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iCOMPEL Deployment Manager (IDM)

User Guide (V3.1.0)

Getting Started with Your Digital Signage Network

1.2.1 Example Network Structure

The following diagram contains a schematic image of how the

IDM

displays a view of an Organi

ation (called

)

structured with folders. Individual players are shown by numbered circles (there are four). You might conceive of this as
a

very-much simplified view of the signage network you are managing for a chain store:

You can see that the Organi

ation,

, contains the ever-present

All

and

Unassigned

folders. The

IDM

lists all of

the

players in the

All

folder but lists none in the

Unassigned

folder. No players are listed in

Unassigned

because you

have

assigned them to your newly-created folders:

Channels

– This folder contains two subfolders,

Clothes

and

Books

. You have assigned players 1 and 2 to

Clothes

and player 3 to

Books

Locations

– This folder contains two subfolders,

Reading

and

Henley

. You have assigned players 1 and 3 to

Reading

and players 2 and 4 to

Henley

This structure allows you to view your players through two perspectives:

Through

Channels

to view players according to the content they display (in this example, in the

Clothes

and

Book

departments).

Through

Locations

to view players according to where the store is sited (in this example, in

Reading

Henley

This shows how

IDM

allows you to customi

e folders according to specific characteristics. You use folders to group

your players for easier management and monitoring. So, grouping players under

Channels

helps in checking that

particular content is consistent and is being delivered smoothly. Grouping them under

Locations

helps in checking that

all of the players in a particular store are operating correctly. Even more powerfully, the

IDM

Remote Setup

feature

allows you to reconfigure a player by moving it from one folder to another (for example, you can change player 2 so that
it

has a

'Books' set up by dragging it from the

Clothes

folder and dropping it into the

Books

folder).

Summary of Contents for IDM-AP-100

Page 1: ...0 IDM VM 500 IDM AP 1000 IDM VM 1000 IDM AP 1500 IDM VM 1500 Order toll free in the U S Call 877 877 BBOX outside U S call 724 746 5500 FREE technical support 24 hours a day 7 days a week Call 724 746 5500 or fax 724 746 0746 www blackbox com info blackbox com Customer Support Information ...

Page 2: ...h Support at 877 877 2269 or go to blackbox com and click on Talk to Black Box You ll be live with one of our technical experts in less than 60 seconds Trademarks Used in this Manual Black Box and the Double Diamond logo are registered trademarks of BB Technologies Inc Any other trademarks mentioned in this manual are acknowledged to be the property of the trademark owners ...

Page 3: ...his own expense will be required to take whatever measures may be necessary to correct the interference Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user s authority to operate the equipment This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class A limits for radio noise emis sion from digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference Regulation...

Page 4: ...s que impidan el flujo de aire por los orificios de ventilación 10 El equipo eléctrico deber ser situado fuera del alcance de fuentes de calor como radiadores registros de calor estufas u otros aparatos incluyendo amplificadores que producen calor 11 El aparato eléctrico deberá ser connectado a una fuente de poder sólo del tipo descrito en el instructivo de operación o como se indique en el aparat...

Page 5: ...otocopying recording taping or information storage and retrieval systems without the written permission of the publisher Products that are referred to in this document maybe either trademarks and or registered trademarks of the respective owners The publisher and the author make no claim to these trademarks While everyprecaution has been taken in the preparation of this document the publisher and ...

Page 6: ... n g t h e P l a y e r V i e w 20 21 1 4 6 Responding to Alarms Part II Managing and Monitoring the Network 25 25 2 1 Home Managing and Monitoring the Network 26 2 1 1 Players Understanding the Display 28 2 1 2 Players Accessing Detailed Status 28 2 1 3 Players Using Remote Setup 31 2 1 4 Summary 31 2 1 5 Thumbnails 32 2 1 6 Map View 33 2 1 7 Manage 34 2 1 8 Media Audit Reports 2 2 Organizatio n C...

