System Settings – ViewCommander https://viewcommander.com IP Camera Software Thu, 01 Aug 2024 13:46:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://viewcommander.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-cropped-cropped-IVI-Logo-1-32x32.png System Settings – ViewCommander https://viewcommander.com 32 32 “Master Schedule” Tab https://viewcommander.com/master-schedule-tab/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 19:46:16 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=2650

"Master Schedule" Tab

Scheduling can be set up to allow certain functions to run during specified times. For example, you can have video record only during nighttime hours.

Scheduling can be set up in the System Settings screen. This will set up a default schedule that all the cameras on the system can use, with the option to override the schedule on a per-camera basis if required.

Scheduling can also be set up for each individual camera.

Master Schedule:

The master schedule is accessed from the System Settings screen.

Scheduling allows certain ViewCommander functions to run at specified times. Scheduling can be set down to 15 minute segments, Sunday through Saturday.

The dropdown box allows for three master schedules to be set up. Once a schedule is selected, times can be selected by left clicking the mouse over the times in the schedule, and right clicking the mouse over the time to erase a highlighted time.

This schedule will allow video to be recorded at specified times.

This schedule will allow email alerts to be sent at specified times.

This option will restart the software at specified times. Restarting the software periodically is not necessary, but some users may choose to do this. The software needs to be running in order for the software to restart itself. If the software is running as a service, the software will turn off at the selected times and allow the operating system to restart the software. Settings will not be lost; however, video will not be recorded during the few seconds it takes for the software to restart.

NOTE: For each camera, you can set a schedule for various system functions and events, such as video recording and email alerts. The schedule will look and function similar to the master schedule; however there will be an option to choose the master schedule setting, or to set a new schedule.

 

]]> “Security Settings” Tab https://viewcommander.com/security-settings-tab/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 19:45:00 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=2640

*Updated: 2/2/23

"Security Settings" Tab

The User and Password Security Settings screen allows you to add multiple users. Each user can have customized levels of system access. Setting up users and passwords, and enabling security, prevents system use and access from unauthorized users.

NOTE: Enabling the User and Password Security Settings prevents unauthorized access to specific features within the ViewCommander-NVR program. These settings do not protect the computer system from unauthorized use. Please consult with your network systems administrator for more information on securing the computer on which ViewCommander-NVR is installed.

Click HERE for a video tutorial on Users and Groups. 

User List

This provides a list of users who are allowed to access the system. There are two users that cannot be added or deleted from the system:

  1. “admin” account: The ‘admin’ account (or Administrator account) allows access to all features of the ViewCommander system. The password for admin can be changed, however this account name must remain ‘admin’. The security settings for this account cannot be changed.   Important: By default, the  admin password is not set. System security settings will not work until the ‘admin’ password is set.

  2. “default” account: The ‘default’ account is the account that the system starts up in. The default account does not have a password; however the security settings can be changed for the ‘default’ account.

Users can be added by pressing the “Add User” Button. The following screen will be displayed:

  • User Login Name: The name a user will log into the system with.
  • Full User Name: The full name of the user, for reference purposes.
  • Password: The password the user will use to access the system.
  • Confirm Password: The password the user will use to access the system.
  • User Enabled: Enables the User Account, also allows for an expiration date
  • Allow Multiple Logins: Enables multiple devices/Users to login to the same account.

The following screen allows you to set up different levels of system access for users.

Select a user from the User List. Then check the appropriate levels of access for that user. Levels of Access include:

  • System Admin – Marks the user as an Administrator of the server
  • Change System Settings
  • Add/Delete Video Sources
  • Change Video Source Settings
  • Activate/Deactivate Cameras
  • Change Camera Settings
  • Enable/Disable Archiving
  • Change Archive Settings
  • Delete Archives
  • Set Presets*
  • View Archives *
  • Control Presets *
  • Control Pan/Tilt and Presets on Camera *
  • Allow Web and Handheld Access *
  • Exit System

NOTE: Items with an asterisk ( * ) indicate that these settings also apply to users who access the system via ViewCommander’s web interface.

This option brings up a list of groups to which the selected user belongs, and allows you to add or remove groups from the user. Groups are explained below.

Once users/groups are added and you would like to give them remote access you can select the cameras they will have access to here. 

NOTE: In Versions 12 and older once users/groups are added and you would like to give them remote access you will need to add them to the “Remote Access” button in the “Video Configuration Panel”. 

Groups List

This provides a list of groups created for users.

Groups can be created by pressing the “Add Group” Button. The following screen will be displayed:

  • Group: The name of a group to add users to 
  • Full Group Name: The full name of the group, for reference purposes.
  • Allow Multiple Logins: Enables multiple devices/Users to login to the same account.

The following screen allows you to set up different levels of system access for groups.

NOTE: If a user is assigned to a group ViewCommander will look to the group level access first and ignore the individuals user access. 

