Kaltura On-Prem™ Evaluation Package -
Getting Started
Thank you for your interest in the Kaltura On-Prem™ Online Video Platform (OVP).
Before you get started with your Kaltura On-Prem evaluation, a Kaltura sales representative will contact you to provide the following items:
A temporary URL through which you can accept the evaluation agreement terms and download the Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package.
A unique activation key for activating the OVP functionalities within your evaluation package for the duration of the evaluation period.
1. What is the Kaltura On-Prem™ Evaluation Package?
The Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package is provided as a Linux VMware image, based on the CentOS 5.5 Linux distribution (32-bit) and pre-installed with the Kaltura On-Prem OVP software.
You can run this Linux VMware image on a PC desktop using a VMware player application, or on your virtualized server farm using the VMware ESXi server. To enable the full functionality of the Kaltura On-Prem OVP, it is important that you host the VMware image on a desktop/server that will enable continuous use with no power shutdowns and no changes in network settings.
The Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package is delivered with Kaltura’s defaults, and is meant for use within an internal network setup and not as a production platform.
The Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package includes all the standard features of the Kaltura OVP (based on the Cassiopeia release of the Kaltura online video platform). Features that require additional setup, integration with CDN and/or 3rd party components do not function within the evaluation package. For more information, please refer to the Features that require advanced integration section within this document.
Usually, transitioning to a production setup will require the installation of a permanent instance of the Kaltura On-Prem video platform, where you can set your own site-specific values.
2. What is the purpose of the evaluation period?
Kaltura is happy provide its On-Prem OVP evaluation package to potential customers who are planning to deploy their own OVP based on Kaltura’s technology, so that they can gain hands-on experience with the platform and its capabilities. During the evaluation period you can learn how to administrate and extend Kaltura’s On-Prem OVP:
Gain experience working with the Kaltura Administration Console for on-going platform administration, and evaluate the code, APIs and internal configuration to better
understand how you can extend Kaltura’s On-Prem OVP for your own needs.
Assess the level of work you may need for integrating it with your internal systems or with your CDN of choice.
The Free evaluation package was not configured to support high volume web traffic or
processing. When transitioning to a production environment, Kaltura’s technical team will assist you in planning the optimal setup required for your site volume.
3. Downloading the package
Browse to the download URL provided to you by the Kaltura sales representative, accept the agreement terms and click the download button to download and extract the Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package to anywhere on your desktop computer or on your server. The compressed package size for download is approximately 1.3 GB. The size of the extracted package is around 16 GB, mostly used for the pre-allocated virtual disk space.
If you are planning to run the VMware image using a VMware Player application, please follow the instructions in section 4. For running the VMware image on a VMware ESXi server, please skip to section 5.
4. Setting up the Kaltura On-Prem™ evaluation package using a
VMware player
To set up your Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package on your PC desktop using a VMware player, complete the following steps:
1. Download a VMware player application
Browse to VMware’s VMware player download page at
https://www.vmware.com/products/player/ and download the free VMware player application to anywhere on your desktop computer. For more information on working with a VMware player, please refer to the VMware player FAQ documentation 2. Open the Kaltura On-Prem evaluation VMware image
Run the VMware player you downloaded and installed and open the Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package:
3. Adjust your virtual machine settings
Note: If you are running the Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package on your personal desktop computer, you may want to consult your IT manager on the effect of the following settings.
a. Set your network adapter (Mandatory)
To enable web access to the Kaltura On-Prem platform running within the VMware player from desktops in your organizational network (including your own desktop), open the VMware player’s Virtual Machine Settings application and go to the Network Adapter setting page at the Hardware tab.
