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_US/user_guide/MediaCentral-
CloudUX-Documentation

23
 1 Installation Prerequisites

Network Interface Cards and Network Connections

Avid supports connecting the MediaCentral Cloud UX server to your network using a 1 Gb or faster
connection. However, Avid might recommend or require the increased bandwidth of a 10 Gb network
adapter for certain workflows. For example:
l A 10 Gb connection is required for any MCUX deployment that intends to use 100+ Mbps video
formats such as AVC-I 100, DVCPro 100, and DNxHD 145.
l Avid highly recommends a 10 Gb connection for any site that plans to participate in a Remote STP
(Send to Playback) workflow.
l A 10 Gb connection might also be desired or required to enable increased client connections or
playback streams.
l Other potential workflows.
Prior to installing the operating system on your MediaCentral Cloud UX server, you must first install any
add-in network adapters and cable any network interfaces that you plan to use. If you complete this task
now, you can ensure that the operating system correctly identifies and configures the adapters during the
software installation process.

For additional information on network requirements, see "Networking" on page 21.

Remote Client Connections

MediaCentral Cloud UX web or mobile clients that connect through the public Internet require VPN access
into the server network. All connections pass through the VPN router/firewall through identified ports. Once
the data has passed into the “house network”, it is secured using your organization’s existing network
security infrastructure.

For more information on networking in an Avid environment, see the Network Requirements for Avid NEXIS
and MediaCentral document located on the Avid Knowledge Base at: https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_
US/compatibility/en244197

For information on port usage and network firewall information, see the Avid Networking Port Usage Guide
at: https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_US/readme/Avid-Networking-Port-Usage-Guide

Understanding Kubernetes and Containers

MediaCentral Cloud UX is built in a Kubernetes® (K3s) managed container environment. Prior to beginning
the installation process, you might want to review the following information to obtain a very basic, high-
level understanding of this technology.

What are Containers?

MediaCentral Cloud UX leverages containerd — an open-source container life-cycle management system.

You might compare containerd to a virtual machine environment. In a VM environment, you have a host
server (the hardware) and a host operating system. Once you have those pieces in place, your host server
can run one or more virtual machines — each of which runs its own operating system and applications.

Systems that employ containerd still use a host server (the hardware) and a host operating system such as
Linux, Windows, or other. Containerd is then installed on the host operating system. Once installed, you
can begin to create one or more container images or containers. In this example, you can compare
containers to virtual machines. However, a major difference between the two is that containers do not
include an operating system.

24
 1 Installation Prerequisites

A container is generally composed of a single service or application as well as any dependent components.
Dependencies could be as simple as a single one-line configuration file, or could be as complex as a full SQL
database with all the resources required to run that database. Because containers do not include an
operating system, they have the benefit of being much smaller than an entire virtual machine and can
therefore start or restart much faster then a VM.

Although not applicable to MediaCentral Cloud UX which always runs on Linux, another interesting aspect
of containers is that they are operating system independent. Once you create a container image, it can run
on Linux, Windows, macOS, or other — as long as the OS has a compliant container runtime system
installed — such as containerd, Docker®, or CRI-O.

What is Kubernetes?

Ancient Greek for “pilot” or “helmsman”, Kubernetes (“koo-burr-NET-eez”) is a cluster manager / container
orchestration engine. Kubernetes does not manage containers directly. Instead, it manages pods. A pod is a
construct that wraps around one or more containers (although usually just one).

Kubernetes is installed on each MediaCentral Cloud UX server and provides the foundation for the system’s
clustering technology. Depending on how the system is engineered, Kubernetes can create multiple
redundant pods. If a pod fails, another can be brought online quickly to replace it.

In a Kubernetes environment, each MediaCentral Cloud UX server is identified as a node. In a cluster

configuration, you can have Control Plane nodes, Worker nodes, or a node that fills both roles. Control
Plane nodes are responsible for coordinating activities across the cluster. Worker nodes are generally more
passive in that they run pods, but do not manage them. Nodes that are identified as both a control and a
worker have enough resources to both coordinate activities and run pods. In a MediaCentral Cloud UX
cluster, the first three servers operate as both Control Plane and Worker nodes. All other nodes are simply
worker nodes. When creating a MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster, Avid requires a minimum of three cluster
nodes. Two node configurations are not supported.

You can interact with Kubernetes through the Ubuntu command line interface. However, you can also
access Kubernetes through a web portal that provides a graphical view of the managed systems.

For more information, see "Working with Kubernetes" on page 517 or https://docs.k3s.io/.

Operating System and Security

MediaCentral Cloud UX is supported on Canonical Ubuntu — an open source, Linux-based operating
system. Organizations must download a copy of Ubuntu Server LTS (Long Term Support) from
https://ubuntu.com/ and install it on their MediaCentral Cloud UX server prior to installing any Avid
software. Refer to the MediaCentral Compatibility Matrix on the Avid Knowledge Base for supported version
information.

Unless otherwise noted, Avid supports Ubuntu patch versions by default. Using Ubuntu 22.04.1 as an
example where 22 is the major version, 04 is the minor version, and 1 is the patch version, Avid would
support Ubuntu Server LTS v22.04.x. For more information on Ubuntu releases, see
https://ubuntu.com/about/release-cycle.

If you plan to install Ubuntu on a physical server, you might need to create a bootable USB drive from the
Ubuntu ISO image and initiate the installation from that device. For more information on that process, see
"Creating the Installation Media" on page 32.

25
 1 Installation Prerequisites

System Security and Operating System Updates

Organizations can load Ubuntu Server LTS security updates on their MediaCentral Cloud UX server as
needed. Avid supports all critical security updates by default and makes best efforts to complete internal
qualification of these updates as they become available. If Avid discovers an issue with any update, we will
communicate our findings through an update to the MediaCentral Cloud UX ReadMe, the Security
Guidelines page on the Avid Knowledge Base, and / or by other communication channels.

This policy applies specifically to operating system updates only. If a security update becomes available for
an included sub-system such as MongoDB, Elasticsearch, Kubernetes, or other, customers must contact
Avid Customer Care prior to applying the update to ensure compatibility.

For more information on system security, see the following link to the Avid Knowledge Base:
https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_US/troubleshooting/en239659

For information on updating your server, see "Installing Ubuntu Software Updates" on page 48.

Ubuntu Uncomplicated Firewall

MediaCentral Cloud UX supports operating the system with the Ubuntu Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW)
service enabled. Later in this document, you will run the avidctl platform host-setup script which
will enable this service for you automatically. You can verify the status of the firewall by typing the
following command: sudo ufw status

If you need to change the state of the service on a fully deployed cluster, you must enable or disable the
service on all nodes individually. Avid recommends that all nodes run the service in the same state — either
all enabled (recommended) , or all disabled.

For additional information on this service, enter ufw --help or see

https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/security-firewall.

Obtaining Updated Packages

Following the Ubuntu installation, you will be required to complete multiple processes that install software
updates on your system. These processes might include, but are not limited to: "Installing Ubuntu Software
Updates" on page 48, "Installing Ansible and SSHpass" on page 62, "Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX
Setup Script" on page 63, and more.

It is your organization’s responsibility to enable the method by which your server can obtain these updates.
If you need assistance in configuring or downloading updates, contact Ubuntu Technical Support.

Ubuntu Technical Support

Organizations can purchase paid support plans directly from Canonical Ltd. Ubuntu also has an active
community forum that can serve as a useful troubleshooting tool when needed. You can find more
information about these options at the following links:
l Canonical support plans:
https://ubuntu.com/support
l Additional information about Ubuntu technical support:
https://ubuntu.com/core/services/guide/technical-support
l The Ubuntu Forum Community:
https://ubuntuforums.org

26
 1 Installation Prerequisites

Obtaining the MediaCentral Installation Packages

Most Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX software packages are available from the Avid Download Center.
However, Avid might provide additional packages during the system commissioning process.

n If you have not already created an Avid.com user account, you must do so now. This Master Account
enables you to sync your Avid Video Download and Avid Video Community accounts as well as gain
access to the Avid Support Center.

After you have logged into the Download Center, download the following:
l Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Platform
This file includes core Avid installation components and sub-systems. All installations require this
software.
Example file name: mediacentral_platform_<build>.bin
l Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Feature Packs
This is an ISO image that includes additional software to install MediaCentral Cloud UX applications
on the Platform. All installations require this software.
Example file name: mediacentral_feature_packs_<build>.iso
l (if applicable) Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Updates
Avid often releases updates to MCUX that provide fixes and new features. Consult the latest
MediaCentral Cloud UX Update ReadMe for specific installation instructions.
l (if applicable) MediaCentral Distribution Service (MCDS)
MCDS is a Windows-based application that coordinates jobs with Avid Production Management
Services for send-to-playback operations. If your installation includes an STP workflow that includes
MediaCentral Production Management assets, download this software.
l (if applicable) MediaCentral Phonetic Index Language Packs
If your organization has purchased a license for MediaCentral Phonetic Index and you need to index
audio in a language other than English, you must download an additional language pack. Language
packs require additional licensing on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

n If any of the packages listed above are not available through the Download Center, contact your Avid
representative to obtain the necessary software.

Additional software:
l Nexidia Search Grid™

If your organization has purchased a license for MediaCentral Phonetic Index, you must install the
Nexidia Search Grid software on a separate dedicated server. This software is provided to you by
Avid at the time of installation and is not available on the Avid Download Center.

27
 1 Installation Prerequisites

(Preview) Avid Ada Transcribe

Avid Ada Transcribe is an optional, licensed feature that creates transcripts of MediaCentral Production
Management assets that include one or more audio tracks. Simplified, the transcribe workflow includes the
following steps:

1. A request is made for an analysis service to process some audio. The request might be generated by
an individual user (on-demand), or it might come from a rule configured in the MediaCentral Cloud
UX Rules Editor.
2. Avid services convert spoken words into text and timing data that map the words to audio media
offsets.
3. Using the timing data, the text is added to segments that are automatically divided by each
individual speaker.
4. The final transcript is made available to MediaCentral Cloud UX users through the Asset Editor's
Transcribe tab, the Search app, and other areas of the system.
For more information about the Transcribe workflow, see "Using the Transcript Tab" in the Avid
MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.

For more information about Avid Ada systems, see https://www.avid.com/avid-ada.

Deployment Checklist
This section includes a list of system requirements and installation steps that an administrator might need
to understand when deploying Avid Ada Transcribe.
l Configure one or more Avid Ada Worker nodes
While there are multiple systems involved in the transcription process, the Avid Ada Worker is
responsible for processing the audio media to create the transcribed text. The Avid Ada Worker
connects to the Media Composer Distributed Processing system and it is the first and only worker
that is deployed on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server(s).
You can configure the Worker on a single-server MediaCentral Cloud UX system, or on one or more
control plane and/or worker nodes in a clustered configuration. Alternatively, you can deploy a no-
replica node that is dedicated to the task of running the Avid Ada Worker services.
For information on configuring and deploying Avid Ada Worker nodes, see "Configuring Avid
Ada Nodes" on page 67. For more information on Distributed Processing, see the Avid Media
Composer | Distributed Processing Administration Guide.
l Verify that your MediaCentral Cloud UX is licensed for the following:
– MediaCentral | STT Base Package
– Media Composer | Distributed Processing Engine
Avid Ada Workers do not count against the "Media Composer | Distributed Processing Worker"
license count. As a result, this license is not required for this workflow. Additionally, the
"MediaCentral | Panel for Media Composer" license is not specifically required to enable this
workflow.
For more information, see "Using the License App" on page 168.
l You must complete the following processes to specifically enable the Transcribe workflow:
– "Configuring Avid Ada Nodes" on page 67
– "Configuring the Avid XFER and XFORM Services" on page 98
– "Configuring the Change Event Agent" on page 106

28
 1 Installation Prerequisites

– "Configuring Audit Logging" on page 122

Audit Logging is required only if you want to obtain information about quota usage for the
MediaCentral | STT Base Package license.
l You must deploy the following Feature Packs:
– Distributed Processing (dp)
– Avid Ada (ml)
– Media Services
– Speech To Text (stt)
– Avid Media Analytics Gateway (mediaanalytics-gateway)
– Avid Media Analytics Engine (mediaanalytics-engine)
For additional information, see "Running the Post-Install Setup Scripts" on page 60.
l (optional) Configure the Rules Editor
Since the Rules Engine, Action Engines, and Rules Editor are installed as core features of the
MediaCentral Cloud UX setup, there is no specific setup or configuration requirement for these
components.
If you want to use the platform automation capabilities for Avid Ada Transcribe, you must either
create a rule that includes a Media Analytics action or enable the default Media Analytics rule "
[Transcribe] PM Masterclip - empty" that is shipped with the Rules Engine.
For more information, see "Importing Production Management Default Rule" on page 339 and"
(Preview) Defining a Media Analytics Action" on page 400.
Leveraging the Power of a GPU
Avid highly recommends that you provision an NVIDIA® GPU for any node that runs the Avid Ada Worker
services. The Avid systems that enable the Transcribe workflow are built to leverage GPU resources to
greatly increase the speed at which audio can be transcribed into text (as compared server equipped with a
CPU only).

If your MediaCentral node (single-server or cluster) does not include a GPU, you must limit the Avid
Ada Worker service to use a single CPU core so that it does not over-consume resources needed by other
MediaCentral Cloud UX systems (such as playback). In a CPU only configuration, the transcribe process
runs closer to real-time. This means that a 60 minute asset could take approximately 60 minutes to
transcribe.*

n Although Avid highly recommends adding a GPU to any node that is running the Avid Ada Worker
service, it is not absolutely required.

For information on NVIDIA card minimum specifications and a processing time comparison chart, see
"Adding a No-Replica Cluster Node" in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Hardware Guide. For information
on configuring the card for use with MediaCentral, see "Installing an NVIDIA® Driver" on page 53.

* Processing time can vary based on CPU.

Clustering and High Availability

As the process for "Configuring Avid Ada Nodes" on page 67 allows you to configure the Avid Ada Worker
service on one or more nodes, Avid Ada Transcribe might or might not be highly available on your cluster.

If you deploy the Avid Ada Worker service on a single cluster node - whether that is on a control plane node,
a worker node, or a dedicated no-replica node, the service is not highly available. This is true even if you
deploy two instances of the service on a dedicated no-replica node.

29
 1 Installation Prerequisites

To achieve high availability for this service, you must configure at least two separate Avid Ada nodes in your
cluster.

n While it is possible to achieve high-availability of the Avid Ada Worker service, some systems that
enable this workflow (such as Media Composer Distributed Processing) are not highly-available. If
those systems are unavailable, you might experience a temporary disruption of the Avid Ada
Transcribe workflow.

Information About SeaweedFS

SeaweedFS is an open-source Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) compliant shared storage system that
might be deployed on your MediaCentral Cloud UX system. In this release, the local (no outgoing / internet
traffic) SeaweedFS instance is used to host temporary files that are created during the transcribe process of
the Avid Ada Transcribe workflow. Temporary files are removed automatically from the system as part of
the transcription process.

SeaweedFS is installed on your single-server or control-plane cluster nodes if you install a feature pack that
requires its use. "Avid Ada (ml)" is one of these feature packs.

For additional information and configuration options, see "Reconfiguring SeaweedFS Volumes" on
page 487.

Can I Continue to Use MediaCentral Phonetic Index?

Avid Ada Transcribe is intended as a replacement for Phonetic Index. However if you are already licensed
for MediaCentral Phonetic Index, you can continue to use that product while you are using Transcribe in
this release.

When you are ready to focus exclusively on Transcribe, you can put Phonetic Index into a read-only mode
so that new assets are processed by Transcribe only. In read-only mode, the existing phonetic index is still
available and assets are returned through MediaCentral Search. Alternatively you can disable Phonetic
Index entirely to return system resources that are used by Phonetic Index. For more information on these
options, see "Disabling Phonetic Index" on page 148.

MediaCentral | Phonetic Index

MediaCentral Phonetic Index is an optional, licensed feature that phonetically analyzes assets on your
shared storage system. Once configured, the search engine creates a phonetic-based speech-to-text index
of that audio media. After the audio media is indexed, users can type any spoken word or phrase into the
MediaCentral Cloud UX Search app and within seconds receive a list of all assets that include the desired
phrase or phrases. Users can then play the assets and use the controls in the Asset Editor to queue the blue
position indicator to the point in time where the phonetic result was found.

MediaCentral Phonetic Index requires you to install additional software on a separate, dedicated server. For
more information about the minimum hardware and software requirements for this server, see "Installing
Search Grid" on page 142.

30
 1 Installation Prerequisites

Additional Configuration for Integrated Modules

When integrating with MediaCentral modules such as MediaCentral Asset Management, you might be
required to configure settings on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server, the MediaCentral module, or both. This
guide includes instructions to configure settings on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

For additional information on configuring modules for integration with MediaCentral Cloud UX, see the
following:
l For MediaCentral Production Management, see "Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules" on
page 150.
l For MediaCentral Asset Management, see “Configuring Asset Management for MediaCentral | Cloud
UX” in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management Installation Manual.
If you plan to use Asset Management Desktop, you must also complete the process for “Configuring
Usage of the HTML5 Player in Asset Management Desktop” in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset
Management Installation Manual.
l For MediaCentral Shared Library, see “(Optional) Mounting for File Upload/Download” in the Avid
MediaCentral | Shared Library Installation and Configuration Guide for information on an optional
process that can resolve erroneous failures in the Kubernetes Dashboard.
l For MediaCentral Newsroom Management, see “CTMS Integration” and “Central Indexing” in the
Avid MediaCentral | Newsroom Management Setup and Configuration Guide.
l For Maestro News, see “Installing MediaCentral | Cloud UX Plugin” in the Avid Maestro | News
Installation and Configuration Guide.

Accessing the Cloud UX Server

If you are installing MediaCentral Cloud UX on a physical server, you must complete the initial
configuration of the server using a directly connected monitor and keyboard, or through a KVM (keyboard,
video, and mouse) device.

n Some KVMs offer the ability to connect virtual devices to the client operating system. In some cases, a
name (sda, sdb) might be assigned to these devices during the installation process. If this occurs, the
MediaCentral Cloud UX installation could fail. To avoid possible failures, Avid recommends disabling
this option on your KVM if applicable.

If you are installing MediaCentral Cloud UX using VMware®, see the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Virtual
Environment with VMware on the Avid Knowledge Base for initial setup instructions.

Once the initial configuration is complete, Avid recommends connecting to the MediaCentral Cloud UX
server indirectly through SSH (Secure Shell) client. SSH is preferable for the following reasons:
l Allows for an expandable view of the Ubuntu command line interface (adjustable window size)
l Allows for multiple sessions to the same host server or to multiple servers
l Allows for simplified copy/paste of selected text
l Allows for logging of all session output
On Windows, PuTTY© is an example of a SSH client. To download the PuTTY software, visit:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

31
 1 Installation Prerequisites

Copying Software to the MCUX Server

When working with MediaCentral Cloud UX, you might be required to copy software to or from the
MediaCentral Cloud UX server. For details on two possible methods, see "Copying Software to the MCUX
Server" on page 451.

Creating the Installation Media

If you plan to install Ubuntu on a physical server, you might want to create a bootable USB drive from the
Ubuntu ISO image and initiate the installation from that device.

There are many applications that offer the ability to create bootable media. An example of an application
of this type is Rufus© which can be located at: https://rufus.ie/. Although not covered in detail in this guide,
Rufus offers a very intuitive user interface. If you plan to use this application, Avid suggests disabling the
option to “Create extended label and icon files”.

If you plan to create a bootable USB drive, note that the first step in this process often involves formatting
the device. Avid recommends that you connect only the USB drive that you plan to use in this process. If you
have more than one USB drive connected to the system, make sure that you select the correct drive when
completing this procedure.

n The BIOS on some servers might not recognize USB 3.0 drives correctly. In some cases this results in
the inability to boot from a USB 3.0 drive. If you experience problems, try repeating the process with a
USB 2.0 drive.

32
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

2 Software Installation and Configuration

The purpose of this chapter is to assist you with the installation and configuration of Ubuntu and the
MediaCentral Cloud UX software.

If you are deploying Ubuntu on a physical server, and your hardware includes any devices that could be
identified by Ubuntu as a volume (such as an SD card slot or additional USB drive), Avid suggests that you
disconnect these devices from the server or disable these devices through the system BIOS prior to the
software installation. Failure to do so could result in errors during the deployment process.

c As a reminder, you must install and cable any required network adapters prior to installing the
operating system on your MediaCentral Cloud UX server. If you have not completed this task, you
must do so now.

Special Notes on Cluster Configurations

If you are installing multiple servers to create a MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster, you must complete the
following processes on each node:
l "Configuring Your System Hardware" on the next page
l "Verifying Disk Partitioning" on page 35 (if applicable)
l "Installing and Configuring Ubuntu" on page 37
l "Logging in to Ubuntu for the First Time" on page 44
l "Additional Network Configuration" on page 46
l "Installing Ubuntu Software Updates" on page 48
l "Installing and Configuring Additional Features" on page 52
l "Installing an NVIDIA® Driver" on page 53 (if applicable)
l "Installing the Platform Software" on page 57
l "Installing the Avid NEXIS Client" on page 59 (if applicable)
The above processes can be completed on all nodes simultaneously. After you have completed these
processes on all nodes, proceed to "Running the Post-Install Setup Scripts" on page 60 to continue the
installation.

Deploying a Dedicated Subscription License Server

Organizations that plan to license their Newsroom Management or Production Management modules with a
subscription license must connect to a MediaCentral Cloud UX system to enable this workflow. If your
organization does not already own a MediaCentral Cloud UX system, you can elect to deploy a server that
is dedicated to this task. In this configuration Avid expects that you do not deploy any additional feature
packs, and that you do not have any users signing into the MediaCentral Cloud UX system (other than an
administrator).

When deploying MediaCentral Cloud UX as a dedicated license server, complete the following:
l Complete the processes associated with deploying and configuring Ubuntu. This includes configuring
your hardware, assigning an IP address, host name, NTP server, and all standard tasks outlined in
this document.
l Complete the process for "Installing and Configuring Additional Features" on page 52.
l Complete the process for "Installing the Platform Software" on page 57.

33
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

l You are not required to install the Avid NEXIS Client as this dedicated server will not have the
capability to stream any media assets.
l Complete the process for "Installing Ansible and SSHpass" on page 62.
l Complete the process for "Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX Setup Script" on page 63.
While Avid supports deploying a dedicated license server in either a single-server or clustered
configuration, a three-node cluster might be excessive for this purpose.
l Complete the process for "Creating a Site Key" on page 73.
l Complete the process for "Creating Certificate Files" on page 74.
l Complete the process for "Deploying the Transport Layer Security Certificates" on page 81.
l (optional) Complete the process for "Configuring an Authentication Provider" on page 82.
l (optional, recommended) Complete the process for "Enabling System Monitoring" on page 115 to
deploy the Monitoring feature. If you want to deploy the Logging feature, you cannot use the
MediaCentral Cloud UX server as the Logging host in this configuration.
l (optional) "Configuring Audit Logging" on page 122.
l (if applicable) "Configuring a Licensing Proxy Connection" on page 125.
l Complete the process for "Running the Feature Pack Deployment Script" on page 127.
When running the deployment script, do not deploy any optional feature packs, such as Production
Management, Asset Management, Media Composer Enterprise, or any other.
l (if enabled) Complete the process for "Deploying System Monitoring" on page 131.
l (if applicable) Complete the process for "Installing Software Updates" on page 132.
l Finally, sign in to MediaCentral Cloud UX as an administrator and install your license. For more
information, see "Using the License App" on page 168.
For information on reduced system specifications for a dedicated license server, see “Determining Scale:
Subscription License Server” in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Hardware Guide.

Configuring Your System Hardware

If you deploy MediaCentral Cloud UX on one or more physical servers (as opposed to virtualized
deployments), you might need to adjust certain settings in the system BIOS and the on-board RAID
controller. As these systems can vary between vendors, server types, and on-board hardware, Avid cannot
provide a detailed description of all potential settings.

This section provides information on settings that are common to many enterprise-class servers. For specific
details on your server’s settings and for information on how to access your BIOS and RAID controller
settings, you must refer to the hardware vendor’s documentation.

For information on some legacy HPE® and Dell® servers, see Chapter 2 and Appendix B of the Avid
MediaCentral | Cloud UX Installation Guide v2022.12 or earlier. For additional information on server
hardware, see the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Hardware Guide.

Server BIOS

Avid recommends that you review and adjust the following settings in your system BIOS:
l Servers are frequently shipped with BIOS settings configured for a power-saving mode. MediaCentral
Cloud UX makes intensive use of the server’s CPUs and memory, especially when under heavy load.
You must configure the server’s BIOS to operate at maximum performance to ensure operational
efficiency.

34
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

l Verify that your date and time settings are correct within the BIOS. When configuring a cluster,
maintaining time synchronization between the nodes is particularly important.
l (optional) If your server is equipped with multiple boot options, you might want to review the Boot
Order settings. This information might be useful to you when performing the system installation or for
any potential future troubleshooting of the server.
RAID Controller and Volumes

All MediaCentral Cloud UX servers must be configured with two distinct volumes. These volumes are
generally configured as the following:
l An OS volume on which the operating system and Avid applications are installed. In hardware-based
deployments, this is normally created as a RAID 1 volume consisting of a mirrored set of two physical
drives.
l A Data volume that is used to store various databases, Hoverscrub proxies, playback cache data,
and more. In hardware-based deployments, this is normally created as a RAID 5 volume consisting of
multiple physical drives (usually 6 to 8).

n If you attempt to create your RAID volumes on physical hardware and you do not see any available
disks, your vendor might have pre-configured the volumes at the factory. If the existing volume(s) do
not meet your required specifications, you can delete the existing RAID and recreate it as needed. Note
that deleting a RAID destroys all the data located on the drives.

While other configuration options are possible, this guide focuses on the RAID 1 and RAID 5 sets described
above. For additional configuration options, see the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Hardware Guide.

Notes for Dell Servers

l When adjusting the power and performance options in the BIOS, you might see multiple Performance
profiles. In this case Avid recommends the “Performance” option and not the “Performance Per Watt”
option.
l If you are deploying MediaCentral Cloud UX using a USB drive, note that the USB ports on some Dell
servers share support for features related to iDRAC (integrated Dell Remote Access Controller). If
your server does not recognize your USB boot drive, you might need to configure the iDRAC settings
for “Standard OS Use” in your system BIOS.

Verifying Disk Partitioning

If you are re-purposing an existing server for use with MediaCentral Cloud UX, the volumes on the server’s
RAID 1 and RAID 5 arrays might include system partitions that can interfere with the software deployment.
In addition to existing servers, some vendors ship factory-new servers with pre-configured partitions. These
system partitions must be deleted prior to initiating the MediaCentral Cloud UX installation process.

If you are certain that the volumes in your server do not include any pre-configured system partitions, you
can bypass this process and proceed directly to "Installing and Configuring Ubuntu" on page 37.

To delete pre-existing system partitions:

1. Boot from your Ubuntu image (ISO file, USB boot drive, optical disk, or other).
2. At the Welcome screen, use the arrow keys on the keyboard to navigate to the Help option at the top
of the screen and press Enter (or Return on a Mac keyboard).

35
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

3. Select the Enter Shell option and press Enter.

The system displays the shell console window that will allow you to verify and modify the volume
partition tables (if necessary).
4. At the system prompt, enter the following command to list the available volumes and partitions:
fdisk -l | grep sd
The output might look similar to the following:
Disk /dev/sda: 500 GiB, 536870912000 bytes, 1048576000 sectors
/dev/sda1 2048 4095 2048 1M BIOS boot
/dev/sda2 4096 4198399 4194304 2G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda3 4198400 1048573951 1044375552 498G Linux filesystem
Disk /dev/sdb: 100 GiB, 107374182400 bytes, 209715200 sectors

This example shows that the sda (operating system) volume includes three partitions. While the sdb
(data volume) does not report any partitions, it does not automatically indicate that the drive is
empty.
The output might also include information on connected USB drives or similar devices. Note the names
of your RAID-1 and RAID-5 volumes as you will need this information in the following steps.
5. Enter the following command to delete the partition table on your RAID-1 volume:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/<volume> count=100
Where <volume> is the letter assigned to the RAID-1 volume. For example:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda count=100
6. Repeat the above command delete the partition table on your RAID-5 volume. For example:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb count=100
7. Type exit to return to the Ubuntu installer.
Proceed to "Installing and Configuring Ubuntu" on the next page.

36
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Installing and Configuring Ubuntu

This section details the process for installing the operating system from a bootable ISO image. While the
steps are contiguous, this document divides the process into the following sections for better clarity:
l "Initiating the Ubuntu Installation" below
l "Configuring the Ubuntu Networking Options" on the next page
l "Configuring the Installation Destination" on page 40
l "Finalizing the Installation" on page 43

n The steps and images in this process are applicable to Ubuntu v22.04. Later versions of Ubuntu might
change this process without notice. For the latest information, see
https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/install/step-by-step.

Initiating the Ubuntu Installation

This section describes how to boot into the Ubuntu installation wizard and begin the install process.

To begin the installation:

1. Download the Ubuntu LTS ISO image and create a bootable USB drive, or copy the image to your
datastore if you are installing the software in a virtual environment.
For more information, see "Operating System and Security" on page 25 and "Creating the
Installation Media" on page 32.
2. Connect the boot image to your server, and either boot or reboot (if it is already powered-on).
After a few moments, the installation splash screen appears as in the following illustration.

3. Select the “Try or Install Ubuntu Server” option and press the Enter key (or Return on a Mac
keyboard) to begin the installation. Alternatively, you can wait for the timer at the bottom of the
screen to expire and the installation begins automatically.
After some initial services are started, you are presented with the Ubuntu Welcome screen.
4. Use the Up or Down arrows on your keyboard to select English, and press Enter to confirm your
selection. Ubuntu will use this selection as the default language for the operating system.

37
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

c Some MediaCentral Cloud UX software components require that you select English for the
operating system language. Do not configure Ubuntu for any other language than English.
Later in this process, you will be prompted to select a language for your keyboard layout.
5. At the Installer Update screen, select the “Continue without updating” option and press Enter.
Do not download any software updates at this time.
6. Complete the following steps at the Keyboard Configuration screen.
a. Select a keyboard Layout and Variant.
While you are required to select English as the operating system language, you are not
required to use the English keyboard layout or variant. For information on altering your
selection, see "Altering the Keyboard Layout" on page 534.
b. Use the arrow keys to highlight the Done button at the bottom of the screen and press Enter to
continue.
7. Complete the following steps at the Install Type screen.
a. Select the default option for Ubuntu Server. (Do not select the “minimized” option.)
b. Use the arrow keys to highlight the Done button at the bottom of the screen and press Enter to
continue.
The Ubuntu Networking Options screen appears. Continue to "Configuring the Ubuntu Networking Options"
below to proceed to the next phase of the installation.

Configuring the Ubuntu Networking Options

In this phase of the process, you must configure your MediaCentral Cloud UX server’s networking
parameters. In most cases, you configure only one network interface on the server. This interface might be
located on a native network adapter that is embedded in the server or it might be located on an add-in PCIe
adapter.

n As a reminder, this release of MediaCentral Cloud UX does not support port-bonding or teaming of the
server’s network interfaces.

Ubuntu configures the server for DHCP by default (if available). As MediaCentral Cloud UX does not support
the use of DHCP, you must complete the following process to assign a static IP address to the server.

To connect the server to your network:

1. Complete the process for "Initiating the Ubuntu Installation" on the previous page.
2. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to highlight your network adapter and press Enter to access the
sub-menu.

38
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

3. Select the Edit IPv4 option and press Enter.

The Edit IPv4 Configuration menu appears.
4. Press Enter to access the IPv4 configuration method menu and select Manual.
The IPv4 configuration window expands to display all of the manual config options.
5. Enter the following information:
– Subnet: Enter the subnet information (e.g. 192.168.10.0/24 ).
When entering the subnet, you must define the number of bits with a /<value> at the end of
the address.
– Address: Enter the static IP address that you want to assign to the server (e.g. 192.168.10.51).
– Gateway: Enter the IP address of your network gateway (e.g. 192.168.10.1).
– Name servers (DNS servers): Enter the IP address of your DNS server. You can add a second
address by separating the two values with a comma.

c Do not enter more than two DNS servers. If you add a second DNS server, both servers
must operate within the same physical location to avoid any potential latency issues.

n If one DNS server goes offline, MediaCentral Cloud UX uses the other DNS server
automatically. The order in which you enter these values is not indicative of a
primary/secondary configuration.
– Search domains: Enter one or more domain names (e.g. wavd.com). If you plan to enter more
than one domain, separate each entry with a comma.
Do not enter more than three search domains as this is the maximum number of domains
allowed in a Kubernetes configuration. If the MediaCentral Cloud UX system does not need to
communicate with a host in another domain, do not add that (unnecessary) domain to the
configuration. Avid recommends adding local search domains only.

n In a properly configured environment, you should generally not require more than one
search domain. If you define more than one, you could introduce issues such as
incorrectly appended DNS suffixes, additional retries, and a higher number of
unnecessary calls from some services.

If you enter an invalid value or a value that conflicts with another value (for example an invalid
Subnet and Address combination), the system alerts you to the configuration error. The
following illustration shows two example configuration errors on the left, and a valid
configuration on the right.

6. Navigate down to the Save option and press Enter to save your configuration.

39
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

The Ubuntu Network Connections screen is updated, displaying your static IP address.
7. Select Done and press Enter to proceed to the next screen.
8. Click Done at the Configure Proxy prompt to proceed to the next screen.

c Do not configure a proxy connection at this time. If you use this screen to configure a proxy,
Ubuntu configures a system-wide proxy that is not compatible with Avid's deployment of
Kubernetes and some other services. If you need to configure a proxy to install Ubuntu software
updates, see "Installing Ubuntu Software Updates" on page 48.
9. At the Ubuntu Archive Mirror screen, accept the default address or specify a different address if
necessary, and press Enter to proceed to the next phase of the configuration.
Ubuntu uses geoip to attempt to find the closest mirror to your location. Do not change the default
address unless you are confident that it is secure. For more information, see
https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/jammy/man1/geoiplookup.1.html or maxmind.com.
Proceed to "Configuring the Installation Destination" below.

Configuring the Installation Destination

MediaCentral Cloud UX servers are always configured with two distinct volumes — an OS volume and a
Data volume. Sites often use a RAID 1 configuration for the operating system and applications, and a larger
RAID 5 that is dedicated as a data volume. If your server is equipped with both a RAID 1 and a RAID 5, you
must install the operating system on the RAID 1 volume.

c Depending on your server’s hardware, Ubuntu might assign SDB to the operating system volume, and
SDA to the data volume. While the MediaCentral Cloud UX documentation refers to SDA as the
operating system volume for consistency purposes, that drive letter assignment is not mandatory.

For additional information on configuration options for the OS and Data volume , see the "Storage
Requirements" section of the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Hardware Guide.

To configure the installation destination:

1. Complete the process for "Configuring the Ubuntu Networking Options" on page 38.
The Ubuntu Guided Storage Configuration screen appears.

2. Configure the following options on this screen.

40
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

a. Select the “Use an entire disk” option.

b. Ensure that the menu displays your OS volume.
c. Enable the “Set up this disk as an LVM group” option, and do not select the Encrypt option.
d. Navigate down to the Done button and press Enter.
The Storage Configuration screen appears.
3. Navigate to the Free Space menu on your OS volume and press Enter.
The following illustration shows this screen with the free space menu outlined in red.

4. Select the Create Logical Volume option from the menu and press Enter.
5. Enter the following values in the Adding Logical Volume menu:
– Name: lv-var
– Size: Enter the value for the volume size.
– If you are configuring a single server, you can enter the maximum volume size. You can
accomplish this either by typing the value into the text box (397.996G in this example),
or by leaving the field blank. When left blank, the system uses the max size by default.
– If you are configuring a cluster, Avid recommends that you attempt to assign the same
value to all servers. If you have less storage on one server than you do on another, the
lowest maximum volume size is used when configuring GlusterFS on the cluster.

41
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

If for example you use a value of 500GB on the first two servers and then you use a
value of 450GB on the third server, GlusterFS can access a maximum of 450GB of space
across all three nodes.
– If you do not add the “G” (Gigabyte) or “T” (Terabyte) value manually, Ubuntu might append
your value automatically.
– Format: Select xfs from the menu.
– Mount: Select /var from the menu.
6. Navigate down to the Create option and pres Enter.
The Storage Configuration menu is updated with information about the /var volume.

7. Create a Logical Volume Group (LVG) on your Data volume.

a. Navigate to the Create volume group LVM option and press Enter.
b. Enter a new name for this volume: vg-data
c. Navigate to the Devices menu and press the space bar to enable the check box for the Data
volume.
Do not enable the encryption option.
d. Navigate down to the Create option and pres Enter.
8. (if applicable) If you completed the previous step, create a volume on the new vg-data LVG.
a. On the main Storage Configuration screen, navigate to the Free Space menu under the new
vg-data logical volume group that you just created, and press Enter.
b. Highlight the Create Logical Volume option and press Enter.
c. Enter the following values in the new volume window:
– Name: lv-data
– Size: Enter the maximum available size
– Format: xfs
d. Select Other from the Mount menu and enter var/data in the text box.
You are not required to enter the leading slash / because the Ubuntu install wizard adds it for
you automatically.
e. Navigate down to the Create option and pres Enter.
For more information on this volume, see "System Drive Partitioning" on page 464.
9. Navigate down to the Done button and press Enter.
10. At the Confirm Destructive Action menu, highlight Continue and press Enter to confirm the creation of
the disk.
Proceed to "Finalizing the Installation" on the next page.

42
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Finalizing the Installation

In this process, you configure some additional settings and you initiate the Ubuntu installation.

To complete the installation process:

1. Complete the process for "Configuring the Installation Destination" on page 40.
The Ubuntu Profile Setup screen appears.
2. Enter the following information in the Profile Setup screen, select Done and press Enter.
– Your Name: This is an optional field. You can enter a real name, your organization’s name, or
you can leave this field empty.
– Your Server’s Name: Enter the short hostname of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server.
You cannot enter the FQDN at this time, as this field does not allow for some special characters
— like the period character.

c You must use all lower-case when entering the MediaCentral Cloud UX server host name.
The only special character allowed by Avid is a dash “ - ”.
– Pick a Username: You will use this value to sign into Ubuntu. This user will have administrator
access to the server (ability to use sudo).
Some user names such as “admin”, “sudo”, and “root” are blocked from use. If you plan to
configure a cluster, you must create this same user and password on all nodes.
– Password: Enter and confirm the password for the above user name.
3. If you are presented with a screen that asks about Ubuntu Pro, do one of the following:
t If you are licensed for Ubuntu Pro, select the Enable Ubuntu Pro option and press Continue.
In this case the installer displays another screen that asks for your registration information.
Enter the required information and press Continue.
t If you are not licensed for Ubuntu Pro, select the Skip for Now option and press Continue.
For more information about Ubuntu Pro, see https://ubuntu.com/pro.
4. When you see the SSH Setup screen, enable the Install OpenSSH Server option, highlight the Done
button and press Enter.
5. When you see the Features Server Snaps screen, select Done and press Enter.

c Do not install any of these optional features.

6. Navigate to the Done button at the bottom of the screen and press Enter to install Ubuntu, using the
configuration settings that you defined in this process.
During the deployment process, you can use the up and down arrows on your keyboard to scroll
through the system output screen. Alternatively, you can select View Full Log to review the
installation process. If you access the log, select the Close option to return to the previous screen.
If your server has access to the internet, Ubuntu might download and install additional security
updates near the end of the installation process. At this time, you can do one of the following:
t (recommended) Do nothing and wait for the software update process to complete.
t Select the Cancel Update and Reboot option to interrupt the update and reboot the server.
If necessary, you can download and install the latest security updates later in this process.
7. When the installation is complete, select the Reboot or Reboot Now option and press Enter.
Depending on your boot order, you might need to disconnect the USB boot drive (or other boot

43
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

device) from the system to avoid rebooting from it again.

If you mounted the ISO as a disk in a virtual environment, you might be asked to manually disconnect
the image and press Enter to continue the server reboot process.

Logging in to Ubuntu for the First Time

Now that you have configured the server’s network connection, you can use a remote SSH client to
indirectly connect to the server (as opposed to a direct keyboard connection to a hardware-based server).
For more information refer to "Accessing the Cloud UX Server" on page 31.

Ubuntu disables root SSH access to the server by default. Although it is possible, Avid does not recommend
enabling root access for increased system security. Instead, Avid recommends using the sudo command
when executing commands on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

Whenever entering a command using sudo, the system asks you to enter your user password. As you might
be required to enter a number of commands during this installation process, you might want to temporarily
disable this feature to decrease the number of steps involved in the process. For more information on this
command, enter man sudo_root into the Ubuntu console.

n The remainder of this document assumes that you have enabled password-less access and the
documented processes will not remind you to enter a password if prompted.

To log in to Ubuntu:

1. Use an SSH client such as PuTTY to access the MediaCentral Cloud UX server from a remote
workstation.
2. When prompted, enter your user name and the associated password.
You can now configure additional operating system and MediaCentral Cloud UX settings through this
remote session.
If you are unable to connect to the server through the SSH client, you might need to troubleshoot the
network connection. For more information, see "Troubleshooting Your Network " on page 534.
To temporarily disable sudo password prompts:

1. Navigate to the sudoers.d directory:

cd /etc/sudoers.d
2. Create a new file to configure your user account:
sudo vi <user>
Where <user> is the name of your user account. For example: sudo vi avid
For additional information on using vi, see "Using the vi Editor" on page 456.
3. Enter the following line in the vi session, again substituting <user> for the name of your actual user
account:
<user> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL
4. Save and exit the vi session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq
You can now execute commands using sudo without being prompted for a password.
5. After you have completed your installation, you must re-enable password protected access. You can
complete this task in one of two ways:

44
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

t Disable the configuration by adding a # character at the beginning of the line:

# <user> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL
Save your change and exit vi.
t Delete the file that you just created:
sudo rm <filename>

Elevating your User Privileges

The sudo command does not automatically provide you with the same level of access as the root user. Some
commands might require you to elevate your level of access to the root user. For example, Ubuntu might not
allow you to navigate to certain directories:

avid@wavd-mcux:~$ cd /etc/avid/config
-bash: cd: /etc/avid/config: Permission denied

The use of sudo does not apply when attempting to use the cd command to change directory:

avid@wavd-mcux:~$ sudo cd /etc/avid/config

sudo: cd: command not found

You can resolve this issue by using sudo su. For more information, see
https://www.redhat.com/sysadmin/difference-between-sudo-su.

n You are not required to complete the following process at this time. This procedure is included for
informational purposes only.

To temporally switch to the root user:

1. Type the following command and press Enter to switch to root:

sudo su
The command prompt changes to reflect that you are now using root:
root@wavd-mcux:/home/avid#
You can verify that you are signed-in as root by entering the whoami command at the Linux prompt.
The system should return root as the current user.
2. Enter the command or commands that required this elevated access.
Continuing from the previous example, you would now be able to navigate to the directory:
root@wavd-mcux:/home/avid# cd /etc/avid/config
3. Type exit to return to your user profile.

45
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Additional Network Configuration

This topic includes additional topics related to configuring your server’s hostname, and verifying your
network connectivity.

Correcting the Hosts File

Ubuntu adds a line to the /etc/hosts file that can cause the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) to be
reported incorrectly for systems that use a static IP address. In this process you must update the hosts file
to eliminate this information.

c Do not use the local hosts file for name resolution. You must work with your IT department to ensure
that all IP/hostname resolution goes through your DNS.

To update the hosts file:

1. Enter the following command to open the hosts file in the vi editor:
sudo vi /etc/hosts
2. Use the arrow keys to move down to the line that reads 127.0.1.1 <hostname>, and press dd to
delete the line from the file.

3. Save and exit the vi session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq

Configuring DNS
MediaCentral Cloud UX does not automatically register with your site’s DNS server. You must work with
your on-site IT Department to manually enter each MediaCentral Cloud UX server in both Forward and
Reverse DNS. If you are configuring a clustered environment, you must also enter the host name and IP
address that you plan to associate with the cluster into the DNS.

c When entering your host name in DNS, do not enter any upper-case characters.
After the DNS has been updated, you can use the “nslookup” command from a Linux or Windows command
prompt to check the DNS records. This command bypasses the local hosts file and communicates directly
with the DNS server.

To verify your DNS server configuration:

1. Enter one of the following commands to list the DNS server(s) connected to your system:
resolvectl dns
or
resolvectl status
Both of these command display information about your available DNS servers. The resolvectl
status command provides slightly more information than resolvectl dns.
If you run either command on a fully installed MediaCentral Cloud UX server, the output can be
verbose. You can press the space bar to view additional pages, or you can press CTRL+C to exit.

46
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

2. Enter the following three commands to verify that your MediaCentral Cloud UX server(s) can be
resolved by your name-server:
nslookup <FQDN> <name-server>
nslookup <hostname> <name-server>
nslookup <IP_address> <name-server>
Where the following variables are used:
– <FQDN> is the fully qualified domain name of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server
– <hostname> is short host name of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server
– <IP_address> is the IP address of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server
– <name-server> is the IP address or host name of your DNS server
For example:
nslookup wavd-mcux01.wavd.com 192.168.100.100
nslookup wavd-mcux01 192.168.100.100
nslookup 192.168.10.50 192.168.100.100
3. Repeat these steps as necessary. Avid recommends doing the following:
t If you have multiple DNS servers, you should repeat the above command — substituting the
DNS server address to ensure that you receive the same response from each server.
t If you are configuring a MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster, verify the FQDN, short name, and IP
address of each individual cluster node. You must also verify FQDN, short name, and IP
address of the virtual cluster.
t Verify the DNS records for any system that needs to communicate with MediaCentral Cloud UX
— such as any MediaCentral module, Avid NEXIS, Avid FastServe, and others.
t If you are configuring a MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster, connect to each individual cluster
node and repeat the steps above.

Verifying the Hostname

Complete this process to verify that Ubuntu responds with your correct short host name and FQDN.

To verify the host name:

1. Verify the short host name by entering the following command:

hostname -s
The short host name (e.g. wavd-mcux) should be printed to the screen.
2. Verify the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) by entering the following command:
hostname -f
The fully qualified host name (e.g. wavd-mcux.wavd.com) must be printed to the screen. If the
command replies with the short host name, there is a configuration error.

c If you do not receive the expected output, review the /etc/hosts file for errors. It is very important that
you receive the expected output from both of these commands. For more information, see
"Troubleshooting Your Network " on page 534.

47
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Verifying Network Connectivity

Verify basic network connectivity.

To verify network connectivity:

1. Use the ping command to verify connectivity to your network gateway address:
ping -c 4 <gateway IP address>
In this step, “-c 4” is the count of how many times the command is issued. If you do not specify a
count, ping will continue forever. In that event, press CTRL-C to stop the ping. For example:
[avid@wavd-mcux ~]# ping -c 4 192.168.10.1
PING 192.168.10.1 (192.168.10.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.10.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=0.362 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=0.330 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=0.302 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=0.804 ms

2. Now use the ping command to test the connection to other host servers in your network. Examples
include: Production Management Engine, Newsroom Management server, Avid NEXIS, etc. This tests
not only the connection to the host server, but also verifies DNS.
ping –c 4 <hostname>
Where <hostname> is the short host name of a server in your network.
3. Repeat the ping test; this time by pinging the host servers by their IP addresses.

Installing Ubuntu Software Updates

As a general best practice and for enhanced security, Avid recommends that you update your Ubuntu
software following the initial installation. This process might upgrade existing software components and/or
install security updates.

The upgrade process might identify additional components that are no longer required by the operating
system. Avid recommends that you remove these packages to enhance security and to maximize the
available disk space.

For information on updates that have been kept back, see https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/about-apt-
upgrade-and-phased-updates.

The MediaCentral Cloud UX deployment disables Ubuntu's unattended-upgrades service to prevent the
operating system from automatically downloading and installing system updates. By disabling the service,
the system is insulated from potential service interruptions that could be caused by an unmonitored
software update.

After your system is fully configured and in production, you can complete one of the following processes
periodically to determine if any new software updates are available. If you plan to install an update, Avid
recommends that organizations schedule a maintenance window to complete this task.

If you have provisioned an NVIDIA card for any of your MediaCentral Cloud UX nodes, be aware that
Ubuntu updates can potentially introduce incompatibilities with the NVIDIA drivers. This can lead to the
system's inability to access the card. After installing any Ubuntu updates on your system, see "Kubernetes
Device Plugin" on page 529 to verify that your NVIDIA hardware is recognized and working properly. If you
discover a problem, you can reinstall the required NVIDIA software by reviewing the process for "Installing
an NVIDIA® Driver" on page 53.

48
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

If you encounter any errors or warning messages while updating or reconfiguring your operating system,
you might want to investigate these issues before bringing the system back online. For information about
additional support options, see "Ubuntu Technical Support" on page 26.

n When updating a cluster, you must update all nodes during the same window of time. Avid does not
support long term operation of mixed versions of Ubuntu across the cluster nodes.

Proceed to one of the following topics to update Ubuntu:

t "Updating Servers via a Direct Internet Connection" below
Refer to this process if your server has a connection to the public internet.
t "Updating Servers - Proxy Method" on the next page
Refer to this process if your MediaCentral server cannot connect to the public internet and you have
configured a separate Ubuntu proxy.

Updating Servers via a Direct Internet Connection

If your MediaCentral Cloud UX servers have a connection to the internet, you can download and install the
updates directly on the MediaCentral servers using the following process. If you do not have an internet
connection, proceed to "Updating Servers - Proxy Method" on the next page.

To update the Ubuntu installation:

1. When you install Ubuntu, the system installs a database that includes information on software
packages and the versions of those packages. Prior to upgrading your software, you should update
this database to ensure that the upgrade process installs the latest software available.
The following command updates the database only. It does not upgrade any software packages.
sudo apt update
2. (if applicable) If you are applying updates to an in-production system, take the MediaCentral Cloud
UX node offline by entering maintenance mode. If your servers are configured in a cluster, you can
update all servers at once, or update them one at a time in a “rolling upgrade”.
For more information, see "Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode" on page 447.
3. Enter the following command to initiate the upgrade:
sudo apt upgrade
The system analyzes the installed components, and then it displays a report about the changes.

n If the system displays a message that indicates that one or more files have been locally
modified, select No, and press Enter when asked if you want to override the local changes.

4. Do one of the following, and then press Enter:

t Type Y to continue with the update.
t Type N to exit without updating your system.
The No option might be useful for in-production systems as the script allows you to check for
updates without actually installing them. If updates are available, you can plan the upgrade
around a future maintenance window.
5. (if applicable) If Ubuntu displays a screen asking you about restarting services, use the space bar to
select each service (all), press the Tab key to select the OK button, and then press Enter.
The system restarts the services and displays information about the process. Depending on the
update, the operating system might ask you to restart the node.

49
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

In some cases, you might see warning messages about the restart of one or more services. If you see
a message that is unexpected or concerning, research the message as needed. For Ubuntu support,
refer to "Ubuntu Technical Support" on page 26.
6. (if applicable) Reboot the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.
sudo reboot
7. (if applicable) Following the reboot, take the node out of maintenance mode.
For more information, see "Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode" on page 447.
8. Continue to "Removing Unnecessary Packages" on the next page.

Updating Servers - Proxy Method

If your MediaCentral Cloud UX server does not have an internet connection, you can download the updates
through another web-connected Ubuntu proxy server. Commands are routed through the proxy server to
download and transfer the files to the MediaCentral Cloud UX server. The following process requires that
you have access to:
l The offline MediaCentral Cloud UX server
l The proxy server — an online (internet-connected) Ubuntu system.

n This document does not include information on how to install or configure the proxy server. For
reference information on that process, see "Setup Permanent Proxy for All User" at
https://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-setup-apt-proxy-on-ubuntu/.

To update the Ubuntu installation:

1. During this process, you must identify a port that can be used by MediaCentral to connect to the
proxy server. You must ensure that this port number is open between the two systems and not
blocked by any firewall device.
2. Sign in to the MediaCentral Cloud UX server using your standard user account, and then elevate your
privileges to the root user level:
sudo su
3. Use the Linux vi editor to add the following lines to /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/proxy.conf:
Acquire::http::Proxy "http://<username>:<password>@<proxy server IP
address>:<port>/";
Acquire::https::Proxy "https://<username>:<password>@<proxy server P
address>:<port>/";
Acquire::fpt::Proxy "ftp://<username>:<password>@<proxy server P
address>:<port>/";
The username and password values apply to an account on the proxy server and not to any account
on the local MediaCentral Cloud UX system. These values are only required if you configured your
proxy server to require them.
Using 192.168.99.6 as an example proxy server and 808 as an example port number, the update
would look like the following:
Acquire::http::Proxy "http://192.168.99.6:808/ ";
Acquire::https::Proxy "https://192.168.99.6:808/ ";
Acquire::ftp::Proxy "ftp://192.168.99.6:808/ ";
In this example, the username and password values were not required for the configuration.
4. Update the Ubuntu package database.
sudo apt update

50
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

When you install Ubuntu, the system installs a database that includes information on software
packages and the versions of those packages. Prior to upgrading your software, you should update
this database to ensure that the upgrade process installs the latest software available. This
command updates the database only. It does not upgrade any software packages.
5. (if applicable) If you are applying updates to an in-production system, take the MediaCentral Cloud
UX node offline by entering maintenance mode. If your servers are configured in a cluster, you can
update all servers at once, or update them one at a time in a “rolling upgrade”.
For more information, see "Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode" on page 447.
6. Enter the following command to initiate the upgrade:
sudo apt upgrade
The system analyzes the installed components, and then it displays a report about the changes.

n If the system displays a message that indicates that one or more files have been locally
modified, select No, and press Enter when asked if you want to override the local changes.

7. Do one of the following, and then press Enter:

t Type Y to continue with the update.
t Type N to exit without updating your system.
The No option might be useful for in-production systems as the script allows you to check for
updates without actually installing them. If updates are available, you can plan the upgrade
around a future maintenance window.
8. (if applicable) If Ubuntu displays a screen asking you about restarting services, use the space bar to
select each service (all), press the Tab key to select the OK button, and then press Enter.
The system restarts the services and displays information about the process. Depending on the
update, the operating system might ask you to restart the node.
In some cases, you might see warning messages about the restart of one or more services. If you see
a message that is unexpected or concerning, research the message as needed. For Ubuntu support,
refer to "Ubuntu Technical Support" on page 26.
9. (if applicable) Reboot the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.
sudo reboot
10. (if applicable) Following the reboot, take the node out of maintenance mode.
For more information, see "Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode" on page 447.
11. Continue to "Removing Unnecessary Packages" below.

Removing Unnecessary Packages

To remove packages that are no longer required:

1. (if applicable) If you are applying updates to an in-production system, take the MediaCentral Cloud
UX node offline by entering maintenance mode. If your servers are configured in a cluster, you can
update all servers at once, or update them one at a time in a “rolling upgrade”.
For more information, see "Copying Software to the MCUX Server" on page 451.
2. Enter the following command to uninstall the unused software components:
sudo apt autoremove
Similar to the upgrade process, the system builds a report that details the actions that will be
performed by this command.
3. Do one of the following, and then press Enter:

51
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

t Type Y to continue.
t Type N to exit without altering your system.
4. (if applicable) After the updates are complete, take the node out of maintenance mode.
For more information, see "Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode" on page 447.

Installing and Configuring Additional Features

In this section, you will install additional features and configure settings that support the operation of the
system.

Configure the Time Zone and Verify the System Date & Time
Ubuntu uses UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) by default. If your organization does not use UTC, you can
complete the following steps to alter the time zone, and verify the date and time settings.

To configure and verify the system date and time:

1. If you do not know the value of the time zone that you want to use, you can enter the following
command to display a list of potential values:
timedatectl list-timezones
2. Enter the following command to update the time zone:
sudo timedatectl set-timezone <timezone>
For example: sudo timedatectl set-timezone Europe/Berlin or sudo timedatectl
set-timezone America/New_York
Configure the NTP Source
Maintaining precise time synchronization between MediaCentral Cloud UX and connected systems (Avid
NEXIS, MediaCentral Production Management, etc) is critical to the operation of the system.

While multiple NTP services and options exist, Avid provides the following as one potential configuration
method. If your organization has a preferred time synchronization policy, you can use those guidelines to
synchronize the MediaCentral Cloud UX server(s). Do not configure and operate more than one time
synchronization service at the same time.

For more information, see https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/bionic/man5/timesyncd.conf.5.html

or type man systemd-timesyncd.service into the console.

To configure your NTP source:

1. Enter the following command to edit the related configuration file:

sudo vi /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf
The file includes a set of commented values:
#NTP=
#FallbackNTP=ntp.ubuntu.com
#RootDistanceMaxSec=5
#PollIntervalMinSec=32
#PollIntervalMaxSec=2048
2. Delete the # symbol before the NTP value and enter the IP address of your in-house NTP server. For
example:
NTP=192.168.100.200
3. Save and exit the vi session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq

52
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

4. Restart the service:

sudo systemctl restart systemd-timesyncd.service
5. Verify the connection to your NTP server by entering either of the following commands:
systemctl status systemd-timesyncd.service
timedatectl status
6. You can verify the current date and time by entering the date command: date
If you need to change the date or time settings, refer to the built-in help system for a list of potential
commands and options: date --help
(Cluster-only) If you plan to configure multiple MediaCentral Cloud UX servers in a cluster configuration,
you must verify that the each server reports the correct date and time. If the servers are not synchronized,
resolve this issue before continuing.

Install the Unzip Utility

Ubuntu does not include the ability to unzip files by default. You might want to install this optional utility to
assist in the unpacking of any .zip files that you might use in the future.

sudo apt install unzip

Once installed, you can refer to the built-in help system for a list of potential commands and options:
unzip --help

Installing an NVIDIA® Driver

If your system is licensed for Avid Ada Transcribe, you should consider adding a GPU to your server(s). The
Avid systems that enable the Transcribe workflow are built to leverage GPU resources to greatly increase
the speed at which audio can be transcribed into text. If your server is equipped with an NVIDIA® GPU
(graphics processing unit), you must install the drivers for this device.

Complete the following process on any MediaCentral Cloud UX node that is equipped with an NVIDIA GPU.
Some of the steps below require that your server can access the internet either directly or through a proxy
to download the required software. See related topic: "Installing Ubuntu Software Updates" on page 48. If
you are installing a GPU on a node that will be dedicated to the purpose of running the Avid Ada Worker
service, see "Configuring Avid Ada Nodes" on page 67 for additional information.

For additional reference information, refer to the following ubuntu.com page:

https://documentation.ubuntu.com/server/how-to/graphics/install-nvidia-drivers/

MediaCentral Cloud UX installs the Kubernetes nvidia-device-plugin add-on. For more information about
this feature, see "Kubernetes Device Plugin" on page 529.

To install the NVIDIA drivers:

1. Sign into your node with your Ubuntu user account.

2. (if applicable) If you are completing this process on an in-production system, take the MediaCentral
Cloud UX node or nodes offline by entering maintenance mode.
For more information, see "Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode" on page 447.
3. Verify that your server is running the latest updates and Ubuntu kernel.
For details, see "Installing Ubuntu Software Updates" on page 48.

53
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

c In some cases the process of installing Ubuntu software updates can introduce an
incompatibility with the NVIDIA drivers. In these cases, you might need to return to this process
to update and reapply the NVIDIA drivers. For information on how to disable automatic system
updates, see "Installing Ubuntu Software Updates" on page 48.
4. Enter the following command to install the Ubuntu driver tools:
sudo apt install -y ubuntu-drivers-common
This package includes tools that allow you to determine the most appropriate drivers for your system
hardware. For additional details, see https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-drivers-common. If this
package is already installed, the system might report that the "ubuntu-drivers-common is already
the newest version".
5. Reboot your server at this time.
sudo reboot
Following the reboot, sign back into Ubuntu and continue with this process.
6. Enter the following command to get a list of supported drivers for your NVIDIA device:
sudo ubuntu-drivers --gpgpu devices
The system will likely reply with a list of potential drivers, as in the following example.
This is gpgpu mode
== /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0f.0 ==
modalias : pci:v000010FEd00002281sv00001043sd011010DFbc03sc00i00
vendor : NVIDIA Corporation
model : <model>
driver : nvidia-driver-535-server-open - distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-535-server - distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-545-open - distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-470 - distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-535 - distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-550 - distro non-free recommended
driver : nvidia-driver-545 - distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-470-server - distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-535-open - distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-550-open - distro non-free
driver : xserver-xorg-video-nouveau - distro free builtin

7. The command might list one or more open-source drivers identified by either a "-open" or "-nouveau"
naming convention. There might also be multiple non-server versions available.
Review the output of the previous command and take note of the name of the newest (highest
numbered), non-free server package. In the example above, that would be nvidia-driver-535-
server.
8. Enter the following command to install the base NVIDIA driver:
sudo ubuntu-drivers install --gpgpu <driver>
For example:
sudo ubuntu-drivers install --gpgpu nvidia:535-server
9. Enter the following command to install the NVIDIA Fabric Manager:
sudo apt install nvidia-utils-<driver> nvidia-fabricmanager-<driver_
version>
For example:

54
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

sudo apt install nvidia-utils-535-server nvidia-fabricmanager-535

10. Enter the following command to install the NVIDIA kernel module:
sudo apt install linux-modules-<driver>-$(uname -r)
The $(uname -r) part of the command returns the current active Kernel.
For example:
sudo apt install linux-modules-nvidia-535-server-$(uname -r)
When prompted, type Y (y) to confirm the installation.
11. Reboot your server at this time.
sudo reboot
Following the reboot, sign back into Ubuntu and continue with this process.
12. Enter the following command to verify that Ubuntu can see the NVIDIA card:
sudo nvidia-smi
If the driver is installed correctly, the command displays a table with information about your
NVIDIA card. If the driver was not installed correctly or if these is another problem, the system replies
with an error.
13. Enter the following commands to install the NVIDIA container toolkit that allows Kubernetes to access
the GPU.
a. curl -fsSL https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/gpgkey | sudo
gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/nvidia-container-toolkit-
keyring.gpg
b. curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-
container/stable/deb/nvidia-container-toolkit.list | sed 's#deb
https://#deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nvidia-container-toolkit-
keyring.gpg] https://#g' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-
container-toolkit.list

c As noted earlier in this document, be careful when copy/pasting commands from a PDF
file. Doing so can strip the command of essential characters - such as the dash character
between "libnvidia-container".
The system should reply with the following:
deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nvidia-container-toolkit-
keyring.gpg] https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-
container/stable/deb/$(ARCH) /
#deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/nvidia-container-toolkit-
keyring.gpg] https://nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-
container/experimental/deb/$(ARCH) /
c. sudo apt-get update
d. sudo apt-get install -y nvidia-container-toolkit
14. Enter the following command to verify that the container toolkit was installed correctly:
sudo which nvidia-container-toolkit
You must verify that the toolkit is installed at /usr/bin/nvidia-container-toolkit because
this is the path that the avidctl platform host-setup and avidctl platform host-
upgrade scripts use to verify if NVIDIA support is enabled.
15. Do one of the following:

55
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

t If you are adding a new node to your cluster, you can skip this step because the required steps
are included in either the process for "Configuring Avid Ada Nodes" on page 67 or "Adding a
Worker Node to an Existing Cluster" on page 511.
t If you are adding an NVIDIA card to an existing cluster node, you must complete the following
steps to apply the changes.
a. Enter one of the following commands to upgrade the Platform software on the server:
t If you have enabled password-less access on all nodes by completing the process
for "Logging in to Ubuntu for the First Time" on page 44, enter the following
command:
sudo avidctl platform host-upgrade --ssh-user <user>
Where <user> is the name of your Ubuntu user account.
t If you did not enable password-less access on all nodes, enter the following:
sudo avidctl platform host-upgrade --ask-become-pass --ssh-
user <user>
Where <user> is the name of your Ubuntu user account.
b. At the upgrade verification prompt, enter y (Y) to continue, or n (N) to exit the script.
c. The script prompts you for your SSH password.
Type your user password and press Enter (or Return on a Mac keyboard) to continue.
As shown in the following example, the script might attempt to restart some tasks during
the upgrade process. These retries appear as failures in the script output, but this is
normal and expected behavior.
TASK [kube-registry : Wait for Chart Repository]
*************************
FAILED - RETRYING: Wait for Chart Repository (30 retries left).
FAILED - RETRYING: Wait for Chart Repository (29 retries left).
...
TASK [kube-registry : fail]
**********************************************
skipping: [wavd-mcux01]

After the upgrade process is complete, a message similar to the following is displayed
(example from a three-node cluster):
PLAY RECAP ************************************************************
wavd-mcux01 : ok=277 changed=52 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=72
rescued=0
wavd-mcux02 : ok=225 changed=34 unreachable=0 failed=0
wavd-mcux03 : ok=225 changed=34 unreachable=0 failed=0
-------------------------
Log file: /var/log/service-host-upgrade-1537275725.log

Review the results and verify that there are no failed tasks. If you see a failure, you must
troubleshoot the issue before continuing.
16. (if applicable) Take the node out of maintenance mode.
For more information, see "Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode" on page 447.

56
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Installing the Platform Software

When installing MediaCentral Cloud UX, you must first install the base Platform software, and then you
add Feature Packs on top of the platform. This section of the installation describes the process for installing
the Platform. This includes the base Avid software, as well as supporting technology such as Kubernetes,
Elasticsearch, GlusterFS, and more.

To install the Platform software:

1. Download the MediaCentral Cloud UX Platform bin file from the Avid Download Center.
For more information, see "Obtaining the MediaCentral Installation Packages" on page 27.
2. Create a new directory on your server to which you’ll copy the MediaCentral Cloud UX installation
packages.
sudo mkdir /<directory or path>
For example:
sudo mkdir /media/avid
3. Navigate to the new directory:
cd /<path>
4. Copy the MediaCentral Cloud UX Platform and Feature Pack files to this new directory.
For more information, see "Copying Software to the MCUX Server" on page 451.
5. Before you can install the software, you must update the permissions on the mediacentral_
platform_<version>.bin file:
sudo chmod +x mediacentral_platform_<version>.bin
6. Install the MediaCentral Cloud UX Platform software:
sudo ./mediacentral_platform_<version>.bin
7. Following the installation, you can verify the platform version with the following command:
avidctl version

Verifying Access to USB Devices

The MediaCentral Cloud UX Platform disables Ubuntu's default usb-storage module and installs USBGuard
as an alternative solution. USBGuard uses a set of rules to allow or block USB devices that are connected to
the server.

Any devices that you connect to the server prior to the Platform installation are allowed by default. However
any device connected to the server after that point is blocked (rejected) by default. This includes USB drives,
keyboards, monitors, or even the USB controllers themselves. If you want to unblock a device, you must add
it to USBGuard's allowed list.

If desired, your system administrator can create rules that alter USBGuard's default behavior. For more
information, see https://usbguard.github.io/documentation/rule-language.html.

To allow a USB device:

1. Verify the USB device's ID:

usbguard list-devices
This command displays information about your USB devices. In the following example, 15 is the device
ID of a newly connected USB flash drive:

57
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

15: block id 0930:6545 serial "60A428C413CFF9983463009F" name "USB Flash

Drive 3.0" hash "+VSPtKjayClEQk6OuPtKjayClEQetObzrOBpugOk=" parent-hash
"3Wo3XpTNfZ9xImYexXWDgen1hD1RUTgGQ5HSxtf8k=" via-port "3-2" with-interface
08:06:50 with-connect-type "hotplug"
2. Enter the following command to allow use of your USB device:
usbguard allow-device -p <device_ID>
For example: usbguard allow-device -p 15

n If an upper-level device (such as the USB controller) is blocked, then lower-level devices (such as
a USB drive connected to that controller) might not be accessible.

3. (optional) You can repeat the usbguard list-devices command to see the updated status. The device
should now report that it is allowed.
To block a USB device:
t (optional) If you want to block a device from being used, you can enter the following command to
prevent access to the device:
usbguard block-device -p <device_ID>

58
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Installing the Avid NEXIS Client

If you plan to connect your MediaCentral Cloud UX server to an Avid NEXIS system, you must install the
Avid NEXIS client software. After completing the initial installation, you can use the following command to
verify the Avid NEXIS client version at any point in the future:

sudo apt list --installed | grep nexis

For version compatibility information, see the “MediaCentral Compatibility Matrix” on the Avid Knowledge
Base.

To install, upgrade (or if necessary downgrade) the Avid NEXIS Client:

1. Copy the client installer (AvidNEXISClient_Ubuntu<version>.bin) from the \AvidNEXISClientInstallers

folder in the Avid NEXIS software kit to your MediaCentral Cloud UX server.
For more information, see "Copying Software to the MCUX Server" on page 451.
2. If you are updating the Avid NEXIS client on an in-production system, take the MediaCentral Cloud
UX node offline by entering maintenance mode.
For more information, see "Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode" on page 447.
3. (if applicable) Prior to installing a new version of the Avid NEXIS Client, you must first uninstall the
existing version of the client:
sudo /usr/sbin/avid-nexis-uninstaller
The script asks you to verify the removal of the software.
t Enter Y (or y) to confirm the client uninstall process.
When the uninstall process is complete, the script ends with a “Finished” message.
t Enter N (or n) to exit the script without removing the software.
4. Navigate to the directory to which you copied the installer:
cd /<path>
5. Type the following to change the permission on the installer file, then press Enter:
sudo chmod +x AvidNEXISClient_Ubuntu<version>.bin
6. Type the following to install the Avid NEXIS Client, then press Enter:
sudo ./AvidNEXISClient_Ubuntu<version>.bin
The process completes with the following, or similar message:
Installation completed!
7. Reboot the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.
8. (if applicable) Following the reboot, take the node out of maintenance mode.
For more information, see "Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode" on page 447.

59
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Running the Post-Install Setup Scripts

After you have completed the installation configuration the operating system and the Avid MediaCentral
Platform components, you are required to run a series of scripts that configure settings related to
MediaCentral Cloud UX.

If you are creating a clustered environment, remember that Kubernetes clusters are configured with
multiple Control Plane nodes. Kubernetes has no concept of a “higher priority” control plane node — each is
weighted equally. However, for the purposes of running the Avid scripts, you must select one node to act as
the primary control plane node or primary node. You must run all configuration scripts from this node.

Review the following information and complete the processes required for your environment:
l "Installing Ansible and SSHpass" on page 62
This process is required for all configurations.
l "Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX Setup Script" on page 63
This process is required for all configurations.
l "Configuring Avid Ada Nodes" on page 67
You must complete this process if you intend to deploy the Avid Ada feature pack for use with Avid
Ada Transcribe.
l "Configuring Alternate Domain Names" on page 72
You must complete this process only if your network configuration requires it.
l "Creating a Site Key" on page 73
This process is required for all configurations.
l "Creating Certificate Files" on page 74
This process is required for all configurations.
l "Deploying the Transport Layer Security Certificates" on page 81
This process is required for all configurations.
l "Configuring an Authentication Provider" on page 82
This process is required for all configurations.
l "Connecting to MediaCentral Production Management" on page 92
This process is required only if you plan to connect to a Production Management module.
l "Connecting to MediaCentral Archive Production" on page 93
This process is required only if you plan to connect to an Archive Production module.
l "Connecting to Avid NEXIS Shared Storage" on page 94
This process is required only if you plan to connect to an Avid NEXIS system.
l "Configuring Avid NEXIS API Services" on page 96
This process is required only if your organization is integrating with certain companion products.
Refer to the corresponding section below for more details.
l "Configuring the Avid XFER and XFORM Services" on page 98
This process is required only if your organization is integrating with certain companion products.
Refer to the corresponding section below for more details.
l "Configuring Temporary File Cleanup Settings" on page 101
This process is required only if your organization is using a Remote STP workflow.

60
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

l "Configuring MediaCentral Search" on page 102

This process is required only if you want to alter the system defaults.
l "Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index" on page 104
This process is required only if your organization purchased MediaCentral Phonetic Index.
l "Configuring the Change Event Agent" on page 106
This process is required only if you plan to use the Rules Editor app to create automated workflows on
Asset Management and Production Management assets.
l "Connecting to MediaCentral Ingest" on page 107
This process is required only if you plan to connect to a MediaCentral Ingest system.
l "Connecting to Avid Maestro" on page 108
This process is required only if you are integrating with an Avid Maestro News system.
l "Configuring Collaborate App User Groups" on page 109
This process is required only if you plan to use the MediaCentral Collaborate app.
l "Configuring Acquire and Router Control" on page 109
This process is required only if you plan to use the MediaCentral Acquire app. Processes related to
Router Control are only applicable if you plan to integrate with that feature.
l "Configuring Servers for Clip Mover" on page 111
This process is required only if you plan to use the Clip Mover app.
l "Configuring the MediaCentral Sync Controller" on page 112
This process is required only if you plan to use the MediaCentral Sync app.
l "Configuring the Frame-Ancestor Security Policy" on page 112
This process is required only if required by your network topology.
l "Enabling a Multi-Site Configuration" on page 114
This process is required only if you want to enable a Multi-Site configuration.
l "Enabling System Monitoring" on page 115
This process is required only if you want to enable System Monitoring.
l "Configuring Audit Logging" on page 122
This process is required only if you want to enable audit logging.
l "Configuring the Email Settings" on page 124
This process is required only if you want to allow MediaCentral Cloud UX to send notifications to
external email addresses (for apps that use this feature).
l "Configuring a Licensing Proxy Connection" on page 125
MediaCentral Cloud UX systems that use a subscription license must periodically connect to Avid for
license verification. This optional process allows you to route licensing request data through a proxy
for enhanced security.
l "Configuring the Chat App" on page 125
This topic is only applicable to organizations that are licensed for the Chat app.
l "Running the Feature Pack Deployment Script" on page 127
This process is required for all configurations.

61
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

When responding to the prompts in the following configuration scripts, you must enter text in all lower-case
letters. If answering a yes or no question, both y/Y and n/N are acceptable. Any other exceptions to these
rules are noted below.

For a complete list of commands available through avidctl, enter sudo avidctl platform config --
help.

Configuration File Information

The majority of the following processes require you to either create a configuration file, or execute a script
that results in a <name>.yaml configuration file. For example, a successful execution of the Authentication
Provider script results in an auth.yaml configuration file. If you need to alter the information in a
configuration file, Avid recommends that you repeat the process used to create that file.

If you repeat the process of running a script, the system should detect that the configuration file already
exists. In this case you are given the opportunity to either overwrite (replace) the file, or exit the script.

Some scripts include an interactive mode (-i). When run interactively, most scripts display your prior
responses to ease the process of updating the configuration. If you want to use the same value as before,
just press Enter. If you need to alter the configuration, you can enter the new value when prompted. After
your updates are complete, the prior configuration file is overwritten with your new values.

For more information about the storage and security of these configuration files, see "Understanding the
Config Store" on page 526. This topic also includes information on how to edit and delete configuration
information from the system.

Altering the Configuration

If you complete any of the processes in this section after having run the final avidctl platform deploy
script, you must redeploy the configuration to enable the changes. This applies to processes run for the first
time, or to any process that you repeat to reconfigure the system. You can update the system with your
configuration changes by executing the following command from your single server or cluster primary
node:

sudo avidctl platform redeploy

This script reads your existing configuration and deploys the changes without asking you to verify which
feature packs to install. When running the redeploy script, you are not required to mount the Feature Pack
ISO to the system.

n You can only use the redeploy script when altering an existing configuration file. If you need to deploy
a new feature or remove an existing feature, you must use the avidctl platform deploy script.
For more information, see "Running the Feature Pack Deployment Script" on page 127.

Installing Ansible and SSHpass

Avid uses Ansible to build the scripts used to configure and deploy the MediaCentral Cloud UX feature
packs. If you are configuring a cluster, you need to install Ansible on the primary node only — as you will run
all the configuration scripts on that same node.

To install these features:

t Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to install Ansible and sshpass:
sudo apt install -y ansible sshpass

62
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX Setup Script

In this phase of the installation, you must run an interactive setup script that requires you to answer
questions related to your environment. Before you run the script, make sure that you have the following
information available:
l The MediaCentral Cloud UX configuration type (single server or cluster).

c When configuring a MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster, you must have at least three cluster nodes
(servers). Two node cluster configurations are not supported.
l (if applicable) The host names of each cluster node.
l (if applicable) The host name and IP address of your virtual MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster.
l Kubernetes Networking Options. During the deployment process, the script allows you to define the
internal networks that are used by Kubernetes for internal communication:
– Kubernetes Service Network: The default range of this network is 172.16.40.0/21.
– Kubernetes Pod Network: The default range of this network is 172.16.0.0/19.
Kubernetes uses these network ranges to assign an IP address to each service and each pod that it
manages. Unless you have an existing network conflict that cannot be resolved (the default ranges
are already in use at your facility), Avid recommends that you do not change the default values. As
these ranges are used internally within the MediaCentral Cloud UX deployment, you can have
multiple MediaCentral Cloud UX workgroups within your facility that use the same default network
ranges.

c If you must change these values after running the avidctl platform host-setup script, you
cannot simply run this script again to update your system. In this case, you must re-image your Cloud
UX server(s) and redeploy the system.
When running this Ansible-based script, the system might display multiple types of status messages. Any
messages that indicates a status of skipped, ignored, or rescued are generally considered to be normal
statistics from the Ansible script. Any message that indicates an unreachable or failed status might require
further investigation. When the script completes, the system displays a summary, or “Play Recap” that
details the number of unreachable or failed tasks (if any).

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform host-setup --help

To run the setup script:

1. If you did not verify your server’s hostname, network connectivity, and DNS connection, you must do
so now. It is very important that your MediaCentral Cloud UX server or servers are entered in DNS
and resolve correctly before completing the following steps. For details, see "Additional Network
Configuration" on page 46.

c Avid does not support changing the hostname of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server(s) after
you run the avidctl platform host-setup script. If you need to change your hostname
after completing this process, you must re-image your server.
2. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the script:
t If you have enabled password-less access on all nodes by completing the process for "Logging
in to Ubuntu for the First Time" on page 44, enter the following command:
sudo avidctl platform host-setup -i --ssh-user <user>
Where <user> is the name of your Ubuntu user account.

63
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

t If you did not enable password-less access on all nodes, enter the following:
sudo avidctl platform host-setup -i --ask-become-pass --ssh-user
<user>
Where <user> is the name of your Ubuntu user account.

n This user must be created on all cluster nodes and the password must be the same for all nodes.
3. The script prompts you with the following message:
Do you want to setup a Cluster? [y/N]:
t If you are configuring a single server, type N and press Enter.
After pressing Enter, you can continue with the next step in this procedure.
t If you are configuring a cluster of three or more nodes, type Y and press Enter to continue.
If you entered Y (yes), you must specify the following values:
– Cluster IP: Enter the IP address associated with your cluster.
The Cluster IP is a static IP address that is distinct from the IP addresses assigned to any of the
cluster nodes.
– Cluster Hostname: Enter the short host name that you want to assign to the cluster.
– Hostname for node 1: Enter the short host name for your primary node and press Enter.
– Enter the short host name for each cluster node, pressing Enter after each entry.
After you have entered the host name of your final node, press Enter to continue.
If for example you have four nodes, enter the host names of the first four nodes. When the
script prompts you for a fifth node, press Enter to continue:
Enter hostname for node 5 (leave empty when done):
4. The Kubernetes Internal Network Configuration prompt allows you the opportunity to define an
alternate network range in case the default range conflicts with other systems in your environment.
t (recommended) If you want to use the default ranges, type N and press Enter.
The script continues to the next step.
t If your organization requires you to configure custom network ranges, type Y and press Enter.
At the Kubernetes Service Network prompt, enter an IP range and subnet mask and then press
Enter. For example: 172.16.40.0/21
At the Kubernetes Pod Network prompt, enter an IP range and subnet mask and then press
Enter. For example: 172.16.0.0/19
Avid recommends that you define a minimum /22 subnet (equivalent of ~1022 IP addresses) for
your Kubernetes Service Network. The Kubernetes Pod Network requires a /24 network per
node. Avid also recommends that you plan for spare addresses to allow for future expansion —
at least 30% more address than your minimum requirement. The following table provides
additional information and examples.
System Config Absolute minimum Recommended with Spare

Single-node Cloud UX /24 (254 IP addresses) /23 (510 IP addresses)

Three-node cluster /22 (1022 IP addresses) /21 (2046 IP addresses)
Ten-node cluster /20 (4094 IP addresses) /20 (4094 IP addresses)

64
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

5. The script prints the proposed system configuration to the screen and asks if you want to continue.
For example, a four-node cluster might look like the following:
Proposed node role configuration:
1. wavd-mcux01 [control plane,registry,worker]
2. wavd-mcux02 [control plane,registry,worker]
3. wavd-mcux03 [control plane,registry,worker]
4. wavd-mcux04 [worker]
Kubernetes Network Configuration:
- Service Network: 172.16.40.0/21
- Pod Network: 172.16.0.0/19
Continue with proposed configuration? [Y/n]:
t If you press Y, the script continues and uses the values that you defined above.
t If you press N, the script exits.
In this case, you must return to the beginning of this process and relaunch the script to
configure MediaCentral Cloud UX.
6. At the SSH password prompt, enter your user’s password and press Enter to continue.
The MediaCentral Cloud UX configuration script is executed. As the tasks in the script are processed,
information about each task is sent to the screen.
When the script completes its tasks, results similar to the following are displayed:
PLAY RECAP ************************************************************
wavd-mcux01 : ok=427 changed=226 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=85
rescued=0 ignored=2
Review the results and verify that there are no failed tasks. If you see a failure, you must troubleshoot
the issue before continuing with the MediaCentral Cloud UX installation process.
7. Reboot the MediaCentral Cloud UX server:
sudo reboot
If you are in a clustered configuration, you must manually reboot each node.
8. Sign back in your single server or primary node and uncordon the nodes:
sudo avidctl node uncordon --all
This step is performed only once, from the single server or primary node.
9. Wait a few minutes and then enter the following commands to obtain the status of the Kubernetes
nodes.
a. Enter the following command to obtain the status of the Kubernetes nodes:
sudo kubectl get nodes
Each server in your MediaCentral Cloud UX configuration should be listed under the name
column and the status of each node should report as Ready. The following example text shows
a four node cluster configuration:
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
wavd-mcux01 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux02 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux03 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux04 Ready <none> 10m v1.29.8+k3s1

65
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

b. If the previous command reports that all nodes are Ready, enter the following command to
verify that the Kubernetes pods are running:
sudo kubectl --namespace kube-system get pods
The command should report that each pod is Ready and Running as in the following example
(from a single-server configuration):
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
coredns-5c6b6c5476-zrpvw 1/1 Running 0 30m
metrics-server-7b67f64457-hq5wr 1/1 Running 0 30m

c. Verify that the registry pods are ready and running:

sudo kubectl get po -n registry
Example below from a single-server configuration:
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
registry-wftf2 2/2 Running 0 23h

d. Verify that the cert-manager pods are ready and running:

sudo kubectl get po -n cert-manager
Example below from a single-server configuration:
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
cert-manager-6664c2286c-88qgv 1/1 Running 2 (46h ago) 35m
cert-manager-cainjector-5fffb-zxb68 1/1 Running 2 (46h ago) 35m
cert-manager-webhook-74b58c8-d6cbk 1/1 Running 0 35m
trust-manager-855b67d48c-mvz6cbk 1/1 Running 0 35m

n The suffixes associated with the pod names are custom to each server and therefore will
look different on each system. For example, coredns will have a different suffix on your
system.

66
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Configuring Avid Ada Nodes

The information in this section applies only to those organizations who have purchased a license for Avid
Ada Transcribe. For additional information on this feature and required prerequisites, see "(Preview) Avid
Ada Transcribe" on page 28.

This section includes the following processes:

l Adding a No-Replica Node to Your Cluster
(optional, cluster only) This process describes how to configure a cluster node that is dedicated to
running the Avid Ada Worker service only.
l Configuring Avid Ada Capable Nodes
(required) This process allows you to define the node or nodes that will run the Avid Ada Worker
service.
l Limiting Avid Ada Resources
(if applicable) If you did not provision GPU resources, you must complete this process to limit the
CPU resources available to the Avid Ada Worker node.
Adding a No-Replica Node to Your Cluster
Organizations that purchase an Avid Ada Transcribe license should consider adding one or more dedicated
Avid Ada nodes to their cluster. By adding a dedicated node, you can direct the processing-heavy audio
transcription tasks to isolated nodes so that your control plane and worker nodes can focus on database
management, playback, and other tasks that are unrelated to the Transcribe workflow.

When you create a dedicated Avid Ada node, you are creating a no-replica node. These nodes are different
from your standard control plane or worker nodes in that they are not assigned any other roles. They also
do not require a dedicated Data volume because they are not replicating the GlusterFS data.

n You cannot add a no-replica node to a single-server configuration. This option applies only to clusters
that include three or more nodes.

To add the no-replica node:

1. Ensure that one of the following is true:

t If you are completing a new install, you must configure all control-plane and worker nodes (if
applicable) and you must complete the process for "Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX Setup
Script" on page 63. After running the avidctl platform host-setup script, proceed to
the next step to begin the no-replica node configuration process.
t If you are adding a no-replica node to an existing, in-production system, proceed to the next
step to begin the no-replica node configuration process.

c You cannot create a no-replica node during the initial cluster configuration process (as
described in "Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX Setup Script" on page 63). You must
complete the process for Adding a No-Replica Node to Your Cluster only after you have finished
running the avidctl platform host-setup script.
2. Complete the following process to prepare the no-replica node:
– "Configuring Your System Hardware" on page 34
– "Verifying Disk Partitioning" on page 35
– "Installing and Configuring Ubuntu" on page 37
– "Logging in to Ubuntu for the First Time" on page 44

67
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

– "Additional Network Configuration" on page 46

– "Installing Ubuntu Software Updates" on page 48
– "Installing and Configuring Additional Features" on page 52
– "Installing an NVIDIA® Driver" on page 53 (if applicable)
– "Installing the Platform Software" on page 57
After these preliminary steps are complete, continue to the next step of this process.
3. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node, enter the following command to
add the node to your Ansible inventory:
sudo avidctl platform host-add-worker -w <node_fqdn> --no-replica
Where <node_fqdn> is the fully qualified domain name of your no-replica node.
4. Next, you must perform an upgrade to add the node to your cluster.
a. Enter one of the following commands to upgrade the Platform software on the server:
t If you have enabled password-less access on all nodes by completing the process for
"Logging in to Ubuntu for the First Time" in the Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Install
Guide, enter the following command:
sudo avidctl platform host-upgrade --ssh-user <user>
Where <user> is the name of your Ubuntu user account.
t If you did not enable password-less access on all nodes, enter the following:
sudo avidctl platform host-upgrade --ask-become-pass --ssh-user
<user>
Where <user> is the name of your Ubuntu user account.
b. At the upgrade verification prompt, enter y (Y) to continue, or n (N) to exit the script.
c. The script prompts you for your SSH password.
Type your user password and press Enter (or Return on a Mac keyboard) to continue.
As shown in the following example, the script might attempt to restart some tasks during the
upgrade process. These retries appear as failures in the script output, but this is normal and
expected behavior.
TASK [kube-registry : Wait for Chart Repository] *************************
FAILED - RETRYING: Wait for Chart Repository (30 retries left).
FAILED - RETRYING: Wait for Chart Repository (29 retries left).
...
TASK [kube-registry : fail] **********************************************
skipping: [wavd-mcux01]

After the upgrade process is complete, a message similar to the following is displayed
(example from a four-node cluster):
PLAY RECAP ************************************************************
wavd-mcux01 : ok=277 changed=52 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=72 rescued=0
wavd-mcux02 : ok=225 changed=34 unreachable=0 failed=0
wavd-mcux03 : ok=225 changed=34 unreachable=0 failed=0
wavd-mcux04 : ok=225 changed=34 unreachable=0 failed=0
-------------------------
Log file: /var/log/service-host-upgrade-1537275725.log

Review the results and verify that there are no failed tasks. If you see a failure, you must
troubleshoot the issue before continuing with the MediaCentral Cloud UX installation process.

68
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

5. If the script prompts you to reboot one or more nodes, complete that step now. When rebooting, note
the following:
– If you are asked to reboot a single node, take the node offline before rebooting and bring it
back online after the reboot system completes. For details, see "Rebooting or Shutting Down a
Node" on page 448.
– If you need to reboot all nodes, review the process for "Power Cycling a MediaCentral Cloud
UX Cluster" on page 449.
– If you need to reboot the new no-replica node, you can complete that process at this time
without taking the node offline. Enter sudo reboot to reboot the node.
6. Enter the following command to obtain the status of the Kubernetes nodes:
sudo kubectl get nodes
Each server in your MediaCentral Cloud UX configuration should be listed under the name column
and the status of each node should report as Ready. The following example text shows a four node
cluster configuration (example version numbers might not reflect the versions included in this
release):
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
wavd-mcux01 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux02 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux03 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux04 Ready <none> 10m v1.29.8+k3s1

7. Update the node's profile so that Kubernetes identifies it as a no-replica node.

Kubernetes allows you to "color" or taint nodes in the cluster to identify them as specialized nodes.
These tainted nodes can only run workloads that have a matching tolerations. Its through this
process that Kubernetes knows not to start pods for other services or workloads on the no-replica
node.
sudo kubectl taint nodes <node_hostname> nvidia.com/gpu:NoExecute
Where <node_hostname> is the host name of the no-replica node as displayed in the output of
kubectl get nodes command above.
If you need to reconfigure your system at some point in the future and want to remove the taint, you
can use the following command:
sudo kubectl taint nodes <node_hostname> nvidia.com/gpu:NoExecute-

n Make sure to enter the required dash " - " at the end of this command.
Removing the taint does not convert the no-replica node into a full worker node.
For more information on this concept, see the Kubernetes website.
8. Continue to "Configuring Avid Ada Capable Nodes" below.
Configuring Avid Ada Capable Nodes
The following script allows you to target the node or nodes that are allowed to run the Avid Ada Worker
service.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config ml-worker --help

69
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

To configure an Avid Ada node:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the configuration
script:
sudo avidctl platform config ml-worker -i
The script analyzes your system configuration to determine if any node includes NVIDIA hardware
and replies with a Yes or No response to the GPU nodes detected messages.
2. (if applicable) If the detects a GPU, you are prompted with the following message:
Do you want to run ml-worker on GPU nodes?
Do one of the following, pressing Enter after each prompt:
t Enter N for no.
If you enter no, proceed to the next step for additional instructions.
t Enter Y for yes.
The script displays a list of all nodes equipped with a GPU. This might be a sub-set of all
potential nodes in your cluster. The list also includes an <all> option. For example:
sudo avidctl platform config ml-worker -i

GPU nodes detected: Yes

Do you want to run ml-worker on GPU nodes? [Y/n]: y

Select ml-worker node:

1. wavd-mcux05
2. <all>

Enter a number:

Do one of the following:

t Enter the number associated with the <all> option to assign the Avid Ada role to all
nodes in the cluster that are equipped with a GPU.
t Enter the number associated with a specific node. Example: 1
t (if applicable) If you have multiple nodes with GPU resources, the script repeats the
"Enter a number" prompt. You can enter the number associated with another node, or
enter the number associated with the <done> option to proceed to the next step.
3. (if applicable) If the system does not detect a GPU on any node, or if you answered N (no) to the
"GPU node" prompt, then the system displays a list of all of the system nodes.
a. Do one of the following, pressing Enter after each prompt:
t Enter the number associated with a specific node. Example: 1
t Enter the number associated with the <all> option to assign the Avid Ada role to all
nodes in the cluster.
b. If you are running a clustered configuration, the script repeats the "Enter a number" prompt.
Do one of the following, pressing Enter after each prompt:
t Enter the number associated with another node.
You can continue to add as many nodes as required using this individual node
selection process.

70
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

t Enter the number associated with the <all> option to assign the Avid Ada role to all
nodes in the cluster.
t Enter the number associated with the <done> option to proceed to the next step.
4. At the next prompt, enter the number of Avid Ada instances that you want to run on each node, and
press Enter.
– Specify two instances if you are deploying the service on a dedicated Avid Ada node. In Avid
internal testing, this configuration maximized the use of the node's resources.
– Specify only one instance if you are deploying Avid Ada on a single-server or a standard
control-plane or worker cluster node.
This is the final piece of data required by the script. After you press Enter, the values are written to a
mlworker.yaml file that is added to the system's Config Store.

n As a reminder, you can run the script again to update the node configuration if you are
unhappy with original selection. If you reconfigure the Avid Ada nodes after deploying the
feature packs, remember that you must redeploy the system to update the configuration.

5. (optional) You can verify the Avid Ada node assignment by asking Kubernetes to display all nodes
with the mlworker=true label:
sudo kubectl get node -l mlworker=true
The system replies with a list of nodes that are assigned to this task.
6. Continue to "Limiting Avid Ada Resources" below to determine if this process is required.
Limiting Avid Ada Resources
If you deploy Avid Ada on any node that is not defined as a no-replica node, you must limit the amount of
CPU resources that the service can use. If you do not complete this process, the Avid Ada Worker service will
attempt to consume as much of the CPU resources as it can which can cripple any other functions of the
affected node.

If you created a dedicated no-replica node for the exclusive use of Avid Ada, you are not required to limit
the resources of that node.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config service-resources
--help

To limit the CPU resources available to Avid Ada:

t Enter the following command to limit the CPU resources:
sudo avidctl platform config service-resources --name avid-ml-worker --
limits-cpu=2 --requests-cpu=1
If you do not run this command, the service defaults to a CPU limit value of 4 which is generally
appropriate for a no-replica node. If you configure a no-replica node and the default value of 4
seems inappropriate for your hardware, you can use this script to lower the requirements.

n The command's help system includes options to limit other system resources, such as the amount of
memory available to Avid Ada. Do not alter any other values, unless directed to do so by Avid Customer
Care.

71
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Configuring Alternate Domain Names

Some organizations might use their DNS to associate alternate names with their MediaCentral Cloud
UX servers. For example, your server's actual FQDN might be wavd-mcux.wavd.com, but your
IT department added wavd-mcux.global.com to your site's DNS.

This type of configuration can cause certificate connection errors on external Kafka clients that use the
alternate DNS names to connect to the Kafka server. A partial list of these clients include:
l Asset Management Search Connector
l Newsroom Management Search Connector
l Multi-Site (search-indexer)
If your MediaCentral Cloud UX node or nodes can be identified with one or more alternate FQDNs, you must
complete the following process to ensure a successful installation.

To configure Kafka to recognize alternate names:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to add the alternate names:
sudo avidctl platform config kafka-additional-dnsnames --name <value>
Where <value> is the server's alternate FQDN. You can enter as many values as needed. For
example:
t The following example shows a single MediaCentral Cloud UX server that is associated with
one alternate FQDN.
sudo avidctl platform config kafka-additional-dnsnames --name wavd-
mcux.global.com
In this example, the administrator assigned a hostname of wavd-mcux.wavd.com to the server
during the Ubuntu install, and the DNS includes an additional and alternate hostname of
wavd-mcux.global.com.
t If you running a cluster, you need to specify the hostnames of the three control-plane nodes,
and if applicable, the virtual cluster name. If you have 4 or more nodes, you are not required to
add the additional worker nodes to the command.
sudo avidctl platform config kafka-additional-dnsnames --name wavd-
mcux.global.com --name wavd-mcux01.global.com --name wavd-
mcux02.global.com --name wavd-mcux03.global.com
In this example, wavd.com is the original domain name, and .global.com is the alternate
domain name.
2. Press Enter.
The values are written to the kafka-additional-dnsnames.yaml file that is added to the
system's Config Store.

72
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Creating a Site Key

Each MediaCentral Cloud UX system must be associated with a unique and trusted digital signature. These
signatures allow system services to securely communicate with each other. If you are working in a multi-site
environment, the site key allows you to access remote systems without prompting you for your user
credentials.

This process creates a site-key.yaml file that includes public and private key information. These keys
combine to create the unique digital signature.

c The following processes require you to specify the FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) of your
MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server or cluster. If you followed this guide, you should have already
verified DNS resolution of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server or servers.

Refer to the following processes to create or alter your site key:

l "Configuring New Site Keys" below
You must complete this process for all new installations.
l "Updating the Key Files in a Multi-Site Environment" on the next page
This process is required if you created new site keys and you are configured in a Multi-Site
environment.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config site-key --help

Configuring New Site Keys

Complete the following process to create the site key information for a new installation.

To create new site-key file:

t Enter the following command on your single server or primary node:
sudo avidctl platform config site-key --issuer https://<fqdn> --gen-keys
The following list explains each of the switches and values available in this command:
– issuer: This switch requires you to enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the local
MediaCentral Cloud UX system. If you have a cluster, specify the cluster’s virtual FQDN.
For example: https://bos-mcux.wavd.com
– gen-keys: This switch creates new public and private key files in the site-key.yaml.
If you run this command more than once on the same node, the existing public and private key
are not overwritten.
The following provides an example of this command for a new installation:
sudo avidctl platform config site-key --issuer https://bos-mcux.wavd.com/ -
-gen-keys
When you press Enter, the site-key.yaml file is written to the Config Store.
If you ever need to change the issuer, you can replace that value by re-running the command without the -
-gen-keys switch. You should only need to generate new keys if you suspect that the original keys have
compromised security, or if you purposefully want to invalidate the remote access to anyone using the old
keys. In this case you can replace the existing keys by adding the --force switch to the command.

73
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Updating the Key Files in a Multi-Site Environment

If you are part of a Multi-Site configuration and you created a new site-key.yaml after having already
deployed existing site keys, you must complete the following process to redeploy the new local site key
information to each remote site.

To update the key files on remote sites:

1. Create the new site key information, as described in "Configuring New Site Keys" on the previous
page.
2. Redeploy the configuration on your local site.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
3. Issue one of the following commands on the single server or primary node for each of your remote
sites:
t If you updated the site-key information on your local site only, enter the following command:
sudo avidctl platform config sites update-public-key <url>
Where <url> is the address of the site with the updated key files.
For example: https://bos-mcux.wavd.com
t If you updated the site-key information on multiple sites, enter the following command:
sudo avidctl platform config sites update-public-key --all
This version of the command collects updated site key information from each site.
4. Finally, you must redeploy the configuration on each remote site.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

Creating Certificate Files

Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificates are small data files that web browsers use to verify the identity
of a system for enhanced security. When you connect to an address that has a valid certificate, you are
connected to the system immediately. If your system does not have a valid certificate, your browser might
show various warnings to alert you to the unsecured connection.

There are two categories of TLS certificates:

l Self-signed certificates
Self-signed certificates have the benefit of being both free and easy to create. However, workstations
that connect to the server do not trust the certificate automatically. Instead, you must import the
certificate into the Trusted Root Certification Authorities store of any workstation that wants to
connect to the server.
l Trusted CA certificates
These certificates might be issued by one of two types of Certificate Authorities (CA):
– Internal. Some companies might have a Certificate Authority group within their organization.
Certificates issued by these groups must include the FQDN of your single-server or cluster, but
they might also include additional Subject Alternative Names (SAN) such as the IP address or
short host name of the system.
Like self-signed certificates, certificates signed by an internal CA must still be added to the
Trusted Root Certification Authorities store of any workstation that wants to connect to the
server. However, once that certificate is in place, any new certificate signed by the same CA
will be recognized automatically.

74
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

– External / Public. If you do not have an internal CA and you do not plan to use a self-signed
certificate, you can purchase a certificate through a 3rd party. As of November 2015, industry
best practices require that public certificates include the FQDN of your system only — short
host names and IP address are not allowed. For more information, see the CA/Browser Forum
at: https://cabforum.org/internal-names/.
Unlike self-signed and internal CA certificates, public certificates do not need to be copied
directly to the client workstations. These certificates are trusted by your web browser
automatically — no warnings appear when a connection is made.
If you have a cluster, the certificate must include the FQDN of the virtual cluster and the FQDN of each
individual node for all certificate types.

If you are using the MediaCentral Cloud UX mobile app or the Collaborate mobile app, you must import a
certificate created by an internal or public CA into your mobile device. Self-signed certificates are not
supported.

n When using certificate that does not include all Subject Alternative Names, your local IT department
might be required to create additional references in the local DNS to associate the short host name(s)
and IP address(es) with the FQDN of the MediaCentral Cloud UX system.

Certificate Validity Periods

Validity periods define the length of time (in days) that the certificate is considered legitimate. After this
period expires, web browsers will identify the certificate as invalid and will attempt to block users from
accessing the site.

In 2019, Apple published updated certificate requirements for macOS 10.15 (Catalina). As part of this
notification, Apple instituted a maximum validity period of 825 days for all certificates. You can read more
about this and other requirement at the following link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210176.

As of September 1, 2020, multiple groups including Apple, Google, and Mozilla further reduced the
maximum allowed certificate validity period to 398 days. For more information, see
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211025.

c Organizations that deploy self-signed certificates need to plan on recreating their certificates on a
recurring basis. The maximum validity period for these certificates is 397 days. After that period
expires, the certificate is considered invalid and a new one would need to be created. This same
guidance might also apply to organizations that create internally-signed certificates.

Creating Certificates

Proceed to one of the following processes to create or prepare your certificate files:
l "Updating the Self-Signed Certificate" on the next page
Complete this process if you plan to deploy a self-signed certificate.
l "Creating a Certificate Request for an Internal or External CA" on page 77
Complete this process to use a certificate issued by a trusted Certificate Authority.
l "Redeploying Certificates" on page 80
Complete this process if you have already deployed a complete MediaCentral Cloud UX system and
you need to update the system with a new certificate.

c If you plan to configure a multi-site environment, you must create and deploy the certificate files on all
sites before attempting to create the multi-site configuration.

75
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Updating the Self-Signed Certificate

The following process allows you to create a new self-signed certificate that includes all Subject Alternative
Names (IP address, short host name, and FQDN). In the case of a clustered configuration, the certificate
must include the host information for all nodes and the virtual cluster.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl tools cert-gen --help

To update the certificate files:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to create a temporary directory
where the new certificate files can be created:
sudo mkdir /<path>
For example:
sudo mkdir /etc/mycerts
2. Navigate to the newly created directory:
cd /<path>
3. Create the certificate files using the following command:
sudo avidctl tools cert-gen -c /<path>/cloudux.pem -k /<path>/cloudux-
key.pem -N <common-name> -s <value_1> -s <value_2> -s <value_N> -d <days>
The following list describes each value:
– <path> points to the location on the server where the certificate files will be created.
– cloudux.pem is the required name of the certificate file.
– cloudux-key.pem is the required name of the certificate key file.
– <common-name> enter the FQDN of the MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server or virtual
cluster.
– <value_x> is a list of subject alternative names for your MediaCentral Cloud UX system.
– If you are running a single server, you must enter the short host name, FQDN, and IP
address of the server.
– If you are running a cluster, you must enter the short host name, FQDN, and IP address
of the virtual cluster and each individual node.
– <days> is the value that defines the maximum validity period of the certificate. In this release
of MediaCentral Cloud UX, you are not required to include this value in the certificate creation
command. If you omit this option, the default value of 397 days is used automatically.
Although you can define a shorter value, you must not define a value longer than 397 (days). If
you do, your certificate might be rejected by modern web browsers.
Single Server Example:
sudo avidctl tools cert-gen -c /etc/mycerts/cloudux.pem -k
/etc/mycerts/cloudux-key.pem -N wavd-mcux.wavd.com -s wavd-mcux.wavd.com -s
wavd-mcux -s 192.168.10.51 -d 397

c When entering this command, you must make sure to enter the FQDN twice: once with the -N
switch and again with the -s switch.
Cluster Example:

76
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

In this example, wavd-mcux and 192.168.10.50 are the short name and the IP address of the virtual
cluster. The other values represent the information for each of the individual nodes. The following
example adds line breaks for clarity. When you execute the script, you must enter all information as a
single command.
sudo avidctl tools cert-gen -c /etc/mycerts/cloudux.pem -k
/etc/mycerts/cloudux-key.pem -d 397 -N wavd-mcux.wavd.com \
-s wavd-mcux.wavd.com \
-s wavd-mcux01.wavd.com \
-s wavd-mcux02.wavd.com \
-s wavd-mcux03.wavd.com \
-s wavd-mcux \
-s wavd-mcux01 \
-s wavd-mcux02 \
-s wavd-mcux03 \
-s 192.168.10.50 \
-s 192.168.10.51 \
-s 192.168.10.52 \
-s 192.168.10.53
4. Proceed to "Deploying the Transport Layer Security Certificates" on page 81.
Creating a Certificate Request for an Internal or External CA
If you plan to use a certificate from a trusted Certificate Authority (CA), you must first create a certificate
key file (.key) and a Certificate Signing Request file (.csr) on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server. Once
created, you must supply the files to your CA for additional processing.

As described above, certificates issued by these groups must include the FQDN of your single-server or
cluster. If you have a cluster, the certificate must include the FQDN of the virtual cluster and the FQDN of
each individual node. Some internal CAs might allow for additional Subject Alternative Names (short names,
IP addresses) to be included in the certificate. Certificates issued by external CAs might allow FQDN values
only. Before beginning this process, you must verify with your CA if additional alternative names are
allowed.

If you are deploying MediaCentral Cloud UX in a multi-site environment, you must use the same Certificate
Authority for each site in the multi-site setup.

n The following process details the most common method of creating the files needed to create a CA-
signed certificate. However, other methods do exist. Before completing this process, check with your
CA to determine if an alternate workflow is required.

To create the certificate request files:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to create a temporary directory
where the new certificate files can be created:
sudo mkdir /<path>/<directory>
For example:
sudo mkdir /etc/mycerts
2. Navigate to the newly created directory:
cd /<path>/<directory>
3. (if applicable) If your CA group allows you to include Subject Alternative Names in the certificate, you
must complete this step to create a configuration “answer” file. This process is also required for all
cluster-based deployments.

77
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

a. Enter the following command to create a configuration file:

sudo vi openssl.cnf
b. Add the following text to the file (bold text requires customization):
[req]
distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
req_extensions = v3_req
[req_distinguished_name]
countryName = Country Name (2 letter code)
countryName_default = <value>
stateOrProvinceName = State or Province Name (full name)
stateOrProvinceName_default = <value>
localityName = Locality Name (eg, city)
localityName_default = <value>
organizationalUnitName = Organizational Unit Name (eg, section)
organizationalUnitName_default = <value>
commonName = FQDN of your MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server or
cluster
commonName_default = <value>
commonName_max = 64
[ v3_req ]
# Extensions to add to a certificate request
basicConstraints = CA:FALSE
keyUsage = nonRepudiation, digitalSignature, keyEncipherment
subjectAltName = @alt_names
[alt_names]
DNS.1 = <value>
DNS.x = <value>
IP.1 = <value>
IP.x = <value>
Where each <value> represents site-specific information for the following fields:
– countryName_default: Two-letter ISO country code (e.g. US, CA, DE)
– stateOrProvinceName_default: State, Province, etc. (spelled out – no abbreviations)
– localityName_default: City, locality or jurisdiction (e.g. Paris)
– organizationalUnitName_default: The name of your organization (e.g. Avid)
– commonName_default: The single server or virtual cluster FQDN (e.g. wavd-
mcux.wavd.com)
– DNS.1 through DNS.x
If you are configuring a single server, enter the short hostname of your server for DNS.1
and delete the DNS.x line (if allowed by your CA).
If you are configuring a cluster, enter the FQDN (required) and short hostname (if
allowed) of the virtual cluster and each cluster node on separate lines. For example:
DNS.1 = wavd-mcux
DNS.2 = wavd-mcux.wavd.com
DNS.3 = wavd-mcux01
DNS.4 = wavd-mcux01.wavd.com
DNS.5 = wavd-mcux02
DNS.6 = wavd-mcux02.wavd.com
…and so on

78
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

– IP.1 through IP.x (if allowed by your CA)

If you are configuring a single server, enter the IP address of your server for IP.1 and
delete the IP.x line.
If you are configuring a cluster, enter the IP address of the virtual cluster and each
cluster node on separate lines.

n As a reminder, some external CAs might not allow you to include short hostnames or IP
addresses as Subject Alternative Names. You must verify the requirements with your
Certificate Authority.

c. Save and exit the vi session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq
4. Create the certificate key file using the following command:
sudo openssl genrsa -out <FQDN>.key 2048
Where <FQDN> is the fully qualified domain name of your MediaCentral Cloud UX single server or
cluster. The name must end with a .key extension. For example:
sudo openssl genrsa -out wavd-mcux.wavd.com.key 2048
5. Enter one of the following commands to create the Certificate Signing Request file.
t If you created a configuration answer file, enter the following command:
sudo openssl req -new -key <FQDN>.key -out <FQDN>.csr -config
openssl.cnf
Again, the <FQDN> represents the fully qualified domain name of your MediaCentral Cloud UX
single server or cluster.
After you execute the command, you are prompted with a list of questions similar to the
following:
Country Name (2 letter code) [US]:
State or Province Name (full name) [MA]:
Locality Name (eg, city) [Burl]:
Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) [Avid Technology]:
wavd-mcux.wavd.com []:
If you created the answer file correctly, each question is associated with your custom data as
the default value (shown in brackets [ ]). Press Enter to accept each default value or type a
different custom value if necessary.
t If you do not want or need to include a list of Subject Alternative Names in your certificate,
enter the following command:
sudo openssl req -new -key <FQDN>.key -out <FQDN>.csr -config
Again, the <FQDN> represents the fully qualified domain name of your MediaCentral Cloud UX
system.
After you execute this command, you are asked to answer a series of questions that relate to
information that will be included in the CSR file. The following data is requested:
– Country Name: A two-letter ISO country code (e.g. US, CA, DE)
– State or Province Name: State, Province, etc. (spelled out – no abbreviations)
– Locality Name: City, locality or jurisdiction (e.g. Paris)
– Organization Name: The name of your organization (e.g. Avid)
– Organizational Unit Name: The name of your department (e.g. Eng)

79
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

– Common Name: Your server’s FQDN (e.g. wavd-mcux.wavd.com)

– (optional) Email Address
– (optional) A challenge password
– (optional) An optional company name
6. Enter the following command to verify the contents of the CSR file:
sudo openssl req -text -noout -verify -in <FQDN>.csr
The system should respond with a “verify OK” message and a structured dump of the CSR
contents.
7. Copy the .key and .csr files to your local workstation and e-mail them to your Certificate Authority
for additional processing.

n If your CA allows for Subject Alternative Names, Avid recommends that you include the same list
of names and IP addresses that you added to the CSR file as part of your e-mail to ensure that
the names are included in the certificate.

