Using the Software Manager to Upgrade Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Software, Language Packs, and Fonts
First Published: 2017-11-15
This module describes using the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Software Manager to:
■Upgrade an existing server already running Cisco Vision Director (Release 5.0 or later) to a later release in the supported upgrade path.
■Install language packs and fonts.
This module includes the following topics:
■Best Practices
■Prerequisites
■Information About Using the Software Manager to Update Existing Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Software
■Upgrade Tasks
■Installing Language Packs
■Installing Fonts
■What to Do Next
Best Practices
Caution: Do not alter the RAID configuration prior to upgrade.
Before you begin upgrading an existing Cisco StadiumVision Director or Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director server, consider the following best practices:
■Choose an appropriate down time to perform the upgrade on the server when there is adequate time to complete and verify the upgrade before any scheduled events and to allow time to resolve any unexpected issues that might occur.
■See Release Notes for Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 6.0 for the latest information about hardware and software requirements, changes, important notes, and caveats for your software release.
■Pay particular attention to the required hardware and software versions for other devices supporting your Cisco Vision solution and be sure that you upgrade those devices as needed. For example, generally only certain firmware versions are supported for the DMP hardware, or a new firmware version is needed to provide additional functionality supported by the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director software.
■Perform a backup and restore of the primary and secondary servers:
–Perform a backup of the currently active primary server.
–Restore the backup data onto the standby secondary server.
Note: The config service must be running on the secondary server to do the restore.
For more information about performing a backup and restore on a Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Server, see the “Backing Up and Restoring Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Servers” module of the Cisco Vision Administration Guide: Dynamic Signage Director.
■Promote the secondary server to primary.
For more information about promoting a secondary server to primary, see the “Configuring Failover Between Redundant Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Servers module of the Cisco Vision Administration Guide: Dynamic Signage Director.
■Access the promoted secondary server to perform the upgrade.
■Verify the boot order in the BIOS (by pressing F2 while booting) prior to upgrading; the virtual DVD should be the primary boot device for the Platform 3 server.
■Due to the difficulty in recovering from an interrupted installation process if the Linux shell is accidentally closed or the network drops, it is highly recommended that you use a server console connection method that does not pose a risk to the success of upgrade completion if the session breaks during upgrade.
This can be done using a monitor and keyboard that are directly connected to the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director server to log into the web browser interface.
Prerequisites
Be sure that the following requirements are met before you upgrade your server:
■Your server is running a minimum of Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 5.0.0-526 (SP2) or higher.
■You have determined that your system is ready for an upgrade from Release 5.0. See Preparing a Release 5.0 System for Upgrade to Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 6.0..
■You have the IP address for the server where you want to upload the ISO upgrade image. You will need to use this information as part of the URL to access the ISO upload utility.
■You have a supported browser version for Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director. For more information about the latest supported browsers, see Release Notes for Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 6.0.
Preparing a Release 5.0 System for Upgrade to Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 6.0.
Note: This section should be read and the tasks performed only if you are using Cisco DMP 4310Gs in a Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 5.0 system.
Caution: Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 6.0 does not support Cisco DMP 4310G devices, Flash files (including legacy ticker files), or GAR files. The Cisco DMP 4310G devices, Flash and legacy ticker files must be removed from your system prior to upgrade or the upgrade ISO to Release 6.0 will not proceed.
■Replacing DMPs
■Updating Playlists
■Removing Unsupported Content
■Exporting a Device List
■Unlinking Cisco DMP 4310Gs From Locations
Replacing DMPs
Be aware that if you choose to replace the DMP 4310Gs with Series 2 DMPs, then you can perform this replacement in your Release 6.0 system before you upgrade. However, if you plan to replace them with the newer Series 3 DMPs, then you must wait until after you upgrade to Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 6.0.
Updating Playlists
■Be sure to plan for the removal of legacy content types that are no longer supported in Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 6.0.
■Go through your playlists to remove any referenced content that is unsupported in Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 6.0.
■Minimally plan to prepare your new content, and ideally replace that content prior to upgrade.
Removing Unsupported Content
Delete the following content from your Release 5.0 system prior to upgrade:
■Flash files
■Legacy ticker files
■Self-Service Content accounts
■Self-Service Content user information
■GAR files
Note: Best practice is to remove the GAR files prior to upgrade because you will not have access to those files after you upgrade. However, if you should have GAR files that remain in the system, the upgrade to Release 6.0 will still proceed.
Exporting a Device List
Export a device list so that the information can be used later to help you reassign your new DMPs. For more information, see Cisco Vision Director Bulk Administration Tool.
