This readme was last updated on 27 October 2000. The RealServer team will update it periodically, bringing you the most current information that will assist you in using the Server. The following topics are covered:

RealServer 7.02 Release Notes

These release notes cover the enhancements available in RealServer 7.02; they are intended to be used in combination with the RealServer 7.0 Administration Guide, available at http://www.service.real.com/help/library/servers.html.

RealServer 7.02 is a collection of updates and enhancements to RealServer 7.0. It is cumulative release containing all RealServer 7.0 (6.1.3.871) and RealServer 7.01 (6.1.3.943 and 6.1.3.947 security) enhancements. RealServer 7.02 is a free upgrade to all RealServer 7.0 gold customers. If you have deployed or are in the process of deploying RealServer 7.0, you probably do not need to change your plans. However, if you are utilizing Pull Splitting or want to take advantage of the enhancements below, you are strongly encouraged to upgrade. As with all gold products, RealServer 7.02 has no expiration date.

• 7.02 further increases the overall system reliability of RealServer 7.0. We've further improved RealServer's unattended operation mode and its ability to provide higher levels of availability.
• When trying to bind to multiple IP addresses, earlier versions of RealServer were unable to serve more than 60 clients. This has been resolved so that Servers with multiple IPs listed in the IP Binding list are able to stream at full capacity.
• Previously, when G2SLTA encountered an invalid file to be streamed, it would max out the CPU, thus preventing any further activity on that machine. It now uses less CPU.
• We have continued improvements in our Pull Splitting solutions, such as disconnects or failure to reuse a file name from a dead broadcast). In addition to these improvements, we’ve added better error reporting for exceptions and troubleshooting.
• Pull Splitting connections are now properly displayed in the Java Monitor.
• We resolved a logging error in RealServer 7.01, in which file names (streamed via PNA) were logged listed as UNKNOWN. This issue appeared in version 7.01 only; it was not present in 7.0.
• Improved HTTP cloaking via PNA (RealServer 7.0 would fail in some conditions where 5.0 doesn't).

Beta Server Users

System Requirements

RealServer Basic and RealServer Plus require a minimum of 128 MB of RAM to run optimally. For RealServer Professional, 256 MB of memory is recommended. Adding more RAM to a RealServer may increase the number of clients the machine can serve simultaneously. Sites that plan to serve 1000 or more simultaneous clients, should consider using 512 MB of RAM, or more.

On Intel-based systems, RealServer allocates memory on an as-needed basis. Although this memory use may not be directly related to the number of current clients connected, it will not prevent other applications from using the memory; RealServer simply swaps it out.

On Solaris systems, RealServer pre-reserves a large amount of memory, and then uses memory from that large block. You can specify this pre-reservation with the command of -m. Note that the memory from this block isn't necessarily all in use, it's just reserved for RealServer's use.

RealServer 7.0 supports the following platforms:

• Linux-2.0-libc6
• Solaris 2.6 (sunos-5.6)
• Solaris 2.7 (sunos-5.7)
• Solaris 2.8 (sunos-5.8)
• Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3, and later
• Windows 2000
• FreeBSD
• SGI Irix 6.2
• SGI Irix 6.5
• SCO UnixWare 7.0.1
• SCO UnixWare 7.1.0
• SCO UnixWare 7.1.1

If you have an existing RealServer 6.0 or 6.1 Beta running as a service on your NT system, you must stop and then remove it before installing RealServer 7.0. To remove it from the services list, change to the RealServer directory and type the following:

\Bin\rmserver.exe -remove

More information is available in "Chapter 6: Starting and Stopping RealServer" in the online manual, published at http://www.service.real.com/help/library/servers.html.

UNIX Installation

If you receive the message 'Permission Denied' during your attempt to run the UNIX install utility, you may have to set executable permissions. To do so, execute the following command: chmod +x v7--.bin. After installing RealServer for UNIX, in the base installation directory, (the directory containing the rmserver.cfg file), execute the following: Bin/rmserver rmserver.cfg &.