8. Wait for a reply from the Certificate Authority.

At this point you must wait for a response from the Certificate Authority before you can continue with
the certificate installation process. However, this does not mean that you need to halt the entire
MediaCentral Cloud UX installation process. You can continue the installation process, and then
return to this procedure after you receive the updated files from the Certificate Authority.
If you are returning to this process after already having run the final Feature Pack deployment script
(avidctl platform deploy), you must redeploy the system to enable the certificate files. For
more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
9. (if applicable) MediaCentral Cloud UX requires the certificate to be created with a .pem extension.
Depending on the file you receive, you might need to convert the file. The following example
command converts the .cer certificate file into the required .pem file type:
sudo openssl x509 -inform der -in <FQDN>.cer -out <FQDN>.pem
Again, the <FQDN> represents the fully qualified domain name of your MediaCentral Cloud UX single
server or cluster.

n This step provides one possible example of a conversion command. If you need to convert your
files from any other file type, you must work with your CA provider for more information.
Alternatively, you might perform an Internet search to identify companies that offer conversion
tools or applications.

10. Proceed to "Deploying the Transport Layer Security Certificates" on the next page.
Redeploying Certificates
If you complete your MediaCentral Cloud UX installation and you need to deploy a new self-signed or
internal CA certificate, you must use the following process to complete this task.

To recreate and redeploy your self-signed certificate:

1. Use one of the following processes to create the new certificate:

t "Updating the Self-Signed Certificate" on page 76
t "Creating a Certificate Request for an Internal or External CA" on page 77
2. Complete the process for "Deploying the Transport Layer Security Certificates" on the next page.
3. Redeploy the system configuration using the following command:
sudo avidctl platform redeploy

80
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

For more information, "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

4. Import the new certificate into your device or workstation.
For more information, see "Importing TLS Certificates" on page 498.

Deploying the Transport Layer Security Certificates

Before users can connect to the MediaCentral Cloud UX user interface, you must either obtain a certificate
from a Certificate Authority (the preferred and recommended option) or import a self-signed certificate into
any workstation that plans to connect to MediaCentral Cloud UX.

If you are enabling a multi-site environment and you are using self-signed certificates or certificates
provided by an internal CA, you must import the certificate from each site into each of your client
workstations. For example, if you have a multi-site configuration with three sites, you must import three
different certificates into each workstation. For this reason Avid highly recommends using certificates
provided by a public Certificate Authority if you are enabling a multi-site configuration.

The following process configures MediaCentral Cloud UX to use either a self-signed certificate or a
certificate obtained from a trusted Certificate Authority. If you are using a certificate obtained from a
trusted CA, you must obtain separate certificate and key files. Additionally, the certificate file must be
created using the PEM format — this requirement applies to the certificate file and not the key file.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config cert --help

To configure a certificate:

1. If you have obtained a certificate file and a certificate key file from a trusted CA, you must copy the
files to a temporary location on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server such as /etc/mycerts/.
After you copy the files to the server, make sure to retain a copy of the files on a safe, external
location such as a USB drive in the event that you ever need to reapply the certificates.
For more information on copying files to the server, see "Copying Software to the MCUX Server" on
page 451.
2. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the certificate
deployment script:
sudo avidctl platform config cert -i
The script prompts you to answer a series of questions. In some cases, the question is associated with
a default value. If the default value is correct for your environment, you can simply press Enter (or
Return on a Mac keyboard) to accept the default value and continue.
3. At the File Path to Certificate prompt, define the path to the certificate file.
For example: /etc/mycerts/cloudux.pem
4. At the File Path to Certificate Key prompt, define the path to the certificate key file.
For example: /etc/mycerts/cloudux-key.pem
5. (Multi-Site only) If your MediaCentral Cloud UX system is included in a Multi-Site environment and
you are using either a self-signed certificate or a certificate provided by an internal Certificate
Authority, you must enter the file name and path to a CA file.
t If you are using a self-signed certificate, you must create this file. This documentation does not
include a process to create this file as Avid does not recommend using self-signed certificates
in a multi-site configuration.
t If you are using a certificate provided by an internal CA, the certificate authority provides the
file.

81
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

This is the final piece of data required by the script. After you press Enter, the script creates a cert.yaml
file that is added to the system's Config Store.

Configuring an Authentication Provider

MediaCentral Cloud UX requires a connection to an authentication provider to verify user identity and allow
access to the user interface. This section describes the process for enabling that connection. Later in this
guide, you will use the User Management app to import users from the provider. For more information, see
"Using the User Management App" on page 187.

MediaCentral Cloud UX supports the following authentication methods:

l Windows Active Directory
For more information, see "Integrating with Active Directory" on the next page.
l OpenID
For more information, see "Integrating with an OpenID Provider" on page 88.
These two authentication providers work independently from each other. For example if you want to use an
OpenID provider, you are not required to complete the process for "Integrating with Active Directory" on the
next page.

For more information on the user experience, see “Signing In to MediaCentral Cloud UX” in the Avid
MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide. For an alternative login option using Active Directory, see
"Configuring Active Directory Single Sign-On" on page 214.

Changing Authentication Providers

If you fully configure MediaCentral Cloud UX for one provider and later want to switch to an alternate
authentication method, note the following:
l As you are temporarily removing access for all user groups, you should complete this process during
a maintenance window. Users will not be able to reconnect until the system is fully reconfigured.
l Prior to altering the system configuration, you must use the User Management app to remove all
imported or manually created user groups.
l After reconfiguring, you must use the User Management app to resync or recreate the users and
groups as applicable.
l After reconfiguring, you must use the License app to reconfigure the user group client licenses and
entitlements.
l In some cases, you might also need to update the user associated with other configuration values —
such as with "Configuring Collaborate App User Groups" on page 109 or "Managing Service
Accounts" on page 215.
OpenLDAP

When you install MediaCentral Cloud UX, an open source authentication provider called OpenLDAP is
installed on the server automatically. This internal provider acts as a temporary authentication system in
the event that your permanent provider is not available at the time of installation. This deployment includes
one user account with the following credentials:
l User: Administrator
l Password: Avid123
If you do not have a permanent provider available during the initial installation and configuration of the
system, you can bypass the following process temporarily and use this internal instance of OpenLDAP to

82
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

access the MediaCentral Cloud UX Administrator apps. However, it is important to note that Avid does not
support creating additional users in this implementation of OpenLDAP. This service is available only for the
initial setup and configuration of the system.

If you decide to bypass this process and complete the installation without a permanent provider, you must
return to this process at a later time and complete the following:

1. Run the avidctl platform config auth script as described below.

2. Redeploy using the process described in "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
3. Use the License app and the User Management app verify licenses, entitlements, and user groups.
After you have established a connection to your identity provider, the OpenLDAP Administrator account is
disabled.

Increasing the Header Buffer

In some edge cases, SSO logins with large headers might cause a “Request-URI Too Large” error in
MediaCentral Cloud UX. While the system configures the default buffer size as 4 32k, you can complete the
following process to increase this buffer to 4 64k. Avid does not recommend altering the default buffer
unless you encounter this specific issue.

For more information on this topic, see https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx/user-guide/nginx-

configuration/configmap/#large-client-header-buffers.

To increase the default buffer size:

1. sudo cp /opt/avid/examples/config/ingress-nginx-custom-config.yaml
/etc/avid/config/ingress-nginx-custom-config.yaml
2. Deploy or redeploy your system configuration.
For more information on the redeploy process, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
Integrating with Active Directory
You can complete the following process to enable a direct connection between your MediaCentral Cloud UX
system and Windows Active Directory. The authentication provider script requires you to enter values for
the following data points:
l The short host name, FQDN, or IP address of the authentication provider or providers (Windows
Active Directory server or servers).
If your organization uses Microsoft Active Directory Global Catalog, you can specify the Global
Catalog server in this field. However, note the following limitations:
– Only users in universal groups can be added to MediaCentral Cloud UX. Groups associated
with type domain local or global cannot be imported. Universal groups must not include
duplicate group names across the wider GC domain. If a duplicate group exists, only the first
added group will be known to the platform — the second will be ignored.
– You must not have any duplicate samAccountName users across all domains.
For more information, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/ad/global-catalog.
l The port number that will be used to connect to the provider.
The most commonly used ports for this field are 636 or 389. Port 636 assumes that you are
connecting to the server using a Transport Layer Security (TLS). If you are not using a secure
connection, port 389 is the standard value. If you specify more than one AD server, you must connect
to all using the same port number.

83
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

l Communication with the Active Directory server is often transmitted over an unsecured connection.
The script prompts you to enter Yes or No to verify if you want to enable a secure connection by
enabling Transport Layer Security (TLS).
If you want to enable TLS on the Cloud UX server, you must verify that your Active Directory server is
also configured to communicate through an TLS connection. If you specify more than one AD server,
you must connect to all using the same TLS connection type.
l Bind User Name. This is the distinguished name of a user who has the right to query Active Directory
Since the password for this user is stored in plain text in some system configuration files, Avid’s best
practices for system security recommends that your domain administrator creates a dedicated user
account that is limited to AD enumeration and is not used for any other purpose.
l Bind Password: This is the password for the above user.
l Base DN. This value represents the level of the tree available through the User Management app. This
DN typically points to the branch of the AD tree where the user objects are located. Any users or
groups that are outside of this tree will not be available in the User Management app.
When defining the Base DN, Avid recommends that you do not specify the top of the tree. If you
select too high of a level, MediaCentral Cloud UX might timeout when it attempts to read AD
structures that include a large number of user, groups, or containers. This might be exhibited by a
“Error while accessing the back-end server” message when attempting to sign in to MediaCentral
Cloud UX.
Instead, Avid recommends that you select a lower-level branch that includes the following:
– All users and groups that need to access MediaCentral Cloud UX
– The Bind Name user and Admin User described in this section
l Admin Group DN. In the "Installation Prerequisites" on page 21 chapter, you were instructed to
identify a user group that would be used to access the MediaCentral Cloud UX Administrator apps.
As a reminder, this user group does not require any additional rights on your domain and the users
included in this group do not need to be domain admins — standard domain users are acceptable.
The Admin Group must be within the Base DN. If it is not, you could receive a “Cannot find group”
error when attempting to verify your settings.
l Admin Username. The MediaCentral Cloud UX License app requires an AD user to start the licensing
service. This user must be a member of the Cloud UX Admin group.
Avid suggests creating a new service user in Active Directory that can be dedicated to this task. This
user requires no special privileges and must be configured to never change its password.
Example User Name: clouduxadmin
l Connection Timeout. When polling the Active Directory server through the User Management app,
this value determines the number of milliseconds to wait for a response from AD before the
connection attempt is aborted. This defines the connection time only, not the entire read-time of your
Active Directory.
l Default Service Username. This is the short sAMAccountName of an account that can be used by the
MediaCentral Cloud UX services to communicate with each other. This account is used by the
services unless a user is explicitly assigned to a service through the Configuration Settings app. For
more information, see "Managing Service Accounts" on page 215.
You can specify any domain user (no special privileges required). However for security reasons, Avid
does not recommend that you use an account that is included in the Cloud UX Admin group.
If you are connecting to MediaCentral Production Management, you must ensure that one of the
following is true:

84
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

– The Default Service User must be imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX using the User
Management app, and the user must be imported into the Production Management database
using the Interplay Administrator > User Authentication Providers > MediaCentral Platform
Authentication.
– If the Default Service User does not exist in the Production Management database, you must
assign an alternate Production Management user account to the avid-jips service in the Service
Accounts section of the Configuration Settings app.
l Default Service User Group. This is the name of the user group that includes the Default Username
detailed above.
l Search Query Page Size. When polling Active Directory, this value determines how many entries are
gathered at one time. After the first page is returned, additional pages are delivered until the end of
the search is reached. The page size that you enter in this script must be less than or equal to the
MaxPageSize value defined on the Active Directory server.
For more information, see the Microsoft documentation page at: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-
us/windows/win32/adsi/retrieving-large-results-sets
l CloudUX Active Directory Import Interval. After synchronizing with Active Directory, this value
represents the number of seconds before you can resynchronize with the server.
l CloudUX Active Directory Pool Connection age. This value defines how long MediaCentral Cloud UX
maintains a single connection to Active Directory. If you specify multiple servers directly or through
AD failover, this value also determines the amount of time before the connection is switched to the
next available server.
The default value for this option is 15 seconds, but can be lowered. Be aware that if this value is set
too low, Active Directory could identify the connections as an attack and block access after a period
of time.

c You must work with your in-house IT department to obtain the correct values to complete this section
of the installation. The examples provided in the process below might vary greatly from the actual
values defined in your organization’s Active Directory system.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config auth --help

Verifying your Data Points

After you have worked with your IT department to collect your data points, you might want to take this
opportunity to verify your connection to Active Directory. There are multiple tools available to assist you
with this task. One such tool is the Apache Directory Studio™ which can be downloaded from:
https://directory.apache.org/studio/. This tool provides a similar set of prompts as the Avid authentication
provider script and the tool allows you to verify your connection to Active Directory after each step. If you
complete this optional process, you will have confidence that MediaCentral Cloud UX will be able to
connect to Active Directory without issue.

If you do not want to verify your data points before running the script, you will have an opportunity to verify
the data at the end of the process.

To connect MediaCentral Cloud UX to your authentication provider:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the authentication
provider configuration script:
sudo avidctl platform config auth -i

85
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

The script prompts you to answer a series of questions. In some cases, the question is associated with
a default value. If the default value is correct for your environment, you can simply press Enter (or
Return on a Mac keyboard) to accept the default value and continue.
2. (if applicable) If an existing auth.yaml configuration file is found, the script asks if you want to
overwrite it.
t Enter Y to overwrite the file. Changes are only written to the file when you complete the final
step in this process. You can press Ctrl+C to exit without writing changes to the file.
t Enter N to exit the script.
3. At the Host prompt, enter the short host name, FQDN, or IP address of the authentication provider (or
providers). You can configure this value in one of following ways:
t If you are specifying a single AD server, Avid recommends that you use an IP address as it
eliminates DNS resolution.
t If you have multiple AD servers, you can enter multiple servers — each separated by a comma.
Avid recommends that you use IP addresses as this eliminates DNS resolution.
This method allows you to maintain tight control over which AD servers are used and in which
order they are prioritized.
t If you enable AD fail-over by registering the IP address of multiple AD servers to the same DNS
host name, Avid recommends that you specify the FQDN of this DNS entry.
When your AD has been configured for AD fail-over, MediaCentral Cloud UX attempts to
connect to the first server provided by your DNS. However note that if you are working in a
global organization, the AD server selected by DNS might not be optimal for your MediaCentral
Cloud UX server. If for example your MediaCentral Cloud UX server is located in New York and
your DNS provides an AD server that is located in Beijing, the physical distance of these
systems could introduce network latency and potential connection timeouts.
The benefit of configuring AD in this way is that you can manage your list of AD servers
through DNS, rather than locally on the MediaCentral Cloud UX system.
t If your Active Directory is configured as a Global Catalog, specify the IP address of the Global
Catalog server.
4. Enter a port number that will be used to connect to the AD provider.
The most commonly used ports for this field are 636 (secure) or 389. If your are integrating with
Global Catalog, port 3268 is often used with this type of configuration.
5. At the Use Secure Connection prompt, enter Y for yes or N for no.
If you need to secure the data, enter Y (yes, the default selection) to enable a secure connection
through a Transport Layer Security (TLS) or N (no) to use an unsecured connection.
6. At the Active Directory Bind User prompt, enter the distinguished name of a user who has the right to
query Active Directory. This value must be entered using a format similar to the following:
CN=<user>,OU=<group>,DC=<domain>,DC=<domain_extension>
In the following example, the Common Name (CN) user “WAVDadmin” exists in the “Engineering”
Organizational Unit (OU) at company “wavd.com”:
CN=WAVDadmin,OU=Engineering,DC=WAVD,DC=com
This is just a single example of the Bind Name formatting. You might have multiple Common Names,
no Organizational Units, or other variations in your environment. You must enter the Bind Name
according to the structure of your Active Directory system.
7. At the Bind User Password prompt, enter the password for the Active Directory Bind User.
8. At the Active Directory Base DN prompt, enter the search root path.

86
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

t If you are integrating with Global Catalog, Avid recommends that you press enter to leave this
value empty. This allows MediaCentral Cloud UX to reach across multiple domains.
t For all other configurations, this value must be entered using a format similar to the following:
OU=group,DC=company,DC=com
9. At the Active Directory Admin Group DN prompt, enter the path to this user group. This value must be
entered using a format similar to the following:
CN=admin_group,OU=sub-group,OU=department,DC=company,DC=com
For example:
CN=CloudUX_Admins,OU=Security Groups,OU=Engineering,DC=wavd,DC=com
For more information about the Administrator-only area of MediaCentral Cloud UX, see
"Administrator App Overview" on page 135.
10. At the Admin Username prompt, enter the short sAMAccountName of the user that can be used by the
License app.
For example: clouduxadmin
11. At the Active Directory Default Service User Group DN prompt, enter the path to this user group. This
value must be entered using a format similar to the following:
CN=group,OU=sub-group,OU=department,DC=company,DC=com
For example:
CN=CloudUX_Default_Users,OU=Security Groups,OU=Engineering,DC=wavd,DC=com
12. At the Default Service Username prompt, enter the short sAMAccountName of the user.
For example: clouduxdefaultuser
13. At the Active Directory Connection Timeout prompt, enter a value (in milliseconds).
The default value for this setting is 9000 (9 seconds).
14. At the Active Directory Search Query Page Size prompt, enter a value that is less than or equal to the
page size defined on your Active Directory server.
The default value for this setting is 1000.
15. At the CloudUX Active Directory Import Interval prompt, enter a value (in seconds).
The default value for this setting is 5.
16. At the CloudUX Active Directory Pool Connection age prompt, enter a value (in milliseconds).
The default value for this setting is 15000 (15 seconds).
17. Finally, the script asks you if you want to test your connection to Active Directory.
t If you enter Y (or y) for yes, the script attempts to connect to Active Directory using the values
that you specified above.
If successful, the script prints the connection information to the screen and exits. The values
that you entered are written to an auth.yaml file that is added to the system's Config Store.
If the connection is not successful, an error is printed to the screen that indicates where the
process failed. You can then select to either reconfigure the information or quit. If you choose
the reconfigure option, you are returned to the first step in the script. However, this time the
script defaults to the values that you entered in the last attempt. This allows you to review the
values without reentering all the data.
t If you enter N (or n) for no, the script exits and the values are written to an auth.yaml file that
is added to the system's Config Store.

87
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

If you decide to exit the script without testing the values, you can verify the contents of the
auth.yaml file at a later time by entering the following command:
sudo avidctl platform config auth test --times=<value>
Where <value> equals the number of times that you want the test to repeat.
When run in test mode, the script uses the values in the auth.yaml file to contact Active
Directory. In some rare cases it is possible that a connection to AD might be successful once,
but might fail for subsequent logins. This command allows you to specify a retry count. Avid
recommends that you specify a value of three or more to test multiple logins. For example:
sudo avidctl platform config auth test --times=3

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this step, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config auth test --help

Integrating with an OpenID Provider

OpenID is an open-source community project that provides a common identification protocol. The
integration of OpenID into MediaCentral Cloud UX provides the foundation that enables organizations to
authenticate users using the vendor of their choice. The following illustration shows the Sign In button that
appears on the MediaCentral Cloud UX Welcome screen after you enable the required settings.

This release of MediaCentral Cloud UX can connect to either Okta, Keycloak, or Microsoft Entra ID (Azure
Active Directory) as a qualified OpenID provider. Organizations must contact their OpenID vender to obtain
any necessary licensing and configuration information before enabling this configuration option.

You can also use the OpenID integration in MediaCentral Cloud UX to either authenticate MediaCentral
Asset Management users, or enable access to the Publisher app. In these cases, you must enable the
Resource Owner Password Credentials (ROPC) grant type in your authentication provider. The following
illustration shows this option enabled when using Okta as your provider.

c ROPC does not support multi-factor authentication.

If you choose to enable integration with an OpenID provider, you must have the following additional data
points. You can obtain these values from your OpenID provider.

88
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

l Authorization Server URL. This must be the full URL of the corresponding organization.
For example: https://wavd-29996069.okta.com/
l Your application’s Client ID, as generated through your OpenID provider.
For example: 0ibb27bxcFfdhFjq14d6
l Your application’s Client Secret.
For example: jXLm44Ferr3TGHTLr12-34jhhq5rQwE6jmU2DD5Q
l Your application's Client Scope. For example:
– Okta / Keycloak: OpenID profile email groups
– Microsoft Entra ID: OpenID profile email
l Your application's Claim Parser. For example:
– Okta / Keycloak: alias=preferred_username&id=sub&email=email&groups=groups
– Entra ID with groups claim: alias=preferred_username&id=oid&email=email&groups=groups
– Entra ID with roles claim: alias=preferred_username&id=oid&email=email&groups=roles
l (Collaborate Only) If you are licensed for Collaborate, you must identify a single IDP user that can be
used to allow administrative access by back-end services to Collaborate. For comparison,
MediaCentral uses the "Admin Username" value when integrating with Active Directory.
This user must be a member of the “MediaCentral Admins” group in your IDP provider.
To authenticate using an OpenID provider:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the authentication
provider configuration script:
sudo avidctl platform config auth oidc -i
The script prompts you to answer a series of questions. In some cases, the question is associated with
a default value. If the default value is correct for your environment, you can simply press Enter (or
Return on a Mac keyboard) to accept the default value and continue.
2. (if applicable) If an existing auth.yaml configuration file is found, the script asks if you want to
overwrite it.
t Enter Y to overwrite the file. Changes are only written to the file when you complete the final
step in this process. You can press Ctrl+C to exit without writing changes to the file.
t Enter N to exit the script.
3. Enter your Authorization server URL, and press Enter.
4. Enter your Client ID, and press Enter.
5. Enter your Client Secret, and press Enter.
The script asks you to verify the client secret.
6. Enter your Client Secret again and press Enter to confirm.
7. Enter your Client Scope, and press Enter.
When entering this value, you must use all lower-case characters.
8. Enter your Claim Parser, and press Enter.
9. (if applicable) At the MediaCentral Collaborate feature pack prompt, do one of the following:

89
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

t If you are not licensed for MediaCentral Collaborate, type n (or N) and press Enter.
t If you plan to deploy the MediaCentral Collaborate feature pack, do the following:
a. Type y (or Y) and press Enter.
b. Enter the name of the IDP user that can be used to allow administrative access by back-
end services to Collaborate, and press Enter.
The values are written to an auth.yaml file that is added to the system's Config Store.
Okta Reference Information

MediaCentral Cloud UX connects to Okta through the OpenID Connect protocol, using a “code grant”
workflow to authenticate users. MediaCentral Cloud UX is identified as a standard web application and
Okta is an authorization server.

Avid supports using Okta as an authentication method when accessing MediaCentral Cloud UX through a
web browser, or through the Avid MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools. If you are using the
latter, consult the Avid MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools documentation for additional
parameters that you might need to configure in your Okta system.

c The images and menus described below might change without notice. This section provides
information about Okta as an example OpenID provider. The steps below are not meant to be a
complete guided process on how to configure Okta or any other OpenID provider. Consult your
provider's documentation for additional information.

To enable the workflow, you must complete the following steps:

1. Register MediaCentral Cloud UX as a web-based App in the Okta Admin Console.

If you have multiple MediaCentral Cloud UX systems within your environment (on-premise or remote),
you must configure each instance as a separate Okta-registered App with its own application
credentials.
2. (if required) If you plan to use MediaCentral Cloud UX to authenticate MediaCentral Asset
Management users, or if you need to connect the Publisher app to an IDP enabled MediaCentral
Cloud UX system, you must enable the Resource Owner Password grant type for the App.
The ROPC grant type option might not be available for all application types in Okta. Native
application should be selected if the ROPC workflow is required. If you have already configured
MediaCentral Cloud UX as a web-app, you cannot change the application. In this case you must
register a new application and you must update MediaCentral Cloud UX with a new Client ID and
Client Secret.
3. Create a new “MediaCentral Admins” group in Okta and assign it to the respective MediaCentral
Cloud UX application in Okta.
You must create this group with this exact name (without the quotes): “MediaCentral Admins”. This is
the group that MediaCentral Cloud UX uses as the Super Admins group in the User Management app.
Members of this group have access to manage users within MediaCentral Cloud UX. The following
example illustration shows the group in the Okta user interface.

90
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Example only. Your Okta implementation might not represent this example illustration.

4. To enable MediaCentral Cloud UX to recognize a user's group assignments, the Okta token must
contain an additional claim with group information.

For more information on using the Okta Admin Console and for instructions on creating the app, see the
documentation on the Okta website at: https://developer.okta.com/docs/guides/.

91
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Connecting to MediaCentral Production Management

If you plan to integrate MediaCentral Cloud UX with an Avid MediaCentral Production Management
system, you must run the following script to configure the connection settings.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config pam --help

To run the Production Management configuration script:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the Production
Management configuration script:
sudo avidctl platform config pam -i
The script prompts you to answer a series of questions. In some cases, the question is associated with
a default value. If the default value is correct for your environment, you can simply press Enter (or
Return on a Mac keyboard) to accept the default value and continue.
2. In the first prompt, you must enter the Fully Qualified Domain Name of your Production Management
Engine or cluster. Do not enter a short host name or IP address in this field.
If you are running a Production Management cluster configuration, make sure that you enter the
FQDN of the cluster and not an individual Production Management Engine.
3. Next, you must enter the name of a user that exists in the Production Management database.
This user must have Read/Write access (at minimum) to the entire database.
Avid best practices recommend that you create and use a dedicated user in the Production
Management database that has the “Internal Authentication” option enabled in the “User
Management” section of the Interplay Administrator. To avoid any possible conflicts with Active
Directory, this user should not share the same name as any domain user. Although there is no
technical limitation with enabling multiple authentication types for a single user, Avid best practices
recommend that you limit this user to “Internal Authentication” only.
4. Enter the password for the user that you specified in the previous step.
The password for this user must not be blank.

n In this release of MediaCentral Cloud UX, the Production Management password cannot include
the “@” symbol if you intend to enable a Send To Playback workflow.

5. (optional) At the Search User prompt, do one of the following:

t Enter the name of a user that can be used by the MediaCentral search connector to connect to
the Production Management system. This option allows you to assign a different service
account to search for better tracking and logging.
This user must exist in the Production Management database and must have Read/Write
access (at minimum) to the entire database.
t Leave the value empty and press Enter to continue without a dedicated Search user.
6. (if applicable) Enter the password for the user that you specified in the previous step.
The password for this user must not be blank.
7. (optional or if applicable) At the Lookup Server prompt, enter the short host name of the server
hosting the Production Management Lookup Service.
If there are multiple servers hosting this service, you can enter multiple values — each separated by a
comma. Do not use a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) in this field.

92
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

8. (optional or if applicable) At the Workgroup prompt, enter the name of the Interplay Production
Workgroup (Framework).
This value is case sensitive. You must enter the Workgroup name exactly as it appears in the Interplay
Framework.
9. At the Enable Dynamic Relink prompt, decide if you want to enable Dynamic Relink on the Cloud UX
system by entering Y (or y) for yes or N (or n) for no. The default value for this field is yes.
You should generally enable this option if you are working in a multi-resolution environment. If
enabled, the Cloud UX player links to the lowest resolution associated with the asset. If this option is
disabled, the player links to the media associated with the asset at the most recent check-in.
10. You must enter an Authentication Hint value if you plan to specify more than one MediaCentral
system as a Production Management authentication provider, you must enter the FQDN of your
MediaCentral Cloud UX server or virtual cluster. For more information, see "User Authentication
Providers" on page 154.
Although this value is optional, Avid recommends that you configure this setting in all cases to enable
functionality with potential future workflows.
This is the final piece of data required by the script. After you press Enter, the values are written to a
pam.yaml file that is added to the system's Config Store.

Connecting to MediaCentral Archive Production

If you plan to integrate MediaCentral Cloud UX with an Avid MediaCentral Archive Production system, you
must run the following script to configure the connection settings.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config pam-archive --help

To run the Archive Production configuration script:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the Archive Production
configuration script:
sudo avidctl platform config pam-archive -i
2. In the first prompt, you must enter the Fully Qualified Domain Name of your Archive Production
Engine or cluster. Do not enter a short host name or IP address in this field.
If you are running a Production Archive cluster configuration, make sure that you enter the FQDN of
the cluster and not an individual Production Archive Engine.
3. Next, you must enter the name of a user that exists in the Archive Production database.
This user must have Read/Write access (at minimum) to the entire database. This can be a local user
in the Archive Production database or a user imported to Archive Production from an external
authentication provider.
4. Enter the password for the user that you specified in the previous step.
The password for this user must not be blank.
5. (optional) At the Search User prompt, do one of the following:
t Enter the name of a user that can be used by the MediaCentral search connector to connect to
the Production Management system. This option allows you to assign a different service
account to search for better tracking and logging.
This user must exist in the Production Management database and must have Read/Write
access (at minimum) to the entire database.
t Leave the value empty and press Enter to continue without a dedicated Search user.

93
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

6. (if applicable) Enter the password for the user that you specified in the previous step.
The password for this user must not be blank.
7. If you plan to specify more than one MediaCentral system as a Production Management
authentication provider, you must enter the FQDN of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server or virtual
cluster. For more information, see "User Authentication Providers" on page 154.
Although this value is optional, Avid recommends that you configure this setting in all cases to enable
functionality with potential future workflows.
This is the final piece of data required by the script. After you press Enter, the values are written to a
pam-archive.yaml file that is added to the system's Config Store.

Connecting to Avid NEXIS Shared Storage

If you plan to integrate MediaCentral Cloud UX with an Avid NEXIS system, you must run the following
script to configure the connection settings. Prior to running the script, make sure that you have the
following information:
l Your Avid NEXIS System Name.
This value is not the host name of the server, but rather a name assigned to the system during the
shared storage installation and configuration process. If your workflow includes integration with Avid
FastServe, or MediaCentral | Stream, you must enter the exact same value in this script (including
case) as you enter in the settings for Avid FastServe, or MediaCentral | Stream.
The following illustration provides an example of the Avid NEXIS System Setup page with the System
Name outlined in red.

l The Fully Qualified Domain Name or IP address of your System Director(s).

l The name and password of a user that exists on the Avid NEXIS system.
This user must have read/write access to all workspaces that contain media that you want to access
through MediaCentral Cloud UX. This can be a local user in the Avid NEXIS system or a user imported
from an external authentication provider.
l The preferred Avid shared storage connection mode.
When connecting MediaCentral Cloud UX to an Avid NEXIS server, the default client connection mode
is set to 1 (High). You must verify that this connection mode is appropriate for your organization’s
workflow.
For more information on client connection modes, see “Setting Client Types” in the Avid NEXIS Client
Manager Installation and User’s Guide on the Avid Knowledge Base at:
https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_US/User_Guide/Avid-NEXIS-Documentation.
If you are returning to this process after having run the final avidctl platform deploy script, you can
repeat the process below to update your configuration. Unlike other scripts in this chapter, you are not
required to redeploy the feature packs after updating shared storage configuration.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config nexis --help

94
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

For more information on the mounting storage connected to a MediaCentral Asset Management module,
see "Mounting Volumes" in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management Installation Manual.

To run the Avid NEXIS configuration script:

1. Verify the name of the network adapter in the /etc/avid/nexis-agent.yaml configuration file
and update the file if necessary.
When you run the platform host-setup script, Ansible creates an /etc/avid/nexis-agent.yaml
configuration file that the following script uses to identify the network interface that will be used to
connect to Avid NEXIS. The system populates this file with name of the network adapter that
associated with the default route (gateway). Normally, you apply the gateway address to one
adapter only. This means that in a standard configuration, the file includes the name of only one
adapter.
In most cases, you should not alter the contents of this file. However, you might be required to update
this file if you replace your network adapter following the initial system configuration (and the
adapter name changes), or if the script adds the wrong adapter for an unknown reason.
t To view the file: sudo cat /etc/avid/nexis-agent.yaml
t To update the file: sudo vi /etc/avid/nexis-agent.yaml
If you need to update this file on an existing, fully deployed system, you can restart the avid-
nexis-agent to apply this change: sudo systemctl restart avid-nexis-agent

n The nexis-agent.yaml file includes information about the AvidNEXIS connection mode. Do
not uncomment or adjust these settings unless directed by Avid to do so.

2. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the script:
sudo avidctl platform config nexis -I
To use the interactive mode, you must use either -I (must be a capital letter I)
or --interactive.
3. The script prompts you with a series of questions. Provide an answerer to each of the following
questions and press Enter or Return to continue to the next step.
If you need to connect to multiple Avid NEXIS systems, provide answers for the first shared storage
system only. After you configure the first system, you will have an opportunity to configure the
connection for additional systems.
– System Name: The System Name of your Avid NEXIS system. This value is case sensitive.
– System Directors: The Fully Qualified Domain Name or IP address of your Avid NEXIS System
Director.
– User: The name of a user that exists on the Avid shared storage system.
– Password: The password for the user that you specified in the previous value.
– Mode: The connection mode for the Avid NEXIS Client installed on the MediaCentral Cloud UX
server defaults to mode 1. If you need to configure the server for an alternate connection mode,
specify this value.
If you want to accept the default value of 1, you can press the Enter or Return key without
entering a value to proceed to the next prompt.
4. After answering the last question, the script asks if you want to configure another shared storage
system.

95
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

t If you enter yes (y), you are prompted to provide connection details for the next shared storage
system.
t If you enter no (n), the script exists and configures the connection to Avid NEXIS.
If you ever need to verify the values that you entered in this script, you can do so by reviewing the
nexis-config Config Map in the Kubernetes Dashboard, or by entering the following command:
sudo kubectl get secret nexis-config -o jsonpath={.data.config} | base64 -d
5. (optional) After configuring the connection settings, you can restart the Avid NEXIS Client to enable
the configuration update:
sudo systemctl restart avid-nexis-agent
If you are running a clustered configuration, repeat this command on each node.

n If you do not restart the service, the configuration changes are enabled automatically in the
next poll of the service (every 60 seconds). The manual restart of the service allows you to enable
the change without waiting for the polling interval. Restarting avid-nexis-agent also restarts the
avidfos service.

6. Enter the following command to verify that the avid-nexis-agent service is running:
sudo systemctl status avid-nexis-agent -l
The system should respond with output similar to the following:
Mar 21 12:47:24 wavd-mcux01 avid-nexis-agent[13635]: 2023/03/21 12:47:24
Mounting 'wavdNEXIS'...
Mar 21 12:47:24 wavd-mcux01 avid-nexis-agent[13635]: 2023/03/21 12:47:24
Mouted 'wavdNEXIS' successfully -> /mnt/media/default/wavdNEXIS
If the system reports a problem connecting to Avid NEXIS or mounting workspaces, you must
troubleshoot the issue before continuing with the installation.
If you made an error when running the script for the first time, you can run the script again to apply
new settings. After running the script, remember to restart the Avid NEXIS services.
7. If you have a cluster configuration, repeat the previous verification step on each node in the cluster.

Configuring Avid NEXIS API Services

When completing the process for "Connecting to Avid NEXIS Shared Storage" on page 94, you enabled the
MediaCentral Cloud UX servers to physically mount the Avid NEXIS workspaces to allow the system to read
and write to the shared storage. In the following process, you configure Kubernetes managed, Avid API
services to connect to the Avid NEXIS system. The following process is required only if you are using an Avid
NEXIS system and you are integrating with one or more of the following products:
l Avid MediaCentral | Panel for Media Composer
Required only if you need to access Avid NEXIS from within the MediaCentral Panel — for example as
part of a MediaCentral Editorial Management workflow.
l Avid MediaCentral | Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools
Required only if you enable the MediaCentral | File Connector for Avid NEXIS (formally known as the
MediaCentral | File Connector for Avid NEXIS).
After you enable the Avid NEXIS API Services, your Avid NEXIS system appears in the MediaCentral Cloud UX
Browse and Search apps for any user that includes a matching Active Directory account on both
MediaCentral Cloud UX and Avid NEXIS. Avid recommends that you browse (or search) the Avid NEXIS
system only if you plan to create and manage projects or assets though the MediaCentral Panel for 3rd
Party Creative Tools. For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools
Installation and User's Guide.

96
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config nexis-api --help

To configure the Avid NEXIS API services:

1. (if applicable) If you are connecting to Avid NEXIS v2024.5 or later, you must establish a secure
connection to the Avid NEXIS system through the use of a self-signed or trusted certificate file. If you
are using a self-signed certificate, you must obtain a copy of this certificate file from your Avid
NEXIS system and copy it to the MediaCentral Cloud UX single server or primary node.
You can complete this task by copying the certificate text from the Avid NEXIS Management Console
and pasting it into a text file with a .pem extension.
Path and file name example: /etc/mycerts/avidnexis.pem
For more information, see "Using a Trusted Certificate" in the Avid NEXIS Administration Guide
v2024.5 or later.
2. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the configuration
script:
sudo avidctl platform config nexis-api -i
3. The script prompts you with a series of questions. Provide an answerer to each of the following
questions and press Enter or Return to continue to the next step.
– System Name: Enter the System Name of your Avid NEXIS. This value is case sensitive.
This value is not the host name of the server, but rather the name assigned to your Avid NEXIS
system during the installation and configuration process. The value that you enter in this field
must be an exact match for the value found in the Avid NEXIS user interface.
– System Director: Enter the Fully Qualified Domain Name or IP address of your Avid NEXIS
System Director.
– Enable HTTPS: Enter Y (or y) if you are connecting to Avid NEXIS v2024.5 or later, or enter N (or
n) if you are connecting to an older version of Avid NEXIS.
Avid NEXIS v2024.5 and later requires you to establish a secure connection to the Avid
NEXIS system using HTTPS and a certificate file.
– Path to CA: Do one of the following, and press Enter:
t If you answered yes to the last prompt and you are using the Avid NEXIS self-signed
certificate, you must enter the name and location of the certificate file that you copied
to your MediaCentral Cloud UX server.
For example: /etc/mycerts/avidnexis.pem
t If you are using a certificate from a trusted authority, you can press Enter to proceed
without entering a file path.
– Port: Enter the network port number that is used to connect to the Avid NEXIS system. The
standard port number used for this value is either 443 for HTTPS or 80 for HTTP.
– Password: Enter the Avid NEXIS Administrator password.
After entering the password, you are asked to confirm the password.
– Broker User: Enter the name of the user associated with the RabbitMQ installation on your Avid
NEXIS system. The default value is: avid.
Only enter a different value for this question if directed to do so by Avid.
– Broker Password: Enter the password for the Broker User. The default value is nexis.

97
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Only enter a different value for this question if directed to do so by Avid.

After entering the password, you are asked to confirm the password.
This is the final piece of data required by the script. After you press Enter, the values are written to a
nexis-api.yaml file that is added to the system's Config Store.

Configuring the Avid XFER and XFORM Services

The Avid XFER and XFORM Services act as an intermediary between different MediaCentral modules. They
also allow components used in 3rd party workflows to access the Avid NEXIS system.

Depending on your workflow, you might complete one or both of the following processes:
l "Configuring an Avid NEXIS Workspace" below
Required for MediaCentral Sync and MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools.
l "Configuring Media Services XFER Access Rules" on the next page
Required for MediaCentral Sync only.
Configuring an Avid NEXIS Workspace
If you plan to use Avid Ada Transcode, MediaCentral Sync, or the Send to Playback workflow that is
available in the MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools, you must complete the following process.
The config xfer command allows you to define an Avid NEXIS workspace that can be used by these
systems.

The XFER service is leveraged by multiple workflows. In some workflows the XFER service might create
temporary files on the workspace that you define below. In these cases the service polls the workspace once
every hour (on the hour) and automatically deletes any XFER temporary files that were created more than
24 hours ago.

n If you need more information, you can use the command’s help function by entering:
avidctl platform config xfer --help

To configure the services:

1. Enter the following command:

sudo avidctl platform config xfer -w '\\<NEXIS\workspace>'
Where <NEXIS\workspace> represents a UNC path that includes the Avid NEXIS System Name and the
workspace that will be used by the services. This value must be enclosed in single quotes.
For example:
sudo avidctl platform config xfer -w '\\wavd-nexis\xfer'

n If you run this configuration script, you must also deploy the Media Services feature pack when
"Running the Feature Pack Deployment Script" on page 127.

2. Press Enter (or Return) to execute the script.

As the script does not verify access to the Avid NEXIS system or validate the syntax, make sure that
your values are correct. If you find an error, repeat this process with the corrected values.
You configuration information is written to an xfer.yaml file that is added to the system's Config
Store.
If you encounter any problems with the workflows that are enabled by these services after fully
deploying your MediaCentral system, refer to "Troubleshooting the XFER Service" on page 545 for
information that might help you resolve the problem.

98
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Configuring Media Services XFER Access Rules

For security purposes, Avid does not allow wide user access to the Avid NEXIS system. You must complete
the following process to specify read/write locations for to specific Avid NEXIS systems, workspaces, and
users or groups that plan to use MediaCentral Sync.

If you have already completed this process, you can refer to the help for more information on an alternate
command that allows you to remove user or group access.

n If you need more information, you can use the command’s help function by entering:
avidctl platform config media-access --help

To configure the access rules:

1. Enter one of the following commands:

t If you want to allow a single user account to access this share, enter the following:
sudo avidctl platform config media-access set -u <user> -l
nexis://<nexis>/<workspace> -l pm-share://<hostname>
t If you want to allow a user group to access this share, enter the following:
sudo avidctl platform config media-access set -g <group> -l
nexis://<nexis>/<workspace> -l pm-share://<hostname>
2. Where the following values are used:
– <user>: Enter a value using the following criteria:
– Must be the short sAMAccountName of a domain account that has been (or will be)
imported into the local MediaCentral Cloud UX system through the User Management
app.
– Must be created as a domain user in Microsoft Active directory.
– If you configure a specific user for the Avid XFer Service, you must configure that same
user here. For more information, see "Managing Service Accounts" on page 215.
The user(s) defined here are granted Read/Write access to the Avid NEXIS workspace(s) and
pm-share via avid-xfer-service.
For more information on this and other required user accounts, see the “Installation and
Configuration Notes” in the Avid MediaCentral | Sync Administration Guide.
– <group>: Enter the name of a user group that has been imported into the MediaCentral Cloud
UX system through the User Management app.
If you want to enter the name of a group, the group must meet the same criteria as for an
individual user account (see above).
– <nexis>: Enter the Avid NEXIS System Name of your local Avid NEXIS system.
As a reminder, the Avid NEXIS System Name is not the server’s host name, but rather a name
assigned to the system during the shared storage installation and configuration process.
You are not required to define values for any remote Avid NEXIS system. These configuration
values are specific to your local system only.
– <workspace>: Enter the name of a workspace on your local Avid NEXIS system.
– <hostname>: This is the short host name of the Production Management Engine or the cluster’s
virtual host name. Do not enter the IP address or the FQDN. This value is case sensitive and
must match the server’s host name as it appears in your DNS. This value should match the “PM
System Name” value in the MediaCentral Sync app’s Production Management Systems panel.

99
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

When configuring the values for this command, you can define a single workspace, a list of
workspaces, or you can allow the user or group to access all workspaces. Consider the following
example commands:
– If you plan to use MediaCentral Sync to synchronize only one or a few workspaces, you might
want to enter those specific workspaces. The following command allows a single user (sync_
user) to access three Avid NEXIS workspaces (sports, ingest, and news):
sudo avidctl platform config media-access set -u sync_user -l
nexis://wavd-nexis/sports -l nexis://wavd-nexis/ingest -l
nexis://wavd-nexis/news -l pm-share://wavd-ie
– In this example MediaCentral sync can only read and write to the sports, ingests, and projects
workspaces. If you attempt to configure a sync task for assets stored in any other workspace,
the job will fail with an ACCESS_DENIED error.
– Alternatively, you might work in an environment in which you have a large number of
workspaces, or your workflow requires you to create new workspaces on a regular basis.
Instead of returning to this process to add a new workspace to the configuration, you can
allow access to all workspaces by entering the following:
sudo avidctl platform config media-access set -u sync_user -l nexis:/
-l pm-share://wavd-ie
– Finally, it’s possible to configure the service to access workspaces from multiple Avid NEXIS
systems, but in this case the user or group needs to exist in each Avid NEXIS:
sudo avidctl platform config media-access set -u sync_user -l
nexis://wavd-nexis-1/sports nexis://wavd-nexis2/news -l pm-
share://wavd-ie
If you configure multiple Avid NEXIS systems, you must ensure that each is mounted on the
MediaCentral Cloud UX server. For details see, "Connecting to Avid NEXIS Shared Storage" on
page 94.
3. Press Enter (or Return) to execute the script.
You configuration information is written to a media-access.yaml file that is added to the system's
Config Store.
As the script does not validate the existence of the Avid NEXIS, users, or groups, you must ensure that
your values are correct. If you find an error, you can either manually edit the configuration file, or use
the command to remove, and then set the correct values.
4. Configure additional users or groups.
The avidctl platform config media-access set command allows you to define only a
single user or group at a time. If you need to authenticate additional users or groups, you must
repeat the command with those user or group values. Additional users or groups are appended to the
existing configuration file.
If your remote MediaCentral Cloud UX system authenticates against a different Active Directory
structure than your local site, or if your users and groups are not replicated between your sites, you
must configure user access rules for both your local and each remote site at each site.
Consider the following example situation in which USER-A exists in your local Active Directory system
only, and USER-B exists at the remote site only. In this case you would need to run the following two
commands on your local site:
sudo avidctl platform config media-access set -u USER-A -l nexis://NEXIS-
A/WORKSPACE-A -l pm-share://WAVD-IE-A
sudo avidctl platform config media-access set -u USER-B -l nexis://NEXIS-
A/WORKSPACE-A -l pm-share://WAVD-IE-A

100
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

And you would need to run two similar commands on the remote site:
sudo avidctl platform config media-access set -u USER-B -l nexis://NEXIS-
B/WORKSPACE-B -l pm-share://WAVD-IE-B
sudo avidctl platform config media-access set -u USER-A -l nexis://NEXIS-
B/WORKSPACE-B -l pm-share://WAVD-IE-B
Notice that Site-A configured their local Avid NEXIS and Production Management system values, as
did Site-B. Only the remote user was added to the local system configuration.

Configuring Temporary File Cleanup Settings

When executing a local Send to Playback job using LongGOP media, local systems are responsible for
removing any temporary files that might be generated during the STP process. However when performing a
Remote STP job, those remote systems cannot perform that same cleanup on your local Avid NEXIS storage.
You can find more information about “STP Encode Workflow: Background Processing and Transferring of
Long GOP Media” in the Avid MediaCentral | Production Management Best Practices Guide.

Temporary Op1a files are created on your local Avid NEXIS system in a /temp folder that is created at the
root level of the workspace during the STP process. The process creates this folder on the workspace that
has the most amount of free space on it. Since this selection is automated, you might have multiple
workspaces with temp folders (as the amount of free space might change over time).

The following script allows you to configure and automate the cleanup of these temp files on your local Avid
NEXIS system. The cleanup is limited to the path that you specify in the following script. As long as you
specify the correct path, other folder paths, such as the Avid MediaFiles folder, are unaffected and
untouched by this process.

To configure the auto-cleanup script:

1. Sign into your single server or primary node with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Copy the example configuration file to its active location (/etc/avid/config/):
sudo cp /opt/avid/examples/config/nexis-cleanup.yaml
/etc/avid/config/nexis-cleanup.yaml
3. Use the Linux vi editor to open the configuration file for editing:
sudo vi /etc/avid/config/nexis-cleanup.yaml
4. (optional) Uncomment (delete the # symbol) and edit any of the default configuration values under
the "config" section of the file.
For example, you could uncomment the line that refers to the age of the files and alter the default
value of 24 hours if you wanted to retain the temp files for a longer period of time.
5. Configure the Avid NEXIS workspaces that will be involved in the STP workflow.
a. Delete the brackets [] on the pathList: line, and delete the # symbol to uncomment the
default Avid NEXIS workspace value. For example:
# All paths must be relative to global.media_mount
pathList:
- '/nexis-1/workspace/files'
b. Customize the default value with your Avid NEXIS System Name, workspace name, and path.
For example:
- '/wavd-nexis/ingest/temp'

101
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

c. As noted above, temp files might be created on one or more workspaces — depending on the
amount of free space available at the time of the STP job. If necessary, you can create one or
more new lines in the file — each pointing to a different workspace name. For example:
# All paths must be relative to global.media_mount
pathList:
- '/wavd-nexis/ingest/temp'
- '/wavd-nexis/news/temp'
- '/wavd-lab/testing/temp'
6. Save and exit the vi session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq
7. (optional) Write the configuration file to the Config Store.
For details, see "Understanding the Config Store" on page 526.

Configuring MediaCentral Search

The following process allows you to configure aspects of MediaCentral Search — from areas of the user
interface, to the rules that govern search results. If you do not wish to alter the system defaults (see values
below) then you are not required to complete this process.

If you decide to run the script, you will be prompted to enter a “Total Field Limit” value. This value
represents the total number of fields that can be indexed by Elasticsearch, and it ensures that the database
cannot grow to an unusable size. While the default value of 10000 is appropriate for most installations,
some installations might require a larger field limit because the connected modules include a large number
of indexable fields. In these cases, the system might not be able to complete the creation of the search
index using the default value.

Prior to running this script, you can follow these steps to estimate your required field limit:

1. Connect to your Production Management module and count the number of fields that have a check
mark in the Select column of the MediaCentral Search Connector’s Property Selection tab.
2. Connect to your Asset Management module and verify the number fields marked in the Datamodel
Administrator as “searchable”.
3. Connect to your Newsroom Management module using the iNEWS Workstation and verify the
number of fields in the schema JSON stored in SYSTEM.SCHEMAS.KAFKA.
4. Add these values together and then multiply by 20% to accommodate for growth.
5. Multiply this final value by (2 + <n>). In this case <n> represents the number of additional analyzers that
you plan to define below.
If for example you configure the Simple, English, and French analyzers, Elasticsearch would create a
total of five sub-fields per string (2 default fields + 1 simple + 2 language fields = 5).
If the total number of indexed fields is less than 10,000, then the default value is acceptable. If the value is
higher than 10,000, you should increase the default field limit.

Instead of increasing the field limit, you could investigate the possibility of reducing the number of indexed
fields. If you do this, you might see an increase in performance as each search is required to parse less
data. In a Production Management system, you can disable indexed fields in the MediaCentral Search
Connector (Property Selection Tab) of the Interplay Administrator. In an Asset Management system, you
can reduce the number of searchable fields by deleting any unused Object Classes.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config search --help

102
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

To run the search configuration script:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the script:
sudo avidctl platform config search -i
2. In the first prompt, enter a two or five character language code and press Enter. Alternatively, you
can simply press Enter to use the default value of “en” for English.
This value defines the language used to display field names and some other elements in the Search
app user interface. If you select an alternate language when signing into MediaCentral Cloud UX or if
you change the language in the User Settings, that selection overrides this value for the length of the
user session.
Avid supports the following language codes:
Code Language Code Language Code Language

ar Arabic fr French ru Russian

de German it Italian tr Turkish
en International ja Japanese zh-cn Chinese
English (China)
es Spanish ko Korean uk Ukrainian
et Estonian pt-pt Portuguese
(Portugal)

3. Enter one or more language analyzer values and press Enter. Alternatively, you can simply press
Enter to use the default values of “simple, english”. Avid recommends that you configure at least one
language as well as the simple analyzer for best results.
Analyzers define how the search engine treats text-based metadata values. You can enter one or
more analyzers in this prompt, each separated by a comma and a space. To simplify the search
process and reduce unnecessary overhead, Avid recommends that you do not add a language
analyzer unless you plan to search for text-based metadata in that language.
Avid supports the following values:
Analyzer value Description

simple If your search term includes a number, the simple analyzer breaks term into multiple
values at the point at which the number and letter meet. In this case numbers are
eliminated or treated as a space. For example ‘title1’ is indexed as ‘title’ and
‘happy4ever’ is indexed as ‘happy ever’.
ascii_folding This value determines how terms with accents affect the Search results.
– If you do not specifically enter this analyzer, the feature is disabled. In this
case words such as "Noël" and "Noel" are treated independently. This is the
default setting for the Search app.
– If you add this analyzer, you enable the feature and any search for
"noel" would return both versions of the word (with and without the umlaut
character).
The following analyzers are all language related and enable language stemming. Stemming allows you to
search for a root word and have the engine return hits related to that word. For example a search for the
word “fish” might return hits for “fish”, “fishes”, “fishing”, “fished”, or others.
arabic kuromoji (Japanese) smartcn (Simplified Chinese)

103
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Analyzer value Description

english nori (Korean) spanish

french portuguese turkish
german russian ukrainian
italian

c Make sure to spell the analyzer values correctly. If you enter an invalid value (for example
“greman” instead of “german”), the Search app will ignore the entry.
For more information on how analyzers effect the user experience, see "Language Analyzers" on
page 244.
4. At the Exact Match Boost prompt, press Enter to accept the default value.
This setting has an impact on the way that results are displayed in the Search app. The default value
for this setting is 10. Do not change this value unless directed to do so by Avid.
5. Enter an Catalog Monitor Batch Size value and press Enter. Alternatively, you can simply press Enter
to use the default value of 500.
This value determines the number of catalog items indexed by search at any one time. Do not change
this value unless directed to do so by Avid.
6. Enter a Total Fields Limit value and press Enter. Alternatively, you can simply press Enter to use the
default value of 10000.
If you are unsure about your index field limit, Avid suggests using the default value of 10000. If
Elasticsearch begins to log errors indicating that the total_fields_limit has been exceeded, you can
return to this process and increase this value. Avid recommends that you do not exceed a value of
30000 as doing so can lead to a performance degradation of the Elasticsearch database.
After you press Enter, the values are written to a search.yaml file that is added to the system's Config
Store.

If you are returning to this process after having run the final avidctl platform deploy script, you must
complete the following steps to redeploy the search index configuration:
l Redeploy the system after updating or recreating the configuration file.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
l Reset the search index and resync your connected MediaCentral modules.
For more information, see "Resetting the MediaCentral Search Index" on page 474.

Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index

If your organization has purchased a MediaCentral Phonetic Index license, you must run the following script
to configure the Phonetic Index connection settings. Prior to running the script, make sure that you have the
following information:
l The IP address or fully qualified domain name of the Search Grid server.
For more information, see "Installing Nexidia Search Grid" on page 139.
At this point in the installation, you are not required to have the Search Grid server operational.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config phonetic --help

104
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

n If you press Enter to use any of the following default values, you might not see them added to the
resulting phonetic.yaml file. Although not written to the file, the default values are used by the system.
If you want to see the values in the yaml file, enter them manually when prompted by the script.

To run the Phonetic Index configuration script:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the Phonetic Index
configuration script:
sudo avidctl platform config phonetic -i
2. In the first prompt, enter the Fully Qualified Domain Name or IP address of your Search Grid server
and press Enter.
3. At the Cloud UX Hostname prompt, enter the IP address or Fully Qualified Domain Name of your
MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server or virtual cluster and press Enter.
4. Enter a phonetic language’s Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) and press Enter. Alternatively, you can
simply press Enter to use the default GUID for International English.
Example GUID value: d699037f-5b72-42fe-ad42-4512f34e1db0
This value defines the default language that users see when they add a Phonetic pill to the Search
app. While this option defines the default language, the additional options in the phonetic pill’s
language menu are determined by the language packs that you install on the Search Grid server.
If you specify a GUID for a language that is not installed on the Search Grid server, or licensed in
MediaCentral Cloud UX, the phonetic pill will still display the language option. However, the Search
app will not return any phonetic hits for that language.
The language selected by the user on either the MediaCentral Cloud UX welcome page or in the User
Settings has no bearing on the default language shown in the phonetic pill.
For a list of languages and their associated GUIDs, see "Language Packs" on page 140.
5. At the Phonetic Default Threshold prompt, enter a numerical value between 1 and 100 and press
Enter. Alternatively, you can simply press Enter to use the default value of 60.
While Avid recommends the default value in most cases, you can use this setting to adjust the
sensitivity of the phonetic search. As you lower the sensitivity, the phonetic search returns more hits,
and potentially more assets. However, a lower setting also means that the phonetic hits might not be
as accurate. A higher setting decreases the number of hits, but these hits have a much higher
likelihood of being an exact match for your search.
6. At the Phonetic Large Scale Threshold prompt, press Enter to accept the default value.
If you have more hours of phonetic metadata than the value defined here, the Search Grid server
switches automatically to an alternate search algorithm. The default value of this setting is 200. Do
not change this value unless directed to do so by Avid.
7. At the next prompt, decide if you want to enable or disable Phonetic Indexing for MediaCentral
Search.
t Enter Y (or y) for yes / enabled.
This enables the standard Phonetic Index workflow in which MediaCentral Search users can
search for the phonetically indexed assets. This is the default value.
t Enter N (or n) for no / disabled. The default value for this field is no.
This option is most useful for customers who are transitioning from MediaCentral Phonetic
Index to Avid Ada Transcribe. If you enter N (no) at this prompt, existing phonetically indexed

105
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

assets are returned by MediaCentral Search. However the indexing of new assets is disabled.
After you are comfortable with the Transcribe workflow, you can permanently disable Phonetic
Index. For details, see "Disabling Phonetic Index" on page 148.
8. At the next prompt, decide if you want to enable or disable Phonetic Indexing for Avid MediaCentral |
Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools.
t Enter Y (or y) for yes / enabled.
t Enter N (or n) for no / disabled. The default value for this field is no.
If you enter no, Phonetic Index will not index assets related to the Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools.
However, users can continue to use the Search app to complete phonetic searches for other assets —
such as those located on an Asset Management system.
9. After you enter these values, the script prompts you to test the configuration.
t Enter y or Y to test your custom values.
If the test passes, the script creates a phonetic.yaml file that is added to the system's
Config Store.
If the test fails, you are given the opportunity to correct the values (reconfigure) or exit the
script without creating the phonetic.yaml file (quit).
t Enter n or N to create the phonetic.yaml file without testing the configuration.
If you are returning to this process after having run the final avidctl platform deploy script, you must
complete the following steps to redeploy the Phonetic Index configuration:
l Redeploy the system after updating or recreating the configuration file.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
l If you entered a new phonetic language GUID, you must use the Kubernetes Monitor to delete the
avid-search-search pod or pods (there might be more than one) following the redeployment.
For more information, see "Working with Kubernetes" on page 517.
l Reset the search index and resync your connected MediaCentral modules.
For more information, see "Resetting the MediaCentral Search Index" on page 474.

Configuring the Change Event Agent

The change event agent is one of the components that enables workflows for MediaCentral Platform
Automation. Platform Automation refers to a collection of tools that work together to provide automated
workflows — usually in conjunction with rules that you create in the Rules Editor. For more information, see
"Using the Rules Editor App" on page 318.

When an asset is created or updated on a source module (such as MediaCentral Asset Management or
Production Management), its respective Search Sync Agent sends information to a Kafka queue on the
MediaCentral Cloud UX server. The Change Event Agent reads from these queues and alerts upstream
systems (such as the Rules Engine) about updates on Asset Management and Production Management
assets.

Note the following about the agent and this process:

l You must complete the following process if you plan to use the Rules Editor app to create automated
workflows on Asset Management and Production Management assets. If you intend to create rules
for MediaCentral Collaborate only, this process is not required.
l Events generated through the Change Event Agent include fields from the common search
namespace only, and never fields of system specific namespaces.
l The agent processes queues based on their creation date.

106
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

l The change event agent script requires you to enter a starting date value. You can enter today's
date, a date that occurred in the past, or date that will happen in the future. If you enter a future
date, the agent will process change events from that date and forward.
l When defining a starting date, Avid generally recommends entering the current date, or a date in the
future. If you are configuring the agent to connect to an Asset Management or Production
Management system that is already in-production, a historical date could generate thousands or
millions of events that could take an extremely long time to process.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config change-event-agent
--help

To run the change event agent configuration script:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the configuration
script:
sudo avidctl platform config change-event-agent -i
2. (if applicable) If an existing configuration file is found, the script asks if you want to overwrite it.
t Enter Y to overwrite the file. Changes are only written to the file when you complete the final
step in this process. You can press Ctrl+C to exit without writing changes to the file.
t Enter N to exit the script.
3. Enter a change event processing date in a yyyy-mm-dd date format.
For example: 2024-06-27
Alternatively, you can enter a full ISO 8601 date format that includes time and timezone.
For example: 2024-06-27T14:32:54.874+05:00
If you enter an invalid value (such as 2024-13-01), the script will alert you to the error and prompt you
to re-enter the date.
After you press Enter, the values are written to a change-event-agent.yaml file that is added to the
system's Config Store.

Connecting to MediaCentral Ingest

If you plan to integrate MediaCentral Cloud UX with Avid MediaCentral Ingest, you must run the following
script to configure the MediaCentral Ingest connection settings. Prior to running the script, make sure that
you have the following information:
l The IP address or Fully Qualified Domain Name of your MediaCentral Ingest system.
l Your Avid NEXIS System Name.
This value is not the host name of the server, but rather a name assigned to the system during the
shared storage installation and configuration process.
l The name of an Avid NEXIS workspace (with an optional folder path).
The MediaCentral Ingest workflow allows you to upload media from your local workstation to Avid
shared storage. This workflow requires a connection to an Avid NEXIS system — non-Avid storage is
not supported. Additionally, the user account that runs the MediaRewrapping Services on the
MediaCentral Ingest server must have read/write access to this workspace.
When you upload media using the Ingest app, the post-upload cleanup process checks the path that
you define in the following script every 60 seconds and deletes any files that are older than 4 hours.
To avoid accidental deletions, the script appends whatever path that you configure below with an

107
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

ingest_upload folder. If you do not specify a path, the folder is created at the base-level of the
workspace. Only assets contained in the ingest_upload folder are deleted during the post-upload
cleanup process.
For more information on Avid MediaCentral Ingest, see the Avid MediaCentral | Ingest User’s Guide on the
Avid Knowledge Base.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config ingest --help

To run the MediaCentral Ingest configuration script:

1. Prior to running the script, you must verify the name and case of your shared storage. Enter the
following command to verify the name of your shared storage:
ls /mnt/media
The output might look similar to the following:
WAVD-NEXIS
Note the name and the case (upper/lower) of your shared storage system.
2. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the Ingest
configuration script:
sudo avidctl platform config ingest -i
3. At the MCI Hostname prompt, type the IP address or Fully Qualified Domain Name of your
MediaCentral Ingest system and press Enter. Do not enter a short host name for this value.
4. Type the Avid NEXIS System Name that will be used for file ingest and press Enter.
This name is case sensitive and must match the name of the system exactly.
5. Type the name of the workspace (and optional path) that will be used for file ingest and press Enter.
For example: my_workspace or my_workspace/ingest
This name is case sensitive and must match the name of the workspace exactly. If you specify a path
and that folder structure does not already exist, the Ingest process creates the path for you.
After you press Enter, the values are written to an ingest.yaml file that is added to the system's Config
Store.

Connecting to Avid Maestro

If your MediaCentral Cloud UX clients are not able to connect directly to the network subnet in which the
Avid Maestro News servers are located, you must complete the following process to allow clients to access
thumbnail images of Maestro assets in apps such as Browse or Search.

While this process is meant to address this specific networking requirement, Avid recommends that you
complete the following steps on any MediaCentral Cloud UX system that plans to integrate with Avid
Maestro News.

To enable integration with Avid Maestro:

1. Sign into your single server or primary node with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Enter the following command:
sudo avidctl platform config maestro --url http://<maestro-server>:<port>
Where the following values are used:

108
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

– <maestro-server>: This is the IP address or FQDN of your Avid Maestro News server
– <port>: This is the port used to communicate with Maestro Service. The standard port used in
most configurations is port 9030.
For example:
sudo avidctl platform config maestro --url http://wavd-
maestro.wavd.com:9030

Configuring Collaborate App User Groups

If you plan to use the Collaborate app, you must edit a configuration file to include the names of one or
more authentication provider user groups. All users that are included in these groups are added to the
People section of the Collaborate app automatically as employees. Although you can create non-employee
user accounts through the app, employees are the only users that can access either the Collaborate app or
the Collaborate Mobile App.

For more information, see “Using the Collaborate App” in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.

To create the Collaborate app configuration file:

1. Sign into your single server or primary node with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Copy the example configuration file to its active location (/etc/avid/config/):
sudo cp /opt/avid/examples/config/ca.yaml /etc/avid/config/ca.yaml
3. Use the Linux vi editor to open the configuration file for editing:
sudo vi /etc/avid/config/ca.yaml
4. Edit the following line:
group_search_value: "<user_group_1>,<user_group_2>,<user_group_X>"
– If you are using Active Directory, the user_group values represent the group’s Active Directory
alias and not the displayName.
– If you are using an OpenID provider, you must enter either one of the predefined user groups,
or one of the user groups that you create through the User Management app. For more details
on the predefined groups, see "Managing User Groups (OpenID Mode)" on page 198.
You can enter one or more values. If you decide to enter more than one user group, each must be
separated by a comma. For example:
group_search_value: "news_editors,promotions,news_mgmt"
5. Save and exit the vi session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq
6. (optional) Write the configuration file to the Config Store.
For details, see "Understanding the Config Store" on page 526.

Configuring Acquire and Router Control

MediaCentral Acquire is a scheduler for Avid’s ingest servers that allows you to create and monitor both
instant, and scheduled automated recordings. Acquire stores its schedule in the database inside of Cloud
UX. The metadata is stored inside of the asset, within Production Management or Asset Management. And,
the MXF files are stored in the Avid NEXIS database. This allows for easy access to the captured material
across the MediaCentral Platform.

Avid MediaCentral Router Connector is an optional feature that enables the ability to dynamically route
media from sources to destinations. Sources are routed to particular destinations, which may be devices
configured to be controlled by Acquire, such as Avid FastServe or MediaCentral | Stream.

109
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

n Starting with MediaCentral Cloud UX v2023.12, the Acquire app comes pre-configured and is fully
operational after deployment.

The following components are necessary when working with the Acquire app:
l MediaCentral Production Management
l One of the following:
– MediaCentral Stream
– Avid FastServe
– Avid Stream IO
Before installation, please review the latest versions of the documentation for MediaCentral Production
Management, and MediaCentral Stream, Avid FastServe, Avid Stream IO.

This section provides information on how to configure MediaCentral Cloud UX to communicate with the
systems involved in this workflow. For more information, see the following topics:
l "Using the Acquire App" on page 289
l "Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control" on page 309
Licensing Change After 2023.7

If the MediaCentral Acquire license was generated prior to the MediaCentral Cloud UX v2023.7 release, you
must contact Avid to refresh the license. This is necessary due to a change made to Acquire permissions,
which now include Admin and Write permissions.

Failure to refresh the license may result in the following issues:

l The updated permissions will not appear in the User Management app (they will only be visible in
Cloud UX v2024.2 or later).
l Users will be unable to schedule recordings after upgrading to 2024.10.
Configure the Ingest Server Preview Proxy
MediaCentral | Stream and Avid | Stream IO provide a Live Preview feature. In order to enable this in the
Acquire application, you need to configure the ingest server preview proxy. It is important to know that
configuring the ingest server names is only necessary to enable the Live Preview functionality.

n Configuring the ingest server preview proxy is only necessary to enable the Live Preview functionality
in Acquire.

n Live Preview is not available for FastServe | Ingest servers.

This process configures preview proxy for ingest servers or other supported ingest devices that will be
integrated with the Acquire app.

n If you need more information, you can use the command’s help function by entering:
avidctl platform config acquire-ingest-server --help

To configure the ingest servers preview proxy:

t Enter the following command on your single server or primary node:
sudo avidctl platform config acquire-ingest-servers --url
http://<host>:<port>

110
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Where <host> is the IP address of your ingest device and <port> is the network port number used
to communicate with the server. You can specify one or more devices in the same command by
including additional values. For this release, please use port number 1234 for MediaCentral Stream,
or port number 8080 for Avid Stream IO. For example:
sudo avidctl platform config acquire-ingest-servers --url
http://10.42.31.70:1234 --url http://10.42.31:56:8080

n Host names are not supported in this command. Use the IP address of the ingest servers.
After you press Enter, the values are written to an acquire-servers.yaml file that is added to the
system's Config Store. You can also find an example of this configuration file at
/opt/avid/examples/config/

Configure Router Control

If your organization purchased the Router Control option, complete the following steps to define the router
or routers that will be used in this workflow.

n If you need more information, you can use the command’s help function by entering:
avidctl platform config acquire-routers --help

To configure the router connection:

t Enter the following command on your single server or primary node:
sudo avidctl platform config acquire-routers -r <device>
Where <device> is the realm of the router services; one realm per one router device. You can specify
one or more routers in the same command by including additional device values. For example:
sudo avidctl platform config acquire-routers -r wavd-rtra -r wavd-rtrb
After you press Enter, the values are written to an acquire-routers.yaml file that is added to the
system's Config Store. You can also find an example of this configuration file at
/opt/avid/examples/config/

Configuring Servers for Clip Mover

If you plan to use the Clip Mover app to enable fast transfer of assets between FastServe Ingest and
FastServe Playout, you need to run the following script to define the FastServe Playout servers that will be
used in this workflow. For more information on the Clip Mover app, see "Using the Clip Mover App" in the
Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX User's Guide.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config fst --help

To run the server configuration script:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the configuration
script:
sudo avidctl platform config fst --server <value-1> --server <value-2>
Where each <value> represents the IP address or hostname of a FastServe Playout server (in any
order).
In the following example, the administrator configured two FastServe Playout servers:
sudo avidctl platform config fst --server wavd-fsp1 --server wavd-fsp2
2. Press Enter (or Return) to execute the script.

111
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

You configuration information is written to a fst.yaml file that is added to the system's Config
Store.
3. After you deploy the feature pack later in this chapter, you must complete some additional steps to
complete the configuration. For details, see "Configuring the Clip Mover Settings" on page 226.

Configuring the MediaCentral Sync Controller

Avid MediaCentral Sync enables system administrators to synchronize MediaCentral Production
Management metadata and Avid NEXIS media with one or more similarly configured Production
Management workgroups. Administrators can create, monitor, and manage synchronization tasks through
an intuitive web-based user interface.

If you enable the MediaCentral Sync feature pack, the deployment process installs a copy of the avid-sync-
controller service on each MediaCentral Cloud UX server. The following process configures settings that
allow the avid-sync-controller and Avid XFER to connect to the shares that are created during the
Production Management Exchange Service installation process.

For more information on the MediaCentral Sync app and the Production Management Exchange Service,
see the Avid MediaCentral | Sync Administration Guide.

To configure the avid-sync-controller:

1. Enter the following command:

sudo avidctl platform config mcsync-share --user <my_user> --password <my_
pass> --domain <my_domain>
Where the following values are used:
– <my_user>: Specify the same Production Management Service Execution user that you defined
when installing the Production Management Engine. This must be the same user that you enter
during the process of “Installing the MC|PM Exchange Service” — as documented in the Avid
MediaCentral | Sync Administration Guide.
– <my_pass>: Enter the password for this user account.
– <my_domain>: Enter the domain name in which this user account is created.
For example:
sudo avidctl platform config mcsync-share --user syncadmin --password
Avid123 --domain wavd.com
2. Press Enter (or Return) to execute the script.
As the script does not verify access to the Avid NEXIS system or validate the syntax, make sure that
your values are correct. If you find an error, repeat this process with the corrected values.
You configuration information is written to an mcsync-share.yaml file that is added to the
system's Config Store.

Configuring the Frame-Ancestor Security Policy

During the deployment process, MediaCentral Cloud UX configures the content-security-policy http header
to “frame-ancestors: 'self'”. While enhancing system security, this configuration value might prevent
MediaCentral Cloud UX from running as an embedded “iFrame” in products such as the Avid MediaCentral |
Panel for NRCS — if the connection is made from a different origin, such as a different domain or a sub-
domain within your network.

If your clients access MediaCentral Cloud UX through an embedded panel from a different origin, you must
complete the following steps to alter the MediaCentral Cloud UX configuration to enable this connection.

112
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

c The following configuration changes might weaken system security and could expose your systems to
cross-site scripting attacks. Only enable these changes if your network requires it.

To enable remote origins:

1. Sign into your single server or primary node with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Copy the example configuration file to its active location (/etc/avid/config/) to enable the security
policy change:
sudo cp /opt/avid/examples/config/http-security.yaml /etc/avid/config/http-
security.yaml
3. Using the Linux vi editor, review the file contents and update the values as necessary for your
deployment. The example configuration file includes three variables, each set to true by default:
– (http_config) frame_ancestors_enabled: true
– (http_config) proxy_cookie_flags: true
– (oauth) frame_ancestors_enabled: true
Notice that the “frame_ancestors” value appears in two locations in the file. Depending on your
deployment type, you might want to alter these default values. The following configuration options
are available:
t To enable access from all iFrame-based MediaCentral panels:
Configure both frame_ancestors_enabled values to true, and the proxy_cookie_flags value to
true. You must also add frame_ancestors: '*' to both the default and oauth sections
of the file, as shown in the following example:
[avid@wavd-mcux ~]# cat /opt/avid/examples/config/http-security.yaml
global:
http_config:
default:
content_security_policy:
frame_ancestors_enabled: true
proxy_cookie_flags: true
frame_ancestors: '*'
oauth:
content_security_policy:
frame_ancestors_enabled: true
frame_ancestors: '*'
t To disable access to MediaCentral Cloud UX from iFrame-based panels and enhance system
security:
Configure both frame_ancestors_enabled values to true, and the proxy_cookie_flags value to
false. Do not add the frame_ancestors: '*' lines to the file.
If you need to revert your system to the original default configuration, you must reconfigure the
values in the file, and then redeploy. Following the redeploy process, you can delete the http-
security.yaml file from /etc/avid/config/.
4. (optional) Write the configuration file to the Config Store.
For details, see "Understanding the Config Store" on page 526.

113
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Enabling a Multi-Site Configuration

Multi-Site is an optional and licensed feature for MediaCentral Cloud UX that allows you to connect
multiple MediaCentral Cloud UX systems together to create a more seamless user experience for Enterprise-
level organizations.

This section includes the following processes:

l "Creating or Modifying the Sites File" below
You must run this script for all new multi-site installations and you must repeat these steps for each
site in the multi-site configuration.
l "Removing Remote Sites from the Sites File" on the next page
Allows you to remove a site from your multi-site configuration.
After your MediaCentral Cloud UX system is fully deployed, you must decide which MediaCentral modules
will be shared with which users. For more information, see "Using the Multi-Site Settings App" on page 260.

Following a successful Multi-Site deployment, you might want to review the process for "Configuring a
Secure Kafka Connection" on page 482 to enhance system security.

c The following processes require you to specify the FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) of your
MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server or cluster. If you followed this guide, you should have already
verified DNS resolution of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server or servers and you should be using a
trusted certificate that includes the FQDN information for your system. If your certificate does not
include a valid FQDN, the multi-site configuration process will fail.

If you do not want to enable a multi-site configuration, you can bypass this procedure and continue with
the next phase of the installation.

Creating or Modifying the Sites File

The sites.yaml file is a list of all remote MediaCentral Cloud UX systems that plan to connect to your
local site in a multi-site configuration. The file includes the public key data, URL, and a user-friendly name
for each remote site.

You can use the following process to create a new multi-site configuration or you can use the same script to
add new sites to an existing multi-site configuration.

n If you need more information, you can use the command’s help function by entering:
avidctl platform config sites --help

Reminder: As with other system configuration changes, if you add or remove a site from the sites.yaml
configuration file, you must redeploy the system with the avidctl platform redeploy script. For more
information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

To create the sites file or add a system to the file:

1. Before you run the following script, you must make sure that all remote MediaCentral Cloud UX sites
are running and fully operational. If your local site cannot connect to a remote site, you will not be
able to obtain a local copy of the remote site key.
2. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to create the sites file or add a
site to an existing file:
sudo avidctl platform config sites add https://<fqdn> --label "<name>"
The following list explains each of the switches and values available in this command:

114
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

– <fqdn>: This value represents the FQDN of the remote MediaCentral Cloud UX system. If you
have a cluster, specify the cluster’s virtual FQDN. This is a required value.
– label: Enclosed in quotes, the <name> value represents a friendly name for the remote
MediaCentral Cloud UX system. This is a required value.
The following provides an example of this command:
sudo avidctl platform config sites add https://nyc-mcux.wavd.com --label
"New York"
When you press Enter, the sites.yaml is created or updated in the system's Config Store.
3. (optional) If you need to add another remote site, repeat the previous step — replacing the values for
the next remote site.
Removing Remote Sites from the Sites File
This section includes processes to remove sites from the multi-site configuration. If you need to remove a
site, you must make sure to remove that site from all locations. For example if you have three sites (A, B, and
C) and you remove sites A and B from the configuration on site C, you must make sure to remove site C
from sites A and B. Failure to do so could results in unexpected configuration problems and user
experiences.

To remove a single remote site from the multi-site configuration:

t Enter the following command on your single server or primary node:
sudo avidctl platform config sites remove <url>
Where <url> is the address of the remote site.
When you press Enter, the site is removed from the local configuration file.

n If you are not sure of the correct URL address, you can enter the following command to view the
contents of the sites.yaml file: avidctl platform config sites list

To remove all remote sites from the multi-site configuration:

t Enter the following command on your single server or primary node:
sudo avidctl platform config sites remove --all
When you press Enter, all sites are removed from the local configuration file.

Enabling System Monitoring

MediaCentral Cloud UX allows you to monitor and collect run-time information on your single-server or
cluster. This feature is available to all MediaCentral Cloud UX customers and does not require any
additional licensing from Avid to enable.

Comprised of distinct sub-systems, you can elect to install and configure the monitoring (metrics) system
only, or both monitoring and logging. The monitoring tools allow you to observe important information
about your systems during normal operation — such as disk space, CPU usage, memory consumption,
network data, and more. Even without long-term logging data, this information can be used to assist
troubleshooting efforts if the need arises. Additionally, Grafana allows you to configure alarms that can
trigger a notification if certain thresholds are met or exceeded.

If you do not want to configure system monitoring, you can bypass this procedure and continue with the
next phase of the installation.

c Avid strongly recommends that you deploy the System Monitoring tools for all MediaCentral Cloud UX
installations. This recommendation applies specifically to the Monitoring aspect of the System
Monitoring solution. Deployment of the Logging feature is at your discretion.

115
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Monitoring vs Logging

The config metrics script referenced below installs the monitoring services (Prometheus® / Grafana®)
on your MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server or cluster. These services must always run on the
MediaCentral Cloud UX server(s) because Prometheus must operate inside Kubernetes to be able to collect
metrics.

The config logging script configures the system monitoring logging node which might or might not be
the same as a MediaCentral Cloud UX node. The logging node is responsible for collecting and processing
the information provided by the Kibana® monitoring services. This information is stored in an Elasticsearch®
database. Since the maintenance of this database and the associated systems can be resource intensive,
Avid allows you to configure the logging node in one of two ways:
l Externally
Organizations that are interested system monitoring might have an Elasticsearch and Kibana system
deployed. In this case the logging setup script allows you to integrate with these existing systems.
However, even if you do not have an existing setup, there are advantages to creating an external
logging node:
– The resource intensive processes are offloaded from the MediaCentral Cloud UX system.
– If there is a problem with the Cloud UX system, the logging node is more likely to be isolated
from the issue and can be used to assist in the troubleshooting effort.
If you decide to enable external monitoring, Avid recommends that you use Elasticsearch v8.12.2 or
later.
l Internally
Avid supports the ability to configure a MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server or cluster node as a
logging node. However, be aware that the systems and services that create this solution are resource
intensive. If you configure a Cloud UX server as a logging node, you could see a performance impact
which could negatively impact the MediaCentral Cloud UX user experience.
If you have a cluster configuration of four or more nodes, Avid recommends that you configure a
worker node as the logging node.
The system monitoring solution used in MediaCentral Cloud UX is comprised of multiple services and
integrated systems. The following table provides additional information on these systems.

Component Description Monitoring Node(s) Logging Node

Fluent Bit Log aggregation layer NA 1+n instances (depending

on number of nodes)
Fluentd Ingest layer into NA 1 instance (no high
Elasticsearch availability)
Prometheus® Metrics back-end 1 instance (no high NA
availability)
Grafana® Metrics front-end 1 instance (no high NA
availability)
For more information, see
"Working with Grafana" on
page 531.
Elasticsearch Back-end for log NA 1 instance (no high
aggregation availability)

If the logging node goes

down, log aggregation

116
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Component Description Monitoring Node(s) Logging Node

functionality is lost until the

issue is resolved.
Kibana® Front-end NA 1 instance (no high
availability)
Kibana is exposed on port
30001 with a delivered TLS
certificate. If you configure
system monitoring prior to
running the final deploy
script, Kibana uses the
MediaCentral Cloud UX
certificate.
Curator Cleanup cron job NA 1 instance (no high
availability)
Curator is deployed as a
cron job to cleanup
Elasticsearch in a regular
interval.
If deployed internally, Avid configures Curator on the Cloud UX node. If deployed externally,
Curator must be configured manually on the logging node. For more information, see
https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/client/curator/current/index.html.

If you deploy monitoring only, you can visualize the Prometheus metrics through Grafana. If you also
deploy a logging node, the following diagram might help you understand the log collection and processing
workflow.

During normal operation, the Logging node creates a /var/data/local/pv/mon/fluentd/ directory

that includes chunks of buffer data. When the buffer is flushed, the system saves the data as archived log
files (logs.<time>.log.gz) at /var/log/fluentd/. This is essentially the same transformed data
that is sent to Elasticsearch. For more information on this topic, see the Fluentd documentation at:
https://docs.fluentd.org/buffer/file.

Altering the System Monitoring Configuration

If you deploy system monitoring as an internal deployment and you want to switch to an external
deployment (or switch from external to internal) at a future point in time, you simply need to repeat the
steps below to reconfigure your system and redeploy monitoring as described in "Deploying System

117
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Monitoring" on page 131. However, note that this reconfiguration process does not migrate existing
Elasticsearch data.

If you have already deployed and enabled system monitoring and subsequently need to disable it, you can
enter the following command to remove the services from the Kubernetes cluster.

sudo avidctl monitoring remove

Note that this command removes the services, but it does not delete the data. If you deployed system
monitoring internally, this command does not remove the Elasticsearch database.

Configuring System Monitoring

The process to enable system monitoring is described in the following sections:

l "Configuring the System Monitoring Node" below
l "Configuring an External Logging Node" on the next page
l "Configuring an Internal Logging Node" on page 120
Configuring the System Monitoring Node
The following process installs and configures the software that enables the system monitoring services on
your Cloud UX single-server or cluster. As these services simply monitor system resources, they consume a
minimal amount of memory and CPU cycles. After the software is installed, you must run additional scripts
to configure the node that will be responsible for running more resource intensive tasks such as processing
the log information.

During the configuration process, you must decide how you want to sign in to Grafana. The following three
options are available:
l Internal Authentication
The MediaCentral Cloud UX deployment process automatically creates a default user (admin) and
password (Avid123) for Grafana. If you select this option, you must use this user account to access
Grafana. If you select either AD or Okta integration, you can delete the admin user through the
Grafana user interface if desired.
l Integrate with Windows Active Directory
This allows any user that is included in the Cloud UX Admin group access to Grafana. You define this
group during the process of "Integrating with Active Directory" on page 83.
l Integrate with Okta
If you select this option, you will be asked to provide the following information about your Okta
account:
– (required) Client ID and Client Secret from your Okta OAuth app.
– (required) Your Okta org domain.
– Allowed groups — This allows you to limit access to authenticated users.
– Allowed domains — This allows you to limit access to the users to the specific domains.
– Role attribute path to control user access
For additional information on these fields, contact your site's Okta administrator or refer to Okta's
documentation.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl monitoring config metrics --help

118
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

To install the system monitoring software:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the configuration
script:
sudo avidctl monitoring config metrics -i
2. The first prompt in the script asks you to verify that you want to enable metrics.
t Enter Y (y) to enable system monitoring.
t Enter N (n) to exit the script.
3. The script asks if you want to enable integration with Active Directory.
t Enter Y (y) to integrate with Active Directory.
t Enter N (n) to either use the default local user, or integrate with Okta.
4. If you answered no the previous question, the script asks if you want to enable integration with Okta.
t Enter Y (y) to integrate with Okta.
In this case you must enter data related to your Okta account.
t Enter N (n) to use the default local user.
5. At the next prompt, you must identify the node that will run the metrics back-end (Prometheus) and
front-end (Grafana). The script displays a list of MediaCentral Cloud UX nodes.
Enter the corresponding number for the node and press Enter.
This is the final piece of data required by the script. After you press Enter, the values are written to a
monitoring.yaml file that is added to the system's Config Store. Additionally, the metrics=true
label is assigned to the node that you specified above. You can verify that the label has been added
using the kubectl get nodes --show-labels command.
6. Complete one of the following to continue the system monitoring setup:
t "Configuring an External Logging Node" below.
t "Configuring an Internal Logging Node" on the next page.
Configuring an External Logging Node
If you want to integrate with an external Kibana system, complete the following process to configure
external log aggregation.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl monitoring config logging --help

To configure external log aggregation:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the configuration
script:
sudo avidctl monitoring config logging -i
2. The first prompt asks if you want to enable logging.
Type Y (y) and press Enter to confirm that you want to continue.
3. The script asks you to determine if you want to send logs to an external instance of Elasticsearch.
Type Y (y) and press Enter to continue.
4. Enter the short host name, FQDN, or IP address of the external Elasticsearch server.
To avoid DNS resolution issues, Avid recommends using an IP address.
5. Enter the network port used to communicate with the Elasticsearch server.

119
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

The default value for this field is 9200.

6. At the SSL Enabled prompt, enter Y (yes) to enable a Transport Layer Security (TLS) connection or N
(no) to use an unsecured connection.
If you want to enable TLS, you must verify that the Elasticsearch host is also configured to
communicate through an TLS connection.
7. Enter Y (yes) or N (no) to determine if Elasticsearch requires user authentication.
t If you enter Yes, you must specify an Elasticsearch user name and password.
t If you enter No, you advance to the next step automatically.
8. Enter the name of the index pattern that will be created in Elasticsearch.
The default and recommended value for this field is cloudux-.
This is the final piece of data required by the script. After you press Enter, the values are written to a
logging.yaml file that is added to the system's Config Store.
9. Enter the flush interval (in seconds).
Logging data is maintained in a temporary memory buffer to avoid constant writes to disk. The flush
period defines how often that buffer is written to the log file on disk. The default value for this field is
60.
10. Do one of the following to continue:
t If you are completing a new MediaCentral Cloud UX install, continue to "Running the Feature
Pack Deployment Script" on page 127.
t If you are enabling system monitoring on a MediaCentral Cloud UX system that is already fully
deployed, proceed to the following sections to complete the configuration:
– "Running the Feature Pack Deployment Script" on page 127
– "Deploying System Monitoring" on page 131
Configuring an Internal Logging Node
If you want to use a MediaCentral Cloud UX server as a logging node, complete the following process to
configure internal log aggregation by installing Elasticsearch and Kibana.

When deploying an internal configuration, Avid recommends that you mount the monitoring data root
directory (/var/data/local/pv/mon) to a dedicated disk or a dedicated partition of at least 150GB of
an existing disk. If you did not already complete this process as part of "Configuring the Installation
Destination" on page 40, see the Ubuntu documentation at https://help.ubuntu.com/ for instructions on
how to alter your existing configuration.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl monitoring config logging --help

To configure internal log aggregation:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the configuration
script:
sudo avidctl monitoring config logging -i
2. The first prompt asks if you want to enable logging.
Type Y (y) and press Enter to confirm that you want to continue.
3. The script asks you to determine if you want to send logs to an external instance of Elasticsearch.
Type N (n) to confirm that you want to use an internal instance of Elasticsearch.
4. Enter a value to define the number of days of logs that you want to maintain.

120
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

The default value for this setting is 30 days. If your logging node has limited disk space, you should
consider reducing this value.
5. Enter a value in a cron format that defines the log cleanup schedule.
The default value for this setting is: 0 12 * * *
This value clears the logs every twelve hours. Cron formatting can be somewhat complicated.
However, there are multiple resources available on the Internet that can help you understand cron job
options.
6. Enter the name of the index pattern that will be created in Elasticsearch.
The default and recommended value for this field is cloudux-.
7. Enter the flush interval (in seconds).
Logging data is maintained in a temporary memory buffer to avoid constant writes to disk. The flush
period defines how often that buffer is written to the log file on disk. The default value for this field is
60.
8. At the next prompt, you must identify the node that will run the logging back-end (Elasticsearch) and
front-end (Kibana). The script displays a list of MediaCentral Cloud UX nodes.
Enter the corresponding number for the node and press Enter.
This is the final piece of data required by the script. After you press Enter, the values are written to a
logging.yaml file that is added to the system's Config Store. Additionally, the logging=true label is
assigned to the node that you specified above. You can verify that the label has been added using
the kubectl get nodes --show-labels command.
9. Do one of the following to continue:
t If you are completing a new MediaCentral Cloud UX install, continue to "Running the Feature
Pack Deployment Script" on page 127.
t If you are enabling system monitoring on a MediaCentral Cloud UX system that is already fully
deployed, proceed to the following sections to complete the configuration:
– "Running the Feature Pack Deployment Script" on page 127
– "Deploying System Monitoring" on page 131

121
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Configuring Audit Logging

MediaCentral Cloud UX creates a number of logs that provide administrators with information about
startup events, subscription licensing usage, services, and other details about many of its subsystems.
While these system logs are created automatically by default, audit logs are an optional feature that focus
on user operations (not system operations). Once enabled, this feature can monitor the following actions:
l User sign-in and failed sign-in attempts.
l Information about jobs that appear in the Process app.
l Quota usage for Avid Ada Transcribe (MediaCentral | STT Base Package)
This feature allows you to process the log files in two different ways. You can choose to enable one or both,
but at least one of the following must be enabled to use this feature:
l Local Logs Files
If you select this option, the system saves log files to a file path that you define when running the
script. While you can review the log files (buffer.<string>.log) using a standard text editor, the
log format is designed for external systems like Elasticsearch that can properly process and display
the data.
After a 24hr period, log files are compressed into a .gz file format. Buffered data is written to a new
log at the end of the next buffer flush period. Administrators should be aware that MediaCentral
Cloud UX does not automatically delete old log files. This is a design decision to allow organizations
to maintain the log files for as long as each site deems appropriate. Organizations should periodically
archive or delete old logs to avoid using an excessive amount of disk space.
l Integration with Elasticsearch
If you have an external instance of Elasticsearch, you can send the logs through an encrypted and
optionally authenticated connection to the Elasticsearch host for further processing.
Although MediaCentral Cloud UX might host one or more instances of Elasticsearch, Avid does not
support sending audit logs to any of these instances. You must define an external host.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config audit-log --help

Complete the following steps to enable audit logging:

1. Enter the one of following commands on your single server or primary node to execute the
configuration script:
t If you want to enable audit logging with the default local log file configuration, enter the
following command:
sudo avidctl platform config audit-log --enable
After you press Enter, the values are written to an audit-logging.yaml file that is added to
the system's Config Store.
t If you want to change the defaults, or enable integration with Elasticsearch, enter the
following command to run the script in interactive mode:
sudo avidctl platform config audit-log -i
The script continues, prompting you to answer a series of additional questions.
2. At the file backend prompt, decide if you want to save local audit logs by entering Y (or y) for yes or N
(or n) for no.
If you answer yes, the system prompts you for two additional pieces of information:

122
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

t Define a location in which to store the audit logs. Press Enter or Return to accept the default
path of /var/data/local/audit, or type a custom path.
t Enter a value (in number of seconds) that defines the buffer flush period and press Enter or
Return.
When the audit log service receives data, it keeps it in a temporary memory buffer to avoid
constant writes to disk. The flush period defines how often that buffer is written to the log file
on disk. The default value is 1 (second).
If you enter no, the script proceeds to the next prompt. In this case the system does not save any
local audit logs.
3. Next you must decide if you want to send logs to an external instance of Elasticsearch.
Enter Y (or y) for yes or N (or n) for no.
If you enter no, the script exits. If you enter yes, you must define additional parameters.
a. Enter the connection information for your Elasticsearch hosts and press Enter or Return.
You must enter each host value using one of the following formats:
– <host>:<port>
– <scheme>://<user>:<password>@<host>:<port>
Where the following values are defined:
– <host>: This is the IP address or FQDN of your Elasticsearch host.
– <port>: This is the network port used to connect to Elasticsearch.
– <scheme>: Available options are http or https.
– <user>: A user name that can connect to your Elasticsearch host.
– <password>: If you specified a user name, enter the associated password.
You can enter multiple hosts by entering multiple values, separating each with a comma.
For example: host1:port1,host2:port2 or alternatively:
https://host1:port1,https://username@password:host2:port2
b. Enter a name for the Elasticsearch index, or press Enter or Return to use default index name
(auditlog).
The script attempts to contact the host to verify its existence. If the system fails to contact
Elasticsearch, the script exits with an error.
This is the final piece of data required by the script. After you press Enter, the values are written to an
audit-logging.yaml file that is added to the system's Config Store.
To disable audit logging:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node:

sudo avidctl platform config audit-log --enable=false
The audit-logging.yaml file is updated, defining false values for each audit log option.
2. Redeploy the configuration.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

123
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Configuring the Email Settings

Some MediaCentral applications have the ability to generate e-mails to notify users of important system
events. This section allows you to configure the settings used to establish the connection to your SMTP
server, and allow you to enable or disable this feature system-wide.

In the case of the Collaborate app, offline users are able to receive a summary e-mail of any notifications
that they might have missed while signed out of MediaCentral Cloud UX. This e-mail is generated
automatically every 60 minutes. Users receive an e-mail only if another user took an action that affected
the receiver, such as adding the user to a new assignment.

E-mails arrive in the user’s in-box, showing “Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX” in the subject header.
Administrators can define the “From” e-mail account by defining the SMTP FROM value described below.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config smtp --help

To enable the e-mail settings:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the script:
sudo avidctl platform config smtp -i
2. The first prompt asks if you want to enable or disable this feature.
t Type yes and press Enter to confirm that you want to enable the feature.
The script continues to the next prompt.
t Type no and press Enter to disable the feature.
If you already completed this process, the system updates the configuration file in the Config
Store with a "disabled" flag so that you can easily re-enable the feature at a later time.
3. Enter a value for each of the following prompts, followed by the Enter key.
– SMTP Server Hostname: Enter the IP address or FQDN of your SMTP server.
– SMTP Port: Enter the port number that can be used to communicate with your SMTP server.
The standard port number used for this value is 587.
– User Name: Enter the name of a domain user that is capable of connecting to the SMTP server.
For example: smtpserviceuser
– Password: Enter the password for the user specified above.
– Connection Security: Enter 1, 2, or 3 to specify one of the following options:
t Enter 1 to continue without a security protocol.
t Enter 2 to use StartTLS.
t Enter 3 to use TLS/SSL.
For more information on these options, see https://www.mimecast.com/blog/ssl-vs-tls-vs-
starttls-encryption/.
– Enable Certificate Check: Enter y (Y) or n (N) to verify the certificate verification setting.
SMTP servers often use certificates to enhance security by verifying the authenticity of a
connection.
If you enter yes (y), the system attempts to validate the certificate during its connection to the
SMTP server. If the certificate is self-signed, or if it invalid in any way, MediaCentral Cloud UX
will not connect to the server.

124
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

If your environment requires it, you can enter no (n) to disable this setting and skip the
certificate validation step.
– SMTP FROM (Sender): Enter the e-mail address that will appear in the “From” field in the email.
For example: [email protected]
4. After you press Enter, the values are written to a smtp.yaml file that is added to the system's Config
Store.

Configuring a Licensing Proxy Connection

Organizations that license MediaCentral Cloud UX through subscription require an active connection to the
internet so that the system can continue to validate the license. To enhance security, Avid allows you to
route this connection through a proxy server.

Use of the proxy server is specific to the licensing service. Any other traffic between the MediaCentral Cloud
UX server and the internet does not use this connection. The actual proxy server must be customer supplied
as the required services are not installed with MediaCentral Cloud UX.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config lms-proxy --help

To enable a proxy server connection for subscription licensing:

t Enter the following command from your single server or primary node:
sudo avidctl platform config lms-proxy --enabled --host <proxy-host> --port
324 --user <user> --password <password>
Where the following values are defined:
– <proxy-host>: This is the IP address or FQDN of your proxy server.
– <user>: (optional) If your connection requires it, enter the name of a user that can connect to
the server.
– <password>: (optional) If you specified a user name, enter the associated password.
After you press Enter, the values are written to a lms-proxy.yaml file that is added to the system's
Config Store.
To disable the connection to the proxy server:

1. Enter the following command from your single server or primary node:
sudo avidctl platform config lms-proxy --enabled=false
2. Redeploy the configuration.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

Configuring the Chat App

The Chat app connects MediaCentral Cloud UX to Microsoft 365 to allow users to connect with each other
through an integration with Microsoft Teams. The connection to the Teams infrastructure is established
through the Microsoft Graph Toolkit.

To enable the Chat app workflow, you must have the following:
l Your organization must license and configure Microsoft Teams separately from MediaCentral Cloud
UX.
Avid does not provide any Microsoft licensing.
l You must connect MediaCentral Cloud IX to Microsoft Entra (formally Microsoft Azure AD).

125
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

While this connection is required for Chat, you are not required to use Microsoft Entra as your
primary authentication provider for MediaCentral Cloud UX.
l You must register an app within the Entra system.
For more information see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/toolkit/get-started/add-aad-
app-registration.
l You must purchase a Chat app license and apply it to your MediaCentral Cloud UX system.
For more information, see "Using the License App" on page 168.
Administrators are not required to install a local instance of Microsoft Teams on individual workstations to
enable the Chat workflow.

Integrating with Microsoft Entra

Run the following script to configure MediaCentral Cloud UX with your Microsoft Entra app ID.

To connect to Microsoft Entra:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the configuration
script:
sudo avidctl platform config entra -i
2. Enter your Microsoft Entra app ID at the prompt and press Enter.
After you press Enter, the value is written to an entra.yaml file that is added to the system's Config
Store.
If you fail to complete this process, Chat will not be available in MediaCentral Cloud UX - even if you are
properly licensed for the feature. If you enter an invalid app ID, the Chat app displays a message similar to
the following:

AADST700016: Application with identifier <your_app_ID> was not found in the directory <directory_name>.

126
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Running the Feature Pack Deployment Script

This script deploys additional Avid software packages that enable much of the MediaCentral Cloud UX
functionality.

c Do not install feature packs for any features that you have not purchased or that you have no plans
on using. For example, if you do not plan to integrate with a MediaCentral Asset Management module,
do not install this feature pack.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform deploy --help

To run the deployment script:

1. Before you can run the following script, you must mount the Feature Packs ISO (mediacentral_
feature_packs_<build>.iso) to the /features directory on your single server or primary node.
The command used to complete this task might vary. If for example you copied the feature pack ISO
file directly to the server, you would use the following command to mount the ISO on the system:
sudo mount -o ro /<path>/mediacentral_feature_packs_<version>.iso /features
For information on alternative methods to mount an ISO to a Linux directory, see "Mounting an ISO
Image" on page 455.
2. Enter the following command on the same node that the ISO is mounted:
sudo avidctl platform deploy -i
The script checks the system's Config Store to verify the existence of the system configuration files.
While some files, such as pam.yaml, might be present in certain environments only, other files such
as cert.yaml and auth.yaml must be available on the single-server or primary node of every
installation.
If the script finds a configuration file, it reports the status of each file [ OK ]. If the script cannot find
the configuration files, the script alerts you to the situation and provides you with an opportunity to
abort the installation and resolve the issue.

c If you are missing the configuration files, you are most likely installing a cluster and you are
attempting to complete the feature pack installation on a node other than the primary node.
Verify that you are completing this step on the primary node.
If you see the following message: “[ERROR] Site Keys and Issuer is not configured”, it means that you
did not complete the process for "Creating a Site Key" on page 73. After you have successfully
created the key files, you can return to this process to deploy the feature packs.
3. The script asks if you want to import features from the Feature Pack ISO.
t If you are performing a new installation, or if you are adding a new feature to an existing
installation, you must enter Y (yes) to import the feature packs from the mounted ISO file.
Example: If you are adding the Publisher app to an existing deployed system, the script must
pull data from the ISO file to complete the installation of the new feature.
t If you made a configuration change to the system and you need to redeploy the feature packs
that were already successfully deployed, you can enter N (no) at this prompt. In this case the
deployment process is much faster as you are not copying files from the ISO.
Example: You updated your Authentication Provider data and you need to deploy it.

127
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

4. (if applicable) If you entered yes to the previous question, the script prompts you to define the mount
point for the Feature Pack ISO. Press Enter to accept the default path of /features/feature-
packs/.
If you did not mount the ISO or if the script cannot find the /feature-packs directory at the defined
location, the script replies with an error and prompts you for a valid path.
If you entered No to the previous question, you are not prompted for the feature pack path.
5. The script prompts you with a series of yes or no questions. Each prompt is associated with a default
value which is identified as a capitol Y for yes or N for no. If you press Enter at the prompt, the default
value is used. Do one of the following:
t Press the Enter key to accept the default value.
t Press Y (or y) to install the feature pack.
t Press N (or n) to skip or uninstall this feature pack.
n If you are returning to this script after completing your system installation, you can enter N at
the prompt to remove any previously deployed feature pack from your system.

This release includes the following feature pack prompts:

– MediaCentral Production Management
– MediaCentral Asset Management
The Asset Management feature pack includes the Associations app. You must install this
feature pack if you are connecting to MediaCentral Asset Management, Graphics
Management, or Shared Library.
– MediaCentral Hoverscrub
For more information on Hoverscrub, see "MediaCentral | Hoverscrub" on page 470.
– Enterprise Editing
If you deploy this feature pack, your environment must include both an Asset Management
and a Production Management module. For more information, see “Editing Mixed Sequences”
in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.
After you complete the installation process, make sure to access and save the Sync Job
Distributor settings. See "Configuring Enterprise Editing Sync Settings" on page 217.
– MediaCentral Ingest
For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Ingest User’s Guide.
– Media Composer Enterprise Admin Tool
For more information, see the Avid Media Composer | Enterprise Admin Tool Administration
Guide.
– Asset Logger
For more information, see “Working with the Log App” in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX
User’s Guide.
– Publisher
If you have purchased the MediaCentral Cloud UX Publisher app, you must deploy this
feature. For more information, see “Using the Publisher App” in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud
UX User’s Guide.
– Distributed Processing

128
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

For more information, see the Avid Media Composer | Distributed Processing Administration
Guide.
– Avid Ada
This feature pack deploys the Avid Ada Worker that connects to Media Composer Distributed
Processing. In this release, Avid Ada Worker processes the audio media to create transcript
data for Transcribe.
Only deploy this feature pack if you have purchased a MediaCentral | STT Base Package
license, and you have completed the process for "Configuring Avid Ada Capable Nodes" on
page 69.
– 3rd Party Creative Tools
Only deploy this feature pack if your environment includes an Avid NEXIS system and you have
completed the process for "Configuring Avid NEXIS API Services" on page 96.
For more information on features related to this workflow, see the documentation for the Avid
MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools.
– NRCS GFX Integration
If you have purchased a license to enable the MediaCentral | MOS Panel for Graphics, you
must deploy this feature.
– NRCS Integration
If you have purchased a license to enable the MediaCentral | Panel for AP ENPS, MediaCentral |
Panel for CGI OpenMedia, or MediaCentral | Panel for Octopus Newsroom, you must deploy
this feature.
– Media Services
This feature pack is required to enable functionality in the following workflows:
– Send to Playback through the MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools
– MediaCentral Sync
– Avid Ada Transcribe
– Avid Maestro
Only deploy this feature pack if you plan to integrate your workflow with an Avid Maestro
News system.
– MediaCentral Acquire
If you have purchased a license for the Acquire app, you must deploy this feature. For more
information, see "Using the Acquire App" on page 289.
– Speech To Text
If you purchased a MediaCentral | STT Base Package license, this feature pack enables the
Transcript tab in the Asset Editor and related features. For more information, see "Using the
Transcript Tab" in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.
– MediaCentral Sync
If you have purchased a license for MediaCentral Sync, you must deploy this feature. For more
information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Sync Administration Guide.
– Mediaservices Cloud
This feature pack is required for organizations that plan to enable a Remote STP (Send to
Playback) workflow. Remote STP allows you to send local assets to a remote server (such as
Avid FastServe) that is not part of your local area network.

129
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

– Azure Storage Connector

For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management Azure Storage
Integration ReadMe.
– Azure Media Analytics
This feature pack has been added for future use.
– GCP Transcoder Gateway and
GCP Storage Connector
For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management GCP Transcoder and
Storage Integration ReadMe.
– AWS Elemental and
AWS S3 Storage Connector
If you plan to install the AWS Media Analytics Connector feature pack, you must install the
AWS S3 Storage Connector when prompted. However if you do not manually select the
Storage feature pack, the script is programed to install it automatically for you as a required
prerequisite.
For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management AWS Transcoder and
Storage Integration ReadMe.
– AWS Media Analytics Connector
For more information on this feature, see the Avid MediaCentral | Analytics ReadMe.
– Avid Media Analytics Gateway
This feature pack is required if you want to use Avid Ada Transcribe features.
This package also includes components that are required by the Azure Media Analytics, and
the AWS Media Analytics Connector feature packs for use with MediaCentral Analytics. If you
install either of those packs, you must also install this feature pack.
– Avid Media Analytics Engine
This feature pack is required if you want to use Avid Ada Transcribe features. The Media
Analytics Engine sends Media Analytics jobs to the Media Analytics Gateway.
Requires the Avid Media Analytics Gateway pack (mediaanalytics-gateway).
– MediaCentral Collaborate
Required if you plan to use the Collaborate app or MediaCentral Collaborate Mobile app.
– Clip Mover
For more information, see "Using the Clip Mover App" in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud
UX User's Guide.
– Action Engine AM-Orchestration
This feature pack is required if you want to create Platform Automation rules in Rules Editor
that trigger Asset Management orchestration actions.
– Action Engine PM-STP
This feature pack is required if you want to create Platform Automation in Rules Editor rules
that trigger Production Management Send to Playback actions.
For more information, see "Using the Rules Editor App" on page 318.
The feature pack deployment process begins. Be patient as this process can take some time. When
complete, the script should reply with a “Deployment was successful” message.

