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TECHNICAL GUIDE

Using multiple EVOs with ShareBrowser

Matt Ratkowski
  • Updated

For ShareBrowser to access the files on multiple EVOs, it's recommended that they share a database.

To begin with, one EVO should be chosen to host the ShareBrowser database and hold the ShareBrowser preview proxies.

This should be any EVO that all users will be able to reach. This becomes the Primary EVO.

In the Primary EVO:

ShareBrowser preview proxies should first be configured on the Primary EVO as described in this article. You should also create an EVO user that is part of the Administrators group for mounting the proxy location on secondary EVOs.

In each Secondary EVO:

Here are the steps for an Administrator to set up a Secondary EVO to share a database:

  1. Mount the preview proxy location of the Primary EVO as a remote share on the Secondary EVO:
    • Navigate to Shares -> Remote Shares (http://EVO-IP/#/shares/remote-shares) in the EVO Web UI.
    • Choose the '+', fill out the required information, and choose the share that holds the primary EVO's preview proxies.

    • NOTE: This requires mounting with a user that is part of the Administrators group on the primary EVO.
  2. Navigate to ShareBrowser in the left pane:
               
    Here, the ShareBrowser server can be completely disabled on the ShareBrowser page of the EVO's web interface.
                
  3. Navigate to Slingshot -> Index/Proxy.
  4. In the box "Multiple EVO environment", enable the option for "Push metadata to a central EVO" then add the IP of the Central EVO.
  5. Choose the shares for which you would like to create proxies.
    • NOTE: Proxies must be configured in order to see file previews in the web app.
  6. Choose a path to store proxies. In this case, choose the externally mounted share.
  7. Set working hours
    • If you’d like to make sure that your EVO is not working in the background throughout your workday and that all of the processing power is available during working hours, then set a pause time and check this box.

By default (as of EVO v.6.1.5), every share on your EVO will be set up to index at 10pm. This means that at 10pm this evening, your EVO should begin creating proxies for the shares that were chosen above.

Further configuration of this behavior can be achieved using the ShareBrowser Admin utility.

In ShareBrowser Admin:

  • First make sure that ShareBrowser Admin is installed, launch it and log in (default password 'adminpw111').
    • NOTE: This is a customized installation option when installing ShareBrowser.
  • Once you are logged into ShareBrowser Admin, you can turn off indexing for shares you may not want to index, and you can adjust the times that shares are indexed.
  • Set each EVO share to be indexed by the EVO on which it lives.

To run an index now:
Choose a share and click “Start Indexing” This will immediately start processing the files for search and begin generating proxy previews for the ShareBrowser Web App and its extensions.

NOTE: If pause hours were set for the indexer this will still affect this process.SBAdmin.png


Once ShareBrowser Preview Proxies are generated for each EVO, they can be viewed from the ShareBrowser Web App.

 

In ShareBrowser:

In order to see media from multiple EVOs in the ShareBrowser, each user must add it as a Connection. This is required to check the user's permission to shares on additional EVOs.

    1. Users will log in to the ShareBrowser using the Primary EVO's IP. Using a secondary EVO IP here will get a server error when attempting to log in.
    2. After login, in the top right of the page, click on the username and choose Connections.
      connections.png
    3. Add any additional EVO IPs here.

          evoConnections.png

You will be prompted to re-login, and this will attempt to log into any additional EVOs at the same time.

As long as a user has the same name/password, and access to other shares on the Secondary EVOs, they will now be able to view their content from each EVO.

 

Please note the following instructions are for EVO versions prior to version 7.0:

 

As of ShareBrowser 5.0.3, multiple EVOs can be accessed through a single ShareBrowser Web App interface.

For this to function, they must share the same ShareBrowser database.

To begin with, one EVO should be chosen to host the ShareBrowser database and hold the ShareBrowser preview proxies.

This should be any EVO that all users will be able to reach. This becomes the Primary EVO.

In the Primary EVO:

The ShareBrowser Web App should first be configured on the Primary EVO. To do this, first configure ShareBrowser preview proxies as described in this article.

When preview proxies are configured, the ShareBrowser Web App will be available for all users at http://{EVOIP}/sb


In each Secondary EVO:

Here are the steps for an Administrator to set up a Secondary EVO to share a database:

  1. Mount the preview proxy location of the Primary EVO as an external share on the Secondary EVO:
    • Navigate to the bottom of the NAS & Project Sharing page in the EVO Web UI and click "External Shares"
    • Choose Add, fill out the required information, and choose the share that holds the primary EVO's preview proxies.mountExternalShare.png
    • NOTE: This requires mounting with a user that has access to the proxy share.
  2. Navigate to ShareBrowser Server -> Indexer & Proxies.
  3. Take note of the name of the indexer (default is the EVO's hostname).indexerName.png
  4. Check the box for Multiple EVO Environment. And put in the IP of the Central EVO.multipleEVO.png
  5. Choose the shares for which you would like to create proxies.
    • NOTE: Proxies must be configured in order to see file previews in the web app.proxycheckbox.png
  6. Choose a path to store proxies. In this case, choose the externally mounted share.proxyPath.png
  7. Set working hours
    • If you’d like to make sure that your EVO is not working in the background throughout your workday and that all of the processing power is available during working hours, then set a pause time and check this box.workingHours.png

By default (as of EVO v.6.1.5), every share on your EVO will be set up to index at 10pm. This means that at 10pm this evening, your EVO should begin creating proxies for the shares that were chosen above.

Further configuration of this behavior can be achieved using the ShareBrowser Admin utility.

In ShareBrowser Admin:

  • First make sure that ShareBrowser Admin is installed, launch it and log in (default password 'adminpw111').
    • NOTE: This is a customized installation option when installing ShareBrowser Desktop Client.
  • Once you are logged into ShareBrowser Admin, you can turn off indexing for shares you may not want to index, and you can adjust the times that shares are indexed.
  • Set each EVO share to be indexed by the EVO on which it lives.

To run an index now:
Choose a share and click “Start Indexing Now.” This will immediately start processing the files for search and begin generating proxy previews for the ShareBrowser Web App and its extensions.

NOTE: If pause hours were set for the indexer this will still affect this process.SBAdmin.png


Once ShareBrowser Preview Proxies are generated for each EVO, they can be viewed from the ShareBrowser Web App.

In the ShareBrowser Web App:

In order to see media from multiple EVOs in the ShareBrowser Web App, each user must add it as a Connection. This is required to check the user's permission to shares on additional EVOs.

  • Log in to the ShareBrowser Web App using the Primary EVO's IP.
  • In the top right of the page, click your username and choose Connections.connections.png
  • Add any additional EVO IPs here.

          evoConnections.png

You will be prompted to re-login to the web app, and this will attempt to log into any additional EVOs at the same time.

As long as a user has the same name/password, and access to other shares on the Secondary EVOs, they will now be able to view their content in the web app.

 

 

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