Section II - How to Install Perspective VMS Version 3.

2
(Typical Configuration)
Over the next few pages we will review how to install Perspective VMS (Web Server and/or Distributed Services) on
various operating systems. Subsequently, specific instructions on “upgrading” an existing Perspective VMS installation is
also provided within this document. For each instance of Perspective VMS there are software pre-requisites which may
include enabling select server roles and installing an instance of Microsoft SQL Server. Based on a particular installation
these pre-requisites may already be installed or installed automatically by the Installer Wizard.

Contents
Section II - How to Install Perspective VMS Version 3.2 (Typical Configuration) .................................................................. 1
Software Prerequisites ............................................................................................................................................................ 2
Operating Systems .............................................................................................................................................................. 2
SQL Server Express 2012/2014: Installation Wizard ...................................................................................................... 4
Perspective VMS Installation Wizard ................................................................................................................................ 10
Launching Perspective VMS for the first time .................................................................................................................. 19
Licensing and Authorization.............................................................................................................................................. 19
Server Key Generator ........................................................................................................................................................ 20
Distributed Architecture ................................................................................................................................................... 21
Managing Services within Perspective VMS ..................................................................................................................... 22
Managing Services using Windows ................................................................................................................................... 22
Autonomous Distributed Archive Management (Configuration) ..................................................................................... 23

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Software Prerequisites
Operating Systems
Perspective VMS’ services platform may be installed onto Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012-R2, Windows
Server 2012, Windows 10 Pro, and Windows 8.1 Pro Operating Systems. Virtual Machines running the aforementioned
operating systems are also supported.

Home, Basic, or IoT versions of Windows 10, Windows 8.1 are able to be utilized for installation and operation but lack
features such as Remote Desktop or pre-loaded IIS which hinder general support and troubleshooting, thus are not
recommended. Other legacy versions of Windows (Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server
2003, Windows Server 2000, NT, etc…) and Linux are not supported as a server platform for Perspective VMS. If
necessary, please contact LENSEC technical support for further details.

Those installing Perspective VMS services should have Administration rights to the workstation/server they are working
on in order to ensure proper installation and functionality of the services.

In this guide, detailed screenshots and instructions are provided for the below installation wizards:

Microsoft SQL Server Express 2012

Perspective VMS Installation Wizard

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Database: Microsoft SQL Server 2008/2012/2014 /2016 (Express/Standard/Enterprise Editions)
Microsoft SQL Server is the relational database which Perspective VMS relies on to store/retrieve needed information
for its operations. Perspective VMS currently supports SQL 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2016 with its various editions: Express,
Standard, and Enterprise.

An installation of Perspective VMS can be run if SQL is already installed and an SQL user (windows or SQL authenticated)
is provided to the installer along with the network path location. If these are not available a new instance of SQL is
recommended to be installed either on the web server itself or another network accessible computer.

For reference a Video Tutorial (web link) for installing SQL Express 2012 is available.

LENSEC provides a copy of SQL Express edition in a tools folder on our download page
(http://lensec.com/downloads/Tools/). Downloads for 2014 and 2016 versions are available.
The 2014 version is pre-packaged with SQL Management Studio for database management
while the 2016 version requires a separate installation package. *Only 64-bit are available from
this location, check with your Server or PC to verify which edition is correct for your installation.

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SQL Server Express 2012/2014: Installation Wizard
1) Select “New SQL Server…”

2) Install Product Updates or Select Next if updates installed

3)

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 4) Accept license terms

5) Default location(s) and selections are recommended

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 6) Name Instance of SQL Express: Using a unique “Named Instance” is a good best-practice, however you will need
to remember (annotate) this instance for use during the Perspective VMS Install wizard. At LENSEC we typically
will use “LENSECSQLEXPRESS”

7) Default Service Accounts and Collation (if installing from LENSEC Download FTP)

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 8) Server Authentication: Using Mixed Mode for authentication does help to mitigate potential permissions issues
if users are likely to modify permissions via a domain controller without managing this instance of SQL. Please
ensure to note your password choice for the “sa” user as you will want to utilize it during the Perspective VMS
installation.