130
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

c With the majority of the installation process complete, take this time to re-enable password
protected sudo access to your server(s). This an important security measure that you must not
bypass.
6. (optional) After the feature packs are imported, they still need to be deployed through Kubernetes
before MediaCentral Cloud UX is available for use. You can use the Kubernetes Dashboard to monitor
the deployment process. For more information, see "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on
page 520.
When you first access the dashboard, the system will most likely still be in the process of starting up.
In this case, multiple areas appear as yellow or red.

When all services are running, the dashboard should report a green status for all components.

c Some Workloads might not turn green until after you have imported a license through the
License app.

Deploying System Monitoring

If you completed the process for "Enabling System Monitoring" on page 115, you must now deploy System
Monitoring on the MediaCentral Cloud UX system.

c Complete this step only if you enabled System Monitoring.

To deploy System Monitoring:
t Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the configuration
script:
sudo avidctl monitoring deploy
For more information on using the monitoring features, see "Working with Grafana" on page 531.

131
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Installing Software Updates

Avid releases software updates for MediaCentral Cloud UX on a regular basis to introduce new features and
address customer issues. If a software update is available, you can update your system using one of the
following processes:
l (recommended) License and test your current software deployment. After you have verified basic
functionality, download and install any software updates and retest.
l Download and install the software update now.
For more information on current software updates and related installation procedures, see the latest Avid
MediaCentral | Cloud UX ReadMe on the Avid Knowledge Base.

Signing in to MediaCentral Cloud UX

MediaCentral Cloud UX allows you to sign in to the user interface as either a standard user, or an
administrator.
l Standard User
Standard users have access to User apps such as Browse, Search, and others. Any user that has been
imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX through the User Management app can obtain access to the
User apps. Your level of access to the apps is based on the client license associated with your user
group and the permissions enabled in the User Management app.
l Administrator or OpenID Super Admin
In addition to the User apps, administrators have access to a set of Administrator apps that are
available through a specialized URL. These administrator-only apps allow you to configure user
groups and user permissions, import licenses, and configure additional settings that are related to
your organization’s custom workflow.
During the process of "Configuring an Authentication Provider" on page 82r, you defined an
administrators user group. Any user that is included in that group is granted access the administrator
apps.
If you sign in to the administrator portal and subsequently need to access the user apps, you must sign out
of MediaCentral Cloud UX and sign back in using the standard (non-admin) URL.

n User app access is based on the client license assigned to the group, and the entitlements enabled on
that group.

When authenticating against Active Directory, users must sign in using the sAMAccountName and not the
User Principal Name (UPN). For example a user called John Smith might be able to login to Active Directory
using either jsmith or [email protected]. For MediaCentral Cloud UX the sAMAccountName “jsmith”
must be used. This is also required to maintain compatibility with Asset Management and Production
Management.

When authenticating against an OpenID provider (such as Okta), users must use the user account as
defined by that system.

The following steps detail the process for signing in to MediaCentral Cloud UX as either a standard user or
an administrator.

132
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

To sign into MediaCentral Cloud UX:

1. (if applicable) If you have not already done so, import a trusted certificate into your local workstation
or deploy a Trusted CA certificate in your network.
t If you are using a self-signed certificate or a certificate issued by an Internal CA, refer to the
process for "Importing TLS Certificates" on page 498 to import a trusted certificate.
t If you have already deployed a certificate provided by a public CA, you can bypass this
process and proceed to the next step.
If you attempt to access MediaCentral Cloud UX without importing a certificate, you might see a
security warning indicating that the connection is not private as in the following illustration.

This warning relates to your Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificate and it is usually encountered if
you are using a self-signed certificate or a certificate provided by an internal certificate authority.
You must install a valid signed certificate to access the user interface for all versions of MediaCentral
Cloud UX. Any attempt to bypass this security warning without a valid signed certificate is
unsupported and could result in negative impacts to the user experience.
2. Launch a supported web browser on a Windows or macOS client.
For more information on supported browsers, see https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_
US/compatibility/Avid-Video-Compatibility-Charts.
3. Enter the following URL in the browser’s address bar and press Enter:
https://<hostname>
Where <hostname> is the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the MediaCentral Cloud UX server
or cluster.

c Whenever connecting to MediaCentral Cloud UX, you must use the server’s FQDN.
The MediaCentral Cloud UX welcome screen appears.

133
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Example illustration showing a system configured for Active Directory.

MediaCentral Cloud UX allows you to customize the sign-in experience by giving you the ability to
personalize the welcome screen and the Fast Bar with a custom graphic, such as your corporate logo.
For more information, see "Adding Custom Graphics" on page 458.

n The welcome screen’s language selection menu does not affect the Administrator apps as these
apps are not localized. Administrator apps are always displayed in English and the menu itself is
removed from the user interface when you switch to the Admin login screen.

4. As an administrator, you must access the Administrator apps to license and configure your system.
To complete these tasks, you must do one of the following:
t Click the Avid logo in the upper-left corner of the MediaCentral Cloud UX welcome screen.
The look of the welcome screen changes slightly and the word Administrator appears over the
User Name field. You might also notice that /admin is added to the end of your URL.
If you are connecting to MediaCentral Cloud UX through a panel, such as the Avid
MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools, this feature is disabled. In this case you must
use a web browser to access the Administrator apps.
t Enter the following URL in the browser’s address bar and press Enter:
https://<hostname>/admin
Where <hostname> is the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the MediaCentral Cloud UX
server or cluster.
5. Enter your user name and password to access the MediaCentral Cloud UX user interface.
If this is the first time you are signing in, you must enter one of the following:
t If you configured a connection to an authentication provider, enter the credentials for a user
that is part of the MediaCentral Cloud UX administrators or super-admin group.
t If you did not configure a connection to an authentication provider, enter the predefined
OpenLDAP user: Administrator (password: Avid123).
After you click the Sign In button, one of the following occurs:

134
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

– If you enter a valid user and password, you are granted access to MediaCentral Cloud UX.
– If you enter invalid user credentials, the system alerts you to the issue and allows you to try
again. If you enter invalid credentials too many consecutive times, the system temporarily
blocks access to MediaCentral Cloud UX. The sign-in screen displays the following message:
“Login attempt rejected, too many attempts. Next login in 5 seconds”.
If you keep trying, the “cool-down” period increases to a maximum of 30 seconds. This is a
security measure to prevent “brute force” attacks on the system.
6. The first time any user signs in, the Avid Software License Agreement is presented.
Click the Accept License Agreement button to proceed.
To sign out of MediaCentral Cloud UX:

1. Click the User Profile button on the right side of the Fast Bar.
2. Select Sign Out.

Administrator App Overview

When you sign in to the MediaCentral Cloud UX Administrator page, the Fast Bar displays a set of apps
that allow you to add licenses, configure system settings, manage users, and more. The following
illustration displays the Administrator Fast Bar (not all apps represented).

The following table briefly describes each of the Administrator apps:

Button Name Description

Configuration This app allows administrators to configure settings related to general

Settings system operation, including Publisher, external applications, and more.

For more information, see "Using the Configuration Settings App" on

page 212.
Search Index This app provides a snapshot of the current state of the search index,
Monitor catalogs, and queues. Additionally, the app allows you to rebuild the search
index for any connected module.

For more information, see "Using the Search Index Monitor App" on
page 234.
License Allows you to import licenses into MediaCentral Cloud UX.

For more information, see "Using the License App" on page 168.
Ingest Allows you configure settings related to the Ingest app.

For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Ingest User’s Guide.
Workflow Settings This app allows you to configure Playback settings and Send To Playback
profiles.

For more information, see "Using the Workflow Settings App" on page 229.
User Management Allows you to import users from LDAP and assign client licenses to LDAP user
groups.

For more information, see "Using the User Management App" on page 187.

135
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Button Name Description

Media Composer | If your organization has purchased Media Composer | Enterprise Admin
Enterprise Admin Tool, this icon appears in the Administrator Fast Bar after you deploy and
Tool license the feature.

For more information, see the Avid Media Composer | Enterprise Admin Tool
Administration Guide.
Acquire Settings Allows you to configure settings related to the MediaCentral Acquire app.

For more information, see "Using the Acquire App" on page 289.
Router Settings Allows you to configure settings related to the Router Settings app that is
used in conjunction with MediaCentral Acquire.

For more information, see "Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router

Control" on page 309.
Legal List The Legal List Administrator allows you to configure settings related to
MediaCentral Asset Management lists.

For more information, see "Using the Legal List Administrator App" on
page 245.
Multi-Site Settings Allows you to connect multiple MediaCentral Cloud UX systems together.

For more information, see "Using the Multi-Site Settings App" on page 260.
Collaborate Allows you to configure settings related to the Collaborate app.
Settings
For more information, see "Using the Collaborate Settings App" on
page 268.
Metadata Allows you to map Avid metadata values to matching values in applications
Mapping that connect to MediaCentral Cloud UX, such as Adobe Premiere Pro CC.
Management
For more information, see the documentation for the Avid MediaCentral
Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools.
Process Modeler Allows you to graphically design process models that can be used by the
MediaCentral Asset Management Process Engine.

For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Process

Modeler User’s Guide.
MediaCentral | Avid MediaCentral Sync enables system administrators to synchronize
Sync MediaCentral Production Management metadata and Avid NEXIS media
with one or more similarly configured Production Management workgroups.

For more information on the MediaCentral Sync app, see the Avid
MediaCentral | Sync Administration Guide.
Rules Editor The Rules Editor app allows system administrators to define rules that
trigger actions on available events ​
in MediaCentral Cloud UX.

For more information, see "Using the Rules Editor App" on page 318.
Additional Apps If your browser does not allow enough space to display all of the apps
simultaneously, a chevron appears to the right of the app list. You can click
this button to display a menu that includes any additional apps.

136
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

Button Name Description

Chat App The Chat app is available to both administrators and standard users.

While the app is associated with an entitlement that can be enabled or

disabled for individual user groups, Chat is always displayed on the
Administrator apps page.

For more information, see "Using the Chat App" in the Avid MediaCentral |
Cloud UX User's Guide.
User Profile Although not an Administrator app, this icon appears at the far right of the
Fast Bar. From here you can find more information About your user session,
access the Help system, or sign-out of MediaCentral Cloud UX.

When you access the Administrator apps, the User Profile button in the upper-right corner of the Fast Bar
appears with a gear icon. This is an indicator that you are accessing the Cloud UX Administrators apps.

Since the information in the Workflow Settings can change more often than that of other apps,
MediaCentral Cloud UX defaults to the Workflow Settings app whenever you access the Administrator
settings.

It is important to note that with the exception of the Chat app, all Administrator apps are Focused apps.
Focused apps fill the user interface and they can not be docked like some User apps such as Browse and
Search.

Continuing the Installation

Depending upon your workflow, complete the following sections as applicable:
l "Installing Nexidia Search Grid" on page 139
If your organization purchased MediaCentral Phonetic Index, you must complete this section.
l "Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules" on page 150
You need to complete this section only if you plan to integrate MediaCentral Cloud UX with a
MediaCentral Production Management module.
l "Using the License App" on page 168
This section is required for all installations.
l "Using the User Management App" on page 187
This section is required for all installations.
l "Using the Configuration Settings App" on page 212
This section is required for all installations.
l "Using the Workflow Settings App" on page 229
This section is required for all installations.
l "Using the Legal List Administrator App" on page 245
Review this section if you are integrating with a MediaCentral Asset Management system.
l "Using the Multi-Site Settings App" on page 260
If your organization plans to connect multiple MediaCentral Cloud UX systems together in a multi-
site configuration, you must complete this section.
l "Using the Collaborate Settings App" on page 268

137
 2 Software Installation and Configuration

If you are licensed for the Collaborate app, review this section to manage user permissions.
l "Using the Acquire App" on page 289
If you are licensed for the Acquire app, review this section to configure additional settings that are
related to this workflow.
l "Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control" on page 309
If you are configuring a router for use with the Acquire app, review this section to configure
additional settings that are related to this workflow.
l "Using the Rules Editor App" on page 318
(optional) Review this section to create rules that can help automate your workflows.
l "Importing TLS Certificates" on page 498
This section is required if you are using either self-signed or internal CA certificates.
l (if applicable) Some apps such as Ingest, Sync, and others offer additional documentation that is not
included in this guide. Refer to the individual product documentation to complete the installation and
configuration process.

138
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

Nexidia Search Grid™ is a framework of services that MediaCentral Cloud UX uses to perform phonetic
indexing of audio media for use with "MediaCentral | Phonetic Index" on page 30 and the MediaCentral
Cloud UX Search app. This chapter provides information about how to install and configure the Nexidia
Search Grid server.

Before you can use MediaCentral Phonetic Index, your MediaCentral Cloud UX license must include the
MediaCentral | Phonetic Index option. For more information on this license and how you can license your
system to index additional hours of content, see "Understanding the License Types" on page 169.

Search Grid Prerequisites

Nexidia Search Grid must be installed on a dedicated server that meets the following specifications:

Specification Minimum Recommended

Server Count 1 See "Hardware Sizing Information" on the next page for
additional information.
Operating System CentOS v7.x Avid recommends that you install the latest version of
CentOS v7.x available at the time of your Search Grid
installation.
CPU Core Count 4 12+
Memory 32 GB RAM 64+ GB RAM
Network 1 Gbps 1 Gbps or greater
Disk Solid State Drive (SSD)

Solid state drives offer a significant performance increase over spinning-disk storage.
For this reason Avid does not recommend nor support using spinning magnetic disk
storage for the Search Grid server.

For more information, see "Hardware Sizing Information" on the next page.
Additional Software For more information on minimum software requirements for integrated systems, see
the MediaCentral Compatibility Matrix on the Avid Knowledge Base at:
https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_US/compatibility/Avid-Video-Compatibility-Charts.

Additional Configuration Notes

Avid does not support co-installing the Search Grid software on the same server that is running
MediaCentral Cloud UX.

You are not required to mount the source media storage, such as Avid NEXIS, directly on the Search Grid
server. The connection to the media storage is established through the MediaCentral Cloud UX media
playback services.

If your MediaCentral Cloud UX system is connected to a MediaCentral | Archive Production module, Avid
does not support phonetic indexing of the archived media.

139
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

Hardware Sizing Information

The number of hours of audio that you need to index can impact the minimum size of your storage. The
following table provides a purchasing guideline for your system storage.

Hours of Audio Media Minimum Recommended Storage

< 10,000 Hours 50 GBa

25,000 Hours 120 GBa

50,000 Hours 250 GBa

100,000 Hours 480 GBa

a. The values above represent the minimum recommended storage requirements for the phonetic indexing data. You must allocate at least an
additional 100 GB of storage for the operating system (binaries, log files, swap space, etc).

The values above represent the minimum recommended storage requirements for the phonetic indexing
data. You must allocate at least an additional 100 GB of storage for the operating system (binaries, log
files, swap space, etc).

Generally speaking, the storage required to hold indexes managed by Phonetic Index is a function of the
total duration of searchable media and not the number of assets. The amount of storage used by the search
indexes is approximately 5 MB per media hour.

When requisitioning your storage, you must make sure that you have enough disk space reserved for the
indexes. The indexing process will automatically stop if the drive gets close to full.

n Media files are not duplicated, transcoded, or stored permanently on the server. Storage requirements
are for Search Grid application data and asset artifacts — not the media itself.

Language Packs
Language Packs provide a basic structure for Phonetic Index to read your audio media. For instance, there
might be different dialects for Canadian French as compared to European French, and the language pack
helps to properly analyze the spoken words in your audio media.

The following table lists the Avid supported language packs and their associated Globally Unique Identifiers
(GUIDs):

Brazilian Portuguese Italian

(a4363b81-2b62-405e-afde-fa1952d74f50) (cd810e31-a8a3-48ef-add3-a2303ffc1a69)
Canadian French Japanese
(622265f9-36d6-46ab-a2af-f1c3e39a2e7e) (642af87b-5050-4fe8-b7f9-4de4594aeaf0)
Cantonese Korean
(83a601ae-9291-44ae-aaf7-91a88fa5fbcb) (f8a51d93-519c-45b4-9c6f-5f41e62e5d76)
Danish Latin American Spanish
(1ae0ed60-84fd-4225-9274-6dbdfed19d2d) (85468660-d1a2-4a23-bd40-770923621607)
Dutch Mandarin
(3ede0312-d969-4c73-8aed-7aabd08e5e7d) (3150feb1-de56-4f00-8474-b2d17d91e19b)
European French MS Arabic (SATTST)
(f0938c52-dd3b-428d-b55b-3d4253c0bc5c) (05612d1a-622d-4161-8e4a-5498910a491d)
European Spanish North American English

140
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

(1d20529f-e753-400f-97d7-73c709e7e1b5) (138341d1-c11c-42e1-9e20-ab0328e4f055)
Farsi Polish
(58622f43-21bb-4615-96e4-277268ad1156) (2c06be82-c57d-4f36-9c28-0ed49ee40f52)
Flemish Russian
(90a702e6-50ad-43d5-a8da-1e9f28d8bbf3) (2b03551e-794f-4fed-8e55-c1dc9ac75e2c)
German Swedish
(b4b6f986-17a2-45e0-a6c7-b20352712a12) (3e443121-0633-4c7c-8c4a-887e22de3c81)
Hebrew Tagalog
(b84ac5b5-30c8-445d-9941-eede9e93d262) (93d29747-9175-4e89-b25f-981a3325caaf)
Hindi Thai
(94de18c6-5d48-489e-8ab6-c5b163b812ee) (86686103-3bf4-4379-a33e-4be82ac0dd72)
Indonesian Turkish
(a78cbff5-7564-40b0-a0ec-b38ff1801a2a) (057c90f9-42db-42ab-b015-acd7b0953077)
International English UK English
(d699037f-5b72-42fe-ad42-4512f34e1db0) (7026e1ac-7b2e-439a-b9f7-aad8ddabbb7e)

n Avid does not test the performance of individual language packs. All testing is performed using the
International English language pack. The quality of hits returned for phonetic searches could vary
based on your default language.

n If desired, you can install and test your system using the International English language pack. After
system functionality has been verified, you can install and test with an alternate language pack.

You can download alternate language packs from the Avid Download Center. After you are logged in, you
can find the language packs under: Avid MediaCentral > MediaCentral Language Packs.

Installing the Operating System

Before you can install the Search Grid software, you must install the CentOS operating system on your
server. The process of installing CentOS is not described in full detail here, but you can reference “MCUX
Software Deployment” in v2022.12 of the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Installation Guide as a guideline for
the process. For additional installation options, details, and instructions, see the documentation on the
CentOS Project page at: https://www.centos.org/.

To install CentOS on the Search Grid server:

1. Download the 7.x CentOS ISO from the CentOS Project website:
https://www.centos.org/download/
When downloading the ISO, Avid recommends that you select the Minimal ISO option.
2. Install the operating system on the server.
When installing the software, note the following:
– Avid suggests that you select the Minimal Install option in the Software Selection screen.
– If your server includes only a single volume, you should be able to select the default Installation
Destination options.
– Make sure to configure networking — assigning a static IP address and a host name to the
server.

141
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

– You must configure the Search Grid server to connect to the same NTP (Network Time Protocol)
source as the MediaCentral Cloud UX system.
– When configuring your operating system’s user password, you might consider assigning the
same password to the Search Grid server that was assigned to the MediaCentral Cloud UX
system for consistency. However, this is not a requirement.

Installing the Search Grid Software

Before installing and configuring Nexidia Search Grid, you must verify that all media is online in your source
asset management systems (example: MediaCentral Production Management). Offline audio media cannot
be read by MediaCentral Phonetic Index and users will not be able to find phonetic metadata for offline
audio.

If your system is included as part of a Multi-Site configuration and each site is licensed for Phonetic Index,
Avid recommends that you install and license the same language packs for each site. If your local site is
missing a language pack, your search results will not include hits from the remote site that uses the missing
language pack.

For example, consider an organization that has three sites. Sites A and B are configured with the
International English language pack, and Site C is configured with the German language pack.
l If you create a phonetic search from Site A or B, you will not be able to select the German language
option from the phonetic pill’s language menu (because it is not installed). If you attempt to execute
the search using the default English option, the search results will not include hits for Site C.
l If you create a phonetic search from Site C, the reverse is true. The search results will not include any
hits for Site A or B.
The installation process consists of the following sections:
l "Installing Search Grid" below
l "Configuring Search Grid" on page 144
l "Installing Additional Language Packs" on page 145

Installing Search Grid

Complete the following process to install or upgrade the Search Grid software. The process to install Search
Grid on a new server and the process to upgrade the software on an existing server are very similar.
Upgrade-specific steps are noted below.

To install the Search Grid software:

1. Obtain the Search Grid installer package (SearchGrid_<version>.zip) from Avid and copy it to a
temporary location on a local Windows workstation.
2. Use the built-in capability of the Windows workstation to uncompress the Search Grid installer.
The .zip file contains the following files:
– IntlEnglishTeleUniversal-<version>.tgz : The Search Grid International English language pack.
– LICENSE.pdf : The end user license agreement.
– SearchGrid.lic : The Search Grid license file.
– searchgrid_<version>.tgz : The Search Grid software installation package.
3. If you have purchased an alternate language pack from Avid, copy the language pack to the same
temporary location on your Windows workstation.
4. Log in to the Search Grid server as the root user.

142
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

5. Copy the Search Grid installer, license file, and language pack (or packs) from the Windows
workstation to a temporary location on the Search Grid server.
For more information on how to copy files to a Linux server, see "Copying Software to the MCUX
Server" on page 451.
6. After you have copied the files to the server, you must uncompress the Search Grid installer package:
tar -xvzf searchgrid_<version>.tgz

n Do not manually un-tar (uncompress) the Search Grid language pack file or files.
7. Navigate to the new folder created in the previous step:
cd searchgrid_<version>
8. Before installing the Search Grid software, you must enter the following commands to disable the
Linux firewall service:
systemctl stop firewalld
systemctl disable firewalld
9. (Upgrades only) If you are upgrading an existing installation, stop the searchgrid services prior to
installing the new software:
service sgcontrol stop
service sgbase stop
service sgagent stop
service sggateway stop
10. Enter one of the following commands to install the Search Grid software:
t To complete a new installation, type the following and press Enter:
yum install -y searchgrid-{apps,control,data,gateway,opt,common}*.rpm
The installation process begins.
After the install process is complete, a message similar to the following is displayed:
Installed:
searchgrid-apps.x86_64 <version>
searchgrid-common.x86_64 <version>
searchgrid-control-node.x86_64 <version>
searchgrid-data-node.x86_64 <version>
searchgrid-gateway-node.x86_64 <version> searchgrid-opt-media-
accessors.x86_64 <version>
Complete!
t To upgrade an existing installation, type the following and press Enter:
yum upgrade -y searchgrid-{apps,control,data,gateway,opt,common}*.rpm
11. (Upgrades only) If you are upgrading an existing installation, restart the searchgrid services:
service sgcontrol start
service sgbase start
service sgagent start
service sggateway start
The software installation process is complete. If you are completing a new installation, proceed to
"Configuring Search Grid" on the next page.

143
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

Configuring Search Grid

After you have installed Nexidia Search Grid, you must configure the software to work with MediaCentral
Phonetic Index. This process uses the Search Grid license file (SearchGrid.lic).

To configure the Search Grid software:

1. Locate your Search Grid license file (SearchGrid.lic) and copy it to the following directory on the
Search Grid server: /opt/searchgrid-3.1/etc/
For more information on how to copy files to a Linux server, see "Copying Software to the MCUX
Server" on page 451.
If you have already copied the file to a temporary directory on the server, you can use the following
command to copy the file into the required directory:
cp /<path>/SearchGrid.lic /opt/searchgrid-3.1/etc/
2. Verify or edit the contents of the Search Grid configuration file.
a. Use the Linux vi editor to open the Search Grid configuration for editing:
vi /opt/searchgrid-3.1/etc/local-properties.xml
If you are unfamiliar with vi, you can refer to "Using the vi Editor" on page 456 for a short
introduction to the text editor.
b. Navigate to the section of the file that contains the network configuration information as
shown in the following example:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE properties SYSTEM "http://java.sun.com/dtd/properties.dtd">
<properties>
<entry key="nexidia.searchgrid.this.public.bindAddress">192.168.10.60</entry>
<entry key="nexidia.searchgrid.this.gridprivate.bindAddress">127.0.0.1</entry>
<entry key="nexidia.searchgrid.control.connectionString">127.0.0.1</entry>
</properties>

c. Verify that the public bind address matches the IP address of your primary network adapter.
In this example, 192.168.10.60 is the name of the public bind address.
If the IP address is not configured correctly, replace the current address with the correct IP
address.
d. Save and exit the vi session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq
3. Next you must enter the following commands to restart four related Search Grid services:
systemctl restart sgcontrol
systemctl restart sggateway
systemctl restart sgbase
systemctl restart sgagent
4. After restarting the services, you must verify that you can connect to the Nexidia Search Grid
Management Console before continuing with the installation process. This process ensures that the
required services are running before you install the language pack.
a. Enter the following command to sign in to the console:
/opt/searchgrid-3.1/bin/management-console -u admin -p admin
The console reports that you are logged in:

144
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

Nexidia Search Grid Management Console 3.1.13.18 (18ec2de)

Type 'get-help' for available commands
#
b. After you have successfully connected to the console, type exit to close the Management
Console.
5. Install your language pack or packs:
t If you want to install the International English language pack that is included with the Search
Grid installer, enter the following command to install the language pack:
/opt/searchgrid-3.1/bin/management-console -f -u admin -p admin add-lp
/root/IntlEnglishTeleUniversal-<version>.tgz
t If you need to install one or more additional language packs, proceed to "Installing Additional
Language Packs" below.

Installing Additional Language Packs

If you purchased a language pack from Avid, complete the following process to install the language pack.

n If you are altering the language packs for a fully deployed MediaCentral Cloud UX where all
connected MediaCentral modules have already been indexed, you must resync the index using the
tools available in each source MediaCentral module.

To install and enable the language pack:

1. Enter the following command to install the language pack on the Search Grid server:
/opt/searchgrid-3.1/bin/management-console -f -u admin -p admin add-lp
/<path>/<pack_name>-<version>.tgz
2. Use the Nexidia Search Grid Management Console to verify the installation.
a. Enter the following command to sign in to the console:
/opt/searchgrid-3.1/bin/management-console -u admin -p admin
The console reports that you are logged in:
Nexidia Search Grid Management Console 3.1.13.18 (18ec2de)
Type 'get-help' for available commands
#
b. Type get-lp to display a list of installed language packs.
The console might show one or more language packs, depending on how you completed your
installation. The following example output shows both the International English and German
language packs installed:
1: IntlEnglishTeleUniversal-9.0.0.193899
d699037f-5b72-42fe-ad42-4512f34e1db0
International English; 44
Includes search model
Includes phonetic digest model
2: GermanTele8kHz-9.0.0.191760
b4b6f986-17a2-45e0-a6c7-b20352712a12
German; 8
Includes search model
Includes phonetic digest model
c. After you successfully connect to the console, type exit to close the Management Console.

145
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

3. At this point you must use the Kubernetes Monitor to delete the avid-search-search pod or pods
(there might be more than one)
For more information, see "Working with Kubernetes" on page 517.
4. (if applicable) If you plan on indexing a Production Management system, refer to the process for
"Editing the Phonetic Indexing Tab" on page 165.
5. (if applicable) If you plan on indexing an Asset Management system, complete the following steps to
configure the Asset Management database:
a. Sign in to Control Center as an administrator.
b. In Control Center’s Configuration Profiles view, select the SyncCentralIndex profile.
c. Select the section PhoneticIndexing/LanguagePacks and create a separate key for each
alternate language pack you have licensed. By default, the key en with the ID of the
International English language pack is provided.
d. Click the Add > Setting button.
e. Type the name in the NewSetting field that is shown and press Enter.
f. Paste or type the ID of the language pack that you obtained (for example, from the Search
Grid console during the installation of the alternate language pack on the Search Grid server)
in the Value field.
g. Click the Save button on the Configuration Profiles view toolbar.
6. Continue to "Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index" on page 104.

Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index

The processes contained in this section allow you to configure Search Grid to index the MediaCentral
modules that are integrated with your MediaCentral Cloud UX system.

This section includes the following processes:

l "Configuring Asset Management Media Path" below
Required for Asset Management integrations only.
l "Creating the Phonetic Index Configuration File" on the next page
Required for all installations.
l "Indexing Your Audio Media" on the next page
Required for all installations. This is the final step that creates the index of your audio media.

Configuring Asset Management Media Path

Before Search Grid can create the phonetic index data, you need to configure the path to the media. This
allows the sync agents to send the media location to the search index.

Complete this section if you are integrating with a MediaCentral Asset Management module. This process
requires you to use the Control Center utility on the Asset Management server.

146
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

To configure the media path:

1. Sign in to Control Center as an administrator and select the SyncCentralIndex profile.

2. Select PhoneticIndexing and adjust the following values:
– Enabled: Set to true to enable Phonetic Indexing.
– AudioRenderUrl: Enter the following text exactly as shown here:
http://{mcshost}:30880/render?r=%2F{filename}&t=wav&a=
{trackbitmask}&b=0&ext=.wav
If your AudioRenderUrl settings do not match the information above, you must update the
value to match the text above.
For additional information, including how to configure Phonetic Search for individual asset types, see
“Configuring MediaCentral Search for Asset Management” in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset
Management Installation Manual.
3. Click the Save button on the Configuration Profiles view toolbar.

Creating the Phonetic Index Configuration File

If your organization has purchased a MediaCentral Phonetic Index license, you must ensure that you have
created the phonetic.yaml file on your MediaCentral Cloud UX single server or primary node to enable
this workflow.

To create the configuration file:

t If you are installing a new MediaCentral Cloud UX system with MediaCentral Phonetic Index, you
should have already completed the process for "Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index" on
page 104 as part of the standard system installation.
In this case, you can proceed directly to "Indexing Your Audio Media" below.
t If you are adding MediaCentral Phonetic Index to an existing MediaCentral Cloud UX installation,
you must complete the following steps:
a. Create the configuration file per "Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index" on page 104.
b. Redeploy the Feature Packs by running the avidctl platform redeploy script as
directed in "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
c. Proceed to "Indexing Your Audio Media" below.

Indexing Your Audio Media

The process to phonetically analyze your audio media uses the playback services on the MediaCentral
Cloud UX system. Before you begin configuring Phonetic Index, you must verify that your MediaCentral
Cloud UX system is able to play back assets from all MediaCentral modules that include audio media that
you plan to index. Only after you have confirmed this functionality should you complete the following
configuration processes.

When indexing an asset that includes multiple audio tracks, Phonetic Index reads the first audio track only
by default. If you want MediaCentral Search to return phonetic data for additional audio tracks, you must
configure settings in your source asset management system.

To index your audio media:

t If you are completing a new MediaCentral Cloud UX installation, you must index your assets using
the tools available in each source MediaCentral module. As you have not yet indexed the modules,
this process creates both text and phonetic index data.

147
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

t If you are adding MediaCentral Phonetic Index to an existing installation, you must resync the index
using the tools available in each source MediaCentral module. For example, the MediaCentral Search
Connector in Production Management’s Interplay Administrator.
For additional information, refer to the following:
l For MediaCentral Production Management, see "Configuring the MediaCentral Search Connector"
on page 157.
l For MediaCentral Asset Management, see “Configuring Asset Management for MediaCentral | Cloud
UX” in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management Installation Manual.

Phonetic Index and Search Grid Log Files

After you have installed and configured the Search Grid server and MediaCentral Phonetic Index, you can
obtain log file information related to phonetic indexing at the following locations:
l MediaCentral Cloud UX
You can find log information in the avid-indexer-search Kubernetes pod. When reviewing this
log file, you might see errors reported for any offline media or assets that do not includes audio data.
In these cases the errors could be normal and might not be a cause for concern.
For more information on gathering Kubernetes logs, see "Working with Kubernetes" on page 517.
l Search Grid Server
Information related to the Search Grid software can be found at:
– /var/opt/searchgrid/gateway-node/logs/gateway-service.log
– /var/opt/searchgrid/control-node/logs/control-service.log
– /var/opt/searchgrid/data-node/logs/agent-service.log

Disabling Phonetic Index

If you have already configured your system for Phonetic Index and you want to replace that functionality
with Avid Ada Transcribe, you can disable Phonetic Index to save on resources such as local storage space,
power, cooling, rack space, or other.

Refer to the following two processes to disable Phonetic Index either temporarily, or permanently.

To convert phonetic indexing to read-only mode:

l Run the avidctl platform config phonetic script, enter N (no) at the "Phonetic Indexing for
MediaCentral Search" prompt, and then redeploy.
For details, see "Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index" on page 104 and "Altering the
Configuration" on page 62.
l Leave the Search Grid server powered-on and accessible.
The server must remain active to enable continued access to the indexed assets.
If you put Phonetic Index into read-only mode, you will continue to use MediaCentral Search to search for
phonetic data on both your local system, and any site connected to a Multi-Site configuration (if
applicable). However, new assets are no longer indexed and you cannot re-index the Phonetic data in case
any issues arise with the existing index.

n MediaCentral Cloud UX updates often require a reindex of the search data as part of the upgrade
process. Therefore the existing phonetic index could be lost as a result of the upgrade process.

148
 3 Installing Nexidia Search Grid

To completely disable phonetic indexing:

1. Run the avidctl platform config phonetic script, enter N (no) at the "Phonetic Indexing for
MediaCentral Search" prompt.
For details, see "Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index" on page 104.
2. Delete the phonetic.yaml file from your system.
For details, see "Deleting a Configuration File" on page 528.
3. Redeploy to update the system configuration.
For details, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
4. Power-down and disconnect the Search Grid server.
If you are in a Multi-Site configuration, remote sites will no longer be able to use the Phonetic option in
MediaCentral Search to find assets on your local system.

c If you have phonetically indexed an Asset Management module, do not revert any of the Phonetic
settings in Control Center. The Avid Ada Transcribe system continues to use these values.

149
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

Avid offers two modules related to production workflows:
l MediaCentral | Production Management
l MediaCentral | Archive Production
This chapter details the steps required to integrate MediaCentral Cloud UX with these two modules. For
more information on the processes and terms used in this section, refer to the Avid Interplay | Engine and
Interplay | Archive Engine Administration Guide on the Avid Knowledge Base at:
https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_US/readme/Avid-Interplay-Production-Documentation.

n The illustrations in this chapter originate from Avid MediaCentral Production Management v2022.3. If
you are integrating a different version some settings might look different or might be located in other
areas of the Avid Interplay Administrator. See the documentation for your version of Production
Management for more information.

If you do not plan to integrate MediaCentral Cloud UX with a Production module, you can bypass this
chapter.

Some workflows associated with MediaCentral Archive Production require integration with Avid
MediaCentral | Shared Library. For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Shared Library
Installation and Configuration Guide.

Configuring Interplay Administrator Settings

When integrating with a Production module, MediaCentral Cloud UX obtains many settings directly from
the databases of each module. System administrators use the Interplay Administrator tool to configure
these settings.

This section includes information the following sections of the Interplay Administrator:
l "Signing in to the Interplay Administrator" on the next page
l "Enabling Server Settings" on the next page
l "Configuring the MediaCentral Platform Settings" on the next page
l "Configuring the Interplay Transfer Settings" on the next page
l "Creating the NrcsID Property" on page 152
l "Configuring the Application Database Settings " on page 153
l "Configuring Send to Playback Settings" on page 153

150
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

Signing in to the Interplay Administrator

Before you can adjust any of the settings found in this section, you must open and sign in to the Interplay
Administrator.

To sign in to the Interplay Administrator:

1. Launch the Interplay Administrator on the Production server or a workstation that has Interplay
Access installed. Depending on your operating system, this might be found at:
Start > Avid > Avid Interplay Access Utilities > Avid Interplay Administrator
2. Enter your Production module’s Administrator credentials and click Connect.

Enabling Server Settings

When you make a change to an asset in the Production module’s database, you want to make sure that the
change is picked up by the MediaCentral Cloud UX search engine. The Update Tracking option described in
this process allows changes in the search properties specified in the Production module’s database to be
pushed to MediaCentral Cloud UX search engine.

This process applies to both Production Management and Production Archive systems. If you have both
modules, you must complete this process separately on each module.

To configure the Server Settings:

1. From the main menu, select Server > Server Settings.

2. In the Update Tracking section, select Enabled to enable sync events.
3. Click Apply Changes to save the settings change.

Configuring the MediaCentral Platform Settings

This process applies to both Production Management and Production Archive systems. If you have both
modules, you must complete this process separately on each module.

To configure the MediaCentral Platform Settings:

1. From the main menu, select Site Settings > MediaCentral Platform Settings.
2. Enter the short host name or FQDN (fully qualified domain name) of your MediaCentral Cloud UX
server or cluster into the Gateway Host field.
You must configure this setting before you can find Production Management assets through the
MediaCentral Cloud UX Search app.
3. Click the Apply Changes button for any settings that were adjusted.

Configuring the Interplay Transfer Settings

If your organization plans to enable a Send to Playback workflow, you must configure the Interplay Transfer
Settings. MediaCentral Cloud UX uses these settings to populate menus in profiles created through the
MediaCentral Cloud UX Workflow Settings app.

151
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

To configure the Interplay Transfer settings:

1. From the main menu, select Site Settings > Interplay Transfer Settings.

2. Configure the settings in this panel per the Avid Interplay Transfer Setup and User's Guide.
3. After you have configured all areas of this panel, click Apply to save the settings.

Creating the NrcsID Property

MediaCentral Newsroom Management and Avid Maestro workflows require that you have a custom
property created in the Production Management database called NrcsID. Depending on your workflow, this
property might or might not be created automatically. If your database does not already include this value
and you plan to enable one of the above workflows, you must create the property manually.

If you disable the NrcsID property in the Property Layout, you might experience errors with Newsroom
Management or Avid Maestro integrations. For more information on using the Property Layout window, see
the Avid MediaCentral Production Management documentation.

To verify or create this property:

1. From the main menu of the Interplay Administrator, select Site Settings > Property Layout.
2. Click the Custom Metadata tab.
3. Scroll down the list to see if the NrcsID value already exists. If it does exist, you must also verify that
the property has the Available check box enabled.
If you already have this property and it is enabled, no further action is necessary. If the property does
not exist, continue to the next step.
4. Enter NrcsID in the Add Custom Metadata Field and press Enter (or Return) to create the property.
5. Verify that the property has a green check mark in the Available column, and press Apply to save the
value.

152
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

Configuring the Application Database Settings

This process applies to MediaCentral Production Management only.

To configure the Application Database settings:

1. From the main menu of the Interplay Administrator, select Application Settings > Application
Database Settings.
2. Select the Edit Settings tab and adjust the following:
a. (optional) Format > Video Format: This setting determines the default video format for
sequences created in MediaCentral Cloud UX. You must select a specific video format from the
menu or leave the default selection of “Any”. If “Any” is selected, MediaCentral Cloud UX
determines the video format of the sequence by using the format of the first clip that the user
adds to the sequence timeline.
b. (required) Audio > General Settings: Ensure that a Media Creation workspace has been
assigned. If this value is empty, voice-over recording in MediaCentral Cloud UX will fail.
3. (optional) Select the Application Defaults tab and adjust the following:
a. Default Shotlist Start Timecode: Shotlists created in MediaCentral Cloud UX are created with
this timecode value. The default value for this setting is 01:00:00.
4. Click the Application Defaults tab and configure the Audio Mixing Defaults option.
t If enabled, MediaCentral Cloud UX uses these values when you create a new Sequence, or add
tracks to a Sequence.
t If the check box is not selected, MediaCentral Cloud UX sequences assigns odd tracks=left and
even tracks=right for all tracks by default.
Users can override these defaults by changing the panning for individual Sequence tracks.
5. Click Apply.

Configuring Send to Playback Settings

Depending on your settings, MediaCentral Cloud UX might add audio dissolves, panning, or gain
adjustments to your sequence automatically — even if your sequence is composed of only a single clip.

While these effects are generally not a problem for MediaCentral Cloud UX or Media Composer, some
workflows might identify these adjustments as unrendered audio effects and block the STP process. If your
STP workflow includes Interplay Web Services (IWS) or another 3rd party solution, you can configure the
following settings to eliminate these audio effects.

To configure

1. From the main menu of the Interplay Administrator, select Application Settings > Application
Database Settings.
2. Select the Edit Settings tab and adjust the following:
– Audio Effects > Dissolve Duration [frames]: Set to a value of 0 (zero)
– (News sequences only) Center-Panned Sound on Tape and Voice Over: Disabled
– (News sequences only) Audio General Settings > Ducking [-dB]: Set to a value of 0 (zero)
3. Select the Application Defaults tab and verify that the Audio Mixing Defaults are configured to
alternate left and right. This is the application’s default setting — with odd number tracks defaulting
to Left, and even numbered tracks defaulting to Right.

153
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

4. Click Apply.
5. When sending the asset to your playback destination, you must also verify that all gain adjustments
made through Media Composer or the Audio tab of the Asset Editor are at their default value (0 db).

User Authentication Providers

When configuring a Production module with MediaCentral Cloud UX, you must enable MediaCentral
Platform Authentication as a User Authentication Provider. The following illustration shows the User
Authentication Providers configuration window in the Interplay Administrator.

After you enable MediaCentral Platform Authentication, any user that signs into MediaCentral Cloud UX is
added automatically as a user in the Production database. As with MediaCentral Cloud UX, the Production
database stores users, but not passwords.

The Import Users button allows you to import all MediaCentral Cloud UX users or selected groups of users
into Production Management. After a MediaCentral Cloud UX user or group is added to the Production
database, a Production Management administrator must enable the appropriate roles and permissions
(folder access, group access, and other options) for each user/group.

Refer to the following for more information:

l "Multiple Authentication Providers" below
l "Configuring the Authentication Providers" on page 156

Multiple Authentication Providers

If you plan to connect two or more MediaCentral systems to the same Production Management module, the
tool includes an Add Server button that allows you to specify additional Authentication Providers.

You might want to define a second MediaCentral provider in the event that your engineering department
purchases a second MediaCentral Cloud UX system as a lab environment. However, you should note that
certain limitations apply to adding two or more MediaCentral Cloud UX systems as authentication
providers — such as the ability to configure only one Gateway Host (see next section), one Search provider,
and more. Only the MediaCentral Cloud UX server that is configured in all of these areas is fully production-
ready.

If you add more than one MediaCentral authentication provider, you must ensure that the pam.yaml
configuration file includes the short host name of the MediaCentral Cloud UX server or cluster as an auth
hint value. For example: auth_hint: "wavd-mcux01". You can view or edit the file in your system's
Config Store. For more information, see "Understanding the Config Store" on page 526.

When you add a hint, MediaCentral Cloud UX includes the value whenever communicating with the
Production system. When replying, the Production system uses this value to ensure that the reply is directed
at the correct MediaCentral Cloud UX system.

154
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

If you are editing an existing pam.yaml file, you must redeploy your system to activate the change. For
more information, see "Connecting to MediaCentral Production Management" on page 92 and "Connecting
to MediaCentral Archive Production" on page 93. For more information on the redeployment process, see
"Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

MediaCentral Production Management Workflow

When you specify more than one server in the MediaCentral Platform Authentication settings, users might
need to add a server prefix to their username when logging into either Interplay Access or the Interplay
Administrator. This prefix ensures that the user’s credentials are validated correctly. If this value is missing,
the client application might try to authenticate the user against the wrong MediaCentral system and the
login would fail.

The following illustration shows the Interplay Access login window with the MediaCentral Cloud UX server
prefix added to the Username field. Users must enter the server name, followed by a backslash, and their
user name.

This workflow change is applicable only to those users who have only the MediaCentral Platform
Authentication check box enabled in their user profile. The user in the following example illustration would
not need to enter the server prefix because their account is also associated with the Internal Authentication
option.

Users and groups created through MediaCentral Platform Authentication are added to the Production
module’s database under: Imported Users > MEDIACENTRAL > [server]. All user groups that are imported
through this process appear in this directory as [group]@[server]. This suffix ensures that no two user
groups appear with the same name in User Management.

155
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

If you configure more than one MediaCentral Authentication Provider, each system appears as a new
subdirectory under the MEDIACENTRAL directory

If you widen the permissions of any MediaCentral parent user (the generic “Imported
Users\MEDIACENTRAL” group or the linked group(s) directly below), sub-groups might also inherit these
new (wider) permissions. As a result, you might inadvertently grant more permissions to the users in these
sub-groups than intended. If for example you change the permissions of the MEDIACENTRAL group from
Read to Read/Write, lower-level groups will inherit these increased permissions. For this reason, you must
be sure to verify the roles of any sub-groups (as necessary) after widening the permissions of the
MEDIACENTRAL parent user group. If any sub-group’s role has been manually set using the Administrator,
the permissions of the sub-group are not altered.

c Administrators must not move the groups that are created through this process to a different location
in the Production system’s User Management tree. If you move a group, the Engine might try to re-
create the group and fail because the group name is not unique (it already exists in a different
location in the tree). Although the user login is successful, errors are logged in the NxNServer.log.

Configuring the Authentication Providers

Complete the following steps to configure this area if the Interplay Administrator. This process applies to
both Production Management and Production Archive systems. If you have both modules, you must
complete this process separately on each module.

For more information on the User Authentication Providers window, see “Setting MediaCentral Platform
Authentication and Importing Users” in the Avid Interplay | Engine and Interplay | Archive Engine
Administration Guide.

c MediaCentral Platform Authentication must be enabled for any MediaCentral Cloud UX installation
that includes MediaCentral Production Management or Production Archive. If this feature is not
enabled, Cloud UX users will be unable to connect to the Production module.

To configure the User Authentication Providers:

1. From the main menu, select User Management > User Authentication Providers.
2. Click the check box to enable the MediaCentral Platform Authentication option.
3. Enter the FQDN (fully qualified domain name) of the MediaCentral Cloud UX server or cluster in the
text box for Server 1.
4. (if applicable) Click the Add Server button and the name of another MediaCentral system.
5. Click the Apply button to save the changes.

156
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

Configuring the MediaCentral Search Connector

Communication between each MediaCentral module (Production Management, Archive Management,
Newsroom Management, and others) and the MediaCentral Cloud UX search engine is enabled through a
search agent. This agent must be configured manually on each MediaCentral module. The MediaCentral
Search Connector settings found in this section enable the search agent on the Production modules.

The concepts and processes found in this section apply to both MediaCentral Production Management and
MediaCentral Production Archive systems.

You can access the MediaCentral Search Connector settings through the Interplay Administrator under the
Site Settings category. The settings panel is divided into the following three tabs:
l "Reviewing the Manage Status Tab" below
l "Reviewing the Property Selection Tab" on page 160
l "Reviewing the Phonetic Indexing Tab" on page 161

Reviewing the Manage Status Tab

When you first access the MediaCentral Search Connector, the panel defaults to the Manage Status tab
which might look similar to the following illustration.

Interplay Administrator v2024.10 connected to v2024.10 MediaCentral Cloud UX (fully configured).

The features and options that are shown in this section might change based on your version of the Interplay
Administrator, and the MediaCentral Cloud UX system that is defined in the MediaCentral Platform
Settings.

The Manage Status tab is divided into the following sections:

157
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

Status
This section provides detailed information about synchronization process.

After you perform a resync of the Production module’s database, the left side of the Manage/Status pane
also includes a progress bar for the resync process. Note the following about this feature:
l The bar is only visible when a resync is in progress.
l When selecting the Stop button, the resync process is essentially paused. When you click the Start
button to re-initiate the resync, the process picks up from where it left off.
l The progress bar might not provide an accurate “time remaining”.
l Clicking “Resync” always starts the resync process from the beginning (not from the last stop).
Assets are indexed in descending order according to their Initial Checkin Date (most recent first).
l Administrators are not required to allow the resync process to complete before releasing the system
to the users. However in this case, the Search app might return only partial results until the indexing
process is complete. If you are performing a resync on an active production system, you might want
to schedule the process during a maintenance window to reduce the impact to the search workflow.
If you are performing a resync on a system that has already been completely indexed, the Search
app returns all assets that were previously indexed. In this case the system simply adds any assets or
asset attributes that were discovered during the resync process.
The Extended Status area displays more detailed information about the indexing process, including:
l Asset Changes including Location Changes
l Taxonomy Changes
l Namespace Updates
l Message Processing in Production Management
l Message Transfer to Kafka
For more details on Kafka, see "Working with the Search App" on page 474.
The Extended Status area is displayed only after you begin the indexing process. If any of the error or fail
counters begin to rapidly increase, you can review either the Production Management logs or the
MediaCentral Cloud UX logs. For more information, see "MediaCentral Cloud UX and System Logs" on
page 514. If you cannot determine the reason for the issue, contact Avid Customer Care for additional
assistance.

Manage
This section allows you to Start, Stop, and Resync the indexing process.

Assign
If you are connected to a v2023.7.x MediaCentral Cloud UX system, the Manage/Status tab includes an
Assign section. This area includes fields that let you assign an instance of the search agent to your
Production modules. For more information, see v2023.7 of the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Installation
Guide.

Configuration
Asset Visibility

Production Management allows administrators to configure the database with a customized series of folder
and user permissions. The Configuration section of the app allows you to enable or disable Asset Visibility;
an option that allows you to limit the results of the MediaCentral Search app, based on these permissions.

The results returned by MediaCentral Search depend on multiple factors:

158
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

l The permissions configured for the users and the database structure.
Both the User Management and Manage Database Roles areas of the Interplay Administrator both
play a role in the assignment of these permissions. As a system administrator, you must understand
these permissions from a Production Management-only standpoint. That knowledge can help you
better understand how Asset Visibility effects the search results.
l Is the Enable user permissions option enabled (checked)?
– If no, then Asset Visibility is disabled. In this case the MediaCentral Search app displays all
results, ignoring the permissions that are configured in the "Manage Database Roles" section
of the Interplay Administrator.
The search results respect the permissions of the single user that is defined when running the
process for "Connecting to MediaCentral Production Management" on page 92. This user
appears as the "Connected User" in the Status section of the page.
For more information on Roles, see the MediaCentral Production Management documentation.
– If you enable Asset Visibility, you allow the Search app to limit the results based on the
individual user account.
MediaCentral Cloud UX respects the folder permissions on a per-user basis and it provides the
user with consistent results across the Browse app, Search app, and Interplay Access.
When you initially enable the Asset Visibility feature, you must perform a Resync to add the location
data to the index.
If your MediaCentral Cloud UX system is included in a multi-site environment, you need to be aware of how
a mixed configuration might affect the Asset Visibility feature. The following table assumes that you are
performing a search from your local site.

Local Site Remote Site Result

Enabled Enabled Asset Visibility is enabled in all locations and the Search app returns assets
based on individual user permissions.
Enabled Disabled The Search app returns assets for the local system based on individual user
permissions. Results from the remote system are based on the permissions
configured for the user* defined on the remote Production Management
system.
Disabled Enabled Results from the local system are based on the permissions configured for the
locally assigned user*. In this case the remote system respects individual user
permissions.

* Either the user defined in the Assign section of the Manage/Status panel of the Interplay Administrator (MediaCentral Cloud UX v2023.7), or
the user defined in the pam.yaml file (v2024.10 or later).

n You must enable Asset Visibility if you plan to use the Location pill feature in the MediaCentral Cloud
UX Search app. This feature leverages the information provided by Asset Visibility to display and filter
the assets returned by the Search app. After enabling Asset Visibility, you must perform a Resync to
add the location data to the index.

The Asset Visibility feature leverages the user account defined in the local pam.yaml file that is created on
the MediaCentral Cloud UX system when you complete the process for "Connecting to MediaCentral
Production Management" on page 92. This is true for both Production Management and an Archive
Management. If you enable Asset Visibility, you must ensure that the user defined in the yaml file exists in
both the Production Management database and if applicable, the Archive Management database.

159
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

c The Asset Visibility feature requires matching user accounts across all MediaCentral Cloud UX systems
and Production Management modules in a Multi-Site environment.

For information on how to enable this setting on an existing, in-production system, or for information on
how to disable Asset Visibility, see "Reconfiguring Asset Visibility" on page 166.

Update Data Type Definitions

This feature corrects an issue with the MediaCentral Cloud UX Search Connector where some metadata
fields are associated with the wrong type. These incorrect assignments prevent users from searching for
these metadata fields in MediaCentral Cloud UX using criteria normally associated with a date/time,
timecode, or numerical value. Avid recommends that you enable this feature for all new MediaCentral
Cloud UX installations.

n If you enable this feature for the first time on an existing installation where you have already indexed
the Production Management database, you must reset the MediaCentral Search Index for all
connected MediaCentral modules (not just Production Management) and reindex the database for
each module. The same is true if you enable the setting and later decide to disable it. For more
information, see "Resetting the Phonetic Metadata Search Index" on page 477.

Clean-Up
The Clean-up area of the MediaCentral Search Connector settings allows you to reset the search connector
settings back to its original state (when you completed the initial Resync). This button might be useful in the
event that a setting is accidentally changed or misconfigured on the MediaCentral Cloud UX system post-
deployment.

Reviewing the Property Selection Tab

The Property Selection tab allows you to select the Properties used in the Search indexing process. These
properties can be selected by users when working with the MediaCentral Cloud UX Search app. Some
properties are part of the standard data model. These properties are enabled by default and cannot be
deselected. As you can see in the following illustration, Creation Date is an example of a property that is
enabled and cannot be deselected.

After you index your Production module’s database, you can return to this area to enable or disable the
indexed properties. If you enable a new a property after the database has been indexed, existing assets in

160
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

the search index are not updated to include this property. If you disable a property, new assets are not
associated with this metadata value. However, existing assets in the index are still associated with the
disabled property and can still be found using the MediaCentral Cloud UX Search app.

If you want to add a property to the index, you must perform a resync of the database. If you want to
remove a property from index, you must complete the process described in "Resetting the Text Metadata
Search Index (no Kafka)" on page 476 and then perform a resync to allow the MediaCentral Cloud UX
search engine to pick up the changes. In either case the resync process can take a long to complete for
large databases, so make changes to your database properties carefully.

Reviewing the Phonetic Indexing Tab

After you Resync the search from the Manage/Status tab and refresh the user interface, the Phonetic
Indexing tab appears in the MediaCentral Search Connector. If your MediaCentral Cloud UX system is
licensed for MediaCentral Phonetic Index, this area allows you to configure the language packs to be used
in the audio indexing process and define the number of audio tracks that must be indexed.

The following illustration shows the default configuration of the Phonetic Indexing window.

The body of this tab acts as a text editor. You can alter the phonetic configuration directly in this window or
you can click the Save to File button to export the configuration as a file that can be opened in an external
text editor. The formatting of the text follows the standard JSON structure.

The top of the configuration file includes information about the ID and Version. You must not alter these
values. Following this information, the phonetic configuration is separated into three main areas: Language
Packs, Layout Definitions, and the Configuration Default. As you read, you will notice that each section
builds off data defined in the previous section. The Configuration Default section depends on values defined
in the Layout Definitions, which in turn, depend on values defined in the Language Packs section.

n While spaces and most special characters are acceptable, Avid recommends that you use standard
alpha- numeric characters when defining the values below.

Language Packs

The purpose of this section is to map mnemonic names to language pack IDs.

The following values are required when defining a language pack:

161
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

l Name: This value defines a user-friendly name that is associated with the language pack ID. The
default name is “en” which is used to refer to the International English language pack, but you can
change the name of this default value if desired.
l ID: The ID provided in the default configuration references the International English language pack. If
you install an alternate language pack, you can either replace this existing configuration line or add
another set of values to define the language pack. For more information, see "Installing Additional
Language Packs" on page 145.
In the following example, the administrator has left the original International English language pack values
in place and added a second set of values for the German language pack:

"language-packs" : [ {
"name" : "en",
"id" : "d699037f-5b72-42fe-ad42-4512f34e1db0"
}, {
"name" : "de",
"id" : "b4b6f986-17a2-45e0-a6c7-b20352712a12"
} ],

In this example, the administrator used “de”, the ISO 639-1 two-letter language code for German, but you
can assign any custom value for the name.

Layout Definitions

When indexing an asset that includes multiple audio tracks, Phonetic Index processes audio track 1 by
default. This section allows you to define additional audio tracks to be indexed. You can create multiple
layout definitions, but only the definitions defined in the Configuration Default are used.

The following values are required when defining a layout definition:

l Name: This value defines a user-friendly name for the definition.
l Language-Pack: This value must match the name of a Language Pack that you defined in the
previous section.
l Audio-Tracks: This value represents either a single audio track or a comma separated list of audio
tracks. You can configure this value to index up to 64 tracks. If you attempt to index track 65 or later,
the Phonetic Indexing window produces an error when applying the settings.
In the following example, the administrator has added a layout definition for the German language pack
(de) and has instructed Phonetic Index to index audio tracks one through five:

"layout-definitions" : [ {
"name" : "first-track-english",
"language-pack" : "en",
"audio-tracks" : [ 1 ]
}, {
"name" : "german-5-track",
"language-pack" : "de",
"audio-tracks" : [ 1,2,3,4,5 ]
} ],

This example might be appropriate if you have a mix of 5 tracks where each track represents a channel of
the same audio (left, right, center, back left, and back right). When you specify multiple audio tracks in a
layout definition, the tracks are grouped together to define a single indexed audio source.

If your database includes audio assets where tracks consist of distinct audio data, you might want to
configure multiple layout definitions, each associated with a different audio track or group of tracks as
shown in the following example:

162
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

"layout-definitions" : [ {
"name" : "german-stereo-source",
"language-pack" : "de",
"audio-tracks" : [ 1,2 ]
}, {
"name" : "german-stereo-voiceover",
"language-pack" : "de",
"audio-tracks" : [ 3,4 ]
}, {
"name" : "german-mono-audio-description",
"language-pack" : "de",
"audio-tracks" : [ 5 ]
} ],

Configuration Default

The Language Packs and Layout Definitions sections of the configuration window define values that might
be used in the phonetic indexing process. The Configuration Default section defines which values are used.
If this section does not include the name of a layout definition, the definition is not used in the phonetic
indexing process.

The following values are required when defining the configuration default:
l Configuration-Default: This must match the name of one or more layout definitions.
In the following example, the administrator has replaced the default value with custom layout definitions:

"configuration-default" : [ "german-stereo-source", "german-stereo-voiceover",

"german-mono-audio-description"],
"configuration-mapping" : null
}

In general, you would not add layouts to the Configuration Default that contain overlapping tracks. In the
example above, the administrator did not add the “german-5-track” layout because that would cause the
audio data to be indexed twice.

n The Configuration Mapping value is not used in this release. Do not alter the default value associated
with this field.

Configuring the Search Properties

Prior to starting the Search agent, you must configure the MediaCentral Search Connector settings to
specify the metadata properties that you want to add to your search index. If you have both a Production
and Production Archive module, you must complete this process separately on each module.

To select database properties:

1. Start Interplay Administrator and sign in to the Production module’s database.

2. In the Site Settings section of the Interplay Administrator, click the MediaCentral Search Connector
button.
3. Click the Property Selection tab.
4. Use one of the following methods to select the properties for your search index:

163
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

t Use individual check boxes to select the property types to be included in the search index.
Although applicable in rare cases, you should not use the Select All button to enable all
database properties. If you select all properties, the search index and the Search app’s filter
list might be populated with fields that users might never search for.
t Click the Sync with Property Layout button to match these selections with those in the
Interplay Administrator Property Layout (Site Settings > Property Layout).
5. Click Apply to save your selections.

Starting the Search Agent

The final step in the process is to start the search agent and initiate the indexing process. If you have both a
Production and Production Archive module, you must complete this process separately on each module.

n If you plan on configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index, you might consider completing the Search
Grid installation and configuration process prior to starting the search agent. The Search Grid
configuration process requires you to reset the index and resync your database. If you complete that
process first, you can avoid indexing your Production Management database twice. For more
information, see "Installing Nexidia Search Grid" on page 139.

To configure an instance of the search agent:

1. Prior to starting the search connector, you must activate your MediaCentral Cloud UX license. For
more information, see "Using the License App" on page 168.
2. Start Interplay Administrator and sign in to the Production module’s database.

c You must use v2024.10 of the Interplay Administrator to configure the v2024.10 MediaCentral
Cloud UX Search Connector. This is true even if you are connecting to a 2023.7 Production
Management system.
3. In the Site Settings section of the Interplay Administrator, click the MediaCentral Search Connector
button.

n The MediaCentral Search Connector is not available in the Interplay Administrator for macOS.
4. Click the Manage/Status tab.
5. (if applicable) Click the Enable User Permissions check box to enable Asset Visibility.
For more information, refer to "Configuration" on page 158.
6. (if applicable) Click the Update Data Type Definitions check box.
For more information, refer to "Configuration" on page 158.
7. (if applicable) If your MediaCentral Cloud UX server is licensed for Phonetic Index and you want to
either add language packs or alter the audio indexing configuration, proceed to "Editing the Phonetic
Indexing Tab" on the next page at this time. When you have completed that process, return to this
section and complete the remaining steps.
8. Finally, click the Resync button in the Manage pane to start the indexing process of the Production
module’s database. Do not click the Start button.
You can use the Status pane on the left side of the window to check on the progress of the indexing
process. The results refresh automatically every 30 seconds, but you can click the Refresh button to
update the results on demand.
In most cases, you should not need to click the Resync button again. The Stop and Start buttons are
used to stop and restart the indexing process. If you click the Resync button on a system that has

164
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

already been indexed, a complete re-index is initiated.

9. If you have both production and archive modules, you must complete this process separately on the
next module.

Editing the Phonetic Indexing Tab

If your MediaCentral Cloud UX server is licensed for Phonetic Index and you want to either add language
packs or alter the audio indexing configuration, you must complete the steps in this section.

If you plan to use the system defaults of indexing audio track 1 using the International English language
pack, you are not required to complete this process.

To edit the Phonetic Indexing configuration:

1. In the Site Settings section of the Interplay Administrator, click the MediaCentral Search Connector
button. If you are already in the MediaCentral Search Connector, you might need to go back to the
main menu and open the settings again to enable the tab in the user interface.

n The MediaCentral Search Connector is not available in the Interplay Administrator for macOS.
2. Click the Phonetic Indexing tab.
If you do not see this tab, verify that you have configured and deployed Phonetic Indexing as part of
the MediaCentral Cloud UX software installation process.
3. Using the information in "Reviewing the Phonetic Indexing Tab" on page 161 as a reference, edit the
configuration data using one of the following methods:
t Edit the configuration directly in the Phonetic Indexing tab.
t If you exported the configuration to a file, click the Load from File button to import the
configuration information.
When editing the file, you might want to copy and paste existing default configuration to help you
maintain the proper formatting for all new values. If the formatting of the configuration file is
incorrect, you will not be able to apply your changes.
4. Click Apply to save your changes.
If the configuration information is valid, the system replies with the following message: “Successfully
applied Configuration”. If you encounter an error, a message appears to alert you of the problem.
If you do not want to apply your changes, you can click the Cancel button. The configuration is
reverted to the previous state.
5. Complete one of the following to index your Production Management database:
t If you were directed to this process from "Starting the Search Agent" on the previous page,
return to that process to complete the indexing process.
t If you edited the Phonetic Indexing tab on a system that was already indexed, you must stop
the indexing process and reindex your Production Management database using the tools in the
Manage Status Tab.

Resetting the Search Instance

After you delete the search instance, you might need to complete the following steps to recreate the search
connector on the MediaCentral Cloud UX system.

You must use the Windows version of the Interplay Administrator to complete this process. The
MediaCentral Search Connector feature (referenced below) is not available in the Interplay Administrator
for macOS.

165
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

To recreate the search connector:

1. Clean up the Search Connector.

a. In the Site Settings section of the Interplay Administrator, click the MediaCentral Search
Connector button.
b. Click the Manage/Status tab.
c. Click the Reset button in the Clean-Up section of the panel.
The system prompts you with a confirmation dialogue box.
d. Click OK to delete the search connector.
2. Open a web browser on a local workstation and connect to the Kubernetes Dashboard.
For more information, see "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.
3. Enter the following text in the search field at the top of the dashboard to search for the pod that
includes the Production Management search connector:
avid-pam-search-connector-production-pam
4. Click on the context menu to the right of this pod and select Delete.
When you delete the pod, Kubernetes notes that the pod is missing and begins the process of
creating a replacement pod with the default values.
5. After waiting for a period of 2-5 minutes, open the Interplay Administrator and click the MediaCentral
Search Connector button to reindex your Production system.

n If you already have the Interplay Administrator open, go back to the main menu and then open the
MediaCentral Search Connector settings to refresh the display.

Reconfiguring Asset Visibility

This section describes how to enable Asset Visibility on an in-production system, and how to disable the
feature on a system that has already enabled it. For more information on Asset Visibility, see "Reviewing the
Manage Status Tab" on page 157.

Enabling Asset Visibly on an In-Production System

The following process describes how to enable the Asset Visibility option that is described in the
"Configuration" on page 158 section of this chapter on an existing Production Management system.

To enable Asset Visibility on an existing installation:

1. In the Site Settings section of the Interplay Administrator, click the MediaCentral Search Connector
button.
2. Click the Manage/Status tab.
3. Click the Stop button in the Manage area.
4. Click the Enable User Permissions check box.
5. (optional) Click the Update Data Type definitions check box.
6. Click the Resync button in the Manage panel to start the indexing process of the Production module’s
database.
Disabling Asset Visibility in MediaCentral Production Management
1. In the Site Settings section of the Interplay Administrator, click the MediaCentral Search Connector
button.
2. Click the Manage/Status tab.

166
 4 Configuring MediaCentral Production Modules

3. Click the Stop button in the Manage area.

4. Deselect the Enable User Permissions check box and click Apply.
5. Redeploy the MediaCentral Cloud UX system to apply this configuration change.
For details, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
6. Remove the index for this Production Management only from MediaCentral Cloud UX.
For details, see "Removing a Search Index" on page 240.
7. Delete the Production Management Kafka topic (avid.search.interplay--pam) from the MediaCentral
Cloud UX server.
For detailed instructions, see "Deleting a Topic from Kafka" on page 478.
8. Reset the Text Metadata Search Index.
For detailed instructions, see "Resetting the Text Metadata Search Index (no Kafka)" on page 476.
9. Click the Resync button in the MediaCentral Search Connector section of the Interplay
Administrator.
Disabling Asset Visibility in MediaCentral Cloud UX
MediaCentral Cloud UX includes a configuration file that can be used to disable Asset Visibility on the Cloud
UX server. As long as you have completed the steps above, you are not required to complete this process.

c Only complete the following process if directed to do so by Avid Customer Care.

To disable Asset Visibility in MediaCentral Cloud UX:

1. Copy the example configuration file to its active location (/etc/avid/config/):

sudo cp /opt/avid/examples/config/search-config.yaml
/etc/avid/config/search-config.yaml
2. Use the Linux vi editor to open the configuration file for editing:
sudo vi /etc/avid/config/search-config.yaml
3. The file includes the following three variables that you can adjust:
t AVID_SEARCH_ATTRIBUTE_VISIBILITY_DISABLED
This value determines if users can view certain asset properties (metadata values).
A value of False indicates that Attribute Visibility is enabled. You can change the value to True
to disable this feature.
t AVID_SEARCH_USERVISIBILITYSETTINGS_DISABLED
This value determines if the system respects user permissions to the assets themselves.
A value of False indicates that Asset Visibility is enabled. You can change the value to True to
disable this feature.
t AVID_AUTH_DISABLED
This value disables API Authentication. Do not adjust this value unless directed to do so by Avid.
4. Save and exit the vi session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq
5. (optional) Write the configuration file to the Config Store.
For details, see "Understanding the Config Store" on page 526.
6. Redeploy the MediaCentral Cloud UX system to apply this configuration change.
For details, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

167
 5 Using the License App

5 Using the License App

MediaCentral Cloud UX includes a set of apps and features (such as the Browse app) that are common to
every installation. Avid allows organizations to add new options to MediaCentral Cloud UX through an “à la
carte” approach — allowing you to customize the user experience by eliminating the need to purchase
features that might not apply to your workflow. After you have purchased and installed a new feature, you
use the License app to activate the feature.

You can purchase additional licenses for MediaCentral Cloud UX by contacting the Avid Sales department
at 1-800-949-AVID (2843). For more information on the different license types, see "Understanding the
License Types" on the next page.

The following table and illustration describe the different areas of the app:

Section Description

1 License app The sidebar allows you to switch between the Licensing and Registration areas of
Sidebar the app.

This chapter describes the Licensing area of the app. The Registration area is
meant for internal use and you should access this area only as directed by Avid.
2 License app The Configuration area allows you to activate new licenses for MediaCentral
Configuration Cloud UX and monitor the communication status between your deployment and
the Avid license server (specific to subscription-based licenses).

For more information, see "Activating a License" on page 178.

3 License app The Results area shows the licenses that have been added to MediaCentral Cloud
Results UX.

For more information, see "Reviewing the Licensing Results Panel" on page 183.

168
 5 Using the License App

Accessing the License app

Each MediaCentral Cloud UX system includes one MediaCentral Platform license by default. This license
allows an administrator to connect to the server and configure additional licenses and system settings.

You can access the License app through the administrator settings. For more information on accessing the
administrator settings, see "Signing in to MediaCentral Cloud UX" on page 132.

Understanding the License Types

MediaCentral Cloud UX supports two primary license types: perpetual and subscription. When licensing
your system, you must use one license type or the other as the License app does not allow you to use both
license types simultaneously.

Perpetual Licenses

With the exception the MediaCentral Support license options, the features activated through a perpetual
license do not expire. In some cases, Avid might provide a temporary perpetual license in which all features
are associated with an expiration date.

If you decide that a subscription license might make more sense for your organization, you can contact Avid
Sales for information on converting your perpetual license to a subscription.

n Avid announced the discontinuation of perpetual licenses on March 25, 2022. Avid will stop creating
new perpetual licenses on December 31, 2022, and the ability to update existing perpetual licenses will
cease on March 31, 2023. For more specific details, contact an Avid Sales Representative.

Subscription Licenses

Subscription licenses are similar to perpetual licenses in that they enable the same set of features and levels
of access, but differ in that all features are associated with an expiration date. You might consider
purchasing a subscription if your organization requires access to a MediaCentral Cloud UX system for a
finite period of time — maybe for a specific project. When the subscription ends, you can choose to extend
your subscription, end it, or convert it to a perpetual license. For more information on expiration dates, see
"Reviewing the Licensing Results Panel" on page 183.

Another difference is that subscription licenses allow you to over-subscribe some license types. If for
example you purchase a license for 25 Edit seats and you need to enable additional concurrent
connections, users are not blocked from accessing MediaCentral Cloud UX. As an administrator, you can
review the number of over-subscribed licenses in the Maximum Quantity column of the Results area. Over-
subscription allows you to instantly scale access to the system without requiring you to contact Avid to
enable additional seats. When your subscription ends, you might incur additional charges for any licenses
that were over-subscribed during your subscription period.

n MediaCentral Cloud UX does not allow for limitless over-subscriptions. The system is equipped with
safeguards that attempt to prevent you from creating an unfavorable user experience by exceeding
your system resources (memory, CPU usage, etc).

Because the MediaCentral Cloud UX system needs to periodically communicate with Avid’s license server,
organizations are encouraged to maintain a connection between their MediaCentral Cloud UX system and
the public internet. If a subscription-based MediaCentral Cloud UX system cannot connect to the license
server, license usage is stored on the local system and transmitted to the license server when the connection
is restored. If the system cannot connect to the license server, it will not be able to receive license updates or
be able to extended the subscription past the active subscription period.

169
 5 Using the License App

Whenever connecting a system to the internet, Avid recommends that you follow your organization’s best
practices to ensure a safe and secure connection. To enhance security, Avid allows you to route this
connection through a proxy server. For more information, see "Configuring a Licensing Proxy Connection"
on page 125.

License Categories

When you purchase a license from Avid, you have the ability to customize the contents of that license. You
can define the number of client connections, the types of those connections, the features that you want to
enable on your MediaCentral Cloud UX system, and more. Licenses are divided into the following sub-
categories:
l "Client Licenses" below
l "Platform Licenses" on the next page
l "App and Feature Licenses" on page 172
Client Licenses

After importing user groups through the User Management app, system administrators must associate a
client license type with each user group that contains users who plan to access MediaCentral Cloud UX. The
following client license types are available:
l Browse License: Offers access to a wide range of features, with some limitations.
l Edit License: This license enables access to the full range of options for each licensed app.

n If you are using a license that was created prior to November of 2020, your license might include View
and Full client license types. These license types were depreciated in October of 2020. For more
information on these license types, see v2020.4 of the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Installation Guide.

The following table describe the available features of each client license type.

Browse Edit Comments

Asset Editor ü1 ü 1 Users can edit metadata, but not media.

Users that need access to the Graphics tab require

an Edit license.
Browse app ü ü
Ingest app* No access ü
Log app* ü1 ü 1 Only Edit clients include the ability to create and

edit sessions.
Media Composer ü ü Edit license not required to access this feature.
Distributed Processing*
Media Composer ü ü Edit license not required to access this feature.
Enterprise Admin Tool*
Notifications app ü ü
Process app ü ü
Rundown app* ü ü Requires MediaCentral Newsroom Management
module license.
Search app* ü ü Metadata search included. Phonetic search
capability is optional.
Task app ü ü

170
 5 Using the License App

Apps marked with an asterisk (*) might require additional licenses to enable the feature set. For example, the Rundown app might
require one or more MediaCentral Newsroom Management licenses.

Platform Licenses

Platform licenses generally affect the entire system, crossing both user and feature licensing. For instance
MediaCentral Support licenses affect all aspects of the Cloud UX system.

The following table describes each license type.

Name Description

Asset Management Enables integration with a MediaCentral Asset Management module or MediaCentral
Shared Library.
MediaCentral | Asset Enables the Asset Management licensed features.
Management1
For more information, see “Products” in the MediaCentral | Asset Management
Installation Manual.
MediaCentral | Enables the Shared Library licensed features.
Archive add-on1
Graphics Enables you to browse and search an integrated Maestro News database.
Management
MediaCentral | Enables the Graphics Management licensed features.
Graphics
Management1
MediaCentral | Required for Multi-Site workflows. Sites require one Multisite Connector per local user.
Multisite Connector
For more information, see "Using the Multi-Site Settings App" on page 260.
MediaCentral If you are under an Avid support contract, this license shows the current support license
ExpertPlus Support type and expiration date.
MediaCentral Elite If you are under an Avid support contract, this license shows the current support license
Support type and expiration date.
Newsroom Enables integration with the MediaCentral Newsroom Management module.
Management
Production Enables integration with the MediaCentral Production Management module.
Management
MediaCentral | Every user consumes one Platform license regardless of the client type (web, mobile,
Platform MediaCentral panel) or license type (Browse or Edit).

If you use the License app to compare the number of MediaCentral | Platform licenses
against the number of client licenses that are consumed during normal operation, you
might notice that the counts do not match. In some cases the system might report that
you are using more Platform license than client licenses. This is normal and expected
behavior.

MediaCentral Cloud UX prioritizes the release of client licenses to maximize the

availability of those seats. MediaCentral Platform licenses might be released at the same
time as a client license, or they might expire after an internal timeout period.

1 Depending on the time of purchase, these licenses might include Flex in the name.

171
 5 Using the License App

App and Feature Licenses

These licenses enable new apps or features in the MediaCentral Cloud UX user interface — such as the
ability to use the Collaborate app. Alternatively, feature licenses might enable additional connections to
MediaCentral Cloud UX — such as the Panel for Media Composer or 3rd party apps developed through
Avid’s API Connector.

For more information on subscription licenses that enable integration between the Rundown app and
MediaCentral Newsroom Management, see the “Licensing” chapter of the Avid MediaCentral | Newsroom
Management Administration Guide.

The following table describes each license type.

Name Description

Maestro | News MediaCentral Enables the Graphics tab in the Asset Editor and enables the ability to drag and
drop graphics into the Rundown app (Newsroom Management license required).
Media Composer | Enables the Media Composer Distributed Processing workflow. For more
Distributed Processing information, see the Avid Media Composer | Distributed Processing
Engine Administration Guide.
Media Composer | Determines the number of Distributed Processing Worker nodes that can
Distributed Processing connect to the same workgroup. For more information, see the Avid Media
Worker Composer | Distributed Processing Administration Guide.
Media Composer | Enterprise Enables the Media Composer Enterprise Admin Tool in the MediaCentral Cloud
Admin Tool UX Administrator portal. For more information, see the Avid Media Composer |
Enterprise Admin Tool Administration Guide.
MediaCentral | Acquire For more information, see "Using the Acquire App" on page 289.
MediaCentral | Analytics Enables 3rd party cognitive services vendors such as Microsoft Azure Video
Indexer to integrate with the MediaCentral Platform.
MediaCentral | API Enables integration of Avid partner or custom-built components to the
Connector MediaCentral Platform.
MediaCentral | Archive Enables a connection to a MediaCentral | Archive Production.
Production
n Some associated workflows require integration with Avid MediaCentral |
Shared Library. For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Shared
Library Installation and Configuration Guide.
MediaCentral | Asset Allows Python script workflows, as compared to the traditional SWODL scripting
Management Python language.
Orchestration Engine
MediaCentral | Chat This license enables the Chat app for both administrators and standard users.
MediaCentral | Cloud UX This license enables one or more users to access the Collaborate app.
Collaborate App
MediaCentral | File This license is required to use the additional features included in the
Connector for Avid NEXIS MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools.

Related license: MediaCentral | Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools

MediaCentral | Connector for This license enables access to the MediaCentral Panel for AP ENPS. It must be
AP ENPS used in conjunction with one or more MediaCentral | Panel for AP ENPS licenses.

Related license: MediaCentral | Panel for AP ENPS

172
 5 Using the License App

Name Description

MediaCentral | Connector for This license enables access to the MediaCentral Panel for CGI OpenMedia. It
CGI OpenMedia must be used in conjunction with one or more MediaCentral | Panel for CGI
OpenMedia licenses.

Related license: MediaCentral | Panel for CGI OpenMedia

MediaCentral | Connector for This license enables access to the MediaCentral Panel for Octopus Newsroom. It
Octopus Newsroom must be used in conjunction with one or more MediaCentral | Panel for Octopus
Newsroom licenses.

Related license: MediaCentral | Panel for Octopus Newsroom

MediaCentral | Connector for Enables accelerated transfer of media and metadata within MediaCentral Cloud
WAN FileCatalyst UX through FileCatalyst.

For more information, see http://filecatalyst.com/.

MediaCentral | Deliver Enables workflows for the MediaCentral Production Management Delivery
service.
MediaCentral | Document Service for managing documents, including import, export, indexing, thumbnail
Management and proxy creation, and more. Requires MediaCentral | Asset Management
module.
MediaCentral | Enterprise Enables mixed sequence editing, allowing Asset Management and Production
Editing Management assets to coexist in the same sequence.
MediaCentral | AM Analytics MediaCentral Analytics subscription license for use with Azure Video Indexer.
add-on1
For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Analytics ReadMe.
MediaCentral | Media MediaCentral Analytics subscription license for use with AWS Media Analytics.
Analytics add-on1
For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Analytics ReadMe.
MediaCentral | Cloud MediaCentral subscription license required to use the AWS, Azure or GCP
Storage add-on1 Platform Storage Connectors.
MediaCentral | Cloud MediaCentral subscription license required to use the AWS Elemental, or GCP
Transcoding add-on1 Transcoder Gateways. These transcoder integrations can be used in multiple
contexts. For more information on the context of MediaCentral | Asset
Management, see:

l Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management AWS Transcoder and Storage

Integration ReadMe
l Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management GCP Transcoder and Storage
Integration ReadMe
MediaCentral | Gateway for Enables a connection between the MediaCentral Platform and the Microsoft
Microsoft Azure Video Indexer Azure Video Indexer service for use with Avid MediaCentral | Analytics. This item
does not include any licensing required by Microsoft.
MediaCentral | Hoverscrub Authorizes your system for a number of MediaCentral Hoverscrub seats. For
more information, see "MediaCentral | Hoverscrub" on page 470.
MediaCentral | Ingest Enables the MediaCentral Ingest app.
MediaCentral | Multisite Enables you to find assets from remote systems of your multi-site configuration.
Index Service If your license does not include this option, you retain the ability to Browse
remote MediaCentral Modules, but those modules are not indexed and are not
returned in Search results.

173
 5 Using the License App

Name Description

Organizations require one Multisite Index Service per site.

MediaCentral | MOS Enables integration with MOS Gateway.
Gateway
MediaCentral | MOS This corresponds to a COM resource license on the Newsroom Management
Gateway COM Connection server.
MediaCentral | Newsroom This license corresponds to the Community option on the Newsroom
Management Community Management server.
MediaCentral | Newsroom This license can be used with a predefined IP on the config file, intended for use
Management Control Room in the control room.
Client
MediaCentral | Newsroom This license corresponds to the CPU licenses on the Newsroom Management
Management CPU server.
Consumption
MediaCentral | Newsroom This license corresponds to the newer generic sessions licenses or old-style wire
Management Wire Sessions servers.
MediaCentral | Orchestrate Allows organizations to run custom MediaCentral Asset Management processes.
Requires MediaCentral | Asset Management module
MediaCentral | Panel for 3rd Enables clients, such as Adobe Premiere Pro CC, to connect to MediaCentral
Party Creative Tools Cloud UX through a panel native to the application. Use of the panel requires a
Full or an Edit license.

Each connection is included in the maximum number of concurrent

MediaCentral Platform seats and each consumes user's entitlements for enabled
apps.

Related license: MediaCentral | File Connector for Avid NEXIS

MediaCentral | Panel for AP This license defines the number of users that can connect to MediaCentral Cloud
ENPS UX from within the Panel for AP ENPS.

To create sequences in the Panel, users must be associated with an Edit license.

Related license: MediaCentral | Connector for AP ENPS

For more information see the Avid MediaCentral | Panel for NRCS ReadMe.
MediaCentral | Panel for CGI This license defines the number of users that can connect to MediaCentral Cloud
OpenMedia UX from within the Panel for CGI OpenMedia.

Related license: MediaCentral | Connector for CGI OpenMedia

For more information see the Avid MediaCentral | Panel for NRCS ReadMe.
MediaCentral | Panel for Enables Avid Media Composer clients to connect to MediaCentral Cloud UX
Media Composer through a panel native to the application.

Each connection is included in the maximum number of concurrent

MediaCentral Platform seats and each consumes user's entitlements for enabled
apps.

In addition to standard Media Composer workflows, this license is required for

integration with Media Composer Distributed Processing.

174
 5 Using the License App

Name Description

MediaCentral | Panel for This license defines the number of users that can connect to MediaCentral Cloud
Octopus Newsroom UX from within the Panel for Octopus Newsroom.

Related license: MediaCentral | Connector for Octopus Newsroom

For more information see the Avid MediaCentral | Panel for NRCS ReadMe.
MediaCentral | Phonetic When activated, this license activates the Phonetic search option and displays
Index the number of hours of audio media that can be indexed by the search engine.

The Phonetic Index license authorizes your system for a specific number of hours
of indexed audio media. If the amount of audio media on your shared storage
exceeds the number of hours for your Phonetic Index license, only the most
recent media is returned through the Search app.

For example if you have 8,000 hours of audio media on your shared storage and
you purchase a 10,000 hour license, all 8,000 hours of media are indexed and all
assets can be returned through the Search app. If you add another 3,000 hours
of audio media, all 11,000 hours of media are indexed, but only the last 10,000
hours are available through the Search app.
MediaCentral | Phonetic MediaCentral Phonetic Index ships with the International English language pack
License Packs by default, but you have the option of configuring Phonetic Index to use an
alternate language. As shown in the following illustration, you can license
multiple languages, but you can only index one language at a time.

For more information, see "Search Grid Prerequisites" on page 139.

MediaCentral | Publisher This license is required if using the Publisher app.

Although the MediaCentral | Publisher license appears once in the License app,
the SAAS platform allows for three different levels of access (Standard, Premium,
and Elite). Contact Avid Sales for more information on the features included with
each licensing level.
Avid Ada Transcribe Enables Avid Ada Transcribe features, including the Transcript tab of the Asset
Editor.
(MediaCentral | STT Base
Package)
MediaCentral | Sync For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Sync Administration Guide.

Related license: MediaCentral | Multisite Connector. The MediaCentral | Multisite

Index Service not required for the MediaCentral Sync workflow.
MediaCentral | Transcode Enables the ability to send Avid media through MediaCentral Production
Transcode in Cloud UX apps such as Browse and Search.

1 Depending on the time of purchase, these licenses might include Flex in the name.

175
 5 Using the License App

Although apps might not be specifically tied to licenses, the functionality for an app might not be available
without a particular license. For example, the Rundown app is available to all users — it is present in the user
interface regardless of your client license type or any other purchasable license. However, functionality in
the Rundown app depends on a connection to MediaCentral Newsroom Management. If you do not have a
license for the Newsroom Management module, the app Rundown app is available, but it provides no
functionality. For more information on optional subscription licensing for Newsroom Management, see the
“Licensing” chapter of the Avid MediaCentral | Newsroom Management Administration Guide.

License Distribution
Every user that signs in to MediaCentral Cloud UX consumes a MediaCentral Platform license. This is true if
you are accessing the user interface through a web browser, mobile device, MediaCentral Panel for Media
Composer, or another method. In addition to a Platform license, each user also consumes a client license
(Edit or Browse).

When considering how to distribute the licenses, you need to make a decision:
l Should you employ a 1:1 distribution method?
l Should you over-allocate the licenses?
For example, consider an organization that has purchased the following:
l 50 Platform licenses
l 25 Edit licenses
l 25 Browse licenses
One-to-One Distribution

In a 1:1 distribution method, the system administrator must pay careful attention to manage the number of
users assigned to each user group and the number of licenses that are available in MediaCentral Cloud UX.

In the example above, the organization has purchased 25 Edit licenses and 25 Browse licenses. In this case,
the system administrator could create two user groups consisting in their authentication provider of no
more than 25 users each. The administrator would use the User Management app to assign the Edit licenses
to the first group and the Browse licenses to the second group.

This method provides a high level of consistency as all fifty users are guaranteed to be allowed access to
MediaCentral Cloud UX. Additionally, each user knows exactly what kind of license they will receive at sign-
in.

You might also want to consider this method if you have a subscription license and want to avoid over-
subscription of client licenses (feature licenses might still be oversubscribed).

Over-allocating Connection Licenses

As an alternative to the 1:1 distribution method, administrators can elect to over-allocate MediaCentral
Cloud UX licenses. This method provides a great deal of flexibility, but it does not allow for the “always-
connect” peace of mind available through the 1:1 licensing method.

Again using our example, let’s assume that the organization has 100+ users separated into a number of
different user groups, and that each group is assigned either an Edit or a Browse license. Since the site has
purchased only 50 Platform licenses (assumes a perpetual license), the 51st person to attempt to sign in to
MediaCentral Cloud UX is denied access as there are no more available licenses.

This method might work well for a site that has a twelve hour shift rotation where only 50 concurrent users
are possible.

176
 5 Using the License App

Over-allocating Client Licenses

n The following information applies to Perpetual Licensing only. As described above, subscription-based
licenses allow you to over-subscribe the number of licenses.

The administrator might chose to over-allocate the client licenses that are assigned to a user group. Let’s
assume that the administrator has assigned the Edit license (25 seats in our example) to a user group called
“Editor” that consists of 30 users. The first 25 “Editor” users that sign in to MediaCentral Cloud UX are
assigned the Edit license. The 26th user that attempts to sign in might be denied access to MediaCentral
Cloud UX.

Although this “26th”user has been assigned an Edit license through the user group in the User Management
app, no Edit licenses remain. However, if a lower tiered license (such as Browse) is still available,
MediaCentral Cloud UX allows the user to sign in with the lower tiered license. If all licenses are consumed,
the user is denied access to MediaCentral Cloud UX and the user is alerted to the situation as in the
following illustration.

License availability is verified when a user signs in to MediaCentral Cloud UX. If the original license type
assigned to the user becomes available during the session, the user is not alerted to the availability of the
more feature-rich license. To release the existing license and consume a new license, the user must sign out,
and sign back in to MediaCentral Cloud UX.

If a user belongs to multiple groups — each assigned with different license types, the user receives the
highest level license available at the time of sign-in.

Allocating Entitlements

As described in "Using the User Management App" on page 187, you can enable specific entitlements for
each user group. The distribution of licenses related to entitlements works similarly to client licenses. If an
entitlement is enabled for a group and the license is available, the user is granted access to the associated
feature. However just as with client licenses, it is possible to oversubscribe entitlements.

If for example you purchase 20 Hoverscrub licenses, and you enable that entitlement for a user group that
includes 40 users — only the first 20 users that sign in to MediaCentral Cloud UX will have access to the
Hoverscrub feature.

177
 5 Using the License App

Manually enabled entitlements, such as Hoverscrub, remain available to the user — regardless of the client
license. For example, consider a user that belongs to two groups — one associated with an Edit license and
the Hoverscrub entitlement and one associated with a Browse license with the default entitlements. If the
user signs in to MediaCentral Cloud UX and is assigned a Browse license (because all the Edit licenses are
used), that user still has access to Hoverscrub functionality (as long as there are Hoverscrub seats still
available.

Activating a License
The Configuration area of the License app guides you through the process of importing a new license into
MediaCentral Cloud UX. The following process expands on the steps that are outlined in the License app’s
user interface.

After you complete the licensing process, your organization might later decide to purchase additional
features, user seats, or even switch to a different license type. The process of upgrading an existing license
with new features or converting a license (from perpetual to subscription) is similar to the process of
installing a license on a net-new installation. The one major difference is that you are not required to re-
enter your System ID or create a new Device ID. Whenever you activate a license, the previous license (if
applicable) is overwritten.

Activating a Subscription License Online

If your MediaCentral Cloud UX server can connect to the internet, you can complete the following process
to activate a subscription license. For offline subscription and perpetual licensing, see "Activating a License
Offline" on page 180.

To activate the license:

1. Prior to entering your subscription license, you must verify that your MediaCentral Cloud UX server(s)
can connect to the Avid Licensing services.
a. Use a terminal application to log in to your single server or primary node with your Ubuntu user
account.
b. Enter the following command to verify that your server can access https://api.avid.com:
curl https://api.avid.com/cloudux/License/Activate
The system should respond with the following message:
{"Message":"The requested resource does not support http method
'GET'."}
If you see any other message (e.g. could not resolve host name, could not connect, etc.), you
must work with your IT department to enable the connection.

n This is an API endpoint, not a human-readable web site.

c. If your system is configured in a cluster with multiple servers, repeat the curl command from
each individual server.
2. Open a new tab in your browser and proceed to https://my.avid.com/.
If you do not already have an account, you must create one now so that you can access the software
registration tools that are located behind this login.
3. After you sign in to my.avid.com, click the Register Software With Code button.

178
 5 Using the License App

4. Enter your software redemption code and click the Register Product button.
This process provides you with your System ID and Entitlement ID. Take note of both.
5. Returning to the MediaCentral Cloud UX License app, enter your System ID into the provided field,
and click the Submit button to generate a Device ID for your system.
t If you enter a valid System ID, the Device ID field is populated with a unique 25 digit identifier
for your MediaCentral Cloud UX server or cluster.
t If you enter an incorrect System ID, you receive an error. In this case you must correct and
resubmit your System ID.
After you generate a Device ID, the SystemID and DeviceID fields in the License app become locked. If
you accidentally enter the wrong information, see "Resetting the System ID and Device ID" on
page 182 for details on clearing the information from the License app.
6. Enter your Entitlement ID in the provided field.
7. Click the Online / Offline toggle button so that the Online option is highlighted in blue.
8. Click the Activate button at the bottom of the app.
t If successful, your license is imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX and the Results panel is
updated to reflect the new license. This process can take a few minutes to complete, so be
patient.
t If the activation process fails, the system alerts you with an error message.
Click anywhere outside of the pop-up window to dismiss the message.
After you active your subscription license, the app displays information about the connection to the
Avid license server.

License Last Checked On: Reports the last time that the MediaCentral Cloud UX server was able to
verify your subscription license with the Avid license server. The system also displays the result of this
verification step.
Metrics Last Transmitted On: Relates to subscription / over-subscription values. If you over-subscribe
any licenses during your subscription period, this data is used to track overages that could result in
additional fees at the end of your subscription.
9. Proceed to the User Management app to import user groups, assign client licenses to those groups,
and configure group entitlements (if applicable).

179
 5 Using the License App

Activating a License Offline

If your system does not have an internet connection, you can complete the following process to activate a
subscription or a perpetual license offline.

To activate the license:

1. Before you can activate your license, you must first complete the following steps to generate a
license file using the Avid Software License Activation website.
a. Enter the following link into your browser’s address bar:
https://my.avid.com/products/indirectactivation
b. Enter the required information on the Software Activation page.

n Your Entitlement ID (Activation ID) and System ID are provided to you by Avid.
c. Click the Submit button.
d. Click the Download button and save the license file to your local workstation.
2. Returning to the MediaCentral Cloud UX License app, enter your System ID into the provided field,
and click the Submit button to generate a Device ID for your system.
t If you enter a valid System ID, the Device ID field is populated with a unique 25 digit identifier
for your MediaCentral Cloud UX server or cluster.
t If you enter an incorrect System ID, you receive an error. In this case you must correct and
resubmit your System ID.
After you generate a Device ID, the SystemID and DeviceID fields in the License app become locked. If
you accidentally enter the wrong information, see "Resetting the System ID and Device ID" on
page 182 for details on clearing the information from the License app.
3. Enter your Entitlement ID in the provided field.
4. Click the Online / Offline toggle button so that the Offline option is highlighted in blue.
5. Click the Browse button.
6. Navigate to the license.json file, and click the Open button to import the license to MediaCentral
Cloud UX.
7. Click the Activate button to complete the process.
t If successful, your license is imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX and the Results panel is
updated to reflect the new license. This process can take a few minutes to complete, so be
patient.
t If the activation process fails, the system alerts you with an error message.
t If you had already licensed your system with a subscription-based license and you are
concerting to a perpetual license, the system displays a dialog that asks you to confirm the
activation of the new license.
Click anywhere outside of the pop-up window to dismiss the message.
8. Proceed to the User Management app to import user groups, assign client licenses to those groups,
and configure group entitlements (if applicable).

180
 5 Using the License App

Exporting a License
After you successfully import a license into the app, you can use the Export feature at the bottom of the
Configuration area to save a plain text file that details the contents of your license. This includes the Device
ID, System ID, and the list of licensed features.

Although this same information is available in the user interface of the License app, the export ability allows
you to share this information easily with others — such as another group within your organization or with
Avid Customer Care.

If you are unable to access the user interface, MediaCentral Cloud UX allows you to export similar
information from the Linux command line. However when using this method, the file does not include the
Device ID or System ID information.

To export your license data through the user interface:

t After activating a valid license, click the Export button in the License app to export the license.
The license is saved to the file download location specified in your browser.
If you want to view the license, Avid suggests viewing the file in an application such as Notepad++.
This free source code editor displays files through an organized line-item display. You can download
Notepad++ from: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/
To export your license data through the command line:

1. Use an SSH client such as PuTTY to access the MediaCentral Cloud UX server from a remote
workstation.
2. When prompted, enter your user name and the associated user password.
3. Enter the following command where <user> is the name of a user that is included in your
MediaCentral Cloud UX administrator group:
avidctl tools license-report -u <user>
4. When prompted, enter the password for this user and press Enter.
The system creates a license-report.txt file at /var/log/.
5. Enter the following command to view the report:
cat /var/log/license-report.txt

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl tools license-report --help

181
 5 Using the License App

Resetting the System ID and Device ID

After you click the Submit button in the Configuration area of the License app, the Submit button is
removed and a Reset IDs button is added to the user interface.

If you need to reset either the SystemID or DeviceID, you can click this button to delete the IDs from your
MediaCentral Cloud UX system. When you click the Reset ID button, both the SystemID and DeviceID are
reset. You cannot selectively reset only one of these values.

If you have already licensed your MediaCentral Cloud UX server with Avid and you reset the IDs, you will be
required to reactive your license and obtain a new license.json file that includes your updated ID
information.

To reset your SystemID and DeviceID:

1. Select the License app from the Administrator Settings Fast Bar.
For more information, see "Administrator App Overview" on page 135.
2. Before you reset the ID, you must take note of the System ID that was previously submitted. You will
need this information later in this process.
3. Click the Reset IDs button.
The system prompts you to confirm the reset command.
4. Click the Reset button to confirm the action or click Cancel to keep your existing IDs.
5. After confirming the reset command, you are prompted to confirm your system ID.
t To proceed, enter your previously submitted System ID and click the Reset IDs button.
t To exit without resetting, click the Cancel button.

182
 5 Using the License App

Reviewing the Licensing Results Panel

The Results panel provides additional information on each license that is successfully imported into
MediaCentral Cloud UX.

The bar at the top of this area displays the total number of licenses that have been imported into
MediaCentral Cloud UX, a text field that you can use to filter the results, and a Type field that indicates the
license type (subscription or perpetual).

The Results area includes multiple columns of information. You can increase or decrease the size of any
column by clicking and dragging the separator bars in the column header. However, you cannot reorder the
list of columns. The following columns are displayed:

License Name

Each license that is imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX appears as a separate line item in the Results
panel. The Results area is sorted alpha-numerically by this column by default.

Type

Each license is associated with one of the following categories:

l Core: These licenses apply to the Platform, rather than to an individual feature of MediaCentral
Cloud UX.
Examples: Platform license
l Module: These licenses authorize MediaCentral modules on the platform.
Examples: MediaCentral Production Management, MediaCentral Asset Management, and others
l On / Off: These licenses enable a new feature for the Platform or enable access to the Platform. The
number of users that can access the feature is limited by other user or seat licenses.
l Quota: Quota licenses appear in the Quantity column with numerical value count.
– For Avid Ada Transcribe, the quantity equals the total number of minutes that can be
transcribed within a cycle. The cycle starts at the point of the license activation and ends after
one year.
The counter resets to zero when the cycle ends. Any unused minutes from the previous cycle
are not rolled-over to the next cycle. Transcription data from the previous cycle remains
available and does not count towards the minutes in the following cycle.
If you transcribe the maximum amount of minutes defined by the license within a cycle, the
system stops processing any new media. You can contact Avid Sales to purchase additional
minutes (hours) as needed.

183
 5 Using the License App

If you submit an asset for transcription and later re-transcribe that same asset, the re-
transcription process counts as a new task that consumes more of the license quota.
– For Phonetic Index, the quantity equals the total number of hours of audio media that can be
indexed by the system.
l Seat: These licenses refer to the number of “seats” or users that access a certain feature.
Example: MediaCentral Hoverscrub
l Support: These licenses grant access to Avid Customer Care.
Examples: MediaCentral ExpertPlus Support
l User: These licenses refer to the client types described in "Client Licenses" on page 170.
Current Quantity

Each license is associated with a number. In some cases the number represents a license count and in other
cases it could represent a value, such as the number of hours licensed for Phonetic Index. In the case of an
On/Off license type, a value of 1 means that the license is enabled.

In some cases the quantity value is listed as a fraction — 10/40 for example. The number on the right
indicates the total number of licenses available and the number on the left indicates how many licenses are
currently in use.

Maximum Quantity

This column displays the maximum concurrent user count of the corresponding license. As described earlier
in this chapter, subscription licenses allow you to extend beyond the number of licenses that are displayed
in the Current Quantity column. If this occurs, the number is displayed in red to indicate the over-
subscription.

Expiration Date

If you purchase a perpetual license, you might notice that most licenses are not associated with an
expiration date. Instead, they are listed as permanent — indicating that they do not expire.

Subscription licenses and MediaCentral Support offerings are valid only for a certain period of time. In this
case the Expiration Date column displays the date on which the license will expire. Additionally, the License
app provides visual colored feedback regarding the status of the expiration:
l White: Indicates that the license is active and is at least 30 days away from the expiration date.
l Yellow: Indicates that the license will expire in less than 30 days.
l Red: The license has expired.
If you need to continue to use a feature beyond its expiration date, you must contact Avid to renew the
feature or extend your subscription. If you plan to extend your subscription, Avid recommends doing so
proactively to ensure uninterrupted operation of your system.

If a license expires, the features associated with that license are disabled until the license is renewed.
However if a license expires while users are connected to the system, the associated features remain
available to all active (signed-in) users during their current session. In this case the expired features are
disabled only after the user signs out of MediaCentral Cloud UX and makes a new connection to the
system.

Filtering and Sorting the Results Panel

After you have imported one or more licenses into MediaCentral Cloud UX, you can use the Filter and Sort
controls to refine the list of licenses in the Results area. The following illustration highlights the Filter and
Sort options in the user interface.

184
 5 Using the License App

l Filtering: This feature works almost like a search in that you can enter text in the filter field and only
those licenses whose name includes the filter term are displayed.
l Sorting: This feature allows you to reorder the list of licenses based on the column header.
Licenses are organized in alphabetical order (0-9, Aa-Zz) according to the License Name column by
default. You can sort the results by License Name, Type, Quantity, or Expiration Date — one column
at a time.
To filter the Results list:

1. Select the License app from the Administrator Settings.

2. Use the Filter Licenses field in the Results toolbar to enter the name or partial name of a license that
has been imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX.
As you enter text, the results list is immediately updated with the available results.
3. (optional) Clear the filter text to reset the Results area to show all licenses.
To sort the Results list:

1. Select the License app from the Administrator Settings.

2. Click on a column header to reorder the results list.
An up arrow appears to the right of the column name to indicate that this column is used to sort the
results in ascending order.
3. (optional) When you click on a column header, the column is sorted in ascending order by default. If
you need to sort the list in descending order, simply click on the column header again to reverse the
order of the list.
A down arrow appears to the right of the column name to indicate that this column is used to sort the
results in descending order.

User Profile Menu

After you import a valid license into MediaCentral Cloud UX, users can access the About option in the User
Profile menu to verify the type of license that is allocated for their current session. The following illustration
shows that user “editor” is assigned an Edit license.

185
 5 Using the License App

If you access the About window while signed into the Administrator apps, the License field reports the
following message: “No License Required (Administrator Mode)”. Administrators that are signed into the
Administrator apps page do not consume a client license.

186
 6 Using the User Management App

6 Using the User Management App

The User Management app allows system administrators to define one or more user groups that can be
used to authenticate user access to MediaCentral Cloud UX. After you identify and add the groups through
the User Management app, you can enable access to MediaCentral Cloud UX features by assigning a client
license to each user group. For more information on client licenses, see "Understanding the License Types"
on page 169.

The workflow for managing user groups and user-to-group assignments in the User Management app is
determined by the connected authentication provider:
l Active Directory: For organizations that integrate Windows Active Directory (AD), it is AD’s
responsibility to manage both users and groups. Those groups and user-to-group assignments are
imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX and then license types and permissions are assigned in the
User Management app.
l OpenID Provider: Newer OpenID providers are administered in a different way. There are two
approaches:
– Groups representing roles are not created or maintained, only users are managed. In OpenID
mode, only the users but no user groups are imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX. Hence, the
management of user groups is handled in the User Management app.
– IT departments might want to control the user-to-role assignments from within the OpenID
provider. In this case, an IT admin creates groups representing roles in the OpenID provider,
assigns users to these groups and configures the OpenID provider to add the groups
information to the "groups claim" of the OIDC token. MediaCentral IAM parses the OIDC
token, extracts the groups information from the "groups claim", creates the group and adds
users to the newly created group / existing group. Starting with 2023.12, super admins can
enable the auto-creation feature in the User Management app. See "Using the Auto-Create
Feature for Groups and User Assignment (OpenID Mode)" on page 201.
For more information on OpenID providers, see "Configuring an Authentication Provider" on
page 82.
The app is divided between four primary areas, as described in the following illustration and table:

187
 6 Using the User Management App

Section Description

1 Header The app header identifies the currently loaded app and provides access to the Help
menu.
2 Groups The Groups area displays the groups imported from your authentication provider
(Windows Active Directory), or locally or auto-created groups (OpenID).

For more information, see "User Management: Groups Area" below.

3 Users The Users area displays a list of users for the selected group in the Groups area.

For more information, see "User Management: Users Area" on page 190.
4 Properties This section of the app provides more information about individual users and groups.
This area also allows an administrator to assign a Client License to each user group
and to configure permissions for those groups.

For more information, see "User Management: Properties Area" on page 192.

Accessing the User Management App

You can access the User Management app through the administrator settings. For more information on
accessing the administrator settings, see "Administrator App Overview" on page 135.

User Management: Groups Area

The Groups area displays all user groups that have been added to MediaCentral Cloud UX in an alpha-
numerically sorted list. You can click on any of the groups to obtain more information about the group and
the users contained in the group.

The User Management Groups area provides controls to add Active Directory or local user groups (in
OpenID mode) to MediaCentral Cloud UX. You can also filter the groups list — allowing you to quickly and
easily identify a specific group for organizations with multiple user groups.

Icons Shown in the Groups Area

The groups directory of the User Management Groups area uses icons that help you identify different
groups. Which icons are shown is determined by the connected authentication provider. The following table
lists the icons shown in the groups directory:

Name Authentication Description

Provider

All Users AD, OpenID If you click on the All Users entry in the Groups area, the
Users area displays information about all users imported
from your authentication provider.
Imported Group AD Identifies user groups imported from your authentication
provider (Windows Active Directory) to MediaCentral
Cloud UX.

For more information, see "Adding or Removing User

Groups (AD Mode)" on page 196.
OpenID Identifies groups that have been auto-created in the User
Management app. When you hover the mouse pointer over
the icon, the tooltip reads "Imported (auto-generated by
Identity Provider)".

188
 6 Using the User Management App

Name Authentication Description

Provider

For more information, see "Using the Auto-Create Feature

for Groups and User Assignment (OpenID Mode)" on
page 201 .
Local Group OpenID Identifies groups that have been created in the User
Management app ("local groups").

For more information, see "Managing User Groups

(OpenID Mode)" on page 198.
Predefined Group OpenID When connected to an OpenID provider, the Groups area
shows four predefined groups:

l Administrators: Have access to Admin apps, and

user features if assigned a license, but they cannot
edit user and group properties.
l No access: Users added to that group can sign-in
but do not have access to any functionality.
l Super-Admins: Have access to all features. Only a
super-admin is allowed to manage user groups and
the related user assignments.
l Users: Have access to user features if assigned a
license but have no access to the Admin app.
Default Group OpenID Identifies the group that users are placed into if they have
not been assigned to a group and sign-in for the first time.
By default, this is the “Users” group. A group that is
flagged as the Default group cannot be deleted.

Filtering and Sorting the Groups Area

The toolbar at the top of the User Management Groups area includes controls that allow you to execute
certain actions that relate to the groups directory. The following table lists the actions available through the
toolbar:

Section Description

Filter The filter option allows you to enter a custom value to limit the Groups directory to show
Group only those groups that include your filter text.
Add Group The Add Group button allows you to add user groups imported from your authentication
provider (Windows Active Directory) or add local user groups (OpenID) to MediaCentral
Cloud UX.

For more information, see "Adding or Removing User Groups (AD Mode)" on page 196 and
"Managing User Groups (OpenID Mode)" on page 198.
Reload This button refreshes the list of imported groups.

189
 6 Using the User Management App

To sort the Groups directory:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings Fast Bar.
2. In the User Management Groups area, click on a column header to reorder the Groups directory.
An up arrow appears to the right of the column name to indicate that this column is used to sort the
results in ascending order.
3. (optional) When you click on a column header, the column is sorted in ascending order. If you need to
sort the list in descending order, simply click on the column header again to reverse the order of the
list.
A down arrow appears to the right of the column name to indicate that this column is used to sort the
results in descending order.
To filter the Groups directory:

1. Enter a custom value in the Find a Group field.

The list of groups is filtered to include only those whose name include your filter text.
In the following example, an administrator has filtered the list to include only the user groups that
include “ws” in the name.

2. (optional) Delete the filter text by pressing the X on the right side of the Find a Group field.
To reload the Groups directory:
t Click the Reload button to update the displayed group information.
Updates are not displayed automatically in the User Management app. If you have the User
Management app open and a change is made to an Active Directory user group, you must click the
Reload button to see the change in the User Management app.

User Management: Users Area

The Users area displays information about the users contained in the group selected in the Groups area. If
you click on the All Users entry in the Groups area, the Users area displays information about all users of all
groups. By default, no group is selected in the Groups area and therefore the Users area initially is empty
and shows a “No group selected” message.