Select a group from the Group List. Then check the appropriate levels of access for that group. Levels of Access include:

  • System Admin – Marks the user as an Administrator of the server
  • Change System Settings
  • Add/Delete Video Sources
  • Change Video Source Settings
  • Activate/Deactivate Cameras
  • Change Camera Settings
  • Enable/Disable Archiving
  • Change Archive Settings
  • Delete Archives
  • Set Presets*
  • View Archives *
  • Control Presets *
  • Control Pan/Tilt and Presets on Camera *
  • Allow Web and Handheld Access *
  • Exit System

NOTE: Items with an asterisk ( * ) indicate that these settings also apply to users who access the system via ViewCommander’s web interface.

This option brings up a list of users to add to the group. 

Once groups are added and you would like to give them remote access you can select the cameras they will have access to here. 

NOTE: In Versions 12 and older once users/groups are added and you would like to give them remote access you will need to add them to the “Remote Access” button in the “Video Configuration Panel”. 

]]> “Remote Web Access” Tab https://viewcommander.com/remote-web-access-tab/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 19:44:00 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=2645

"Remote Web Access" Tab

This section contains configuration settings for the integrated web/video server. Enabling this option will make ViewCommander’s live and recorded video available to remote users who connect to the ViewCommander system using a standard web browser.

Checking this option activates the ViewCommander-NVR Video Web Server – allowing video to be seen and controlled over IP networks including the Internet.

Set the port that the video server will use. Port 80 is the standard port for web servers. It is strongly recommended (but not necessary) that if you change the port, you use a value of 1024 or higher.

Checking this option activates the ViewCommander-NVR Web Server with encryption. This web server is identical to the normal web server (See ‘Enable Web Access’), but encrypts the data travelling across the network for extra security.

Set the port for the secure video server. Port 443 is the standard port for SSL servers. It is strongly recommended (but not necessary) that if you change the port, you use a value of 1024 or higher.

Select the IP address to use for multi-homed systems that have 2 or more IP addresses. This is useful if you are using another web server on the same system, and you wish to use it with the same port as ViewCommander’s web server simultaneously.

On most systems, this option will be grayed out and you will not be able to select an option. This is normal, and means that ViewCommander is listening for connections on the computer’s current IP address.

Check this box to allow users of the web server to download video onto their local machines. A copy of the exported video will be saved on the ViewCommander-NVR host machine.

The maximum size, in MB, of videos exported by the web server. This limit saves both bandwidth and hard drive space on the ViewCommander host machine.

The drive on the ViewCommander host machine where exported videos will be saved. The exported videos are saved in VCArchive/exports in the selected drive.

Here you can choose whether you would like ViewCommander to timeout a webpage or force a re-login after a certain period of time. 

This setting allows you to generate properly formed SSL Certificates for use with ViewCommander. See the “Self-Signed SSL Certificate on ViewCommander” Video Tutorial and “Self-Signed SSL Certificate on ViewCommander” documentation  for more information. 

This setting allows you to restrict the amount of bandwidth consumed by users on the Remote Web Access Multiview page. You can specify both the maximum size for individual frames and the maximum framerate.

]]> “Archive” Tab https://viewcommander.com/archive-tab/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 19:43:56 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=2635

"Archive" Tab

This section contains items related to saving video to the hard drive on the computer.

This setting allows you to choose the drive to use for video storage. 

NOTE: Selecting this will show only the drives on the system that can be recorded to. ViewCommander supports the saving of video to Network Attached Storage (NAS) as long as the network drive is mapped to a drive letter. Once selected, ViewCommander will extract and use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) network path.

If this software is running as a Window’s service, your network mapped drive letter will not appear in the drive pull-down list. If this happens, temporarily disable this software from running as a service and start the program manually. The mapped drive letters will then appear in the pull-down list. After selecting a drive, ViewCommander will extract the UNC path, and the system can be restarted as a service. ViewCommander will use the UNC path thereafter.

When the amount of free disk space is less than this value, you can select one of two options:

1. Stop saving and alert – Video will stop being saved to disk until you manually free disk space. A ‘disk full’ message will appear in the live video feed.

2. Automatically delete oldest archives – The oldest video archives in the Archive Directory will be automatically deleted, unless they are locked.

Here you have the option to choose if you would like to see the recording light on the screen. 

Some copies of ViewCommander allow integration with Rimage® Optical Storage Units. If your copy of ViewCommander includes this feature, it can be configured here.

If you have restrictions on how long you can record video, you can use this setting to have ViewCommander automatically stop recording after a set number of days.

ViewCommander supports the saving of video to Network Attached Storage (NAS) as long as the network drive is mapped to a drive letter. Once selected, ViewCommander will extract and use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) network path. This setting allows you to enter the login credentials for a single NAS device. The credentials entered here are for the login that was created on the Network Attached Storage device itself.

