MACROMEDIA FLASH MEDIA SERVER 2-MANAGING FLASH MEDIA... User manual

Managing Flash Media Server

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Acknowledgments
Project Management: Suzanne Smith
Writing: John Norton, Suzanne Smith
Editing: Geta Carlson, Evelyn Eldridge, Mary Ferguson, Lisa Stanziano, Anne Szabla
Production Management: Adam Barnett
Media Design and Production: Aaron Begley, Paul Benkman, John Francis, Mario Reynoso
First Edition: October 2005
Macromedia, Inc.
600 Townsend St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

3
Contents
About This Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Intended audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
System requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
About the Flash Media Server documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Typographical conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Additional resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Chapter 1: Managing the Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Basic server settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Registering client applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Configuring virtual hosts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Deploying server-side scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Starting and stopping the server in Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Starting and stopping the server on Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Using the management console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Connecting to the management console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Managing applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Creating a new application instance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Managing the administrative users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Managing the servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Managing servers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Viewing server details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Viewing connection details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Viewing application details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Viewing license files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Viewing the server log file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Logging client connections and other system events . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Access log file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Application log file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Diagnostic log file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Configuring logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Viewing server events in the Windows event viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Configuring the server at runtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

4Contents
Managing Flash Media Server on Linux. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Starting the Flash Media Admin Service in Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Starting the Flash Media Admin Service on Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Using the fmsmgr utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Chapter 2: Deploying Flash Media Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Typical configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Configuration for development and testing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Deploying on one computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Deploying on two computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Deploying on two computers with authentication
through Flash Media Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Deploying on two computers with authentication
through an application server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
SSL support in Flash Media Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Defining a secure port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Configuring SSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Creating multiple certificates for an adaptor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Configuring independent virtual hosts for SSL application . . . . . . . 66
About configuration levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
About the configuration hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Adding adaptors and virtual hosts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Server administration over HTTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Configuring Flash Media Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Using the admin commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Symbolic text substitutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Making a substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Predefined symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Mapping environment variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Defining symbols outside the substitution.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Building the symbol map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Configurable application object properties for server-side scripting . 82
Chapter 3: Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
XML configuration files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Server.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Summary of Server.xml tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Description of Server.xml tags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Users.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Summary of Users.xml tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Description of Users.xml tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Logger.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Summary of Logger.xml tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Description of Logger.xml tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Contents 5
Adaptor.xml file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Summary of Adaptor. xml tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148
Description of Adaptor.xml tags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Vhost.xml file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162
Summary of Vhost.xml tags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164
Description of Vhost.xml tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Application.xml file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
Summary of Application.xml tags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186
Description of Application.xml tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190
Chapter 4: Flash Media Server Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Managing server security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215
About authentication and authorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218
JavaScript security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219
Secure script loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Protecting objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
Permissions levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Choosing passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Access DLL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Configuring Access DLL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Sample Adaptor.cpp file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Developing secure applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Using SSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Using other secure development practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
About privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
Deploying secure applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
About firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
Log file precautions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

6Contents

7
About This Manual
Macromedia Flash Media Server 2 enables one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and
many-to-many communication in real time between applications created in Macromedia
Flash 8. Developers create these applications using ActionScript, a scripting language based on
the same standard used by the JavaScript language.
Flash Media Server communicates with Macromedia Flash Player using the Real-Time
Messaging Protocol (RTMP), an unencrypted TCP/IP protocol designed for high-speed
transmission of audio, video, and data messages. You can also administer the server over
HTTP. You can use the same server administration application programming interface (API)
over HTTP as you would over RTMP. By passing command strings and arguments to the
URL of your Flash Media Server, you can interact with the server to retrieve information or
modify the server configuration. This API is described in detail in the Server Management
ActionScript Language Reference, included with Flash Media Server.
This manual describes how to configure and manage Flash Media Server to support media
applications deployed on a variety of network configurations. The rest of this chapter provides
system requirements, describes the Flash Media Server documentation, and lists additional
resources.
Flash Media Server enables applications to communicate with other servers. This manual does
not discuss web server and application server management or server operating system setup.
Intended audience
This manual is aimed at system administrators who will configure and manage Flash Media
Server to support media applications. You should already be familiar with basic network
infrastructure and security. You should also have some familiarity with client-server
application models, XML, and JavaScript.