190
 6 Using the User Management App

The following table provides more information on the different sections of the Results area.

1 Filter Allows you to filter the user results by column. For more information, see "Filtering
and Sorting the Users Area" below.
2 Results Count The upper-left corner of the Users area displays the total number of users that have
been imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX. If you select an individual user group,
the value reflects the number of users in that group.
3 User Each row in the Users area provides additional information about the users included
Information and in the selected group.
Status
The Status column allows administrators to determine which users are currently
signed-in to MediaCentral Cloud UX. If the user has a green dot over their icon, then
the user is currently active. Otherwise, the user is offline. Additionally, the Status
column provides controls to obtain more details on multiple user sessions.

The user Status column does not refresh automatically. If you want to update the
status, you must refresh the list by clicking the Reload button in the sidebar.

For more information, see "Viewing and Releasing User Sessions" on page 205.
4 Sessions For more information, see "Viewing and Releasing User Sessions" on page 205.

The Users area displays information about the users in columns and rows of data. You can resize all but the
status column to accommodate your available screen space.

You can click on a user to obtain detailed information about that user. For additional details, see "User
Management: Properties Area" on the next page.

Filtering and Sorting the Users Area

After you have imported the AD user groups or created local user groups (in OpenID mode) in MediaCentral
Cloud UX, you can use the Filter and Sort controls to refine the list of users in the Users area. The following
illustration and table highlight the Filter and Sort options in the user interface.

1 Sort This option allows you to reorder the results list based on the column header. You can
reorder results list using any of the column headers.
2 Filter This option works almost like a search in that you can enter text in the filter field and only
those users whose details include the filter text are displayed.

You can filter the results list by the values that are associated with user sessions, such as
the user name, device host name, or device IP address.

191
 6 Using the User Management App

To sort the Users list:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings Fast Bar.
2. Select a group from the list in the app’s Groups area.
All users contained in the selected group are displayed in the Users area.
3. Click on a column header to reorder the results list.
An up arrow appears to the right of the column name to indicate that this column is used to sort the
results in ascending order.
4. (optional) When you click on a column header, the column is sorted in ascending order. If you need to
sort the list in descending order, simply click on the column header again to reverse the order of the
list.
A down arrow appears to the right of the column name to indicate that this column is used to sort the
results in descending order.
To filter the Users list:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. Select a group from the list in the app’s Groups area.
All users contained in the selected group are displayed in the Users area.
3. Enter a value in the filter field of the User area’s toolbar.
As you enter text, the results list is immediately updated with the available results. The following two
examples provide more information on filter functionality:
t You know that user “Bob Smith” (username: bsmith) has been imported into MediaCentral
Cloud UX. You enter “smith” as a filter to quickly find all accounts that include that text in the
username.
t You enter “bob” as a new filter. In this case, the results list does not include Bob Smith because
“bob” is not part of the actual username (bsmith).
4. (optional) Clear the filter text to reset the Users area.

User Management: Properties Area

When you click on a user or user group, detail information about the selection is displayed in the Properties
area on the right side of the User Management app. Arranged in two tabs (GROUP, USER), the upper half of
the panel displays information (Metadata) about the user group selected in the Groups area or an
individual user that is selected in the Users area. The lower half of the panel displays information about the
Entitlements that are assigned to the group or user.

You can collapse and expand the Metadata and Entitlements information by using the chevron (arrow) on
the left side of the section header.

192
 6 Using the User Management App

Group Details and Entitlements

The GROUP tab of the Properties panel displays some basic information on the group such as the alias and
Group ID in the Metadata section.
l When connected to an AD, these fields are defined in your authentication provider and cannot be
altered through MediaCentral Cloud UX.
l When connected to an OpenID provider, Group Name and Description can be altered through the
Edit Group dialog box in MediaCentral Cloud UX.
Additionally, the Client License type associated with the group and the quota options are shown in the
Metadata section.
l Client License: Assigned by an administrator, the client license defines the default level of user access
to MediaCentral Cloud UX for all users in the group. For more information, see "Adding Client License
Types" on page 207.
l Quotas: For more information, see "Working with Group Quotas" on page 209.
The Entitlements section of the GROUP tab displays the MediaCentral Cloud UX features that are available
to the group. These entitlements are initially based on the client license that is assigned to the user group.
Unlike the License app which displays all license types, the User Management app displays entitlements
that are of type User, Seat, or Permission only.

Administrators (AD) or super-admins (OpenID) can alter the set of default entitlements on a group basis by
selecting or deselecting the check boxes in the Enabled column. However, not all entitlements can be
toggled. For example, the Browse app (entitlement) is enabled for all groups and administrators cannot
disable this basic functionality.

193
 6 Using the User Management App

If you disable an entitlement, the app associated with that entitlement might be removed from the
MediaCentral Cloud UX user interface. For example if you disable the Rundown entitlement, the Rundown
app is removed from the user interface for the affected user group.

c Some apps default to a disabled mode in the entitlements list. In theses cases, you must manually
enable the entitlement to allows users to access the app or feature.

Most entitlements should be self-explanatory. However, the following entitlements are explained in more
detail:
l Collaborate App
Must be enabled for the user groups that you define when completing the process for "Configuring
Collaborate App User Groups" on page 109. If you associate this entitlement with any other user
group, the entitlement does not allow any additional users within those groups to access the
Collaborate app.
l Edit Content
Allows you to edit sequences in the Sequence Timeline section of the Asset Editor and allows you to
Transcode assets through the Browse or Search app context menus.
This entitlement is disabled for Browse client licenses and cannot be enabled.
l Edit Metadata
Allows you to edit the metadata in the tabs section of the Asset Editor. Without this entitlement, users
can only view metadata.
l Edit Rundown

194
 6 Using the User Management App

Allows you to edit items in the Rundown app. Without this entitlement, users can only view items in
the Rundown app.
l Edit Session
Associated with the Log app, this entitlement allows clients to the ability to create and edit sessions.
This entitlement is associated with Edit client licenses only.
l Master of Jobs
When signed into MediaCentral Cloud UX as a standard user, you are allowed to see only the jobs
that you submit in the Process app. If an administrator enables this entitlement for a user group, the
users within that group can see the list of jobs submitted by all users. This entitlement applies to the
Process app and if licensed, the MediaCentral Distributed Processing Status app.
l Distributed Processing Coordinator
Enables the user to access the Coordinator Tools and the Email Settings panels within the
MediaCentral Distributed Processing Status app. If this entitlement is not enabled, these panels do
not appear in the MediaCentral Cloud UX user interface for this user group.
l Send to Playback
Enables the Send to Playback menu option when clicking the Quick Send button in the Asset Editor.
This feature allows users to send Production Management assets to a configured playback
destination. For more information, see "Using the Quick Send Feature" in the Avid MediaCentral |
Cloud UX User's Guide.

n Access to the features described above might require one or more licenses. For more information on
client licenses, see "Understanding the License Types" on page 169. If the User Management app does
not display a particular entitlement, you might be required to obtain and install a new license to enable
the feature or entitlement.

User Details and Entitlements

If you select a user in the Users area, the USER tab of the Properties panel displays additional information
about the user such as the user’s full name and e-mail address in the Metadata section. These fields are
defined in your authentication provider and cannot be altered through MediaCentral Cloud UX.

As shown in the following illustration, the Entitlements section of the USER tab provides a list of entitlements
that are associated with the user.

195
 6 Using the User Management App

You can use the “show entitlements” toggle in this view to alter the list of displayed entitlements:
l Show All: All entitlements are listed in the Entitlements section. If an entitlement is associated with a
check mark, it means that the selected user has access to the feature or app.
l Show only assigned entitlements: Only the entitlements that are enabled for the selected user are
displayed.
The From Groups column displays the group or groups from which the entitlement is inherited. If a user is
included in more than one group, that user might have multiple levels of access to MediaCentral Cloud UX.

For example, consider a user that is included in both a “Producers” group and an “Editors” group. If you
assign an Edit license to the Producers group and a Browse license to the Editors group, the user would have
multiple levels of access. For more information on how licenses are consumed in MediaCentral Cloud UX,
see "License Distribution" on page 176.

Adding or Removing User Groups (AD Mode)

The following process details the steps required to add or remove user groups within MediaCentral Cloud
UX. This process assumes that you have completed the process for "Configuring an Authentication
Provider" on page 82.

After you add a group to MediaCentral Cloud UX, the list of users remains synchronized with your
authentication provider. If you add a new user to a group that has already been added to MediaCentral
Cloud UX, you are not required to take any action within the User Management app. The user is included
automatically and is allowed to sign into Cloud UX using the license type assigned to the group. Similarly, if
a user is removed from a group, the change is reflected in MediaCentral Cloud UX.

196
 6 Using the User Management App

MediaCentral Cloud UX synchronizes the user groups automatically. When authenticating against Active
Directory, the interval between synchronizations is based on the CloudUX Active Directory Import Interval
value that you defined in the process of "Integrating with Active Directory" on page 83.

If you remove a group from your authentication provider, the group is removed automatically from the User
Management app. If any users that are included in that group belong to another user group that has been
added to the User Management app, the users retain access to MediaCentral Cloud UX. However, it is
possible that the level of access might be affected. For example, consider a user (User1) that belongs to two
groups (Group1 and Group2). Group1 is assigned an Edit Client License and Group2 is assigned a Browse
Client License. If Group1 is removed, User1 maintains access to MediaCentral Cloud UX, but with Browse
capabilities only.

If you completely remove a user or group of users from MediaCentral Cloud UX, any custom settings
associated with those users are deleted. Favorite searches that are saved in the Search app represent an
example of a custom setting.

To add a user group:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. Click the Add Group button in the Group area’s toolbar.
The Add or Remove Groups window appears.
The user groups that can be added to MediaCentral Cloud UX are listed on the left side of the
window. When using Active Directory. this list is populated using the Base DN value specified in
"Integrating with Active Directory" on page 83. If you do not see your desired user group, you might
need to specify a higher-level Base DN.
The Your Groups area on right side of the window displays all user groups that have been added to
MediaCentral Cloud UX. As seen in the following illustration, Your Groups automatically includes the
MediaCentral Cloud UX administrators group. In this example the administrators group is called
“Administrators”. When you configured your authentication provider settings, you identified a user
group that would serve as the administrators group. Therefore your administrators group might be
identified with a different name. You cannot remove the administrators group.

As in other areas of the User Management app, you can use the Filter in either the Available or the
Your Groups areas to quickly find the name of a specific group or groups.

197
 6 Using the User Management App

3. Do one of the following to add a group to Your Groups:

t Click and drag a single group from the left side of the window to the right.
t Ctrl+click multiple groups and drag the selection from the left side of the window to the right.
n If you Ctrl+click multiple groups and make a mistake in your selection, you can either Ctrl+click
a group to deselect it or you can release the Ctrl key and click on any single group to deselect all
groups.

This process adds the group or groups to the Your Groups list. However, the change is not active until
you click the Save button.
4. (optional) Continue to add groups to the Your Groups list.
5. Do one of the following:
t Click the Save button to submit the changes and close the window.
t Click the Cancel button to exit the Add or Remove Groups process without importing any new
groups.
You can return to the Add or Remove Groups area at any time to add additional groups.
To remove a user group:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. Click the Add Group button in the Group area’s toolbar.
3. Click the X to the right of any group in the Your Groups area of the window to remove the user group
from MediaCentral Cloud UX.
4. After you have finished removing groups, click the Save button to submit the changes and close the
window.

Managing User Groups (OpenID Mode)

The following process details the steps required to add, edit or remove user groups within MediaCentral
Cloud UX. This process assumes that you have completed the process for "Configuring an Authentication
Provider" on page 82.

When connected to an OpenID provider, the Groups area shows the following predefined groups, which
cannot be deleted.

198
 6 Using the User Management App

Group Description

Administrators Have access to MediaCentral Cloud UX Admin apps, and user features if assigned a
license. However, for the User Management app, administrators can see all details in read-
only mode, but they cannot change anything.
No access Users added to that group can sign-in but have no access to any functionality.
Users Have access to user features if assigned a license but have no access to the MediaCentral
Cloud UX Admin app. By default, the “Users” group is flagged as the "Default Group." This
is the group that users are placed into if they have not been assigned to a group yet. A
super-admin can move the "Default Group" flag to any available group (except No access
and Super Admins).
Super Admins Have access to all features in both the Admin apps and User apps. Only a super-admin is
allowed to manage user groups and the related user assignments. To avoid privilege
conflicts, the Super Admins group cannot be edited in the User Management app.

Super-admins must be defined in the OpenID provider and the provider must add that
information to the “groups” claim of the provider's token that is sent to MediaCentral.

A super-admin can do the following:

l Add local groups. See "Creating Local User Groups (OpenID Mode)" on the next
page.
l Activate the auto-creation feature for groups and user assignment. See "Using the
Auto-Create Feature for Groups and User Assignment (OpenID Mode)" on page 201.
l Define the Default Group. See "Defining the Default User Groups (OpenID Mode)"
on page 202.
l Edit groups. See "Editing User Groups (OpenID Mode)" on page 203.
l Delete groups. See "Deleting User Groups (OpenID Mode)" on page 204.
l Change the assignment of users to groups. See "Editing the Group Assignment of a
User (OpenID Mode)" on page 206.
l Assign client license types and entitlements. See "Adding Client License Types" on
page 207.
l Set the quota of a group. See "Working with Group Quotas" on page 209.

199
 6 Using the User Management App

Creating Local User Groups (OpenID Mode)

As a super-admin, you can create local groups and assign users to the group.

To create a local user group:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. Click the Add Group button in the Groups area’s toolbar.
The Add Group window opens.

3. Provide a Group Name. Special characters are not allowed.

If the Group Name contains illegal characters, a message opens when you leave the field.

4. Type a group alias in the Alias field. Only lower-case characters are allowed as input.
The alias must be unique. If an alias with the same name already exists, an error message will appear
once you click the Save button. The group will not be created in that case.
5. (optional) Type a description for the group in the Description field. The description will be shown in
the Groups tab of the Properties pane.
6. (optional) To assign users to the group, click the Users control, select the users from the list that
opens and then click outside the list. Use the Filter control to quickly find the name of a specific user.
You can later assign users to the group by editing the group in the Groups pane or by using the
Assign Group(s) feature for a user in the Users pane. See "Editing User Groups (OpenID Mode)" on
page 203 and "Editing the Group Assignment of a User (OpenID Mode)" on page 206.
7. (optional) Enable the "Add another group after saving" check box if you want to continue creating
groups.

200
 6 Using the User Management App

8. Do one of the following:

t Click the Save button to create the group and close the window.
A messages informs you how many users have been added to the group. The new group is
selected in the Groups directory.

t Click the Cancel button to exit the Add Group process without creating a new local group.
Using the Auto-Create Feature for Groups and User Assignment (OpenID Mode)
Starting with version 2023.12, the MediaCentral Platform User Management (IAM) can auto-generate user
groups and assign or unassign users to/from groups based on information retrieved from the OpenID
provider.

Background: IT departments might want to control the use-to-role assignments from within the OpenID
provider. To achieve this, an IT admin creates groups representing roles in the OpenID provider, assigns
users to these groups and configures the OpenID provider to add the groups information to the "groups
claim" of the OIDC token. MediaCentral IAM parses the OIDC token, extracts the groups information from
the "groups claim", creates the group and adds users to the newly created group / existing group.

As a super-admin, you need to activate the following auto-generate features in the User Management app.
All features are disabled by default.
l Auto create groups from token: MediaCentral reads the groups information from the current token of
the user and creates those groups automatically.
l Auto add users to groups: A user gets automatically assigned to a group if the group is present in the
current token of the user.
l Auto remove users from groups: A user gets automatically removed from a group if the group is not
present in the current token of the user.
Auto-generated groups are identified by the "Imported Group" icon in the User Management app Groups
area but when you hover the mouse pointer over such an icon, the tooltip reads "Imported (auto-generated
by Identity Provider)".

As a super-admin, you can apply the following to auto-generated groups in the User Management app:
l Add users to an auto-generated group
l Remove users from an auto-generated group
l Delete an auto-generated group
You cannot change the name or the alias of an auto-generated group.

n Any manual change you make to an auto-generated group might be overwritten by the Identity
Provider again.

201
 6 Using the User Management App

To enable the auto-create feature for groups and user assignment:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. Click the User Management app menu button and select the Settings option from the context menu.

The Settings window opens.

3. Enable the toggle button(s) of the feature(s) you want to enable.

t Auto Create Groups from Token
t Auto Add Users to Groups
t Auto Remove Users from Groups
4. Click the Save button.
Once the groups are created, assign a license to each group.

Defining the Default User Groups (OpenID Mode)

As a super-admin, you can define the Default Group. By default, the predefined “Users” group is flagged as
the "Default Group." This is the group that users are placed into if they have not been assigned to a group
yet. A super-admin can move the "Default Group" flag to any available group (except No access and Super
Admins).

To define the Default group:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. In the Groups area’s directory , right-click the group that is to be defined as the default group and
select Mark as Default from the context menu.

202
 6 Using the User Management App

The Default Group icon is shown to the left of the group name. You cannot delete the default group.

Editing User Groups (OpenID Mode)

As a super-admin, you can edit the properties of groups in the Groups pane. Note the following limitations:
l For local groups, you can edit all properties except the Alias.
l For auto-generated groups, you cannot edit the properties.
l For the predefined groups Administrators and Users and for auto-generated groups you can change
the assignment of users to the group.
l The predefined groups No access and Super Admins cannot be edited at all.
To edit a group:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. In the Groups area’s directory, right-click the group that you want to edit and select Edit Group from
the context menu.
The Edit Group window opens.

3. Edit the following properties as needed:

– Group Name (local groups only)
– Description
– Users
4. Click Save.
When you assign users to or unassign users from an auto-generated group, a message opens.

203
 6 Using the User Management App

Click OK to confirm your changes. Note that your changes might be automatically be altered based
on information retrieved from the Identity Provider.

Deleting User Groups (OpenID Mode)

As a super-admin, you can delete local and auto-generated groups. Note that you cannot delete predefined
groups and a local or auto-generated group that is defined as the Default Group.

To delete a user group:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. In the Groups area’s directory, do one of the following:
t Hover the mouse pointer over the group to be deleted and click the Delete Group button that is
shown to the right side of the group entry.
t Right-click the group to be deleted and select Delete Group from the context menu.
A Delete Group security prompt opens.
– When you delete a local group, the following prompt opens.

– When you delete an auto-generated group, the following prompt opens.

3. Click Delete.

204
 6 Using the User Management App

The group is deleted and removed from the Group area's directory. The All Users entry is selected.
Note that the group might be recreated again based on information retrieved from the Identity
Provider.

Viewing and Releasing User Sessions

When a user is signed into MediaCentral Cloud UX, the Status column in the Users list displays a chevron
(arrow) to the left of the user icon. If you click this button, the User Management app displays additional
lines of text that detail the workstation or mobile device that is being used to access the user interface. Each
device is identified by either its host name or its IP address. Your own device identifier is highlighted in
orange.

If MediaCentral Cloud UX cannot determine the device’s name or IP, the app displays a Device ID which is
an internal identification label for the device.

If the same user account is used to sign into MediaCentral Cloud UX from multiple locations, you might see
multiple lines of text for an individual user. This information relates to the Sessions column in the Users area
which identifies the number of simultaneous connections for the account.

As an administrator (AD) or super-admin (OpenID), the User Management app allows you to forcibly sign a
user or an individual session out of the system. This functionality applies to signed-in users only.

To forcibly disconnect a user from MediaCentral Cloud UX:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. Select a group from the list in the app’s Groups area.
All users contained in the selected group are displayed in the Users area.
3. Do one of the following to select one or more user sessions in the Users area:
t Click the user row to select the user and all associated user sessions.
t Click the chevron to the left of the user icon in the Users list to expand the session details and
click an individual session for the selected user.
t Ctrl+click or Shift+click several users or sessions to terminate multiple sessions simultaneously.
When using the modifier keys to select user sessions, you can select any combination of
individual users and sessions.
4. Right-click the user, session, or sessions and select the Force Sign-Out option from the context menu.
When you click the Force Sign Out button, MediaCentral Cloud UX displays the following message to
the user: “Your user session has timed out. You need to sign in again.” If the user waits or clicks OK to
the message, they are returned to the MediaCentral Cloud UX sign-in page.

c Although MediaCentral Cloud UX regularly saves progress to the local workstation’s browser cache,
forcibly disconnecting a user might result in loss of work.

205
 6 Using the User Management App

Editing the Group Assignment of a User (OpenID Mode)

As a super-admin, you can add and remove users to and from groups in the Groups area:
l When you create a local group. See "Creating Local User Groups (OpenID Mode)" on page 200.
l When you edit a group. See "Editing User Groups (OpenID Mode)" on page 203.
Alternatively, you can edit the group assignment of an individual user or several users in the Users area, as
described in the following procedure. To avoid privilege conflicts, you cannot assign any user to the Super
Admins group.

To edit the group assignment of a user:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. In the Groups area's directory, do one of the following:
t Click the All Users entry to show all imported users in the Users area.
t Select a group to show users contained in the selected group in the Users area.
3. In the Users area, right-click a user and select the Assign Group(s) option from the context menu.
The Assign Group(s) window opens.
4. Click the Groups control to open the list of groups and do the following:

a. (optional) Use the Filter control to quickly find the name of a specific group.
b. Select the check boxes of the groups to which the user is to be added.
c. Deselect the check boxes of the groups from which the user is to be removed.
d. Click outside the list.
5. Click the Save button.
When you assign a group to or unassign a group from an auto-generated user, a message opens.
Click OK to confirm your changes. Note that the group assignment might be altered again based on
information retrieved from the Identity Provider.

206
 6 Using the User Management App

If you remove a user from the group whose members are currently shown in the Users area, the UI is
refreshed: In the Groups area the All Users entry is selected and thus all imported users are shown in
the Users area.
To assign several users to a group:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. In the Groups area's directory, do one of the following:
t Click the All Users entry to show all imported users in the Users area.
t Select a group to show users contained in the selected group in the Users area.
3. In the Users area, select several users.
4. Drag and drop your selection to a group in the Groups area.
A message appears and indicates how many users have been added to the local group.

When an auto-generated group is affected, the following message opens.

5. Click in an empty area of the User Management app to close the message.

Adding Client License Types

Before users can access MediaCentral Cloud UX, you must assign a Client License to the user group. The
client license defines the level of access that each of the groups will have to the system.

207
 6 Using the User Management App

The User Management app allows you change the client license type associated with a group. Starting with
v2023.7, you can remove a client license from a group, without removing the group from MediaCentral
Cloud UX.

If you import a new license through the License app, you might need to reapply the client license to the
group. For instance if a new feature such as Hoverscrub is added to the client’s set of entitlements, the
feature might not be available until you reapply the license. As an alternate example, if your system is
already licensed for a set of Edit Client licenses and you simply add more seats, you would not need to
reapply the license.

n If you apply a client license and subsequently change the license — switch from Edit to Browse for
example — the user group retains all entitlements of type user only. Other entitlement types such as
seat or permission might be reset when you apply the new client license.

To add a client license to a user group:

1. Select the User Management app from the Administrator Settings.

2. Select a group from User Management Groups area.
Detailed information about the group is added to both the Users area and the Properties area of the
User Management app.
3. In the Properties area, click the GROUP tab.
4. Expand the Metadata section if needed.
5. Click the Client License menu.
A list of available license types appears as shown in the following illustration.

This list is populated by the licenses that have been imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX through
the License app. If for instance you import only a set of Browse licenses into Cloud UX, then that is
the only license type available in the menu.
6. Do one of the following:

208
 6 Using the User Management App

t Select a license type from the menu that you want to associate with the selected group.
t Select None if you need to disassociate a client license from a group.
n After assigning None, the entitlements of type user are reset. Entitlements of type seat
and permission are still enabled. Consider disabling them manually.

Whenever assigning a license to a user group, the changes are saved automatically.
If you have not yet imported client licenses into MediaCentral Cloud UX, see "Using the License App"
on page 168 for more information.

Working with Group Quotas

Building on the "License Distribution" on page 176 concept that is described in the Licensing App chapter,
the User Management app’s quota feature provides Administrators with a second level of control over the
number of users that can connect to the MediaCentral Cloud UX system. Quotas are configured on a user
group level and they determine the maximum number of users from that group that can connect to the
system.

Quotas allow you to ensure that users from all groups can access the system. If for example you have a
users group that includes 100 members, you can limit that group to a quota of 80. This ensures that they do
not consume all licenses — allowing members of other groups to access the system.

During the sign-in process, MediaCentral Cloud UX checks the quota count before the license count. That
means that it is possible for a user to be blocked from signing into the system, even if a Browse or Edit
license is still available. When a user signs-out, the quota consumption is freed, allowing another user to
sign in.

Consider the following example scenario:

l User Michael is a member of the Editors group.
l User Jennifer is a member of both the Editors and the Producers groups.
l Both groups have been imported from your authentication provider (AD mode) or locally created
(OpenID mode) and an administrator has used the User Management app to assign an Edit license to
both groups.
l The administrator assigns a quota of 20 to the Editors group. This means that a maximum of 20
members of this group can access the system at any one time.
l The administrator assigns a quota of 10 to the Producers group.
Example 1
l 12 members of the Editors group and 5 members of the Producers group are currently signed in. There are
plenty of Edit licenses available on the system.
Result: Michael and Jennifer can both sign in. Michael deducts one “seat” from the Editor quota and Jennifer, who
is a member of both groups, deducts one seat from the Editor quota and one seat from the Producers quota.

Users who belong to multiple groups always take one seat from each group’s quota. However, this is different from
the license count. The same user (Jennifer) consumes only one Edit license.

Example 2
l 15 members of the Editors group and 10 members of the Producers group are currently signed in. There are
still plenty of Edit licenses available on the system.
Result: Michael can sign in normally. However the system displays a message to Jennifer indicating that she
cannot access the system at this time. Since the Producers group has reached its maximum quota of 10 users,

209
 6 Using the User Management App

Example 2

Jennifer cannot access the system until another member of the Producers group signs out.

Example 3
l 5 members of the Editors group and 5 members of the Producers group are currently signed in. Other user
groups have consumed all of the available Edit licenses, but there is still one Browse license available.
Jennifer signs in first (sorry Michael).
Result: Jennifer signs in normally. Even though all Edit licenses are being used, MediaCentral Cloud UX allows her
sign in with a Browse license. She consumes one quota seat in both the Editors and the Producers groups.

Since all Edit licenses and Browse licenses are consumed, Michael is blocked from accessing the system — even
though the Editors group maximum quota has not been reached.

Example 4
l The administrator disables the quota option for the Producers group.
Result: When Jennifer signs in, the system checks the Editors group quota and the licenses only. Since the
Producers group quota value is disabled, the value is not used in the verification process.

To assign a quota to a group:

1. Select the group in the User Management app Groups area.

2. In the Properties area, click the GROUP tab.
3. Expand the Metadata section if needed.
4. Click the slider button to enable the quota.

5. Enter a numerical value into the quota field.

Working in Disconnected Mode

As you know, MediaCentral Cloud UX requires a connection to an authentication provider to validate user
access to the system. If the connection to your provider is severed, users that are already signed in to
MediaCentral Cloud UX can continue working. However as Avid does not store passwords on the Cloud UX
server, users that are not already signed-in are denied access to MediaCentral Cloud UX until the
connection to the provider is restored.

Notes for Active Directory User Accounts

As an administrator, be aware of the following rules related to Active Directory users:

210
 6 Using the User Management App

l Password must be changed after next login

If you have this option enabled in Active Directory for any user and the user is attempting to access
the domain for the first time using MediaCentral Cloud UX, the user will not be able to sign-in.
MediaCentral Cloud UX does not prompt the user to change their password. In this case, the user
must sign into a Windows client to change their password before attempting to access MediaCentral
Cloud UX.
l Locked accounts
If your Active Directory system is configured to lock an account after a certain number of failed login
attempts, MediaCentral Cloud UX respects this configuration and displays the following message
after the specified number of failed attempts.

If your Active Directory system is configured to automatically unlock the account after a certain
period of time, the user might still see this message if attempting to sign into MediaCentral Cloud UX
with an invalid password after the unlock period has expired. This is an unexpected response as the
user should normally receive a “wrong credentials” message.
If the user enters a correct password after the lockout period has expired, the user is granted access
to MediaCentral Cloud UX as expected.
This scenario does not occur if a domain administrator unlocks the account manually.

211
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

7 Using the Configuration Settings App

This app includes settings that relate to the overall operation and configuration of the system.

The app’s sidebar includes a tree that divides the settings into multiple categories. Review the information in
this chapter and complete the sections that apply to your environment.

In some cases, you might see an Integrations option appear in the sidebar. This menu item only appears if a
connected module or service calls to it — exposing additional administrator settings. If you see this menu
item, refer to the documentation in the related module or system for information on how to configure the
settings.

The Playout Servers feature can be used in environments that include Avid MediaCentral Shared Library.
For more information on this feature, see the Avid MediaCentral | Shared Library Installation and
Configuration Guide.

212
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

Configuring the General Settings

The General Settings apply to the overall MediaCentral Cloud UX system and not to any specific app or
area of the user interface.

To configure the General Settings:

1. Click on the Configuration Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select General Settings
from the menu in the app’s sidebar.
2. Configure your Session Timeout settings:
t Verify the configuration of the session timeout feature. If enabled (blue), users are
automatically signed out of MediaCentral Cloud UX after the specified period of inactivity. If
disabled (black), user sessions do not expire. The session timeout feature is enabled by default.
t Enter a numerical value to define the period of inactivity before a user is automatically signed
out of MediaCentral Cloud UX. The default value of this field is 30 minutes and acceptable
values are 1 to 1000 minutes.
When a user exits MediaCentral Cloud UX by signing out of the UI, their session is ended and their
license is released for use by another user. However if a user ends their session by closing the Chrome
browser, the license might not be released for another 15 minutes of inactivity. For this reason,
administrators are encouraged to advise users to sign-out before closing their browser. If you
configure the Session Timeout for a value of 15 minutes or less, the user session ends and the license
is released at the same time – regardless of how the user exits their session.

n The Session Timeout settings do not apply to embedded MediaCentral Cloud UX panels, such as
the MediaCentral | File Connector for Avid NEXIS, the MediaCentral | Panel for ENPS, or other. In
these cases, the connection to MediaCentral Cloud UX remains active and does not time-out.

3. (Optional) Select a new time zone from the menu.

The Time Zone field allows you to configure a local time zone for the MediaCentral Cloud UX
interface. This field defaults to “Use System Timezone” which configures user interface to use the
same zone as the one configured in the server’s operating system.
4. After you click in the field, a menu appears with a list of possible selections. You can use the scroll bar
to the right of the menuto navigate the list of options.
The format of each time zone can vary based on your region and selection. For example the following
time zones can be selected:
– America/Argentina/Tucuman (region / country / province)
– Etc/GMT+8 (Greenwich Mean Time, plus 8 hours)
– Europe/Berlin (continent / city)
– US/Pacific (country / time zone)
5. Use the Date Format menu to define how you would like to have date fields appear in the user
interface.
6. Verify the configuration of the Metadata tab auto-save feature.
t If enabled (blue, default), changes made to fields in the Metadata tab of the Asset Editor are
saved automatically — after the user clicks away from the field.
t If disabled (black), users must explicitly click the Save button in the Metadata tab to save their
changes. This allows a workflow in which users are able to update multiple metadata fields
before confirming those changes and making them available to other users.
7. Verify the configuration of the Search Folder Pill setting.

213
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

t If enabled (blue, default), the Search app displays the Location pill in the user interface.
t If disabled (black), the Search app removes the Location pill in the user interface.
As the Location pill can be used with Production Management searches only, you might want
to disable this toggle for any MediaCentral Cloud UX system that is not connected to a
Production Management module.
8. Click the Save button at the bottom of the app to apply and save your settings.

Configuring Active Directory Single Sign-On

Organizations that use Microsoft Windows workstations can configure the settings in this panel to allow
users to pass their user credentials directly MediaCentral Cloud UX. Once enabled, a new Sign In button
appears below the standard username / password fields on the Welcome page. In the following example,
an administrator has configured the settings to use Microsoft Windows as an authentication method.

This method simplifies the sign-in process by allowing users to access MediaCentral Cloud UX with a single
mouse click. This alternative method is also beneficial to organizations that use smart cards to sign into
Windows — where users might not know their individual user / password details.

This optional procedure is required only if you want to enable this sign-on method. After you enable the
setting, users are allowed to either enter their user credentials manually (if known), or use the single sign-on
method (both options are available). If you enable the Multi-Factor Authentication option during the
process of "Integrating with Active Directory" on page 83, the manual user/password fields are removed
from the Welcome screen. In this case, users have access to the SSO and MFA sign-in options only.

The following process requires access to a keytab or “key table” file. Used in conjunction with the Kerberos
Key Distribution Center (KDC) that is often installed on a Windows Active Directory server, keytabs store
accounts or principals and keys (similar to passwords). If you are unfamiliar with these concepts, you can
refer to the following resources for more information:
l https://www.kerberos.org/software/tutorial.html
l https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/secauthn/key-distribution-center
l https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/ad/service-principal-names
Before proceeding, you must work with your local IT Department or Domain Administrator to obtain the
keytab file and the associated SPN (service principal name). While you can define a custom service name
during the keytab file creation process, it is customary to use the short hostname of your MediaCentral
Cloud UX single server or virtual cluster as your service name.

214
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

c Due to the security-critical nature of the Kerberos ticket exchange, Avid strongly recommends that
you do not use the Kerberos SSO mechanism over the open internet. Always enable a secondary
encryption method such as a VPN.

n The SSO feature is limited to users that access MediaCentral Cloud UX through a Microsoft Windows
client workstation. In this release, Microsoft is the only alternate configuration option.

To configure the single sign-on settings:

1. Click on the Configuration Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select the Single Sign-
On (SSO) option from the menu in the app’s sidebar.
2. Click the toggle in the SSO panel to enable the settings.
If you configure the keytab and SPN values in this panel, you can click the toggle to disable the SSO
option. After you save the change, the settings are retained, but the feature is disabled.
3. Import a keytab file.
a. Click the browse button to the right of the Keytab file field.
b. Navigate to the location of the file, select it, and click Open.
4. Enter the Service Principal Name (SPN) for the keytab file.
The SPN is defined when executing the ktpass command on your Windows server. Although the
exact format of this value can vary, it might look similar to the following example:
HTTP/<service_principal_name>@<DOMAIN_NAME.COM>
or
HTTP/[email protected]
Note that the Domain name must be in all capital letters.
5. Do one of the following:
t Click the Save button to submit the changes and close the window.
t Click the Cancel button to abort your changes.
6. Finally, you must use the Internet Properties control panel (Security tab) on your client workstations
to add your MediaCentral Cloud UX URL to the list of Local Intranet sites. While you can accomplish
this task on a per-client basis, larger organizations might prefer to deploy this change through
domain group policy.

Managing Service Accounts

Some system services need to execute operations (talk to other services) while not running in the context of
a user session (no access token from a logged in user is available). However without a valid access token,
communication between services is not possible.

The Services option in the Configuration Settings allows you to assign user accounts to these system
services. The following illustration shows the default Services Configuration Settings window.

215
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

During the process of "Integrating with Active Directory" on page 83, you are asked to define a Default
Username and Default Group DN. Although displayed in the UI as “unassigned”, MediaCentral Cloud UX
assigns the Default Username to each of the services in the Configuration Settings app. As a result, the
following process is optional in this release.

If you decide to assign a custom user account to one or more of these services, you must select a user that
has been imported into MediaCentral Cloud UX from your authentication provider. There is no impact to the
user that is assigned to the service. You can assign different users to each service or the same user account
to all services. The client license assigned to the user account through the User Management app has no
impact on the account’s ability to run a service.

To assign a user to one or more services:

1. Click on the arrow to the left of Services in the Configuration Settings sidebar and then select the
Services option.
2. Use the menu to the right of any service to assign a user name to the service.
If you know the name of the user that you want to assign to the service, you can start to type the
name of that user in the menu. The list of users is filtered to include only those users that match your
text. In the following example illustration, the administrator has filtered the menu to display only
those users that start with “svc”.

3. Click the Save button to apply your changes.

216
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

Configuring Enterprise Editing Sync Settings

Mixed sequence editing is a licensed feature that allows you to combine MediaCentral Asset Management
and MediaCentral Production Management assets in the same sequence. As soon as you save a sequence
that includes assets from more than one module, it is identified as a draft sequence. Your server must be
licensed for “MediaCentral | Enterprise Editing” to enable this functionality. For more information on
Enterprise Editing, see “Editing Mixed Sequences” in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.

After you finish editing your draft sequence, you must synchronize it. The synchronization process converts
the draft sequence back into a standard sequence and saves it to the module on which you created the
draft sequence. The Sync Job Distributor service manages the synchronization process. The rules that you
define below determine the type of orchestration engine that is used to complete the synchronization task.

n These configuration settings are in no way related to the Avid MediaCentral Sync app.
When configuring the distribution rules, you must note the following:
l Although MediaCentral Cloud UX includes a set of default distribution rules, you must complete a
manual save of these rules after performing a new installation.
l When you access the Sync Job Distributor settings for the first time, the app displays the following
message which is normal and expected for this release. After you save your settings, the message
does not reappear.

n Since the “Media Services Orchestration” is not available in this release, your environment must
include an Asset Management module to orchestrate synchronization of assets from your
Production Management module.

217
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

l The Distribution Settings provide the following orchestration options to be used by the Sync Job
Distributor:
– AM Orchestration (Central): Use the Asset Management system selected as Orchestration in
the Central Settings group.
– AM Orchestration (Target): Use the orchestration of the Asset Management system where the
draft sequence was created and the synchronized sequence will be saved.
– AM Orchestration (Node): Use the orchestration of the Asset Management system from which
the first Asset Management clip was added to the timeline (this can be a local or a remote Asset
Management system).
Note that multi-site Enterprise Editing is not supported in the current version and planned for a
future release.
– AM Orchestration (Node Local): Use the orchestration of the Asset Management system from
which the first local Asset Management clip was added to the timeline.
– Media Services Orchestration: Use the Production Management Media Services for
orchestration. Can only be applied to draft sequences that contain a mix of local and remote
Production Management assets.
Note that multi-site Enterprise Editing is not supported in the current version and planned for a
future release.
To configure Sync Job Distributor rules:

1. Click on the arrow to the left of Services in the Configuration Settings sidebar and then select the
Sync Job Distributor option.
In the Sync Job Distributor panel on the right, the configuration options are arranged in the General
Settings and Distribution Settings groups.
2. Configure the General Settings:
– BPM Process: This field defines the name of the Asset Management BPM (Business Process
Model) process used to synchronize draft sequences. The default entry for this field is: MCP_
DRAFT_SEQUENCE_SYNC.

n Only change this default value if you have created a new custom synchronization
process in the Asset Management system.
– Orchestration: Select the Asset Management system to be used as orchestration engine from
the drop-down menu. This is only required if you want to use “AM Orchestration (Central)” in
one of the Distribution Settings menus.
The menu shows all registered Asset Management systems that can be used for orchestration.
The selected system is shown as a small card with an X button in the Orchestration field. If a
selected system is not available, the entry is highlighted in red.
The Orchestration field is mandatory as long as “AM Orchestration (Central)” is selected in at
least one of the Distribution Settings menus.
3. Configure the Distribution Settings:
– Sync to Asset Management: Select the orchestration for an Asset Management sequence to
which Productions Management assets are added; the sequence will be saved to the Asset
Management module.
Options include AM Orchestration (Central) and AM Orchestration (Target). Note that you can
only use AM Orchestration (Target) in this release.

218
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

– (Not supported in this release) Sync to Production Management - Sequence contains only PM
clips: Select the orchestration for draft sequences that contain a mix of local and remote
Production Management assets.
Options include AM Orchestration (Central) and Media Services Orchestration.
– Sync to Production Management - Sequence contains AM and PM clips: Select the
orchestration for a Production Management sequence to which Asset Management assets are
added; the sequence will be saved to the Production Management module.
Options include AM Orchestration (Central), AM Orchestration (Node), and AM Orchestration
(Node Local).
4. Click the Save button at the bottom of the app to apply and save your settings.

Configuring the Publisher Settings

If you have purchased and licensed the MediaCentral Publisher app, you must configure the Publisher
section of the Configuration Settings.

In MediaCentral Cloud UX v2020.9.4 and earlier, the connection between the MediaCentral system and the
Publisher back-end was initiated from the SAAS platform. This connection method required organizations to
establish either a VPN connection, or to introduce multiple firewall exceptions that were not always possible
or desired.

MediaCentral Cloud UX v2020.9.5 and later include proxy settings that simplify this connection process,
while maintaining a high-level of system security. When the tunneling options are enabled, the connection
to the SAAS platform originates from the MediaCentral system — essentially reversing the previous
connection method.

n After you have deployed the Publisher feature pack and configured these setting, you must work with
your Avid Representative to configure additional settings in the MediaCentral Publisher SAAS platform.
If your MediaCentral Cloud UX system authenticates users through an OpenID provider, you must
ensure that the MediaCentral app includes the (ROPC) grant type. For additional details, see
"Integrating with an OpenID Provider" on page 88.

To configure the Publishing settings:

1. Click on the Configuration Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select Publisher Settings
from the menu in the app’s sidebar.
The Publisher Configuration Panel appears. The version information listed to the right of the panel
name is the internal version number of the Publisher feature pack.
2. Enter your custom configuration information into the following fields:
– Publisher SAAS Service
This is the URL of the Publisher back-end. This information is provided to you by Avid at point of
sale.
Example: us.wildmoka.com
– Wildmoka ID
This identification number is used to track your MediaCentral Cloud UX system in the SAAS
platform. It is provided to you at the same time as your SAAS platform URL.
Example: 580b2e2e-f1f2-4485-a15d-c55f004492cf
– Tunnel Web Site

219
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

This value represents the URL endpoint to which the MediaCentral Cloud UX system connects.
If you requested the tunneling option at point of sale (selected by default), then this
information is provided to you by Avid along with the Service ID and Wildmoka ID.
Example: https://proxy.us.wildmoka.com
– Cloud UX IP or Address
This field identifies the IP address or hostname that listens for API requests. This value is
defined as your local MediaCentral Cloud UX IP address or hostname.
3. Click the Save button to save your settings.
4. If you configured the Proxy settings, do one of the following:
t Click the Start Local Tunnel button to enable the proxy settings.
When connected, the app displays a “Got tunnel information” message in the Proxy area of
the app. If your connection is ever interrupted due to a temporary loss in network connectivity,
the connection is reestablished automatically.
t Click the Stop Local Tunnel button to disable the use of the proxy configuration.
5. If you need to disable database access for specific user profiles, see "Configuring Database Access
for Specific User Profiles" below.

Configuring Database Access for Specific User Profiles

Using Publisher, users with Admin rights can browse and get access to the Production Management or Asset
Management database. These access rights are implemented on the Wildmoka back-end system. However,
it is also possible to enable or disable users from accessing the database for a specific profile on the
Wildmoka back-end system.

Basically an Administrator has the ability to enable or disable the database for these profiles that should
not have access from the Wildmoka back-end system.

To configure database access for specific user profiles:

1. Log into the Wildmoka system connected to your system or the Professional Services team system.
2. Go to users set up, and navigate to Profiles Management.
3. Open the specific user profile that you want to enable or disable access to the database.
The user profile opens.
4. Select the Sources tab, and do one of the following:
– If you want to enable database access for a user profile, click to check the box next to the
Production Management or Asset Management database for which you want to enable access.
With the box checked, the Production Management or Asset Management database will be
visible to that user profile.
– If you want to disable database access for a user profile, click to un-check the box next to the
Production Management or Asset Management database for which you want to restrict
access.
With the box is unchecked, the Production Management or Asset Management database will
no longer be visible to that user profile anymore.
The following is an example of the Sources tab with the box unchecked, restricting access for

220
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

the user profile.

The Browse External Content tab will still appear on the dialog box, but there will not be any source
loading. So, for the specific user profiles that have the option disabled, there will be no content to
browse to both from the Wildmoka back-end, or from the Publisher app.

Configuring External Applications

The External Application settings allow administrators to define one or more applications that can be used
to work with Avid assets, outside of MediaCentral Cloud UX. This allows you to potentially take advantage
of features included in other applications that are not present in MediaCentral Cloud UX to review or
enhance your assets. External applications can open or work with the asset, only if they understand the
asset parameters or type.

The following illustration provides a sample configuration as real-world example of this workflow. In the first
case, the Asset Management Cataloger has been configured to open audio- and video-type assets.

For more information on this feature, see “Opening Assets with an External Application” in the Avid
MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.

To configure the application settings:

1. Click on the External Applications option in the Configuration Settings sidebar.

2. Click the Add Application button on the right side of the External Applications panel.
A New Application entry appears in the panel.
3. Enter a user-friendly name for this application.
This name is displayed in the External Application menu when a user right-clicks on an asset in either
the Browse or Search apps.
4. Enter a value for the Base URL in the following format: <name>://

221
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

If you enter an invalid URL, the system responds with a message to let you know that the setting must
be corrected.
5. (optional) The parameter field allows you to forward any attribute value that might be associated
with the selected asset to the external application. You can select one or more options from the
Parameters menu.
If you know the name of the parameter that you want to select, you can use the filter at the top of the
menu to limit the list of available parameters.
6. (optional) Enable one or both of the following settings:
– (optional) Include Upstream URL: When selected, the external application URL includes an
embedded URL that points to the MediaCentral Cloud UX system. The Upstream URL is
required if the external application needs to connect to MediaCentral Cloud UX, e.g. to resolve
a passed asset.
– (optional) Include Global ID of Asset: The Global ID is a unique identifier for an asset. This value
is required to resolve the asset on the platform. If you select this option, you might also be
required to enable the Upstream URL value.
Both settings are required for Asset Management Cataloger.
7. Preview: The Configuration Settings app generates the value for this field automatically. Its contents
include the values that you configure in the fields above.
The Preview value allows you to define a language in which the user interface of the external
application is to be shown (if supported by the external application). For Asset Management
Cataloger, you can force that the user interface is shown in German. To do so, replace the part lang=
{userlanguage} with lang=de

8. (optional) Use the menu to select one or more asset types that you want to associate with this
external application.
For example, you could create two external application profiles — each associated with the sequence
asset type. After you save the profiles, these options appear in the External Application menu when
you right-click on a sequence. However these options do not appear when right-clicking on a master
clip, because the configurations do not include the masterclip asset type.
If you do not associate a specific asset type with the application, the entry appears in the External
Application menu for all asset types.
If you know the name of the asset type that you want to select, you can use the filter at the top of the
menu to limit the number of displayed asset types.
9. Click the Save button to apply your changes.

Configuring System Modules

The Modules area of the Configuration Settings allow you to configure settings related to connected
MediaCentral modules. Review the following sections as they apply to your environment:
l "Reviewing the Asset Management Module" on the next page
l "Configuring the Newsroom Management Module" on the next page
l "Configuring the Production Management Module" on page 225
If your workflow includes the MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools, the Modules area includes an
Adobe Integration Management selection. You can use the controls in this area to resynchronize the index
used by MediaCentral Search. For more information, see “Working with the Adobe Integration Management
Module” in the Avid MediaCentral | Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools Installation and User's Guide.

222
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

Reviewing the Asset Management Module

If you are integrating with a MediaCentral Asset Management system, the Asset Management item in the
Modules area displays information on any locally connected Asset Management systems. If you are
configured in a multi-site environment, remote Asset Management systems are not shown here.

As shown in the following illustration, the Configuration Settings app provides a link to the MAM Control
Center. If you click on this link, a connection is made to the Control Center in a new tab in your browser.

Configuring the Newsroom Management Module

If you are integrating with a MediaCentral Newsroom Management system, the Newsroom Management
item in the Modules area allows you to configure optional settings related to the Newsroom workflow.

To configure the Newsroom Management module:

1. Click on the arrow to the left of Modules in the Configuration Settings sidebar and then select the
Newsroom Management module.
A list of settings and options appears in the panel on the right.

223
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

2. Adjust the following settings under the Sequence Association and Creation section:
– Timing Field: This value defines how the Newsroom Management timing field is updated when
you associate a sequence with a story. Options include: None, Audio Time, Tape Time, and
MOS Duration.
– Tape ID: Enter the name of a valid Newsroom Management form field. Typically, the video-id
field is associated with this value. The following information describes how this option effects
the story and associated sequence:
– If you enter a valid form field and your sequence’s Tape ID is empty, this Newsroom
Management value is set as the sequence’s Tape ID.
– If you enter a valid form field and your sequence already includes a Tape ID, the story’s
Video ID is updated with the sequence’s Tape ID.
– If you leave this setting empty or if you assign a value that does not exist as a valid field
in the Newsroom Management database, the sequence’s Tape ID is not altered.

n For more information, see “Form Field Types and Definitions” in the Avid MediaCentral |
Newsroom Management Setup and Configuration Guide.
– Allow Folder Selection: Enable this setting if you want users to be allowed to select target
folders when creating new sequences in a story. This setting impacts the options available in
the Create Sequence dialog box in the Rundown app.
3. (if applicable) Enter a MOS Identifier in the Video MOS Object section.
The Rundown app can manage a MOS object in the story form that corresponds to the Video ID field,
thus enabling playout devices referencing videos via a MOS object (as well as using the Video ID in a
MediaCentral Command workflow). To enable this feature, you must specify a “mosID” for the device
that processes story form MOS objects for videos in the Newsroom Management module. The mosID
must also be in the SYSTEM.MOS-MAP story on the Newsroom Management server.
4. Click the Save button at the bottom of the app to apply and save your settings.

224
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

Configuring the Production Management Module

If you are integrating with MediaCentral Production Management, you might have already configured
many of the settings listed in this section during the process of "Running the Post-Install Setup Scripts" on
page 60. These settings cannot be adjusted through the Configuration Settings app. This section describes
the process to adjust additional settings that are not included in the script.

To configure the Production Management module:

1. Click on the arrow to the left of Modules in the Configuration Settings sidebar and then select the
Production Management module.
A list of settings and options appears in the panel on the right.

2. MCDS URL: If you plan to enable a Send to Playback workflow, you must enter the URL of a server
hosting the MediaCentral Distribution Service. You can enter the server’s hostname, IP address, or
FQDN in this field. The standard port number used by this service is 8443. If you installed multiple
copies of MCDS, list each URL separated by a comma and a space. Multiple instances of MCDS
provide fail-over capability, but not load balancing.
Example 1: https://wavd-tc01:8443
Example 2: https://wavd-tc01:8443, https://wavd-tc02:8443
For more information, see the MediaCentral Distribution Service ReadMe on the Avid Knowledge Base
at: https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_US/user_guide/MediaCentral-CloudUX-Documentation
3. Location Script Sequence:
a. In the text field, specify a folder in the Production Management database where script
sequences will be stored. The correct path format does not include a leading slash.
Example: Projects/Scripts or Newsroom/Sequences

n If you do not complete this setting, you could get error when saving sequences

225
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

associated with Newsroom Management stories.

b. Select whether you want sub-folders in the parent folder to be created by Queue name, Date,
or Story name.
4. (if applicable) Enter a new value for the Video ID Character Limit setting.
In some cases a Send to Playback request might fail if the Video ID that is associated with the
sequence includes more characters than allowed by the destination device. This setting allows you to
restrict (or extend) the character limit of the Video ID so that you do not encounter that situation.
This value applies to sequences that are sent to playback through MediaCentral Cloud UX. If your
Video ID is already longer than this value, the field will be flagged — blocking the STP process.
You can configure this field for a minimum of 1 character or a maximum of 10,000 characters.
MediaCentral Cloud UX imposes a default limit of 31 characters for the Video ID. Unless you have
reason to do so, Avid suggests that you do not alter the default character limit.
5. Enable or disable the Allow parentheses in Video ID option.
The “Allow ( and ) in Video ID” check box enables you to include the open and/or closed parentheses
characters ( ) in the Video ID field. Parentheses, dash (or hyphen), and underscore are the only
special characters allowed in the Video ID field. If for example you attempt to add an asterisk, the
system will flag the ID as invalid.
6. Click the Save button at the bottom of the app to apply and save your settings.

Configuring the Clip Mover Settings

If you plan to use the Clip Mover app to enable fast transfer of growing assets between ingest and playout
servers, you must configure the Clip Mover section of the Configuration Settings.

The Clip Mover app is integrated with FastServe | Ingest and FastServe | Playout systems. Prior to
configuring the Clip Mover app, you must review the process for "Configuring Servers for Clip Mover" on
page 111.

To configure the Clip Mover settings:

1. Open the Configuration Settings from the Administrator Fast Bar, click on an arrow to the left of Clip
Mover and select Groups from the menu in the app’s sidebar.
A list of settings and options appears in the panel on the right.
2. Click on the + (Add Group) button in the right upper corner of the Groups settings panel.
Or, enter a unique Group Name in the text box, and then click on the + button.
A new group entry appears in the panel.

226
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

3. Enter a user-friendly Group Name.

4. Select FastServe | Playout servers to be included in this group from the Servers menu.

n The list of available FastServe | Playout servers is determined during the deployment. For more
information, see "Configuring Servers for Clip Mover" on page 111.

5. (optional) Enable one or both of the following settings:

– PWT : Enable Play While Transfer to allow for playout of clips while they are still transferring.
– Overwrite: When enabled, clips with the same name are overwritten by the transferred entries.
6. Click the Save button to apply your changes.
7. (optional) Select the Whitelist option from the menu in the Configuration Settings app’s sidebar.
In case of assets which have more than a single representation (such as High Resolution files with
Proxy), a pattern to distinguish appropriate tracks to be transferred is needed. In the HiResWhitelist
settings, you can enter parameters which are then used to filter the required files.
Two entries are provided by default: XDCAM-HD 50mbps and DNxHD 1080. Filtering is based on the
regular expression rule which means that these 2 entries will cover the whole subset of different video
formats.
To add a new Whitelist item, press on the + button and enter the required resolution.

227
 7 Using the Configuration Settings App

n The White List items need to match the Avid Interplay Administrator > Interplay Server > Site
Settings > Resolutions entries.

8. Click the Save button at the bottom of the app to apply and save your settings.

228
 8 Using the Workflow Settings App

8 Using the Workflow Settings App

The Workflow Settings app allows system administrators to adjust settings related to user workflows.

The following main topics are described in this chapter:

l "Configuring the Playback Settings" on the next page
l "Working with the Send to Playback Settings" on page 231
Additional Settings:
l MediaCentral | Analytics is an optional feature that provides a framework for automated content
indexing, such as facial detection, scene recognition, and speech-to-text conversion, by using third-
party capabilities.
For more information on installing and configuring this feature, see the Avid MediaCentral | Analytics
ReadMe on the Avid Knowledge Base.
l Archive / Restore profiles and Shared Library > Newsroom Management Systems are for use with Avid
MediaCentral | Shared Library.
For more information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Shared Library Installation and Configuration
Guide.
l Transcoding:
– AWS Elemental lets you configure transcoding profiles for Asset Management to use AWS
Elemental MediaConvert as transcoder.
For more information, see “Using Transcoding Profiles for AWS Elemental” in the Avid
MediaCentral | Asset Management AWS Transcoder and Storage Integration ReadMe.
– Google GCP lets you configure transcoding profiles for Asset Management to use the Google
GCP transcoder.
For more information, see “Using Transcoding Profiles for the GCP Transcoder” in the Avid
MediaCentral | Asset Management Azure Transcoder and Storage Integration ReadMe.
l Locations: Lets you configure locations which are used to map between endpoints to support proper
access to the same resources from both sides. For more information, see the topic “Configuring
Locations” in the following documents:
– Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management AWS Transcoder and Storage Integration ReadMe
– Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management Azure Storage Integration ReadMe
– Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management GCP Transcoder and Storage Integration ReadMe
l Storage Connectors: Once a Storage Connector has been deployed, use the Storage Connectors
section to check the default storage connection and configure Storage Connector profiles.
For more information, see:
– “Configuring AWS Storage Connector Profiles” in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management
AWS Transcoder and Storage Integration ReadMe
– "Configuring Azure Storage Connector Profiles" in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management
Azure Storage Integration ReadMe
– "Checking the GCP Storage Connector Setting" in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management
GCP Transcoder and Storage Integration ReadMe

229
 8 Using the Workflow Settings App

Accessing the Workflow Settings App

You can access the Workflow Settings app through the Administrator settings. For more information on
accessing the Administrator settings, see "Administrator App Overview" on page 135.

Configuring the Playback Settings

This section allows you adjust settings related to playback of media through the Asset Editor.

To configure the Playback settings:

1. Select the Playback settings in the Workflow Settings sidebar.

2. (if applicable) Adjust the playback server’s host name.
If not specifically configured, this setting defaults to the host name or IP address that you entered in
your web browser to connect to MediaCentral Cloud UX. Avid recommends that you leave this setting
blank unless your network is configured in such a way that blocks playback.
If your environment requires you to manually specify a value, enter the Fully Qualified Domain Name
(FQDN) of the MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server or cluster.
3. (optional) Configure the Variable Speed Playback settings.
If you want to alter the default functionality of the J and L keys, type a new value in any column or
use the up and down arrows in each column to alter the default functionality of the J and L keys.
Acceptable values are whole numbers (1) and decimal numbers rounded to the tenth place (1.5).
In the following example, an administrator has altered the functionality of the J and L keys. With this
setting in place, assets are played back at ten times their original speed when a user presses the L
keys four times in a row.

230
 8 Using the Workflow Settings App

c If you increase the player speed to a factor of five or more, you might experience stuttered
playback or skipped frames. Smooth playback might be affected by multiple variables
including asset resolution, format, network speeds, system resources, or other.
For more information on variable speed playback, see “Using the J-K-L Keys for Playback” in the Avid
MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.
4. Click the Save button at the bottom of the app to apply and save your settings.

Working with the Send to Playback Settings

If you require a Send To Playback (STP) workflow, you must configure one or more Send to Playback
profiles. Depending on your workflow, one or more of the following systems are required:
l MediaCentral Production Transcode – Required for STP profiles using stereo audio tracks (audio
mixdown) or for sequences with dissolves (video mixdown).
l MediaCentral Production STP Encode – Required for workflows that include Long GOP media
(including Adobe Premiere Pro media).
l MediaCentral Production Transfer Engine – Required for workflows that use non-Avid servers in their
STP workflow such as Harmonic Omneon or Grass Valley K2. MediaCentral Production Transcode
and STP Encode might also be required in this workflow.
Filtering Profiles

The Send to Playback settings includes an area to filter the list of profiles. If you have created a large
number of profiles, the Filter field makes it easy to find profiles quickly.

To use the Filter:

1. Enter text in the Filter field to locate your desired data.

You can filter by profile name as well as many of the configuration fields included in the profiles. If
found, your filter text is highlighted in the list of Authorization profiles.
2. After you have filtered the list, you can clear the filter by either deleting the text or clicking the X
button to the right of the filter.
Editing Profiles

If you have already created a profile and want to make a change to the configuration settings, you can
alter and save the profile at any time. If you need to undo your changes before saving the profile, you can
click the Revert button that appears to the right of the profile to return it to its original state.

If you begin to create or edit a profile and subsequently change your mind about saving the profile, you can
click the Cancel button to clear the panel of any unsaved changes.

Deleting Profiles

If you create a profile and later need to remove it, you can click the Delete button to the right of the profile
to delete it. The system prompts you to confirm the delete request. After you click Yes, the profile is deleted.

Creating a Send To Playback Profile

Complete the steps in this section to create one or more Send to Playback profiles.

n If you have not configured your Production Management Transfer Settings, you might not be able to
configure the settings described in the following process. If you have already configured a Send to
Playback profile and those settings are no longer valid, some values might appear red. You can move
your cursor over the device to display a tool-tip that contains more information about the error.

231
 8 Using the Workflow Settings App

To configure the Send To Playback settings:

1. Click the Send to Playback option in the Workflow Settings sidebar.

2. In the panel on the right, click the Add Profile button to the right of the Profile Name column.
3. Enter text in the Name field to add a name for the profile.
Profile names should be descriptive, but concise. Examples of good profile names include “To
AirSpeed” or “XDCAM-HD”, while a poor (and invalid) profile name would be “Use this one to send to
the AirSpeed”. The Name can consist of alpha-numeric characters, with dashes or underscores. All
other special characters, including spaces, are not allowed.
4. Specify if the profile should be created for an Individual Device or a Studio.
A “Studio” is a group of AirSpeed servers configured with a similar naming convention. The Studio is
presented to the user as a single device. When a sequence is sent to the AirSpeed Studio, the media is
sent to all AirSpeed servers simultaneously. This provides redundancy for on-air operations.
If your “Transfer Settings” section of the Interplay Production Administrator Tool does not include a
studio, you can select the Individual Device option only. The reverse is also true if your Transfer
Settings include individual devices only (no studio).
5. Depending on your selection in the previous step, the next field appears as either Servers or Studio.

t If you selected an Individual Device, the Servers field appears.

Select a Transfer Engine or Avid AirSpeed from the Servers field.
t If you selected a Studio, the Studio field appears.
Select an AirSpeed Studio from the menu.
The Server / Studio menu is populated through the Interplay Transfer settings in the Interplay
Production Administrator tool. If the Interplay Transfer Settings have not been configured, you will
not be able to select any servers from this menu.
6. Select a profile from the Playback Device menu.
t If you selected a Transfer Engine, select a profile from the menu. This menu is populated by the
profiles created directly on the Transfer Engine.

n If Sending to Playback from Transfer Engine, from the MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party
Creative Tools, you must send to an OP1A Export Device (this enables the OP1A workflow).
t If you selected an individual AirSpeed or AirSpeed studio, the Playback Device menu shows
AirSpeed and AirSpeed-HD options. The –HD options are required if working with Long GOP
media.
In order to enable maximum compatibility with all Adobe Media Encoder presets, you must make sure
your Send to Playback Profile includes a LONG_GOP -HD media option. You can add a LONG_GOP -
HD option by doing the following:

232
 8 Using the Workflow Settings App

a. Open the AirSpeed 5000 5500 or FastServe Management Console, and click on the Inventory
tab.
b. In the LONG_GOP Editor Send to Playback format field, select one of the -HD options. You can
select any one in the list. Once an -HD option is selected, it enables the HD workflow for Adobe
Premiere Pro to account for the OP1A files that Adobe Premiere Pro creates for all media types.
7. Video Options:
– Long GOP: Select Long GOP if this profile will be used to transfer Long GOP media (for
example, XDCAM HD).
– AirSpeed: Select this option if transferring to an Avid AirSpeed server.
– Accelerated STP: If you select both Long GOP and AirSpeed, the Accelerated STP option is
activated. This option enables Play While Transfer (PWT) on the AirSpeed.
– Dalet: Select this option if transferring to a Dalet system.
8. Video Target Resolution: Select a target resolution from the menu. The target device must match this
setting. You must make sure to match the settings specified on the target device.
9. Video Frame Rate: Select a frame rate from the menu. You must make sure to match the settings
specified on the target device.
10. Audio Target Sample Rate: This is always configured for 48k.
11. Audio Target Bit Depth: Select the bit depth (16 or 24) for your target device. You must make sure to
match the settings specified on the target device.
12. Audio Target Mixdown Mode: Select the type of audio output you want. Options are: Stereo or Direct
Out.
13. Workspace: Enter the path to an Avid NEXIS workspace that can be used to store media resulting
from an audio mixdown or an STP Encode operation.
You must enter the path in the following format:
\\<host>\<workspace_name>
Where <host> is the System Name of your Avid NEXIS system and <workspace_name> is the name of
your shared storage workspace.
For example: \\wavd-nexis\mixdowns
The Workflow Settings app provides an example path for convenience. This path might or might not
contain the name of your actual Avid NEXIS system.
14. Do one of the following to save your profile:
t Click the Save button to the right of the profile.
The system prompts you to confirm that you want to accept the changes.
Click Yes to save the profile or No to return to the profile and make additional changes.
t Click the Save button at the bottom of the list of profiles.
If you have created or edited multiple profiles, this button saves changes to all profiles. This
button does not prompt you to confirm the action.

233
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

The Search Index Monitor app allows system administrators to monitor the status of the search
configuration, obtain details about the search indexes, and manually rebuild the index for one or more
connected systems.

When you access the Search Index Monitor, the app displays the Catalog Statistics page by default. This
page provides a “live view” of the system that auto-refreshes every 30 seconds (you are not required to
refresh the app to obtain system updates). As shown in the following illustration, the page is divided into
three main areas: the Search Index Monitor header (top), the All Sites area (middle), and the Site Details
area (bottom).

(not shown) The Search Index Monitor Sidebar (left), and the Details panel (right).

As you work with the app, you might need to obtain more information about errors, warnings, or other
details related to the indexing process. This information appears in the Details panel on the right-side of the
app. As you work with the app, the panel updates to display the current data only. If for example you were
viewing taxonomy data and then you click an indexing error indicator button, the taxonomy information is
replaced with the indexing error details.

You can use the app’s sidebar to switch between the statistics and the Search Analyzers pages. For more
information on the latter, see "Reviewing the Search Analyzers" on page 242.

Accessing the Search Index Monitor App

You can access the app through the Administrator settings. For more information on accessing the
Administrator settings, see "Administrator App Overview" on page 135.

Reviewing the Search Index Monitor Header

The header at the top of the app provides you with a heath check of the back-end systems that enable the
functionality in the Search app. If MediaCentral Cloud UX determines that the system is performing as
expected, the header shows a green label for the component. If a problem is detected, the component
might appear as yellow or red, depending on the severity of the issue.

234
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

As shown in the following illustration, each components allows you to obtain additional status information
by hovering your cursor over the health indicator. In the event of a warning or error, this tool-tip might help
you identify the source of the problem.

Search Engine

During normal operation, this health indicator should report that the “Search API is Online”.

MongoDB

During normal operation, this health indicator should report that “MongoDB is responding to commands”.

n MongoDB and Elasticsearch share the same storage. If Elasticsearch reports that you need to address
an issue with disk space, MongoDB is similarly affected.

For more information on this subsystem, see MongoDB: See "Working with MongoDB" on page 484

Elasticsearch

During normal operation, this health indicator should report that “Elasticsearch: All shards are assigned”.

The Elasticsearch health indicator might turn yellow or red if the volume used to store the search data is
running low on space. If the system reaches the low watermark threshold (25% or less space available), the
indicator turns yellow. If you reach the high watermark value (10% or less space), the indicator turns red.
When red, the Elasticsearch database is put into a read-only mode and new assets cannot be added to the
index. In this case you might be able to alter your configuration in one of the following ways to recover
some space:
l Delete orphaned indexes and associated Kafka queues. See "Removing a Search Index" on page 240.
l Enable Kafka compaction as described in v2021.11 of the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX ReadMe.
l Reduce the number of fields indexed for your connected MediaCentral modules. See "Configuring
MediaCentral Search" on page 102.
l Remove search analyzers that might not apply to your workflow. See "Reviewing the Search
Analyzers" on page 242.
If these methods do not apply or they do not reclaim enough space, you might need to upgrade your
system storage. For more information, refer to "System Storage" on page 22 for storage guidelines.

Phonetic Engine

During normal operation, this health indicator displays a list of the installed language packs. For more
information on the language packs, see "Reviewing the Search Analyzers" on page 242.

If the Search Grid server is offline, the health indicator appears red.

For more information on Phonetic Index, see "Installing Nexidia Search Grid" on page 139

235
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

Viewing and Working with Sites

The Catalog Statistics page is divided into the All Sites, All Systems area, and the Site Details areas. While
separate, the controls and features for these areas provide similar functionality.

All Sites, All Systems

The top of the sites area displays the indexing status for all sites and all systems that are connected to your
MediaCentral Cloud UX server. In this context, the following definitions apply:
l If you are configured in a multi-site environment, sites refers to your local site and any remote site
that is included in the configuration.
l A system might refer to a connected MediaCentral module or a particular feature’s database, such
as the Avid Asset Logger data for the Log app.
Individual Site Details

The details for your Local Site appear directly under the All Sites area. This section includes information on
all MediaCentral modules and databases that are connected to your local MediaCentral Cloud UX system.
If you are connected to a Multi-Site environment, additional sites appear below your Local Site. Each site is
divided by a gray header bar that displays the name of the remote MediaCentral Cloud UX system.

If you hover your mouse over the name of any individual system, the app displays the System ID for that
system. The System ID is a globally unique identifier (GUID) that is used by the search engine to distinguish
each connected system. While most systems use a unique string of characters as the System ID, Newsroom
Management systems use the system name as the GUID.

n Although connected and displayed in the app, the presence of any individual system or site does not
indicate that it is indexed and searchable. Each system must be associated with a green, Ready status
before you can search for the system’s associated assets.

Site and System Progress Bars

If the system detects a large number of changes, a blue progress bar appears below the associated index. If
you hover your mouse over the bar, the app displays a details window that provides additional information
about the indexing status. The contents of the details window can change based on the current operation.

If you rebuild the index without selecting the delete option (re-indexing MongoDB), the bar displays the
number of pending assets that must still be indexed.

If you rebuild the index with the delete option (re-indexing from the Kafka queue) or you link a module
through the Multi-Site Settings app, the information is displayed as a fraction of indexed Kafka messages /
total Kafka messages.

236
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

Note the use of the phrase “Kafka messages” here. Since each asset might be associated with multiple
Kafka messages (possibly hundreds of messages per asset), you should never attempt to compare your
actual asset count against the message count.

For more information on re-indexing, see "Rebuilding an Index" on page 239.

Metadata and Phonetic Status Areas

The Sites area is displayed in a grid pattern with two columns and multiple rows of data. Each row
represents a MediaCentral module or database that is known to the system. The following example
illustration shows the Local Site with two rows of data that display the status for the connected Production
Management and Newsroom Management modules.

The column on the left displays the information related to the text-based metadata index and the column
on the right displays the phonetic index data. If a particular system has not been configured for Phonetic
Index or it does not support Phonetic Index, the Search Index Monitor app displays a message indicating
that the connected system does not include any phonetic tracks.

Both the Metadata and the Phonetic columns include three status categories:
l Ready: Displays the number of assets that are indexed and available to the user through the Search
app.
l Errors: If the system encountered a problem during the indexing process, the app displays a counter
that shows the number of errors.
l For more information, see "Resolving Search Errors" on page 241.
l Pending: This value represents the number of assets that the search engine is actively indexing or re-
indexing. If you perform a search, pending assets are not included in the results.
l If you are working in a multi-site environment, you might see a number of assets in the Phonetic
column that appear as pending — when in reality, they might have failed. This misreporting of the
asset status is due to a current limitation in the messaging between the local and remote systems. If
you suspect that there might be a problem, you can sign into the remote MediaCentral Cloud UX
system and verify the status in that system’s Search Index Monitor app.

237
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

Alert Indicators

If the Search Index Monitor detects a problem with an index, it might display a warning indicator in the All
Sites, All Systems header as well as the affected module’s header. The following illustration provides an
example of this status condition.

If you click the warning icon, additional information appears in the Details panel on the right-side of the
app. If the panel includes information on multiple warning conditions, the app highlights the specific
warning that you selected. You can use the slider to the right of the panel to see more information about
other system notifications (if they exist). Alternatively, you can click the warning icons in the individual
modules to navigate through the notifications.

These warnings are different from errors in that they usually identify a situation where the app is not fully
configured or is potentially mis-configured. In some cases users can still search for assets, but the results
might not be optimal. For example the Search Index Monitor might be aware of new custom fields that have
been enabled on a Newsroom Management system that are not yet included in the search index. Although
the user can still use the Search app to find Newsroom Management assets, they would not be able to
search against these new custom fields. In this case the Notifications panel explains the problem, suggests
a solution, and provides quick access to a Rebuild Index button to help you resolve the issue.

Taxonomy Details

Taxonomies are metadata values associated with some MediaCentral modules that include controlled
vocabulary lists of data. Taxonomies allow you to search for consistent values that are defined in the
MediaCentral module’s database. Each module’s search connector reads these taxonomy lists as part of
the standard indexing process.

As shown in the following illustration, you can click the taxonomy status icon in either the All Sites, All
Systems area of the app, or the icon in the header of an individual module. When you click the icon,
additional information about the taxonomy index appears in the Details panel on the right-side of the app.

238
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

If you make a change to an Asset Management taxonomy, you can review the synchronization process in
Traffic tab of the Sync Service Administrator. Synchronization updates are pushed to MediaCentral Cloud
UX automatically without any additional manual intervention. For more information, see the Avid
MediaCentral | Asset Management Sync Service Administrator User’s Guide.

As an administrator, please be aware that the taxonomy indexing process might require multiple hours to
complete. The actual time is based on the amount of metadata that must be indexed. During the indexing
process, you can review the Details panel to verify the total completion percentage of each value (100%
meaning fully indexed).

Rebuilding an Index
In some cases, you might need to rebuild a search index for one or more systems. For example you might be
required to re-index when performing a software upgrade, or you might encounter an issue where a re-
index is the recommended troubleshooting step. Depending on your needs, the Search Index Monitor app
allows you to rebuild the index for a single system or you can rebuild the index for all connected systems
and sites in a single click.

The rebuild process re-indexes all documents contained in the local MongoDB database and adds them to
an Elasticsearch index. If you are configured for a Multi-Site environment, the local MongoDB instance
includes data on both local and remote sites. If you rebuild an index for a remote system, you are still
working with your local copy of the metadata — there is no impact to the remote site.

In most cases, users can still search and find assets that were included in a previous index during the rebuild
process. When the rebuild is complete, any new assets found through the process are added to the index
and become available to the user. However, administrators have the option to delete the existing index and
build a fresh copy. If an admin selects the delete option, the Search app might return a subset of the
available assets (only those assets that have been re-indexed). A full results list is possible only after the
rebuild process is complete.

n In this release, you can use the Search Index Monitor app to rebuild the text metadata index only. You
cannot rebuild the phonetic index through the app. For additional information on re-indexing
procedures and details, see "Working with the Search App" on page 474.

To rebuild a search index:

1. Click on the Search Index Monitor button in the Administrator Fast Bar.
2. Determine the number of systems that need to be re-indexed.
t If you need to rebuild the index for a single system, click the Rebuild Index button for that
system.
t If you need to rebuild the indexes for all systems, click the Rebuild All Indices under the All Sites,
All Systems area.
The following confirmation window appears.

239
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

3. (optional) If you want to delete the index for the system or systems that you need to rebuild, click the
check box to delete all indexing data.
4. Do one of the following:
t Click the Rebuild Index button to start the re-indexing process.
The rebuild process starts and all assets are moved to a pending state. A progress bar appears
below the affected system and assets move to Ready as they are indexed.
t Click the Cancel button to abandon the rebuild.
Note that once you initiate the rebuild, you must wait for the process to complete. You cannot
abort the re-index through the Search Index Monitor app.

Removing a Search Index

There might be times where the app displays an index for a local module that is no longer available.
Whenever an index becomes “orphaned”, the Monitor app moves it to the bottom of the Local Site area and
adds a red Remove Index button to the module’s banner (as illustrated below).

The Search Index Monitor app might display an orphaned index for a number of reasons. If for example you
assign a new host name to your Production Management Engine and reindex the data, the app might
display an index under both the original name and the new name. In this case the original index is orphaned
and no longer used. You can use the Remove Index feature to eliminate the stale index from the app and
return disk space back to your system.

n The Remove Index button applies to local indexes only and does not appear in the banner for any
modules that are associated with a multi-site workflow. Remote systems are managed through the
Multi-Site Settings app and are removed automatically when unlinked.

To remove an index from the system:

1. Connect to the individual MediaCentral module to stop the search connector for the index that you
plan to delete. By stopping the search connector, you eliminate the possibility of new data being
transmitted to the Kafka topic on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

240
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

For more information on Production Management, see "Configuring the MediaCentral Search
Connector" on page 157. For more information on Asset Management and Newsroom Management,
see the documentation for those products.
2. Hover your cursor over the system name and take note of the System ID for the index that you want
to delete. You will need this information if you want to manually delete the related Kafka topic
following the index removal process.
3. Click the Remove Index button for the module that you want to delete.
A confirmation dialog box appears.
4. Click the Remove Index button in the dialog box to delete the index from your local MediaCentral
Cloud UX system.
5. As a fail-safe, the app displays a secondary confirmation message. Click the Remove Index again to
complete the operation.
The index is removed from the Search Index Monitor app and the index is deleted from the MongoDB
database. Depending on the size of the index, this operation could take several hours to complete. If
the index is associated with phonetic tracks, the process could take even longer.
6. (optional, recommended) Although the index is removed from MongoDB, the related topic is not
deleted from the Kafka queue. Refer to "Deleting a Topic from Kafka" on page 478 to remove the
stale topic from your MediaCentral Cloud UX system.

Resolving Search Errors

In some cases the search engine might fail to index one or more assets. When this happens, the system
displays the error count in the Sites area of the app. You can click on the counter to see more details about
the first 20 errored items. As shown in the following illustration, an Error Details panel appears on the right
side of the app when you click on the counter.

You can click on the error counter for either metadata or phonetic track indexing. The panel reports errors
for only one metadata type at a time.

If you hover your mouse over any of the items in the Error Details panel, a copy button appears to the right
of the error. You can click on this button to copy the full error text to your workstation’s clipboard.
Alternatively, you can obtain more information about all of the errors in the panel simultaneously by
clicking on the “More info on errored items” link at the bottom of the list. When you click this link,
MediaCentral Cloud UX opens a new browser tab that displays the error details.

241
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

Additionally, the Error Details panel includes a feature that allows you to retry the indexing process for any
failed assets. You can retry the indexing process for All Metadata, All Phonetic, or only those assets that are
associated with a single connected module.

To obtain more information about an error:

1. Click on the error counter in either an individual system row or the All Sites, All Systems area.
The error details panel appears on the right-side of the app.
2. Do one of the following:
t Hover your mouse over an individual error message and click the copy button that appears to
the right of the error to copy the text into the clipboard.
t Click on the More info on errored items link.
A new browser tab appears with information on all errors — both text and phonetic.
3. (optional) Copy the error details into a text editor for review.

n If you clicked on the link to see all error details, you can copy the information into an application such
as NotePad++. The errors are formatted in a JSON structure and this application features a JSON
viewer plug-in that correctly formats the data.

To retry the indexing process for failed assets:

1. Click on the error counter in either the All Systems (Metadata or Phonetic) area, or an individual
module row to display the Error Details panel.
2. Click the Try Failed Assets Again button to re-index only the failed assets.
A message appears briefly at the bottom of the app to inform you that the errored items are being
retried.

n When selecting a phonetic failure, you can retry errors for modules in the Local Site only. The
retry option is not available if you select an error in either the All Sites area or a remote module.

If the re-indexing process fails, you might need to rebuild the index for the system. For details, see
"Rebuilding an Index" on page 239.

Reviewing the Search Analyzers

The Search Analyzers page provides you with detailed information about the indexed languages and the
language options that have been installed or licensed on your MediaCentral Cloud UX system.

As shown in the following illustration, the left side of the page provides information about the Metadata
index, and the right side displays information about Phonetic Index.

242
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

n The Search Analyzers page provides information about the local site only. If your system is included in
a multi-site environment, you must connect directly to the remote sites to view information regarding
the language analyzers and phonetic language packs.

For more information, see:

l "Search Analyzers: Metadata Searching" below
l "Search Analyzers: Phonetic Searching" on the next page

Search Analyzers: Metadata Searching

This section provides detailed information about the Language and Search Analyzers that are configured on
your MediaCentral Cloud UX system. These analyzers partially affect how the engine executes searches
that users enter in the Search app. While the process for "Configuring MediaCentral Search" on page 102
defines the Language Analyzers, the Search Analyzers section provides additional information on processes
that are common to all MediaCentral Cloud UX installations.

Each analyzer is associated with a status indicator (colored vertical line to the left of the analyzer) and
associated text. The following status conditions are possible:
l Indexed
l Partially Indexed
l Not Indexed
l Indexed, but not required
If an analyzer displays a status other than “Indexed”, you should review the information on the Catalog
Statistics page to identify and index (or re-index) the affected module. The "Indexed, but not
required" status indicates that the affected analyzer was at one point enabled and at least one or more
assets were indexed with it enabled. It also means that an administrator has disabled that setting since the
original index. You can reindex the affected module(s) to eliminate this status.

243
 9 Using the Search Index Monitor App

If your system is included in a Multi-Site configuration, the Search app expects that all sites are configured
for the same language analyzers. If they are not, users might receive unexpected or incomplete results
when executing a search.

n If a user searches for a term in a language that does not include a matching analyzer, the search
might return unexpected or fewer results.

Language Analyzers

These analyzers define how the search engine treats text-based metadata values. They help to identify
language specific characters such as ligatures (examples: œ or Æ) and accents. They also help to break
compound words down into segments. For example, consider the phrase “Ballet Dancer”. In German, Ballet
is Ballett and Dancer is Tänzerin. However the phrase “Ballet Dancer” becomes a new word: Balletttänzerin.
The German language pack helps the search engine understand the compound word, allowing it to return
results for both Balletttänzerin and Ballett.

If you revisit the process for "Configuring MediaCentral Search" on page 102 to add or remove a language
analyzer, be aware of the impact to an in-production system:
l If you add a new analyzer, e.g. Spanish, then Search will look for *.spanish field mappings. However
this change will not be enabled until you rebuild the index through the Search Index Monitor app.
l If you remove an analyzer, e.g. English, then the system will no longer search the *.english field
mappings. However, they will still exist in the Elasticsearch index until a rebuild is performed (wasting
resources).
You can add or remove analyzers by repeating the process for "Configuring MediaCentral Search" on
page 102 and specifying only those analyzers that you want to use. As with all .yaml file
configuration changes, you must then redeploy the settings as documented in "Altering the
Configuration" on page 62.
Break Search Terms By Numbers

When a user uses the Search app to enter a combination of numbers and text (without spaces) in a single
search term or “pill”, this analyzer instructs the search engine to treat the point at which the numbers and
text meet as a word break — as if a space existed.

Ignore Diacritics (e.g Accents)

If you enable the "ascii_folding" analyzer in the process for "Configuring MediaCentral Search" on
page 102, the app displays this value. If enabled and Indexed, the Search app ignores the use of accents in
the search terms. For example a search for "noel" might return both "Noël" and "Noel".

Search Analyzers: Phonetic Searching

As you know from reading the "Installing Nexidia Search Grid" on page 139 chapter of this guide, Language
Packs provide a basic structure for Phonetic Index to read your audio media. The Phonetic Searching panel
displays the language packs that are installed and/or licensed on your Search Grid server.

The app displays a colored indicator for each language that it detects.
l Green: Installed and Licensed
l Yellow: The MediaCentral Cloud UX system has a license for the language, but the license is not
installed on the Phonetic Index server.
l Red: The language pack is installed on the Phonetic Index server, but your MediaCentral Cloud UX
server is not licensed for this language.
You must install the language pack and license it before you can index your modules using this language
pack. For more information, see "Using the License App" on page 168.

244
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

MediaCentral Asset Management is shipped with a number of legal lists, which are shown as lists in the GUI.
They allow users to select entries and assign them to assets. Using legal list entries has the following
advantages:
l Facilitates annotation of assets
l Increases consistency of annotation
l Facilitates searches for assets
As part of the management of taxonomies, Legal List Administrator is used to add and remove terms to and
from legal lists and set various language labels. You can also define a custom sort order for display.

Accessing the Legal List Administrator App

You can access the Legal List Administrator app through the Administrator settings. For more information
on accessing the Administrator settings, see "Administrator App Overview" on page 135.

Understanding Legal Lists

Legal lists in MediaCentral Asset Management are administrated in the following applications:
l Datamodel Administrator: A legal list is created in Datamodel Administrator by defining its name.
Then the legal list is assigned to an attribute of type legal list. Only users with administration rights to
the Asset Management data model can create a legal list.
l Legal List Administrator: Once a legal list is created in Datamodel Administrator it can be edited by
users with administration rights in the Legal List Administrator app.
Sorting Legal List Entries

By default, legal list entries are displayed in ascending alphabetical order in the drop-down lists. The order
of the entries can only be rearranged in Legal List Administrator. However, this might require changing the
Sort by property of the attribute in Datamodel Administrator, where the default setting for the attribute is
“sort by language-specific labels” in “ascending” order. In Legal List Administrator, legal list entries can be
re-sorted any time. However, as long as the default setting of the attribute is not changed in Datamodel
Administrator, re-sorting in Legal List Administrator has no effect. To make it effective, the default setting of
the attribute must be changed from sort by language-specific labels to sort by custom index. For more
information, see the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management Datamodel Administrator User’s Guide.

Labels for entries

The entries of legal lists can be specified by labels in different languages to describe particular aspects of
processes, assets, and so on. For each entry, at least an English label must be defined.

Legal List Administrator Features

Legal List Administrator provides administrative features on two levels: legal list and legal list entry. On the
legal list level, Legal List Administrator offers the following features:
l Setting a default value for the legal list
l Changing the legal list’s default sort order
l Downloading legal lists
l Uploading legal lists
l Downloading legal list labels
l Uploading legal list labels

245
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

On the legal list entry level, Legal List Administrator offers the following features:
l Adding and editing entries
l Assigning labels to entries
l Deleting legal list entries
Understanding the Legal List Administrator Layout

The following illustration and table explain the layout.

Description

1 Contains all local Asset Management systems connected to MediaCentral Cloud UX. Lets you select the
local Asset Management system from which you want to load and edit the legal lists. Remote Asset
Management systems are not supported and shown in the list.

When opening the Legal List Administrator app, the first Asset Management system in the list is selected.
The list is sorted alphabetically. Selecting an Asset Management system loads the corresponding legal
lists in the Legal List drop-down below.
2 Contains all legal list defined in Asset Management Datamodel Administrator. The drop-down list shows
the internal names — the IDs — not the labels of the legal lists, as defined in Datamodel Administrator.
The list is sorted alphabetically.

Selecting a legal list displays its entries in the Legal List Entries panel below.
3 Shows the entry, which is to be initially displayed for the legal list in the Asset Management and
MediaCentral Cloud UX UIs. See "Setting a Default Value" on page 248.
4 Opens a menu that lets you trigger download actions:

l Allows exporting legal lists as an XML-file. See "Downloading Legal Lists" on page 252.

246
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

Description
l Allows exporting legal list labels as an XML-file. See "Downloading Legal List Labels" on
page 254.
5 Opens a menu that lets you to trigger upload actions:

l Allows uploading legal lists from an XML file. See "Uploading Legal Lists" on page 253.
l Allows uploading legal list labels from an XML file. See "Uploading Legal List Labels" on page 255.
6 Legal List Entries panel: Shows a summary of the legal list entries and their specifications.

l ID: Is assigned to the entry automatically when you add the entry to the legal list. The first entry
in each legal list is always assigned the number “0.”
l Custom Index: Lets you define a customized sort order — others than by ID or label. The custom
sort order (“custom index”) can be enabled in Datamodel Administrator for the corresponding
legal list attribute. For more information, see "Creating a Custom Sort Index" on page 249.
l English Label: Shows the English label of the entry. For more information, see "Assigning Labels"
on page 257.
l Add Entry button: Adds a new entry to the legal list. For more information, see "Creating a Legal
List Entry" on page 256.
By default, the entries are listed by English Label in ascending order. Click the heading of the column by
which you want to sort. Ascending is the default sort order in each column. It sorts results sequentially,
beginning with the lowest number (ID, Custom Index) and the first letter alphabetically (English Label). It
can be reversed by clicking the column heading again. Clicking the Custom Index heading additionally
displays drag handles for each entry to allow creating or editing the Custom Index.
7 Controls to edit the contents of the legal list (from left to right):

l Drag handles: Lets you change the sort order of the legal list. Allows you to define a customized
index. The drag handles are only shown after you clicked the Custom Index column. For more
information, see "Creating a Custom Sort Index" on page 249.
l Delete button: Deletes the entry selected in the Legal List Entries panel from the legal list. For
more information, see "Deleting Entries" on page 258.
8 Text fields to provide localized labels for the legal list entry. For each language defined in the data
model, a text field is shown. For more information, see "Assigning Labels" on page 257.
9 Buttons to save or discard all changes:

l Cancel: Discards all unsaved changes you made to the entries of the legal list.
l Save: Saves all changes you made to the entries of the legal list.

Configuring Legal Lists

The following topics describe the Legal List Administrator features on the legal list level:
l "Setting a Default Value" on the next page
l "Creating a Custom Sort Index" on page 249
l "Downloading Legal Lists" on page 252
l "Uploading Legal Lists" on page 253
l "Downloading Legal List Labels" on page 254
l "Uploading Legal List Labels" on page 255

247
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

Setting a Default Value

When you want a particular entry to be the initial value displayed in a legal list, you can set it as the default
value. If no default value is defined for the legal list, the corresponding legal list attribute is initially empty.
Legal List Administrator lets you define a default value, change an assigned default value, and remove a
default value assignment.

n Asset Management Datamodel Administrator offers the feature to define a default value for a legal list
attribute in a template. The Datamodel Administrator feature overrules the default value setting of
Legal List Administrator.

To set a default value:

1. (Optional) Select the Asset Management system from which you want to load legal lists from the
Asset Management System drop-down list.
2. Select a legal list from the Legal List drop-down list.
3. Right-click the entry in the Legal List entries panel and select “Set as the default value.”

The selected value is shown as the default value for the corresponding legal list entry. Any previous
default assignment is overwritten.

4. (Optional) To remove a default entry setting, right-click the default entry in the Legal List entries
panel and select “Remove default.”

248
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

The default settings is removed from the entry. No default value is set for the legal list.

Re-sorting Legal Lists

Defining the sort order of legal lists is always a two-step procedure that involves two applications:
l Legal List Administrator: Here you create the sort criteria — ID, label, and custom index.
l Datamodel Administrator: Here you apply one sort criterion to the legal list attribute to define the sort
order of the legal list.
See the following topics:
l "Creating a Custom Sort Index" below
l "Dependencies Between Legal List Administrator and Datamodel Administrator" on page 251
Creating a Custom Sort Index
Entries are arranged by their English Label in ascending order in the Legal List Entries panel. This is only an
internal sort order in the Legal List Administrator app — the real sort order (how the entries are sorted in lists
in the Asset Management and MediaCentral Cloud UX GUIs) is arranged in Legal List Administrator, but set
in Datamodel Administrator.

There are three sort criteria:

l ID: Implicitly created by the IDs that are assigned automatically to each entry when it is created in
the Legal List Administrator app. You cannot change the ID of an legal list entry.
l Label: Implicitly created by the labels assigned by a user to the entries in the Legal List Administrator
app. Each entry has at least an English label.
l Custom Index: Explicitly created by you in the Legal List Administrator app.
You create and edit a Custom Index simply by drag and drop operations in the Legal List Entries panel. Note
the following differences in the behavior of the Legal List Entries panel when creating a new Custom Index
and editing an existing Custom Index:
l If no custom sort order was assigned to the legal list yet, the Custom Index column shows “0” for
each entry. Clicking the Custom Index heading shows the drag handles for each entry and but does
not set the sort order in the column.
l After assigning a custom sort order value to one entry, all other entries are assigned consecutive
numbers automatically.
l As soon as a Custom Index is created, the Custom Index heading behaves like the other column
headings: Clicking once sorts the entries in the column in ascending order, clicking a second time
sorts the entries in descending order. The drag handles are shown for all entries independent from the
sort order.

249
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

To create a custom index:

1. (Optional) Select the Asset Management system from which you want to load legal lists from the
Asset Management System drop-down list.
2. Select a legal list from the Legal List drop-down list.
3. Click the Custom Index column header.
For each entry, a drag handle is displayed at the very left of the Legal List entries panel.

4. Click the drag handle of an entry and do one of the following:

t Drag and drop it downwards to create a custom index in ascending order and assign the entry
a high number.

t Drag and drop it upwards to create a custom index in ascending order and assign the entry a
low number.

5. Click the Save button at the bottom of the list of entries.

6. The system prompts you to confirm that you want to accept all changes.
7. Click Yes.
8. The Custom Index is saved and can be applied as sort criterion to the legal list attribute in Datamodel
Administrator.

250
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

To edit a custom index:

1. Select a legal list from the Legal List drop-down list.

2. Click the Custom Index column header.
For each entry, a drag handle is displayed at the very left of the Legal List entries panel. The entries
in the Custom Index column are sorted in ascending order.

3. (Optional) Click the Custom Index heading again to sort the Custom Index column in descending
order.
4. Click the drag handle of an entry and drag and drop it to the new position in the Legal List entries
panel.
All numbers in the Custom Index are rearranged.
5. Click the Save button at the bottom of the list of entries.
The system prompts you to confirm that you want to accept all changes.
6. Click Yes.
The changed Custom Index is saved.
Dependencies Between Legal List Administrator and Datamodel Administrator
In Legal List Administrator you create the criteria for the sort order for legal list entries — but the Sort by
setting must be assigned in Datamodel Administrator for the Legal List Administrator sort criteria to have
any effect: In Datamodel Administrator you apply one sort criterion to the legal list attribute to define the
sort order of the legal list. For more information, see the MediaCentral | Asset Management Datamodel
Administrator User’s Guide.

Datamodel Administrator: Default sort order for legal list attributes

In Datamodel Administrator you define the default legal list sort order by editing the legal list attribute:
Select the criterion to be used to sort the legal list entries from the Sort by drop-down list, as shown in the
following illustration.

251
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

l Language specific label: Sorts entries alphabetically by their labels

l Index: Sorts entries by their automatically generated IDs
l Custom index: Sorts by customer-specific IDs
l Shortcut: legacy entry, not supported
Additionally, select the sort direction (ascending or descending) from the second list.

n If you do not change the Sort by setting, Datamodel Administrator sorts legal list attributes
automatically by language-specific labels in ascending order.

Datamodel Administrator: Specific sort order for legal list attributes in templates

Even if you have defined the sort order for a legal list attribute, you can overwrite the setting for specific
templates. Open the Properties dialog of a legal list attribute in a template and activate the “Overwrite
default legal list sort order” feature to define a different sort order for the legal list in that specific metadata
template.

Downloading Legal Lists

You can download legal lists to create a backup, edit them externally, or import them into another Asset
Management installation.

To download legal lists:

1. (Optional) Select the Asset Management system from which you want to load legal lists from the
Asset Management System drop-down list.
2. Select a legal list from the Legal List drop-down list.
3. Click the Download button and select Download Legal List.
The Downloading Legal Lists dialog opens.

252
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

4. Do one of the following:

t Select the “Download values of legal list” option button.
t Select the “Download values of all legal lists” option button.
5. Click Download.
The legal lists are downloaded to your web browser’s default download directory and saved as one
*.xml file.
– If you downloaded all legal lists, the default file name is LEGALLISTS_<timestamp>.xml
– For an individual legal list, the file name is <legal list name>_<timestamp>.xml (for example,
COMPLIANCE_REASONS_1553157987745.xml

Uploading Legal Lists

You can upload previously downloaded legal lists, as described in the following procedure.

To upload legal lists:

1. (Optional) Select the Asset Management system from which you want to load legal lists from the
Asset Management System drop-down list.
2. Select a legal list from the Legal List drop-down list.
3. Click the Upload button and select Upload Legal List.
The Upload Legal List Entries dialog opens.

4. Click the Browse button, select the legal list file (*.xml) in the Open dialog, and click Open.
The Open dialog is closed; the name of the selected XML file is shown in the Select file box.

253
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

5. Click the Upload button.

The upload starts. During the upload the following rules apply:
– Add: New legal list entries in the XML file are added to the legal list in the system.
– Overwrite: Legal list entries with the same name are overwritten by the uploaded entries.
– Delete: Legal list entries in the system that are not contained in the uploaded XML file are
deleted from the system’s legal list.
As soon as the upload is completed, a message opens. It shows statistics about uploaded and deleted
legal list entries.

6. Click Cancel to close the Upload Legal List Entries dialog box.

Downloading Legal List Labels

You can download the localizable labels of legal lists. The main purpose of the download is to localize the
labels outside Legal List Administrator and later re-import the localized labels or upload them into another
Asset Management installation.

To download legal list labels:

1. (Optional) Select the Asset Management system from which you want to load legal lists from the
Asset Management System drop-down list.
2. (Option) Select a legal list from the Legal List drop-down list.
3. Click the Download button and select Download Localization.
The Download Legal List Localization dialog opens. The legal list opened in the Legal List
Administrator app is preselected in the Legal List drop-down list.

4. Select the legal list whose labels are to be downloaded from the Legal List drop-down list.
“(All)” exports all labels of all legal lists as one file.
5. Select the language in which labels are to be exported from the Language drop-down list.

254
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

6. Click Download.
As soon as the download is completed, a message opens. It shows statistics about uploaded and
deleted legal list entries.

The legal list labels are downloaded to your web browser’s default download directory and saved as
one *.xml file.
– If you downloaded all legal list labels, the file name is legallists_<language>_ <timestamp>.xml
(for example, legallists__en_2019-03-21_12-02-38.xml).
– For an individual legal list, the file name is <legal list name>_<language>_ <timestamp>.xml (for
example, AVID_RIGHTS_INDICATORS__en_2019-03-21_11-53-58.xml)

Uploading Legal List Labels

You can upload previously downloaded legal list labels, as described in the following procedure.

To upload legal list labels:

1. (Optional) Select the Asset Management system from which you want to load legal lists from the
Asset Management System drop-down list.
2. (Option) Select a legal list from the Legal List drop-down list.
3. Click the Upload button and select Upload Localization.
The Upload Legal List Localization dialog opens.

4. Click the Browse button, select the legal list localization file (*.xml) in the Open dialog, and click
Open.
The Open dialog is closed; the name of the selected XML file is shown in the Select file box.
5. Do one of the following:
t Select the Overwrite existing labels check box: Legal list labels with the same ID are overwritten
by the uploaded labels. Note that in this case labels might be cleared or previously empty
labels might be filled.

255
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

t Deselect the Overwrite existing labels check box: Legal list labels with the same ID are not
overwritten by uploaded labels.
6. Click the Upload button.
As soon as the upload is completed, a message opens. It shows statistics about uploaded and deleted
legal list localization entries. Note that labels for legal list entries that are only contained in the legal
list localization file but not in the target legal list are not imported.
7. Close the Upload Legal List Localization dialog box.

Creating and Configuring Legal List Entries

The following topics describe the Legal List Administrator features on the legal list entry level:
l "Creating a Legal List Entry" below
l "Assigning Labels" on the next page
l "Deleting Entries" on page 258
Editing Entries

If you have already created a legal list entry and want to make a change to its settings, you can alter and
save the entry at any time. Click the Save button to save any unsaved changes in the legal list entries
panel.

If you begin to create or edit an entry and subsequently change your mind about saving the legal list, you
can click the Cancel button to clear the legal list entries panel of any unsaved changes.

Deleting Entries

If you create an entry and later need to remove it, you can click the Delete button to the right of the entry to
delete it. The system prompts you to confirm the delete request. After you click Yes, the entry is deleted.

Creating a Legal List Entry

You can add entries to a legal list at any time. The procedure for adding entries to a new, empty legal list or
adding entries to existing entries in a legal list is the same.

To create a legal list entry:

1. (Optional) Select the Asset Management system from which you want to load legal lists from the
Asset Management System drop-down list.
2. Select a legal list from the Legal List drop-down list.
3. Click on the Add Entry button of the Legal List Entries panel.
A “New entry” is displayed in the Legal List Entries panel. For each language defined in the Asset
Management data model, a label field is shown.

256
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

4. Type the text that is to be displayed as label in the English label (*en) field. Providing the English label
is mandatory.
Assign labels in other languages as needed. See "Assigning Labels" below.
5. Click the Save button at the bottom of the list of entries.
The system prompts you to confirm that you want to accept all changes.
6. Click Yes to save all changes.
The English label is shown for the new entry in the Legal List Entries panel. The first entry in each legal
list is always assigned the ID 0, all others are assigned consecutive numbers.

7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 to create additional entries.

Assigning Labels
When you create a new legal list entry, you need to provide the English label. After saving the new entry,
the English label is copied to all other language label fields. To localize labels, expand the entry and assign
labels in different languages as needed. You can also change the English label but you cannot delete the
English label.

To assign labels to entries:

1. (Optional) Select the Asset Management system from which you want to load legal lists from the
Asset Management System drop-down list.
2. Select a legal list from the Legal List drop-down list.
3. Expand an entry in the Legal List Entries panel.

257
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

4. Type the text that is to be displayed as label in all required label fields

5. Click the Save button at the bottom of the list of entries.

The system prompts you to confirm that you want to accept all changes.
6. Click Yes.
The changed labels are saved.

Deleting Entries
You can delete legal list entries as described in the following procedure.

n Before you delete an entry, make sure that it is not used by any asset. Since work is performed directly
in the database, Legal List Administrator does not offer an undo or restore function. If you delete an
entry by mistake you have to create it anew.

To delete a legal list entry:

1. (Optional) Select the Asset Management system from which you want to load legal lists from the
Asset Management System drop-down list.
2. Select a legal list from the Legal List drop-down list.
3. Click the Delete button of an entry in the Legal List Entries panel.
A security prompt opens.

258
 10 Using the Legal List Administrator App

4. Do one of the following:

t Click No if you want to cancel the delete process.
t Click Yes if you want to irrevocably delete the legal list entry.
If you delete an entry that is still referenced by an asset, ##ID## is shown for that entry in the
corresponding legal list.

259
 11 Using the Multi-Site Settings App

11 Using the Multi-Site Settings App

Multi-Site is an optional and licensed feature for MediaCentral Cloud UX that allows you to connect
multiple MediaCentral Cloud UX systems together to create a more seamless user experience for Enterprise-
level organizations. Systems that connect through multi-site might consist of departments in the same
physical location (News, Sports, Production) or might consist of district offices in geographically disperse
locations (Boston, Beijing, Paris). After multi-site is fully configured, MediaCentral Cloud UX offers the
following benefits:
l Access MediaCentral modules that are connected to multiple MediaCentral Cloud UX environments
through a single-sign-on.
l Use the Browse app to navigate the directory tree of a remote MediaCentral module as if it were just
another locally connected system.
l Play and Hoverscrub assets from both local and remote MediaCentral Cloud UX systems.
l Create powerful searches to locate assets across multiple connected systems and modules.
l View and edit metadata (including Markers) for local and remote assets.
l And more...

n Some of the features listed above are license dependent.

If you are enabling a multi-site environment and you are using self-signed certificates or certificates
provided by an internal CA, you must import the certificate from each site into each of your client
workstations. For this reason Avid highly recommends using certificates provided by a public Certificate
Authority if you are enabling a multi-site configuration. If your local workstation does not include a valid
certificate for each site, you might encounter errors using the Multi-Site Settings app.

Multi-Site User Licenses

The process of linking remote modules or features to a local site does not have any impact on the licensing
for either system. Additionally, remote users only consume licenses on their local systems. If a user accesses
a remote module that is linked to their local Cloud UX system, no additional licenses are consumed on the
remote site.

To enable a multi-site configuration, the “MediaCentral | Multisite Connector” and “MediaCentral | Multisite
Index Service” licenses must be enabled on all linked systems. For more information, see "Using the License
App" on page 168.

Additional Notes
l You cannot combine MediaCentral Cloud UX systems in a multi-site environment with MediaCentral
UX systems.
l Avid supports a maximum of six sites in a single multi-site environment.
Accessing the Multi-Site Settings App

The Multi-Site Settings app is divided into the following sections:

l System Configuration
View and manage the modules and features that you want to expose to your local users. For more
information, see "Reviewing the System Configuration" on page 264.
l User Mapping

260
 11 Using the Multi-Site Settings App

Create rules that determine how remote users access your local MediaCentral modules. For more
information, see "Configuring User Mapping" below.

n Although the Multi-Site app defaults to the System Configuration tab, you must proceed to the
User Mapping tab to start configuring your multi-site settings. If you have not yet mapped any
users, you might see an error message in the System Configuration tab.

You can access the Multi-Site Settings app through the Administrator settings. For more information on
accessing the Administrator settings, see "Administrator App Overview" on page 135.

Configuring User Mapping

The User Mapping panel allows you to create rules that determine how remote users access your local
MediaCentral modules. Although related, this is different from the User Management app which integrates
with your authentication provider to determine which users can sign in to MediaCentral Cloud UX.

When you access User Mapping, a list of existing rules is displayed. The following illustration shows the User
Mapping interface with three sample rules.

The User Mapping panel provides you with a great deal of flexibility when creating rules. The following are
just a few examples of possible rules:
l Allow all users with matching user accounts in the User Management app on both the local and
remote sites to access the modules specified in the Multi-Site System Configuration settings.
l Deny access to a specific remote user or group of users.
l Map all users in the remote site to a single local user account.
User entitlements are always based on the User Management app of the local site. If your local user
account is associated with a Browse client license with very few entitlements, you will have the same rights
and entitlements when working with remote assets — even if your user is mapped to a user with an Edit
client license on the remote system.

261
 11 Using the Multi-Site Settings App

For example, user “Bob” signs in to his local MediaCentral Cloud UX system and his account is associated
with a Browse client license. The administrator of the remote site creates a rule where Bob is mapped to user
“Betty” — a user associated with an Edit client license. When Bob connects to his local system and sees the
linked remote modules, he retains Browse access only to the local and remote assets.

Configuration Notes

Before you can configure the User Mapping section of the Multi-Site Settings app, you must first configure
the multi-site options for your local and remote sites. For more information, see "Enabling a Multi-Site
Configuration" on page 114.

Continue to the following sections to create and edit the User Mapping rules:
l "Adding a Rule" below
l "Reordering Rules" on the next page
l "Editing an Existing Rule" on page 264
l "Deleting a Rule" on page 264

Adding a Rule
Complete the following steps to add a rule to the User Mapping settings.

The User Mapping rules are processed in order, from the top-down. If the first rule applies to your
configuration, it is applied and all other rules are ignored. For information on how to alter the rules list, see
"Reordering Rules" on the next page.

To add a rule:

1. Click on the User Mapping option in the Multi-Site Settings sidebar.

2. In the User Mapping panel, click on the Add Rule button to the right of the Rule column.
As shown in the following illustration, a new rule is added to the list.

This default rule maps Any remote site with any user name (*) and maps that user by name to the
same user account on the local system. In other words, the system tries to find matching user
accounts on both systems.
3. (optional) Click on the Site menu and select a remote site from the list of options.
4. (optional) The User Mapping feature allows you to manage rules by Users or by Groups.
If you want to create a rule based on user group access, click on the User icon illustrated below and
select the Group option from the menu.

5. (optional) Enter the name of a specific user or group that exists on the remote system in the field to
the right of the User/Group button.
6. (optional) Click on the Rule menu and select a rule from the list. These options include:
t Map by Name: This rule maps the remote user or group defined in the previous field to the same
user or group name on the local system.
If you are connected to a common Active Directory or OpenID system where users from all sites
are imported to all MediaCentral Cloud UX systems, this option might work well for you.

262
 11 Using the Multi-Site Settings App

t Reject: This rule denies the remote user or group access to all local MediaCentral modules.
t Map to User: This rule maps the user or group defined in the previous field to a specific user
account on the local system. When you select this option a new field appears to the right of the
rule that allows you to select a user name from a menu.

t Map by Name else Map to User: This rule attempts to map the remote user to the same user
account on the local system. If that account is unavailable, the user is mapped to the user you
define in the field to the right of the rule.

You can click on the menu to select a user account from the list, or if you know the name of the
account that you want to use, you can start to type the name in the menu. As you type, the list
is filtered to include matching user accounts.
7. Complete one of the following actions:
t Click the Save button at the bottom of the list of rules.
If you have created or edited multiple rules, this button saves all changes. This button does not
prompt you to confirm the action.
t Click the Revert button to abort all rule changes that you made in this session.
Reordering Rules
In some cases, you might want to create multiple rules per remote system. In doing so, it is possible that you
might create rules that overlap or conflict with each other. The order in which the rules are listed in the User
Mapping settings determine the priority. When a remote user wants to connect to your site, the first rule at
the top of the list is checked. If the rule does not apply to the user, the next rule is checked until a matching
rule is found.

To provide additional flexibility in configuring your system, User Mapping allows you to reorder the list of
rules to adjust their priority.

To move a rule to a different position:

t Click on the handle on the left-side of the rule and drag the rule to the desired position.

263
 11 Using the Multi-Site Settings App

Editing an Existing Rule

After you work with a multi-site configuration for a period of time, you might see a rule with a value in red
text. This indicates that the value was once valid, but is no longer so. For example, you might have
associated a rule with a particular user account that no longer exists. Alternatively, you might have
removed a remote site from your configuration, but you still have rules related to that site. In these
situations, you can either edit the existing rule or delete the rule entirely. Invalid rules do not prevent you
from saving changes to the User Mapping panel.