Page 7: ...led Jobs 3 2 6 Feature Keys 52 3 3 Setup Ma i n t a i n i n g t h e IDM 52 52 3 3 1 Backup Restore Database 53 3 3 2 Softw are Update 54 3 3 3 Reboot 55 3 3 4 Support Snap Shot 55 3 4 Help Configuring User Interface Preferences Part IV Reference 58 58 4 1 Players Summary Columns 59 4 2 Alarms 63 4 3 User Permissions 4 4 User ID IDM ProgrammingInterfaces 64 Part V Glossary 66 Index 67 ...

Page 8: ...Part I Getting Started with Your Digital Signage Network ...

Page 9: ...iguring and Maintaining the IDM Reference 1 1 The Parts of an IDM Network To assist your understanding of the parts that make up a IDM network it is useful to start by describing a very simple arrangement with a standalone display Building on that further illustrations add the extra features that become increasingly relevant as the network grows more distributed and more sophisticated Work through...

Page 10: ...x or Microsoft Internet Explorer This remains the case for even the largest digital signage network Local area network Intranet or Internet In principle you do not need to be physically close to the screen s location This becomes more significant as the size of the network increases Player Player is the generic term for the appliance that runs the screen Specifically the player is the iCOMPEL appl...

Page 11: ...own as Reports As the user you rely on reports to keep up to date with the status of individual players and of the network as a whole Subscriber A Subscriber is a player that you configure to accept content from a publisher In the diagram Channel 1 provides the content for all the subscribers players and their screens All players still send separate reports Subscriber and Publisher are referred to...

Page 12: ... in a condensed and summarized form The following diagram shows how the individual network features we have discussed so far combine to provide an enterprise signage network infrastructure You might conceive of this as a country wide business with sites in different cities maintaining a resilient network of players displaying various streams of content and all under centralized control Notice how ...

Page 13: ... a structural view of the network that you can customize to match business needs and to arrange players into manageable groups When you first access the IDM it immediately guides you to set up an Organization IDM regards the Organization as the root of and identifier for the whole network You choose the name you want to give your Organization it is likely you will want to use the name of your comp...

Page 14: ... two subfolders Reading and Henley You have assigned players 1 and 3 to Reading and players 2 and 4 to Henley This structure allows you to view your players through two perspectives Through Channels to view players according to the content they display in this example in the Clothes and Book departments Through Locations to view players according to where the store is sited in this example in Read...

Page 15: ...il On that basis IDM continuously updates its display of player folder and Organization status To display the current status IDM uses a system of icons to represent alarm states The icons are No alarms Alarm is raised You have acknowledged the alarm The sequence of actual alarm states is very simple 1 IDM raises an alarm when a player reports out of parameter data 2 IDM only lowers the alarm when ...

Page 16: ...is is matched by that for the All folder In addition the icon indicates that a folder has no players within it Here this indicates that there are no Unassigned players You will find the the alarms statuses are vital for rapid problem solving and troubleshooting In the scenarios above you might arrive at some basic conclusions 1 Players 1 and 3 are running without issues suggesting all is well at t...

Page 17: ... for your login details Use these factory settings Username remote Password 9999 IDM displays this screen Step 2 Complete the basic Organization set up Click the Organizations link and IDM displays the Add Organization screen You must complete ALL of the fields listed on the Add Organization screen Organization Enter a name for your organization you can change this later if you wish Organization A...

Page 18: ...r is the default IDM system account Permissions This column lists the permissions specifying what each account can and cannot do Notice that the organization Admin account in this example username orgadmin allows you to administer your organization and the remote account allows you to administer your IDM system Default organization By default this applies only to the Reporter account username repo...

Page 19: ...u need to perform some IDM management and monitoring tasks on a regular basis To assist you perform such tasks here is a selection provided with step by step instructions Configuring Player Reporting Donating Player Set Up to a Folder customizing the Player View Responding to Alarms 1 4 1 Configuring Player Reporting Configuring players to report to your IDM fulfils two purposes It provides the re...

Page 20: ...epends on the level of security required for communications between the player and your IDM Using HTTPS or VPN also enables other interactions between the player and the IDM for example remote management For best security and highest degree of interaction use VPN Adding Players to Your organization 17 describes how to automatically add players to your organization when they As noted in Configuring...