8AboutThisManual
System requirements
Flash Media Server can be deployed on the following systems:
■Microsoft Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2003 Server - Standard Edition running on
a Pentium III 1-GHz processor or faster (Dual Pentium 4 or faster recommended).
Windows XP is acceptable for developing and testing applications.
■Linux Red Hat Enterprise Version 3.0 and Linux Red Hat Enterprise Version 4.0 running
on a Pentium III 1-GHz processor or faster (Dual Pentium 4 or faster recommended).
Your deployment system for Flash Media Server applications also requires the following:
■Minimum of 512 MB of available RAM.
■50 MB of available disk space.
■CD-ROM drive for installation.
Depending on your applications, your requirements might be greater than outlined here.
If you install Flash Media Server on a Linux computer, you’ll need Flash 8 installed on a
separate Windows or Macintosh computer to develop your Flash applications. You’ll also need
Macromedia Flash Player for Windows or Macintosh and a web browser to run the sample
applications.
About the Flash Media Server
documentation
All Flash Media Server documents are available in PDF format (viewable and printable with
AdobeAcrobatReaderatwww.adobe.com/products/acrobat/)and asFlash help. The PDFs
are available on the product CD or can be downloaded from the Macromedia website. To
view the help, open the Welcome page (in Windows, Start > Programs > Macromedia > Flash
Media Server > Welcome) or in Flash 8, select Help > Using Flash and then select a Flash
Media Server topic from the Table of Contents.
Tutorials on how to build simple applications that demonstrate important individual concepts
are included with the server. You can access these tutorials on Windows by selecting Start >
Programs > Macromedia > Flash Media Server > Welcome. Click on Welcome and then
Sample Applications. A link to the tutorials appears on the page that is displayed.

Additional resources 9
Typographical conventions
The following typographical conventions are used in this book:
■Code font indicates ActionScript statements, XML tag and attribute names, and literal
text used in examples.
■Italic indicates placeholder elements in code or paths. For example, /settings/myPrinter/
means that you should specify your own location for myPrinter.
■Directory paths are written with backslashes (\) for servers running on Microsoft
Windows systems. If you are running Flash Media Server on a UNIX system, replace the
backslashes with forward slashes (/).
Additional resources
The Flash Media Server documentation was written before the code in the product was
complete. Therefore, there may be discrepancies between the final implementation of the
product’s features and how they are documented in this manual. For a list of known
discrepancies, see thedocumentation update (www.macromedia.com/go/
flashmediaserver_documentation_update_en)intheFlash Support Center
(www.macromedia.com/go/flashmediaserver_support_en).
The Flash Support Center is updated regularly with the latest information on Flash and Flash
Media Server, as well as advice from expert users, advanced topics, examples, tips, and other
updates.

10 About This Manual

11
1
CHAPTER 1
Managing the Server
As a Flash Media Server administrator, you’ll need to perform several administrative tasks after
the server is installed. This chapter describes how Macromedia Flash Media Server is
configured when you first install it, how to set up additional administrators, and how to
monitor the server’s activity. For many of these tasks, you’ll use the management console that
was installed with the server. This chapter describes the management console in detail.
Basic server settings
The server is installed with a set of configuration files in XML format. These files define a
default server adaptor, a default applications directory, default server administrators, and
default settings for application behavior.
The default server adaptor uses port 1935, the number assigned to Flash Media Server by the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (www.iana.org). Although you can use any port
number, this increases the risk of conflicting with another application that may be assigned to
the same port; for example, if you configure the server to use port 80 to support HTTP
tunneling, the server might not run both a web server and the Flash Media Server bound to
port 80. Applications must be authored to connect to the same port the server is using, in the
NetConnection.connect statement. Be sure the port is not blocked by a firewall.
The server is preconfigured with one adaptor containing one virtual host. The virtual host is
equivalent to a domain name. The default applications directory for the default virtual host is
the applications directory in the Flash Media Server 2 directory. You can view this location by
looking at the value for the AppsDir tag in the vhost.xml file. This directory is where the
server will look for application subdirectories at startup; you must place an application
subdirectory here for each client application that you plan to connect to the server, and the
client subdirectory must have the same name as the client application. The presence of the
application subdirectory registers the application with the server.

