Subscriber Discussion

Building An Exacq Linux VMS Server

RL
Robb Larsen
Jun 18, 2015

I was looking to build a linux based exacq server as a lower cost option for customers. I've used embedded NVRs in the past with good results, but I find exacq much more user friendly. Goal was to get the server at a comparable price as the embedded to help alleviate customer tech questions.

Installing ubuntu and exacq was easy enough, but mounting the second drive (that I was using for video storage) was not. I got the drive mounted so that the OS could see it, but could not get the exacq software to recognize. I looked through the knowledge base and found a single PDF for mounting drives, but it left a lot to be desired.

Has anyone run into this before? I ended up just buying a copy of Windows to get it operational, but I'm curious if anyone has completed such an install and had more positive results with building a linux server.

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Ryan Hulse
Jun 19, 2015

Disclaimer: I am the product manager for exacqVision.

Disclaimer #2: I am not a Linux expert.

I am not sure which KB article you found. I asked Support for any suggestions and they recommended this article:

KB 14517

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Jun 22, 2015
I have no experience with exaqvision on linux, but i may be able to shed some light on the problem you are having. Under windows, each drive usually gets a letter, like c or d, asociated with it. Under linux, there are no drive letters. Everything lives somewhere below the root directory, or /. When you mount a drive in linux, you asociate a folder under / with the drive. Actually you asociate a partition on the drive, but its not important as you are using the whole harddrive. If you have two physical harddrives in the box, then your drives, and the partitions on them, will each have a device file created at boot under /dev. Your os usually end up on /dev/sda5 or something like that. Your extra disk will probably have device file /dev/sdb1. To give a short and incomplete demonstration, you may open a terminal window and do as follows: First you create the folder, by typing in this: sudo mkdir /mnt/mydrivename Then you mount it: sudo mount -t auto /dev/sdb1 /mnt/mydrivename Then you change file permissions, so the vms can write to the drive: sudo chmod -R 777 /mnt/mydrivename Now everything saved under /mnt/mydrivename will end up on the second drive. The chmod line is the quick, dirty and unsafe way to do things, so dont use it on a production system. Set up users and permissions properly for that. But the fun isn't over yet. You now will have to configure /etc/fstab with the correct settings, or the extra drive will not be mounted after a restart. And then everything saved under /mnt/mydrivename will be saved on the first drive, in stead of the second. So, in short, there is some stuff you need to read and understand, before you make the jump to linux.
RL
Robb Larsen
Jun 23, 2015

Thank you both. Ryan, that is the KB PDF I found, but thought it somewhat confusing/incomplete (or I just did it wrong which is certainly possible).

Undisclosed A, I had everything entered except for changing file permissions so maybe thats where I went wrong. While I'm not new to linux (been working on creating a jukebox/old touch bar game system out of an older commercial ticket dispenser kiosk and of course creating random things with my Raspberry Pi), I am certainly no expert. It shows by the number of open browser tabs I have by the end of the night haha. Thanks again.

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