Adobe Media Server 5.0.6 Configuration And Administration Guide Mediaserver 506 Config Admin En

User Manual: adobe Adobe Media Server - 5.0.6 - Configuration and Administration Guide Free User Guide for Adobe Media Server Software, Manual

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Contents
Chapter 1: Deploying the server
Chapter 2: Configuring the server
Chapter 3: Using the Administration Console
Chapter 4: Monitoring and Managing Log Files
Chapter 5: Administering the server
Chapter 6: Using the Administration API
- Working with the Administration API
Chapter 7: XML configuration files reference
Chapter 8: Diagnostics Log Messages
- Message IDs in diagnostic logs

ADOBE® MEDIA SERVER

Conguration and Administration Guide

Last updated 8/21/2014

Legal notices

For legal notices, see http://help.adobe.com/en_US/legalnotices/index.html.

iii

Last updated 8/21/2014

Contents

Chapter 1: Deploying the server

Configure ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Load balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Deploying edge servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Deploying 64-bit servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chapter 2: Configuring the server

Configure the server for virtual hosting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Working with configuration files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Configuring performance features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Configuring security features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Performing general configuration tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Configuring content storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Configuring Apache HTTP Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Configure Apache for Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming and Apple HTTP Live Streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Configure HTTP Streaming failover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Using a third-party web server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Configuring Differentiated Services (DiffServ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Chapter 3: Using the Administration Console

Connecting to the Administration Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Inspecting applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Manage administrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Managing the server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Chapter 4: Monitoring and Managing Log Files

Working with log files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Access logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Application logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Diagnostic logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Chapter 5: Administering the server

Start and stop the server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Checking server status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Checking video files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Managing the server on Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Scramble tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Chapter 6: Using the Administration API

Working with the Administration API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Chapter 7: XML configuration files reference

Changes to configuration files from 4.5 to 5.0.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Changes to configuration files from 4.0 to 4.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

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Adaptor.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Application.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Logger.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Server.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Users.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Vhost.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Chapter 8: Diagnostics Log Messages

Message IDs in diagnostic logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

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Chapter 1: Deploying the server

Configure ports

When you install Adobe Media Server, you can accept the default ports on which Adobe Media Server and Adobe

Media Administration Server listen. You can also enter new ports. The default ports for Adobe Media Server are 1935

and 80. The default port for Adobe Media Administration Server is 1111.

To test which ports a client can connect to on a Adobe Media Server hosted by Stefan Richter of FlashComGuru,

see FlashComGuru Port Tester.

To test which ports a client can connect to on your own Adobe Media Server, use a port tester developed and

hosted by Jake Hilton.

Port requirements

The following table describes ports on which clients must be able to establish connections to the server:

Port number Protocol Transport Description

1935 RTMP/E TCP By default, Flash Player and AIR clients make RTMP

connections to Adobe Media Server over port 1935

over TCP.

To communicate with Adobe Media Server over the

RTMP protocol, clients attempt to connect to ports

in the following order: 1935, 80 (RTMP), 80 (RTMPT).

1935 RTMFP UDP By default, Flash Player and AIR clients make RTMFP

connections to Adobe Media Server over port 1935

over UDP.

80 RTMP/E, RTMTP, HTTP TCP By default, Flash Player and AIR clients that cannot

connect to Adobe Media Server over port 1935

attempt to tunnel over port 80 (RTMPT).

If Apache is installed and enabled, HTTP requests

made over port 80 are proxied to Apache over port

8134.

HTTP Streaming requests to port 80 can hang when

proxying to port 8134. Use port 8134 in the request

or configure Apache to listen directly on port 80

and configure Adobe Media Server not to listen on

port 80.

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Configure IP addresses and ports

Use the ams.ini file to configure the IP addresses and ports on which Adobe Media Server listens for requests.

1Open rootinstall/conf/ams.ini in a text editor.

2Edit the ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT parameter. The default ports are:

ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT = :1935,80

3Save the file and restart the server.

The Adaptor.xml configuration file uses the ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT parameter in the Adaptor/HostPortList/HostPort

element:

<HostPort name="edge1" ctl_channel="localhost:19350"

rtmfp="${ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT}">${ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT}</HostPort>

See also

“Start and stop the server” on page 108

19350-65535 RTMFP UDP By default, clients use port 1935 and ports 19350-

65535 to communicate with Adobe Media Server

over the RTMFP protocol. The RTMFP protocol

communicates over UDP. Clients connect to the

server over 1935 and the server redirects the client

to a port between 19350 and 65535.

Allow inbound UDP traffic on 1935 and outbound

traffic on ports 19350 - 65535.

Allowing UDP inbound traffic from unknown hosts

on ports 19350 - 65535 is optional. Adobe Media

Server sends a packet out to a new client to redirect

it to a port in the range 19350 - 65535. This packet

attempts to punch a hole to allow the client traffic

back in over the correct port.To use server-side

RTMFP NetConnections, allow outbound UDP

traffic on all ports.

8134 HTTP TCP Adobe Media Server proxies HTTP requests to

Apache HTTP Server over port 8134.

HTTP Streaming requests to port 80 can hang when

proxying to port 8134. Use port 8134 in the request

or configure Apache to listen directly on port 80

and configure Adobe Media Server not to listen on

port 80.

1111 HTTP, RTMP TCP By default, Flash Player, AIR, and HTML clients

connect to Adobe Media Administration Server

over port 1111. Clients must specify port 1111 in

connection URLs.

Clients cannot access Adobe Media Administration

Server over RTMPS. As a result, Adobe recommends

that you block all external access to port 1111 so

that access to the Administration Server is

restricted to clients that are inside your firewall.

443 RTMPS TCP The default port for RTMPS. RTMPS adheres to SSL

standards for secure network connections and

enables connections through a TCP socket on a

secure port.

Port number Protocol Transport Description

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“Add an adaptor” on page 15

Configure IP addresses and ports for RTMFP

RTMFP connection flow

1An RTMFP client connects to a Adobe Media Server amsedge process over UDP port 1935.

Specify this port in the ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT parameter of the ams.ini file. To change this value, see “Configure IP

addresses and ports for RTMFP” on page 3.

Important: RTMFP and RTMP/E clients use the same port to connect to Adobe Media Server. However, RTMFP

clients use UDP and RTMP/E clients use TCP.

2The amsedge process redirects the connection to an amscore process listening on a UDP port in the range 19350-

65535.

Each amscore process has its own RTMFP listener. Each RTMFP listener binds to one UDP port in the range. When

an amscore process starts, the listener binds to the next available UDP port in the range specified in the

Adaptor/RTMFP/Core/HostPortList/HostPort element of the Adaptor.xml configuration file. For example, if there

are three amscore processes, they listen on ports 19350, 19351, and 19352. These ports are called the RTMFP

redirect ports or the RTMFP migration ports.

The number of ports in use depends on the number of amscore processes in use. The number of amscore processes

in use depends on how application instances are distributed. See “Configure how applications are assigned to server

processes” on page 28.

When the server redirects the client, it sends the client an IP address and port number. If the server is behind a NAT,

specify the public IP address of the server in the public attribute of the HostPort element. The server passes this

address to the client and the client uses it to connect to the amscore process.

Configure RTMFP redirect ports

1Open rootinstall/conf/_defaultRoot_/Adaptor.xml in a text editor.

2Edit the value of the HostPort element. The default ports are as follows:

...

<RTMFP>

...

<Core>

</HostPortList>

</Core>

</RTMFP>

</Adaptor>

3If the RTMFP adaptor is behind a NAT, specify the in-front-of-NAT IP address that clients connect to in the

public attribute of the HostPort element. The following example uses 12.34.56.78 for the in-front-of-NAT IP

address:

To redirect the client to an amscore process, the amsedge process sends the client an IP address and a port number.

The server knows the behind the NAT IP address, but the client can’t connect to that. The client needs to know the

in-front-of NAT IP address. To tell the server its in-front-of NAT IP address, specify it in the public attribute.

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4Save the file and restart the server. See Start and stop the server

About the HostPort element

The value of the HostPort element has the following format:

<value-of-HostPort> := [<host-port-range> [; <host-port-range> [; ... ] ] ]

<host-port-range> := [<host>][:<port-range>[, <port-range> ] ]

<port-range> := <start-port>[ - <end-port> ]

In this example of HostPortList, each core listens to two ports: one port from either host1:2000-2010 or

host2:3000-3010 and one port from either host2:5000 or host2:3010-4000 :

</HostPortList>

Configure a public IP address if the server is behind a NAT

If an RTMFP adaptor is behind a NAT, specify the in-front-of-NAT IP address that clients connect to in the public

attribute of the HostPort element:

If you don't specify the public attribute, the server doesn’t know its in-front-of-NAT-address. The amsedge process

can redirect the client to the correct port (for example, 19351) but it tells the client the behind-NAT address, which the

client can't contact.

Each HostPort element can specify a public address that corresponds to the specified port. This is the address that is

advertised to clients for the given HostPort. To advertise an address, specify a value for the public attribute of the

HostPort element. The public attribute has the same format as the HostPort element. The number of ports specified

by the public attribute must equal the number of ports specified by the HostPort element. If the core listens on the

n-th port of the HostPort value, the n-th port of the public attribute is advertised as its value.

In this example of HostPortList with a public attribute, if a core listens on host1:1005, its publicly advertised

address is host2:4005.

</HostPortList>

More Help topics

“Add an adaptor” on page 15

NAT and firewall traversal

NAT (network address translation) and firewall filtering can block peer-to-peer connections. In an intranet

application, in which you have control over the entire network, do the following to ensure that clients can create peer-

to-peer connections:

•Allow UDP traffic through any firewalls

•Use a NAT or firewall that complies with the NAT implementation recommendations of the IETF BEHAVE

working group.

•Use the TURN proxy support in Flash Player to send traffic to a proxy in a DMZ that can comply with the previous

recommendations. See Best practices for real-time collaboration using Adobe Media Server.

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In an Internet application, the application developer must choose how to handle cases in which a firewall or NAT

blocks a direct peer-to-peer connection. To create an application that works for connections that aren’t peer-to-peer,

create a protocol fallback to client-server RTMP and/or RTMPT. To create an application that never relays media

through the server (even though some clients may not see the media), don’t create a protocol fallback.

Understanding types of NAT

It’s important to understand the different types of NAT behavior:

Cone Reuses the same address and port when talking to all peers.

Multiple IP address, symmetric Picks a new address and port when talking to a new peer.

Single IP address, symmetric Uses the same address but a new port when talking to a new peer.

It’s also important to understand the filtering behaviors of NATs and firewalls:

None A cone NAT with no filtering is called “full cone”.

Address-restricted The peer is restricted to talking only to addresses it has talked to already.

Address and port-restricted The peer is restricted to talking only to addresses and ports it has talked to already.

In addition, some NAT and firewall behaviors aren't easily defined. For example, a NAT could act as a symmetric NAT

that preserves port numbers. When it runs out of resources, it could switch and act as a cone NAT.

In another example, a NAT could act as one type of NAT for the first client that connected to a server. It could act as

a different type of NAT for the second client that tried to connect to the same server. In this case, a simple analysis can

fail to predict whether a client can make a peer-to-peer connection.

Note: A firewall can filter and not be a NAT. A NAT can act as a firewall and have filtering. A firewall may block UDP

completely.

RTMFP Connectivity checker

RTMFP inventor Matthew Kaufman hosts a website called RTMFP Connectivity Checker at http://cc.rtmfp.net/. Use

this site to try to determine whether a client on a particular network can create a peer-to-peer connection.

If the connection to cc.rtmfp.net has the same properties as the connection to and from the peer, use the results to

determine whether a peer-to-peer connection can be formed. The results are not always definitive because, in some

cases, the connection does not have the same properties. For example, two peers in the same organization behind the

same firewall can have different properties between each other than they each have to http://cc.rtmfp.net.

To test a connection, the client connection must have the same properties as the client you’re testing, and the NAT or

firewall must have predictable behavior. The following are the RTMFP Connectivity Checker tests:

Test Description

Knows public IP address of self Flash Player has a local address that matches the address that

cc.rtmfp.net saw when the connection came in. In this case, there is

no address translation.

Public UDP port number same as local UDP

port number

Flash Player's idea of which UDP port number it is using matches

what http://cc.rtmfp.net saw when the connection came in. In this

case, there is no port translation. If this answer and the previous

answer are “Yes”, there probably isn’t a NAT (but there may be a

firewall).

Can receive from same IP address, same

UDP port number

This value is always “Yes”, because if a client couldn't complete this

test, it couldn't establish the initial connection.

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Understanding the RTMFP Connectivity test

In some cases, symmetric NATs break peer-to-peer connectivity.

Flash Player can work with most cone NAT configurations and many firewall configurations. (There are some issues

with multiple layers of NAT and lack of “hairpinning” support.) However, symmetric NAT in combination with

certain firewall or NAT cases at the other end blocks the ability to establish a peer-to-peer connection. If one end is a

symmetric NAT with a single IP address, Flash Player cannot connect to peers behind other symmetric NATs or

behind port-restricted cone NATs (or port-restricted firewalls).

If one end of a connection is a symmetric NAT with multiple IP addresses, connections to peers behind other

symmetric NATs or behind address-restricted (and probably port-restricted) cone NATs (or address-restricted or

port-restricted firewalls) are impossible. No matter what Flash Player tries to do to “punch a hole” through the

restricted cone NAT or restricted firewall to let the other peer through, the other end moves to a new address and/or

port number that doesn't match. The hole that was created is no longer applicable.

Configure ports for HTTP streaming

By default, Adobe Media Server is configured to listen on port 80. Adobe Media Server proxies HTTP traffic to Apache

HTTP Server over port 8134. However, HTTP Dynamic Streaming and HTTP Live Streaming connections can hang

when proxying through the server.

Do not proxy HDS and HLS traffic through Adobe Media Server to Apache HTTP Server. Either specify the port

number in the request URL, or configure Apache to use port 80 and configure Adobe Media Server not to use port 80.

You do not need to use both techniques.

Specify the port number in request URLs

❖Connect clients to Apache HTTP Server directly through its own port (the default is port 8134). For example, use

the following request URL:

http://ams.example.com:8134/hds-vod/somefile.f4v.f4m

Can receive from same IP address,

different UDP port number

Indicates whether your firewall is “port restricted”. A port restricted

firewall requires an outbound connection to the same address and

port number before inbound traffic is permitted from that address

and port number. This requirement is true even when previous

traffic was sent to the same address but different port number.

Can receive from different IP address,

different UDP port number

Indicates whether your firewall is “address restricted”. An address

restricted firewall requires that an outbound connection is made to

a new IP address before inbound traffic is permitted from that IP

address.

Can send to different IP address after

server introduction

This value is always be “Yes” if the initial connection can be made.

This test is like opening a new RTMFP connection. If this test fails,

there's a problem with how Flash Player received or treated the

introduction request, or the firewall is unpredictable.

Source IP address is preserved from

original connection

This test means that you have one of the following: a cone NAT, a

symmetric NAT with only one IP address, or a symmetric NAT with

multiple IP addresses but the same address happened to be used

this time. If repeated tests cause the value to change, you have a

symmetric NAT with multiple IP addresses, and sometimes you

happen to use the same address.

Source UDP port number is preserved

from original connection

This test means that you have a cone NAT. If the value is "No", you

have a symmetric NAT.

Test Description

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Configure Apache to use port 80 and configure Adobe Media Server not to use port 80

1Configure Apache to use port 80.

aOpen rootinstall/Apache2.2/conf in a text editor.

bChange the line Listen 8134 to Listen 80.

cRestart Apache. See Start and stop the server.

2Configure Adobe Media Server not to use port 80.

aOpen rootinstall/conf/ams.ini in a text editor.

bRemove 80 from the ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT parameter so the parameter looks like the following:

ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT = :1935

cRestart Adobe Media Server. See Start and stop the server.

Load balancing

Workflow for deploying servers in a cluster

You can deploy multiple servers behind a load balancer to distribute the client load over multiple servers. Deploying

multiple servers enables you to scale an application for more clients and creates redundancy, which eliminates single

points of failure. You can deploy any version of the server (Adobe Media Interactive Server, Adobe Media

Development Server, or Adobe Media Streaming Server) in a cluster.

1Install Adobe® Flash® Media Server and verify the installation on each computer.

Ensure that you deploy all servers on computers that meet the minimum system requirements.

Note: For cross-platform compatibility, use lowercase names for all folders and applications.

2Configure a load balancer to see the servers hosting Adobe Media Interactive Server or Adobe Media Streaming

Server.

Clustering multiple servers behind a load balancer

Add all the servers in the cluster to the pool (server farm) in the load balancer. The load balancer distributes traffic

among all the servers in the pool. Configure the load balancer to distribute the load in round-robin mode and to

monitor over TCP port 1935.

If the server does not have an externally visible IP address, then for HTTP tunnelling to work, you should enable

cookies when you deploy servers behind a load balancer. The load balancer checks the cookie and sends requests with

this cookie to the same server. Cookies can be enabled in the load balancer or in the Adaptor.xml configuration file in

the Adaptor/HTTPTunnel/SetCookie element.

Note: For tunnelling connections, cookies are currently supported only on Adobe® Flash® Player 9.0.28 or later in

Windows only.

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Load balancing peer-assisted networking applications

Use one of the following two techniques to load balance a peer-assisted networking applications:

•Distribute introductions across a server-only RTMFP NetGroup.

This technique is new in Adobe Media Server 5. Use a Server-Side ActionScript API to distribute peer lookup

requests across multiple servers. For more information, see Distributing introductions across multiple servers.

•Set up an edge-origin configuration.

In the Vhost.xml configuration file on each edge server, set <Mode>remote</Mode>. For more information, see

“Configure edge servers” on page 9.

On the client, the NetConnection URL changes from "rtmfp://ams-server/application" to "rtmfp://edge-

ams-server/?rtmfp://origin-ams-server/application". Alternately, you can configure the RouteTable

and RouteEntry in the Vhost.xml file on the edge server to point to the origin server. In this case, the client URL

is still "rtmfp://ams-server/application".

Set up DNS entries to distribute the load across the edge servers. For the server to function properly as an RTMFP

introducer, use one origin server per application. For peer lookup to work, clients must be connected to the same

server process, but not necessarily to the same application. Peer lookups do not work across origin servers.

However, peerIDs are cached on the edge server which reduces the load on the origin. When clients are connected

to the same edge, the introduction can happen at the edge and there is not a lookup call to the origin.

More Help topics

“Deploying edge servers” on page 8

Deploying edge servers

Workflow for deploying edge servers

Note: Adobe Media Server Standard cannot be configured as an edge server.

By default, the server runs as an origin server. To run the server as an edge server, you must configure an XML file.

Typically you would run Adobe Media Server Professional as an origin server on one computer and run Adobe Media

Server Professional as an edge server on another computer.

1. Install Adobe Media Server Professional and verify the installation on each computer.

Deploy all edge and origin servers on computers that meet the minimum system requirements. For information about

installing and verifying installation, see the Installation Guide.

Note: For cross-platform compatibility, use lowercase names for all folders and applications.

2. Configure an edge server and restart.

On the edge server, edit the Vhost.xml file of the virtual host you want to run as an edge server.

3. Verify that the edge server can communicate with the origin server.

The easiest way to verify is to create an explicit connection. Create a SWF file with an explicit connection to the edge

server and run the vod or live service.

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4. If you’re installing multiple edge servers, copy the Vhost.xml file to the same directory on each edge server.

5. Verify that each edge server can communicate with the origin server.

6. Place the origin server and those edge servers nearest to it on the same subnet.

7. If you’re deploying more than one edge server, configure a load balancer.

Place the load balancer between the clients and the edges. Configure the load balancer to access the pool of edge servers

in round-robin mode and to monitor over TCP port 1935. Use the virtual IP (VIP) address of the pool as the IP address

in the RouteEntry element of each edge server’s Vhost.xml file. For detailed information on how to configure the

RouteEntry element, see the comments in the RouteEntry element of the default Vhost.xml file, or see RouteEntry.

Configure edge servers

To configure the server to run as an edge server, edit the Vhost.xml configuration file of the virtual host you want to

run as an edge server. The Vhost.xml file defines how the edge server connects clients to the origin server.

Note: You can also configure some virtual hosts to run applications locally (as origins), while others run applications

remotely (as edges); this is called mixed mode or hybrid mode.

Configure a virtual host to run as an edge server

1Open the Vhost.xml file of the virtual host you want to configure and locate the following code (comments have

been removed):

...

<Proxy>

<Mode>remote</Mode>

<Anonymous>false</Anonymous>

</RouteTable>

<Enabled>false</Enabled>

</EdgeAutoDiscovery>

</Proxy>

</VirtualHost>

Note: The default VHost.xml file is located in the RootInstall/conf/_defaultRoot_/_defaultVHost_ directory.

2Edit the following XML elements, as needed.

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3Validate the XML and save the Vhost.xml file.

Element Required/optional Description

Mode Required Enter local to configure the server to run as an origin server. Enter remote

to configure the server to run as an edge server.

Anonymous Optional A Boolean value specifying whether the edge server connection is implicit

(true) or explicit (false). The default value is false.

CacheDir Optional Enables or disables the caching of streams to disk, in addition to caching in

memory, on an edge server and allows you to specify the cache location.

There are two attributes: enabled and useAppName.

To enable caching, set the enabled attribute to "true". When enabled, the

server places streams in the RootInstall/cache/appName directory by default.

Use the useAppName attribute to specify whether to use the application

name as the name of the cache for the application.

Vod applications get significant performance gains when caching is enabled.

LocalAddress Optional Specifies the local IP address to which to bind a proxy's outgoing connection

(the proxy’s loopback address). This element allows the administrator to

control network traffic by isolating incoming and outgoing traffic to separate

network interfaces.

RouteTable Optional; create a routing

table when it is not

necessary or desirable for

application developers to

see the origin server URL or

when you want to use

implicit connections.

Specifies, in each RouteEntry element, how to route connections from the

origin to the edge. There is one attribute, protocol, that indicates the

protocol of the outgoing connection. Set this attribute to either "rtmp" or

"rtmps".

To override the RouteTable protocol for a specific RouteEntry element,

add a protocol attribute to the RouteEntry element you want to change.

RouteEntry Optional Each RouteEntry element maps a host/port pair to a different host/port pair.

In the following example, connections to host1:port1 are routed to

host2:port2:

host1:port1;host2:port2

Typically, host1:port1 is your edge server and host2:port2 is your

origin server. The following example routes connections destined for host

"edge" on port 1935 to host "origin" on port 80:

<RouteEntry>edge:1935;origin:80</RouteEntry>

You can specify a wildcard character (*) for any host or port. The following

example routes connections destined for any host on any port to host "origin"

on port 1935:

<RouteEntry>*:*;origin:1935</RouteEntry>

You can also specify a wildcard for the host/port to which connections are

being routed. The following example routes connections destined for any

host on any port to the same host on port 80:

To reject connections, you can specify that a host/port combination be routed

to null:

The RouteEntry element has a protocol attribute. This attribute overrides

the RouteTable protocol for a specific RouteEntry element. For example,

RouteTable may have one RouteEntry element that specifies an

encrypted outgoing RTMPS connection and another RouteEntry tag that

specifies the regular RTMP connection. If a protocol is not specified, the

outgoing connection uses the same protocol as the incoming connection.

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4Restart the server.

More Help topics

“Adaptors and virtual hosts” on page 14

Set up caching on edge servers

Streams that are played via an edge server can optionally be cached on that edge server’s hard drive to avoid extra

network traffic back to the origin. Edge servers manage their disk caches automatically using a least-recently-used

(LRU) scheme.

Edge servers group the cached files on disk into buckets; the files within each bucket are not ordered, but the buckets

themselves are ordered by LRU. When an edge server needs to free up disk space, it deletes the entire contents of the

least-recently-used buckets. When a file is added, it gets put in the "newest" bucket, and likewise when an existing file

is accessed, it is moved to the newest bucket. This maintains the LRU ordering.

A disk cache is divided up into N buckets, but since all newly accessed content goes into the newest bucket, only the

newest bucket actually grows in size. Once that bucket reaches K/N bytes, where K is the maximum size of the disk

cache, the server triggers a rollover. A rollover means the server deletes the oldest bucket, and creates a new bucket

where new content will go.

For example:

1Start with an empty disk cache, configured to have 8 buckets and max size of 80 GB.

2All content goes into bucket "00" until it grows to 10 GB.

3New bucket "01" is created. All content now goes into this bucket. In addition, content accessed from bucket "00"

may be moved to bucket "01".

4When bucket "01" reaches 10 GB, the server creates bucket "02", and so on.

5Repeat until there are 8 buckets, "00" through "07".

6When bucket "07" reaches 10 GB, the server creates bucket "08", and also deletes bucket "00" and all the content it

contains.

The deletion is only triggered by the size of the "new" bucket, not the total size of the disk. Because content can be

moved from one of the older buckets into the newest bucket, the older buckets do not remain at their maximum size

of N/K bytes, and thus the total size of the disk will be less than its max K when the server starts deleting old buckets.

You set up caching on an edge server in the CacheDir element of the Vhost.xml file. The following table describes the

subelements that you use to set up caching:

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Connect to an edge server

There are two types of edge server connections: explicit and implicit (also called anonymous).

An explicit edge server prefixes its address to the origin server’s URL in the client NetConnection.connect() call.

For example, for applications running on ams.foo.com, instead of clients connecting to an application with a

connection string such as rtmp://ams.foo.com/app/inst, clients are directed through the edge, which prefixes its

protocol and hostname to the origin URL, as in the following:

rtmp://amsedge.foo.com/?rtmp://ams.foo.com/app/inst

An implicit edge server does not change or modify the origin server’s URL in the client NetConnection.connect()

call. The identity (the IP address and port number) of the implicit edge is hidden from the application developer.

Create an explicit connection

❖Use the following syntax in a client-side NetConnection.connect() call to make an explicit connection to an edge

server:

rtmp://edge/?rtmp://origin/app

A question mark (?) separates the edge’s prefix from the main URL. The prefix contains only the protocol,

hostname, and optionally the port number. The prefix must always end with a trailing slash.

Create an implicit connection

1In the Vhost.xml configuration file, set the Proxy/Anonymous element to true.

Note: Restart the server after changing the Vhost.xml file.

2In the Vhost.xml file, create a routing table in the RouteTable element; for more information, see the comments

about RouteEntry tags in the Vhost.xml file installed with Adobe Media Server.

Element Description

MaxSize Specifies the maximum allowed size of the disk cache, in gigabytes. The server

does LRU (least recently used) cleanup of the cache to keep it under the

maximum size. The default value is 32 gigabytes. A value of 0 disables the disk

cache. A value of -1 specifies no maximum.

NumBuckets Specifies the number of buckets to divide the cache into. The aggregate cache

size is defined by MaxSize. Can be any value from 2 to 128; the default value is

8. More buckets mean that a smaller portion of the disk content will be deleted

at any one time, but also that files will need to be moved to new buckets more

often, which results in more disk activity and lower performance.You can define

the number of buckets that contain contents that can be moved with

NumBucketsAtRisk.

NumBucketsAtRisk Specifies the number of buckets considered to be "at risk" of deletion. Can be

any value from 0 to NumBuckets - 1; the default is NumBuckets/2. To avoid

moving files too frequently at the expense of disk performance, only segments

that are in the oldest NumBucketsAtRisk buckets will be moved to the newest

bucket when accessed.

A value of 0 means that segments, once pulled from the origin, are never moved

to a newer bucket, effectively turning the cache into a LRU cache. The default

value of NumBuckets/2 means that only segments in the "older half" of content

will be moved. Segments in the "newer half" of content are more likely to be

accessed again before they are deleted, thus making it less important to move

them.

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3Use the following syntax in a client-side NetConnection.connect() call to make an implicit connection to an

edge server:

rtmp://edge/app/appinstance

Connect edge servers in a chain

❖You can chain together any number of edges when you make connections to the origin server. Use the following

syntax to chain two explicit edges to direct connection requests to the origin server:

rtmp://edge1/?rtmp://edge2/?rtmp://origin/app/inst

As the connection moves through each edge in the chain, the server consumes the first token in the string. For

example, after making the connection to edge1, the connection string changes to:

rtmp://edge2/?rtmp://origin/app/inst

Note: You can specify the RTMPT protocol only for the edges, not for the origin.

When you use URL decoration to chain edges, Flash Player 7 and earlier versions may have problems with shared

objects because of the embedded question mark (?) character in the URL. Call the following function to encode or

escape the question marks from the URL before passing the URL to the shared object:

function escapeURI(uri) {

index = uri.indexOf('?');

if (index == -1) return uri;

prefix = uri.substring(0, index);

uri = uri.substring(index);

return prefix += escape(uri);

}

Deploying 64-bit servers

Adobe Media Server installs on 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. The 64-bit server uses addressable memory space

greater than 4GB. This enables Adobe Media Server to use a larger file cache which in turn reduces disk IO.

To deploy 64-bit servers, know the following:

•You can use any combination of 64-bit and 32-bit edge and origin servers in a network topology.

•To serve on-demand media at the highest possible performance, increase the size of the recoded media cache.

•If you have created custom C++ plug-ins for a 32-bit system, they do not work with a 64-bit system. To use 32-bit

plug-ins on a 64-bit server, recompile the plug-in with the 64-bit libraries.

More Help topics

“Configure a 64-bit server” on page 21

Last updated 8/21/2014

Chapter 2: Configuring the server

Configure the server for virtual hosting

Adaptors and virtual hosts

To host multiple tenants on a server, configure the server so that each customer has their own section. Administrators

can configure their own sections to serve their content most effectively. You can configure virtual hosting in several

ways, depending on your needs.

The server is divided into hierarchical levels: server, adaptor, virtual host (also called vhost), and application. The

server is at the top level and contains one or more adaptors. Each adaptor contains one or more virtual hosts. Each

virtual host hosts one or more applications. Each application has one or more instances. You can add adaptors and

virtual hosts to organize the server for hosting multiple applications and sites.

Note: For information about registering applications with the server and storing media, see “Configuring content storage”

on page 49.

If you’re hosting multiple websites on a server, use virtual hosts to give customers their own root folders. For example,

you could use two virtual hosts to host www.test.com and www.example.com on the same server.

You can assign an IP address or a port number to an adaptor, but not to a virtual host. For this reason, use adaptors to

organize virtual hosts by IP address or port number. For example, if a virtual host needs its own IP address to configure

SSL, assign it to its own adaptor.

You can also configure one virtual host to run as an edge server and one to run as an origin server. This is called

running the server in hybrid mode.

Configuration folder structure

Each of these levels—server, adaptor, virtual host, application, and application instances—has distinct configuration

settings stored in XML files in the rootinstall/conf directory: Server.xml, Adaptor.xml, Vhost.xml, and

Application.xml. There are also configuration files for information about administrators and logging: Users.xml and

Logger.xml. The most important configuration parameters have been pulled out to the ams.ini file, which enables you

to use one file to configure the server.

Default structure of the server’s configuration (conf) directory

conf

Server.xml

_defaultRoot_

Adaptor.xml

_defaultVHost_

Application.xml

Logger.xml

Users.xml

fms.ini

Vhost.xml

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Edit any of these XML files in a text or XML editor and restart the server for the changes to take effect. If you modify

Users.xml or ams.ini, you also must restart Adobe Media Administration Server. For more information, see “Working

with configuration files” on page 17.

The following rules define the conf directory structure:

•The root configuration folder is rootinstall/conf. You cannot remove or modify the name of this directory. The

server must have a Server.xml file, a Logger.xml file, and a Users.xml file in the conf directory.

•The server has one initialization file, ams.ini, in the rootinstall/conf directory. This file contains commonly used

settings.

•The default adaptor’s root directory is rootinstall/conf/_defaultRoot_. You cannot remove or modify the name of

this directory. Each adaptor must have an Adaptor.xml file in its root directory.

•The default virtual host’s root directory is rootinstall/conf/_defaultRoot_/_defaultVHost_. You cannot remove or

modify the name of this directory. Each virtual host must have a Vhost.xml file in its root directory. Each adaptor

must have a default virtual host.

•Virtual host directories may also contain an Application.xml file that serves as a default to all applications in that

virtual host and a Users.xml file that contains information about administrators of that virtual host.

•You may place an Application.xml file in an application’s registered directory to create an application-specific

configuration. For more information about registered application directories, see the Developer Guide.

Add an adaptor

1Create a new directory with the name of the adaptor in the rootinstall/conf folder; for example,

rootinstall/conf/adaptor2.

2In the adaptor2 directory, create or paste a copy of the _defaultVHost_ directory and an Adaptor.xml file.

Each adaptor directory must contain a _defaultVHost_ directory and an Adaptor.xml file.

3In the _defaultVHost_ directory, create or paste a copy of an Application.xml file and a Vhost.xml file.

4In the Adaptor.xml file in the adaptor directory, add a HostPort element to listen on a new port for this adaptor:

The name, ctl_channel, and rtmfp attribute values must be unique on the server. The rtmfp attribute and the

HostPort element specify the ports to which an IP address should bind. If an IP address is not specified, the adaptor

listens on all available interfaces. The server uses the control channel (ctl_channel) attribute internally to

communicate between server processes (adding a HostPort element creates a new AMSEdge process).

The server uses the HostPort value to listen for clients—no two adaptors can listen on the same port, either

internally or externally, unless they use different IP addresses. If a host has multiple IP addresses, multiple adaptors

can listen on port 1935. In addition, the control channels of two adaptors must be different, or they cannot inter-

operate. Ensure that the control channels on which separate adaptors listen are different from each other. The

following example is for a host with multiple IP addresses:

<HostPort name="edge1" ctl_channel=":19350"

rtmfp="xx.xx.xx.xx:1935">xx.xx.xx.xx:1935</HostPort>

<HostPort name="edge2" ctl_channel=":19351"

rtmfp="yy.yy.yy.yy:1935">yy.yy.yy.yy:1935</HostPort>

5If you’re running peer-assisted networking applications, add an Adaptor/RTMFP/Core/HostPortList/HostPort

element. See “Configure IP addresses and ports for RTMFP” on page 3.

6Restart the server.

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7To log in to the Administration Console on the new adaptor, use the syntax adaptorname/username in the

Username box; for example, adaptor2/admin.

For information about logging in to the Administration Console, see “Connecting to the Administration Console”

on page 82.

Administrators are defined in the UserList section of the Users.xml file. Administrators are either server-level

users (similar to a root user) or virtual host-level users. If you log in to an adaptor other than the default adaptor,

you are considered a virtual host administrator and don’t have privileges to manage the server or users.

The conf directory with an additional adaptor called adaptor2

Add a virtual host

1Create a folder with the name of the virtual host in an adaptor folder, for example,

rootinstall/conf/_defaultRoot_/www.example.com.

2Copy an Application.xml file, a Vhost.xml file, and a Users.xml file to the new virtual host folder. (The Users.xml

file is required only if you are defining administrators for this virtual host.)

3In the Vhost.xml file, specify an application directory in the AppsDir element, for example:

<AppsDir>C:\www.example.com<\AppsDir>

Note: It is possible to use the same applications directory for multiple virtual hosts, but it causes namespace conflicts

and is not recommended.

4Validate the XML and save the Vhost.xml file.

5Restart the server.

Note: You can call the startVHost() Administration API or log in to the Administration Console without restarting

the server.

6Log in to the Administration Console.

conf

Server.xml

_defaultRoot_

Adaptor.xml

_defaultVHost_

Application.xml

Logger.xml

Users.xml

fms.ini

Vhost.xml

Users.xml

_defaultVHost_

Application.xml

Vhost.xml

Users.xml

adaptor2

Adaptor.xml

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For information about logging in to the Administration Console, see “Connecting to the Administration Console”

on page 82.

7Connect to the new virtual host by specifying the virtual host name, for example, www.example.com, in the Server

name field.

8Connect a test application to the new virtual host to make sure it works.

The conf directory with an additional virtual host called www.example.com

Configuring a single application

You can place an Application.xml file in an application’s folder. Values set in the application-level Application.xml file

override the values in the vhost-level Application.xml file.

To see an example, look at the vod and live applications included with Adobe Media Server. Navigate to

rootinstall\applications\vod and rootinstall\applications\live. Each folder contains an Application.xml file. The values

in these files override the values in the vhost-level file

rootinstall\conf\_defaultRoot_\_defaultVHost_\Application.xml.

To prevent settings in the vhost-level Application.xml settings from being overridden by the application-level

Application.xml file, add an override attribute to a tag and set it to "no", as in the following:

<LoadOnStartup override="no">false</LoadOnStartup>

When override="no" for an element in a vhost-level Applcation.xml file, you cannot override that element, or any

elements contained within that element, in an application-level Application.xml file.

Working with configuration files

Edit a configuration file

Note: Configuration files are located in the rootinstall/conf folder. For information about configuration file names,

locations, and hierarchy, see “Configuration folder structure” on page 14.

conf

Server.xml

_defaultRoot_

Adaptor.xml

_defaultVHost_

Application.xml

Logger.xml

Users.xml

fms.ini

Vhost.xml

Users.xml

www.example.com

Application.xml

Vhost.xml

Users.xml

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To edit a configuration file, including ams.ini, do the following:

1Open the file in a text editor.

2Edit the file.

3Save the file.

4Validate the XML.

5Restart Adobe Media Server.

If you modify the Users.xml file, restart Adobe Media Administration Server, too.

Editing parameters in the ams.ini file

The file rootinstall/config/ams.ini is the Adobe Media Server INI file. An INI file is a default configuration file. This

file contains the most commonly edited configuration parameters. Edit the ams.ini file to change the server admin

username and password, the adaptor host port, the folder that holds applications, the folder that holds media files, and

so on.

The ams.ini file contains a list of parameters and their values, as in the following:

SERVER.ADMIN_USERNAME = admin

The XML configuration files use these parameters. The following is an excerpt from the User.xml file:

<Password encrypt="true">6cb340fd77d3297cb6d82f57bb085a13d

f45cd9513d042355a9a304c1d47ec433c97a8bdc2584424</Password>

When the server starts, it replaces the parameter in the XML configuration files with the value from the ams.ini file.

Edit the ams.ini file

1Open rootinstall/conf/ams.ini in a text editor.

2Save a copy to another location as a backup.

3Enter a new value for a parameter.

4Save the file.

5Restart Adobe Media Server. When you edit a value in the User.xml file, restart Adobe Media Administration

Server.

6Open the Administration Console and log in with your new password.

Using symbols in configuration files

To simplify configuration, you can use symbols as values for XML elements in configuration files. Create a file named

substitution.xml in the rootinstall/conf folder that maps the symbols to strings that the server substitutes when it reads

the configuration files. After you’ve set up a map file, future updates are faster: you can edit the map file instead of

editing each configuration file.

The installer defines a few mappings during the installation process and stores them in the ams.ini file. When the

server starts, it looks for the ams.ini file and the substitution.xml file in the rootinstall/conf directory. You can also

create additional map files and reference them from the substitution.xml file.

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The server has two predefined symbols, ROOT and CONF, that are always available. The ROOT symbol is mapped to the

location of the AMSMaster.exe file and the CONF symbol is mapped to the location of the Server.xml file.

The server builds the symbol map in the following order:

1The predefined symbols ROOT and CONF are evaluated.

2The ams.ini file is evaluated.

3If the substitution.xml file exists, the server looks for the Symbols tag and processes the child tags in the order in

which they appear.

4The server processes the additional map files in the order in which they appear (in KeyValueFile elements in the

substitution.xml file).

5Symbols defined in external map files are processed in the order in which they appear in each file.

Create a substitution.xml file:

1Create a new XML file and save it in the rootinstall/conf folder as substitution.xml.

2Enter the following XML structure:

<Root>

<SymbolName>StringToMapTo</SymbolName>

</Symbols>

</Root>

Add a SymbolName element for each symbol you want to create.

3For example, this substitution.xml file maps the symbol TESTUSERNAME to the value janedoe:

<Root>

<TESTUSERNAME>janedoe</TESTUSERNAME>

</Symbols>

</Root>

4Open the rootinstall/conf/Users.xml file in a text editor.

5Locate the line <User name="${SERVER.ADMIN_USERNAME}"> and replace the symbol SERVER.ADMIN_USERNAME

with the symbol TESTUSERNAME.

When the server reads the XML file, it substitutes the value from the substitution.xml file as follows:

Note: Because this symbol is used as an attribute, it is surrounded by quotation marks. If the symbol were used as a

regular value, it would not be surrounded by quotation marks.

6Restart the Administration Server.

Note: If you change the Users.xml file, you must restart the Administration Server. If you change any other XML

configuration file, you must restart the server.

Creating additional map files

You can specify all of your text substitution mappings under the Symbols tag in substitution.xml. However, you can

also create additional map files. To do this, create one or more KeyValueFile elements in the substitution.xml file.

Each element can hold the location of one external file.

For example, the following references the file C:\testfiles\mySymbols.txt:

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<Root>

<KeyValueFile>C:\testfiles\mySymbols.txt</KeyValueFile>

</Root>

These external files are not in XML format. They simply contain a collection of symbol-value pairs, where each pair

appears on a separate line and takes the following form:

symbol=value

The following example shows three symbol-value pairs:

USER_NAME=foo

USER_PSWD = bar

HELLO= "world and worlds"

Place comments on separate lines that begin with a number sign (#). Do not place comments on the same line as a

symbol definition.

The first equal sign (=) in a line is considered the delimiter that separates the symbol and the value. The server trims

leading or trailing white space from both the symbol and the value, but no white space within double quotation marks.

Using environment variables

To refer to an environment variable in one of the XML configuration files, use the name of the environment variable

within percent (%) characters. The % characters indicate to the server that the symbol refers to an environment variable

and not to a user-defined string.

The syntax for specifying an environment variable as a symbol is ${%ENV_VAR_NAME%}.

For example, the server maps the following symbol to the COMPUTERNAME variable:

${%COMPUTERNAME%}

When you use an environment variable, you don’t have to define it in the substitution.xml file.

Configuring performance features

In addition to the performance tips in this section, you can also optimize the underlying Apache web server. For more

information, see Apache Performance Tuning.

Configure the server to deliver live media

The following three configuration settings impact scale and latency for live media delivery:

•“Configure the size of stream chunks” on page 22

•“Send aggregate messages” on page 23

•“Combine audio samples” on page 25

Note: You can’t send aggregate messages and combine audio samples in the same application.

To configure the server to deliver live media, choose your use case:

Large Scale Broadcast (scale is more important than latency) In this use case, you want to reach as many people as

possible and are willing to allow some latency. You may also want to keep costs down while still reaching as many

people as possible. Send large aggregate messages and configure large stream chunk sizes.

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Large Scale Broadcast (low latency is more important than scale) In this use case, you want to keep latency as low as

possible while reaching as many people as possible. You are willing to trade some scale for decreased latency. Send

smaller aggregate messages. Or, combine audio samples and do not send aggregate messages.

Interactive (lowest latency) Interactive applications require very low latency. Do not send aggregate messages. For the

lowest latency, do not combine audio samples.

If data latency is your concern, combine audio samples. Combining audio samples introduces audio latency but

doesn't affect the rest of the stream. Aggregating messages introduces latency to the whole stream.

Interactive applications are the most difficult to scale and require more hardware than the large scale broadcast use

cases.

Configure the server to deliver on-demand media

To configure the server to deliver on-demand (vod) media, complete the following tasks:

1“Configure the recorded media cache” on page 21

2“Configure the size of stream chunks” on page 22

Configure a 64-bit server

64-bit servers can address more physical memory than 32-bit servers. When delivering on-demand video on 64-bit

servers, increase the size of the recorded media cache size. Only the amount of RAM available on the computer limits

the recorded file cache size.

Note: The system warns that a process is close to the memory limit when the process memory is more than 90% of the

system memory.

❖“Configure the recorded media cache” on page 21

Configuring the server to deliver audio-only media

To deliver media that contains only audio,

1“Combine audio samples” on page 25

2“Send aggregate messages” on page 23

Configure the recorded media cache

When a stream is requested from the server, segments of the stream are stored in a cache on the server. As long as the

cache has not reached capacity, the server places segments in the cache. Each time a stream attempts to access a

segment, the server checks the cache. If the segment is available, the server gives the stream a reference to the segment

for playback. If the segment is not available, the server retrieves the segment from its source, inserts it into the cache,

and returns a reference to that segment to the stream.

When the cache is full, the server removes unused segments, starting with the least recently used. After removing all

unused segments, if there still isn’t enough room for a new segment, the server notifies the client that the stream is not

available and makes an entry in the core log file.

If you have cache-full events in the core log file, increase the size of the cache or limit the number of streams playing.

For more information about the core log file, see “Monitoring and Managing Log Files” on page 97.

1Open the rootinstall/conf/ams.ini file.

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2Edit the SERVER.FLVCACHE_MAXSIZE parameter.

This is the maximum size of the cache, in megabytes. The default value is 500. The file cache shares process address

space with the core process. Each core process has a separate file cache. For 32-bit processes, it has a limit of 2 GB

in Windows and 3 GB in Linux. For 64-bit installations, the limit is greater. For more information, see “Configure

a 64-bit server” on page 21.

The size of the cache limits the number of unique streams the server can publish. To increase the probability that a

requested stream will be located in the recorded media cache, increase the value of SERVER.FLVCACHE_MAXSIZE.

To decrease the amount of memory the server process uses, decrease the value of SERVER.FLVCACHE_MAXSIZE.

While a large cache size is useful, Adobe recommends that you ensure that your total system memory usage does

not exceed the process limit of your OS. Consider memory limits and desired memory and stream performance

when utilizing the memory cache.

Note: Cache settings have no effect on live streams, as live streams do not need or utilize the cache.

3Restart the server.

There is no exact way to calculate the value of the cache size because it varies depending on the amount of RAM

available and the number of other processes that are running. However, you can follow some general guidelines to

approximate the recommended size of the cache.

Out of the total system RAM, some amount will be used by the OS and other non-Adobe Media Server processes:

Amount of RAM available for AMS (R) = RAM size - RAM used by the OS and non-AMS processes

The RAM available for Adobe Media Server is divided among the number of cores started:

Amount of RAM per core (Rc) = Amount of RAM available for AMS (R) / Number of Cores

Out of this, some amount of RAM is used up by the core process, and is not available to the file cache:

Recommended File Cache Size = Amount of RAM per core (Rc) - RAM used by each core process

RAM used by each Adobe Media Server process varies based on load, and there is no exact figure. You can use 512 MB

as a ballpark figure.

The following example attempts to determine a reasonable file cache size:

RAM size = 8 GB

RAM used by OS and non-AMS processes = 1.2 GB (approximately)

Number of AMS core processes allowed = 3

Amount of RAM available for AMS (R) = 8 - 1.2 = 6.8

Amount of RAM per core (Rc) = 6.8 / 3 = 2.27 GB

Recommended file cache size = 2.27 - 0.5 = 1.76 GB

Configure the size of stream chunks

Streams break into chunks as they are written to the network. You can specify the size of a chunk. Large values reduce

CPU usage because there are fewer writes. However, large values can delay other content on lower bandwidth

connections. The larger the content size and the higher the bandwidth of the receiving connection, the more benefit is

gained from larger chunk sizes.

1Open the Application.xml file.

Note: You can set these values in an Application.xml file at the VHost level or at the application level. To set the value

at the application level, copy an Application.xml file to the application’s folder.

2In the Client element, set the OutChunkSize element to a value between 128 and 65536 bytes. The default value

is 4096 bytes.

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For more information, see “Application.xml file” on page 141.

3Restart the server.

Send aggregate messages

Important: Do not send aggregate messages and combine audio samples in the same application.

An aggregate message is a single message that contains a list of submessages. Sending aggregate messages reduces CPU

usage and increases server capacity. You can configure applications to deliver aggregate messages to clients running

on Flash Player 9.0.60.0 and above. When this setting is disabled, the server breaks up aggregate messages into

individual messages before delivering them to clients.

Aggregate messages can be used with live and recorded streams.

An origin server can deliver aggregate messages to an edge server, and an edge server can deliver aggregate messages

from the FLV data that is has cached on the disk. An edge server can deliver aggregate messages even if the origin server

did not.

To ensure that aggregate messaging is enabled, be sure the following settings are enabled:

•EnableAggMsgs in the Server.xml file

•AggregateMessages in the Application.xml file

•AggregateMessages in the Vhost.xml file (if applicable)

The following table describes these settings, plus other configuration settings that are related to using aggregate

messages:

Element Configuration file Description

Streams/EnableAggMsgs Server.xml Enables the creation of aggregate messages in the

FLV module. When this setting is “true”, the FLV

module returns aggregate messages when loading

segment data. When this setting is “false”, the FLV

module returns regular audio, video, and data

messages.

The default value is “true”.

Streams/MaxAggMsgSize Server.xml Determines the maximum size (in bytes) of

aggregate messages returned from the FLV

module (when they are enabled). The actual

message size returned by the module might be

slightly larger because the module will not

fragment individual messages, but instead

includes whole messages until this size is

exceeded.

The default value is 65536.

Client/AggregateMessages Application.xml Enables the delivery of aggregate messages to

clients that support them. When this setting is

disabled, the server breaks up aggregate messages

into individual messages before delivering them to

clients.

The default value is “true”.

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StreamManager/Live/Queue Application.xml Queues incoming messages that are published to

live streams. This is so that the server can create

aggregate messages before transmission to

subscribing clients. If queueing is not enabled,

aggregate messages are not created.

The default value is “true”.

StreamManager/Live/Queue/

MaxQueueSize

Application.xml Defines the maximum size (in bytes) that the live

queue can grow to before the messages it contains

are transmitted.

Increasing the size of the queue allows for larger

aggregates to be created, which increases the

efficiency of the server, but introduces latency in

the transmission. Decreasing the queue size

reduces latency but is less efficient.

StreamManager/Live/Queue/

MaxQueueDelay

Application.xml Defines the maximum time (in milliseconds) that

the live queue delays messages before the

messages are transmitted.

This setting can be used to ensure that

unacceptable amounts of latency are not

introduced into the publishing stream.

Increasing the delay allows for larger aggregates to

be created, which increases the efficiency of the

server. Decreasing the delay reduces latency but is

less efficient.

StreamManager/Live/Queue/

AggregateMessages

Application.xml Determines whether or not aggregate messages

are generated when the queue is flushed.

When this setting is enabled, the messages in the

queue are grouped together as aggregates to

improve the efficiency of transmission.

It is possible to enable queing and disable the

generation of aggregate messages, but this does

not result in performance benefits.

The default value is “true”.

Element Configuration file Description

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Even when you configure the server and application to use aggregate messages, the following circumstances will

prevent them from being delivered:

•The client’s Flash Player version is earlier than 9.0.60.0.

•The stream is set to filter audio, filter video, or control FPS.

•The stream requires transcoding.

If any of these conditions are present, Adobe Media Server breaks the aggregated message into its submessages, and

the messages are delivered individually.

After you confirm that aggregate messaging is enabled, you can use the settings in the Server.xml file to configure the

size of the messages. You can also enable or disable the messages based on the type of stream. For more information,

see “Streams” on page 232.

You can also configure message queuing in the Application.xml file. For more information, see “Queue” on page 175.

Combine audio samples

Important: Do not send aggregate messages and combine audio samples in the same application.

To handle more connections while broadcasting a live stream, combine audio samples.

1Open the rootinstall/conf/_defaultRoot_/_defaultVHost_/Application.xml file.

Note: You can set these values in an Application.xml file at the VHost level or at the application level. To set the value

at the application level, copy an Application.xml file to the application’s folder.

2Locate the StreamManager/Audio/CombineSamples section of the file and set values the following elements:

StreamManager/Live/Queue/

AggregateMessages/MaxAggM

sgSize

Application.xml Defines the maximum size of an aggregate

message that the server creates. The server can

create smaller aggregates, as necessary.