Permission Denied Error Message

Avoiding Hangs from CPU Detection

1. Open the rmserver.cfg file and edit the <Var ProcessorCount="0"/> to the proper number of processors for their machine. For example, <Var ProcessorCount="1"/>. Save the configuration file.
2. Start RealServer with the --sct command. For example, "./rmserver ../rmserver -m 512 --sct &" would start the Server with 512 MB of memory and no attempt at CPU detection.

RedHat Hostname Error Message

1. If the linuxconf utility exists on your system, run 'linuxconf'. Under Config->Networking->Client tasks->Basic host information, click the Host name tab.
2. In the Host name box, enter the hostname for this machine, following the directions outlined in your documentation.
3. Click Accept.
4. Click Quit and choose to activate the changes.
5. Attempt to start RealServer again. If there is still an error message, continue to step 6. Otherwise, start using your RealServer.
6. Open the file /etc/hosts with a text editor.
7. Change the first line to: 127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain
8. Add a second line with the chosen hostname and your machine's IP address: <local IP address> <hostname>
9. Save the file.
10. Restart your networking services. Under RedHat, you can do this by changing to the /etc/rc.d/init.d directory and typing './network restart'.
11. Attempt to restart RealServer. Continue to step 12 if it still fails. Otherwise, start using your RealServer.
12. Edit the rmserver.cfg file in your RealServer directory using a text editor.
13. Add the following to the bottom of the file:
    <List Name="IPBindings">
    <Var Address_0="0.0.0.0"/>
    </List>
14. Start your RealServer using the following command: 'Bin/rmserver rmserver.cfg --iehp'

HP-UX 11 Performance Tuning

Increasing the number in the maxusers parameter will boost performance. To update maxusers:

• Log on to your system as root, and type in "sam" to start up SAM, the HP-UX system administration tool.
• Select "Kernel Configuration".
• Select "Configurable Parameters".
• Select the "maxusers" attribute and change it to a number high enough to accommodate expected traffic; 2000 is a recommended benchmark for a high traffic site.
• Recompile the kernel and reboot the system.
• Note that changing the maxusers parameter will dynamically change the following parameters as well: nfile; ninode; nproc; ksi_alloc_max; ncallout; nclist; ncsize; nkthread.

For additional kernel tuning help, see http://docs.hp.com/hpux/onlinedocs/os/KCparams.OverviewAll.html

Advanced Users: Linux Kernel Considerations

We recommend you upgrade to the latest stable 2.2.x kernel. Specific RealServer and Linux kernel guidelines are outlined below.

RealServer 7.0 and Linux 2.2.x Kernel

Edit the following lines in the /usr/src/linux/include/linux/fs.h file:

• #define NR_OPEN (1024*1024)
• #define NR_FILE 32768

• echo "32768" > /proc/sys/fs/inode-max
• echo "19000" > /proc/sys/fs/file-max
• echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_syncookies
• echo "2" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_retries1
• echo "8192" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_max_syn_backlog

After you recompile the kernel and reboot the system, log on as root and set 'ulimit -n 32768' in the shell that launches RealServer. By default, RealServer reserves 256 Meg of memory. If you are running only RealServer, and no other applications on your machine, you can increase the amount of memory with the -m command.

RealServer 7.0 and Linux 2.0.x Kernel

We recommend you upgrade to the latest stable 2.2.x kernel. You must install the filedescriptor patch below if you are unable to upgrade. Refer to the Linux.org.za site for more information. Warning: if your machine is running other applications besides RealServer, this patch will break RPC services that these applications may be using.

Echo the following into the /etc/rc.d/rc.local:

• echo "32768" > /proc/sys/kernel/inode-max
• echo "8192" > /proc/sys/kernel/file-max

Solaris Installation

Command Line Options

RealServer supports command line options (flags) for viewing more information. These command line flags are executed by typing "rmserver [flag]" in the directory where the RealServer binary is installed. Standard command line flags are:

• -v : Displays version. This flag displays the copyright information, public build number, and operating platform.