If you need to edit a rule that has already been created, you can alter the values associated with the rule at
any time.

To edit a rule:

1. Click on the User Mapping option in the Multi-Site Settings sidebar.

2. Alter one or more rule values
3. Click the Save button at the bottom of the list of rules.

Deleting a Rule
Complete the following steps to remove a rule from the User Mapping settings.

To delete a rule:

1. Move your cursor on top of the rule that you want to delete.
The rule is highlighted and a Delete Rule button appears to the right of the rule.
2. Click the Delete Rule button.
A deletion confirmation window appears.
3. Click Delete to confirm the removal of this rule from the User Mapping settings.
The rule is deleted.

Reviewing the System Configuration

The System Configuration section of the Multi-Site app allows you to view information about the remote
sites that are connected to your local MediaCentral Cloud UX system and determine the level of integration
that you want to enable for each site. The following illustration provides an example of a local site that is
connected to three remote sites — only two of which are currently available.

264
 11 Using the Multi-Site Settings App

The left side of the System Configuration screen displays all remote MediaCentral Cloud UX sites and
related modules that are available to be connected to your local site. This list is based on the settings that
you configured during the process of "Enabling a Multi-Site Configuration" on page 114. Sites are listed in
alphabetical order. You can use the scroll bar that appears between the panels to access any site that
might appear off-screen.

The right side of the screen provides controls that allow you to selectively enable or disable individual
modules and features. As shown in the above illustration, the administrator has linked the PAR-PAM module,
but has disabled the ability to search for assets on this module from the local site. You might want to
disable a feature to limit access to that module. For example you might need to connect the Production
Management modules from two sites to enable a MediaCentral Sync workflow, but you want to prevent
users from browsing or searching for assets in that remote modules.

As the administrator of the local system, you can connect users to remote modules by linking the sites
together. However, user access to each of these modules is determined by the user rights that are
configured in the remote site. For more information, see "Configuring User Mapping" on page 261.

System Messages

As shown in the above illustration, MediaCentral Cloud UX might display a “not available” message if a
remote site cannot be reached. If an individual module within the site cannot be reached, the module
displays a “not available” message to the right of the module name.

These situations could indicate that the remote site or module is temporarily offline for maintenance, or it
could suggest a technical issue that requires manual intervention. If you are creating a new multi-site
configuration, you should verify the values that you entered in the system configuration scripts. If you need
to permanently remove a site from the multi-site configuration, see "Enabling a Multi-Site Configuration" on
page 114.

If your MediaCentral Cloud UX license includes the required multi-site options but you have not yet
configured multi-site, the System Configuration window displays the following message: “There is no
remote site configured for your MediaCentral Cloud UX setup”.

If you connect to a remote system where the remote CTMS registry does not return any MediaCentral
modules that support multi-site, the following message is displayed.

265
 11 Using the Multi-Site Settings App

Note that in this example, the red “not available” text is not displayed. This provides a confirmation that you
can communicate with the remote site, but the site does not include any modules that support a multi-site
configuration. Alternatively, the site might only include one supported MediaCentral module and that
module is offline.

Other Systems

As shown in the following illustration, the System Configuration section might include an Other Systems
panel below the active sites area.

This section of the app might appear if you link to a remote module and then you subsequently remove the
remote site from the sites.yaml file. In this example, the remote modules are offline (not available). However
if the linked modules were still online, then the modules or features would remain available to users until you
click the unlink button to completely remove the remote site from your multi-site configuration.

Linking and Unlinking Modules and Features

The following process describes how to expose or hide individual modules connected to the remote site in
your local user interface.

If you link to a new module, users see the new module appear in the user interface the next time that they
refresh the user interface (reload the browser tab, close and reopen the Browse or Search apps, log out and
back in again, etc).

If you unlink a module on an active, in-production system, the following might apply:
l The users might see the module in the user interface and calls to this module (request to play media)
might fail.
l If a user initiates a Deliver-to-Me process, the delivery process should continue, but the Process app
might stop providing updates on the delivery.
l Error messages or other issues.
To avoid confusion for the users, Avid recommends that you unlink modules or features during a
maintenance window only.

To configure module and feature availability:

1. Before you begin, make sure that you have completed the prerequisites for this process:
– You have configured the multi-site options for your local and remote sites. For more
information, see "Enabling a Multi-Site Configuration" on page 114.
– You must create at least one user map before you can link any remote sites to your local site.
For details, see "Configuring User Mapping" on page 261.

n If you do not complete the prerequisites, you might see error or warning messages in the System
Configuration panel.

266
 11 Using the Multi-Site Settings App

2. Click on the Multi-Site Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select System Configuration
from the app’s sidebar.
3. Select an individual module under the site that you want to link.
The Select a System To Configure panel on the right displays information about the module.
4. Toggle the Linked / Unlinked buttons to enable or disable access to the module.
All MediaCentral modules appear as unlinked by default.
t When associated with a grey Unlinked button, the module is not available in the user interface
of the local system. The module reads as Not Linked in the System Configuration window.
t When associated with a blue Linked button, the module is currently available to the users of
the local system. The module reads as Linked in the System Configuration window.
5. (if applicable) Configure the feature toggles.
Some modules allow you to enable or disable certain features, while others — such as Hoverscrub —
do not. The following list describes these features:
– Search Indexing: Allow this module to appear in the Search app and have its assets appear in
search results.
– Browse Visibility: Allows this module to appear in the Browse app.
– Remote Orchestration: Allows you to initiate Actions or Player Actions for assets through a
remote orchestration engine. This feature is limited to Asset Management systems only.
If you have already linked to a remote site and you subsequently disable any of these features, the
following applies:
– Search Indexing: The affected module is removed from the Search app very quickly, following a
refresh of the user interface. The back-end MediaCentral Cloud UX processes begin to delete
the remote search data from your local site. This process can take between several minutes to
several hours, depending on multiple factors.
– Browse Visibility: The affected module is removed from the Browse app very quickly, following
a refresh of the user interface.
– Remote Orchestration: The affected module is removed from the Actions menu after a short
period of time (approximately 15 minutes).
6. Do one of the following:
t Click the Save button to save your changes.
t Click the Revert button to change the settings back to their previous state.

267
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

The Collaborate Settings app allows you to manage the permissions for individual users of the Collaborate
app, configure attributes associated with topics, assignments and tasks, and create forms that allow you to
customize the default layout of topics, assignments, and tasks. The following illustration shows the
Collaborate Settings app with the Attributes panel in focus.

Refer to the following topics for more information on each area of the app:
l "Using the Attributes Panel" below
l "Using the Forms Builder" on page 280
l "Collaborate User Permissions" on page 286
For more information on importing groups into the Collaborate workflow, see "Configuring Collaborate App
User Groups" on page 109.

For more information on the Collaborate app, see “Using the Collaborate App” in the Avid MediaCentral |
Cloud UX User’s Guide.

Accessing the Collaborate Settings App

You can access the Collaborate Settings app through the Administrator settings. For more information on
accessing the Administrator settings, see "Administrator App Overview" on page 135.

Using the Attributes Panel

When users create a new topic, assignment, or task through the Collaborate app, they are creating that
item through a templated user interface. Avid ships Collaborate with a default template or form for each of
these item types. Each form includes a set of predefined attributes. However, administrators can use the
Collaborate Settings app to create new attributes that can be used to customize forms.

When an administrator opens the Collaborate Settings app, the Attributes option is selected by default in
the app's sidebar. By default, only the Attributes panel is shown. After selecting an attribute in the
Attributes panel or when creating a new attribute, the Attribute Details area is additionally displayed to the
right side. The following illustration shows the Attributes panel and the details of a selected attribute
"Departments" (type: Dropdown) in the Attribute Details area.

268
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

Section Description

1 Attributes The Attributes panel displays information on all existing attributes and lets you start
panel the creation of new attributes.
2 Tabs Information on the Attributes panel is arranged in two tabs:

l TOPICS, ASSIGNMENTS & TASKS

l PEOPLE, RESOURCES
In this release, only the TOPICS, ASSIGNMENTS & TASKS tab can be used.
3 Toolbar The Attributes panel toolbar provides controls for filtering the displayed attributes
(Find an attribute filter field) and creating new attributes (New Attribute button). See
"Creating a Custom Attribute" on page 272 and "Filtering and Sorting the Attributes
Panel" on page 271.
4 Attributes Information on all existing attributes is shown in a table with four columns:

l Label: Set when the attribute is created; can be subsequently edited.

l Category: Attributes can be of category custom, or predefined.
– Predefined attributes are provided by Avid. These attributes are used
on the default Topic, Assignment and Task creation forms that are
provided by Avid.
– Custom attributes are created by a system administrator using a
predefined list of attribute types.
l Input Type: The attribute type.
Note that the following Input Types are reserved for the Avid predefined
attributes and cannot be used for creating new attributes: Parent, Priority,
Status and Tags.
l Alias: An internal identifier of the attribute. Once created, an Alias cannot be
modified.
The columns are sortable and re-sizable but cannot be rearranged. If the contents of

269
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

Section Description

a Label cell cannot be completely displayed, it ends with an ellipsis; a tooltip shows
the entire label. For more information, see "Filtering and Sorting the Attributes Panel"
on the next page.

You can only select one attribute at a time in the Attributes panel, multi-selection is
not supported.
5 Attribute Use this area to provide the details of the new attribute you create or to edit an
Details area existing attribute. The header of the Attribute Details area shows one of the following:

l New Attribute while you create a new attribute and have not saved your input.
l The label of the newly created and saved attribute, and the label of the
selected in the Attributes panel.
The Attribute Details area is hidden by default and only shown when you select an
attribute in the Attributes panel or when you create a new attribute. The area is
closed when you cancel creating or updating an attribute or when you switch
between the options in the Collaborate Settings app.
6 Attribute edit This area is shown for all attribute types when you create or edit an attribute. For
options more information, see "Creating a Custom Attribute" on page 272 and "Editing an
Existing Attribute" on page 275.
7 Value edit Additional edit options for values are only shown for attributes of the following types:
options
l Dropdown
l Priority
l Status
For all other attribute types this area is empty. For more information, see "Editing
Dropdown, Priority and Status Values" on page 275 and "Editing Specific Priority and
Status Options" on page 278.
8 Buttons Let you cancel or save the changes you make to a new or existing attribute.

The Cancel and Save buttons are only used to apply changes to attribute settings
(Label, Alias, Description). They do not apply to changes made to the values of
Dropdown, Priority and Status attributes (changes made to values are directly saved,
clicking Cancel does not revert the changes).

When opening the Attributes panel, a loading wheel might be shown while data is being loaded from the
backend. If fetching data from the backend fails, an error message with a description and a retry button
appears.

Refer to the following sections for more information on how to use the Attributes panel:
l "Filtering and Sorting the Attributes Panel" on the next page
l "Creating a Custom Attribute" on page 272
l "Editing an Existing Attribute" on page 275
l "Editing Common Attribute Settings" on page 275
l "Editing Dropdown, Priority and Status Values" on page 275
l "Editing Specific Priority and Status Options" on page 278
l "Deleting an Attribute" on page 280

270
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

Filtering and Sorting the Attributes Panel

The Attributes panel displays all attributes by default. However, the app allows you to
l filter this display by keyword(s) and
l sort the display by using the Label, Category and Alias columns.
Filtering
You can filter the attributes display by typing one or more keywords in the filter field above the Attributes
list. Your input is applied to the Label and Alias fields; Category and Input Type are not used for filtering.

To filter by keyword(s):
t Start typing text in the "Find an attribute" filter field.
While you type, a "contains" search is applied to the Label and Alias fields. The list of attributes is
filtered to include only those attributes that match your search criteria.

If the app does not display any results after you filter the list of attributes by keyword, a message
with a “Show all attributes” link appears in the Attributes panel to allow you to remove the filter and
display all attributes again.

t You can clear the filter by clicking the X to the right of the filter.
The filter is also cleared when you switch to another option in the Collaborate Settings app (Forms
Builder or User Permissions) and back to the Attributes panel.
Sorting
When you open the Attributes panel the list of attributes is sorted by creation time in ascending order. You
can change the default sorting by using the Label, Category and Alias columns. The Input Type column
cannot be used for sorting.

271
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

To sort the attributes list:

1. In the Attributes panel, click on a column header to reorder the attributes list.
An up arrow appears to the right of the column name to indicate that this column is used to sort the
results in ascending order.
2. If you need to sort the list in descending order, click on the column header again to reverse the order
of the list.
A down arrow appears to the right of the column name to indicate that this column is used to sort the
results in descending order.
3. To apply the default sort order again (attributes sorted by creation time in ascending order), click a
third time on the same column header.

Creating a Custom Attribute

As an administrator, start the custom form creation by creating your custom attributes. You can create
custom attributes from a predefined list of attributes types provided by Avid. Once created, you can use
your custom attributes in many different forms together with the Avid predefined attributes. If needed, you
can use the same attribute in topic, assignment and task forms simultaneously.

Using the Attributes panel, you can create attributes of the following types:
l Date: Allows users to add a date/select a date from a Date picker tool (example: Due Date)
l Date Time: Allows users to add a date and time/select a date and time from a Date picker tool
(example: Start Date)
l Drop Zone: Allows users to drop assets onto a task
l Dropdown: Allows users to select values from a list (example: Departments)
l External Contacts: Allows users to click on a + button, which opens a drop-down with multi-selection
of contacts of type Guest or Organization
l Internal Contacts: Allows users to click on a + button, which opens a drop-down with multi-selection
of contacts of type Freelance or Employee
The contacts are defined in the Collaborate app's People panel. See "Collaborate People and
Resources" in the MediaCentral Cloud UX User's Guide.
l Paragraph: Allows users to enter multi-line text, the maximum input is 1,000 characters (example:
Description)
l Resources: Allows users to click on a + button, which opens a drop-down with multi-selection of
resources.
The resources are defined in the Collaborate app's Resources panel. See "Collaborate People and
Resources" in the MediaCentral Cloud UX User's Guide.
l Text: Allows users to enter a single line of text, the maximum input is 200 characters (example: Title)
When you create an attribute you define its basic parameters. Later when you add attributes to forms, you
will have the opportunity to further customize some aspects of the attribute that are specific to the form.
For example, you do not decide if an attribute is mandatory or not in the Attributes panel; this will be
defined in the Forms Builder as each form can be different: the same attribute might be mandatory on one
form but other forms might not need it at all. For more information, see "Creating a New Form" on page 282
and "Editing an Existing Form" on page 284.

272
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

To create a custom attribute:

1. Click the Collaborate Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select the Attributes option
from the app’s sidebar.
2. Click the New Attribute button in the Attributes panel on the right.
The app displays a context menu that allows you to select the type of attribute that you wish to
create.

3. Select an attribute type from the context menu.

The New Attribute area displays input fields to describe the new attribute. The Input Type is filled
automatically and cannot be edited. The cursor is positioned in the Label field. Label and Alias are
mandatory fields. When you move the cursor out of a mandatory field and have not provided input,
the field is underlined in red and a red exclamation mark is shown to the right side of the field.
The following illustration shows the New Attribute dialog box for an attribute of type Dropdown,
which provides one more input field than all other attribute types.

273
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

4. Provide a label for the attribute in the Label field. Special characters and spaces are allowed in this
field. A label may not consist only of spaces, and may not exceed 200 characters.
The label is fix for the attribute and cannot be changed on individual forms. Modifying the attribute
label is only possible in the Attributes panel.
5. Click in the Alias field and provide an alias – an internally used identifier – for the attribute.
Valid input is: a-z, _, 0-9. Special characters and blank spaces are not allowed. The Alias may not
exceed 100 characters, and must be unique accross all attributes.
If the Alias contains illegal characters, a message opens when you Save the attribute.
If you provide an Alias that is already used by another attribute, an error message opens when you
click the Save button.
6. (optional) Click in the Description field and provide a description of the attribute.
The description is only used in the Attributes panel.
7. (only Dropdown) Create values.
Initially, an empty dictionary grid is shown, only a header "Label" and a + buttons are displayed.

a. Click the + button.

A New Value entry is shown; the cursor is positioned in the field. Note that the New Value entry
is not shown if there is at least one empty mandatory field in the attribute.
b. Type the label of the value.
c. Click outside the field or move the mouse wheel up or down.
d. Repeat steps a through c to create additional values.
If you do not type a value in the New Value field and click outside the field, the New Value entry is
removed.
8. Do one of the following:
t Click Save.
The name of the Details area shows the new label value and the Alias field becomes read-only.
In the Attributes panel, the new attributes is added and highlighted. If the new attribute is
sorted outside the visible area, the view does not scroll to the new attribute.
If there is at least one empty mandatory field, the attribute is not created. The empty
mandatory field is underlined in red and a exclamation mark is shown to the right side of the
field. Populate the field and click the Save button again.
If the attribute cannot be created in the backend, a warning with the message "Failed to
create an attribute" appears.
t Click Cancel.
The attribute is not created and the Details area is hidden.
When you select another attribute in the Attributes panel or use the New Attribute menu while you are
creating an attribute and have not saved your changes yet, you are prompted to save your changes. Click
outside the message or press the Esc key to close the message.

274
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

Editing an Existing Attribute

You can edit custom and predefined attributes.

n Editing attributes does not affect already existing Topics, Assignments and Tasks. Changes are
applied only to items created after the change to the attribute was done.

Some edit options are available for all attribute types, other options only for specific attribute types, as
described in the following table.

Attribute type Editing Options See

All l Change the label of the "Editing Common Attribute Settings" below
attribute
l Change the description of
the attribute

Dropdown, l Add a value "Editing Dropdown, Priority and Status Values"

Status, Priority below
l Change the label of a
value
l Remove a value
l Filter the value display

Status or Priority l Set a value as default "Editing Specific Priority and Status Options" on
page 278
l Reorder values
l Change the color of a
value

Editing Common Attribute Settings

The following procedure describes how to edit settings that are available for all attribute types.

To edit common attribute settings:

1. Click the Collaborate Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select the Attributes option
from the app’s sidebar.
2. In the Attributes panel, select the attribute to be edited.
The Attribute Details area of the attribute opens to the right. The Attribute Details area header shows
the label of the selected attribute.
3. Change the label in the Label field.
Label is a mandatory field and may not be empty.
4. Change the description in the Description field.
5. Click Save.
When you select another attribute in the Attributes panel or use the New Attribute menu while you are
editing an attribute and have not saved your changes yet, you are prompted to save your changes. Click
outside the message or press the Esc key to close the message.

Editing Dropdown, Priority and Status Values

The following section describes how to edit values that are available for attributes of type Dropdown,
Priority and Status. You have the following options:

275
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

l Create additional values

l Filter the value display
l Change the label of a value
l Delete a value
When opening an attribute of these attribute types, a loading wheel might be shown while data is being
loaded from the backend. If fetching data from the backend fails, an error message with a description and
a retry button appears.

Note the following restrictions:

l You can add a maximum of 20 values to a Priority or Status attribute.
There is no limitation for the amount of values in Dropdown attributes.
l You cannot create two values with the same label within a Dropdown, Priority and Status attribute.
To create additional Dropdown, Priority and Status values:

1. In the Attributes panel, select the attribute to be edited.

The Attribute Details area of the attribute opens to the right. The Attribute Details area header shows
the label of the selected attribute.
2. Click the + button.
A New Value entry is shown on top (Dropdown) or bottom (Priority, Status) of the values list; the
cursor is positioned in the field.

If you want to cancel adding a new value, just click outside the New Value field before adding a label.
The New Value entry will be removed.
3. Type the label of the value.
4. Do one of the following:
t Click outside the field.
t Click the + button.
t (Dropdown only) Move the mouse wheel up or down or use the value list scrollbar.
The new value is added to the list: alphabetically sorted for Dropdown, at the end of the value list for
Priority and Status. If the new value is sorted outside the visible area, the view does not scroll to the
new value.
If you clicked the + button, additionally a New Value entry is shown.
If a value with the same label already exists, the value is not created but a message opens. Click
outside the message and type a unique label. If you do not type a unique label and click outside the
field a second time, the original value is restored.
To filter the display of Dropdown, Priority and Status values:
t In the Attribute Details area, start typing text in the "Find a value" filter field.
While you type, a "contains" search is applied to the Label field. The list of values is filtered to include
only those values that match your search criteria.

276
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

If the app does not display any results after you filter the list of values, a message with a “Show all
values” link appears in the Attributes Details area to allow you to remove the filter and display all
values again.
t You can clear the filter by clicking the X to the right of the filter.
To change the label of Dropdown, Priority and Status values:

1. In the Attribute Details area, slowly click two times on a value.

The label field is set to edit mode, the cursor is positioned at the end of the current label.

2. Type the new label of the value.

3. Click outside the field.
– Dropdown: The renamed value is sorted alphabetically in the value list. If the renamed value is
sorted outside the visible area, the view does not scroll to the renamed value.
– Priority and Status: The position of the renamed value is not changed in the value list.
If a value with the same label already exists, a message opens. Click outside the message and type a
unique label.
If you delete the entire label text and click outside the field, the value is deleted.
To delete Dropdown, Priority and Status values:

1. In the Attribute Details area, hover the cursor over the value to be deleted.
A Trash icon is show.

2. Click the Trash icon.

A Delete Entry security prompt opens.
3. Click Delete Entry to finally delete the value.

n You cannot delete all values from the Priority or Status attribute. The last remaining value is
flagged as the default value and the Delete button is disabled when you hover the cursor over

277
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

the value. A pop-up message "Fields defined as default cannot be deleted" will be shown.

n You cannot delete Status and Priority values that are in use by items in the Collaborate app.
Editing Specific Priority and Status Options
The following section describes how to edit options that are only available for attributes of type Priority and
Status.
l Default value: For Priority and Status attributes, one value needs to be defined as the default value.
– For Priority, High Profile initially is defined as the default value.
– For Status, New initially is defined as the default value.
l Sorting: Priority and Status values are not sorted alphabetically. New values are added to the end of
the Values list, renaming the value label does not change the value's position in the list. This applies to
both the Collaborate Settings app and the Collaborate app.
If you sort the Collaborate Planer by either attribute, the Planner groups the assignments according
to their position in the list. For example a custom status of "Avid" would not necessarily follow the
Approved status, just because they follow each other alphabetically.
l Color: Priority and Status values are colored.
– Status values show only a small bar at the left side, new values are colored white.
– Priority values show a large color bar that covers the left half of the value, new values are
colored grey.

Priority: initial values Status: initial values

You can change these options, as described in the following procedures.

To define a new default value:

1. In the Attributes panel, select the Priority or Status attribute to be edited.

The Attribute Details area of the Priority or Status attribute opens to the right. The Attribute Details
area header shows the label of the selected attribute.

278
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

2. Hover the cursor over the value that you want to set as the new default.
An empty flag icon appears to the right of the name.

3. Click the flag icon to configure this value as the new default.
The default flag is shown for this value.

To reorder values:

1. In Attribute Details area, click the drag icon to the left of the value.

2. Drag it and drop it between other values or at the beginning or end of the values list. A blue line
indicates the dop target.

To change the color of a value:

1. In Attribute Details area, click slowly two times on the value to set the field in edit mode, then click on
the color bar.
A color palette appears. The assigned color is highlighted.

2. Click a color in the color palette.

The color palette is hidden. The new color is assigned to the value.

3. Click outside the value field to end edit mode.

Only for Priority, the color bar is enlarged.

279
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

Deleting an Attribute
The Collaborate Settings app allows you to delete custom attributes from the app — as long as the attribute
is not in use. If a Collaborate user has created a form at any point that uses the attribute that you want to
delete, the Collaborate Settings app does not allow the deletion. When you remove the attribute from the
form the attribute cannot be deleted if a value was already set for the attribute on a topic, assignment, or
task.

Predefined attributes supplied by Avid cannot be deleted. If you try to delete a predefined attribute, you will
receive a message that the attribute cannot be deleted because it is already in use.

To delete an attribute:

1. In the Attributes panel, hover the cursor over the attribute to be deleted.
A Trash icon is show.

2. Click the Trash icon.

A security prompt opens.

3. Do one of the following:

t Click the Delete Attribute button to permanently delete the attribute.
If the attribute is in use, the app displays a message to let you know that the attribute cannot
be deleted.
t Click the Cancel button or press the Esc key to exit the deletion process.

Using the Forms Builder

Whenever users create a new topic, assignment, or task through the Collaborate app, they are creating
that item through a templated user interface. Avid ships Collaborate with a default template or form for
each of these item types. However, administrators can use the Collaborate Settings app to build new forms
that can be customized to meet the needs of your individual organization.

For example, you might consider creating an Assignment form that is associated with a Newsroom
Management event that occurs on a daily basis — such as a weather report, or the local sports segment.
You could populate this form with fields and menus that are more targeted to that specific workflow.

Alternatively, you could create a very targeted Task form that provides instructions for the creation of a
lower-third graphic. If customized sufficiently, the process of creating and assigning this task might be as
simple as clicking Add Task, and Save.

280
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

Forms not only expedite the creation of topics, assignments, and tasks, but also create a consistent look for
all Collaborate item types. This consistency can be extremely useful for long-term organization and
searching of Collaborate data.

The following illustration shows an example form in which an administrator has created a customized layout
for the New Topic dialog screen.

The Forms Builder panel is divided into three areas:

l Forms and Attributes
– The Forms tab lists all forms that exist on this MediaCentral Cloud UX system. Forms can be of
type custom, or predefined. Predefined forms are provided by Avid and cannot be deleted or
altered. Custom forms are created by a system administrator. Forms that are associated with
a flag icon are used by default.
You can sort the list of forms by clicking the Name column header. The list can be sorted by
alphabetical (ascending), alphabetical (descending), or default sort (by order of creation).
– The Attributes tab lists all of the attributes that you can add to your custom forms. Attributes
are displayed with their name and associated icon (as defined in Collaborate
Settings > Attributes).
You might notice that some attributes are grayed-out, or disabled in this example illustration.
Whenever you add an attribute to a form, it becomes disabled for that specific form. This
prevents you from adding two instances of the same attribute to the same form.
l Layout
This area allows you to customize your forms by adding, deleting, or reorganizing the form's content.
l Properties
This area allows you to rename the attribute (as shown in the Collaborate app) or determine if the
attribute should be mandatory.
Refer to the following sections for more information on this topic:
l "Creating a New Form" on the next page
l "Editing an Existing Form" on page 284

281
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

l "Configuring Default Forms" on page 285

l "Duplicating a Form" on page 285
l "Deleting a Form" on page 286
For information on using the Topic, Assignment, and Task forms, see "Using the Collaborate App" in the Avid
MediaCentral | Cloud UX User's Guide.

Creating a New Form

Complete the following process to create a custom form for use in the Collaborate app. Avid does not limit
the number of forms that you can create on any one system.

During the form creation process, you will add multiple attributes to the layout. Each attribute includes a
property value that must be configured. You can choose to either add attributes one at a time, configuring
the properties for each as you add them, or you can add all of your attributes first and then configure the
properties as a second step. The following process details the former (one at a time) workflow.

Each form type comes with some basic predefined attributes. These attributes can be rearranged, and in
some cases removed from the form. The following table lists the attributes that appear automatically when
you create a new form.

Form Type Attributes*

Topic Title, Status, Priority

Assignment Title, Status, Priority, Due Date, Parent

Task Title, Status, Parent

* Bolded attributes cannot be removed from the form.

When creating a new form, note the following:

l Avid recommends that you create new Task forms only when you are ready to make them available
for use. After you click Save on a new task, the task is nearly immediately available for use in the
Collaborate app.
l New topic and assignment forms are only available for use after assigning them as the default form.
To create a new form:

1. Click the Collaborate Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select the Forms Builder
option from the app’s sidebar.
2. Click the New Form button in the Forms and Attributes panel on the right.
The app displays a context menu that allows you to select the form type (topic, assignment, or task).
3. Select an form type from the context menu.
The Layout area displays the name of the new form, as well as for Form Type.
4. Click the Form Name field and enter a custom name for this new form.
As you type, a character counter appears below the title field. Your title can contain up to 200
characters and there is no limitations regarding the use of spaces or special characters. The Form
Name is a required field and you cannot leave it blank.
Topic and Assignment form names appear only in the Collaborate Settings app, while task form
names appear in the Add Task menu of the Collaborate app.
5. Drag and drop items from the Attributes panel on the left to the Layout panel on the right.
You can do any of the following:

282
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

– Drag an attribute above or below an existing attribute.

– Drag an attribute to the left or right of an existing attribute to create columns of data.
The app limits you to a maximum of three columns.
– Drag an attribute over an existing attribute to replace it.
The following illustration shows the admin dragging and dropping the Due Date attribute to the form
(left). The illustration on the right shows the same form with two additional attributes added to the
right of the Due Date.

You can add each attribute to the form only once. For example, you cannot drag the Due Date to the
same form twice. After you add the attribute, it is disabled in the Attribute tab for this form only.
If you do not see your desired attribute, you can type the name of the attribute in the Find an
Attribute field to filter the list by your text. Alternatively, you can use the scroll bar to the right of the
list to review all attributes.
For information on attributes, see "Creating a Custom Attribute" on page 272.
6. Configure the Properties for each attribute in the far-right panel.
The Properties panel is divided into two sections: Form properties, and Attribute properties. Any
changes that you make to an attribute are specific to this form and are not saved with source
attribute.
a. Click an attribute in the Layout panel
The properties for that attribute are displayed to the right.
b. Add a Form Description.
This information appears in the Collaborate Settings app only. You might use this field to
provide some additional information about this form. This is an optional field and can be left
blank if desired.
c. Enter a different Display Label.
When you change the name of the label, the name of the attribute is changed in the middle
Layout panel. This same name is displayed in the Collaborate Settings app.
d. Enable (blue) or disable (gray) the Mandatory toggle.
Mandatory attributes must be completed before a Collaborate user can save their new topic,
attribute, or task. This toggle might not be available for all attribute types.
e. (if applicable) Assign Placeholder text to the attribute.
Placeholder text appears in the form when the value is blank. For example the Title attribute in
Avid's Predefined Topic includes "Topic Title" in this field. This text acts as a visual clue to the
Collaborate user to communicate the type of information that should be added to this field.
Placeholder text appears italicized in the form.

283
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

7. Add additional attributes to the Layout panel and configure the properties for each to further
configure your new form.
8. Do one of the following:
t Click Save to save the form.
t Click Cancel to abort your changes.
If you press Cancel, the form is cleared from the Layout area. Any updates to the form are
reverted.

Editing an Existing Form

You can edit forms that have not yet been used in the Collaborate app. After a user creates a topic,
assignment, or task using your custom form, the Forms Builder disables the Save button to prevent future
updates to the form.

Predefined forms supplied by Avid cannot be renamed or edited. Additionally, you cannot remove or replace
any predefined, mandatory attributes defined by Avid — such as the Title field.

To edit an existing form:

1. Click the Collaborate Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select the Forms Builder
option from the app’s sidebar.
2. Click an existing custom form from the Forms tab.
The app loads the form into the Layout area.
3. (optional) Update the form's title.
4. (optional) Update the form by adding, removing, or rearranging the attributes.
In the first illustration (left) the admin is repositioning the Start Date attribute so that it appears first
in the three columns of data. In this case the Start Date and Due Date attributes swap positions. In
the second illustration (right) the admin is moving the Start Date attribute above the Title field. In this
case the Collaborate Settings app displays the drop area for this action.

An attribute might appear with a red X and an error message if it fails to load, or if it is otherwise
unavailable.
5. Update the Properties for the associated attributes.
6. (optional) Hover over an attribute in the form and click the Trash icon to remove the attribute from the
form.
7. Do one of the following:

284
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

t Click Save to update the form.

t Click Cancel to abort your changes.
If you made changes to the form, the app displays a confirmation dialog that provides you
with an opportunity to save or abort your changes.

Configuring Default Forms

Each Topic, Assignment, and Task must be associated with a default. If you do not create any new forms,
the three predefined forms provided by Avid are used automatically as the defaults. In the following
illustration, the administrator has assigned the Social Media Topic as the default topic form.

If you create a custom form, assign it as the default, and later delete that custom form, Collaborate
automatically re-associates Avid's predefined form as the default.

To update the default:

1. Click the Collaborate Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select the Forms Builder
option from the app’s sidebar.
2. Hover your cursor over the right side of the form row.
An empty flag icon appears to the right of the name.

3. Click the flag icon to configure this form as the new default.
If the action fails for some reason, the flag icon is replaced with an error icon and the previous form
remains the active default. You can click the error icon to retry the action.

Duplicating a Form
As an alternative to building an entirely new form, the app allows you to duplicate an existing form to
expedite the creation process.

To duplicate a form:

1. Click the Collaborate Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select the Forms Builder
option from the app’s sidebar.
2. Select a form from the Forms and Attributes panel.

285
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

Alternatively, the Duplicate button appears immediately after you click Save on a new form.
3. Click the Duplicate button in the Layout area.
The form is duplicated and the Title is updated to indicate that it is a copy.
4. (optional) Update the title with a new name and edit the layout to customize the new form.
5. Do one of the following:
t Click Save to save the form.
t Click Cancel to abort your changes.
If you press Cancel, the form is cleared from the Layout area. The duplicate form is not created
and changes are not saved.

Deleting a Form
You can delete only forms that have not yet been used in the Collaborate app. After a user creates a topic,
assignment, or task using your custom form, the Forms Builder disables the Delete option. Predefined forms
supplied by Avid cannot be deleted.

To permanently delete a form:

1. Click the Collaborate Settings button in the Administrator Fast Bar and select the Forms Builder
option from the app’s sidebar.
2. Hover your cursor over the form name in the Forms and Attributes panel.
The app displays a delete button to the right of the default button.

3. Click the delete button.

The app displays a Delete Form context menu.
4. Click Delete Form.
5. Do one of the following:
t Click the Delete Form button again to permanently delete the form.
If the form is in use by any topic, assignment, or task, the app displays a message to let you
know that the form is in use.
t Click the Cancel button or press the Esc key to exit the deletion process.

Collaborate User Permissions

The Collaborate app allows you to configure two types of users: Collaborators and Supervisors.
l Collaborators
This is the standard role that is assigned to the majority of all Collaborate users. The following high-
level permissions apply to this user type:
– Create and edit topics, assignments, and tasks
– Delete tasks created by the individual collaborator (cannot delete other user’s tasks)
– Cannot delete topics or assignments
– No access to either the People or Resources areas of the app
l Supervisors

286
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

As a supervisor, you can participate in the same workflows that are available to collaborators.
However, this role allows you to access features and other areas of the app that are restricted to
collaborators. The following permissions apply to this user type:
– Create and edit topics, assignments, and tasks
– Delete topics, assignments, and tasks (created by any user)
– Create and modify items within the People and Resource areas
Before you can begin with work within the Collaborate app, you need to assign the Supervisor role to one or
more users to enable the creation of new topics and assignments.

Filtering the User Permissions Panel

The User Permissions panel displays all groups and users by default. However, the app allows you to filter
this display by group or by keyword. Alternatively, you can enter the name of a specific user in the Users
panel to quickly locate that account.

To filter the users by group:

t Click the name of one or more groups under the Imported Groups area.
When you select a group, the name of the group is highlighted and a numerical counter is added to
the Selected Groups button that indicates the number of selected groups. The Users panel on the
right is filtered to display only those users that are included in the selected groups.
t You can remove a group from the selected group list by either clicking the name of the group again,
or by clicking the X on the right-side of the Imported Groups button to deselect all groups.
To filter the groups by user:
t Click the name of a user in the Users area of the app.
The Imported Groups area highlights the group or groups that include the selected user.
To filter by keyword:
t Enter the name or a partial name into the filter area above the Users list.

The list of users is filtered to include only those user names that match your search criteria.

n If the app does not display any results after you filter the list of users by group and by keyword,
a “Search in All Groups” button appears in the Users panel to allow you to expand your search
beyond the selected group.
t You can clear the filter by clicking the X to the right of the filter.
Configuring User Permissions
Complete the following steps to assign the permissions for one or more users.

287
 12 Using the Collaborate Settings App

To configure user permissions:

1. (optional) Use the sort by group or keyword features to narrow the list of users.
2. Click the Collaborator or Supervisor button to the right of the user name to assign the permission
level.
If the user is already signed into MediaCentral Cloud UX, the permissions are applied as soon as the
user takes an action to refresh the app — such as signing out of MediaCentral Cloud UX and back in
again, refreshing your browser tab, or simply closing the Collaborate app within an active user
session.

288
 13 Using the Acquire App

13 Using the Acquire App

The Acquire app is a scheduler for Avid’s ingest servers (e.g., MediaCentral | Stream, Avid FastServe, and
Avid | Stream IO) that allows system administrators to adjust settings related to automated recordings thus
allowing users to easily schedule and monitor recordings.

The Acquire app is integrated with both Production Management and Asset Management systems.

Prior to configuring the Acquire app, you must review the process for "Configuring Acquire and Router
Control" on page 109, and license your system for Acquire.

Configuring Acquire System Settings

Before working with the Acquire app, you need to make sure that you have configured the channels,
scheduling options, and user permissions.

n Without the right Acquire user permissions in place, you will not be able to start recordings or view any
channels. For more information, see "Acquire User Permissions" on page 306.

This section contains information on the following Acquire System Settings:

l Channel Profiles - Enables you to configure channels, which includes, configuring channels, editing
channels or deleting channels. For more information, see "Channel Profiles" below.
l Scheduling Options - For more information, see "Scheduling Options" on page 294.
l Form Builder - For more information, see "Working with the Acquire Form Builder" on page 297.

Channel Profiles
The Acquire app can have access only to ingest channels which were previously registered in the system.
This prevents users from re-scheduling the recordings in case the ingest server goes temporarily offline.

A channel can be either of the following:

l A physical channel (e.g., FastServe Ingest has 4 or 8 channel systems, and Avid Stream IO)
l A virtual channel (e.g., MediaCentral Stream).
The "Channel Profiles" page contains all servers with channels that are connected to the current system.

A channel can have one of the following statuses:

l Configured (Online),
l Offline,
l Not configured (Not in use).
The following parameters of a channel (Ingest Server Template, PM Workspace for HiRes Media, PM
Workspace for Proxy Media, PM/ AM Asset folder and Spare channels), are used by the Acquire app for two
purposes:
l When starting the crash recording - in such case the user has no chance to edit any parameters
before recording starts and those parameters that are specified here, are used and cannot be
modified.
l As the initial values in the Recording Details | New window. In this case, the user may overwrite the
defaults before scheduling the recording. With regards to Spare Channels however, users may only

289
 13 Using the Acquire App

select less spare channels than are selected in Admin App (they cannot extend the list). The other
parameters, such as template, workspace for HiRes/Proxy Media, PM/AM Asset folder, can be
altered.
For more information on how to configure channels or delete existing channels, see the following topics:
l "Configuring Channels" below
l "Editing and Deleting Existing Channels" on page 294

n Only one administrator is expected to configure Acquire channel settings at a time. In the event of two
administrators working together, they will need to frequently refresh the page to see changes made by
the other administrator.

Configuring Channels
This topic contains information on how to configure a new channel or edit an existing channel that you want
to record into.

Before you start configuring new channels, please make sure that the connected ingest servers
(MediaCentral | Stream, Avid FastServe, or Avid | Stream IO) are ready to work with Acquire, which means:
l Servers are correctly connected to Cloud UX
l Servers are correctly connected to Avid NEXIS or other storage
l Ingest Templates are properly defined
l (optional) Live Preview is configured
Please pay special attention to following aspects of Ingest Templates:
l Media file (MXF) destination paths and file names are set correctly.
l The proxy creation is turned on/ off depending on your needs.
l The check-in section/ option in the template definition is turned OFF.
l The names of the templates reflects their characteristics.

n Acquire user cannot see the details of the template, just the name.
To configure a new channel:

1. Select the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Settings Fast Bar.
2. Click the Channels Profiles menu item.
The Channels Profiles dialog box opens.

290
 13 Using the Acquire App

3. To configure a channel, click the drop arrow next to the unconfigured channel name field.
The dialog box expands to display fields that are required to configure a channel, as shown in the
following examples:

Routing
Type: Static

291
 13 Using the Acquire App

Routing
Type: MC |
Stream

Routing
Type:
Router
Device

4. Select from the available options for your installation to configure a channel:
a. In the Channel Name field, enter a new, unique name for the channel. This field cannot be left
blank.
b. (Option) In the Routing Type field, select one of the following options:

292
 13 Using the Acquire App

– Static - Select this option if the signal is wired directly.

– Router Device - Select this option if this channel is connected to a video router device
(Not applicable for MediaCentral | Stream).
– MC | Stream - Select this option for SRT/RTMP or NDI channels connected to
MediaCentral | Stream or Avid Stream IO. (Not applicable for FastServe Ingest)
c. Depending on the selected Routing Type option, configure the following parameters:
i. When Static type is selected, enter the ingest server host name in the “Source name"
field.
ii. When MC | Stream or Router Device is used, define the list of Spare Channels for the
currently configured channel. If you do not want the channel to be available as a spare,
select None.

n When the "All Compatible" option is disabled, when a new compatible channel is
configured, it will not automatically be available in the Spare Channels list.

If there are compatible channels, they will appear in the drop-down menu for selection.
You can also use the filter option to narrow down the list of spare channels by entering
custom text, displaying only channels that match your filter.
iii. When Router Device type is selected, in the Router Name field, select the name of the
router device that you want to use for this channel.
In the Destination field, a list of crosspoints available on the selected device is displayed.
Select the destination that you want to use from the list. If the destination has an alias, it
is shown here, but the original name is displayed in brackets.
The destination can only be used once. It cannot be connected to more than one
channel, as it corresponds to the physical cable connection.
Only available destinations are showing in the dropdown list. If the selected router has
no available destinations you will see “Not Available” as a value of the dropdown. In this
case, please select another router to continue configuration of the channel.
d. In the Ingest Server Template field, select an ingest template from the list.
e. In the PM Asset Folder field, select the Production Management folder that you want to use for
this channel. By default, it shows the value that was specified in the “Scheduling Options” >
Default PM Folder.
f. In the AM Asset Folder field, select the Asset Management folder that you want to use for this
channel. By default, it shows the value that was specified in the “Scheduling Options” > Default
AM Folder (not applicable for FastServe).

n Even though the AM field is visible, it is disabled when Asset Management is not
connected to Cloud UX. If that is the case, the system will allow you to save a channel
without specifying an AM folder. However, if Asset Management is connected, then the AM
folder field cannot be left empty.

It is important to note that the selected Ingest Template determines if check-in will be done to
AM or PM. In the Admin App, you must specify both folders (AM and PM) because of two
reasons:
– The Acquire Admin app does not control which Ingest Template is selected as default (for
crash recording), so, the System Administrator must provide both.
– The user may freely overwrite the Ingest Template selection in the Recording Details
window, and then the system will need an initial value of the parameter which is taken
from here.

293
 13 Using the Acquire App

g. In the PM Workspace for HiRes Media field, select the Avid NEXIS workspace that indicates
where media will be stored for this channel.
h. (Option) In the PM Workspace for Proxy Media field, select the Avid NEXIS workspace that
indicates where low resolution media will be stored for this channel. This field can be left
empty.
i. In the Assign to Groups field, select the user groups which should have access to this particular
channel. The filter option allows you to enter a custom value to limit the Groups directory to
show only those groups that include your filter text.
5. Click the Save button to save your changes to an existing channel, or configure a new channel.
When you configure a new channel, it will change its status to “Configured”/”Online” in the Acquire
app.
6. Repeat these steps for any other channels you want to configure.
7. The Update Permissions Roles button is used to refresh Acquire channels user permissions after an
administrator applies any changes to user or group entitlement settings in the User Management
app.

n Occasionally, the Update Permission Roles button may not update the access rights as
required. In such cases, log out of the main MediaCentral Cloud UX application and log back it
to refresh the user permissions.

Editing and Deleting Existing Channels

This topic contains information on how to edit and delete existing channels.

n It is not possible to edit the Server name.

To edit an existing channel:
t To edit any details specific to one channel, expand the “Configured”/”Online” channel.
This opens the form for that channel where you can edit or view the current configuration.
To delete an existing channel:
t Click the Delete (Trashcan) icon to remove the channel configuration from Acquire.
c Please use this option with caution. Removing a channel results in removing all the recordings
scheduled on it. Please re-schedule recordings to another channel/server before removing the
channel.

n The channel can be added again after removing, but previous values of properties will be
forgotten, and the channel will have a new internal identifier. Once you remove a channel, if it
has scheduled recordings, they will fail if they do not edit them before execution.

n When a channel configuration is deleted, the channel will still appear in the Channel Profiles list
as unconfigured.

Scheduling Options
This topic contains information on how to configure or change various options for scheduled recordings,
crash recordings, and general scheduling options.

294
 13 Using the Acquire App

For more information, see the following topics:

l To set up or change default durations and pre-roll for all scheduled recordings, see "Configuring
Scheduled Recordings" below.
l To set up or change default durations for all crash recordings, see "Configuring Crash Recordings"
on the next page.
l To set up or change maximum recording time duration and when to delete past recordings, see
"Configuring General Settings" on the next page.
Configuring Scheduled Recordings
This topic provides information on how to set up or change default durations and pre-roll for all scheduled
recordings.

To configure scheduled recordings:

1. Select the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Settings Fast Bar.
2. Click the Scheduling Options menu item.
The Scheduling Options dialog box opens.
3. In the Scheduled recordings section, do the following:

295
 13 Using the Acquire App

a. In the Default duration (hh:mm:ss) field, enter a new value for the default duration of
scheduled recordings in hours, minutes, and seconds.
b. In the Pre-roll time (seconds) field, enter a new value for the pre-roll time for scheduled
recordings in seconds.
c. In the Default name field, set the default recording name for scheduled recordings. You can
use tokens by adding a "$" directly in the text field. For more information, see "Using Tokens
with Acquire" in the MediaCentral | Cloud UX User's Guide.

n This value will be used when the recording form does not have the "name" metadata
attribute.

4. Click Save to save your changes, or Cancel to clear all changes.

Configuring Crash Recordings
This topic provides information on how to set up or change default durations for all crash recordings.

To configure crash recordings:

1. Select the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Settings Fast Bar.
2. Click the Scheduling Options menu item.
The Scheduling Options dialog box opens.
3. In the Crash recordings section, do the following:
a. In the Default duration (hh:mm:ss) field, enter a new value for the default duration of crash
recordings in hours, minutes, and seconds.

n Note that the resulting material duration will be shorter for the amount of time your ingest
server takes to start a recording. Usually it might take 1 to 5 seconds in a properly
configured environment.

b. In the Default name field, set the default recording name for crash recordings. You can use
tokens by adding a "$" directly in the text field. For more information, see "Using Tokens with
Acquire" in the MediaCentral | Cloud UX User's Guide.
4. Click Save to save your changes.
Configuring General Settings
This topic provides information on how to set up or change maximum recording time and when to delete
past recordings.

To configure general settings:

1. Select the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Settings Fast Bar.
2. Click the Scheduling Options menu item.
The Scheduling Options dialog box opens.
3. In the General settings section, do the following:
a. In the Maximum recording duration (hh:mm:ss) field, enter the new value for maximum
recording duration for recordings in hours, minutes, and seconds.
b. In the Delete past recording after (days) field, enter a new value for the amount of time that
you want to pass (in days) before you delete past recordings.

296
 13 Using the Acquire App

c. The Free Disk Space Warning Threshold field is used to specify the amount of remaining disk
disk space for Acquire to monitor. If the free disk space goes below the specified threshold, the
Event Log will show a warning message. If this settings is set to 0, the free disk space is not
monitored.
d. The Free Disk Space Critical Threshold field is used to specify the amount of remaining disk
disk space for Acquire to monitor. If the free disk space goes below the specified threshold, the
Event Log will show an error message. If this settings is set to 0, the free disk space is not
monitored.
e. The Default AM Folder field is used to specify the default value for AM Asset Folder for all
channels on the “Channel Profiles” page. After installation of the Acquire Application the
default value is “1st available AM system name”.
f. The Default PM Folder field is used to specify the default value for AM Asset Folder for all
channels on the “Channel Profiles” page. After installation of the Acquire Application the
default value is “PM System Name/Incoming Media”.
g. The Delete recordings when deleting channel field is used to enable deleting channels
permanently from the “Channel Profiles” page. After installation of the Acquire Application the
default value is “false”.
h. The Generate PM recording thumbnails field, enable this filed if you need recording thumbnails
to be generated when you do check-in. Disable this parameter if you want to improve check-in
performance for recordings. After installation of the Acquire Application the default value is
“true”.
4. Click Save to save your changes.

Working with the Acquire Form Builder

MediaCentral Acquire Form Builder allows Cloud UX administrators to build custom metadata templates,
which will be used for Acquire recordings. Administrators can use the Acquire Settings app to build new
forms that can be customized to meet the needs of your individual organization.

MediaCentral | Cloud UX administrators prepare forms which are later used by MediaCentral | Acquire
users to enter metadata that should be attached to each ingested item.

Each item of metadata added to the form is exposed by an attribute that controls how the data can be
entered (for example, text entry, slider, drop down selection). That attribute may be mandatory for a user to
input, or optional, have a display label to aid readability, default text to display, etc.

Once a form has been created, it may be assigned to all groups, or to specific groups. There is also a
possibility to set a default form, which will be automatically available to all groups and it cannot be
changed.

The following illustration shows a customized form which an administrator has created for his organization:

297
 13 Using the Acquire App

The Acquire Form Builder is divided into three areas:

l Forms and Attributes
– The Forms tab lists all forms that exist on this MediaCentral Cloud UX system. Custom forms
are created by Cloud UX administrators. A form that is associated with a flag icon is available
for all user groups and it is automatically selected when scheduling new recordings.
– The Attributes tab lists available attributes that you can add to your custom forms. Attributes
are displayed with their name and associated icon. Whenever you add an attribute to a form,
it becomes disabled (grayed-out) for that specific form. This prevents you from adding two
instances of the same attribute to the same form. There are two predefined attributes: "name"
and "comments", which cannot be deleted. More attributes can be created in the process of
building forms.
– The Types tab allows to define new attributes. To add an attribute, drag it from the Types tab
into the form layout, and then define its characteristics in the Properties area. New attributes
are created and appear in the Attributes tab after saving the form.
l Layout
This area allows you to provide a name for the form and customize your form by adding, deleting, or
reorganizing the form's attributes.

n The form name cannot be changed after saving the form.

l Properties
This area allows you to define all properties and permissions of your form and its attributes.
Refer to the following sections for more information on this topic:
l "Creating a New Form" below
l "Editing an Existing Form" on page 300
l "Configuring Default Forms" on page 301
l "Duplicating a Form" on page 302
l "Deleting a Form" on page 302
l "Working with Acquire Attributes " on page 303

Creating a New Form

Complete the following process to create a custom form for use in the Acquire app. Avid does not limit the
number of forms that you can create on any one system.

298
 13 Using the Acquire App

During the form creation process, you will add multiple attributes to the layout. Each attribute includes
property values that can be configured. When adding an existing attribute, you can edit its properties but
you will not able to change the attribute's name.

n Changing the properties of an existing attribute will impact all forms which are using this attribute.
You can build forms using existing attributes, or create new attributes using the Types tab.

To create a new form:

1. Open the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Fast Bar and select Form Builder from the
app’s sidebar.
2. Open the Forms tab in the Forms and Attributes panel and click on the Add Form button on the right.
3. Click the Form Name field in the Layouts panel and enter a custom name for this new form.
The Form Name is a required field and you cannot leave it blank.

n Once you save a new form by clicking on the Save button in the Layouts panel, you will not be
able to rename it.

4. In the Properties panel:

– (optional) Provide a short description for the form.
– Enable (blue) or disable (gray) the "Is default" toggle. A default form is automatically selected
in the Recording Details window.
– If the form is not set as the default one, select which user groups should have assigned access
to it:

For more information on Acquire access rights, see "Acquire User Permissions" on page 306
5. Drag and drop items from the Attributes tab of the Forms and Attributes panel on the left to the
Layout panel in the middle.

You can drag an attribute above or below an existing attribute. After you add the attribute, it is
disabled in the Attribute tab for this form only. If you do not see your desired attribute, you can type
the name of the attribute in the Find an Attribute field to filter the list by your text. Alternatively, you
can use the scroll bar to the right of the list to review all attributes.

299
 13 Using the Acquire App

6. (optional) If the desired attribute does not exist yet, create a new attribute using the Types tab of the
Forms and Attributes panel. Open the Types tab and drag the applicable attribute type to the form
layout.
7. Configure the Properties for the form and each attribute in the far-right panel.
The Properties panel is divided into two sections: Form properties, and Attribute properties.

n Any changes applied to the properties of an attribute are global and update all forms which are
using this attribute.

a. Click an attribute in the Layout panel.

The properties for that attribute are displayed to the right.
b. When using the Types panel (as described in the previous step), provide a name for the new
attribute. When using an existing attribute, you cannot change the name.
Provide a display label that will appear in the Recording window.
c. (optional) Provide a short description of the attribute. This information will not be shown to the
user and it is only available to the Cloud UX administrators.
d. Enable (blue) or disable (gray) the Mandatory toggle.
Mandatory attributes must be completed before an Acquire user can save their new recording.
e. Enable (blue) or disable (gray) the Read-only toggle.
The value of read-only attributes cannot be changed by the user. The administrator can
specify a predefined value for the attribute, as described in step "f".
f. (optional) Enter a predefined value for the attribute. The type of the attribute determines what
type of value can be selected.
g. (if applicable) Assign Placeholder text to the attribute.
Placeholder text appears in the form when the value is blank. This text acts as a visual clue to
the Acquire user to communicate the type of information that should be added to this field.
Placeholder text appears italicized in the form.
h. (optional) Provide text for the tooltip window.
The tooltip is briefly shown when the user hovers over the attribute name and it can also
provide additional clues to the user. It is especially useful when an attribute does not allow for
Placeholder text.
i. Each attribute type can have additional properties. For more information, see "Working with
Acquire Attributes " on page 303.
8. Do one of the following:
– Click Save to save the form.
– Click Cancel to abort your changes.
If you press Cancel, the form is cleared from the Layout area. Any updates to the form are reverted.

Editing an Existing Form

You can add or remove attributes in existing Acquire forms. However, it is not possible to rename an existing
form or attribute. If the form has already been used in the Acquire app, any changes applied to it will be
recognized the next time this form is used to schedule a new recording, or edit an existing one.

300
 13 Using the Acquire App

To edit an existing form:

1. Open the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Fast Bar and select Form Builder from the
app’s sidebar.
2. Click an existing form from the Forms tab.
The app loads the form into the Layout area.
3. Update the form by adding, removing, or rearranging the attributes in the Layouts panel.
In the first illustration (left) the administrator is adding a new "comments" attribute to the form open
in the Layouts panel between the "name" and "description" attributes. In the second illustration
(right), the "name" attribute is repositioned so that it appears first in the three rows of data.

4. (optional) Make any required changes to the Properties of the attributes.

5. (optional) Hover over an attribute in the Layout panel and click the Trash icon to remove the attribute
that is no longer needed from the form.
6. Do one of the following:
– Click Save to save the form.
– Click Cancel to abort your changes.
If you made changes to the form, and you are trying to switch to another form, the app displays a
confirmation dialog that provides you with an opportunity to save or abort your changes.

Configuring Default Forms

Each recording can be associated with a form. If you create a custom form, you can assign it as a default.
Acquire allows only one default form at the time. It will automatically be accessible to all user groups. It is
also possible to disable the default form completely. When no default form is present in the system, you will
need to select a form from the Recording Form drop-down box each time you schedule a new recording.

To update the default form:

1. Open the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Fast Bar and select Form Builder from the
app’s sidebar.
2. Click an existing form from the Forms tab.
The app loads the form into the Layout and Properties areas.
3. In the Properties panel, enable (blue) the Is Default button.

301
 13 Using the Acquire App

When a form is set as default, it will automatically be available for all MediaCentral | Acquire user
groups. Since there can only be one default form in the system, the previous default form will be
automatically disabled.

Duplicating a Form
As an alternative to building an entirely new form, the app allows you to duplicate an existing form to
expedite the creation process.

To duplicate a form:

1. Open the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Fast Bar and select Form Builder from the
app’s sidebar.
2. Select a form from the Forms tab in the Forms and Attributes panel.
Alternatively, the Duplicate button becomes available after you click Save on a new form.
3. Click the Duplicate button in the Layout panel.
The form is duplicated and the form name is updated to indicate that it is a copy.
4. (optional) Update the Form Name and edit the layout to customize the new form. For more
information, see "Editing an Existing Form" on page 300.
5. Do one of the following:
– Click Save to save the form.
– Click Cancel to abort your changes.
If you press Cancel, the form is cleared from the Layout area. The duplicate form is not created and
changes are not saved.

n Once you save the form by clicking on the Save button in the Layouts panel, you will not be able
to rename it.

Deleting a Form
This section describes how to delete a MediaCentral | Acquire recording form.

To delete a form:

1. Open the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Fast Bar and select Form Builder from the
app’s sidebar.
2. Hover your cursor over the form name in the Forms tab of the Forms and Attributes panel. The app
displays a delete button in the right corner.

302
 13 Using the Acquire App

3. Click the delete button to permanently delete the form, or click the Cancel button to exit the deletion
process.

n Any existing recordings using this form will not be impacted, unless they are manually edited
later.

Working with Acquire Attributes

The Attributes tab of the Forms and Attributes panel displays all preexisting attributes by default. New
attributes created using the Types tab appear here.

You can filter the displayed items using keyword(s).

You can clear the filter by clicking the X to the right of the filter.

There are two predefined system attributes: "name" and "comments", which cannot be deleted. These
attributes are statically mapped to MediaCentral | Production Management and MediaCentral | Asset
Management metadata attributes, and these mappings cannot be changed. For more information about
metadata mapping management, see "Acquire Metadata Mapping" on page 306.

Editing Existing Attributes

You can edit the properties of existing attributes. However, it is not possible to rename an existing attribute.
If the attribute has already been used in a form in the Acquire app, any changes applied to it will be
recognized the next time the form containing the attribute is used to schedule a new recording.

To edit an existing attribute:

1. Open the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Fast Bar and select Form Builder from the
app’s sidebar.
2. (optional) Clicking on an attribute in the Attributes tab allows to preview the options and values set in
the Properties panel.
3. Open a form containing the attribute to be edited. In the Layouts panel, click on the attribute to load
its properties in the Properties panel to the right.
4. Make any required changes to the Properties of the attribute.
When editing a Property of an attribute, a warning message appears informing you that this change
will affect all forms using this attribute.

303
 13 Using the Acquire App

5. Do one of the following:

– Click Save to save the changes.
– Click Cancel to abort your changes.
Deleting Attributes
This section describes how to delete a MediaCentral | Acquire attribute.

To delete an attribute:

1. Open the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Fast Bar and select Form Builder from the
app’s sidebar.
2. Open the Attributes tab in the Forms and Attributes panel.
3. Hover over the attribute to be deleted and press the Trash button.

When deleting an attribute, a warning message appears informing you that this change will affect all
forms using this attribute.
4. Click the delete button to permanently delete the attribute, or click the Cancel button to exit the
deletion process.

n The attribute is automatically removed from all forms. Any existing recordings using this
attribute will not be impacted, unless they are manually edited later.

Creating New Attributes

The Acquire Types tab of the Forms and Attributes panel displays all attribute types supported by Acquire.

To create a new attribute:

1. Open the Acquire Settings app from the Administrator Fast Bar and select Form Builder from the
app’s sidebar. Open an existing one or create a new form.
2. Open the Types tab in the Forms and Attributes panel.

304
 13 Using the Acquire App

3. Drag the desired type and drop into the Layout panel to create a new attribute.
4. (optional) Update the Properties for this new attribute.
The Name and Display Label fields are required fields and you cannot leave them blank.

n Once you save your changes by clicking the Save button in the Layouts panel, you will no
longer be able to rename this attribute.

a. (optional) Provide a short description of the attribute. This information will not be shown to the
user and it is only available to the Cloud UX administrators.
b. Enable (blue) or disable (gray) the Mandatory toggle.
Mandatory attributes must be completed before an Acquire user can save their new recording.
c. Enable (blue) or disable (gray) the Read-only toggle.
The value of read-only attributes cannot be changed by the user. The administrator can
specify a predefined value for the attribute, as described in step "f".
d. (optional) Enter a predefined value for the attribute. The type of the attribute determines what
type of value can be selected.
e. (if applicable) Assign Placeholder text to the attribute.
Placeholder text appears in the form when the value is blank. This text acts as a visual clue to
the Acquire user to communicate the type of information that should be added to this field.
Placeholder text appears italicized in the form.
f. (optional) Provide text for the tooltip window.
The tooltip is briefly shown when the user hovers over the attribute name and it can also
provide additional clues to the user. It is especially useful when an attribute does not allow for
Placeholder text.
g. Each attribute type can have additional properties.
You can create attributes of the following types:

Attribute Type Description

text Allows users to enter a single or multi-line (after enabling the "Multiline"
toggle switch) of text.
Additional property: Multiline.

slider Allows to add a boolean value toggle switch. ("on" - blue, or "off" -
gray).

combo Allows users to add a drop-down list attribute.

Additional property: Items.

n You can create new items by entering text strings, ending with a
semicolon. Each item can have 255 characters maximum, and 10
lines are allowed for the entire attribute.

integer Allows to specify a number value. You can set a predefined Minimum
and Maximum value.
Additional properties: Minimum and Maximum.

float Allows to specify a floating point value. You can set a predefined
Minimum and Maximum value.

305
 13 Using the Acquire App

Attribute Type Description

Additional properties: Minimum and Maximum.

datetime Allows users to add a date and time. Select a date and time from a
Date picker tool.

n The value of the datetime attribute depends on the user's

timezone settings configured in MediaCentral Cloud UX.

5. Do one of the following:

– Click Save to save the changes.
– Click Cancel to abort your changes.

Acquire Metadata Mapping

Attributes used in Acquire forms need to be mapped to target system attributes using the MediaCentral
Cloud UX Metadata Mapping Management app. The MediaCentral Acquire attributes are listed in the
Acquire section of this app. For more information on working with the Metadata Mapping Management app,
see the Avid MediaCentral Panel for 3rd Party Creative Tools Installation and User’s Guide.

Acquire supports the following attribute types, which can be mapped to the following target types:

Acquire Attribute Type Destination Attribute Type

text string, int, float, date, time, datetime, boolean, timecode, duration

combo string, int, float, date, time, datetime, boolean, timecode, duration, list, thesaurus

slider boolean, string

integer int, float, string

float float, string

datetime datetime, date, time, string

n Acquire will try to convert data entered between the types, but will log an error message if conversion
is not possible.

n Acquire will log a warning message for each non mapped attribute in the used recording form
Acquire User Permissions
The Acquire app allows you to configure three levels of user access: viewer, editor and administrator. These
access rights determine what actions each user can perform, and which recordings they can interact with
in MediaCentral | Acquire when they are logged in.
l Viewer
This is the basic set of access rights that is assigned to all of Acquire users. The following permissions
apply to this type of user:
– Log into the MediaCentral | Acquire application
– View all recordings on their assigned channel(s)

n Acquire viewers cannot schedule new recordings, start crash recordings or edit any recordings.

306
 13 Using the Acquire App

– View the contents of the Info Panel tabs and filter logs in the Event log tab.
l Editor
As an editor, you can view all recordings on your assigned channels. In addition to what a viewer can
do in Acquire, your role also allows you to start, schedule and delete recordings on the assigned
channels. You can also edit, stop and delete your own recordings. The following permissions apply to
this user type:
– Log into the MediaCentral | Acquire application
– View all recordings on their assigned channel(s)
– Start and schedule new recordings on their assigned channel(s)
– Edit, stop and delete their own existing recordings
– View the contents of the Info Panel tabs and filter logs in the Event log tab.
l Administrator
As an administrator, the following permissions apply:
– Log into the MediaCentral | Acquire application
– View all recordings on their assigned channel(s)
– Start and schedule new recordings on their assigned channel(s)
– Edit, stop and delete all recordings on their assigned channel(s)
– View the recording creator's and last editor's name in the Recording Info panel, and in the
recording's tooltip
Users can access channels only through assigned groups. To grant access, a group must be linked to the
channel.

If a user belongs to multiple groups with varying permission levels, the highest permission level will be
applied. Additionally, when a user is part of multiple groups with different channel assignments, they will
have access to all channels assigned to the groups they belong to.

Channels without an assigned group will not be visible to any users.

307
 13 Using the Acquire App

Assigning User Permissions

The Acquire app allows you to configure three levels of user access: viewer, editor and administrator. This
topic describes how to assign these permission to Acquire user groups.

To assign permissions to Acquire users:

1. Open the User Management app from the Administrator Fast Bar.
2. Select a group from the Groups panel.
3. Navigate to the Entitlements section in the Properties panel on the right side.
– For an Acquire viewer, select the "MediaCentral | Acquire" entitlement.
– For an Acquire editor, select the "MediaCentral | Acquire Write" and "MediaCentral | Acquire"
entitlements.
– For an Acquire administrator, select the "MediaCentral | Acquire Admin" and "MediaCentral |
Acquire" entitlements.

n If a group has more than one entitlement assigned, the highest permissions apply.
c The "MediaCentral | Acquire" entitlement is required for all user groups to access the
Acquire app in MediaCentral Cloud UX.
For more information on working with the User Management app, see "Using the User Management
App" on page 187.

To learn how to assign user access to Acquire channels, see "Channel Profiles" on page 289.

To learn how to assign user access to Acquire forms, see "Working with the Acquire Form Builder" on
page 297.

c After applying any changes in the user group settings in the User Management tab, refresh the
channel entitlements by pressing the Update Permission Roles button in the Channel Profiles section
of the Acquire Settings app.

n Occasionally, the Update Permission Roles button may not update the access rights as required. In
such cases, log out of the main MediaCentral Cloud UX application and log back it to refresh the user
permissions.

308
 14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control

14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control

The Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control is designed to control broadcast routers by using their
native controllers or third-party controllers, along with using the router’s native control protocol or third
party protocol, which is compatible with the router. It allows Avid broadcast customers to schedule and
control ingest of media.

The Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control provides the means for Avid broadcast news products to
change source to destination crosspoints of a router. Sources (which might be combination video, audio, or
timecode) are routed to each of the destinations associated with the devices configured within broadcast
news products. The Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control is configured to present all relevant
crosspoints (sources, destinations and levels) to the broadcast client via the API. These crosspoints are
typically only a subset of all sources and destinations on the router.

Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control consists of the following main components:
l Avid Router Engine Service
l Router Settings Application

Avid Router Engine Service

The Avid Route Engine service processes route requests from broadcast news products and pass them on to
the router's system controller using the appropriate protocol implementation for that particular router type.
Each such service can be simultaneously connected and manage only one router.

The number of the Avid Route Engine Service instances is not limited and is set in the initial system
configuration.

For more information, see the topic "Configuring Acquire and Router Control" on page 109, and license your
system for Acquire.

Router Settings Application

The Router Settings application gives the user the ability to change the settings for each instance of the
Avid Route Engine service registered in the system.

Prior to configuring the Avid Route Engine service, review the topic "Configuring Acquire and Router
Control" on page 109, and license your system for Acquire.

Configuring Router Engine Service Settings

Before working with the Router Settings app, you need to make sure you have configured your router device
settings.

This topic contains information on how to configure any Route Engine service instance that has been
registered in the system, and to configure any connections or crosspoints. For more information, see the
following topics:
l "Selecting a Route Engine Service Instance" on the next page
l "Protocol Types" on page 311
l "Configuring Common Settings" on page 311
l "Configuring Emulator Protocol" on page 312

309
 14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control

l "Configuring Blackmagic Protocol" on page 313

l "Configuring Crosspoints" on page 314
l "Configuring ProBel SWP08 Protocol" on page 313

Selecting a Route Engine Service Instance

The Router Settings app can access only those Route Engine services which were registered in the system.

To select a router:

1. Select the Router Settings app from the Administrator Settings Fast Bar.
The Router Settings dialog box opens:

2. Click to select a router (Route Engine service instance) for which you want to view or edit connection
and / or crosspoint information.
The Router device you select displays current settings on the right side of the screen.

310
 14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control

If this is the initial configuration, then you must select the protocol type and default values for the
specific protocol type to be loaded. Otherwise, the settings saved in the database will be loaded.
3. Configure the device settings and click Apply.
The app might display different settings based on your selected protocol.

Protocol Types
There are many different types of Router controllers and each one communicates with clients using a
specific type of protocol. The protocol a router controller uses is set by the manufacturer and used by a
controller to determine the appropriate path over which media and associated metadata is transmitted.
Protocols sometimes provide an additional “Protocol Configuration” section, which is displayed in the
Router Control Settings application. This section contains any configuration settings that are specific or
unique to the particular protocol type.

Currently supported protocol types:

l Blackmagic
l Emulator
l Evertz Magnum
l Evertz Quartz
l ProBel SWP08

n The Router Settings app might display additional protocols that are not listed here. These protocols
are not supported in this release of MediaCentral Cloud UX.

Configuring Common Settings

This topic contains information on how to configure device settings.

311
 14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control

To configure any device:

1. In the Name field, type a new name or change the name of the router. By default, this is the realm
name from the deployment configuration.
2. Select or change the type of protocol used for the router. In the Protocol Type field, select the one
you want to use with this router.
3. (Option) In the Crosspoint Prefix field, type a prefix for this router.
4. Select one how this router will be connected:
– Ethernet - complete the following fields:
– In the IP Address field, type an IP address or hostname for this router.
– In the Port field, type the port for this router.
5. (Option) If you want Park on route failed to be active, move the Park on Route Failed slider to the
right. The option is always present, and you can turn it on.

n Parking on route failed is used to specify a source that is routed to a particular destination when
problems occur with routing.

6. (Option) If you want Protecting to be active, move the Protecting slider to the right.

n Some editing software clients allow users to change the status of crosspoints. When enabled,
protecting prevents changing the crosspoints status. Not all protocols or router system
controllers support protection.

n If protecting is not supported, the option will be disabled.

7. Click Apply to save your changes.
8. In the event that changes in the router settings were not applied to the “Router Engine service” by
clicking Apply, and you switch to a different router, the Apply Changes window opens with the
description: “Your changes are not yet applied to the router. Do you want to apply your changes?".

– Cancel: If you click Cancel, no changes will be applied and you will be able to switch to a
different router without saving the latest changes.
– Apply: If you click Apply, all changes will be applied prior to switching to a different router.

Configuring Emulator Protocol

This topic contains information on how to configure emulator device-specific settings.

n This procedure applies only to specific settings unique to this type that are located in the Protocol
Configuration section.

312
 14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control

To configure Emulator protocol:

1. In the Protocol Configuration section, do the following:

a. In the Controller latency range field, type the range for the controller latency.
b. In the Destination status change interval field, type a value indicating the interval for the
destination status change (sec).
c. In the Failure interval field, type a value indicating the interval for failures (sec).

Configuring Blackmagic Protocol

There are no specific options for this protocol.

Configuring Evertz Quartz Protocol

This topic contains information on how to configure Evertz Quartz device-specific settings in the Protocol
Configuration section.

To configure Evertz Quartz protocol:

1. (Required) In the Source range field, type the range required for the source.
Example: 1-7 or 1-4, 5-9.
2. (Required) In the Destination range field, type the range required for the destination.
Example:1-7 or 1-4, 5-9.
3. (Required) In the Levels range field, type the required range for the levels.
Example: 1-7 or 1-4, 5-9.
4. Switch the Disable level check option on or off.
5. Switch the Disable lock command option on or off.
6. Click Apply to save your changes.

Configuring Evertz Magnum Protocol

This topic contains information on how to configure Evertz Magnum device-specific settings in the Protocol
Configuration section.

To configure Evertz Magnum protocol:

1. (Required) In the Source range field, type the range required for the source.
Example: 1-7 or 1-4, 5-9.
2. (Required) In the Destination range field, type the range required for the destination.
Example: 1-7 or 1-4, 5-9.
3. (Required) In the Levels range field, type the required range for the levels.
Example: 1-7 or 1-4, 5-9.
4. Switch the Disable level check option on or off.
5. Switch the Disable lock command option on or off.
6. Click Apply to save your changes.

Configuring ProBel SWP08 Protocol

This topic contains information on how to configure ProBel SWP08 device-specific settings in the Protocol
Configuration section.

313
 14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control

To configure the ProBel SWP08 protocol:

1. (Required) In the Device number field, use the arrows to select a number.
Example: 1 or 2 or 3.
2. (Required) In the Matrices field, use the drop-down menu to select the required number.
Example: 0 or 1 or 2.
3. (Required) In the Name Length field, use the drop-down menu to select the required number.
Example: 4 or 8 or 12.
4. Switch the Master Protocol Supported option on or off.
5. Switch the All Sources Associated Names Supported option on or off.
6. Switch the TieLine Commands Supported option on or off.
7. Switch the VSM Compatible option on or off.
8. Switch the Extended Commands option on or off.
9. Click Apply to save your changes.

Configuring Crosspoints
Crosspoints are the source and destination route paths known to a router. These crosspoints are typically
only a subset of all the possible sources and destinations on the router. This topic contains information on
how to configure crosspoints.

n The first time you select the Crosspoints tab, the Sources, and Destinations, and Levels lists do not
contain any information.

314
 14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control

There are two methods to import crosspoints to the service configuration:

l Import crosspoints from a router - see "Importing Crosspoints from a Router" below
l Import crosspoints from a file - see "Importing Crosspoints from a File" below
You can also export crosspoints to a file. For more information, see "Exporting Crosspoints to a File" on the
next page.

In addition, you can also edit crosspoints. For more information, see "Changing the Configuration" on the
next page.

Importing Crosspoints from a Router

The Router Settings app enables you to import crosspoint information from the router. The option will load
the available crosspoints from the router, and it can be used to synchronize the crosspoint settings of the
service and device. Synchronization does not occur automatically. If you change the device settings, you
must manually synchronize the crosspoints settings. This is required for initial configuration.

To import crosspoints from a router:

1. Click the Edit Crosspoints button in the top right hand corner of the screen.
The selected device appears showing a grid with the sources, destinations, and levels.

n If crosspoints have not been created for this router yet, these fields will be blank.
2. Click the Menu icon.
The Import /Export Crosspoints menu opens.

3. Select the Import crosspoints from router option.

Importing Crosspoints from a File
The Router Settings app enables you to import crosspoint information from a file. This option will open a
browse dialog to allow you to select a config file. This does not guarantee that the device settings will
match, so further synchronization with the device is necessary.

n The Router Settings app only accepts formats that it has exported.
To import crosspoints from a file:

1. Click the Edit Crosspoints button in the top right hand corner of the screen.
The selected device appears showing a grid with the sources and destinations.

n If crosspoints have not been created for this router yet, these fields will be blank.
2. Click the Menu icon. The Import /Export Crosspoints menu opens.
3. Select the Import crosspoints from file option.

315
 14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control

Exporting Crosspoints to a File

The Router Settings app enables you to export crosspoint information to a file. This option enables you to
export the currently displayed configuration to a file, and exports the entire table, including all sources,
destinations and levels (if available on this router).

n The Router Settings app stores the information about which sources, destinations and levels are
selected, name aliases, selected parking source, and selected levels for each destination.

To export crosspoints to a file:

1. Click the Edit Crosspoints button in the top right hand corner of the screen.
The selected device appears showing a grid with the sources and destinations.
2. Click the Menu icon.
The Import /Export Crosspoints menu opens.

3. Select the Export crosspoints to a file option.

The crosspoints will be downloaded as a .json file on your system.
Changing the Configuration
The Router Settings app enables you to select desired crosspoints and edit crosspoint information, including
aliases for any Source, Destination, or Level, and parking source and levels for any Destination.

It is important to note that the names of your sources, destinations, and levels are taken from the router and
can only be changed in the device configuration.

To edit crosspoints:

1. Click the Edit Crosspoints button in the top right hand corner of the screen.
The selected device appears showing a grid with the sources and destinations.

n If crosspoints have not been imported for this router yet, these fields will be blank.
2. In the Sources section, you can select desired sources, and add an alias. Do the following:
The Import /Export Crosspoints menu opens.
a. Select a Source by clicking the corresponding Index check box.
b. In the Alias field for any source, you can assign a more meaningful alias name to each source
by clicking in the blank space in the Alias column that corresponds to a source to which you
want to add an alias name and typing the name in the space provided.
c. Repeat this step for all sources you want to add or edit.
d. Click the check mark in the upper right corner to close the crosspoints dialog at any time.
e. Click Apply to save your changes.

316
 14 Using Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Router Control

3. In the Destinations section, you can select desired destinations, and add an alias, a parking source,
and levels. Do the following:.
a. Select a Destination by clicking the corresponding Index check box.
b. In the Alias field for any destination, you can assign a more meaningful alias name to each
destination by clicking in the blank space in the Alias column that corresponds to a destination
to which you want to add an alias name, and typing the name in the space provided.
c. In the Parking Source field for any destination, you can assign a parking source by selecting a
Parking source from the drop-down list.

n Parking is used to specify a source that is routed to a particular Router Connector

destination at the completion of a recording. There might be no parking sources available
if no sources are selected.

d. To select Levels for each Destination, you must select the Destination in the list, and in the
levels section, select the Levels that this Destination will use.

n You will see a warning sign after the name if no level is selected for the Destination. Not all
devices support levels. In this case, the levels section will be blank.

Repeat this step for all destinations you want to add or edit.
e. Click the check mark in the upper right corner to close the crosspoints dialog at any time.
f. Click Apply to save your changes.
4. In the Levels section, for each Level, you can add an alias. Do the following:
a. In the Alias field for any level, you can assign a more meaningful alias name to each level by
clicking in the blank space in the Alias column that corresponds to a level to which you want to
add an alias name, and typing the name in the space provided. Repeat this step for all levels
you want to edit.
b. Click the check mark in the upper right corner to close the crosspoints dialog at any time.
c. Click Apply to save your changes.

317
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

15 Using the Rules Editor App

The Rules Editor app allows system administrators to define rules that trigger actions on available events ​in
MediaCentral Cloud UX. A rule defines a situation in which an action gets triggered. It combines a trigger
(event), multiple conditions (filters) for an entity and one or more actions. Using the Rules Editor app, an
administrator can create, edit, enable/disable, duplicate, copy, move, export, import and delete rules.

The Rules Editor saves rules to and retrieves saved rules from the Rules Engine. The Rules Engine service
evaluates the rules and in case a rule matches it invokes the action in the corresponding Action Engine,
which will orchestrate the action.

n In this release, a maximum of 500 rules is supported.

Sample Use Cases

Consider the following sample uses cases that you can accomplish with rules defined in Rules Editor.
l Production Management/Asset Management
– Notify certain user groups about a new assets (all assets or based on conditions)
– Add new assets (with certain conditions) to certain folder(s)
– Trigger the transcript creation for new Production Management master clips
– Concatenate metadata for data consistency
– Let a customized Asset Management process be triggered by the update of a certain attribute
Required Feature Packs

The Rules Engine and most Action Engines are installed as core features of the MediaCentral Cloud UX
setup. Only a few optional Action Engines are installed with the MediaCentral Cloud UX Feature Packs ISO
(mediacentral_feature_packs_<version>.iso).

During the installation of the Feature Packs ISO, confirm the installation of the following optional feature
packs if needed:
l ae-pm-stp (required if you want to create Send to Playback actions in rules for Production
Management)
l ae-am-orchestration (only required if you want to create AM Orchestration actions)
See also "Running the Feature Pack Deployment Script" on page 127.

There is no separate feature pack for the Rules Engine and Rules Editor App deployment:
l The Rules Engine is deployed with any Action Engine feature pack; when deploying another Action
Engine, the Rules Engine is updated.
l The Rules Editor app is a core administration app and deployed with the MediaCentral Cloud UX core
app.
Prerequisites

Before you start creating rules in Rules Editor, check the following prerequisites for certain rule and action
types:

Rule/Action Type Prerequisite

Rules for If you want to use rules for Production Management or for Asset Management modules,
Production change events for Production Management/Asset Management assets need to be created.

318
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Rule/Action Type Prerequisite

Management For this, the Change Event Agent must be deployed in the MediaCentral Cloud UX setup.
See "Configuring the Change Event Agent" on page 106.
Rules for Asset
Management When an asset is created or updated on a source module, its respective sync agent sends
information to a Kafka queue on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server. The Change Event
Agent reads from these queues and alerts upstream systems (such as the Rules Engine)
about those changes. By default, the Change Event Agent operates in “phonetic only
enabled" mode. The Change Event Agent will provide Create events for all assets where the
source systems are requesting a phonetic indexing.

Therefore, phonetic indexing must be enabled in Production Management/Asset

Management.
Action Send to If you want to use Actions of type Send to Playback, Send to Playback profiles must have
Playback been created for your Production Management system in the Workflow Settings app, Send
to Playback section. For more information, see "Defining a Send to Playback Action" on
page 378.
Action Send to If you want to use Actions of type Send to Playback (Collaborate) or Collaborate
Playback and Notifications, the Action Engine Collaborate service account must be assigned to valid
Collaborate Collaborate user. Make sure that the following applies:
Notifications

t The service Action Engine Collaborate has a user assigned that is a Collaborate user.
You can check this in the Collaborate Settings app, User Permissions section.
t If Action Engine Collaborate shows "unassigned" as User Name, the default service
user account is implicitly assigned. Make sure that the default service user is a
Collaborate user.
For more information, see "Managing Service Accounts" on page 215.
Action AM If you want to use Actions of type AM Orchestration, an administrator first must create
Orchestration action specifications – specific Action templates for processes – in Asset Management
Datamodel Administrator. For more information, see "Action Specifications" on page 377
and "Defining an AM Orchestration Action" on page 383
(Preview) Action If you want to use Actions of type Media Analytics the following are required:
Media Analytics
l Media Analytics Engine (feature pack: mediaanalytics-engine)
l Media Analytics Gateway (feature pack: mediaanalytics-gateway)
l an Analytics Provider. In this release, Avid Ada is the only supported analytics
provider (feature pack: Avid Ada (ml). Requires also the Speech To Text (stt) feature
pack.
For more information, see "(Preview) Avid Ada Transcribe" on page 28.

319
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Rules Processing: Included Back-End Components and Workflow

The Rules Engine is able to receive entity change events from various systems like Collaborate. When an
event arrives the Rules Engine determines the rules with a matching trigger. A trigger is a first filter step in
the Rules Engine defining the kind of change (such as created, updated, deleted).

For each found rule the Rules Engine calculates the rule condition. A condition consists of a set of
comparison operators acting on the triggering entity. For better efficiency, primarily data from the change
event gets used. When a condition includes entity properties not contained in the event the Rules Engine
retrieves it from the underlying system.

A matching condition indicates a rule match. In this case, the Rules Engine triggers the execution of actions
configured in the rule by queuing action commands. For this purpose, the Rules Engine reads the related
Action Configuration, resolves expressions and sends a corresponding Action Message to the responsible
Action Engine. The Action Engine executes the action, for example by creating a Send to Playback job.

Accessing the Rules Editor App

You can access the Rules Editor app through the administrator settings. For more information on accessing
the administrator settings, see "Administrator App Overview" on page 135. For information on the Rules
Editor app layout, see "Understanding the Rules Editor App Layout" below.

Creating a Rule: Basic Steps

The following procedure summarizes the main steps required for creating a rule.

How to create a rule:

1. In the app's sidebar, select the rule type (Collaborate, Production Management or Asset
Management).
2. In the Rules and Items panel, click the Add new rule button.
3. Add a trigger.
4. Add an entity.
5. Add one or more Actions.
6. Add a name for the rule in the Details panel.
7. (Collaborate, only for Status Transition and Linked/Unlinked triggers) Define the trigger parameters.
8. (optional) Define filter conditions for the entity.
9. Define the parameters for the action(s).
10. Enable the rule in the Details panel.
11. Save the rule.
For more information, see the following topics:
l "Creating Rules" on page 344
l "Defining Triggers" on page 356
l "Defining Entities" on page 357
l "Defining Actions" on page 375

Understanding the Rules Editor App Layout

The Rules Editor app is divided between five primary areas, as described in the following illustration and
table.

320
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Section Description

1 Rules Editor The header at the top of the app provides you with a health check of the back-end
Header components that enable the functionality in the Rules Editor app. If MediaCentral Cloud
UX determines that the component is performing as expected, the header shows a
green label for the component. If a problem is detected, the component might appear
as yellow or red, depending on the severity of the issue. For more information, see
"Reviewing Rules Editor App Status Information" on page 343.

The Rules Engine pill can also be used for pausing and resuming event processing in the
Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules Engine Event Processing" on page 343.

The Import Rules button shown at the right side lets you import previously exported
rules. See "Importing Rules" on page 418
2 Sidebar Lets you select the rule type resp. system. The sidebar shows entries in the following
order:

l Collaborate
l Production Management system(s)
l Asset Management system(s)
l Other (uploaded rules that are unknown for the Rules Editor but can be executed
by the Rules Engine).
For more information, see "The Sidebar" on the next page.
3 Rules and Information on the Rules and Items panel is arranged in two tabs:
Items
l RULES: Shows all created rules in an overview table. Provides controls to create
new rules as well as export and delete existing rules.
l ITEMS: Shows the items that can be added to a rule arranged in three sections:
Triggers, Entities, Actions. The ITEMS tab is automatically opened when you
create a rule, double-click on a rule in the RULES tab, or click on a placeholder in
the Define Rule panel.
For more information, see "The Rules and Items Panel" on page 323.

321
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Section Description

4 Define Rule The Define Rule area lets you add the items to the rule: one trigger, one entity, and one
or more actions. For more information, see "The Define Rule Panel" on page 332.
5 Details This section of the app provides basic about the rule and additional information about
the item selected in the Define Rule panel. This area allows an administrator to define
the rule name, enable and disable the rule and to define conditions for the entity and
properties of actions. For more information, see "The Details Panel" on page 333.

The Sidebar
The Sidebar shows the rule types for which you can create rules. It also provides information on the
availability of the rule type and number of rules. When you select a rule type, its rules are loaded into the
Rules and Items panel.

Item Description

1 Collaborate The MediaCentral Cloud UX Collaborate module.

2 Production The local Production Management modules connected to MediaCentral Cloud UX.
Management Remote modules are not shown.
3 Asset The local Asset Management modules connected to MediaCentral Cloud UX.
Management Remote modules are not shown.
4 Other The rule type Other shows uploaded rules that are unknown for the Rules Editor
but can be executed by the Rules Engine; for example, rules that have been
created via the API. For rules of type Other the Rules Editor app shows a simplified
UI with a limited set of edit options. Usually this rule type is empty. For more
information, see "Using the Category Other" on page 429.

The rule types are displayed in the sidebar in the following order:

1. Collaborate
2. Production Management modules
3. Asset Management modules
4. Other

322
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

For each entry in the sidebar, an icon, the name and the number of created rules is displayed. For
Production Management and Asset Management modules, a tool-tip shows the system name and system
ID.

If a Production Management or Asset Management module is offline or temporarily not available, the entire
entry is dimmed and its icon shows a red dot to the upper left side; instead of the name, the system ID is
shown. For more information, see "Using Rules of Unavailable Systems" on page 427.

When you import the Production Management default rule, temporarily an unavailable Production
Management module with a dummy ID 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 is shown in the
sidebar. After moving the default rule to an available Production Management module, the unavailable
module entry 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 is removed from the sidebar. For more
information, see "Importing Production Management Default Rule" on page 339.

The Rules and Items Panel

Information on the Rules and Items panel is arranged in two tabs:
l RULES: Shows all created rules in an overview table. Use this tab to get an overview over the existing
rules, create a new rule, export rules, delete existing rules, and select a rule for editing. See "Layout of
the RULES Tab" below.
After initial deployment, the Rules and Items tab is empty and shows the following message.

l ITEMS: Shows the items that can be added to a rule. The Items tab is automatically opened when you
create a rule, double-click on a rule in the RULES tab, or click on a placeholder in the Define Rule
panel. It can also be accessed after selecting a rule in the RULES tab. See "Layout of the ITEMS Tab"
on page 327.
Layout of the RULES Tab
The RULES tab displays all rules that have been added to the Rules Editor app in an alpha-numerically
sorted list. You can click on any of the rules to obtain more information about the rule and its items and to
edit the rule. The RULES tab provides also controls to create, export and delete rules and to filter the rules
list — allowing you to quickly and easily identify a specific rule. The following table lists the controls and
information shown in the RULES tab.

323
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Description

1 Find a rule The "Find a rule" filter option allows you to enter a custom value to limit the
Rules list to show only those rules that include your filter text. See "Filtering and
Sorting the Rules List" on page 326.
2 Export all rules The button lets you export all rules. See "Exporting Rules" on page 417.
3 Add new rule The Add new rule button allows you to create a new rule. When you click the
button the Rules and Items panel switches to the ITEMS tab. See "Creating
Rules" on page 344.
4 Menu button Provides the Import Default Rules option that lets you import default rules. See
"Importing Default Rules" on page 338.
5 Warning icon A warning icon is shown to the left side of a rule if the rule is missing a trigger,
entity or action. When you hover your cursor over the icon, a tool-tip shows the
missing item(s). See "Rules Validation" on page 421.
6 Name Name of the rule. When you hover the cursor over the rule name a tool-tip
displays the basic rule properties, as shown in the following example.

The same information is available in the Additional information section in the

Details panel.
7 Trigger The trigger assigned to the rule. Only one trigger can be assigned to a rule.
When you hover the cursor over a trigger icon a tool-tip displays the trigger
name. The following triggers are available:

l For all rules: Created, Updated, and Deleted.

324
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Description
l Only for Collaborate rules: Linked, Unlinked, and Status Transition.
See "Triggers" on page 327.
8 Entity The entity assigned to the rule. Only one entity can be assigned to a rule. When
you hover the cursor over an entity icon a tool-tip displays the entity name. The
following entities can be added:

l To a Collaborate rule: Topic, Assignment, Task and Container Item.

l To a Production Management rule: Masterclip, Subclip and Sequence.
l To an Asset Management rule: Asset and Sequence.
See "Entities" on page 328.
9 Action The Action assigned to the rule. The following actions are available:

AM Orchestration Send to Playback

Create Entity Update Entity

Create Folder Add to Folder

Notification (platform or Media Analytics

Collaborate)
Note that some actions are only available for certain rule types. See "Actions" on
page 330.

You can assign a maximum of 10 actions to a rule. When different actions are
assigned to a rule, the following icon is shown in the Actions column:

Icon indicating mixed action types

When you hover the cursor over an action icon a tool-tip displays the name(s) of
the assigned action(s).

10 Modification Shows the date and time when the rule was last modified.
Date
11 Enabled Indicates if the rule is enabled or not. If the green check mark icon is not shown,
the rule is disabled. You enable and disabled a rule in the Details panel.
12 Delete button Lets you delete the rule. The Delete rule button is only shown when you hover
the cursor over the rule in the table. See "Deleting Rules" on page 420.

Information in the RULES tab is updated when you save a new rule, save changes made to an existing rule,
import rules or delete a rule.

325
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Filtering and Sorting the Rules List

The toolbar at the top of the RULES tab includes controls that allow you to execute certain actions that
relate to the RULES tab.

To sort the Rules list:

1. In the Rules Editor's RULES tab, click on a column header to reorder the Rules list. The warning icon
column does not support filtering.
An up arrow appears to the right of the column name to indicate that this column is used to sort the results in
ascending order.
2. (optional) When you click on a column header, the column is sorted in ascending order. If you need to
sort the list in descending order, simply click on the column header again to reverse the order of the
list.
A down arrow appears to the right of the column name to indicate that this column is used to sort the
results in descending order.
To filter the Rules list:

1. Do one of the following

t Enter a custom value in the Find a rule field.
The list of rules is filtered to include only those whose name include your filter text.
t Type or paste the ID of a rule in the Find a rule field. You can find and copy the Rules ID in the
Details panel > Additional information.
The list of rules is filtered to show only the individual rule.
In the following example, an administrator has filtered the list to include only the rules that include
“em” in the name.

326
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

In the following example, an administrator has filtered the list to show only one rule with a specific ID.

2. (optional) Delete the filter text by pressing the X on the right side of the Find a rule field.
Layout of the ITEMS Tab
The ITEMS tab displays the items that can be added to a rule, arranged in tree sections:
l Triggers
l Entities
l Actions
All items in the ITEMS tab are represented by a card showing an icon and name.

Triggers

The Triggers section shows all triggers that can be added to the rule.

Triggers supported by all rule types

Note the following dependency between triggers and entities.

Trigger Collaborate Entities Production Management Asset Management Entities

Entities

Created l all l all l all

Updated l Topic l (none in default l (none in default

configuration)1 configuration)1
l Task
l Assignment

Deleted l all l all2 l all2

n 1
The "Updated" trigger is not supported as long as the Change Event Agent operates in “phonetic only enabled" mode,
which is the default configuration.

n 2
Note the following limitations for the trigger "Deleted": Using conditions can only work if the attribute used in the condition
is part of the "deleted change event". The Rules Engine cannot query attribute values from the state as the entity and all its
metadata is alreday deleted at this point in time.

Triggers only supported for Collaborate rules

Trigger Supported Collaborate Entities

Linked1 l Topic
l Task

327
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Trigger Supported Collaborate Entities

l Assignment

Unlinked1 l Topic
l Task
l Assignment

Status Transition2 l Topic

l Task
l Assignment

1 If no attribute of type Drop Zone is defined in the Collaborate data model, the Linked and Unlinked triggers are deactivated. Note that the

Collaborate data model does not provide predefined attributes of type Drop Zone. For information on how to create custom attributes, see
"Creating a Custom Attribute" on page 272.

2 Limitations apply to the values that can be selected for the From/To status. For more information, see "(Collaborate) Defining the Status

Transition Trigger" on page 357.

The following illustration shows the triggers available for Collaborate rules.

The following illustration shows the triggers available for Production Management and Asset Management
rules.

When you click on a trigger card, the trigger is added to the rule and shown in the Define Rule panel under
TRIGGER. Once you added a trigger to a rule, all triggers are disabled in the ITEMS tab. If you want to add
another trigger to a rule, you first have to delete the currently assigned trigger from the rule.

Entities

The Entities section shows all entities that can be added to the rule. Note the following dependency between
entities and triggers:

328
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Rule Type Entity Supported Triggers

Collaborate l Topic l all

l Task l all
l Assignment l all
l Container Item1 l Created, Deleted

Production Management2 l Masterclip l Created, Deleted

l Subclip l Created, Deleted
l Sequence l Created, Deleted

Asset Management2 l Asset l Created, Deleted

l Sequence l Created, Deleted

1 When you add a Container Item entity to the rule, all triggers except Created and Deleted are disabled. Vice versa, after adding a trigger

other than Created or Deleted, the Container Item entity is disabled.

n 2
The "Updated" trigger is not supported as long as the Change Event Agent operates in “phonetic only enabled" mode,
which is the default configuration.

The following illustration shows the entities available for Collaborate rules.

The following illustration shows the entities available for Production Management rules.

The following illustration shows the entities available for Asset Management rules.

329
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

When you click on an entity card, the entity is added to the rule and shown in the Define Rule panel under
ENTITY. Once you added an entity to a rule, all entities are disabled in the ITEMS tab. If you want to add
another entity to a rule, you first have to delete the currently assigned entity from the rule.

For the Asset Management entities Asset and Sequence, you can define the asset resp. sequence type in the
Details panel. For more information, see "(Asset Management) Defining the Asset Type" on page 374.

Actions

The Actions section shows all actions that can be added to the rule. When you click on an action card, the
action is added to the rule and shown in the Define Rule panel under ACTION. You can add a maximum of 10
actions to a rule. Note the following dependency between actions and entities:

Action Supported Entities

AM Orchestration l all Collaborate

l all Production Management
l all Asset Management

Send to Playback l Collaborate (all, except Container Item)1

l Production Management Sequence2

Collaborate Notification l Collaborate (all, except Container Item)1

Notification l all Collaborate

l all Production Management
l all Asset Management

Create Entity l all Collaborate

l all Production Management
l all Asset Management

Update Metadata l all Collaborate

l all Production Management
l all Asset Management

Create Folder l all Collaborate

l all Production Management
l all Asset Management

Add to Folder l all Collaborate

l all Production Management
l all Asset Management

(Preview) Media Analytics l Production Management master clips3

1 Collaborate: When you add an action of type Send to Playback or Collaborate Notification, the Container Item entity is disabled. Vice

versa, after adding an Collaborate Item to the rule, the Send to Playback and Collaborate Notification actions are disabled.

2 Production Management: When you add an action of type Send to Playback, the Masterclip and Subclip entities are disabled. Vice versa,

after adding a Masterclip or Subclip to the rule, the Send to Playback action is disabled.

3 Production Management: When you add an action of type Media Analytics, the Sequence and Subclip entities are disabled. Vice versa, after

adding a Sequence or Subclip to the rule, the Media Analytics action is disabled.

330
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

The following illustration shows the actions available for Collaborate rules.

The following illustration shows the actions available for Production Management rules.

The following illustration shows the actions available for Asset Management rules.

For more information, see "The Details Panel" on page 333 and "Defining Actions" on page 375.

331
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

The Define Rule Panel

The Define Rule panel is opened when you create a new rule and when you select a rule in the Rules and
Items panel's RULES tab. The Define Rule panel lets you add items to and remove items from the rule, export
the rule, duplicate and save the new or edited rule.

The Define Rule tab when starting to create a Collaborate rule (left) and editing an existing Collaborate rule with all changes saved (right)

Item Description

1 Item When you create a new rule, the Define Rules panel provides placeholders for the
placeholder items you can add to the rule: TRIGGER, ENTITY, ACTION. You add an item to the
Define Rule panel by clicking on it in the ITEMS tab. The placeholder is then
replaced by the name of the added item; only for ACTION an additional placeholder
is displayed.
2 Warning icon For added Collaborate triggers of type Linked, Unlinked and Status Transition and
any added Action, a warning icon will appear. When you hover the cursor over the
warning icon, a tool-tip informs you which required configuration step in the Details
panel still needs to be done. See "Rules Validation" on page 421.
3 Selected item When you select an item in the Define Rule panel its details (conditions and
properties) are shown in the Details panel.
4 Hovered item If you want to replace an already added item, you first need to remove the initial
with Trash icon item: hover the cursor over the item and click the Trash icon that is shown. After
that, click on the item you want to add in the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab.
5 Buttons Execute operations on the rule currently being created or edited.

l Duplicate: Lets you duplicate the rule currently being open in the Define Rule
and Details panels. The button is not activated until you have saved all
changes in the rule. For more information, see "Duplicating a Rule" on
page 414.

332
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Description
l Save: Click the Save button to save the rule.
l Cancel: When you click Cancel the following happens:
– A new rule is discarded, the Define Rule and Details panels are
cleared, and in the Rules and Items panel the RULES tab opens.
– For an edited rule, your changes are discarded. The Define Rule and
Details panels stay in edit mode.
6 Export rule Lets you export the rule currently being created or edit. The button is not activated
button until you have saved all changes in the rule. For more information, see "Exporting
Rules" on page 417.

The Details Panel

Information on the Details panel is arranged in two sections:
l Rule: Basic rule information which is always displayed. See "The Rule Section" below.
l Items specific: Provides controls and information that are related to the item selected in the Define
Rule panel. See "The Item-specific Section" on the next page.
The Rule Section
The Rule section is positioned at top of the Details panel and is always shown for a rule. Its contents does
not depend on the item selected in the Define Rule panel.

Item Description

1 Rule Name Lets you define the name of the rule.

2 Enable toggle Lets you enable and disable the rule. By default, a new rule is disabled.
3 Additional Provides basic information about the rule: Rule ID, Created on, Created by,
information Modified on, and Modified by. This information is generated by the backend and
cannot be edited. You can enter a Comment (for internal use in the Rules Editor
app) in this section.

333
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Description

The Additional information can be collapsed and expanded. By default, Additional

information is collapsed.

The Item-specific Section

The item-specific section of the Details panel is displayed below the Rule section. It shows different controls
and information depending on the item selected in the Define Rule tab:
l Trigger (only for Collaborate triggers Status Transition and Linked/Unlinked)
l Entity
l Action
Triggers

Only for Collaborate triggers of type Status Transition, Linked, and Unlinked the Details panel shows a
detail section.
l Use the Status Transition lists to define the change of the status that should trigger the rule. For more
information, see "(Collaborate) Defining the Status Transition Trigger" on page 357.
l For a trigger of type Linked or Unlinked, define the Drop Zone to which media was added ("linked") or
removed ("unlinked") in the entity specified in the rule. For more information, "(Collaborate) Defining
the Linked/Unlinked Trigger" on page 356
Entities

For Collaborate and Production Management rules, the entity-specific section of the Details panel shows
only the Conditions section. For Asset Management rules, an additional Asset or Sequence section is shown.

Asset/Sequence

For the Asset Management entities Asset and Sequence, an Asset resp. Sequence section is shown where
you can define the asset resp. sequence type for which the rule is to be applied.

Item Description

1 Section Header Asset or Sequence.

2 Asset Type/ Collapsible area, shows the first four asset types (object classes) or sequence
Sequence Type types (EDL classes) defined in the data model. Once entries are selcted, a
counter is shown.
3 Show all link Opens an Asset Type res. Sequence Type fly-out window that lets you select
asset resp. sequence types.

334
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

For more information, see "(Asset Management) Defining the Asset Type" on page 374.

Conditions

This section lets you define conditions for the selected entity. The supported conditions depend on the data
type of the field. You can add a maximum of 10 conditions to the entity.

Note the following limitations for Collaborate rules: Defining conditions is not available for Container Items;
for Container Items, all controls of the section are disabled and on the Add new condition button a tool-tip
"Conditions are not supported for Container Items" is shown.

The following illustration shows the condition definition controls for a Collaborate entity of type
Assignment.

Item Description

1 Header Shows the name of the entity to the left and might show a warning icon on
the right side (a tool-tip summarizes the warnings from all conditions).
2 Expand All / Collapse Let you expand and collapse all conditions.
All buttons
3 AND/OR buttons Let you define how multiple conditions are to be combined.
4 Condition section Each Condition is shown as a collapsible/expandible section, a warning icon
might be shown to the right side (a tool-tip shows the reason for the
warning). When you hover the cursor over the header of a condition, Move
up/Move down and Delete condition buttons are shown.

The reordering of conditions has two purposes:

l In some cases, re-ordering might provide a better overview about the

conditions.
l Conditions that are not based on properties from the change event
and hence have to be queried from the underlying system should be

335
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Description

placed at the end. This can reduce the load to the system and
increase the performance.
5 Fix condition The following controls are shown for all conditions:
definition controls
l Attribute
l Comparison Operator
6 Variable condition Depending on the selected Attribute and Comparison Operator, the
definition controls following controls might vary or be not shown at all:

l Match buttons
l additional input controls, depending on the selected Comparison
Operator
7 Add new condition Lets you add a new condition section. You can add a maximum of 10
button conditions.

Actions

The action-specific section of the Details panel lets you define the parameters of the action to be executed,
for example, an STP job, an Asset Management process, or a notification (platform or Collaborate).

Which fields are shown is determined by the selected action specification. The Rules Editor uses the action
specification to generate the layout for a specific action. For more information, see "Action Specifications"
on page 377. If provided by the action specification, a tool-tip might display a description for individual
properties.

In error cases – for example, the Action Engine is not available or loading of the action specification fails –
new actions cannot be configured, existing action data of the rule are shown in read-only mode.

The following illustration shows examples for actions of type Send to Playback (left) and Collaborate
Notifications (right):

Item Description

1 Header Shows the name of the action to the left and might show a warning icon on the right
side (a tool-tip shows the reason for the warning).

For most actions, you can click the Advanced toggle to show the following:

l Hidden properties. In the specification of an Action Engine different properties

336
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Description

can be marked as “hidden”. This is the indicator if a property should be shown

or hidden by default.
l Controls to configure the identity impersonation for action execution.
When there are no hidden properties or identity impersonation in the specification – as
for Notifications and Collaborate Notifications – the Advanced toggle button is
disabled and a tool-tip “No advanced properties available” is shown.
2 <Action- Send to Playback
specific
fields>
l System: List of available STP Engines (mandatory).
l Profile: List of available STP profiles for the selected STP Engine (mandatory).
l Details of the selected STP profile. Which fields and controls are editable
depends on the actions specification.
l (optional) Advanced properties and identity impersonation controls.
For more information, see "Defining a Send to Playback Action" on page 378.
Notification

l Title: Title that is to be shown for the notification (mandatory).

l Message: An optional message text that is to be displayed.
l Destination: The user group that should receive the notification (mandatory).
For more information, see "Defining a Platform Notification Action" on page 381.
Collaborate Notification

l Title: Title that is to be shown for the notification (mandatory).

l Message: An optional message text that is to be displayed.
l Destination: The Internal Contacts assigned to the entity specified in the rule
that should receive the notification (mandatory).
For more information, see "Defining a Collaborate Notification Action" on page 382.
AM Orchestration

l System: List of available Asset Management Orchestration Engines

(mandatory).
l Specification: List of available action specifications for the selected
Orchestration Engine (mandatory).
l Details (template) of the selected action specification. Which fields and controls
are shown and are editable depends on the action specification configuration in
the Datamodel Administrator.
l (optional) Advanced properties and identity impersonation controls.
For more information, see "Defining an AM Orchestration Action" on page 383.
Create Entity

l System: List of connected Asset Management systems (mandatory).

l Entity Type: List of asset and sequence types defined in the data model of the
selected Asset Management system (mandatory).
l Entity Name: The name of the entity to be created (mandatory).

337
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Description
l (optional): Properties added by using the Add/Remove attributes picker tool and
provided values to be set on the created entity.
l (optional) Advanced property: identity impersonation controls.
For more information, see "Defining a Create Entity Action" on page 385.
Update Metadata

l System: List of connected Production Management and Asset Management

systems (mandatory).
l Entity: The MediaCentral entity ID of the entity to be updated (mandatory).
l (optional): Properties added by using the Add/Remove attributes picker tool and
provided values to be updated on the entity.
l (optional) Advanced property: identity impersonation controls.
For more information, see "Defining an Update Metadata Action" on page 389.
Create Folder

l System: List of connected Production Management and Asset Management

systems (mandatory).
l Parent Folder: Lets you select the parent folder in which the folder is to be
created (mandatory).
l Folder Name: Name of the folder to be created (mandatory).
l (optional) Advanced property: identity impersonation controls.
For more information, see "Defining a Create Folder Action" on page 393.
Add to Folder

l Folder: The MediaCentral entity ID of the folder to which the entity is to be

added (mandatory).
l Entity: The MediaCentral entity ID of the entity to be added (mandatory).
l (optional) Advanced property: identity impersonation controls.
For more information, see "Defining an Add to Folder Action" on page 397.
Media Analytics

l Specification: The analytics provider, in this release only Avid Ada is supported
(mandatory).
l Features: In this release, only the feature Transcribe is supported (mandatory).
l Title: The title of the main Media Analytics job to be shown in the MediaCentral
Cloud UX Process app.
l Tracks: The audio tracks that are to be analyzed.
l Language: Reserved for future use.
For more information, see "(Preview) Defining a Media Analytics Action" on page 400.

Importing Default Rules

The Rules Engine is shipped with a few default rules. These default rules are examples to demonstrate some
capabilities.

338
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

However, these default rules are not saved to the rules database yet. Therefore, the Rules Editor app does
not show any rule after initial deployment. To use the provided default rules, import them in the Rules Editor
app. The imported default rules are disabled.

For more information, see the following topics:

l "Importing Production Management Default Rule" below
l "Importing Collaborate Default Rules" on page 341

Importing Production Management Default Rule

The Rules Engine is shipped with one default rule for Production Management. This default rule is a sample
rule for triggering Media Analytics (Transcribe ) actions for newly created masterclips. If your company uses
the licensed feature Avid Ada Transcribe, you can import and enable the rule to use it directly for Transcribe
workflows, or you can use it as a template for creating your own rules with Media Analytics actions. For
more information, see "(Preview) Defining a Media Analytics Action" on page 400.

