Welcome to the RealProxy Evaluation Edition

This readme was last updated on 17 February 2000. The RealProxy team will update it periodically, bringing you the most current information that will assist you in using RealProxy. The following topics are covered:

System Requirements

RealProxy requires a minimum 512 MB of RAM, an increase from previous versions. RealProxy's memory allocator has been enhanced to be more efficient when dealing with high load situations.

• On Intel-based systems, RealProxy allocates memory on an as-needed basis. Although this memory use may not be directly related to the number of current clients connected, it will not prevent other applications from using the memory; RealProxy simply swaps it out.
• On Solaris, RealProxy reserves a large block of memory upon start up. You can specify the size of the memory block with the -m command line option.

RealProxy Evaluation Edition supports the following platforms:

• Windows NT 4.0
• Sun Solaris 2.6
• Linux 2.0.30 - glibc6

If you have an existing RealProxy running as a service on your NT system, you must stop the service and then remove it before installing a later version of RealProxy. To remove it from the services list, change to the RealProxy directory and type the following:

\Bin\rmserver.exe -remove

If you receive the message 'Permission Denied' when you run the UNIX install utility, you may need to set executable permissions. To do so, execute the following command:

chmod +x g2--.bin

After installing RealProxy for UNIX, in the base installation directory, (the directory containing the rmserver.cfg file), execute the following:

Bin/rmserver rmserver.cfg &

On the 2.2 Linux kernel, you'll need to change /usr/src/linux/include/linux/fs.h to accommodate more than 1000 users. Perform this source code edit on the following line:

#define NR_FILE 16384 /* this can well be larger on a larger system */

This will allow approximately 4000 clients, depending on data type/transport (SMIL, for example, requires more bandwidth than others). Note that while the specific line number may change with varying kernels, you will find the NR_FILE defined in /usr/src/linux/include/linux/fs.h.

RealSystem Components Used with RealProxy

1. A PC running Windows 95/98/NT4.0, to run RealPlayer
2. A RealProxy host system: UNIX or NT, to run RealProxy
3. A RealServer host system: UNIX or NT, to run RealServer

All three computers must be accessible to one another via TCP/IP, as outlined in the diagram below.

<RealPlayer> Client

---------

<RealProxy> RTSP/PNA Proxy

---------

<RealServer G2> Server

It is recommended that RealServer and RealProxy run on separate systems.

Setting Up RealServer

1. Download an evaluation copy of RealServer from http://proforma.real.com/mario/eval/download.html
2. Follow the installation instructions. No license key is required to run an evaluation version of the RealServer.

Setting Up RealProxy

1. Copy the RealProxy installation binary to the machine that will be used to run the Proxy. This machine should be a separate host from the one used to run RealServer. Also, copy the '*.lic' license file to the system which will be used to run the Proxy.
2. Execute the install binary. Follow the install prompts.
3. UNIX: To run RealProxy once it has installed, execute the following command:
   './Bin/rmserver rmserver.cfg &'
   On Windows NT, RealProxy is installed as a service and begins running automatically.

Command Line Options

RealProxy supports command line options (flags) for viewing more information. These command line flags are executed by typing "rmserver [flag]" in the directory where the RealProxy binary is installed. Standard command line flags are:

-v : Displays version. This flag displays the copyright information, public build number, and operating platform.

UNIX-Only Flags
-m x : Allocates operating memory for Server. This flag allocates 'x' megabytes of server memory space. The Server returns "RealServer has allocated 'x' megabytes of memory.".

NT-Only Flags
-N: Disables Windows NT Service checking. This uses the last registered config, rather than writing the current one in.
-install[:Name] [parameters]: Installs the Server as a Windows NT Service called "Name", passing it the parameter list "Params" upon startup.
-remove[:Name]: Remove the Windows NT Service called "Name".
-import[:Key]: Import the following configuration file to the Windows Registry.

Multiple Processor Configuration

The <Var ProcessorCount="0"/> configuration file variable must equal the number of processors available to RealProxy if more than one processor exists. Although RealProxy has an automatic processor test, it is used in lieu of a valid ProcessorCount configuration variable. Upon start up, a test is conducted to determine the processor count. The processor test is not always accurate, thus it is recommended that the ProcessorCount value be properly set prior to running RealProxy.