UNIX and Solaris Only Flags

• -p x : Sets PNA listening port. This can be verified on UNIX platforms using 'netstat -a'

Solaris Only Flags

NT Only Flags

• -N: Disables Windows NT Service checking. This uses the last registered config, rather than writing the current one in.
• -remove[:Name]: Remove the Windows NT Service called "Name".
• -import[:Key]: Import the following configuration file to the Windows Registry.

Known Bug: RealServer and NT

• -install[:Name] [parameters]: Installs the Server as a Windows NT Service called "Name", passing it the parameter list "Params" upon startup.

New Features in RealServer 7.0

Denial of Service: View Source URL Parsing

1. Disable the View Source feature by using the Web-based RealSystem Administrator:

• In the RealSystem Administrator, click the "View Source" section, then click "Source Access"
• In the "Master Settings" area, select "Disable View Source"
• Click the "Apply" button

Any of the following methods will also work in disabling the View Source feature, but they will require restarting the Server:

2. Disable the View Source feature by manually editing the configuration file. Open your configuration file, add the following code to the View Source section, and then save the edited configuration file. Warning: always make a backup copy of your configuration file before performing any edits.

<!-- V I E W S O U R C E -->
<List Name="ViewSourceConfiguration">
<Var ViewSourceLongName="View Source Tag FileSystem"/>
<Var AllowViewSource="0"/>
</List>

3. Remove the View Source plug-in, named vsrcplin.so.6.0 (UNIX) or vsrc3260.dll (Windows) from the Plug-ins directory of the Server.

4. Remove the following code, <Var Path_4="/viewsource"/>, from the HTTPDeliverable section of the configuration file.

Auto Update and Live SureStream Presentations

When the user clicks on the link pointing to the live SureStream presentation, the user receives an alert that an updated, lightweight component (40 kb) is needed for the Player. A user needs to apply this simple update only once, and the presentation resumes as soon as the component download and installation is completed. If you are planning a large scale live event, visitors should be informed in advance that they will need an updated Player.

The following Windows and Mac versions of RealPlayer will auto-update upon encountering a live SureStream presentation (to determine Player version, click the Help menu option in the Player, click About RealPlayer Plus, and then click Version Info):

• 6.0.7.362 (RealPlayer 7 Beta 1)
• 6.0.6.33 through 6.0.6.104 (G2 Update 2 Players)
• G2 Players older than version 6.0.6.33 receive a full Player upgrade, rather than the 40 kb auto update.

Enterprise versions of the Player currently cannot be auto-updated. Enterprise versions can be determined by your licensing information, and the lack of channels.

RealPlayers that are newer than RealPlayer 7 Beta 1 (6.0.7.362) do not require an auto update.

RTSP Heartbeat Check and LocalHost Binding

The error message of "Server not responding properly: Heartbeat check disabled" means you need to bind your RealServer to its localhost address of 127.0.0.1, or to the address of 0.0.0.0., which captures all addresses, including localhost, for the Server’s use.

Note that if you have set up an access control rule on the RTSP port, that you must create an access control rule before the RTSP rule, and allow localhost access to this RTSP port.

Heartbeat check is a self-monitoring feature which RealServer uses to make sure it is responding on the RTSP port (default 554). If the Server does not get any response from 127.0.0.1:554, then you will receive the error message noted above.

Binding Your RealServer:

• In RealSystem Administrator, click "General Setup", then click "IP Binding"
• Click the "Add New" button. Replace the generic address with the localhost address, 127.0.0.1, or bind to all addresses with 0.0.0.0
• Click "Apply"

Warning: Use either a specific address or 0.0.0.0., but not both, as RealServer will not start if you use both.