The server cannot create messages that are larger

than the MaxQueueSize, so this number is

generally set to something less than or equal to the

configured size of the queue.

Proxy/AggregateMessages Vhost.xml Determines whether aggregate messages are

delivered from the edge cache when a vhost is

configured as an edge proxy.

The default value is "false".

If the edge server receives aggregate messages

from the origin when this setting is disabled, the

messages are broken up before being cached.

Proxy/AggregateMessages/M

axAggMsgSize

Vhost.xml Determines the size (in bytes) of aggregate

messages returned from the edge cache when

aggregate messages are enabled.

This setting only applies to messages retrieved

from the disk cache. Aggregate messages received

directy from the origin server are returned as-is,

and therefore their size is determined by the origin

server's settings for aggregate message size.

Element Configuration file Description

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3Restart the server.

Limit connection requests

A high connection rate to the server can negatively impact the experience of users already connected to the server.

1Locate the following code in the Server.xml configuration file:

<Root>

...

<RTMP>

<Edge>

2Validate the XML and save the XML file.

3Restart the server.

Close idle connections

Sometimes clients have left an application without the server-end of the socket knowing. This behavior can happen

when a router is unplugged or crashes without sending TCP close messages for the sockets it is managing, when a

laptop is undocked from a docking station, and so on. To reclaim these resources for new and active clients, the server

can close the idle clients.

Element Description

Subscribers If there are more than this number of subscribers to a stream, audio

samples are combined. The default value is 8. To increase live streaming

capacity, set this value to 1.

LoCPU If the CPU is lower than this value, audio samples are not combined. The

default value is 60. To increase live streaming capacity, set this value to 1.

HiCPU If the CPU is higher than this value, audio samples are not combined. The

default value is 80. To increase live streaming capacity, set this value to 1.

MaxSamples Combine this many samples into one message. The default value is 4. To

increase live streaming capacity, set this value to 8.

Element Description Impact

MaxConnectionRate The maximum number of incoming connections

per second the server accepts, per listener.

Listeners are defined in the HostPort element in

the Adaptor.xml file. Each port the server is

configured to listen on represents a listener. You

can set a fractional maximum connection rate,

such as 12.5. A value of 0 or -1 disables this feature.

The value of this element is a global setting for all

listeners. If the element is set to 10 connections per

second, each listener has a limit of 10 connections

per second. If there are three listeners and the

MaxConnectionRate is set to 10, the server

imposes a maximum total combined rate of 30

connections per second.

Connections requested at a rate above this

value remain in the TCP/IP socket queue and

are silently discarded by the operating system

whenever the queue becomes too long.

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Adobe Media Server sends a small ping message over sockets that have been quiet for awhile. If the client at the far end

has gone away, the server's TCP eventually stops retransmitting that data. When that happens, the socket is shut down

and the server can clean up any associated client object, and so on.

Elements in the Server.xml, Vhost.xml, and Application.xml configuration files specify how often the server should

check for idle clients. When a client has been idle longer than the maximum idle time (10 minutes, by default), the

server sends a status message to the NetConnection object (the client) with the code property set to

NetConnection.Connect.Idle followed by NetConnection.Connect.Closed. The server closes the client

connection to the server and writes an x-status code of 432 in the access log. The server also writes a message such

as “Client x has been idle for y seconds” in the core and event logs.

To close idle connections, enable the feature in the Server.xml file. Once you enable the feature in the Server.xml file,

you can disable the feature for individual virtual hosts or individual applications in the Vhost.xml files and

Application.xml files. The values defined in the Server.xml configuration file apply to all clients connected to the

server, unless the values are defined in the Vhost.xml file (the Vhost.xml values override the Server.xml values). The

values defined in the Application.xml file override the values defined in the Vhost.xml file.

Enable closing idle connections

1Locate the following code in the Server.xml file:

</AutoCloseIdleClients>

2Edit the following elements.

Configure settings for virtual hosts

You can disable this feature for a virtual host or specify a different maximum idle time for a virtual host in the

Vhost.xml file.

1Locate the following code in the Vhost.xml file and remove the comments:

</AutoCloseIdleClients>

</VirtualHost>

2Edit the following elements.

Element Description Impact

AutoCloseIdleClients Set the enable attribute to true to close

idle clients. If the enable attribute is

omitted or not set to true, the feature is

disabled. The default value is false.

CheckInterval Specifies the interval, in seconds, at which

the server checks for active client

connections. The default interval is 60

seconds.

A client is disconnected the first time the server

checks for idle connections if the client has

exceeded the MaxIdleTime value. A shorter

interval results in more reliable disconnection

times.

MaxIdleTime Specifies the maximum idle time allowed, in

seconds, before a client is disconnected. If

this element is 0 or less, the default idle time

is used. The default idle time is 600 seconds

(10 minutes).

A low value may cause unneeded disconnections.

When you configure this element, consider

network latency. An idle time that is less than a

typical round trip between the server and the

client can result in a disconnection.

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3Restart the server.

Configure settings for applications

You can disable this feature for an application or specify a different maximum idle time for an application in the

Application.xml file.

1Locate the following code in the Application.xml file and remove the comments:

</AutoCloseIdleClients>

</VirtualHost>

2Edit the following elements.

3Restart the server.

Configure how applications are assigned to server processes

Note: This section does not apply to Adobe Media Streaming Server because it doesn’t support multiple processes.

In some scenarios, you might want to change how applications are assigned to server processes. When you start the

server, you are starting a process called AMSMaster.exe (Windows) or amsmaster (Linux). Application instances run

in processes called AMSCore.exe (Windows) and amscore (Linux). The master process is a monitor that starts core

processes when necessary. There can be only one master process running at a time, but there can be many core

processes running at a time.

Note: The number of core processes you can run is limited by system memory. Do not run more than 100, and you

probably won’t need more than 20. If you are configuring the number of core processes and using the reloadApp()

Administration API or HTTP command, see Tech Note kb403044.

Element Description

AutoCloseIdleClients Disable this feature for an individual virtual host by setting the enable attribute to false. If this

element is disabled in Server.xml, the feature is disabled for all virtual hosts, even if you specify

true in the Vhost.xml file.

MaxIdleTime Specifies the maximum idle time allowed, in seconds, before a client is disconnected. The default

idle time is 600 seconds (10 minutes). You can set a different value for each virtual host.

If no value is set for this element, the server uses the value set in the Server.xml. file.

The value of the MaxIdleTime element in the Vhost.xml file overrides the value of the

MaxIdleTime element in the Server.xml file.

Element Description

AutoCloseIdleClients Disable this feature for an individual application by setting the enable attribute to false. If this

element is disabled in Server.xml, the feature is disabled for all applications, even if you specify

true in the Application.xml file.

MaxIdleTime Specifies the maximum idle time allowed, in seconds, before a client is disconnected. The default

idle time is 600 seconds (10 minutes). You can set a different value for each application.

If no value is set for this element, the server uses the value set in the Vhost.xml. file. If no value is

set for this element in the Vhost.xml file, the server uses the value in the Server.xml file.

The value of the MaxIdleTime element in the Vhost.xml file overrides the value of the

MaxIdleTime element in the Server.xml file.

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You can configure how applications are assigned to server processes in the Process section of the Application.xml

configuration file. Settings in an Application.xml file in a virtual host folder (for example,

rootinstall/conf/_defaultRoot_/_defaultVHost_/Application.xml) apply to all the applications running in that virtual

host. Settings in an Application.xml file in an application’s folder (for example,

rootinstall/applications/myApp/Application.xml) apply only to that application. The following is the XML structure:

<Scope>vhost</Scope>

</LifeTime>

</Process>

...

</Application>

Configure a process scope

❖The Scope tag specifies at which level application instances are assigned to core processes. An application instance

can run by itself in a process or it can run in a process with other instances. Enter one of the following values for

the Scope element.

Distribute a process scope among multiple core processes

The four process scopes don’t provide a good distribution for all scenarios. For example, if you have one application

and want to run 25 instances of that application, you could either distribute those instances to 1 core process

(<Scope>app</Scope>) or to 25 core processes (<Scope>inst</Scope>). In this scenario, you could set Scope to app

and Distribute numprocs to 3 to distribute the application instances among three core processes.

Note: There is no limit to the value of the numprocs attribute, but you should never need more than 40. Depending on

available RAM, a number between 3 and 11 is realistic for most cases. Adobe recommends using prime number values

because they result in a more even distribution of connections to processes.

Scopes have an enclosing relationship with a strict ordering: adaptors contain virtual hosts, which contain

applications, which contain instances, which contain clients. The value of the Distribute tag must be a scope that is

lower in order than the value in the Scope tag. In other words, if the value of Scope is adaptor, the value of

Distribute can be vhosts, apps, insts, or clients. If the value of Scope is app, the value of Distribute can be

insts or clients. By default, the server uses the value immediately lower than the one specified in the Scope tag.

1Set the scope value.

Value Description

adaptor All application instances in an adaptor run together in a process.

vhost All application instances in a virtual host run together in a process. This is the default value.

app All instances of a single application run together in a process.

inst Each application instance runs in its own process. This provides the best application isolation and uses the

most system resources.

Running every instance in its own process can create many processes. You can set the Distribute

numprocs attribute to a value greater than 1 to distribute instances across that number of processes.

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2Set the numprocs value to a value higher than 1. The default value of numprocs is 3, which means that the default

behavior is to distribute application instances to three core processes.

3Enter one of the following values for the Distribute element.

Configure the number of core processes and how long each process runs

❖Specify the number of core processes in the MaxCores tag (the maximum number of core processes that can exist

concurrently) and the number of seconds that a core process can run in the RollOver tag. When a core process

reaches the limit, any new connections roll over to a new core process.

The following diagram depicts the way in which the server rolls over processes. In the XML, the rollover time is set

to 3600 seconds (1 hour), indicating that every hour a new process should start, and the maximum core processes

value is set to 3, indicating that the maximum number of processes at any given time is 3:

</LifeTime>

...

Value Description

vhost or vhosts All instances of applications in a virtual host run together in a process.

app or apps All instances of an application run together in a process.

inst or insts Each application instance runs in its own process. This is the default value. If you choose this value, you must also

set the Distribute numprocs attribute to a value greater than 1.

client or

clients

Each client connection runs in its own process.

Use this value for stateless applications only. Stateless applications don’t require clients to interact with other

clients and don’t have clients accessing live streams. Most vod (video on demand) applications are stateless

because each client plays content independently of all other clients. Chat and gaming applications are not

stateless because all clients share the application state. For example, if a shared chat application were set to

client, the messages wouldn't reach everyone in the chat because they’d be split into separate processes.

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A. Client connections B. Process 1 starts C. Process 2 starts D. Process 3 starts E. Process 4 starts; Process 1 ends, because the maximum core

processes limit was reached

When each process starts, it accepts new connections until the next process starts: that is, when process 1 starts, it

accepts new client connections to the application until process 2 starts; process 2 then accepts new client

connections until process 3 starts; and so on.

Note that the duration of process 1 might or might not be the full duration specified by the rollover value, because

rollover values are calibrated to the real clock time. The duration of process 1 is partially determined by the current

time when process 1 starts. For example, as shown in the diagram, when process 1 starts, the current time is 12:20,

so the duration of process 1 is only 40 minutes (because it is 40 minutes until the beginning of the hour in real time).

The duration of the first process is determined by the clock time; subsequent processes have a duration equal to the

specified rollover time.

To disable this feature, set RollOver to 0. This feature is disabled by default.

Note: If you have multiple VHosts with Process/Scope set to adaptor, you must set an identical RollOver value

for each VHost.

In stateless applications, such as vod applications, old core processes continue to serve earlier connections. In this

case, you can specify a value in the MaxCores tag to limit the maximum number of core processes that can run

simultaneously. If the application is not stateless, the server ignores any value you assign to MaxCores and sets it to

1. This ensures that an application instance is not split across multiple processes, but clients are disconnected

periodically. To disable this feature, set MaxCores to 0. This feature is disabled by default.

Note: An application is considered stateless if you configure it to distribute clients over multiple processes. To do this,

set the Distribute numprocs attribute to a value greater than 1, then set the Distribute tag to clients or set the

Scope tag to inst.

Check for process failures

1Enter a value in the MaxFailures tag to specify the maximum number of process failures allowed before a core

process is disabled. The default value is 2.

2Once disabled, a master process will not launch a core process until a minimum recovery time elapses. Enter a value

in the RecoveryTime tag to specify the minimum recovery time for contained elements; set the tag to 0 to disable

checking for process failures.

Use this feature to guard against a behavior in which a faulty core process can use the entire CPU by being repeatedly

launched very quickly.

Note: Applications that are loaded using the Administration API (including applications loaded using the

Administration Console) are not checked for process failures.

12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:0012:20

A E

DB C

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Configure the RAW adaptor

Flash Media Server 3.5.3

The RAW (Record and Watch) file format records live media into configurable chunks that stream to any version of

Flash Player. Use the RAW file format to serve long-length, multi-bitrate DVR streams without running into

performance issues. The RAW file format records and plays back all streams that Adobe Media Server supports,

including H.264 video, data-only, audio-only, and so on.

1Open the rootinstall/conf/Server.xml file in a text editor.

2To configure how the server uses the RAW adaptor, edit the following XML parameters:

<StreamLogLevel>warning</StreamLogLevel>

<Raw>

</Raw>

...

3Save and validate the XML file.

4Restart the server.

Disable RTMPE

Important: By default, RTMPE is enabled in the server’s Adaptor.xml file. For maximum security, it’s best to leave

RTMPE enabled. For more information, see the Adobe Media Server Hardening Guide.

In some scenarios, however, you might want to disable RTMPE (encrypted Real-Time Messaging Protocol). Because

RTMPE uses encrypted channels, there is a minor impact on performance; RTMPE requires about 15% more

processing power than RTMP. If you don’t control the applications that connect to Adobe Media Server and you don’t

want them to use RTMPE, you can disable RTMPE at the adaptor level.

To request an encrypted or encrypted tunnelling channel, applications specify rtmpe or rtmpte, respectively, in the

NetConnection.connect() URL, for example,

nc.connect("rtmpe://www.example.com/myMediaApplication"). If an application specifies RTMPE without

explicitly specifying a port, Flash Player scans ports just like it does with RTMP, in the following order: 1935 (RTMPE),

443 (RTMPE), 80 (RTMPE), 80 (RTMPTE).

Note: RTMPE cannot currently be used between servers or from edge to origin. In these cases, RTMPS can be used instead.

1Open the Adaptor.xml file for the adaptor you want to disable (located in rootinstall/conf).

Element Default value Description

StreamLogLevel warning Controls log levels for all stream adaptors (FLV, MP4, and RAW). The

default value is warning. Possible values are verbose, warning, and

error.

Raw Container element. Contains elements that control the RAW adaptor.

EnableAggMsgs true Specifies whether the RAW adaptor generates aggregate messages

(true) or not (false). The default value is true. Aggregating

messages improves server performance.

MaxAggMsgSize 65536 The maximum size of an aggregate message, in bytes. The default value

is 65536. You can use any positive integer.

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2Locate the following XML:

<RTMP>

</RTMP

3Set the RTMPE enabled attribute to "false".

4Restart the server.

See also

“XML configuration files reference” on page 125

Adobe Media Server Hardening Guide

Configuring security features

For information about security, see the Adobe Media Server Hardening Guide.

Restrict which domains can connect to a virtual host

If desired, you can restrict which domains are allowed to connect to a virtual host. By default, connections are allowed

from all domains.

1Open the rootinstall/conf/ams.ini file.

2Set the VHOST.ALLOW parameter to a comma-delimited list of domains that are allowed to connect to the server. The

default value is all.

If a value is set, only the domains listed are accepted. For example, VHOST.ALLOW = example.com, example2.com

allows connections from the example.com and example2.com domains. To allow localhost connections, specify

localhost. For more information, see “Vhost.xml file” on page 238.

3Restart the server.

Verify SWF files

Flash Media Server 3.0, Flash Player 9 Update 3, AIR 1

Note: To perform SWF verification for HTTP streaming, see SWF verification for Protected HTTP Dynamic Streaming.

You can configure the server to verify client SWF files before allowing them to connect to an application. Verifying

SWF files prevents third parties from creating their own applications that attempt to stream your resources.

You can verify SWF files at the following server scopes:

•Individual applications. Configure the application-specific Application.xml file.

•All applications in a virtual host. Configure the Application.xml file in the Vhost folder.

•Administrative applications that have access to all server levels. Configure the Server.xml file and an

Application.xml file.

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SWF verification is disabled by default. To verify SWF files, you must set <SWFVerification enable = "true"> in

the Application.xml configuration file. When verification is enabled, the server verifies that the client SWF file

requesting a connection to the server matches the verifying SWF file. The verifying SWF file is a copy of the client SWF

file that you place on the server or in an external content repository.

By default, the server looks in rootinstall/applications/application_name/SWFs folder for the verifying SWF file. You

can override this default in the SWFFolder tag of the Application.xml file, the Server.xml file, or in the File plug-in. If

you installed Apache with Adobe Media Server, you can add a path to the folder from which you serve SWF files. For

example, on Windows, adding the path <SWFFolder>C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server

4\webroot</SWFFolder> prevents you from needing to maintain two copies of each SWF file.

Note: If you’re deploying an Adobe AIR application, copy the SWF file you compiled into the AIR package to the server

or external content repository.

When the client SWF file connects to the server, the server verifies it. If the SWF file is verified, it is allowed to connect

to the application. If a client SWF file fails verification, the server disconnects the NetConnection object and logs an

event to the access log. The server does not send a NetStream status message to the client.

For client applications that comprise multiple SWF files or SWF files that dynamically load other SWF files, the SWF

file that contains the NetConnection object to connect to the server is the one that the server attempts to verify.

Note: SWF files connecting to Adobe Media Administration Server cannot be verified.

Locating SWF files for verification

The server looks for verifying SWF files in the following locations, in order:

1The application-specific Application.xml file, if it exists. The Application.xml file defines the location of verifying

SWF files in the SWFFolder tag. If SWFFolder contains a file path, the server looks for verifying SWF files in that

file path. If SWFFolder is empty, the server looks in the default location: /applications/application_name/SWFs.

2The Vhost-level Application.xml file. This Application.xml file defines the location of verifying SWF files for all

applications on the virtual host. The SWFFolder tag defines the location. If SWFFolder contains a file path, the

server looks for verifying SWF files in that file path. If SWFFolder is empty, the server looks in the default location:

/applications/application_name/SWFs.

3The server checks the SWFFolder tag in the Server.xml file. This tag specifies a location for global SWF files, which

means SWF files that are common to all applications.

4If a File plug-in is enabled for retrieval of SWF files, the server calls the File plug-in. The server passes any values

present in Application.xml or Server.xml to the plug-in. The plug-in developer overrides these values with paths to

the external content repository.

Configure SWF verification for applications

1Locate the following section of the Application.xml file:

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...

</UserAgentExceptions>

<Cache>

</Cache>

</SWFVerification>

</Application>

2Edit the following elements.

Element Attribute Description

SWFVerification enabled Set the enabled attribute to "true" or "false" to turn this feature on

or off. The default value is "false".

SWFFolder None. A single folder or a semicolon-delimited list of folders that contain copies

of client SWF files. These SWF files are used to verify connecting SWF files.

They are the verifying SWF files.

The default value is the application's folder appended with /SWFs. For

example, for an application called myApplication, if there isn’t a value set

for this element, verifying SWF files should be placed in the

applications/myApplication/SWFs folder.

If you are using the File plug-in to verify SWF files in an external content

repository, leave this field blank.

If you installed Apache with Adobe Media Server, enter the path to the

folder from which you are serving SWF files. For example, if you’re serving

SWF files from the webroot directory on Windows, enter the path

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 4\webroot.

Important: All SWF files in the specified folder are hashed and cached in

memory when the server starts and every time the cache TTL expires. A

large number of SWF files can result in start-up time delays and high

memory usage.

MinGoodVersion None. Specifies the minimum version of this feature to accept. The default value

is 0, which allows this and all future versions. This is a reserved field that

works with Flash Player; Adobe recommends keeping the default value.

DirLevelSWFScan None. Specifies the number of levels of subfolders within a parent folder to scan

for SWF files. The parent folder is specified in the SWFFolder element.

Specifying a positive value scans that number of subfolder levels.

Specifying zero scans the parent folder and no subfolders. Specifying a

negative value scans all subfolder levels. The default value is 1, which

means that the server scans only one subfolder level.

MaxInitDelay None The maximum amount of time to process SWF files, in seconds. The default

value is 5 seconds.

FirstHashTimeout None The maximum amount of time that a client can use to provide its first

verification to the server.

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Create verification exceptions

❖Add Exception elements to the UserAgentExceptions section of the Application.xml file.

Certain applications—for example, Adobe® Flash® Media Live Encoder—do not support the form of SWF

verification used by the server. You can add one or more exceptions to the SWF verification rules that allow

specified user agents, such as Adobe Media Live Encoder, to bypass SWF verification, as in the following:

...

</UserAgentExceptions>

</SWFVerification>

Configure SWF verification globally

You can configure verification for a group of SWF files on the server that are common to all applications.

❖In the Server.xml file Root/Server/SWFVerification/SWFFolder tag, specify folders that hold the verifying

SWF files. You can also configure other values for these SWF files.

Note: In addition to configuring the SWFFolder tag in the Server.xml file, enable verification in the Vhost-level or

application-specific Application.xml file. See “Configure SWF Verification for Applications” in this topic.

Create folders for the verifying SWF files

1If the SWFFolder value is the default, create a folder called SWFs in the application’s folder on the server.

For example, for an application called myMediaApp, create the folder applications/myMediaApp/SWFs. SWF files

in the SWFs folder verify connections to any instance of the myMediaApp application.

2To verify SWF files for application instances, create instance folders in the SWFs directory, for example,

applications/myMediaApp/SWFs/chat01, applications/myMediaApp/SWFs/chat02, and so on.

SWF files in the SWFs directory can verify all instances of the application; SWF files within an instance folder can

verify only that instance.

FinalHashTimeout None The maximum amount of time that a client can use to provide its final

verification to the server.

UserAgentExceptions None. Container.

Exception from

A user agent to except from verification. Use the from and to attributes to

indicate the lowest and highest versions to except. This is a string

comparison, with editing to make all numeric fields equal in length. For

more information, see the comments in the Application.xml file and

“Create verification exceptions” later in this topic.

Cache None. Container.

TTL None. The time to live for the SWF file, in minutes. The default value is 1440

minutes (24 hours). If a SWF file is removed from the server, the verification

values stay in the cache for 24 hours; users can connect to the application

until the cache expires.

UpdateInterval None. The maximum time in minutes to wait for the server to scan the SWFs

folders for updates when there is a miss in the cache. The default value is

5 minutes, which means a SWF file copied to the SWFs folder is picked up

by the server within 5 minutes.

Element Attribute Description

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Note: Multiple SWF files may exist in either directory. A SWF file can be renamed and still used for verification as long

as it’s a copy of the client SWF file.

Restrict access to the server with a cross-domain file

You can restrict access to an edge server or the Administration Server with a cross-domain XML file. The cross-

domain XML file lets you specify a list of domains from which clients can access the edge server or Administration

Server.

1Open rootinstall/conf/Server.xml and locate the CrossDomainPath element in the Server element (or the

AdminServer element, for the Administration Server):

...

2Specify the location of the cross-domain file in the CrossDomainPathElement, for example:

<CrossDomainPath>C:/Security/config/files/ams/crossdomain.xml</CrossDomainPath>

3Validate the Server.xml file, save it, and restart the server.

Limit access to Adobe Media Administration Server

The Administration Console connects to Adobe Media Administration Server, which connects to Adobe Media

Server. By default, the Administration Server in installed on port 1111. Adobe recommends that you block all external

access to port 1111 so that access to the admin server is restricted only to clients that are within your firewall.

Additionally, you can restrict access to the admin server by using domain based restrictions.

By default, a client can connect to Adobe Media Administration Server from any domain or IP address, which can be

a security risk. If desired, you can change this in the AdminServer section of the Server.xml file.

1Open rootinstall/conf/Server.xml and locate the following code:

...

...

</AdminServer>

2Edit the Allow element to specify which connections to Adobe Media Administration Server the server responds

to. This is specified as a comma-delimited list of host names, domain names, and full or partial IP addresses, as well

as the keyword all. For example: <Allow>x.foo.com, foo.com, 10.60.1.133, 10.60</Allow>.

3Validate the XML, save the Server.xml file, and restart the server.

Set limits on unsuccessful login attempts

You can use the LogInLimits settings in the rootinstall/conf/Server.xml file to set the number of unsuccessful

attempts a client is allowed when trying to log in to the admin server. With these settings, you define how many failed

attempts are allowed before the client must wait to attempt to log in again. You also define the amount of time they

must wait. In addition, you can lock the user out of the server entirely after a certain number of attempts.

To set the number of login attempts the client can have before waiting, use the MaxFailures sub-element. After that

number of failures, the client must wait the number of seconds defined by the RecoveryTime sub-element. If the client

tries unsuccessfully to log in a number of times equal to LockOutLimit, they are locked out of the server until the

server is restarted.

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In the following example, a user can try to log in 10 times. If they fail to log in successfully on the 10th attempt, they

must wait 5 minutes (300 seconds) before attempting to log in again. If they fail 20 times total, they are barred from

logging in until the server is restarted:

</LoginLimits>

</Security>

For more information, see “LogInLimits” on page 209.

Configure SSL

Note: Adobe Media Server uses OpenSSL libraries internally. To upgrade OpenSSL libraries, see TechNote 90293.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol for enabling secure communications over TCP/IP. Adobe Media Server

provides native support for both incoming and outgoing SSL connections. An incoming connection is a connection

between Flash Player and the server. An outgoing connection is a connection between two servers.

RTMPS adheres to SSL standards for secure network connections and enables connections through a TCP socket on

a secure port. Data passed over the secure connection is encrypted to avoid eavesdropping by unauthorized third

parties. Because secure connections require extra processing power and may affect the server’s performance, use

RTMPS only for applications that require a higher level of security or that handle sensitive or critical data.

By default, when Flash Player connects to Adobe Media Server, it scans the following ports in order: 1935, 443, 80, 80

(RTMP tunneling). To configure SSL, specify that a port is secure. To specify that a port is secure, place a minus (“-”)

-443 in the ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT parameter in the rootinstall/conf/ams.ini file, as follows:

ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT = :1935,-443

When Flash Player encounters an “rtmps://amsdomain/application” string, it communicates with Adobe Media

Server over port 443. Adobe Media Server returns data to the client over port 443. Traffic with an “rtmp://” string uses

port 1935.

To connect to Adobe Media Server over an SSL connection, clients must do the following:

1Set the NetConnection.proxyType property to "best" before connecting.

2Specify the RTMPS protocol in the call to the NetConnection.connect() method.

If SSL is configured, the following client code connects securely:

var nc:NetConnection = new NetConnection();

nc.proxyType = "best";

nc.connect("rtmps://amsexamples.adobe.com/vod/instance1");

If you configure any port other than 443 as secure, for example, -1935, the client must specify the port in the URI, for

example, “rtmps://host:1935/app”.

Note: All server editions support a version of RTMP called RTMPE, which is an 128-bit encrypted protocol. RTMPE is

more lightweight than SSL and is enabled by default. For more information, see the NetConnection.connect() entry

in the ActionScript® 3.0 Language Reference or in the ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference.

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Certificates

You can get an SSL certificate from a certificate authority or create a certificate yourself. If a certificate is signed by an

intermediate Certificate Authority (CA), it must include the intermediate certificate as part of the certificate that the

server returns to the client. Your certificate file (if signed by an intermediate CA) should look something like the

following:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----

...

-----END CERTIFICATE-----

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----

...

-----END CERTIFICATE-----

The first BEGIN CERTIFICATE/END CERTIFICATE pair is your certificate. The next BEGIN CERTIFICATE/END

CERTIFICATE pair is the intermediate CA that signed your certificate. You can add additional sections as needed.

Secure incoming connections

Specify the location of the SSL certificate and the certificate’s private key, and configure the adaptor to listen on a

secure port.

1Open the Adaptor.xml file for the adaptor you want to configure and locate the following code:

...

<SSL>

<SSLCipherSuite>ALL:!ADH:!LOW:!EXP:!MD5:@STRENGTH</SSLCipherSuite>

</SSLServerCtx>

</SSL>

...

</Adaptor>

2Edit the following elements.

Element Description

SSLCertificateFile The location of the certificate file to send to the client. Specify an absolute path or

a path relative to the adaptor folder.

SSLCertificateKeyFile type="PEM" The location of the private key file for the certificate. Specify an absolute path or a

path relative to the adaptor folder. The type attribute specifies the type of

encoding used for the certificate key file. This can be either "PEM" or "ASN1". The

default value is "PEM". The private key and the certificate can be combined into

one file.

If the key file is encrypted, the pass phrase must be specified in the

SSLPassPhrase tag.

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3To configure a secure port for an adaptor, specify a minus sign before the port number in the ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT

parameter in the rootinstall/conf/ams.ini file, as follows:

ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT = :1935,-443

This configuration tells the server to listen on ports 1935 and 443, and that 443 is a secure port that receives only

RTMPS connections. An RTMPS connection to port 1935 fails: the client attempts to perform a SSL handshake that

the server fails to complete. An RTMPS connection to port 443 succeeds: the client performs a SSL handshake that

the server completes. An RTMP connection to port 443 also fails: the server tries to perform a SSL handshake that

the client fails to complete.

4Restart the server.

5Check the rootinstall/logs/edge.00.log file to verify that no errors have been reported.

Configure incoming connections when multiple virtual hosts are assigned to one adaptor

You can configure the server to return a certificate based on which port a client connects to. This lets you assign

multiple virtual hosts to one adaptor and return a different certificate for each virtual host.

Note: Generally, if you’re hosting multiple customers, each virtual host has its own domain name. Each domain name

must have its own certificate.

1Locate the following code in the Adaptor.xml file:

...

<HostPort name="edge1" ctl_channel=":19350">${ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT}</HostPort>

</HostPortList>

...

</Adaptor>

2Create new HostPort elements with unique name and ctl_channel attributes and unique port values for RTMP

and SSL.

For example, add the following HostPort tag in addition to the default HostPort tag:

3For each HostPort element, enter an Edge element under the SSL element with an identical name attribute. If you

don’t specify an Edge element, the edge uses the default SSL configuration.

SSLPassPhrase The pass phrase to use for decrypting the private key file. If the private key file is

not encrypted, leave this tag empty.

SSLCipherSuite The SSL ciphers: a colon-delimited list of components. A component can be a key

exchange algorithm, authentication method, encryption method, digest type, or

one of a selected number of aliases for common groupings. Do not change the

default settings unless you are very familiar with SSL ciphers. The possible values

are listed here: “SSLCipherSuite” on page 139.

SessionTimeout The amount of time in minutes a session remains valid. Any value less than 1 is read

as 1. The default value is 5. If a client reconnects to a session before

SessionTimeout is reached, the cipher suite list isn’t sent during the SSL

handshake.

Element Description

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This sample code demonstrates how to configure edge1 to return cert2.pem when a client connects to it on port

443. Since there is no Edge tag for edge2, edge2 will use the default configuration specified in the SSLServerCtx

section that is directly under the SSL container tag. The edge2 server returns cert.pem when a client connects to

it on port 444.

<SSL>

<SSLCertificateKeyFile>private.pem</SSLCertificateKeyFile>

<SSLCipherSuite>ALL:!ADH:!LOW:!EXP:!MD5:@STRENGTH</SSLCipherSuite>

</SSLServerCtx>

<SSLCertificateKeyFile>private2.pem</SSLCertificateKeyFile>

<SSLCipherSuite>ALL:!ADH:!LOW:!EXP:!MD5:@STRENGTH</SSLCipherSuite>

</SSLServerCtx>

</Edge>

</SSL>

4Validate the XML and save the file.

5Restart the server.

Secure outgoing connections

1Open the Server.xml file and locate the following code:

<Root>

<SSL>

<SSLCipherSuite>ALL:!ADH:!LOW:!EXP:!MD5:@STRENGTH</SSLCipherSuite>

</SSLClientCtx>

</SSL>

</Server>

</Root>

2Edit the following elements.

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Configure adaptors to manage outgoing SSL connections independently

The SSL section in the Server.xml file configures all adaptors to use the same settings. However, you might want to use

a different certificate for each virtual host. In this case, assign one virtual host to each adaptor and configure your

adaptors individually to override the settings in the Server.xml file.

❖Copy the SSL section in the Server.xml file to the Adaptor.xml files and enter the new values. You don’t need to

copy the SSLRandomSeed tag, as this tag is a server-level setting that cannot be overridden in Adaptor.xml.

Configure virtual hosts to manage outgoing SSL connections independently

For example, you can disable certificate checking in one virtual host, use a certificate in a different folder for one virtual

host, and implement a different set of ciphers in a third virtual host.

1Uncomment the SSL section under the Proxy tag in the appropriate Vhost.xml file:

Element Description

SSLRandomSeed The number of bytes of entropy to use for seeding the pseudo-random number generator

(PRNG). You cannot specify anything less than 8 bytes, and the default value is 16. Entropy is a

measure of randomness. The more entropy, the more random numbers the PRNG will contain.

The server may take longer to start up if you specify a large number.

SSLSessionCacheGC How often to flush expired sessions from the server-side session cache, in minutes.

SSLVerifyCertificate A Boolean value specifying whether to verify the certificate returned by the server being

connected to (true) or not (false). The default value is true. Disabling certificate verification

can result in a security hazard. Do not disable verification unless you are certain you understand

the ramifications.

SSLCACertificatePath A folder containing certificates. Each file in the folder must contain only a single certificate, and

the file name must be hash and the extension ".0", for example, e98140a6.0.

On a Windows 32-bit operating system, if this tag is empty, the server looks for certificates in the

rootinstall\certs directory. You can import the Windows certificate store to the certs directory by

running AMSMaster -console -initialize from a command line.

In Linux, you must specify the location of the certificates.

SSLCACertificateFile Specifies the name of a file containing one or more certificates in PEM format.

SSLVerifyDepth Specifies the maximum depth of an acceptable certificate. If a self-signed root certificate cannot

be found within this depth, certificate verification fails. The default value is 9.

SSLCipherSuite The SSL ciphers: a colon-delimited list of components. A component can be a key exchange

algorithm, authentication method, encryption method, digest type, or one of a selected

number of aliases for common groupings. Do not change the default settings unless you are

very familiar with SSL ciphers. The possible values are listed here: “SSLCipherSuite” on page 227.

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...

<Proxy>

<SSL>

</SSLClientCtx>

</SSL>

</Proxy>

</VirtualHost>

When the SSL tag is present, the entire SSL section is used to configure the virtual host. If an SSL tag is omitted

from this section, the server uses the default settings.

2Restart the server.

Configure Adobe Media Server to work with a hardware SSL proxy

When you use a hardware SSL proxy, you don't need to configure Adobe Media Server for SSL. The hardware sits

between Adobe Media Server and the Internet. Data sent between Adobe Media Server and the hardware is

unencrypted. The hardware encrypts the data and forwards it to the Internet.

Configure the hardware to listen externally on port 443 to receive encrypted data sent over Internet from clients.

Configure the hardware to forward data to Adobe Media Server on port 1935. Adobe Media Server listens on port 1935

by default. If you’ve changed the default port, configure the hardware to forward data on that port.

Configure RPCs (Remote Procedure Calls)

Adobe Media Server provides settings in the Application.xml file for configuring which RPC methods can be called.

The default is to block all RPC calls.

You can enable RPCs by setting the <RPC> element’s enable attribute to true; for example:

After enabling RPCs, you must then list individual methods that are allowed. Each type of class—Client,

NetConnection, Stream, and SharedObject—has its own whitelist of methods that can be called. If a method or object

is not explicitly listed in the whitelist, then it is considered blocked.

The settings for RPCs are in the <Security><RPC> element of the Application.xml file. This element contains the

following sub-elements:

•<Client> — All methods blocked by default.

•<NetConnection> — Only the onStatus() method is allowed by default, if RPCs are enabled.

•<SharedObject> — All methods blocked by default.

•<Stream> — Only the onStatus() method is allowed by default, if RPCs are enabled.

Each of these sub-elements takes a <Method> sub-element. Each <Method> sub-element takes an <Allow> sub-

element. The <Allow> sub-element is a comma-delimited list of allowed methods.

To add a method to a class’s whitelist:

1Enable RPCs by setting the <RPC> element’s enabled attribute to true; for example:

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2Add the method you want to allow to the class’s <Allow> element. The following example allows the getLocal()

and setFps() methods to be called on the SharedObject class:

<Allow>getLocal,setFps</Allow>

</Method>

</SharedObject>

3Ensure that the defaults for the other classes meet your security standards. After enabling RPCs for all classes, you

should review the default allowed methods.

The method names are case-sensitive and should be in one of the following formats:[objectPath.]method

[objectPath.]object

If you allow an object but do not list its methods, then all methods of that object are allowed. For example,

<Allow>a.b</Allow> matches methods a.b.c() and a.b.d().

Enable virtual directory mappings for server-side File objects

You can specify virtual directory mappings for server-side File objects in the Application.xml configuration file.

However, the feature must be enabled at the server level in the Server.xml configuration file.

To enable virtual directories for server-side File objects, set the <VirtualDirectoryForFile> element’s enable

attribute to true in the Server.xml file. In the Application.xml file, add a <VirtualDirectory> sub-element to the

<ScriptingEngine><FileObject> element.

Only enable VirtualDirectoryForFile when you must provide virtual directories for server-side scripting; it is not

required for adding virtual directories for streams. When virtual directories for File objects are enabled, anyone who

has access to a server-side script can write files anywhere on the server disk. As a result, it is disabled by default.

Activating it requires a configuration from the Server.xml file administrator.

If you map File objects in the Application.xml file and don’t have the feature enabled in the Server.xml file, the

following message appears in the log:

"Virtual directories for file objects is not supported due to the Server level security

setting."

The following example enables virtual directory mappings for server side File objects in the Server.xml file:

<Root>

...

The following example from the Application.xml file creates a new virtual directory mapping for server-side File

objects:

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/flashapps;C:\dev\Code\Flash\tincan\flashapps\

</VirtualDirectory>

</FileObject>

...

Performing general configuration tasks

Enable checkpoint logging events

Many companies use statistics from the access log to bill customers. If your programming includes live events or 24/7

programming, the events you use to calculate billing might not occur within a billing cycle. To solve this problem, you

can enable checkpoint events. Checkpoint events log bytes periodically during an event. The following are available as

checkpoint events: connect-continue, play-continue, and publish-continue.

You must enable checkpoint events at the server level in the Server.xml file. You can disable checkpoints at the vhost

and application level in the Vhost.xml and Application.xml files. You can also override the logging interval at the vhost

and application levels. For more information, see the comments in the XML files located in the rootinstall/conf folder.

1Open the rootinstall/conf/Server.xml file in a text editor.

2Locate the Root/Server/Logging/Checkpoints element:

</Checkpoints>

3Set the Checkpoints enable attribute to true, like this: <Checkpoints enable="true">.

4You can optionally set values for the CheckInterval and LogInterval elements to indicate how often the server

should check for and log events.

5Save and validate the file.

6Restart the server.

Allow Administration API methods to be called over HTTP

You must specify each Administration API method that may be called over HTTP.

1Open the rootinstall/conf/ams.ini file.

2Set the USERS.HTTPCOMMAND_ALLOW parameter to a comma-delimited list of APIs, and restart the server. The

default value is ping. For more information, see “Allow (HTTPCommands)” on page 235.

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Allow application debugging connections

To play back streams and obtain data from shared objects, the Administration Console must make a special debugging

connection to the server. By default, the server does not allow this connection.

1Open the Application.xml file.

Note: You can set these values in an Application.xml file at the VHost level or at the application level. To set the value

at the application level, copy an Application.xml file to the application’s folder.

2Locate the following XML:

<Debug>

<AllowDebugDefault>false</AllowDebugDefault>

</Debug>

3Set the AllowDebugDefault element to true.

Note: Debug connections count against license limits.

4Save and validate the file.

5Restart the server.

Configuring IPv6

IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) is a new version of Internet Protocol that supports 128-bit addresses. The current

version of Internet Protocol, IPv4, supports 32-bit addresses. IPv6 alleviates the address shortage problem on the

Internet. A system that only runs IPv6 can't communicate with a system that only runs IPv4.

By default, Adobe Media Server runs in IPv4 mode, even if the operating system is configured for IPv6. When Adobe

Media Server runs in IPv6 mode, hostnames specified in Adaptor.xml are resolved to IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Important: In Red Hat® Linux systems, you must update the NETWORKING_IPV6 value in /etc/sysconfig/network when

installing or uninstalling IPv6.

Activate IPv6 on the network interface card.

IPv6 is embedded in all operating systems that the server supports. You may need to activate IPv6 on the interfaces.

For more information, see the operating system’s Help.

Allow the server to listen on IPv6 sockets.

1Open the rootinstall/conf/Server.xml file in a text editor.

2Locate the NetworkingIPv6 tag and set enable to "true":

3Save the file and restart the server.

Enclose numeric IPv6 addresses in URLs in brackets.

Wherever a numeric IPv6 address is used in a client-side script, server-side script, or in the server configuration files,

enclose it in brackets:

rtmp://[fd5e:624b:4c18:ffff:0:5efe:10.133.128.108]:1935/streamtest

You must specify the interface zone index for a link-local address:

rtmp://[fe80::204:23ff:fe14:da1c%4]:1935/streamtest

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It’s a good idea to register the RTMP, RTMPS, and RTMPE protocols with a network services database and use a

service name (or decimal port number, if necessary) in the server configuration files.

Check the logs

When the server starts, it logs available stack configuration, host name, and all available IP addresses for the host in

the master.xx.log, edge.xx.log, and admin.xx.log files (located in the rootinstall/logs/ directory). The following x-

comment fields from a sample edge log file indicate that the IPv6 stack and the IPv4 stack are available, and that the

server host has dual addresses and is listening on both interfaces:

AMS detected IPv6 protocol stack!

AMS config <NetworkingIPv6 enable=true>

AMS running in IPv6 protocol stack mode!

Host: amsqewin2k3-02 IPv4: 10.133.192.42 IPv6: fe80::204:23ff:fe14:da1c%4

Listener started ( _defaultRoot__? ) : 19350/v6

Listener started ( _defaultRoot__? ) : 19350/v4

Listener started ( _defaultRoot__? ) : 1935/v6

Listener started ( _defaultRoot__? ) : 1935/v4

On Red Hat Linux, the edge logs display only the highest IP version the socket listeners are using, even if the socket

listeners accept connections over both IPv4 and IPv6. In the previous example, only the v6 entries would be displayed.

On IPv6-enabled Linux, if you are using an host name that resolves to IPv4 host name with an RTMPT or RTMPTE

connection, configure the Adaptor.xml appropriately to resolve connections quickly. See “HTTPIdent2” on page 131.

Defining Application object properties

You can define properties for the server-side Application object in the server’s Application.xml configuration files. If

you define properties in the default Application.xml file, the properties are available for all applications on a virtual

host. If you define properties in an Application.xml file in an application folder, the properties are available only for

that application.

To define a property, create an XML tag in the ScriptEngine section of the Application.xml file. The property name

corresponds to the tag’s name, and the property value corresponds to the tag’s contents.

For example, the following XML fragment defines the properties user_name and dept_name, with the values jdoe and

engineering, respectively:

<user_name>jdoe</user_name>

<dept_name>engineering</dept_name>

</config>

</ScriptEngine>

</Application>

To access the property in server-side code, use the syntax in either of these examples:

application.config.prop_name

application.config["prop_name"]

Note: The properties you define are accessible from application.config.property, not from

application.property.

For example, given the previous XML fragment, the following trace() statements are valid:

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trace("I am " + application.config.user_name + " and I work in the " +

application.config.dept_name + " department.");

trace("I am " + application.config["user_name"] + " and I work in the " +

application.config["dept_name"] + " department.");

The output from either statement would be as follows:

I am jdoe and I work in the engineering department.

You can also use environment variables and symbols you define in the substitution.xml file. For example, assume that

the environment variable COMPUTERNAME is equal to jsmith01, and you have defined a symbol named DEPT in the

substitution.xml file:

<Root>

<DEPT>Engineering</DEPT>

</Symbols>

</Root>

In addition, the following XML appears in the Application.xml file:

<compName>${%COMPUTERNAME%}</compName>

</config>

</ScriptEngine>

</Application>

In a server-side script, the following trace statements are valid:

trace("My computer's name is: " + application.config.compName);

trace("My department is: " + application.config.dept);

The output is as follows:

My computer's name is: jsmith01

My department is: Engineering

Note: Server-side ActionScript trace()statements display in the Live Log panel of the Administration Console.

More Help topics

“Using symbols in configuration files” on page 18

Configure or disable native bandwidth detection

The server can detect a client’s bandwidth in the core server code (called native bandwidth detection), or in a server-

side script (called script-based bandwidth detection). Native bandwidth detection is faster than script-based because the

core server code is written in C and C++. Also, with native bandwidth detection, if a client connects through edge

servers, the outermost edge server detects the bandwidth, which results in more accurate data. Native bandwidth

detection is enabled and configured by default.

The server detects bandwidth by sending a series of data chunks to the client, each larger than the last. If desired, you

can configure the size of the data chunks, the rate at which they’re sent, and the amount of time the server sends data

to the client. For more information about detecting bandwidth in an application, see the Developer Guide.

1Open the Application.xml file.

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Note: You can set these values in an Application.xml file at the VHost level or at the application level. To set the value

at the application level, copy an Application.xml file to the application’s folder.

2Locate the following code:

...

</BandwidthDetection>

...

Note: To disable native bandwidth detection, set the enabled attribute to false and restart the server.

3Edit the following elements.

4Save and validate the Application.xml file.

5Restart the server.

Configuring content storage

Setting the location of application files

The presence of an application folder within the applications folder tells the server that the application exists. By

default, the applications folder is located at rootinstall/applications.

Within the applications folder, create subfolders for your applications. Within each individual application folder,

create subfolders to create instances of applications. For example, the following path is to an instance of an application

called “my_application”:

rootinstall/applications/my_application/first_instance

To change the location of the applications folder and the live and vod applications, edit the locations in the following

parameters in the ams.ini file:

•Registered applications folder: VHOST.APPSDIR

•Live application: LIVE_DIR

Element Description

BandwidthDetection Set the enabled attribute to "true" or "false" to turn this feature on or off.

MaxRate The maximum rate in Kbps that the server sends data to the client. The default value is -1,

which sends the data at whatever rate is necessary to measure bandwidth.

DataSize The amount of data in bytes that the server sends to the client. To detect the client’s

bandwidth, the server attempts to send a series of random blocks of data to the client, each

time sending this much more data. For example, x bytes are sent, followed by 2x bytes,

followed by 3x bytes, and so on until MaxWait time has elapsed.

MaxWait The number of seconds the server sends data to the client. Increasing this number provides

a more accurate bandwidth figure, but it also forces the client to wait longer.

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•Vod application: VOD_DIR

Mapping directories to network drives

By default, the server runs as System Account with no access to network drives. You can change the service user to a

user with network access privileges with a UNC path.

A Windows network-mapped drive is not valid when a user is logged out. If the server is running as a service and the

user is logged out, the mapped drive is removed as well. To run with the mapped drive, lock the server instead of

logging out. Using the UNC path is preferred when the server is running as a service.

1Stop Adobe Media Server and Adobe Media Administration Server.

2Make the changes to the configuration.

3Check that the server user has appropriate access rights to map to the network drive (system account rights are

usually not sufficient.)

4Restart AdobeMedia Server and Adobe Media Administration Server.

Setting the location of recorded streams and shared objects

By default, all recorded streams for an application are stored in a streams folder in the application directory. Shared

objects are stored in a shared objects folder in the application directory.

Note: Adobe strongly recommends that folders that store streams always contain only streams and no other application

files.

Use the StorageDir tag in the Application.xml file to specify a different location to store streams or shared objects.

You could do this for vod applications. For example, if you already have a collection of video files in a directory other

than the application directory, you can set the storage directory to that other directory instead of copying content to

the application directory.

When you specify a value for the <storageDir> element in the application-specific XML, that value is specific to the

application. Otherwise, when you specify a value in the virtual host-level Application.xml, the scope is extended to all

the applications on that virtual host.

Within the directory that you specify as the storage directory, you must create physical subdirectories for different

application instances. Adobe Media Server sandboxes the content for each instance of an application.

Let’s say, for example, you set the storage directory to C:\Content for the chatApp application:

<storageDir>C:\Content</storageDir>

When a user connects to the firstRoom instance of the chatApp application and tries to play a stream, the server looks

for the stream in a subfolder C:\Content\firstRoom. Content for each instance is sandboxed from other instance of

the same application; a user who connects to the secondRoom instance would not be able to access the content in

C:\Content\firstRoom.

If you do not want resources to be sandboxed by application and application instance, use virtual directories.

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Mapping virtual directories to physical directories

Adobe Media Server stores recorded streams and video and audio files in default locations in the application directory.

In some scenarios, you might want to specify particular locations for these resources, but without restricting access by

application or application instance. By mapping a virtual directory to a physical directory, you do not need to copy

resources to Adobe Media Server’s application directory, and you can retain your existing classification and

categorization of resources.

To map a virtual directory for an application, you can use the <VirtualDirectory> element in the Vhost.xml or the

Application.xml file. This element provides various options:

•You can specify a virtual directory name or not. When a name is specified, the server maps the name to the specified

directory and first looks for the stream in the specified directory.

•You can specify multiple physical directories for a single virtual directory. Use multiple <Streams> tags.

•When specified in an application-specific Application.xml file, <VirtualDirectory> controls only the storage

location of resources for that application. Any instance of the application can access video files in that location

(unlike with <storageDir>), but other applications cannot.

•When specified in the virtual-host Application.xml file or the Vhost.xml file, <VirtualDirectory> controls the

storage location of all applications on that virtual host. All applications on the virtual host can access video files in

the specified location, although Adobe recommends that if you want control at the virtual host level, you configure

the <VirtualDirectory> tag in Vhost.xml file instead of the virtual-host Application.xml file.

If you are creating a new virtual directory for a File object (as opposed to a stream), you must also enable the

VirtualDirectoryForFile option in the Server.xml file. For more information, see “Enable virtual directory

mappings for server-side File objects” on page 44.

The order in which the server determines the correct directory to use for streams is as follows:

1Virtual directory (as specified in <VirtualDirectory>)

2Storage directory (as specified in <storageDir>)

3Default location (the streams folder in the application directory)

Note: Adobe strongly recommends that folders that store streams always contain only streams and no other application

files.

Virtual directory example: vod

One usage scenario for this element is to specify a directory to use for a specific vod application and put video files in

this directory to stream them instantly. You would use the <VirtualDirectory> element in the application-specific

Application.xml file. To map a directory in this way, edit the application-specific Application.xml file to include the

virtual directory, as shown in the following example:

<!-- Specifies application specific virtual directory mapping for recorded

streams. -->

<Streams>/;C:\my_videos</Streams>

</VirtualDirectory>

</StreamManager>

</Application>

This code overrides the VHost.xml file’s mapping of '/' (if it exists) for this application only. To play a file in the virtual

directory, such as C:\my_videos\sample.flv, a client connects to the vod application and calls NetStream.play():

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ns.play("sample");

The <VirtualDirectory> element in the application-specific Application.xml file affects only that application,

protecting your streams from being accessed by other applications on the same virtual host. It overrides settings in the

Vhost.xml file.

Playing streams nested in subfolders

To play a stream, specify the codec before you specify the path to the stream. FLV streams don’t require a codec prefix,

but F4V/MP4 files, MP3 files, and RAW files do.

