Copy of Remote Diagnostic Web Server (DOCS-958)

Overview

The BrightAuthor:connected Control Cloud allows you to access to your players anywhere around the world through the remote Diagnostic Web Server (DWS). The remote DWS is maintained through a completely secure connection to BrightSign's WebSocket server (WSS). It lets you view information like player uptime, serial numbers, logs, and snapshots of content on the screen. You can also access diagnostic tools to troubleshoot connected players.

To open the remote DWS for a player, go to the Network tab and select the gear icon next to that player, as in Figure 1.

From the DWS, you can access the Info, Log, Control, SD (memory options), Diagnostics, Snapshots, Video, and Advanced options for that player.

Image 1

Info

The Info tab displays information about the player:

• Time: The current time as it is configured on the player 
• Name: The name of the player as entered by the user
• Description: An optional description of the player entered by the user
• Model: The model name for the player
• Unique ID: The serial number of the player
• <Ethernet/WiFi>  IP: The IP address of the player
• <Ethernet/WiFi>  MAC: The Media Access Control (MAC) address of the player
• <Ethernet/WiFi>  IPv6: The IPv6 address of the player 
• Boot Version: The current version number of the BrightSign boot firmware.
• BrightSign OS Version: The current OS version number of the player.
• Video Mode: The current video output resolution for each screen
• Uptime: The length of time that the player has been powered on and running correctly.
• Power Source: The power source for the player (for example, AC or PoE)
• PoE: The status of the PoE interface (applicable to PoE capable models only)

Image 2

Control

The Control tab lets you control the system processes of the player: 

• Reset Password (local DWS only): Set a new password for DWS authentication on the local network.
• Reboot Player: Reboot the player remotely.
• Reboot with Crash Report: Reboot the player and save a crash-report file to the "brightsign-dumps" folder. BrightSign support may request the crash report when helping you troubleshoot the player.
• Factory Reset: Reset the player to factory defaults, erasing all persistent registry settings for networking, security, and other applications. See this page for more information on when devices should be reprovisioned rather than factory reset. 
• Recovery URL: Set a new recovery URL, which is used by the player to retrieve setup information if there is an autorun-related failure.
• DWS Access: Enable/disable DWS access on the local network.
• Reprovision Device: Update the provision package for the player. You must have a new package already assigned in Device Provisioning.

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Diagnostics

The Diagnostics tab provides network and system tools that are helpful for diagnosing problems and getting information about a BrightSign player. These are advanced tools, and should be used with care:

• Network Configuration: View extensive information about network interface settings.
• Network Diagnostics: Run network diagnostics. This process may take some time to complete, especially when certain tests fail.
• DNS Lookup: Test the specified DNS address to check whether name resolution is working.
• Ping: Ping a device with the specified IP address or DNS name.
• Trace Route: Perform a standard traceroute diagnostic on the specified IP/DNS address. Check the Resolve IP Addresses box to resolve the specified DNS name.
• Chromium Debugging: This feature lets you enable the JavaScript console if you have also selected Enable JavaScript console in Presentation tab > State Properties > Options. If you want to disable the JavaScript console, you can do that by selecting the checkbox. The console should only be enabled for presentations that are not in production, since it can cause memory and security issues.
• Network Neighborhood: Display information on the current network neighborhood.
• Network Packet Capture: Allows the capture and collection of live network packet data from the network interfaces connected to the BrightSign player.
• Disable Autorun: Force the player to reboot and disable the autorun script when the device restarts. This allows the unit to display the firmware version and IP address on screen (if the unit is connected to a local network). If the player has a serial port, you will be able to access the system shell over a null-modem serial cable.
• Storage Formatting: Takes you to the Format Storage page, which allows you format storage devices attached to the player.
  • Storage: Select a storage device. You can only format storage devices that are currently unformatted; storage that already contains content files or autorun scripts cannot be reformatted.
  • File system: Select a supported file system to use when formatting the storage device.

Image 4

Snapshots

The Snapshots tab allows you to view remote snapshots of the player output.

Select the New Snapshot button to take a snapshot. Once the snapshot is taken, you can click the thumbnail to view a full-size image of the snapshot.

As of BrightSign OS 8.5.31, screenshots are captured at resolution with a maximum size of HD. Select Return the snapshot at its original resolution (do not downscale to HD) to get the snapshot at a higher resolution.

Image 5

Video

The Video tab lets you diagnose the video settings of the player:

• HDMI Status: The current HDMI status (Active, Inactive)
• Current Video Mode: The video resolution currently being output by the player. If the player is set to a 4K video mode, this field will also indicate whether 10-bit colorspace and/or HDR is currently being output.
• EDID Information: Returns the EDID information from a compatible monitor.
• Change Video Mode: Changes the display mode/resolution of the player on all video outputs (HDMI^®, VGA, and Component). The device will reboot and disable the current autorun script (similar to the Disable Autorun button in the Diagnostics tab). Otherwise, the autorun script will reset the video mode of the player by default.
• Power Save: Disables HDMI output, the syncs for VGA output, and/or the DAC output for component video. The absence of a signal will cause some monitors to go into standby mode.

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Advanced

The Advanced tab contains these options:

• Registry Dump: View a print out of all registry settings on the player.
• BrightSign OS Update: Instruct the player to download a .bsfw firmware-update file from the specified URL. After the file has been downloaded, the player will reboot and update its BrightSign OS version.
• Storage Location: Enter the storage location and select View to temporarily access the player storage location. Note that you will get an error if you enter device that is already listed. 
• BrightSign OS Logs: Select the level of detail you prefer in the BrightSign OS logs.

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