Page 21: ... players IDM lists their details in both the All and the Unassigned folders As the number of players increases you can create a structure of additional folders with which to group players for easier management Creating this structure is a two stage process Adding folder Allocating players to the folder Adding a Folder To add a folder follow these steps when on the Home Summary Players page 1 Click...

Page 22: ...tion Administration permission Grouping players in folders allows you to more easily manage them IDM enhances this facility by allowing you to see the same players in different folder views You can configure each folder with the view you want by donating the relevant characteristics from a suitable player For example you might select a subscriber player to donate its channel set up When you alloca...

Page 23: ...s the information in a multi column table which you can customise to include only the specific details you want Here is an example of a simple table displaying information for a player with the serial number 31421 You can give the player a more meaningful name or modify an existing one by following these steps 1 Click the link in the Name or Serial column IDM displays the Detailed Status page 2 En...

Page 24: ...s if the data reported by players falls outside of the parameters you have specified For details on configuring alarms see organization Configuring Alarms In outline the alarm process follows this sequence 1 IDM raises an alarm You decide what action if any is needed 2 Optionally you acknowledge the alarm with a reason usually the action in response to the alarm Note that you cannot lower an alarm...

Page 25: ... link and IDM displays the player s Alarms tab 3 Click on the Report Overdue link and IDM displays the Acknowledge Alarm screen 4 button You enter a description of your response to the alarm in the Reason field and click the IDM displays the Alarm Acknowledged screen note the bar color has changed to acknowledged You can Update your acknowledgement reason or Delete it and enter a new one ...

Page 26: ...yer Alarms tab to see that IDM has updated the entry with your acknowledgement reason 6 IDM also updates the player s Alarms column and displays the icon 7 IDM lowers the alarm when the alarm condition is corrected in this case the player sends a report again 8 IDM retains a record of the alarm on the player s Alarms tab ...

Page 27: ...Part II Managing and Monitoring the Network ...

Page 28: ...m those tasks Click the menu item for the option you require Additionally you can click to access online help for each option you are using see Help Configuring User Interface Preferences for details 2 1 Home Managing and Monitoring the Network Use the Home Summary options to display various views of your digital signage network and to access individual player details In particular the Home Summar...

Page 29: ...your network the view is the most significant To support you when performing management tasks it provides a wide range of features Consequently it is important to understand the options in some detail To find out more refer to these topics Players Understanding the Display Players Accessing Detailed Status Players Using Remote Setup For a description of the other Home Summary options refer to thes...

Page 30: ...s the structural hierarchy of folders and subfolders IDM displays the relevant alarm icon at each level of the hierarchy Related tasks you might want to perform Player Listing Table A simple example of the table listing the players looks like this Although a simple example that table illustrates the key features that assist you manage your players IDM displays the information you want to see for e...

Page 31: ...a meaningful name for the player or modifying an existing one Alarms Current alarm settings and details of recently raised acknowledged and lowered alarms Channel Current channel data player role channel name channel ID connection times file numbers and size and pending channel and poll details Remote Setup Current remote setup settings per category controlling folder status and dates of last dona...

Page 32: ...ups of player they contain For example you might create a user account on a player specific to a physical location donating that player s Users to a folder allows you to configure all the players at that location site with the same account Donating Player Set Up Steps on the Player To donate a player set up to a folder perform these steps on the player refer to the NTB documentation for details 1 ...

Page 33: ...tegories a player will accept by clicking its Ready link in the Remote Setup column Use the folder to set up other players by one of these methods Dragging an individual player from the Home Summary Players view and dropping it on the folder Clicking the folder and using the page to select and add as many players as required When the player receives the set up it overwrites any existing set up in ...

Page 34: ...k to choose the view you want Barchart Viewing the state as a bar split into colours to indicate the number of players in each alarm state green for no alarms orange for acknowledged alarms red for unacknowledged alarms Warboard Viewing the state as a lozenge coloured to indicate the overall state and listing the proportion of players in each alarm state Check the relevant radio button and click t...

Page 35: ...button Configure the following customisations through the button and click the button to enable them Background Select the radio button for the option you want Use an image Navigate to the location of the image and select it Select the appropriate formatting radio button Use Solid color Click the button to specify a different color Item Display Select the radio button for the option you want Displ...