Suppose the virtual directory mapping is <Streams>foo;C:\my_videos</Streams>. The following examples are for

the client-side NetStream.play()method:

ns.play("mp4:foo/sample.f4v",0,-1) // F4V/MP4 files

ns.play("raw:foo/sample",0,-1) // RAW files

ns.play("mp3:foo/sample",0,-1) //MP3 files

ns.play("foo/sample",0,-1). // FLV files

The following are examples for the Server-Side ActionScript Stream.play() method:

myStream.play("mp4:foo/sample.f4v",0,-1) // F4V/MP4 files

myStream.play("mp4:foo/sample",0,-1) // RAW files

myStream.play("mp3:foo/sample",0,-1) // MP3 files

myStream.play("foo/sample",0,-1) // FLV files

Virtual directory example: Separating high- and low-bandwidth video

One way you can use directory mapping is to separate storage of different kinds of resources. For example, your

application could allow users to view either high-bandwidth video or low-bandwidth video, and you might want to

store high-bandwidth and low-bandwidth video in separate folders. You can create a mapping wherein all streams that

start with low are stored in specific directories, C:\low_bandwidth and C:\low_bandwidth2, and all streams that start

with high are stored in a different directory:

<Streams>low;c:\low_bandwidth</Streams>

<Streams>low;c:\low_bandwidth2</Streams>

<Streams>high;c:\high_bandwidth</Streams>

</VirtualDirectory>

When the client wants to access low-bandwidth video, the client calls ns.play("low/sample"). This call tells the

server to look for the sample.flv file in the C:\low_bandwidth and C:\low_bandwidth2 folders.

A client connects to the sample.flv file in the low-bandwidth storage area on the server, which is mapped in Application.xml.

Similarly, a call to ns.play("high/sample") tells the server to look for the sample.flv file in the c:\high_bandwidth

folder.

Important: To play an F4V/MP4, MP3, or RAW file, specify the codec before the path, for example

ns.play("mp4:high/sample"). The mp3 prefix is mp3:. The RAW prefix is raw:.

C:\low_bandwidth\sample.flv

ns.play(”low/sample”);

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Note that if the client calls ns.play("sample"), the stream name does not match any virtual directory specified, so

the server will then look for sample.flv inside the directory specified by the storage directory element (<storageDir>).

If no storage directory is specified by <storageDir>, then the server looks in the default location (the streams folder)

for the file; that is, the order in which the server looks for files is:

1Virtual directory (as specified in <VirtualDirectory>)

2Storage directory (as specified in <storageDir>)

3Default location (the streams folder in the application directory)

Virtual directory example: Local and network file paths

The following table shows three examples of different virtual directory configurations, including mapping to a

network drive, and how the configurations determine the directory to which a recorded stream is published. In the

first case, because the URI specified ("myStream") does not match the virtual directory name that is specified ("low"),

the server publishes the stream to the default streams directory.

Important: To play an F4V/MP4, MP3, or RAW file, specify the codec before the path, for example

ns.play("mp4:low/myStream"). The mp3 prefix is mp3:. The RAW prefix is raw:.

Configuring Apache HTTP Server

About Apache HTTP Server

Adobe Media Server includes Apache HTTP Server. If you install and enable the web server, you can deliver client SWF

files, container HTML pages, and media assets from Adobe Media Server. You can serve content over HTTP, as well

as RTMP. In addition, you can serve video over HTTP progressive download as a fallback solution for web proxies that

break RTMP or RTMPT.

The Adobe Media Server installation of Apache is like the standard installation. You can use Apache documentation

for most configuration tasks. The Apache root installation folder is rootinstall/Apache2.2. The web root is

rootinstall/webroot.

Note: The Adobe Media Server documentation uses “rootinstall” to indicate the Adobe Media Server root installation

folder (C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 4 by default on Windows). The Apache documentation and

configuration files use “ServerRoot” to indicate the Apache root installation folder.

Installation locations

The Apache server that installs with Adobe Media Server differs from a standard Apache installation in the following ways:

•The apachectl files are in the rootinstall/Apache2.2/manual/programs folder.

•The httpd.conf file and the standard secondary configuration files are in the rootinstall/Apache2.2/conf folder.

Mapping in Vhost.xml

<VirtualDirectory><Streams> tag

URI in NetStream call Location of published stream

low;e:\amsstreams "myStream" c:\...\rootinstall\applications\yourApp\streams\_definst_\myStream.flv

low;e:\amsstreams "low/myStream" e:\amsstreams\myStream.flv

low;\\mynetworkDrive\share\amsstreams "low/myStream" \\mynetworkDrive\share\amsstreams\myStream.flv

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•The log files are in the rootinstall/Apache2.2/logs folder. For more information, see “Monitoring and Managing Log

Files” on page 97.

Alternate configurations

To do any of the following, edit the rootinstall/Apache2.2/conf/httpd.conf file:

•Handle multiple adaptors or virtual hosts

•Block sensitive file types, such as ASC

•Handle any non-standard MIME types required for progressive download

•Serve the default server-status and server-info pages

•Modify source directories

Specify the maximum HTTP header line length

In the Adobe Media Server Adaptor.xml file, the MaxHeaderLineLength element determines the size of the HTTP

header the server can handle. The default value for MaxHeaderLineLength is 1024 bytes. Some browsers send a header

larger than 1024 bytes. In this scenario, Apache sends back an empty response. To fix this issue, configure

MaxHeaderLineLength to 8192.

Note: By default, the Apache HTTP header size limit is 8 KB (8190 bytes plus a carriage return).

1Open rootinstall/conf/Adaptor.xml in a text editor.

2Edit the following line:

3Save the file.

4Restart the server.

Enable and disable Apache and HTTP proxying

When you install Adobe Media Server and choose to install Apache, it is enabled by default. Adobe Media Server

listens on port 80 and proxies HTTP requests to Apache over port 8134.

Setting the parameter to no value disables HTTP proxying:

HTTPPROXY.HOST =

To proxy to a remote server, set the parameter to the remote server you want to use:

HTTPPROXY.HOST = webfarm.example.com:80

Enable Apache and HTTP proxying

1Open the ams.ini file in a text editor.

2Add port 80 to the ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT tag.

ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT = :1935, 80

3To start and stop Apache when Adobe Media Server starts and stops, set the SERVER.HTTPD_ENABLED parameter

to true:

SERVER.HTTPD_ENABLED = true

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4Do one of the following:

•Open rootinstall/conf/ams.ini and set the value of the HTTPPROXY.HOST variable to 8134:

HTTPPROXY.HOST = :8134

•Open the Adaptor.xml configuration file in a text editor.

If you have multiple adaptors, open the file for the adaptor you want to configure. The default Adaptor.xml file

is located in the rootinstall\conf\_defaultRoot_ folder.

Set the enable attribute of the HttpProxy tag to "true", as in the following:

<Host port="80">${HTTPPROXY.HOST}</Host>

</HttpProxy>

Save and validate the Adaptor.xml file.

5Restart the server.

Disable Apache and HTTP proxying

1Open the ams.ini file in a text editor.

2Remove port 80 from the ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT tag.

ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT = :1935

3Do one of the following:

•Open rootinstall/conf/ams.ini and set the value of the HTTPPROXY.HOST variable to no value:

HTTPPROXY.HOST =

•Open the Adaptor.xml configuration file in a text editor.

If you have multiple adaptors, open the file for the adaptor you want to configure. The default Adaptor.xml file

is located in the rootinstall\conf\_defaultRoot_ folder.

Set the enable attribute of the HttpProxy tag to "false", as in the following:

<Host port="80">${HTTPPROXY.HOST}</Host>

</HttpProxy>

Save and validate the Adaptor.xml file.

4Restart the server.

Deliver SWF files and HTML files over HTTP

Apache can deliver SWF files, HTML files, JPG files, and many other standard file types over HTTP. Place files that

you want to deliver over HTTP in the correct folders. By default, Apache is configured to use following paths:

These folders are global, not application-specific. Any SWF files and HTML files you want to serve over HTTP must

be in these folders or in application-specific folders. To create aliases for application-specific folders, edit the

httpd.conf file.

Path Location Example URL

/rootinstall/Apache2.2/webroot http://myAMSServer.com/app.swf

/cgi-bin rootinstall/Apache2.2/cgi-bin http://myAMSServer.com/cgi-bin/someScript.pl

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Create web directories for applications

To have Apache serve content over HTTP, either use one of the predefined web directories or create a web directory

for that application. To create a web directory for an application, add an alias to the

rootinstall/Apache2.2/conf/httpd.conf file. For example, the following lines create an alias that points to the streams

directory of an application called “hd”:

Alias /hd/ "applications/hd/streams/_definst_/"

Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymLinks

AllowOverride None

Order allow,deny

Allow from all

</Directory>

Copy media files to the rootinstall/applications/hd/streams/_definst_/ folder to serve them over HTTP. For example,

if a client requests http://ams.example.com/hd/someVideo.flv, Apache serves it the someVideo.flv file from the

rootinstall/applications/hd/streams/_definst_/ folder.

For more information about editing the configuration file, see the Apache documentation at www.apache.org.

Using Apache as a WebDAV host

You can configure the web server to act as a WebDAV host. For information, see the Apache HTTP Server version

2.2.15 documentation at www.apache.org.

The following keywords are reserved words: open, close, send, idle, fcs, ams, crossdomain.xml, fpad. Reserved words

cannot be used for directory names under the webroot directory or for anything else. If you have applications with

these names, use custom aliases to give the HTTP virtual directories slightly different names from the RTMP

applications, such as “open_”.

Running Apache for Windows as a service

To install Apache to run as a service on Windows:

1Open a Command prompt.

2Change directories to the rootinstall/Apache2.2/bin folder. For example, at the command prompt, enter the

following:

cd ../../Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Media Server 4/Apache2.2/bin

3To install Apache to run as a service, enter the following:

httpd.exe -f conf/httpd.conf -n AMSHttpd -k install

Note: To uninstall Apache, enter the following: httpd.exe -n AMSHttpd -k uninstall.

4To verify that Apache is running, open the Windows Services panel and locate the AMSHttpd service.

To start and stop the Windows services on Windows XP:

1Right click My Computer and select Manage. The Computer Management dialog box displays.

2Select Services and Applications.

3Double-click Services. The list of available services displays.

4To start a service, select the service from the list and click the Start Service button. To stop a service, select the

service from the list and click the Stop Service button.

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Upgrading Apache HTTP server

At some time after installing Adobe Media Server, you might be required to update the included Apache web server.

Most commonly, this would be due to Apache HTTP server security patches or functionality upgrades.

The version of the Apache HTTP server that ships with Flash Media Server 4.5 is 2.2.17. For the latest information

about the Apache web server, see httpd.apache.org.

The recommended approach to upgrading the Apache web server is to install or build the Apache server in a directory

that is separate from the existing server. Then copy the contents of newly-installed directories to the existing server.

In most cases, you do not replace the existing Apache configuration files with the newer versions of these files. This is

because the Apache web server installation for Adobe Media Server is pre-configured with specific modules and

settings. If there are changes to the configuration files, it is usually easier to update the existing files with changes.

Before upgrading:

1Review any installation notes on apache.org about the differences between the current version and the new version.

For example, look for renamed directives or renamed modules that would require you to merge configuration files.

2Make sure the currently-installed version of Apache is working correctly:

1Check the master log file for errors. The master.00.log file should have a line that launches the httpd process and

returns 0; for example:

- C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 5\Apache2.2\bin\httpd

-f ./conf/httpd.conf -d "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 5\Apache2.2"

-n AMSHttpd -k start returned 0:

2Try playing videos using the “http” protocol.

3Check the current version of Apache and make a note of it. From a command prompt, go to

AMS_Install_Dir/Apache2.2/bin and issue the following command:

httpd -v

4Back up following directories:

AMS_Install_Dir/Apache2.2/bin

AMS_Install_Dir/Apache2.2/lib

AMS_Install_Dir/Apache2.2/include

AMS_Install_Dir/Apache2.2/modules

AMS_Install_Dir/Apache2.2/manual

AMS_Install_Dir/Apache2.2/icons

To upgrade:

1Stop Adobe Media Server.

2Follow the directions on apache.org to download and run the Apache installer. If you are using Linux, you may be

required to build the Apache server on your system.

3Copy the following directories from the newly-installed version to the current version that was installed with Adobe

Media Server:

Apache_Install_Dir/bin

Apache_Install_Dir/modules

Apache_Install_Dir/manual

Apache_Install_Dir/icons

Note that the /conf directory, which contains the Apache configuration files, is not included in this list. You should

not replace the existing configuration files with the new configuration files.

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4Merge the configuration files, if necessary. In most cases, you will not need to merge the files. However, if the newer

version of Apache includes new or renamed modules or directives, you might need to edit the configuration files

to meet the new requirements.

5Start Adobe Media Server.

After upgrading:

1Ensure that the newer version of Apache is now available. From a command prompt, go to

AMS_Install_Dir/Apache2.2/bin and issue the following command:

httpd -v

2Recompile third-party modules, if necessary.

3Make sure the newly-updated version of Apache is working correctly:

1Check the master log file for errors or warnings. The master.00.log file should have a line that launches the httpd

process and returns 0; for example:

- C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 4\Apache2.2\bin\httpd -f

./conf/httpd.conf -d "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Media Server 4\Apache2.2" -n

AMSHttpd -k start returned 0:

2Try playing videos using the “http” protocol.

Updating the OpenSSL version in the bundled Apache server

On a Window Machine, OpenSSL version 0.9.8r is available with bundled Apache. To update the OpenSSL version,

follow these steps:

1Access the bin directory of your Apache installation.

2Copy libeay32.dll, ssleay32.dll, and openssl.exe files from a separate, patched security release of OpenSSL

from the same major release.

3Replace the existing files with the new files in the bin directory.

On Linux machines, the bundled Apache does not include the OpenSSL libraries libcrypto and libssl. Adobe

recommends the administrators keep the system updated with the appropriate version of OpenSSL binaries.

Troubleshooting Apache HTTP server

In some cases, the Apache server could be at fault for the Adobe Media Server not running properly. This is sometimes

caused by syntax errors in the Apache configuration files.

Check the master.log file in the rootinstall/logs directory. If Apache could not start for some reason, it typically returns

an error code of “1” and writes a line similar to the following in the master.log file:

2010-06-22 15:45:09 4276 (w)2581414 C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 4

\Apache2.2\bin\httpd -f ./conf/httpd.conf -d "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 4

\Apache2.2" -n AMSHttpd -k start returned 1:

The status of (w) or (e) indicates a warning or error. For more information about status codes in the master.log file,

see “Diagnostic logs” on page 106.

If you are running Adobe Media Server as a service, you can check the Windows Event Viewer for errors messages. On

Linux, check syslog’s log file for error messages.

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You can also check the Apache log files for error messages. The default location of the Apache log files is

rootinstall/Apache2.2/logs. The logs are in the default Apache error and combined access log formats. For information

about these log file formats, see Log Files.

To change the location of the log files, edit the rootinstall/Apache2.2/conf/httpd.conf file.

Configure Apache for Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming

and Apple HTTP Live Streaming

Configure the HTTP modules

Apache HTTP Server that installs with Adobe Media Server is configured by default for Adobe HTTP Dynamic

Streaming (to Flash Player and AIR) and Apple HTTP Live Streaming (to iOS and Mac OS). The Adobe Media Server

Apache installation includes three custom modules that handle HTTP streaming:

•jithttp_module—just-in-time on-demand Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS).

•f4fhttp_module—live HDS; on-demand HDS packaged offline

•hlshttp_module—live and on-demand Apple HTTP Live Streaming

The configuration of the modules determines the format of the URL that the player requests from the server, the

location of the content, the content fragmentation settings, and other settings. Configure the settings at the server-level

in the Apache httpd.conf file located at rootinstall/Apache2.2/conf/httpd.conf. You can also configure some settings

at the application level, event level, and stream level. For complete details, see Configuring HTTP Dynamic Streaming

and HTTP Live Streaming in the Adobe Media Server Developer’s Guide.

For information about configuring ports for HTTP Streaming, see “Configure ports for HTTP streaming” on page 6.

Logging for HTTP streaming

All HTTP access requests are logged in the Apache access_log file in the \logs directory. The HTTP Origin Module

doesn’t add any logging directives. All access requests are logged through the standard Apache HTTP Server log

module.

All errors are logged in the Apache error_log file in the \logs directory. The following table shows the response codes

that the HTTP Origin Module returns.

Response

code

Error message Description

200 None No error occurs, and a response has been returned

successfully.

304 None The HTTP Origin Module supports "If-Modified-Since" in

the request header and returns 304 if the file has not been

modified."If-Modified-Since" is not support in requests for

manifest files of live events.

400 mod_f4fhttp [400]: Syntax error in

mod_hlshttp [400]:Syntax error in %s

Error occurs while parsing the URI request. The variable %s

is the URI string. For example, the request URI

http://servername/media/sample- is missing a fragment

number. For example, in the request

http://example.com/hls-vod/sample.f4vNumX.ts, the ts

fragment name format is not correct.

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400 mod_hlshttp [400]: %1 is a invalid

file

Error occurs while reading the information in a file, where

%1 is the URI string. For example, the manifest file is wrong

or the bootstrap is invalid or the .stream file is not valid.

403 mod_f4fhttp [403]: No access to %s

mod_hlshttp[403]: No access to %s

mod_f4fhttp [403]: Internal error %1

(%2) when processing %3

mod_hlshttp[403]: Internal error %1

(%2) when processing %3

An error occurs when accessing the file. The variable %s is

the file path. For example, the request URI is

http://servername/media/sample.fmf and the module

doesn’t have permission to read the file sample.f4m.

An error occurs when the library fails to access a file. The

variable %1 is the error code from the library, %2 is error

description, and %3 is the url string.

Response

code

Error message Description

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404 mod_f4fhttp [404]: %s does not exist

mod_hlshttp[404]: %1 does not exist

mod_f4fhttp [404]: Internal error %1

(%2) when processing %3

mod_hlshttp[404]: Internal error %1

(%2) when processing %3

An error occurs when the request file is not found. The

variable %s is the file path. For example, the request URI is

http://servername/media/sample.fmf but the file

sample.f4m does not exist.

Error occurs when the library fails to find a file. The variable

%1 is the error code from the library, %2 is the error

description, and %3 is the url string.

500 mod_f4fhttp [500]: Unknown

exception when processing %1

mod_hlshttp [500]: Unknown error

when processing %1

mod_f4fhttp [500]: Internal error %1

(%2) when processing %3

mod_hlshttp [500]: Internal error %1

(%2) when processing %3

mod_hlshttp[500]: Packaging error

%1 (%2) when processing %3

An unknown error occurs when processing a request,

where %1 is the URL string. For example,

http://servername/media/sampleSeg1-Frag1,

sampleSeg1.f4f is not a corrupted file.

An unknown error occurs when processing a request,

where %1 is the URI string. The module fails, where %1 is

the error code, %2 is error description, and %3 is the URI

string.

Error occurs while packaging a ts segment, where %1 is the

error code for diagnostic purposes, %2 is the error

description and %3 is the URI being processed. An example

of an error description is, "Audio format is not supported".

A packaging error indicates that something went wrong

while packaging the stream data into a ts segment. An

internal error indicates that something went wrong while

reading stream data from the recorded f4f fragments. An

internal error is more likely to occur due to a recording

failure than to a play back failure.

503 None The HTTP Origin Module returns a 503 code so the client

and the proxy servers don’t cache the response.

In a live event, the file can be growing and a fragment could

be missing in one origin server but not missing on another

origin server. The HTTP response header includes an "X-

mod_f4fhttp" field to provide more details. The following is

a sample response header:

Date Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:20:20 GMT Server Apache/2.2.9

(Win32) Content-Length 432 Last-Modified Wed, 27 Jan

2010 11:43:25 GMT Keep-Alive timeout=5, max=100

Connection Keep-Alive Content-Type video/f4f X-

mod_f4fhttp 1, error 71

There are two parameters in the X-mod_f4fhttp field

delimited by a comma. The first parameter is a status code

and the second parameter is the error code from the

library.

There are two status codes: 1 - The requested fragment

number is larger than the last fragment in the file (the

corresponding error is 71). 2 - The requested fragment

number is a missing fragment (the corresponding error is

34).

Response

code

Error message Description

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Use an external Apache HTTP Server for HTTP Dynamic Streaming and HTTP

Live Streaming

To use an installation of Apache HTTP Server other than the one that installs with Adobe Media Server, do the

following:

1Install Adobe Media Server so you can extract the Apache modules.

2Copy the following files from Adobe Media Server to your Apache modules folder:

•rootinstall/Apache2.2/modules/adbe_dme.dll

•rootinstall/Apache2.2/modules/adbe_license.dll

•rootinstall/Apache2.2/modules/asneu.dll

•rootinstall/Apache2.2/modules/hds.dll

•rootinstall/Apache2.2/modules/libeay32.dll

•rootinstall/Apache2.2/modules/libexpat.dll

•rootinstall/Apache2.2/modules/mod_f4fhttp.so

•rootinstall/Apache2.2/modules/mod_hlshttp.so

•rootinstall/Apache2.2/modules/mod_jithttp.so

3Edit your httpd.conf file to load the following modules:

•For live Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming, add the following:

LoadModule f4fhttp_module modules/mod_f4fhttp.so

HttpStreamingEnabled true

HttpStreamingLiveEventPath "../applications"

HttpStreamingContentPath "../applications"

HttpStreamingF4MMaxAge 2

HttpStreamingBootstrapMaxAge 2

HttpStreamingFragMaxAge -1

HttpStreamingDrmmetaMaxAge 3600

Options -Indexes FollowSymLinks

</Location>

</IfModule>

•For live Apple HTTP Live Streaming, add the following:

LoadModule hlshttp_module modules/mod_hlshttp.so

HLSHttpStreamingEnabled true

HttpStreamingLiveEventPath "../applications"

HttpStreamingContentPath "../applications"

HLSMediaFileDuration 8000

HLSSlidingWindowLength 6

HLSAmsDirPath ".."

HLSM3U8MaxAge 2

HLSTSSegmentMaxAge -1

Options -Indexes FollowSymLinks

</Location>

•For on-demand Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming, packaged in just-in-time, add the following:

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LoadModule jithttp_module modules/mod_jithttp.so

HttpStreamingJITPEnabled true

HttpStreamingContentPath "../webroot/vod"

JitAmsDirPath ".."

Options -Indexes FollowSymLinks

</Location>

</IfModule>

•For on-demand Apple HTTP Live Streaming, add the following:

LoadModule hlshttp_module modules/mod_hlshttp.so

HLSHttpStreamingEnabled true

HLSMediaFileDuration 8000

HttpStreamingContentPath "../webroot/vod"

HLSAmsDirPath ".."

Options -Indexes FollowSymLinks

</Location>

</IfModule>

4In the directives that you entered in your httpd.conf file, edit the following:

•HttpStreamingLiveEventPath and HttpStreamingContentPath—set to the Adobe Media Server

applications folder, for example:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 5\applications

•JitAmsDirPath and HLSAmsDirPath—set to the location of your Adobe Media Server installation, for example:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 5

5For information about ports, see “Using a third-party web server” on page 76.

Configure HTTP Streaming failover

In a real-world clustered HTTP Streaming scenario, you want your site to offer robust playback, even in the face of

server-side streaming problems. HTTP Streaming failover, new in FMS 4.5.2, lets you control how AMS handles

certain streaming problems.

Overview of HTTP Streaming failover

HTTP Streaming failover features primarily address the issues of liveness and dropout.

The following figure illustrates a simple two-server cluster of packagers with a Reverse Proxy controlling access. The

explanations that follow use this figure as a reference.

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Packagers in a two-server cluster

•Liveness is a server-side situation in which a packager advertises a stale bootstrap (that is, a stale view of a live

stream). Although there are other potential scenarios, the following describes one liveness situation:

1The stream has been running normally for some time on the server side.

2Packager 2's connection to the encoder fails. The connection between Packager 2 and the proxy continues

running. Suppose that at the time of this failure, the last successfully written fragment on Packager 2 was still

#700 with current media time as X.

3A short amount of time elapses, in this case, 10 fragment intervals.

4The server-side now suffers from liveness. Packager 2 is serving stale bootstrap information. Packager 2

indicates that there has been no update in the bootstrap after time X, even though more recent fragments are

available on Packager 1 (that is, the current media time is greater than X.)

5Playback stalls at the player end.

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•Dropout - is a server-side situation in which a packager has gaps in its bootstrap (that is, gaps in its fragment list).

The following scenario describes a dropout situation:

1The stream has been running normally for some time on the server side.

Packager 2's connection to the encoder fails. The connection between Packager 2 and the proxy continues running.

Suppose that at the time of this failure, the last successfully written fragment on Packager 2 was still #700.

3A short amount of time elapses, in this case, 10 fragment intervals.

4Packager 2's encoder connection is restored and remains restored for a long time.

5The server-side now suffers from dropout. Packager 2's bootstrap is missing entries for #701-710, even though

those fragments are still available on Packager 1.

6Playback stalls at the player end.

HTTP Streaming failover provides a multi-faceted solution:

•Best-effort fetch

•Server-side configuration

•Control plane management

Enable best-effort fetch

Best-effort fetch enables the OSMF and iOS video players to continue playback as normally as possible in the presence

of short-term liveness and dropout problems on the server-side.

OSMF

The OSMF 2.0 player includes HDS functionality that integrates with server-side configuration and run-time settings.

For more information on OSMF 2.0 client side functionality, see the OSMF documentation on SourceForge.

HLS

FMS 4.5.2 includes server-side settings and functionality that enable best-effort fetch.

Configure HTTP Streaming failover server settings

You configure server settings for HTTP Streaming failover in the httpd.conf and manifest.xml files.

Configure HDS and HLS settings in httpd.conf. For more information on server-side configuration in the httpd.conf

file, see Configure live and on-demand HTTP Streaming at the server level (httpd.conf). Configure the

bestEffortFetchInfo element in the manifest.xml file, as described in Manifest.xml.

Note: Best-effort fetch relies on configuring the back-end reverse-proxy with HTTP 503 failover, meaning that when the

reverse proxy receives a 503 response from a packager, it retries the request with the next packager in the pool. If all

packagers generate a 503, the proxy generates an error that it caches for less than a fragment interval. You can configure

the HTTP error code, as described in Configure live and on-demand HTTP Streaming at the server level (httpd.conf).

Code the control plane application

To implement HTTP Streaming failover, you write a client application that manages the state of events and streams

by using a set of REST-based control plane APIs. Control plane is a router term and in effect, that is what your client

application does through these APIs.

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The basic workflow is as follows:

•Begin repeatedly checking stream status at a set interval. The exact interval depends on your configuration.

•Disable any stream with a bad status code.

•You could also compare the age of the bootstrap file and disable the stream for which the bootstrap is older than

some predetermined interval.

AMS control plane REST interface request path

The AMS control plane REST interface request path differs, depending on whether you are using HDS, HLS with

adaptive bit-rate (ABR), or HLS with a single bit-rate stream:

•HDS: http://server/ctrlplane/application-name/instance-name/event-name.f4m/

•HLS with ABR: http://server/ctrlplane/application-name/instance-name/event-name.m3u8/

•HLS with single bit-rate: http://server/ctrlplane/application-name/instance-name/event-

name/stream-name.m3u8/

For example:

•HDS: http://www.example-server.com/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/liveevent.f4m/

•HLS with ABR: http://www.example-server.com/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/liveevent.m3u8/

•HLS with single bit-rate: http://www.example-

server.com/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/liveevent/livestream.m3u8/

You use HTTP GET or POST, depending on the endpoint and parameters passed.

Query stream status

Description

Returns stream status.

Endpoint

status

Result

If the .disabled file exists in the streams directory for the respective associated stream, the control plane module returns

"disabled" in the status element for the particular stream. This endpoint returns stream age for each stream (multiple

streams in case of MBR) calculated as current time in minutes - last modified time for the bootstrap file.The

up element indicates whether the stream is up. It is set to false if the bootstrap has not been updated in specified

number of seconds (configurable as MaxBootstrapAge). The global up element is set to true if all bootstrap up

elements are true, otherwise it is set to false. The endpoint sets the upper level status to disabled if all streams are

disabled, otherwise it is set to enabled.

The done element indicates whether the stream is finished.

Sample request

[GET] http://www.example-server.com:8134/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m/status

Sample response

This is an example response for an MBR stream in which all streams are disabled:

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200 OK

<?xml version="1.0" encoding ="UTF-8"?>

<controlplane-event-status xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/hds/controlplane/status/1.0">

<manifest-file>

/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m

</manifest-file>

disabled

</status>

<up>

false

</up>

<done>

false

</done>

<up>

false

</up >

<age>

</age>

disabled

</status>

<done>

false

</done>

</ bootstrap>

<up>

false

</up >

<age>

</age>

disabled

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</status>

<done>

false

</done>

</ bootstrap>

<up >

false

</up>

< age>

</age>

disabled

</status>

<done>

false

</done>

</ bootstrap>

</controlplane-event-status>

Disable an event

Description

Disables all streams for an event (works for both HDS and HLS streams). You send this as an HTTP POST request with

no body.

Endpoint

disable

Result

Upon receiving this request, the control plane module creates a .disabled file in all streams directories (multiple

streams directories for an MBR stream) and returns an XML formatted response indicating success or failure for each

stream.

If a client subsequently requests streams for the event, the Apache module (mod_f4fhttp or mod_hlshttp) checks for

the existence of a .disabled file before processing the request. If a .disabled file exists, the module returns a 503

error (configurable in httpd.conf).

Sample request

[POST] http://www.example-

server.com:8134/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m/disable

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Sample response

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<controlplane-response xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/hds/controlplane/status/1.0">

<manifest-file>

/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m

</manifest-file>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

</controlplane-response>

Disable a stream

Description

Disables a stream (works for both HDS and HLS streams). You send this as an HTTP POST request with the stream

name specified in the body.

Disable a stream if you detect a liveness problems or to take a faulty packager out of production for some other reason.

As mentioned below, the Apache module returns a 503 error, making the faulty packager a non-entity.

Endpoint

disable

Result

Upon receiving this request, the control plane module creates a .disabled file in the streams directory and returns

an XML formatted response indicating success or failure.

If a client subsequently requests the stream, the Apache module (mod_f4fhttp or mod_hlshttp) checks for the

existence of a .disabled file before processing the request. If a .disabled file exists, the module returns a 503 error

(configurable in httpd.conf).

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Sample request

[POST] http://www.example-

server.com:8134/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m/disable

<controlplane-request>

<stream> livestream2</stream>

</controlplane-request>

Sample response

<controlplane-response xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/hds/controlplane/status/1.0">

<manifest-file>

/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m

</manifest-file>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

</controlplane-response>

Enable an event

Description

Enables all streams for an event (works for both HDS and HLS streams). You send this as an HTTP POST request with

no body.

Endpoint

enable

Result

Upon receiving this request, the control plane module deletes any existing .disabled files in all streams directories

(multiple streams directories for an MBR stream) and returns an XML formatted response indicating success or failure

for each stream.

If a client subsequently requests streams for the event, the Apache module (mod_f4fhttp or mod_hlshttp) processes

the request.

Sample request

[POST] http://www.example-server.com:8134/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m/enable

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Sample response

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<controlplane-response xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/hds/controlplane/status/1.0">

<manifest-file>

/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m

</manifest-file>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

</controlplane-response>

Enable a stream

Description

Enables a stream (works for both HDS and HLS streams). You send this as an HTTP POST request with the stream

name specified in the body. This request enables a stream and removes the .disabled file.

Note: Streams are enabled by default.

Endpoint

enable

Result

Upon receiving this request, the control plane module deletes any existing .disabled file in the streams directories

and returns an XML formatted response indicating success or failure.

If a client subsequently requests the stream, the Apache module (mod_f4fhttp or mod_hlshttp) processes the request.

Sample request

[POST] http://www.example-server.com:8134/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m/enable

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<controlplane-request>

<stream>livestream2</stream>

</controlplane-request>

Sample response

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<controlplane-response xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/hds/controlplane/status/1.0">

<manifest-file>

/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m

</manifest-file>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

</controlplane-response>

Mark an event as done

Description

Signals that an event is complete. You send this as an HTTP POST request with no body.

You signal an event as done so that the client is notified when content ends. This achieves two things: the control plane

does not activate failover, and client applications can take appropriate action to signal the end of content to the user.

Endpoint

done

Result

Upon receiving this request, the control plane module creates a .done file in all streams directories (multiple streams

directories for an MBR stream) and returns an XML formatted response indicating success or failure for each stream.

Sample request

[POST] http://www.example-server.com:8134/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m/done

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Sample response

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<controlplane-response xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/hds/controlplane/status/1.0">

<manifest-file>

/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m

</manifest-file>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

</controlplane-response>

Mark a stream as done

Description

Signals that a stream complete. You send this as an HTTP POST request with the stream name specified in the body.

You signal a stream as done so that the client is notified when content ends. This achieves two things: the control plane

does not activate failover, and client applications can take appropriate action to signal the end of content to the user.

Endpoint

done

Result

Upon receiving this request, the control plane module creates a .done file in the associated streams directory and

returns an XML formatted response indicating success or failure.

Sample request

[POST] http://www.example-server.com:8134/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m/done

<controlplane-request>

</controlplane-request>

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Sample response

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<controlplane-response xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/hds/controlplane/status/1.0">

<manifest-file>

/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m

</manifest-file>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

</controlplane-response>

Mark an event as in-progress

Description

Signals that an event is still in progress. You send this as an HTTP POST request with no body. This request undoes a

/done request.

Endpoint

inProgress

Result

Upon receiving this request, the control plane module deletes any existing .done files in all streams directories

(multiple streams directories for an MBR stream) and returns an XML formatted response indicating success or failure

for each stream.

Sample request

[POST] http://www.example-

server.com:8134/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m/inProgress

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Sample response

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<controlplane-response xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/hds/controlplane/status/1.0">

<manifest-file>

/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m

</manifest-file>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

</controlplane-response>

Mark a stream as in-progress

Description

Signals that a stream is still in progress. You send this as an HTTP POST request with the stream name specified in the

body. This request undoes a /done request.

Endpoint

inProgress

Result

Upon receiving this request, the control plane module deletes any existing .done file in the associated streams

directory and returns an XML formatted response indicating success or failure for each stream.

Sample request

[POST] http://www.example-

server.com:8134/ctrlplane/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m/inProgress

<controlplane-request>

</controlplane-request>

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Sample response

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<controlplane-response xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/hds/controlplane/status/1.0">

<manifest-file>

/livepkgr/_definst_/livestream.f4m

</manifest-file>

<status-code>

</status-code>

<status-desc>

Command executed successfully.

</status-desc>

</stream>

</controlplane-response>

Using a third-party web server

You can use web servers other than the included version of Apache to serve Adobe Media Server files. Note, however,

that the HTTP Module for HTTPDynamic streaming is currently supported only on Apache web servers. To use a

third-party web server, use the following guidelines:

•Configure Adobe Media Server and the web server so that they do not share a port. (You must decide which server

can use ports 80 and 443, or you must multi-home the servers (by using separate IP addresses/physical NICs).

•If you want Adobe Media Server and your web server to share a port, set up Adobe Media Server as the proxy, put

your web server on an unused port, and change the ams.ini HTTPPROXY_HOST setting to point to that port.

•If you want your web server to serve the Adobe Media Server standard files, either put the files in your web server's

document root, or add the Adobe Media Server document root (rootinstall/webroot) as a virtual directory for your

web server.

•If you want your web server to serve Progressive Download (PD) files from the same location as Adobe Media

Server, add an alias or secondary document root to point to rootinstall/webroot/vod. You can also add a virtual

directory to the vod application that points to your web server's document root.

•If you want your web server to use the exact same settings as the Adobe Media Server pre-installed web server (or

you want to start with that and then customize it), start with the default Apache httpd.conf file that was included

with Adobe Media Server.

•Configure your web server so that it handles the correct MIME types. For example, add the video/x-flv MIME

type for *.flv files. For other MIME types, view the configuration file for the mod_mime_magic Apache module and

the installroot/Apache2.2/conf/mime.types file.

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Configuring Differentiated Services (DiffServ)

Flash Media Server 3.5.2

Understanding DiffServ

Use Differentiated Services to handle different types of traffic differently within a network. For example, you could give

RTMP traffic a higher priority than FTP traffic. Or, you could give higher bandwidth and latency to RTMP than to

HTTP. A publisher could choose to give paying customers' streams higher priority. A CDN or other hosting company

could choose to give higher-paying publishers' streams higher priority.Historically, IP contained a feature called Type

of Service (TOS) (see RFC 1349). Each packet's header contained a 3-bit Precedence value and three 1-bit flags. You

could use these bits to prioritize packets in an operating system kernel or router. IPv6 had an experimental (and now

deprecated) feature that provided for a 3-bit Priority, sent in the same header position as TOS precedence. This feature

was replaced by a TCLASS (later renamed TRAFFIC_CLASS) byte that works the same as IP_TOS in

IPv4.Differentiated Services (see RFC 2474) has replaced TOS with a single 6-bit value called DSCP (Differentiated

Services Code Point). In IPv6, the TCLASS octet has been renamed the DS octet, and the other 2 bits are reserved. In

IPv4, the TOS byte no longer has a name, and the other 2 bits are used for ECN (Explicit Congestion Notification).Edge

routers and endpoints can make decisions on a per-flow basis. They mark the packets within the flow so that internal

routers can look at the headers (as with TOS). DiffServ is defined such that edge routers can work entirely based on

service-level agreements (SLAs) between two networks, but internal sources can also mark packets based on the type

of service required for internal traffic.

DiffServ system requirements

Differentiated Services is supported on Linux only.There is no standard way of setting the bits on Windows platform

that would work on all versions of the operating system that Adobe Media Server supports. For more information on

setting Differentiated Services bits on Windows, see the following, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/248611.If you try

to set the bits on Windows, the following message prints to the Authorization log, “Setting Diff Serv bits is not

supported for Windows Platforms”.

DiffServ Internet Protocol versions

The Adobe Media Server Differentiated Services feature supports the IPv4 protocol only. Setting the bits for IPv4

protocol means setting the Differentiated Services field (previously called the Type of Service field) of the IP packet

header. The following is an IPv4 packet header:

0 1 2 3

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

| Identification |Flags| Fragment Offset |

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

| Time to Live | Protocol | Header Checksum |

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

| Source Address |

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

| Destination Address |

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

| Options | Padding |

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

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For IPv6, Linux provides no standard way to set the Differentiated Services field (which has been renamed TCLASS

field). If Adobe Media Server has IPv6 enabled and clients connect using an IPv6 address, setting bits on IPv6 clients

does not result in an error. However bits are not set.

Note: Although bits are not set, the server reports in the logs that bits were set successfully.

Unsupported operations

The following operations are not supported:

•Setting bits between an edge server and an origin server.

The connections made between an edge server and an origin server are not “normal” connections. These

connections are identified as “group” or “virtual”. To determine the connection type, call the Administration API

getNetStreamStats() command and look at the client_type property. Trying to set DiffServ bits on these

connections results in the following error message in the core log file, “Setting Diff Serv bits is not supported for

group, service or virtual connections”.

•Setting the ECN bits of a Differentiated Services field.

For example, if you try to set DiffServ bits to 50 with mask 255, the bits set are 48 with the following warning in the

AuthMessage log file, “ECN part of diffserv will not get set for diffserv bits 50 and mask 255”.

Configure DiffServ in the Server.xml file

Use the DiffServ and DiffServMask elements in the Server.xml configuration file to set DiffServ bits for all sockets

that connect to the RTMP listener. Bits are set for all sockets, including tunneling and HTTP proxy sockets. All the

outgoing packets on a socket are set, including the packets from the server that are exchanged during handshaking.

The following example sets DiffServ to 128 which sets the top 3 bits to 4. It sets the DiffServMask to 224 which turns

on the top 3 bits.

1Open the rootinstall/conf/Server.xml file in a text editor.

2Edit the Root/Server/ResourceLimits/Protocol/RTMP/DiffServ element:

3Edit the Root/Server/ResourceLimits/Protocol/RTMP/DiffServMask element:

4Save and validate the file.

5Restart the server.

Note: The server doesn’t log whether the bits are set successfully or not. To verify that the bits are set, use the

getNetStreamStats() Administration API.

Configuring DiffServ in an Authorization plug-in

Use the F_CLIENT_DIFFSERV_BITS field and the F_CLIENT_DIFFSERV_MASK field of the Authorization plug-in

to set Differentiated Services fields.The sample Authorization plug-in shipped with Adobe Media Server has got the

header file updated.The following example sets the bits in the Authorization plug-in:

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U8 dscpVal;

if(getU8Field(m_pAev, IAmsAuthEvent::F_CLIENT_DIFFSERV_BITS, dscpVal))

{

dscpVal = 0xFC;

bool res = setU8Field(m_pAev,

IAmsAuthEvent::F_CLIENT_DIFFSERV_BITS,

dscpVal);

}

U8 dscpMask;

dscpMask = 0xF0;

bool res = setU8Field(m_pAev,

IAmsAuthEvent::F_CLIENT_DIFFSERV_MASK,

dscpMask);

The following table shows how to use the mask and bits fields together to get the desired bit settings on the socket:

Set operations

Set bits in the following Authorization events: E_CONNECT and E_PLAY.You can set bits in the authorize()

method of the Authorization plug-in. You cannot set bits in the notify() method of the Authorization plug-in.

Get operations

Get bits in the following events: E_CONNECT, E_PLAY, and E_STOP.The get result on the

F_CLIENT_DIFFSERV_MASK field always returns the value 0xFC.

Logging

The following table lists error messages for normal connections:

No. Current value

on socket

DiffServ

bits

DiffServ mask New

value on

successf

ul set

Comment

1 0 50 252 48 ECN bits were masked.

2 0 100 252 100

3 0 255 255 252 Although ECN bits were not masked,

setting them is not allowed.

4 100 200 128 228 Mask allowed only MSB to be modified.

5 100 200 252 200 Mask allowed DSCP bits to be modified.

Condition Message Log file

Unable to set DSCP bits from the

Authorization plug-in.

While setting diff serv bits for uri %s: Unable

to set DiffServ field.

Core

Unable to query DSCP bits from the socket. While setting diff serv bits for uri %s: Unable

to get DiffServ field.

Core

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The following table lists error messages for tunneled connections:

The following table lists warning messages:

The following table lists info messages:

Verifying bits

To verify that bits are set on a socket, call the getNetStreamStats() Administration API in a browser:

http://<server>:<admin_port>/admin/getNetStreamStats?auser=<admin_user>&apswd=<admin_passwor

d>&appInst=<app_instance>&streamIds=-1

Setting DSCP bits for group/service/virtual

connections.

Setting Diff Serv bits is not supported for

group, service or virtual connections.

Core

Attempting to set DSCP values on Windows. Setting Diff Serv bits is not supported for

Windows Platforms.

Auth

Setting DSCP bits for an unknown type of

connection.

Setting Diff Serv bits (B: %d, M: %d) for this

connection (from ip: %S) is not supported.

Core

Condition Message Log file

Unable to set DSCP bits from the

Authorization plug-in.

While setting diff serv bits for uri %s: Unable

to set DiffServ field.

Edge

Unable to query DSCP bits from the socket. While setting diff serv bits for uri %s: Unable

to get DiffServ field.

Edge

A socket is being used for multiple sessions

and a session is trying to set the DSCP bits on

a socket that already has DSCP bits set by

another session.

Destination address %ls is being shared

among multiple net connections. Changing

the DSCP settings from the one for uri %ls to

the uri %ls.

Edge

Setting DSCP bits for group/service/virtual

connections.

Setting Diff Serv bits is not supported for

group, service or virtual connections.

Core

Attempting to set DSCP values on Windows. Setting Diff Serv bits is not supported for

Windows Platforms.

Auth

Setting DSCP bits for an unknown type of

connection.

Setting Diff Serv bits (B: %d, M: %d) for this

connection (from ip: %S) is not supported.

Core

Condition Message Log file

If ECN part of mask is ON for the bits

informed by the Authorization plug-in.

ECN part of diffserv will not get set for

diffserv bits %d and mask %d.

AuthMessage

Condition Message

DSCP bits are successfully set by the Authorization plug-

in.

While setting diff serv bits for uri %s:

Successfully set the diff serv bits (bits: %d,

mask: %d) for addr:port %S:%d and nc uri %s.

Current diff serv value is %d.

DSCP bits informed from the Authorization plug-in are

already set for RTMP.

Requested diff serv bits (bits: %d, mask: %d)

for addr:port %S:%d and nc uri %s already

set. Current diff serv value is %d.

Condition Message Log file

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The command results in output similar to following:

<level>status</level>

<code>NetConnection.Call.Success</code>

<data>

<_0>

<name>sample</name>

<type>playing recorded</type>

<client>BCAgYLpK</client>

<stream_id>BBAgYLpK</stream_id>

<client_type>normal</client_type>

<diffserv_bits>0xfc</diffserv_bits>

</_0>

</data>

</result>

The diffserv_bits element updates only when bits are set successfully.

Verifying bits in an RTMP stream

Suppose a client connects to the server and plays a stream. Suppose that the Authorization plug-in sets the bits twice,

first when the E_CONNECT event is received, and then when the E_PLAY event is received.When the stream is

playing, use Wireshark or a similar tool to capture the packets. When streaming stops, stop the capture and filter the

packets so that the source port is 1935 or whichever port is used for RTMP.After you capture at least one packet, right

click and select “Follow TCP stream” to filter all packets for that particular stream. Sort the packet based on time.If you

observe the packets from the beginning of the stream, the DiffServ field is 0 until the NetConnection response is sent

from the server. From the NetConnection response packet until the NetStream.Play.Reset or NetStream.Play.Start

packet, whichever is sent first, the bits are set to what was set in the E_CONNECT event. From this point, the bits are

set to what was set in the E_PLAY event.

Note: When you use the Server.xml file to set bits, even the packets sent from the server as part of handshaking have the

bits set.

Verifying bits in an RTMPT stream

RTMPT connections behave a bit differently than RTMP connections. When creating an RTMPT connection,

multiple sockets can open from the client-side. If you open multiple NetConnections from the same client, these

sockets are probably shared among the NetConnections.In such cases, the DSCP setting for a socket is the DSCP value

from the session that most recently had its DSCP bits set. The following is an example:Time t1: NetConnection nc1

connects and play starts. Its DSCP bits are set to 0x64. The NetConnection uses sockets s1, s2, and s3. All the sockets

have the DSCP bits set to 0x64.t2: NetConnection nc2 connects. The Authorization plug-in doesn’t set any DSCP bits.

The NetConnection uses sockets s2 and s4. Socket s2 has the DSCP value 0x64. Socket s4 has the default value (if

specified in the Server.xml file).t3: NetConnection nc2 starts playing. The Authorization plug-in sets the DSCP bits to

0x88. From now on, sockets s2 and s4 have the DSCP values 0x88, whether they are carrying packets for nc1 or nc2.t4:

NetConnection nc2 play stops. Nothing changes.

Last updated 8/21/2014

Chapter 3: Using the Administration

Console

Use the Adobe Media Server Administration Console to maintain the server, monitor applications, and manage users.

Application developers can also use the Administration Console to debug applications.

Connecting to the Administration Console

About the Administration Console

The Administration Console is an Adobe Flash Player application (ams_adminConsole.swf) that lets you manage the

server and view information about applications running on the server.

The Administration Console connects to Adobe Media Administration Server, which connects to Adobe Media

Server. To log in to the Administration Console, the Administration Server must be running.

By default, Adobe Media Administration Server in installed on port 1111. To change the port number of the

Administration Server after installation, edit the ams.ini file. Clients cannot access the Administration Server securely

(over RTMPS). As a result, Adobe recommends blocking port 1111 from external requests so that only clients within

your firewall can access the Administration Server.

Note: The Administration Console calls Administration APIs to inspect and manage the server. Use the Adobe Media

Server Administration API Reference to build your own administrative applications.

Connect to the Administration Console

There are two types of administrators: server administrators and virtual host (vhost) administrators. When you log in

to the Administration Console as a virtual host administrator, your session is specific to a virtual host, and you can

only manage applications running on that virtual host. Server administrators have access to all applications running

on the server.

1To open the Administration Console, do one of the following:

•On Windows, select Start > Programs > Adobe > Adobe Media Server 5.0 > Adobe Media Server

Administration Console.

•On Linux, open the ams_adminConsole.htm and ams_adminConsole.swf files in a browser with Flash Player.

•On Mac® OS, copy the ams_adminConsole.htm and ams_adminConsole.swf files to the Mac. Open the

ams_adminConsole.htm file in a web browser that has Flash Player installed.

If you installed Apache with Adobe Media Server, the ams_adminConsole.swf and ams_adminConsole.htm files

are located in the rootinstall/webroot folder. Otherwise, the ams_adminConsole.swf and ams_adminConsole.htm

files are located in the root installation folder.

2(Optional) Specify a server name. This name is an alias you can use to connect to a server quickly. The

Administration Console remembers the server address for this server name the next time the console is opened.

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3In the Server Address box, do one of the following:

•Type localhost if the server and the Administration Console are running on the same computer. If the

Administration Server is installed on a port other than 1111 (the default), you must enter the port number as

well; for example, localhost:1234. Entering localhost connects you to the default virtual host on this computer.

•To connect to a virtual host other than the default virtual host, enter the fully qualified host name (for example,

www.example.com). The host name must be mapped to a valid network IP address. To test this behavior on

Windows, you can edit your local hosts file at windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

•If you are connecting remotely by running the Administration Console on another computer, enter the server’s

name (AdobeMediaServer.myCompany.com) or the IP address and port number (12.35.06.78:1112) of the

Administration Server to which you want to connect. Ensure your computer has permission to connect to the

specified port on the other computer. Also, check that the Administration Server has not been configured to

prohibit connections from the specific domain or IP address you are using.

4Enter your username and password.

If you are the server administrator who installed the server, enter the administrator user name and password you

entered during installation. Otherwise, enter the username and password you received from the server

administrator.

Note: To reset a password, see “Delete administrator accounts and reset passwords” on page 92

For security reasons, the Administration Console does not save your password between sessions.

To log in to a virtual host that is not on the default adaptor, you must specify the name of the adaptor. For example,

when logging in to a virtual host on the adaptor _secondAdaptor_, the vhost administrator JLee would enter the

following information in the Username box: _secondAdaptor_/JLee.

5(Optional) Select the Remember My Password option.

6(Optional) Select the Automatically Connect Me option.

7(Optional) Click Revert to return the Administration Console to its default settings.

Reverting deletes all saved servers, user names, and passwords from the Administration Console. All custom

resizing within the Administration Console is restored to the original state. (The Revert button, however, does not

affect the server.)

8Click Login.

You can disconnect at any time by clicking Logoff.

Note: The color of the vertical bar in the upper-right corner (next to the question mark icon) indicates whether the

Administration Console is connected (green) or not connected (red) to a server.

Near the top of every screen of the Administration Console are two icons. Click the folder icon to display links to the

Adobe Media Server website and related resources. Click the question mark icon to display links to Adobe Media

Server Help.

To run the Administration Console from a computer other than the one in which the server is installed, copy

ams_adminConsole.htm and ams_adminConsole.swf to the other computer, or make sure that this file is in the

webroot directory so it can be accessed remotely. In both cases, verify that the Allow and Deny tags in the Users.xml

file allow the connection from the other computer’s IP address.

Change or pause the refresh rate

The information in the Administration Console panels refreshes every 5 seconds by default. You can change the

refresh rate to any time interval between 1 and 60 seconds, or pause refreshing at any time.

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Change the refresh rate of the Administration Console

❖Click the pop-up menu next to Refresh Rate (upper-right corner) and select a new time duration, such as 10

seconds.

Pause refreshing the Administration Console

1Click the pop-up menu next to Refresh Rate (upper-right corner), scroll down, and select Pause.