Name Items

[Transcribe] PM Masterclip - empty l Trigger: Created

l Entity: Masterclip
with Condition 1
– Attribute: Has Audio (Search)
– Comparison Operator: True
with Condition 2
– Attribute: Phonetic
– Comparison Operator: True
with Condition 3
– Attribute: Phonetic
– Comparison Operator: Is Updated
l Action: Media Analytics
– Specification: Avid Ada
– Feature: Transcribe
– Title: "Transcribe: " + ${name}
– Tracks: A1, A2
– Language: <not set>

To import the default rule for Production Management in the Rules Editor:

1. Click the Rules Editor button in the Administrator Fast Bar.

2. Select a Production Management module from the app’s sidebar.
3. In the Rules and Items panel, do one of the following:

339
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

t (Empty rule database) Click the Import Default Rules button.

t (Non-empty rule database) Click the Menu button and select Import Default Rules.

The default rule is imported (again). Since the rule internally references a Production Management
module with a dummy ID 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000, you will see an unavailable
Production Management entry with this dummy ID in the sidebar.

4. Select the unavailable module in the sidebar.

Due to the referenced dummy ID you will see a "Data model information could not retrieved" error
message. You can ignore this message. This applies also to the warnings shown for the three
conditions of the rule.
5. Move the rule to the Production Management module where you want to use it:
a. Drag and drop the rule "[Transcribe] PM Masterclip - empty" to the target Production
Management module in the sidebar.
b. In the Move/Copy to dialog box that opens, click the Move button.

340
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

After the move operation has finished successfully, the Move/Copy to dialog box closes. In the
moved rule, the System ID is set to the System ID of the target module. The unavailable module
entry 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 is removed from the sidebar, and the
top-most entry in the sidebar (Collaborate) is selected.
6. (optional) Enable the default rule.
a. Select the Production Management module where you moved the rule to.
b. Select the rule "[Transcribe] PM Masterclip - empty" in the Rules and Items table.
c. Click the Enable toggle button so it turns blue.
d. Click the Save button.

Importing Collaborate Default Rules

The Rules Engine is shipped with the following default rules for Collaborate. These default rules are just
examples to demonstrate some capabilities.

Name Items

[Default, Example] l Trigger: Created

Created, Topic l Entity: Topic
(Sports)
with Condition 1
– Attribute: Departments
– Comparison Operator: Includes
– Value: Sports
l Action: Collaborate Notification
– Title (Expression): ((string)${priority})=="Breaking News"?"[❗"+${priority}+"❗]
new topic ":"["+${priority}+"] new topic"
– Message (Property): Title
– Destination (Literal): Internal Contact
[Default, Example] l Trigger: Status Transition
Transition, Task,
with Properties:
due date
– From: *
– To: For Review
l Entity: Task
l Action: Collaborate Notification
– Title (Expression): ((string)${status}) == "For Review" &&
((DateTime?)${dueDateTime})<= DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(60)?"[❗Urgent❗]
Due: "+${dueDateTime}:"[Normal] Due: "+${dueDateTime}
– Message (Expression): "Ready for Review: "+${title}
– Destination (Literal): Internal Contact
[Default, Example] l Trigger: Updated
Update, l Entity: Assignment
Assignment
with Condition 1
– Attribute: Description
– Comparison Operator: Contains

341
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Name Items
– Value: hello
and Condition 2
– Attribute: Priority
– Comparison Operator: Is Updated
l Action: Collaborate Notification
– Title (Expression): "["+${status}+" / "+${priority}+"] ❗ The priority has been
changed"
– Message (Property): Title
– Destination (Literal): Internal Contact

To import Collaborate default rules in the Rules Editor:

1. Click the Rules Editor button in the Administrator Fast Bar.

2. Select Collaborate from the app’s sidebar.
3. In the Rules and Items panel, do one of the following:
t (Empty rule database) Click the Import Default Rules button.

The default rules are imported.

t (Non-empty rule database) Click the Menu button and select Import Default Rules.

342
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

The default rules are imported (again).

n Any changes made to previously imported default rules – except for the change made to
the Enable status – are overwritten.

4. (optional) Enable and then save the default rules.

Pausing and Resuming Rules Engine Event Processing

When you create, edit or import rules, it might be useful that you temporarily pause the event processing in
the Rules Engine; for example, when you import a large number of rules with "Enabled" status. This helps
you to avoid unintended effects on your workflows because of missing or unintended rule triggering and
failed or unintended action execution.

Use the Rules Engine pill in the Rules Editor app header to stop and resume event processing in the Rules
Engine.

To pause and resume event processing in the Rules Engine:

1. In the Rules Editor app header, hover the cursor over the Rules Engine pill.
A tool-tip opens.

2. Click the Pause Rules Engine processing button in the tool-tip.

Event processing in the Rules Engine is stopped. The color of the Rules Engine pill switches to orange.
In the tool-tip, the Resume Rules Engine processing button is shown.
3. To resume event processing in the Rules Engine, hover the cursor over the orange Rules Engine pill.

4. Click the Resume Rules Engine processing button in the tool-tip.

Event processing in the Rules Engine is resumed. The color of the Rules Engine pill switches to green.

Reviewing Rules Editor App Status Information

The header at the top of the Rules Editor app provides you with a health check of the back-end components
that enable the functionality in the Rules Editor app. If MediaCentral Cloud UX determines that the
component is performing as expected, the header shows a green pill for the component. If a problem is
detected, the component might appear as yellow or red, depending on the severity of the issue. When
status data is retrieved from the backend – you open the Rules Editor app or click on an entry in the sidebar
– a component might turn black for a short period of time.

343
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

As shown in the following illustration, each component allows you to obtain additional status information by
hovering your cursor over the health indicator. In the event of a warning or error, this tool-tip might help you
identify the source of the problem. For more information, see "Issues Indicated by Rules Editor Health
Indicators" on page 433.

The Rules Engine pill can also be used for pausing and resuming event processing in the Rules Engine. See
"Pausing and Resuming Rules Engine Event Processing" on the previous page.

Component Description

During normal operation, this health indicator should report that the “Rules Engine is
running”.

Event processing in the Rules Engine has been paused.

The Rules Engine health indicator turns red in the following cases:

l The Rules Engine is not accessible.

l The Rules Editor App cannot retrieve rules from the Rules Engine.

During normal operation, this health indicator should only show the connected Action Types
without additional message.

The Action Engines health indicator turns yellow if one of the registered Action Engines is in
error state.

The Action Engines health indicator turns red in the following cases:

l The Rules Engine is not accessible and thus cannot provide information on the
registered Action Engines.
l The Rules Engine is accessible but Action Types cannot be retrieved.

During normal operation, this health indicator should report “Metadata information retrieved
from Collaborate”, “Metadata information retrieved for <name of Production Management
system>” or “Metadata information retrieved for <name of Asset Management system>”.

The Data Models health indicator turns red if the attributes cannot be retrieved for the
selected system (Collaborate, Production Management or Asset Management).

To update the health check information:

t In the Rules Editor app sidebar, select an entry.

Creating Rules
During the rule creation process, you will add multiple items to the rule. Which items can be added depends
on the type of rule you are creating: Collaborate, Production Management or Asset Management rule. Most
items include property values that must be configured.

See the following topics:

344
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

l "Creating a Collaborate Rule" below

l "Creating a Production Management Rule" on page 350
l "Creating an Asset Management Rule" on page 353

Creating a Collaborate Rule

During the rule creation process, you will add multiple items to the rule and configure property values. You
can choose to either add items one at a time, configuring the properties for each as you add them, or you
can add all of your items first and then configure the properties as a second step. The following process
details the latter (add all) workflow.

To create a rule:

1. Click the Rules Editor button in the Administrator Fast Bar.

2. Select Collaborate from the app’s sidebar.
3. (optional) Temporarily stop event processing in the Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules
Engine Event Processing" on page 343.
4. In the Rules and Items panel, click the Add new rule button.
The Rules and Items panel switches to the ITEMS tab. The Define Rule panel shows placeholders for
the items you can add to the rule. The Details panel shows a few basic controls.

5. Add a name for the rule: In the Details panel, replace the placeholder "New Rule" in the Rule Name
field.

Rule names need to be unique. If you enter a name that is already used for another rule, the name will
be appended with a counter in brackets when you save the rule.
6. (optional) Click the Expand toggle button in front of Additional information and enter a comment in
the Comment text box. The comment is only used within the Rules Editor app.
7. Add one trigger: In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the trigger you want to add.

345
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

8. Add one entity: In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the entity you want to add.
9. Add one or more Actions: In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the action you want to add.
You can add up to 10 actions.
10. (Status Transition trigger) Define the trigger parameter.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the Status Transition trigger.
b. In the Details panel, select the status transition from the From list.

n Currently only the asterisk (*) is supported as valid value in the From list.
c. In the Details panel, select the status transition from the To list.

For more information, see "(Collaborate) Defining the Status Transition Trigger" on page 357.
11. (Linked/Unlinked triggers) Define the trigger parameter.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the trigger Linked or Unlinked.
b. In the Details panel, select an attribute of type drop zone from the Drop Zone list.

For more information, see "(Collaborate) Defining the Linked/Unlinked Trigger" on page 356.
12. (optional) Define filter conditions for the entity.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the entity.
In the Details panel, the initial controls for the Condition section are shown.

b. In the Details panel, click the Add new condition button.

The Condition 1 section is shown. The top-most entry in the Attributes and Comparison
Operator lists is preselected.

346
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

c. Select the attribute from the Attributes list.

d. Select the operator that should apply for the condition from the Comparison Operator list.
e. Depending on the selected operator, define additional values.
f. (optional) Define additional conditions. You can create a maximum of 10 conditions for a rule.
g. (optional) Define if the conditions are to be combined by AND or OR by clicking the
corresponding button.
For more information, see "Defining Entities" on page 357.
13. Define the parameters for an AM Orchestration action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action AM Orchestration.
b. In the Details panel, select the Asset Management system from the System list.
c. Select an action specification from the Specification list.
d. Specify values for the selected specification.
e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify additional properties and identity
impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an AM Orchestration Action" on page 383.
14. Define the parameters for a platform Notification action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Notification.
b. In the Details panel, type a name in the Title field.
c. (optional) Type a message text in the Message field.
d. Select one or more Platform User Management groups which should receive the notification
from the Destinations list.
For more information, see "Defining a Platform Notification Action" on page 381.
15. Define the parameters for a Collaborate Notification action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Collaborate Notification.
b. In the Details panel, type a name in the Title field.
c. (optional) Type a message text in the Message field.
d. Select one or more Internal Contacts attributes from the Destinations list.
Only the Internal Contacts (of type Employee) assigned to the entity set in the rule (see step 6)
will receive notifications.
For more information, see "Defining a Collaborate Notification Action" on page 382.
16. Define the parameters for a Send to Playback action.

347
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Send to Playback.

b. In the Details panel, select the Production Management module from the System list.
c. Select an STP profile from the Profile list.
d. Provide the Drop Zone attribute for the Sequence.
e. (optional) If you do not want to keep the default Process Name, replace the default entry
Action-PM.STP. This is the name that will be shown for the process in the Process app.
f. (optional) Enable the Burn Graphics/High Priority/Overwrite toggles as needed.
g. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify additional properties and identity
impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Send to Playback Action" on page 378.
17. Define the parameters for a Create Entity action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Entity.
b. In the Details panel, select an Asset Management system from the System list.
c. Select an asset or sequence type from the Entity Type list.
d. Type the name of the entity to be created in the Entity Name field.
e. (optional) Click the Add/Remove attributes button, select the properties to be added from the
properties picker tool and provide values for the added properties.
f. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Create Entity Action" on page 385.
18. Define the parameters for an Update Metadata action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Update Metadata.
b. In the Details panel, select a Production Management or Asset Management system from the
System list.
c. Provide the MediaCentral Entity ID of the entity to be updated in the Entity field.
d. (optional) Click the Add/Remove attributes button, select the properties to be added from the
properties picker tool and provide the values to be updated.
e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an Update Metadata Action" on page 389.
19. Define the parameters for a Create Folder action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Folder.
b. In the Details panel, select a Production Management or Asset Management system from the
System list.
c. Select the parent folder from the Parent Folder list.
d. Type the name of the folder to be created in the Folder Name field.
e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Create Folder Action" on page 393.
20. Define the parameters for an Add to Folder action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Add To Folder.
b. In the Details panel, provide the MediaCentral entity ID of the folder to which the entity is to be
added In the Folder field.

348
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

c. Provide the MediaCentral entity ID of the entity to be added in the Entity field.
d. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an Add to Folder Action" on page 397.
21. Enable the rule: In the Details panel, click the gray Enable toggle so it turns blue.
22. Click the Save button to save the rule.
When you select another rule in the Rules and Items panel or use the Add new rule button while you
are editing a rule and have not saved your changes yet, you are prompted to save or discard the
changes.
Do one of the following:
t Click Discard all changes.
t Click Save to save all changes.

When you save the rule it is validated and parsed. If issues are detected, the results of the validation
are summarized in a Validation dialog box. Validation issues are shown as warnings, parsing issues
are shown as "incomplete".
Do one of the following:
t Click Cancel and resolve the listed issues before saving again.
t Click Save Anyway to save the rule with validation issues. Items shown as incomplete, are
removed.

23. (if paused) Resume event processing in the Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules Engine
Event Processing" on page 343.

349
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Creating a Production Management Rule

During the rule creation process, you will add multiple items to the rule and configure property values. You
can choose to either add items one at a time, configuring the properties for each as you add them, or you
can add all of your items first and then configure the properties as a second step. The following process
details the latter (add all) workflow.

To create a rule:

1. Click the Rules Editor button in the Administrator Fast Bar.

2. Select an Production Management module from the app’s sidebar.
3. (optional) Temporarily stop event processing in the Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules
Engine Event Processing" on page 343.
4. In the Rules and Items panel, click the Add new rule button.
The Rules and Items panel switches to the ITEMS tab. The Define Rule panel shows placeholders for
the items you can add to the rule. The Details panel shows a few basic controls.
5. Add a name for the rule: In the Details panel, replace the placeholder "New Rule" in the Rule Name
field.
Rule names need to be unique. If you enter a name that is already used for another rule, the name will
be appended with a counter in brackets when you save the rule.
6. (optional) Click the Expand toggle button in front of Additional information and enter a comment in
the Comment text box. The comment is only used within the Rules Editor app.
7. Add one trigger: In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the trigger you want to add.
8. Add one entity: In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the entity you want to add: Masterclip,
Subclip or Sequence.
9. Add one or more Actions: In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the action you want to add.
You can add up to 10 actions.
10. (optional) Define filter conditions for the entity.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the entity.
In the Details panel, the initial controls for the Condition section are shown.

b. In the Details panel, click the Add new condition button.

The Condition 1 section is shown. The top-most entry in the Attributes and Comparison
Operator lists is preselected.

350
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

c. Select the attribute from the Attributes list.

d. Select the operator that should apply for the condition from the Comparison Operator list.
e. Depending on the selected operator, define additional values.
f. (optional) Define additional conditions. You can create a maximum of 10 conditions for a rule.
g. (optional) Define if the conditions are to be combined by AND or OR by clicking the
corresponding button.
For more information, see "Defining Entities" on page 357.
11. Define the parameters for an AM Orchestration action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action AM Orchestration.
b. In the Details panel, select the Asset Management system from the System list.
c. Select an action specification from the Specification list.
d. Specify values for the selected specification.
e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify additional properties and identity
impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an AM Orchestration Action" on page 383.
12. Define the parameters for a platform Notification action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Notification.
b. In the Details panel, type a name in the Title field.
c. (optional) Type a message text in the Message field.
d. Select one or more Platform User Management groups which should receive the notification
from the Destinations list.
For more information, see "Defining a Platform Notification Action" on page 381.
13. Define the parameters for a Send to Playback action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Send to Playback.
b. In the Details panel, select the Production Management module from the System list.
c. Select an STP profile from the Profile list.
d. Provide the Sequence ID.
e. (optional) If you do not want to keep the default Process Name, replace the default entry
Action-PM.STP. This is the name that will be shown for the process in the Process app.
f. (optional) Enable the Burn Graphics/High Priority/Overwrite toggles as needed.
g. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Send to Playback Action" on page 378.

351
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

14. Define the parameters for a Create Entity action.

a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Entity.
b. In the Details panel, select an Asset Management system from the System list.
c. Select an asset or sequence type from the Entity Type list.
d. Type the name of the entity to be created in the Entity Name field.
e. (optional) Click the Add/Remove attributes button, select the properties to be added from the
properties picker tool and provide values for the added properties.
f. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Create Entity Action" on page 385.
15. Define the parameters for an Update Metadata action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Update Metadata.
b. In the Details panel, select a Production Management or Asset Management system from the
System list.
c. Provide the MediaCentral Entity ID of the entity to be updated in the Entity field.
d. (optional) Click the Add/Remove attributes button, select the properties to be added from the
properties picker tool and provide the values to be updated.
e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an Update Metadata Action" on page 389.
16. Define the parameters for a Create Folder action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Folder.
b. In the Details panel, select a Production Management or Asset Management system from the
System list.
c. Select the parent folder from the Parent Folder list.
d. Type the name of the folder to be created in the Folder Name field.
e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Create Folder Action" on page 393.
17. Define the parameters for an Add to Folder action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Add To Folder.
b. In the Details panel, provide the MediaCentral entity ID of the folder to which the entity is to be
added In the Folder field.
c. Provide the MediaCentral entity ID of the entity to be added in the Entity field.
d. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an Add to Folder Action" on page 397.
18. (Preview) Define the parameters for a Media Analytics action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Media Analytics.
b. In the Details panel, select an analytics provider from the Specification list. In this release, only
Avid Ada is supported.
c. Select a feature from the Features list. In this release, only Transcribe is supported.
d. Define the title of the Media Analytics job to be shown in the MediaCentral Cloud UX Process

352
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

app by using the Title field (type Expression).

e. Select the audio tracks that are to be analyzed. Default is A1,A2.
For more information, see "(Preview) Defining a Media Analytics Action" on page 400.
19. Enable the rule: In the Details panel, click the gray Enable toggle so it turns blue.
20. Click the Save button to save the rule.
When you select another rule in the Rules and Items panel or use the Add new rule button while you
are editing a rule and have not saved your changes yet, you are prompted to save or discard the
changes.
Do one of the following:
t Click Discard all changes.
t Click Save to save all changes.
When you save the rule it is validated and parsed. If issues are detected, the results of the validation
are summarized in a Validation dialog box. Validation issues are shown as warnings, parsing issues
are shown as "incomplete".
Do one of the following:
t Click Cancel and resolve the listed issues before saving again.
t Click Save Anyway to save the rule with validation issues. Items shown as incomplete, are
removed.
21. (if paused) Resume event processing in the Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules Engine
Event Processing" on page 343.

Creating an Asset Management Rule

During the rule creation process, you will add multiple items to the rule and configure property values. You
can choose to either add items one at a time, configuring the properties for each as you add them, or you
can add all of your items first and then configure the properties as a second step. The following process
details the latter (add all) workflow.

To create a rule:

1. Click the Rules Editor button in the Administrator Fast Bar.

2. Select an Asset Management module from the app’s sidebar.
3. (optional) Temporarily stop event processing in the Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules
Engine Event Processing" on page 343.
4. In the Rules and Items panel, click the Add new rule button.
The Rules and Items panel switches to the ITEMS tab. The Define Rule panel shows placeholders for
the items you can add to the rule. The Details panel shows a few basic controls.
5. Add a name for the rule: In the Details panel, replace the placeholder "New Rule" in the Rule Name
field.
Rule names need to be unique. If you enter a name that is already used for another rule, the name will
be appended with a counter in brackets when you save the rule.
6. (optional) Click the Expand toggle button in front of Additional information and enter a comment in
the Comment text box. The comment is only used within the Rules Editor app.
7. Add one trigger: In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the trigger you want to add.
8. Add one entity: In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the entity you want to add: Asset or
Sequence.

353
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

9. Add one or more Actions: In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the action you want to add.
You can add up to 10 actions.
10. (optional) Define the asset type for the entity.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the entity.
In the Details panel, the Asset section is shown.
b. Click the Show all link.
c. In the Asset Type fly-out, select all desired asset types.
d. Click the Apply button (√).
For more information, see "(Asset Management) Defining the Asset Type" on page 374.
11. (optional) Define filter conditions for the entity.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the entity.
In the Details panel, the initial controls for the Condition section are shown.

b. In the Details panel, click the Add new condition button.

The Condition 1 section is shown. The top-most entry in the Attributes and Comparison
Operator lists is preselected.

c. Select the attribute from the Attributes list.

d. Select the operator that should apply for the condition from the Comparison Operator list.
e. Depending on the selected operator, define additional values.
f. (optional) Define additional conditions. You can create a maximum of 10 conditions for a rule.
g. (optional) Define if the conditions are to be combined by AND or OR by clicking the
corresponding button.
For more information, see "Defining Entities" on page 357.
12. Define the parameters for an AM Orchestration action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action AM Orchestration.
b. In the Details panel, select the Asset Management system from the System list.
c. Select an action specification from the Specification list.

354
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

d. Specify values for the selected specification.

e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify additional properties and identity
impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an AM Orchestration Action" on page 383.
13. Define the parameters for a platform Notification action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Notification.
b. In the Details panel, type a name in the Title field.
c. (optional) Type a message text in the Message field.
d. Select one or more Platform User Management groups which should receive the notification
from the Destinations list.
For more information, see "Defining a Platform Notification Action" on page 381.
14. Define the parameters for a Create Entity action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Entity.
b. In the Details panel, select an Asset Management system from the System list.
c. Select an asset or sequence type from the Entity Type list.
d. Type the name of the entity to be created in the Entity Name field.
e. (optional) Click the Add/Remove attributes button, select the properties to be added from the
properties picker tool and provide values for the added properties.
f. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Create Entity Action" on page 385.
15. Define the parameters for an Update Metadata action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Update Metadata.
b. In the Details panel, select a Production Management or Asset Management system from the
System list.
c. Provide the MediaCentral Entity ID of the entity to be updated in the Entity field.
d. (optional) Click the Add/Remove attributes button, select the properties to be added from the
properties picker tool and provide the values to be updated.
e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an Update Metadata Action" on page 389.
16. Define the parameters for a Create Folder action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Folder.
b. In the Details panel, select a Production Management or Asset Management system from the
System list.
c. Select the parent folder from the Parent Folder list.
d. Type the name of the folder to be created in the Folder Name field.
e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Create Folder Action" on page 393.
17. Define the parameters for an Add to Folder action.

355
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Add To Folder.

b. In the Details panel, provide the MediaCentral entity ID of the folder to which the entity is to be
added In the Folder field.
c. Provide the MediaCentral entity ID of the entity to be added in the Entity field.
d. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an Add to Folder Action" on page 397.
18. Enable the rule: In the Details panel, click the gray Enable toggle so it turns blue.
19. Click the Save button to save the rule.
When you select another rule in the Rules and Items panel or use the Add new rule button while you
are editing a rule and have not saved your changes yet, you are prompted to save or discard the
changes.
Do one of the following:
t Click Discard all changes.
t Click Save to save all changes.
When you save the rule it is validated and parsed. If issues are detected, the results of the validation
are summarized in a Validation dialog box. Validation issues are shown as warnings, parsing issues
are shown as "incomplete".
Do one of the following:
t Click Cancel and resolve the listed issues before saving again.
t Click Save Anyway to save the rule with validation issues. Items shown as incomplete, are
removed.
20. (if paused) Resume event processing in the Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules Engine
Event Processing" on page 343.

Defining Triggers
A trigger is a first filter step in the Rules Engine defining the kind of change (such as created, updated,
deleted). The trigger relates to the entity specified in the rule.

n You cannot configure triggers of type Created, Updated and Deleted. For the Collaborate triggers of
type Linked, Unlinked and Status Transition, you must specify mandatory parameters.

See the following topics:

l "(Collaborate) Defining the Linked/Unlinked Trigger" below
l "(Collaborate) Defining the Status Transition Trigger" on the next page

(Collaborate) Defining the Linked/Unlinked Trigger

For a trigger of type Linked or Unlinked, you can define that the rule applies if media was added to
("linked") or removed from ("unlinked") the selected Drop Zone of the entity specified in the rule. As long as
you have not selected a value, a warning icon will be shown for the Linked/Unlinked trigger in the Define
Rule panel.

The control to define the linked or unlinked trigger shows all Collaborate attributes of type "Drop Zone".

If no attribute of type Drop Zone is defined in the Collaborate data model, the Linked and Unlinked triggers
are deactivated in the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab and thus cannot be used in a rule.

356
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To define the Linked/Unlinked trigger:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the trigger Linked or Unlinked.

In the Details panel, the Linked or Unlinked section is shown.

2. Select an attribute from the Drop Zone list.

3. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button.

(Collaborate) Defining the Status Transition Trigger

For a trigger of type Status Transition, you define which status change should trigger the rule execution. As
long as you have not defined both values of the status transition, a warning icon will be shown for the
Status Transition trigger in the Define Rule panel.

The controls to define the status transition show the values of the Collaborate predefined attribute "Status".

To define the Status Transition trigger:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the trigger Status Transition.

In the Details panel, the Status Transition section is shown. When you define the status transition for
a new trigger, the controls show a "Select Status" placeholder.

2. Select a status from the From list.

Select the asterisk (*) if the original status does not matter.

n Currently only the asterisk (*) is supported as valid value in the From list.
3. Select a status from the To list.
Select the asterisk (*) if the new status does not matter. If you already selected the asterisk as From
value, the From list is reset and shows "Select Status" again.
4. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button.

Defining Entities
For any entity selected in the Define Rule panel, you can define filters (conditions). Defining conditions
helps you elaborating the rule but is not a mandatory configuration step. You can define a maximum of 10
conditions for an entity. When you define more than one condition you can decide how the individual
conditions are to be combined; by default, conditions are combined by AND.

Some operators are very simple and require you to only select the operator. Others let you define more
complex conditions. See the following topics:

357
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

l "Conditions: Attributes and Operators" below

l "Using the Is Set and Is Not Set Operator" on page 363
l "Using the Is Updated and Is Not Updated Operator" on page 363
l "Using the True and False Operator" on page 364
l "Using the Is Any of and Is None of Operator (Single Value Attribute)" on page 364
l "Using Operators for Multi-Value Lists" on page 367
l "Using the Contains and Does not Contain Operator (Single Value Attribute)" on page 368
l "Using the Starts With and Ends With Operator" on page 370
l "Using Date-Related Operators" on page 370
l "Using Number-Related Operators" on page 373
For an Asset Management entity selected in the Define Rule panel, you can additionally define the asset
type. See the following topic:
l "(Asset Management) Defining the Asset Type" on page 374

Conditions: Attributes and Operators

When you define conditions for the entity, you select attributes and comparison operators. Depending on
the attribute type different operators are supported. Since each module provides its own data model with
different attribute types and attributes, the following sections lists the attribute types and supported
operators for each rule/system type:
l "Collaborate" below
l "Production Management" on the next page
l "Asset Management" on page 361
Collaborate
Defining conditions is supported for the entity types Topic, Assignment and Task; conditions are not
supported for Container Items. When the rule type Collaborate is selected, the Rules Editor retrieves the
Collaborate data model from the backend. All attributes that can be used for defining conditions are shown
in the Attributes list. Depending on the attribute type different operators are supported, as listed in the
following table.

Predefined Attribute Attribute Type Supported Operator

Departments Dropdown l Is Set

Resources Resources
l Is not Set
l Is Updated
Sources Dropdown
l Is not Updated
l Equals (in any order)
l Does not Equal (in any order)
l Includes
l Does not Include
Priority Priority l Is Set

Status Status
l Is not Set
l Is Updated
l Is not Updated

358
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Predefined Attribute Attribute Type Supported Operator

l Is Any of
l Is None of
Description Paragraph l Is Set

Title Text
l Is not Set
l Is Updated
l Is not Updated
l Is Any of
l Is None of
l Contains
l Does not Contain
l Starts With
l Ends With
Due date Date l Is Set

Due date and time Date Time

l Is not Set
l Is Updated
End Date Date Time
l Is not Updated
Start Date Date Time
l Before
l Before or Equal
l After
l After or Equal
l Between
l Today
l Tomorrow
l Yesterday
l Relative
Internal Contacts Internal Contacts l Is Set

External Contacts External Contacts

l Is not Set
l Is Updated
Tags Tags
l Is not Updated
<custom name>1 Drop Zone

Parent Parent -

1 The Collaborate data model does not provide predefined attributes of type Drop Zone. For information on how to create custom attributes,

see "Creating a Custom Attribute" on page 272.

Production Management
Defining conditions is supported for all entity types. When a Production Management system is selected,
the Rules Editor retrieves the data model from the backend. All attributes that can be used for defining
conditions are shown in the Attributes list.

In the Attribute selection list, attributes are categorized and marked with the corresponding suffix:

359
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

l Search (Boolean, DateTime, Number, Text)

l Phonetic (Boolean)
l Common, Custom (DateTime, Boolean, List, Number, Text)
Depending on the attribute type different operators are supported, as listed in the following table.

Sample Attribute Attribute Type Supported Operator

Name (Search) Text l Is Set

Description (Common)
l Is not Set
l Is Updated
Programme Title (Custom)
l Is not Updated
l Is Any of
l Is None of
l Contains
l Does not Contain
l Starts With
l Ends With
Created (Search) Date Time l Is Set

Modified (Common)
l Is not Set
l Is Updated
Creation Date (Custom)
l Is not Updated
l Before
l Before or Equal
l After
l After or Equal
l Between
l Today
l Tomorrow
l Yesterday
l Relative
<custom name>1 List l Is Set
l Is not Set
l Is Updated
l Is not Updated
l Is Any of
l Is None of
Duration (Common) Number l Is Set
l Is not Set
l Is Updated
l Is not Updated

360
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Sample Attribute Attribute Type Supported Operator

l Is Any of
l Is None of
l Less than
l Less or Equal
l Greater
l Greater or Equal
l Between
Phonetic Boolean l Is Set

Has Audio (Search)

l Is not Set
l Is Updated
Multigroup (Search)
l Is not Updated
Dropframe (Common)
l True
l False

1 An administrator has to create a custom property that includes a list of values from which users can choose in the Interplay Administrator

application, before this property can be used in the Rules Editor. By default, no lists are configured in the Interplay Administrator.

Asset Management
Defining conditions is supported for all entity types. When an Asset Management system is selected, the
Rules Editor retrieves the data model from the backend. All attributes that can be used for defining
conditions are shown in the Attributes list.

In the Attribute selection list, attributes are categorized and marked with the corresponding suffix:
l Search (Boolean, DateTime, Number (Integer), Text)
l Phonetic (Boolean)
l Common, Custom (Boolean, DateTime, Number (Integer), Legallist, Text)
The following attributes are not supported: Duration, Date, Time, Timecode, Float, Masterdata, Thesaurus,
multi-value (except multi-value Legallist) and multi-value compound.

Depending on the attribute type different operators are supported, as listed in the following table.

Sample Attributes Attribute Type Supported Operator

Creator (Search) Text l Is Set

Description (Common)
l Is not Set
l Is Updated
Main Title (Custom)
l Is not Updated
l Is Any of
l Is None of
l Contains
l Does not Contain
l Starts With
l Ends With

361
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Sample Attributes Attribute Type Supported Operator

Audio Track Count (Custom) Number (Integer) l Is Set

Canvas Height (Custom)

l Is not Set
l Is Updated
l Is not Updated
l Is Any of
l Is None of
l Less than
l Less or Equal
l Greater
l Greater or Equal
l Between
Created (Search) Date Time l Is Set

Modified (Common)
l Is not Set
l Is Updated
Air Date (Custom)
l Is not Updated
l Before
l Before or Equal
l After
l After or Equal
l Between
l Today
l Tomorrow
l Yesterday
l Relative
Phonetic Boolean l Is Set

Has Audio (Search)

l Is not Set
l Is Updated
Archive Candidate (Custom)
l Is not Updated
l True
l False
Asset Type (Custom) Legallist (single-value) l Is Set

Atmosphere (Custom)
l Is not Set
l Is Updated
l Is not Updated
l Is Any of
l Is None of
<custom name>1 Legallist (multi-value) l Is Set

362
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Sample Attributes Attribute Type Supported Operator

l Is not Set
l Is Updated
l Is not Updated
l Equals (in any order)
l Does not Equal (in any order)
l Includes
l Does not Include

1 The default Asset Management data model does not provide a multi-value legal list attribute that is used in an object or EDL class. Using

multi-value legal list attributes requires customization.

Using the Is Set and Is Not Set Operator

Operator Supported Attribute Types
l Is Set l Collaborate: All (except Parent)
l Is not Set l Asset Management: All
l Production Management: All

The Is Set/Is not Set operators are very simple and require you to only select the operator and the attribute
for which the operator should apply.

The Is Set/Is not Set operators check if the value for the attribute is set/not set.

To use the Is Set and Is not Set operators:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select an entity.

2. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t Click the Add new condition button to use the operator for a new condition.
t Go to an existing condition to replace the used operator.
3. Select an attribute from the Attributes list.
4. Select the Is Set or the Is not Set operator from the Comparison Operator list.

Using the Is Updated and Is Not Updated Operator

Operator Supported Attribute Types
l Is Updated l Collaborate: All (except Parent)
l Is not Updated l Asset Management: All
l Production Management: All

The Is Updated/Is not Updated operators are very simple and require you to only select the operator and
the attribute for which the operator should apply.

The Is Updated/Is not Updated operators check if the value for the attribute is updated/not updated.

363
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To use the Is Updated and Is not Updated operators:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select an entity.

2. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t Click the Add new condition button to use the operator for a new condition.
t Go to an existing condition to replace the used operator.
3. Select an attribute from the Attributes list.
4. Select the Is Updated or the Is not Updated operator from the Comparison Operator list.

Using the True and False Operator

Operator Supported Attribute Types
l True l Production Management: Boolean, Phonetic
l False l Asset Management: Boolean, Phonetic

The True/False operators are very simple and require you to only select the operator and the attribute for
which the operator should apply.

The True/False operators check if the value for the attribute is "True"/"False".

To use the True and False operators:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select an entity.

2. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t Click the Add new condition button to use the operator for a new condition.
t Go to an existing condition to replace the used operator.
3. Select a Boolean attribute or Phonetic from the Attributes list.
4. Select the True or the False operator from the Comparison Operator list.

Using the Is Any of and Is None of Operator (Single Value Attribute)

Operator Type Attribute Types Predefined/Sample Attributes
l Is Any of Collaborate l Paragraph l Description
l Is None l Text l Title
of l Priority l Priority
l Status l Status
Production l Text l Name (Search), Description
Management (Common), Programme Title
(Custom)
l Number l Duration (Common)
l List l –
Asset l Text l Creator (Search), Description
Management (Common), Main Title (Custom)
l Number l Audio Track Count, (Custom),
(Integer) Canvas Height (Custom)
l Legallist l Asset Type (Custom), Atmosphere
(Custom)

364
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

The Is Any of/Is None of operators check if

l at least one of the provided values is found in the attribute value (as an exact match).
l none of the provided values is found in the attribute value.
Depending on the type of the selected attribute, two different input controls are displayed: a Value text
"pill" or a Value list.

For attributes of type Paragraph, Text and Number

For these attribute types, you type values that should apply in text boxes (pills).

To use the Is Any of and Is None of operators:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select an entity.

2. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t Click the Add new condition button to use the operator for a new condition.
t Go to an existing condition to replace the used operator.
3. Select an attribute of type Paragraph, Text or Number from the Attributes list.
4. Select the Is Any of or the Is None of operator from the Comparison Operator list.

5. Click the + (Add value) button.

An input pill is shown.

6. In the Value pill, type the value that should apply and then click outside the pill.
Values are not case sensitive.

7. (optional) To add another value, click the + (Add value) button and type the value in the Value pill.
You can add a maximum of 5 values. When you try to add a sixth value a message will appear.

8. (optional) To remove a value, click the x (Remove value) button in the Value pill.

365
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

For attributes of type Priority and Status (Collaborate), List (Production Management) and Legallist (Asset Man-
agement)

For these attribute types, you do not type values but select them from the configured lists.

To use the Is Any of and Is None of operators:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select an entity.

2. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t Click the Add new condition button to use the operator for a new condition.
t Go to an existing condition to replace the used operator.
3. Select an attribute of type Priority or Status, List, or Legallist from the Attributes list.
4. Select the Is Any of or the Is None of operator from the Comparison Operator list.

5. Click the drop-down arrow at the right side of the Value list.
6. In the list that opens, select one or more values.

7. Click outside the list.

8. (optional) To remove a value, open the Value list, deactivate the check box of a selected value and
click outside the list.

366
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Using Operators for Multi-Value Lists

Operator Type Attribute Types Predefined/Sample
Attributes
l Equals (in any Collaborate l Dropdown l Departments
order) l Resources l Sources
l Does not Equal (in l Resources
any order)
Production l – l –
l Includes
Management
l Does not Include
Asset Management l Legallist l –
(multi-value)

The Equals (in any order)/Does not Equal (in any order) operators check if the list of specified values
equals/does not equal the list of values in the attribute (ignoring the order).

The Includes/Does not Include operators check if at least a part of the specified value(s) is included/not
included in the attribute value.

Note the following:

l If you add more than one value to an Equals/Does not Equal operator, ALL of the selected values
must match for the condition evaluate to true.
l If you add more than one value to a Includes/Does not Include operator, you can decide if ANY or ALL
values must match for the condition evaluate to true.
To use the Equals and Includes operators:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select an entity.

2. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t Click the Add new condition button to use the operator for a new condition.
t Go to an existing condition to replace the used operator.
3. Select an attribute of type Dropdown or Resources or multi-value Legallist from the Attributes list.
4. Select the one of the above mentioned operators from the Comparison Operator list.

5. Click the drop-down arrow at the right side of the Value list.
6. In the list that opens, select one or more values.

367
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

7. Click outside the list.

8. (For Includes/Does not Include) Define how many values must match for the condition evaluate to
true: Click the Any or All button.

9. (optional) To remove a value, open the Value list, deactivate the check box of a selected value and
click outside the list.

Using the Contains and Does not Contain Operator (Single Value Attribute)
Operator Type Attribute Types Predefined/Sample Attributes
l Contains Collaborate l Paragraph l Description
l Does not l Text l Title
Contain
Production l Text l Name (Search), Description
Management (Common), Programme Title
(Custom)
Asset l Text l Creator (Search), Description
Management (Common), Main Title (Custom)

The Contains/Does not Contain operators check if at least a part of the specified value is contained/not
contained in the attribute value.

If you add more than one value to a Contains or Does not Contain operator, you can select how many
values must match for the condition evaluate to true: ANY or ALL.

368
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To use the Contains and Does not Contain operators:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select an entity.

2. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t Click the Add new condition button to use the operator for a new condition.
t Go to an existing condition to replace the used operator.
3. Select an attribute of type Paragraph or Text from the Attributes list.
4. Select the Contains or the Does not Contain operator from the Comparison Operator list.

5. Click the + (Add value) button.

An input pill is shown.

6. In the Value pill, type the value that should apply and then click outside the pill.
Values are not case sensitive.

7. (optional) To add another value, click the + (Add value) button and type the value in the Value pill.
You can add a maximum of 5 values. When you try to add a sixth value a message will appear.

8. Define how many values must match for the condition evaluate to true: Click the Any or All button.
9. (optional) To remove a value, click the x (Remove value) button in the Value pill.

369
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Using the Starts With and Ends With Operator

Operator Type Attribute Types Predefined/Sample Attributes
l Starts Collaborate l Paragraph l Description
With l Text l Title
l Ends With
Production l Text l Name (Search), Description
Management (Common), Programme Title
(Custom)
Asset l Text l Creator (Search), Description
Management (Common), Main Title (Custom)

The Starts With/Ends With operators check if the attribute value starts/ends with the specified value.

To use the Starts With and Ends With operators:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select an entity.

2. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t Click the Add new condition button to use the operator for a new condition.
t Go to an existing condition to replace the used operator.
3. Select an attribute of type Paragraph or Text from the Attributes list.
4. Select the Starts With or the Ends With operator from the Comparison Operator list.

5. In the Value text box, type the value that should apply and then click outside the text box.
This value is not case sensitive.

Using Date-Related Operators

Operator Type Attribute Types Predefined/Sample Attributes
l Before Collaborate l Date l Due date
l Before or l Date Time l Due date and time, End Date,
Equal Start Date
l After
l After or Equal Production l DateTime l Created (Search), Modified
Management (Common), Creation Date
l Between
(Custom)
l Today
l Tomorrow
Asset l DateTime l Created (Search), Modified
l Yesterday Management (Common), Air Date (Custom)
l Relative

Date-related operators check if the attribute value matches the defined date.

370
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To use the date-related operators:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select an entity.

2. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t Click the Add new condition button to use the operator for a new condition.
t Go to an existing condition to replace the used operator.
3. Select an attribute of type Date or Date Time from the Attributes list.
4. To define a date limit, do the following:

a. Select one of the following from the Comparison Operator list:

t Before
t Before or Equal
t After
t After or Equal
b. Click on the date in the Value field and select a date from the calendar picktool.

c. (Date Time only, optional) Type the hour and minute value.
5. To define a date range, do the following:

371
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

a. Select Between from the Comparison Operator list:

b. Click on the left date in the Value field and select a starting date from the calendar picktool.

c. (optional) Type the hour and minute value.

d. Click on the right date in the Value field and select an ending date from the calendar picktool.
e. (optional) Type the hour and minute value.
6. To use a predefined date value, select one of the following from the Comparison Operator list:

t Today
t Tomorrow
t Yesterday
7. To define a custom relative date, do the following:

a. Select Relative from the Comparison Operator list.

b. Define the operator for the relative date: Click the Last or Next button.
c. Define the unit: Click the Minutes, Hours, or Days button.
d. Define the value: Click in the Value box and type a value or use the up/down arrows at the
right side to increase/decrease the value.

372
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Using Number-Related Operators

Operator Type Attribute Types Sample Attributes
l Less than Collaborate – –
l Less or
Equal Production l Number l Duration (Common)
Management
l Greater
l Greater or
Asset Management l Number l Audio Track Count, (Custom),
Equal
(Integer) Canvas Height (Custom))
l Between

Number-related operators check if the attribute value matches the defined number.

To use the number-related operators:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select an entity.

2. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t Click the Add new condition button to use the operator for a new condition.
t Go to an existing condition to replace the used operator.
3. Select an attribute of type Number (Integer) from the Attributes list.
4. To define a number limit, do the following:

a. Select one of the following from the Comparison Operator list:

t Less than
t Less or Equal
t Greater
t Greater or Equal
b. Click in the Value field and do one of the following:
t Type a positive or negative number.
t Use the ArrowUp and ArrowDown controls to define a positive or negative number.
t To clear the input, highlight the value and press the Del or Backspace key.
The maximal value is 100000000000 (positive or negative).
5. To define a range, do the following:

373
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

a. Select Between from the Comparison Operator list.

b. Click in the left Value field and type a starting number.
c. Press the Tab key or click in the right Value field and type an ending number.

(Asset Management) Defining the Asset Type

When you add the entity Asset or Sequence to the rule, the rule will be applied to
l all asset types ("object classes") or
l all sequence types ("EDL classes")
defined in the data model of the selected Asset Management system.

You can restrict the rule execution to selected asset or sequence types, as described in the following
procedure.

In a default data model, only one sequence type named "EDL" is available. As long as your data model does
not contain customized EDL classes, you do not need to specify the sequence type and may just use the
entity Sequence. If you use customized sequence types, you might want to apply the below described
process for the entity Sequence.

To define the asset type:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the entity Asset.

In the Details panel, the Asset section is shown.

2. Click the Show all link.

An Asset Type fly-out window opens. It shows all object classes retrieved from the data model of the
selected Asset Management system.

374
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

3. In the Asset Type fly-out, select all desired asset types.

4. Click the Apply button (√).
In the Define Rule panel, the names of the selected asset types are shown on the entity card. In the
Details panel's Asset section, a blue counter shows the number of selected asset types.

Defining Actions
Define the parameters of the action to be executed in the action-specific section of the Details panel.
Depending on the rule type different actions are supported, as listed in the following table.

Rule Type Supported Actions

Collaborate l AM Orchestration
l Collaborate Notification
l Create Entity
l Update Metadata

375
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Rule Type Supported Actions

l Create Folder
l Add to Folder
l Notification
l Send to Playback

Production Management l AM Orchestration

l Create Entity
l Update Metadata
l Create Folder
l Add to Folder
l (Preview) Media Analytics (master clips only)
l Notification
l Send to Playback (sequence only)

Asset Management l AM Orchestration

l Create Entity
l Update Metadata
l Create Folder
l Add to Folder
l Notification

See the following topics:

l "Defining a Send to Playback Action" on page 378
l "Defining a Platform Notification Action" on page 381
l "Defining a Collaborate Notification Action" on page 382
l "Defining an AM Orchestration Action" on page 383
l "Defining a Create Entity Action" on page 385
l "Defining an Update Metadata Action" on page 389
l "Defining a Create Folder Action" on page 393
l "Defining an Add to Folder Action" on page 397
l "(Preview) Defining a Media Analytics Action" on page 400
For the input fields of the action specifications, you have specific options. See the following topics:
l "Defining the Input Type: Literal, Property or Expression" on page 401
l "Using Expressions" on page 403
Actions: Configuration and Back-End Workflow

The Rules Engine retrieves all available Action Engines. For each Action Engine, the Rules Editor retrieves the
Action Types to populate the list of available actions in the Rules Editor UI. An Action Type provides basic
information of an action along with a list of system types the action can be applied to. If an action depends
on systems, a system selection is displayed in the Rules Editor app’s Details panel for the Action.

376
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

When the user selects a system, the Rules Editor retrieves the Action Specification(s) for the selected system
and action type. For some actions types, such as Send to Playback, always a single Action Specification is
returned; for others, such as AM Orchestration, several Action Specifications can be returned. In this case,
the user will select one of the provided Actions Specifications.

An Action Specification defines the visual elements by providing labels, value types, and potentially default
values. With this information, the Rules Editor can display the layout of the Action’s section in the Details
panel. Optionally, an Action Specification may also contain a list of supported Entity Types, which indicate
the entities that can be combined in the same rule with the given Action. This helps the Rules Editor to
validate compatibility between Actions and Entities.

When a user selects a control representing a dynamic property (such as Profile), the Rules Editor retrieves
the related properties. In a case of STP profiles, not only the profile names but also their attributes (Device,
Resolution, …) get retrieved.

After a user populated all mandatory fields, the Rules Editor is able to save the Action configuration in the
rule. The Rules Editor only validates the mandatory flag of properties but does not validate dependent
fields, for example, if some of Boolean values (check boxes) need to appear in certain combinations only.
Such invalid combinations can only be detected by the Action Engines, when the Action is executed.

When matching a rule the Rules Engine reads the related Action Configuration, resolves expressions and
sends a corresponding Action Message to the responsible Action Engine. The Action executes the action, for
example by creating an STP job or Asset Management process.

Action Specifications

An Action Specification defines the visual elements by providing labels, value types, and potentially default
values. With this information, the Rules Editor can display the layout of the Action’s section in the Details
panel.

For all action types – except for AM Orchestration –, a predefined action specification is provided by Avid.
These action specifications cannot be altered. The Create Entity and Update Metadata action
specifications additionally provide a properties picker tool that lets you dynamically add properties to the
template.

For actions of type AM Orchestration, predefined action specifications are not provided by Avid. In case of
AM Orchestration, the Action Engine generates dynamically action specifications for each applicable Asset
Management process. The name of such an action specification corresponds to the Asset Management
process label and gets displayed in the Specification drop-down list. AM Orchestration action specifications
need to be configured. The following are required to create an action specification:
l A process model (created in Process Modeler, uploaded and activated in the Process Engine).
l All scripts that are required by the process model (uploaded into the script repository in
Orchestration Monitor).
l The corresponding process class with attributes in Datamodel Administrator.
l A specific Action (process creation) template defined in Datamodel Administrator.
– Template name: ACTION_<process class name>
– Supported properties: boolean, duration, float, integer, text, timecode, legal list
Not supported: date, datetime, time; multi-value, multi-value compound; thesaurus, master
data
l The corresponding process creation right (Processes/Create_<process class name>) assigned in Asset
Management User Manager to the user groups that are to be allowed to create the process.
For more information, see "Creating Action Templates" in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management
Process Reference.

377
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Auto-Fixing Changed Action Specifications

When you select a rule in the Rules and Items panel's RULES tab and changes in an action specification of
the rule are detected (for example, a property has been added to or removed from the action specification)
an “Action Specification(s) Changed” window will be displayed. The window lists all changes, as shown in
the following example.

The rule will be automatically adapted and saved. After that, the action specification in the rule is aligned
again. However, additional manual steps might be necessary to make the action valid, such as setting a
new mandatory parameter.

Click OK to close the “Action Specification(s) Changed” window.

Defining a Send to Playback Action

Action Supported Entities Supported Target System

Send to Playback l Collaborate (all, except Container l local Production Management

Item) system
l Production Management Sequence

Using the Send to Playback action you can define a rule that triggers sending the sequence to a playback
destination.
l Production Management rule: You provide the ID of the sequence to be sent to playback (field
Sequence ID). Alternatively, you can provide an expression that triggers the Send to Playback for the
entity (sequence) of the rule.
l Collaborate rule: Instead of providing the Sequence ID, you select a Drop Zone from the Sequence
property and thus, specify the drop zone onto which a sequence can be dropped for the entity (Topic,
Task or Assignment) defined in the rule (field Sequence). When the rule applies, the Action Engine
Collaborate retrieves the name of the drop-zone from the Sequence property, gets the entity that
triggered the action and the Sequence ID from the drop-zone; it then creates an action for the Action
Engine STP with the retrieved Sequence ID; the Action Engine STP finally executes the Send to
Playback job.

n In this release, only actions for one local system are supported.

378
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To define a Send to Playback action:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Send to Playback.

In the Details panel, the Send to Playback section is shown.

2. In the Details panel, select the Production Management system from the System list.
The template defined by the action specification is loaded. Note the different field shown for the
Sequence identification on the template for a Production Management rule (left) and Collaborate
(right).

3. Select an STP profile from the Profile list.

The list shows all profiles that are created for the system in the Workflow Settings app, Send to
Playback section. For more information, see "Working with the Send to Playback Settings" on
page 231.
Data in the read-only fields Device, Resolution, Video, Audio, and Workspace is read from the
selected profile.
4. (optional) Enable the following toggles if needed:
– Burn Graphics: Enable the toggle if your MediaCentral Cloud UX system is integrated with a
graphics management system, and you are sending a sequence to playback that includes
timed graphic elements that are to be embedded (“burn-in”) into the video stream.
– High Priority: Enable the toggle if you need the sequence to be transferred as quickly as
possible to the playback device.
– Overwrite: Enable the toggle if you want to overwrite any sequence with the same VideoID
already sent to the playback device.
5. (optional) If you don not want to keep the default Process Name, replace the default entry Action-
PM.STP. This is the name that will be shown for the process in the Process app.
6. Do one of the following:

379
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

t Production Management rule: Provide the Sequence ID.

Alternatively, create an expression that triggers the Send to Playback action for the sequence
of the rule.
a. Right-click the Sequence ID field and select Expression from the context menu.

b. Hover the cursor over the Sequence ID field and click the Edit expression button that is
shown.

c. In the Edit Expression - Sequence ID dialog box enter the following expression:
this.entityId

d. Click OK to close the dialog box.

The expression is shown as content of the Sequence ID field.

t Collaborate rule: From the Sequence list, select the name of the drop-zone where the sequence
can be dropped for Send to Playback. The list shows all available Collaborate attributes of
type " Drop Zone".
7. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify additional properties.
(Collaborate rule only) Hidden properties:
– Attachment Entity Id: Use this field to directly provide the ID of the sequence to be sent to
playback. If the Attachment Entity Id is set, the drop-zone selected in the Sequence list will be
ignored.
Identity impersonation:
Action Engine calls against the system defined by the Entity ID run under a dedicated identity
(account). By default, the user identity stored in the change event is used. You can change this
default behavior by selecting one of the following from the Identity list:

380
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

t System

The Action Engine uses the Sytem Identity (service account) to trigger actions on the selected
system.
t Trigger (default)

The Action Engine uses the user identity stored in the change event to trigger actions on the
selected system.
Enable the Fallback to System Identity toggle for cases where the change event does not
provide a user identity. Then, the system identity is used as a fallback. If the Fallback to
System Identity toggle is disabled, the Action will fail if the change event does not provide a
user identity.
t User
Then select a MediaCentral User Management (IAM) user from User list.

The Action Engine uses the specified user account to trigger actions on the selected system.
8. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.

Defining a Platform Notification Action

Action Supported Entities

Notification l all Collaborate

l all Production Management
l all Asset Management

Using the (platform) Notification action you can configure which user groups of the MediaCentral platform
User Management (IAM) should receive notifications.

n By default, up to 10 groups can be added to an individual notification action. This number might be
altered by the setting GROUP_MAX_SIZE of the configMap "avid-push-notifications-notification-
service-core". See "Configuring the Maximum of Groups for Notification Actions" on page 496.

When the rule applies and a platform Notification is sent, the configured users will receive a Platform
notification, as shown in the following example. For more information, see "The Notifications App" in the
MediaCentral Cloud UX User's Guide. Alternatively, an activity notification email can be send to the users.

381
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Sending platform notifications and emails can be enabled and disabled for each rule type in MediaCentral
Cloud UX > User Settings > Notifications by using the "Collaborate rule applies", "Production Management
rule applies" and "Asset Management rule applies" toggle buttons in the "Platform Automation" section.
Note that you cannot enable/disable rules for individual Production Management or Asset Management
systems. For more information, see "Configuring Notifications" in the MediaCentral Cloud UX User's Guide.

The following procedure describes how to provide input for fields of type "Literal" (default). See "Defining
the Input Type: Literal, Property or Expression" on page 401.

To define a Notification action:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Notification.

In the Details panel, the Notification section is shown.

2. In the Details panel, type a name in the Title field.

3. (optional) Type a message text in the Message field.
4. Select one or more groups which should receive notifications from the Destinations list. By default,
you can select up to 10 groups.
The Destinations list shows all user groups that are retrieved from the MediaCentral IAM.
5. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.

Defining a Collaborate Notification Action

Action Supported Entities

Collaborate Notification l Collaborate (all, except Container Item)

Unlike platform Notification Actions, where you directly assign user groups from the platform User
Management as recipients, Collaborate Notifications use the Collaborate attribute "Internal Contacts" to
define the recipients of the notification. To configure the Collaborate Notification action, you set one or
more attributes of type Internal Contacts as Destination. During rule execution, the Internal Contacts
(Employees) assigned to the entity configured in the rule (Topic, Task, or Assignment) are evaluated and a
notification will be sent only to them. The Internal Contacts of type "Freelancer" will not be notified.
Notifications are only possible for "Employees".

When the rule applies and a Collaborate Notification is sent, the configured users will receive a Collaborate
app notification, as shown in the following example. For more information, see "The Notifications App" in
the MediaCentral Cloud UX User's Guide.

382
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Sending Collaborate notifications can be enabled and disabled in MediaCentral Cloud UX > User Settings >
Notifications by using the "Automation" toggle button in the "Collaborate" App section. For more
information, see "Configuring Notifications" in the MediaCentral Cloud UX User's Guide.

The following procedure describes how to provide input for fields of type "Literal" (default). See "Defining
the Input Type: Literal, Property or Expression" on page 401.

To define a Collaborate Notification action:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Collaborate Notification.

In the Details panel, the Collaborate Notification section is shown.

2. In the Details panel, type a name in the Title field.

3. (optional) Type a message text in the Message field.
4. Select one or more internal contacts attributes from the Destinations list.

5. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.

Defining an AM Orchestration Action

Action Supported Entities Supported Target Module

AM Orchestration l all Collaborate l local Asset Management module

l all Production Management
l all Asset Management

In case of AM Orchestration, the Action Engine dynamically generates action specifications for each
applicable Asset Management process – each process for which a specific Action (process creation)
template has been defined in Datamodel Administrator. The names of these action specifications
correspond to the Asset Management process labels and get displayed in the Specification drop-down list.
Which fields are shown depends on the Action template configured for the specification. The following
procedure therefore only details the general steps that are required for all AM Orchestration actions.

The attributes that are shown when clicking the Advanced toggle button, are not part of the Action
template created in Datamodel Administrator but are added by the Action Engine to the action
specification.

n In this release, only actions for local modules are supported.

383
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

The following procedure describes how to provide input for fields of type "Literal" (default). See "Defining
the Input Type: Literal, Property or Expression" on page 401.

To define an AM Orchestration action:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the action AM Orchestration.

In the Details panel, the AM Orchestration section is shown.

2. In the Details panel, select the Asset Management module from the System list.
The Specification list is shown.

3. Select an action specification from the Specification list.

4. Specify values for the selected specification.
Which fields are shown depends on the Action template configured for the selected specification.
5. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify additional properties:
Hidden attributes:
– Attachment Entity Id: Use this field to directly provide an asset to be attached to the process. If
the Attachment Entity Id is set, the attached assets coming from the Rules Engine will be
ignored.
– External Id: After the Action Engine triggers an Action to start a process, it does not know the ID
of the process. This field can be used to identify a process later on (for example, for trouble-
shooting). In the Asset Management process model this is called “P_EXTERNAL_ID”.
Identity impersonation:
Action Engine calls against the system defined by the Entity ID run under a dedicated identity
(account). By default, the user identity stored in the change event is used. You can change this
default behavior by selecting one of the following from the Identity list:
t System

The Action Engine uses the Sytem Identity (service account) to trigger actions on the selected
system.
t Trigger (default)

384
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

The Action Engine uses the user identity stored in the change event to trigger actions on the
selected system.
Enable the Fallback to System Identity toggle for cases where the change event does not
provide a user identity. Then, the system identity is used as a fallback. If the Fallback to
System Identity toggle is disabled, the Action will fail if the change event does not provide a
user identity.
t User
Then select a MediaCentral User Management (IAM) user from User list.

The Action Engine uses the specified user account to trigger actions on the selected system.
6. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.

Defining a Create Entity Action

Action Supported Entities Supported Target Modules

Create Entity l all Collaborate l local and remote Asset Management

modules
l all Production Management
l all Asset Management

Using the Create Entity action you can define a rule that triggers the creation of an entity (metadata
object) in the database of the selected Asset Management module.

Although you can define the Create Entity action for any Collaborate or Production Management rule and
entity, creating entities in the Collaborate or any Production Management database is not supported.

This action lets you dynamically add properties once the template defined by the action specification is
loaded. A properties picker tool provides all properties of all asset and sequence types (object and EDL
classes) defined in the data model of the selected Asset Management module. You can add the properties
and provide their values as you want them to be populated on the new entity.

Note the following limitations:

l The properties picker tool is not restricted to the properties of the selected asset type but shows all
properties of all asset types defined in the data model; misconfiguration is not prevented.
l Independent of system type, read-only attributes will be filtered out and not provided in the
properties picker. This applies also to Date, Time, DateTime, compound and multi-value properties.
l The section only provides text fields or lists for providing input for added properties. You need to know
which kind of value (for example, milliseconds, frames, SMPTE TC) the system expects for the used
property. Refer to the CTMS properties documentation at
https://developer.avid.com/ctms/api/aa/resources/attributes.html.

385
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Generic Configuration Workflow

The following procedure describes a generic configuration workflow, which means that you provide input
for fields of type "Literal" (default). See "Defining the Input Type: Literal, Property or Expression" on
page 401.

To define a Create Entity action:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Entity.

In the Details panel, the Create Entity section is shown.

2. In the Details panel, select an Asset Management module from the System list. The System list shows
all connected local and remote Asset Management modules.
The template defined by the action specification is loaded. Note the Add/Remove button that is
shown at the bottom right corner of the section.

3. Select an asset or sequence type from the Entity Type list.

The list shows all asset and sequence types (object and EDL classes) defined in the data model of the
selected Asset Management module.
4. Type the name of the entity to be created in the Entity Name field.
The name you provide will populate the common Name attribute of the CTMS interface, which will be
mapped to the Maintitle property of the created asset or sequence.
5. Add properties:
a. Click the Add/Remove attributes button shown at the bottom right side of the Details panel.
b. In the property picker tool that opens, check the check boxes of the properties you want to
add.
You can use the Filter control at the top of the property picker to filter the list of displayed

386
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

properties.
c. Click outside the property picker tool.
d. Provide values for the added properties.
6. (optional) Remove added properties:
a. Click the Add/Remove attributes button shown at the bottom right side of the Details panel.
b. In the property picker tool that opens, deselect the check boxes of the added properties.
c. Click outside the property picker tool.
Alternatively, right-click an added property and select Remove from the context-menu that opens.
7. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and modify the identity impersonation settings if
needed.
Identity impersonation:
Action Engine calls against the system defined by the Entity ID run under a dedicated identity
(account). By default, the user identity stored in the change event is used. You can change this
default behavior by selecting one of the following from the Identity list:
t System

The Action Engine uses the Sytem Identity (service account) to trigger actions on the selected
system.
t Trigger (default)

The Action Engine uses the user identity stored in the change event to trigger actions on the
selected system.
Enable the Fallback to System Identity toggle for cases where the change event does not
provide a user identity. Then, the system identity is used as a fallback. If the Fallback to
System Identity toggle is disabled, the Action will fail if the change event does not provide a
user identity.
t User
Then select a MediaCentral User Management (IAM) user from User list.

The Action Engine uses the specified user account to trigger actions on the selected system.
8. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.
Sample Configuration

The following procedure describes a sample configuration for the following use case: When a new task is
created in Collaborate, an empty sequence (EDL) is created in a connected Asset Management module.
Information on the task should be written to the name of the EDL in the following form: "New Sequence –
initiated by Collaborate Task - <task name>".

387
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Reconfiguring the Entity Name field to type Expression is required.

(Sample workflow) To define a Create Entity action:

1. Select Collaborate in the sidebar.

2. Create or open a rule that includes the following:
– Trigger: Created
– Entity: Task
– Action: Create Entity
3. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Entity.
In the Details panel, the Create Entity section is shown.
4. In the Details panel, select an Asset Management module from the System list.
5. From the Entity Type menu, select EDL.
6. To define the name of the Entity that is to be created, do the following:
a. Right-click the Entity Name field and select Expression from the context menu.

b. Hover the cursor over the Entity Name field and click the Edit expression button that is shown.

c. In the Edit Expression - Entity Name dialog box enter the following expression:
"New Sequence - Initiated by Collaborate Task '" +
this.properties.title?.value + "'"

388
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

d. Click OK to close the dialog box.

The expression is shown as content of the Entity Name field.

7. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.

Defining an Update Metadata Action

Action Supported Entities Supported Target Systems

Update Metadata l all Collaborate l local and remote Production Management

systems
l all Production Management
l local and remote Asset Management
l all Asset Management
systems

Using the Update Metadata action you can define a rule that triggers the update of selected properties with
specified values in the database of a local or remote Production Management or Asset Management
system. Although you can define the Update Metadata action for a Collaborate rule, updating entities in
the Collaborate database is not supported.

This action lets you dynamically add properties once the template defined by the action specification is
loaded. A properties picker tool provides all properties of all asset types (object classes) defined in the data
model of the selected Asset Management system resp. all properties of the selected Production
Management system. You can add the properties and provide their values as you want them to be updated
on the entity.

Note the following limitations:

l The properties picker tool is not restricted to the properties of the selected asset type but shows all
properties of all asset types defined in the data model; misconfiguration is not prevented.
l Independent of system type, read-only attributes will be filtered out and not provided in the
properties picker. This applies also to Date, Time, DateTime, compound and multi-value properties.
l The section only provides text fields or lists for providing input for added properties. You need to know
which kind of value (for example, milliseconds, frames, SMPTE TC) the system expects for the used
property. Refer to the CTMS properties documentation at
https://developer.avid.com/ctms/api/aa/resources/attributes.html.

n The System you select is just to provide you a list of applicable metadata properties for better
guidance at configuration time. But the MediaCentral entity ID referenced or provided in the rule might
refer to a different system where these properties are not available. Design the action in a way that
ensures that the desired metadata of the entity gets updated in the correct system.

Generic Configuration Workflow

The following procedure describes a generic configuration workflow, which means that you provide input
for fields of type "Literal" (default). See "Defining the Input Type: Literal, Property or Expression" on
page 401.

389
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To define an Update Metadata action:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Update Metadata.

In the Details panel, the Update Metadata section is shown.

2. In the Details panel, select a Production Management or Asset Management system from the System
list. The System list shows all connected local and remote Production Management and Asset
Management systems.
The template defined by the action specification is loaded. Note the Add/Remove button that is
shown at the bottom right corner of the section.

3. In the Entity field, provide the ID of the entity to be updated in the following form (MediaCentral
entity ID):
com.avid.mediacentral-
entity:<systemType>:<systemId>:<entityType>:<type>:<id>

n The <entityType> can only contain an "asset" but not a "loc-item" or "taxonomy" reference.
Example of a Production Management masterclip asset:
– com.avid.mediacentral-entity:interplay-pam:44949444-ZZ44-4Y44-49X4-
44W4V444U444:asset:masterclip:49449444444444400000011114400505687T1SR000008888
8I00000Q0P444449
Example of an Asset Management video asset:
– com.avid.mediacentral-entity:interplay-mam:88080888-AA88-8B88-80C8-
88D8E888F888:asset:asset.VIDEO:80880888888888802022222224400505687G1HH000008
8888I00000J0K000008
4. Add properties:

390
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

a. Click the Add/Remove attributes button shown at the bottom right side of the Details panel.
b. In the property picker tool that opens, check the check boxes of the properties you want to
add.
You can use the Filter control at the top of the property picker to filter the list of displayed
properties.
c. Click outside the property picker tool.
d. Provide values for the added properties.
5. (optional) Remove added properties:
a. Click the Add/Remove attributes button shown at the bottom right side of the Details panel.
b. In the property picker tool that opens, deselect the check boxes of the added properties.
c. Click outside the property picker tool.
Alternatively, right-click an added property and select Remove from the context-menu that opens.
6. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and modify the identity impersonation settings if
needed.
Identity impersonation:
Action Engine calls against the system defined by the Entity ID run under a dedicated identity
(account). By default, the user identity stored in the change event is used. You can change this
default behavior by selecting one of the following from the Identity list:
t System

The Action Engine uses the Sytem Identity (service account) to trigger actions on the selected
system.
t Trigger (default)

The Action Engine uses the user identity stored in the change event to trigger actions on the
selected system.
Enable the Fallback to System Identity toggle for cases where the change event does not
provide a user identity. Then, the system identity is used as a fallback. If the Fallback to
System Identity toggle is disabled, the Action will fail if the change event does not provide a
user identity.
t User
Then select a MediaCentral User Management (IAM) user from User list.

The Action Engine uses the specified user account to trigger actions on the selected system.
7. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.

391
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Sample Configuration

The following procedure describes a sample configuration for the following use case: When a masterclip is
created on the Production Management system MUN-IE, its Comments property should be filled with
information on the name of the master clip and when it was created and by whom.

Reconfiguring the Entity field to type Expression, and adding the property Comments and reconfiguring it
to input type Expression are required.

(Sample workflow) To define an Update Metadata action:

1. Select a Production Management system in the sidebar. In this sample workflow, the system is named
MUN-IE.
2. Create or open a rule that includes the following:
– Trigger: Created
– Entity: Masterclip
– Action: Update Metadata
3. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Update Metadata.
In the Details panel, the Update Metadata section is shown.
4. In the Details panel, select a Production Management system from the System list. Make sure that the
source and target system are identical (MUN-IE in this sample workflow).
5. To define and reference the Entity that is to be updated, do the following:
a. Right-click the Entity field and select Expression from the context menu.
b. Hover the cursor over the Entity field and click the Edit expression button that is shown.

c. In the Edit Expression - Entity dialog box enter the following expression: this.entityId
d. Click OK to close the dialog box.
The expression is shown as content of the Entity field.

6. To add and define the Comments property:

392
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

a. Click the Add/Remove attributes button shown at the bottom right side of the Details panel.
b. In the property picker tool that opens, select the check box of the Comments property.
You can use the Filter control at the top of the property picker to filter the list of displayed
properties.

c. Click outside the property picker tool.

d. Right-click the Comments field and select Expression from the context menu.
e. Hover the cursor over the Comments field and click the Edit expression button that is shown.
f. In the Edit Expression - Comments dialog box enter or paste the following expression:
"Entity '" + ${name} + "' created by '" + ${creator} + "' at '" +
${created} + "'"

g. Click OK to close the dialog box.

The Update Metadata section will look like the following:

7. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.

Defining a Create Folder Action

Action Supported Entities Supported Target Modules

Create Folder l all Collaborate l local and remote Production Management

393
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Action Supported Entities Supported Target Modules

l all Production Management modules

l all Asset Management l local and remote Asset Management
modules

Using the Create Folder action you can define a rule that triggers the creation of a folder in the database of
the selected Production Management or Asset Management module. In case the folder with the name
specified in the rule already exists, no action is performed.

Note the following:

l If you have selected a Parent Folder and switch to another System, the parent folder will be cleared
and reset to initial state.
l If a folder saved in the Action has become invalid, the Parent Folder control shows the corresponding
message; the tool-tip of the warning icon in the Action header shows the parentFolderId of the invalid
folder.

Generic Configuration Workflow

The following procedure describes a generic configuration workflow, which means that you provide input
for fields of type "Literal" (default). See "Defining the Input Type: Literal, Property or Expression" on
page 401.

To define a Create Folder action:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Folder.

In the Details panel, the Create Folder section is shown.
2. In the Details panel, select the Production Management or Asset Management module from the
System list. The System list shows all connected local and remote Production Management and Asset
Management modules.
The template defined by the action specification is loaded.

3. To select a folder, do the following:

a. Select the parent folder from the Parent Folder list. The list shows all top-level folders of the
selected module. The following illustration shows the top-level folders of a selected Production
Management module.

394
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

The Parent Folder control shows the folders of the selected top-level folder.

b. Select a subfolder from the control. You can use the Filter control to filter the list of folders.
The control shows one of the following:
– The subfolders of the selected folder.

– The No values found message if the folder does not contain subfolders.

c. To navigate back, do on of the following:

t To navigate back to the top-level folders, click the X button in the control.
t To navigate upwards in the folder hierarchy, click behind the last folder name and delete
the subfolder name(s) by pressing the backspace key.
d. To confirm your selection, click outside the Parent Folder control.

395
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

The control is closed and the selected folder is set as Parent Folder.
e. To replace a set parent folder, click on the Parent Folder list, then click the X button in the
control and select another folder.
4. Type the name of the folder to be created in the Folder Name field.
5. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and modify the identity impersonation settings if
needed.
Identity impersonation:
Action Engine calls against the system defined by the Entity ID run under a dedicated identity
(account). By default, the user identity stored in the change event is used. You can change this
default behavior by selecting one of the following from the Identity list:
t System

The Action Engine uses the Sytem Identity (service account) to trigger actions on the selected
system.
t Trigger (default)

The Action Engine uses the user identity stored in the change event to trigger actions on the
selected system.
Enable the Fallback to System Identity toggle for cases where the change event does not
provide a user identity. Then, the system identity is used as a fallback. If the Fallback to
System Identity toggle is disabled, the Action will fail if the change event does not provide a
user identity.
t User
Then select a MediaCentral User Management (IAM) user from User list.

The Action Engine uses the specified user account to trigger actions on the selected system.
6. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.
Sample Configuration

The following procedure describes a sample configuration for the following use case: When a new
assignment is created in Collaborate, a folder is to be created in a connected Production Management
module. The folder will be created as subfolder in Projects/Platform Automation/Assignments, the name of
the assignment is to be set as folder name.

Reconfiguring the Folder Name field to type Expression is required.

396
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

(Sample workflow) To define a Create Folder action:

1. Select Collaborate in the sidebar.

2. Create or open a rule that includes the following:
– Trigger: Created
– Entity: Assignment
– Action: Create Folder
3. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Folder.
In the Details panel, the Create Folder section is shown.
4. In the Details panel, select a Production Management module from the System list.
5. From the Parent Folder menu, select Projects/PlatformAutomation/Assignments.
6. To define the name of the Folder that is to be created, do the following:
a. Right-click the Folder Name field and select Expression from the context menu.
b. Hover the cursor over the Folder Name field and click the Edit expression button that is shown.
c. In the Edit Expression - Folder Name dialog box enter the following expression:
this.properties.title?.value
d. Click OK to close the dialog box.
The expression is shown as content of the Folder Name field.

7. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.

Defining an Add to Folder Action

Action Supported Entities Supported Target Modules

Add to Folder l all Collaborate l local and remote Production

Management modules
l all Production Management
l local and remote Asset Management
l all Asset Management
modules

Using the Add to Folder action you can define a rule that triggers adding the specified asset to the specified
folder in the Production Management or Asset Management module.

n Both, folder and entity, need to be specified with an MediaCentral entity ID. Make sure that system
type and system ID are identical in both MediaCentral entity IDs.

Generic Configuration Workflow

The following procedure describes a generic configuration workflow, which means that you provide input
for fields of type "Literal" (default). See "Defining the Input Type: Literal, Property or Expression" on
page 401.

397
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To define an Add to Folder action:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Add to Folder.

In the Details panel, the Add to Folder section is shown. The template defined by the action
specification is directly loaded.

2. In the Folder field, provide the ID of the folder to which the entity is to be added in the following form
(MediaCentral entity ID):
com.avid.mediacentral-entity:<systemType>:<systemId>:loc-
item:folder:<folder id>
Example of a Production Management folder:
– com.avid.mediacentral-entity:interplay-pam:44949444-ZZ44-4Y44-49X4-
44W4V444U444:loc-item:folder:%2FProjects%2Fchicago%2F
Example of an Asset Management folder:
– com.avid.mediacentral-entity:interplay-mam:88080888-AA88-8B88-80C8-
88D8E888F888:loc-item:folder:11877
3. In the Entity field, provide the ID of the entity to be added in the following form (MediaCentral entity
ID):
com.avid.mediacentral-
entity:<systemType>:<systemId>:<entityType>:<type>:<id>

n The <entityType> can only contain an "asset" but not a "loc-item" or "taxonomy" reference.
Example of a Production Management Masterclip asset:
– com.avid.mediacentral-entity:interplay-pam:44949444-ZZ44-4Y44-49X4-
44W4V444U444:asset:masterclip:49449444444444400000011114400505687T1SR000008888
8I00000Q0P444449
Example of an Asset Management Video asset:
– com.avid.mediacentral-entity:interplay-mam:88080888-AA88-8B88-80C8-
88D8E888F888:asset:asset.VIDEO:80880888888888802022222224400505687G1HH000008
8888I00000J0K000008
4. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and modify the identity impersonation settings if
needed.
Identity impersonation:
Action Engine calls against the system defined by the Entity ID run under a dedicated identity
(account). By default, the user identity stored in the change event is used. You can change this
default behavior by selecting one of the following from the Identity list:

398
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

t System

The Action Engine uses the Sytem Identity (service account) to trigger actions on the selected
system.
t Trigger (default)

The Action Engine uses the user identity stored in the change event to trigger actions on the
selected system.
Enable the Fallback to System Identity toggle for cases where the change event does not
provide a user identity. Then, the system identity is used as a fallback. If the Fallback to
System Identity toggle is disabled, the Action will fail if the change event does not provide a
user identity.
t User
Then select a MediaCentral User Management (IAM) user from User list.

The Action Engine uses the specified user account to trigger actions on the selected system.
5. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.
Sample Configuration

The following procedure describes a sample configuration for the following use case: When a new
masterclip is created in a Production Management module, this masterclip is to be added to the folder
Projects/Platform Automation/New on the same Production Management module.

Reconfiguring the Folder and Entity fields to type Expression is required.

(Sample workflow) To define an Add to Folder action:

1. Select a Production Management module in the sidebar.

2. Create or open a rule that includes the following:
– Trigger: Created
– Entity: Masterclip
– Action: Add to Folder
3. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Add to Folder.
In the Details panel, the Add to Folder section is shown.
4. To define the Folder to which the masterclip is to be added, do the following:
a. Right-click the Folder field and select Expression from the context menu.
b. Hover the cursor over the Folder field and click the Edit expression button that is shown.
c. In the Edit Expression - Folder dialog box paste or enter the following expression:

399
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

"com.avid.mediacentral-entity:" + this.entity.systemType + ":" +

this.entity.systemId + ":loc-
item:folder:%2FProjects%2FPlatform%20Automation%2FNew"

n Values in the ID part must be encoded by percent encoding. For example, the slash
character is encoded as %2F.

d. Click OK to close the dialog box.

The expression is shown as content of the Folder field.
5. To define and reference the masterclip that is to be added, do the following:
a. Right-click the Entity field and select Expression from the context menu.
b. Hover the cursor over the Entity field and click the Edit expression button that is shown.
c. In the Edit Expression - Entity dialog box enter the following expression: this.entityId
d. Click OK to close the dialog box.
The expression is shown as content of the Entity field.
6. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.

(Preview) Defining a Media Analytics Action

Action Supported Entities

Media Analytics l Production Management master clips

Using the Media Analytics action you can define a rule that triggers a Media Analytics job, concrete: a
Transcribe operation.

Note the following:

l Only Production Management master clips are supported.
l Only the provider Avid Ada and the feature Transcribe are supported.
Triggering Transcribe jobs with Avid Ada requires a MediaCentral | STT Base Package license.
Since the Transcribe license is a quota license that tracks the number of hours of transcribed audio,
formulate the rule carefully. Consider defining Conditions for the entity in the rule. For an example, see the
Conditions defined in the default Transcribe rule, as described in "Importing Production Management
Default Rule" on page 339.

To define a Media Analytics action:

1. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Media Analytics.

In the Details panel, the Media Analytics section is shown.
2. In the Details panel, select a analytics provider from the Specification list: In this release, only Avid
Ada is supported.

400
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

3. Select the features that are to be processed from the Features list. In this release, only Transcribe is
supported.
4. Define the title of the Media Analytics job to be shown in the MediaCentral Cloud UX Process app by
using the Title field (type Expression). If you do not change the default, the Media Analytics job title
will be Analytics: <name of analyzed asset>
To change the default expression, do the following:
a. Hover the cursor over the Title field and click the Edit expression button that is shown.

b. In the Edit Expression - Title dialog box edit the expression. For example, change Analytics
to Transcribe.

c. Click OK to close the dialog box.

The changed expression is shown as content of the Title field.
5. Select the audio tracks that are to be processed from the Tracks list. The list shows the maximum
number of 16 audio tracks (A1-A16). By default, A1 and A2 are preselected.

n If you select more than one audio track, the tracks will be mixed down into one track for
transcription and a transcript for the mixed down audio track is created.

6. Do not use the Language list, which is reserved for future use.
In this release, the media analytics jobs run with language auto detection.
7. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button to save the rule.

Defining the Input Type: Literal, Property or Expression

In contrast to the input fields in other sections of the Details panel, the actions section allows you to switch
the input type of the displayed fields.

401
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Sample Use Case for Different Input Types

Example: For a notification, the Message field by default is a text field; here you can type a message that is
to be shown as notification text. If you do not want to provide a "hard-coded" message, you can change
the Message field to type
l "Property" and assign a property whose value will be shown as notification message text.

l "Expression" and formulate an expression that injects the value of a specified attribute as contents of
the notification message. An expression allows also to combine hard-coded text with values from
attributes.

In the following sample Collaborate Notification rule, all input types are used:

l "Title" is of type "Expression" and combines an expression that injects the Priority value with a text
message "Please Review" as the title of the notification.
l "Messages" is of type "Property" and a custom property attribute "Review Comment" is selected. The
value of the Review Comment attribute will be shown as message text.
l "Destinations" is of type Literal and - as defined by the action specification - an attribute of type
Internal Contact can be selected.
Switching the Input Type

When you hover the cursor over an input field or its label, to the left side of the label an icon indicates the
input type:
l Literal
l Property
l Expression
By default, input fields are shown as type "Literal." This means that the input control defined in the action
specification is shown for each field. You can change the input type for a field by using the field's context
menu. If a default value is available for a field, the field label is displayed in italic font. In this case, the
context menu additionally shows the option "Reset to Default" (for example, for the toggles and Process
Name field in a Send to Playback action). Double-clicking an italic label resets the field to its default value
and type.

402
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

n The option to switch the input type is only available if the action specification supports this feature.
When you change the input type of a field, you are not prevented from creating an invalid input.

To change the input type:

1. Right-click on a label or input field.

2. Select the input type from the context menu.
The currently applied input type is dimmed in the context menu.

– Literal: The input control defined in the action specification for the field is used.

– Property: The input field switches to a drop-down list. You can select a data model attribute
from the list.

– Expression: The input field switches to a read-only box. To enter an expression, click the Edit
expression button to the right. See "Entering an Expression" below.

To restore the original input type and default value:

t Right-click on an italic label and select Reset to Default from the context menu.
t Double-click on an italic label.
Using Expressions
Expressions let you inject the value of a specified attribute as contents of another attribute.

Entering an Expression
Before you can enter an expression, you must switch the input type of the desired field to type "Expression."

To enter an expression:

1. Right-click on a label or input field.

2. Select Expression from the context menu.
The input type for the field is set to Expression. An "Open dialog to enter an expression" placeholder is
shown in the field.
3. Hover the cursor over the field.
To the right side, an "Edit expression" button is shown.

4. Click the Edit expression button.

The Edit Expression - <field name> dialog box opens.

403
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

5. Enter or paste an expression in the field, as shown in the following example.

6. Click OK.
The Edit Expression dialog box is closed. The expression is shown in the field. If the expression text is
too long, its display is cut and ends in an ellipsis. Hover the cursor over the field to show the entire
expression in a tool-tip.

7. To remove an expression:
a. Hover the cursor over the field and click the Edit expression button.
b. In the Edit Expression dialog box, delete the expression text and click OK.
Expressions: Collaborate Examples
The following illustration and table explain expressions based on the attributes shown on a Collaborate
task.

404
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Attribute / Cat.* Expression to access the Example Value

Data type attribute

1 Title / Pred. ${title} Explain Expressions

Text Cust.

2 Description Pred. ${description} This is a text task to explain how

/ Cust. expressions look like for the different data
Paragraph types

3 Resources Pred. json(${resources}) ["c78e443b-8054-411c-b265-

/ Cust. bfe4a2c9a948","7859c2f9-8739-4fc5-
Resources 9842-5538b6609dda"]

${resources}?[0] c78e443b-8054-411c-b265-bfe4a2c9a948

string.join(",", array c78e443b-8054-411c-b265-

(${resources})) bfe4a2c9a948,7859c2f9-8739-4fc5-
9842-5538b6609dda

4 Internal Pred. json(${peoplelist}) ["862b267d-a959-41cf-b04f-

Contacts / Cust. 9a0ab773e92b","05ce03e5-7e12-4fe5-
Internal b785-723a30ae68cb"]
Contacts

${peoplelist}?[0] 862b267d-a959-41cf-b04f-9a0ab773e92b

string.join(",", array 862b267d-a959-41cf-b04f-

(${peoplelist})) 9a0ab773e92b,05ce03e5-7e12-4fe5-
b785-723a30ae68cb

5 External Pred. json(${contactpoints}) ["b5641bb3-03d4-4bc0-88f6-

Contacts / Cust. db2f6ec4288e","02db1d0b-1359-4f36-
External 9da8-be960b3d8b5e"]
Contacts

${contactpoints}?[0] b5641bb3-03d4-4bc0-88f6-
db2f6ec4288e

string.join(",", array b5641bb3-03d4-4bc0-88f6-

(${contactpoints})) db2f6ec4288e,02db1d0b-1359-4f36-
9da8-be960b3d8b5e

6 Tags / Pred. json(${tags}) ["Abc","xyz"]

Tags

${tags}?[0] Abc

string.join(",", array Abc,xyzx

(${tags}))

7 Due date / Pred. ${dueDate} 2024-02-29

Date Cust.

8 Due date Pred. ${dueDateTime} 02/29/2024 17:00:00

and time / Cust. Note that date time will be displayed as
Date Time UTC value.

9 Departmen Pred. json(${departments}) ["Business","Crime & Justice"]

t/ Cust.
Dropdown

405
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Attribute / Cat.* Expression to access the Example Value

Data type attribute

${departments}?[0] Business

string.join(",", array Business,Crime & Justice

(${departments}))

10 Status / Pred. ${status} Idea

Status

11 Priority / Pred. ${priority} High Profile

Priority

12 My Cust. ${sequencedropzone}?.sy interplay-pam

Sequence stemType
Dropzone /
Drop Zone

${sequencedropzone}?.sy DD481E2E-480B-4884-4D48-
stemID 48C484E3F484

${sequencedropzone}?.ty sequence
pe

${sequencedropzone}?.id 060a2b340101010101010f0013-000000-
0a3114005a420073-060e2b347f7f-d080

coid urn:com.avid:common-object:interplay-
(${sequencedropzone}) pam:DD481E2E-480B-4884-4D48-
48C484E3F484:sequence:060a2b3401010
10101010f0013-000000-
0a3114005a420073-060e2b347f7f-d080

- Parent / Pred. ${parentid} Not shown on the illustration. The ID of the

Parent parent (for a task, this is the assignment;
for an assignment, this is the topic).
5c0acc10-8281-46bd-bc16-a6fc22fe1cd9

* Category distinguishes: Pred. = predefined attribute; Cust. = custom attribute

Expressions: General Examples

The following table lists some general expression examples that can be used in Action fields.

Sample Expressions Meaning

fetchProperty(this, "myprop", _context) Fetch a property from the change event or

state

fetchEntityProperty("com.avid.mediacentral-entity:interplay- Fetch a property from the change event or

mam:AF4EA44D-D440-44D0-4444- state for a specific entity
DA0DD44C4444:asset:asset.VIDEO:12345", "myprop", _
context)

fetchEntityProperty(this.properties.otherEntityId?.value,
"myprop", _context)

this.properties.myprop?.value Fetch a property value from the event (only)

406
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Sample Expressions Meaning

this.context?.someproperty Get change event context property

getPrincipalAlias("<principal id>", _context) Get the alias for an IAM principal

"job for [" + this.properties.title?.value + "]" Combined string expression

fetchProperty(this, "myprop", _context) == "abc" && Expression with condition

this.properties.someotherprop?.updated ? "something has been
updated" : "not updated"

${myprop} == "abc" ? "ABC" : "something else" Expression with preprocessing token

${myprop.curr} + " - " + ${otherprop}

"Changed from " + ${myprop.curr} + " -> " + ${myprop.prev}

((string)${status}) == "Ready for Review" && If the status is Ready For Review and the due
((DateTime?)${dueDateTime})<= DateTime.Now.AddMinutes date and time is 15 minutes or less, set the
(15)?"Urgent":"Normal" urgency to normal

Expression Context
Change event access

The change event is available as variable "this". The properties of the change event can also be accessed
implicitly without the "this." prefix.

Execution context

The internal execution context (ExpressionContext) is available as variable _context.

Custom Expression Functions

In the Rules Engine context there are additional functions available for expressions.

Functions Meaning

array(<item1>, <item2> ...) Convert a list of values to an flattened array. Examples:

l array(this.properties.mylist?.value)?[0]},
l array
(this.properties.mylist?.value)?.FirstOrDefault()},
l array(this.properties.mylist1?.value,
this.properties.mylist2?.value)

createArray(<item1>, <item2> ...) Create an array from items in the expression (if an item is
an array itself it will not be flattened).

dynamic(obj) Convert value to dynamic. Should normally not be

necessary. dynamic(<value>). Example:

l dynamic(this.properties.myprop?.value).subprop1

fetchEntityProperty(string id, string name, Fetch the property value of an entity from state.
ExpressionContext context) Example:

l fetchEntityProperty("<some.entity.id>", "myprop",
_context)

407
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Functions Meaning

fetchProperty(ChangeEvent e, string name, Fetch the property value of the entity of the
ExpressionContext context) changeEvent. If present, use the value in the event,
otherwise try to fetch the property from state. Example:

l fetchProperty(this, "myprop", _context)

getPrincipalAlias(string name, ExpressionContext Get the alias for a IAM principal or if not found. Example:
context)
l getPrincipalAlias("<principal id>", _context)

getPrincipalId(string kind, string alias, Get the principal id for a user or group alias or if not
ExpressionContext context) found. Example:

l getPrincipalId("group", "<group alias>", _context)

entityId(object obj) Convert value to an EntityId. If the value is a string, it is

parsed as EntityId. If value is a structure, it should
contain the properties entityType, systemType, systemId,
type, id. Examples:

l entityId("<some.entity.id>"),
l entityId(this.properties.entityId?.value),
l entityId(this.properties.entityId?.value)?.ToString
()

coid(object obj) Convert value to an CommonObjectId. If the value is a

string, it is parsed as CommonObjectId. If value is a
structure, it should contain the properties systemType,
systemId, type, id. Examples:

l coid("<some.coid>"),
l coid(this.properties.myId?.value),
l coid(this.properties.myId?.value)?.ToString()

json(object obj) Convert object to json string. Example:

l json(this.properties.myprop?.value)

String Extension Methods

Methods Meaning

<input>.Matches(<pattern>) Regular expression match

*<input>.Like(<pattern>) Wildcard match

<input>.StringContains(<substr1>) Wildcard match

<input>.StringContains([<substr1>, <substr2> ...]) Wildcard match

Expression Preprocessing
The expressions are preprocessed to replace some special tokens with their actual values.

Preprocessing Meaning

${propName} Get the value of the property propName from the

408
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Preprocessing Meaning

=> fetchProperty(this, "propName", _context) change event or if not present fetch from state.

${propName.curr} Get the value of the property propName from the

change event.
=> this.properties.propName?.value

${propName.prev} Get the previous value of the property propName

from the change event.
=> this.properties.propName?.previousValue

Editing a Rule
You can edit the items and properties of a rule at any time. The following process details all editing options
for all rule types.

To edit a rule:

1. (optional) Temporarily stop event processing in the Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules
Engine Event Processing" on page 343.
2. Select the rule type from the app’s sidebar.
3. In the Rules and Items panel's RULES tab, select the rule to be edited.
4. Change the name of the rule: In the Details pane, replace the current name in the Rule Name field.
Rule names need to be unique. If you enter a name that is already used for another rule, the name will
be appended with a counter in brackets when you save the rule.
5. (optional) Click the Expand toggle button in front of Additional information and change the comment
in the Comment text box.
6. Change the status of the rule: In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t To enable a disabled rule, click the gray Enable toggle so it turns blue.
t To disable an enabled rule, click the blue Enable toggle so it turns gray.
7. Replace the trigger.
a. In the Define Rule panel, hover the cursor over the trigger, click the Delete button that is shown.

b. Confirm the security prompt by clicking Delete.

c. In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the trigger you want to add.

409
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

8. (Collaborate, Status Transition trigger) Change the trigger parameter.

a. In the Define Rule panel, select the Status Transition trigger.
In the Details panel, the Status Transition section is shown.

b. Select another status transition from the From list.

n Currently only the asterisk (*) is supported as valid value in the From list.
c. Select another status transition from the To list.
For more information, see "(Collaborate) Defining the Status Transition Trigger" on page 357.
9. (Collaborate, Linked/Unlinked triggers) Change the trigger parameter.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the trigger Linked or Unlinked.
b. In the Details panel, select another attribute of type drop zone from the Drop Zone list, as
shown in the following example.

For more information, see "(Collaborate) Defining the Linked/Unlinked Trigger" on page 356.
10. Replace the entity.
a. In the Define Rule panel, hover the cursor over the entity and click the Delete button that is
shown.

b. Confirm the security prompt by clicking Delete.

c. In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the entity you want to add.
11. (Asset Management) Change the asset type for the entity.

410
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

a. In the Define Rule panel, select the entity.

In the Details panel, the Asset section is shown.
b. Click the Show all link.
c. In the Asset Type fly-out, select other asset types.
d. Click the Apply button (√).
12. Change the conditions of the entity.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the entity.
b. In the Details panel, expand all conditions.
c. Change the parameters of a condition. You have the following options:
a. Change the attribute.
b. Change the comparison operator.
c. Add an additional value, change the value or delete a value (if supported by the selected
operator).
d. Change the match type (if supported by the selected operator).
d. (optional) Move a condition:
a. Hover the cursor over the condition header.
b. Click the Move up or Move down button that is shown. Condition 1 only shows the Move
down button, the last condition only shows the Move up button.

The condition is moved, and the condition counter is adapted accordingly.

e. (optional) Remove a condition:
a. Hover the cursor over the condition header.
b. Click the Delete condition button that is shown.

411
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

c. Click Delete in the security prompt that is shown.

f. (optional) Change the way how all conditions are to be combined by clicking the AND or OR
button.
For more information, see "Defining Entities" on page 357.
13. Add an action.
a. In the Rules and Items panel's ITEMS tab, click the action you want to add.
b. Define at least the mandatory properties of the action.
14. Delete an action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, hover the cursor over the action.
b. Click the Delete button that is shown.

c. Click Delete in the security prompt.

15. Change the parameters of an AM Orchestration action.

a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action AM Orchestration.
b. In the Details panel, select another Asset Management system from the System list.
c. Select another action specification from the Specification list.

412
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

d. Specify values for the selected specification.

e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify additional properties and identity
impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an AM Orchestration Action" on page 383.
16. Change the parameters of a platform Notification action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Notification.
b. In the Details panel, type a name in the Title field.
c. (optional) Type a message text in the Message field.
d. Select one or more Platform User Management groups which should receive the notification
from the Destinations list.
For more information, see "Defining a Platform Notification Action" on page 381.
17. (Collaborate) Change the parameters of a Collaborate Notification action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Collaborate Notification.
b. In the Details panel, type a name in the Title field.
c. (optional) Type a message text in the Message field.
d. Select one or more Internal Contacts attributes from the Destinations list.
Only the Internal Contacts (of type Employee) assigned to the entity set in the rule will receive
notifications.
For more information, see "Defining a Collaborate Notification Action" on page 382.
18. (Collaborate, Production Management) Change the parameters of a Send to Playback action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Send to Playback.
b. Select another STP profile from the Profile list.
c. Do one of the following:
t Collaborate: Provide another Drop Zone attribute for the Sequence.
t Production Management: Provide another Sequence ID.
d. (optional) Change the name of the process to be shown in the Process app.
e. (optional) Enable or disable the Burn Graphics/High Priority/Overwrite toggles as needed.
f. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify additional properties and identity
impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Send to Playback Action" on page 378.
19. Change the parameters for a Create Entity action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Entity.
b. In the Details panel, select another Asset Management system from the System list.
c. Select another asset or sequence type from the Entity Type list.
d. Provide another entity name in the Entity Name field.
e. (optional) Change the values of added properties.
f. (optional) Add properties and values.
g. (optional) Remove added properties.
h. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Create Entity Action" on page 385.

413
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

20. Change the parameters for a Update Metadata action.

a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Update Metadata.
b. In the Details panel, select another Production Management or Asset Management system
from the System list.
c. Provide another MediaCentral entity ID in the Entity field.
d. (optional) Change the values of added properties.
e. (optional) Add properties and values.
f. (optional) Remove added properties.
g. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an Update Metadata Action" on page 389.
21. Change the parameters for a Create Folder action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Create Folder.
b. In the Details panel, select another Production Management or Asset Management system
from the System list.
c. Select another parent folder from the Parent Folder list.
d. Provide the name of another folder in the Folder Name field.
e. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining a Create Folder Action" on page 393.
22. Define the parameters for an Add to Folder action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Add To Folder.
b. Provide the MediaCentral entity ID of another folder in the Folder field.
c. Provide the MediaCentral entity ID of another entity in the Entity field.
d. (optional) Click the Advanced toggle button and specify identity impersonation settings.
For more information, see "Defining an Add to Folder Action" on page 397.
23. (Production Management: Preview) Change the parameters for a Media Analytics action.
a. In the Define Rule panel, select the action Media Analytics.
b. In the Details panel, select other audio tracks from the Tracks list.
c. (optional) Change the title of the Media Analytics job to be shown in the MediaCentral Cloud
UX Process app by using the Title field (type Expression).
For more information, see "(Preview) Defining a Media Analytics Action" on page 400.
24. Click the Save button to save the rule.
If the rule shows validation issues, a Validation dialog box opens that summarizes the validation
issues. Click Save Anyway to save the rule with all validation issues, or click Cancel and resolve the
listed issues before saving again.
25. (if paused) Resume event processing in the Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules Engine
Event Processing" on page 343.

Duplicating a Rule
As an alternative to building an entirely new rule, the Rules Editor app allows you to duplicate an existing
rule to expedite the rule creation process.

n The Duplicate feature is only activated for a rule that has no unsaved change.
414
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To duplicate a rule:

1. In the Rules and Items panel, open the RULES tab.

2. Do one of the following:
t Right-click a rule in the rules table and select Duplicate in the context-menu that opens.
t Double-click a rule in the rules table, and in the Details panel click the Duplicate button.

A new duplicated rule is created and loaded into the Define Rule and Details panels.
– The name of the rule is "Copy <original rule name>".
– A new Rule ID is assigned to the rule.
– The rule is disabled.
– The rule is not saved yet.
3. (optional) Rename the rule and edit the items of the rule. See "Editing a Rule" on page 409.
4. Enable the rule.
5. Click the Save button to save the rule.
If you click Cancel, the duplicated rule is discarded.

Copying and Moving Rules

The Rules Editor app allows you to move or copy a rule from one Production Management or Asset
Management module to another module. This feature might be helpful when a rule is imported and
references a module which is not available in your setup.

Note the following limitations:

l Copying and moving rules is supported for Production Management and Asset Management modules
but not for Collaborate.
l You can copy and move rules only between modules of the same type (Production Management to
Production Management, Asset Management to Asset Management).
l You can copy or move rules from an offline module, but you cannot copy or move rules to an offline
module.
After you moved the last rule from an offline module, the entry of the unavailable module is removed
from the sidebar.
l You cannot copy or move a rule that has unsaved changes; in this case, you will be prompted to save
or discard your changes first.
To copy or move rules:

1. Select an Asset Management or Production Management module from the app’s sidebar.
2. In the Rules and Items panel, do one of the following:
t Select an individual rule.
t Use Ctrl+click to select several non-consecutive rules in the table.
t Use Shift+click to select several consecutive rules in the table.
t Select a rule and use Shift+ Arrow Up or Arrow Down key to select several consecutive rules in
the table.

415
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

3. Drag and drop your selection to the target module (that has the same system type) in the sidebar.
The Move/Copy to dialog box opens.

4. Do one of the following:

t To move the rules to the target module, click the Move button.
t To copy the rules to the target module, click the Copy button.
A progress indicator shows the progress of the move or copy operation.

If an error occurs during the operation, a message, as shown in the following example, opens.

In this case, the Move button is replaced by a Retry button. Click the Retry button to retry the copy or
move operation that has failed. The Move/Copy to dialog box stays open as long as the issues
persists. Click the Cancel button to close the dialog box if you do not want to retry further.

After the move or copy operation has finished successfully, the Move/Copy to dialog box closes.

416
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

– On Move: The Rules Editor UI still shows the Rules and Items panel of the source module. The
rules table is reloaded. In each moved rule, the System ID is adapted.
– On Copy: The Rules Editor UI switches to the Rules and Items panel of the target module. In
each copied rule, the System ID is adapted and a new Rule ID is set.

Exporting Rules
The Rules Editor app provides options to export rules. You can export the following:
l An individual rule selected in the Rules and Items panel or the rule that is currently being loaded into
the Define Rule and Details panels.
The export creates a single JSON file.
l Several rules selected in the Rules and Items panel.
The export creates a Zip file containing the selected rules as a separate JSON file.
l All rules.
The export creates a Zip file containing each rule of the system selected in the sidebar as a separate
JSON file.
Depending on your web browser's settings the following happens during the export operation:
l The rules are directly downloaded to the download location specified in your web browser’s settings.
l The Save As dialog box opens that lets you save the files to a selected directory.

n The Export feature is only activated for rules that have no unsaved changes.
To export an individual rule:

1. Open the Rules and Items panel and make sure that no rule has unsaved changes.
2. Do one of the following:
t In the rules table, right-click a rule and select Export from the context-menu.
t Double-click a rule in the rules table to open it in the Define Rule panel and click the Export rule
button on the Define Rule panel header.

The file is saved in JSON format. The file name is "rules-<time stamp>.json".
To export several rules at the same time:

1. Open the Rules and Items panel and make sure that no rule has unsaved changes.
2. In the rules table, do one of the following:
t Use Ctrl+click to select several non-consecutive rules in the table.
t Use Shift+click to select several consecutive rules in the table.
t Select a rule and use Shift+ Arrow Up or Arrow Down key to select several consecutive rules in
the table.
3. Right-click the selection and select Export in the context-menu that is shown.
The selected rules are downloaded as a Zip archive. The file name is "rules-<time stamp>.zip". Each
exported rule is included as a separate *.json file in the Zip archive. For the rules in the Zip archive,
the rule name, as set in Rules Editor, is used as file name. Invalid characters are replaced with
underscores in the file name.

417
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To export all rules:

1. Open the Rules and Items panel and make sure that no rule has unsaved changes.
The Export rule button is activated.

2. In the Rules and Items panel, click the Export all rules button.
All rules are downloaded as a Zip archive. The file name is "rules-<time stamp>.zip". Each exported rule
is included as a separate *.json file in the Zip archive. For the rules in the Zip archive, the rule name,
as set in Rules Editor, is used as file name. Invalid characters are replaced with underscores in the file
name.

Importing Rules
The Rules Editor app provides options to import previously exported rules. You can import the following:
l Individual rules (JSON files).
l Rules included in a Zip file (containing each rule as a separate JSON file).
During the import, you have options to define "enabled" and "overwrite" settings for the import rules.

n The Import Rules feature is context-independent, not restricted to the currently selected module. Rules
are imported according to the system type/system ID information stored in the exported JSON file.

To import rules:

1. (optional) Temporarily stop event processing in the Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules
Engine Event Processing" on page 343.
2. Select a rule type from the app’s sidebar.
3. In the Rules Editor header, click the Import Rules button.
The Import Rules dialog box opens.

418
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

4. Click the Browse button.

The Open dialog box opens.
5. Select the files you want to import: individual rules (*.json files) or rules in a *.zip file or a combination
of both. Multi-selection is supported.
6. Click Open.
The Open dialog box closes. The names of the files you selected are displayed in the Select Files field.
7. Define the "enabled" status of new rules (rules with new Rules ID).
t To disable new rule(s), leave the blue "Disable new rules" toggle enabled (default).
t To enable new rule(s), click the blue "Disable new rules" toggle so it turns gray.
8. Define if the imported rule(s) should overwrite a rule with the same Rule ID.
t To keep all rules and do not overwrite any rule with an imported rule, leave the gray "Overwrite
existing rules" toggle disabled (default).
If a rule with the same ID already exists, the rule will be imported as a new rule with a new ID.
t To overwrite each rule with the imported rule that has the same Rule ID, click the gray
"Overwrite existing rules" toggle so it turns blue.
If a rule with the same ID already exists, the rule will be overwritten by the imported rule.
In both cases, the name of the imported rule will be changed (appended by a counter in brackets) if
the rule name already exists.
9. Define the "enabled" status of existing rules (rules with no new Rules ID).

n The "Keep enabled status of existing rules" toggle can only be used as long as the "Overwrite
existing rules" button is enabled.
t To keep the "enabled" status as present in existing rules, leave the blue "Keep enabled status
of existing rules" toggle enabled (default).
t To overwrite the "enabled" status of existing rules, click the blue "Keep enabled status of
existing rules" toggle so it turns gray.
10. Click Import.

419
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

The Import Rules dialog box is closed. The rules are imported. If the currently selected rule
type/system is affected by the import, the Rules and Items panel is refreshed.
After the import, the properties of the rules might be altered as follows:
– Name: Appended by a counter in brackets if a rule with the same name exists.
– Rule ID: Kept or changed depending on the "Overwrite" setting during the import.
– Created on: will be set to the time of the import.
– Created by: will be set to the user who imported the rule.
– Modified on: will be set to the time of the import.
– Modified by: will be set to the user who imported the rule.
– Enabled status: Kept or changed depending on the "Disable new rules" and "Keep enabled
status of existing rules" settings during import.
11. (if paused) Resume event processing in the Rules Engine. See "Pausing and Resuming Rules Engine
Event Processing" on page 343.

Deleting Rules
The Rule Editor app allows you to delete rules at any time. Note that there is no undo for the delete
operation. Consider disabling the rule instead of finally deleting it.

To delete an individual rule:

1. In the Rules and Items panel, open the RULES tab.

2. In the rules table, do one of the following:
t Hover the cursor over the rule to be deleted and click the Trash icon that is shown.

t Right-click the rule to be deleted and select Delete in the context-menu that is shown.
A Delete Rule security prompt opens.

3. Do one of the following:

t Click the Delete button to permanently delete the rule.
The rule is removed from the RULES tab table. The Define Rule and Details panels are reset to
initial state.
t Click the Cancel button or press the Esc key to exit the deletion process.

420
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To delete several rules at the same time:

1. In the Rules and Items panel, open the RULES tab.

2. In the rules table, do one of the following:
t Use Ctrl+click to select several non-consecutive rules in the table.
t Use Shift+click to select several consecutive rules in the table.
t Select a rule and use Shift+ Arrow Up or Arrow Down key to select several consecutive rules in
the table.
3. Right-click the selection and select Delete in the context-menu that is shown.
A Delete Rules security prompt opens.

4. Do one of the following:

t Click the Delete button to permanently delete the rules.
The rules are removed from the RULES tab table.
t Click the Cancel button or press the Esc key to exit the deletion process.

Rules Validation
The Rules Editor back-end validates rules consistency on different levels. Rule validation information is
provided in all panels of the app. A rule is validated in the following cases:
l When you create or edit the rule
l When the rules table in the Rules and Items panel's RULES tab is reloaded
l When you save the rule

Rules and Items Panel: Rules Tab

In the left column of the RULES tab table a warning icon is shown for a rule in the following cases:
l The rule is missing a trigger
l The rule is missing an entity
l The rule is missing an action
When you hover your cursor over the icon, a tool-tip shows the missing items.

421
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Auto-Fixing Changed Action Specifications

When you select a rule in the Rules and Items panel's RULES tab and changes in an action specification of
the rule are detected (for example, a property has been added to or removed from the action specification)
an “Action Specification(s) Changed” window will be displayed. The window lists all changes, as shown in
the following example.

The rule will be automatically adapted and saved. After that, the action specification in the rule is aligned
again. However, additional manual steps might be necessary to make the action valid, such as setting a
new mandatory parameter.

Click OK to close the “Action Specification(s) Changed” window.

Define Rule Panel

When you hover the cursor over a warning icon in the Define Rule panel, a tool-tip informs you about
required configuration steps that have not finished in the Details panel yet.

Item Message

Trigger Status Transition The From or To property is not set.

Trigger Linked and Unlinked The Drop Zone property is not set.

Entity Summarizes warnings from all its conditions.

422
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Message

Action Collaborate l The mandatory field Title is not set.

Notification and l The mandatory field Destination is not set.
Notification

Action Send to Playback l There are no systems available.

l The system is not selected.
l The profile is not selected.
l The Sequence ID is not provided (Production Management) or the Drop
Zone attribute is not provided for the Sequence (Collaborate).

l The configured action is no longer in line with the action specification.

l The action specification is not available.

Action AM Orchestration l There are no systems available.

l The system is not selected.
l The action specification is not selected.
l The configured action is no longer in line with the action specification.
l An action specification is not available.

Action Create Entity l There are no systems available.

l The system is not selected.
l The action specification is not available.
l The Entity Type is not selected.
l The Entity Name is not provided.

Action Update Metadata l The system is not selected.

l The action specification is not available.
l The Entity is not provided.

Action Create Folder l The system is not selected.

423
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Message

l The action specification is not available.

l The Parent Folder is not selected.
l The saved Parent Folder has become invalid. The tool-tip shows the
parentFolderId of the invalid folder.
l The Folder Name is not provided.

Action Add to Folder l The Folder is not provided.

l The Entity is not provided.

Action Media Analytics l The action specification is not selected.

l The action specification is not available.
l The Features are not selected.

Details Panel
The Details panel shows warning icons in the item-specific sections. When you hover your cursor over the
icon, a tool-tip shows the reason for the warning.

Item Message

Individual Condition l The condition is incomplete (mandatory fields are not set).
l Attributes used in the condition do not exist any longer.
l A drop-down entry of an attribute does not exist any longer in the list of
drop-down values.

Entity header Summarizes warnings from all conditions.

Entity - Condition header Shows warnings for the individual condition, such as missing mandatory values.

Action Collaborate l The mandatory field Title is not set.

Notification and l The mandatory field Destination is not set.

