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Welcome to the RealSystem Proxy Evaluation Edition

This readme was last updated on 17 February 2000. The RealSystem Proxy team will update it periodically, bringing you the most current information that will assist you in using RealSystem Proxy . The following topics are covered:

System Requirements

Before You Install RealSystem Proxy : Installation and Networking Requirements

NT Installation
UNIX Installation

RealSystem Components Used with RealSystem Proxy

Setting up RealSystem Server

Setting up RealSystem Proxy

Command Line Options
Multiple Processor Configuration

Setting up RealPlayer

Release Notes

System Improvements
Updates and Fixes Since Last Release: 6.1.3.873
IP Bindings Configuration
Dynamic Content
Error Log File Rolling

Known Issues

RealSystem Proxy Windows and UNIX Plug-ins List


System Requirements

RealSystem Proxy requires a minimum 512 MB of RAM, an increase from previous versions. RealSystem Proxy 's memory allocator has been enhanced to be more efficient when dealing with high load situations.

  • On Intel-based systems, RealSystem Proxy 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; RealSystem Proxy simply swaps it out.
  • On Solaris, RealSystem Proxy reserves a large block of memory upon start up. You can specify the size of the memory block with the -m command line option.

RealSystem Proxy Evaluation Edition supports the following platforms:

  • Windows NT 4.0
  • Sun Solaris 2.6
  • Linux 2.0.30 - glibc6

Before You Install RealSystem Proxy : Installation and Networking Requirements

NT Installation

If you have an existing RealSystem Proxy running as a service on your NT system, you must stop the service and then remove it before installing a later version of RealSystem Proxy . To remove it from the services list, change to the RealSystem Proxy directory and type the following:

\Bin\rmserver.exe -remove

UNIX Installation

If you receive the message 'Permission Denied' when you run the UNIX install utility, you may need to set executable permissions. To do so, execute the following command:

chmod +x g2--.bin

After installing RealSystem Proxy for UNIX, in the base installation directory, (the directory containing the rmserver.cfg file), execute the following:

Bin/rmserver rmserver.cfg &

On the 2.2 Linux kernel, you'll need to change /usr/src/linux/include/linux/fs.h to accommodate more than 1000 users. Perform this source code edit on the following line:

#define NR_FILE 16384 /* this can well be larger on a larger system */

This will allow approximately 4000 clients, depending on data type/transport (SMIL, for example, requires more bandwidth than others). Note that while the specific line number may change with varying kernels, you will find the NR_FILE defined in /usr/src/linux/include/linux/fs.h.

RealSystem Components Used with RealSystem Proxy

To properly use the provided software, three separate computers are needed:

  1. A PC running Windows 95/98/NT4.0, to run RealPlayer
  2. A RealSystem Proxy host system: UNIX or NT, to run RealSystem Proxy
  3. A RealSystem Server host system: UNIX or NT, to run RealSystem Server

All three computers must be accessible to one another via TCP/IP, as outlined in the diagram below.

<RealPlayer>
Client
--------- <RealSystem Proxy >
RTSP/PNA Proxy
--------- <RealSystem Server G2>
Server

It is recommended that RealSystem Server and RealSystem Proxy run on separate systems.

Setting Up RealSystem Server

  1. Download an evaluation copy of RealSystem Server from http://proforma.real.com/mario/eval/download.html
  2. Follow the installation instructions. No license key is required to run an evaluation version of the RealSystem Server.

Setting Up RealSystem Proxy

  1. Copy the RealSystem Proxy installation binary to the machine that will be used to run the Proxy. This machine should be a separate host from the one used to run RealSystem Server. Also, copy the '*.lic' license file to the system which will be used to run the Proxy.
  2. Execute the install binary. Follow the install prompts.
  3. UNIX: To run RealSystem Proxy once it has installed, execute the following command:
    './Bin/rmserver rmserver.cfg &'
    On Windows NT, RealSystem Proxy is installed as a service and begins running automatically.

Command Line Options

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

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

UNIX-Only Flags
-m x : Allocates operating memory for Server. This flag allocates 'x' megabytes of server memory space. The Server returns "RealSystem Server has allocated 'x' megabytes of memory.".

NT-Only Flags
-N: Disables Windows NT Service checking. This uses the last registered config, rather than writing the current one in.
-install[:Name] [parameters]: Installs the Server as a Windows NT Service called "Name", passing it the parameter list "Params" upon startup.
-remove[:Name]: Remove the Windows NT Service called "Name".
-import[:Key]: Import the following configuration file to the Windows Registry.