1. Go to Control Panel > Setup > Devices > Locations & DMPs.
2. Click Export.
3. When the Export box displays, click Download.
4. When the “Select location for download” window appears, type the name of the.txt file that you want to save, or accept the default name and click Save.
5. Save a master copy of the originally exported device list.
Unlinking Cisco DMP 4310Gs From Locations
Unlink your existing Cisco DMP 4310Gs from locations. You can do this manually, or use the BAT tool do update the device list that you exported.
For more information about how to use BAT to update entries, see Cisco Vision Director Bulk Administration Tool.
What To Do Next
■Upgrade your system to Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Release 6.0.
■Using the BAT tool, associate the replacement DMPs to the original DMP 4310G Locations.
Information About Using the Software Manager to Update Existing Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Software
The ISO upgrade procedure for Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director includes the following tasks:
1. Downloading an ISO service pack or upgrade file from the software download site on Cisco.com.
2. Uploading the ISO file from your laptop to the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director server using the Software Manager.
3. Installing the ISO image using the install function in the Software Manager.
ISO Upgrade Files
You can store multiple ISO upgrade files on a Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director server. The files will be displayed with a version number and the ISO filename in the Software Manager web browser interface for you to select which file to install.
Disk Maintenance
There is no automatic aging of ISO upgrade files, but you can delete files directly in the Software Manager. ISO files can also be deleted via the TUI: Troubleshooting > Disk Monitoring > Delete Files > Clean upgrade ISO files.
The Management Dashboard has a gauge for % Disk Utilization, or you can use the TUI to get file system usage.
Note: To conserve disk space if you have installed language packs in your current Release 5.0 system, use the Software Manager prior to upgrade to remove the Release 5.0 language files. There is no harm to the system if you do not remove them. However, the language files will not appear in the Software Manager for removal after you upgrade; they will remain in storage.
Upgrade Tasks
To upgrade your Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director server, complete the following tasks:
■Downloading ISO Upgrade Files from Cisco.com (required)
■Uploading and Installing an ISO Upgrade File on the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Server (required)
■Rebooting the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Server (required)
■Installing Language Packs (as required)
■Reactivating Custom Fonts (as required)
■Installing Language Packs (required)
■Installing Language Packs (required)
Downloading ISO Upgrade Files from Cisco.com
Be sure to download the upgrade files to a location, such as a laptop computer, where you can access them for installation onto the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director server.
To download an ISO upgrade file:
1. Go to the Cisco Vision Director software download site.
Note: This site page is available from the Cisco StadiumVision Director product support page by clicking Download Software > Cisco StadiumVision Director.
2. Select the ISO upgrade or service pack file (as available), and optionally the companion sha256checksum file, and download them.
Table 1 shows the filename conventions used for ISO upgrades.
Note: Be sure that you choose the ISO for SV-DIRECTOR.
Table 1 ISO Upgrade Filename Conventions
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|
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■SV-DIRECTOR-UPGRADE-6.0.0- 740. x86_64.iso ■SV-DIRECTOR-UPGRADE-6.0.0- 740. x86_64.iso.md5sum ■SV-DIRECTOR-UPGRADE-6.0.0- 740.x86_64.iso.sha256sum |
You can download the files using one of the following methods:
–Download both files at one time—Select each file and click Add to Cart. Then at the top of the download page, click the “Download Cart (2 items)” link.
–Download each file independently—Click the Download Now button in the file selection box for each file.
3. (Optional) To verify the integrity of your upgrade file from the download, you can use the Software Manager UI to verify the checksum on the.iso file.
The sha256 checksum is calculated by the system, and is shown on the Software Manager UI. Compare what is shown on the UI and the downloaded sha256 checksum.
The values should match. If they do not, retry the download.
Uploading and Installing an ISO Upgrade File on the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Server
After you have downloaded the ISO upgrade file from Cisco.com, you will use the Software Manager to both upload the file to the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director server. and to install the upgrade image.
Prerequisites
Be sure that you know the IP address of the server where you want to upload the file, and you have a supported browser version for Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director.
Task
To upload and install an ISO upgrade file on the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director server:
1. Log into Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director as an administrator.
2. From your browser, go to the following URL, where x.x.x.x is replaced by the IP address of the server where you want to upload the upgrade software.
3. Click Manage Software.
4. From the Upgrade tab, click Upload (Figure 1).
Figure 1 ISO File Selection and Upload
5. Navigate to the location of the ISO upgrade file that you downloaded from Cisco.com. Select the file that you want to upload and click Open. The file is sent to the server.
When the ISO upload is complete, one of the following occurs:
–When the image is validated and uploaded successfully, a message is displayed stating that the ISO image has been uploaded.