Cookies and RealServer

In November 1999, RealNetworks released RealPlayer 7 which disabled Globally Unique Identifiers (GUIDs) by default. When GUIDs are disabled, they are not transmitted to RealServer and as a result, 0's are listed in the RealServer access logs. This has made it impossible for RealServer customers to accurately count anonymous unique users and perform other anonymous statistical analysis useful for service/capacity planning, among other things. To help correct this problem and enable RealServer customers to perform the necessary statistical analyses, we have used the cookie feature of RealPlayer 7 to help facilitate unique audience measurement. A number of our RealServer customers were already using cookies to measure audience size, and we have made it easier by implementing the feature in a standard RealServer.

In the recent RealServer 7.01 release, we added a feature enabling server administrators to measure unique audience size by using both GUIDs (only when they are enabled by the user) and cookies (only when they are enabled by the user). RealServer is designed to use cookies in much the same way as Web servers currently use cookies. Thus, when cookies are enabled, RealServer will be able to set a cookie that only servers on your domain can read. The cookie will contain a Domain Cookie Number ("DCN") which is a reasonably unique number that is completely anonymous but which can be used to help measure unique audience size. The DCN is generated without reference to personal information from the RealPlayer user.

If turned on, the feature works in this manner:

In the case where a RealPlayer sends a GUID, that GUID will be logged in the access log as before. However, if the player does not send a GUID, RealServer will send a cookie containing the DCN to the RealPlayer cookie file. If the user has enabled RealPlayer cookies (like Web browsers, RealPlayer's default is to have cookies enabled), the Player will store that DCN and send it back only to servers in your domain on all subsequent requests. Therefore, the next time that Player connects, the DCN will be sent to RealServer and logged in the access log in place of the missing GUID. Please note that like Web browser cookies, RealPlayer cookies can only be sent back to the server domain that originally placed the cookie.

If RealPlayer cookies have been disabled by the end user, the DCN is not stored on the user's machine, and RealServer generates new temporary DCNs each time the player connects. These DCNs will be logged in the access logs as different IDs for each access.

In summary, the RealServer 7.01 access log will record the following:

1. GUIDs are enabled - GUID is logged
2. GUIDs are disabled, cookies are enabled - DCN is logged
3. GUIDs are disabled, cookies are disabled - temporary (session) DCN is logged

You can use the RealServer Administrator to turn off the logging of GUIDs and DCNs. Navigate to the General Setup section of the Administrator, select Logging, and in the Allowance section, remove these values, or set to False. Alternatively, you can control this functionality by a manual edit to the Allowance section of the configuration file.

Please note that if as an Administrator you have selected not to log GUIDs, DCNs will not be logged. If you do choose to log GUIDs and DCNs, we strongly recommend that you disclose this fact in a posted privacy statement on your Web site so that your end users are informed of the fact that you utilize RealPlayer cookies.

Player GUIDs

With the new RealPlayer 7.0 beta 1 release, the Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) is a preference menu option that by default, is turned off upon installation. These new players will send a zeroed-out GUID unless the user turns it back on.

The Commerce Server version has two ways to authenticate users:

• The first, "User Authentication", uses a User Name and Password prompt for access to secured content. This mode is not affected by this change.
• The second, "Player Authentication", uses the unique player ID or GUID for access to secured content. If you do not currently use this mode, or if you do not plan to use this mode in the future, you may disregard this section. However, if you do use the unique player authentication mode, the steps listed in the simple work-around below will solve denying zero-value GUIDs with player-based authentication. Use the Web-based RealSystem Administrator to set up this feature.

1. Start RealServer.
2. Start the Web-based RealSystem Administrator with the following URL: http://address:AdminPort/admin/index.html (substitute your values for address and AdminPort).
3. Select "Configure > Security > Commerce".
4. Select a rule employing Player Validation from the list of Commerce Rules. The default Player Validation rule is named "SecurePlayerContent".
5. Click "Grant Permission".
6. On the "Grant User Permission" pop-up, type a user name, which may be chosen arbitrarily.
7. Select "Duration" from the "Access Type" drop-down list. Type a value of '1' to the "Time Granted" field. Apply changes.
8. Download and install RealPlayer 7.0 beta 1 from http://www.real.com.
9. Using the RealPlayer 7.0 beta 1, register the user added in step 6. (i.e. rtsp://realserver.domain.com:554/register!secure/player/g2video.rm) This "dummy" user should have stored a GUID value of 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 in its database entry. This will block other users with GUID-notification disabled from accessing secure content.