2Click Pause Refresh to continue.

A red border appears around the panels of the Administration Console to show that the refresh feature is paused.

3To start refreshing information again, click the pop-up menu and select a time duration.

Inspecting applications

View applications

After connecting to a server or virtual host, the Administration Console displays a panel that lists the currently running

application instances. From here, the state of an application can be monitored.

Use the View Applications panel to view, load, or unload application instances.

Note: If you add an application while the Administration service is running and the new application doesn't appear in

the Administration Console, move to another panel and then back to refresh the console.

Manually load an application instance in the Administration Console

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Enter the name and address of the server or virtual host to which you want to connect.

3Enter the administrator user name and password.

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4Click View Applications.

5Click New Instance.

6Select the application from the pop-up menu. (The application must already be configured on the server.)

7The Administration Console adds a default instance _definst_, which can be edited. Press Enter to submit the

name and start the application instance. To cancel, press Shift+Escape.

Reload an application instance in the Administration Console

Reload an application instance to reload the server-side scripts for the instance or to disconnect all of its users while

immediately allowing new connections.

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click View Applications.

3Select an application from the list.

4Click Reload (circular arrow icon to the right of the Performance tab).

View information about an application

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click View Applications.

3Select the application from the list. The following information is listed for the application on the different tabs:

•Log messages generated by the application instance on the server

•A list of clients connected to the application instance

•A list of active shared objects for the application instance

•A list of active streams for the application instance

•Information about the overall state of the selected application instance, such as total uptime or number of users

Sort applications list

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click View Applications.

3In the applications list, do one of the following:

•Click the Name column header to sort the applications list by name.

•Click the Clients column header to sort by client.

End an application instance

When an application instance is ended, all users are disconnected and all instance resources are released.

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click View Applications.

3Select an application from the list.

4Click Unload (stop icon to the right of the Performance tab)

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Viewing log messages for an application

The Administration Console Live Log panel displays log messages and trace() statements from server-side scripts

for the selected application instance. The information in this panel is updated whenever the application instance

generates a log message. (If the console refresh feature is paused, log messages are still received.)

Live Log panel

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click View Applications.

3Click Live Log.

4Select an application from the list.

5Type text in the Find text box and click Find Next. Use the Find Previous and Clear Log buttons as necessary.

Viewing active streams

Use the Administration Console Streams panel to view information about streams and to play streams.

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Streams panel

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click View Applications.

3Click Streams.

4Select an application from the list. The Streams panel displays the following information:

•Name: For NetStream streams, the name is the NetStream ID (a server-generated number). For a live stream

being published, the entry displays the live stream name. For a recorded steam, the entry displays the FLV or

MP3 filename; for example, flv:stream2.flv or mp3:sound.mp3. If a client requests the stream2.flv, there will be

two entries: one for flv:stream2.flv (stored) and one for the actual network stream going to the client.

•Type: A string that describes the type of stream, either stored, live, or NetStream.

5Select a stream to view its properties. The values of the properties are as follows:

•Name: The actual stream name, not streamID.

•Status: States if the stream is publishing, playing live, or playing recorded.

•Client: The client ID playing the stream.

•Time: The time that the client started playing the stream.

Note: If the stream type is available for debugging, the Administration Console displays its properties in the adjoining

panel. If the type is not available for debugging, an error message is displayed.

6Click Play Stream to start playing the selected stream in a separate window that is the size of the selected stream.

(The Play Stream button appears only if a debug connection is possible. Only named streams can be played.)

Viewing active clients

The Administration Console Clients panel lists detailed information about all clients connected to an application.

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Clients panel

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click View Applications.

3Click Clients.

4Select an application from the list. The following information is displayed:

•Client ID: The internal ID of the client; this represents a server-generated number that Adobe Media Server uses

to identify each client.

•Protocol: The connection protocol that the client uses, such as RTMP.

•Bytes In and Bytes Out: The average bytes per second being sent to and from the server. The Administration

Console calculates this ratio by dividing the total number of bytes received in the most recent 15 seconds by 15.

When the panel first appears, these figures appear as pending because there is only one data point to start with;

figures appear after the panel is open for 15 seconds.

•Connection Time: The date and time the client connected.

•Messages In and Messages Out: The number of messages sent to or from the client. Messages In reflects update

requests sent from clients to the server; Messages Out reflects notification of successful updates sent from the

server to connected clients.

•Drops: The number of messages dropped since the client connected. For live streams, audio, and video,

messages may be dropped; for recorded streams, only video messages are dropped. Command messages are

never dropped.

Viewing active shared objects

The Administration Console Shared Objects panel lists the active shared objects for an application and can be useful

when debugging an application. The information is automatically refreshed every 5 seconds, or click Refresh to refresh

at any time. The Administration Console displays the name, type (persistent or temporary), and connections (number

of users subscribed) of each shared object.

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Shared Objects panel

Note: The Administration Console was built using ActionScript 2.0 and cannot understand AMF3 data. Therefore, the

Administration Console cannot display data in remote shared objects in applications built in ActionScript 3.0 unless the

application sets the NetConnection.objectEncoding property to AMF0.

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click View Applications.

3Click Shared Objects.

4Select an application from the list.

5To display information about a shared object, click the object. The number of users currently connected to and

using the shared object is displayed, along with the data properties assigned to the shared object.

View performance information

The Administration Console Performance panel shows information about the overall state of the application instance.

The information is automatically refreshed every 5 seconds, or click Refresh to refresh at any time.

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Performance panel

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click View Applications.

3Click Performance.

4Select an application from the list. The following information is displayed:

•Clients: Information about clients connected to this application instance, including the total number of clients

who connected to the application instance since it started, active clients, and the number of users whose

attempts to connect to the application instance were rejected. (To determine why connections may have failed,

look at the Live Log panel under View Applications.)

•Lifespan: The length of time the application instance has been running and the date and time it began to run.

•Messages Per Second: The average number of messages (video frames, audio packets, and command messages)

sent per second.

•Bytes Per Second: The average number of bytes sent per second for this application instance. The

Administration Console calculates this ratio by determining the total number of bytes received in the most

recent 15 seconds and dividing that value by 15. When the panel first appears, these figures appear as pending

because there is only one data point to start with; figures appear after the panel is open for 15 seconds.

•Active Connections: The number of users currently connected to the application instance.

•Bandwidth: The amount of data that the application instance manages, including data sent, data received, and

the combined amount of data traffic.

•CPU and Memory Usage: The percentage of CPU and memory used by Adobe Media Server.

5Select and deselect checkboxes to customize the information displayed on the graphs. For example, in the

Bandwidth graph, select Total and deselect In and Out to show only the total amount of bandwidth used.

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Manage administrators

About administrator roles

Administrators are users who are allowed to log in to the Administration Console. There are two types of

administrators: server administrators and virtual host administrators.

Server administrators can control all virtual hosts and perform server-level tasks, such as restarting or shutting down

the server. Server administrators can access and perform all operations on all tabs.

Virtual host administrators can manage the applications on their virtual host—for example, they can reload or

disconnect applications. Virtual host administrators can access and perform operations on the View Applications tabs.

They cannot manage servers or administrative users.

Add administrators

Use the Administration Console to add server administrators

Note: You must be a server administrator (not a virtual host administrator) to access the Manage Users tab.

1Log in to the Administration Console as a server administrator.

2Select the Manage Users tab.

3Click New User.

4Enter the user name and password and click Save.

The Administration Console adds the new user and password to the Users.xml file. You do not need to restart either

server.

Edit the Users.xml file to add server administrators

1Open the rootinstall/conf/Users.xml file.

2Locate the UserList section.

3Add a new <User></User> section for each server administrator you want to add.

The User name attribute specifies the user name. The Password element specifies the password. The Allow, Deny,

and Order elements specify the hosts from which the administrator can connect to the Administration Console.

The following sample XML adds a user who can connect from any domain:

<Password encrypt="false">${SERVER.ADMIN_PASSWORD}</Password>

<Order>Allow,Deny</Order>

</User>

<Order>Allow,Deny</Order>

</User>

</UserList>

For more information, see the comments in the Users.xml file.

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4Validate the XML and save the Users.xml file.

Add virtual host administrators

1Open the Users.xml file in the root folder of the virtual host; for example,

rootinstall/conf/_defaultRoot_/www.sampleVhost.com/Users.xml. If the file doesn’t exist, copy the Users.xml file

from the rootinstall/conf folder.

2Locate the UserList section.

3Add a new <User></User> section for each virtual host administrator you want to add.

The User name attribute specifies the user name. The Password element specifies the password. The Allow, Deny,

and Order elements specify the hosts from which the administrator can connect to the Administration Console.

The following sample XML adds a user who can connect from any domain:

<Password encrypt="false">${SERVER.ADMIN_PASSWORD}</Password>

<Order>Allow,Deny</Order>

</User>

<Order>Allow,Deny</Order>

</User>

</UserList>

For more information, see the comments in the Users.xml file.

4Validate the XML and save the Users.xml file.

Delete administrator accounts and reset passwords

Only server administrators (not virtual host administrators) can perform operations on the Manage Users tab.

Passwords are stored as salted hashes in the rootinstall/conf/Users.xml configuration file.

Delete user account

1Log in to the Administration Console as a server administrator.

2Click Manage Users.

3Select a user.

4Click Delete This User Account On The Server.

5Confirm the action.

Reset user password

1Log in to the Administration Console as a server administrator.

2Click Manage Users.

3Select a user.

4Click Reset The Password For This User.

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5Enter a new password.

Use the command line to reset a user password

1Open a shell window.

2Go to the Adobe Media Server installation directory:

(Windows) C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 5.0

(Linux) /opt/adobe/fms

3Stop Adobe Media Server and Adobe Media Administration Server. See Start and stop the server.

4Enter one of the following:

•(Windows) amsadmin -console -user <username>

•(Linux) ./amsadmin -console -user <username>

Enter an eight character password.

Note: The password is not exposed because terminal echo is off.

Use the Administration API to reset a user password

❖Call the changePswd() API.

For more information about using the Administration API, see “Working with the Administration API” on

page 118.

Managing the server

Monitoring server performance

You can review the performance of individual servers or a group of servers using the Administration Console. The

servers are arranged in a tree structure.

A series of tabs is displayed along the top of the Manage Servers panel. From here, you can perform the following

actions:

•Review the performance statistics for the computer where the applications are running.

•Review information about connections to the server.

•Review information about the applications located on the server or virtual hosts.

•Review server licenses and, if necessary, add serial keys.

•Review the access log and server log.

The Servers panel occupies the left side of the screen in this section of the Administration Console. The panel lists the

servers and virtual hosts that you can access and manage.

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Manage Servers panel

Use the small buttons at the top and bottom of the panel to perform the following tasks:

•Add a new server to the list.

•Edit server login information (user name and password) and select options such as remembering the password and

automatically connecting when logging in to the server.

•Delete a server from the list.

•Connect to the selected server.

•Ping the server to verify that it is running.

•Restart the server or a virtual host.

•Run garbage collection to clear unused server resources, such as streams and application instances, from memory.

(Automatic garbage collection intervals can be set in the Server.xml and VHost.xml configuration files.)

•Stop a server or virtual host.

Viewing server details

The Administration Console Details panel displays live information for the server.

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click Manage Servers.

3Click Details.

4Select a server from the list. The following information is displayed:

•Total number of current clients

•Life span of the server

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•Graphical displays of active connections, bandwidth resources consumed, and CPU and memory resources

consumed

Viewing connection details

The Administration Console Connections panel lists all client connections to the selected server.

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click Manage Servers.

3Click Connections.

Select a server from the list. The following information is displayed for each client accessing the server or virtual host:

•Server name

•If connection has been made

•Number of connections

•Number of disconnections

•Number of bytes in and out

•Number of messages dropped

Viewing application details

The Administration Console Applications panel displays detailed information for all the applications running on the

selected server or virtual host.

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click Manage Servers.

3Click Applications.

4Select a server from the list. The name of each application, along with the following information, is displayed:

•Server name

•Application name

•Number of instances of the application that have been loaded on and unloaded from the server

•Number of users that are connected

•Number of users that have connected and disconnected

•Number of instances currently active

•Number of instances that have been unloaded from the server

•Total number of connections that have been accepted or rejected for each application

Viewing license files

The Administration Console License panel is where you add serial keys. The panel also displays detailed information

for all serial keys authorizing you to run Adobe Media Server on the selected server. The lower frame displays

information about custom licenses.

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click Manage Servers.

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3Click License.

4Select a server from the list. For each license, the following information is displayed:

•The individual serial key number

•Authorized peak number of client connections

•Bandwidth cap

•Whether the license is valid (true) or not (false)

Note: Your organization may have more than one license, so note the capacity totals listed near the bottom of the

Administration Console.

Add a serial key

Add serial keys in the Administration Console License panel.

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click Manage Servers.

3Click License.

4Enter the serial key number in the text boxes at the bottom of the Administration Console.

5Click Add Serial Key.

6Restart the server.

Note: Serial numbers that are added manually (that is, added by editing configuration files directly) to either ams.ini or

the <LicenseInfo> tag of the Server.xml file cannot be removed using the Administration Console. Only serial numbers

that are added using the Administration Console can be deleted using the Administration Console.

View the access log file

The Administration Console Server Log panel displays messages that are written to the access log.

1Follow the steps in “Connect to the Administration Console” on page 82.

2Click Manage Servers.

3Click Server Log.

4Select a server from the list.

5To locate a specific string, type it in the Find text box and click Find Next. Use the Find Previous and Clear Log

buttons as necessary.

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Chapter 4: Monitoring and Managing Log

Files

Adobe Media Server has a variety of log files to help you manage and troubleshoot the server. The log files track server

activity, such as who is accessing the server, how users are working with applications, and general diagnostics. Logs are

in W3C format. Administrators can use standard parsing tools to parse the log files.

Working with log files

About log files

The server maintains several different types of logs. The server outputs statistics about client connections and stream

activity to access logs. The server also maintains diagnostic logs and application logs for application activities.

access.XX.log Tracks information about users accessing the server.

application.XX.log Tracks information about activities in application instances.

diagnostic logs Track information about server operations.

Note: In Adobe Flash Player 9 Update 3, Flash Player no longer notifies the server about pause events.

Configuration files for logging

Use the Server.xml and Logger.xml configuration files to configure logging. The Server.xml file contains a Logging

section that controls logging behavior for the entire server. The Logging section includes an Enable tag that

determines whether the server logs events. The Logging section also contains a Scope tag that determines whether the

server writes separate log files for each virtual host or one file for the entire server. The location of each log file is

determined by the Directory and FileName tags in the Logger.xml files.

If the Scope tag is set to server, the Logger.xml file in the rootinstall/conf folder determines the logging configuration

for the whole server.

If the Scope tag is set to vhost, you can place Logger.xml files in virtual host root folders to control the behavior of

each virtual host. If the Scope tag is set to vhost and a virtual host Logger.xml file doesn’t exist, the root Logger.xml

file controls the logging behavior. If the Scope tag is set to server, virtual host Logger.xml files are ignored.

For more information, see comments in the Server.xml and Logger.xml files installed in the rootinstall/conf directory.

Working with web server log files

Adobe Media Server installs with the Apache HTTP Server.

The default location of the ApachAdobe Mediae log files is RootInstall/Apache2.2/logs. The logs are in the default

Apache error and combined access log formats. To change the location of the log files, edit the

RootInstall/Apache2.2/conf/httpd.conf file.

The Apache logs are named access_log and error_log. Adobe Media Server handles log rotation for the Apache logs.

For more information about Apache log files, see the Apache documentation at www.apache.org.

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Rotating and backing up log files

Log files grow larger over time, but there are methods for managing log file size.

One option is to rotate log files, moving or deleting the oldest files. Use the rotation element in the Logger.xml file

to specify a rotation schedule for log files. Two types of rotation schedules can be established. The first option is to set

a daily rotation at a certain time. For example, setting daily at 00:00 rotates files every 24 hours at midnight.

Alternatively, set a rotation that occurs when the log exceeds a specified length. Name, maximum file size in kilobytes,

and maximum number of log files to keep can also be customized using the rotation element. For an example, see

the Logger.xml file installed in the /conf directory.

Note: Log file rotation cannot be disabled. However, you can set values in the Logger.xml configuration files that

effectively turn off rotation. Choose a large value for the MaxSize tag. Set the Schedule type to "duration" and choose

a long maximum duration. For more information about the Logger.xml configuration files, see “Configuration files for

logging” on page 97.

You can write an operating system script to delete or back up the log regularly. For important log files, move the log

directory to a backup location. You can move the current active file; the server creates a new file on the next log event.

Access logs

Reading access logs

The access log records information about requests by Flash Player and Adobe Media Server application instances.

Using these logs, you can find out about various events, such as when a user connected to the server, how much total

bandwidth was consumed during the session, and which streams were accessed by the connection (and similar

resource information). You can use the status codes associated with specific events to troubleshoot event failures. You

can also use this information to determine which applications are used most.

The default access log is access.xx.log, which is located in the RootInstall/logs directory. The default configuration

creates a single access log per server. You can also configure the server to create a separate file per virtual host. When

logging is configured on a per-virtual-host basis, all logs for a particular virtual host are found in a subdirectory within

the logs directory. The name of the subdirectory matches the virtual host name. Substitution strings can be found in

the [] brackets, with YYYY, MM, DD, and NN representing year, month, date, and version, respectively. You can use

the substitution string to customize the filename of the access log. (For example, access.[YYYYMMDDNN].log could

be named access.2007052401.log.) To configure the server to create separate log files for each virtual host, set the value

of the Scope tag in the Server.xml file to “vhost.” (This is a separate scope tag just for logging.)

Adobe Media Server defines event categories, and for each category, it defines events that can be recorded. Logging

can be customized to record all events or only specific events by editing the <Events> and <Fields> elements in the

Logger.xml file.

Logging events periodically for live and 24/7 applications

Many companies use statistics from the access log to bill customers. If your programming includes live events or 24/7

programming, the events you need to calculate billing might not occur within a billing cycle. To solve this problem,

you can enable checkpoint events. Checkpoint events log bytes periodically from the start to the end of an event. You

can configure how often the server logs checkpoint events. The following are available as checkpoint events: connect-

continue, play-continue, and publish-continue. For information about configuring checkpoint events, see

“Enable checkpoint logging events” on page 45.

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Access events defined in access logs

Event Category Description

connect-pending session Client connects to the server, waiting for the client to be authenticated.

connect session Client connects to the server.

disconnect session Client disconnects.

connect-continue session A checkpoint event that provides updates of a corresponding connect event at

intervals. Use the c-client-id field to find the corresponding connect event.

publish stream Client publishes a live stream.

unpublish stream Client unpublishes a live stream.

publish-continue stream A checkpoint event that provides updates of a corresponding publish event at

intervals. Use the x-sid field (stream id) and the c-client-id field to find the

corresponding publish event.

play stream Client plays a stream.

play-continue stream A checkpoint event that provides updates of a corresponding play event at intervals.

Use the x-sid field (stream id) with the c-client-id field to find the corresponding play

event.

pause stream Client pauses stream.

unpause stream Client resumes playing stream.

client-pause stream Client pauses a stream but the server still sends data to the client so the player has

enough data to play when the client unpauses. This type of pause is called a “smart

pause”. Smart pause requires Flash Player 9,0,115,0 and Adobe Media Server 3 and

later. The stream position is logged in the “c-spos” field.

client-unpause stream Client smart unpauses a stream. The stream position is logged in the “c-spos” field.

seek stream Client seeks in a stream and NetStream.inBufferSeek=false. Also fires when

NetStream.inBufferSeek=true and the client seeks outside the buffer.

client-seek stream The seek position when the client seeks within the buffer when

NetStream.inBufferSeek=true (called a “smart seek”). If a client seeks outside

the buffer, the client sends a “seek” event. The stream position is logged in the “c-

spos” field.

stop stream Client stops playing or publishing a stream.

record stream Client begins recording a stream.

recordstop stream Client stops recording a stream.

server-start sever The server has started.

server-stop server The server has stopped.

vhost-start server A virtual host has started.

vhost-stop server A virtual host has stopped.

registry.start registry The registry has started.

registry.stop registry The registry has stopped.

service.start registry A service has started.

service.stop registry A service has stopped.

app-start application An application instance has started.

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Fields in access logs

Note: When the data for this field contains a space or delimiter, the data is wrapped in double quotation marks. The

double quotation marks surrounding the data are not part of the data, but are present for better parsing of the data. This

applies to the tz, x-ctx, x-adaptor, x-vhost, s-uri, c-referrer, c-user-agent, cs-bytes, sc-bytes, and x-

sname fields.

The following formats apply to the fields in the table below:

For date: YYYY-MM-DD

For time: hh:mm:ss

For time zone: string such as “UTC,” “Pacific Daylight Time,” or “Pacific Standard Time”

app-stop application An application instance has stopped.

service.request registry A service request has been made.

debug-pending session A debug request is pending.

debug-approved session A debug request has been approved.

filenametransform authorization A virtual stream path has been mapped to a physical location. This event occurs if an

Authorization plug-in is present to handle the event.

loadsegment stream A stream segment has loaded.

action application An action has occurred.

codec stream A codec has changed.

Authconnect authorization Client connects to server. This event occurs if an Authorization plug-in is present to

handle the event.

Authplay authorization Client plays a stream. This event occurs if an Authorization plug-in is present to

handle the event.

Authpublish authorization Client publishes a live stream. This event occurs if an Authorization plug-in is present

to handle the event.

Authseek authorization Client jumps to a new location within a recorded stream. This event occurs if an

Authorization plug-in is present to handle the event.

AuthRecord authorization Client begins recording a stream. This event occurs if an Authorization plug-in is

present to handle the event.

start-transmit stream The server received a “startTransmit” command. This command asks the server to

transmit more data because the buffer is running low.

stop-transmit stream The server received a “stopTransmit” command. This command asks the server to

suspend transmission until the client sends a “startTransmit” event because there is

enough data in the buffer.

Field Description

x-event Type of event.

x-category Event category.

date Date of the event.

time Time the event occurred.

Event Category Description

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tz Time zone information.

x-ctx Event-dependent context information.

s-ip IP address or addresses of the server.

x-pid Server process ID.

x-cpu-load CPU load.

x-mem-load Memory usage (as reported by the getServerStats() method).

x-adaptor Adaptor name.

x-vhost Virtual host name.

x-app Application names.

x-appinst Application instance name.

x-duration Duration of a stream or session event. For a stream, this value is the number of seconds the stream has

played. For a session, this value is the number of seconds the client has been connected.

x-status For a complete description of the x-status codes and descriptions, see “Event status codes in access logs”

on page 103.

c-ip Client IP address.

c-proto Connection protocol.

c-proto-ver Connection protocol version.

s-uri URI of the Adobe Media Server application.

cs-uri-stem The stem portion of the s-uri field.

cs-uri-query The query portion of the s-uri field.

c-referrer URI of the referrer.

c-user-agent User agent.

c-client-id Client ID.

cs-bytes This field shows the number of bytes transferred from the client to the server.

This information can be used to bill customers per session. To calculate the bandwidth usage per session,

subtract cs-bytes in the “connect” event from cs-bytes in the “disconnect” event.

sc-bytes This field shows the number of bytes transferred from the server to the client.

This information can be used to bill customers per session. To calculate the bandwidth usage per session,

subtract sc-bytes in the “connect” event by sc-bytes in the “disconnect” event

c-connect-type Type of connection received by the server:

Normal: Connection from a client, such as Flash Player

Group: Connection between an edge and an origin server

Virtual: Client connection that goes through an edge server, using the group connection between the

servers for transmission

x-sname Stream name.

x-sname-query Query portion of the stream URI specified in the call to play or publish.

x-suri-query Same as x-sname-query.

Field Description

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x-suri-stem This is a composite field: cs-uri-stem + x-sname + x-file-ext.

x-suri This is a composite field: cs-uri-stem + x-sname + x-file-ext + x-sname-query.

x-file-name Full path of the file representing the x-sname stream.

x-file-ext Stream type (FLV, MP3, or MP4).

x-file-size Stream size, in bytes.

x-file-length Stream length, in seconds.

x-spos Stream position, in milliseconds.

cs-stream-bytes This field shows the number of bytes transferred from the client to the server per stream.

To calculate the bandwidth usage per stream, subtract cs-stream-bytes in the “publish” event from cs-

stream-bytes in the “unpublish” event.

sc-stream-bytes This field shows the number of bytes transferred from the server to the client per stream. This value can

be less than sc-bytes which is the total number of bytes transferred from the server to the client. When

possible, use sc-bytes for billing.

To calculate the bandwidth usage per stream, subtract sc-stream-bytes in the “play” event from sc-

stream-bytes in the “stop” event.

The value of sc-stream-bytes can be greater than x-file-size after streaming files not encoded in FLV

format, such as MP3 files.

Note: The value of sc-stream-bytes is not necessarily the same as the value of the QoS ByteCount property.

x-service-name Name of the service providing the connection (only applicable to certain connection types).

x-sc-qos-bytes Number of bytes sent to the client for quality of service.

x-comment Comments.

x-sid The ID of a stream. This ID is unique for the client session but not across sessions.

x-trans-sname The name of the stream that the server transitions from (the original stream).

x-trans-sname-query The query stream portion of the stream name for the stream that the server transitions from.

x-trans-file-ext The file extension portion of the stream name for the stream that the server transitions from.

x-plugin Name of the plug-in. This field is only available in authorization (auth-) events.

x-page-url The URL of the web page in which the client SWF file is embedded.

x-smax-rec-size The maximum file size of a recorded stream.

x-smax-rec-duration The maximum duration of a recorded stream.

x-trans-mode The transition mode sent by the client in the NetStream.play2() call.

x-soffset When a stream is reconnected, the offset value indicates where to resume streaming.

c-spos The client stream position when a “client-pause” or “client-seek” event is logged.

c-proto-ver The RTMPE version. For all other types of RTMP, this field is empty.

x-eid An event ID received by Authorization plug-in. This event is visible only in the auth.log file. This field is

empty in the access.log file.

Field Description

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Event status codes in access logs

The Event status codes are based on HTTP response codes.

x-codec-type Codec type of the frame retrieved in the Authorization plug-in’s E_CODEC event. This event is visible only

in the auth.log file. This field is empty in the access.log file.

x-codec-value Codec value of the “x-codec-type” retrieved in the Authorization plug-in’s E_CODEC_CHANGE event. This

event is visible only in the auth.log file. This field is empty in the access.log file.

x-forwarded-for A string inserted by an HTTP proxy that usually contains the IP address of the originating client. This string

can contain several IP address or other values. Adobe Media Server copies the string and reports it

unchanged. For more information, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Forwarded-For.

Field Symbol Status Code Description

connect pending status_continue 100 Waiting for the application to authenticate.

disconnect status_admin_command 102 Client disconnected due to admin command.

disconnect status_shutdown 103 Client disconnected due to server shutdown (or

application unloaded).

connect, publish, unpublish, play,

record, record stop, stop

status_OK 200 Successful.

play, stop status_transition 210 A transition between streams has occurred.

connect status_unavailable 302 Application currently unavailable.

connect, publish, play status_bad_request 400 Bad request; invalid parameter or client

connected to server using an unknown

protocol.

connect, play, publish status_unauthorized 401 Connection rejected by application script or

access denied by application.

connect status_forbidden 403 Connection rejected by Authorization plug-in

or connection rejected due to invalid URI.

connect, play object_not_found 404 Application or stream not found.

play client_disconnect 408 Stream stopped because client disconnected.

connect, publish status_conflict 409 Resource limit exceeded or stream is already

being published. Can also mean that a change

has been made by the Authorization plug-in.

connect status_lic_limit_exceeded 413 License limit exceeded.

play, publish unsupported_type 415 Unsupported media type.

disconnect data_exceeded 416 Message queue too large; disconnect the client.

connect chunkstream_error 417 Unable to process unknown data type.

disconnect cannot_broadcast 418 Client does not have privilege to broadcast.

disconnect cannot_screenshare 419 License to receive screen sharing video failed.

disconnect remote_link_closed 420 Close downstream connection.

Field Description

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connect process_msg_failed 422 Unable to process message received when

client connection was in pending or closed

state.

disconnect process_msg_exception 423 Error handling message.

disconnect process_remote_msg_failed 424 Expected response not provided when

command was issued.

disconnect process_admin_msg_failed 425 Expected response not provided when issued

an admin command.

disconnect process_rtmp_S2S_msg_failed 426 Expected response not provided when

command issued.

disconnect write_error 427 Client is not connected or client terminated;

unable to write data.

disconnect invalid_session 428 Client connection invalid; closed due to

inactive or idle status.

disconnect gc_client 429 Unable to obtain ping response or client states

not connected.

disconnect remote_onstop 430 Upstream connection closed.

disconnect remote_on_client_disconnect 431 Upstream connection closed because the last

client disconnected.

disconnect gc_idle_client 432 Adobe Media Server autoclose feature

automatically closed the connection.

disconnect swf_hash_fail 433 SWF verification failure.

disconnect swf_hash_timeout 434 SWF verification timeout.

disconnect encoding_mismatch_error 435 Client disconnected due to incompatibility with

object encoding.

disconnect invalid_client 437 Client connects and fails to perform the

standard RTMP handshaking.

play invalid_transition 438 Client attempted to play a non-existent file

during dynamic streaming.

disconnect swf_hash_wrong_version 439 This version of SWF Verification version is not

allowed.

stop live_stream_destroyed 440 A call to Stream.destroy() destroyed an

instance of the server-side Stream class.

Publishers are disconnected and recordings are

stopped.

disconnect, play server_internal_error 500 Server internal error.

connect bad_gateway 502 Bad gateway.

connect service_unavailable 503 Service unavailable; for instance, too many

connections pending for authorization by

access module.

disconnect js_disconnect 600 Application disconnect.

disconnect js_close_previous_client 601 Network connection was closed or reused.

Field Symbol Status Code Description

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Application logs

Application log file

The application log records information about activities in application instances. This log is used primarily for

debugging (logging uncommon events that occur in an application instance).

The default application log is application.xx.log, located in the subdirectory within the Adobe Media Server logs

directory. Adobe Media Server is configured, by default, to create one application log per application instance. The

application folder is located in the matching virtual host directory. The “xx” in the filename is a two-digit number

representing the history of the application log. The most recent logs can be found in application.00.log.

Fields in application logs

disconnect js_exception 602 An unknown exception is thrown from the JS

engine.

disconnect js_chunkstream_error 603 Bad application data.

disconnect js_debug_forbidden 604 Application does not allow debug connections.

play js_gc_object 605 ~fcstreamjshook() clean up.

Field Event(s) Description

date All Date of the event.

time All Time of the event.

x-pid All Server process ID.

x-status All Status code: The code is a 10-character string that represents the severity, category, and

message ID.

The first three characters represent severity, as follows:

(w) = warning

(e) = error

(i) = information

(d) = debug

(s) = trace from server-side script

(_) = unknown

The next three characters represent the category. All categories are listed in “Status

categories in diagnostic logs” on page 106.

The last four characters represent message ID. All message IDs are listed in “Diagnostic

logs” on page 106.

x-ctx All Event-dependent context information.

Field Symbol Status Code Description

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Diagnostic logs

Diagnostic log file

The diagnostic log records information about Adobe Media Server operations (this is in addition to the information

logged by the operating system). This log is used primarily for debugging (logging uncommon events that occur in

Adobe Media Server processes).

The default diagnostic logs are master.xx.log, edge.xx.log, core.xx.log, admin.xx.log, and httpcache.xx.log. All the

diagnostic logs are located in the Adobe Media Server logs directory. Adobe Media Server is configured, by default, to

create a diagnostic log for each type of process. The “xx” in the filename is a two-digit number representing the version

of the log.

For a list of messages that appear in the diagnostic log files, see “Diagnostic logs” on page 106.

Fields in diagnostic logs

Status categories in diagnostic logs

Field Event(s) Description

date All Date on which the event occurred.

time All Time at which event occurred.

x-pid All Server process ID.

x-status All Status code: The code is a 10-character string that represents the severity, category, and

message ID.

The first three characters represent severity, as follows:

(w) = warning

(e) = error

(i) = information

(d) = debug

(s) = trace from server-side script

(_) = unknown

The next three characters represent category. All categories are listed in “Status categories

in diagnostic logs” on page 106.

The last four characters represent the message ID.

x-stx All Event-dependent context information.

Category Description

257 TCService

258 TCServer

259 Presence

260 Storage

261 Stream

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262 SMTP

263 Adaptor

264 JavaScript

265 TCApplication

266 TCConnector

267 Admin

268 SharedObject

269 Configuration

270 VirtualHost

271 SSL

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Chapter 5: Administering the server

Perform regular administrative tasks to keep the server running smoothly.

Start and stop the server

Start and stop the server on Windows

Use one of the following methods to shut down or restart the server.

Start the server from the Start menu

❖Do one of the following:

•Choose Start > All Programs > Adobe > Adobe Media Server 5 > Start Adobe Media Server 5

•Choose Start > All Programs > Adobe > Adobe Media Server 5 > Start Adobe Media Administration Server 5

Stop the server from the Start menu

❖Do one of the following:

•Choose Start > All Programs > Adobe > Adobe Media Server 5 > Stop Adobe Media Administration Server 5

•Choose Start > All Programs > Adobe > Adobe Media Server 5 > Stop Adobe Media Server 5

Start, stop, or restart the server from the Services window

1Choose Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.

2Do one of the following:

•Select Adobe Media Server from the Services list and click Stop, Start, or Restart.

•Select Adobe Media Administration Server from the Services list and click Stop, Start, or Restart.

Start and stop the server on Linux

Start, stop, or restart Adobe Media Server using amsmgr

1Log in as a root user.

2Change to the directory where the server is installed.

3Open a shell window and type one of the following:

•./amsmgr server start

•./amsmgr server stop

•./amsmgr server restart

Start, stop, or restart the Administration Server using amsmgr

1Log in as a root user.

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2Change to the directory where the server is installed.

3Open a shell window and type one of the following:

•./amsmgr adminserver start

•./amsmgr adminserver stop

•./amsmgr adminserver restart

Start, stop, or restart Adobe Media Server using the command line

1* cd /<the directory where Adobe Media Server is installed>.

2Enter ./server [start | stop | restart]

Start, stop, or restart the Administration Server using the command line

1* cd /<the directory where Adobe Media Server is installed>.

2Enter ./adminserver [start | stop | restart]

For more information about using amsmgr, see “Managing the server on Linux” on page 115.

Checking server status

View server events in the Windows Event Viewer

The Windows Event Viewer can be used for tracking Adobe Media Server activity and debugging server applications.

The Event Viewer displays a list of events that the server generates. (The following steps are accurate if you are working

directly on the server. To view the events from another Windows machine, use Event Viewer to open a remote

connection to the server.)

1From the Windows Start menu, select Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer.

2Select the Application panel.

3Double-click an event generated by Adobe Media Server to view details.

Check server health

AMSCheck is a command line utility program that can be used to diagnose and determine server status. The tool is

available for both Windows and Linux using different executable files. As a command line tool, AMSCheck is

completely scriptable using the language of your choice, such as Cscript, bash, C shell, or Python. AMSCheck provides

information about whether the server is running or not, what the response time is, and which amscore processes are

not responding. A small video file for testing is included. The Users.xml file must be configured to accept a connection

from this tool (this configuration is required to use --allapps and its dependent commands).

When the tool connects to Adobe Media Server, it does the following:

•Checks the connection to any instance of an application

•Checks all active instances of the server by connecting to those applications

•Can publish and play a stream

•Can play the available server-side stream for an application

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Note: Currently, AMSCheck only supports RTMP connections and does not check for shared objects.

AMSCheck commands and options

Option Description

--host <hostname> Required; tells the program where to connect the server. Example: --host localhost

--port <number> Port number is optional. The default value is 1935. Example: --port 1935

--app <app> Allows the program to connect to an application. Administrator must specify the application.

Example: --app app1/inst1

--allapps Queries the Administration Server for active instances and makes a connection to each active

instance. In this case, the administrator must use the --auser, --apswd, and --

ahostport options in order to log in to the Administration Server. The administrator must

configure Users.xml to accept connections from this program. This command can take time

to finish; verify that the timeout value is adequate.

--help Displays Help for using AMSCheck.

--logfile <file> Allows the program to output a response to a file. If this option is not specified, a result

cannot be provided. Example: --logfile output.log

--play <name> [start [duration]] Instructs the program to play video files. Options are start and duration.

Values for start and duration must be in positive numbers or 0 and represent the number

of seconds. The default value of start is any, which plays the file from the beginning. The

default value of duration is 1 second. You can specify all to play the entire file. You cannot

give the play and publish commands at the same time.

Example: --play foo 10 5

--publish <name> <duration>

[record|append]

Publishes files to the server. This command must be used along with --pubfile.

The duration parameter is required; only a positive number, zero, or all is allowed.

Both record and append are optional. If neither is specified, the default behavior is to

record. If the file already exists and record is used, the existing file is overwritten. After the file

is published, it is automatically played to verify the success of the publish operation.

Example: --publish foo -1

--pubfile <file> Specifies a filename. This command must be used with --publish. Specify the name of the

input video file residing on the client side, the name of the output file to be created on server

side, and the duration.

Example: --pubfile input.flv --publish output 10

--parallel [<max>] Allows the program to play multiple applications at the same time. This command is used

with --allapps. If there is more than one application, tests are run on each application

serially (connect to the first application, run test, connect to the second application, run test,

and so on). Running parallel without specifying max tests every application in parallel.

However, if there is a large number of applications, running all of them in parallel may not be

desirable. Indicate the maximum number of applications that can be run in parallel by

specifying a value for max. For example, to run 10 tests in parallel, use the following:

--parallel 10

--stagger <sec> Inserts a pause between tests. This command is used along with --parallel. The value of

<sec> is in seconds, and the default value is 1 second. If you specify a very long stagger time

(longer than the duration of the test), then you are effectively running in serial mode.

Example: --stagger 2

--query <" "> Allows you to input your own string for special purposes, such as authentication. Example:

rtmp://host/app/inst?foo=abcd

--timeout <sec> Specifies a timeout value, in seconds. If the program does not receive a response from the

server within this interval, an error is returned.

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Usage examples for Windows:

•* amscheck.exe --host localhost --app app1 --logfile output.txt

•* amscheck.exe --host localhost --app app1 --play foo 0 10 --logfile output.txt

•* amscheck.exe --host localhost --app app1 --pubfile foo.flv --publish bar 10 --logfile

output.txt

•* amscheck.exe --host localhost --allapps --auser admin --apswd admin --parallel 10 --

stagger 2 --timeout 100 logfile output.txt

All of the Windows examples can be adapted to Linux by using * ./amscheck instead of * amscheck.exe.

AMSCheck return codes

Return codes for the AMSCheck tool report the status after the tool has been run.

Checking video files

Checking FLV files created or modified with third-party tools

Third-party tools are available to create and modify FLV files, but some of the tools create files that do not comply with

the FLV standard. Common problems include bad timestamps in the FLV file, invalid onMetaData messages, bad

message headers, and corrupted audio and video. The FLVCheck tool can be used to analyze FLV files before they are

deployed on Adobe Media Server. In addition, the tool can also add or update metadata to reflect file duration

correctly. The tool verifies that metadata is readable, specifies an accurate duration, and checks that the FLV file is

seekable by Adobe Media Server. The tool supports unicode filenames.

amscheck -v Prints a version string.

--auser <username> Specifies a user name for the Administration Server user. Example: --auser admin

--apswd <password> Specifies a password for the Administration Server. Example: --apswd admin

--ahostport <port> Specifies the Administration Server port number. If the port number is not specified in the

command line, the default port is 1111. Example: --ahostport 1111

Code Status

0Success.

-1 Invalid command line argument.

-2 File not found.

-3 Connection failed.

-4 Operation timed out.

-5 Play failed.

-6 Publish failed.

-7 At least one application failed.

Option Description

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Note: The FLVCheck tool does not correct FLV file content corruption. The tool does fix metadata by scanning the

Duration and Can Seek To End metadata fields. The tool can then merge the server metadata with the data present in

the file.

Checking other video files

Adobe Media Server supports playback and recording of H.264-encoded video and HE-AAC-encoded audio within

an MPEG-4–based container format. A subset of the MPEG-4 standards are supported. All MP4 files and Adobe F4V

files are part of the supported subset.

For MPEG-4–based container formats, use the FLVCheck tool to verify that the server can play back your files.

Note: The FLVCheck tool does not correct corrupted H.264-encoded files or make any other fixes to MP4/F4V files.

Check a video file with the FLVCheck tool

The FLVCheck tool is a command line program; the executable is named flvcheck.

1Open your operating system’s command prompt and change directories to RootInstall/tools.

2Use the following syntax to run the FLVCheck tool:

flvcheck [-option] <file ...>

For example, to check two files:

flvcheck -f abc.flv ../test/123.flv

The following table describes the command line options available.

Option Description

-f [ --file ] file ... Specifies the path to the video file(s) being checked. Relative paths may be used. (Avoid

using the “\\xd3 character; try the “/” character instead.)

-v [--verbose] Sets the verbose flag.

-V [ --version ] Prints version information.

-n [ --nobanner ] Turns off header.

-h [ --help ] Provides a description of options and an example.

-d [ --duration ] Specifies the margin of error, in seconds, that FLVCheck reports. (The default is 2 seconds.)

When validating metadata, the absolute difference between metadata_duration and

actual_duration is calculated and compared against the margin specified in this

command. If the margin is exceeded, the server logs a warning that the metadata duration

is incorrect. If the margin has not been exceeded, nothing will be logged.

To get the exact duration, specify -d 0.

-q [ --quiet ] Specifies that only the status code, not the text output, be returned. The --help option

overrides this option.

-w [ --warnings] Display warnings.

-W [--warnings_as_errors] Treat warnings as errors.

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3If the FLVCheck tool finds no errors in the FLV file, the status code returned is 0. If there are one or more errors,

a positive number indicating the total number of invalid files found is returned. If a return code of -1 is returned,

an invalid command-line parameter was specified.

Errors and warnings are logged in a log file (stdout).

4(FLV files only) If an error is returned from an FLV file due to a metadata error, you can use the tool to try to correct

the problem. Try the following:

aUse the -m option to try to fix the metadata in the file:

flvcheck -m <file> [-quiet] [-help]

bUse the -d option to change the duration field margin of error. The duration field in the metadata may be

inaccurate by a few seconds. For example, flvcheck -f abc.flv -d 5 would allow the metadata duration to

be inaccurate +/- 5 seconds.

Other types of errors cannot be fixed using the FLVCheck tool. MP4/F4V files cannot be fixed using the

FLVCheck tool.

FLVCheck errors

If an error is found, the error is logged to the stdout file in the following format: Date, Time, ErrorNumber,

ErrorMessage, and FileName. The possible error numbers, types of errors, and messages are as follows.

-s [ --fixvideostall ] Fix a stall in video playback (FLV only).

-u [ --usage ] Displays an example and information about command-line parameters.

-m [ --fixmeta ] (FLV files only) If a metadata tag is corrupted, creates a new copy of the original FLV file in

the same directory as the original, with corrected metadata. (If the file contains no errors, a

backup file is not created.) Only the Duration and Can Seek To End metadata fields are

corrected.

Error numbers Error type Error messages

-2 General Invalid file system path specified.

-3 General File not found.

-4 General Cannot open file.

-5 General File read error.

Adobe Media Server cannot read the file, indicating that the encoding of part or all

of the file is not compatible with the codecs that are supported.

-6 General Cannot create corrected file.

This error occurs if you run the tool with the -m option set, but the tool cannot create

a file with corrected metadata.

-7 FLV Invalid FLV signature.

-8 FLV Invalid FLV data offset.

-9 FLV Invalid FLV message footer.

-10 FLV Unrecognized message type.

-11 FLV Found backward timestamp.

Option Description

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FLVCheck warnings

Generally, warnings are informative and are not fatal errors; Adobe Media Server will ignore the error that caused the

warning and continue to load and play back the video or audio file, but you may experience problems with playback.

Warnings are logged to the stdout file in the following format: Date, Time, Warning Number, Warning Message, and

File Name.

-12 FLV Unparsable data message.

-13 MP4 File does not contain a movie box.

This error occurs if the MP4 file is empty.

-14 MP4 File does not contain any valid tracks.

This error could occur if the MP4 file contains audio or video encoded with

unsupported codecs.

-15 MP4 Too many tracks. Maximum allowed is 64.

-16 MP4 Only one sample type allowed per track.

-17 MP4 Box is too large.

-18 MP4 Truncated box.

The reported length of a box is longer than the remaining length of the file. The file

may have been truncated, or the reported box length may be invalid.

-19 MP4 Duplicate box.

-20 MP4 Invalid box version.

-21 MP4 Invalid movie time scale.

-22 MP4 Invalid number of data entries in box.

-23 MP4 Invalid sample size.

-24 MP4 Invalid chapter time.

-25 MP4 Too many tag boxes. Max is 64.

-26 General File appears to be FLV with wrong extension.

-27 MP4 Unsupported DRM scheme.

-28 MP4 Error reading MP4 tables.

-29 MP4 File contains unexpected movie fragments.

-30 MP4 File contains out-of-order movie fragments.

-127 MP4 Found negative CTTS Offset.

The MP4 standard stores the CTTS offset as an unsigned 32-bit value. The RTMP

standard stores the CTTS offset as a 24-bit unsigned value. However, if a file has

negative CTTS offsets, the value becomes very large when converted to unsigned

32-bit, and RTMP strips off 8 bits. This behavior may cause artifacts to be seen during

playback.

Error numbers Error type Error messages

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Managing the server on Linux

Use the amsmgr utility to perform basic management tasks for Adobe Media Server running on Linux systems, such as

starting and stopping the server and services. You must be a root user to use the amsmgr utility.

Warning number Warning type Message

-100 General Metadata duration is missing or is incorrect.

-101 FLV canSeekToEnd is false.

-102 MP4 Unrecognized box.

-103 MP4 Found incomplete track.

-104 MP4 Found duplicate video track. Ignoring...

-105 MP4 Found duplicate audio track. Ignoring...

-106 MP4 Found duplicate data track. Ignoring...

-107 MP4 Track has unsupported sample type.

Adobe Media Server ignores (will not play back) tracks that are encoded with

unsupported codecs.

-108 MP4 Invalid video codec.

This warning indicates that a track has an invalid video codec. Adobe Media Server

cannot play back the track.

-109 MP4 Invalid audio codec.

This warning indicates that a track has an invalid audio codec. Adobe Media Server

cannot play back the track.

-110 FLV Video may appear stalled due to lack of audio data.

-111 MP4 File has unsupported metadata format.

-112 MP4 Box has extraneous bytes at end.

-113 FLV Video messages found but video flag not set.

-114 FLV Audio messages found but audio flag not set.

-115 FLV Video flag set but no video messages found.

-116 FLV Audio flag set but no audio messages found.

-117 MP4 File is truncated. Will only be partially playable.

-118 MP4 Track contains unsupported edit list.

-119 FLV Missing FLV metadata.

-120 MP4 Bad NellyMoser Frequency. Sample(s) skipped.

-121 MP4 Invalid Track Extends Box.

-122 MP4 Track contains unsupported sample flags.

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For tasks not listed in the following table, such as adding users or checking the status of applications, use the

Administration Console. A root user must use the amsmgr utility to start the Adobe Media Administration Server

before anyone can use the Administration Console. You do not need to be a root user to use the Administration

Console.

Note: Running multiple Adobe Media Server services concurrently is not supported.

Syntax

amsmgr server <service_name> <cmd>

For commands that use the <service_name> parameter, if you do not specify <service_name>, the command is

performed on the name of the server you selected during installation. The server name is ams by default. If

<service_name> does not exist, the command fails.

The amsmgr utility supports the following commands:

Scramble tool

The scramble tool obfuscates data on disk to prevent people who have access to the system from reading sensitive

information. Protected HTTP Dynamic Streaming (PHDS) and Protected HTTP Live Streaming (PHLS) use the

scramble tool to obfuscate credential passwords and the content encryption key. To create a new content encryption

key, use the scramble tool.

Command Description

amsmgr adminserver start|stop|restart Starts, stops, or restarts Adobe Media Administration Server.

amsmgr server <service_name>

start|stop|restart

Starts, stops, or restarts a Adobe Media Server service.

amsmgr clearautostart Sets the Adobe Media Administration service to start manually.

amsmgr list Lists all the services installed, including Administration services, with additional

information about services that are currently running.

amsmgr remove Removes the Adobe Media Server service from the amsmgr tables. If you remove a

server service, the corresponding Administration service is also removed.

Warning: Use this command only if you want to uninstall the server service; you still

need to manually remove the installed files.

amsmgr add <service_name> <install_dir> Add an Adobe Media Server service to the amsmgr tables. If <service_name>

already appears in the amsmgr tables, the old entry is updated with the new one. The

<install_dir> parameter is the absolute directory path where you installed

Adobe Media Server.

amsmgr setadmin <service_name> Changes the default Administration service.

The Administration service name is the same as the Adobe Media Server service name.

Any installed Administration service can be used to administer one or more servers.

Only one Administration service can be running at a time.

amsmgr getadmin Gets the name of the default Administration service.

amsmgr setautostart<service_name>Sets the Adobe Media Server service to start automatically when the system is started.

amsmgr clearautostart <service_name> Removes the named service from the set of services to start automatically when the

system is started.

amsmgr suggestname Suggests a service name that does not already appear in the amsmgr tables.

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The scramble tool uses AES-128 and a hard-coded key to obfuscate data. The data is unscrambled using the same hard-

coded key. The key is a random sequence of bytes generated by the scramble tool.

Important: The hard-coded key can be retrieved from source code. It’s a good idea to use additional techniques to secure

the data as well.

The scramble tool is installed to the following location:

rootinstall/tools/scramble

The scramble tool supports the following options:

For example, the following command outputs a 16 byte key:

scramble -KeyGen 16 -f server.key

Option Description

-scramble <string-to-

scramble>

Takes an input string from the command line, encrypts it, and prints out a

Base64 encoded string. Use this option to encrypt credential passwords.This

option assumes that the string to scramble is already Base64 encoded. The

tool doesn't decode the string.

-randCode <number-of-

bytes>

Generates a sequence of random bytes. Specify the sequence length in the

<number-of-bytes> command line parameter.The output is formatted as a

C++ array initialization code snippet.The installer uses this option to generate

the scrambling key and IV that are hard-coded in the scrambler tool and the

unscrambling utility function.

-randBase64 <number-of-

bytes>

Generates a sequence of random bytes. Specify the sequence length in the

<number-of-bytes> command line parameter.The output is a Base64 string

encoding the random data.Use this option to generate a content encryption

key. Use the output of this command as the <string-to-scramble> input

for the -scramble option. Combining those two commands generates data

in the same format as the -KeyGen option.

-KeyGen <number-of-

bytes> [-f <output-

file>]

Generates a sequence of random bytes, Base64 encodes it, encrypts the

resulting string and prints out a Base64 encoded string of the result.

Specify the sequence length in the <number-of-bytes> command line

parameter.

Use the -f option to redirect the output to an output file.

The Adobe Media Server installer uses this option to generate a unique PHDS

and PHLS content encryption key.

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Chapter 6: Using the Administration API

Working with the Administration API

About the Administration API

Use the Administration API to monitor, manage, and configure the server from an Adobe Flash Player or Adobe AIR

client over RTMP or RTMPE or from a web client over HTTP. The Adobe Media Server Administration Console was

built using the Administration API. The API is documented in Adobe Media Server Administration API Reference.

Here are a few important tips for working with the Administration API:

•Both Adobe Media Server and Adobe Media Administration Server must be running.

•This document assumes that you have not changed the default port number (1111) for the Administration Server;

if you have, use your valid port number in all examples.