Microsoft technote on authentication: (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144284.aspx)

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 9) Error reporting (optional)

10) Complete setup, close windows

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Microsoft SQL Management Studio
Microsoft SQL Management Studio is an optional tool for managing SQL databases (Backup/Restore). A copy
of this software tool is available from www.lensec.com/download in the latest release version folder.

***IMPORTANT Technical Note *** (Windows Server 2012 Pre -requisite):

On Windows Server 2012 users may face an installation issue with SQL Management Studio which requires
the pre-requisite of .NET Framework 3.5. This can be added from Server Manager (Add Roles and Features)
specifically in the Web Server (IIS) category under A pplication Development.

For reference a Video Tutorial (web link) for installing SQL Management Studio is available.

Note: All pre-requisites (Operating system permissions and Microsoft SQL

Server) must be installed prior to running the Perspective VMS Installation.

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Perspective VMS Installation Wizard
After installing the Pre-requisites it is time to install the Perspective VMS Suite. The most up-to-date installation
package can be found at www.LENSEC.com/download

For reference a Video Tutorial (web link) for installing Perspective VMS from the installation wizard is available.

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 1) Environment Pre-requisites: Depending on your environment/server some files may need to be installed upon
launch. You will need to accept this installation to continue (local administration rights are required).

2) Begin Wizard

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 3) Accept (or modify) default path location

4) The installation wizard is a self-guided installation shield package that enables the user to install individual
components (custom-installation) or the standard stand-alone package.

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 5) The Suite consists of the following components (all of which are necessary for a stand-alone installation):

PVMS Web Application: The application server component of Perspective VMS. The Web application is
responsible for generating the Graphical User Interface (GUI).

PVMS Administration Service: This service monitors and checks drives for the right utilization; checks how
much free space on the drive(s), and subsequently purge old archives or move them to a different offsite
location. It is also responsible for importing and ensuring user synchronization between Active Directory and
PVMS.

PVMS Streaming Service: This service acts as an intermediary agent between PVMS and system cameras; it is
mainly responsible for handling the streams and passing them to the system. It is also responsible for streaming
the archives that are created using PVMS Archiving Service. The service also provide web-based troubleshooting
module which enable system administration to examine active/inactive streams more closely and with the
ability to terminate if necessary. Web troubleshooting module can be accessed on the same machine the service
is running by navigating to http://<ServerName>:8090/.

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 PVMS Archiving Service: The service is mainly responsible for the following: Archiving image and video
streams from system cameras. Handle image extractions requests from PVMS users and create
archives/extractions accordingly. Handle live recording requests from PVMS users to capture camera video
streams and encode them using H.264/MPEG-4 codec for optimal quality/size.

PVMS Health Monitor Service: The service is mainly responsible for the following: Check if system cameras
defined in PVMS are up and running. If not, the service will notify the user about the offline status of the camera
in question. Generate health report related to cameras, servers and other system components.

PVMS External System Service: This service is installed using a stand-alone, independent package from the
main PVMS setup. It acts as an intermediary communication agent between PVMS and 3rd party
software/hardware applications.

6) Database Server: Upon installation you will be prompted to select your existing Database Server location. The
installation wizard will write the PerspectiveVMS database to this location. It is optional whether to use
Windows Authentication or Mixed-mode.
Note the Database
Server instance name
and password will need
to match the instance
name provided by the
customer or created
when installing SQL.

The Database catalog

name should remain
“Perspective VMS”

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 7) Create Database (dialog box): If installing on a new instance a prompt will display for acknowledgement that a
new (blank) database will be created.

8) Add a default password for the “admin” user of Perspective VMS. This allows the installer to create an initial
account with access to Perspective VMS. This is the default login account and should be remembered
(annotated) for future login to Perspective VMS.

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 9) Services Administration: As mentioned above during the services installation Perspective VMS relies on
Windows Services run on the Primary, Archiving or Streaming server(s). These services may be configured upon
installation to run under a selected Windows account or the Local System account. They may also be configured
to be started manually or automatically on boot. Services may be managed via the Administration module of
Perspective VMS if Internet Information Services (IIS) are also configured with this user (see below).

Note the choice of user accounts, refers

to local or domain accounts for
Windows. The account selected (or
local system) must have ability to
start/stop services on the Windows
machine. A password of that account is
also required.