]]> “Email” Tab https://viewcommander.com/email-tab/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 19:43:19 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=2630

"Email" Tab

Click Here for a Video Tutorial on Email Notifications

System Settings –> Email

This screen allows you to configure your email server settings. ViewCommander is compatible with many email systems. In order to set up email notifications, you must have a mail server and know the mail server’s account settings.

“User Defined"

This is where you will input your email server’s information manually.

  1. “Email to”: default email address of where notification emails will be sent.
  2. “Email from”: email address that the notification will come from.

**Please note: some email systems require this be a valid account on the email system.**

  1. “SMTP email server”: IP address or hostname of your SMTP outbound email server
  2. “SMTP port”: port of your SMTP outbound email server usually this is port 25.
  3. “Encryption”: select the type of encryption used by the email server the options are SSL or TLS.
  4. “SMTP Username” / “SMTP Password”: which may be required to be able to send email from some SMTP servers.

If you do not know this information, you may need to contact your IT person.

“Use a Gmail Account”

  1. “Email to”: default email address of where notification emails will be sent.
  2. “SMTP Username” / “SMTP Password”: this will be your Gmail username and password (you may need to refer to the following page for more instructions to send email through Gmail)

**Please note: with Gmail when you go to “Test Email” you may get this popup telling you your login credentials are incorrect. Click here for instructions on how to successfully send a Test Email with Gmail**

“Email Directly from ViewCommander”

  • ViewCommander is not an email server so we recommend using the previous options before using this one

You have now set up email to send notifications when things like System Settings are changed. However, if you now want to get an email when motion or other events are triggered click here.

]]> “General” Tab https://viewcommander.com/general-tab/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 19:42:31 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=2625

*Updated: 1/26/22

"General" Tab

Checking this option will display digitally enhanced video for each video camera when in MultiView mode, or when the thumbnail view is present. Enabling this option uses more computer resources, and should be turned off if you notice the system performance slowing when in MultiView mode.

Check to display a small icon in the system tray when the program is minimized.

Check to allow smooth video transitions. You may want to uncheck this feature if you notice system performance issues.

Selecting this option will run the program in full screen, and prevent access to other features available on the computer. The user will not be able to switch to other programs while ViewCommander is running. This is useful if operators of this software should not be allowed to use other programs on the computer system.

NOTE: This is not to be confused with expanding a video feed to fill the entire screen.

Checking this option will use any Internet Proxy settings configured in Microsoft® Internet Explorer. This may be necessary for users behind some types of firewalls.

Check this to use a 24 hour clock. Uncheck this to use AM and PM in time displays.

Check this to display dates in the DD/MM/YYYY format. Uncheck to display dates in the MM/DD/YYYY format.

Checking this will automatically disable video from being updated on the screen when connecting to the PC using Window’s® remote desktop. Having the video update may cause the Remote Desktop program to respond slowly. This will not affect the video recording, or remote user playback.

Checking this box unmasks camera and user passwords when logged into ViewCommander under the admin account. 

Click the ‘Custom audio alert’ button to select your own .wav sound file to play when an event occurs. Click the ‘test’ button to preview the sound.

Press this button to see if there are any software updates available. If updates are available, a web browser will appear with download instructions.

Check this box to allow the system to automatically look for product updates when the software starts. If updates are available, a web browser will appear with download instructions. Updates are not automatically installed. You may also press the “Check for Updates” button to see if updates are available.

NOTE: Updates are not automatically installed.

 

Check this option to log system errors. This will save to the ViewCommanderLog.txt file.

Check this option to log every time the system starts or stops. This will save to the ViewCommanderLog.txt file.

Check this box to log every time a new user logs in via the web interface remotely. Log will save to the UserLog.txt file

This will bring you to where the VC Logs are stored. To learn more click here. 

Pro Advanced: When setting up Sunrise/Sunset Custom Controls this is where ViewCommander will look to for the correct time zone based off the zip code or latitude/longitude entered. 

Clicking this button will open (or display the directory path) of the directory where the ViewCommander configuration files are stored. This is also the path of the log file location.

]]> System Settings Overview https://viewcommander.com/system-settings-overview/ Fri, 16 Apr 2021 19:41:32 +0000 https://viewcommander.com/?p=2620

System Settings Overview

The system settings dialog box allows you to configure system settings and select options that apply globally to the whole system, as well as to all cameras. You can override some settings on a per camera basis, such as scheduling and archive save location.

The System Settings screen is broken down into several sections

  • General – configure global system settings.
  • Email – configure your email server settings for email notification
  • Archive – configure where video will be stored
  • Remote Web Access – configure settings to allow web browser access
  • Security Settings – setup users and passwords
  • Master Schedule – setup master schedules for recording, emailing, etc.
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