•If you do not specify an optional parameter, a default value may be used depending on the method. For example, if

you do not specify a virtual host in the scope parameter, it is assumed that you want to perform the command on

the virtual host to which you connected when you logged in to Adobe Media Server.

•By default, administrators are logged in to the “_defaultRoot_” adaptor. When logging in to a virtual host not on

the default adaptor, virtual-host administrators must specify the name of the adaptor. For example, when logging

in (over RTMP using NetConnection) to a virtual host on the adaptor _secondAdaptor_, the administrator JLee

would enter the following information for the administrator user name parameter in the method call:

_secondAdaptor_/JLee.

Set permissions for Administration API method calls over HTTP

Note: You do not need to set permissions to call methods over RTMP.

1Open the ams.ini file in the RootInstall/conf folder.

2Make sure that the USERS.HTTPCOMMAND_ALLOW parameter is set to true.

3Open the Users.xml file in the RootInstall/conf folder.

4In the <Allow> element, enter method names in a comma-delimited list to allow HTTP requests to execute

Administration API calls. For example, the following code allows the ping() and changePswd() methods:

<Enable>${USERS.HTTPCOMMAND_ALLOW}/Enable>

<Allow>ping,changePswd</Allow>

<Order>Deny,Allow</Deny>

</HTTPCommands>

</AdminServer>

Note: There are additional XML elements in the Users.xml file that give you finer control over permissions. For more

information, see “XML configuration files reference” on page 125.

5Save the file and restart Adobe Media Administration Server.

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Call an Administration API method over HTTP

1Verify that Adobe Media Administration Server is running.

2Open a browser window and enter the following in the address bar:

http://localhost:1111/admin/ping?auser=username&apswd=password

If the web browser is on a different computer than Adobe Media Server, use the server address instead of

localhost. Substitute your administrator user name and password, which are located in the ams.ini file.

Note: You can construct an Administration API call from any language that can send HTTP requests. This example

uses a web browser because it’s the simplest client and good for testing purposes.

3The server sends the XML results back to the browser:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

<level>status</level>

<code>NetConnection.Call.Success</code>

</result>

Constructing an HTTP request string

Many Administration APIs expect one or more parameters in addition to auser and apswd. Parameters passed in an

HTTP request must adhere to the following formatting rules:

•Name the parameters in the string. For example, the following code calls the addAdmin() method:

http://localhost:1111/admin/addAdmin?auser=adminname&apswd=adminpassword&username="joe"&pa

ssword="pass123"&vhost="_defaultRoot_/foo.myCompany.com"

•Strings are passed as literals surrounded by quotation marks. You can use either single quotation marks (') or

double quotation marks (").

"Hello World"

'String2'

The only exceptions are the auser and apswd parameters, which should be passed without quotation marks.

•Numbers are passed as either integer or floating-point literals.

245

1.03

-45

Note: When a number is used for an application name, the application name must be included within quotation

marks (" ") for methods such as reloadApp() and unload App() to work properly.

•Arrays are passed as comma-separated values enclosed in square brackets.

[1,2,3,4]

['abcd',34,"hi"]

[10,20,[31,32],40]

•Objects are passed as inline object literals.

{foo:123,bar:456}

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{user:"Joe",ssn:"123-45-6789"}

Call Administration API methods over RTMP or RTMPE

To call the Administration API over RTMP or RTMPE, you need a Flash Player or AIR client.

Note: To call the Administration API over RTMPE, follow the instructions below, but change the protocol in the example

NetConnection.connect() call to RTMPE.

1In the client application, create a NetConnection to Adobe Media Administration Server, passing in three

parameters: the URI of the Administration Server, an administrator user name, and an administrator password.

Only valid administrators, as defined in the Users.xml configuration file, can connect to the server.

The following code creates a NetConnection for the administrator MHill with password 635xjh27 to the server on

localhost:

ncAdmin = new NetConnection();

ncAdmin.connect("rtmp://localhost:1111/admin", "MHill", "635xjh27");

Note: If you want to connect to a virtual host, specify the virtual host’s domain name or IP address as part of the URI—

for example, rtmp://www.myVhost.com/admin:1111.

2Call the NetConnection.call() method and pass it the Administration API method, a response object (if needed)

and any parameters (if needed):

ncAdmin.call("getAppStats", new onGetAppStats(), "vod");

The getAppStats() method returns performance data for an application running on the server; the response

object onGetAppStats() captures the result of the call; and vod is the name of the application instance from which

to retrieve statistics.

3Define a function to handle the information object returned by the Administration API method; in this example,

onGetAppStats():

ncAdmin.call("getAppStats", new onGetAppStats(), appName.text);

...

function onGetAppStats(){

this.onResult = function(info){

if (info.code != "NetConnection.Call.Success"){

outputBox.text = "Call failed: " + info.description;

} else {

outputBox.text = "Info for "+appName.text+ " returned:" + newline;

printObj(info, outputBox);

}

The data is returned to the handler function in an information object. All information objects have level, code, and

timestamp properties. Some information objects have a data property (containing return data, often in an object or

array) and description and details properties, which typically provide information about errors.

Create your first Flash application

This section contains the code for a simple Flash application that calls the getAppStats() method.

To call Administration APIs over RTMP, you need a Flash Player or AIR client. The following sample is built in Flash.

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Note: You can call Administration APIs from applications written in ActionScript 1.0, ActionScript 2.0, or ActionScript 3.0.

1In Flash, create an application with the following elements:

•An input text field named appName

•A button called button_btn

•A multiline, dynamic text field called outputBox

•A scroll component attached to the outputBox text field

Note: Because this is a Adobe Media Server application, you must create an application directory with the application

name in the RootInstall\applications directory.

2Enter the following code on frame 1 of a Flash file:

/** Establishes the connection to Adobe Media Server **/

ncAdmin = new NetConnection();

// Replace admin_name and admin_pass with your

// administrator name and password.

ncAdmin.connect("rtmp://localhost:1111/admin","admin_name","admin_pass");

/** Makes the API call, for example, "getAppStats" **/

function doGetAppStats() {

function onGetAppStats(){

this.onResult = function(info){

if (info.code != "NetConnection.Call.Success"){

outputBox.text = "Call failed: " + info.description;

} else {

outputBox.text = "Info for "+appName.text+ " returned:" + newline;

printObj(info, outputBox);

}

};

}

// Calls the getAppStats() API on the name of application

// in the input text field

// places the response in the onGetAppStats funtion

ncAdmin.call("getAppStats", new onGetAppStats(), appName.text);

}

function printObj(obj, destination){

for (var prop in obj) {

destination.text += "\t";

destination.text += prop + " = " + obj[prop] + newline;

if (typeof (obj[prop]) == "object") { // recursively call printObj

printObj(obj[prop], destination);

}

button_btn.onRelease = function(){

doGetAppStats();

}

3Before running this sample application, start another Adobe Media Server application.

4Open the Administration Console to verify that the application you started in step 3 is running.

5Run the sample Flash application and enter the name of the application you started in step 3 in the input text field.

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This example uses the NetConnection class to make a single request to the Adobe Media Server. If you want to create

a persistent connection that updates automatically (like the Administration Console), you can use the NetStream class

to create a streaming connection over the NetConnection.

Create your first application in Flex

The following application built in Flex uses the HTTPService class to call the Adobe Media Server administration API.

It calls the getAppStats method and prints the results to the TextArea control.

Before you compile and run this example, you must add your admin username and password to the request

parameters.

When you run the example, enter an application name in the TextInput control and click the Get App Stats button.

Default applications include “live” and “vod”, but you can use the name of any application that you created on the

server.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<s:Application xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"

xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"

xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx">

<fx:Declarations>

<s:HTTPService id="myService"

url="http://localhost:1111/admin/getAppStats"

method="GET"

resultFormat="e4x"

result="myServiceResultHandler()">

<s:request xmlns="">

<auser>your_admin_username</auser>

<apswd>your_admin_password</apswd>

</s:request>

</s:HTTPService>

</fx:Declarations>

<fx:Script>

<![CDATA[

private function myServiceResultHandler():void {

outputBox.text = myService.lastResult.toString();

}

private function doButtonClick():void {

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/* Add the appName parameter to the request. */

/* Examples include "vod" and "live". */

myService.request.appName = appName.text;

myService.send();

}

]]>

</fx:Script>

<s:layout>

<s:VerticalLayout paddingTop="10" paddingLeft="10"/>

</s:layout>

<s:Label text="Enter an app name (e.g., live or vod):"

fontSize="14"

fontWeight="bold"/>

<s:HGroup>

<s:TextInput id="appName" width="259"/>

<s:Button id="button_btn" label="Get App Stats" click="doButtonClick()"/>

</s:HGroup>

<s:Label text="App Stats:" fontSize="14" fontWeight="bold"/>

<s:TextArea id="outputBox" height="800" width="359"/>

</s:Application>

This application was written for Flex 4.

If the call is successful, the getAppStats method returns a result similar to the following:

<level>status</level>

<code>NetConnection.Call.Success</code>

<data>

<launch_time>6/30/2010 2:42:03 PM</launch_time>

<up_time>17</up_time>

<bw_in>17060</bw_in>

<bw_out>17501</bw_out>

<bytes_in>290075</bytes_in>

<bytes_out>271130</bytes_out>

<msg_in>202</msg_in>

<msg_out>61</msg_out>

<msg_dropped>0</msg_dropped>

<total_connects>2</total_connects>

<total_disconnects>0</total_disconnects>

<normal_connects>2</normal_connects>

<virtual_connects>0</virtual_connects>

<group_connects>0</group_connects>

<service_connects>0</service_connects>

<service_requests>0</service_requests>

<admin_connects>0</admin_connects>

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<total_instances_loaded>1</total_instances_loaded>

<total_instances_unloaded>0</total_instances_unloaded>

<swf_verification_attempts>0</swf_verification_attempts>

<swf_verification_exceptions>0</swf_verification_exceptions>

<swf_verification_failures>0</swf_verification_failures>

<swf_verification_unsupported_rejects>0</swf_verification_unsupported_rejects>

<swf_verification_matches>0</swf_verification_matches>

<swf_verification_remote_misses>0</swf_verification_remote_misses>

<cores>

<_0>

<core_id>0</core_id>

</_0>

</cores>

<server_bytes_in>0</server_bytes_in>

<server_bytes_out>0</server_bytes_out>

</data>

</result>

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Chapter 7: XML configuration files

reference

Edit the configuration files in the RootInstall/conf directory to configure the server.

Important: Do not modify certain XML elements without contacting Adobe Support. These elements are marked with

an Important note.

More Help topics

“Edit a configuration file” on page 17

Changes to configuration files from 4.5 to 5.0.1

When upgrading from version 4.5 of Flash Media Server to version 5.0.1 of Adobe Media Server, be aware of changes

to the XML configuration files.

The changes are primarily related to the introduction of Closed captioning support in Adobe Media Server 5.0.1.

Server.xml changes

•See Closed captioning VOD case - Configuring Server.xml (only for RTMP)

•See Closed captioning support for OSMF

Application.xml changes

•See Closed captioning Live case - Configuring Application.xml (HDS and RTMP)

•Protected RTMP (introduced in 4.5.1) change:

<!-- Protected RTMP parameters. Change 'enabled' tag to "true" to enable Pro tected RTMP for

VOD -->

<!-- This would renew the playback expiration time stamp

and SWF verification white list --> <UpdateInterval>60</UpdateInterval>

<!-- If a relative path is specified, it will be relative to

the application folder. --><WhiteListFolder></WhiteListFolder>

</SWFVerification>

</ProtectedRTMP>

Changes to configuration files from 4.0 to 4.5

When upgrading from version 4.0 to version 4.5 of Flash Media Server, be aware of changes to the XML configuration

files.

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ams.ini (fms.ini) changes

The configuration file fms.ini has been renamed to ams.ini.

The cache cleaning tool can be started when the HTTP server starts:

SERVER.HTCACHECLEAN_ENABLED = true

The cache root for the web server can be specified in this configuration file:

SERVER.HTCACHEROOT = /opt/adobe/ams/Apache2.2/cacheroot

The Flash Media Server 4.5 fms.ini file does not store the Administrator password. The following parameter has been

removed from the 4.5 fms.ini file:

> # Password for server admin

> # For example:

> # SERVER.ADMIN_PASSWORD = bar

> #

> SERVER.ADMIN_PASSWORD = adminadmin

The password is stored in the Users.xml file as a salted hash. To reset the password, see “Delete administrator accounts

and reset passwords” on page 92.

Adaptor.xml file changes

The default value of MaxHeaderLineLength is now 8192.

There are two new elements: Adaptor/SSL/SSLVerifyClient and Adaptor/SSL/SSLVerifyDepth.

Two new tags FlowSendMaxBufferSize and FlowSendMaxUnsentAge have been introduced:

</RTMFP>

Application.xml file changes

The “PeerLookupEvents” on page 172 element is new. Use this element to determine how peer lookup events are

dispatched.

The element /StreamManager/EventsDir specifies the physical location where Event information for live streaming

is stored.

The RTMFP section provides the means to control the behavior of application-specific RTMFP functionality. It includes

the following elements: PeerLookupEvents, GroupControl, and JoinLeaveEvents. The HDS section provides the

means to control the behavior of application-specific HTTP dynamic streaming functionality. It includes the following

elements: Recording and ContentProtection.

Logger.xml file changes

There are no changes to the Logger.xml file.

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Server.xml file changes

You can specify how the cacheclean tool can be started:

<Directory>Apache2.2/bin</Directory>

<Program>htcacheclean</Program>

<RequiredOptions>-p${SERVER.HTCACHEROOT} -d5 -l1024K</RequiredOptions>

</HtCacheClean>

The /RTMP/ConnectionTimeout element and /HTTP/ConnectionTimeout element specify how long to wait before

timing out an outgoing connection, in milliseconds. The default is -1 which uses the OS timeout to block outgoing

connections.

Enable a Registry core to activate a single AMSCore instance dedicated to handling services for Adobe Media

Gateway. This AMSCore process comes to life on start-up and allows Adobe Media Gateway to register its services to

Adobe Media Server. Enable this registry core only when using Adobe Media Gateway.

<AdaptorName>_defaultRoot_</AdaptorName>

</Registry>

Users.xml file changes

The Users.xml file contains a salted password hash for the Administrator Console password:

<Password>e206a5e1b52dcb4eaf024ca6adbe321b86cf0079bb747b78134ddaf8375e10aff905da0b28e84c5a</

Password>

Vhost.xml file changes

No changes.

Adaptor.xml file

The Adaptor.xml file is the configuration file for individual network adaptors. It determines the number of threads

that can be used by the adaptor, the communications ports the adaptor binds to, and the IP addresses or domains from

which the adaptor can accept connections.

You can also implement SSL with the Adaptor.xml file, if you want to use different digital certificates for different

adaptors.

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Each adaptor has its own directory inside the server’s conf directory. The name of the directory is the name of the

adaptor. Each adaptor directory must contain an Adaptor.xml file. For example, the default adaptor included with the

server at installation is named _defaultRoot_ and its directory is found in the conf/ directory. To change an adaptor’s

settings, edit the elements in its Adaptor.xml file.

To see the element structure and default values in the Adaptor.xml file, see the

RootInstall/conf/_defaultRoot_/Adaptor.xml file.

Adaptor

Root element. Contains all the elements in the Adaptor.xml file.

Allow

A comma-delimited list of host names, domain names, and/or full or partial IP addresses from which clients can

connect to the server.

Example

<Allow>foo.yourcompany.com, adobe.com, 10.60.1.133, 10.60</Allow>

See also

Deny, Order

Deny

A comma-delimited list of host names, domain names, and/or full or partial IP addresses from which clients cannot

connect to the server.

Example

<Deny>foo.yourcompany.com, adobe.com, 10.60.1.133, 10.60</Deny>

See also

Allow, Order

Edge

Container element.

Contains elements that specify an edge to configure for HTTP tunnelling. Edges are defined in HostPort elements in

the HostPortList container. Each edge can have different HTTPTunnel configurations.

Attribute

name A name identifying an edge. Use the name specified in the HostPort element.

Contained elements

Enable, IdlePostInterval, IdleAckInterval, MimeType, WriteBufferSize, SetCookie, Redirect, NeedClose,

Enable

Specifies whether or not to allow HTTP tunnelling connections.

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These are the possible values for the Enable element:

Important: Only one application can use a port at a time. For example, if you configure Adobe Media Server to use port

80 for HTTP tunnelling, the web server cannot use port 80.

Example

See also

IdlePostInterval, IdleAckInterval, MimeType, WriteBufferSize, SetCookie, Redirect, MimeType,

EnableAltVhost

Determines whether an alternative virtual host may be specified as a part of the RTMP URL as query parameter

rtmp://host1/app/?_fcs_vhost=host2. This does not apply to administrative connections, which are always on by

default. The default value is false.

<EnableAltVhost>false</EnableAltVhost>

See also

HTTPTunnel, RTMP, SSL

Host

Redirects unknown requests to an external server.

See also

Redirect

HostPort

Specifies to which IP address and port(s) an adaptor binds. If you want to bind an adaptor to multiple IP addresses,

add a HostPort element for each IP address. The format is IP:port,port,...,port. To bind to any IP address, don’t

specify anything in front of the colon.

This element is exposed as the ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT parameter in the RootInstall/conf/ams.ini file. The default value is

:1935,80,-443. This value instructs the adaptor to bind to any IP address on ports 1935, 80, and 443, where 443 is

designated as a secure port that will only receive RTMPS connections.

Value Description

true Allow all HTTP tunnelling connections. This is the default value.

false Disallow all HTTP tunnelling connections.

http1.1only Allow only HTTP 1.1 tunnelling connections.

keepalive Allow HTTP 1.1 or HTTP 1.0 keepalive connections.

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When assigning port numbers, keep in mind the following:

•There is a risk in assigning more than one adaptor to listen on the same IP:port pair. If another process tries to

bind to the same IP:port combination, a conflict results. To resolve this conflict, the first adaptor to bind to the

specified HostPort wins. Adobe Media Server logs a warning in the Access log file indicating that the specified

IP:port is in use.

•Only one application can use a port at a time. For example, if you configure Adobe Media Server to use port 80 for

HTTP tunnelling, the web server cannot use port 80.

Attributes

name A name to identify this HostPort element. If there are multiple HostPort elements, each must have a different

name.

ctl_channel The internal port that an AMSEdge (amsedge in Linux) process listens on. When an AMSCore process

is started (amscore in Linux), it connects to an AMSEdge process on this internal port to establish a control channel.

Each HostPort element corresponds to an AMSEdge process. If there are multiple HostPort elements, each must

have a different ctl_channel.

Example

The following HostPort value instructs the adaptor to bind to the IP address 127.0.0.1 on ports 1935, 80, and 443,

where 443 is designated as a secure port that will only receive RTMPS connections. (A port is marked as secure by

specifying a minus sign in front of the port number.) RTMPS connection attempts to ports 1935 or 80 will not succeed.

The client will attempt to perform an SSL handshake that the server will fail to complete. Similarly, a regular RTMP

connection to port 443 fails because the server tries to perform an SSL handshake that the client fails to complete.

If there is no colon in the HostPort value, or there is a colon with no ports specified, the data is assumed to be an IP

address and binds to port 1935. The following values instruct the adaptor to bind to IP 127.0.0.1 on port 1935:

See also

HostPortList

Container element.

The elements in this container list HostPort elements associated with this adaptor.

Example

<HostPort name="edge1" ctl_channel=":19350">${ADAPTOR.HOSTPORT}</HostPort>

</HostPortList>

Contained elements

HostPort

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HTTPIdent

Configures the server to respond to or reject an HTTP identification request from a client. For a response to be

returned, the HTTPIdent function must be enabled and the client must do a POST or GET for the "/fcs/ident"

resource.

When the server receives an HTTP Identification request, it logs the request to the edge.xx.log file.

Attributes

enable A Boolean value specifying whether the server responds to an HTTP identification request (true) or not

(false). The default value is false. When the enable attribute is set to true, all elements in the HTTPIdent section

are returned as a response. The entire response is enclosed in <FCS></FCS> elements, which are added by the server.

If the HTTPIdent function is enabled but no content is specified, the <FCS></FCS> response is returned without

content.

Example

<Company>Adobe System Inc</Company>

<Team>Adobe Media Server</Team>

</HTTPIdent>

The following is an example request:

http://serverIP:1935/fcs/ident

The following is an example response:

<fcs>

<Company>Adobe System Inc</Company>

<Team>Adobe Media Server</Team>

</fcs>

See also

HTTPNull, HTTPTunnel, HTTPUserInfo

HTTPIdent2

Configures the server to respond to or reject a special HTTP request from the client before the client attempts to make

a RTMPT connection to Adobe Media Server. For a response to be returned, the HTTPIdent2 function must be

enabled. This function is available when using Flash Player Update 3 or later.

RTMPT (Tunnelled Real-Time Messaging Protocol) can have difficulties working with load balancers. If a single

RTMPT session consists of multiple socket connections, each connection may be sent to any one of many Adobe

Media Servers behind load balancers. This causes the session to be split across machines. Using <HTTPIdent2> enables

Flash Player to send a special HTTP request before connecting to Adobe Media Server.

Attributes

enabled A Boolean value specifying whether the server responds to a special HTTP identification request before

making a RTMPT connection (true) or not (false). This feature is enabled by default, even if the <HTTPIdent2> tag

or the enabled attribute is missing. The IP address can be explicitly configured and does not need to be the IP of the

Adobe Media Server machine. (This allows RTMPT connections to be redirected to a different server.) If the tag is left

empty, the IP address is determined automatically.

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If you are running Adobe Media Server on Linux and have enabled IPv6 but are using an IPv4 hostname (a hostname

that resolves to IPv4), then use this tag to resolve RTMPTE and RTMPE connections more quickly: either set the

enabled attribute to false or set it to true and set the value of the tag to the IP address to which you’re connecting.

Example

See also

HTTPNull, HTTPTunnel, HTTPUserInfo

HTTPNull

Configures the server to respond to or reject an HTTP GET request for the “/” resource from a client. When the enable

attribute is set to true, an HTTP 404 response is sent in response to an HTTP GET request. By default, the HTTPNull

function is disabled.

If HTTPNull is disabled and the webserver is enabled, requests for the "/" resource are passed to the webserver.

Attributes

enable A Boolean value. The default value is false.

Example

HttpProxy

Specifies whether the server proxies unknown requests to an external server. For proxying to work,

HTTPTunnel/Enable must be set to true.

Request proxying to a specific host can be further controlled based upon port on which the request arrived. Flow

control kicks in when the buffer in either direction fills up, automatically handling the case when producers and

consumers differ widely in bandwidth.

Attributes

enable A Boolean value. The default value is true.

maxbuf The size of the io buffers. The default value is 16384.

Example

In the default Adaptor.xml file, the value of the Host element is a variable from the ams.ini file. You can set the value

of HTTPPROXY.HOST in the ams.ini file, or replace the variable in the Adaptor.xml file. The following is from the

default Adaptor.xml file:

<Host port="80">${HTTPPROXY.HOST}</Host>

</HttpProxy>

The IP address and port to which the server proxies unknown HTTP requests.HTTPPROXY.HOST =

webfarm.example.com:80

If you do not specify an IP address or domain name, the server uses a localhost port, as in the following:

HTTPPROXY.HOST = :8134

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HTTPTunnel

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the incoming HTTP tunnelling connections to the adaptor. You can use the

contained Edge element to configure each edge individually.

Contained elements

Enable, NodeID, IdlePostInterval, IdleAckInterval, IdleTimeout, MimeType, WriteBufferSize, SetCookie,

Redirect, Host, HttpProxy, NeedClose, MaxHeaderLineLength, Edge

HTTPUserInfo

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the absolute path to XML files and the cache settings.

Contained elements

Path, MaxSize, UpdateInterval

IdleAckInterval

Specifies the maximum time in milliseconds the server waits before it sends an acknowledgement code for a client idle

post. An acknowledgement code is a transmission control character used to indicate that a transmitted message was

received uncorrupted and without errors, and that the receiving server is ready to accept transmissions. The default

value is 512 milliseconds, which provides medium latency.

The values for this element and the IdlePostInterval element affect the latency observed by a client tunnelling into

the server. These elements should be configured at the same time.

Lower values reduce latency but increase the network bandwidth overhead. Applications desiring low latency may

configure the combination of values 128/256 for the IdlePostInterval and IdleAckInterval elements. For

applications not sensitive to high latencies, use the combination 1024/2048.

See also

IdlePostInterval, IdleTimeout

IdlePostInterval

Specifies the interval in milliseconds at which the client sends idle posts to the server to indicate that Flash Player has

no data to send.

The default settings for the IdleAckInterval and IdlePostInterval elements provide medium latency and are set

to 512/512 milliseconds.

Low values reduce the latency but increase the network bandwidth overhead. Applications desiring low latency may

configure the combination of values 128/256 for IdlePostInterval and IdleAckInterval elements. Applications

that do not have high latencies can use the configuration 1024/2048.

Example

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See also

IdleAckInterval, IdleTimeout

IdleTimeout

Specifies the maximum inactivity time, in seconds, for a tunnel session before it is closed.

When a client using HTTP tunnelling disconnects unexpectedly, their session may remain open for a long period of

time after disconnecting. The value of IdleTimeout indicates the maximum time, in seconds, that such a session may

remain idle before it will be automatically disconnected. An IdleTimeout of -1 indicates that idle tunnel sessions will

not be disconnected. The default setting for IdleTimeout is 8 seconds. Values that are too low may cause clients with

very high latencies to become disconnected. Values that are too high may result in disconnected sessions consuming

server resources for longer than necessary.

Example

See also

IdlePostInterval, IdleAckInterval

MaxFailures

Specifies the maximum number of failures an edge server may incur before it restarts.

The default number of failures is 2.

Example

See also

IdleAckInterval

MaxHeaderLineLength

The maximum size of an HTTP header line, in bytes, that the server can accept. The default value is 8192. To accept

longer header lines, increase this value.

See also

“Specify the maximum HTTP header line length” on page 54

MaxPipelinedRequests

Configures the maximum number of requests Flash Player will allow to be pipelined. The value must be greater than

or equal to 1.

The default value is 5.

Example

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MaxSize

Specifies the maximum number of HTTP requests the server keeps in the cache. When the cache size reaches the

maximum size, the server reduces the cache. By default, the value is 100.

Example

See also

Path, UpdateInterval

MimeType

Specifies the default MIME (Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions) type header sent on tunnel responses.

The server generally uses the MIME type specified by the incoming requests. The server uses the entry for the

MIMEType element only if it is unable to determine the MIME type from the incoming requests.

Example

<MimeType>application/x-fcs</Mimetype>

See also

HTTPTunnel

NeedClose

A Boolean value specifying whether or not HTTP 1.0 non-keepalive connections are closed once the response is

written. The default value is true, which closes the connections.

Example

NodeID

Specifies a unique node identification that supports the implementation of load balancers.

If the NodeID element is used, a following string of up to nine characters is prefixed to the tunnel session IDs and can

be used by the load balancers to uniquely identify each node in the cluster.

The ID must contain URL-safe characters: alphanumerical A-Z, a-z, and 0-9, and the special characters $-_.+!*'()

See also

HTTPTunnel

Order

Specifies the sequence in which the server evaluates the Allow and Deny elements. The following is the default

sequence:

<Order>Allow,Deny</Order>

The default sequence indicates that access to a server is denied unless it is specified in the Allow element.

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The alternative sequence Deny,Allow indicates that access to a server is allowed unless specified in the Deny element

and not specified in the Allow element.

Example

The following is the default sequence:

<Order>Allow,Deny</Order>

See also

Allow, Deny

Path

Specifies the absolute path of the folder where the server looks for XML files. By default, it is set to uInfo/ in the Adobe

Media Server installation directory.

See also

MaxSize, UpdateInterval

RecoveryTime

Specifies the number of seconds an edge server waits before restarting after a failure.

When an edge server fails, it waits for the interval specified here before it restarts. The wait time is specified in seconds.

The number of failures is specified by the MaxFailures element.

Example

See also

MaxSize

Redirect

Specifies whether or not the adaptor redirects unknown requests to an external server.

Note: For redirection to work, HTTP tunnelling must be enabled.

An unknown request may connect only when it is the first request on a newly accepted connection. At any other time,

the request is considered an error and the connection is closed.

The maxbuf attribute determines how big the IO buffers are. Flow control automatically handles the request when the

bandwidth resources for producers and consumers differ widely. Flow control begins when the buffer in either

direction fills up.

Example

This example instructs the server to redirect unknown requests to the specified redirect host.

</Redirect>

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See also

NeedClose

ResourceLimits

Container element.

The elements in this container configure the resource limits for the edge server.

Contained elements

MaxFailures, RecoveryTime

RTMP

Container element.

The elements in this container determine whether encrypted RTMP (RTMPE) and encrypted tunnelling RTMP

(RTMPTE) can be used.

Contained elements

RTMPE

Specifies whether encrypted RTMP (RTMPE) can be used. RTMPE is the encrypted RTMP protocol covering both

RTMPE and RTMPTE. This element is enabled by default; setting enabled to false will not allow RTMPE or

RTMPTE on this adaptor.

Example

See also

RTMP

SetCookie

Specifies whether or not the server sets a cookie.

If the server does not have an externally visible IP address, then for HTTP tunnelling to work, you should enable

cookies when you deploy servers behind a load balancer. The load balancer checks the cookie and sends requests with

this cookie to the same server. Keep in mind that the cookie adds to the HTTP header size and increases the bandwidth

overhead.

Note: For tunnelling connections, cookies are currently supported only on Flash Player 9.0.28 or later, in Windows only.

Example

<SetCookie>false</SetCookie>

See also

NodeID

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SSL

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the incoming connections via the Secure Sockets Layer protocol, known as SSL.

The SSL elements in Adaptor.xml configure the server to act as an SSL-enabled server to accept incoming SSL

connections.

You need to acquire a digital certificate to use SSL. Once you get your SSL certificate through a certificate authority,

such as Verisign, or by creating it yourself with a product such as OpenSSL, you then use the SSL elements to configure

the server for SSL.

The following is a quick start to allowing SSL-enabled connections to the server:

• to the SSL section of the Adaptor.xml file.

•Specify the location of the certificate in the SSLCertificateFile element.

•Specify where to find the associated private key file in the SSLCertificateKeyFile element.

•If the private key file is encrypted, specify the passphrase to use for decrypting the private key file in the

SSLPassPhrase element.

•Save the modified Adaptor.xml file.

Contained elements

SSLServerCtx

SSLCertificateFile

Specifies the location of the certificate to return to clients who want to make a secure connection to the server.

If an absolute path is not specified, the certificate location is assumed to be relative to the adaptor directory.

Example

<SSLCertificateFile>c:\myCertFile</SSLCertificateFile>

See also

SSLCertificateKeyFile, SSLPassPhrase, SSLCipherSuite, SSLSessionTimeout

SSLCertificateKeyFile

This specifies the location of the private key file that corresponds to the public key in the certificate specified in

SSLCertificateFile element.

If this file is encrypted, a password must be specified for decrypting and placed in the SSLPassPhrase element

described below. If an absolute path to the key file is not specified, it is assumed to be relative to the adaptor directory.

Example

The type attribute specifies the type of encoding used for the certificate key file. The encryption format is either PEM

(Privacy Enhanced Mail) or ASN1 (Abstract Syntax Notation 1). The default is PEM.

See also

SSLCertificateFile, SSLPassPhrase, SSLCipherSuite, SSLSessionTimeout

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SSLCipherSuite

Specifies the suite of encryption ciphers that the server uses to secure incoming connections.

This element contains a list of colon-delimited components. A component can be a key exchange algorithm,

authentication method, encryption method, digest type, or one of a selected number of aliases for common groupings.

Note: Contact Adobe Support before changing the default settings as listed in this example.

Example

<SSLCipherSuite>ALL:!ADH:!LOW:!EXP:!MD5:@STRENGTH</SSLCipherSuite>

See also

SSLCertificateFile, SSLCertificateKeyFile, SSLPassPhrase, SSLSessionTimeout

SSLPassPhrase

Specifies the passphrase to use for encrypting the private key file.

Specifies the password to use for decrypting the key file if the key file is encrypted. If the key file is not encrypted, this

element is left blank.

To prevent plain text passwords from appearing in the configuration file, encode the password in base64 format and

set the encrypt attribute to true.

Example

<SSLPassPhrase encrypt="true">dGluY2Fu</SSLPassPhrase>

The encrypted password is equivalent to the plain text format:

<SSLPassPhrase>tincan</SSLPassPhrase>

<SSLPassPhrase encrypt="false" >tincan</SSLPassPhrase>

Even though the element attribute is named "encrypt", it is not a true encryption. It is a base64 encoding that makes

the password less readable.

See also

SSLCertificateFile, SSLCertificateKeyFile, SSLCipherSuite, SSLSessionTimeout

SSLServerCtx

Container element.

The elements in this section control the incoming SSL configuration for this adaptor.

Contained elements

SSLCertificateFile, SSLCertificateKeyFile, SSLPassPhrase, SSLCipherSuite, SSLSessionTimeout,

SSLVerifyClient, SSLVerifyDepth

SSLSessionTimeout

Specifies in minutes how long a SSL-based session remains valid. The default time period is 5 minutes.

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SSL sessions are used to improve performance by avoiding the need to perform the full SSL handshake for every

connection. When a client connects to a server for the first time, it must perform the full handshake. After that first

handshake, the server sends back a session object to the client, which the client can place in the cache and reuse at a

later time.

If the client connects to the same server again at a later time, it can send back the cached session object. The server does

not require the full SSL handshake if the session is still valid.

Example

See also

SSLCertificateFile, SSLCertificateKeyFile, SSLPassPhrase, SSLCipherSuite

SSLVerifyClient

Sets the certificate verifcation level for client authentication. The following are valid levels:

•none

Server does not send request for client certificate.

•optional

The client may send a certificate. If sent, it is checked. If certificate verification fails, TLS/SSL handshake is

immediately terminated.

•required

Server sends a request for a client certificate. If the client does not send one, TLS/SSL handshake is immediately

terminated.

•optional_no_ca

Server sends a request for a client cert. But the certificate need not be successfully verifiable. This should not be used

in a production deployment, but can be useful for testing/debugging purposes.

The default value is none. The log attribute specifies whether or not to log when client certificate verification passes

or fails.

Example

SSLVerifyDepth

The maximum depth of CA certificates allowed in client certificate verification. The value 0 indicates that only self-

signed certificates are accepted. The default value is 9.

UpdateInterval

Specifies how often the server refreshes the cache content, in milliseconds. By default, the value is 5000 milliseconds.

Example

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See also

Path, MaxSize

WriteBufferSize

Specifies the size of the write buffer in kilobytes. The default size is 16 KB.

Example

See also

ResourceLimits

Application.xml file

The Application.xml file contains the settings for Adobe Media Server applications.

The Application.xml file in the virtual host directory configures the default settings for all applications within the

virtual host. If you want to have different settings for a particular application, copy an Application.xml file to the

application’s registered application directory (/applications/app_name) and edit it to include the settings you want.

In most cases, the settings in the Application.xml file in the application directory override settings in the

Application.xml file in the virtual host directory, but not always. You can add an override attribute to certain

elements in a virtual host’s Application.xml file, as in the following:

<LoadOnStartup override="no">false</LoadOnStartup>

The server uses the following rules when applying the override attribute:

•When the override attribute is included in an element and set to no, application-specific Application.xml files

cannot override that element’s setting.

•If an element has the override attribute set to no, then all subelements also cannot be overridden.

•If an Application.xml file is located in the application directory and specifies a different value than the default for

an element that cannot be overridden, it is ignored, and the default is used.

•If the default Application.xml file is missing or invalid, the server will not start.

•If the user-specified Application.xml configuration file is invalid, it is ignored.

•All subelements under the LoadOnStartup element cannot be overridden.

•If you omit the override attribute, the LoadOnStartup element can be overridden.

•To change an element so it cannot be overridden, set the override tag to no in the uppermost tag.

Note: By default, the Bandwidth and BandwidthCap container elements include an override parameter set to yes,

which allows the values for the ClientToServer and ServerToClient elements nested in these sections to be

overridden. The Client element in this XML file includes an override="no" attribute by default.

To see the element structure and default values, see the Application.xml file installed with Adobe Media Server in the

RootInstall/conf/_defaultRoot_/_defaultVhost_ directory.

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Access

Container element.

The Access plug-in consists of the libconnect.dll file. It intercepts and examines each connection request to Adobe

Media Server to determine whether the connection should be accepted or rejected.

Contained elements

FolderAccess

Access (Logging)

Container element.

Contains elements that configure logging in the Access log.

Contained elements

Checkpoints

AccumulatedIFrames

Container element.

The elements in this section specify the maximum size and duration of intermediate frames a live stream can hold in

the buffer.

Contained elements

MaxTime, MaxSize (AccumulatedIFrames)

AdaptorId

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

Description

Important: Do not change the value of this element.

Specifies an identifier for an adaptor to the server-side script engine. The default script adaptor is

<AdaptorId>as1</AdaptorId>.

The ScriptAdaptors element in the Server.xml configuration file contains an element for each adaptor. The default

adaptor is as1:

</ScriptAdaptors>

See also

ScriptEngine

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AggregateMessages (Client)

Specifies whether or not to send aggregate messages to clients. When the enabled attribute is set to true, the server

will deliver aggregate messages to clients that support them. When this setting is disabled, aggregate messages are

broken up into individual messages before being delivered to clients. The default is false.

AggregateMessages (Queue)

Container element; contains an element that control the size of the aggregate messages.

This element also specifies, when queuing is enabled, whether messages in the queue can be combined to form

aggregate messages. When the enabled attribute is set to true (the default value), the server creates aggregate

messages.

The server attempts to send aggregate messages to supported clients whenever possible. When this setting is disabled,

aggregate messages are always broken up into individual messages before being delivered to clients.

Example

See also

MaxAggMsgSize, HTTPTunnel, MaxMessageSizeLosslessVideo, OutChunkSize

Allow

Specifies whether or not to allow the "following and Location:" header that is sent with redirection of an HTTP

header. The default is true, allowing HTTP redirects.

Example

See also

Max, UnrestrictedAuth

AllowDebugDefault

Specifies the default value for application.allowDebug. This is an opening that allows debug connections on a per

application basis. The default value is false.

Example

<AllowDebugDefault>false</AllowDebug Default>

See also

MaxPendingDebugConnections

AllowHTTPTunnel

This element configures the server to allow HTTP tunnelling connections into this application.

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By default, Flash Player communicates with the server using the RTMP protocol over port 1935. If that fails, it will try

again over ports 443 and 80 in an attempt to get around firewall settings, which prevents TCP/IP connections over

nonstandard ports.

In some cases, Flash Player has to negotiate a connection to Adobe Media Server through an edge server, or use the

HTTP protocol to transmit RTMP packets (called HTTP tunnelling) if there is a firewall that allows only HTTP content

to be sent out to public servers.

The values for this element are described in the following table.

Example

See also

Allow

Application

This is the root element for Application.xml.

See also

Process, LoadOnStartup, MaxAppIdleTime, JSEngine, StreamManager, SharedObjManager, AllowHTTPTunnel,

Client, Debug, HTTP, SWFVerification

AssumeAbsoluteTime

Determines whether an incoming live stream has timestamps that are based on an absolute clock. An example of an

absolute clock is an SMPTE time signal that is contained within the encoder’s input source.

The default value is false.

Example

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

Audio

Container element.

The elements in this section specify the settings for audio streams on the server.

Value Description

true Allows tunnelling connections.

false Disallows tunnelling connections.

http1.1only Allows HTTP 1.1 connections only.

keepalive Allows HTTP 1.0 and 1.1 keepalive connections.

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Contained elements

CombineSamples, SendSilence

AutoCloseIdleClients

Container element.

Contains elements that determine whether or not to close idle clients automatically.

Set the enable attribute to true to close idle clients. If the enable attribute is omitted or set to false, the feature is

disabled. The default value is false.

A client is active when it is sending or receiving data. Use the AutoCloseIdleClients element to specify how often

the server should check for idle clients. When a client has been idle longer than the maximum idle time (60 seconds

by default), the server sends a status message to the NetConnectionobject (the client). The server closes the client

connection to the server and writes a message to the access log. The server also writes a message such as “Client x has

been idle for y seconds” in the core and event logs.

To configure the closing of idle connections, you must enable the feature in the Server.xml file. Once you enable the

feature in the Server.xml file, you can disable the feature for individual virtual hosts in the Vhost.xml files or for

individual applications in Application.xml. The values defined in the Vhost.xml configuration file apply to all clients

connected to the Vhost, unless values are defined in the Application.xml file. The Application.xml values override the

Vhost.xml values. (Subsequently, the values defined in the Server.xml configuration file apply to all clients connected

to the server, unless the values are defined in the Vhost.xml file. The Vhost.xml values override the Server.xml values.

Example

</AutoCloseIdleClients>

AudioSampleAccess

Allows the client application to access the raw uncompressed audio data in a stream. By default, this element is

disabled. To enable it, set the enable attribute to true. In the tag, specify a list of semicolon-delimited folders to which

client applications have access. When this element is enabled, all clients can access the audio data in streams in the

specified folders. To enable access to all audio data streamed by the server, specify / in the tag.

The folder path is restricted to the application’s streams folder or folders, so do not use absolute paths in the list of

folders.

While you can also enable access through Server-Side ActionScript, this element allows access to the data without

requiring Server-Side ActionScript. You can also override this element with the Access plug-in or Server-Side

ActionScript.

Example

If an application is configured to store streams in folders C:\low_quality and C:\high_quality, the configuration

to allow access to sample those streams is as follows:

<AudioSampleAccess enabled="true">low_quality;high_quality</AudioSampleAccess>

See also

VideoSampleAccess

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AutoCommit

Specifies whether shared objects are automatically committed when they have been changed. Setting this element to

false disables Flash Player function for all shared objects within this instance.

Note: If the AutoCommit function is disabled, the server-side script has to call the save function or the

SharedObject.commit command for the shared object to persist; otherwise, all data will be lost when the application is

shut down.

Example

See also

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, ResyncDepth, LockTimeout, MaxProperties, MaxPropertySize

Bandwidth

Container element.

The elements nested in this container specify the bandwidth settings for upstream (client-to-server) and downstream

(server-to-client) data.

By default, the Bandwidth element includes an override parameter set to yes, which allows the values for the

ClientToServer and ServerToClient elements to be overridden as well.

Contained elements

ClientToServer (Bandwidth), ServerToClient (Bandwidth)

BandwidthCap

Container element.

The elements in this section specify the bandwidth settings that a user can set. By default, this element includes an

override parameter set to yes, which allows the values for the ClientToServer and ServerToClient elements

nested in this section to be overridden, too.

Contained elements

ClientToServer (BandwidthCap), ServerToClient (BandwidthCap)

BandwidthDetection

Container element.

This element contains settings for how the server detects bandwidth. Set the enable attribute to true or false to turn

this feature on or off.

The server can detect client bandwidth in the core server code (native) or in a server-side script (script-based). Native

bandwidth detection is enabled by default and is faster than script-based because the core server code is written in C

and C++.

The server detects bandwidth by sending a series of data chunks to the client, each larger than the last. You can

configure the size of the data chunks, the rate at which they are sent, and the amount of time the server sends data to

the client.

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The following table lists the values available for the BandwidthDetection element.

Example

</BandwidthDetection>

Contained elements

MaxRate, DataSize, MinBufferTime (Live)

Bits

This element contains the settings for Flash Player on the Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Example

See also

UserAgent

BufferRatio

Specifies the ratio of the buffer length used by server-side stream to live buffer.

Example

See also

Server

Element Description

BandwidthDetection Set the enabled attribute to true or false to turn this

feature on or off.

MaxRate The maximum rate in Kbps at which the server sends data

to the client. The default value is -1, which sends the data at

whatever rate is necessary to measure bandwidth.

DataSize The amount of data in bytes that the server sends to the

client. To detect the client’s bandwidth, the server attempts

to send a series of random blocks of data to the client, each

time sending this much more data. For example, x bytes are

sent, followed by 2x bytes, followed by 3x bytes, and so on

until MaxWait time has elapsed.

MaxWait The number of seconds the server sends data to the client.

Increasing this number provides a more accurate

bandwidth figure but also forces the client to wait longer.

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Cache

Container element; contains elements that configure the cache setting for SWF verification.

See also

TTL, UpdateInterval

CachePrefix

Specifies the cache prefix that is passed from the origin server to the edge server.

This element is set on the origin server. The edge server uses the value of this element as a relative path to locate the

cache file defined in the CacheDir element.

The type attribute provides additional specification for the cache prefix. The type attribute can be set to path or

sname. The default is path.

Examples

When the attribute type is path, the server appends the physical path of the recorded stream to the prefix.

When the attribute type is sname, the server appends the stream name to the prefix.

The cache prefix is any text with or without preset parameters. The prefix can be any name without special characters,

such as \, :, *, ?, ", <, >, |. All parameters are surrounded by “?”. The server substitutes the actual names for everything

specified within the “?”.

By default, the prefix is set to ?IP?.

You can include the IP address in the prefix to avoid file collision. For example, the edge server might be connecting

to two different origin servers with the same file in c:\data\foo.flv. Adding the IP to the prefix for these files points each

file to the appropriate server.

If you want more than one origin server to share the cache file, do not include the IP as a parameter. Remember the

cache prefix is a relative path used by the edge server to look up the cache stream file.

Examples

The cache prefix creates a relative path in the edge’s CacheDir. All parameters are separated by \ or /.

resolves to:

data/xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/c/ams/flvs/foo.flv

<CachePrefix type="path">?APPINST?/data</CacheDir>

Cache prefix Actual name

?IP? IP address of the server

?APP? Application name

?APPINST? Application instance

?VHOST? vhost name

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resolves to:

app1/inst1/data/c/ams/flvs/foo.flv

<CachePrefix type="path">origin1/data/</CacheDir>

resolves to:

origin1/data/c/ams/flvs/foo.flv

See also

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, CacheUpdateInterval

CacheUpdateInterval

This element defines the wait interval for updating cache streaming in the edge server. The interval is defined in

milliseconds. The default value is 10 minutes. The minimum interval is 10 seconds. The maximum interval is 24 hours.

Example

See also

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, CachePrefix

Checkpoints

Many companies use statistics from the access log to bill customers. If your programming includes live events or 24/7

programming, the events you use to calculate billing might not occur within a billing cycle. To solve this problem, you

can enable checkpoint events. Checkpoint events log bytes periodically during an event. The following are available as

checkpoint events: connect-continue, play-continue, and publish-continue.

Logging checkpoint events to the Access log is enabled in the Vhost.xml file by default. You can disable logging

checkpoints for this application, or change the checkpoint interval of this application. If the checkpoint interval is not

specified in the Application.xml file, or if the value is invalid, the server uses the value set in the Vhost.xml file.

Contained elements

LogInterval

Client

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the client.

By default, the Client element includes an override="no" parameter. Individual applications cannot override how

the elements in the Client section are configured.

Contained elements

Bandwidth, BandwidthCap, BandwidthDetection, MsgQueue, HTTPTunnel, MaxMessageSizeLosslessVideo,

OutChunkSize

Client (RPC)

Lets you list methods allowed for client RPCs. If a method is not listed then it cannot be called.

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To add methods, use a comma-delimited list of method names in the <Method><Allow> sub-elements.

The default is to not allow any methods for client RPCs.

Contained elements

Method

Example

</Method>

</Client>

See also

NetConnection (RPC), Stream, SharedObject

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

ClientToServer (Bandwidth)

Specifies the bandwidth the client can use for sending data upstream to the server. The default bandwidth is 1,250,000

bytes per second.

You can configure this value in the Bandwidth section of XML and in the BandwidthCap section of XML. The values

in the Bandwidth section can be overridden, but the values in the BandwidthCap section are not. This allows ISPs to

host applications for customers and ensure that no customer abuses the bandwidth limit. For example, a customer can

set any bandwidth limit for their applications, but cannot exceed the caps set by the ISP.

Example

See also

ServerToClient (Bandwidth)

ClientToServer (BandwidthCap)

Specifies the maximum bandwidth a client can send to the server. The default bandwidth is 100,000,000 bytes per

second.

You can configure this value in the Bandwidth section of XML and in the BandwidthCap section of XML. The values

in the Bandwidth section can be overridden, but the values in the BandwidthCap section are not. This allows ISPs to

host applications for customers and ensure that no customer abuses the bandwidth limit. For example, a customer can

set any bandwidth limit for their applications, but cannot exceed the caps set by the ISP.

Example

See also

ServerToClient (BandwidthCap)

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CombineSamples

Container element.

The server conserves system resources by combining sound samples. This strategy saves the CPU and bandwidth

overhead when transmitting individual audio packets only.

Note: Use this strategy of combining sound samples advisedly during periods of high CPU usage, as it can cause latency.

Contained elements

LoCPU, HiCPU, MaxSamples, Subscribers

ContentProtection

The enabled attribute can be set to "true", "false" or "allow". Content protected is enabled when the attribute is

set to "true", and disabled when set to "false". If enabled is set to "allow", settings in the Event.xml

ContentProtection section can override the ContentProtection section in the Application.xml file.

<HDS>

</ContentProtection>

</Recording>

</HDS>

See also

Configuring content protection

Connections

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the HTTP connections for this application.

Contained elements

MaxTimeOut (Connections), Reuse, Interface

DataSize

Specifies the amount of data in bytes that the server sends to the client. To detect the client’s bandwidth, the server

attempts to send a series of random blocks of data to the client, each time sending this much more data. For example,

x bytes are sent, followed by 2x bytes, followed by 3x bytes, and so on until MaxWait time has elapsed.

Example

See also

MaxRate, MinBufferTime (Live)

Debug

Container element.

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The elements in this section configure debug connections, including the maximum number of connections and the

value for application.allowDebug.

Contained elements

AllowDebugDefault, MaxPendingDebugConnections

Diagnostic

Specifies whether diagnostic logging for the message queue is enabled. The default value is false.

See also

Enabled

DirLevelSWFScan

Specifies the number of levels of subfolders within a parent folder to scan for SWF files. The parent folder is specified

in the SWFFolder element.

Specifying a positive value scans that number of subfolder levels. Specifying zero scans the parent folder and no

subfolders. Specifying a negative value scans all subfolder levels. The default value is 1, which means that the server

scans only one subfolder level.

See also

SWFFolder, SWFVerification

DisallowedProtocols

Specifies which protocols cannot be used to connect to an application. Specify protocols in a comma delimited list. Any

protocol not specified is allowed. For example, the following disallows rtmp and rtmps connections:

<DisallowedProtocols>rtmp,rtmps</DisallowedProtocols>

The default value is blank, which allows all protocols to connect to the server.

Distribute

Specifies how to distribute application instances to processes. The default value is insts, meaning each application

instance runs in its own process. This tag contains a numprocs attribute, which specifies the maximum number of

processes to run concurrently. The default value of the numprocs attribute is 3.

This feature is turned on by default. To use this feature, the numprocs attribute must be set to a value higher than 0 or

1. With the default configuration, for all your applications and application instances under a single virtual host, three

core processes will run. Each virtual host is allotted three core processes, so systems that use multiple virtual hosts will

generate more running processes.

Note: There is no limit to the value of the numprocs attribute, but you should never need more than 40.

Scopes have an enclosing relationship with a strict ordering: adaptors contain virtual hosts, which contain

applications, which contain instances, which contain clients. The value of the Distribute tag must be a scope that is

lower in order than the value in the Scope tag. In other words, if the value of Scope is adaptor, the value of

Distribute can be vhosts, apps, insts, or clients. If the value of Scope is app, the value of Distribute can be

insts or clients. By default, the server uses the value immediately lower than the one specified in the Scope tag.

