Swank Cached License Server V2 - Download/Install Instructions

Table of Contents

1. Technical Requirements
2. Downloading the Cached License Server
3. Deploying Swank License Server
4. Activation
5. Ingesting Licenses
6. Certificate Updates
7. Customer Support

Note: If you are upgrading from a previous version, we recommend deploying the latest version in a new VM and retaining the previous version until you have successfully configured and tested the new version.

1. Technical Requirements: 

• VM Requirements

  • 1 vCPU
  • 6 GB vRAM
  • 8 GB Storage

• Network Requirements

  • The license server requires access to the following URLs on a periodic basis. Please make sure all firewall rules are in place for this access.

    URL	Port/ Protocol	Description
    https://discolicservtel.swankmp.net	tcp:443	Required for troubleshooting
    https://discolicservact.swankmp.net	tcp:443	Required for server activation
    https://discolicservsync.swankmp.net	tcp:443	Required for receiving content licenses over the internet
    https://sdk.widevine.com/stats/setsdkstats	tcp:443	Required for sending statistics back to Google
    ren.swankmp.net	tcp:33001, SSH	Required for system software updates. It is recommended to allow access to all subdomains on swankmp.net in case more are added or changed at a future date.
    jcat.swankmp.net	tcp:80
    stimpson.azurecr.io	tcp:443	Docker registry and also required for system updates
    stimpson.northcentralus.data.azurecr.io	tcp:443	Data endpoint for Azure
    Note: DNS resolution is required for these domain names on the local license server.   If you're operating in a disconnected mode, you may be required to host local DNS records for the URLs above.

2. Downloading the Cached License Server

1. We have made the Cached License Server available via our Aspera download portal.   Below are the URL and login credentials:

   • URL:	https://cdntransfer.swank.com
     User ID:	SwankMP-VMs
     Password:	DcaTgLnhpHCUYfyY20PA

2. Once logged in you will be presented with the Aspera portal.   The Cached License Server is “DashDiscoLicServV2.ova” (highlighted below):
   • 
   • Note: Once clicked you will be challenged for the password again in this dialog:
   • 
   • Paste the password in again and click OK.

1. You should now see the file downloading in the Activity Window:
   
   • 

3. Deploying Swank License Server

Step 1 - Importing the OVA

1. In the VMWare Console, Select Create/Register VM. Select Deploy a virtual machine from an OVF or OVA file.
   • 
2. Enter a name for the virtual machine and select the DiscoLicServV2.ova file downloaded from the Aspera portal.
   • 
3. Select a datastore:
   
   • Enter Virtual Machine Name, Select Folder to deploy to and click Next.
     
     • 
4. Select Deployment options
   • 
   • Networks: Select the Destination Network for the VM.   The network you choose should have access to the Internet to enable the license server to download updates and will also be required for activation. Note:  The VM is setup as DHCP initially so if you connect to a network with Internet access the server may start downloading software updates on initial boot. 
5. Review Changes and Click Finish
   • 

The OVA deployment process should begin and once complete proceed to power on the VM in the VMWare Console to set the IP address. 

Step 2 – Configuring the Virtual Machine

In the VMWare console, locate the imported VM and open the Remote Console.   If the VM is in the process of downloading updates, let these complete before proceeding with setting the IP address.

(The System will reboot on completion.)

1. Customer Login - From the Remote Console, login with the customer account.  (Password can be provided by the Swank Digital Support Team if needed.)
2. View Available Network Interfaces

   • sudo netplan status

3. Set IP and Subnet Mask(Replace IPs with the appropriate addresses for your environment)

   • sudo netplan set ethernets.ens32.addresses=[10.1.1.11/24]

4. Set Default Gateway - (Replace IPs with the appropriate addresses for your environment)

   • sudo netplan set ethernets.ens32.routes='[{"to":"default", "via":"10.1.1.1"}]'

5. Set DNS Server Addresses - (Replace IPs with the appropriate addresses for your environment)

   • sudo netplan set ethernets.ens32.nameservers.addresses='[10.1.1.126, 10.1.1.195]'