–The image upload failed for some reason and you will need to retry the upload again.
Caution: The upload might take several minutes. Do not refresh or reload the Software Manager page while the upload process is running. Any interruption will corrupt the ISO image being uploaded.
6. Click Install.
7. The installation process begins, and status messages are displayed.
8. After the installation is complete, Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director services are restarted.
Rebooting the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Server
To reboot the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director server:
1. Log into the TUI as installer.
The TUI Main Menu is displayed.
2. Go to the Cisco Vision Server Administration menu.
3. Select Reboot.
4. At the confirmation prompt, press Y to start the reboot process.
Reactivating Custom Fonts
If you have already installed custom fonts for use in the Widgets tool prior to upgrade, then you will need to reactivate those fonts from the Software Manager after you upgrade.
To reactivate custom fonts:
1. From the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director main menu, click Manage Software.
2. From the Software Manager screen, click Fonts.
3. Select the fonts to be activated.
4. Click Activate Selected.
Installing Language Packs
Note: Language packs are release-specific. You can install language packs for Release 6.0 when they become available, after you have installed or upgraded to the required 6.0 release.
You have increased flexibility to upload and install only the specific language(s) that you want to support through the independent installation of Language Packs as they become available for the release. The upload and installation of the language packs is performed using the new Software Manager from the Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director main menu.
To install language packs:
1. Download the desired language pack from Cisco.com.
2. Log into Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director as an administrator.
3. From the main menu, click Manage Software.
4. From the Software Manager screen, click Language Packs (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Language Packs Tab
5. Click Upload.
6. In the File Upload dialog box, navigate to the downloaded Language Pack RPM file, and click Open.
The language pack is sent to the server.
7. Click Install/Upgrade to install the language pack.
Note: If using a secondary Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director server, the language pack should be installed on both the primary and secondary servers.
8. (SV-4K and DMP-2K only) To transfer the locales to the SV-4K and DMP-2K media players, do the following:
a. From the Management Dashboard, go to:
DMP and TV Controls > DMP Install > Restore Default Settings
b. In the Select Devices panel, select the SV-4K, DMP-2K, Series3 CV-UHD, or Series3 CV-HD media player devices.
c. To execute the command, click the play (>) button located at bottom left of the panel.
9. Stage content to the media players.
For more information, see the “Staging Content to the Media Player” topic in the Cisco Vision Director Operations Guide.
Installing Fonts
Note: Follow these guidelines to install new fonts on your system for use in the Widgets tool—these fonts are not used for external HTML pages.
If you have already installed custom fonts prior to upgrade, then you only need to reactivate them. See Installing Language Packs.
This section includes the following topics:
■Guidelines for Installing Fonts
■Procedure
Guidelines for Installing Fonts
Note: In Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 4.1 and later releases, the unifont.ttf font is embedded in the media player firmware. This means that the font is available as a fallback font to external HTML pages that might not explicitly reference fonts in their CSS.
Consider the following guidelines before installing fonts:
■To save system memory on the media player, install fonts that have the minimal set of required characters.
■Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director can support approximately 30,000 installed glyphs.
■Asian languages like Chinese (which contain more glyphs) require more memory.
■The fallback font is Arial; it will be used as the default font in cases where the widget is referencing a font that is not available.
■Only True Type (.ttf) and OpenType (.otf) fonts are supported.
■Activating selected fonts compiles the font for use in the widgets SWF and on the Cisco DMP. These fonts are uploaded to the media player when content is staged.
■Fonts with style, or weight, or both are currently not supported in the Widgets tool.
If you need to use a font with these characteristics, in most cases you can use a font editor tool (such as FontForge) to alter the OS/2 fsSelection field (called “style map” in FontForge) in the font. Changing this to REGULAR in the bitfield (from BOLD + ITALIC, for example), is usually enough to get things working. After regenerating the font, re-upload and activate the font in Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director.
Procedure
To install fonts:
1. Obtain the desired fonts.
Note: Fonts must be TrueType (.ttf) or OpenType (.otf).
2. Log into Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director as an administrator.
3. From the main menu, click Manage Software.
4. From the Software Manager screen, click Fonts (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Fonts Tab
5. Click Upload.
6. In the Font Upload dialog box, do the following:
a. Click Browse.
b. Navigate to the location of your font file and click Open.
c. Click Upload.
7. Click the checkbox of the font to be activated.
8. Click Activate Selected to make the font available in Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director.
The fonts are compiled for use in the Widgets tool.
9. Stage content to the media player.
For more information, see the “Staging Content to the Media Player” topic in the Cisco Vision Director Operations Guide.