Requirements

To configure a video network, you need installed devices that are ready to be accessed, framework software, video drivers , additional licenses, one or more commissioned remote host controllers and signed server certificates.

Installed devices are ready to be accessed

All component devices (DVR, cameras, displays, NVR) must be physically installed, powered on, functioning correctly and ready to be accessed. For example, your camera(s), DVR, display(s), NVR must be connected to the network. Remote host controller must be on the same network as the video devices each controls.

For the a host station to access a device you need the following information:

Device IP address and port number: These are required to set up UDP communications for the device.
Device user name and password: Credentials are required for http access to devices for configuration, as specified by each individual driver.
Appropriate ports open; the default are port 80 for the web, port 554 for control, port 9000 for data and port 9797 for motion detection.

Software and driver modules

This framework requires latest version of Niagara. The following general-purpose video driver jar files must be present in your installation’s modules folder or already on the target station’s controller.

ndriver-rt.jar
ndriver-wb.jar
nvideo-rt.jar
nvideo-wb.jar
videoDriver-rt.jar
videoDriver-wb.jar
videoHx-rt.jar
remoteVideo-rt.jar
remoteVideo-wb.jar

You can view these modules in the C:\Niagara\MySoftware-n.n.nn\modules folder, where MySoftware-n.n.nn is your unique software installation folder.

You need one or more drivers for the specific manufacturer’s equipment.

Licenses

Your license file must include an entry for the videoDriver feature, as well as a vendor-specific entry. Other device and point limits may exist in your license as properties associated with those features.

If your topology includes remote stations managed under the NiagaraNetwork, the Supervisor station must be licensed for the remote video feature.

Commissioned remote host controllers

Whether or not your network includes a Supervisor PC, each remote host controller must have been commissioned using Niagara Workbench.

Signed certificates

Each device (such as a camera) requires a server certificate signed by the private key of a root CA certificate. The root CA certificate with only its public key must be available in the station’s System or User Trust Store. To authenticate a camera over the Internet, the root CA certificate must already be in the browser’s trust store, or, if your company serves as its own CA, you must import the root CA certificate into the browser’s trust store.

Video drivers default to secure communication. If a camera or other device does not support TLS, and the device must connect to the station, you may have to set Use Tls to false and change the device Http Port from 443 to 80. Where to make these changes depends on the driver.