Page 36: ...w When you click in either the or views it offers the same options as shown in this example That example shows An existing folder Channels A player that is already allocated to that folder 31421 A player that is also in the organization but is not allocated to this folder 15393 allows you to perform these actions Copy move or rename the Channels folder Create a new folder by clicking the button De...

Page 37: ...e following options and clicking the button Type Choose how verbose you want the report to be Summary Brief report Listing Detailed report For Choose the focus of the report Player Reports on the items enabled on a player Select the player from the drop down Channel Reports on the items enabled on a channel Select the channel from the drop down Period Use the From and Until settings to specify the...

Page 38: ...o categories according to their applicability Click the tab appropriate to the alarms you want to set up Software Hardware Publisher Subscriber For each alarm choose the radio button that describes the behaviour you want to set Inherit Alarm Use Ignore Alarm Observe Alarm Default IDM treats the alarm as set up by the system default IDM ignores the alarm for your organization this overrides the sys...

Page 39: ... email Alarms Selecting which alarms trigger an email Configure To configure email notifications enter the following details and click the button Send Email Notifications Select No to disable and Yes to enable notifications by email Recipient Address to send the email From Address to indicate sender of the email Subject Prefix String used to begin the subject line Message Header Material to includ...

Page 40: ...arms Check or uncheck the boxes to select which alarms trigger an email and whether it is when the alarm is raised lowered or both To enable a change you must click the button 2 2 3 Configuring Operating Hours Use the Operating Hours Configuration options to create rules defining your Organisation s operating and non operating hours IDM does not raise alarms during your Organisation s non operatin...

Page 41: ...es and times you define with the From and To drop down menus Effect Select the radio button to define whether the rule creates operating hours or non operating hours The organization is within operating hours while this rule is in effect The organization is outside operating hours while this rule is in effect Days Check the boxes against the days to which the rule applies Time Select the radio but...

Page 42: ...ization the dialogue allows you to modify Default User organization Whether the user can add a reporting but unknown player to the organization also needs Accept Report permission Permissions Adding or removing the user s permissions see User Permissions for details Password Resetting the user s password To enable any changes you must click the button User The user s username Organisations The use...

Page 43: ...ifying the organization name minimum reporting interval permissions and default data retention periods Add Organisations Establishing a new organization and its initial user accounts only if permitted by license Organisations The organization details are listed on a row with these features Actions Click the button to modify the organization permissions and other parameters see below for details or...

Page 44: ...on Unlimited Default Other than defined by license no limit on the number of players that can report to the organization Limited Within the maximum defined by license specify the number of players that can report to the organization Reports Data Retention Period Default 90 days You can specify a different period to retain data Only relevant if you enable automatic database pruning see Scheduled Jo...

Page 45: ...ation Name Accept Reports Check the Accept Reports from this Player box for IDM to accept the player s reports 2 3 4 Setting Up Alarms Software Hardware Publisher Subscriber For each alarm choose the radio button that describes the behaviour you want Ignore Alarm IDM ignores this alarm Observe Alarm IDM monitors the condition and raises an alarm according to the defined parameter If you wish to re...

Page 46: ... Monitoring the Network You can set up parameters for most alarms The IDM offers defaults but you can modify those to best suit the needs of your network Note By default IDM observes all alarms except Software Version To enable any changes you must click the button ...

Page 47: ...Part III Configuring and Maintaining the IDM ...

Page 48: ...p System Setup Setting up the IDM time email network and security configurations and managing the software licensing Setup Maintenance and Troubleshooting Performing backup update reboot and support activities Help Choosing your preferred time format display and accessing the online help 3 1 Status Monitoring the IDM Use the Status options to monitor the environmental performance of your IDM Selec...

Page 49: ...how much available How much data disk space used of how much available Hardware The display contains the following information CPU Available Memory CMOS Signature Make model and speed of IDM processor Amount of IDM main memory Signifier value support may request this value 3 2 Setup Setting Up the IDM Use the Setup System Setup options to configure and check the operational features of your IDM Se...

