How does this work?
VMS Gateway uses the powerful Kubernetes system. This allows us to package up each virtual ONVIF device as an independent self-contained package, each with its own IP address. This is managed by a controller to make sure that should issues arise (e.g. a crash) everything is started/restarted automatically.
This system is incredibly powerful and also works across multiple machines connected on the same local network.
It is possible to install VMS Gateway on one or more additional machines and have it offer its CPU resources to the primary machine. This is known as adding additional nodes to your cluster in Kubernetes speak!
To keep things simple only the primary machine runs the management web interface. When you add more machines to your cluster, you simply go to the web interface and add more virtual ONVIF devices to your new nodes.
Installing VMS Gateway on additional machines
This process is almost identical to installing on the primary machine with one additional security step.
Step 1 - Prepare your machine
Follow the four preparation steps from the main installation instructions to get your Ubuntu machine ready for installation.
Step 2 - Download your VMS Gateway's 'join token'
For security reasons, new machines can't connect to your primary VMS Gateway machine without the unique join token. The easiest to to perform this next step is to:
Login to the desktop of your new machine
Open Firefox and go to http://[primary machine ip address]/ - this will take you to your VMS Gateway's login page.
Login into VMS Gateway
Click the Settings button at the top right of the page
Scroll to the bottom, where you will see an option to download the join token:
Press the Download button - this should now download the join key onto your new machine (into your downloads folder).
Step 3 - Copy the join token to the correct location
If you followed step 2, the join token will currently be in your Downloads folder on your machine. The installer looks in a special folder (/etc/vms-gateway) to find the join-token, so it is necessary to copy the join token to that location:
sudo mkdir /etc/vms-gateway
sudo cp ~/Downloads/join-token /etc/vms-gateway
The first command creates the folder (and may fail with a 'file exists' error if it already exists - it is safe to proceed).
The second command copies the join token from your Downloads folder (where Firefox put it) into the folder required for installation.
Change these instructions to suit if you downloaded the join token in a different manner (e.g. from another machine and copied to USB pen).
Step 4 - Install VMS Gateway
Open the Terminal application – this should give you a command prompt
Download VMS Gateway using this command:
wget https://bit.ly/3Jq0Lic -O install.deb
Run the installer using this command:
sudo apt install ./install.deb
You will be asked to enter your Ubuntu password, and then to confirm installation.
After a short wait you will be asked some questions:
The first screen asks if this is the primary machine – select No.
The next screen asks for the IP address of the primary machine. Please take care here as a mistake will require you to uninstall and reinstall.
The next screen explains that it will look for the join token in the correct folder on your machine. If you performed Step 3 you are ready to continue.
Once confirmed VMS Gateway installation will begin.
Incorrect warning messages
Once installation is complete it is common to see various Ubuntu warning messages:
This can be safely ignored.
Step 5 - Check installation was successful
After logging into your VMS Gateways web interface (on your primary machine) your dashboard should now show the new machine listed alongside your primary machine.
It will not contain any virtual ONVIF devices and will instead show a blue message that it is ready to accept new virtual ONVIF devices.