Table Of Contents

Using the Content Distribution Manager GUI

Launching the Content Distribution Manager GUI

Content Distribution Manager GUI Primary Feature Tabs

Understanding the Interface

Window Elements

Navigation

The Device Home Window

Taskbar Icons

Using Online Help

Logging On Following a Session Timeout

Exiting the Content Distribution Manager GUI

Using the Content Distribution Manager GUI

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The Content Distribution Manager is the central location from which much of the work of creating and managing ACNS networks and hosted content can be controlled. Functions related to managing your ACNS network are done using the Content Distribution Manager graphical user interface (GUI). All modifications made through the Content Distribution Manager GUI are propagated to the Content Routers and Content Engines that make up your ACNS network.

This chapter explains how to use the Content Distribution Manager GUI. It contains the following sections:

•Launching the Content Distribution Manager GUI

•Content Distribution Manager GUI Primary Feature Tabs

•Understanding the Interface

•Using Online Help

•Logging On Following a Session Timeout

•Exiting the Content Distribution Manager GUI

Launching the Content Distribution Manager GUI

To launch the Content Distribution Manager GUI from your system, follow these steps:

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Step 1 In your web browser, enter the URL or IP address for the Content Distribution Manager. For example, enter this URL:

https://Name_of_Content_Distribution_Manager:8443

Alternatively, enter this IP address:

https://IP_address_of_Content_Distribution_Manager:8443

Step 2 The Security Alert window appears. Click Yes to accept the security certificate. The Login window appears.

Step 3 Enter your username in the Username field. Enter your password in the Password field, and click Login.

User name: admin

Password: <password>

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Note The default username is admin and the default password is default. If the defaults have been changed by another Content Distribution Manager administrator, you need to obtain the new username and password.

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The System Home window appears. (See Figure 3-1.)

Figure 3-1 ACNS Content Distribution Manager GUI System Home Window

The ACNS 5.4 system home window provides current configuration information about devices and service baseline settings.

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Content Distribution Manager GUI Primary Feature Tabs

Table 3-1 describes the three primary feature tabs and their associated functions of the Content Distribution Manager GUI.

Table 3-1 Content Distribution Manager GUI Feature Tabs 

Feature Tab	Description
Devices	Lets you configure and manage Content Distribution Managers, Content Engines, Content Routers, and device groups. Lets you create and manage ACNS network elements such as locations and location trees. Lets you view system logs and streaming and routing statistics for ACNS network devices.
Services	Lets you configure three service areas: Web, Video, and Platform. •Web service lets you create and modify ACNS network elements such as channels, content providers, websites, and multicast clouds. •Video service lets you configure programs and program addresses. •Platform service lets you modify baseline settings for a baseline group and customize the table of contents so that only certain device group configuration windows are available to the user. Lets you define a baseline configuration for each service.
System	Lets you configure routing and Content Distribution Manager configurations, and add a software update file. Lets you configure and manage user accounts, roles, domains, and passwords. Lets you view audit trail logs and system messages.

Understanding the Interface

This section describes the Content Distribution Manager GUI main window elements, the navigation scheme, and the taskbar elements.

Window Elements

The Content Distribution Manager GUI contains several window elements with which you need to familiarize yourself. (See Figure 3-2.) (See Table 3-2 for a description of each element.)

Figure 3-2 Content Distribution Manager GUI Elements

1	Contents pane	5	Window
2	Navigation bar	6	System status bar
3	Tabs	7	Submit and Cancel buttons
4	Taskbar	8	Tools

Table 3-2 Content Distribution Manager GUI Elements 

Element	Description
Contents pane	Displays available suboptions, if required.
Navigation bar	Displays the menu options available for the selected tab. The Services tab and the System tab have two levels of menu options in the navigation bar. (See Figure 3-3.)
Tabs	Provides access to all the Content Distribution Manager product functionality. Tabs include Devices, Content, and System. (See Table 3-1 for a description of each tab.)
Taskbar	Displays available tasks for the selected option. (See Table 3-3 for a description of all the Content Distribution Manager GUI icons. Some of these icons appear in the taskbar.)
Window	Displays the area in which you perform application tasks.
System status bar	Displays device and content alarms and presents the overall device and content health of the system.
Submit button	Saves the entries made in the window.
Cancel button	Returns to the previous window without saving entries. Use this button instead of the browser Back button.
Tools	Contains the following links: Home—Returns you to the System Home window. Quick Start—Launches the Quick Start tool. Help—Opens a new window that displays context-sensitive help information. Logout—Logs you out of the Content Distribution Manager.

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Note Use only the Content Distribution Manager GUI elements, which are described in Table 3-2, to navigate within the GUI. Web browser buttons, such as the Back and Refresh buttons, are not supported and do not allow you to navigate to the correct GUI window.