Page 50: ...erver Local System Clock The IDM internal clock Only use if the IDM cannot access an NTP server Without an external reference the local system clock may drift Time Zone Setting Select the time zone for the IDM to use Local System Clock Settings If you chose the Local System Clock method IDM activates this display The values shown are those current when you opened the Date and Time page Adjust the ...

Page 51: ...Email Notifications Select No to disable and Yes to enable IDM email SMTP Server Specify the SMTP server address and port number to use Authentication If the SMTP server requires authentication enter the Username and Password required TLS Specify if you need to use Transport Layer Security No Send email without TLS If Available Send email and use TLS if it is available Yes Only send email with TLS...

Page 52: ...ss If you selected Static IP addressing enter the IP address for the IDM Netmask If you selected Static IP addressing specify the address range for the IDM subnet Default Gateway Enter the gateway IP address if the IDM uses one DNS Settings DNS Search Path If required enter the path needed to reach the Domain Name Server DNS DNS Nameserver Enter the IP addresses of up to three DNS nameservers Netw...

Page 53: ... tab allows you to examine and configure the firewall and other security service settings Caution The IDM comes ready prepared with default firewall and other security service settings to protect against unauthorised access Do not change the security settings unless you have a good working knowledge of IP networking and network security Incorrect configuration can block all access to the IDM butto...

Page 54: ...a browser It may be desirable to change the master password but you must know the existing one to do so Please contact your reseller or supplier for the master password To enable the new password you must click the button and reboot the IDM Firewall Status The Firewall Status tab displays the detailed IDM firewall activity report Understanding the information in that report requires a good working...

Page 55: ...es Add License Adding new licenses for additional features Note You must reboot the IDM to activate new license features 3 3 Setup Maintaining the IDM Use the Setup Maintenance and Troubleshooting options to perform housekeeping update and support tasks on your IDM Select the menu item for the option you require Backup Restore Database Creating backups and restoring the IDM database with them Soft...

Page 56: ...button Click the button to create a new backup After IDM completes the backup it displays the Backups tab again with the new file listed To save a copy of the backup off of the IDM as recommended the steps to take depend on the browser you are using Commonly one or other of these methods will work Left click the filename select the Save or Save As option Right click the filename select the Save Li...

Page 57: ...ted if you have chosen Turn off automatic update Specify the day and a time slot when the IDM can download an update Update Server URL Not activated if you have chosen Turn off automatic update If different from the default specify the URL where the IDM checks for updates Check Interval Not activated if you have chosen Turn off automatic update Specify how often the IDM checks for updates in hours...

Page 58: ...a Take the action required to access the data of interest Click the relevant button to generate and view the data described Click the button to access the logs covering the area described To open an individual log click its button 3 4 Help Configuring User Interface Preferences Use the Help options to configure the IDM user interface access the online help and display product information Select th...

Page 59: ...you want Year Month Day Day Month Year Month Day Year Locale Specific Check the box if you want the last five days displayed by name not number Date Separator Enter a character to separate the date display values Month Style Select the month display format you want Numeric Full Name Abbreviated Name Help for this Page Displays help specific to the IDM options on the current page About Displays out...

Page 60: ...Part IV Reference ...

Page 61: ...rts the IDM updates the data it displays about that player To customise the display click the button and check the box against each column you require You can re order the columns by dragging and dropping them This table lists and describes the columns available whether a player can report particular items is dependent on model and configuration Column Name Player Information Displayed Alarms Rais...

Page 62: ...emperature in degrees centigrade Up Since Date and time when the player last came up VPN Whether the player is connected by VPN and when that was established Version Version of the software running on the player 4 2 Alarms As described in organization Configuring Alarms you can monitor the operation of your digital signage network and the players in it by configuring the IDM alarms IDM provides a ...

Page 63: ...lows for momentary issues for example make the period at least twice as long as the reporting period itself Software Version Raised when the player reports a software version that does not match the one you specify Lowered when the player reports a software version that matches the one you specify Remote Setup Update Late Raised when the player has not applied remote setup changes within the perio...