10) Application Pool Configuration: Along with administering the services with a specific windows user, during
installation the ability to administer the IIS Application Pool is also an option. The default choice is Application
Pool Identity or the more senior Local System authority. To be able to administer the services within the web-

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 application itself these user accounts between the services and Application Pool should match.

11) Create shortcuts (optional):

12) Install and Finish: No writing action will be taken to this point in the wizard. By clicking install the application
process will begin.

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3151 Briarpark Drive, Suite 125, Houston TX 77042 Phone: 713.395.0800 Fax: 713.395.0597 www.LENSEC.com
Launching Perspective VMS for the first time
Perspective VMS is a web application thus must be opened from a web-browser or the installed Out-of-Browser shortcut
(if installed during installation wizard). To open from a web browser the URL would be:
(http://<ServerName>/PerspectiveVMS), where the <ServerName> may be the “hostname / computer name” of the PC,
the ”IP address”, or if on the local machine itself it could be “localhost” or the loopback IP address “127.0.0.1”.

Application Shortcut (above)

Licensing and Authorization

Upon successful installation of Perspective VMS you will be prompted to enter a license key that can be obtained by
contacting technical support. Your purchase order for the Perspective VMS application will be verified and a license key
will be issued via e-mail.

An alternative option is to select “Configuration only” which allows Perspective to be opened for administration design
and system configuration but will not allow for the starting of streaming or archiving services until a full license is issued.

Note regarding Camera Licenses,

Perspective VMS is generally sold
by the number of cameras or
devices associated to the overall
solution. The License Key will
represent the purchase order of
these licenses. That said, if a
camera is replaced or exchanged a
new software license DOES NOT
need to be purchased nor does
the license key need to be
changed.

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Server Key Generator
To obtain a license a specific Server Key must be generated and submitted to LENSEC. When PVMS is installed an applet
named “Server Key Generator” is also installed. Opening this applet will produce the Server Key necessary to generate a
license. Alternatively the PC’s MAC address may also be submitted for license key generation.

*note on Windows 8.1 or Windows 2012 R2 machines the PC search (shown above) can be initiated by holding down the
Windows and S keys simultaneously (+S).

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Distributed Architecture
When installing Perspective across multiple servers, it may be necessary to run the installation wizard in Custom mode
in order to install only the Streaming and Archiving Services at the remote site locations. A domain account or matching
local accounts (for workgroup connected computers) is necessary to use during the above Services Configuration step.

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Managing Services within Perspective VMS
Services may be managed from within the Perspective VMS Administration module but to accomplish this feature, the
installer must associate the IIS management authority with the user account managing the Windows-based services.
During the installation, the installer was asked to provide a windows user account or to select “Local System” for both
the services administration and app pool configuration. If the user selected has permissions from Windows to
administer both than services may be administered from the web-based

application:

Managing Services using Windows

To manage your installed services outside of Perspective VMS, use the Windows Management Console (Services) found
in Administrative Tools of the Windows Control Panel.

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Autonomous Distributed Archive Management (Configuration)
Autonomous Distributed Archive Management (ADAM) is a feature set for Enterprise edition customers who wish to
ensure continuous uptime of distributed archive servers even when the primary database/administration server is
inaccessible via the network. ADAM works by ensuring data transactions in relation to archive management are stored
locally when connectivity to the primary database is interrupted.

To enable this feature a few additional steps must be managed from the installation site. As a pre-requisite SQL or
SQLExpress does need to be installed on the local (distributed) server prior to the PVMS installation.

First, during the remote installation the user will choose the Administration service along with the Archive service.
(*note the streaming service is still optional depending on which server(s) will host the streaming service)

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Second, when selecting a database connection, you will need to install the local (distributed) server as standalone as
opposed to point to the central server. This means that SQL Express would need to be installed on the distributed server
as well as the primary database server. The reason is that this server will need to be self-operating or autonomous
should the connection be lost.

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The remaining dialog boxes will be similar to a standalone installation. You will pick a default admin password and you
will select the Demo Server as the server you are connecting the services to.

Upon completion of the wizard, the final step to enabling ADAM is to modify the service config file. This can be
accomplished using the ADAM enabling tool.

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