Last updated on October 13, 2017

Appspace on-premises requirements

This article lists the system requirements necessary to setup, configure, and use Appspace on-premises. Before you install or use any Appspace product, we recommend that you verify your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements listed here.


System Requirements

The table below lists the minimum system requirements for an Appspace on-premises server.

Warning

Please only use local hard drives to install Appspace. Remote storage drives such as SAN and NAS are not supported.

Feature Minimum Specifications Recommended Specifications
Operating System (OS)

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

  • Standard Edition
  • Datacenter Edition

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

  • Standard Edition
  • Datacenter Edition
CPU 2 x Intel Xeon E5520 2.26GHz Quad-Core Processor or equivalent 2 x Intel Xeon E5520 2.26GHz Quad-Core Processor or equivalent
Memory 8GB RAM, 1333 MHz 12GB RAM, 1333MHz
HDD / Storage 3 x 250GB 7.2K RPM SATA in RAID-5 or equivalent 4 x 500GB 7.2K RPM SATA in RAID-10 or equivalent
Network Dual 10/100 NIC Dual 10/100/1000 NIC

Important

  • 64-bit versions are required at all times for the operating systems.
  • Virtualization is supported on VMware, provided the virtualized environment is configured to match the recommended specifications listed above.
  • Exact hardware specifications may vary based on the design of your deployment. Your system administrator must ensure the hardware specifications are able to meet your content needs and can sufficiently scale as required.

Software Requirements

The table below lists the minimum software requirements to host Appspace on an on-premises server.

Software Versions
.NET Framework
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 (Requires 3.5 and 4.5 before 4.6.1 installation)
Database Option 1
  • MySQL 5.6 (Version 5.6.31)
  • MySQL Workbench version 6.0.7 (Automatically included during installation of MySQL)
Database Option 2
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (MS SQL)
  • SQL Server Management Studio 2012 (Automatically included during installation of MS SQL)

Important

Appspace requires a dedicated database for its on-premise server. Using a shared database is not officially supported, and will impact performance on the server.


Browser Requirements

Listed below are the recommended web browser versions to use the Appspace platform.

Browser Windows 8.1 Mac OS X
Chrome 51.0.2704.106 (64-bit) 51.0.2704.106 (64-bit)
Firefox 47.0.1 47.0.1
Safari Desktop 5.1.7 (7534.57.2) 9.1.1
Internet Explorer 11 11.0.22 (11.0.9600.17959) -

Note

  • Browser versions prior to the ones listed above have not been tested on the latest version of Appspace, and may have limited functionality.
  • In Chrome version 45 and later, NPAPI plug-ins are not supported. In Appspace, Networks uses a Java plug-in for the online device registration tool of legacy devices. Switch to another browser if you are unable to run Java plug-ins.
  • In Chrome version 55 and later, Adobe Flash is disabled by default. To enable Adobe Flash player on Chrome, follow the instructions in the ‘Enable for Chrome’ article: https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/enabling-flash-player-chrome.html

Additional Browser Requirements:

  • Install Adobe Flash Player version 11 and above.
  • Install Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 7.45 and above.
  • Enable JavaScript on your browser.
  • Disable pop-up blocker.
  • Minimum screen resolution of 1024×768 is recommended.

Network Protocol and Ports

The following table lists the network protocols and ports that each device/server needs access to for a seamless delivery of Appspace. Configure your firewall to enable access to these ports based on your device(s).

Protocol (Port) Appspace On-Premises Server Edge 340/300 DMP 4310/4400 Windows PC Client Smarthub ASE Intel NUC Appspace App Devices
HTTP (80) 1
HTTP (681)            
HTTP (682)            
HTTPS (443) 2
SSH (22)        
SMTP (25)            
TCP (21)            
TCP (3306) 3            
TCP (4000) 4            
TCP (55537)   5          
TCP (7777)          
TCP/UDP (20)            
TCP/UDP (53) 6            
TCP/UDP 8884             7
TCP/UDP (8885-8887)             8
TCP/UDP (9090)             9
UDP (123) 10      

Note

  • 1 - HTTP port 80 open towards Appspace server(s).
  • 2 - HTTPS port 443 open towards Appspace server(s).
  • 3 - MySQL database replication for High Availability configuration on a Appspace primary/secondary server.
  • 4 - Heartbeat communication for High Availability configuration on a Appspace primary/secondary server.
  • 5 - Heartbeat communication for High Availability configuration on a Appspace primary/secondary server.
  • 6 - TCP/UDP port 53 open towards a DNS server.
  • 7 - Application Networking Manager (ANM) trusted communications, if using ANM. On MediaVue SureVue devices only.
  • 8 - SureVue mesh networking and ANM communication. On MediaVue SureVue devices only.
  • 9 - Chromium debugging services. The port is open by default, but the listening service is disabled. On MediaVue SureVue devices only.
  • 10 - UDP port 123 open towards a NTP server.