If a new RealPlayer with GUIDs turned off now tries to access content on a Commerce Server, the user will receive an alert notifying them that to access authenticated content, they need to turn their GUID on. A "More Info" button on this alert gives them detailed instructions on how to turn the GUID on in their preference menu, as well as how to later turn it back off (these instructions will state that to receive secure content using Player Validation, the user will need to enable GUID-notification in their RealPlayer by going to "View > Preferences > Support" and selecting "Supply GUID when playing streaming content").

Server High Capacity

RealServer 7.0 includes better support for increased viewing capacity. If you are operating your Server at a capacity load that is higher than the nominal rated capacity for your hardware configuration, then RealServer will warn you of this event. The following example shows the warning that will be written to your error.log:

***06-Dec-99 16:00:56.106 logplin(50897): The server has entered High Capacity mode, this may result in lowered quality of service for some players. The current load is XX.X Mbps total output to XXXX players (XX% PNA, XX% RTSP, XX% HTTP, XX% TCP/Cloaked, XX% UDP, XX% MCast)

As noted by this warning message, this high capacity mode will reduce quality of service to some players. Use this warning as an indication that a new configuration would be more appropriate for your load characteristics.

Live Broadcasting

• If you installed early versions of RealServer 7.0 Betas, you may have a file in your plug-ins directory called lvrg3260.dll or lvrgplin.so.6.0. You should delete this file.
• When archiving from a Source Path that contains a virtual directory, it is necessary to create a directory of the same name under the Archive directory.
• If you create a file using live archiving, and seek immediately to the end of the file, RealPlayer will occasionally go into an infinite buffer state.

Multicasting

• When using scalable multicast in combination with splitting, be aware that it works with push splitting, but not with pull splitting.
• If you do not want Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) messages, use the Web-based Administrator to disable this feature in these three pages of the Multicasting section: Back-Channel; Scalable; and SAP.

QuickTime's Preemptive Registration for the .sdp MIME Type, and Netscape

• Under Netscape, Apple's QuickTime plug-in (npqtplugin2.dll) is registered for the sdp MIME type. Since plug-ins that have registered for a given MIME type are chosen before a registered helper application such as RealPlayer, RealPlayer cannot obtain the sdp MIME type. This affects the scalable multicasting functionality of RealServer.
• If you are multicasting with RealServer, you can either remove the QuickTime plug-in from your directory, or use the following ram file encapsulation workaround:
  1. Put the http URL or scalable mount point for your scalable multicasting file inside a ram file, by editing the Web page that has the ram file hyperlink, and adding in your desired path.
  2. Example: [begin the ram file] http://server/scalable/live.rm.sdp [end the ram file].
  3. RealPlayer will then treat the .sdp file as a media file, and play it.

Configuration Variable Changes

<Var ProcessorCount="0"/>
The "ProcessorCount" configuration variable must be set to the number of processors available to RealServer. Although RealServer has an automatic processor test, it is used as a last resort in lieu of a valid Server configuration variable (the processor count could be inaccurate if the system is busy doing other things while the Server performs its test.)

The default value of 0 means that RealServer will use its test to determine the number of processors available. If you have more than one processor on your system, you should change this variable.

<Var NumStreamers="2"/>
Delete this variable, which is no longer valid. The Server now automatically detects the optimal number of streamer processes.

RealServer Plug-ins List

The table below lists the Window and UNIX plug-in file names, and associated functionality.

