Install WiretapCentral on a dedicated system

To install on Linux, in a terminal as root go to the directory to which the files were unpacked, run the installer with the command INSTALL.

On OS X, whether on the DVD or the DMG file, the WiretapCentral is found in the Standalone Installers folder. Run the app and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Parent topic: WiretapCentral and Wiretap Gateway

Set up user access control

By default, no user name or password is needed to use WiretapCentral. All jobs submitted from it to Backburner are owned by the user apache. So all users can perform operations on any job. The user apache can be given administrator privileges for Backburner, which allows all users to manage and control all jobs on the Backburner network, including Burn jobs.

For greater control, use the Apache server’s authentication mechanism on the root directory of WiretapCentral, which requires users to submit a user name and password. Then WiretapCentral jobs on the Backburner network have specific user names associated with them and only the owner of a job can perform operations upon it. Specific users can be given administrator privileges so they can control Backburner jobs other than their own.

The first step in setting up user authentication is to password-protect the directory (and subdirectories) from which the WiretapCentral Web page is served by adding standard server directives to the main Apache configuration file /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf (Linux) or /etc/apache2/httpd.conf. Open for editing the main Apache configuration file, (OS X) and append this: 
# WiretapCentral User Authentication Section
<Directory /var/www/html/wiretapcentral>
AuthType Basic
AuthName WireTapCentral
AuthUserFile /etc/httpd/auth/wiretapcentral.auth
<Limit GET POST>
require valid-user
</Limit>
</Directory>
Restart the Apache server for the changes to take effect.

Next create a password file containing user names and passwords with the Apache htpasswd command to add users to the wiretapcentral.auth file.

To give some users admin permissions:

  1. On the workstation where the Backburner Manager is installed, open for editing /usr/discreet/backburner/cfg/wiretap.cfg.
  2. Update the BackburnerAdministrators keyword, use a comma-separate list of users, for example: BackburnerAdministrators=backburner, apache, wiretapcentral, admin. Save the file.
  3. To verify that administrator privileges have been successfully applied to the user account, first, on the workstation where the Backburner Manager is installed, restart the Backburner Manager so it picks up the new settings:
    • Linux: /etc/init.d/backburner restart
    • OS X: /usr/discreet/backburner/backburner_manager restart
  4. Log in to WiretapCentral as the administrator account, and attempt to suspend a job that belongs to a different user. If the suspension operation is successful, the administrator privileges have been applied. A “permission denied” error message indicates that the account does not have administrator privileges.

Web browser configuration

The WiretapCentral graphical user interface runs in any browser that supports the Adobe Flash Player plug-in, version 9 or later. Point the browser to http://<hostname>/WiretapCentral. On Creative Finishing workstations, the DKU installs the Adobe Flash Player.

Configure applications to access WiretapCentral

If the Creative Finishing application is running, exit it before configuring.

For Linux, in a terminal, as root, open for editing init.cfg, in a text editor. Change the value of the WiretapCentralUrl keyword to refer to the system where WiretapCentral was installed, for example: WiretapCentralUrl   http://server1/WiretapCentral/. Save and close the file.

On OS X, run Setup from Applications / Autodesk / <product> / Utilities. Enter the URL of WiretapCentral in the WiretapCentral Url field, in the General tab. For example: http://server1/WiretapCentral/.

Test the setup

  1. Verify the render farm from WiretapCentral: open WiretapCentral in a Web browser: http://<hostname>/WiretapCentral
  2. Select Backburner Monitor from the Tools menu or from http://<hostname>/WiretapCentral/bbmon.html.
  3. Ensure the machine where Backburner Manager was set up appears in the Backburner Manager drop-down list.
  4. Select the manager for the render farm and then click the Servers tab. A list of all the Backburner Servers assigned to the selected manager appears.
  5. Make sure the servers are in the list, and that “mio” is listed in the Adapters column for each of them.
  6. Click the Server Groups tab, and check the node groups are listed.