Multiple Processor Configuration

The <Var ProcessorCount="0"/> configuration file variable must equal the number of processors available to RealSystem Proxy if more than one processor exists. Although RealSystem Proxy has an automatic processor test, it is used in lieu of a valid ProcessorCount configuration variable. Upon start up, a test is conducted to determine the processor count. The processor test is not always accurate, thus it is recommended that the ProcessorCount value be properly set prior to running RealSystem Proxy .

Setting Up RealPlayer

  1. Install and run RealPlayer.
  2. To configure RealPlayer to use RealSystem Proxy , open the RealPlayer, and select Options > Preferences > Proxy. From the 'Preferences' box, click on the 'Proxy' tab, and set the proxy options to use both a PNA and RTSP Proxy.
  3. Type the IP address of the system running the RealSystem Proxy .
  4. Type the ports used by RealSystem Proxy for PNA and RTSP client requests (the default PNA port is 1090, the default RTSP port is 554).

Note: Once the RealPlayer's preferences are configured to use RealSystem Proxy , all media requests will be routed through the specified RealSystem Proxy .

Release Notes

System Improvements

New auto-restart feature ensures continuous operation by restarting streaming processes when excessive machine load forces a shut-down.

RealSystem Proxy crash avoidance has been rewritten to reduce CPU loss and support our new threading model.

Updates and Fixes Since Last Release: 6.1.3.873

Default back channel multicast variables have been updated. Multicast now requires configuration of broadcast IP addresses. See the RealSystem Proxy User's Guide for information on how to configure this feature.

IP Bindings Configuration

RealSystem Proxy can be configured to bind to all IP addresses on a host system that has multiple address interfaces. There are two ways to configure this:

  1. Explicitly list each interface address using the IP Bindings page of the RealSystem Administrator, the Web-based management tool. RealSystem Proxy will only bind to the interfaces listed.

    If you explicitly list one or more interface addresses in the IPBindings section, you MUST also include a loopback address of '127.0.0.1' for proper operation of proxy splitting. Failure to include this loopback address will impair the proxy's ability to split incoming live streams and will disable the underlying Server's heartbeat detection feature.

    -or-
  2. Configure the RealSystem Proxy to bind to '0.0.0.0'. The RealSystem Proxy will bind to all interfaces.

    When RealSystem Proxy is bound to more than one interface, RealSystem Proxy will make outbound connections to RealSystem Server from the same interface address used by the RealPlayer for the corresponding incoming request.

Dynamic Content

Live and on-demand streams containing dynamic content may carry the a 'nocache' directive in a DESCRIBE response header of the RTSP protocol. RealSystem Proxy will not attempt to cache or split any presentation containing this directive. File systems residing on RealSystem Server are responsible for placing a 'no-cache' directive in the DESCRIBE response header of the RTSP protocol for dynamic content. Advertising media served by the RealSystem Server Ad Extension conforms to this convention.

Error Log File Rolling

The error file (proxyerr.log) now supports log file rolling simular to that of the access log (proxy.log). The following registry variable have been added in conjunction with support for this feature:


'config.ErrorLogRollFrequency'
'config.ErrorLogRollSize'

Known Issues

The server.ClientCount registry variable will return duplicate client counts when a cache file system is accessed. Use the Proxy.NumConnections entry for an accurate client count.

RealSystem Proxy Plug-ins List

The tables below list the Windows and UNIX plug-in file names, and their associated functionality.