Windows	UNIX	Description
admi3260.dll	adminfs.so.6.0	RealNetworks Admin File System
adta3260.dll	adtagrep.so.6.0	RealNetworks Ad Insertion Plugin
allo3260.dll	allow.so.6.0	RealNetworks Basic Allowance Plugin
arch3260.dll	archplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Live Archive Plugin
audp3260.dll	audplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks AU, WAV, AIFF File Format Plugin
auth3260.dll	authmgr.so.6.0	RealNetworks Authentication Manager
basc3260.dll	bascauth.so.6.0	RealNetworks Basic Authenticator
dbmg3260.dll	dbmgr.so.6.0	RealNetworks Database Manager
dbwr3260.dll	dbwrap.so.6.0	RealNetworks Database Wrapper
enco3260.dll	encoplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Encoder Broadcast Plugin
farm3260.dll	farmplin.so.6.0	Farm Split Broadcast Plugin
http3260.dll	httpfsys.so.6.0	RealNetworks HTTP File System Plugin
incl3260.dll	inclrep.so.6.0	RealNetworks Include Plugin
inkpln.dll	inkpln.so.6.0	Inktomi Traffic Server Plugin
isph3260.dll	isphoster.so.6.0	RealNetworks ISP Hosting Plugin
liv33260.dll	liv3plin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Live Broadcast Plugin
logp3260.dll	logplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Logging Plugin
lvrg3260.dll	lvrgplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Live Registration Plugin
meip3260.dll	meiplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Proxy/Cache Plugin
ntau3260.dll	N/A	RealNetworks NT Authenticator
ntlo3260.dll	N/A	RealNetworks NT Event Logger
perf3260.dll	N/A	RealNetworks NT Performance Monitor
plus3260.dll	plusplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks PlusURL File Format Plugin
pply3260.dll	pplyplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Scalable Multicast Plugin
ppva3260.dll	ppvallow.so.6.0	RealNetworks Pay Per View Allowance Plugin
ppvb3260.dll	ppvbasic.so.6.0	RealNetworks Flatfile Database Plugin
N/A	ppvmsql.so.6.0	RealNetworks Mini SQL PPV Database Plugin
ppvo3260.dll	N/A	RealNetworks ODBC 3.0 PPV Database Plugin
pxad3260.dll	pxadsvff.so.60	RealNetworks RealPix Ad File Format Plugin
pxcb3260.dll	pxcbmp.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealPix BMP Codec Plugin
pxcg3260.dll	pxcgif.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealPix GIF Codec Plugin
pxcj3260.dll	pxcjpeg.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealPix JPEG Codec Plugin
pxff3260.dll	pxff.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealPix File Format Plugin
pxfx3260.dll	pxexfx.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealPix External Effects Plugin
pxgf3260.dll	pxgifff.so.6.0	RealNetworks GIF File Format Plugin
pxjf3260.dll	pxjpgff.so.6.0	RealNetworks JPEG File Format Plugin
ramp3260.dll	ramplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Ramgen File System
rmff3260.dll	rmffplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealMedia File Format Plugin
rn5a3260.dll	rn5auth.so.6.0	RealNetworks RN5 Authenticator
rtff3260.dll	rtffplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealText File Format Plugin
sdpp3260.dll	sdpplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks SDP Stream Description Plugin
shel3260.dll	shelfsys.so.60	RealNetworks RealPix Shell File System Plugin
smlf3260.dll	smlffpln.so.6.0	RealNetworks SMIL File Format Plugin
smlg3260.dll	smlgenfs.so.6.0	RealNetworksSMIL Generation Plugin
smon3260.dll	smonpln.so.6.0	RealNetworks System Monitor Plugin
smpl3260.dll	smplfsys.so.6.0	RealNetworks Local File System
splt3260.dll	spltplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Splitter Broadcast Plugin
swff3260.dll	swff.so.6.0	Shockwave Flash Format Plugin
tagf3260.dll	tagfsys.so.6.0	RealNetworksTag Handler Plugin
vidp3260.dll	vidplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks AVI, QuickTime, Active Stream File Format Plugin
viff3260.dll	vivff.so.6.0	VivoActive File Format Plugin

Last updated: 27 October 2000