12 Managing the Server
You can configure Flash Media Server 2 as an origin or edge server, configure adaptors and
virtual hosts and change the location of the applications directory by editing the server’s
configuration files and creating directories in the server’s conf directory. For more
information, see Chapter 2, “Deploying Flash Media Server.”
The default server administrator has the user name and password you chose during the Flash
Media Server installation, and is defined in the Users.xml configuration file. The server
administrator can connect to the Admin service with the management console and perform a
variety of server administration tasks, including shutting down the server and disconnecting
client applications. In the nomenclature of server administration, this server administrator is
equivalent to the UNIX superuser.
Virtual host administrators can only perform tasks relating to the applications running on
their own virtual host. There are no virtual host administrators defined when the server is first
installed. Server administrators, including the default server administrator defined during
installation, have access to all virtual hosts. Server administrators can add or delete virtual host
administrators using the management console.
Registering client applications
The server is configured at installation with one adaptor directory named _defaultRoot_
containing one virtual host directory named _defaultVHost_. The server defines its virtual
hosts at startup by searching for directories within the adaptor directory that contain valid
Vhost.xml files, such as the _defaultVHost_ directory. At the same time, the server defines
each application that will be allowed to connect to a virtual host by looking for application
directories inside a directory specified by the AppsDir tag in the Vhost.xml file (by default,
the applications directory in the Flash Media Server directory).
For example, if you create an application named my_app, you must create a my_app
subdirectory in the applications directory to register my_app.
You can specify the directory you want to use to store your client application directories by
editing the AppsDir tag in the Vhost.xml file. By changing the path specified in this tag, you
can locate the directory for the virtual host anywhere you want. If no directory is specified, it
defaults to the virtual host directory itself.

Basic server settings 13
To edit the <AppsDir> tag in the Vhost.xml file:
1. Locate the Vhost.xml file for the virtual host you are working with.
2. Open the file in a text editor.
3. Replace the path inside the AppsDir tag with the path of your choice, such as C:\Server
Files\applications. Do not use quotation marks. To specify multiple directories, delimit
each directory path with a semicolon.
4. Save the Vhost.xml file.
You must restart the server in order for this change to take effect.
Once you have specified the directory where you’ll store your application directories, you
must create a directory inside it for each client application you plan to use with that virtual
host. Each client application must have a directory with the same name that the client
application uses when connecting to the server. Once you have created a subdirectory for each
of your applications, you can decide whether to give any of the applications their own
Application.xml file. By including an Application.xml file in a client application’s directory,
you can give that application different settings from those defined in the virtual host’s
Application.xml file, which serve as the default settings for applications on the virtual host.
For more information about the Application.xml file, see Chapter 2, “Deploying Flash Media
Server.”
Configuring virtual hosts
With some editions of the server, you can add virtual hosts to the server’s configuration. This
is useful for separating sets of applications and allows you to define administrators who have
access only to a specific virtual host. It is also useful if you are an Internet Service Provider
who is hosting websites using Flash Media Server.
Each virtual host on the server is associated with an adaptor.
To create a new virtual host, create a new virtual host directory inside the /conf/adaptor_name
directory in the Flash Media Server directory, for the adaptor you want to use for the new
virtual host: /conf/adaptor_name/virtual_host_name. This directory must include the
following configuration files:
■Vhost.xml
■Application.xml
■Users.xml
■Logger.xml
You also need to add the new virtual host to the Server.xml file and add administrative users
for that virtual host.