424
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Message

Notification

Action Send to Playback l The system is not available.

l The system is not selected.
l The profile is not selected.
l The values of the selected profile cannot be loaded.

l The Sequence ID is not provided (Production Management) or the Drop

Zone attribute is not provided for the Sequence (Collaborate).
l The configured action is no longer in line with the action specification.
l The action specification is not available.

Action AM Orchestration l The system is not available.

l The system is not selected.
l The action specification is not selected.
l The configured action is no longer in line with the action specification.
l An action specification is not available.

Action Create Entity l There are no systems available.

l The system is not selected.
l The action specification is not available.
l The Entity Type is not selected.
l The Entity Name is not provided.
l Values of an added list property cannot be loaded.

Action Update Metadata l The system is not selected.

l The action specification is not available.
l The Entity is not provided.
l Values of an added list property cannot be loaded.

Action Create Folder l The system is not selected.

l The action specification is not available.
l The Parent Folder is not selected.
l The saved Parent Folder has become invalid.

425
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Item Message

The tool-tip of the warning icon in the Action header shows the
parentFolderId of the invalid folder.
l Parent Folder values cannot be loaded.

l The Folder Name is not provided.

Action Add to Folder l The Folder is not provided.

l The Entity is not provided.

Action Media Analytics l The action specification is not selected.

l The action specification is not available.
l The Features are not selected.

For more information, see "Issues Shown for Actions in Rules Editor" on page 435.

Validate on Save
When you save the rule it is validated and parsed. If issues are detected, the results of the validation are
summarized in a Validation dialog box. Validation issues are shown as warnings, parsing issues are shown
as "incomplete".

Do one of the following:

t Click Cancel and resolve the listed issues before saving again.
t Click Save Anyway to save the rule with validation issues. Items shown as incomplete, are removed.

426
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Using Rules of Unavailable Systems

If a Production Management or Asset Management system is offline or temporarily not available, its entry in
the sidebar is dimmed and its icon shows a red dot to the upper left side; instead of the name, the system ID
is shown. An entry of a unavailable system can also appear when an imported rule references an
unavailable system.

When you select an unavailable system in the sidebar, its rules are loaded in the Rules and Items tab but an
error message is shown. Click anywhere in the UI to close the message.

The Data Models pill in the header at the top of the Rules Editor app is colored red, and its health indicator
tool-tip shows the message"Data model information could not be retrieved for <Production/Asset
Management system ID>".

However, you can review the details of the rules and apply some limited actions.

UI for Rules of an Unavailable System

When you select the rule of an unavailable system, several controls are disabled.
l Rules and Items panel:
– RULES tab: Shows the full table with all columns; the Create a rule and Import Default Rules
features are disabled. In the context-menu of a rule, the Duplicate option is deactivated.
– ITEMS tab: Is disabled
l Define Rule panel:
– Shows the items of the rule in read-only mode.
– The Export rule button is enabled when you select a rule in the Rules and Items panel.
– The Save and Cancel buttons will be enabled after the "Enable" status of the rule has changed.
– The Duplicate button is disabled.

427
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

l Details panel:
– Shows the general section that lets you change the Enable status of the rule.
– Shows the Trigger/Entity/Actions sections in read-only mode.
Options for Rules of an Unavailable System
You have the following options for a rule of an unavailable system:
l Enable/disable the rule
l Display the rule's details in the Details panel
l Export rule(s)
l Copy or Move rule(s). See "Copying and Moving Rules" on page 415.
l Delete rule(s)
To change the Enable status of a rule:

1. In the Rule Type panel, select the unavailable system.

2. In the Rules and Items panel, select a rule.
3. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t To enable a disabled rule, click the gray Enable toggle so it turns blue.
t To disable an enabled rule, click the blue Enable toggle so it turns gray.
4. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button.
To export rules:

1. To export an individual rule, do one of the following:

t In the Rules and Items panel, right-click a rule and select Export from the context-menu.
t Load a rule in the Define Rule panel and click the Export rule button on the Define Rule panel
header.
The file is saved in JSON format. The file name is "<rule name>.json".
2. To export several rules at the same time, do the following:
a. In the Rules and Items panel, do one of the following:
t Use Ctrl+click to select several non-consecutive rules in the table.
t Use Shift+click to select several consecutive rules in the table.
t Select a rule and use Shift+ Arrow Up or Arrow Down key to select several consecutive
rules in the table.
b. Right-click the selection and select Export in the context-menu that is shown.
The selected rules are downloaded as a Zip archive.
3. To export all rules, do the following:
t In the Rules and Items panel, click the Export all rules button.
All rules are downloaded as a Zip archive.
To delete rules:

1. To delete an individual rule, do the following:

a. In the Rules and Items panel, hover the cursor over the rule to be deleted and click the Trash
icon that is shown.

428
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

b. Click Delete in the Delete Rule security prompt.

2. To delete several rules at the same time, do the following:
a. Do one of the following:
t Use Ctrl+click to select several non-consecutive rules in the table.
t Use Shift+click to select several consecutive rules in the table.
t Select a rule and use Shift+ Arrow Up or Arrow Down key to select several consecutive
rules in the table.
b. Right-click the selection and select Delete in the context-menu that is shown.
c. Click Delete in the Delete Rule security prompt.

Using the Category Other

The rule type Other shows rules uploaded to the Rules Engine that are unknown for the Rules Editor but can
be executed by the Rules Engine; for example, rules that have been created via the API.

n Usually this rule type is empty. Rules that are unknown to the Rules Editor are exceptions. However, if
existing, the Rules Editor makes these rules visible.

UI for Rules in the Category Other

When you select the rule type Other, the Rules Editor app shows a simplified UI.
l Rules and Items panel:

– RULES tab: Shows a simplified table with less columns (Name, Enabled, Modification Date); the
features Create a rule and Import default rules are disabled.
– ITEMS tab: Is disabled
l Define Rule panel:

429
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

– Does not show the items of the rule.

– The Export rule button is enabled when you select a rule in the Rules and Items panel.
– The Save and Cancel buttons will be enabled after the "Enable" status of the rule has changed.
– The Duplicate button is disabled.
l Details panel:

– Shows the general section that lets you change the Enable status of the rule.
– Shows a specific, read-only section JSON Data.
Options for Rules in the Category Other
You have the following options for a rule of type "Other":
l Enable/disable the rule
l Export rule(s)
l Display the rule's JSON in the Details panel
l Delete rule(s)

430
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To change the Enable status of a rule:

1. In the Rule Type panel, select Other.

2. In the Rules and Items panel, select a rule.
3. In the Details panel, do one of the following:
t To enable a disabled rule, click the gray Enable toggle so it turns blue.
t To disable an enabled rule, click the blue Enable toggle so it turns gray.
4. In the Define Rule panel, click the Save button.
To export rules:

1. To export an individual rule, do one of the following:

t In the Rules and Items panel, right-click a rule and select Export from the context-menu.
t Load a rule in the Define Rule panel and click the Export rule button on the Define Rule panel
header.
The file is saved in JSON format. The file name is "<rule name>.json".
2. To export several rules at the same time, do the following:
a. In the Rules and Items panel, do one of the following:
t Use Ctrl+click to select several non-consecutive rules in the table.
t Use Shift+click to select several consecutive rules in the table.
t Select a rule and use Shift+ Arrow Up or Arrow Down key to select several consecutive
rules in the table.
b. Right-click the selection and select Export in the context-menu that is shown.
The selected rules are downloaded as a Zip archive.
3. To export all rules, do the following:
t In the Rules and Items panel, click the Export all rules button.
All rules are downloaded as a Zip archive.
To show the JSON data of a rule:

1. In the Rule Type panel, select Other.

2. In the Rules and Items panel, select a rule.
3. In the Details panel, click the Expand toggle button in front of the JSON Data section.

431
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To delete rules:

1. To delete an individual rule, do the following:

a. In the Rules and Items panel, hover the cursor over the rule to be deleted and click the Trash
icon that is shown.
b. Click Delete in the Delete Rule security prompt.
2. To delete several rules at the same time, do the following:
a. Do one of the following:
t Use Ctrl+click to select several non-consecutive rules in the table.
t Use Shift+click to select several consecutive rules in the table.
t Select a rule and use Shift+ Arrow Up or Arrow Down key to select several consecutive
rules in the table.
b. Right-click the selection and select Delete in the context-menu that is shown.
c. Click Delete in the Delete Rule security prompt.

Troubleshooting
The purpose of this appendix is to provide information on tools and processes that can be used to identify
and resolve issues for Rules Editor, Rules Engine and Action Engines. See the following topics:
l "Issues Indicated by Rules Editor Health Indicators" on the next page
l "Unavailable Modules Shown in the Rules Editor Sidebar" on page 434
l "Issues Shown for Actions in Rules Editor" on page 435
l "What to Check if an Expected Rule or Action is Not Executed" on page 439
l "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for Troubleshooting" on page 441
l "Checking Kafka Topics for Troubleshooting" on page 443

432
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Issues Indicated by Rules Editor Health Indicators

The header at the top of the Rules Editor app provides you with a health check of the back-end components
that enable the functionality in the Rules Editor app. Issues are indicated by yellow or red color, depending
on the severity of the issue.

Yellow Rules Engine health indicator

Issue: The Rules Engine health indicator in the Rules Editor header is yellow.

Possible reason: Event processing in the Rules Engine has been paused.

Solution/Action: To resume event processing in the Rules Engine, hover the cursor over the orange Rules
Engine pill and click the Resume Rules Engine processing button in the tool-tip.

Red Rules Engine health indicator

Issue: The Rules Engine health indicator in the Rules Editor header is red.

Possible reason:
l The Rules Engine is not accessible.
l The Rules Editor App cannot retrieve rules from the Rules Engine.
Solution/Action: In Kubernetes dashboard search for the deployment avid-platform-rulesengine-
rulesengine and check the status and log files. See "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for Troubleshooting"
on page 441.

Yellow Action Engines health indicator

Issue: The Action Engines health indicator in the Rules Editor header is yellow.

Possible reason: One of the registered Action Engines is in error state.

Solution/Action: In Kubernetes dashboard search for the deployment of the Action Engine and check the
status and log files. See "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for Troubleshooting" on page 441.

Red Action Engines health indicator

Issue: The Action Engines health indicator in the Rules Editor header is red. The fly-out menu shows "No
Action Engine found".

Possible reason:
l The Rules Engine is not accessible and thus cannot provide information on the registered Action
Engines.
l Not all required platform automation components are deployed and are running properly.
Solution/Action: Check the deployment and status of the involved components in Kubernetes dashboard.
See "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for Troubleshooting" on page 441.

Red Data Models health indicator

Issue: The Data Models health indicator is red.

Possible reason: Attributes cannot be retrieved for the selected module.

433
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Solution/Action: Check if the Asset Management/Production Management module is up and running.

l For Asset Management, you might want to check the Services view in the Asset Management Control
Center. See "Working with the Services View" in the MediaCentral | Asset Management Control
Center User's Guide.

Unavailable Modules Shown in the Rules Editor Sidebar

The following issue might be indicated in the Rules Editor sidebar.

Asset Management/Production Management: Modules shown as unavailable

Issue: The Rules Editor sidebar shows the module as unavailable (dimmed entry, ID shown instead of the
system name). The Data Models pill in the Rules Editor header shows a “Data model could not be retrieved
for <system ID>” error.

Possible reason:
l The module is offline or temporarily not available.
l One or more imported rules references an unavailable module.
Solution/Action: Consider moving the rules to an available module or copying the rules and later deleting
the rules from the unavailable module.

n Elements of the rule (properties, system references) might not be available on the target module.
Therefore, a copied/moved rule might become invalid. Check the rules after copying/moving.

1. Copy or move the rules to an available module. See"Copying and Moving Rules" on page 415.
After you moved the last rule from an unavailable module, the unavailable module entry is removed
from the sidebar.
2. Check the Conditions of the copied/moved rules:
a. Properties used for Conditions might not be available in the data model of the target module.
Check and modify if necessary.
b. Asset Management only: An Asset Type used for the Entity might not be available in the data
model of the target module. Check and modify if necessary.
3. Check and modify the Actions of the copied/moved rules if needed:
a. Some actions for Asset Management/Production Management are related to dedicated module
instances (Send to Playback, AM Orchestration, Create Entity, Create Folder, Update
Metadata): check and modify the used module references.
b. Some actions for Asset Management/Production Management might use properties that are
not available in the data model of the target module (AM Orchestration, Create Entity, Update
Metadata): check and modify the properties if needed.
c. AM Orchestration actions require that specific Action (process creation) templates have been
defined in Asset Management Datamodel Administrator: check the Asset Management data
model on the target module if the corresponding ACTION_<process class name> templates are
available. See "Action Specifications" on page 377.

Sidebar shows an unavailable Production Management module with ID consisting only of zeros

Issue: An unavailable Production Management module with a dummy ID 00000000-0000-0000-0000-

000000000000 is shown in the sidebar. The module shows 1 rule.

434
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Possible reason: This is expected behavior after the import of the Production Management default rule "
[Transcribe] PM Masterclip - empty". See "Importing Production Management Default Rule" on page 339.

Solution/Action: Move the default rule to an available Production Management module. The unavailable
module entry 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 is then removed from the sidebar.

Issues Shown for Actions in Rules Editor

The Rules Editor back-end validates rules consistency on different levels. Rule validation information is
provided in all panels of the app. The following issues might be indicated.

Action Create Entity

No systems available

Issue: The Action shows a “There are no systems available” error.

Possible reason: The CTC service of all connected Asset Management modules are not available.

Solution/Action: Check the status of the service MAMAssetsCTC on the all connected Asset Management
modules (Control Center > Services view).

System not available

Issue: The Action shows a “Selected system not available” error.

Possible reason: The CTC service of the source module is not available.

Solution/Action: Check the status of the service MAMAssetsCTC service on the Asset Management module
(Control Center > Services view).

Action Specification not available

Issue: The Action shows a "Failed to load specification" error.

Possible reason: The CTC service of the source module is not available.

Solution/Action: Click the Reload button to the right side of the message.

If this does not help, check if the respective CTC service is in proper state: Check the status of the service
MAMAssetsCTC service on the Asset Management module (Control Center > Services view).

Values of list property cannot be loaded

Issue: The Action shows a “Failed to load values” error for a list property.

Possible reason: The CTC service of the source module is not available.

Solution/Action: Click the Reload button to the right side of the message.

If this does not help, check if the respective CTC service is in proper state: Check the status of the service
MAMAssetsCTC service on the Asset Management module (Control Center > Services view).

435
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Action Create Folder

No systems available

Issue: The Action shows a “There are no systems available” error.

Possible reason: The respective CTC service of all connected Asset Management and Production
Management modules are not available.

Solution/Action: Check the status of the respective CTC services:

l Asset Management: Check for the status of the service MAMAssetsCTC on the Asset Management
modules (Control Center > Services view).
l Production Management: Check for the status of the service avid-pam-ctc on the MediaCentral
platform.

System not available

Issue: The Action shows a “Selected system not available” error.

Possible reason: The CTC service of the source module is not available.

Solution/Action: Check the status of the respective CTC service:

l Asset Management: Check for the service MAMAssetsCTC service on the Asset Management module
(Control Center > Services view).
l Production Management: Check for the service avid-pam-ctc service on the MediaCentral platform.

Invalid value for Parent Folder

Issue: The Action Create Folder shows “Invalid value. Please select a new value” for the Parent Folder.

Possible reason: The folder has been deleted or moved.

Solution/Action: Select a valid folder from the Parent Folder control.

Failed to load Parent Folder values

Issue: The Action Create Folder shows “Failed to load values” for the Parent Folder.

Possible reason: The CTC service of the source module is not available.

Solution/Action: Click the Reload button to the right side of the message.

If this does not help, check if the respective CTC services are in proper state:
l Asset Management: Check for the service MAMAssetsCTC service on the Asset Management module
(Control Center > Services view).
l Production Management: Check for the service avid-pam-ctc service on the MediaCentral platform.

Action Update Metadata

No systems available

Issue: The Action shows a “There are no systems available” error.

436
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Possible reason: The respective CTC service of all connected Asset Management and Production
Management modules are not available.

Solution/Action: Check the status of the respective CTC services:

l Asset Management: Check for the status of the service MAMAssetsCTC on the Asset Management
modules (Control Center > Services view).
l Production Management: Check for the status of the service avid-pam-ctc on the MediaCentral
platform.

System not available

Issue: The Action shows a “Selected system not available” error.

Possible reason: The CTC service of the source module is not available.

Solution/Action: Check the status of the respective CTC service:

l Asset Management: Check for the service MAMAssetsCTC service on the Asset Management module
(Control Center > Services view).
l Production Management: Check for the service avid-pam-ctc service on the MediaCentral platform.

Action Specification not available

Issue: The Action shows a "Failed to load specification" error.

Possible reason: The CTC service of the source module is not available.

Solution/Action: Click the Reload button to the right side of the message.

If this does not help, check if the respective CTC services are in proper state:
l Asset Management: Check for the service MAMAssetsCTC service on the Asset Management system
(Control Center > Services view).
l Production Management: Check for the service avid-pam-ctc service on the MediaCentral platform.

Values of list property cannot be loaded

Issue: The Action shows a “Failed to load values” error for a list property.

Possible reason: The CTC service of the source module is not available.

Solution/Action: Click the Reload button to the right side of the message.

If this does not help, check if the respective CTC services are in proper state:
l Asset Management: Check for the service MAMAssetsCTC service on the Asset Management module
(Control Center > Services view).
l Production Management: Check for the service avid-pam-ctc service on the MediaCentral platform.

Action Media Analytics

Action Specification not available

Issue: The Action shows a "Failed to load specification" error.

Possible reason: The Action Engine or required action provider Avid Ada is not deployed or not running.

437
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Solution/Action: Check the deployment and status of the involved components in Kubernetes dashboard.
See "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for Troubleshooting" on page 441.

Action AM Orchestration
System not available

Issue: The Action shows a “Selected system not available” error.

Possible reason: The CTC service of the source module is not available.

Solution/Action: Check the status of the respective service MAMOrchestrationCTC on the Asset
Management module (Control Center > Services view).

Action Specification not available

Issue: The Action shows an error “Action default specification not available” (tool-tip) resp. "Failed to load
specification" (details).

Possible reason: For actions of type AM Orchestration, predefined action specifications are not provided by
Avid but must be configured on each connected Asset Management module. On the referenced Asset
Management module, no action specification has been configured.

Solution/Action: Configure at least one AM Orchestration action specification. See "Action Specifications"
on page 377.

Action Send to Playback

System not available

Issue: The Action shows a “Selected system not available” error.

Possible reason: The CTC service of the source module is not available.

Solution/Action: Check the status of the service avid-pam-ctc on the MediaCentral platform.

Values of profile cannot be loaded

Issue: The Action shows a “The values of the selected profile cannot be loaded” error.

Possible reason:

1. The service providing the Send to Playback profiles is not deployed or running.
2. The Send to Playback profile does not exist or has errors.
Solution/Action:

1. Check the service ‘Avid Media Services’ in Kubernetes. See "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for
Troubleshooting" on page 441.
2. Check the profile in the MediaCentral Cloud UX Administration > Workflow Settings > Send to
Playback. For more information, see "Working with the Send to Playback Settings" on page 231.

The Rules Editor does not show the expected action

Issue: In the Rules Editor's ITEMS pane, I do not see all actions.

438
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Possible reason:

1. The selected rule type does not support this action type.
2. The necessary Action Engine is not deployed or running correctly. Consider especially the following
Action Engines that are only deployed with optional feature packs:
– Action Engine PM-STP (feature pack ae-pm-stp): required if you want to create Send to
Playback actions in rules for Production Management.
– Action Engine AM-Orchestration (feature pack: ae-am-orchestration): required if you want to
create AM Orchestration actions.
Solution/Action:

1. Check if the rules type supports this action. See "Defining Actions" on page 375.
2. Check in Kubernetes if all Action Engines are running correctly. See "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard
for Troubleshooting" on page 441.

What to Check if an Expected Rule or Action is Not Executed

In case a rule or an action, as part of an Platform Automation rule, is not executed, the following section
might be helpful to resolve the issue.

Check the Rule in the Rules Editor

Review the following:

l Is the rule enabled?
The Enabled status (green check mark) is directly shown on the Rules and Items panel table.
l Is the rule still valid?
Check if warnings are shown for elements of the rule.
l Are configured conditions valid?
Check if warnings are shown for conditions in the Details panel.
l Was the rule imported or moved and references an unavailable module?
Check the Rules Editor sidebar for unavailable modules and if the rule belongs to such a module.
If the rule was imported or moved, check the Action of the rule if the referenced module is valid.
Check Events

Consider reviewing the following:

l The rule has not been executed because no change events to trigger the rule are being created.
Check the Kafka topic "avid.changes" if change events are being created. See "Checking Kafka
Topics for Troubleshooting" on page 443.
l Check the log files of the related Change Event Agents. See "Upstream Source System Services" on
the next page.
l For Production Management and Asset Management rules: Check the mode of the Change Event
Agent (platform service avid-change-event-agent), which recognizes events and creates entries in
the Kafka topic avid.changes. The Rules Engine triggers actions based on those entries.
By default, the Change Event Agent operates in “phonetic only” mode. In the Kubernetes dashbaord,
check if the configMap setting AVID_CHANGE_EVENT_AGENT_SEND_ONLY_PHONETIC for avid-
change-event-agent-search-rulesengine has been changed to "false".

439
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

l For Production Management and Asset Management rules: Check if the Search is working properly:
For example, if your rule is triggered by the creation of an entity, go to the MediaCentral UX Search
app and submit a search with filter “Created” on the respective Production Management/Asset
Management system. Then, check if the entiy that triggers your rule show up in the search results.
Check for Incorrect or not Working Services

Possibly a relevant service in the “messaging chain” is not working properly and prevents the execution of
the respective action. To resolve this issue, review the following.

Rules Engine and Respective Action Engines

l Are the services (avid-platform-rulesengine, avid-platform-ae-*) up and running?

Check their status in Kubernetes Dashboard. See "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for
Troubleshooting" on the next page
l Are the services connected to Kafka?
If there are issues, normally you will see this in the log files. See "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for
Troubleshooting" on the next page
Alternatively, the connectivity status can also be viewed by using a Kafka Client.

Upstream Source System Services

l Are the services up and running?

Check their status in Kubernetes Dashboard. See "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for
Troubleshooting" on the next page
l Are the services connected to Kafka?
If there are issues, normally you will see this in the log files. See "Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for
Troubleshooting" on the next page
Alternatively, the connectivity status can also be viewed by using a Kafka Client.
l For Production Management and Asset Management: Check the configuration of the source system
for “phonetic indexing” and the MediaCentral platform service avid-change-event-agent.
– Asset Management service SyncCentralIndex: This is a service running on the Asset
Management host, not on the MediaCentral Platform. Publishes information about entity
changes to the search topic avid.search.interplay--mam.<SYSTEM-ID>.
Only publishes “phonetic manifest” information if the configuration setting
“PhoneticIndexing/Enabled” is set to “true” (Asset Management Control Center >
Configuration Profiles view > profile SyncCentralIndex).
If this setting is set to "false" and the avid-change-event-agent is configured to react only on
“phonetic only” (default mode), no events will be created.
– Production Management: platform service avid-pam-search-connector-production: Publishes
information about entity changes to the search topic avid.search.interplay--pam.<SYSTEM-ID>
– Platform Service avid-change-event-agent: Transforms and republishes the event to the Kafka
topic avid.changes.
Reacts on “phonetic only” in default mode. Can be controlled by the configMap setting AVID_
CHANGE_EVENT_AGENT_SEND_ONLY_PHONETIC [true|false].
l Collaborate:

440
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

– Rule with Topic, Assignment or Task entities:

– Service avid-ca-items: Sends notification in case of entity changes (for example, a user
modifies an attribute in the UI).
– Service avid-ca-pa-connector: Transforms and republishes the event to the Kafka topic
avid.changes.
– Rule with Container Item entity:
– Service avid-ca-container-aggregator: Sends notification in case of entity changes (for
example, a new asset is dropped to a container.)
– Service avid-ca-container-pa-connector: Transforms and republishes the event to the
Kafka topic avid.changes.

Using the Kubernetes Dashboard for Troubleshooting

Use the Kubernetes Dashboard to check if a platform automation component is deployed and running, and
to monitor the log files.

Components

The following components are part of the Platform Automation:

Name Feature Deployment (Kubernetes)

Rules Engine rulesengine avid-platform-rulesengine-rulesengine

Action Engines

The following Action Engines are part of the Platform Automation:

Name Actions Feature Deployment (Kubernetes)

Action Engine Core1 <none> ae-core <none>

Action Engine AM- AM Orchestration ae-am-orchestration avid-platform-ae-am-

Orchestration orchestration-ae-am-orchestration

Action Engine Collaborate ae-collaborate avid-platform-ae-collaborate-ae-

Collaborate Notification collaborate

Send to Playback

Action Engine CTMS Create Entity ae-ctms avid-platform-ae-ctms-ae-ctms

Update Metadata

Create Folder

Add To Folder

Action Engine Media Media Analytics ae-mediaanalytics avid-platform-ae-mediaanalytics-

Analytics ae-mediaanalytics

Action Engine Notification ae-notification avid-platform-ae-notification-ae-

Notification notification

Action Engine PM-STP Send to Playback ae-pm-stp avid-platform-ae-pm-stp-ae-pm-

stp

1 Central settings for Action Engines. Is deployed with first deployment of any Action Engine.

441
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

To use the Kubernetes Dashboard:

1. Log in to the Kubernetes Dashboard of the platform host.

For more information, see "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.
2. Search for the Deployment you want to check (see table above).
3. Check if the Deployment appears in the list.
If the Component is not shown under Deployments, the component is probably not deployed on this
host.
4. Check if a specific service component is running: Search for the name, then check if the Deployment
and it’s instances (Pods) are running.

5. Check the log file that contains details about a component: Search for the Component and look for a
matching pod to show it’s logfile.

For more information, see "Collecting Logs Through the Dashboard" on page 522.
6. If an error is shown for the pod, consider deleting the pod.
Kubernetes recognizes the change and initiates the creation of a new pod to take its place.
For more information, see "Deleting a Pod" on page 520.
7. If the Deployment is marked red with an error, it may help to restart the component. You can do this
by deleting all pods of the component. Kubernetes will start new instances of the service (as many as
defined in the Deployment).

c Make sure that you only delete the pods. Do not delete the Config Maps, Deployments, or other.
For more information, see "Deleting a Pod" on page 520.

442
 15 Using the Rules Editor App

Checking Kafka Topics for Troubleshooting

The Platform Automation is designed as an asynchronous, event driven, messaging system. Services are
communicating by exchanging messages via Kafka.

For troubleshooting it can help to evaluate the messages populated to the respective Kafka topic. A Kafka
client can be used for this purpose. The following Kafka topics are relevant in context of the Platform
Automation:

avid.changes

Source systems, such as Asset Management or Production Management, are signalizing changes by
populating a “change event” to the avid.changes topic. The Rules Engine picks up these events, checks for
matching rules and triggers a respective action by sending an event to the avid.actionengine.commands
topic.

Evaluating messages of this topic can help to troubleshoot in case an expected rule action is not executed.
l If the respective change event is present, check the rule configuration and downstream services
(Rules Engine, Action Engines).
l If the respective change event is not present, check upstream services (avid-change-event-agent,
Asset Management, Production Management, Collaborate services).
avid.actionengine.commands

Action Engine services are processing relevant messages of this topic.

avid.actionengine.status

Action Engine services are populating the current status of an action command being executed.

443
 16 Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Mobile App

16 Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Mobile App

The Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX mobile app enables users of iOS devices to extend MediaCentral Cloud UX
workflows to the mobile platform. This app enables direct, secure access to your station’s Newsroom
Management and / or Production Management systems.

The Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX mobile app connects to your environment in one of two ways:
l Wi-Fi
l Carrier-specific cellular service— for example, 3G, 4G or Edge

n For information on the MediaCentral Cloud UX app for Android, see v2021.11 or earlier of the Avid
MediaCentral | Cloud UX Installation Guide.

Before You Begin

Before using the MediaCentral Cloud UX app, verify the following tasks have been completed:
l Confirm that the mobile device can access the MediaCentral Cloud UX server using its Fully Qualified
Domain Name (FQDN).
It is vital that the fully qualified domain names (FQDN) for all MediaCentral Cloud UX servers are
resolvable by the domain name server (DNS) tasked with doing so. This is particularly important when
the MediaCentral Cloud UX servers are accessed from the Cloud UX mobile app. Mobile devices that
cannot resolve the FQDN of the servers experience issues connecting to the player service. Hostname
resolution issues might allow mobile users to sign into MediaCentral Cloud UX, but media playback
might be intermittent or not possible. While advanced users might be able to adjust the network
settings directly on a mobile device, manual adjustments should not be required and are not the
recommended best practice.

n When connecting to a MediaCentral Cloud UX server or cluster through the mobile app’s sign-in
window, Avid recommends using the server’s FQDN (fully qualified domain name).
l Confirm that your server has been licensed with the appropriate number of Client Licenses and
features for your workflow. For more information, see "Using the License App" on page 168.
l If you plan on connecting to MediaCentral Cloud UX remotely, you must establish a VPN connection
between your mobile device and your corporate network.
For more information, see "Remote Client Connections" on page 24.

Installing MediaCentral | Cloud UX for iOS

The following procedure assumes that licensing, setup, and configuration of the MediaCentral Cloud UX,
Newsroom Management, and / or Production Management servers have already been completed

n If you are using the MediaCentral Cloud UX Mobile app or the Collaborate Mobile app, you must
import a valid certificate into your mobile device. For more information, see "Importing TLS
Certificates" on page 498.

To install the mobile app on an iPad or iPhone:

1. Open the iOS App Store.

2. Locate the Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX mobile application.
3. Select the application and tap Download.

444
 16 Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX Mobile App

When the MediaCentral Cloud UX mobile application is installed on your device, an icon representing
the application appears on the home screen. You can move it elsewhere like the icons for other
applications.
A direct link to the Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX app on the App Store is provided here (link current at
time of publication):
4. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mediacentral-cloud-ux/id1280863531
For additional information on the configuration and usage of the MediaCentral Cloud UX mobile app, see
the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.

Upgrading the Mobile App

If your iOS device is configured to automatically update the MediaCentral Cloud UX app, newer versions of
the software are installed automatically as they become available.

If you have deselected the option to auto-update, you must manually upgrade the app by selecting the
Update button on the app from within the App Store.

The App Store limits developers, such as Avid, to have only the most recent version of the app available for
download. Prior to upgrading the MediaCentral Cloud UX app, you might want to create a backup of the
current version of the app. A backup enables you to restore an earlier version of the app in the event that
you are unsatisfied with the updates made in the new version.

To back up an app:

Visit the Apple website for detailed instructions on how to back up apps on your iOS device:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203977

To restore an older version of an app:

1. Uninstall the current version of the app from your iPhone or iPad.
2. Connect the device to a desktop workstation that has iTunes installed.
3. In iTunes, click on the “Apps” link from the sidebar.
This menu displays the apps that were on your device at the time of the last backup.
4. Select the previous version of the MediaCentral Cloud UX app from the Apps pane and drag it to the
device (iPhone or iPad) section of the sidebar.
5. Sync your device with iTunes.
The previous version of the app is reinstalled on your device.
For more information on syncing your iOS device with Apple Cloud, see the following link on the Apple
website: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201253

445
 A Additional Topics

A Additional Topics
The purpose of this appendix is to provide additional information and detail on topics included in the main
body of the MediaCentral Cloud UX Installation Guide.

The following main topics are described in this chapter:

l "Power Cycling and Maintenance Mode" below
l "MediaCentral Cloud UX System Maintenance" on page 450
l "Copying Software to the MCUX Server" on page 451
l "Mounting an ISO Image" on page 455
l "Using the vi Editor" on page 456
l "Version Information" on page 457
l "Customizing the User Experience" on page 458
l "System Drive Partitioning" on page 464
l "Disk Usage Report" on page 465
l "MediaCentral Cloud UX Services" on page 465
l "MediaCentral Cloud UX Clustering" on page 466
l "MediaCentral | Hoverscrub" on page 470
l "Working with the Search App" on page 474
l "Configuring a Secure Kafka Connection" on page 482
l "Working with MongoDB" on page 484
l "Reconfiguring SeaweedFS Volumes" on page 487
l "Backing Up the PostgreSQL Database" on page 488
l "Importing Custom Logging Data" on page 489

Power Cycling and Maintenance Mode

As you know, the Kubernetes software installed on a MediaCentral Cloud UX server manages resources to
ensure continual operation of the system. If a highly available service goes down for any reason,
Kubernetes identifies the missing service and restarts it.

In most cases, you should not need to reboot or shut down a MediaCentral Cloud UX server. Avid does not
recommend performing a full shutdown of the system — especially in clusters where a full shut down or
reboot is often unnecessary as services are distributed across multiple nodes. If you need to complete a task
on a particular node that might result in an interruption of service to the users, Kubernetes includes a
command that allows you to put a node into a maintenance mode. This command drains the Kubernetes
managed resources from the node so that you can perform any required maintenance tasks. After the
maintenance is complete, you add the node back as a managed resource.

If you must shut down or reboot a node, you must put the Kubernetes controlled resources into
maintenance mode first. This is required for both single-server and cluster configurations, but it is especially
important in cluster configurations. This avoids the possibility of Kubernetes attempting to restart a service
that was intentionally shut down.

446
 A Additional Topics

This section includes information on how to put a server into maintenance mode and how to reboot or shut
down a MediaCentral Cloud UX server. These processes apply to both single-server and cluster
configurations. For additional information on rebooting a clustered node, see "Rebooting a MediaCentral
Cloud UX Cluster" on page 469.

If your installation includes MediaCentral Phonetic Index, the processes described in this section do not
apply to the Search Grid server. You are not required to shut down or boot the Search Grid server at any
specific point in the MediaCentral Cloud UX power-up or power-down cycle. When both systems are fully
available (after a power-up), they begin to communicate automatically.

For information on additional Kubernetes commands and cluster management, see:

https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/

c If you take a single-server or entire cluster offline, you must wait a number of minutes (up to 30
minutes depending on your configuration and deployed feature packs) before attempting to access
the MediaCentral Cloud UX through your web browser. This allows time for Kubernetes to restart all
the pods and services on the required node or nodes.

MediaCentral Production Management Note

While you can restart a MediaCentral Cloud UX server without an impact to the Production Management,
the reverse is not true. If you need to reboot the MediaCentral | Production Index (Media Indexer) server(s),
you must sign in to Kubernetes and delete the pods related to playback. Complete the following process to
restart these pods:

1. Sign into Kubernetes.

For more information, see "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.
2. Enter “playback” in the search tool at the top of the screen.
One or more avid-playback-<value> pods are listed in the search. If you have a single-server, you
should see only one pod. If you are running a clustered configuration, you should see multiple pods.
3. Click on the menu to the right of the pod to delete each of the playback pods.
The Kubernetes management system detects that the pod has been deleted and automatically
creates a new pod to replace it.
4. Repeat the steps above to delete the avid-render-<value> pod.

Putting a Node in Maintenance Mode

The following process applies to single-server configurations or to a single node in a MediaCentral Cloud UX
cluster.

To put a single-server or cluster node into maintenance mode:

1. Use an SSH client such as PuTTY to access the node that you want to put into maintenance mode. For
details, see "Logging in to Ubuntu for the First Time" on page 44.
2. Enter the following command to put the node into maintenance mode:
sudo avidctl node offline
This command drains all services from the node and prevents Kubernetes from scheduling new
services on it. This command also shuts down host services and deletes local data (e.g. caches) on
the node, but it does not delete Database information.
3. Perform any maintenance tasks on the node as needed.
4. Bring the node back online using the following command:
sudo avidctl node online

447
 A Additional Topics

5. Wait a few minutes and then enter the following command to obtain the status of the Kubernetes
node or nodes:
sudo kubectl get nodes
Each server in your MediaCentral Cloud UX configuration should be listed under the name column
and the status of each node should report as Ready. The following example text shows a three node
cluster configuration:
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
wavd-mcux01 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux02 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux03 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux04 Ready <none> 10m v1.29.8+k3s1

6. After the nodes report as Ready, enter the following command to obtain the status of the individual
pods:
sudo kubectl get pods
Before you release the system back to the users, you should verify that all pods report as Running.
Although these status values do not guaranty that all pods are started and ready, it is a good
indicator of the system health.
For more information, see "Working with Kubernetes" on page 517.

Rebooting or Shutting Down a Node

The following process applies to single-server configurations or to a single node in a MediaCentral Cloud UX
cluster.

To reboot or shutdown a single-server or cluster node:

1. Use an SSH client such as PuTTY to access the node that you want to put into maintenance mode. For
details, see "Logging in to Ubuntu for the First Time" on page 44.
2. Enter the following command to put the node into maintenance mode:
sudo avidctl node offline
This command drains all services from the node and prevents Kubernetes from scheduling new
services on it. This command also deletes local data (e.g. caches) on the node, but it does not delete
Database information.
3. Enter one of the following commands to reboot or shut down the node:
t To reboot a node, type the following:
sudo reboot
t To shut down a node, type the following:
sudo shutdown -h now
4. After you reboot or power-on the server, you must enter the following command to bring the
Kubernetes resources back online:
sudo avidctl node online
5. Wait a few minutes and then enter the following command to obtain the status of the Kubernetes
node or nodes:
sudo kubectl get nodes
Each server in your MediaCentral Cloud UX configuration should be listed under the name column
and the status of each node should report as Ready. The following example text shows a three node
cluster configuration:

448
 A Additional Topics

NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION

wavd-mcux01 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux02 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux03 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux04 Ready <none> 10m v1.29.8+k3s1

6. After the nodes report as Ready, enter the following command to obtain the status of the individual
pods:
sudo kubectl get pods
Before you release the system back to the users, you should verify that all pods report as Running.
Although these status values do not guaranty that all pods are started and ready, it is a good
indicator of the system health.
For more information, see "Working with Kubernetes" on page 517.

Power Cycling a MediaCentral Cloud UX Cluster

n If you have an unexpected shut down due to an event such as a power outage where all nodes are
powered-down simultaneously, Avid recommends that you power-up all nodes at the same time and
allow the cluster to manage the role assignments. Note that an event of this nature might require you
to perform additional tasks to ensure that the system returns to normal operation.

To shut down all nodes in a MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster:

1. Enter the following command from any node to drain the Kubernetes controlled resources on all
nodes simultaneously:
sudo avidctl node drain --all
2. Wait a few minutes and then enter the following command to obtain the status of the Kubernetes
nodes:
sudo kubectl get nodes
When all nodes have been drained of resources, this command should report information similar to
the following:
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
wavd-mcux01 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux02 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux03 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux04 Ready <none> 10m v1.29.8+k3s1

3. After all nodes report a Ready status, enter the following command on all nodes to shut down the
Cloud UX servers:
sudo shutdown -h now
4. Avid recommends that you power-down the nodes in descending order. For example if you have a
four node cluster, you would shut down the nodes in the following order: 4 (worker), 3 (control plane),
2 (control plane), 1 (control plane primary).
To power-on all nodes in a MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster:

1. Power on all nodes in any order.

You do not need to power-on all nodes simultaneously, but all nodes at approximately the same time
is recommended.
2. Wait a few minutes and then enter the following command to obtain the status of the Kubernetes
nodes:
sudo kubectl get nodes

449
 A Additional Topics

This command should report information similar to the following:

NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
wavd-mcux01 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux02 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux03 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux04 Ready <none> 10m v1.29.8+k3s1

Repeat this command as necessary. After all nodes report a Ready status, continue to the next step.
3. Enter the following command from any node to bring the cluster out of maintenance mode:
sudo avidctl node uncordon --all
4. Wait a few minutes and then enter the following command to obtain the status of the Kubernetes
nodes:
sudo kubectl get nodes
Each server in your MediaCentral Cloud UX configuration should be listed under the name column
and the status of each node should report as Ready. The following example text shows a three node
cluster configuration:
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
wavd-mcux01 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux02 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux03 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux04 Ready <none> 10m v1.29.8+k3s1

5. After the nodes report as Ready, enter the following command to obtain the status of the individual
pods:
sudo kubectl get pods
Before you release the system back to the users, you should verify that all pods report as Running.
Although these status values do not guaranty that all pods are started and ready, it is a good
indicator of the system health.
For more information, see "Working with Kubernetes" on page 517.

MediaCentral Cloud UX System Maintenance

Avid builds MediaCentral Cloud UX on the Linux (Ubuntu) operating system with server-class hardware and
multiple redundant systems, making it a very robust product. As such, MediaCentral Cloud UX requires very
little routine maintenance as compared to some other systems. The following are just some of the elements
that work together to reduce or eliminate standard maintenance procedures:
l Linux cron jobs manage log files, automatically archiving, rotating, and deleting older logs as newer
log files are created.
l Self monitoring of the Data volume ensures that you do not fill the drive to capacity with cached
media assets. After the system meets a certain threshold, older assets are deleted automatically. If a
user needs access to an asset whose proxy has been deleted, the systems creates new proxy media
automatically — “on the fly”. The same can be said for the MP4 proxy files used in the Hoverscrub
workflow.
l Kubernetes monitors pods to automatically restart systems in the event of a failure. For more
information on this sub-system, see "Working with Kubernetes" on page 517.
l (optional) Clustering multiple MediaCentral Cloud UX servers not only increases the potential user
and stream counts, but enables high availability of many systems in the event of a hardware failure.

450
 A Additional Topics

While many of these systems are fully automated, Avid highly recommends that system administrators
deploy the optional system monitoring services to help ensure that any potential issues are found and
resolved quickly. Once installed, Administrators can use Grafana actively monitor memory usage, disk
space, and other system basics. For more information, see "Enabling System Monitoring" on page 115.

Per "Power Cycling and Maintenance Mode" on page 446, Avid does not recommend performing a full
shutdown of the system — especially in clusters where a full shut down or reboot is often unnecessary as
services are distributed across multiple nodes. Avid also does not recommend “forced failovers” for
clustered configurations.

Avid recommends the following regular maintenance steps:

l Create periodical backups of the PostgreSQL and MongoDB databases. You can find more
information about these two processes at:
– "Working with MongoDB" on page 484
– "Backing up the Mongo Database" on page 486
l Organizations that deploy self-signed certificates need to plan on recreating their certificates on a
recurring basis. The maximum validity period for these certificates is 397 days. After that period
expires, the certificate is considered invalid and a new one would need to be created. This same
guidance might also apply to organizations that create internally-signed certificates. For more
information, see "Creating Certificate Files" on page 74.
l If you are using Hoverscrub, run the proxy storage report to verify if you have an excessive amount of
small (<750k) proxy files. The frequency at which you run this script is heavily dependent on your
workflow (number of users, number of modules, etc). For more information, see "Cleaning the
Hoverscrub Cache" on page 473.

Copying Software to the MCUX Server

When working with MediaCentral Cloud UX, you might be required to copy software to or from the
MediaCentral Cloud UX server. This section details two methods for completing this task:
l "Copying Software Using an SFTP Client" below
l "Copying Software Using a USB Drive" on page 453
While the SFTP method might be preferred for ease of access, the USB method might be required for some
operations.

Copying Software Using an SFTP Client

Files can be copied to and from the MediaCentral Cloud UX server through the use of a secure shell (SSH)
file transfer protocol (FTP) client — commonly abbreviated SFTP. WinSCP© (Windows) and muCommander©
(macOS) are free, open-source clients that can securely copy files between Linux and Windows or macOS
operating systems. FileZilla®, another free open-source utility, can be used in the same way and has the
advantage of being available for both Windows and macOS.

The process below uses WinSCP as an example of an SFTP client.

To copy software using an SFTP client:

1. Download and install the WinSCP software on a Windows system that has network access to the
MediaCentral Cloud UX server.
WinSCP can be downloaded from the following location: http://winscp.net
2. Launch WinSCP.
3. Click the New Session button and configure the following:

451
 A Additional Topics

a. Set the File Protocol to SCP.

b. Enter the Host name (or IP address) of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server.
c. Enter your Ubuntu user name, and optionally the user password.
d. Click the Advanced button and select the SCP/Shell menu.
e. Configure the Shell setting to “sudo su -”.
f. Click OK and Save the session settings.
4. Click Login.
The following warning message is displayed: “Continue connecting and add host key to the cache?”
5. Click Yes.
The WinSCP interface is displayed. The left pane represents your source Windows system. The right
pane represents your MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

6. Use the left pane to navigate to the location of the files that you want to copy to the MediaCentral
Cloud UX server.
7. Use the right pane to navigate to the directory on the MCUX server where you want to copy the files.
8. (optional) Create a directory structure on the MCUX server to organize your files.
a. Navigate to a location on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server where you want to create a new
directory.
In the example illustration above, the user has navigated to the /media directory.
b. Right-click in the right pane and select New > Directory.
c. In the “New folder name” field, type the name of the new directory and click OK.

n When manually creating folders, avoid spaces and other illegal Linux characters.
Installations will fail if spaces or illegal characters are encountered in the file path.

d. Double-click on the new directory in the right pane to navigate to it.

9. Drag and drop the files or folders you wish to copy from the left pane to the right.
Depending on your WinSCP settings, you might see a dialog box asking if you want to copy the files
to the remote directory. If asked, click Copy.
10. After all desired files or folders have been copied, close WinSCP.

452
 A Additional Topics

Copying Software Using a USB Drive

For simply mounting and unmounting a USB drive, follow the process below and eliminate steps 8, 9, and 10.

For additional information on USBGuard, see "Verifying Access to USB Devices" on page 57.

To copy software using a USB drive:

1. Insert the USB drive into the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

2. Enter the display message command in the Linux console to verify the name of the device:
sudo dmesg
Information relating to the hardware appears on the screen.
Information for the USB drive will appear near the end of the output, near the list of SCSI devices. The
name of the USB drive is found inside square brackets (for example, sdc). This is the name you use to
mount the drive.
The dmesg command displays a great deal of information which can be difficult to review, given the
limited size of the VM display window. You can reduce the amount of information that dmesg returns
by using the Linux grep command to show only items that contain certain text (such as “sd”) and the
more command to display only one page of information at a time. The following command can be
used as an alternative:
sudo dmesg | grep sd | more
Press the space bar to display additional pages.
3. Verify the device ID of your USB drive:
usbguard list-devices
This command displays information about your USB devices. In the following example, 15 is the device
ID of a newly connected USB flash drive:
15: block id 0930:6545 serial "60A428C413CFF9983463009F" name "USB Flash
Drive 3.0" hash "+VSPtKjayClEQk6OuPtKjayClEQetObzrOBpugOk=" parent-hash
"3Wo3XpTNfZ9xImYexXWDgen1hD1RUTgGQ5HSxtf8k=" via-port "3-2" with-interface
08:06:50 with-connect-type "hotplug"
4. Enter the following command to allow use of your USB device:
usbguard allow-device -p <device_ID>
For example: usbguard allow-device -p 15
5. Create a mount point for the USB drive:
sudo mkdir /media/usb
If you have completed this process at least once before, the /media/usb directory should already
exist.
6. Mount the USB drive to the mount point:
sudo mount /dev/sdc1 /media/usb
In this example, the name of the USB drive, sdc uses a 1 (one) in the mount command. This indicates
that a partition exists on the drive. When the USB drive was formatted, the partition was created.
The USB drive is now mounted and available for use.
7. Verify that the USB drive is mounted:
sudo df -h

453
 A Additional Topics

Information is displayed about all mounted file systems and devices, and should include information
about the USB drive, similar to the following (some output omitted for clarity):
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdc1 7.5G 5.3G 2.2G 71% /media/usb
8. Enter the following command to navigate to the USB mount point:
cd /media/usb
9. (optional) Create a directory structure on the MCUX server to organize your files:
sudo mkdir /<path>
Where <path> is the name of the directory that you want to create. For example, to create a new
“installers” directory in the /media folder, you would enter the following command:
sudo mkdir /media/installers

n When manually creating folders, avoid spaces and other illegal Linux characters. Installations
will fail if spaces or illegal characters are encountered in the file path.

10. Copy files to the MediaCentral Cloud UX server:

t For a single file:
sudo cp filename /<path>
t For a folder:
sudo cp -R foldername /<path>
11. Once you have finished copying your files, you must navigate away from the current directory. Linux
cannot unmount the USB drive if it is the current active directory. Type the following to navigate to
your user’s home directory:
cd
12. Unmount the USB drive from the server:
sudo umount /<path>
For example:
sudo umount /media/usb
13. (optional) If you want to block this device from being reconnected to the server in the future, you can
enter the following command to prevent access to the device:
usbguard block-device -p <device_ID>
14. Remove the USB drive from the server.

454
 A Additional Topics

Mounting an ISO Image

During the installation process, you are required to mount an ISO image on the server. This section details
three different methods for mounting an ISO.

To mount an ISO from a USB drive:

1. Connect a USB drive created from an ISO image to your server.

See "Creating the Installation Media" on page 32 for more information.
2. Enter the following command to mount the drive to a mount point on your server:
sudo mount /dev/<volume> /<mount>
3. In this command <volume> is the volume name associated with the USB drive and <mount> is a
mount point on the server. For example, the following command uses a USB drive at “sdc1” mounted
to the “/sysinstall” directory.
sudo mount /dev/sdc1 /sysinstall
If you do not know what volumes are present on your system, you can enter parted -l in the
Linux console to display a list of available volumes.
4. After you are finished using the device, you can unmount the USB drive by entering the following
command:
sudo umount /<mount>
After this command has been executed, you can remove the USB drive from the server.
To mount an ISO from an optical drive:

1. Add a disc created from an ISO image to your server’s optical drive.
2. Enter the following command to mount the ISO media:
sudo mount -o ro /dev/cdrom /<mount>
In this command <mount> is a mount point on the server. For example, the following command
mounts the ISO to the “/sysinstall” directory.
sudo mount -o ro /dev/cdrom /sysinstall
3. After you are finished using the device, you can unmount the USB drive by entering the following
command:
sudo umount /<mount>
After this command has been executed, you can remove the disk from your server’s optical drive.
To mount an ISO as a file:

1. Copy the ISO file to a directory on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server such as /tmp or /media.
For more information, see "Copying Software to the MCUX Server" on page 451.
2. After the ISO file is copied to the server, use the following command to mount the ISO:
sudo mount -o ro /<path>/<filename> /<mount>
For example:
sudo mount -o ro /media/mediacentral_feature_packs_<build>.iso /features
3. After you are finished using the ISO, you can unmount it by entering the following command:
sudo umount /<mount>

455
 A Additional Topics

Using the vi Editor

Linux features a powerful text editor called vi. To invoke the command, type “vi”, followed by the target file.
If you are not in the directory containing the file to be edited, you must also enter a file path.

sudo vi [path]/<filename>

vi operates in one of two modes, insert mode and command mode. Insert mode lets you perform text edits –
insertion, deletion, etc. Command mode acts upon the file as a whole – for example, to save it or to quit
without saving.
l Press the “i” key to switch to insert mode.
l Press the colon (“:”) key to switch to command mode.
The following table presents a few of the more useful vi command mode commands:

Key Press Description

: Prefix to commands in command mode

:wq Write file and quit vi (in command mode)
:q! Quit without writing (in command mode)

The following table presents a few of the more useful vi insert mode commands:

Key Press Description

i Insert text before the cursor, until you press <Esc>

I Insert text at beginning of current line
a Insert text after the cursor
A Insert text at end of current line
w Next word
b Previous word
Shift-g Move cursor to last line of the file
D Delete remainder of line
x Delete character under the cursor
dd Delete current line
yy “Yank” (copy) a whole line in command mode.
p Paste the yanked line in command mode.
<Esc> Turn off Insert mode and switch to command mode.

For more information on vi commands, see the following link:

https://www.cs.colostate.edu/helpdocs/vi.html

456
 A Additional Topics

Version Information
This section includes information on how to get version information on various aspects of your
MediaCentral Cloud UX system.

Ubuntu

You can enter the following command in the console to determine your installed version of Ubuntu:

cat /etc/*-release

You can verify the version of the kernel using the following command:

uname -r

You can use the following command to see a list of all installed packages:

sudo apt list --installed

Avid MediaCentral Platform Version

Enter the following command to verify the version of the Platform currently installed in your server:

avidctl version

This command provides information on the version of the avidctl tool as well as the Platform version. The
output should look similar to the following example:

Version: 2023.7.0-0_373ba25
Platform Version: 2023.7.0-b0106-Gc219235

Avid MediaCentral Feature Packs

You can enter the following command to list the installed feature packs:

sudo helm ls

Avid NEXIS

Enter the following command to verify the version of the Avid NEXIS Client:

sudo apt list --installed | grep nexis

Container Images

If you need to determine the version of any container image, you can enter the following command to
display a list of images installed on the system:

sudo avidctl platform devtools show-images

The system responds with a list of images similar to the following:

avidregistry.azurecr.io/cloudux/avid-acs-attributes:3.6.5_2_gb0fd7fc
avidregistry.azurecr.io/cloudux/avid-acs-broker:3.2.0_42_g058d844
avidregistry.azurecr.io/cloudux/avid-acs-federation:3.5.12_2_gc39e59d
avidregistry.azurecr.io/cloudux/avid-acs-gateway:3.11.9_11_g7970262
...

457
 A Additional Topics

Elasticsearch

You can enter the following command to list the installed version of Elasticsearch used by the Search app.
However, note that the version of Elasticsearch used with Avid System Monitoring might be different. For
more information, see "Enabling System Monitoring" on page 115.

sudo avidctl platform devtools show-images | grep elastic

In the following example output, the server is running Elasticsearch v8.2.0:

avid@wavd-mcux:~$ sudo avidctl platform devtools show-images | grep elastic

localhost:30135/cloudux/avid-elasticsearch:8.2.0_2023.3.0_20230213_131537

GlusterFS

glusterfs --version

Kafka

Enter the following command to list the Kafka version:

sudo avidctl platform devtools show-images | grep kafka

In the following example output, the server is running Kafka v3.1.0 (not 2.13):

avid@wavd-mcux:~$ sudo avidctl platform devtools show-images | grep kafka

localhost:30135/cloudux/avid-kafka:2.13-3.1.0_2db1b38
localhost:30135/cloudux/kafka-topics-operator:20200818-171925

Kubernetes

sudo kubectl version

MongoDB

Enter the following command to list the MongoDB version:

sudo avidctl platform devtools show-images | grep mongo

In the following example output, the server is running MongoDB v6.0.2:

avid@wavd-mcux:~$ sudo avidctl platform devtools show-images | grep mongo

localhost:30135/cloudux/mongo:6.0.2
localhost:30135/cloudux/mongo-operator-v2:v0.0.9

Customizing the User Experience

This section includes a set of procedures that administrators can follow to customize either the system
operation or the MediaCentral Cloud UX user interface.

The following topics are included:

l "Adding Custom Graphics" below
l "Adding Custom Icons" on page 460
l "Configuring Custom Columns and Property Filters for the Process App" on page 463

Adding Custom Graphics

MediaCentral Cloud UX allows you to customize the user experience by giving you the ability to personalize
the welcome screen with a custom graphic, such as your corporate logo. After you sign-in to MediaCentral
Cloud UX, the logo appears in the upper-right corner of the Fast Bar.

458
 A Additional Topics

The following illustration shows a custom logo on the Welcome screen and the Chrome Developer Tools that
you can use to obtain additional information about the graphic.

If you want to add a custom graphic, the file used for this process must adhere to the following
specifications:
l File Name: The file must be named exactly as the following: customer-logo.svg
l File Type: The file must be saved in the .svg (Scalable Vector Graphics) format.
l File Attributes: If your SVG graphic includes the xlink:href attribute, you must configure this
attribute as data:image and not data:img.
l Bit Depth: Any
l Size: The graphic can be any size. However when presented on screen, the image is adjusted to the
following dimensions:
– Maximum width: 70px (Fast Bar)
– Maximum height: 40px (Fast Bar)
– Maximum width: 100px (Welcome screen)
– Maximum height: 100px (Welcome screen)
l Alpha: Graphics are supported with or without an alpha channel
For more information on the SVG format, refer to the following link: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/SVG/

459
 A Additional Topics

To add a custom graphic:

1. Sign into your single server or primary node with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Copy the graphic to the /mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-registry/icon-server-public
folder.
For more information, see "Copying Software to the MCUX Server" on page 451.
3. Access MediaCentral Cloud UX through a new browser window, or refresh your existing instance to
see your custom graphic.

Adding Custom Icons

MediaCentral Cloud UX allows organizations to upload custom icons that can replace the default system
iconography. For example, the strata icons that appear in the Timeline view of the Search app’s In-Line Hits
window use the same icon for all Asset Management strata types by default. An organization might want to
upload custom icons for the different strata types to make it easier for users to differentiate between them.

If you are familiar with Asset Management, you might be aware that you can define thumbnail placeholder
icons to be displayed in Asset Management Desktop and Workspace Management folders as identifiers for
classes (asset types). However, this process has no effect on the icons that are displayed in MediaCentral
Cloud UX. For more information on that process, see “Defining Placeholder Icons for Classes” in the
MediaCentral | Asset Management Datamodel Administrator User’s Guide.

Avid supports the ability to alter the following icon types:

l Asset Type Icons
These icons appear in multiple apps, such as Browse, Search, Associations, and others. They
normally adhere to the following naming convention: type-asset.<object_name>.svg
For example:

l Association (Relation) Type Icons

These icons are returned by the MediaCentral module’s connector (CTC). When the icon registry
calls for the image, the file name includes a relation (parent / child) or direction (forward / reverse).
They normally adhere to the following naming convention:
<association_type>.<relation or direction>.svg. For example:

l Search Strata Icons

These icons appear in the Search app. They normally adhere to the following naming convention:

460
 A Additional Topics

<stratum_ID>.svg. For example:

When creating custom icons, you must meet the following requirements:
l File formats: *.svg
l File names must include all lower-case characters, even if the original layer ID or asset type uses
upper case letters.
l Avid expects the icon to be of a square aspect ratio. However the system automatically scales the
image to the following, so absolute dimensions are less important:
– Small icons: 18 x 18 pixels
– Large icons: 36 x 36 pixels
The svg files are used as a CSS mask-image. This means that both fill and stroke colors are ignored and the
alpha channel is filled with the gray from the MediaCentral Cloud UX color theme.

Folder Structure and Default Icon Usage

The icon registry always looks at the end of the file path first. If it does not find an icon at that location, it
checks the parent folder in the hierarchy until it finds a match. For example, consider the following path for
an icon used in the Associations app:

/mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-registry/icon-server-root/interplay-
mam/relations/12345678/episodeversion_uses_stockfootage.forward.svg

In this case the path includes a MediaCentral module type (interplay-mam), and the ID of a specific
MediaCentral Asset Management system (12345678). The icon registry looks for the file in the 12345678
folder first. If it doesn’t find it there, it travels back up the folder path until it finds a match...ultimately
landing at the /icon-server-root/ folder if necessary.

To upload custom icons to MediaCentral Cloud UX:

1. Verify the asset ID or icon name. You might complete this task in one of two ways:
t Sign into MediaCentral Cloud UX. Then open a second tab in your browser to access the
MediaCentral Cloud UX “Icon test” page:
https://<your_MediaCentral_CloudUX_hostname>/icon-registry/icon/index.html
This page displays a list of all known svg icons and their names. If you want to replace an
existing icon, you will need to know the name of the asset type as defined on this page.
t Connect to your source MediaCentral module and verify the layer ID for your asset. The icon
filename must match the layer ID provided in the metadata namespace.
2. Create your custom svg icon and copy the file to one of the locations listed below.
You can complete this step from any control plane node, as Gluster will replicate the icons to all other
control plane nodes automatically.

n When creating a new folder, you might need to initialize the directory structure with the
following command: sudo mkdir -p /mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-
registry/icon-server-root/<path>

461
 A Additional Topics

t If the icon applies to all areas of the user interface, copy the file to the following location:
/mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-registry/icon-server-root/
t If the icon applies to a specific app, copy the file to the following location:
/mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-registry/icon-server-root/app/<app_name>/
You can verify the name of the app by selecting it in MediaCentral Cloud UX and then
checking the URL in your browser. For example, the Bookmark app appears as avid-ui-
bookmark in the URL.
Example: /mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-registry/icon-server-
root/app/collaborate/van.svg
t If the icon applies to a specific system type, copy the file to the following location:
/mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-registry/icon-server-root/app/<system_
type>/
The <system_type> defines the MediaCentral module or system type. Potential example values
include: interplay-mam, interplay-pam, inews, or others.
Example: /mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-registry/icon-server-
root/interplay-pam/type-root.svg
t If the icon applies to the Search app for any system that defines layers (a.k.a. strata or time-
based metadata) in their metadata namespace, copy the file to the following location:
t /mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-registry/icon-server-
root/app/search/tbmd/<stratum_ID>
Example: /mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-registry/icon-server-
root/app/search/tbmd/compliance.sv
t If the icon applies to the Associations app, copy the file to the following location:
/mnt/gluster-cache/avid-icon-registry/icon-server-root/<system_
type>/relations/<system_id>
In this case, the following values are optional:
<system_type>: Defines the MediaCentral module or system type. Potential example values
include: interplay-mam or interplay-pam.
<system_id>: This is the system ID for a specific MediaCentral module. If you define this
value, your custom icon is associated with this specific module only.
3. Sign in to MediaCentral Cloud UX using your web browser to verify that you see the updated
iconography.
If your custom icons are not displayed, you might need to clear your browser cache.

462
 A Additional Topics

Configuring Custom Columns and Property Filters for the Process App
Starting with version 2023.7, you can configure up to 25 custom properties ("user data fields") that are to
be sent to the MediaCentral Cloud UX Job Monitor and thus can be shown as custom columns in the
Process app. For more information, see “Showing and Hiding Columns” in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX
User’s Guide.

Starting with version 2023.12, you can enable up to 25 custom properties to be used as custom property
filters in the Process app sidebar. For more information, see “Applying Filters from the Sidebar” in the Avid
MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.

If you plan to use custom columns or custom property filters in the Process app sidebar or both, you must
add the configuration setting AVID_USER_DATA_FIELDS to the respective configMap ‘avid-job-monitor-
core' using the Kubernetes Dashboard. This setting has to contain a list of user data fields, which are to be
sent to the Job Monitor. The data fields are separated by a comma (without blank spaces). Each field name
should match the case of the custom property. Following this and surrounded by a parenthesis, the
localized labels of the field should be provided as Name:Value pairs separated by a semicolon. The Name of
the localized labels must exactly match the language code sent back from the MediaCentral Cloud UX UI, in
order to get the translated Value. If no match is made, users will see the data field name instead. If a user
data field is to be used as custom property filter in the sidebar, the entry within the parenthesis must start
with "filter:true;".

The structure of a single user data field definition looks as follows: <custom property name>
(filter:true;en:<label>;fr:<label>;de:<label>)

Each time the Job Monitor is started it will read and parse the provided AVID_USER_DATA_FIELDS string.

n The user data fields that can be sent to the Job Monitor are not limited. However, the Job Monitor only
indexes the first 25 configured user data fields across all jobs and hence across all source systems.
Only these up to 25 fields will become available as Display Options in the Process app.

To configure user data fields:

1. Connect and sign in to the Kubernetes Dashboard.

See "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.
2. Use the Search option at the top of the Kubernetes Dashboard to search for “avid-job-monitor-core”.
The search provides information on multiple aspects of the Kubernetes resources such as Config
Maps, Deployments, Pods, and more.
3. Click on the avid-job-monitor-core link under Config Maps.
Detailed information about the config map appears in your browser to the right of the sidebar.
4. Click on the Edit button at the top of the Kubernetes window.
The config map is opened in a Kubernetes text editor.
5. Switch to the JSON tab.
6. Add the following line to the "Data" section:
"AVID_USER_DATA_FIELDS": "<comma-separated list of user data fields>"
Example (where profileName is to be enabled as custom property filter in the sidebar):
"AVID_USER_DATA_FIELDS": "videoId(en:Video ID;fr:Video ID;de:Video
ID),profileName(filter:true;en:Profile name;fr:Nom de
profil;de:Profilname),Mode(en:Mode;fr:Mode;de:Modus),TARGET_PATH(en:Target
path;fr:Chemin de la cible;de:Zielpfad)"
7. Click the Update button to save your changes.

463
 A Additional Topics

c Kubernetes config map changes are not saved following a software upgrade. If you alter the
config map, you will need to repeat this process following any software upgrade.
8. Delete the pod avid-job-monitor-core.
See "Deleting a Pod" on page 520.

System Drive Partitioning

When you setup your Ubuntu host to prepare the installation of MediaCentral Cloud UX, the OS volume is
divided into several partitions. These partitions include at least a boot partition and an lvm (logical volume
mount) partition. You can determine the size of the partitions using the sudo parted -l command:

The following shows an example output of this command:

[avid@wavd-mcux01 ~]# sudo parted -l

Model: HPE LOGICAL VOLUME (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 537GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags

1 1049kB 2097kB 1049kB bios_grub
2 2097kB 2150MB 2147MB ext4
3 2150MB 537GB 535GB

In addition to the boot volume, the parted command shows you information about all volumes on your
server including optical drives, RAID 5 volume, and more.

If your disk or partition reports that it is getting close to full, you can obtain more details on the disk and
folder structure using the "Disk Usage Report" on the next page.

The following table provides more information on some important directories and volume mount points that
are created when you run the avidctl platform host-setup script.

Name Old Path (v2022.12) New Path (2023.3) Comment

data disk /var/gluster/gluster- /var/data The data disk (LVM, XFS

cache formatted)
local /var/gluster/gluster- /var/data/local/ Local (non-replicated)
cache/local/ data path
database /var/lib/avid/ /var/data/local/pv/ns/default The local Kubernetes
Volumes are namespaced
gluster-cache /var/gluster/gluster- /var/data/bricks/gluster-cache Playback cache and
cache/gluster commonly shared data
registry /var/gluster/registry /var/data/bricks/registry Container images and
Helm charts
backup /var/gluster/backup /var/data/bricks/backup Backups (e.g. MongoDB)
GlusterFS Volume Mounts:
backup Not applicable /var/lib/backup
gluster-cache Not applicable /mnt/gluster-cache
registry /var/lib/registry/data /mnt/registry-data

464
 A Additional Topics

Disk Usage Report

As with any computer system, you never want to allow a disk to get to a state where it is full or close to full.
To assist you in determining how much of your internal storage is being used and to identify the areas of
heaviest use, Avid includes the following script:

sudo avidctl tools disk-usage

This command provides you with information on databases, containers, and other directories that are
known to take significant disk space. In most cases, you should not need to manually intervene to increase
the available disk space. If you find that a particular directory or system is taking an abnormal amount of
space, Avid recommends that you contact Avid Customer Care before taking any actions to reclaim disk
space.

You can also use the Linux df -h command to display information about your mount points. Prior to
installing MediaCentral Cloud UX, a fresh installation of Ubuntu might look similar to the following (size and
usage will vary):

avid@wavd-mcux01:~$ df -h

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on

tmpfs 3.2G 1.3M 3.2G 1% /run
/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv 98G 27G 66G 30% /
tmpfs 16G 0 16G 0% /dev/shm
tmpfs 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/lock
/dev/sda2 2.0G 250M 1.6G 14% /boot
/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-lv--var 398G 3.6G 395G 1% /var
/dev/mapper/vg--data-lv--data 100G 746M 100G 1% /var/data
tmpfs 3.2G 4.0K 3.2G 1% /run/user/1000

MediaCentral Cloud UX Services

MediaCentral Cloud UX is built on Ubuntu and depends on many of the core services included in that
operating system. However, Avid’s software deployment adds a number of additional services that work
together to create MediaCentral Cloud UX.

The following list details a number of these services.

Service Name Node Role Description

glusterd Control / Glusterfs is used to enable shared storage repository for cached assets (for
Workers playback), draft sequence information, helm chart repos, and more. Glusterfs
is installed and enabled in both single-server and clustered environments.
keepalived Control In clustered environments, this service manages the cluster IP address.
Plane only
This service is stopped and disabled on single node installations.
avid-nexis- Control / The Avid NEXIS Client is managed by the NEXIS Agent service. The NEXIS
agent Workers Agent is responsible for monitoring the NEXIS configuration in Kubernetes and
for mounting the NEXIS workspaces.

This service is only available after installing the Avid NEXIS Client on the
MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

In Ubuntu, you can start, stop, and get the status of services using the following commands:

465
 A Additional Topics

l sudo systemctl start <service-name>

l sudo systemctl stop <service-name>
l sudo systemctl status <service-name>
You can enter either of the following command to obtain a list of system services:
l sudo systemctl list-unit-files --full
l sudo systemctl list-units --type service --all
One of the major technologies that affects the services that are visible at the OS level is K3s — Lightweight
Kubernetes. The following services run inside K3s and therefore not visible as separate services, meaning
that you cannot use the systemctl command to get status information:
l kube-apiserver
l kube-controller-manager
l kube-scheduler
l kubelet
l etcd

MediaCentral Cloud UX Clustering

This section includes the following topics:
l "Clustering Overview" below
l "High Availability vs Failover" on the next page
l "Rebooting a MediaCentral Cloud UX Cluster" on page 469
Clustering Overview

As referenced in "Understanding Kubernetes and Containers" on page 24, MediaCentral Cloud UX clusters
consist of three or more nodes. The first three nodes in a cluster serve as both control plane and worker
nodes. Any additional nodes (4+) operate as worker nodes only.

Control plane nodes run services and databases that are critical to the operation of the system. These
nodes also run services found on worker nodes. Worker nodes run services such as playback for increased
performance and system load, but they do not host databases or of the some services that are found on the
control plane nodes. If a non-control plane worker node goes offline, system performance might be affected
— but not system availability.

n If Hoverscrub, System Monitoring, or any other single-instance services are deployed and the host
node is lost, those services remain unavailable until the node is restored. For more information, see
"High Availability vs Failover" on the next page.

As referenced in "Before You Begin" on page 21, each MediaCentral Cloud UX node is associated with a
dedicated IP address. However, cluster configurations also include a cluster IP address which is used
internally by the cluster and externally by users connecting to the system. The cluster IP address is
managed by the keepalived service which runs on all control plane nodes. Although running on multiple
nodes, the IP address is managed by only one node in the cluster (at any one time). If you stop this service
on the node currently managing the resource, the management of the IP address is migrated to a different
node.

You can verify which node is currently managing the cluster IP by entering the ip addr command on each
node. When you enter the command on the node that is managing the cluster IP, the output of the
command shows two IP addresses for the primary network adapter.

466
 A Additional Topics

In the following example, 192.168.10.51 is the static IP of the server and 192.168.10.50 is the cluster IP
address.

2: ens192: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen

1000
link/ether 00:20:16:94:3f:9d brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.10.51/26 brd 192.168.10.1 scope global ens192
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet 192.168.10.50/32 scope global ens192:0
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

c In the event that the cluster IP is migrated to a new node, administrators should expect a temporary
outage (~5 - 20 minutes) of any system or service that connects through the MediaCentral gateway.
Examples of such systems are MediaCentral Production Management, MediaCentral Asset
Management, and others. Users might also be signed-out of their current session and returned to the
MediaCentral Cloud UX login page. While users might still be able access MediaCentral Cloud UX,
gateway connected systems remain unavailable until the cluster IP is available on the new node.

n Be aware that the amount of down-time can vary based on your hardware configuration, system
resources, as well as the number of feature packs deployed on your system. As described above,
resource such as the cluster IP can also play a factor on the length of the outage.

The Cluster IP is assigned to a control plane node only after the “core application” (core feature pack) is
deployed and running. You cannot connect to a MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster through this virtual IP
address before this system and its dependencies are available.

High Availability vs Failover

Since MediaCentral Cloud UX runs with three control plane nodes, you should not associate the term
“failover” with this system. The first three nodes in a cluster are all control plane nodes. If a node is lost,
there is no failover of services to another node. The other two control plane nodes are already running at
least one copy of all high-available services that were running on the lost node. In most cases, you can lose
one control plane node and still continue to operate normally. If you lose more than one control plane node,
the system will be offline until the situation is resolved.

You must maintain a minimum of the ( < total node count > / 2 + 1 ) for any MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster —
with at least two operational control plane nodes. For example if you have a 6-node cluster, you must
maintain at least 4 nodes (6 divided by 2, plus 1, equals 4). In the case of an odd numbered cluster, you can
round the final node count down. Using a 7-node cluster as an example: 7 / 2 +1 = 4.5 nodes. In this example
you must have at least 4 nodes available.

c The loss of any control plane node is a serious situation and must be resolved immediately. While
MediaCentral Cloud UX includes multiple technologies that are intended to restore functionality
automatically, manual interaction might be required to get the system back into a fully operational
state.

Kubernetes verifies that at least two copies of each high-available service is running at all times. If
Kubernetes detects a single instance of any service, it schedules another instance on whichever node is not
already running the service. However, not all services are scaled for high-availability. These single-instance
systems and services are only ever configured on one node and break down into two categories:
l Single-Instance
Although these services run only on one node at a time, Kubernetes is still aware of them. If a single-
instance service is lost, Kubernetes schedules the service to start on another control plane node. As
the service is not highly available (already running on another node at the time that it goes down),
you are likely to experience a service outage until the new pod (service) is started.

467
 A Additional Topics

l Single-Instance Explicit
Explicit services are configured one only one node and are not capable of moving to a new node. If
the node that is hosting the service goes offline, that service remains offline until the node is restored.
The node on which these services are installed is often configured by an administrator. Hoverscrub
and System Monitoring are examples of these types of services.
The following is a partial list of systems and services that are not highly available:

System Services
l avid-pam-search-connector: This service pulls data from Production Management and pushes it to
Kafka. Production Management assets added to the Production database will not be found through
MediaCentral Cloud UX while this system is down.
l avid-indexer: This service is responsible for pulling new data from Kafka and pushing it to
Elasticsearch and MongoDB. While important for long term use of the system, a temporary outage of
this service might be imperceptible by the majority of the end-users.
If Kafka is not processing any messages at the time of the outage, there are no long-term effects.
Kafka will begin processing messages where it left off when the service is restored. However, if Kafka
is actively processing a message and the node running the avid-indexer service is lost, you might see
any of the following side-effects:
– Missing assets in the search results
– Taxonomy creation / update and / or Metadata Namespace creation / update
– CBA Rules (Create / Update / Delete)
– Asset Locations (Production Management Asset Visibility)
– Search results include assets that have been deleted on the source asset management system
– Outdated phonetic manifest
If this occurs, you must rebuild your search index by Rebuilding All Indices (with the delete option)
through the Search Index Monitor app to ensure that all data is synchronized.
l avid-draft-sequence: Loss of this service disables the Mixed Sequence Editing.
l avid-asset-logger-ctc: Loss of this service disables features related to the Log app. The most common
user impact is the inability to open Logging assets from the Search app Results area. If this service is
unavailable, the Search app displays Log assets with a warning symbol to indicate that they are
unavailable.
l avid-mam-actions and avid-mam-processes: Loss of these services affect the ability to use features
related to MediaCentral Asset Management.
l publisher-tunneling-service: Loss of this service affects the ability to communicate with the cloud
publishing back-end. When disabled, users might encounter a “The account does not exist anymore.”
error when accessing the Publisher app.
Hoverscrub
l avid-webproxy-generator, avid-webproxy-manager, avid-webproxy-nginx
System Monitoring
l For more information, see "Enabling System Monitoring" on page 115.
Nexidia Search Grid server
l The Search Grid server does not currently support high availability features. If the Search Grid server
is down, Phonetic Index will not be available. For more information, see "Installing Nexidia Search
Grid" on page 139.
Media Composer Distributed Processing

468
 A Additional Topics

l The Distributed Processing services are not highly available. These include: avid-mediaengine-
coordinator-dp, avid-mediaengine-dpeventnotifier-dp, avid-mediaengine-foyer-dp, avid-
mediaengine-jobdriver-dp, avid-mediaengine-scheduler-dp, avid-mediaengine-workflow-dp.
If you need to shut down or put a control plane node into maintenance mode, Avid recommends that you
perform this task during a maintenance cycle. You can use the Kubernetes Dashboard to determine on
which node these single-instance services are running.

Rebooting a MediaCentral Cloud UX Cluster

In most cases, you should not need to reboot or shut down the MediaCentral Cloud UX servers. However,
there are circumstances such as a planned power outages or other scenarios that might require you to
reboot or shut down the system.

The general rule of thumb for completing these actions is that you follow a controlled-down / all-up
approach. If you have a four node cluster, Avid recommends that you power-down the nodes in descending
order: 4 (worker), 3 (control plane), 2 (control plane), 1 (primary control plane). When starting-up the
system, power-on all nodes at the same time (they don’t need to all start simultaneously, but close to the
same time). The primary reason for this is to ensure that the RabbitMQ queues are written and saved
correctly during the shut down process. On power-on, the nodes form a quorum to verify the last known
RabbitMQ instance and powering all nodes up simultaneously is the fastest way to achieve that
verification.

If you need to reboot a node, note the following:

l Worker nodes can be rebooted at any time. You can reboot multiple worker nodes simultaneously. Be
aware that system playback performance could be affected while the node or nodes are offline.
Clients that were connected to the rebooted node might need to refresh their browser to establish a
connection to a new playback node.
l Avid does not recommend shutting down a control plane node unless you are doing so during a
dedicated maintenance period.
l If you first verify that single-instance, critical services are unaffected, it is possible to reboot a control
plane node. For instance if you verify that all single-instance, critical services are running on the
primary control plane node, you can reboot nodes two or three — but only one at a time.
You must make sure that the first control plane node is fully operational before rebooting a second
control plane node. If you do not, you could create a situation where MediaCentral Cloud UX is
inaccessible for a period of time. You must have at least two control plane nodes up and fully
functional at any one time.
l When rebooting or taking a control plane node offline, users will encounter an interruption of service
if the cluster’s “keepalived” service is forced to migrate to a new node. This service manages the
cluster IP address. Users are not disconnected from the system and they should not lose any work
during this period. If the user encounters a problem when performing a certain action, the system
generally displays an error or warning message. If this occurs, users must wait for the gateway
connected systems to become available before they can successfully perform the action that
generated the error message.
l If you know that you are experiencing a problem on a control plane node, do not reboot, shut down,
or put into maintenance mode other control plane nodes. Instead, Avid recommends troubleshooting
the problematic control plane node. If you take down another control plane node, you risk losing user
access to MediaCentral Cloud UX across the cluster until the original issue is resolved. Additionally,
you might encounter an error when rebooting the other mater nodes, similar to the following: “The
system was reset due to a timeout from the watchdog timer.”
For details on rebooting a clustered node, see "Power Cycling and Maintenance Mode" on page 446.

469
 A Additional Topics

MediaCentral | Hoverscrub
MediaCentral Hoverscrub creates low resolution, video-only, MP4 files from assets included in
MediaCentral modules such as MediaCentral Production Management and MediaCentral Asset
Management. These proxy files are accessed when viewing assets in the Results area (Card view only) of
certain MediaCentral Cloud UX apps such as Browse, Search, or others. The following image shows
Hoverscrub in action with a vertical bar indicating the scrub position in the asset:

For more information, see “Using the Hoverscrub Feature” in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.

Hoverscrub polls the MediaCentral Search index every two minutes (by default) to find either newly created
assets or modified sequences, and automatically creates a maximum of up to 50 proxies during this period.
This cycle repeats every two minutes with a five minute sliding window.

If for example you create 250 new assets in a five minute period, Hoverscrub could automatically process
150 of those assets at maximum. Proxies would not be created automatically for the remaining 100 assets
as they would be beyond the five minute sliding window.

Each MP4 proxy file is created with approximately 170 representative frames at 170 pixels wide — no matter
the size of the original asset. The size of each proxy generally ranges between 200 kB and 2.x MB in size,
depending on the compression rate of the original content.

This automatic proxy generation process applies only to assets created after the initial configuration of the
MediaCentral Cloud UX system. If you install MediaCentral Cloud UX into an environment with existing
Asset Management or Production Management assets, the system does not perform an initial “burst” to
create proxies for the existing assets.

If the automated process does not create a proxy for a particular asset, the media is created on demand
when a user begins to attempt to scrub the asset. The first time you scrub an asset, it can take a moment
for the proxy media to become available. After the proxy media is created, subsequent requests to scrub
the same asset are much faster. In this release, the MP4 proxy files are stored on the Hoverscrub node at:
/mnt/gluster-cache/hoverscrub. If you are running a cluster configuration, this storage is shared
with the other nodes.

The MediaCentral Hoverscrub services run on the same server as your MediaCentral Cloud UX services. The
Hoverscrub node runs four concurrent video render processes by default. If you enable the Hoverscrub
option in the avidctl platform deploy script, Hoverscrub is enabled on either your single-server or
one of the nodes in your cluster. If you enable Hoverscrub and you do not have an associated license, the
feature is disabled. If the Hoverscrub node is taken offline, the ability to scrub assets is disabled.

Avid does not support configuring Hoverscrub on more than one node in any single MediaCentral cluster.
Hoverscrub does not support Edit While Capture (EWC) assets; assets must be fully online before an MP4
proxy file can be created.

For troubleshooting information, see the Avid Knowledge Base at: https://kb.avid.com/articles/en_
US/Troubleshooting/Avid-MediaCentral-Hoverscrub-Troubleshooting.

470
 A Additional Topics

Reconfiguring Hoverscrub
In cluster configurations, the avidctl platform deploy script assigns the Hoverscrub role to a single
node in the cluster. The role is often assigned to the last node that you add to the cluster when running the
avidctl platform host-setup script. If the script does not assign the Hoverscrub role to your desired
node, you can use the following process to move the role to a different node.

To reconfigure Hoverscrub:

1. Enter the following command to list the node on which Hoverscrub is currently running:
sudo kubectl get node -l hoverscrub=true --show-labels
The following shows an abbreviated example output of this command (some labels not shown):
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION LABELS
wavd-mcux03 Ready <none> 35m v1.20.6 ...hoverscrub=true
Since Avid supports running Hoverscrub on only one node at a time within a cluster, the command
should list only one node.
2. Enter the following command to delete the Hoverscrub role from the current node:
sudo kubectl label nodes -l hoverscrub=true hoverscrub-
You must make sure to add the final dash “-” after hoverscrub in this command.
3. Enter the following command on any control plane node to configure MediaCentral Hoverscrub on a
new node:
sudo kubectl label nodes <node_name> hoverscrub=true
In this command <node_name> identifies the node that runs the Hoverscrub services.
For example:
sudo kubectl label nodes wavd-mcux04 hoverscrub=true
After you run the command, the system reports the name of the Hoverscrub node:
node "wavd-mcux04" labeled

Altering the Hoverscrub Configuration

MediaCentral Cloud UX allows you to alter certain Hoverscrub configuration values to increase the speed at
which the proxy media can be created. Please note that altering either of these values could have an impact
to your system’s performance as each puts additional load on your system resources.

The following options are available:

l Concurrent Worker Count
If you need to create the MP4 proxy media for a large amount of assets at a faster rate, you can
increase the number of concurrent workers from the default of 4 to an alternate value. This
essentially increases the number of concurrent Hoverscrub render processes on your original node. If
you are running a cluster, this option does not distribute workers to additional nodes.
l Search Interval
This option allows you to increase the rate at which Hoverscrub looks for new assets. The default
refresh rate is 120 (seconds), but you can decrease this value to find new assets faster.

c Kubernetes config map changes are not saved following a software upgrade. If you alter the config
map, you will need to repeat this process following any software upgrade.

471
 A Additional Topics

To increase the worker count:

1. Connect and sign in to the Kubernetes Dashboard.

For additional information, see "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.
2. Use the Search option at the top of the Dashboard to search for the “avid-hoverscrub” resources.
The search provides information on multiple aspects of the pod such as Config Maps, Deployments,
Pods, and more.
3. Click on the avid-hoverscrub link under Config Maps.
Detailed information about the config map appears in your browser to the right of the sidebar.
4. Click on the Edit button at the top-right side of the Kubernetes window.
The config map is opened in a Kubernetes text editor.
5. Enter the following new value in the JSON tab:
"AVID_WEBPROXY_GENERATOR_WORK_QUEUE_LIMIT": "<value>"
Where <value> is a numerical value between 1 and 20 that represents the number of concurrent
Hoverscrub render processes. For example:
"AVID_WEBPROXY_GENERATOR_WORK_QUEUE_LIMIT": "8"
6. Click the Update button to save your changes.
7. Enter the following command through a Linux console to activate your changes:
sudo kubectl delete po -l feature=hoverscrub
To alter the refresh rate:

1. Connect and sign in to the Kubernetes Dashboard.

For additional information, see "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.
2. Use the Search option at the top of the Dashboard to search for the “avid-webproxy-manager-
hoverscrub” resources.
The search provides information on multiple aspects of the pod such as Config Maps, Deployments,
Pods, and more.
3. Click on the avid-webproxy-manager-hoverscrub link under Config Maps.
Detailed information about the config map appears in your browser to the right of the sidebar.
4. Click on the Edit button at the top-right side of the Kubernetes window.
The config map is opened in a Kubernetes text editor.
5. Enter the following new value in the JSON tab:
"AVID_WEBPROXY_MANAGER_SEARCH_POLLING_INTERVAL": "<value>"
Where <value> is a numerical value that represents the refresh rate in seconds. The value should be
greater than 10 to avoid unexpected behavior. For example:
"AVID_WEBPROXY_MANAGER_SEARCH_POLLING_INTERVAL": "30"
6. Click the Update button to save your changes.
7. Enter the following command through a Linux console to activate your changes:
sudo kubectl delete po -l feature=hoverscrub

472
 A Additional Topics

Cleaning the Hoverscrub Cache

During normal operation, Hoverscrub creates proxy files for your Production Management and Asset
Management assets. If you encounter an offline asset, Hoverscrub creates a Media Offline slide to let you
know that a proxy could not be created for the asset.

To avoid unnecessary disk usage from a build-up of unused proxies, MediaCentral Cloud UX automatically
deletes proxy files from the storage. The following rules apply to this automated process:
l Runs once daily at 3am (local time)
l The process starts when the disk usage exceeds 90% and it deletes proxy files (oldest to newest) until
the share reaches 50% free space.
Administrators can execute the following scripts to obtain more information about the proxy files, and
delete proxy media "on demand" if desired.

To run the Hoverscrub report:

t Enter the following command from the Linux command line:
sudo avidctl tools hoverscrub-clean -a
If you are running a cluster, you can run this command from any node, as the proxy files are shared
between the nodes. The following provides an example output of this report:
[avid@wavd-mcux01 ~]# sudo avidctl tools hoverscrub-clean -a
/media/web-proxy /opt/avid/sbin/avid-webproxy-generator
************************************
clean_hoverscrub_by_capacity report:
************************************
Actual volume capacity: 5% of max 95% for DIR: /media/web-proxy
Analyzing files...(1/4)
Analyzing files...(2/4)
Analyzing files...(3/4)
Analyzing files...(4/4)
Total MP4 files: 760
Oldest MP4 file date: 2021-06-25+16:57:59.9746088790 /media/web-
proxy/c1a/060a2b3400011100000b0013-00110-0000047lf710bc1-060e2b347f7f-
2a80.mp4
Newest MP4 file date: 2021-11-16+17:09:06.4933442030 /media/web-
proxy/b93/202111161807101010129157132225053C27A7FD0111024580B00211D0D000004
.mp4
Hoverscrub MP4 files occupy 1.3G in total.
190 MP4 files smaller than 750k occupy 35M in total
To delete the Hoverscrub proxy files:
t Enter one of the following commands:
– sudo avidctl tools hoverscrub-clean -e
The -e option tells the script to delete proxy files (oldest to newest) until the share reaches
95% free space. In the example report above, the share is already at 5% capacity.
– sudo avidctl tools hoverscrub-clean -s
The -s option tells the script to delete all proxy files that are 750k or smaller. In most cases,

473
 A Additional Topics

these are the Media Offline slides only. In the example above, that would be a 190 files.
As a reminder, if you delete any proxy media, the proxy files are regenerated the next time that any
user attempts to scrub the asset.

Working with the Search App

The MediaCentral search engine maintains three databases that work together to provide results to user
queries that originate from the Search app:
l MongoDB: This database is the master record for all search results.
l Elasticsearch: This database is used to perform Search queries and return results to the Search app.
The indexes contained in Elasticsearch are built from the MongoDB data.
Elasticsearch indexes can be split into primary and replica shards. If you have a cluster, the system is
configured for multiple primary shards which enable Elasticsearch to evenly distribute the data
across multiple nodes and thus take advantage of parallel processing. Replica shards contain a copy
of the data in the primary shards and allow the cluster to continue working if one of the nodes goes
down (redundancy). Replica shards also contribute to parallel processing.
MediaCentral Cloud UX configures one default shard and zero replicas for a single-server, and six
shards / one replica for a cluster.
l Kafka: Kafka® provides a framework for storing, reading, and analyzing streaming data. Avid uses
Kafka to process search index data which is then consumed by the search engine. For more
information on Kafka, see https://kafka.apache.org/.
This section includes topics that allow administrators to manage and customize the Search app and search
engine:
l "Resetting the MediaCentral Search Index" below
l "Deleting a Topic from Kafka" on page 478
l "Increasing the Elasticsearch Resources" on page 479

Resetting the MediaCentral Search Index

MediaCentral Cloud UX provides administrators with two methods for re-indexing the text-based assets of
connected MediaCentral modules. The first is available through the Search Index Monitor app and the other
is initiated through the Linux command line interface.

n If you need to rebuild the metadata used by MediaCentral Phonetic Index, you must use the process
for "Resetting the Phonetic Metadata Search Index" on page 477. The Search Index Monitor app does
not include a process to re-index the phonetic metadata in this release of MediaCentral Cloud UX.

Rebuilding through the Search Index Monitor App

As described in "Rebuilding an Index" on page 239, the app provides a method to rebuild the Elasticsearch
indexes. As long as you do not enable the “delete existing data” option, this process does not affect the
MongoDB or Kafka databases and is generally much faster than the command line re-index process.
Additionally, this method does not require you to complete any manual steps directly on the connected
MediaCentral modules.

If you plan to rebuild the indexes, Avid recommends that you use the Search Index Monitor app to complete
this process. However if for some reason you are unable to use the MediaCentral Cloud UX user interface,
you can enter the following command in a Linux shell to execute the rebuild process for All Sites and All
Systems. This process deletes the MongoDB database, but not the Kafka data:

sudo avidctl platform client search reindex-catalog -u <user> -p <password>

474
 A Additional Topics

In this command, you must replace the <user> and <password> values with the user and password of a
member of the MediaCentral Cloud UX administrators group. For more information on this user group, refer
to the “Admin Group DN” value in "Configuring an Authentication Provider" on page 82.

If you need more information, you can add the --help switch to the end of the command.

Re-indexing through Command Line

The command-line re-index process is slower than the Search Index Monitor app’s rebuild process, but it
provides a more complete re-index of the MediaCentral module’s databases. When you execute the
command line script, the MongoDB databases are dropped and you must rebuild them manually by
completing tasks on the connected MediaCentral modules. When you initiate the re-index script, you can
select to drop or retain the Kafka database.

Use Cases

The following list provides some examples of when each process might be necessary. However, if you are
uncertain which process is required, contact Avid Customer Care for assistance.
l The MediaCentral Cloud UX documentation requires you to re-index.
In some cases the MediaCentral Cloud UX upgrade process might require a rebuild or re-index of
your search data. A re-index might be required if Avid modifies the Elasticsearch analysers or if
modifications are made to the standard Avid-provided metadata name-spaces. In these cases the
ReadMe provides you with specific instructions regarding the required processes.
l Incompatible metadata name-space changes. If for example a database field included in a
connected MediaCentral module is altered or deleted.
Complete the process for "Rebuilding an Index" on page 239 and select the delete option.
l The Search Index Monitor app reports index errors.
In this case you should attempt to resolve the errors using the retry process in the app. For more
information, see "Resolving Search Errors" on page 241. If that fails, verify that the MediaCentral
modules are functioning properly. If you find an error, complete the retry process again.
l The Search app returns assets that have been deleted in the source system.
Complete the process for "Resetting the Text Metadata Search Index with Kafka" on page 477.
l The Search app does not return assets that are known to exist on the source module.
Complete the process for "Resetting the Text Metadata Search Index with Kafka" on page 477.
l Errors in the Search Index Monitor app indicate that Elasticsearch is in read-only mode.
In this case you might need to contact Avid Customer Care for assistance to alter the Elasticsearch
configuration. After the issue is resolved, you can retry the index using the process for "Resolving
Search Errors" on page 241.
If your re-indexing task can be accomplished through the faster rebuild process, see "Rebuilding an Index"
on page 239 for more information. If you require a more complete reindex for all connected MediaCentral
modules, see the following processes for more information:
l "Resetting the Text Metadata Search Index (no Kafka)" on the next page
This process resets the text-based metadata search index located on the MediaCentral Cloud UX
server or cluster.
l "Resetting the Text Metadata Search Index with Kafka" on page 477
An alternate and more aggressive form of the process for resettings the text-based metadata.
l "Resetting the Phonetic Metadata Search Index" on page 477
This process resets the phonetic-based metadata search index located on the Search Grid server.

475
 A Additional Topics

Resetting the Text Metadata Search Index (no Kafka)

This process resets the search index on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server or cluster. Clearing this index has
no effect on the phonetic metadata index located on the Search Grid server.

After completing this process, you must trigger a re-sync from all sync agents to repopulate the search
indices. This applies to MediaCentral Asset Management, MediaCentral Newsroom Management, and
MediaCentral Production Management modules.

c This process deletes the text-based search index on the MediaCentral Cloud UX system for ALL
connected MediaCentral modules. If you use the Avid Asset Logger, this process deletes all logging
data — resulting in an unrecoverable loss of this data. If necessary, you can restore the data on a per-
session basis by making a change to the Log session.

To reset your search index:

1. The first step in the process requires you to clear the application site data from your web browser to
allow new defaults to be applied.
For additional details, see: https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/manage-
data/local-storage#clear-storage
a. Press F12, Ctrl+Shift+I on a Windows keyboard, or Option+Command+I on a Mac keyboard to
access the Google Chrome Developer Tools.
b. Click the “Clear site data” button.
c. Next you must complete a “hard reload” of your Chrome browser.
With Google Chrome open as the foreground application, press CTRL+SHIFT+R to reload the
browser.
2. (cluster only) This process includes a script that deletes the local index on the MediaCentral Cloud UX
system. Before you can run this script, you must verify which server hosts the search database
(usually the primary control plane node).
Enter the following command to verify the node that hosts the search database:
sudo kubectl get po -o wide | grep avid-elasticsearch
The system returns output similar to the following:
avid-elasticsearch-search-0 1/1 Running 0 5m 192.168.10.51 wavd-mcux01
In this case, wavd-mcux01 is the database node.
3. Use a terminal application to log in to your single-server or database host node.
4. Enter the following commands to delete the search index:
sudo avidctl platform devtools search-reset -K --ssh-user <user>
Where <user> is the user account that you created during the Ubuntu installation process.
The -K option instructs the command to maintain the Kafka database. In most cases, you are not
required to drop this database as part of the search index reset procedure. For more information, see
"Resetting the Text Metadata Search Index with Kafka" on the next page.
The script asks you to verify that you want to continue:
This command deletes the search databases and indexes.
[WARNING] You lose all search data. Do you want to continue? [y/N]:
Type y (or Y) to run the script or n (N) to exit and press Enter (or Return on a Mac keyboard).

476
 A Additional Topics

5. After you reset the search index, you must verify that the index services are running normally before
you attempt to reindex the modules.
Use the Kubernetes Dashboard to review the logs for the avid-indexer and avid-search pods.
If you see any Fatal error messages similar to the following, you must delete the avid-indexer and
avid-search pods:
2019-02-26 17:04:11.2222 [FATAL] [Avid.Indexer.MonitorServices.Metadata.
MetadataMonitor] [] Failed to create repository; will retry in 10 seconds
After deleting the pods, wait for at least 60 seconds to allow time for Kubernetes to create new pods.
6. After the local index has been deleted, you must complete a resync of your search index from any
connected MediaCentral modules. For more information, see the following resources:
– For MediaCentral Production Management, see "Configuring the MediaCentral Search
Connector" on page 157.
– For MediaCentral Asset Management, see “Configuring MediaCentral Search for Asset
Management” in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management Installation Manual.
– For MediaCentral Newsroom Management, see “Central Indexing” in the Avid MediaCentral |
Newsroom Management Setup and Configuration Guide.
Depending on the size of database on each of the MediaCentral modules, the re-index process could take a
significant amount of time to complete. During this time, the Search app might return a subset of the
available assets (only those assets that have been reindexed). A full results list is possible only after the
rebuild process is complete.

Resetting the Text Metadata Search Index with Kafka

In most cases, you are not required to reset the Kafka data as part of the MediaCentral search index reset
process. This topic is included here only for advanced troubleshooting.

Complete the following process if you need to reset the text-based metadata index and the Kafka data. In
most cases, you should be working with Avid Customer Care if you believe this process is necessary.

To reset the text-based metadata and Kafka data:

t Refer to the process for "Resetting the Text Metadata Search Index (no Kafka)" on the previous page.
When running the avidctl platform devtools search-reset command, do not include the -
K option to skip the Kafka reset.
Resetting the Phonetic Metadata Search Index
If you need to clear the phonetic index, you must complete the following process from the Search Grid
server to delete and recreate the phonetic index. This process has no bearing on the text-metadata. If you
delete the phonetic index, the text metadata index remains unaffected.

c This process should be completed only at the request of Avid Customer Care as the recreation of the
phonetic index could take a long time to complete — depending on the number of hours of audio
located on your system.

To reset the phonetic index:

1. Log in to the Search Grid server as the root user.

For more information, see "Logging in to Ubuntu for the First Time" on page 44.
2. Enter the following command to sign in to the Nexidia Search Grid Management Console:
sudo /opt/searchgrid-3.1/bin/management-console -u admin -p admin
The console reports that you are logged in:

477
 A Additional Topics

Nexidia Search Grid Management Console 3.1.13.18 (18ec2de)

Type 'get-help' for available commands
#
3. At the command prompt (#), enter the following command to delete the phonetic index:
delete-tenant DefaultTenant
The console reports the current tenant information and asks you to confirm the delete request. Type
DELETE to confirm the deletion.
The phonetic index data is deleted.
4. At the command prompt (#), enter the following command to recreate the phonetic index:
create-tenant DefaultTenant
The console reports a new tenant was created.
5. Type exit to close the Management Console.
6. After the phonetic index has been deleted, you must complete a resync of your search index from any
connected MediaCentral modules. For more information, see the following resources:
– For MediaCentral Production Management, see "Configuring the MediaCentral Search
Connector" on page 157.
– For MediaCentral Asset Management, see “Configuring MediaCentral Search for Asset
Management” in the Avid MediaCentral | Asset Management Installation Manual.
– For MediaCentral Newsroom Management, see “Central Indexing” in the Avid MediaCentral |
Newsroom Management Setup and Configuration Guide.
Depending on the size of database on each of the MediaCentral modules, the re-index process could take a
significant amount of time to complete. During this time, the Search app might return a subset of the
available assets (only those assets that have been reindexed). A full results list is possible only after the
rebuild process is complete.

Deleting a Topic from Kafka

If you use the Search Index Monitor app to remove a search index, the process does not delete the
corresponding Kafka topic. While this does not cause a problem for MediaCentral Cloud UX or the search
systems, it does leave stale data on your server that consumes unnecessary disk space. After you complete
the process for "Removing a Search Index" on page 240, you can complete the following steps to remove
the residual Kafka topic and reclaim the disk space.

To delete the unused Kafka topic:

1. Prior to deleting the topic from Kafka, you must remove the associated index from the system. To
complete this process, refer to "Removing a Search Index" on page 240.
Only proceed to the next step after the removal process is complete.
2. Enter the following command into the Linux console on your single server or primary cluster node:
sudo avidctl db kafka-topic-list | grep avid.search
This command lists all of the search-related Kafka topics. The following example output shows a
MediaCentral Cloud UX the includes Asset Management, Newsroom Management, and Production
Management modules, as well as other features such as Hoverscrub.
[avid@wavd-mcux~]#sudo avidctl db kafka-topic-list | grep avid.search
avid.search.avid--nexis.wavd--srdir1
avid.search.hoverscrub.ea22c5047c0000830ae2fc96483f7d8b62a916377a09
avid.search.inews.WAVD--NEWS

478
 A Additional Topics

avid.search.interplay--mam.23457WDE--AAAA--0000--BE62--FBE1234D875F
avid.search.draft--sequence.1d6fff2ce12349734d4c55df6f912344b631747
avid.search.interplay--pam.FCCCCDF7--7AA3--466F--B245--5D554329A234

n If you enter this command without the “grep avid.search” option, you might see many more
Kafka search topics with the same system ID. Do not delete these topics.

3. Review the output and identify the name of the Kafka avid.search topic that includes the system ID of
the module that you want to delete.
4. Enter the following command to delete the topic from the system:
sudo avidctl db kafka-topic-delete <topic_name>
For example:
sudo avidctl db kafka-topic-delete avid.search.inews.WAVD--NEWS

Increasing the Elasticsearch Resources

When you first install your MediaCentral Cloud UX system, the deployment scripts define the maximum
amount of RAM and CPU resources that are available to Elasticsearch. While the default configuration is
appropriate for many organizations, sites with a high number of concurrent users or sites with very large
search indexes might want to increase these resources for optimal performance.

When thinking about resource allocation, you should note that the CPU count has an important impact on
your system’s ability to execute concurrent searches, while the amount of memory has a greater impact on
system performance for larger indexes. Depending on your needs, you might want to increase one or both
types of resources.

The following processes describe how to monitor your system’s CPU and memory resources and if
necessary, how to allocate additional resources to Elasticsearch. If you determine that you need to increase
the Elasticsearch resources, you are not required to increase the physical resources in your MediaCentral
Cloud UX server (or virtual machine). The Kubernetes system manages the process of allocating the
resources to the search pods automatically.

To monitor your system resources:

c It is important that you complete this process during a period of time when the MediaCentral Cloud UX
system is under heavy use. You will be asked to enter commands that monitor CPU and memory
resources. The best time to obtain accurate results is during the system’s peak usage period.

1. Before you begin, you must first know your Elasticsearch Cluster IP.
a. Sign in to the Kubernetes Dashboard.
For more information, see "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.
b. Use the Search option at the top of the Kubernetes Dashboard to search for “elasticsearch”.
The search provides information on multiple aspects of the resource such as Config Maps,
Deployments, Pods, and more.
c. Scroll down to the Services area and note the Cluster IP address that is associated with the

479
 A Additional Topics

avid-elasticsearch-search service.

d. (optional) Sign out of the Kubernetes Dashboard.

2. Log into the Linux command line. If you are running a clustered configuration, Avid recommends that
you open one remote session per node and if possible, display them all on your monitor at the same
time.
3. Monitor the CPU usage by entering the following command in the console for each node:
sudo top -c -p $(pgrep -d',' -f bootstrap.Elasticsearch)
After you press Enter (or Return), the console displays a live dashboard of system activity that
includes specific information on the Elasticsearch process.

Verify the amount of CPU resources that are allocated to this process. If you have a single CPU
allocated to Elasticsearch, a value of 100% would indicate that the process is using all of that CPU’s
resources. Alternatively if you allocate four CPUs, a value of 400% would also indicate that your CPU
resources are being used to capacity.
When reviewing the results, the important thing to note is the average CPU usage. As you monitor the
dashboard, you might see periods of time where the CPU spikes to its maximum usage. This is normal
and is actually a good thing. You do not want to create a configuration in which your CPUs are idle.
Therefore short bursts of activity are acceptable. What you do not want to see is a situation where
the CPU usage reaches the maximum percentage...and stays there.

n Later in this section, you will learn how to verify and alter the Elasticsearch CPU allocation. For
now, just monitor and take note of the average activity.

If you are running a clustered configuration, review the CPU percentage values for all nodes. If all
nodes show consistently high performance values, you might want to increase the resources that are
allocated to Elasticsearch.
4. Press CTRL+C on the keyboard to stop monitoring the system resources.
5. Next, you must verify Elasticsearch’s memory usage by entering the following command:
sudo curl -q -XGET 'http://<elasticsearch-cluster-ip>:9200/_
nodes/stats/jvm?pretty=true' 2>/dev/null | grep heap_used_percent
Where <elasticsearch-cluster-ip> is the IP address associated with the avid-elasticsearch-search
service in the Kubernetes Dashboard. If you are running a cluster configuration, you can run this
command once from any cluster node. The following provides an example output of this command for
a three-node MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster:
[avid@wavd-mcux01 ~]# sudo curl -q -XGET 'http://10.254.1.33:9200/_
nodes/stats/jvm?pretty=true' 2>/dev/null | grep heap_used_percent

480
 A Additional Topics

"heap_used_percent" : 37,
"heap_used_percent" : 45,
"heap_used_percent" : 66,
Each line represents a node in your cluster. If the values are consistently lower than 75%, your current
Elasticsearch memory allocation is appropriate. If the values are consistently higher than 90%
(average for all nodes in a cluster), you might want to increase the memory allocation.
6. If the data that you collected in this process suggests that your Elasticsearch deployment does not
have enough resources, you can continue to the following process to reconfigure the allocation.
To increase the resources assigned to Elasticsearch:

1. To reduce the number of manual configuration steps, Avid provides a default example file that you
can use with this process. Enter the following command to copy the example configuration file to its
active location (/etc/avid/config/):
sudo cp /opt/avid/examples/config/search-eleasticsearch.yaml
/etc/avid/config/search-eleasticsearch.yaml
2. Use the Linux vi editor to open the configuration file for editing:
sudo vi /etc/avid/config/search-eleasticsearch.yaml
3. Configure the memory and cpu values as appropriate for your organization.
As system usage varies for every site, Avid cannot provide you with specific values for this
configuration file. You must use the data that you collected in the previous process to estimate your
resource allocation. However, Avid can suggest that you make changes in small increments.
For example if Elasticsearch is configured to use one CPU, you might not want to immediately set
your limit to a value of eight. Instead, increase the value to two or maybe four. After completing this
process, reevaluate your CPU and memory usage. If your CPU usage is still at its maximum, repeat
this process to increase the value by another small increment.
The following illustration provides an example of a system that is configured for 8 CPUs and 8GB of
RAM.

The following values are explained:

– resources > requests > memory: This value represents the starting amount of RAM that will be
allocated to Elasticsearch. You must enter a numerical value, followed by “Gi” (gigabytes).
You must enter the same value for both the requests > memory and the limits > memory.

481
 A Additional Topics

– resources > requests > cpu: This value represents the starting amount of CPU cores that will be
allocated to Elasticsearch.
– resources > limits > memory: This value represents the maximum amount of RAM that could be
allocated to Elasticsearch. You must enter a numerical value, followed by “Gi” (gigabytes).
You must enter the same value for both the requests > memory and the limits > memory.
– resources > limits > cpu: This value represents the maximum amount of CPU cores that could be
allocated to Elasticsearch. You are not required to enter the same values for both CPU fields.
– config > ES_JAVA_OPTS: The Xms and Xmx values must be enclosed in double-quotes and must
be equal to half of your allocated memory. In this example where “8Gi” is configured as the
allocated RAM, the value is entered as "-Xms4g -Xmx4g".
4. Save and exit the vi session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq
5. To implement the changes, you must redeploy the configuration using the avidctl platform
redeploy script.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

Configuring a Secure Kafka Connection

Kafka is one of the sub-systems used to exchange information between sites in a multi-site environment.
Specifically, one of Kafka's primary functions is to process search index data which is then consumed by
the search engine. MediaCentral Cloud UX v2024.10 introduced an option that allows you to enable a more
secure transfer of this data between sites within your organization.

While it is possible to connect a v2024.10 or later site to a site running a previous version of software, this
mixed-environment does not represent a secure end-to-end solution. To establish end-to-end security, all
sites must be running v2024.10 or later. The following illustration provides an example of three sites in a
mixed multi-site configuration.

The following process is divided into two sections:

l Steps that you must complete on your local site or "Site-A".
l Steps that you must complete on the remote site or "Site-B".
To begin the process to secure Kafka:

Complete the following steps on your local site (Site-A).

1. Ensure that your MediaCentral Cloud UX system is fully deployed with a functioning multi-site
configuration.
2. Use an SSH client such as PuTTY to sign in to your single server or primary node.

