Chapter 1: Starting and Stopping RealOne Desktop Manager Components

This chapter explains how to start and stop RealOne Desktop Manager on both UNIX and Windows platforms, as well as how to access RealNetworks Administrator.

Overview of RealOne Desktop Manager Components

RealOne Desktop Manager consists of the following components:

RealOne Desktop Manager executable file

This is the software component of RealOne Desktop Manager that runs the product. The executable file is called rdm.exe on Windows platforms and rdmon UNIX platforms.

RealOne Desktop Manager Web pages

This is a Web-based console with which you use Web pages to centrally configure, build, deploy, and maintain RealOne Enterprise Desktop clients throughout your enterprise. Using RealOne Desktop Manager, you can configure settings either locally or remotely, because you can access the Web pages from almost any browser on your network.

RealOne Enterprise Desktop components

You use these components to build installers for RealOne Enterprise Desktop deployment on Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows ME workstations.

Note that RealOne Desktop Manager uses components and terms similar to those used by RealNetworks® ^™, but the components in RealOne Desktop Manager serve different functions than do those in Basic Server for Helix. RealOne Desktop Manager is not a streaming server. Rather, it is a product that enables administrators to deploy and configure RealOne Enterprise Desktop clients across corporate intranet environments from a single computer.

Starting and Stopping RealOne Desktop Manager on Windows

The instructions in this section describe how to start and stop RealOne Desktop Manager on Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

Starting RealOne Desktop Manager on Windows

On Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, RealOne Desktop Manager is automatically installed as a service (named "RDM") unless you cleared that option during setup. As a service, RealOne Desktop Manager is always running in the background.

Starting RealOne Desktop Manager Manually

You can start RealOne Desktop Manager either from the Start menu or from a command line.

If RealOne Desktop Manager is already running as a service, do not try to start it a second time.

To start RealOne Desktop Manager from the Start menu:

On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to RealOne Desktop Manager, and then click RealNetworks System Administrator. This starts the rdm.exe program.

RealOne Desktop Manager loads the default configuration file, rdm.cfg.

Note: If RealOne Desktop Manager has already been started, a console window appears briefly and then disappears.

To start RealOne Desktop Manager from a command line:

From the main RealOne Desktop Manager directory, type the following at a command line and then press Enter:

Bin\rdm rdm.cfg

If you start it without including a configuration file, RealOne Desktop Manager uses the most recently used configuration settings.

Setting Up RealOne Desktop Manager as a Service

You can run RealOne Desktop Manager as a service on Windows NT, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. There is an option you can select during setup that configures this automatically. Instructions in this section describe how to add RealOne Desktop Manager to the services list if you did not instruct the setup program to do so.

To install RealOne Desktop Manager as a service:

At a command prompt, go to the RealOne Desktop Manager Bin directory.

Import the configuration file you want to use into a specific key in the registry by typing the following:

rdm.exe -import[:key] configuration_file

where:

key is the registry key name you want to use. If you omit this key name, the default name Startup Params is substituted.

Note: If you enter a registry key, do not type the bracket symbols. They are used to indicate an optional parameter.

configuration_file is the path and configuration file you want to import.

Note: The configuration file you use must contain absolute paths for variables such as BasePath. When it is run as a service, RealOne Desktop Manager does not recognize relative paths.

For example, the following command:

rdm.exe -import:Server1   ../rdm.cfg

imports all of the values in the rdm.cfg file into the following key of the Windows NT registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\RDM\Server1

Note: You must supply the path to the configuration file of RealOne Desktop Manager. If RealOne Desktop Manager cannot find the configuration file, it may not start.

Tip: You can now start RealOne Desktop Manager using this configuration by typing the following at a command prompt:
rdm.exe registry:Server1

Install the service by typing the following command at a command prompt:

rdm.exe -install[:ServiceName] "parameters"

where:

ServiceName is the name that will appear in the Services dialog box. If you omit ServiceName, RDM is substituted.

Note: If you enter the service name, do not type the bracket symbols. They are used to indicate an optional parameter.

parameters is either the name of the configuration file or the registry and key name, as entered in Step 2. The format of the registry and key name is registry:key. You can use any command-line parameters, such as the -m switch, for example.

Note: The quotation marks surrounding parameters are required.

The next time you start RealOne Desktop Manager from the Services dialog box, it will use the settings specified in parameters and will be configured to start automatically.

For example, the following command:

rdm.exe -install:RMInternet "Server1"

installs RealOne Desktop Manager with the service name "RMInternet" and uses the settings in the Server1 key.