14 Managing the Server
Deploying server-side scripts
In developing applications for Flash Media Server, you may decide to use server-side scripts to
implement some of the functionality. To deploy server-side scripts, you can store them in your
registered application directory for the application that uses them or in a scripts directory
(which you create) within your application directory. Server-side scripts should always reside
on the computer where Flash Media Server 2 is installed.
For example, you could store the main.asc file for my_app in the following directory:
installation_directory/applications/my_app/scripts.
If you create server-side scripts that use characters that are not in the classic 8-bit ASCII
character set, such as non-English characters, you must use a text editor that encodes text in
UTF-8 format. Macromedia Dreamweaver can encode text in this format.
Script files that are encoded in UTF-8 format must be transferred to the server via a binary
file transfer.
For more information about using server-side scripts, see Developing Media Applications.
Starting and stopping the server in Windows
In Windows, Flash Media Server runs as a service; it does not appear in the Windows taskbar.
Therefore, you don’t shut down or restart the server as you would for other Windows
applications.
You can shut down and restart the server in a few ways:
■Use the management console to connect to the server and then shut it down or halt it
remotely. Only server administrators can perform these tasks.
For more information, see “Using the management console” on page 16.
■Use the Windows Services control panel.
To start or stop the server:
In the Start menu, select Programs > Macromedia > Flash Media Server 2> Start Service or
Stop Service.
To stop the server in the Services control panel:
1. In the Windows Start menu, select Settings > Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panels folder, double-click the Administrative Tools folder.
3. In the Administrative Tools folder, open the Services control panel.

Basic server settings 15
4. In the Services list, scroll down and select Flash Media Server.
5. Click the Stop button at the top of the control panel.
The server shuts down.
To restart the server in the Services control panel:
1. Open the Services control panel.
2. Select Flash Media Server.
3. Click the Start button at the top of the control panel.
The server starts up.
Starting and stopping the server on Linux
On Linux systems, Flash Media Server is installed as a service. You start and stop the Flash
Media Server service using the fmsmgr utility.
To start the server on Linux:
1. Log in as a root user.
2. Change to the directory where the server is installed.
3. Open a shell window and type the following:
fmsmgr server fms start
To stop the server on Linux:
1. Log in as a root user.
2. Change to the directory where the server is installed.
3. Open a shell window and type the following:
fmsmgr server fms stop
Use the fmsmgr utility to perform other tasks as well, such as configuring the service to start
automatically when the system is started. For more information on this and other tasks, see
“Using the fmsmgr utility” on page 58.
To start the Admin service on a Linux system:
1. Log in as a root user.
2. Change to the directory where the server is installed.
3. Open a shell window and type the following:
fmsmgr server adminserver start
For more information on fmsmgr commands, see “Using the fmsmgr utility” on page 58.

16 Managing the Server
Using the management console
The management console for the Flash Media Server 2 release has been redesigned to ease the
workflow for administrators. It is also enhanced with many new features. From the graphical
user interface, you can administer servers running Flash Media Server, monitor their
processes, and debug their applications.
For example, a designer debugging an application wants to view the content of a particular
stream. The administrator logs in to the Flash Media Administrative service through the
management console, selects the application and then clicks its Streams tab. They select the
desired stream from the list and can replay it within the management console by selecting the
Play Streams option.
Another user debugging a different application wants to review the contents of a shared object
implemented in their application and examine the properties in this shared object. The user
logs into the management console and selects the application. The user moves to the Shared
Objects tab and selects the shared object. The management console displays the object's data
properties in the adjoining window.
The management console is a Flash application (fmsconsole.swf) that Macromedia created
with public APIs (application programming interfaces). When you install Flash Media Server
2 on Windows or Linux systems, the installer places fmsconsole.html in the Flash Media
Server 2\directory [the root of the installed directory]. If you have Flash Player installed, you
can monitor and control the server’s activity by launching the management console and
connecting to the server.
To run the management console from a computer other than the computer where the server is
installed, copy fmsconsole.html and fmsconsole.swf to the other computer, or make sure that
this file is in your webroot directory so it can be accessed remotely. In both cases, you’ll need
to make sure that the Allow and Deny tags in the Users.xml file allow the connection from the
other computer’s IP address.
For more information, see “Server administration over HTTP” on page 71.
With the management console you can perform the following tasks:
■Check the status of the server and the applications running on it.
■Shut down or restart the server, a virtual host, or individual client applications.
■Add and edit administrators.
■View server performance data such as client connections, bandwidth, CPU, and memory
usage.

