Software installation

Galicaster is based on Open Source technologies.

Before starting the installation process, please make sure that:

• Your equipment meets Galicaster's Hardware Recommendations.
• You are running a Linux-based OS. The recommended distribution is Ubuntu 10.10 .
• Your capture devices are configured as indicated in the Cookbook.

The installation process consists of six steps: installing dependencies, checking the configuration, downloading software, configuring Galicaster, checking the connection to a Matterhorn core and testing it.

1.- Install dependencies.

Galicaster requires the following software to be installed:

• Gstreamer
• python-setuptools and pip
• iCalendar
• pyCurl
• Capture card configuration tools

In ubuntu 11.04 and above, installing v4l-utils is recommended instead of ivtv-utils.

$ sudo apt-get install \
    gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-alsa gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse \
    gstreamer0.10-plugins-base gstreamer0.10-plugins-base-apps gstreamer0.10-plugins-good \
    gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse
$ sudo apt-get install python-pip python-setuptools
$ sudo pip install icalendar
$ sudo apt-get install python-pycurl
$ sudo apt-get install v4l-conf ivtv-utils guvcview

2.- Check configuration.

Run the following commands in a shell in order to verify that all dependencies are installed:

$ python --version
Python 2.6.6

$ python -c "import pygtk; pygtk.require('2.0')"
$ python -c "import pygst; pygst.require('0.10')"
$ python -c "import pycurl"
$ python -c "import icalendar"

$ gst-launch-0.10 videotestsrc num-buffers=25 ! video/x-raw-yuv,width=800,height=600,framerate=24/1 ! ffmpegcolorspace ! xvimagesink
$ gst-launch-0.10 videotestsrc num-buffers=25 ! video/x-raw-yuv,width=800,height=600,framerate=24/1 ! ffmpegcolorspace ! x264enc pass=5 quantizer=22 speed-preset=4 profile=1 ! queue ! avimux ! filesink location=out.avi
$ file out.avi
out.avi: RIFF (little-endian) data, AVI, 800 x 600, ~24 fps, video: H.264 X.264 or H.264
$ rm out.avi

3.- Download software

By downloading, you agree to the non-commercial license. (Commercial licenses also available under request)

Download the software from this site.

Uncompress it using tar:

$ wget http://webfiler.teltek.es/webfiler/galicaster/galicaster-1.0.0.tgz
$ tar xzf galicaster-1.0.0.tgz
$ cd galicaster-1.0.0

4.- Configure Galicaster

Galicaster configuration is in the file conf.ini. All the application parameters can be set up in this file, such as:

• Operation mode of the application: I.e. whether Galicaster will work as Galicaster Class, designed to be used in a classroom environment, or as Galicaster Mobile, a portable recording station.
• Devices used in the capturer, and their configuration.
• Server information to ingest.
• User privileges to control the recorder.

The simplest way to get started with Galicaster is dowloading any of the pre-existing conf.ini files for any of the reference configurations proposed:

• Operation mode Galicaster Class:
  • Video Capture Card configuration - conf.ini
  • WebCam USB configuraion - conf.ini
• Operation mode Galicaster Mobile:
  • Video Capture Card configuration - conf.ini
  • WebCam USB configuraion - conf.ini

In the Section Galicaster configuration you will find a description of all section of conf.ini file.

5.- Opencast Matterhorn Connection

One of the key features of Galicaster is the connection to the publishing platform. If you are using Matterhorn as your media publishing and distribution system, you need to configure Galicaster to work as a Capture Agent and connect it to your core machine. Here are some tips to do so:

• Your Galicaster unit needs access to your Matterhorn Core network.
• Use a valid host URL. It may be a fully-qualified name or simply an IP address.
• If your Matterhorn Core is not running in the default port (80), then you need to explicitly include it in the URL (i.e. http://<host_name_or_ip>:8080).
• The use of the http:// prefix is mandatory.
• You need to use a Matterhorn account which authenticates via Digest (usually, this account is set up in the config.properties file in your Matterhorn server). A regular account will not work.
• Remember to activate the connection in Galicaster (in the configuration file, section ingest, value active).
• A wrong workflow will raise an error in Matterhorn. Please make sure you use a workflow name that exists in the machine you connect Galicaster to.
• Check your Galicaster unit is registered as a Capture Agent in the Admin Tools section of your Matterhorn installation.
  • The log (in /tmp/galicaster.log) will record any problem occurring on the connection to the Matterhorn server.

If your Galicaster is registered as a Capture Agent you should be able to receive the recording schedule, if any, and ingest any recordings in Galicaster to the Matterhorn Core. If this is not so, please review all the steps above and try again. The logs in Matterhorn and Galicaster will give you the hints to know what is failing.

6.- Run Galicaster

Galicaster Class is launched with the command:

$ ./run_galicaster.py

The User Guide section contains Galicaster's user manual. Should you have any questions, please visit the F.A.Q. section where some common questions are already answered.