482
 A Additional Topics

3. Verify that Kafka is operating normally.

sudo kubectl get kafka
In a three-node cluster, the output of that command should look similar to the following:
NAME DESIRED KAFKA REPLICAS DESIRED ZK REPLICAS READY METADATA STATE WARNINGS
core 3 True ZooKeeper

If you are running a single-server configuration, the desired count is 1.

4. Navigate to a temporary directory on your server such as /tmp, or /media.
cd /<path>
5. Enter the following command to create a "handshake" file that the remote Kafka instance can use to
authenticate the identity of your local site:
sudo avidctl platform config sites create-config -o ./<file-name>.yaml
The <file-name> value can be any name of your choosing. For clarity, you might consider naming
the file after your local site. For example:
sudo avidctl platform config sites create-config -o ./new_york.yaml
The following list provides some additional information about the file's contents:
– pulicKey: This is a copy of your local site's Sites key.
– ca: The Kafka CA (base64 encoded) which is required for remote Kafka clients to accept the
SSL handshake.
– bootstrap.servers: The Kafka bootstrap server and port.
Do not alter the port number used in this file.
– security.protocol: The security protocol which should be used by the remote Kafka client.
– sasl.mechanisms: The authentication mechanism SCRAM-SHA-512 (user/password).
– sasl.username: The Kafka user created automatically during the deployment process.
– sasl.password: The user password (this is a randomly generated password on the first
deployment).
If you take an action that results in the deletion of the Kubernetes secret, the password could
be altered. This could be caused by a system re-image, a Kubernetes (network) reset, deletion
of the secret through the Kubernetes dashboard, or other.
In this case, you must repeat the process of running the config sites create-config command
on the remote site(s) to re-register it.
The command creates the handshake file in your current directory.
6. (if applicable) Configure additional Kafka hostnames.
Some organizations might use a FQDN that is different than the MediaCentral Cloud UX system's
actual FQDN to link Sites. In this case, you must add those hostnames to the Kafka certificate.
a. Enter the following command to add one or more alternate FQDNs to Kafka:
sudo avidctl platform config kafka-additional-dnsnames --name <alt_
FQDN_1> --name <alt_FQDN_2>
If you are running a clustered configuration, you would enter any alternate names for the
virtual cluster, and not any of the individual nodes.
b. Redeploy your local configuration:

483
 A Additional Topics

sudo avidctl platform redeploy

For additional details on this command, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
7. Copy the handshake file to a temporary location on your remote site.
To complete the process to secure Kafka:

Complete the following steps on your remote site (Site-B).

1. Ensure that your MediaCentral Cloud UX system is fully deployed with a functioning multi-site
configuration.
2. Use an SSH client such as PuTTY to sign in to your single server or primary node.
3. Verify that Kafka is operating normally.
sudo kubectl get kafka
4. Navigate to the location of the handshake file that you copied over from Site-A.
5. List the contents of the handshake file and note the FQDN value used for the bootstrap.servers.
sudo cat /<path>/<filename>
6. Verify that you can resolve the FQDN over your network.
t If the name is resolvable, continue.
t If the name cannot be resolved over the network, troubleshoot that before continuing.
7. Register Site-A on your Site-B system:
sudo avidctl platform config sites add --config ./<filename> --label <name>
https://<FQDN>
Where the following values are used:
– <filename> is the name of your handshake file.
– <name> is a user-friendly name for Site-A that appears in the Multi-Site Settings app.
Enclosed in quotes, the <name> value represents a friendly name for the remote MediaCentral
Cloud UX system.
– <FQDN> is the FQDN for Site-A
For example:
sudo avidctl platform config sites add --config ./new_york.yaml --label
new-york https://ny-mcux.wavd.com
8. Redeploy your local configuration:
sudo avidctl platform redeploy
For additional details on this command, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
After you have completed this process, you can delete the handshake yaml file from all systems. It is no
longer required, and it can be regenerated as needed.

Working with MongoDB

MongoDB (Mongo database) is a distributed database where replicas of the database can exist on multiple
servers for increased efficiency and redundancy. In a clustered configuration, MongoDB runs on the three
control plane nodes and the databases are replicated across all three nodes. While other mitigating
circumstances might apply, MongoDB can continue to operate on the remaining two nodes in the event that
a single control plane node is lost. The configuration of MongoDB is completed automatically during the
MediaCentral Cloud UX installation process.

484
 A Additional Topics

MongoDB is used by multiple Avid services to store critical system information such as license data,
imported user data, system settings, and more. Due to the nature of this data, administrators might want to
back up the database information in the event of a major system failure. To assist in this effort,
MediaCentral Cloud UX includes a script that can be used to back up and restore MongoDB.

When you complete a backup, the files are saved to: /var/lib/backup/mongo/. If you are running a
clustered configuration, this volume is replicated across the three control plane nodes by GlusterFS. This
replication system allows you to perform backups and restores from any control plane node.

See the following topics to back up and restore your Mongo database:
l "Reviewing the MongoDB Replica Status" below
l "Reviewing the Databases" below
l "Backing up the Mongo Database" on the next page
l "Restoring the Mongo Database" on the next page
The MongoDB scripts include a help feature. If you need assistance you can type either sudo aviddbctl
mongo backup --help or sudo aviddbctl mongo restore --help for more information.

Reviewing the MongoDB Replica Status

You can use the following process to obtain more information about the replica status.

To obtain the MongoDB replica set status:

1. Log in to the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

If you are running a clustered configuration, you must log in to one of the control plane nodes.
2. Enter the following command to obtain the status of all sets:
sudo kubectl get mongors
The system displays a list of replica sets, similar to the following:
NAME VERSION REPLICAS STATE
mongo-ca 1/1 running
mongo-core 1/1 running
mongo-search 1/1 running
If this were a clustered configuration, you would see 3/3 replicas for each set.

Reviewing the Databases

The MediaCentral Cloud UX Mongo database consists of multiple files. You can use the following command
to obtain more information about each.

To list the MongoDB files:

1. Log in to the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

If you are running a clustered configuration, you must log in to one of the control plane nodes.
2. Enter the following command to display the Mongo database files:
sudo kubectl get mongodb
The system displays a list of databases, similar to the following:
NAME STATE INSTANCE
acs-attributes running mongo-core
acs-registry running mongo-core
ca-contacts running mongo-ca

485
 A Additional Topics

ca-container running mongo-ca

ca-customization running mongo-ca
...

If you want to back up a single database file, you must note the name of that file as it will be required
when you complete the process for "Backing up the Mongo Database" below.

Backing up the Mongo Database

Complete the following process to back up the Mongo database.

The backup process scales the Mongo deployments down and back up again to prevent any modifications
to the data during the backup process. This means that administrators should only perform the backup
process during a maintenance window to avoid disruption of any service. If you must perform a backup
outside of a maintenance window, it is possible (although not recommenced) to bypass the scaling process
by adding --skip-scaling to the backup command below.

To back up the database:

1. Log in to the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

If you are running a clustered configuration, you must log in to one of the control plane nodes.
2. The Avid backup script allows you to back up either the entire database or individual database files.
Enter one of the following commands to initiate a backup of the Mongo database.
t If you want to create a backup of all database files, enter the following command:
sudo aviddbctl mongo backup
t If you want to create a backup of one or more specific database files, enter the following
command:
sudo aviddbctl mongo backup --db <database_name>
The following example command would create a backup of the iam and acs-registry
databases:
sudo aviddbctl mongo backup --db iam --db acs-registry
After you press Enter, the script is executed and the system reports that the backup process has been
initiated. Example:
avid@wavd-mcux:~$ sudo aviddbctl mongo backup --db iam
INFO Write Backup/Restore config file: /var/lib/backup/mongo/2023-6-21_
21-21-10/backup.yaml
INFO Scale down deployments (mongo.platform.avid.com/autoscaler)
INFO Scale down deployments (mongo.platform.avid.com/service-type)
INFO Delete db migration jobs
INFO Backup Databases
INFO [1/1] Backup: iam
INFO Scale up deployments (mongo.platform.avid.com/service-type)
INFO Scale up deployments (mongo.platform.avid.com/autoscaler)
INFO Backup was successful. Backup has been written to:
/var/lib/backup/mongo/2023-6-21_21-21-10
avid@wavd-mcux:~$

Restoring the Mongo Database

Complete the following process to restore a backup copy of the Mongo database.

Similar to the backup script, the restore script scales the services down and up again to prevent changes
during the restore process. While it is possible, Avid does not recommend using the --skip-scaling
switch to bypass the scaling process.

486
 A Additional Topics

If your organization needs to create scheduled automatic backups of MongoDB, you must manually create
a cron job to complete this task. The restore script does not automatically include the ability to automate
this process.

To restore the database:

1. Log in to the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

If you are running a clustered configuration, you must log in to one of the control plane nodes.
2. Similar to the backup script, the Avid restore script allows you to restore the entire database or
individual database files. Enter one of the following commands to initiate the restore process.
t If you want to restore all database files, enter the following command:
sudo aviddbctl mongo restore --config
/var/lib/backup/mongo/<date>/backup.yaml
t If you want to restore one or more specific database files, enter the following command:
sudo aviddbctl mongo restore --db <database_name> --config
/var/lib/backup/mongo/<date>/backup.yaml
3. Following the restore, you should redeploy the system to apply the latest database migrations.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

Reconfiguring SeaweedFS Volumes

SeaweedFS is an open-source Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) compliant shared storage system that
might be deployed on your MediaCentral Cloud UX system. In this release, the local (no outgoing / internet
traffic) SeaweedFS instance is used to host temporary files that are created during the transcribe process of
the Avid Ada Transcribe workflow. Temporary files are removed automatically from the system as part of
the transcription process.

SeaweedFS is installed automatically when you enable certain feature packs, such as "Avid Ada (ml)". It is
installed on either your single-server, or control-plane cluster nodes.

SeaweedFS storage is measured in volumes, with each volume using 1024MB of disk space. When you
deploy SeaweedFS, the MediaCentral Cloud UX installation script sets a default volume size of 32. This
process allocates 32,768MB (or approximately 32GB) of disk space on the Data volume of each
MediaCentral Cloud UX node. However if you feel that your workflow requires more storage than this, you
can increase the number of available volumes.

If you are working in a clustered environment, the workflows that use SeaweedFS create two copies of each
file on the share. This means that in reality, you have half as much storage as you might think.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl platform config seaweedfs --help

To increase the SeaweedFS volume limit:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary node to execute the configuration
script:
sudo avidctl platform config seaweedfs --max-volume-count <value>
For example:
sudo avidctl platform config seaweedfs --max-volume-count 64
After you press Enter, the values are written to a seaweedfs.yaml file that is added to the system's
Config Store.

487
 A Additional Topics

c Do not set this value any lower than the default value of 32. Similarly, after deploying an
updated seaweedfs.yaml configuration file, you must not lower the value below the newly
configured limit. Doing so could result in loss of data.
2. (if applicable) If you updated the volume limit on an in-production system, you must redeploy the
configuration during a maintenance window to enable this change. For more information, see
"Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

Backing Up the PostgreSQL Database

When you use the avidctl platform deploy script to deploy the Media Services Feature Pack, the
script automatically installs a PostgreSQL database to support the XForm service that is used in the
associated workflows. In the event of a system failure, a server re-image, or another event, a backup copy
of this database can help you avoid losing data related to current tasks and execution history.

This section includes information on how to backup and restore your PostgreSQL database. If you are
running in a cluster configuration, you can complete the following tasks from any control plane node.
PostgreSQL cluster synchronizes data to each member automatically. Avid recommends backing up the
database on a weekly or monthly basis. As the restore process stops services related to the Media Services
workflows, Avid recommends that you restore a database during a maintenance window.

To back up your PostgreSQL database:

1. Enter the following command to backup the database:

sudo avidctl db postgres backup -n <filename>
<filename> represents the name of the backup file. You can enter any custom name (no spaces or
special characters). The backup file will be appended with a .gz extension.
For example:
[avid@wavd-mcux ~]# sudo avidctl db postgres backup -n full
[INFO] Create backup full (/var/lib/backup/postgres/full.gz) - Succeeded
As noted in the output of this command, the backup file is created in the
/var/lib/backup/postgres/ directory.
2. Copy your database to an external location such as a network share or a USB drive to ensure that
you have access to the file if and whenever you might need it.
3. (optional) You can obtain additional information about file names, file locations, and backup/restore
history using the following commands:
t sudo avidctl db postgres backup-list
Displays the name and location of each backup database on your current server.
NAME FILE STATUS
------ ---------------------------------- ---------
full /var/lib/backup/postgres/full.gz Unknown
t sudo avidctl db postgres job-list
NAME STATUS
----------------------- -----------
postgres-backup-full Succeeded
postgres-restore-full Succeeded

488
 A Additional Topics

To restore your PostgreSQL database:

1. (if necessary) Copy the backup file from your saved external location to the
/var/lib/backup/postgres/ directory on your local server.
2. Enter the following command to restore the database:
sudo avidctl db postgres restore -n <filename>
Where <filename> represents the name of the backup file without the .gz extension. The following
provides an example of this command:
[avid@wavd-mcux ~]# sudo avidctl db postgres restore -n full
To prevent access to the database during the restore process, the script scales the related services
down, restores the database, and then scales the services back up again. The procedure should
complete with the following message:
[INFO] Restore backup full (/var/lib/backup/postgres/full.gz) - Succeeded
If the scale-up process fails for any reason, you might see a [ERROR] Unable to scale up
PostgreSQL clients message appear. If this occurs, you can attempt to manually restart the services
by entering the following command:

sudo avidctl platform scale-ha

Importing Custom Logging Data

The MediaCentral Cloud UX Log app enables streamlined logging of live events through the use of custom
templates. If your organization used the Customizable Logger feature in MediaCentral UX, the following
process allows you to export and re-import this custom logging data into MediaCentral Cloud UX.

This process requires your MediaCentral Cloud UX server to have access to the same systems and media
that were used during the log creation process. These systems include MediaCentral Production
Management (Interplay Production) and / or MediaCentral Asset Management (Interplay MAM).

The following topics are included in this section:

l "Exporting Custom Logs from MediaCentral UX" below
l "Deploying the Asset Logger Tools" on the next page
l "Importing the Custom Log Files" on the next page
l "Migrating the Custom Log Data" on page 491
l "Removing the Asset Logger Tools" on page 493

Exporting Custom Logs from MediaCentral UX

The first step in migrating the custom logging data to MediaCentral Cloud UX is to export the existing logs
from the source MediaCentral UX system. This process assumes that your MediaCentral UX and
MediaCentral Cloud UX servers can communicate through your corporate network.

To export custom log data from MediaCentral UX:

1. Log into the MediaCentral UX server (at the Linux prompt) as the root user.
If you are working in a cluster configuration, you must export the logs from the current master node.
For more information on determining the master node, see “Identifying the Master, Slave and Load-
Balancing Nodes” in the Avid MediaCentral Platform Services Installation and Configuration Guide.
2. Navigate to the /tmp directory on the server:
cd /tmp

489
 A Additional Topics

3. Enter the following command to export the custom log files from the Mongo database:
mongodump -d customizable-logging --gzip
This process creates a new dumps folder in the current directory.
4. When the export process is complete, compress the dumps folder for delivery to the Cloud UX server:
tar -cvf dump.tar dump
A new dump.tar file is created in the /tmp directory.
5. Copy the file to the MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server or primary master node:
scp dump.tar <user>@<hostname>:/tmp
Where <user> is your Ubuntu user name and <hostname> is the host name or IP address of your
MediaCentral Cloud UX server.
After you enter this command, you might be presented with the following message:
The authenticity of host '[hostname (IP address)]' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is [fingerprint alphanumerical id].
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?
If you see this message, enter yes and enter the MediaCentral Cloud UX root user password when
prompted.
This process copies the dump.tar file created in the previous step from the /tmp directory on the
MediaCentral UX server to the /tmp directory on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

Deploying the Asset Logger Tools

Before you can import the MediaCentral UX custom log files into MediaCentral Cloud UX, you must install
some additional tools that are used to assist with the import process. You must complete the following
process on the MediaCentral Cloud UX server to install these tools.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl extra asset-logger --help

To deploy the log import tools:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary cluster node to install the log import
tools:
sudo avidctl extra asset-logger tools-deploy
2. Enter the following command to enable additional tools required for this process:
sudo avidctl platform devtools enable
3. Before you can continue to the next step, you must first verify that the mongo-asset-logger-
migration pod has started in Kubernetes. Enter the following command to see a list of pods:
sudo kubectl get pods
Repeat this command as necessary. After the mongo-asset-logger-migration-<value> pod is
listed as Running, continue to the next step.

Importing the Custom Log Files

After you have exported the logs from MediaCentral UX and you have installed the required tools on your
MediaCentral Cloud UX server, you can use the following process to import the custom log files. During the
import, you can use the Process app to monitor the status of the import job. For more information, see
“Working with the Process App” in the Avid MediaCentral | Cloud UX User’s Guide.

490
 A Additional Topics

To import the log files into MediaCentral Cloud UX

1. Navigate to the /tmp directory on your MediaCentral Cloud UX single server or primary cluster node:
cd /tmp
2. Enter the following commands to prepare the Mongo database for the log import process:
a. sudo export MONGOPOD=`kubectl get po -l app=mongo-asset-logger-
migration | tail -n 1 | cut -d' ' -f1`
b. sudo kubectl cp /tmp/dump.tar $MONGOPOD:/tmp
c. sudo kubectl exec -it $MONGOPOD /bin/bash
3. Uncompress or “untar” the dump.tar file:
sudo tar xvf dump.tar
The file is uncompressed and the original dumps folder is created in the /tmp directory.
4. Finally, import the logs into the Mongo database:
sudo mongorestore dump --gzip
The process reports progress and results on-screen. Review the text output to verify that the process
was successful.

Migrating the Custom Log Data

In the previous steps, you copied the logs to the MediaCentral Cloud UX server and imported the logs to a
temporary Mongo database. In the following process you migrate the data from the Mongo database to a
permanent database.

To migrate the log data:

1. Use local workstation to open a web browser and access the following page:
https://<hostname>:30800/acs.html
Where <hostname> is the host name or IP address of your MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server or
primary cluster node.
The Avid ACS Monitor page appears as shown in the following illustration.

n If you are having trouble connecting to the page, make sure that your address specifies https
and not http. If you do not see the list of attributes on the left side of the page, refresh the
browser page.

491
 A Additional Topics

2. Enter avid.asset.logger.tools in the search text box at the top of the page and click Apply.
The list of attributes is filtered to display only the services that match your search criteria.
3. Expand the configuration service options by clicking the Service Operations List icon in the upper-left
corner of the configuration service field.
4. In the Service Operations section, click the link for “migration procedure start”.
The following text appears in the Query panel to the right:

If you do not see the Query panel, your browser window might be too small. You can reveal the panel
by either widening the size of your browser window or clicking the Request/Response button.
5. Replace the <username> and <password> variables in the Query panel with the name and password
of a user that is included in the MediaCentral Cloud UX Admins group.
When replacing the values, do not include the brackets inside the quotes.
6. Click the Query button to start the migration process.
After you click Query, the panel with additional information, include an ID that you can use to track
the progress of the migration.

Make note of this ID by copy and pasting it into a temporary text file on your local workstation.
7. Check the status of the migration.

492
 A Additional Topics

a. Click on the “get status for particular migration by ID” link in the panel on the left.
b. Replace the value associated with the “migrationId” field with the ID that you made note of in
the previous step.
c. Click the Query button.
As shown in the following illustration, the status line might report a value of RUNNING or
SUCCESSFUL. You can repeat this query to obtain status updates as the process runs.

8. Finally, check the status of the overall migration and verify that there are no Undone events.
a. Click on the “request executions and events migrations report” link in the panel on the left and
then click the Query button in the panel on the right.
The panel updates with additional information, including an overall migration status.

b. If you see any Undone events, re-run the “migration procedure start” job with the “retryFailed”
parameter set to true.

Removing the Asset Logger Tools

After you have imported the custom logs from MediaCentral UX and verified the logging through the
MediaCentral Cloud UX user interface, Avid recommends that you uninstall the temporary tools that you
used to import the logs. This frees the system resources used by the tools such as memory and disk space.

n If you need more information about the script referenced in this process, you can use the script’s help
function by entering the following command: avidctl extra asset-logger --help

To remove the log import tools and temporary files:

1. Enter the following command on your single server or primary cluster node to remove the log import
tools:
sudo avidctl extra asset-logger tools-remove
2. At this point, you can delete the temporary log files copied from the MediaCentral UX system:
a. Remove the temporary dump.tar file:
sudo rm /tmp/dump.tar
b. Remove the temporary dumps directory
sudo rm -rf /tmp/dumps
3. Enter the following command to disable the tools used in this process:
sudo avidctl platform devtools disable

493
 A Additional Topics

Configuring the Archiving of Jobs and Purging of Archived Jobs

Starting with version 2023.12, job data will be cleaned from the Job Monitor in a two-step approach:
l First, jobs in final state (Completed, Failed, Cancelled) will be auto-archived from the Mongo
database “Active Collection” to the “Archive Collection” after a configurable amount of time. The
default value is 48 hours.
l Then, archived jobs will be purged from the Mongo database “Archive collection” after a configurable
amount of time. The default value is 30 days.
If you plan to change the default job archiving or purging value or both, you must add the configuration
settings AVID_JOB_MONITOR_ARCHIVE_MONITOR_OLDER_THAN_HOURS and/or AVID_JOB_MONITOR_
DELETE_MONITOR_OLDER_THAN_DAYS to the respective configMap ‘avid-job-monitor-core' using the
Kubernetes Dashboard. These settings have to contain the new value definitions, as described in the
following procedure. Note the following allowed range:
l AVID_JOB_MONITOR_ARCHIVE_MONITOR_OLDER_THAN_HOURS: minimum: 6 hours, maximum 720
hours
l AVID_JOB_MONITOR_DELETE_MONITOR_OLDER_THAN_DAYS: minimum: 1 day, maximum 90 days
If a config setting is missing or includes an invalid value, the default value is used.

Each time the Job Monitor is started it will read and parse the provided AVID_JOB_MONITOR_ARCHIVE_
MONITOR_OLDER_THAN_HOURS and AVID_JOB_MONITOR_DELETE_MONITOR_OLDER_THAN_DAYS
strings.

To configure the job archiving and purging interval:

1. Connect and sign in to the Kubernetes Dashboard.

See "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.
2. Use the Search option at the top of the Kubernetes Dashboard to search for “avid-job-monitor-core”.
The search provides information on multiple aspects of the Kubernetes resources such as Config
Maps, Deployments, Pods, and more.
3. Click on the avid-job-monitor-core link under Config Maps.
Detailed information about the config map appears in your browser to the right of the sidebar.
4. Click on the Edit button at the top of the Kubernetes window.
The config map is opened in a Kubernetes text editor.
5. Switch to the JSON tab.
6. To change the default job archiving value, add the following line to the "Data" section:
"AVID_JOB_MONITOR_ARCHIVE_MONITOR_OLDER_THAN_HOURS": "<integer 6 through
720>"
Example:
"AVID_JOB_MONITOR_ARCHIVE_MONITOR_OLDER_THAN_HOURS": "72"
7. To change the default job purging value, add the following line to the "Data" section:
"AVID_JOB_MONITOR_DELETE_MONITOR_OLDER_THAN_DAYS": "<integer 1 through 90>"
Example:
"AVID_JOB_MONITOR_DELETE_MONITOR_OLDER_THAN_DAYS": "20"

494
 A Additional Topics

8. Click the Update button to save your changes.

9. Delete the pod avid-job-monitor-core.
See "Deleting a Pod" on page 520.

Job Monitor Blacklist for Bus Channel Notifications

Since the Process app no longer uses bus channel notifications, the Job Monitor uses the system type in an
internal blacklist to filter all jobs for which no bus channel notifications are to be sent. Filtering out
unnecessary bus channel notifications significantly improves the system performance.

Currently, the following are sending their system types for bus channel notifications:
l Asset Management: system type “interplay-mam”
l Clip Mover: system type "avid-clip-mover"
l Adobe Integration: system type "adobe-integration"
l Media Analytics Engine: system type "media-analytics-engine"
By default, for all jobs related to the system types “interplay-mam”, "avid-clip-mover", "adobe-integration"
and "media-analytics-engine" bus channel notifications are not sent. Once other modules send their system
types (example: "interplay-pam"), they can also be used in the blacklist.

If you plan to enable bus channel notifications again – for example, because in an customized installation
bus channel notifications are still used –, you must add the configuration setting AVID_JOB_MONITOR_
NOTIFICATION_SYSTEM_TYPE_BLACKLIST to the respective configMap ‘avid-job-monitor-core' using the
Kubernetes Dashboard.

c Enabling bus channel notifications for Asset Management can cause a severe performance
degradation.

Each time the Job Monitor is started it will read and parse the provided AVID_JOB_MONITOR_
NOTIFICATION_SYSTEM_TYPE_BLACKLIST string.

To modify the bus channel notifications blacklist:

1. Connect and sign in to the Kubernetes Dashboard.

See "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.
2. Use the Search option at the top of the Kubernetes Dashboard to search for “avid-job-monitor-core”.
The search provides information on multiple aspects of the Kubernetes resources such as Config
Maps, Deployments, Pods, and more.
3. Click on the avid-job-monitor-core link under Config Maps.
Detailed information about the config map appears in your browser to the right of the sidebar.
4. Click on the Edit button at the top of the Kubernetes window.
The config map is opened in a Kubernetes text editor.
5. Switch to the JSON tab.
6. In the "Data" section, do one of the following:
t To enable bus channel notifications for all job types, add the following line:
"AVID_JOB_MONITOR_NOTIFICATION_SYSTEM_TYPE_BLACKLIST": "<blank space>"

495
 A Additional Topics

t To enable bus channel notifications for Adobe Project Manager jobs, add the following line:
"AVID_JOB_MONITOR_NOTIFICATION_SYSTEM_TYPE_BLACKLIST": "interplay-
mam,avid-clip-mover,media-analytics-engine"
t To enable bus channel notifications for Clip Mover jobs, add the following line:
"AVID_JOB_MONITOR_NOTIFICATION_SYSTEM_TYPE_BLACKLIST": "interplay-
mam,adobe-integration,media-analytics-engine"
t To enable bus channel notifications for Asset Management jobs, add the following line:
"AVID_JOB_MONITOR_NOTIFICATION_SYSTEM_TYPE_BLACKLIST": "avid-clip-
mover,adobe-integration,media-analytics-engine"
t To enable bus channel notifications for Media Analytics Engine jobs, add the following line:
"AVID_JOB_MONITOR_NOTIFICATION_SYSTEM_TYPE_BLACKLIST": "interplay-
mam,avid-clip-mover,adobe-integration"
7. Click the Update button to save your changes.

c Kubernetes config map changes are not saved following a software upgrade. If you alter the
config map, you will need to repeat this process following any software upgrade.
8. Delete the pod avid-job-monitor-core.
See "Deleting a Pod" on page 520.

Configuring the Maximum of Groups for Notification Actions

In the Rules Editor app, administrators can configure rules that trigger platform notifications. Using the
Rules Editor's Notification action administrators configure which user groups of the MediaCentral platform
User Management (IAM) should receive notifications. However, for performance reasons the number of
groups used within one notification action needs to be restricted. By default, a maximum of 10 groups is
applied.

You can modify the number of groups allowed in a notification action by using the setting GROUP_MAX_
SIZE of the configMap "avid-push-notifications-notification-service-core". If you do not provide this setting,
the default of 10 is applied.

n Kubernetes config map changes are not saved following a software upgrade. If you alter the config
map, you will need to repeat this process following any software upgrade.

To limit the number of groups in Notification actions:

1. Connect and sign in to the Kubernetes Dashboard.

See "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.
2. Use the Search option at the top of the Kubernetes Dashboard to search for “avid-push-notifications-
notification-service-core”.
The search provides information on multiple aspects of the Kubernetes resources such as Config
Maps, Deployments, Pods, and more.
3. Click on the avid-push-notifications-notification-service-core link under Config Maps.
Detailed information about the config map appears in your browser to the right of the sidebar.
4. Click on the Edit button at the top of the Kubernetes window.
The config map is opened in a Kubernetes text editor.
5. Switch to the JSON tab.

496
 A Additional Topics

6. Add the following line to the "Data" section:

"GROUP_MAX_SIZE": "<integer 1 through 10>"
7. Click the Update button to save your changes.
8. Delete the pod avid-push-notifications-notification-service-core.
See "Deleting a Pod" on page 520.

497
 B Importing TLS Certificates

B Importing TLS Certificates

During the MediaCentral Cloud UX installation and configuration process, you have the option of either
creating a self-signed certificate or importing a certificate from a Certificate Authority (CA). Current web
browsers do not automatically accept self-signed certificates or certificates created by an internal CA.
When a user attempts to access MediaCentral Cloud UX, the browser might alert the user that the
connection cannot be validated as shown in the following example illustration..

If you want to use a self-signed certificate or a certificate created by an internal CA, you can refer to the
following processes to import the certificate into the client’s local workstation or mobile device:
l "Importing Certificates on Local Workstations" on the next page
l "Importing Certificates on iOS Devices" on page 507
Alternatively, you might be able to distribute the certificate to multiple clients simultaneously through
Windows Group Policy. For more information, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-
server/identity/ad-fs/deployment/distribute-certificates-to-client-computers-by-using-group-policy.

If you still receive a connection warning in your browser after importing a certificate to the client
workstation, your certificate might not have been created correctly. In this case, you can refer to the
processes for "Verifying the TLS Certificate" on page 505.

Similar to a web browser, iOS devices that connect to the MediaCentral Platform through the MediaCentral
Cloud UX mobile app or the Collaborate mobile app also require a valid certificate. If not installed, you
could encounter issues playing media assets or even signing into the app.

498
 B Importing TLS Certificates

The following table provides an overview of the different types of certificate files and guidelines on where
they can be used.

Certificate Type Supported for Web Can include short What needs to be imported on
iOS Browser names and IPs the client

Self-Signed No Yes Yes Self-Signed Certificate

Private / Internal Yes Yes Yes (if allowed) Root CA Certificate
CA Signed
Public / External Yes Yes No Nothing. Public certificates are
CA Signed trusted automatically

If you need to alter your existing certificate files, refer to the process for "Redeploying Certificates" on
page 80.

Importing Certificates on Local Workstations

The following processes are required if you are using a self-signed certificate. If you are using a certificate
signed by an internal CA, the following processes might or might not be required. Some IT departments
might distribute the certificate to connected browsers and mobile devices automatically — eliminating the
need to manually import the certificate. Check with your local IT department for more information on
certificate policies.

The section references the Google Chrome browser to assist in the certificate import process.

n Chrome menus, operating system menus, and related applications are subject to change. As a result,
the following processes might not reflect the options available in the latest Chrome browser or your
operating system. For the latest information on importing a certificate, see the documentation for your
operating system or browser.

This section is divided into the following two processes:

l "Configuring Windows" below
l "Configuring macOS" on page 503

Configuring Windows
Trusting a certificate in Google Chrome is a two-step process. First, you export the certificate from a web
browser. Second, you must import the certificate to the Trusted Root Certification Authorities store. Both of
these procedures are performed through Chrome menus.

To export a certificate from your browser:

1. Launch Google Chrome and enter the URL of the MediaCentral server in the address bar.
https://<FQDN>, where <FQDN> is the Fully Qualified Domain Name of the server.
2. Click on icon on the far-left of the browser address bar.
As shown in this illustration, the icon shows a “Not secure” status. When you click on the icon,
information about the connection appears in a new window.

499
 B Importing TLS Certificates

3. Click on the Certificate link to obtain more information.

4. Use one of the following processes to access the certificate details window.
If you are using a self-signed certificate:
– Click the Details tab.
If you are using an internal CA signed certificate:
a. Click the Certificate Path tab.
b. Highlight the root certificate and click the View Certificate button.
As shown in the following illustration, the root certificate is listed at the top of the tree.

c. Click the Details tab.

5. Click the “Copy to File…” button in the Details window.
This starts the Certificate Export wizard.

500
 B Importing TLS Certificates

Use the default options in the wizard to export the certificate from the browser, saving it to a
convenient temporary location, such as the local desktop.
Once you have exported the certificate, you must add it to the Trusted Root Certification Authorities
store, as described in the following process.
To add the certificate to the trusted certificates store:

1. If you are recreating a MediaCentral certificate or if you are uncertain if a certificate has been
created and imported in the past, it is good practice to verify that an existing certificate with the
same name does not already exist. Multiple certificates with the same name might cause problems
with certificate verification. Note: This process might vary, depending on your version of Windows. If
necessary, see the Microsoft Windows documentation for additional information.
a. Open the Windows Internet Properties Control Panel.
b. Select the Content tab and click the Certificates button.

c. In the Certificates window, click on the “Trusted Root Certification Authorities” tab.
The list of trusted certificates is listed alphabetically.
d. Search for the host name of your MediaCentral server in the list of certificates.
e. If you find a certificate that matches your hostname, highlight the certificate and click the
Remove button.
Click Yes to the two warnings about removing a certificate and close the control panel.

501
 B Importing TLS Certificates

2. Double-click on the certificate file that you created during the export process.
A new Certification Information window appears.
3. Click the Install Certificate button to open the Certificate Import Wizard.
4. Click Next on the Import Wizard’s Welcome page.
5. In the File to Import dialog, click the Browse button to locate your certificate.
6. Select the certificate file that you exported in the previous procedure and click Open.
7. Click Next to proceed to the next window.
8. Click the Browse button in the Certificate Store window.
9. Browse to the “Trusted Root Certification Authorities” store and click OK to select the store.

10. Click Next to proceed to the next window.

11. The Certificate Import Wizard displays the information you have specified. Click Finish to import the
certificate to the browser.
12. A final security warning dialog appears, asking you to confirm installation of the certificate. Click the
Yes button to confirm the import of the certificate.
Successful import will result in the following window. Click OK to complete the process.

13. Restart Chrome and enter the FQDN of the MediaCentral server in the address bar.
The browser should connect to MediaCentral Cloud UX without issuing a certificate warning.

502
 B Importing TLS Certificates

Configuring macOS
Complete the following processes to save and import a certificate into your macOS workstation.

Verifying Existing Certificates

If you are recreating a MediaCentral Cloud UX certificate or if you are uncertain if a certificate has been
created and imported in the past, it is good practice to verify that an existing certificate with the same
name does not already exist. Multiple certificates with the same name might cause problems with
certificate verification.

To verify your current certificates:

1. Use the Finder’s Go menu to access the Utilities folder.

2. Double-click the Keychain Access utility to view the certificates.
3. Select the “login” option from the list of keychains in the pane on the left.
4. Search for the hostname of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server in the list of certificates.
5. If you find a certificate that matches your hostname, highlight the certificate and select Delete from
the Edit menu.
When prompted, click the Delete button on the screen to confirm the action.
6. Finally, enter your Administrator password to complete the removal process.
Exporting the MediaCentral Cloud UX Certificate
Before you can add the certificate to the macOS Keychain, you must obtain a local copy of it. You can
complete this in one of the following ways.

Export from Safari:

1. Open Safari and enter the FQDN of your MediaCentral Cloud UX system into the address bar.
2. Click the “view the certificate” link in the This Connection Is Not Private warning message.
3. Click on the certificate icon and drag it to the desktop as shown in the following illustration.

4. Click the OK button to close the certificate window, and then quit Safari.
5. Continue to "Adding the Certificate to Keychain" on the next page.
Export from Chrome for Windows:

1. Use the process described in "Configuring Windows" on page 499 to save a copy of the certificate to
a Windows workstation.
2. Copy the certificate to the Mac and continue to "Adding the Certificate to Keychain" below.

503
 B Importing TLS Certificates

Adding the Certificate to Keychain

Complete the following processes to import the saved certificate into your macOS workstation.

To add a certificate to the Keychain Access utility:

1. Double-click on the certificate on your desktop.

The Keychain Access utility opens and prompts you with an Add Certificates window.
2. Click the Add button in the Add Certificates window.
The window includes an option to specify a Keychain. You can leave this setting at the default
selection.

3. Double-click on the certificate in the Keychain Access utility to see more details.
If you do not know where to find the certificate, you can use the application’s built-in search
capabilities to help locate it. The name of the certificate matches the name that you saw during the
export process.
4. In the certificate details window, select “Always Trust” from the “When using this certificate” menu.

This updates all of the other trust categories to reflect the Always Trust selection.
5. Close the details window to save your changes.
A Certificate Trust Settings window appears.

504
 B Importing TLS Certificates

6. Enter your Administrator password and click the Update Settings button.
7. Launch Google Chrome and enter the FQDN of your MediaCentral Cloud UX system into the address
bar.
As shown in the following illustration, the warning symbol should be replaced with a lock icon in the
address bar and you should be able to continue to the MediaCentral Cloud UX sign-in page with no
further security warnings.

Verifying the TLS Certificate

After you install the certificate in your local browser, you can use the following process to verify the
contents of the certificate. This process uses Google Chrome on Microsoft Windows as an example. You
might need to follow alternative steps based on your browser, version of Chrome, or operating system.

n Some browsers might cache certificate information. If you do not see a valid certificate, you might
need to clear your browser’s cache and reconnect to MediaCentral Cloud UX.

505
 B Importing TLS Certificates

To verify the certificate files:

1. Click on the Site Information button and click the Certificate link to show more information about the
certificate.

2. Click the Details tab to display additional information about the certificate.
The following example illustration shows a certificate for a three node cluster.

3. (if applicable) Verify that the certificate includes all of the subject alternative names that you entered
when creating the certificate.

506
 B Importing TLS Certificates

Importing Certificates on iOS Devices

Avid recommends using a certificate obtained through an external/public Certificate Authority when
working with the MediaCentral Cloud UX mobile app. If you are unable to obtain this type of certificate, you
must use an internal CA signed certificate that includes the FQDN of your MediaCentral Cloud UX server. If
you are running a clustered configuration, the certificate must include the FQDN of the virtual cluster and
each individual node. Additional Subject Alternative Names such as the short name and IP address are
recommended, but not required.

If you are using a certificate from an external / public certificate authority, your mobile device accepts this
certificate automatically and this process is not required. If you created an internal CA certificate and your
local IT department does not distribute certificates automatically, you must complete the following process
to import the certificate into the mobile device.

To import a certificate on iOS:

1. Follow one the process detailed above to export the certificate.

2. Attach the exported certificate to an e-mail and send the e-mail to an account that can be accessed
on the iOS device.
3. Open the e-mail on the mobile device and click on the certificate attached to the e-mail.
You should be prompted with an Install Profile window showing the name of the certificate.
4. Click Install in the upper-right corner of this window to begin the certificate installation process.
5. When prompted enter your device’s passcode.
6. As you are installing a self-signed or internal CA certificate, a message indicating that: “The
authenticity of “<server-name>” cannot be verified.” is presented.
After accepting this warning message, a second Install Profile window appears:

7. Click the Install button to install the certificate.

A third window appears indicating that the certificate has been installed.
8. Click Done to close the window.
9. After you install the certificate you must confirm that it is a trusted certificate on your iOS device.
a. On your iOS mobile device, open Settings > General > About, and tap on the Certificate Trust
Settings option at the bottom of this window.
The Certificate Trust Settings screen appears as in the following example illustration.

507
 B Importing TLS Certificates

b. Tap the toggle to enable the MediaCentral Cloud UX certificate.

A Root Certificate window appears over the Certificate Trust Settings screen.

c. Tap Continue to trust the certificate.

10. (optional) If desired, you can view the certificate on the mobile device by selecting Settings > General
> Profiles. The FQDN of your MediaCentral server should appear under the list of Configuration
Profiles.

508
 C System Administration

C System Administration
The purpose of this appendix is to detail processes that can be used to manage your existing MediaCentral
Cloud UX environment.

Unless otherwise noted, all procedures in this chapter are disruptive to the users and must be completed
during a maintenance period in which the system is not in active use.

The following main topics are described in this chapter:

l "Upgrading a Single Server to a Cluster" below
l "Adding a Worker Node to an Existing Cluster" on page 511
l "Removing Nodes from a Cluster" on page 512

Upgrading a Single Server to a Cluster

If you have already deployed your MediaCentral Cloud UX system as a single-server installation, you can
complete the following steps to expand your environment into a cluster configuration. Clusters provide
high-availability of many systems services which can increase the “up-time” of your system. Clusters also
enable support for additional users and playback streams. For more information, see "MediaCentral Cloud
UX Clustering" on page 466.

The process of expanding to a cluster does not alter the options configured through the MediaCentral
Cloud UX Administrator apps, nor does it affect your product license.

When expanding to a cluster, your former single server will become the cluster’s primary node.

To convert from a single server to a cluster:

1. Complete the steps listed in the "Special Notes on Cluster Configurations" on page 33 on all new
cluster nodes to complete the installation and configuration of the operating system and the core
Avid software packages.
2. Run the MediaCentral Cloud UX setup script on your primary node, making sure to update your
cluster configuration with the new node count.
For details see, "Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX Setup Script" on page 63.
3. Enter the following command to update the issuer value of your site key:
sudo avidctl platform config site-key --issuer https://<fqdn>
Where <fqdn> is the virtual FQDN of your cluster.
For example: https://bos-mcux.wavd.com
For more information see, "Creating a Site Key" on page 73.
4. Update your MediaCentral Cloud UX certificate on your primary node with the information on your
new node or nodes.
For details see, "Creating Certificate Files" on page 74.
5. Enter the following command on your primary node to redeploy the TLS Certificate:
sudo avidctl platform config cert -i
For details see, "Deploying the Transport Layer Security Certificates" on page 81.
6. If you have Phonetic Index, run the avidctl platform config phonetic script on your primary
node and specify the FQDN of your MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster.

509
 C System Administration

For details see, "Configuring MediaCentral Phonetic Index" on page 104.

7. Enter the following command on your primary node to deploy the feature pack data to your new
node or nodes:
sudo avidctl platform redeploy
This script deploys all feature packs that are installed on the existing cluster nodes to the new node or
nodes. This includes the original feature pack deployment and any patches that might have been
installed on top of the original installation. For more information about the redeploy command, see
"Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
8. Review the configuration settings for all connected MediaCentral modules and systems that might
use the IP address or FQDN of your MediaCentral Cloud UX system. You must make sure to update
those settings with the virtual IP address or FQDN of your new MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster.
9. If you are configured in a multi-site environment, you must update the site key information for each
remote site. Complete the following steps on each remote site:
a. Enter the following command to remove your old single-server configuration from the sites file:
sudo avidctl platform config sites remove https://<single-server-fqdn>
b. Enter the following command to add your new cluster to the file:
sudo avidctl platform config sites add https://<cluster-fqdn>
c. Verify that the site file is up to date:
sudo avidctl platform config sites list
Your old single-server entry should be removed and your new remote system should be listed.
d. Redeploy the configuration to enable the changes:
sudo avidctl platform redeploy
e. Repeat these steps for each remote site.
For additional details see, "Updating the Key Files in a Multi-Site Environment" on page 74.
10. If you are using a self-signed or internal CA issued certificate, you must import the updated
certificate into all workstations that connect to MediaCentral Cloud UX.
For details see, "Importing TLS Certificates" on page 498.
11. If you have client workstations that connect to the MediaCentral Cloud UX server and you have
saved a favorite in your web browser, you must update the favorite to point to the FQDN of the
MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster and not to an individual cluster node.

510
 C System Administration

Adding a Worker Node to an Existing Cluster

If your MediaCentral Cloud UX system is deployed as a cluster configuration and you wish to add worker
nodes to support additional users or playback streams, you can complete the following steps to add one or
more nodes to your existing cluster.

If you are interested in adding a new node that will be dedicated to a specific workflow, do not complete the
following steps and instead see the process for "Configuring Avid Ada Nodes" on page 67.

To display a list of existing nodes in your cluster:

t Enter the following command:
sudo kubectl get nodes
To add a node to your cluster:

1. Complete the steps listed in the "Special Notes on Cluster Configurations" on page 33 to complete
the initial installation of the worker node.
2. Run the MediaCentral Cloud UX setup script on your primary node, making sure to update your
cluster configuration with the new node count.
For details see, "Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX Setup Script" on page 63.
3. Update your MediaCentral Cloud UX certificate on your primary node with the information on your
new node or nodes.
For details see, "Creating Certificate Files" on page 74.
4. Enter the following command on your primary node to redeploy the TLS Certificate:
sudo avidctl platform config cert -i
For details see, "Deploying the Transport Layer Security Certificates" on page 81.
5. Enter the following command on your primary node to deploy the feature pack data to your new
node or nodes:
sudo avidctl platform redeploy
This script deploys all feature packs that are installed on the existing cluster nodes to the new node or
nodes. This includes the original feature pack deployment and any patches that might have been
installed on top of the original installation. For more information about the redeploy command, see
"Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
6. If you are using a self-signed or internal CA issued certificate, you must import the updated
certificate into all workstations that connect to MediaCentral Cloud UX.
For details see, "Importing TLS Certificates" on page 498.

511
 C System Administration

Removing Nodes from a Cluster

The following processes describe the steps required to remove one or more nodes from an existing cluster.
This process does not apply to removing a control plane node from the cluster.
l "Removing a Single Node" below
l "Removing Multiple Worker Nodes" on the next page
As a reminder, the first three nodes in a MediaCentral Cloud UX cluster are considered control plane nodes.
When you initially installed and configured the cluster, you were asked to define a “primary” node. When
completing the following process, you must execute all commands from the primary node.

Removing a Single Node

The following process describes how to remove a single node from your cluster. This process applies to
standard worker nodes, as well as no-replica nodes referenced in "Configuring Avid Ada Nodes" on
page 67.

To remove a single worker node:

1. Sign into your primary node with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Enter the following command to begin the removal process:
sudo avidctl platform host-remove-worker -i --ssh-user <user>
Where <user> is the name of your Ubuntu user account.

n This user must be created on all cluster nodes and the password must be the same for all nodes.
The script reads the information from your configuration and displays a list of all non-control plane
nodes. This “non-control plane worker node” distinction is made because although you might have
dedicated worker nodes, control plane nodes also function as workers within the cluster.
3. When prompted, enter the number that is associated with the worker node that you want to remove,
and press Enter to continue.
4. When asked if the node is still online, do one of the following: type Y (for yes) or N (for no), and press
Enter to continue.
t If your node is online and functional, type Y (for yes).
If you enter yes, the script performs additional actions to prepare the node for removal. These
steps include putting the node into (permanent) maintenance mode, unmounting Gluster
volumes, and other procedures.
t If your node is offline due to a hardware failure, or it is in an otherwise unrecoverable state,
type N (for no).

c If you enter no, you must ensure that the node cannot connect to the cluster at a future point. If
the node comes back online, it might attempt to rejoin the cluster which could lead to
unexpected behaviors to the production system.
After you press Enter, the script begins to execute processes to remove the node from the cluster.
5. When the process is complete, enter the following command to remove the node from the Kubernetes
Nodes list:
sudo kubectl delete node <worker-hostname>
6. (optional, recommended) Test the Platform upgrade process.

512
 C System Administration

After altering the cluster configuration, it is possible that you might not perform a software upgrade
to your MediaCentral Cloud UX system for weeks or months from the point at which you removed the
nodes. You can use the same version of software that you are already running to verify that the
software upgrade process does not return any unexpected errors. If you complete this task now, you
can complete your next (real) upgrade with a higher degree of confidence.
For a more information, see “Updating the Platform” in the MediaCentral | Cloud UX ReadMe for your
current version of software. You are not required to update the feature packs as part of this test.

Removing Multiple Worker Nodes

The following process describes how to remove multiple worker nodes simultaneously.

To remove multiple worker nodes:

1. Sign into your primary node with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Enter the non-interactive version of the command:
sudo avidctl platform host-remove-worker --worker <hostname> --offline --
ssh-user <user>
Where the following variables are used:
– <hostname>: This value is the hostname of the worker that you want to remove. You can add
multiple values.
– offline: You can add this switch to the command if you know that all nodes that you plan to
remove are offline. If you have a mix of online and offline nodes, do not add this option.
– <user> is the name of your Ubuntu user account.

n This user must be created on all cluster nodes and the password must be the same for all
nodes.

In the following example, the administrator has instructed the script to remove two worker nodes
(wavd-mcux05 and wavd-mcux06) from the cluster. The offline switch is not used because both
nodes are online and functional.
sudo avidctl platform host-remove-worker --worker wavd-mcux5 --worker wavd-
mcux6 --ssh-user avid
3. Press Enter to execute the command.
The script begins to execute processes to remove the nodes from the cluster.
4. When the process is complete, enter the following command to remove the node from the Kubernetes
Nodes list:
sudo kubectl delete node <worker-hostname>
If you removed multiple nodes, repeat this command for each node that you removed.
5. (optional, recommended) Test the Platform upgrade process.
After altering the cluster configuration, it is possible that you might not perform a software upgrade
to your MediaCentral Cloud UX system for weeks or months from the point at which you removed the
nodes. You can use the same version of software that you are already running to verify that the
software upgrade process does not return any unexpected errors. If you complete this task now, you
can complete your next (real) upgrade with a higher degree of confidence.
For a more information, see “Updating the Platform” in the MediaCentral | Cloud UX ReadMe for your
current version of software. You are not required to update the feature packs as part of this test.

513
 D Troubleshooting

D Troubleshooting
The purpose of this appendix is to provide information on tools and processes that can be used to identify
and resolve issues on a MediaCentral Cloud UX server or cluster.

The following main topics are described in this chapter:

l "MediaCentral Cloud UX and System Logs" below
l "Working with Kubernetes" on page 517
l "Working with Grafana" on page 531
l "Altering the Keyboard Layout" on page 534
l "Troubleshooting Your Network " on page 534
l "Troubleshooting Playback" on page 537
l "Troubleshooting the Acquire App" on page 540
l "Production Management Connection Issues" on page 543
l "Troubleshooting the Multi-Site Configuration Process" on page 544
l "Troubleshooting the XFER Service" on page 545

MediaCentral Cloud UX and System Logs

If you encounter a problem with your system, you might need to contact Avid Customer Care for assistance
in troubleshooting the root cause of the issue. These troubleshooting efforts are often expedited by
collecting and reviewing the system log files. This section details the location of various MediaCentral Cloud
UX logs and describes the process of gathering them for offline review.

Log locations
Review the following table for information on log files that are available on a MediaCentral Cloud UX server.

Log location Description

/var/log This directory includes system setup and upgrade logs:

l service-host-setup-<value>.log
l service-host-upgrade-<value>.log
/var/log/containers/ This directory includes logs for each container.

Container logs are rotated automatically when the file size reaches 200 MB with a
maximum number of two logs per container.
/var/log/messages This is a general system log file. Most services write data to this file.
/var/log/glusterfs/ This directory includes logs related to GlusterFS.

For more information on Kubernetes log files, see "Displaying Pod Logs" on page 519.

514
 D Troubleshooting

Viewing Log Files

Ubuntu includes multiple commands that allow you to view logs directly on the MediaCentral Cloud UX
server. The following list details a few of these commands:
l less - Outputs the contents of a file to the screen in a shell; permitting forward and backward
movement through the file. Example command:
sudo less /<path>/<file-name>
Press “q” to exit the shell.
l more - Similar to “less”, but does not allow you to move up and down through the file. “more” is also
not presented in a shell. For example:
sudo more /<path>/<file-name>
The contents of the file is displayed in pages so that you can review the contents slowly and easily.
The bottom of the display provides a percentage of how much of the file has been output. Once you
reach the end of the file, you are returned to the Linux prompt.
You can press the space-bar to see the next page or press CTRL-C to exit the more command.
l cat - This command dumps the entire contents of the file to the screen. For example:
sudo cat /<path>/<file-name>
l tail - By default, this command displays the last ten lines of a log file. Alternatively, you can add a
numbered value to specify additional lines:
sudo tail /<path>/<file-name>
sudo tail -50 /<path>/<file-name>
Adding the -f switch to the command allows you to view the growing log file in real-time (press
CTRL-C to exit the real-time view):
sudo tail -f /<path>/<file-name>
The same command can be used to simultaneously view multiple log files in real-time. For example:
sudo tail -f /<path>/<file-name1> /<path>/<file-name2>
l grep - Use the grep command to search for regular expressions within a log file from the command
line.
For example the following command searches all log files in the current directory for the term “fail-
count”:
sudo grep fail-count *.log
Adding a -r option to the same command recursively searches the log files in the current directory
and all subdirectories for the specified <search_term>:
sudo grep -r <search_term> *.log
In addition to the commands above, Ubuntu includes the journalctl command which can be used to
monitor the direct output of a service.

For example the following command displays the output of the kubelet service:

sudo journalctl -u k3s

Alternatively, you can add a -f switch to the command to view the live output of the service log:

sudo journalctl -u k3s -f

515
 D Troubleshooting

Collecting Logs
Avid provides two scripts that can assist you in gathering information about your MediaCentral Cloud UX
server:
l avidctl tools system-report
This tool gathers the local hosts file, status information on services Kubernetes information, a minimal
number of log files, and more.
l avidctl collect-logs <option>
This tool gathers more logs than the system-report command, but the collection is limited to log files
only. Because of the amount of logs collected, the file created by this script can be very large.
Alternatively if you need to collect a single log file, you can use an SFTP client to access the MediaCentral
Cloud UX server and copy the file. For more information, see "Copying Software Using an SFTP Client" on
page 451.

If you need to collect a specific Kubernetes pod log, see "Working with Kubernetes" on the next page for
more information.

After you have collected the logs, you can review them from an external location such as a Windows
machine. There are multiple tools that can be used to review the logs. Once such application is called:
Notepad++. This free source code editor displays logs through an organized line-item display and enables
users to search RHEL logs to quickly find the data they need. Notepad++ can be downloaded from:
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

To run the system-report script:

1. Log into the Linux command line with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Enter the following command to execute the script:
sudo avidctl tools system-report
The script creates a <localhost>-report.log file at /var/log/.
The default system report is limited to collecting only the information that is most commonly
requested by Avid Customer Care. In most cases, this is the best option to use when running the
script. However, the script includes a “complete” option that provides much greater detail. If Avid
Customer Care requires additional information, you can run the script again with the -c option as
shown here:
sudo avidctl tools system-report -c
3. (optional) If you have multiple servers configured in a cluster, you must execute the command on
each node to collect the logs from each server.
4. After you have created the system-report files, you can collect the files for review.
For more information on tools and commands used to copy files to and from the MediaCentral Cloud
UX server, see "Copying Software to the MCUX Server" on page 451.
To run the log collection script:

1. Log into the Linux command line with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Enter one of the following commands.
t Use the “all” command to collect logs from your MediaCentral Cloud UX server:
sudo avidctl collect-logs all
t Alternatively, you can skip the collection of the container and pod logs with the -d option:

516
 D Troubleshooting

sudo avidctl collect-logs all -d

t Use the “pods” command to collect logs for the Kubernetes pods only:
sudo avidctl collect-logs pods
When entering these commands, you can choose to include or exclude additional options:
t sudo avidctl collect-logs <option> -o /<path>
The -o /<path> option allows you to specify a location to save the compressed log files. Since
some log files can be large (multiple GB), you need to make sure that you select a destination
that has enough space for the file. If the folder path does not already exist, the script creates
the required folders automatically.
If you do not specify a file path, the script creates a <hostname><time-stamp>.tar.gz file in
the current working directory.
t sudo avidctl collect-logs <option> -t <value>
Alternatively, you can use the -t option to narrow the log collection by a recent time-frame.
You can use <value>s for seconds, <value>m for minutes, or <value>h for hours. The following
example would collect the logs on the individual node for the past 2 hours:
You can also add a regex (regular expression) value to collect a specific set of logs. In the
following example, the command would collect all pod logs that were created in the last 30
minutes and that include the phrases play and search in the filename
sudo avidctl collect-logs pods -r "play" -r "search" -t 30m
If you need help with this script, you can enter avidctl collect-logs <option> --help to see
a list of additional options that can be used with the script.
3. After you collect the files for review, Avid recommends that you delete the files from the server to
conserve disk space.
For more information on tools and commands used to copy files to and from the MediaCentral Cloud
UX server, see "Copying Software to the MCUX Server" on page 451.

Working with Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of
containerized applications. Avid uses Kubernetes with containerd as container platform. As noted in
"Installation Prerequisites" on page 21, Kubernetes manages pods — a construct that wraps around one or
more containers (although usually just one).

This section describes a set of commands that can be issued from the Ubuntu command line. However,
many of these same functions can be completed using the Kubernetes web interface. For more information
on that tool, see "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520.

The kubectl Tool

Kubernetes provides the kubectl tool that you can use to manage and interact with Kubernetes pods and
systems. You might recall using this tool when "Running the MediaCentral Cloud UX Setup Script" on
page 63 to obtain the status of the MediaCentral Cloud UX nodes.

sudo kubectl get nodes

NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
wavd-mcux01 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux02 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux03 Ready control-plane,etcd,master 10m v1.29.8+k3s1
wavd-mcux04 Ready <none> 10m v1.29.8+k3s1

517
 D Troubleshooting

You can get more information on kubectl commands by using the tool’s help system. To access the help,
enter:
sudo kubectl --help.

For more information on kubectl, see https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/overview/.

Pod Status Report

You can use the following command to obtain a list and a status of all pods (running or not):

sudo kubectl get pods

Or you can use the following version of the command that reports additional information such as the IP
address and name of the node where the pod is running:

sudo kubectl get pods -o wide

The following shows an example of this command (some data omitted for clarity):

[avid@wavd-mcux1 ~]# sudo kubectl get pods -o wide | more

NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE IP NODE
avid-acs-attr-shardsvr0-0 2/2 Running 4 6d4h 172.19.1.205 wavd-mcux1
avid-acs-attr-shardsvr0-1 2/2 Running 14 6d4h 172.19.0.50 wavd-mcux2
avid-acs-attr-shardsvr0-2 2/2 Running 11 6d4h 172.19.2.191 wavd-mcux3
avid-acs-attributes-core-85ff 1/1 Running 0 3d23h 172.19.0.175 wavd-mcux2
avid-acs-attributes-core-85ff 1/1 Running 0 3d23h 172.19.2.48 wavd-mcux3
avid-acs-gateway-core-gt7g7 1/1 Running 0 4d 172.19.2.41 wavd-mcux3
avid-acs-gateway-core-sksk2 1/1 Running 0 4d 172.19.1.62 wavd-mcux1
avid-acs-gateway-core-w8968 1/1 Running 0 4d 172.19.0.165 wavd-mcux2
avid-acs-monitor-core-7c57bcr 1/1 Running 0 26m 172.19.1.135 wavd-mcux1
avid-acs-registry-core-8km27 1/1 Running 8 6d 172.19.0.60 wavd-mcux2
avid-acs-registry-core-stwk8 1/1 Running 10 6d 172.19.1.224 wavd-mcux1
avid-acs-service-manager-core 1/1 Running 7 6d 172.19.2.217 wavd-mcux3
avid-acs-service-manager-core 1/1 Running 8 6d 172.19.0.82 wavd-mcux2
avid-acs-shardsvr0-0 2/2 Running 7 6d4h 172.19.1.211 wavd-mcux1
avid-acs-shardsvr0-1 2/2 Running 15 6d4h 172.19.0.44 wavd-mcux2
avid-acs-shardsvr0-2 2/2 Running 11 6d4h 172.19.2.216 wavd-mcux3

If you run the “get pods” command in a cluster, the command reports the status for all pods in the cluster.
When running correctly, pods should report a Running status or a Completed status for “job” pods.

If you see a pod that reports a CrashLoopBackOff status, it indicates that the pod attempted to start,
failed, and was scheduled to restart. The Restarts column that is output by this command shows the
number of times that a pod has restarted. If you see a pod that continues to fail, you can review the pod’s
log file for additional details. If you are unable to resolve the issue, contact Avid Customer Care for
assistance. For more information on reviewing Kubernetes log files see "Accessing the Kubernetes
Dashboard" on page 520.

The following command displays information about any pod in a CrashLoopBackOff state:

sudo kubectl get po | grep -n Crash

The following command displays information about all pods that have a status other than Running:

sudo kubectl get po | grep -v Run

Displaying Pod Details

If you want to obtain more information about a specific pod, you might want to start with the Kubernetes
Dashboard. For more information, see "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" on page 520. However if that
is not an option for some reason, you can obtain pod information on the command line level as well.

Enter the following command to obtain more information about a specific pod:

518
 D Troubleshooting

sudo kubectl describe pod <pod_name>

For example: sudo kubectl describe pod avid-pam-services-pam-69544d48ff-7qmpr

You can obtain the name of the pod using the kubectl get pods command.

Alternatively, if you want more information on a pod included in the kube-system group, you can run the
sudo kubectl --namespace kube-system get pods command to get the name of the pod, and
then enter the following command to display the details:

sudo kubectl -n kube-system describe pod <pod_name>

For example: sudo kubectl -n kube-system describe pod coredns-59b4f5b

If the pod is experiencing an error, the Events section at the bottom of the output might provide valueable
information that you can use to troubleshoot the problem.

Displaying Pod Logs

l Each pod creates a log that can be used to investigate the pod’s recent activity and troubleshoot
problems. You can enter the following command to display the log:
sudo kubectl logs <pod-name>
l If the log contains a large amount of information, you can use the more command to display the log
one page at a time:
sudo kubectl logs <pod-name> | more
l Some pods might include more than one container. For example avid-search-shardsvr0-0
includes multiple resources. If you attempt use the command above to view the logs for a container of
this type, you might receive an error similar to the following:
Error from server (BadRequest): a container name must be specified for pod
avid-search-shardsvr0-0, choose one of: [avid-search-shardsvr0 avid-search-
shardsvr0-init] or one of the init containers: [avid-search-shardsvr0-ssl
avid-search-shardsvr0-shared-secrets]
To view the contents of a specific resource within a pod, you must modify the command with the -c
option and the name of the resource that you want to view.
sudo kubectl logs <pod-name> -c <resource-name>
For example:
sudo kubectl logs avid-search-shardsvr0-0 -c avid-search-shardsvr0
l If a pod has stopped, you can still recover the log with the following command:
sudo kubectl logs -p <pod-name>
Restarting a Pod

In most cases Kubernetes automatically restarts a stopped pod to minimize the amount of down-time. Pods
are usually managed by a deployment, statefullset, or daemonset. If you need to manually restart a pod,
you do not actually restart it — you delete it. When you delete pod, Kubernetes sees this as a stop and it
automatically starts a new pod to take its place.

You can enter the following command to delete a pod:

sudo kubectl delete pod <pod-name>

When specifying the name of the pod, you need to enter the full name with the -suffix. For example:

[avid@wavd-mcux01 ~]# sudo kubectl delete pod avid-hoverscrub-784b4c4574-pk8qj

pod "avid-hoverscrub-784b4c4574-pk8qj" deleted

519
 D Troubleshooting

After deleting the pod, a new pod should be created. If you run the “get pods” command, you should notice
that a new pod has been created with a different suffix from the previous pod.

Deleting a Pod

In some cases, you might need to delete a pod to enable new features or to troubleshoot an issue. When
you delete a pod, Kubernetes automatically creates a new pod to replace it — using system settings files to
configure the contents of the pod. In some ways, you might consider the deletion of a pod to be similar to
process of restarting a service.

To delete a pod:

1. Connect and sign in to the Kubernetes Dashboard.

For additional information, see "Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard" below.
2. Use the Search option at the top of the Kubernetes Dashboard to search for the name of the pod.
For example: avid-search-search
The search provides information on multiple aspects of the pod such as Config Maps, Deployments,
Pods, and more.
3. Click the Actions menu to the right of the pod and select Delete.
In some cases, such as the “avid-search-search” pod, you might have more than one pod with the
same name. In this case you often want to delete all of the pods with that name.

c Make sure that you only delete the pods. Do not delete the Config Maps, Deployments, or other.
When you delete a pod, Kubernetes recognizes the change and initiates the creation of a new pod to
take its place.

Accessing the Kubernetes Dashboard

The Kubernetes Dashboard is a web-based tool that allows you to view and manage the Kubernetes
environment. The following illustration shows the Dashboard for a fully installed and configured
MediaCentral Cloud UX single-server.

520
 D Troubleshooting

You can access the Dashboard at any time after completing the process for "Installing the Platform
Software" on page 57.

This section describes how to access the Dashboard and how to collect logs for Kubernetes pods. For more
information about the Dashboard, see https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/access-application-cluster/web-
ui-dashboard/.

n Although this process describes how to gather Kubernetes pod logs manually, you might want to use
the avidctl collect-logs script to gather all pod logs in a single step. For more information, see
"Collecting Logs" on page 516.

To access the Kubernetes Dashboard:

1. Before you can connect to the dashboard, you must create a token through the Linux console that
will act as a temporary “password” for your session.
Tokens expire after three hours by default. After this period, you must create a new token if the
dashboard is not already open and you want to access it again.
a. Sign into your single server or primary node with your Ubuntu user account.
b. Enter the following command and press Enter to create the token:
sudo avidctl extra dashboard create-token --admin
The command replies with a long string of characters. This is your token.

521
 D Troubleshooting

If you want to create a token with a different expiration period, you can add the --duration
flag to the command. You can enter this value in minutes or hours. For example:
sudo avidctl extra dashboard create-token --admin --duration 30m
sudo avidctl extra dashboard create-token --admin --duration 12h
For security purposes, Avid recommends keeping the duration as short as needed. Do not
create a token with an excessively long duration period for convenience purposes only.
You will be required to enter the token into the Kubernetes Dashboard’s website later in this process.
Assuming that you are using an SSH client such as Putty, you can highlight the text in the console to
copy it to your workstation’s clipboard.
For more information, see the built-in help system: avidctl extra dashboard --help
2. Open a web browser and enter the following address:
https://<hostname>:30143
Where <hostname> is the host name of your single server or any cluster node.

n This release of Kubernetes uses a self-signed certificate to access the Dashboard.

If you cannot access the dashboard, you can enter the following command to verify that the
dashboard pod is running:
kubectl get po -n dashboard
The system should report that the dashboard is ready and running, as in the following example:
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
kubernetes-dashboard-76ccfb97f5-bswdz 2/2 Running 0 6h27m

3. At the Kubernetes Dashboard window, select the Token button.

4. Select the Token option and copy your temporary token into the text field.

5. Click the Sign In button to access the Kubernetes Dashboard.

The Dashboard appears and defaults to the Overview page.

Collecting Logs Through the Dashboard

You can use the Kubernetes -dashboard to view and collect log information.

522
 D Troubleshooting

To collect Kubernetes pod logs:

1. Sign in to the Kubernetes Dashboard.

2. Click on the Pods link in the menu on the left-side of the Dashboard.
The dashboard displays a list of pods.
3. (optional) When you first access Pods, the list of pods is sorted by the Age column by default. If this is
not the best view for your situation, you can change the default view by clicking on the name of any
other column.
If you are looking for a specific pod and you do not see it on the first page of the list of pods, do one
of the following:
t Click the Next Page button in the bottom right corner of the Pods view to display the next 10
pods.

t Enter the full or partial name of the pod in the Search field at the top of the Dashboard to
search for your pod.
t Click on the Filter button at the top right of the Pods panel and enter the full or partial name of
the pod in the Search field to filter the list of pods by your custom value.
4. After you have located your desired pod, click the Logs button to the right of the pod name.
The Dashboard opens a new browser tab and displays the selected log. You can use the controls at
the top of the log panel to change the view or download a local copy of the log.

n Alternatively, you can click on the name of the pod to get detailed information about it. After you have
opened the Details panel, you can click on the Logs button from here as well.

Understanding Kubernetes Certificates

When you install MediaCentral Cloud UX for the first time, the Kubernetes deployment process
automatically creates both client and CA certificate files. These files are required by the system for both
security and general system operation. Client certificates are valid for one year from their initial creation
date. CA certificates are valid for 10 years from their initial creation date.

To ensure continued operation of your MediaCentral Cloud UX system, you must ensure that your
certificates remain valid throughout the life of your installation. MediaCentral Cloud UX upgrades do not
automatically generate certificates with renewed expiration dates. This section details of the process of
manually verifying and updating the certificate files.

For more information on this topic, see the following website: https://docs.k3s.io/cli/certificate

Verifying the Kubernetes Certificate Expiration Dates

Complete the following process to verify the expiration date of your currently deployed certificates.

523
 D Troubleshooting

To view the certificate expiration dates:

1. Sign into Linux on your single-server or primary cluster node.

2. Enter the following command to switch to the root user:
sudo su
You can verify that you are signed-in as root by entering the whoami command at the Linux prompt.
The system should return root as the current user.
3. Enter the following command to display the expiration date of all Kubernetes certificates:
for i in $(ls /var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/tls/*.crt ); do echo $i; openssl
x509 -in "$i" -text | grep -i "not after"; done
The system should reply with a list of certificates, as in the following abbreviated example:
/var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/tls/client-admin.crt
Not After : Oct 10 15:10:14 2024 GMT
/var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/tls/client-auth-proxy.crt
Not After : Oct 10 15:10:14 2024 GMT
/var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/tls/client-ca.crt
Not After : Oct 8 15:10:14 2033 GMT
/var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/tls/client-ca.nochain.crt
Not After : Oct 8 15:10:14 2033 GMT
/var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/tls/client-controller.crt
Not After : Oct 10 15:10:14 2024 GMT

The example system was deployed in October of 2023. Note that the -ca certificates expire in 2033,
while the other certificates are only valid until 2024.
4. (cluster only) It is likely that all cluster nodes have the same certificate expiration dates, but Avid
recommends repeating these steps on each individual cluster node to ensure that is the case.
5. Do one of the following:
t Proceed to "Upgrading the Kubernetes Client Certificate" below to update your certificates.
t Type exit to return to the standard user prompt.
Upgrading the Kubernetes Client Certificate
You can upgrade the client certificate at any time without any down-time on the system. If you are
operating in a clustered configuration, this process rotates the client certificate on all nodes in serial mode.
Serial mode rotates the certificates and restarts Kubernetes either one node at a time, or in intelligent
batches to ensure continued operation of the Kubernetes cluster.

n While this command should not result in any system down-time, Avid still recommends completing this
procedure during a maintenance window when required.

To upgrade the Kubernetes client certificates:

1. Sign into Linux on your single-server or primary cluster node.

2. Enter the following command to switch to the root user:
sudo su
You can verify that you are signed-in as root by entering the whoami command at the Linux prompt.
The system should return root as the current user.
3. Enter the following command to update the client certificates:
avidctl platform cert rotate-client --ssh-user <user>
Where <user> is the name of your Ubuntu user account.

524
 D Troubleshooting

4. The command asks you to verify that you want to rotate the certificates.
Entering Y (or y) for yes or N (or n) for no. The default value for this field is no.
5. At the SSH password prompt, enter your user’s password and press Enter to continue.
The script executes, displaying information similar to the following (single-node example):
PLAY [Wait for CloudUX servers] ************************************************
TASK [include default variables] ***********************************************
ok: [wavd-mcux]
TASK [wait until ssh connection is available] **********************************
ok: [wavd-mcux]
PLAY [Rotate K3s Client Certificates] ******************************************
TASK [k3s-rotate-client-certs : k3s certificate rotate] ************************
changed: [wavd-mcux]
TASK [k3s-rotate-client-certs : Start K3s service] *****************************
changed: [wavd-mcux]
PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
wavd-mcux : ok=4 changed=2 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0
-------------------------
Log file: /var/log/service-host-rotoate-client-cert.log

6. Type exit to return to the standard user prompt.

Upgrading the Kubernetes CA Certificates
The process to update the CA certificates is similar to the Client certificate rotation process, with the
exception being that this process is disruptive to system operations and must be completed during a
maintenance window only.

As Kubernetes CA certificates are valid for 10 years, you will likely never need to complete this process.

To upgrade the Kubernetes CA certificates:

1. Sign into Linux on your single-server or primary cluster node.

2. Enter the following command to switch to the root user:
sudo su
You can verify that you are signed-in as root by entering the whoami command at the Linux prompt.
The system should return root as the current user.
3. Enter the following command to update the client certificates:
avidctl platform cert rotate-ca --ssh-user <user>
Where <user> is the name of your Ubuntu user account.
4. The command asks you to verify that you want to rotate the certificates.
Entering Y (or y) for yes or N (or n) for no. The default value for this field is no.
5. At the SSH password prompt, enter your user’s password and press Enter to continue.
Similar to the client script, the process finishes with a Play Recap and log file information:
PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
wavd-mcux : ok=58 changed=10 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=12 rescued=0
-------------------------
Log file: /var/log/service-host-rotoate-ca-cert.log

6. Type exit to return to the standard user prompt.

525
 D Troubleshooting

Understanding the Config Store

During the process of "Running the Post-Install Setup Scripts" on page 60, you are required to execute
multiple avidctl commands that create a series of configuration files. These files can contain sensitive
data such as user names, passwords, public and private key pair information, and more. To enhance the
security of this sensitive data, MediaCentral Cloud UX saves the information in a Kubernetes Secrets Config
Store that is encrypted on rest.

MediaCentral Cloud UX uses three different config stores. The following table includes more information on
each of these stores.

Type Secret Name Description

defaults defaults This store is created automatically when you run either the avidctl
platform host-setup or avidctl platform host-upgrade
commands.

This is associated with the avidcfg namespace in Kubernetes.

c Do not alter any of the files in the defaults config store.

user cloudux- This is the default configuration store. It includes all files generated from any
values of the avidctl platform config commands as well as any file that you
manually write to the config store. For details, see "Writing Custom Files to
the Config Store" on the next page.

This is associated with the avidcfg namespace in Kubernetes.

local (none) Any files located in the /etc/avid/config directory are considered the
local store.

You can view the contents of any of the config stores using the following commands:
l sudo avidctl platform config list
Lists the contents of the user config store.
l sudo avidctl platform config list --store defaults
Lists the contents of the defaults config store.
l sudo avidctl platform config list --store local
Lists the contents of the local config store.
You can enter these commands display information about a single file in the user, defaults, or local config
store (respectively):
l sudo avidctl platform config show <filename>
l sudo avidctl platform config show --store defaults <filename>
l sudo avidctl platform config show --store local <filename>
For example:

sudo avidctl platform config show auth.yaml

sudo avidctl platform config --store defaults show deploy-defaults.yaml

You can enter the following command to display information about all files in all config stores. The
command compiles the data into a single large output that is printed to the console.

526
 D Troubleshooting

l sudo avidctl platform config show-values

Because of the length of the output, you might prefer to view one page at a time with the more
command:
sudo avidctl platform config show-values | more

c These commands display information on screen as plain text, including any sensitive data such as
passwords or other.

System Installation and Upgrades

When you complete a new installation of MediaCentral Cloud UX, the avidctl scripts write the configuration
data directly into the user config store. If you are performing an upgrade from v2024.2 or earlier, known
configuration files (those created by avidctl scripts) are deleted from /etc/avid/config and migrated
into the user config store during the upgrade process.

The "Running the Post-Install Setup Scripts" on page 60 section also includes processes that require you to
either create a manual configuration file or make a copy of an example file from /opt/avid/examples/.
These files are not added to the config store automatically. They can either remain in /etc/avid/config
indefinitely, or you can add the files to the config store manually for added security. For more information,
see "Writing Custom Files to the Config Store" below.

n Neither the avidctl platform deploy, nor the avidctl platform redeploy commands are
programed to remove (delete) files from /etc/avid/config.

If you perform a system upgrade, the system processes the config store files in the following order: defaults,
user, and then local. That means a configuration value in the local store can overwrite a value in either the
user or default stores.

Editing a Configuration File

If you need to edit a value in an existing configuration file, you can complete this task in two ways.

To edit a config file:

t Use the original avidctl command to update the file.
This is the recommended method as the script provides your prior defaults and in some cases, offers
a verification step.
t Edit the config file manually using the following process:
a. Enter the following command, specifying the file that you want to edit:
sudo avidctl platform config edit <filename>
b. Make updates to the file.

n Since the process allows you to edit the configuration file, you must take special care to
adhere to the required YAML formatting. Failure to correctly format the file could result in
a failed deployment.

c. Save and exit the session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq
Writing Custom Files to the Config Store
Manually created configuration files, including files that original from /opt/avid/examples/ are not added
to the config store automatically. However, you can add these files to the config store for added security.

527
 D Troubleshooting

To add a file to the config store:

1. Create the file per the instructions in this document, or as directed by Avid.
2. Enter the following command to add the file to the config store:
sudo avidctl platform config write --file <path>/<filename>
For example:
sudo avidctl platform config write --file /etc/avid/config/nexis-
cleanup.yaml
If the file already exists in the config store, the process overwrites the existing file.
3. Confirm that the file is added to the config store:
sudo avidctl platform config list
You should see your custom config file listed as part of the output of this command.
4. (optional, reccomended) Delete the configuration file from it's original location.
sudo rm <filename>
As a reminder, files in the /etc/avid/config directory have priority over those included in the user
config store. Avid recommends that you delete the file from its original location to avoid any
confusion.
5. Redeploy the configuration.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
Deleting a Configuration File
In some cases you might want to delete a configuration file for a depreciated or delicensed feature.

To remove a file from the config store:

1. Enter the following command to remove the file:

sudo avidctl platform config delete <filename>
2. Confirm that the file has been removed from the config store:
sudo avidctl platform config list
The output of this command displays a list of config files. If successful, the file that you just deleted
should not be included in that list.
3. If you deleted a configuration file with the intention of making a change to your system, you must
redeploy the configuration. Do one of the following:
t If you want to keep your existing feature packs, redeploy your configuration.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
t If you want to add or remove feature packs, complete the process for "Running the Feature
Pack Deployment Script" on page 127.
Backup or Restore your Config Store
You can use the following commands to create a backup of the files included in your config store. You can
also restore these files from the backup if it ever becomes necessary.

To backup the config store:

t Enter the following command:
sudo avidctl platform config backup --file ./<filename>.tar
This command creates a .tar file in the current directory that includes all of your configuration files.

528
 D Troubleshooting

For example:
sudo avidctl platform config backup --file ./backup.tar
To restore the files to the config store:

1. Navigate to the directory that contains your backup file.

2. Enter one of the following commands:
t sudo avidctl platform config restore --file <filename>.tar
This command copies the files from your backup tar file to the user config store, automatically
replacing any files with the same name.
t sudo avidctl platform config restore --file <filename>.tar --clear
If you add the --clear option, the system removes all existing configuration files from the
user store and copies the files from the backup into the config store.
3. Redeploy the configuration.
For more information, see "Altering the Configuration" on page 62.

Kubernetes Device Plugin

MediaCentral Cloud UX installs the Kubernetes nvidia-device-plugin add-on. This feature provides the
following capabilities:
l Node Feature Discovery Service
This agent runs on all nodes in the cluster and detects hardware features. These features are added
as labels to the Kubernetes Node Resource.
l nvidia-device-plugin
This agent runs on all nodes where an NVIDIA GPU is detected and it provides GPU resources to
Kubernetes.
l dcgm-exporter
Provides GPU metrics and runs on all nodes which has GPU resources available.
For more information about this plugin, see https://github.com/NVIDIA/k8s-device-plugin.

The following example command and output show all pods for the nvidia-device-plugin.

In this example, the plugin reports that nvdp-nvidia-device-plugin-6rcmj is running on wavd-mcuxgpu. That
is an indication that the node includes a GPU.

You can then use the describe feature to get more information about the resources on that (or any) node.
sudo kubectl describe node wavd-mcuxgpu

Name: wavd-mcuxgpu
Roles: <none>
Labels: beta.kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
beta.kubernetes.io/instance-type=k3s
beta.kubernetes.io/os=linux

529
 D Troubleshooting

feature.node.kubernetes.io/system-os_release.VERSION_ID=22.04
feature.node.kubernetes.io/system-os_release.VERSION_ID.major=22
feature.node.kubernetes.io/system-os_release.VERSION_ID.minor=04
...
nvidia.com/cuda.driver-version.full=535.183.06
nvidia.com/cuda.driver-version.major=535
nvidia.com/cuda.driver-version.minor=183
nvidia.com/cuda.driver-version.revision=06
nvidia.com/cuda.driver.major=535
...
Allocatable:
cpu: 8
ephemeral-storage: 180405771533
hugepages-1Gi: 0
hugepages-2Mi: 0
memory: 65843092Ki
nvidia.com/gpu: 10
pods: 110

The output shows that the node has not only a number of feature labels (as added by the node feature
plugin), but also a number of NVIDIA labels that provide information about the driver version. The
Allocatable section provides additional information about system resources — such as verifying that the
server has 10 GPU cores.

Troubleshooting Kubernetes
Kubernetes has a number of requirements that must be met to ensure a successful start-up of the
MediaCentral Cloud UX pods. One of these requirements relates to disk performance and IOPS
(input/output operations per second). You can verify the IOPS of your MediaCentral Cloud UX local disks
through a tool that is provided by etcd (https://etcd.io/) — one of the backend systems that contributes to
the operation of MediaCentral Cloud UX.

n Neither the etcd check perf tool nor the process below are maintained by Avid. This information is
subject to change without notice. Consult the etcd documentation for the most up-to-date
information.

To run the disk IOPS test:

1. Sign into your single server or primary node with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Enter the following command:
sudo ETCDCTL_ENDPOINTS='https://127.0.0.1:2379' ETCDCTL_
CACERT='/var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/tls/etcd/server-ca.crt' ETCDCTL_
CERT='/var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/tls/etcd/server-client.crt' ETCDCTL_
KEY='/var/lib/rancher/k3s/server/tls/etcd/server-client.key' ETCDCTL_API=3
/usr/local/bin/etcdctl check perf

n Although wrapped to multiple lines of text here, the above represents a single command.
The task runs and the tool provides a pass or fail status at the end.
The following provides an example of a successful test:
PASS: Throughput is 151 writes/s
PASS: Slowest request took 0.017706s
PASS: Stddev is 0.000757s
PASS
The following provides an example of a failed test:

530
 D Troubleshooting

PASS: Throughput is 150 writes/s

Slowest request took too long: 0.572201s
PASS: Stddev is 0.083010s
FAIL
If the system replies with a PASS, then your system's IOPS meet or exceed the minimum requirements.
If you receive any FAIL, the test has failed and you could experience problems starting or running
MediaCentral Cloud UX.
3. If you are running a cluster, repeat the above command to test the other two control-plane nodes.
By replacing 127.0.0.1 with the target node's IP address or FQDN, you can run the test from your
current node. All nodes must pass the IOPS test.

Working with Grafana

Grafana® is a visualization tool that allows you to analyze system data such as memory usage, CPU usage,
and much more through detailed graphic dashboards. Prometheus™ data models are used to populate the
Grafana dashboards with information that is gathered or “scraped” from various system services. If you
have not already configured this feature, review the process for "Enabling System Monitoring" on page 115
for more information.

c Avid strongly recommends that you deploy the System Monitoring tools for all MediaCentral Cloud UX
installations. This recommendation applies specifically to the Monitoring aspect of the System
Monitoring solution. Deployment of the Logging feature is at your discretion.

The following illustration shows the Nodes Overview dashboard that displays the MediaCentral Cloud UX
network usage, CPU usage, disk I/O and more. You can use the time range controls to view a snapshot of
the current system status, or view an average of the system usage over time.

In addition to the Nodes Overview dashboard, Avid provides a series of other dashboards that you can use
to obtain information on Elasticsearch, MongoDB, system license usage, and more. While these dashboards
detail common areas of interest for many MediaCentral Cloud UX installations, your organization can
create custom dashboards by reviewing the documentation on the Grafana website at:
http://docs.grafana.org/.

531
 D Troubleshooting

When working with Grafana, you might notice a few common areas of the user interface. For example the
menu in the upper-right corner of the UI allows you to switch between the available dashboards. This menu
not only provides quick access to the dashboards, but also preserves the selected time range so that you
can easily compare data without the need to reconfigure the time range controls.

If you are running in a clustered environment, the Host menu allows you to choose if you want to display
information for all nodes, or if you want to focus on one or two specific nodes.

Some dashboards also include an Interval menu that allows you to configure the time span used to
aggregate or group your data. When altering the interval value, you should note the following:
l A large interval will render quickly, but you might not capture all data peaks because the curve is
flattened.
l A short interval will take longer to render, but you might prefer this view if you need to identify
specific data peaks — for example a period in which CPU consumption spikes.
The MediaCentral Cloud UX deployment process installs the packages to enable Grafana and Prometheus.
If you need to troubleshoot system monitoring or logging, the following Kubernetes pods are of particular
importance:
l Monitoring
– grafana
– prometheus-server
l Logging (optional, if deployed)
– mon-elasticsearch
– mon-fluent-<name> (multiple pods)
– mon-kibana
The following process provides information on how to access the Grafana user interface and an example
dashboard.

To access the Grafana user interface:

1. Open a web browser and enter the following address:

https://<hostname>:30003/login
Where <hostname> is the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the MediaCentral Cloud UX server
or cluster.
The Grafana Log In page appears.

532
 D Troubleshooting

2. Enter your Grafana user credentials.

t If you have not yet integrated with an authentication provider, enter the default user name
(admin) and password (Avid123) and click the Log In button.
t If you integrated MediaCentral Cloud UX with Active Directory, enter the credentials for any
user that is included in the Cloud UX Admin group and click the Log In button.
t If you integrated MediaCentral Cloud UX with Okta, click the Sign In with Okta button and
enter your user credentials.
After your user credentials are verified, the Grafana home page is displayed.

3. Click the Home button in the upper-left corner of the user interface to display your dashboards.
4. Select a dashboard from the list of options to display the related system information.
5. After you have finished using Grafana, you can sign out by clicking the user avatar in the bottom-left
corner of the window and click the Sign out button.

533
 D Troubleshooting

Altering the Keyboard Layout

When you install Ubuntu, you are asked to select a default keyboard layout. While the operating system
language must be set to English, you can select any language for your keyboard layout. When dealing with
Avid Customer Care, you might be requested to temporarily switch back to an English keyboard layout to
expedite the troubleshooting process. You can complete this task using either of the following methods.

To select an alternate keyboard layout:

t Enter the following command to use the keyboard configuration GUI:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration
Take note of your current selection (highlighted), and then select an alternate option such as Generic
105-key PC.
t Enter the following command to edit the configuration file directly:
sudo vi /etc/default/keyboard
Take note of the current settings before making any changes, and then enter the following values:
XKBMODEL="pc105"
XKBLAYOUT="us"
XKBVARIANT=""
XKBOPTIONS=""
BACKSPACE="guess"
You can repeat these steps to revert to your original language when appropriate.

Troubleshooting Your Network

If you are experiencing issues connecting your MediaCentral Cloud UX server to your corporate network,
review the following topics for assistance:
l "Troubleshooting the Network Connection" below
l "Verifying the resolv.conf Configuration File" on the next page
l "Verifying the nsswitch.conf Configuration File" on page 536
l "Disabling the System Wide Proxy" on page 536
If you think the issue could be related to firewalls or network port issues, see the Avid Networking Port Usage
Guide on the Avid Knowledge Base for more information.

Troubleshooting the Network Connection

If you are unable to connect to the server through an SSH client, you might need to troubleshoot the
network connection. Connect a monitor and keyboard directly to the server and review the following items
to verify your settings and connectivity.
l If you used a host name when connecting to the server in the SSH session, try using the server’s IP
address instead. If you are able to connect through an IP address and not a hostname, you might
have mis-configured the host name (spelling error) or you might have a problem with your hosts file
or DNS.
l Use the ping command to verify your connection to the network gateway:
sudo ping <gateway_IP_address> -c 4
In this step, “-c 4” is the count of how many times the ping command is issued. If you do not specify a
count, ping will continue forever. In that event, press CTRL-C to stop the ping. For example:

534
 D Troubleshooting

[avid@wavd-mcux ~]# sudo ping -c 2 192.168.10.1

PING 192.168.10.1 (192.168.10.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.10.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=0.362 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.10.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=0.330 ms

If you are unable to ping the gateway, you might have a configuration issue on the server or you
could have a problem with the configuration on the network switch.
l Use the ip addr command to obtain a status for the available network interfaces. For example:
[avid@wavd-mcux ~]# sudo ip addr
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen 1000

link/ether 00:50:56:93:13:01 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.10.51/24 brd 192.168.10.255 scope global eth0
inet6 ff30::222:56aa:fb93:1766/32 scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

You must verify that your primary network interface (the one associated with your network gateway)
is in an UP state and that it has the correct IP address.
l For further in-depth information on how to investigate and configure the network configuration in
Ubuntu, refer to https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/network-configuration.

Verifying the resolv.conf Configuration File

resolv.conf contains the DNS and domain information that you entered during the Ubuntu installation and
configuration process. If you are having trouble connecting to other systems by hostname, you can review
the contents of the file and update it if necessary.

When you first install Ubuntu, the system populates resolv.conf with a “nameserver 127.0.0.53” value. The
avidctl platform host-setup script changes the symlink to this file. As a result, the file is updated to
include the actual DNS server information that you defined when installing the OS.

The process for "Configuring the Ubuntu Networking Options" on page 38, instructs you to enter no more
than three search domains as this is the maximum number of domains allowed in a Kubernetes
configuration. When reviewing certain system logs, you might also encounter three additional search
domains: default.svc.group-0, svc.group-0, and group-0. Kubernetes adds these search domains to the
system automatically. They do not count towards your three search domain limit, and they do not appear
in the resolv.conf file.

To verify the resolv.conf file:

1. Use the Linux cat command to display the contents of the file and verify its contents:
sudo cat /etc/resolv.conf
After running the avidctl platform host-setup script, the DNS servers (nameserver) and DNS
search path should be present in the file as in the following example:
nameserver 192.168.10.20
search wavd.com
2. If necessary, you can use the vi editor to add one or more additional search domains. The file should
look something like:

535
 D Troubleshooting

nameserver <IP address of (Primary DNS server)

server1>
nameserver <IP address of (Secondary DNS server)
server2>
search domain1.com (multiple domain names separated by a single space or tab can
domain2.com be entered)

For more information, see https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/xenial/en/man8/systemd-

resolved.service.8.html.

Verifying the nsswitch.conf Configuration File

nsswitch.conf is used to define which name resolution source to prefer — the local hosts file or DNS. Avid
suggests that you configure this file to prefer the hosts file before DNS. If you are having trouble connecting
to other systems by hostname, you can review the contents of the file and update it if necessary.

To verify the nsswitch.conf file:

1. Use the Linux cat command to display the contents of the file and verify its contents:
sudo cat /etc/nsswitch.conf | grep hosts
In this command, “grep” has been added to limit the output of the file. The system outputs the lines
containing the string “hosts”, similar to the following:
#hosts: db files nisplus nis dns

hosts: files dns myhostname

In the second, uncommented line, verify that the word “files” comes before the word “dns”.
2. If “files” does not appear before “dns”, use the vi editor to reverse the priority order.

Disabling the System Wide Proxy

During the Ubuntu installation process, you are given the opportunity to enable a connection to a proxy
server. While Avid supports a connection to a proxy server to system updates, you cannot configure the
proxy during the Ubuntu installation process. If you configure the proxy at that point, the system enables a
system-wide proxy that can interfere with the operation of Kubernetes and other Avid system services.

If you configured a proxy during the Ubuntu installation process, you must remove the following variables
from the following files:
l Variables:
– HTTP_PROXY
– HTTPS_PROXY
– FTP_PROXY
– NO_PROXY
l Files:
– /etc/environment
– /root/.bashrc
– /home/<user>/.bashrc

536
 D Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Playback
If you are having problems playing back media in the MediaCentral Cloud UX Asset Editor, you can attempt
to use the following processes to troubleshoot and resolve the problem.

The following list provides some general troubleshooting techniques:

l The Asset Editor includes a Reload Asset button. If you have a problem with a particular asset, try
reloading it before doing anything else.
l Load a different asset, preferably one that was not created in the same time frame as your first
asset. It’s possible that you might be experiencing a problem with a single asset or a group of assets
created around the same period of time.
l If you are having problems playing or loading an asset, you should verify that the asset is online in
the source MediaCentral module. For instance before taking any action in MediaCentral Cloud UX for
a MediaCentral Production Management asset, you should use Interplay Access to verify that the
asset is fully online.

Verifying Access to Shared Storage

If you are having a problem playing back all media assets, you should determine where the asset is located
and verify that MediaCentral Cloud UX has access to that network share.

If you are connected to Avid shared storage, you can enter the following command to verify if the Avid
NEXIS system is mounted successfully:

sudo systemctl status avid-nexis-agent -l

If the Avid NEXIS storage is not mounted, you can enter the following commands to restart the Avid NEXIS
Client services:

sudo systemctl restart avidfos

sudo systemctl restart avid-nexis-agent

If you are mounting non-Avid storage for MediaCentral Asset Management, you can use the following
command to verify that the storage is mounted on the server:

sudo df -h | more

For more information on mounting non-Avid storage, see “Mounting Volumes” in the Avid MediaCentral |
Asset Management Installation Manual.

Clearing the Player Cache

The MediaCentral Cloud UX player cache is managed by a Linux cron job that is created automatically
when you install your system. The cron job is programmed to delete a percentage of the cache — based on
available disk space. However, if you need to manually clear the cache as part of a troubleshooting effort,
you can use the following process to safely complete this task.

As this process restarts the playback pods, Avid recommends that administrators only complete the
following step during a maintenance window or during periods of low activity to minimize the impact to
connected users.

537
 D Troubleshooting

To clear the playback cache on a single-server or cluster:

t Enter the following command on your single-server or primary cluster node:
sudo avidctl tools playback-cache-clear
This command clears the playback cache and restarts the required pods. If you are running a cluster,
the command clears the cache and restarts the required pods on all nodes.

Reviewing the Default Quota for the Gluster Cache

In early versions of MediaCentral Cloud UX, the Gluster cache was used exclusively by the player services.
Over time, the use of the Gluster cache storage has been leveraged by other MediaCentral services. To
ensure that the player does not over-consume the cache storage, MediaCentral Cloud UX defines hard and
soft limits for the player storage. These limits ensure that other consumers of the Gluster cache have the
required amount of storage available to them.

As an Administrator, you do not need to regularly monitor the capacity of the player cache or the Gluster
cache volume. As the player cache reaches capacity, older proxy files are simply overwritten with newer
files. You cannot reach a situation where new files cannot be created due to lack of storage space.

n If you think that you might need to adjust the cache storage values, Avid recommends that you
contact Avid Customer Care to verify that the changes are truly required.

The following process describes how to verify the amount of storage allocated to the player, and how to
adjust the hard and soft limits if necessary.

To verify the current hard and soft limits:

t Enter the following command in the Linux console:
sudo gluster volume quota gluster-cache list
The system should respond with output that is similar to the following example:
Path Hard-limit Soft-limit Used Available SLE? HLE?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
/playback-cache 279.9GB 90%(251.9GB) 147.0KB 279.9GB No No
/playback-etc 100.0MB 95%(95.0MB) 172.5KB 99.8MB No No

In this example, "Soft-limit exceeded" and "Hard-limit exceeded" have been shorted to SLE, and HLE for documentation purposes.

The following list provides additional detail on some of these values:

– Path: Directory for which you have requested quota information
– Hard Limit: Maximum amount of cache space allocated to the directory
– Soft Limit: When the capacity reaches this percentage value, system log files are updated to
note the situation.
To adjust the size of the player cache:

1. Verify the total size of the Gluster cache:

sudo df -h /mnt/gluster-cache/
You should see an output similar to the following:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
wavd-mcux01:/gluster-cache 20G 237M 20G 2% /mnt/gluster-cache

In this example, the total size of the Gluster cache storage is 20GB.
2. Enter the following command to verify the amount of storage that is allocated to the player:

538
 D Troubleshooting

sudo df -h /mnt/gluster-cache/playback-cache/
You should see an output similar to the following:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
wavd-mcux01:/gluster-cache 16G 0 16G 0% /mnt/gluster-cache

Note that the playback-cache is a subdirectory of the gluster-cache, and only 16GB of the total
20GB is allocated to the player.
3. Now that you know the current values, you can use the following command to alter the values:
sudo gluster volume quota gluster-cache limit-usage <path> <hard-limit> <soft-
limit>
Where the following values are used:
– Path: Defines the affected directory. In terms of altering the size of the player cache, this will
almost always be: /playback-cache.
– Hard Limit: Enter the maximum amount of cache space that you want to allocate to the
directory.
– Soft Limit: Enter a numerical value for the soft limit percentage.
For example:
sudo gluster volume quota gluster-cache limit-usage /playback-cache 16GB 80
For more information on adjusting these values, see the following link to the Red Hat Customer Portal:
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_gluster_storage/3/html/administration_
guide/chap-managing_directory_quotas

Using the Player Demo Page

The player demonstration utility is a powerful tool that can be used for troubleshooting and verifying
playback functionality. If Avid Customer Care directs you to access the tool, enter the following link in a
supported web browser:

https://<host.domain>/player

Where <host.domain> is the FQDN (fully qualified domain name) of a MediaCentral Cloud UX node (single-
server or cluster node).

539
 D Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting the Acquire App

If you experience an issue with the Acquire app, review the following procedures to help resolve the
problem:
l "Check-in Does Not Work" below
l "Recording Does Not Start" on the next page
l "Ingest Server Not Available" on the next page
l "Router Not Available" on page 543
l "Assets Cannot Be Played By the Cloud UX Media Viewer" on page 543
l "Assets Cannot Be Found in the Search App" on page 543

Check-in Does Not Work

If you find that you cannot check files into Acquire, you should try the following steps.

To resolve check-in issues:

t Make sure that Production Management Web Services is configured correctly.
For more information, see the topic “Configuring and Testing the Interplay Web Services Instance” in
the Avid Interplay Web Services API Overview Guide.
t Restart the ClipManager using Kubernetes:
1. Sign into the Kubernetes Dashboard.
2. Find the pod named “avid-acquire-clipmanager-...”.
3. Delete the POD.
4. Wait until it restarts automatically.
t Restart the Production Management servers.
t Make sure you are using the OpAtom format for Production Management, or Op1A format for Asset
Management (see the ingest templates defined on MediaCentral Stream / Avid FastServe).
t Make sure the value entered in the Avid NEXIS System Name field is the exact same value (including
case) as entered in the settings for Avid FastServe, or MediaCentral | Stream. You can check this by
entering /mnt/media/<nexis name> in terminal.
t If none of the above solutions work, check if the MediaCentral | Stream or Avid FastServe can do the
check-in by itself, from the server's console, without Acquire. If it does not work, then Acquire will not
be able to do this as well. If it works from the server, then the problem is with configuration or
Acquire. For more information, see the chapter “Working with the FastServe Ingest Remote Console”
in the Avid FastServe | Ingest Administrator’s Guide.
Configuring the Acquire app

Complete the following steps to troubleshoot check-in issues, when you might need to provide additional
configuration details.

To create the Acquire app configuration file:

1. Sign into your single server or primary node with your Ubuntu user account.
2. Copy the example configuration file to its active location (/etc/avid/config/):
sudo cp /opt/avid/examples/config/acquire.yaml
/etc/avid/config/acquire.yaml
3. Use the Linux vi editor to open the configuration file for editing:

540
 D Troubleshooting

sudo vi /etc/avid/config/acquire.yaml
4. Edit the following information:
– APP_CHECKIN_NEXISPREFIX: /mnt/media/
Determines the root Linux mountpoint for the Avid NEXIS workspaces that Cloud UX has access
to.
– APP_CHECKIN_LOGGING: “false”
Determines whether MediaProcessor logs should be included in Clip Manager logs. Normally
should be "false". This field is for diagnostic purposes.
– APP_CHECKIN_DELAY: “5”
Determines the delay between the moment when MXF files are created, and the check-in
action. Recommended to leave this value as it is.
– APP_CHECKIN_DUMPAAF: “false”
If "true", the AAF file will be stored in local ClipManager folder. Normally should be "false". This
field is for diagnostic purposes.
– APP_CHECKIN_DUMPDESCR: “false”
If "true", the media descriptors and essence info XML files will be stored in the local
ClipManager folder. Normally should be "false". This field is for diagnostic purposes.
– APP_CHECKIN_DESCRTRIES: “1”
How many times ClipManager should try to analyze the media files? "1" is recommended.
– APP_CHECKIN_AFFTRIES: “3”
How many times ClipManager should try to do the check-in? "3" is recommended.
5. Save and exit the vi session. Press <ESC> and type: :wq
6. (optional) Write the configuration file to the Config Store.
For details, see "Understanding the Config Store" on page 526.

Recording Does Not Start

If you find that recording does not start, you should try the following steps.

To resolve recording start issues:

t Check if Avid NEXIS is properly connected and configured with MediaCentral Cloud UX and
MediaCentral Stream / Avid FastServe.
t Check if there is a free space on selected workspaces.
t Check NTP on MediaCentral Cloud UX and the ingest devices.
n Sometimes, when the recording does not start properly, it disappears from the Channels View and on
the List View jumps to the DONE state immediately.

Ingest Server Not Available

If you find that your ingest server is not available, you should try the following steps.

541
 D Troubleshooting

To resolve ingest server not available issues:

1. Make sure that the ingest server is available:

– Check to see if the ingest server is powered on.
– Check to see if you can ping the ingest server from MediaCentral Cloud UX by both its IP
address and hostname.
– Determine if you have a firewall or other security measures that might prevent this connection.
2. Do one of the following based on your ingest device:
t For MediaCentral | Stream, make sure the MCUX service of the server is properly started and
configured on the server config web page.

t For FastServe | Ingest, log into the FastServe | Ingest Web Configurator, and go to OVS >
Automation > MCUX service.

Make sure the check box next to Enable MCUX service is selected, and contains the address of
the MediaCentral | Cloud UX host. For more information, see the topic “Integration with
MediaCentral Acquire” in the Avid FastServe | Ingest Administrator’s Guide.
As a backup, you can also check the configuration file /usr/lib/avid-fastserve-
controller/project.config.json and verify the hostIP.
If the hostIP was changed, then restart the service: systemctl restart avid-
fastserve-controller.service
3. Make sure the MCCUX service is registered in the CCUX/IAM.
It is important to note:

542
 D Troubleshooting

– The MediaCentral | Stream services are visible under the name avid.mcs.controller.
– The FastServe services are visible under the name avid.fsi.controller.
– Each device has its own instance of one of the service types mentioned above.

n It should be registered automatically, but sometimes it does not happen.

Router Not Available
If you find that your router is not available, you should try the following step.

To resolve router not available issues:

t Check to see if the router service is registered in the CCUX/IAM.
The router services are visible under the name avid.router.device.controller.
Each device has its own instance of the service.

n It should be registered automatically, but sometimes it does not happen.

Assets Cannot Be Played By the Cloud UX Media Viewer
If you find that assets cannot be played in the Cloud UX Media Viewer, you should try the following:

To resolve assets not playing in the Cloud UX Media Viewer issues:

t Determine if it is all assets, or just those created by Acquire.
– If you cannot play any assets through MediaCentral Cloud UX, restart the avid-playback pod
in Kubernetes.
– If you have a problem playing assets created through Acquire only, see "Check-in Does Not
Work" on page 540.
– Try to record and check-in an asset directly from the video server's console and test if this is
playable. If not, the problem is elsewhere, not with the Acquire check-in process.

Assets Cannot Be Found in the Search App

If you find that assets cannot be found in the Search app, you should try the following:

To resolve assets not being found in the Search app issues:

t Make sure the MediaCentral Search Connector is properly configured in the Production Management
Administrator.
For more information, see "Configuring the MediaCentral Search Connector" on page 157.

Production Management Connection Issues

Issue: You have configured MediaCentral Production Management and the Browse app shows either
nothing or only shows the name of the Production Management system (no directory tree).

To resolve this issue, review the following:

l Review the contents of the pam.yaml configuration file in the system's Config Store.
– Carefully check the spelling of all host names, users, and passwords.
– If you used an IP address, verify that the IP address is correct.
– Verify that you can ping the Production Management server(s) over the network.

543
 D Troubleshooting

l MediaCentral Cloud UX includes two scripts that you can use to verify connectivity to the Production
Management Engine or Archive Engine. These scripts also verify that the engine specified in the
corresponding system configuration file is of the correct type (production or archive).
– If you want to verify a Production Engine, you can enter the following script:
sudo avidctl platform config pam test
– If you want to verify an Archive Engine, you can enter the following script:
sudo avidctl platform config pam-archive test
– These scripts include options to specify a timeout and to loop the test for multiple attempts.
For more information, see the script’s help function by entering the following command:
sudo avidctl platform config pam test --help
If the script can contact the host and verify the engine type, the script reports a message similar to
the following (example of the pam test):
Attempt 1/1
Detected PAM engine on wavd-ie01.wavd.com
If the script can contact the engine, but determines that it is of the wrong type, you are alerted to the
issue so that you can correct the appropriate configuration file (pam.yaml or pam-archive.yaml).
For example:
Performing PAM Archive config test
[ERROR] wavd-ie01.wavd.com is not a PAM Archive server
l Have you imported the required licenses into MediaCentral Cloud UX using the License app?
l Is your MediaCentral Cloud UX user account included in a User Group that has both a Client License
(Browse or Edit) and appropriate entitlements assigned to it?
Sign into the MediaCentral Cloud UX Administrator apps page and verifying licensing in the License
app.
l Verify that you have configured the MediaCentral Platform Authentication settings.
For more information, see "User Authentication Providers" on page 154.
l If you have imported users from MediaCentral Cloud UX into MediaCentral Production Management
and you have not performed any additional user management in the Production Management
system, you must make sure that the /Imported Users/MEDIACENTRAL/<server> group in the
Production database is granted Read access (at minimum).
l Restart the related Kubernetes pods and review the logs:
– Sign into the Kubernetes dashboard and delete the “avid-pam-ctc-pam-<value>” and “avid-
pam-services-pam-<value>” Kubernetes pods.
– Wait for at least two minutes for the pods to restart.
– Review the logs from the newly created pods for more information.
l If you specified more than one MediaCentral system in the MediaCentral Platform Authentication
settings, make sure that you pay special attention to the required changes to the pam.yaml file.
For more information, see "User Authentication Providers" on page 154.

Troubleshooting the Multi-Site Configuration Process

Issue: You have configured your MediaCentral Cloud UX system as part of a multi-site environment and you
cannot connect to remote sites in the Multi-Site Settings app. You might also see a warning similar to the
following in the System Configuration section of the Multi-Site Settings app:

544
 D Troubleshooting

The CTMS Registry of this site is not available. Please contact the site administrator or update the site
registry in order to remove the site completely from the multi-site configuration. Please refer to the
MediaCentral Cloud UX Installation Guide for details.

To resolve this issue, review the following:

l Make sure that each system participating in the multi-site environment is licensed for the feature. For
more information, see "Using the License App" on page 168.
l If you are configuring multi-site after having already run the final deploy script, remember that you
must redeploy the system to enable the updated configuration files. For more information, see
"Altering the Configuration" on page 62.
l Verify that your server has a valid certificate that includes the Fully Qualified Domain Name of your
single-server or cluster.
If you are using self-signed or internal CA certificates, remember that you must import the
certificates from your local site and from each remote site into your local workstations.
If your certificate does not include the FQDN, refer to "Creating Certificate Files" on page 74 to
create and deploy and updated certificate.
l Verify that your system’s FQDN, short name, and IP address are fully resolvable in DNS.
l Verify that you have configured at least one User Map in the Multi-Site Settings app on each site
before you attempt to link to any remote modules.
l As referenced in "Before You Begin" on page 21, each MediaCentral Cloud UX server needs proper
time synchronization with the systems in the local site. When working in a multi-site environment,
Avid recommends that you connect all sites to a common time source to ensure that both local and
remote systems are in sync.

Troubleshooting the XFER Service

If you completed the process for "Configuring the Avid XFER and XFORM Services" on page 98 and you are
seeing errors in either the logs or the MediaCentral Cloud UX Process app, you can review the following
information for assistance. If this information does not resolve your problem, contact Avid Customer Care.
l The XFER service keeps restarting.
Check the Kubernetes logs for the avid-xfer-mediaservices pod. If the logs contain the following
error, your default Avid NEXIS workspace might be mis-configured:
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: defaultWorkspace location is empty
In this case you must repeat the process of running the avidctl platform config xfer script
and define a new workspace. After updating the xfer.yaml file, remember that you must redeploy
your system configuration.
l The Process app reports that either the “XForm Relink And Extract Task” or “XForm Download” task
fails with the message “Cannot access unmounted storage…”

Check the Kubernetes logs for the avid-xfer-mediaservices pod. If the logs contain the following
error, your default Avid NEXIS workspace might be mis-configured:
...defaultUnc property is not reachable NexisPath(originalPath=)...
In this case you must repeat the process of running the avidctl platform config xfer script
and define a new workspace. After updating the xfer.yaml file, remember that you must redeploy
your system configuration.

545