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How To: Create a parent or managed site

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Whether you have one site or many, you will always need to configure a parent site.  A configured parent site is what allows the Boring Windows services to connect to Milestone XProtect and retrieve information about the VMS.  Here you will also set up email server configuration, live monitoring emails and notification settings.

 

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Configuring a parent site, Version 5.22.1024 and above

Version 5.22.1024 and above has a new and streamlined user interface for adding both a parent and managed site.   

  • Install the Boring Services on the XProtect Management Server that you would like to make a parent
  • Open Boring Toolbox
  • Connect to the XProtect Management Server
  • On the left navigation, Click Managed Sites
  • Click Add Parent Site
  • In the Managed Site Configuration dialog

tbt-parent-site-5_22_1024-3.png

  1. Site details
    • Site Name
      • This is a nickname you would like to give the site and does not have to match the host name of the computer
    • Server Address
      • This can be the IP or hostname of the management server you have installed The Boring Toolbox.
  2. License Channel Allocation
    • Click "Allocate all site hardware" to populate the correct license count.
      • If you only have one management server, allocate your entire license count to the parent site
    • Include interconnect (yes or no)
      • When set to "on" you will see interconnected devices throughout the Boring Toolbox including live monitoring and reports.  When off, interconnected devices will be filtered out which is recommended when using multi-site management (Default = On)
  3. Email Server Configuration
    • Enable Notifications
      • Toggle the switch to enable or disable Live Monitoring email notifications (default is on).
    • Optional, turn on Custom SMTP settings
      • Use this if you would like to use your organization's SMTP server.
  4. Live Monitoring Configuration
    • From Email Address
    • Send Emails To
      • Add multiple TO emails addresses by separating them with a semi-colon (;)
        Optionally, add CC and BCC
    • Camera not providing video threshold
      • The amount of time Boring Toolbox will wait before marking a camera as not providing video and sending a notification (Default = 90s)
    • Recording server offline threshold
      • The amount of time Boring Toolbox will wait before marking a recording server as offline and sending a notification (Default = 0s)
    • Critical Only
  5. Advanced Settings (Optional)
    • Minimum cameras not providing video  
      • This value sets the minimum number of cameras which must stop providing video prior to Boring Toolbox Live Monitoring sending an email notification. The default is 1.
    • Max Notifications within time period
      • This value sets the maximum number of emails Boring Toolbox Live Monitoring will send within the period defined in the "time between max notification" setting (Default = 0 = No Maximum)
    • Time between max notifications (seconds)
      • This is the time period, in seconds, in which Boring Toolbox Live Monitoring can send the defined maximum number of emails set in the "Max Notifications within time period" setting (Default = 0 = None)
  6. Send Test Email
    • Tests your email configuration.
    • The test email will be initiated from the Milestone XProtect Management Server.
  7. Save Changes

 

Configuring a parent site, below version 5.22.1024

  • Install the Boring Services on the XProtect Management Server that you would like to make a parent
  • Open Boring Toolbox
  • Connect to the XProtect Management Server
  • On the left navigation, Click Managed Sites
  • Click Add Parent Site
  • In the Managed Site Configuration dialog

tbt-managed-sites.png

    1. Site Name
      • This is a nickname you would like to give the site and does not have to match the host name of the computer
    2. License channel allocation
      • At this time we do not have the ability to set licenses automatically so you need to allocate parts of your overall license to each of your sites
      • All background services abide by this license allocation so be sure you have allocated enough licenses per site
    3. Include interconnect (yes or no)
      • When set to "on" you will see interconnected devices throughout the Boring Toolbox including live monitoring and reports.  When off, interconnected devices will be filtered out which is recommended when using multi-site management (Default = On)
    4. Connection Details
      • Here you will enter the information of the management server you would like to make a parent
      • If this is the parent site this should be the server you are currently connected
        • DO use the IP address of DNS name of the server, DO NOT user localhost or 127.0.0.1
      • If this is a managed site enter the IP or DNS name of the remote server
    5. The Boring Toolbox will then attempt to connect to the management server using the user credentials you used to log into the Boring Toolbox.
      • If the current user does not have access to the remote server you will be asked for credentials that do have access to the management server 
    6. The Boring Toolbox will test the connection for you when you click "Next"
    7. Click "Next"

tbt-parent-2.png

  1. Toggle the switch to turn on email notifications
  2. Update the FROM email address (default = alerts@theboringlab.com)
  3. Change the TO email as needed
    • Add multiple TO emails addresses by separating them with a semi-colon (;)
    • Optionally, add CC and BCC
  4. Optional, turn on Advanced SMTP settings
    • When you enable email notifications, by default Boring Toolbox will send emails through Boring SMTP servers so there is no further configuration necessary.  However, if you want to use your own SMTP servers you can do so by clicking the toggle next to Advanced SMTP Settings and changing it to "on".  Once on you have the options to use your own organizations SMTP settings.
  5. Once done, click "Send Test Email" to test your configuration
    • The email will be initiated from the Milestone XProtect Management Server
  6. Click "Next"

tbt-parent-3.png

  1. Camera not providing video threshold
    • The amount of time Boring Toolbox will wait before marking a camera as not providing video and sending a notification (Default = 90s)
  2. Recording server offline threshold
    • The amount of time Boring Toolbox will wait before marking a recording server as offline and sending a notification (Default = 0s)
  3. Enable Critical Notifications
  4. Enable Smart Notifications
    • If Smart Notifications are disabled (default) there are several settings you may adjust to manage notification delivery
      • Minimum cameras not providing video  
        • This value sets the minimum number of cameras which must stop providing video prior to Boring Toolbox Live Monitoring sending an email notification. Default is 1.
      • Max Notifications within time period
        • This value sets the maximum number of emails Boring Toolbox Live Monitoring will send within the period defined in the "time between max notification" setting (Default = 0 = No Maximum)
      • Time between max notifications (seconds)
        • This is the time period, in seconds, which Boring Toolbox Live Monitoring can send the defined maximum number of emails set in "Max Notifications within time period" setting (Default = 0 = None)
  5. Click "Save"

Creating a managed site

A managed site is another XProtect Management Server that you would like to see in the Global Dashboard when you log into the parent and which you would like to manage in Boring Toolbox.

Setting up a managed site is very similar to setting up a parent.  The only difference is that you will click the Add Managed Site button, which is now located underneath the parent site information you just added.

Once the managed site is added a couple things happen.

  • The parent creates a connection to the managed site
  • Parent pushes notification and live monitoring settings to the managed site
  • Scheduled reports and live monitoring are ready for use on the managed site
  • The managed site is added to the global dashboard when you connect to the parent site

tbt-managed-sites-view-small.png

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