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The following table lists the values available for the Distribute element:

Example

See also

Scope, LifeTime, MaxFailures, RecoveryTime

DuplicateDir

Note: This feature has been deprecated.

This is one of two DuplicateDir elements in the Application.xml file: one is in the SharedObjManager container and

one is in the StreamManager container.

Specifies the physical location where duplicate copies of shared objects or recorded streams are stored.

This location serves as a backup for shared object files and recorded stream files. This location must already exist when

a shared object is copied to it.

Example

To include the application name in the paths for the backup files, change the appName attribute to "true".

<DuplicateDir appName="true">c:\backupSharedObjects</DuplicateDir>

<DuplicateDir appName="true">c:\backupStreams</DuplicateDir>

See also

StorageDir

Duration

This element instructs the server how long, in seconds, to wait before it notifies the client when the audio has stopped

in the middle of a live or recorded audio stream.

The default wait time is 3 seconds. The minimum wait time is 1 second. There is effectively no maximum value (the

maximum is the maximum value of a 32-bit integer).

Example

Value Description

vhosts All instances of applications in a virtual host run together in a process.

apps All instances of an application run together in a process.

insts Each application instance runs in its own process. This is the default value. If you choose this value, you must also

set the Distribute numprocs attribute to a value greater than 1.

clients Each client connection runs in its own process.

Use this value for stateless applications—applications that don’t require clients to interact with other clients and

don’t have clients accessing live streams. Most vod (video on demand) applications are stateless because each

client plays content independently of all other clients. Chat and gaming applications are not stateless because all

clients share the application state. For example, if a shared chat application were set to client, the messages

wouldn't reach everyone in the chat because they’d be split into separate processes.

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See also

Password

Enabled

Specifies whether diagnostic logging for the message queue is enabled. The default value is false.

See also

Diagnostic

EnhancedSeek

This element enables or disables fine-tuning of the seeking performance within streams by creating a keyframe.

Keyframes improve the visual display of video files while seeking. When set to true, a new keyframe is dynamically

generated to provide smooth seeking to that index point.

Note: The server generates new keyframes for Sorenson Spark-encoded FLV files. For On2 VP6, the new keyframe is

calculated and generated in Flash Player 9a or later. For H.264-encoded video, the new keyframe is calculated and

generated in Flash Player 9 Update 3 or later.

The default value is true. The server does not insert keyframes and all seeks begin at the nearest existing keyframe.

Example

See also

KeyFrameInterval

EraseOnPublish

When set to true, the server erases a recorded stream when a publisher starts publishing a live stream with the same

name. By default, this setting is disabled and the server does not erase a recorded stream.

See also

Live (StreamManager)

EventsDir

The element /StreamManager/EventsDir specifies the physical location where Event information for live streaming

is stored, as in the following example:

<EventsDir>c:\myapp\events\</EventsDir>

See also

“StreamManager” on page 182

Exception

This element indicates that a specific user agent is an exception to authentication. Use the from and to attributes to

indicate the lowest and highest versions to except. This is a string comparison with editing to make all numeric fields

equal length.

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For example, using a specific Flash Player will report WIN 9,0,28,0 as its UserAgent. Add To="WIN 9,0,28,0" and

From="WIN 9,0,28,0" and only that version is an exception.

See also

UserAgentExceptions

FileObject

Container element.

As of Flash Media Server 4.0, the FileObject element has an override attribute set to "no", by default. When

override="no", the applcation-level Application.xml file cannot override the VirtualDirectory settings for the

FileObject defined in a Vhost-level Application.xml file.

The VirtualDirectory element nested within this container configures the ScriptEngine file object settings.

Contained elements

VirtualDirectory

FinalHashTimeout

This element defines the maximum amount of time that a client can use to provide its final verification to the server.

See also

SWFVerification

FirstHashTimeout

This element defines the maximum amount of time that a client can use to provide its first verification to the server.

See also

SWFVerification

FlushOnData

Specifies whether the server flushes the message queue when a data message arrives. This element is important for

streaming data-only messages, so the server can send out the messages immediately. The default is true.

See also

Queue, MaxQueueSize, MaxQueueDelay, AccumulatedIFrames

FolderAccess

Configures the level of permission that the Access plug-in can set for accessing streams and shared objects. This allows

two levels of permissions: file-level access (a value of false), which allow access to a particular file only, and folder-

level access (a value of true), which allows access to a particular directory.

Example

<FolderAccess>false</FolderAccess>

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See also

Access

GroupControl

Settings within the GroupControl section control server-side functionality corresponding to the server channel. A

server channel is a channel that clients within a Flash Group can open to the server. The presence of a server channel

depends on serverChannelEnabled=true for the GroupSpecifier used to generate the groupspec value to join a

Flash Group.

See also

JoinLeaveEvents

HDS

Container for configurations for HTTP Dynamic Streaming.

Contained Elements

“Recording (HDS)” on page 175

“ContentProtection” on page 151

HiCPU

This element instructs the server to start combining samples when CPU utilization is higher than the specified

percentage of CPU resources. The default percentage of utilization is 80.

Example

See also

Subscribers, LoCPU, MaxSamples

Host

This element identifies the HTTP proxy. The value of the Host element can be the host name or an IP address. The

port number can also be specified in the Port element.

Example

<Host>www.example.com:8080</Host>

See also

Port, Type, Tunnel, Username, Password

HTTP

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the HTTP connection settings for this application.

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Contained elements

HTTP1_0, Verbose, Connections, Proxy, Redirect

HTTP1_0

This element determines whether or not the server can use the HTTP 1.0 protocol. The default is false, disallowing

the use of the HTTP 1.0 protocol.

Example

<HTTP1_0>false</HTTP1_0>

See also

HTTP, Verbose, Connections, Proxy, Redirect

HTTPTunnel

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the parameters for HTTP tunnelling (sending RTMP packets

through HTTP).

The tunnelling protocol is based on the client continuously polling the server. The frequency of polling affects both

network performance and the efficiency of the HTTP protocol. The IdleAckInterval and IdlePostInterval

elements control the polling frequency on a per-client basis. Selecting too small a delay value for the above parameters

will increase the polling frequency and reduce network performance and efficiency. Selecting too high values can

adversely affect the interactivity of the application and the server.

The Application.xml configuration file offers three settings for these parameters. The following table presents these

settings.

Example

<MimeType>application/x-fcs</MimeType>

</HTTPTunnel>

Contained elements

IdlePostInterval, IdleAckInterval, MimeType, WriteBufferSize

IdleAckInterval

Specifies the maximum time the server may wait before it sends back an ack (acknowledgement code) for an idle post

sent by the client.

Acceptable Latency IdlePostInterval IdleAckInterval

Low 128 milliseconds 256 milliseconds

Medium 512 milliseconds 512 milliseconds

High 1024 milliseconds 2048 milliseconds

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The server may respond sooner than the value of this element if it has data to send back to the client or if some other

client is being blocked by the current idle request.

This interval implies that the client may not be able to reach the server for the selected duration. The interval cannot

be set to a negative value.

The default interval is 512 milliseconds.

Example

See also

IdlePostInterval, MimeType, WriteBufferSize

IdlePostInterval

Specifies how long Flash Player should wait before sending an idle post to the server.

Idle posts are sent when Flash Player has no data to send, but posting is necessary to provide the server with an

opportunity to send data downstream to the client.

The interval for an idle post ranges from 0 to 4064 milliseconds. If the IdlePostInterval element is set to a value

that lies outside of this range, the default value of 512 milliseconds is used.

Note: At times, the server will not be able to send any data to the client for the selected duration.

Example

See also

IdleAckInterval, MimeType, WriteBufferSize

Interface

This element defines the name to use as the outgoing network interface.

The name can be an interface name, an IP address, or a host name.

Example

<Interface>www.example.com</Interface>

See also

MaxTimeOut (Connections), Reuse

Interval

Specifies the interval in milliseconds for sending silence messages when no audio is being published to a live stream.

Silence messages are used to support older versions of Flash Player. The server only sends the silence message to clients

specified in the UserAgent element in the Client section. Bit-flag 0x01 is used to control the silence message.

The default interval is 3 seconds. Set this to 0 to disable silence message transmission.

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Example

See also

SendSilence

JoinLeaveEvents

Flash Media Server 4.5

The JoinLeaveEvents element controls whether events for clients that join or leave a Group are dispatched to server-

side script or handled internally. This element has a mode attribute with the following possible values:

None (default)—All Group join and leave events are handled internally at this Adobe Media Server node.

All—All Group join and leave events are dispatched to the server-side script.

See also

PeerLookupEvents

JSEngine

Availability

Flash Communication Server 1.

In Flash Media Server 4, this element is deprecated. See ScriptEngine.

Availability

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the JavaScript engine.

Inside the JSEngine element, you can define properties for the server-side Application object. Defining properties in

the default Application.xml file creates properties available for all applications on a virtual host. Defining properties

in an Application.xml file in an application folder creates properties available for that application only.

To define a property, create an XML tag. The property name corresponds to the tag’s name, and the property value

corresponds to the tag’s contents.

Example

The following XML fragment defines the properties user_name and dept_name, with the values jdoe and

engineering, respectively:

<user_name>jdoe</user_name>

<dept_name>engineering</dept_name>

</config>

</JSEngine>

To access the property in server-side code, use the syntax in either of these examples:

application.config.prop_name

application.config["prop_name"]

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Note: The properties you define are accessible from application.config.property, not from

application.property.

Contained elements

RuntimeSize, MaxGCSkipCount, MaxTimeOut (JSEngine and ScriptEngine), ScriptLibPath, FileObject,

XMLSocket, NetConnection (ScriptEngine)

KeyFrameInterval

This element defines how often to generate and save keyframes in an FLV file.

The initial value is 60000, which is the recommended value. However, if this tag is unspecified or set to a value out of

range, the server uses a default value of 1000. Setting this element to a higher value than the initial value reduces the

number of keyframes added to the FLV file and thus reduces the file size. Setting a higher value for the interval,

however, reduces the seeking accuracy. The value of this element is defined in milliseconds.

For example, a 15-second video with a file size of 76 KB is increased only to 89 KB when the KeyFrameInterval

element is set to 5000, which is an increase of 13 KB, or 17%. The same video has a size of 109 KB with the

KeyFrameInterval element set to 1000, which is an increase of 33 KB, or 43%.

Note: Be aware of the correlation between file size and accuracy of seeking when you set this value.

Example

See also

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, CacheUpdateInterval

LifeTime

Container element.

This element determines the lifetime of core processes. To roll over such processes, set this element to a nonzero value.

Process rollover happens only when the Scope element is set to inst.

Contained elements

MaxCores, RollOver

Live (StreamManager)

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the intermediate frames in a live stream and the message queue,

and the amount of time the server waits before allowing another publisher to take over a live stream.

Contained elements

AccumulatedIFrames, Queue, PublishTimeout, StartClockOnPublish, MaxLatency, EraseOnPublish,

AssumeAbsoluteTime

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Live (MsgQueue)

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure live audio.

Contained elements

MaxAudioLatency, MinBufferTime (Live)

LoadOnStartup

This element determines whether or not the server loads an application instance when the server starts.

Having an application instance loaded at server start-up saves time when the first client connects to that application.

The default value is false.

If you set this element to true, an instance of each application on the server will be loaded at start-up.

Example

<LoadOnStartup>false</LoadOnStartup>

See also

Process, MaxAppIdleTime, JSEngine, StreamManager

LockTimeout

Specifies the timeout value before automatically unlocking a shared object if there is a client waiting for an update. The

timeout value is specified in seconds. The default value is -1, which instructs the server to wait for an indefinite time.

Example

See also

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, ResyncDepth, AutoCommit, MaxProperties, MaxPropertySize

LoCPU

This element instructs the server to stop combining samples when CPU utilization is lower than the specified

percentage of CPU resources. The default percentage of utilization is 60.

Example

See also

Subscribers, HiCPU, MaxSamples

Logging

A container element.

Contains elements that control the server logs.

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Contained elements

Access (Logging)

LogInterval

The interval at which the server logs checkpoint events.

See also

Checkpoints

Max

This element defines the maximum number of redirects allowed.

See also

Allow

MaxAggMsgSize

Specifies the maximum size in bytes of the aggregate messages created from the message queue, when aggregate

messages are enabled. The default value is 4096.

See also

Queue, MaxQueueSize, MaxQueueDelay, FlushOnData, AccumulatedIFrames

MaxAppIdleTime

Specifies the maximum time an application instance can remain idle with no clients connected before it is unloaded

from the server’s memory.

An application instance is evaluated as idle after all clients disconnect from it. If the application instance is loaded with

no clients connected, it is not evaluated as idle.

The maximum idle time is specified, in seconds. The default is 600 seconds (10 minutes).

Example

See also

Process, LoadOnStartup, JSEngine, StreamManager, ApplicationGC

MaxAudioLatency

Specifies that live audio should be dropped if audio exceeds the time specified. Time is expressed in milliseconds.

Example

See also

MinBufferTime (Live)

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MaxBufferRetries

Specifies the maximum number of attempts to start buffering stream data. This configuration tag prevents the server

from indefinitely trying to buffer data that is never delivered by the origin server. It is only applicable in edge servers.

The default value of 128 is sufficient in most cases.

Example

See also

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, CachePrefix, CacheUpdateInterval

MaxCores

The value of this element determines how many core processes can exist for an application.

By default, the MaxCores function is disabled. The default value is zero. For more information on setting the maximum

number of core processes, see “Configure how applications are assigned to server processes” on page 28.

Example

See also

LifeTime, RollOver

MaxDuration

Specifies the maximum duration, in seconds, of a recorded file. The value 0 disables recording. The value -1 means

there is no maximum duration. The default value is -1.

Set this parameter when you deploy a DVR application to prevent the disk from exceeding its capacity.

Note: The F_STREAM_RECORD_MAXDURATION field in the Authorization plug-in can override this value.

See also

MaxDurationCap, MaxSizeCap, MaxSize (Recording)

MaxDurationCap

Specifies the cap on the maximum duration (in seconds) of a recorded file. Values set in the MaxDuration element or

in Server-Side ActionScript cannot exceed this value. Setting the value 0 disables recording. Setting the value -1

removes the maximum duration cap. The default value is -1.

This element allows ISPs to host applications for customers and ensure that no customer abuses the MaxDuration

limit. For example, a customer can set any MaxDuration for their applications, but cannot exceed the

MaxDurationCap set by the ISP.

Note: The F_STREAM_RECORD_MAXDURATION field in the Authorization plug-in can override this value.

See also

MaxDuration, MaxSizeCap, MaxSize (Recording)

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MaxGCSkipCount

Specifies the maximum number of times that the server will skip garbage collection (GC) when the JS engine is busy.

This element determines the frequency of the garbage collection process.

By default, the server only performs GC when the JS engine is not busy. However, the JS engine does not necessarily

perform GC when it is busy, so in some cases you must force the server to perform GC regardless of the JS engine state.

If MaxGCSkipCount is set to 0, the server forces a GC regardless of the JS engine state. If MaxGCSkipCount is set to a

positive value, the server forces a GC when the skip count exceeds the value in MaxGCSkipCount.

Example

See also

RuntimeSize, MaxTimeOut (JSEngine and ScriptEngine), ScriptLibPath,FileObject, XMLSocket,

NetConnection (ScriptEngine)

MaxFailures

The value of this element determines the maximum number of core process failures that can occur before a core

process is disabled.

Once the core processes are disabled, the server does not launch a core process until some minimum recovery time has

elapsed. Having a time lag for recovery avoids a denial-of-service action, which can happen when a faulty core

consumes all CPU resources by repeatedly launching itself.

Example

See also

Scope, Distribute, LifeTime, RecoveryTime

MaxIdleTime

The maximum time a client can be idle before the server closes the connection. This value is set in the Server.xml file

by default. You can set the value in the Vhost.xml file to override the value set in the Server.xml file. You can set the

value in the Application.xml file to override the value set in the Vhost.xml file.

See also

AutoCloseIdleClients

MaxInitDelay

The maximum number of seconds used to process SWF files. The default value is 5 seconds.

Example

Example

SWFVerification

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MaxLatency

The maximum latency, in milliseconds, of incoming messages in a live stream. When a server-side script injects a data

message into a live stream, this setting determines the timestamp of the message. If the injection time is larger than

MaxLatency, the server adds the time difference between the last message time and the injection time to the timestamp

of the data message. Otherwise, the timestamp is the last message time. The default value is 500. The minimum value is 0.

See also

Live (StreamManager)

MaxMessageSizeLosslessVideo

Specifies the maximum size of messages for screen-sharing packets.

Example

See also

OutChunkSize, AccumulatedIFrames, Access, UserAgent

MaxPendingDebugConnections

Specifies the maximum number of pending debug connections. The default is 50. (If the number is set to 0, debugging

connections are disabled.)

Once the specified number is reached, the oldest pending debug connection is rejected to create space.

Example

See also

AllowDebugDefault

MaxProperties

The maximum number of properties for each shared object. To specify unlimited, use -1.

Example

See also

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, ResyncDepth, LockTimeout, AutoCommit, MaxPropertySize

MaxPropertySize

The maximum size in bytes for each property of a shared object. To specify unlimited size, use -1.

Example

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See also

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, ResyncDepth, LockTimeout, AutoCommit, MaxProperties

MaxQueueDelay

Specifies how often the server will flush the message queue, in milliseconds. The default value is 500 milliseconds.

See also

Queue, MaxQueueSize, FlushOnData, AggregateMessages (Queue)

MaxQueueSize

Specifies how often the server will flush the message queue, in bytes. A value of 0 disables queuing. The default value

is 4096.

See also

Queue, MaxQueueDelay, FlushOnData, AggregateMessages (Queue)

MaxRate

Specifies the maximum rate in Kbps at which the server sends data to the client. The default value of -1 sends the data

at whatever rate is necessary to measure bandwidth without throttling.

Example

See also

DataSize, MinBufferTime (Live)

MaxSamples

Specifies how many sound samples can be combined into one message.

The default number of samples is 4.

See also

Audio

MaxSize (AccumulatedIFrames)

Specifies the maximum size, in kilobytes, of intermediate frames that a live stream can hold in the buffer.

The buffer contains a history of the video messages up to the last keyframe. This enables clients to catch up to the latest

message even if they join between keyframes. If the buffer size is larger than MaxSize, the server clears the messages.

This setting prevents the buffer from growing too large and should be set larger than the total size of intermediate

frames between keyframes. A default value of -1 means the size of intermediate frames is unlimited.

Example

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See also

Subscribers, LoCPU, HiCPU

MaxSize (Recording)

Specifies the maximum size, in kilobytes, of a recorded file. The value -1 means there is no maximum size. The value

0 disables recording. The default value is -1.

Set this parameter when you deploy a DVR application to prevent the disk from exceeding its capacity.

Note: The F_STREAM_RECORD_MAXSIZE field in the Authorization plug-in can override this value.

See also

MaxSizeCap, MaxDuration, MaxDurationCap

MaxSizeCap

Specifies the maximum size cap, in kilobytes, of a recorded file. The value -1 means there is no maximum size. The

value 0 disables recording. The default value is -1.

This element allows ISPs to host applications for customers and ensure that no customer abuses the MaxSize limit.

For example, a customer can set any MaxSize for their applications, but cannot exceed the MaxSizeCap set by the ISP.

Note: The F_STREAM_RECORD_MAXSIZE field in the Authorization plug-in can override this value.

See also

MaxSize (Recording), MaxDuration, MaxDurationCap

MaxStreamsBeforeGC

Specifies that garbage collection (GC) should be forced if the stream list grows over the set value. The default value is

-1 (unlimited). GC occurs during the application GC interval.

Example

See also

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, CachePrefix, CacheUpdateInterval, MaxBufferRetries

MaxTime

Specifies the maximum duration, in seconds, of intermediate frames that a live stream can hold in the buffer.

The buffer contains a history of the video messages up to the last keyframe. This enables clients to catch up to the latest

message even if they join between keyframes. If the duration in the buffer is larger than the MaxTime, the server clears

the messages. This setting prevents the buffer from growing too large and should be set larger than the keyframe

interval. The default value of -1 means the duration is unlimited.

Example

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See also

RuntimeSize, MaxGCSkipCount, ScriptLibPath, FileObject, XMLSocket, NetConnection (ScriptEngine)

MaxTimeOut (Connections)

This element defines the maximum time for a transfer to be completed. The default time is 60 seconds.

Operations such as DNS lock-ups may take more time. If the value of this element is too low, the risk of aborting

correctly functioning operations increases.

Example

See also

Reuse, Interface

MaxTimeOut (JSEngine and ScriptEngine)

Note: In Flash Media Server 4, the JSEngine element is deprecated and replaced by the ScriptEngine element.

The maximum time, in seconds, a script can take to execute a JavaScript (Server-Side ActionScript) function. If its

execution takes longer than the maximum allowed time, then the script is evaluated as a runaway script and its

execution is terminated. Setting a maximum time to execute a script prevents infinite looping in scripts.

The default value is 0 and no checks are performed to detect runaway scripts. This setting may be useful in a debugging

environment. In a production environment, after the applications and scripts have been thoroughly tested, you should

set this element to a more realistic value that does not impose limits on the time scripts take to execute.

Example

See also

RuntimeSize, MaxGCSkipCount, ScriptLibPath,FileObject, XMLSocket, NetConnection (ScriptEngine)

MaxUnprocessedChars

Specifies how much data can be received from an XML server (without receiving an end tag) before XMLSocket closes

the connection. This can be overridden by each XMLSocket by specifying the property XML.maxUnprocessedChars,

but that number cannot exceed the number specified in this element.

Example

See also

XMLSocket

MaxUrlLength

Defines the maximum URL lengths, in bytes. Most modern browsers support up to 64KB URLs. The default value is

32KB. The maximum allowable value is 1000KB.

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Use this element to restrict the lengths of outgoing SSAS-initiated NetConnection URLs. For incoming requests, use

the MaxUrlLength element in the Server.xml file.

Example

See also

Security

MaxWait

This element specifies the number of seconds to wait before the server sends data to the client.

Increasing this number provides a more accurate bandwidth figure, but it also forces the client to wait longer.

Example

See also

MaxRate, DataSize

MimeType

Specifies the default MIME (Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions) type header sent on tunnel responses.

The server generally uses the MIME type specified by the incoming requests. The server will use the entry for the

MIMEType element only when it is unable to determine the MIME type from the incoming requests.

Example

<MimeType>application/x-fcs</MimeType>

See also

IdleAckInterval, IdlePostInterval, WriteBufferSize

MinBufferTime (Live)

Specifies the default buffer length in milliseconds for the live audio and video queue.

Example

See also

MaxAudioLatency

MinBufferTime (Recorded)

Specifies the default buffer length in milliseconds for audio and video. The value cannot be set below this by Flash

Player.

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Example

See also

Recorded

MinGoodVersion

Specifies the minimum accepted version of SWF verification allowed by the server. The default value is 0, which allows

the current and all future versions.

Example

See also

SWFFolder, UserAgentExceptions

MinQueuedVideo

The minimum number of video messages to queue at the start of a stream. Streams that use H.264 or any other

pipelined codec need messages to begin playback. This setting ensures that regardless of the buffer setting there are

enough messages to begin playback quickly. Setting this value to less than 64 may cause content with a low FPS to delay

before starting. The default value is 64.

See also

Server

MsgQueue

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure live and recorded audio.

Contained elements

Live (MsgQueue), Recorded, Server

NetConnection (ScriptEngine)

Container element.

The element nested within this container specifies object encoding to use for Server-Side ActionScript NetConnection.

Contained elements

ObjectEncoding

NetConnection (RPC)

Lets you list methods allowed for NetConnection RPCs. Any method not listed is blocked.

When a client creates a NetConnection object and attempts to call an SSAS Client class method with that object, the

method must be explicitly allowed in this section for the call to succeed.

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To add methods, use a comma-delimited list of method names in the <Method><Allow> sub-elements.

The default is to allow the onStatus method for NetConnection RPCs.

Contained elements

Method

Example

<Allow>onStatus</Allow>

</Method>

</NetConnection>

See also

Stream, SharedObject, Client (RPC)

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

NotifyAudioStop

Container element.

The Duration element nested within this container determines whether or not the server is notified when an audio

transmission ending on a stream is encountered.

Example

Contained elements

Duration

ObjectEncoding

Specifies the default object encoding to use for SSAS NetConnection. This can be AMF0 or AMF3. The default is AMF3.

The default can be overridden for each individual NetConnection by setting the NetConnection.objectEncoding

property to either 0 for AMF0 or 3 for AMF3.

Example

See also

NetConnection (ScriptEngine)

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OutChunkSize

Specifies the RTMP chunk size in bytes to use in all streams for this application. The server breaks stream content into

chunks of this size. Larger values reduce CPU usage but cause larger writes that can delay other content on lower

bandwidth connections. This can have a minimum value of 128 bytes and a maximum value of 65536 bytes. The

default value is 4096.

Note that older clients might not support chunk sizes larger than 1024 bytes. If the chunk setting is larger than these

clients can support, the chunk setting is capped at 1024 bytes.

Example

See also

Bandwidth, BandwidthCap, BandwidthDetection, MsgQueue, HTTPTunnel, MaxMessageSizeLosslessVideo

OverridePublisher

Deprecated; see the PublishTimeout element.

Specifies whether a second client is able to take over the ownership of a live stream when the stream is already

published by another client. The default value is false. If set to true, add application logic to avoid stream name

collision.

Example

See also

Audio, Live (StreamManager), SendDuplicateStart, SendDuplicateOnMetaData

Password

Specifies the password for connecting to the proxy.

See also

Host, Port, Type, Tunnel, Username

PeerLookupEvents

Flash Media Server 4.5

In a peer-assisted networking application, use this element to configure how the server handles peer lookup events.

RTMFP clients establish direct peer-to-peer connections through the use of NetStream DIRECT_CONNECTIONS and

peerIDs, or by using NetGroup to join a Flash Group where clients can be automatically bootstrapped to neighbors or

can manually initiate connections to them. The process of establishing a peer-to-peer connection begins with the

initiating client sending a peer lookup request to the server. These events are processed differently depending upon the

mode attribute.

The following are possible values of the mode attribute:

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To filter peer lookup requests, set <PeerLookupEvents mode> to All:

...

<RTMFP>

</RTMFP>

...

</Application>

To distribute introductions across multiple servers, set mode to Partial or All.

For more information, see Filter introduction requests and Build peer-assisted networking applications to run on

multiple servers.

Port

Specifies the proxy port to connect to if the port is not specified as part of the host in the Host element.

See also

Host, Password, Type, Tunnel, Username

Prioritization

Specifies whether outgoing messages are prioritized by message type when sending across a server-to-server

connection. This setting is relevant for multi-point publishing. By default, prioritization is set to false, which is the

correct setting to avoid possible latency when server-side NetStream objects are used to publish messages to remote

servers. Messages are sent out through one channel and all messages have the same priority.

If the value is set to true, the server sends messages through multiple channels and prioritizes messages based on the

message type, as follows (where 1 has the highest priority):

1Data

2Audio

3Video

See also

Server

Process

Container element.

The elements nested within this container determine how a core process is managed.

Value Description

None The default value. Lookup events are handled by the server. You cannot use Server-Side

ActionScript to distribute peer introductions or filter peer introductions.

Partial The server automatically handles peer lookup events for clients connected to the same

core process. Developers must handle other peer lookup events with Server-Side

ActionScript.

All Developers must handle all lookup events in Server-Side ActionScript.

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The following table lists descriptions of the contained elements.

Contained elements

Scope, Distribute, LifeTime, MaxFailures, RecoveryTime,

Proxy

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the HTTP Proxy settings.

Contained elements

Host, Port, Type, Tunnel, Username, Password

PublishTimeout

Specifies how long in milliseconds the server waits to receive a response from a publisher when another client tries to

publish to the same stream.

If a client tries to publish to the same live stream that is being published by another client, Adobe Media Server pings

the first publisher and waits to receive a response. If the first publisher fails to respond within the time specified in this

tag, the server allows the second publisher to take over the live stream. The default value is 2000 milliseconds. To

prevent the server from pinging the first client, disable this setting by setting the value of the tag to -1.

This tag replaces the OverridePublisher tag.

QualifiedStreamsMapping

Enables mapping of virtual stream paths to different physical locations. This tag is applicable when using the

Authorization plug-in.

When a client requests to play a stream, an E_FILENAME_TRANSFORM event occurs in the Authorization plug-in. You

can map the stream differently for each client in the F_STREAM_PATH property of your Authorization plug-in code.

For example, suppose client 1 and client 2 both request to play myStream.flv. You can remap the stream to

c:\video1\myStream.flv for client 1 and c:\video2\myStream.flv for client 2.

Value Description

Scope Specifies the level at which application instances are assigned to core processes. Scopes have an enclosing

relationship with a strict ordering: adaptors contain virtual hosts, which contain applications, which contain

instances, which contain clients.

Distribute Specifies how to distribute application instances to processes. The value of the Distribute tag must be a scope

that is lower in order than the value in the Scope tag (for example, if the value of Scope is adaptor, the value of

Distribute can be vhosts, apps, insts, or clients). Distribution may be turned off by setting numproc to

0 or 1.

LifeTime Specifies the lifetime of core processes. Process rollover happens only when the Scope element is set to inst.

MaxFailures The value for this element determines the maximum number of core process failures that can occur before a core

process is disabled.

RecoveryTime Specifies the recovery time for a core.

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Queue

Container element; contains elements that configure the settings of the message queue. A message queue is used to

buffer incoming messages from the publisher so that the server can send messages in chunks to the subscribers. You

can disable queuing so that individual messages are immediately sent to subscribers. To disable queuing, set the

enabled attribute to false.

Contained elements

MaxQueueSize, MaxQueueDelay, FlushOnData, AggregateMessages (Queue)

Recorded

Container element.

The element nested within this container specifies the ratio of buffer length used by the server-side stream to the live

buffer.

Contained elements

MinBufferTime (Recorded)

Recording (HDS)

Container for configurations for HTTP Dynamic Streaming.

Contained Elements

“ContentProtection” on page 151

Recording (StreamManager)

Container element.

The elements nested within this container specify the duration and file size of files recorded by the server.

Contained elements

MaxDuration, MaxDurationCap, MaxSize (Recording), MaxSizeCap

RecoveryTime

Specifies the recovery time for a core.

The server will not launch a core process until some minimum recovery time has elapsed. The time lag for recovery

can avoid a denial-of-service action, which happens when a faulty core process consumes all CPU time by repeatedly

launching itself.

The recovery time for a core process is specified, in seconds. A value of 0 disables any checking for process failures.

Note: Loading an application with Adobe Media Administration Server tools or APIs bypasses this check.

Example

See also

Scope, Distribute, LifeTime, MaxFailures

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Redirect

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the settings for redirecting the HTTP connection.

Contained elements

Allow, Max, UnrestrictedAuth

ResyncDepth

This element instructs the server to resynchronize a shared object file. The shared object is resynchronized when its

version number is greater than the head version minus the current version. The default value of -1 sends a

resynchronized version of the file with every connection.

Example

See also

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, LockTimeout, AutoCommit, MaxProperties, MaxPropertySize

Reuse

This element configures whether or not the server explicitly closes the HTTP connection after each transfer. The

default is to reuse connections. Set this to false to use a new connection after every transfer.

Example

See also

MaxTimeOut (Connections), Interface

RollOver

Specifies how many seconds a core process can be in use before the server creates a new core process.

After the time limit for a core is reached, a new core is instantiated. All subsequent connections are directed to the new

core.

The rollover functionality is disabled by default. The default value is 0 (seconds). For more information on rollover

processes, see “Configure how applications are assigned to server processes” on page 28.

Example

See also

MaxCores

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RPC

Configures RPCs (remote procedure calls) for each class. By default, all methods are rejected. Only methods that are

explicitly listed for each class are allowed. This whitelisting approach is more secure than a blacklist.

Contained Elements

NetConnection (RPC), Stream, SharedObject, Client (RPC)

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

RTMFP

This section provides the means to control the behavior of application-specific RTMFP functionality.

Contained Elements

“GroupControl” on page 156

“JoinLeaveEvents” on page 159

“PeerLookupEvents” on page 172

RuntimeSize

Specifies the maximum size in kilobytes that an application instance can use to run Server-Side ActionScript code

before the server removes unreferenced and unused JavaScript objects.

The default size is 1024 kilobytes, which is the equivalent of 1 megabyte. The lower limit is 10 kilobytes. There is no

upper limit. The default value applies when the engine size lies outside of these limits.

If your application consumes a significant amount of memory, you must increase the engine size. If you create a new

script object that will cause the runtime size of the application instance to exceed the value of this element, an out-of-

memory error occurs and the application instance is shut down. In most cases, increasing the engine size to 30720 (30

MB) is sufficient to run intensive Server-Side ActionScript operations.

Example

See also

MaxGCSkipCount, MaxTimeOut (JSEngine and ScriptEngine), ScriptLibPath, FileObject, XMLSocket,

NetConnection (ScriptEngine)

Scope

This element determines the level at which application instances are assigned to core processes.

Starting Adobe Media Server starts a process called AMSMaster.exe (Windows) or amsmaster (Linux). Application

instances run in processes called AMSCore.exe (Windows) amscore (Linux). The master process is a monitor that

starts core processes when necessary. Only one master process can run at a time, but many core processes can run at

the same time.

Settings in an Application.xml file in a virtual host folder apply to all applications running in that virtual host. Settings

made in an Application.xml file in an application’s folder apply only to that application.

The following table lists the values available for the Scope element.

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Example

<Scope>vhost</Scope>

See also

Distribute, LifeTime, MaxFailures, RecoveryTime

ScriptEngine

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

Replaces the JSEngine element.

Description

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the server-side script engine.

Inside the ScriptEngine element, you can define properties for the server-side Application object. Defining

properties in the default Application.xml file creates properties available for all applications on a virtual host. Defining

properties in an Application.xml file in an application folder creates properties available for that application only.

To define a property, create an XML tag. The property name corresponds to the tag’s name, and the property value

corresponds to the tag’s contents.

Example

The following XML fragment defines the properties user_name and dept_name, with the values jdoe and

engineering, respectively:

<user_name>jdoe</user_name>

<dept_name>engineering</dept_name>

</config>

</ScriptEngine>

To access the property in server-side code, use the syntax in either of these examples:

application.config.prop_name

application.config["prop_name"]

Note: The properties you define are accessible from application.config.property, not from

application.property.

Value Description

adaptor All application instances in an adaptor run together in a process.

vhost All application instances in a virtual host run together in a process. This is the default value.

app All instances of a single application run together in a process.

inst Each application instance runs in its own process. If you choose this value, you must also set the Distribute

numprocs attribute to a value greater than 1.

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Contained elements

AdaptorId, RuntimeSize, MaxGCSkipCount, MaxTimeOut (JSEngine and ScriptEngine), ScriptLibPath,

FileObject, XMLSocket, NetConnection (ScriptEngine), Security

ScriptLibPath

A list of paths delimited by semicolons instructing the server where to look for server-side scripts loaded into a

main.asc file with the load() method.

These paths are used to resolve a script file that is loaded with the load API. The server first looks in the location where

the main.asc or application_name.asc file is located. If the script file is not found there, the script engine searches, in

sequence, the list of paths specified in this element.

Example

<ScriptLibPath>${APP.JS_SCRIPTLIBPATH}</ScriptLibPath>

See also

RuntimeSize, MaxGCSkipCount, MaxTimeOut (JSEngine and ScriptEngine), FileObject, XMLSocket,

NetConnection (ScriptEngine)

Security

Container element.

Contains elements that define security features for the application.

Contained elements

MaxUrlLength, RPC

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

SendDuplicateOnMetaData

Specifies whether an onMetaData message is sent at the beginning of video files when the play and seek commands are

called. The default value is true.

The following values are available:

•true sends onMetaData for the play and seek commands.

•false sends onMetaData for play only.

•once falls back to Flash Media Server 1.x behavior and sends onMetaData based on the start position, regardless of

the command. If no onMetaData is found at the start position, no onMetaData is sent.

Example

See also

SendDuplicateStart

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SendDuplicateStart

Specifies whether status message NetStream.Play.Start is sent for all commands, including play, seek, and unpause.

If set to false, only the play command receives the start message.

Example

See also

SendDuplicateOnMetaData, OverridePublisher

SendSilence

Container element.

The Interval element nested within this container configures the settings for sending silent messages.

Contained elements

Interval

Server

Container element.

Contains two elements: BufferRatio, which specifies the ratio of the buffer length used by the server-side stream to

the live buffer, and Prioritization, which specifies whether to prioritize outgoing messages for server-to-server

connections.

Contained elements

BufferRatio, Prioritization

ServerToClient (Bandwidth)

Specifies the bandwidth in bytes per second that the server can use for sending data downstream to the client.

The default bandwidth is 250,000 bytes per second.

You can configure this value in the Bandwidth section of XML and in the BandwidthCap section of XML. The values

in the Bandwidth section can be overridden, but the values in the BandwidthCap section are not. This allows ISPs to

host applications for customers and ensure that no customer abuses the bandwidth limit. For example, a customer can

set any bandwidth limit for their applications, but cannot exceed the caps set by the ISP.

Example

See also

ClientToServer (Bandwidth)

ServerToClient (BandwidthCap)

Specifies the maximum bandwidth in bytes per second that the server can use for sending data downstream to the

client.

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The default bandwidth is 10,000,000 bytes per second.

You can configure this value in the Bandwidth section of XML and in the BandwidthCap section of XML. The values

in the Bandwidth section can be overridden, but the values in the BandwidthCap section can not. This allows ISPs to

host applications for customers and ensure that no customer abuses the bandwidth limit. For example, a customer can

set any bandwidth limit for their applications, but cannot exceed the caps set by the ISP.

Example

See also

ClientToServer (BandwidthCap)

SharedObject

Lets you list methods allowed for SharedObject RPCs. Any method not explicitly listed here is blocked.

If a client subscribes to a remote SharedObject and tries to call remote methods on SSAS using the SO.send() method,

the method must be explicitly listed here to succeed.

To add methods, use a comma-delimited list of method names in the <Method><Allow> sub-elements.

The default is to not allow any method calls for SharedObject RPCs.

Contained elements

Method

Example

<Allow>setFps</Allow>

</Method>

</SharedObject>

See also

NetConnection (RPC), Stream, Client (RPC)

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

SharedObjManager

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the Shared Object Manager setting of an application.

Contained elements

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, ResyncDepth, LockTimeout, AutoCommit, MaxProperties, MaxPropertySize

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StartClockOnPublish

Specifies whether the stream time is sensitive to the difference between publish time and the arrival of the first stream

message. The default value is false.

To use dynamic, multibitrate streaming, leave this value false.

See also

Live (StreamManager)

StorageDir

Specifies the physical location where shared objects or streams are stored.

By default the physical location is not set. Set this element only if the files for shared objects or recorded streams must

be stored in a location other than the application directory.

Example

<StorageDir>C:\myapp\sharedobjects\</StorageDir>

<StorageDir>C:\myapp\streams\</StorageDir>

See also

DuplicateDir

Stream

Lets you list methods allowed for stream RPCs.

To add methods, use a comma-delimited list of method names in the <Method><Allow> sub-elements.

The default is to allow onStatus method calls only for stream RPCs.

Contained elements

Method

Example

<Allow>onStatus</Allow>

</Method>

</Stream>

See also

NetConnection (RPC), SharedObject, Client (RPC)

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

StreamManager

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the Stream Manager settings for this application.

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Contained elements

StorageDir, DuplicateDir, EventsDir, CachePrefix, CacheUpdateInterval, MaxBufferRetries,

ThrottleBoundaryRequest, ThrottleLoads, ThrottleDisplayInterval, EnhancedSeek, KeyFrameInterval,

MaxStreamsBeforeGC, Audio, Live (StreamManager), SendDuplicateStart, SendDuplicateOnMetaData,

MaxSize (Recording), MaxSizeCap, MaxDuration, MaxDurationCap

Subscribers

This element instructs the server to combine sound samples only if there are more than the default number of

subscribers to that stream. The default number of subscribers is 8.

Example

See also

LoCPU, HiCPU, MaxSamples

SWFFolder

Specifies a single folder or a semicolon-delimited list of folders containing copies of client SWF files. The server

compares these SWF files to client SWF files connecting to applications on the server.

The default value of the SWFFolder element is the application's folder appended with /SWFs. Use a semicolon to

separate multiple directories. SWF files located under an instance named folder can only connect to that specific

instance.

Example

For an application named myApplication located at C:\applications\, authenticating SWF files should be placed

in C:\applications\myApplication\SWFs.

See also

MinGoodVersion, UserAgentExceptions

SWFVerification

Container element.

Specifies how the server verifies client SWF files before allowing the files to connect to an application. Verifying SWF

files is a security measure that prevents someone from creating their own SWF files that can attempt to stream your

resources. For more information, see “Verify SWF files” on page 33.

Note: SWF files connecting to Adobe Media Administration Server cannot be verified.

Contained elements

SWFFolder, MinGoodVersion, DirLevelSWFScan, MaxInitDelay, FinalHashTimeout, FirstHashTimeout,

UserAgentExceptions, Cache

ThrottleBoundaryRequest

Controls the maximum number of concurrent boundary requests per recorded stream. When streaming through a

proxy server, the boundary information about video segments are sent to the proxy server by request.

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The default value is 8.

Example

See also

ThrottleDisplayInterval, ThrottleLoads

ThrottleDisplayInterval

Controls the interval at which the server displays the throttle queue length. The default value is 64, which means the

server displays the message 1 out of 64 times when the throttle queue is full.

Example

See also

ThrottleBoundaryRequest, ThrottleLoads

ThrottleLoads

Controls the maximum number of concurrent segment loads per recorded stream. When streaming through a proxy

server, video segments are sent to the proxy server by request. The default value is 8.

Example

See also

ThrottleBoundaryRequest, ThrottleDisplayInterval

Tunnel

Specifies whether or not to tunnel all operations through a given HTTP proxy. The default setting is false.

Example

<Tunnel>false</Tunnel>

See also

Host, Port, Type, Username, Password

TTL

Specifies in minutes how long each SWF file remains in the cache. The default value is 1440 minutes (24 hours).

See also

Cache, UpdateInterval

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Type

Specifies the type of proxy being connected to. The value for this element can be HTTP or SOCKS5. The default is HTTP.

Example

See also

Host, Port, Tunnel, Username, Password

UnrestrictedAuth

A Boolean value that determines whether or not to allow sending the user name/password combination with each

HTTP redirect. Sending the user name/password combination is useful only if the Allow element permits redirections.

The default setting is true.

Example

See also

Allow, Max

UpdateInterval

Specifies the maximum time in minutes to wait for the server to scan the SWF folders for updates when there is a miss

in the cache. The default value is 5 minutes.

See also

Cache, TTL

UserAgent

Container element.

The settings for clients vary according to whether Flash Player platform is Windows or Macintosh. Setting the value

0x01 will configure the player and platform for silent messages.

Contained elements

Bits

UserAgentExceptions

Container element.

Contains an element that specifies a user agent that should be an exception to authentication. Use the to and from

attributes to indicate the lowest and highest versions to except.

Example

</UserAgentExceptions>

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Contained elements

Exception

Username

Specifies the user name for connecting to the edge.

See also

Host, Port, Type, Tunnel, Password

Verbose

This element determines whether or not the server outputs verbose information during HTTP operations.

Example

<Verbose>false</Verbose>

See also

HTTP1_0, Connections, Proxy, Redirect

VideoSampleAccess

Allows the client application to access the raw uncompressed video data in a stream. By default, this element is

disabled. To enable it, set the enable attribute to true. In the tag, specify a list of semicolon-delimited folders to which

client applications have access. When this element is enabled, all clients can access the video data in streams in the

specified folders. To enable access to all video data streamed by the server, specify / in the tag.

The folder path is restricted to the application’s streams folder or folders, so do not use absolute paths in the list of

folders.

While you can also enable access through Server-Side ActionScript, this element allows access to the data without

requiring Server-Side ActionScript. You can also override this element with the Access plug-in or Server-Side

ActionScript.

Example

If an application is configured to store streams in folders C:\low_quality and C:\high_quality, the configuration

to allow access to sample those streams is as follows:

<VideoSampleAccess enabled="true">low_quality;high_quality</VideoSampleAccess>

See also

AudioSampleAccess

VirtualDirectory

Specifies virtual directory mappings for Server-Side ActionScript File objects.

If you map File objects in the Application.xml file and don't have the feature enabled in the Server.xml file, you'll see

the following message in the log:

"Virtual directories for file objects is not supported due to the Server level security

setting."

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The VirtualDirectory element is contained by a FileObject element. The FileObject element has an override

attribute whose default value is "no". When override="no", the applcation-level Application.xml file cannot

override the VirtualDirectory settings for the FileObject defined in a Vhost-level Application.xml file.

Use the following syntax:

<VirtualDirectory>virtual_dir_name;physical_dir_path</VirtualDirectory>

To specify multiple directories, use multiple <VirtualDirectory> elements, as in the following:

<VirtualDirectory>/key1;C:\example\folder1</VirtualDirectory>

<VirtualDirectory>/key2;C:\example\folder2</VirtualDirectory>

</FileObject>

For more information, see comments in the Application.xml file and “Mapping virtual directories to physical

directories” on page 51.

See also

FileObject

WindowsPerAck

Controls how many messages can be sent before receiving an acknowledgement from the other end.

Note: Adobe recommends that you do not change the value of this element.

WriteBufferSize

Specifies in kilobytes the size of the write buffer. The default size is 16 KB.

Example

See also

IdlePostInterval, IdleAckInterval, MimeType

XMLSocket

Container element.

Contains an element that specifies how much data can be received from the XML server (without receiving an end tag)

before XMLSocket closes the connection. This can be overridden by each XMLSocket by specifying the property

XML.maxUnprocessedChars, but that number cannot exceed the number specified in this element.

Example

</XMLSocket>

Contained elements

MaxUnprocessedChars

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Logger.xml file

The Logger.xml file is located at the root level of the /conf directory and is the configuration file for the logging file

system. Logger.xml contains the elements and information used to configure log files.You can edit this file to add or

change configuration information, including the location of the log files. The default location of the log files is in the

/logs directory in the server installation directory.

Log files are written in English. Field names displayed in the log file are in English. Some content within the log file,

however, may be in another language, depending on the filename and the operating system. For example, in the

Access.log file, the columns x-sname and x-suri-stem show the name of the stream. If the name of the recorded

stream is in a language other than English, the name is written in that language, even if the server is running on an

English-language operating system.

The Logging section in the Server.xml file enables or disables the log files.

To see the element structure and default values, see the Logger.xml file installed in the RootInstall/conf/ folder.

Note: Log file rotation cannot be disabled. To effectively turn off rotation, choose a large maximum size and a long

maximum duration for the log files.

Access

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the Access log settings.

Contained elements

LogServer, Directory, FileName, Time

admin

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the admin log settings.

Contained elements

LogServer

Application

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the Application log file settings.

Contained elements

Directory, Time, Rotation

AuthEvent

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the AuthEvent log file settings.

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Contained elements

LogServer, Directory. FileName, Time, Rotation, Events, Fields, Delimiter, QuoteFields, EscapeFields

AuthMessage

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the AuthMessage log file settings.

Contained elements

Directory, Time. Rotation

core

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the core log settings.

Contained elements

LogServer

Delimiter

Specifies whether or not to use a single quotation mark (') as a delimiter to separate the fields in the log file.

A delimiter is used to separate the fields in the log file. The use of the number sign (#) as a delimiter is not

recommended, since # is used as the comment element in the Logger.xml file.

The following characters are not allowed as delimiters:

•triple quotation marks (''' )

•paired double quotation marks ("")

•comma (,)

•colon (:)

•hyphen (-)

See also

Directory, EscapeFields, QuoteFields

Diagnostic

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the diagnostic log file.

Contained elements

Directory, Time. Rotation

See also

Time, Rotation

DisplayFieldsHeader

Formatting element. Specifies how many lines to write to the log file before repeating the field headers. The default line

count is 100 lines.

Example

See also

Delimiter, EscapeFields, QuoteFields

edge

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the edge log settings.

Contained elements

LogServer

EscapeFields

Formatting element. This element controls whether or not the fields in the log file are escaped when unsafe characters

are found. This optional flag can be set to enable or disable. By default, it is set to enable.

The unsafe characters are as follows: the space character; open or closed angle brackets (< >); a double quotation mark

("); the number sign (#); the percent sign (%); open or closed curly braces ({ }); bar (|); the carat (^); the tilde (~); square

brackets ([ ]); and the apostrophe (' ).

Example

<EscapeFields>enable</EscapeFields>

See also

LogServer, Directory, FileName, Time, Rotation, Events, Fields, Delimiter, and QuoteFields

Events

Specifies the events written to the log file.

Specify events in a semicolon-separated list. The keyword * instructs the server to log all events. For a list of events that

are recorded in the Access log file, see “Access events defined in access logs” on page 99.

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See also

Fields

Specifies which fields for an event are logged in the Access log file.

Fields are associated with the events found in the Access log file. The field specification is a semicolon-separated list of

one or more fields associated with an event in the log file.

The keyword * specifies that all fields are to be logged. Fields without data are left empty. Adobe recommends that you

include the following fields in the fields to be logged: the type, category, date, and time fields.

For a list of fields associated with events in the Access log file, see “Fields in access logs” on page 100. Not every field

is associated with each event in the log file.

See also

Events

FileIO

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the settings for the File plug-in log file settings.

Contained elements

Directory, Time, Rotation

FileName

Specifies the name of the Access log file.

The Access log filename includes a date stamp and version number. Y represents the year of its creation; the format

YYYY must be used. M represents the month of its creation; the formats M or MM are both allowed. D represents the

day of the month of the file’s creation; the formats D or DD are both allowed. N represents the version number of the

file. Note that there is no limit on the number of versions.

The repetition of a letter represents the number of digits. For example, M represents 4 (April). MM represents 04

(April).

Example

access.2007103043.log

This example identifies version 43 of the access log file for October 30, 2007.

See also

LogServer, Directory, Time, Rotation, Events, Fields, Delimiter, QuoteFields, EscapeFields

History

Specifies the maximum number of log files to keep.

The files are named access.01.log, access.02.log, access.03.log, and so on. The default number of files to retain is 5.

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Example

See also

MaxSize, Schedule, Rename

HostPort

Specifies the IP and port of the log server.

Example

See also

ServerID, DisplayFieldsHeader

Logger

Root element.

The Logger element is a container for all the other elements in Logger.xml.

LogServer

Container element.

The elements nested in this section configure the server to send messages to a remote log server.

Contained elements

HostPort, ServerID, DisplayFieldsHeader

master

Container element.

The elements nested within this container configure the master log settings.

Contained elements

LogServer

MaxSize

Specifies the maximum log file size in bytes. The default file size is 10240 KB, or approximately 1 MB.

Example

See also

Schedule, History, Rename

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QuoteFields

Formatting element. Specifies whether or not to use quotation marks to surround those fields in the log file that include

a space.

This element can be set to enable or disable. By default, it is set to disable.

Example

<QuoteFields>disable</QuoteFields>

See also

LogServer, Directory, FileName, Time, Rotation, Events, Fields, Delimiter, EscapeFields

Rename

Specifies a new name for log files when rotation occurs. The default is true.

If Rename is set to true, application.00.log is renamed application.01.log, and application.01.log is renamed

application.02.log (and so on) when it is time to rotate the log files. This occurs until the maximum history setting is

reached. The log file with the highest version number keeps the oldest log history.

If Rename is set to false, a new log file is created with the next available version when rotation occurs. The log file with

the lowest version number keeps the oldest log history.

Examples

See also

MaxSize, Schedule, History

Rotation

Container element.

The elements in this section configure the rotation of the log files.

