Add Devices Manually

You can add devices manually instead of using autodiscovery in the following cases:

  • actual devices have not been connected yet

  • devices are not connected at the current stage but it is planned that they will be connected later

  • the server needs to be configured while being away from its future position

  • some devices in use cannot be automatically discovered

Only IP devices can be added manually. Attached devices (e.g., capture boards) require autodiscovery.

Add single device

To access the configuration dialog box from Macula Console, open the Configuration section and select Devices in the menu on the left; in the upper panel, then click the + New device button.

Enter a user-defined name for your new device and pick a model. If your camera model is not listed, select the closest similar model or choose a generic type.

After you have chosen manufacturer and model, additional tabs will become available in the main configuration dialog box: Network and Channels. These tabs are described in details later in this section.

Details

Setting
Description
Default value

Title

User-defined device name

[empty]

Model

IP device manufacturer and model, or generic type

[empty]

Hardware ID

Unique hardware identifier containing a device hardware identifier; this filed should be left empty, as it will be filled automatically later, when the device has been connected and identified

[empty]

Membership

Choose groups for the current device to become a member of. Use Add and Remove buttons below or double-click to manipulate groups. One device may belong to several groups at once.

Permissions

Add users and/or user groups simply by checking at least one permission for the target server; remove by clearing permissions - either by deselecting them or by clicking the Clear button below. You can also double-click users to remove them from the list of privileged users. Devices with an empty permission list will not be available to anyone except for the root (global) administrator.

Network

Enter TCP/IP settings for device access here.

Before filling in the details, make sure the settings match those on the camera. If device has not been connected yet, ensure that the same settings are applied during the camera installation. You can use the Ping Device button to check camera availability and/or verify your settings; the Open Device in Browser button will try to reach your camera Web interface using you default browser.

Setting
Description
Default value

Host

Device IP address

[empty]

Port

Device HTTP port

80

Secure Connection

Secure connection (HTTPS must be enabled on the device)

Disabled

Username

Device user credentials; note that you need to provide a valid administrative user profile to be able to change device settings via software

[empty]

Password

Password for camera access

Enabled

In order to enable HTTPS connection:

  • change port to 443 (or whatever port is used/forwarded for secure HTTP)

  • enable Secure connection option

Note that HTTPS must be enabled on the device side for this feature to work properly. On the other hand, if you are not planning to enable HTTPS in the software, disable HTTPS on the device side. Different settings on the device and software side may cause malfunctions (e.g., device metadata will not be available).

Channels

Here you can detach automatically detected channels from the device and replace them with one of the existing 'free' channels (not attached to any device). Use the Reset button to undo any changes made to the channels (this only works for current editing session, reset will not be available after you save the changes and reopen this dialog box).

If you wish the original camera channel(s) to stay attached to the device, just leave the channel list as it is.

Add multiple devices*

*Feature is subject to license limitations and may be unavailable in some software editions.

If you have a number of devices of the same type in your system, you can add them all at once to save time. This method is also suitable is you have multiple groups of devices of the same type.

Open the Configuration section and select Devices in the menu on the left; in the upper panel, click the little arrow next to the + New device button and select Create multiple devices.

Add devices

You can add any number of different devices here (assuming this is permitted by license limitations). First, select the device model from the list, and then enter your desired number of existing devices of the same model.

When you are ready, click the + Add button below to attach the camera set to the new devices list. As soon as there is at least one device, additional tabs will become available: Device Parameters and Channel settings. Device list on the right will be available in all tabs.

To remove any of the listed items, select them with your left mouse button (use CTRL+click or Shift+click to select multiple devices at once) and hit the Delete button on the upper panel or on your keyboard. Select any device and use the Add button on the upper panel to add a copy of that device.

Starting with version 1.26, the system no longer uses Legacy authentication by default when adding multiple devices manually. If your cameras use legacy auth (old/legacy cameras and firmware versions), please do the following after adding devices:

  1. Go to Configuration > Devices and select your device.

  2. In the pop-up window, navigate to Advanced Configuration.

  3. Check the Use Legacy Authentication checkbox.

Device parameters

For each added device, enter corresponding settings. Note that you can skip IP and port on this step if you wish to use automatic incremental IP assigning (see IPs and Ports tab description below).

Select a device by clicking on it in the item list: it will become highlighted green and related available settings will be displayed in the Device parameters window. You can select multiple devices by holding CTRL or Shift when clicking.

Setting
Description
Default value

Device name

User-defined device name

Device model

Model

Device manufacturer and model, or generic type; click Change to alter

Loaded automatically

Host

Device hostname or IP address

[empty]

Port

Device HTTP port

80

Username

Device user credentials; note that you need to provide a valid administrative user profile to be able to change device settings via software

[empty]

Password

Password for camera access

[empty]

Server

Target server, to which the device will be attached

Central Server

When you have finished, click the Apply button below for the changes to take effect.

You will be asked to review the list of modified fields and confirm the changes.

Click OK to accept the changes and go back to the configuration dialog box.

You can select multiple devices and assign IP addresses incrementally with the defined increment. Similarly, it is possible to change the HTTP port for all devices at once, if required (port value stays the same for all selected devices, with no increment). In order to do this, select desired devices by using CTRL+click or Shift+click, then start entering the IP address: the field will expand, giving you the option to enter the increment.

Click the Apply button below to save the changes, similarly to the previous step.

Channel Settings

Here you can modify channel names and recording configuration. Note that channel name is not copied from the device name.

Unlike with automatic device discovery, default recording configuration here is [none], meaning that recording is not conducted. Select one or multiple devices and then click the Change button in order to choose an existing recording configuration for the target devices or create a new one.

Depending on the selected device model, the number of channels may coincide with or exceed the number of devices, e.g., when device is a 4-channel encoder.

Select one or multiple devices and click Change, then select appropriate recording profile or create a new one.

When you have finished, click OK to add all the new devices and their channels to your server configuration.

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