You should verify that the VMware player Network Adapter’s network connection setting enable such communication. Please consult your IT manager for the preferred setting, according to your organization’s security policy. The VMware image should enable HTTP traffic on port 80 as well.
b. Set your virtual machine memory (optional)
To enable sufficient memory resources for your Kaltura On-Prem OVP, you may set a 1GB memory for your VMware machine
c. Set the number of your virtual machine processors (optional)
To enable sufficient processing resources for transcoding tasks within your Kaltura On-Prem OVP, you should enable 2 processor cores for your VMware machine. The On-Prem evaluation package is configured to support 2 simultaneous instances of transcoding tasks.
d. Set your virtual machine disk space (optional)
The Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package is pre-allocated with 15 GB of disk space. If you want to upload a large number of rich-media assets, you may increase this disk space from the virtual machine settings (select the Utilities-> Expand option)
4. Run the Kaltura On-Prem image within your VMware Player
Your server will then initiate its services, until reaching the Linux command shell login.
During server initiation, all services required for the Kaltura On-Prem OVP are activated as well.
Log into your Linux command shell as a root user with the password: kaltura and run the ifconfig command.
Copy the IP address assigned to the VM for later use (see section 6).
5. Setting up the Kaltura On-Prem™ evaluation package on
VMware ESXi server
From the VMware vSphere Client application, you can adjust the default CPU and memory resources that are set to the Kaltura On-Prem evaluation image. Network settings should be adjusted to enable HTTP traffic on port 80.
6. Setting network access from users’ computers
The pre-installed image is delivered with a default domain name: kaltura.evaluation.
Any user who wants to connect to the Kaltura On-Prem applications and/or API services within your internal network will need access to this domain, this can be done either by setting the service domain name within internal network settings or simply by setting the local HOSTS file of any PC desktop to include the Kaltura On-Prem domain. The HOSTS file (usually located under the C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\ folder) should be set with the following additional line:
[VMware machine assigned IP address] kaltura.evaluation
1. Activating the Kaltura On-Prem Package
Using a computer that has been configured with access to the Kaltura On-Prem Platform, browse to the Kaltura On-Prem start page at: http://kaltura.evaluation/start You will be prompted to activate your evaluation package. Enter the activation key provided to you by the Kaltura Sales representative.
2. Getting started
To easily get started with Kaltura On-Prem you should first familiarize yourself with the following applications:
Kaltura Administration Console - This is your platform administration tool, most commonly used by your Kaltura video Platform system administrator/s
Kaltura Management Console (KMC) - This is the Kaltura console for content management and publishing. Every publisher working with your online video platform will have his/her own KMC account
To start working with the Kaltura On-Prem, follow these steps:
1. Go to your local Kaltura On-Prem start page
Browse to your local Kaltura On-Prem start page at: http://kaltura.evaluation/start. This page contains useful information on Kaltura On-Prem, as well as links to the Kaltura Admin Console application, the Kaltura Management Console (KMC) and other pages in your Kaltura On-Prem installation. Start by logging into your Kaltura Administration
Console with the default admin console credentials (user: admin@kaltura.com, password: KalturaPass1) to create your first publisher KMC account.
2. Log into the Kaltura Administration Console to create your first KMC account
From the Kaltura Admin Console, you can create your own Publisher KMC account for managing your content. Kaltura On-Prem is delivered with a template KMC account that includes default content and settings. This template account should not be used for on- going content management.
To create a new publisher KMC account, go to the Add New Publisher tab under the Publishers menu.
In the Add New Publisher tab, complete the registration form with the required information and set the email address for the KMC account administrator. This email address will be used as the username for direct login into the new KMC account. The KMC account administrator will receive a registration confirmation email with his full KMC account credentials.
From the Kaltura Admin Console, you can check that the new KMC account is available within the Publisher Management tab. As the platform administrator, you can
seamlessly manage all the KMC accounts that are registered within your platform from this Publisher Management page (Select the Manage action to enter each publisher's KMC account)
3. Log into your new KMC account
When your KMC account administrator gets his/her new KMC account credentials, he/she can log into this account and start uploading content, manage content, design and set new player widgets, set the publishing settings etc.
4. Access Kaltura’s applications
The direct URL for your Kaltura Management Console is http://kaltura.evaluation/kmc For more information on the functionalities available in the Kaltura Management
Console (KMC), please refer to the KMC quick start guide (A PDF version is also available
at the top-right corner of the KMC menu and Help menus are available per functionality from within the different KMC pages)
The direct URL for your Kaltura Admin Console Application
is http://kaltura.evaluation/admin_console. For more information on using Kaltura Admin Console, please refer to the Kaltura Admin Console Guide.