Page 64: ...the value you specify Lowered when the player system temperature drops below the value you specify Guidance notes Only applies to systems that can report system temperature Possible causes of overheating are Insufficient ventilation around the player Problems with player cooling fans Slow CPU Fan Raised when the player CPU fan speed drops below the RPM you specify Lowered when the player CPU fan s...

Page 65: ...aised when the publisher experienced an error while trying to publish a channel details on the publisher Lowered when the publisher reports publishing the channel without error Guidance notes One cause might be a problem with the network connection for example that an intermediate FTP server is down Subscribers Alarm Name Description Subscriber Transfer Late Raised when the subscriber has not comp...

Page 66: ...ishing a channel with the same name as that being subscribed to by a player Lowered when all publisher channels possess unique names Guidance notes One cause might be if a publisher is restored from backup and begins to publish an old channel Identify the responsible publisher and correct its configuration 4 3 User Permissions You can precisely control what users can and cannot do on the IDM by se...

Page 67: ...API operations in the areas allowed by the organization Administration permission API organization Alarm Update Permit API operations in the areas allowed by the organization Alarm Update permission API organization Status View Permit API operations in the areas allowed by the organization Status View permission 4 4 IDM Programming Interfaces For advanced users the IDM provides application program...

Page 68: ...Part V Glossary ...

Page 69: ...he generic term for the appliance that manages the digital signage network Specifically the manager is the ONELAN iCOMPEL Deployment Manager IDM IDM organization The root of the digital signage network and the name that refers to it as a whole Player A component of the ONELAN Digital Signage Platform Player is the generic term for the appliance that runs the screen Specifically the player is the O...

Page 70: ...ng 35 publisher 35 42 59 reference 59 reporting by email 35 36 responding to 21 setting parameters 42 setting up for system 42 software 35 42 59 states 12 subscriber 35 42 59 system defaults 35 42 All folder 10 APIs database views 64 JSON JSONP 64 XML 64 B Backup Restore Database options 52 Barchart view changing to 31 Browser 7 C Channel defined 8 multiple 9 Common tasks listed 16 Concepts define...

Page 71: ...displaying time and date 55 email profile 36 48 events and reports database 52 gathering support information 52 55 IP address 49 JSON JSONP API 64 logs 55 maintaining 25 45 permissions 63 player table display 58 programming interfaces 64 rebooting 52 54 reference information 58 security settings 49 setting up 46 status 45 support snap shot 55 test email 36 updating software 52 53 user accounts on ...

Page 72: ...52 Local Area Network 7 Logs 55 M Maintaining IDM 25 45 Maintenance and Troubleshooting menu 52 Manage options 25 and Map View 32 33 and Players 33 and Summary 31 33 and Thumbnails 33 Manager defined 8 Managing network 10 25 Map View option 32 Map View options 25 Master password 49 Media Audit Reports 25 configuring 34 example content 34 retention period 40 Menu options Alarm Configuration organiz...

Page 73: ...dmin account 14 organization Administration permission 14 organization Viewer account 14 permissions 40 Remote account 14 Reporter account 14 setup steps described 14 structuring 18 26 user accounts 14 users 39 organization Admin account 14 organization menu 25 organization Viewer account 14 Organisations options 35 40 Overriding alarms 35 P Password changing system default 14 IDM system 14 for us...

Page 74: ...larms 42 R Reboot option 54 Rebooting the IDM 54 Remote account 14 Remote Setup and HTTPS 28 and VPN 28 configuration categories 28 icon 19 28 Report and HTTP 16 and VPN 16 configuring 16 media audit 25 34 minimum reporting interval 40 Reporter account 14 16 Reporting interval configuring minimum for organization 40 Reports accepting from player 41 defined 8 enabling 41 Required permissions 14 63 ...

Page 75: ...Terms defined 66 Tests DNS lookup 49 email set up 36 ping 49 trace 49 Thumbnails option 25 display illustrated 31 Trace test 49 Troubleshooting with alarms 59 U Unassigned folder 10 Use cases listed 16 User accounts default permissions 14 name format defined 14 organization Admin 14 organization Viewer 14 Remote 14 Reporter 14 setting up 14 User guide how to access 55 Username for user accounts 39...

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