Contained elements

MaxSize, Schedule, History, Rename

Schedule

Specifies the rotation schedule for the log files.

There are two types of scheduling: daily rotation and rotation that occurs when the log exceeds a specified length.

Examples

If the type attribute is daily, the server rotates the log files every 24 hours.

If the type attribute is hh:mm, the timestamp 00:00 causes the file to rotate every midnight.

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If the type attribute is duration, rotation occurs when the duration of the log exceeds a specified length. The duration

is specified in minutes.

See also

MaxSize, History, Rename

ServerID

By default, the value of the ServerID element is the IP address of the server whose events are being logged.

Example

See also

HostPort, DisplayFieldsHeader

Time

The Timefield in a log file can be logged either in UTC (GMT) or local time. Valid values are utc, gmt, or local.

The setting for the Time element can be used to override the server-wide configuration. The default is local time.

See also

Logging

Server.xml file

The Server.xml file is located at the root level of the conf directory. Edits made in the Server.xml file affect the entire

server unless they are overridden in another configuration file.

To see the element structure and default values in Server.xml, see the Server.xml file installed with Adobe Media Server

in the RootInstall/conf/ directory.

Access

Container element.

The elements nested within the Access container configure the Access log settings. The Access logs are located in the

RootInstall\logs directory.

Contained elements

Enable, Scope

ACCP

Container element.

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The elements nested within the ACCP container configure the Admin Core Communication Protocol (ACCP). Adobe

Media Administration Server and the active cores communicate over ACCP. This protocol is also used for collecting

performance metrics and issuing administrative commands to Adobe Media Server cores.

The Adobe Media Administration Console connects to Adobe Media Administration Server, which in turn connects

to Adobe Media Server.

Contained elements

MinIOThreads, MaxIOThreads, SocketTableSize, SocketOverflowBuckets

ActiveProfile

Specifies the limits enforced by the server on each license key (set in the LicenseInfo element). Select a profile to

determine bandwidth, connection, and other licensed limits.

See also

Process, Mask, LicenseInfo

AdaptorName

Enable a registry core to activate a single AMSCore instance dedicated to handling services for Adobe Media Gateway.

This AMSCore process comes to life on start-up and allows Adobe Media Gateway to register its services to Adobe

Media Server. Enable this registry core only when using Adobe Media Gateway.

<AdaptorName>_defaultRoot_</AdaptorName>

</Registry>

See also

“Registry” on page 222

Admin

Container element.

The elements nested within the Admin container configure the RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol) for the

amsadmin process. RTMP is the protocol used for communication between Flash Player and Adobe Media Server.

Contained elements

MinIOThreads, MaxIOThreads, SocketTableSize, SocketOverflowBuckets

AdminElem

Specifies the format used to display an element name in an HTTP command. The default value is false, which means

the element name is displayed as <_x>; otherwise the element name is displayed as <elem name="x">.

The getActiveVHost() command lists only the active virtual hosts. The getActiveVHostStats()command allows

administrators to query the statistics information for all active virtual hosts. To display <elem name="x"> instead of

<_x> in the HTTP command, set the AdminElem element to true.

Example

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See also

Process, Allow, Deny, Order

AdminServer

Container element.

The elements nested within the AdminServer container configure Adobe Media Administration Server.

Contained elements

RTMP (AdminServer), HostPort, SocketGC, Process, AdminElem, Allow, Deny, Order, CrossDomainPath

Allow

Specifies the administrator connections that are to be accepted. By default, a client can connect to Adobe Media

Administration Server from any domain or IP address. This potential security risk can be managed by the Allow

element. Permissible administrator connections are detailed as a comma-delimited list of host names, domain names,

and full or partial IP addresses. The keyword all can also be used.

Example

See also

Deny, Order

AllowAnyAACProfile

By default, the server does not stream any AAC audio profiles that are not supported by Flash Player 10. To override

this behavior, set this value to true.

See also

Playback

AllowAnyAVCProfile

By default, the server does not stream any H.264 video profiles that are not supported by Flash Player 10. To override

this behavior, set this value to true.

See also

Playback

AllowedVideoLag

The number of milliseconds the server holds audio messages in the recording buffer while waiting for a video message.

This lag allows the server to sort timestamps before flushing the buffer to disk when video is delayed. The default value is 5.

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Application

Container element.

The Enable element nested within the Application container enables the Application log file.

Contained elements

Enable

ApplicationGC

Specifies in minutes how often the server checks for and removes unused application instances. The default interval is

5 minutes, which is also the minimum value for this element. An application is considered idle if it has no clients

connected for longer than the amount of time specified in MaxAppIdleTime in Application.xml.

AudioAutoBufferReadSize

The server caches F4V/MP4 video, audio, and other data in memory. Caching data allows the server to make fewer

disk reads and to perform better. Each data type (audio, video, and other) has its own cache. You can tune the size of

each cache, depending on the type of content you are delivering, to achieve better disk performance. For example, if

you are delivering audio-only content, increase the AudioAutoBufferReadSize buffer, and decrease the

VideoAutoBufferReadSize buffer.

The minimum size is 1024 bytes. The default value is 51200 bytes.

See also

VideoAutoBufferReadSize, OtherAutoBufferReadSize

AuthEvent

Container element. The Enable element nested within the AuthEvent container enables the logging of events from

the Authorization plug-in.

Contained elements

Enable

AuthMessage

Container element. The Enable element nested within the AuthMessage container enables the logging of messages

from the Authorization plug-in.

Contained elements

Enable

AutoCloseIdleClients

Container element. Determines whether or not to automatically close idle clients.

Set the enable attribute to true to close idle clients. If the enable attribute is omitted or set to false, the feature is

disabled. The default value is false.

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A client is active when it is sending or receiving data. Use AutoCloseIdleClients to specify how often the server

should check for idle clients. When a client has been idle longer than the maximum idle time (60 seconds by default),

the server sends a status message to the NetConnection object (the client). The server closes the client connection to

the server and writes a message to the access log. The server also writes a message such as “Client x has been idle for y

seconds” in the core and event logs.

To configure the closing of idle connections, you must enable the feature in the Server.xml file. Once you enable the

feature in the Server.xml file, you can disable the feature for individual virtual hosts in the Vhost.xml files or for

individual applications in Application.xml. The values defined in the Server.xml configuration file apply to all clients

connected to the server, unless the values are defined in the Vhost.xml file. The Vhost.xml values override the

Server.xml values. (Subsequently, the values defined in the Vhost.xml configuration file apply to all clients connected

to the virtual host, unless values are defined in the Application.xml file. The Application.xml values override the

Vhost.xml values.)

Example

</AutoCloseIdleClients>

Contained elements

CheckInterval, MaxIdleTime

Cache

Container element. Contains elements that configure the cache setting for SWF verification.

See also

TTL, UpdateInterval (Cache)

CheckInterval

Specifies the interval, in seconds, at which the server checks for active client connections. The minimum and default

value is 60 seconds.

A client is disconnected the first time the server checks for idle connections if the client has exceeded the MaxIdleTime

value. A shorter interval results in more reliable disconnection times, but can also result in decreased server

performance.

Example

See also

Checkpoints

Enables logging checkpoint events. Checkpoint events log bytes periodically from the start to the end of an event. The

following are available as checkpoint events: connect-continue, play-continue, and publish-continue.

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This element contains the enable attribute which you can set to true or false. Set the enable attribute to true to

turn on checkpoint events in logs. The default value is false.

You must enable checkpoint events at the server level in the Server.xml file. You can disable checkpoints at the vhost

and application level in the Vhost.xml and Application.xml files. You can also override the logging interval at the vhost

and application levels.

Contained elements

CheckInterval, LogInterval

ConnectionTimeout

Flash Media Server 4.5

The /RTMP/ConnectionTimeout element and /HTTP/ConnectionTimeout element specify how long to wait before

timing out an outgoing connection, in milliseconds. The default is -1 which uses the OS timeout to block outgoing

connections.

See also

“HTTP” on page 207

“RTMP” on page 137

Connector

Container element.

The elements nested within the Connector container configure the connector subsystem. Adobe Media Server

provides connectors that allow application scripts to connect to other Adobe Media Servers or HTTP servers.

Contained elements

HTTP, RTMP (Connector)

Content

Enables operations in the current File plug-in on content (streams or SWF files). The value of true enables the

operation on the specified content type and false disables it.

This element contains the type attribute, which you can set to the following values:

•Streams. Enables stream file operations. Enabled by default.

•SWF. Enables operations on SWF files. Disabled by default. Enable if you plan to use the File plug-in to retrieve SWF

files for verification by the server.

This element is nested within the FilePlugin tag.

Example

<Content type="SWF">false</Content>

See also

FilePlugin

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Core

Container element.

The elements nested within the Core container configure the RTMP protocol for the AMSCore.exe process.

Contained elements

MinIOThreads, MaxIOThreads, SocketTableSize, SocketOverflowBuckets

CoreExitDelay

Specifies how much wait time, in seconds, an idle core is given to exit on its own before it is removed from the server.

The default wait time is 20 seconds.

Example

See also

CoreGC

Specifies how often, in seconds, to check for and remove idle or unused cores. The default is 300 seconds.

Example

See also

CoreExitDelay

CoreTimeout

Specifies the timeout value, in seconds, for detecting unresponsive cores. The default timeout is 30 seconds. A value of

0 disables the timeout check.

Example

See also

CoreGC

CPUMonitor

Specifies, in seconds, how often the server monitors CPU usage. The default interval is 1 second. The value cannot be

set to less than 1 second.

Example

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See also

ResourceLimits

CrossDomainPath

Specifies an absolute path on the server to a cross-domain file. This element lets you specify a list of domains from

which a client can access the server. The default value is *, which allows clients from all domains to access the server.

This element is nested within both the Server element and the AdminServer element. Use it for both edge and

administration server requests.

Example

<CrossDomainPath>C:/Security/config/files/ams/crossdomain.xml</CrossDomainPath>

Deny

Specifies administrator connections that should be ignored. The connections are specified as a comma-delimited list

of host names, domain names, and full or partial IP addresses, or the keyword all.

Example

See also

Allow, Order

Diagnostic

Container element.

The Enable element nested within the Diagnostic section enables the diagnostic log file.

Contained elements

Enable

DiffServ

Flash Media Server 3.5.2

Use this element with the DiffServMask element to specify the DiffServ field for all sockets that connect to the RTMP

listener (these include tunneling and HTTP proxy sockets). There is little use for this unless you have set up a DSCP

domain. Also, some values may lead to errors, depending on your platform and your router configuration. For

example, to set priority class 4, you might set DiffServ to 128 (top 3 bits set to 4) and set DiffServMask to 224 (top

3 bits on).

To verify that bits are set on a socket, call the Administration API getNetStreamStats() method. Each stream has a

diffserv_bits field whose value is updated when you successfully set bits on a socket.

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DiffServMask

Flash Media Server 3.5.2

Use this element with the DiffServ element to specify the DiffServ field for all sockets that connect to the RTMP

listener (these include tunneling and HTTP proxy sockets). There is little use for this unless you have set up a DSCP

domain. Also, some values may lead to errors, depending on your platform and your router configuration. For

example, to set priority class 4, you might set DiffServ to 128 (top 3 bits set to 4) and set DiffServMask to 224 (top

3 bits on).

See also

SWFFolder

ECCP

Container element.

The elements nested within the ECCP container configure ECCP (Edge Server-Core Server Communication Protocol).

Adobe Media Server edge processes and Adobe Media Server core processes use ECCP to migrate socket connections

and to proxy connections that have not been migrated.

Contained elements

MinIOThreads, MaxIOThreads, SocketTableSize, SocketOverflowBuckets, CoreTimeout

Edge

Container element.

The elements nested within the Edge container configure the RTMP protocol for the amsedge process.

Contained elements

MinIOThreads, MaxIOThreads, SocketTableSize, SocketOverflowBuckets

Edge (ResourceLimits)

Container element.

The elements nested within the Edge container configure resources for the amsedge process.

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Contained elements

MaxEventQueueThreads, MinEventQueueThreads, NumSchedQueues

EdgeCore

Container element.

The elements nested within the EdgeCore container control the IPC (interprocess communication) message queue

used by edge and core processes to communicate with each other.

Contained elements

HeapSize, MaxQueueSize

Enable

Server.xml uses Enable elements in the Logging container to enable or disable the Access, Diagnostic,

Application, AuthEvent, AuthMessage,and FileIO logs. A value of true enables the logging process; false

disables the logging process. The default value is true.

Example

</Access>

See also

Access, Diagnostic, Application, AuthEvent, AuthMessage, FileIO

EnableAggMsgs (playback)

Located in the Playback container.

Aggregating messages increases server performance. The default value is true. Do not change this value if you want

to achieve the highest possible server performance.

Note: This setting applies to playback of MP4/F4V files only.

EnableAggMsgs (raw)

Specifies whether the RAW adaptor generates aggregate messages (true) or not (false). Aggregating messages improves

server performance.

The default value is true.

Example

See also

Raw

EnableSystemLogging

Enables logging of high severity entries to the system log (true) or not (false).

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The default value is true.

Example

FileCheckInterval

Located in the FLVCache container.

Specifies, in seconds, how often the server reloads the video segment in the cache when there is a file change. The

default value is 120 seconds. The minimum value is 1 second. There is no maximum value. A very large number means

the server does not refresh the cache even when there is a file change.

Example

FileIO

Container element.

The Enable element nested within the FileIO container enables logging from the File plug-in.

Contained elements

Enable

FilePlugin

Container element.

This element contains elements to configure file operations that are handled by the File plug-in. Setting the enabled

attribute to false disables the File plug-in.

Contained elements

MaxNumberOfRequests, Content

FLVCache

Container element.

Contains elements that control the size and features of the recorded media cache.

Contained elements

FileCheckInterval, MaxSize (FLVCache), MaxKeyframeCacheSize

FLVCachePurge

Located in the ResourceLimits container.

Specifies how often, in minutes, to remove unused files from the cache. The default value is 60 minutes. The minimum

value is 1 minute. If you specify a value of less than 1minute, the default value of 60 is used.

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FLVCacheSize

Located in the ResourceLimits container.

Specifies the maximum size of the recorded media cache. The recorded media cache size is specified as a percentage of

the total available RAM on the system. The default setting for the cache size is 10 (10%). The maximum setting is 100

(100%), in which case virtual memory will also be used.

Use this setting to configure the cache for optimal memory use. If you are receiving “cache full” events in the core log

file or want to increase the chance that streams will find the information needed in the cache, increase the size of the

cache. To minimize the amount of memory used in the server process, decrease the size of the cache.

Example

FreeMemRatio

Located in the MessageCache, SmallMemPool, LargeMemPool, and SegmentsPool containers.

Specifies the maximum percentage of total memory that the total pool size may occupy. The range of this setting is

from 0 (0%) to 1 (100%). The default setting is 0.5 (50%).

Example

FreeRatio

Located in the MessageCache, SmallMemPool, LargeMemPool, and SegmentsPool containers.

Specifies the percentage of the message cache to be consumed by the free list on a per-thread basis. The range of this

setting is from 0 (0%) to 1 (100%). The default setting is 0.125 (12.5%).

When more free memory is available to a thread than the specified ratio, the freed memory returns to the global pool.

Example

GCInterval

Located in the HandleCache container.

Specifies in minutes how often to remove idle handles. The default is 60 minutes.

Example

GID

Located in the Process containers.

Specifies the group ID of the process. If you do not specify a UID or GID, the server or Administration Server runs as

root. This element is applicable to Adobe Media Server running on Linux systems only.

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See also

UID

GlobalQueue

Container element.

The elements nested within the GlobalQueue container control the IPC message queue used by all processes to

communicate with each other.

Contained elements

HeapSize, MaxQueueSize

GlobalRatio

Located in the MessageCache, SmallMemPool, LargeMemPool, and SegmentsPool containers.

Specifies the percentage of the message cache to be consumed by the free list on a global basis. When more free

memory is available to a thread than the specified ratio, the freed memory returns to the operating system.

The range of this setting is from 0 (0%) to 1 (100%). The default setting is 0.4 (40%).

Example

HandleCache

Container element.

Contains elements that configure how to cache handles used for HTTP requests. This section is used for connections

to Flash Remoting.

Contained elements

MaxSize (HandleCache), IdleTime, TrimSize, GCInterval

HeapSize

Specifies the maximum size, in kilobytes, of the shared memory heap used for an IPC (interprocess communication)

message queue. The default value for this element varies according to its container.

Example

</EdgeCore>

Container Default Value Description

EdgeCore 1024 If the maximum size of this element is not specified, the value is 100 KB.

GlobalQueue 2048

Services 2048

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See also

MaxQueueSize

HostPort

Specifies the IP address and port number that Adobe Media Administration Server binds to. The default is to bind to

any available IP on port 1111. Only one port number may be specified in this element.

The Administration Service is separate from Adobe Media Server. When administrators connect to the server with the

Administration Console, they are connecting to Adobe Media Administration Server, which in turn connects to

Adobe Media Server.

Example

See also

AdminServer

HTTP

Container element.

The elements nested within the HTTP container configure the HTTP connector used to connect to Flash Remoting.

The following reference table gives the default values for all thread configurations.

Contained elements

MinConnectionThreads, MaxConnectionThreads, MaxConnectionQueueSize, HandleCache

Httpd

Specifies how the built-in webserver is stopped and started. By default the enabled attribute is set to

"${SERVER.HTTPD_ENABLED}". By default, the SERVER.HTTPD_ENABLED variable is set to true in the ams.ini file.

When enabled is set to true, Adobe Media Server starts and stops the web server automatically. Adobe Media Server

uses the settings in the Directory, Program, Options, and Service elements to execute the following command

lines:

$Directory/$Program -d $Directory $Options -k start

$Directory/$Program -d $Directory $Options -k stop

Note: The value of $Directory can be absolute or relative to $AMSROOT.

On Windows only, Service specifies the name used to install the webserver as an NT service. If a value for Service

is present, -n $Service is appended to both commands. Linux ignores this section of the command.

Default Value Description

0 Allocates the default number of threads.

>0 Allocates the exact number of threads specified.

-1 Allocates 1xN threads, where N is the number of processors available in the computer.

-2 Allocates 2xN threads, where N is the number of processors available in the computer. For example,

suppose you have a quad-core computer, where applications see 4 local processors. If you specify a value

of -2, the HTTP connector can use up to 8 threads.

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Contained elements

Directory, Program, Options, Service

IdleTime

Located in the HandleCache container.

Specifies the amount of time to wait before releasing cached handles. If no HTTP requests have been made to the host

for the length of time specified, some cached handles are cleared. The default wait time is 10 minutes.

Example

<IdleTime>10</IdleTime

IpcHostPort

The interface and port the server listens on internally for connections from the amscore process to the Administration

Server. The default value is localhost:11110.

IPCQueues

Container element.

The elements nested within the IPCQueues container configure the IPC queues. Adobe Media Server uses IPC queues

to send messages from one core to another or from one process to another, such as master to core, or core to edge.

Unlike protocols, queues are used for short or one-time messages that may have more than one target.

Contained elements

GlobalQueue, EdgeCore, Services

LargeMemPool

Container element.

The elements nested within the LargeMemPool container configure the large memory pool, which caches large chunks

of memory within the server to increase the performance of large allocations.

Contained elements

MaxCacheUnits, MaxCacheSize, MaxUnitSize, FreeRatio, GlobalRatio, MaxAge, UpdateInterval,

FreeMemRatio

LicenseInfo

The license number. By default, this value is a parameter in the ams.ini file:

<LicenseInfo>${SERVER.LICENSEINFO}</LicenseInfo>

Note: Serial numbers that are added manually (that is, added by editing those files directly) to either ams.ini or the

LicenseInfo tag of Server.xml file cannot be removed using the Administration Console. Only serial numbers that are

added using the Administration Console can be deleted using the Administration Console.

Example

<LicenseInfo>${SERVER.LICENSEINFO}</LicenseInfo>

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LicenseInfoEx

Contains license keys added using the Administration Console.

Localhost

Specifies the IP loopback address.

The server must reference itself locally. The IP loopback address is usually the default localhost address. With more

than one network interface, localhost can map to an erroneous interface. The server uses the default loopback address

as the local loopback.

LockoutLimit

The maximum number of login failures before a user is prevented from logging into the admin server. If this value is

reached, the admin server must be restarted before that user can log in again.

The default value is 300.

Example

See also

LogInLimits, MaxFailures, RecoveryTime

LogInLimits

Container element.

Configures the number of failed admin login attempts that are allowed, and the amount of recovery time required

before the admin can attempt to log in again.

Contained Elements

LockoutLimit, MaxFailures, RecoveryTime

See also

Security

LogInterval

Specifies how often to log a checkpoint, in seconds. This value should be larger than the value for CheckInterval. If

the value is smaller, the server logs a checkpoint every check interval. The default value is 3600 seconds (60 minutes).

See also

Checkpoints

Logging

Container element.

The elements nested within the Logging container configure general logging properties for the server. Set the

configuration properties of the individual log files in the Logger.xml file.

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Log files are written in English. Field names in the log file are in English. Some content within the log file, however,

may be in another language, depending on the filename and the operating system. For example, in the access.log file,

the columns x-sname and x-suri-stem show the name of the stream. If the name of the recorded stream is in a

language other than English, the name is written in the log file in that language, even if the server is running on an

English-language operating system.

Contained elements

Time, RecordsNumber, RetryNumber, RetrySleep, Access, Diagnostic, Application, AuthEvent, AuthMessage,

FileIO

Mask

A three-digit octal value used by the Linux umask (user permissions mask) command to set a file creation mask. The

user must enter the mask in a three-digit octal format.

The default setting for this element is 017 in octal.

This element is applicable to Adobe Media Server running on Linux systems only. This element controls who has

read/write access to shared object and stream files on the server. All Adobe Media Server object files, such as stream

files or shared object files, are created on the server side with permission 0666. This key is used by umask to set the file

creation mask. By default, the creation mask is set to 017 in octal. Therefore, all Adobe Media Server object files are

created with permission 0666 & ~017 = 0660 = rw-rw----.

The owner and the users who belong to the same group as the owner get read/write permission to the files. If the mask

is set to 022, the file created is assigned permission 0666 & ~022 = 0644 = rw-r--r--.

Master

Container element.

The elements nested within the Master container configure the resource limits for the master server.

Contained elements

CoreGC, CoreExitDelay

MaxAge

Located in the MessageCache, SmallMemPool, LargeMemPool, and SegmentsPool containers.

This element defines the maximum reuse count before the cache unit is freed. The default count is 1,000,000.

Example

MaxAggMsgSize (playback)

The maximum size of an aggregate message, in kilobytes. The default value is 64.

Note: This setting applies to playback of MP4/F4V files only.

See also

Playback

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MaxAggMsgSize (raw)

The maximum size of an aggregate message, in bytes. You can use any positive integer.

The default value is 65536.

Example

See also

Raw

MaxAudioSampleDescriptions

Located in the Recording container.

Each change in codec for a content type has a sample description. For example, two different audio codecs each have

their own sample description. The server allocates space for sample descriptions when it creates a file. If the codec type

changes more than the number of available descriptions, the server stops recording. However, adding too many

descriptions takes up unnecessary space for every file that the server records.

The default value is 20.

Note: This setting applies to recording MP4/F4V files only.

MaxCacheSize

Located in the MessageCache, SmallMemPool, LargeMemPool, and SegmentsPool containers.

This element defines the maximum size of the cache in megabytes. The default is 100 MB.

Example

MaxCacheUnits

Located in the MessageCache, SmallMemPool, LargeMemPool, and SegmentsPool containers.

This element defines the maximum number of free units in the cache. Keep in mind that the number of free units may

be less than maximum if the value of the MaxCacheSize limit is reached.

The default is 4096 units.

Example

MaxConnectionQueueSize

Located in the HTTP container.

Specifies the maximum number of connection requests that can be pending. Connection requests are rejected if this

limit is exceeded.

The default number of pending requests is 1000. To use the default, specify -1.

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Example

MaxConnectionRate

Located in the RTMP (Protocol) and Edge containers.

Specifies the maximum number of incoming connections per second that the server’s socket listener accepts. You can

set a fractional maximum connection rate, such as 12.5. A value of 0 or -1 disables the feature.

This is a global setting for all socket listeners. If the element is set to 10 connections per second, each listener has a limit

of 10 connections per second. If there are three listeners and the MaxConnectionRate is set to 10, the server imposes

a maximum total combined rate of 30 connections per second. The socket listeners are configured in the Adaptor.xml

configuration file using the HostPort element under the HostPortList container element.

Connections requested at a rate above the value specified in this element remain in the TCP/IP socket queue and are

silently discarded by the operating system whenever the queue becomes too long.

Example

MaxConnectionThreads

Located in the HTTP and RTMP (Connector)containers.

Specifies the maximum number of threads used to process connection requests. For HTTP, the default number is 10.

To use the default, specify 0. For RTMP, the default number is 5. To use the default, specify 0. If the server is taking a

long time to process connections, raise the value of HTTP/MaxConnectionThreads to 20.

MaxDataSampleDescriptions

Located in the Recording container.

Each change in codec for a content type has a sample description. For example, two different data encoding formats

each have their own sample description. The server allocates space for sample descriptions when it creates a file. If the

encoding format type changes more than the number of available descriptions, the server stops recording. However,

adding too many descriptions takes up unnecessary space for every file that the server records. The default value is 10.

Note: This setting applies to recording MP4/F4V files only.

MaxELSTEntries

Located in the Recording container.

The maximum number of ELST entries in a recording. The server uses ELST entries when there are gaps in content.

Gaps occur during an append to the file or when video, audio, or data content ends while other such content continues.

If more gaps or appends occur than the value specified in the MaxELSTEntries tag, recording ends. However, setting

this value too high takes up unnecessary space in each recorded file. The default value is 100.

Note: This setting applies to recording MP4/F4V files only.

MaxEventQueueThreads

Located in the Edge (ResourceLimits) container.

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The maximum number of threads per scheduler queue. The default value is -2.

MaxFailures

The maximum number of login attempts a user can have before having to wait to be allowed again. The wait time is

defined by the RecoveryTime element.

The default value is 3. If the number of failed login attempts equals the value of LockoutLimit, the admin server must

be restarted before that user can attempt to log in again.

Example

See also

LogInLimits, LockoutLimit, RecoveryTime

MaxFlushSize

Located in the RecBuffer container.

The maximum number of kilobytes to accumulate before flushing the recording buffer. The default value is 256. The

minimum value is 32.

MaxFlushTime

Located in the RecBuffer container.

The maximum number of seconds to wait before flushing the recording buffer. The default value is 5. The minimum

value is 1.

MaxIdleTime

Located in the AutoCloseIdleClients container.

Specifies the maximum idle time allowed, in seconds, before a client is disconnected. The default value is 3600 seconds

(60 minutes). If you set a value of 60 or less, the server uses 1200 seconds (20 minutes).

A low value may cause unneeded disconnections. When you configure this element, consider the type of applications

running on the server. For example, if you have an application with which users watch short video clips, a user might

leave the window to idle out.

MaxInitDelay

The maximum number of seconds that is used to process SWF files. The default value is 5 seconds. This element is

used in the verification of SWF files.

Example

See also

SWFVerification

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MaxIOThreads

Located in the RTMP (Connector), Edge, Core, Admin, ECCP, and ACCP containers.

Specifies the maximum number of threads that can be created for I/O processing.

Use the following information to configure all I/O and connection threads processing:

•A value of 0 allocates the default number of threads (10).

•A value greater than 0 allocates the exact number of threads specified.

•A value less than 0 ties the number of connection threads to the number (N) of processors, as follows:

•-1 means 1 x N threads.

•-2 means 2 x N threads, and so on.

Adobe Media Server can receive connections through various protocols. The default value for this element varies

according to which container protocol it is nested within.

Example

<RTMP>

</RTMP>

MaxKeyframeCacheSize

Located in the FLVCache container.

Specifies the maximum number of keyframes in the cache for each recorded media file. The default value is 2000

keyframes.

When enhanced seeking is enabled, the server generates keyframes that are saved in the cache. (For more information,

see EnhancedSeek in the Application.xml file.) If you lower MaxKeyframeCacheSize, the cache uses less memory. If

an application uses many large recorded media files, you may want to lower this number.

Example

MaxNumberOfRequests

Specifies the maximum number of pending requests to the File plug-in. The default value is 0, which allows unlimited

requests.

Container Default Value Description

ACCP 10 Use 0 for the default value.

Admin 10 Use 0 for the default value.

Core 10 Use 0 for the default value.

ECCP 10 Use 0 for the default value.

Edge 10 Use 0 for the default value.

RTMP 32 Use -1 for the default value.

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If the plug-in does not respond to a request from the server, the number of pending requests increases up to the value

of MaxNumberofRequests. Once MaxNumberofRequests is reached, subsequent requests are rejected.

By default, Adobe Media Server does not count the number of requests made to the File plug-in or responses returned

from the File plug-in. If necessary, you can use this value to identify problems with the File plug-in. Adobe generally

recommends keeping the default value of 0.

MaxQueueSize

Located in the GlobalQueue, EdgeCore, Services containers.

Specifies the maximum number of pending IPC messages in the queue. When messages are sent to a process that is

not running, the message can be put in a pending queue for the process. When the process starts again, it picks up the

messages. Use the MaxQueueSize element to limit the number of messages left in the pending queue. Limiting

messages saves shared memory if the process never starts. The value is specified in kilobytes. The default size is 100 KB.

MaxSampleSize

The maximum allowable size of a sample in an F4V/MP4 file, in kilobytes. You can increase this value up to 4GB if a

file has larger samples. The default value is 16777216 (16 MB).

See also

Playback

MaxSize (FLVCache)

Located in the FLVCache container.

Specifies the maximum size of the recorded media cache in megabytes. The default value is 500 MB. This value shares

memory with the running process and has a limit of 2 GB in Windows and 3 GB in Linux on 32-bit configurations. On

64-bit configurations, the file memory available to the process is only limited by the amount of RAM.

The size of the cache limits the number of unique streams the server can publish. To increase the probability that a

requested stream will be located in the recorded media cache, increase the value of MaxSize. To decrease the amount

of memory the server process uses, decrease the value of MaxSize. Note that increasing the file cache size to too large

of a size can cause substantially deteriorated system performance.

MaxSize (HandleCache)

Located in the HandleCache container.

Specifies the maximum number of handles to cache. The minimum value is 0, which means that no handles are cached.

There is no maximum value; it can be the maximum number of handles that the operating system can support. The

default value is 100 handles.

Example

MaxSize (RecBuffer)

Located in the RecBuffer container.

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Specifies the maximum size to which the buffer can grow before messages are committed to file. The default value is 200

and the minimum value is 0. The higher the value, the longer the data will be held in the buffer before written to disk.

When you add DVR functionality to an application, the size of the recording buffer affects the play-while-record

experience. A shorter buffer decreases latency between real-time and playback, but hurts performance.

Example

MaxTimestampSkew

Located in the RecBuffer container.

Specifies the maximum gap in milliseconds between two adjacent messages when comparing the message timestamps

with the real time. The server logs a warning when the timestamps between two adjacent messages are bigger than the

difference in real time plus the value set here for MaxTimestampSkew. This element is disabled by default. To enable

the element, set the value to a positive number.

Example

MaxTracks

Located in the Playback container.

The maximum number of tracks allowed in a file. While only one video, audio, and data track may be played, files with

up to this many tracks can be parsed. More than this amount is a file error. The default value is 64.

MaxUnitSize

Located in the MessageCache, SmallMemPool, LargeMemPool, and SegmentsPool containers.

Specifies the maximum size, in kilobytes, of a memory chunk allowed in a memory pool. The default size is 16 KB.

Adobe Media Server has several memory pools (distinct from the recorded media cache) that hold memory in chunks.

This setting ensures that chunks larger than MaxUnitSize are released to system memory instead of being held in the

pool so that large memory chunks are available.

For example, if this tag is under the MessageCache tag, the server doesn’t cache any messages greater than

MaxUnitSize.

Example

</MessageCache>

MaxUrlLength

Defines the maximum allowed RTMP and SWF file URL lengths, in bytes. Most modern browsers support up to 64KB

URLs. The default value is 32KB. The maximum allowable value is 1000KB.

Use this element to restrict the URL lengths of incoming requests. To restrict the length of outbound NetConnection

URLs from SSAS, use the MaxUrlLength element in the Application.xml file.

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Example

See also

Security

MaxVideoSampleDescriptions

Located in the Recording container.

Each change in codec for a content type has a sample description. For example, two different video codecs each have

their own sample description. The server allocates space for sample descriptions when it creates a file. If the codec type

changes more than the number of available descriptions, the server stops recording. However, adding too many

descriptions takes up unnecessary space for every file that the records. The default value is 10.

Note: This setting applies to recording MP4/F4V files only.

MessageCache

Container element.

The elements nested within the MessageCache container control how the message cache holds onto messages used by

the system running Adobe Media Server and keeps them in memory for reuse instead of returning them and

requesting them from the operating system.

Messages are the essential communication units of Adobe Media Server. Recycling them improves the server’s

performance.

Contained elements

MaxCacheUnits, MaxCacheSize, MaxUnitSize, FreeRatio, GlobalRatio, MaxAge, UpdateInterval,

FreeMemRatio

MinConnectionThreads

Located in the HTTP and RTMP (Connector) containers.

Specifies the minimum number of threads in the pool for I/O operations. The default is 1 multiplied by the number of

processors. To use the default, specify the value 0.

Example

MinEventQueueThreads

Located in the Edge (ResourceLimits) container.

The minimum number of threads per scheduler queue. The default value is 2.

MinGoodVersion

Located in the SWFVerification container.

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Specifies the minimum accepted version of SWF verification feature that the server allows. The default value of 0

accepts current and all future versions.

Example

MinIOThreads

Located in the RTMP (Connector), Edge, Core, Admin, ECCP, and ACCP containers.

The element specifies the minimum number of threads that can be created for I/O operations.

Adobe Media Server can receive connections through various protocols. The default value for this element varies

according to which container protocol it is nested within.

Example

<ECCP>

</ECCP>

Mp4

Container element.

The Mp4 elements configure how the server plays and records MP4, F4V, MOV, and other MP4 file types.

Contained elements

Playback, Recording,

MsgPoolGC

Specifies how often the server checks for content in and removes content from the global message pool.

The default interval for checking and removing content is 60 seconds.

NetworkingIPv6

Enables or disables Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). This is an empty tag.

The operating system network stack should be configured to support IPv6, if desired. Adobe Media Server

automatically detects the operating system configuration; this element can force Adobe Media Server to use IPv4 even

if IPv6 is available.

Container Default Value Description

ACCP 2X number of processors Use 0 for the default value.

Admin 2X number of processors Use 0 for the default value.

Core 2X number of processors Use 0 for the default value.

ECCP 2X number of processors Use 0 for the default value.

Edge 2X number of processors Use 0 for the default value.

RTMP 2X number of processors Use -1 for the default value.

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Example

NumCRThreads

Located in the RTMP (Connector) container.

Specifies the number of completion routine threads in Windows 32-bit systems for edge server I/O processing.

Example

NumSchedQueues

Located in the Edge (ResourceLimits) container.

The number of scheduler queues. The default value is 1.

Options

Located in the Httpd container.

Specifies additional switches for the command-line argument that starts and stops the web server.

Order

Located in the AdminServer container.

Specifies the order in which to evaluate the Allow and Deny elements.

Example

To process the request if not in <Deny> or in <Allow>, set:

<Order>Deny,Allow</Order>

To process the request if in <Allow> and not in <Deny>, set:

<Order>Allow, Deny</Order>

OtherAutoBufferReadSize

Located in the Playback container.

The server caches F4V/MP4 video, audio, and other data in memory. Caching data allows the server to make fewer

disk reads and to perform better. Each data type (audio, video, and other) has its own cache. You can tune the size of

each cache, depending on the type of content you are delivering, to achieve better disk performance.

The minimum size is 1024 bytes. The default value is 1024 bytes.

Playback

Container element.

The Playback elements configure how the server plays back MP4, F4V, MOV, and other MP4 file types.

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Contained elements

VideoAutoBufferReadSize, AudioAutoBufferReadSize, OtherAutoBufferReadSize, EnableAggMsgs

(playback), MaxAggMsgSize (playback), MaxTracks, MaxSampleSize, AllowAnyAACProfile,

AllowAnyAVCProfile

Plugins

Container element.

The elements nested within the Plugins element configure plug-ins.

Contained elements

FilePlugin, UserDefined

Process

Container element.

There are 2 Process elements, one for Adobe Media Server and one for Adobe Media Administration Server. The

elements nested within the Process element contain the UID and GID elements for all server processes. The elements

are applicable to servers running on Linux systems only. For security reasons, on Linux, all the server processes switch

from root to the UID and GID. If you do not specify a value for UID and GID, the server runs as root.

Contained elements

UID, GID

ProcVMSizeMonitorInterval

The monitoring interval for process virtual memory use, in seconds. The default value is 60.

ProcVMSizeNominal

The log notification threshold for reverting to a nominal process virtual memory use, in megabytes, after the

ProcVMSizeWarn threshold has been triggered. The default value is 1600.

ProcVMSizeWarn

The log warning threshold for high process virtual memory use, in megabytes. The default value is 1800.

Program

Located in the Httpd container.

The location of the executable file for the web server. The default value is bin/httpd.

Protocol

Container element.

Adobe Media Server receives connections through various protocols. The elements in this container configure those

protocols and how the connection requests are received.

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To set the values of all I/O and connection threads processing, follow these guidelines:

•A value of 0 allocates the default number of threads (10).

•A value greater than 0 allocates the exact number of threads specified.

•A value less than 0 ties the number of connection threads to the number (N) of processors:

•-1 means 1 x N threads

•-2 means 2 x N threads, etc.

Contained elements

ACCP, ECCP, RTMP (Protocol)

PublicIP

Specifies that if the system has more than two network ports, use this element to create a public IP address.

Raw

Contains elements that control the RAW adaptor.

Adobe Media Server supports a RAW (Record and Watch) file format that records media into configurable chunks

that can be streamed to any version of Flash Player. The RAW file format enables you to serve long-length, multi-

bitrate DVR streams without running into performance issues. Use the RAW file format to record and play back all

streams that Adobe Media Server supports, including H.264 video, data-only, audio-only, and so on.The RAW file

format is a server feature; any version of Flash Player can publish or play a RAW stream. However, multi-bitrate stream

support (also called dynamic streaming) requires Flash Player 10 and higher.

Container element.

Note: The RAW file format is internal to Adobe Media Server. At this time, you cannot edit these files with third-party

tools or convert the files to FLV format or MP4 format.

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

Contained elements

MaxAggMsgSize (raw)

See also

Streams

ReadBufferSize

The size of the largest I/O read buffers that the server uses, in kilobytes. Larger buffers provide better performance for

some use cases. However, larger buffers use more memory. The default value is 4096.

RecBuffer

Container element.

Contains elements that configure the buffer for recording.

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When you add DVR functionality to an application, the size of the recording buffer affects the play-while-record

experience. A shorter buffer decreases latency between real-time and playback, but hurts performance.

Contained elements

MaxSize (RecBuffer), MaxTimestampSkew, MaxFlushSize, MaxFlushTime, AllowedVideoLag

Recording

Container element.

The Recording elements configure how the server records F4V/MP4 file types.

Contained elements

MaxELSTEntries, MaxAudioSampleDescriptions, MaxDataSampleDescriptions,

MaxVideoSampleDescriptions

RecordsNumber

The number of records in the log queue. If an attempt to open the log fails and the number of records in the queue is

greater than or equal to this number, the core process is shut down.The default value of -1 allows an unlimited number

of records.

RecoveryTime

The time to wait, in seconds, before allowing another login attempt after a user has reached the value of MaxFailures.

The default value is 30 seconds.

If the number of failed login attempts equals the value of LockoutLimit, the admin server must be restarted before

that user can attempt to log in again.

Example

See also

LogInLimits, LockoutLimit, MaxFailures

Registry

Flash Media Server 4.5

Enable a registry core to activate a single AMSCore instance dedicated to handling services for Adobe Media Gateway.

This AMSCore process comes to life on start-up and allows Adobe Media Gateway to register its services to Adobe

Media Server. Enable this registry core only when using Adobe Media Gateway.

<AdaptorName>_defaultRoot_</AdaptorName>

</Registry>

See also

“AdaptorName” on page 195

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ResourceLimits

Container element.

The elements nested within the ResourceLimits container specify the maximum resource limits for the server,

including the HTTP and RTMP protocols.

Contained elements

FLVCachePurge, FLVCache, RecBuffer, CPUMonitor, ThreadPoolGC, MsgPoolGC, ApplicationGC, FLVCacheSize,

SocketGC, ProcVMSizeMonitorInterval, ProcVMSizeWarn,ProcVMSizeNominal, SSLSessionCacheGC,

Connector, Protocol, IPCQueues, MessageCache, SmallMemPool, LargeMemPool, SegmentsPool, Master

RetryNumber

Number of times to retry opening a log file. Relevant when opening a log file fails. The default value is 0.

RetrySleep

Number of milliseconds the server waits before retrying to open a log file. Relevant when opening a log file fails. The

default value is 100 ms.

Root

Container element.

The Root element is a container for all the other elements in the Server.xml file.

RTMP (AdminServer)

Container element.

This container holds elements that configure which versions of RTMP can be used to connect to the Administration

Server. RTMP is the protocol used for communication between Flash Player and Adobe Media Server.

Contained elements

RTMPE

RTMP (Connector)

Container element.

This container holds the elements that configure RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol) for communication between

Flash Remoting and Adobe Media Server.

The following reference table lists the default values for all thread configurations.

Default Value Description

0Allocates the default number of threads (10).

>0 Allocates the exact number of threads specified.

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Contained elements

MinIOThreads, MaxIOThreads, NumCRThreads, MinConnectionThreads, MaxConnectionThreads,

MaxConnectionQueueSize

RTMP (Protocol)

Container element.

This container holds the elements that configure RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol). RTMP is the protocol used

for communication between Flash Player and Adobe Media Server.

Contained elements

Edge, Core, Admin, SocketSndBuf, SocketRcvBuff

RTMPE

Located in the RTMP container.

Specifies whether Encrypted Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMPE) can be used to connect to the Administration

Server. (RTMPE also covers RTMPTE.) The default value is true. Setting this element to false prohibits RTMPE

and RTMPTE from being used.

Scope

Located in the Logging container.

This element determines whether to write a separate log file for each virtual host or to write one log file for the server.

The value for this element is server or vhost. The default is server, which enables logging for all processes on the

server.

Security

Description

Container element.

The elements in this section configure server security.

Contained elements

LogInLimits, MaxUrlLength, VirtualDirectoryForFile

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

<0 Associates the default value with the number (N) of processors.

-1 Allocates 1xN threads.

-2 Allocates 2xN threads.

Default Value Description

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SegmentsPool

Container element.

The elements in this section configure how the segments pool caches segments of video files within Adobe Media

Server to increase performance of video streaming and keep frequently used video files in memory.

Contained elements

MaxCacheUnits, MaxCacheSize, MaxUnitSize, FreeRatio, GlobalRatio, MaxAge, UpdateInterval,

FreeMemRatio

Server

Container element.

The elements nested within the Server element contains the elements that configure the server.

Contained elements

NetworkingIPv6, CrossDomainPath, Plugins, SSL, Process, Mask, LicenseInfo, LicenseInfoEx,

ReadBufferSize, AdminServer, AutoCloseIdleClients, ResourceLimits, Logging, Localhost, PublicIP,

SWFVerification, Streams, Httpd

ServerDomain

Specifies the host name (with the domain) of the server computer. The server uses this value to set the hostname in the

referrer header tag when making a net connection to a remote server. If this element is empty the hostname field is

empty in referrer header. For security purposes, some application servers require this information as a part of

incoming connection requests. If this element is not set, the host name field is not supplied in the referrer header.

Example

<ServerDomain>mydomain.global.mycompany.com</ServerDomain>

Service

Located in the Httpd container.

On Windows only, specifies the name used to install the webserver as an NT service.

Services

Container element.

The elements in this section control the IPC message queue used by the edge and core processes to communicate with

each other.

Contained elements

HeapSize, MaxQueueSize

SmallMemPool

Container element.

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The elements in this section configure the small memory pool, which saves small chunks of memory in the server to

increase performance of small allocations.

Contained elements

MaxCacheUnits, MaxCacheSize, MaxUnitSize, FreeRatio, GlobalRatio, MaxAge, UpdateInterval,

FreeMemRatio

SocketGC

Located in the AdminServer and ResourceLimits containers.

Specifies how often, in seconds, the server checks for and removes inactive sockets. The default value is 60 seconds.

Example

SocketOverflowBuckets

Located in the Edge, Core, Admin, ECCP, ACCP containers.

Specifies the number of overflow buckets if all slots in the socket table are in use.

The default number of buckets is 16; specify -1 to use the default number of buckets.

Example

<Admin>

</Admin>

SocketRcvBuff

The size of the client socket receive buffer, in bytes. The default value is 0, which tells the server to use the operating

system default values.

You should explicitly set this value only if you have a very high bandwidth connection that requires a large socket

buffer. Setting a high value significantly increases the amount of memory used by each client. It is recommended that

you do not explicitly set this value.

SocketSndBuf

The size of the client socket send buffer, in bytes. The default value is 0, which tells the server to use the operating

system default values.

You should explicitly set this value only if you have a very high bandwidth connection that requires a large socket

buffer. Setting a high value significantly increases the amount of memory used by each client. It is recommended that

you do not explicitly set this value.

SocketTableSize

Located in the Edge, Core, Admin, ECCP, ACCP containers.

Specifies the size of the direct-access socket table for quick look-up. The default size is 200. Use -1 for the default value.

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Example

<Admin>

</Admin>

SSL

Container element.

The SSL elements in Server.xml configure the server to act as an SSL-enabled client by securing the outgoing

connections.

Contained elements

SSLRandomSeed, SSLSessionCacheGC, SSLClientCtx

SSLCACertificateFile

Located in the SSLClientCtx container.

Specifies the name of a file that contains one or more CA (Certificate Authority) digital certificates in PEM (Privacy

Enhanced Mail) encryption format.

SSLCACertificatePath

Located in the SSLClientCtx container.

Specifies the name of a directory containing CA certificates. Each file in the directory must contain only a single CA

certificate. File names must be the hash with “0” as the file extension.

For Win32 only: If this element is empty, attempts are made to find CA certificates in the certs directory located at the

same level as the conf directory. The Windows certificate store can be imported into this directory by running

AMSMaster - console - initialize from the command line.

SSLCipherSuite

Located in the SSLClientCtx container.

Specifies the suite of encryption ciphers that the server uses to secure communications.

This element is a colon-delimited list of encryption resources, such as a key-exchange algorithm, authentication

method, encryption method, digest type, or one of a selected number of aliases for common groupings. Each item in

the cipher list specifies the inclusion or exclusion of an algorithm or cipher. In addition, there are special keywords and

prefixes. For example, the keyword ALL specifies all ciphers, and the prefix ! removes the cipher from the list.

The default cipher list instructs the server to accept all ciphers, but block those using anonymous Diffie-Hellman

authentication, block low-strength ciphers, block export ciphers, block MD5 hashing, and sort ciphers by strength

from highest to lowest level of encryption.

Important: Contact Adobe Support before changing the default settings.

The cipher list consists of one or more cipher strings separated by colons. Commas or spaces are also acceptable

separators, but colons are normally used.

The string of ciphers can take several different forms.

•It can consist of a single cipher suite, such as RC4-SHA.

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•It can represent a list of cipher suites containing a certain algorithm, or cipher suites of a certain type.

For example, SHA1 represents all cipher suites using the digest algorithm SHA1, and SSLv3 represents all SSL v3

algorithms.

•Lists of cipher suites can be combined in a single cipher string using the + character as a logical and operation.

For example, SHA1+DES represents all cipher suites containing the SHA1 and DES algorithms.

•Each cipher string can be optionally preceded by the characters !, -, or +.

•If ! is used, then the ciphers are permanently deleted from the list. The ciphers deleted can never reappear in the

list even if they are explicitly stated.

•If - is used, then the ciphers are deleted from the list, but some or all of the ciphers can be added again later.

•If + is used, then the ciphers are moved to the end of the list. This option doesn't add any new ciphers—it just moves

matching existing ones.

•If none of these characters is present, then the string is just interpreted as a list of ciphers to be appended to the

current preference list.

•If the list includes any ciphers already present, the server does not evaluate them.

•The cipher string @STRENGTH sorts the current cipher list in order of the length of the encryption algorithm key.

The components can be combined with the appropriate prefixes to create a list of ciphers, including only those ciphers

the server is prepared to accept, in the order of preference.

Example

This cipher string instructs the server to accept all ciphers except those using anonymous or ephemeral Diffie-Hellman

key exchange.

These cipher strings instruct the server to accept only RSA key exchange and refuse export or null encryption. The

server evaluates both strings as equivalent.

<SSLCipherSuite>RSA:LOW:MEDIUM:HIGH</SSLCipherSuite>

This cipher list instructs the server to accept all ciphers but place them in order of decreasing strength. This sequencing

allows clients to negotiate for the strongest cipher that both they and the server can accept.

<SSLCipherSuite>ALL:+HIGH:+MEDIUM:+LOW:+EXP:+NULL</SSLCipherSuite>

This string instructs the server to accept only high- and medium-strength encryption, with the high being preferred,

and reject export-strength versions.

This string instructs the server to accept all ciphers but to order them so that SSLv2 ciphers come after SSLv3 ciphers.

The following is the complete list of components that the server can evaluate.

Key exchange algorithm Description

kRSA Key exchange

kDHr Diffie-Hellman key exchange with RSA key

kDHd Diffie-Hellman key exchange with DSA key

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RSA Ephemeral Diffie-Hellman key exchange

DH RSA key exchange

EDH Ephemeral Diffie-Hellman key exchange

ADH Anonymous Diffie-Hellman key exchange

Authentication methods Description

aNULL No authentication

aRSA RSA authentication

aDSS DSS authentication

aDH Diffie-Hellman authentication

Encryption methods Description

eNULL No encoding

DES DES encoding

3DES Triple-DES encoding

RC4 RC4 encoding

RC2 RC2 encoding

IDEA IDEA encoding

NULL No encryption

EXP All export ciphers (40-bit encryption)

LOW Low-strength ciphers (no export, DES)

MEDIUM 128-bit encryption

HIGH Triple-DES encoding

Digest types Description

MD5 MD5 hash function

SHA1 SHA1 hash function

SHA SHA hash function

Additional aliases Description

All All ciphers

SSLv2 All SSL version 2.0 ciphers

SSLv3 All SSL version 3.0 ciphers

DSS All ciphers using DSS authentication

Key exchange algorithm Description

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SSLClientCtx

Container element.

Configures the server to act as an SSL-enabled client by securing the outgoing connections.

Contained elements

SSLVerifyCertificate, SSLCACertificatePath, SSLCACertificateFile, SSLVerifyDepth, SSLCipherSuite

SSLRandomSeed

Located in the SSL container.

Specifies the number of bytes of entropy to use for seeding the PRNG. You cannot specify anything less than 8 bytes,

and the default is 16. Entropy is a measure of randomness. The more entropy, the more random numbers from the

PRNG will be.

Example

SSLSessionCacheGC

Located in the SSL container.

Specifies how often to check for and remove expired sessions from the server-side session cache.

Example

SSLVerifyCertificate

Located in the SSLClientCtx container.

Specifies whether the certificate returned by the server should be verified. Certificate verification is enabled by default.

To disable certificate verification, specify false.

Note: Disabling certificate verification can result in security problems.

Example

SSLVerifyDepth

Located in the SSLClientCtx container.

Specifies the maximum depth of the certificate chain to accept. If a self-signed root certificate cannot be found within

this depth, certificate verification fails. The default value is 9.