3. Default Settings
The Kaltura On-Prem evaluation VMware image is delivered with the following defaults:
Domain name: kaltura.evaluation
Primary administrator username (admin console user credentials): admin@kaltura.com Primary administrator password: KalturaPass1
Template KMC account default username: template@kaltura.com Template KMC account default password: KalturaPass1
Kaltura application base directory: /opt/kaltura Linux system user: root
Linux system root password: kaltura Database user: root
Database password: root
While the Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package is meant to be used within your internal network, we nonetheless recommend that you reset the passwords of your Linux system user, primary administrator user (Kaltura admin console credentials) and the Template KMC account user. Upon platform activation, the internal session secrets used for admin console and batch API’s are regenerated automatically and will become unique for your Kaltura On-Prem
evaluation deployment.
4. Features that require advanced integration
The following features require additional setup or integration and are not fully operable within the Kaltura On-Prem evaluation package:
1. Content HTTP delivery via CDN – content delivery via CDN for HTTP streaming in progressive download mode, requires an account with a CDN that supports HTTP streaming in origin pull mode (content is pulled from the Kaltura platform by the CDN).
The CDN URL for content delivery can be configured within the Kaltura system.
2. RTMP delivery – content delivery via CDN for RTMP streaming requires an account with a CDN that supports RTMP streaming in origin pull mode (content is pulled from the
Kaltura platform by the CDN in HTTP streaming mode and then served in RTMP). The CDN URL for RTMP content delivery can be configured within the Kaltura system.
3. Adaptive Bitrate - The Kaltura OVP is seamlessly integrated with Akamai for supporting adaptive bitrates. Integration with another CDN supporting this feature is possible considering it uses FMS 3.5
4. Live streaming workflow – provisioning of a live channel from within the KMC requires CDN integration. The Kaltura OVP is seamlessly integrated with Akamai for live
streaming provisioning and workflow. Enabling your Akamai account for live streaming can be configured within the Kaltura system. Integration with a different CDN provider is also possible, but requires development.
5. Analytics – CDN bandwidth usage – with the standard evaluation package the bandwidth usage analytics includes streams delivered directly from your local Kaltura On-Prem server. When integrating with a CDN for content delivery, additional work is needed to include CDN delivery usage within the KMC graphs and publishers’ usage reports.
6. Analytics - User geo-distribution – Requires license and integration with an IP to Geo mapping service. The Kaltura OVP is seamlessly integrated with the ip2location commercial database.
7. Access control profiles – Geo restriction– requires license and integration with an IP to Geo mapping service. The Kaltura OVP is seamlessly integrated with the ip2location commercial database.
8. Webcam recording – requires integration with an FMS for recording webcam streams into the Kaltura platform. Your FMS can be configured within the Kaltura system to enable webcam recording functionality.
9. Transcoding to the VP6 Codec - requires additional setup of the On2 Flix Engine for Linux
10. Download of remix entries – requires additional Windows based setup for remix flattening. If needed, this can be deployed by Kaltura as part of your production setup.
11. Integration of Kaltura’s Video-Presentation widget - requires additional Windows based setup. If needed, this can be deployed by Kaltura as part of your production setup.
12. MS Silverlight - requires additional Windows based setup. If needed, this can be deployed by Kaltura as part of your production setup.
For further information regarding these features and the integration required to enable them, please contact your Kaltura Sales representative.
5. Transitioning from evaluation to production
When you come to the end of your evaluation period, your Kaltura Sales representative will be able to assist with any questions you may have on transitioning from evaluation to production.
This will usually involve estimating the actual hardware required for your production setup to support your actual traffic and transcoding needs. If required, all the rich-media content,
widgets and publishing settings you used during the evaluation period can be migrated manually to your production setup.
6. Technical support during evaluation
The Kaltura On-Prem evaluation period includes the ability to log up to three support cases.
Please contact your Kaltura Sales representative to submit a support request.