Start the service. In the Services control panel, select the name you used for ServiceName, and then click Start.

To remove any RealOne Desktop Manager from the services list:

At a command prompt, type the following:

rdm.exe -remove[:ServiceName]

where ServiceName is the optional name of the service. If you omitted a service name when you installed the service, you can omit it here, and RealOne Desktop Manager will use RDM as the default service name.

Stopping RealOne Desktop Manager on Windows

If RealOne Desktop Manager was started from the Start menu or a command line, switch to the command window and then press Ctrl+C.

On Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP, if RealOne Desktop Manager was started as a service, stop RealOne Desktop Manager by using the Services window (accessed from Control Panel). To stop the service, do one of the following:

On Windows NT, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. In Control Panel, double-click Services. Locate RealOne Desktop Manager on the list (your service name may be different), select it, and then click Stop.

On Windows 2000, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. In Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools and then double-click Services. Locate RealOne Desktop Manager on the list (your service name may be different), select it, and then, from Action or right-click, click Stop.

On Windows XP, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. In Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools and then double-click Services. Locate RealOne Desktop Manager on the list (your service name may be different), select it, and then, from Action or right-click, click Stop.

Starting and Stopping RealOne Desktop Manager on UNIX

Instructions in this section describe how to start and stop RealOne Desktop Manager when you are running it on UNIX.

Starting RealOne Desktop Manager on UNIX

Start RealOne Desktop Manager initially with the default configuration file; later, you can create other configuration files and start RealOne Desktop Manager using those files.

To start RealOne Desktop Manager on UNIX:

Go to the main RealOne Desktop Manager directory, and then type the following:

Bin/rdm rdm.cfg

To start RealOne Desktop Manager in the background:

From the main RealOne Desktop Manager directory, type the following:

Bin/rdm rdm.cfg &

If you have other configuration files, you can substitute one of their names for rdm.cfg and RealOne Desktop Manager will use the settings in the file you name.

To limit the amount of memory that RealOne Desktop Manager uses:

Start RealOne Desktop Manager with the -m parameter, as follows:

Bin/rdm rdm.cfg -m 128

where the number after -m can be any amount of memory—in megabytes, or MB—that is128 MB or greater. (This parameter is not necessary on Linux.)

Stopping RealOne Desktop Manager on UNIX

To stop RealOne Desktop Manager on UNIX, obtain the parent process identification number, and then issue the kill command with that process number. The process ID is stored in the rdm.pid file, which is usually kept in the Logs directory. The PIDPath variable specifies this location.

You can perform both of these actions with one command. To do this, go to the directory that contains the RealOne Desktop Manager PID file, and then type the following:

kill `cat pidfile`

where pidfile is the name of the RealOne Desktop Manager PID file, as shown in the PIDPath variable.

Accessing RealNetworks Administrator

RealNetworks Administrator is a feature of RealOne Desktop Manager. It is a Web-based console from which you can view and configure the general setup options for RealOne Desktop Manager and create settings in configuration files and installers for RealOne Enterprise Desktop deployment.

When RealOne Desktop Manager is running, you can access RealNetworks Administrator from nearly any browser on your network that supports Java and JavaScript. The compatible browsers are Netscape Navigator versions 4.x or later and Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 or later. For more information on browser compatibility, see http://service.real.com/help/library/guides/rdm/rdmguide.htm

Note: To access RealNetworks Administrator, you must be running RealOne Desktop Manager. You cannot configure RealOne Desktop Manager settings on any other RealNetworks Administrator console. For example, you cannot use a Helix™ Server from RealNetworks® to administer settings on RealOne Desktop Manager.

To access RealNetworks Administrator:

Start RealOne Desktop Manager. (See "Starting and Stopping RealOne Desktop Manager on Windows" and "Starting and Stopping RealOne Desktop Manager on UNIX".)

In any compatible browser, type the following address:

http://address:AdminPort/admin/index.html

where:

address is the IP address or host name of the computer on which RealOne Desktop Manager is installed.

AdminPort is the port that RealNetworks Administrator uses to connect to RealOne Desktop Manager. During setup you were asked for a port number; use that port number here.

The following URL will start RealNetworks Administrator if it is typed in the browser on the same computer as RealOne Desktop Manager (be sure to substitute your port number for AdminPort):

http://127.0.0.1:AdminPort/admin/index.html

The following command will also work on that computer:

http://localhost:AdminPort/admin/index.html

You are prompted for your user name and password; these should match the values you entered during setup. Click OK.

The RealNetworks Administrator window for RealOne Desktop Manager appears.

Tip: Bookmark this location so that you can easily return here at any time.