Example

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StreamAdaptors

Specifies which library to load for a particular stream, based on the stream’s prefix. This effectively defines a whitelist

of libraries that can be loaded by the server for each stream type.

When you play a stream, you specify a prefix. The prefix indicates what kind of stream it is. The following example

shows a prefix that indicates that the stream is of type MP3:

play("mp3:mystream.mp3");

Note that the the prefix does not necessarily match the file type. For example, for MP4, you can specify the following:

play("mp4:mystream.f4v");

In this case, MP4 is the encoding, not the file type. So you can use mp4:mystream.mov, mp4:mystream.mp4, and so on.

To specify a library for a particular stream, add a sub-element with the following syntax:

Supported streams are:

•FLV (processed by the library specified by the flv sub-element)

•F4F (processed by the library specified by the f4f sub-element)

•ID3 (processed by the library specified by the id3 sub-element)

•MP3 (processed by the library specified by the mp3 sub-element)

•MP4 (processed by the library specified by the mp4 sub-element)

•RAW (processed by the library specified by the raw sub-element)

For FLV streams, you do not specify the prefix or the extension; for example:

play("mystream");

In this case, the adaptor that you define for the FLV file does not match the prefix (because there is none). The library

defined by the flv sub-element is matched by Adobe Media Server internally to determine which library to use to

process the stream.

Example

See also

Streams

StreamLogLevel

Controls log levels for all stream adaptors (FLV, MP4, and RAW). Possible values are verbose, warning, and error.

The default value is warning.

Example

<StreamLogLevel>warning</StreamLogLevel>

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See also

GID

UpdateInterval

Specifies how often thread statistics are collected. The default value is every 1024 messages.

Example

UpdateInterval (Cache)

Located in the Cache container.

Specifies the maximum time in minutes to wait for the server to scan the SWF folders for updates when there is a miss

in the cache. The default value is 5 minutes.

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UserDefined

Container element.

Define elements within the UserDefined element to store data that File plug-ins and Authorization plug-ins can

retrieve.

VirtualDirectoryForFile

Enables virtual directory mappings for File objects. The default is disabled.

If you map File objects in the Application.xml file but don’t have the feature enabled in the Server.xml file, you'll see

the following message in the log:

"Virtual directories for file objects is not supported due to the Server level security

setting."

To avoid this log message, enable VirtualDirectoryForFile. For more information, see “Enable virtual directory

mappings for server-side File objects” on page 44.

Example

See also

Security

Availability

Flash Media Server 4

VideoAutoBufferReadSize

Located in the Playback container.

The server caches F4V/MP4 video, audio, and other data in memory. Caching data allows the server to make fewer

disk reads and to perform better. Each data type (audio, video, and other) has its own cache. You can tune the size of

each cache, depending on the type of content you are delivering, to achieve better disk performance. For example, if

you are delivering audio-only content, increase the AudioAutoBufferReadSize buffer, and decrease the

VideoAutoBufferReadSize buffer.

The minimum size is 1024 bytes. The default value is 153600 bytes.

Users.xml file

The Users.xm file is located at the root level of the RootInstall/conf directory. Edit this file to identify Adobe Media

Server administrators and set their access permissions. Edit this file to set permissions for Administration API calls to

Adobe Media Administration Server.

To see the element structure and default values, see the Users.xml file installed with Adobe Media Server in the

RootInstall/conf/ directory.

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AdminServer

Container element.

The HttpCommands container nested within the AdminServer container configures the access level to Adobe Media

Administration Server.

The Administration Service is separate from Adobe Media Server. When administrators use the Administration

Console to connect to Adobe Media Server, they are connecting to Adobe Media Administration Server, which in turn

connects to the server.

Contained elements

HTTPCommands

Allow (HTTPCommands)

Lists the Adobe Media Administration Server commands that the administrator can access using HTTP. You can

authorize an administrator to use multiple HTTP commands for access by creating a comma-separated list of the

commands. The value All authorizes the administrator to use all HTTP commands. However, Adobe does not

recommend this usage as it creates a security risk.

Example

<Allow>foo.yourcompany.com,adobe.com,10.60.1.133,10.60</Allow>

See also

Enable, Deny (HTTPCommands), Order (HTTPCommands)

Allow (User)

Lists the specific hosts from which an administrator can connect to Adobe Media Administration Server. The

administrator can only connect to the server from those hosts specified in this Allow element. You authorize the

administrator’s access by creating a comma-delimited list of the accessible host names or domain names and/or full or

partial IP addresses. Whenever possible, use the IP addresses in the Allow element to improve the server’s

performance when processing connection requests.

Example

<Allow>foo.yourcompany.com, adobe.com, 10.60.1.133, 10.60</Allow>

See also

Password, Deny (User), Order (User)

Deny (HTTPCommands)

Adobe Media Server uses two elements named Deny: the Deny element in the User container and the Deny element in

the HTTPCommands container.

This Deny element lists the Adobe Media Administration Server commands that an administrator cannot use through

HTTP.

You can deny an administrator the use of multiple HTTP commands to access the Administration Service by creating

a comma-separated list of those HTTP commands.

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Example

<Deny>Deny,Allow</Deny>

See also

Enable, Allow (HTTPCommands), Order (HTTPCommands)

Deny (User)

Adobe Media Server uses two elements named Deny: the Deny element in the User container and the Deny element in

the HTTPCommands container.

This element lists those hosts from which the administrator is not authorized to connect to Adobe Media

Administration Server. You restrict the administrator’s access by creating a comma-delimited list of those host names

or domain names and/or (full or partial) IP addresses.

Example

This example lists the computers sending connection requests that Adobe Media Administration Server will not

accept.

<Deny>foo.yourcompany.com,adobe.com,10.60.1.133,10.60</Deny>

See also

Password, Allow (User), Order (User)

Enable

This element enables or disables the use of HTTP requests to execute administrative commands.

Setting this element enables HTTP requests to execute administrative commands. To disable administrative access

through the use of HTTP requests, do not set this element.

Example

See also

Allow (HTTPCommands), Deny (HTTPCommands), Order (HTTPCommands)

HTTPCommands

Container element.

This section contains the settings for those Adobe Media Administration Server commands that can be accessed

through HTTP. The default value is ping. Specify each Administration API that may be called over HTTP in a comma-

delimited list. When finished, restart the server.

Contained elements

Enable, Allow (HTTPCommands), Deny (HTTPCommands), Order (HTTPCommands)

Order (HTTPCommands)

Adobe Media Server uses two Order elements: one in the HTTPCommands container and another in the User container.

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Specifies the order in which to evaluate the Deny and Allow commands.

Example

The sequence Deny, Allow means the HTTP command is allowed if the command is in the Allow list of commands or

not in the Deny list.

<Order>Deny,Allow</Order>

The sequence Allow, Deny means the HTTP command is allowed if it is in the Allow list of commands and not in the

Deny list.

<Order>Allow,Deny</Order>

See also

Enable, Allow (HTTPCommands), Deny (HTTPCommands)

Order (User)

Adobe Media Server uses two Order elements: one in the HTTPCommands container, and the other in the User

container.

Specifies the sequence in which Adobe Media Server evaluates the Allow and Deny elements for an administrator.

Example

The default sequence Allow, Deny means that administrative access is allowed unless the user is specified in the Allow

list of commands and not in the Deny list:

<Order>Allow,Deny</Order>

The alternative sequence Deny, Allow means that administrative access is allowed unless the user is specified in the

Deny list of commands and not specified in the Allow list.

<Order>Deny,Allow</Order>

See also

Password, Allow (User), Deny (User)

Password

A salted hash of the password for vhost administrators.

Passwords cannot be empty strings (""). Passwords are usually encrypted.

Example

<Password>e206a5e1b52dcb4eaf024ca6adbe321b86cf0079bb747b78134ddaf8375e10aff905da0b28e84c5a</

Password>

See also

Allow (User), Deny (User), Order (User)

PasswordPolicy

You can use PasswordPolicy element to enable or disable minimum password length policy.

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Example

Root

Container element.

The Root element is a container for all the other elements. If the Users.xml file resides under a virtual host (to define

administrators for that virtual host), then this tag must have its name attribute set to the name of the virtual host under

which it resides.

Example

User

This element identifies an administrator of the server.

You can identify multiple administrators of a virtual host by creating a profile for each administrator.

Example

Use the name attribute to identify the login name of a Adobe Media Server administrator:

See also

UserList

Container element.

The UserList element defines and holds information about server administrators.

Contained elements

User, Password, Allow (User), Deny (User), Order (User)

Vhost.xml file

The Vhost.xml configuration file defines an individual virtual host. Each virtual host directory on the server contains

its own Vhost.xml file.

The Vhost.xml file contains elements that define the settings for the virtual host. These settings include aliases for the

virtual host, the location of the virtual host’s application directory, limits on the resources the virtual host can use, and

other parameters.

Each virtual host must have its own directory inside the adaptor directory. The name of the directory must be the

actual name of the virtual host, such as streaming.adobe.com. Each defined virtual host must be mapped to a DNS

(domain name server) entry or another name resolution, such as a WINS address or a hosts file, that specifies an IP

address on the server computer.

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Each adaptor must contain a _defaultVHost_ directory in addition to the custom virtual hosts that you define. If a

client application tries to connect to a virtual host that does not exist, the server attempts to connect it to

_defaultVHost_. If you are using a secure port for the adaptor that contains the virtual host, you can only define one

virtual host for the adaptor, in addition to _defaultVHost_.

To see the element structure and default values in Vhost.xml, see the Vhost.xml file installed with Adobe Media Server

in the RootInstall/conf/_defaultRoot_/_defaultVhost_ directory.

Access

Container element.

The elements nested within the Access container configure the Access log settings. The Access logs are located in the

RootInstall\logs directory.

Contained elements

Checkpoints

AggregateMessages

Determines whether aggregate messages are delivered from the edge cache when the virtual host is configured as an

edge server. The default value is false.

If the edge server receives aggregate messages from the origin when this setting is disabled, the messages will be broken

up before being cached.

Example

<AggregateMessages enabled="true"

</AggregateMessages>

See also

EdgeAutoDiscovery, RouteEntry

Alias

The Alias element specifies the assumed name(s) of the virtual host.

An alias is an alternative short name to use when connecting to the virtual host. The Alias element lets you specify

additional names to connect to this virtual host. Use the Alias element to shorten long host names, or if you want to

be able to connect to this virtual host with different names.

Example

<Alias name="abc">abc.adobe.com</Alias>

If the name of this virtual host is “abc.adobe.com”, but you wish to connect by simply specifying “abc”, then specify

the alias abc. Keep in mind that abc must still map to the same IP address as “abc.adobe.com”.

If more than one virtual host on the same adaptor has been defined with the same alias, then the first match that is

found is taken. You can avoid unexpected behavior by specifying a unique alias for each virtual host.

See also

AliasList

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AliasList

Container element.

The elements nested in this section list the alias(es) for this virtual host. You can specify an unlimited number of aliases

by adding additional Alias elements. Each Alias must map to the IP address of the virtual host.

Contained elements

AggregateMessages

Allow

This element is a comma-delimited list of domains that are allowed to connect to this virtual host. The default value is

all. If the Allow element is left empty, the only connections allowed are those coming from the same domain.

Examples

<Allow>adobe.com,yourcompany.com</Allow>

This example allows only connections from the adobe.com and yourcompany.com domains.

<Allow>localhost</Allow>

This example allows localhost connections only.

This example allows connections from all domains. Adobe does not recommend the use of all; it may create a security risk.

See also

Anonymous

AllowOverride

Specifies whether overriding edge autodiscovery is allowed by specifying the rtmpd protocol. If enabled, edge

autodiscovery is performed by default.

Example

See also

Enabled, WaitTime

Anonymous

Configures the virtual host as an anonymous proxy (also called an implicit or transparent proxy) or as an explicit proxy.

The default value is false. Setting this element to true creates an implicit proxy to intercept the incoming URIs.

Both anonymous and explicit proxies intercept and aggregate the clients’ requests to connect to the origin server. Here

are some key differences between anonymous and explicit proxies:

•The identity (IP address and port number) of an anonymous server is hidden from the client.

•The anonymous proxy does not change or modify the routing information in the incoming URI before connecting

the client(s) to the origin server.

•The URI for an explicit proxy specifies the edge server(s) that will intercept connection requests to the origin server.

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You can create a chain of proxies by specifying them in the URI.

•Any anonymous proxy in the chain passes on, without modification, the routing information in the URI to the next

edge server in the chain.

•The routing information in the URI for a chain of explicit proxies specifies the edge servers that are chained

together to intercept connection requests to the origin server.

•The routing information in the URI for a chain of explicit proxies specifically identifies the sequence of edge servers

in the chain.

•The URI for a chain of explicit proxies directs all clients’ connection requests through a specific sequence of edge

servers before making the connection to the origin server.

•The explicit proxy modifies the routing information in the URI by stripping off its token or identifier in the URI

before passing the URI on to the next server in the chain.

Example

<Anonymous>false</Anonymous>

See also

Mode, CacheDir, LocalAddress, RouteTable, EdgeAutoDiscovery, AggregateMessages

AppInstanceGC

Specifies how often to check for and remove unused resources for application instances, such as Shared Objects,

Streams, and Script engines.

The default interval is 1 minute.

Example

See also

MaxConnections, MaxEdgeConnections, MaxAppInstances, MaxStreams, MaxSharedObjects

AppsDir

Specifies the Applications directory for this virtual host.

The Applications directory is the base directory where all applications for this virtual host are defined. You define an

application by creating a subdirectory with the application name.

•In Windows, the default AppsDir location is C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Media Server 4\applications.

•In Linux, the default location is /opt/adobe/ams/applications.

Note: If you use this tag to map to a network drive, see “Mapping directories to network drives” on page 50 for additional

information.

Example 1

<AppsDir>C:\MyApps;D:\NewApps</AppsDir>

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You can specify multiple applications directories by separating locations with a semicolon (;). You can specify two

locations, each of which contains application subdirectories. If you change the default location of the AppsDir

element, be sure to include a directory named admin in each directory. This ensures that the Administration Console

(ams_adminConsole.swf) will be able to connect to the virtual host.

If no location is specified for this element, the applications directory is assumed to be located in the vhost directory.

Example 2

The following example shows a mapping to a network drive:

<AppsDir>\\myNetworkDrive\share\amsapps</AppsDir>

See also

AliasList, ResourceLimits, VirtualKeys

AutoCloseIdleClients

Container element.

Determines whether or not to close idle clients automatically.

Set the enable attribute to true to close idle clients. If the enable attribute is omitted or set to false, the feature is

disabled. The default value is false.

A client is active when it is sending or receiving data. Use AutoCloseIdleClients to specify how often the server

should check for idle clients. When a client has been idle longer than the maximum idle time (60 seconds by default),

the server sends a status message to the NetConnectionobject (the client). The server closes the client connection to

the server and writes a message to the access log. The server also writes a message such as “Client x has been idle for y

seconds” in the core and event logs.

To configure the closing of idle connections, you must enable the feature in the Server.xml file. Once you enable the

feature in the Server.xml file, you can disable the feature for individual virtual hosts in the Vhost.xml files or for

individual applications in Application.xml. The values defined in the Vhost.xml configuration file apply to all clients

connected to the Vhost, unless values are defined in the Application.xml file. The Application.xml values override the

Vhost.xml values. Subsequently, the values defined in the Server.xml configuration file apply to all clients connected

to the server, unless the values are defined in the Vhost.xml file. The Vhost.xml values override the Server.xml values.

Example

</AutoCloseIdleClients>

See also

AppsDir, MaxIdleTime

CacheDir

Container element.

This element enables or disables writing recorded streams to disk. Set this element on an edge server or an intermediate

origin server to control the caching behavior. The contents of the cache change. This element controls whether the

cached streams are written to disk, in addition to being cached in memory.

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The edge server caches content locally to aid performance, especially for vod (video on demand) applications. Caching

static content can reduce the overall load placed on the origin server.

The default value of the enabled attribute is false. The useAppDir attribute determines whether to separate cache

subdirectories by application. The default value is true.

If a server has multiple virtual hosts, each virtual host should point to its own cache directory.

Contained elements

Mode, Anonymous, LocalAddress, RouteTable, Path, MaxSize

See also

RequestTimeout

Checkpoints

Enables logging checkpoint events. Checkpoint events log bytes periodically from the start to the end of an event. The

following are available as checkpoint events: connect-continue, play-continue, and publish-continue.

This element contains the enable attribute which you can set to true or false. Set the enable attribute to true to

turn on checkpoint events in logs. The default value is false.

You must enable checkpoint events at the server level in the Server.xml file. You can disable checkpoints at the vhost

and application level in the Vhost.xml and Application.xml files. You can also override the logging interval at the vhost

and application levels.

Contained elements

CheckInterval, LogInterval

DNSSuffix

Specifies the primary DNS suffix for this virtual host.

If a reverse DNS look up fails to return the domain as part of the host name, then this element is used as the domain

suffix.

See also

AliasList, AppsDir, ResourceLimits, VirtualKeys, VirtualDirectory

EdgeAutoDiscovery

Container element.

Contains elements that configure edge autodiscovery. An edge server may connect to another server that is part of a

cluster. In this case, the edge server tries to determine which server in the cluster it should connect to (may or may not

be the server specified in the URL).

Example

<Enabled>false</Enabled>

</EdgeAutoDiscovery>

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See also

Enabled, AllowOverride, WaitTime

Enabled

Specifies whether edge autodiscovery is enabled. If Enabled is set to true, the edge server tries to determine to which

server in a cluster it should connect. The default value is false.

Example

<Enabled>false</Enabled>

See also

AllowOverride, WaitTime

Key

When Flash Player connects to Adobe Media Server, it sends the server a string containing its platform and version

information. You can add Key elements that map Flash Player information to keys. The keys can be any alphanumeric

value. In the following example, the keys are A and B:

</VirtualKeys>

In the VirtualDirectory element, you map virtual directories used in URLs to physical directories containing

streams. In the following example, if a client with key A requests a stream with the URL

NetStream.play("vod/someMovie"), it is served the stream c:\on2\someMovie.flv. If a client with key B requests a

stream with the URL NetStream.play("vod/someMovie"), it is served the stream c:\sorenson\someMovie.flv.

<Streams key="B">vod;c:\sorenson</Streams>

</VirtualDirectory>

Note: You can also set these values in a server-side script. For more information, see the Client.virtualKey and

Stream.setVirtualPath() entries in the Server-Side ActionScript Language Reference.

For more information, see the “Configuring content storage” section of the Configuration and Administration Guide

at www.adobe.com/go/learn_ams_content_en.

See also

VirtualKeys

LocalAddress

This element binds an outgoing edge connection to a specific local IP address.

The LocalAddress element lets you allocate incoming and outgoing connections to different network interfaces. This

strategy is useful when configuring an edge to either transparently pass on or intercept requests and responses.

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If the LocalAddress element is not specified, then outgoing connections bind to the value of the INADDR_ANY

Windows system variable.

See also

Proxy

Logging

Container element.

Contains elements that control logging.

Contained elements

LogInterval

Specifies how often to log a checkpoint, in seconds. This value should be larger than the value for CheckInterval. If

the value is smaller, the server logs a checkpoint every check interval. The default value is 3600 seconds (60 minutes).

MaxAggMsgSize

Specifies the size in bytes of aggregate messages returned from the edge cache. (Aggregate messages must be enabled.)

The default size is 65,536.

This setting only applies to messages retrieved from the disk cache. Aggregate messages received directly from the

origin server are returned as is and their size is determined by the origin server settings for aggregate message size.

Example

See also

AggregateMessages

MaxAppInstances

Specifies the maximum number of application instances that can be loaded into this virtual host.

A chat application, for example, might require more than one instance, because each chat room represents a separate

instance of the application on the server. The default number is 15,000 application instances.

A Flash SWF file defines which application instance it is connecting to by the parameters it includes with its

ActionScript connect call.

Example

See also

MaxConnections, MaxEdgeConnections, MaxStreams, MaxSharedObjects, AppInstanceGC

MaxConnections

Specifies the maximum number of clients that can connect to this virtual host.

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The maximum number of allowed connections is encoded in the license file. Connections are denied if the specified

limit is exceeded. The default number is -1, which represents an unlimited number of connections.

Example

See also

MaxAppInstances, MaxEdgeConnections, MaxStreams, MaxSharedObjects, AppInstanceGC

MaxEdgeConnections

Specifies the maximum number of connections that can remotely connect to this virtual host. This number is enforced

by the license key.

Example

See also

MaxConnections, MaxAppInstances, MaxStreams, MaxSharedObjects, AppInstanceGC

MaxIdleTime

Specifies the maximum idle time allowed, in seconds, before a client is disconnected.

The default idle time is 3600 seconds (60 minutes). If you set a value lower than 60 seconds, the server uses the value

1200 seconds (20 minutes).

A different value can be set for each virtual host. If no value is set for this element in the Vhost.xml file, the server uses

the value in the Server.xml file. The value for the MaxIdleTime element in the Vhost.xml file overrides the value of the

MaxIdleTime element in the Server.xml file.

Example

See also

AutoCloseIdleClients

MaxSharedObjects

Specifies the maximum number of shared objects that can be created. The default number of shared objects is 50,000.

Example

See also

MaxConnections, MaxEdgeConnections, MaxAppInstances, MaxStreams, AppInstanceGC

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MaxSize

Specifies the maximum allowed size of the disk cache, in gigabytes. The server does LRU (least recently used) cleanup

of the cache to keep it under the maximum size. The default value is 32 gigabytes. A value of 0 disables the disk cache.

A value of -1 specifies no maximum.

See also

NumBuckets, NumBucketsAtRisk

MaxStreams

Specifies the maximum number of streams that can be created for live streams. The default number of streams is

250,000.

Note: This property is ignored for recorded streams.

Example

See also

MaxConnections, MaxAppInstances, MaxSharedObjects, AppInstanceGC

Mode

The Mode element configures whether the server runs as an origin server or as an edge server.

The Mode element can be set to local or remote. The default setting is local.

•When the Mode element is set to local, Adobe Media Server runs its applications locally and is called an origin

server.

•When the Mode element is set to remote, the server behaves as an edge server that connects to the applications

running on an origin server.

•If the Mode element is undefined, the virtual host is evaluated as an alias for the default virtual host and assumes its

configuration.

Example

<Mode>local</Mode>

See also

Anonymous, CacheDir, LocalAddress, RouteTable, EdgeAutoDiscovery

NumBuckets

Specifies the number of buckets to divide the cache into. The aggregate cache size is defined by MaxSize. Can be any

value from 2 to 128; the default value is 8. More buckets mean that a smaller portion of the disk content will be deleted

at any one time, but also that files will need to be moved to new buckets more often, which results in more disk activity

and lower performance.

You can define the number of buckets that contain contents that can be moved with NumBucketsAtRisk.

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Example

See also

MaxSize, NumBucketsAtRisk

NumBucketsAtRisk

Specifies the number of buckets considered to be “at risk” of deletion. Can be any value from 0 to NumBuckets - 1; the

default is NumBuckets/2. To avoid moving files too frequently at the expense of disk performance, only segments that

are in the oldest NumBucketsAtRisk buckets will be moved to the newest bucket when accessed. A value of 0 means

that segments, once pulled from the origin, are never moved to a newer bucket, effectively turning the cache into an

LRU (least recently used) cache.

The default value of NumBuckets/2 means that only segments in the “older half” of content will be moved. The idea is

that segments in the “newer half” of content are more likely to be accessed again before they are deleted, thus making

it less important to move them.

Example

See also

MaxSize, NumBuckets

Path

Specifies the physical location of the proxy cache. By default, the location is RootInstall/cache/. The value must be an

absolute path. Relative paths are ignored and the server uses the default folder.

See also

Proxy

Container element.

The elements nested in this section configure this virtual host as an edge server that can forward connection requests

from applications running on one remote server to another server.

Note: Whenever a virtual host is configured as an edge server, it behaves locally as a remote server.

If this virtual host is configured to run in remote mode and you want to configure the properties of an outgoing SSL

connection to an upstream server, the SSL connection to upstream servers will use the default configuration specified

in the SSL section of the Server.xml file.

Contained elements

Mode, Anonymous, CacheDir, LocalAddress, RouteTable, EdgeAutoDiscovery, SSL, AggregateMessages,

RequestTimeout

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RequestTimeout

The maximum amount of time, in seconds, the server waits for a response to a request from an upstream server. A

request can be for metadata, content, and so on. This value -1 specifies an unlimited amount of time (no timeout). The

default value is 2 seconds.

See also

CacheDir

ResourceLimits

Container element.

The elements in this section specify the maximum resource limits for this virtual host.

Contained elements

MaxConnections, MaxEdgeConnections, MaxAppInstances, MaxStreams, MaxSharedObjects, AppInstanceGC,

RouteEntry

Instructs the edge server to forward the connection request to one server’s IP address and port number [host:port] to

a different IP address and port number.

Edge servers are configured with the RouteEntry element to direct connections to another destination. The

RouteTable element contains the RouteEntry elements that control where the edge server reroutes requests.

You can also add the protocol attribute to an individual RouteEntry element to specify how the edge server reroutes

requests. If no protocol is specified, however, Adobe Media Server applies the protocol specified in the RouteTable

element. Implicit proxies hide the routing information from the clients.

The connection syntax for this element is flexible, as demonstrated in the following examples.

Examples

This example shows how you can configure the edge to route all connections to the host foo to the host bar.

<Proxy>

</RouteTable>

</Proxy>

Use of the wildcard character * to replace host and port.The example shows how to route connections destined for any

host on any port to port 1935 on the host foo.

The example instructs the server to route connections to any host on any port to the specified host on port 1936. For

example, if you were to connect to foo:1935, the connection would be routed to foo:1936.

The example instructs the server to use the values for host and port on the left side as the values for host and port on

the right side, and to route connections destined for any host on any port to the same host on port 80.

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The example instructs the server to route a host:port combination to null. Its effect is to reject all connections destined

for foo:80.

See also

RouteTable

Container element.

The RouteEntry elements nested under the RouteTable element specify the routing information for the edge server.

Administrators use these elements to route connections to the desired destination. The RouteTable element can be

left empty or it can contain one or more RouteEntry elements.

The protocol attribute specifies the protocol to use for the outgoing connection. The attribute is set to "" (an empty

string), rtmp for a connection that isn’t secure, or rtmps for a secure connection.

•Specifying "" (an empty string) means preserving the security status of the incoming connection.

•If the incoming connection was secure, then the outgoing connection will also be secure.

•If the incoming connection was not secure, the outgoing connection will not be secure.

•Specifying rtmp instructs the edge not to use a secure outgoing connection, even if the incoming connection was

secure.

•Specifying rtmps instructs the edge to use a secure outgoing connection, even if the incoming connection was not

secure.

You can override the security status for a connection mapping by specifying a protocol attribute in a RouteEntry

element. By default, Adobe Media Server applies the protocol configured in the RouteTable list unless the mapping

for a particular RouteEntry element overrides it.

Contained elements

RouteEntry

SSL

Container element.

If a virtual host is running in remote mode as an edge server and you want to configure the properties of an outgoing

SSL connection to an upstream server, then you must enable this section and configure its SSL elements appropriately.

When Adobe Media Server acts as a client to make an outgoing SSL connection, the following sequence of events takes

place:

•The SSL elements in the Vhost.xml file are evaluated first.

•If the SSL elements in the Vhost.xml file override the SSL elements in the Server.xml file, Adobe Media Server uses

the SSL elements in the Vhost.xml file to configure the connection.

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•If the SSL elements in the Vhost.xml file match the SSL elements in the Server.xml file, Adobe Media Server uses

the default values for SSL in the Server.xml file to configure the connection.

•If the SSL elements in an edge’s Vhost.xml file are not present, Adobe Media Server uses the default values specified

in the SSL section of Server.xml to configure the SSL connection to upstream servers.

Note: When Adobe Media Server is running in local mode as an origin server, the SSL information in the vhost.xml file

is not evaluated.

You can also override the configuration for outgoing SSL connections for an individual virtual host in Vhost.xml by

copying the SSL elements in Server.xml to the corresponding SSL section in the Vhost.xml file.

For more information on the SSL elements in Server.xml, see SSL.

Contained elements

SSLCACertificateFile, SSLCACertificatePath, SSLCipherSuite, SSLVerifyCertificate, SSLVerifyDepth

SSLCACertificateFile

Specifies the name of a file that contains one or more CA (Certificate Authority) digital certificates in PEM (Privacy

Enhanced Mail) encryption format.

SSLCACertificatePath

Specifies the name of a directory containing CA certificates. Each file in the directory must contain only a single CA

certificate. File names must be the hash with “0” as the file extension.

For Win32 only: If this element is empty, attempts are made to find CA certificates in the certs directory located at the

same level as the conf directory. The Windows certificate store can be imported into this directory by running

AMSMaster - console - initialize from the command line.

SSLCipherSuite

Specifies the suite of encryption ciphers that the server uses to secure communications.

This element is a colon-delimited list of encryption resources, such as a key-exchange algorithm, authentication

method, encryption method, digest type, or one of a selected number of aliases for common groupings. Each item in

the cipher list specifies the inclusion or exclusion of an algorithm or cipher. In addition, there are special keywords and

prefixes. For example, the keyword ALL specifies all ciphers, and the prefix ! removes the cipher from the list.

The default cipher list instructs the server to accept all ciphers, but block those using anonymous Diffie-Hellman

authentication, block low-strength ciphers, block export ciphers, block MD5 hashing, and sort ciphers by strength

from highest to lowest level of encryption.

Important: Contact Adobe Support before changing the default settings.

The cipher list consists of one or more cipher strings separated by colons. Commas or spaces are also acceptable

separators, but colons are normally used.

The string of ciphers can take several different forms.

•It can consist of a single cipher suite, such as RC4-SHA.

•It can represent a list of cipher suites containing a certain algorithm, or cipher suites of a certain type.

For example, SHA1 represents all cipher suites using the digest algorithm SHA1, and SSLv3 represents all SSL v3

algorithms.

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•Lists of cipher suites can be combined in a single cipher string using the + character as a logical and operation.

For example, SHA1+DES represents all cipher suites containing the SHA1 and DES algorithms.

•Each cipher string can be optionally preceded by the characters !, -, or +.

•If ! is used, then the ciphers are permanently deleted from the list. The ciphers deleted can never reappear in the

list even if they are explicitly stated.

•If - is used, then the ciphers are deleted from the list, but some or all of the ciphers can be added again later.

•If + is used, then the ciphers are moved to the end of the list. This option doesn't add any new ciphers—it just moves

matching existing ones.

•If none of these characters is present, then the string is just interpreted as a list of ciphers to be appended to the

current preference list.

•If the list includes any ciphers already present, the server does not evaluate them.

•The cipher string @STRENGTH sorts the current cipher list in order of the length of the encryption algorithm key.

The components can be combined with the appropriate prefixes to create a list of ciphers, including only those ciphers

the server is prepared to accept, in the order of preference.

Example

This cipher string instructs the server to accept all ciphers except those using anonymous or ephemeral Diffie-Hellman

key exchange.

These cipher strings instruct the server to accept only RSA key exchange and refuse export or null encryption. The

server evaluates both strings as equivalent.

<SSLCipherSuite>RSA:LOW:MEDIUM:HIGH</SSLCipherSuite>

This cipher list instructs the server to accept all ciphers but place them in order of decreasing strength. This sequencing

allows clients to negotiate for the strongest cipher that both they and the server can accept.

<SSLCipherSuite>ALL:+HIGH:+MEDIUM:+LOW:+EXP:+NULL</SSLCipherSuite>

This string instructs the server to accept only high- and medium-strength encryption, with the high being preferred,

and reject export-strength versions.

This string instructs the server to accept all ciphers but to order them so that SSLv2 ciphers come after SSLv3 ciphers.

The following is the complete list of components that the server can evaluate.

Key exchange algorithm Description

kRSA Key exchange

kDHr Diffie-Hellman key exchange with RSA key

kDHd Diffie-Hellman key exchange with DSA key

RSA Ephemeral Diffie-Hellman key exchange

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DH RSA key exchange

EDH Ephemeral Diffie-Hellman key exchange

ADH Anonymous Diffie-Hellman key exchange

Authentication methods Description

aNULL No authentication

aRSA RSA authentication

aDSS DSS authentication

aDH Diffie-Hellman authentication

Encryption methods Description

eNULL No encoding

DES DES encoding

3DES Triple-DES encoding

RC4 RC4 encoding

RC2 RC2 encoding

IDEA IDEA encoding

NULL No encryption

EXP All export ciphers (40-bit encryption)

LOW Low-strength ciphers (no export, DES)

MEDIUM 128-bit encryption

HIGH Triple-DES encoding

Digest types Description

MD5 MD5 hash function

SHA1 SHA1 hash function

SHA SHA hash function

Additional aliases Description

All All ciphers

SSLv2 All SSL version 2.0 ciphers

SSLv3 All SSL version 3.0 ciphers

DSS All ciphers using DSS authentication

Key exchange algorithm Description

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SSLVerifyCertificate

Specifies whether the certificate returned by the server should be verified. Certificate verification is enabled by default.

To disable certificate verification, specify false.

Note: Disabling certificate verification can result in security problems.

SSLVerifyDepth

Specifies the maximum depth of the certificate chain to accept. If a self-signed root certificate cannot be found within

this depth, certificate verification fails. The default value is 9.

Example

Streams

Specifies the virtual directory mapping for recorded streams. The Streams element enables you to specify a virtual

directory for stored stream resources used by more than one application. By using a virtual directory, you specify a

relative path that points to a shared directory that multiple applications can access.

You can specify multiple virtual directory mappings for streams by adding additional Streams elements—one for each

virtual directory mapping.

For more information, see the “Configuring content storage” section of the Configuration and Administration Guide.

Examples

The following configuration maps all streams whose names begin with foo/ to the physical directory c:\data. The

stream named foo/bar maps to the physical file c:\data\bar.flv.

If a stream is named foo/bar/x, the server tries to find a virtual directory mapping for foo/bar. If there is no virtual

directory for foo/bar, the server checks for a virtual directory mapping for foo. Since a virtual directory mapping

does exist for foo, the stream foo.bar maps to the file c:\data\bar\x.flv.

Note: If the virtual directory you specify does not end with a backslash, the server adds one.

The following configuration maps streams whose paths begin with common/ to the folder

C:\flashmediaserver\myapplications\shared\resources.

<Streams>common;C:\flashmediaserver\myapplications\shared\resources\</Streams>

If the application “videoConference” refers to an item common/video/recorded/june5 and the application

“collaboration” refers to common/video/recorded/june5, they both point to the same item

C:\flashmediaserver\myapplications\shared\resources\video\recorded\june5\.

See also

VirtualDirectory

Specifies virtual directory mappings for resources such as recorded streams.

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Virtual directories let you share resources among applications. When the beginning portion of a resource’s URI

matches a virtual directory, Adobe Media Server serves the resource from the physical directory. For detailed

information on mapping virtual directories, see “Mapping virtual directories to physical directories” on page 51.

You can use the VirtualDirectory element in conjunction with the VirtualKeys element to serve content based on

Flash Player version information. For more information, see VirtualKeys.

Note: If you are mapping a virtual directory to a drive on another computer, make sure that the computer running Adobe

Media Server has the right permissions to access the other computer. For more information, see “Mapping directories to

network drives” on page 50.

Example

For example, using the following VirtualDirectory XML, if a client called NetStream.play("vod/myVideo"), the

server would play the file d:\sharedStreams\myVideo.flv:

<Streams>vod;d:\sharedStreams</Streams>

</VirtualDirectory>

Contained elements

Streams

See also

VirtualKeys

VirtualHost

Root element of the Vhost.xml file.

This element contains all the configuration elements for the Vhost.xml file.

VirtualKeys

Lets you map Flash Player versions to keys. The keys are used in the VirtualDirectory element to map URLs to

physical locations on a server. Use these elements to deliver streams to clients based on Flash Player version.

Contained elements

Key

WaitTime

Specifies length to wait in milliseconds for edge autodiscovery. The number must be long enough to establish a TCP

connection, perform a UDP broadcast, collect the UDP responses, and return an XML response. Do not set this

number too low.

Example

See also

Enabled, AllowOverride

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Chapter 8: Diagnostics Log Messages

Message IDs in diagnostic logs

The IDs of messages that appear in the diagnostic log files (master.xx.log, edge.xx.log, core.xx.log, admin.xx.log, and

httpcache.xx.log) record information about server operations. Message IDs can be useful for administrators who want

to write error-handling scripts. For status codes related to applications, instances, or users that you can use for

debugging, see “Access logs” on page 98and “Application logs” on page 105.

Message ID Description

1000 Received termination signal; server shutdown in progress.

1001 Received interrupt signal; server shutdown in progress.

1002 Server initialization failed; service will be stopped.

1003 Error during shutdown process; process will be terminated.

1004 Reinitializing server.

1005 Failed to start the following listeners for adaptor %1$S: %2$S.

1006 Failed to stop %1$S listeners for adaptor %2$S.

1007 Failed to create thread (%1$S).

1008 Asynchronous I/O operation failed (%1$S: %2$S).

1009 Service Control Manager failed (%1$S: %2$S).

1010 Service Control Manager reported (%1$S: %2$S).

1011 Server starting...

1012 Server stopped %1$S.

1013 Failed to create listener for adaptor %1$S, IP %2$S, port %3$S: %4$S.

1014 Command name not found in the message.

1015 Method not found (%1$S).

1016 Failed to execute method (%1$S).

1017 Failed to stop virtual host (%1$S).

1018 The call method failed, invalid parameters: call(methodName[, resultObj, p1, pn]).

1019 Dropping application (%1$S) message. Clients not allowed to broadcast message.

1020 Response object not found (%1$S).

1021 Missing unlock for shared object %1$S, lock count %2$S.

1022 Nested lock for shared object %1$S, lock count %2$S.

1023 Unlock called without matching lock for shared object %1$S.

1024 Invalid application; rejecting message (%1$S).

1025 Ignoring message from client during authentication.

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1026 Connection to %1$S lost.

1027 Unknown %1$S command issued for stream %2$S (application %3$S).

1028 Exception while processing message.

1029 Bad network data; terminating connection: %1$S.

1030 Illegal subscriber: %1$S cannot subscribe to %2$S.

1031 Failed to start virtual host (%1$S).

1032 Failed to open configuration file: %1$S.

1033 Parse error at line %1$S: %2$S.

1034 Connect failed ( %1$S, %2$S ): %3$S.

1035 Invalid proxy object; connection may be lost (%1$S).

1036 Connect from host (%1$S) not allowed.

1037 No adaptors defined.

1038 Adaptor already defined with the name %1$S.

1039 Rejecting connection from %1$S to %2$S.

1040 Failed to create administrator: %1$S.

1041 Failed to remove administrator: %1$S.

1042 Failed to change password: %1$S.

1043 Resource limit violation. Unable to create stream: %1$S.

1044 Resource limit violation. Unable to create shared object: %1$S.

1045 Script execution is taking too long.

1046 Reserved property (%1$S).

1047 Admin request received from an invalid Administration Server.

1048 Administrator login failed for user %1$S.

1049 Failed to start server.

1050 Write access denied for shared object %1$S.

1051 Read access denied for shared object %1$S.

1052 Write access denied for stream %1$S.

1053 Read access denied for stream %1$S.

1054 Virtual host %1$S is not available.

1055 Invalid parameters to %1$S method.

1056 Alive.

1057 NetConnection.Call.Failed

1058 Invalid application name (%1$S).

1059 Invalid user ID (%1$S).

Message ID Description

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1060 NetConnection.Admin.CommandFailed

1061 Invalid parameters to %1$S method.

1062 Failed to unload application %1$S.

1063 Failed to load application %1$S.

1064 %1$S applications unloaded.

1065 Admin user requires valid user name and password.

1066 Invalid virtual host alias : %1$S.

1067 Error registering class: name mismatch (%1$S, %2$S).

1068 Connection rejected: maximum user limit reached for application instance %1$S.

1069 (%2$S, %3$S) : Failed to load application instance %1$S.

1070 (%2$S, %3$S) : Connection rejected to application instance %1$S. Client already connected to an application.

1071 Illegal access property (%1$S).

1072 %1$S is now published.

1073 %1$S is now unpublished.

1074 Stopped recording %1$S.

1075 Stream %1$S has been idling for %2$S second(s).

1076 Playing and resetting %1$S.

1077 Pausing %1$S.

1078 Unpausing %1$S.

1079 Started playing %1$S.

1080 Stopped playing %1$S.

1081 Recording %1$S.

1082 Failed to record %1$S.

1083 New NetStream created (stream ID: %1$S).

1084 NetStream deleted (stream ID: %1$S).

1085 Publishing %1$S.

1086 Failed to publish %1$S.

1087 Failed to restart virtual host (%1$S).

1088 Connection to Adobe Media Server has been disconnected.

1089 Failed to play (stream ID: %1$S).

1090 Failed to play %1$S (stream ID: %2$S).

1091 Play stop failed, stream ID: %1$S.

1092 Audio receiving enabled (stream ID: %1$S).

1093 Audio receiving disabled (stream ID: %1$S).

Message ID Description

259

ADOBE MEDIA SERVER 5.0.6 CONFIGURATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Diagnostics Log Messages

Last updated 8/21/2014

1094 Failed to enable audio receiving (stream ID: %1$S).

1095 Failed to stop playing (stream ID: %1$S).

1096 Video receiving enabled (stream ID: %1$S).

1097 Video receiving disabled (stream ID: %1$S).

1098 Set video fps to %1$S (stream ID: %2$S).

1099 Failed to receive video (stream ID: %1$S).

1100 Seeking %1$S (stream ID: %2$S).

1101 Failed to seek (stream ID: %1$S).

1102 Failed to seek %1$S (stream ID: %2$S).

1103 Invalid schedule event format (%1$S).

1104 Invalid method name (%1$S).

1105 (%2$S, %3$S): Invalid application name (%1$S).

1106 Connection succeeded.

1107 Connection failed.

1108 Invalid shared object (%1$S).

1109 Unknown exception caught in %1$S.

1110 Invalid stream name (%1$S).

1111 Server started (%1$S).

1112 JavaScript runtime is out of memory; server shutting down instance (Adaptor: %1$S, VHost: %2$S, App: %3$S).

Check the JavaScript runtime size for this application in the configuration file.

1113 JavaScript engine runtime is low on free memory. Take action.

1114 Failed to start listeners for adaptor %1$S.

1115 Configuration error for adaptor %1$S: IP %2$S and port %3$S are already in use.

1116 Failed to create adaptor: %1$S.

1117 Failed to play %1$S; stream not found.

1118 Insufficient admin privileges to perform %1$S command.

1119 Failed to initialize listeners for adaptor %1$. Adobe Media Server is already running or other processes are using

the same ports.

1120 Configuration file not found: %1$S

1121 Invalid configuration file: %1$S

1122 Server aborted.

1123 Invalid NetStream ID (%1$S).

1124 Failed to open shared object file (%1$S) for write.

1125 Failed to open shared object file (%1$S) for read.

1126 Failed to flush shared object (%1$S).

Message ID Description

260

ADOBE MEDIA SERVER 5.0.6 CONFIGURATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Diagnostics Log Messages

Last updated 8/21/2014

1127 Failed to initialize shared object from persistent store (%1$S).

1128 Invalid shared object file (%1$S).

1129 Failed to play %1$S; index file not found or mismatch.

1130 (%2$S, %3$S): Application (%1$S) is not defined.

1131 (%2$S, %3$S): Resource limit violation. Unable to load new application: %1$S.

1132 (%2$S, %3$S): Resource limit violation. Unable to create new application instance: %1$S.

1133 (%2$S, %3$S): Resource limit violation. Rejecting connection to: %1$S.

1134 Failed to load admin application.

1135 Preload application aborted.

1136 (%2$S, %3$S): Application (%1$S) is currently offline.

1137 Admin command setApplicationState failed for %1$S.

1138 Command successful.

1139 Script is taking too long to process the event. Shutting down instance: %1$S.

1140 NetConnection.Call.Success

1141 Unable to locate server configuration file during startup.

1142 Unable to locate script file: %1$S.

1143 NetConnection.Call.AccessDenied

1144 NetConnection.Call.BadValue

1145 Publish %1$S failed, invalid arguments.

1146 Pause %1$S failed, invalid arguments.

1147 Unable to create directory %1$S.

1148 Server shutdown failed.

1149 Invalid admin command: %1$S.

1150 Beta expired.

1151 Invalid object name (stream ID: %1$S).

1152 Breaking potential deadlock, shared object(%1$S) lock reset to unlocked.

1153 Potential deadlock, shared object (%1$S) has been locked for %2$S sec.

1154 Invalid license key: %1$S

1155 License key specified does not allow multiple adaptor support.

1156 License key specified does not allow multiple virtual host support.

1157 (%2$S, %3$S/%1$S): Current server bandwidth usage exceeds license limit set. Rejecting connection.

1158 (%2$S, %3$S/%1$S): Current virtual host bandwidth usage exceeds max limit set. Rejecting connection.

1159 Multiprocessor support available only in Enterprise Edition.

1160 Trial run expired. Server shutting down.

Message ID Description

261

ADOBE MEDIA SERVER 5.0.6 CONFIGURATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Diagnostics Log Messages

Last updated 8/21/2014

1161 License key has expired.

1162 Invalid shared object name (%1$S).

1163 Failed to record %1$S, no space left on device.

1164 Unknown exception occurred. Instance will be unloaded: %1$S.

1165 Failed login attempt from %1$S at %2$S.

1166 Attempt to reconnect to Adobe Media Server.

1167 Failed to remove application: %1$S.

1168 Exception while processing message: %1$S.

1169 Failed to execute admin command: %1$S.

1170 Unloaded application instance %1$S.

1171 System memory load (%1$S) is high.

1172 System memory load (%1$S) is now below the maximum threshold.

1173 Generic message code.

1174 Listener started (%1$S): %2$S.

1175 Restarting listener (%1$S): %2$S.

1176 Out of memory: %1$S.

1177 Adaptor (%1$S) has an SSL configuration error on port %2$S.

1178 Error from %1$S:%2$S.

1179 Warning from %1$S:%2$S.

1180 Info from %1$S:%2$S.

1181 Exception caught in %1$S while processing streaming data inside %2$S.

1182 (%2$S, %3$S): Max connections allowed exceed license limit. Rejecting connection to: %1$S.

1183 An internal version control error has occurred.

1184 Invalid cryptographic accelerator: %1$S.

1185 Failed to initialize cryptographic accelerator: %1$S.

1186 Failed to seed the pseudorandom number generator.

1187 Application directory does not exist: %1$S

1188 Using default application directory: %1$S

1189 Application instance is not loaded: %1$S

1190 Error: command message sent before client connection has been accepted.

1191 Failed to play %1$S; adaptor not found: %2$S.

1192 Invalid value set for configuration key: %1$S = %2$S, using %3$S.

1193 Pending queue size limit %1$S reached. Rejecting connection request Host: %2$S:%3$S.

1194 Client to server bandwidth limit exceeded. [Virtual host (%1$S), Max Allowed %2$S, Current %3$S]

Message ID Description

262

ADOBE MEDIA SERVER 5.0.6 CONFIGURATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Diagnostics Log Messages

Last updated 8/21/2014

1195 Server to client bandwidth limit exceeded. [Virtual host (%1$S), Max Allowed %2$S, Current %3$S]

1196 Adaptor (%1$S) does not exist.

1197 Virtual host (%1$S) does not exist.

1198 Message queue is too large. Server memory usage too high. Disconnecting client.

1199 Duplicate license key: %1$S

1200 Expired license key: %1$S

1201 No primary license key found. Switching to Developer Edition.

1202 Commercial and Educational licenses cannot be mixed. Switching to Developer Edition.

1203 Personal and Professional licenses cannot be mixed. Switching to Developer Edition.

1204 NFR licences cannot be mixed with any other kind. Switching to Developer Edition.

1205 OEM licences cannot be mixed with any other kind. Switching to Developer Edition.

1206 Too many trial licenses detected. Switching to Developer Edition.

1207 Shared object %1$S has changed and is not being saved, as auto commit is set to false. Current version %2$S,

Last saved version %3$S.

1208 %1$S failed. Invalid argument %2$S.

1209 File operation %1$S failed. %2$S

1210 File operation %1$S failed. File is in closed state (%2$S).

1211 File operation %1$S failed. Object is not a file (%2$S).

1212 File object creation failed (%1$S).

1213 Connection rejected by server. Reason: %1$S.

1214 Invalid substitution variable: %1$S

1215 Resetting service failure action from %1$S to %2$S.

1216 Administrator (%1$S) already exists.

1217 Failed to open log file. Log aborted.

1218 Failed to play stream %1$S: Recorded mode not supported.

1219 Missing arguments to %1$S method.

1220 Invalid admin stream: %1$S .

1221 Core (%1$S) started, arguments: %2$S.

1222 Failed to start core: %1$S %2$S.

1223 Core (%1$S) is no longer active.

1224 Edge (%1$S) started, arguments: %2$S.

1225 Failed to start edge: %1$S %2$S.

1226 Edge (%1$S) is no longer active.

1227 Shared memory heap (%1$S) has exceeded 90 usage. Consider increasing the heap size to prevent future

memory allocation failures.

Message ID Description

263

ADOBE MEDIA SERVER 5.0.6 CONFIGURATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Diagnostics Log Messages

Last updated 8/21/2014

1228 Failed to create process mutex.

1229 Process (%1$S): shared memory (%2$S) init failed.

1230 Process (%1$S): failed to map view of shared memory (%2$S).

1231 Core (%1$S) connected to admin.

1132 Core (%1$S) failed to connect to admin.

1233 Core (%1$S) disconnecting from admin.

1234 Core (%1$S) connection to admin accepted.

1235 Core (%1$S) connection to admin failed.

1236 Core (%1$S) received close command from admin.

1237 Starting admin app on core (%1$S).

1238 Core (%1$S) connecting to admin.

1239 Core (%1$S): Failed to initiate connection to admin.

1240 Core (%1$S) shutdown failed.

1241 Connection to admin received.

1242 Core (%1$S) disconnected: %2$S.

1243 Connection from core %1$S received.

1244 Connection from core %1$S accepted.

1245 Failed to send connect response to core %1$S.

1246 Core (%1$S) sending register command to edge.

1247 Core (%1$S) disconnected from edge.

1248 Core (%1$S) failed to establish proxy to edge.

1249 Core (%1$S) socket migration failed.

1250 Edge disconnected from core (%1$S).

1251 Proxy to core (%1$S) failed.

1252 Registering core (%1$S).

1253 Socket migration to core (%1$S) failed.

1254 Recovering edge %1$S with %2$S failure[s] after %3$S seconds!

1255 Edge (%1$S) %2$S experienced %3$S failure[s]!

1256 Core (%1$S) %2$S experienced %3$S failure[s]!

1257 Core (%1$S) %2$S is not responding and is being restarted!

1258 Core (%1$S) is no longer active; create a new one.

1259 Recovering core %1$S with %2$S failure[s] after %3$S seconds!

1260 Core (%1$S) did not shut down as expected. Killing core now.

1261 Command (%1$S) timed out.

Message ID Description

264

ADOBE MEDIA SERVER 5.0.6 CONFIGURATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Diagnostics Log Messages

Last updated 8/21/2014

1262 OpenProcess(PROCESS_TERMINATE) failed with %1$S.

1263 OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION) failed for pid (%1$S) with %2$S.

1373 SWF verification failed, disconnecting client.

1374 SWF verification timeout, disconnecting client.

1375 SWF verification unsupported by client, disconnecting client.

Message ID Description

Adobe Media Server 5.0.6 Configuration And Administration Guide Mediaserver 506 Config Admin En

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