WindowsDescription
admi3260.dllRealNetworks Admin File System
allo3260.dllRealNetworks Basic Allowance Plug-in
allo3260.dllRealNetworks Basic Allowance Plug-in
audp3260.dllRealNetworks AU, WAV, AIFF File Format Plug-in
auth3260.dllRealNetworks Authentication Manager
basc3260.dllRealNetworks Basic Authenticator
dbmg3260.dllRealNetworks Database Manager
dbwr3260.dllRealNetworks Database Wrapper
exca3260.dllRealNetworks Example Cache Plug-in
farm3260.dllRealNetworks Farm Split Broadcast Plug-in
http3260.dllRealNetworks HTTP File System Plug-in
incl3260.dllRealNetworks Include Plug-in
miip3260.dllRealNetworks Media Import Plug-in
ntau3260.dllRealNetworks NT Authenticator
ntlo3260.dllRealNetworks NT Event Logger
perf3260.dllRealNetworks NT Performance Monitor
plus3260.dllRealNetworks PlusURL File Format Plug-in
plog3260.dllRealNetworks Proxy Logging Plug-in
ppvb3260.dllRealNetworks Flatfile Database Plug-in
ppvo3260.dllRealNetworks ODBC 3.0 PPV Database Plug-in
prox3260.dllRealNetworks PNA Proxy Plug-in
pxcg3260.dllRealNetworks RealPix GIF Codec Plug-in
pxcj3260.dllRealNetworks RealPix JPEG Codec Plug-in
pxff3260.dllRealNetworks RealPix File Format Plug-in
pxfx3260.dllRealNetworks RealPix External Effects Plug-in
pxgf3260.dllRealNetworks GIF File Format Plugin
pxjf3260.dllRealNetworks JPEG File Format Plug-in
redi3260.dllRealNetworks RTSP Redirect Plug-in
rmff3260.dllRealNetworks RealMedia File Format Plug-in
rn5a3260.dllRealNetworks RN5 Authenticator
rprx3260.dllRealNetworks RTSP Proxy Plug-in
rtff3260.dllRealNetworks RealText File Format Plug-in
sbmo3260.dllRealNetworks Source Bandwidth Monitor Plug-in
sdpp3260.dllRealNetworks SDP Stream Description Plug-in
smlf3260.dllRealNetworks SMIL File Format Plug-in
smlg3260.dllRealNetworks SMIL Generation Plug-in
smon3260.dllRealNetworks System Monitor Plug-in
smpl3260.dllRealNetworks Local File System
splt3260.dllRealNetworks Splitter Broadcast Plug-in
swff3260.dllShockwave Flash Format Plug-in
tagf3260.dllRealNetworks Tag Handler Plug-in
vidp3260.dllRealNetworks AVI, QuickTime, Active Stream File Format Plug-in
viff3260.dllVivoActive File Format Plug-in

UNIXDescription
adminfs.so.6.0RealNetworks Admin File System
allow.so.6.0RealNetworks Basic Allowance Plug-in
audplin.so.6.0RealNetworks AU, WAV, AIFF File Format Plug-in
authmgr.so.6.0RealNetworks Authentication Manager
bascauth.so.6.0RealNetworks Basic Authenticator
dbmgr.so.6.0RealNetworks Database Manager
dbwrap.so.6.0RealNetworks Database Wrapper
excache.so.6.0RealNetworks Example Cache Plug-in
farmplin.so.6.0RealNetworks Farm Split Broadcast Plug-in
httpfsys.so.6.0RealNetworks HTTP File System Plug-in
inclrep.so.6.0RealNetworks Include Plug-in
miipln.so.6.0RealNetworks Media Import Plug-in
ppvmsql.so.6.0RealNetworks Mini SQL PPV Database Plug-in
plusplin.so.6.0RealNetworks PlusURL File Format Plugin
plogplin.so.6.0RealNetworks Proxy Logging Plug-in
ppvbasic.so.6.0RealNetworks Flatfile Database Plug-in
proxypln.so.60RealNetworks PNA Proxy Plug-in
pxcgif.so.6.0RealNetworks RealPix GIF Codec Plug-in
pxcjpeg.so.6.0RealNetworks RealPix JPEG Codec Plugin
pxff.so.6.0RealNetworks RealPix File Format Plug-in
pxexfx.so.6.0RealNetworks RealPix External Effects Plug-in
pxgifff.so.6.0RealNetworks GIF File Format Plug-in
pxjpgff.so.6.0RealNetworks JPEG File Format Plug-in
redirect.so.6.0RealNetworks RTSP Redirect Plug-in
rmffplin.so.6.0RealNetworks RealMedia File Format Plug-in
rn5auth.so.6.0RealNetworks RN5 Authenticator
rprxypln.so.6.0RealNetworks RTSP Proxy Plug-in
rtffplin.so.6.0RealNetworks RealText File Format Plug-in
sbmonpln.so.6.0RealNetworks Source Bandwidth Monitor Plug-in
sdpplin.so.6.0RealNetworks SDP Stream Description Plug-in
smlffpln.so.6.0RealNetworks SMIL File Format Plug-in
smlgenfs.so.6.0RealNetworks SMIL Generation Plug-in
smonpln.so.6.0RealNetworks System Monitor Plugin
smplfsys.so.6.0RealNetworks Local File System
spltplin.so.6.0RealNetworks Splitter Broadcast Plug-in
swff.so.6.0Shockwave Flash Format Plug-in
tagfsys.so.6.0RealNetworks Tag Handler Plug-in
vidplin.so.6.0RealNetworks AVI, QuickTime, Active Stream File Format Plug-in
vivff.so.6.0VivoActive File Format Plug-in

 

Last updated: 17 February 2000.

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