Setting Up RealPlayer

1. Install and run RealPlayer.
2. To configure RealPlayer to use RealProxy, open the RealPlayer, and select Options > Preferences > Proxy. From the 'Preferences' box, click on the 'Proxy' tab, and set the proxy options to use both a PNA and RTSP Proxy.
3. Type the IP address of the system running the RealProxy.
4. Type the ports used by RealProxy for PNA and RTSP client requests (the default PNA port is 1090, the default RTSP port is 554).

Note: Once the RealPlayer's preferences are configured to use RealProxy, all media requests will be routed through the specified RealProxy.

Release Notes

System Improvements

New auto-restart feature ensures continuous operation by restarting streaming processes when excessive machine load forces a shut-down.

RealProxy crash avoidance has been rewritten to reduce CPU loss and support our new threading model.

Updates and Fixes Since Last Release: 6.1.3.873

Default back channel multicast variables have been updated. Multicast now requires configuration of broadcast IP addresses. See the RealProxy User's Guide for information on how to configure this feature.

IP Bindings Configuration

RealProxy can be configured to bind to all IP addresses on a host system that has multiple address interfaces. There are two ways to configure this:
1. Explicitly list each interface address using the IP Bindings page of the RealSystem Administrator, the Web-based management tool. RealProxy will only bind to the interfaces listed.

   If you explicitly list one or more interface addresses in the IPBindings section, you MUST also include a loopback address of '127.0.0.1' for proper operation of proxy splitting. Failure to include this loopback address will impair the proxy's ability to split incoming live streams and will disable the underlying Server's heartbeat detection feature.

   -or-
   
2. Configure the RealProxy to bind to '0.0.0.0'. The RealProxy will bind to all interfaces.

   When RealProxy is bound to more than one interface, RealProxy will make outbound connections to RealServer from the same interface address used by the RealPlayer for the corresponding incoming request.

Dynamic Content

Live and on-demand streams containing dynamic content may carry the a 'nocache' directive in a DESCRIBE response header of the RTSP protocol. RealProxy will not attempt to cache or split any presentation containing this directive. File systems residing on RealServer are responsible for placing a 'no-cache' directive in the DESCRIBE response header of the RTSP protocol for dynamic content. Advertising media served by the RealServer Ad Extension conforms to this convention.

Error Log File Rolling

The error file (proxyerr.log) now supports log file rolling simular to that of the access log (proxy.log). The following registry variable have been added in conjunction with support for this feature:

'config.ErrorLogRollFrequency'
'config.ErrorLogRollSize'

Known Issues

The server.ClientCount registry variable will return duplicate client counts when a cache file system is accessed. Use the Proxy.NumConnections entry for an accurate client count.

RealProxy Plug-ins List

The tables below list the Windows and UNIX plug-in file names, and their associated functionality.