The table below provides a brief description of the network protocols and ports that Appspace needs access to.

Protocol (Port) Purpose
HTTP (80) Communication with Appspace server.
HTTP (681) Remote network commands (nexus_player.exe).
HTTP (682) Remote network commands (nexus_player.exe).
HTTP (682) Remote network commands (cdnagent.exe).
HTTPS (443) Communication with Appspace server.
SSH (22) Device Wizard services to register and sync with Appspace channels.
SMTP (25) E-mail notifications.
TCP (21) FTP control for data transfer to DMP devices when SmartHub sync is configured with Download Manager disabled.
TCP (3306) MySQL database replication for High Availability configuration.
TCP (4000) Heartbeat communication for High Availability configuration.
TCP (7777) Custom DMP device MIB (Management Information Base) control.
TCP (55537) Remote network commands with DirectX or Flash based players.
TCP/UDP (20) FTP data transfer to DMP devices when SmartHub sync is configured with Download Manager disabled.
UDP (123) NTP services.

IIS Requirements

This checklist provides information on the Internet Information Services (IIS) configuration necessary to run Appspace. You may refer to this checklist if you have specific rules and policies in place for IIS configuration in your company.

IIS is installed during the installation of Windows. However, for configuration instructions, you may refer to the following Microsoft article: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181052(v=vs.80).aspx


Role Services

Install the listed Role Services in IIS based on your windows version.

  • Windows Server 2012
    • IIS-DefaultDocument
    • IIS-ISAPIFilter
    • IIS-ISAPIExtensions
    • IIS-ASPNET
    • IIS-HttpCompressionStatic
    • IIS-HttpCompressionDynamic
    • IIS-ManagementConsole
    • IIS-StaticContent
    • IIS-WCF-HTTP-Activation
    • IIS-WCF-NonHTTP-Activation
    • IIS-ASPNET45
    • IIS-WCF-HTTP-Activation45
    • IIS-WCF-TCP-Activation45

Application Pools

The following are applications that must be configured in the IIS Application Pool. For configuration instructions please refer to: https://www.iis.net/configreference/system.applicationhost/applicationpools

  • Nexus Portal
    • app 1
    • medianet 1
    • webctrl_client

  • Nexus Services
    • medianetintegrationservice
    • medianetservice
    • integrationwebservices

  • Appspace Services
    • api 1

  • appspace-ext-pool
    • cloudconnect
    • coresearch
    • devices
    • docs
    • language
    • library 1
    • users

  • application pools .NET Framework version
    • AppSpace Services: v4.0
    • appspace-ext-pool: v4.0
    • Nexus Portal: v2.0
    • Nexus Services: v2.0

  • Managed Pipeline Mode
    • Appspace Services: Integrated
    • appspace-ext-pool: Integrated
    • Nexus Portal: Classic
    • Nexus Services: Classic

Note

1 - This application requires additional configuration to enable the upload of content/files as large as 2 Gigabytes (2147483648 bytes). This is typically coded as follows:

appcmd set config "Default Web Site/<name of app>"-section:requestLimits.maxAllowedContentLength:2147483648

Additional Configuration

  • Accounts running the application pools
    • ApplicationPoolIdentity – appspace-ext-pool, Nexus Portal, Nexus Services
    • LocalSystem – Appspace Services (this account has permission to create and manage folders for the Appspace installation and extension files)

  • Authentication Type
    • Anonymous authentication – Enabled

  • Rights needed for IIS
    • Not specifically set for Appspace
    • Administrator mode required to run the AIC (Appspace Installation Center) installer

Whitelist URLs

To grant devices and users access to Appspace Cloud from your Appspace on-premises server, whitelist the following URLs in your firewall:

  • https://*.cloud.appspace.com
  • https://*.appspace.com
  • https://discovery.appspace.com
  • Any external NTP server (alternative to using an internal NTP server).
  • Any external content sources (e.g RSS feeds and websites).

If your existing network uses a local web/HTTP proxy for outgoing connections to the Internet, grant access to the following websites:

  • World Weather Online (www.worldweatheronline.com) – Mandatory if weather forecasts are for countries outside the US.
  • WDT INC (www.wdtinc.com) – Mandatory if weather forecasts are within the US.
  • RSS Sources (various URLs) – Mandatory if you are using RSS widgets.

Please proceed to the Installing Appspace article.