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Navigation

To navigate within the Content Distribution Manager GUI, begin by clicking one of three primary feature tabs: Devices, Services, or System. From each tab option, choose a first-level menu option in the upper navigation bar and a second-level menu option in the lower navigation bar, if available. Navigational directions in procedures are written following this sample scheme: Services > Web > Channels. (See Figure 3-3.)

Figure 3-3 Two-Tiered Options Menu in the Services Navigation Bar

In most cases, after you reach the third navigational level (or the second level when only two levels exist), a basic listing window appears. In the listing window you can create a new element to add to the list by clicking the Create New icon in the task bar, or you can edit existing elements by clicking the Edit icon next to the element that you want to modify. A configuration window appears.

The configuration window displays a Contents pane on the left for further navigation. An Expand button expands the Contents pane to display all menu items that are nested under the top-level items. (See Figure 3-4.)

Figure 3-4 Contents Pane for a Channel Configuration Window

The Device Home Window

In the Device Home window, the Contents pane displays menu items in two views: basic or extended.

In basic view, the Contents pane displays menu items that are essential for basic configuration of the device only. In basic view, the toggle button reads Show All.

In extended view, the Contents pane displays all top-level menu items that are necessary for advanced configurations. To display extended view, click the Show All button. In extended view, this toggle button reads Show Basic. (See Figure 3-5.)

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Note This toggle button is available for the Device table of contents only.

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Figure 3-5 Device Table of Contents in Extended Mode

From the Device Home window, you can also perform the following tasks without needing to navigate through the table of contents:

•Activate the device, and set the device location (only available if the device is inactive)

•Modify channel assignments

•Modify device group assignments

•Upgrade the device software

•Telnet to the device CLI

•Assign the device to baseline groups

•Modify baseline group settings

•View detailed bandwidth efficiency gain report

•View detailed bytes served report

Taskbar Icons

Table 3-3 lists and describes the Content Distribution Manager icons that you can use to perform specific tasks in the various configuration windows.

Table 3-3 Content Distribution Manager GUI Icons 

Taskbar Icon	Function
	Activates all inactive Content Engines
	Alerts you to a new system message
	Displays table of contents
	Displays all playlists
	Displays all devices
	Deactivates the device
	Runs Content Engine Cache GUI
	Updates application statistics
	Forces refresh of replication information
	Forces full database update
	Lets you view read-only items
	Creates new items
	Edits items
	Deletes items
	Adds a content item for acquisition
	Deletes selected items
	Manages between host and proxy servers for content acquisition
	Saves to disk
	Exports a table to a comma-separated values (CSV) file
	Creates a filter table
	Displays a graph
	Applies the default settings to the device
	Overrides the group settings on the device
	Lets you view all items
	Refreshes the table
	Reboots the device
	Shuts down the device
	Prints the current window
	Copies a program
	Deletes all conditions from an IP ACL
	Assigns all items to the entity
	Removes all items from the entity
	Identifies services for roles
	Switches the baseline groups
	Forces the group baseline settings
	Indicates that the current transaction was successfully completed
	Indicates that user input is invalid and that the transaction did not finish

Using Online Help

ACNS 5.x software offers online help for the Content Distribution Manager GUI. There are several ways to access online help, depending on the information you want and the method you find most convenient.

If you want to read one or more help topics, click the Help link. A separate browser window appears that contains online help. From the online help Contents tab, click the name of a topic to display information about that topic. For information about a specific window, click the Help link while viewing that window.

Use the browser Back and Forward buttons to navigate between online help windows.

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Note Although the web browser Back and Forward buttons are not supported when navigating in the Content Distribution Manager GUI, these buttons are supported when navigating within online help.

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Logging On Following a Session Timeout

The Content Distribution Manager web interface is equipped with a timeout feature that terminates idle sessions after a set length of time. (See the "Modifying System Default Properties" section on page 20-18 for instructions on changing the length of time that must pass before your session times out.)

When a session has timed out, you immediately lose access to the Content Distribution Manager web interface, which is replaced with this message:

Your session has expired.

To log back on to the Content Distribution Manager, follow these steps:

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Step 1 Close all web browser windows that were used to access the Content Distribution Manager by clicking the Close button to close the active window, or click the File menu and choose Close or Exit.

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Note Often when you log on to the Content Distribution Manager, the web interface is loaded into a separate instance of the web browser from the one used to point to the Content Distribution Manager URL. Make sure that both instances of the browser are terminated before attempting to log back on to the Content Distribution Manager.

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Step 2 Open a new instance of your preferred web browser and point it to the URL of your Content Distribution Manager. You are prompted to log on to the Content Distribution Manager web interface.

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Exiting the Content Distribution Manager GUI

To exit the Content Distribution Manager GUI, follow these steps:

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Step 1 Click Submit to save any changes you made, or click Cancel to cancel the changes.

Step 2 In the upper right corner of the Content Distribution Manager GUI, click Logout. You are prompted to confirm your decision.

Step 3 Click OK. The Content Distribution Manager GUI returns to the Login window.

Step 4 To exit the browser, choose Close from the browser File menu, or click the browser Close button.

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