Windows	Description
admi3260.dll	RealNetworks Admin File System
allo3260.dll	RealNetworks Basic Allowance Plug-in
allo3260.dll	RealNetworks Basic Allowance Plug-in
audp3260.dll	RealNetworks AU, WAV, AIFF File Format Plug-in
auth3260.dll	RealNetworks Authentication Manager
basc3260.dll	RealNetworks Basic Authenticator
dbmg3260.dll	RealNetworks Database Manager
dbwr3260.dll	RealNetworks Database Wrapper
exca3260.dll	RealNetworks Example Cache Plug-in
farm3260.dll	RealNetworks Farm Split Broadcast Plug-in
http3260.dll	RealNetworks HTTP File System Plug-in
incl3260.dll	RealNetworks Include Plug-in
miip3260.dll	RealNetworks Media Import Plug-in
ntau3260.dll	RealNetworks NT Authenticator
ntlo3260.dll	RealNetworks NT Event Logger
perf3260.dll	RealNetworks NT Performance Monitor
plus3260.dll	RealNetworks PlusURL File Format Plug-in
plog3260.dll	RealNetworks Proxy Logging Plug-in
ppvb3260.dll	RealNetworks Flatfile Database Plug-in
ppvo3260.dll	RealNetworks ODBC 3.0 PPV Database Plug-in
prox3260.dll	RealNetworks PNA Proxy Plug-in
pxcg3260.dll	RealNetworks RealPix GIF Codec Plug-in
pxcj3260.dll	RealNetworks RealPix JPEG Codec Plug-in
pxff3260.dll	RealNetworks RealPix File Format Plug-in
pxfx3260.dll	RealNetworks RealPix External Effects Plug-in
pxgf3260.dll	RealNetworks GIF File Format Plugin
pxjf3260.dll	RealNetworks JPEG File Format Plug-in
redi3260.dll	RealNetworks RTSP Redirect Plug-in
rmff3260.dll	RealNetworks RealMedia File Format Plug-in
rn5a3260.dll	RealNetworks RN5 Authenticator
rprx3260.dll	RealNetworks RTSP Proxy Plug-in
rtff3260.dll	RealNetworks RealText File Format Plug-in
sbmo3260.dll	RealNetworks Source Bandwidth Monitor Plug-in
sdpp3260.dll	RealNetworks SDP Stream Description Plug-in
smlf3260.dll	RealNetworks SMIL File Format Plug-in
smlg3260.dll	RealNetworks SMIL Generation Plug-in
smon3260.dll	RealNetworks System Monitor Plug-in
smpl3260.dll	RealNetworks Local File System
splt3260.dll	RealNetworks Splitter Broadcast Plug-in
swff3260.dll	Shockwave Flash Format Plug-in
tagf3260.dll	RealNetworks Tag Handler Plug-in
vidp3260.dll	RealNetworks AVI, QuickTime, Active Stream File Format Plug-in
viff3260.dll	VivoActive File Format Plug-in

UNIX	Description
adminfs.so.6.0	RealNetworks Admin File System
allow.so.6.0	RealNetworks Basic Allowance Plug-in
audplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks AU, WAV, AIFF File Format Plug-in
authmgr.so.6.0	RealNetworks Authentication Manager
bascauth.so.6.0	RealNetworks Basic Authenticator
dbmgr.so.6.0	RealNetworks Database Manager
dbwrap.so.6.0	RealNetworks Database Wrapper
excache.so.6.0	RealNetworks Example Cache Plug-in
farmplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Farm Split Broadcast Plug-in
httpfsys.so.6.0	RealNetworks HTTP File System Plug-in
inclrep.so.6.0	RealNetworks Include Plug-in
miipln.so.6.0	RealNetworks Media Import Plug-in
ppvmsql.so.6.0	RealNetworks Mini SQL PPV Database Plug-in
plusplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks PlusURL File Format Plugin
plogplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Proxy Logging Plug-in
ppvbasic.so.6.0	RealNetworks Flatfile Database Plug-in
proxypln.so.60	RealNetworks PNA Proxy Plug-in
pxcgif.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealPix GIF Codec Plug-in
pxcjpeg.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealPix JPEG Codec Plugin
pxff.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealPix File Format Plug-in
pxexfx.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealPix External Effects Plug-in
pxgifff.so.6.0	RealNetworks GIF File Format Plug-in
pxjpgff.so.6.0	RealNetworks JPEG File Format Plug-in
redirect.so.6.0	RealNetworks RTSP Redirect Plug-in
rmffplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealMedia File Format Plug-in
rn5auth.so.6.0	RealNetworks RN5 Authenticator
rprxypln.so.6.0	RealNetworks RTSP Proxy Plug-in
rtffplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks RealText File Format Plug-in
sbmonpln.so.6.0	RealNetworks Source Bandwidth Monitor Plug-in
sdpplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks SDP Stream Description Plug-in
smlffpln.so.6.0	RealNetworks SMIL File Format Plug-in
smlgenfs.so.6.0	RealNetworks SMIL Generation Plug-in
smonpln.so.6.0	RealNetworks System Monitor Plugin
smplfsys.so.6.0	RealNetworks Local File System
spltplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks Splitter Broadcast Plug-in
swff.so.6.0	Shockwave Flash Format Plug-in
tagfsys.so.6.0	RealNetworks Tag Handler Plug-in
vidplin.so.6.0	RealNetworks AVI, QuickTime, Active Stream File Format Plug-in
vivff.so.6.0	VivoActive File Format Plug-in

 

Last updated: 17 February 2000.