Using the management console 17
■View application logs.
■View logs of server connections and other server events.
■View streams and inspect shared object data.
■View and update the server’s license key and its bandwidth and connection limits.
As a security feature, when you connect to the server with the management console, it actually
connects to a separate Admin service that runs in parallel with the server service. The Admin
service then communicates with the server to perform its administration functions. On both
Linux and Windows systems, you must first explicitly start the Admin service. After the
Admin service is started, authorized administrators can access the management console.
Connecting to the management console
You can access the management console from computers running Windows, Linux or
Macintosh operating systems.
To connect to the management console:
1. In Windows, from the Windows Start menu, select Programs > Macromedia > Flash Media
Server > Console. In Linux, open the fmsconsole.html file in a web browser on a computer
where Flash Player is installed.

18 Managing the Server
2. Enter the name and address of the server or virtual host you want to connect to.
■You can enter localhost, which will refer to the computer that the management console
is running on.
■If you are connecting remotely by running the management console on another
computer, enter the server’s name (FMS.myCompany.com) or the IP address and port
number of the server you want to connect to (12.34.56.78:1112).
■Make sure your computer has permission to connect to the specified port on the other
computer.
3. Enter the administrator’s user name and password.
Enter the name and password you entered during the Flash Media Server installation. If
you’ve changed the administrator user name and password using the management console
or manually in the Users.xml file, enter the new user name and password.
When logging on to a virtual host that is not on the default adaptor, virtual host
administrators must specify the name of the adaptor. For example, if a virtual host
administrator is logging on to a virtual host on the adaptor _secondAdaptor_, the
administrator JLee would enter the following information in the Name box:
_secondAdaptor_/JLee.
4. If you want the management console to remember your login and password when you use
it in the future, select the Remember My Password option.
5. If you want the management console to automatically connect to the server when you open
it, select the Automatically Connect Me option.
Click the Login button.
6. Click the Revert button to return the management console to its default settings.
Be aware that this action will delete all saved servers, user names, and passwords from the
management console. All custom resizing within the management console will be restored
to the original state.
The Revert button, however, does not affect the server.
You are now connected to the server. At this point you can go to the three main sections of the
management console:
■View Applications
■Manage Users
■Manage Servers

Managing applications 19
Setting the refresh rate
The management console provides live performance data on the server. You can use the
Refresh Rate pop-up menu to control how often the information displayed on the
management console is updated. The default rate is five seconds. You can also use the pop-up
menu to pause refreshing the information.
Accessing Flash Media Server resources and help
Near the top of every screen of the management console you will find two icons. Clicking the
folder icon displays links to the following resources:
■Flash Media Server website
■Related resources
These organizations provide additional educational and consulting resources for a
successful implementation.
■Online forums
■Support Center
■Release Notes
■Enhancement Requests and Bugs
■Designer/Developer Center
■Customer Service
Clicking the question mark icon displays links to Flash Media Server online help and
documentation.
Managing applications
The View Applications panes display information about the applications that are running on
the specified server or virtual host. From these panes the server or virtual hosts administrator
can monitor the state of an application.
Here are some likely uses of the management console:
■A developer wants to see the statistics on how many clients are connected to the
application, and view the live log, which shows the trace() statements made by the
application.
■A user debugging their application wants to see what the content of a particular stream
playing back is. They log in to the management console and click the View Applications
panel. After choosing a particular stream and pressing Play Stream, a pop-up window
appears and plays back the streaming content inside the management console.

20 Managing the Server
■A user debugging another application now desires to see the contents of a shared object
that they have implemented in their application. Specifically they would like to examine
the properties in this shared object. Now the user logs into the management console and
selects their application. After the application is selected, the user moves to the Shared
Objects tab and select the shared object of choice. The object's properties are now
displayed for examination in the adjoining window.
When you select the View Applications tab, you will find a series of tabs displayed along the
top of this pane. Clicking the tabs lets the administrator perform the following administrative
actions on a selected application:
■Review the selected application’s log file as it records events.
■Monitor the clients connecting to the application.
■View the streams and shared objects running in the application.
■Review the performance statistics for the computer where the application is running.
■Reload the application.
The Reload button lets you reload an application instance that is currently connected to
the server. You might do this to reload the instance’s server-side scripts or to disconnect all
of its users while immediately allowing new connections.
■Unload the application.
The Unload button lets you drop an application instance. To unload an application
instance, select it from the Applications menu and click Unload. This disconnects all
clients to the instance.
If the application has more than one instance running on the server, only the selected
instance is stopped.