6. Apply Network Configuration Changes

   • sudo netplan apply

7. Manually Edit Netplan Config - Netplan can also be configured via a file editor, like vi or nano. More information can be obtained by consulting: Netplan | Canonical Netplan

   • sudo vi /etc/netplan/50-cloud-config.yaml

8. Confirming IP Address
   1. From another machine on the network, you can confirm the ip address by pinging the address selected.
   2. You can also visit the Web UI of the server:
      
      • Ex: https://10.82.240.232
      • 
      • Note: There is a security error in the browser due to the SSL certificate.  You will need to setup a swankmp.net subdomain in your local DNS so you can access the server without this warning. 
        
        • Ex: ls001.swankmp.net A 10.82.240.232

DNS Requirements

Due to SSL requirements of the Cached License Server a subdomain DNS record for the swankmp.net domain is required to associate to the Cached License Server deployment.  

Example:  192.168.1.220   A             yourdomain.swankmp.net

This allows for access to the server to be performed over SSL and match the certificate installed on the server:

https://yoursubdomain.swankmp.net/services/api/v1/licenses?portalId=[guid]

Use with Swank Streaming Server will require a local DNS Entry directing the calls for wvlsmod-localv2.swankmp.net to the local IP address of the License Server. 

Portal ID

This section pertains to Third Party Integration Partners Only.

Each deployment of the Cached License Server is assigned a unique identifier referred to as Portal ID.   The Portal ID is required as a part of the API calls to the license server and its use is described in more detail in the activation process described in the Swank Cached License Server User Guide.

 4. Activation

The license server image must be activated prior to use. Activation requires an internet connection. Swank will provide an activation code separately from the License server. Each license server a unique activation code. Activation can be performed in one of two ways

• A user interface is available via a browser at https://yoursubdomain.swankmp.net/activation/.
• API activation is available via the example curl command shown below. Replace YOUR_URL_ENCODED_ACTIVATION_CODE with the provided activation code.

curl 'https://yoursubdomain.swankmp.net/activation/api/v1/activate' -H 'content-type: application/json' -X POST --data '{activationCode: "YOUR_URL_ENCODED_ACTIVATION_CODE"}'

When using the API a successful response is in the following form:

{ "success": true,
"errorMessage": null 
}

In the event of an error, the value of "success" will be "false" and "errorMessage" will contain a message describing the failure. Do not base the success of the API call on the status code as all activation requests are returned with an HTTP 200 status code, including responses that are not successful.

Note: One important thing to note, every few minutes the activation service will check the MAC address to make sure it hasn’t changed since activation.  If the MAC address is changed the box will no longer function and will require re-activation.  Once the server is reactivated it will function normally again.

5. Ingesting Licenses

Swank Motion Pictures delivers licenses and keys to the customer over the internet. Licenses are requested by the license server to Swank to retrieve licenses. The License server is required to have an occasional connection to the internet in order to pull these licenses for playback to occur. 

6. Device Certificate Updates

Google requires that our license server stays up to date with its latest device certificates.  The server will attempt to call home to Swank Motion Pictures on a daily basis to check for any device cert updates.  Swank Motion Pictures has a nightly process that will retrieve any device cert updates from Google and will provide this file to any license servers calling home.  It is understood that at times the server may not have internet access, but it is recommended that the server have an internet connection at least once a month so that it can download any new device certificates. 

7. Customer Support

The license server has a limited account that can be used by the customer to help with troubleshooting if there is a problem.  There are several logs on the server that can be accessed if an issue is suspected.  These can be found in the /var/log/swank directory. 

• activation.log – contains information regarding server activation.
• services_ingest.log – contains information regarding ingests that have been done on the server.
• licenses_widevine.log – contains information written by the service that manages the issuing of Widevine licenses. 
• license_server_services.log – contains information written by other swank services.  One such service is the syncing of license data from the Swank cloud to the server. 

Note: The customer account cannot traverse to this directory, but you can run the following command to copy the logs to your home directory:

cp -r /var/log/swank ~

Once copied you can use a scp command line tool or a program such as WinSCP to copy the files to their local machine and then email them to us.