Configuration

VADAAR Sender requires a minor amount of configuration before launching to ensure your VADAAR environment remains secure. To continue with the configuration you will need:

• The address of the VADAAR (e.g. http://serverHost:8442).
• An Application Token retrieved from VADAAR. This can be retrieved from the VADAAR user interface by navigating to Settings > Resources.

note

If you login to VADAAR from the system you are configuring VADAAR Sender on, you can find all the information by navigating to Settings > Resources and selecting Sender in the Add Resource section.

Windows

1. Configure the values using one of the following methods:

   Method	Steps
   Environment Variables	Refer to your distribution's documentation for setting environment variables.
   Command Line Arguments	Edit the shortcut properties and append the following to the "Target:":--server-url <server-url> --application-token <application-token>.Where <server-url> and <application-token> are the values of the server address and Application Token, respectively. The text box should look something like the following: "C:\Program Files\VADAAR Sender\sender.exe" --server-url https://vadaar.com:8442 --application-token abcd1234. The following argument is optional: --device-identifier <device-name>. Where <device-name> is a unique name to identify the Sender.

2. Launch VADAAR Sender from the shortcut in the Start menu.

Result: Sender is running in the background and connected to Server.

Linux

1. Configure the values using one of the following methods:

   Method	Steps
   Environment Variables	Refer to your distribution's documentation for setting environment variables.
   Command Line Arguments	Edit /usr/share/applications/vadaar-sender.desktop and append the following to the Exec= line: --server-url <server-url> --application-token <application-token>. Where <server-url> and <application-token> are the values of the server address and Application Token, respectively. The line should look something like the following: Exec=/opt/vadaar-sender/sender --server-url https://vadaar.com:8442 --application-token abcd1234. The following argument is optional: --device-identifier <device-name>. Where <device-name> is a unique name to identify the Sender.

2. Configure any firewalls on the system.

3. Launch VADAAR Sender from the "Applications" menu under "Other".

Result: Sender is running in the background and connected to Server.

Required Configuration

Command Line Argument	Environment Variable	Description
--server-url	SENDER_SERVER_URL	The VADAAR Server URL.
--application-token	SENDER_APPLICATION_TOKEN	The application to authenticate with VADAAR Server.

Optional Configuration

Command Line Argument	Environment Variable	Description
--device-identifier	SENDER_DEVICE_IDENTIFIER	A unique name used by VADAAR to identify the Sender. By default, this is the computer name.

Important

If both methods are used for configuring, the Command Line Arguments will take precedence over Environment Variables.

Advanced Configuration

Adjust advanced settings by running Sender using different command line arguments or environment variables set. Passing the --help command line argument to Sender lists the available arguments and descriptions to the logfile and to the console for CentOS 7 / RHEL 7.

Automatically Run on Startup

info

These instructions apply to Windows only. The example commands assume a default installation path for Sender.

Configure Sender to run on startup by executing Sender with a special argument, using your terminal of choice. The following examples use the Command Prompt. Sender reads its configuration from either command line arguments or environment variables.

Configuration by Command Line Arguments

Provide the needed command line arguments for Sender, with the final argument being --run-on-startup true. Remember, at minimum, a required configuration is needed. See the following example:

"C:\Program Files\VADAAR Sender\sender.exe" --server-url <server-url> --application-token <application-token> --run-on-startup true

Configuration by Environment Variables

Configure Sender using environment variables, at minimum, a required configuration is needed. Then, run the following example command:

"C:\Program Files\VADAAR Sender\sender.exe" --run-on-startup true

Configuring Remote Desktop Control

Unlike VADAAR Server, VADAAR Sender has Remote Desktop Control enabled by default so as to reduce the configuration needed to enable this feature. However, given the the security implications of enabling this feature, Remote Desktop Control can be explicitly disabled by passing --remote-desktop-control=false on the command line or setting the environment variable SENDER_REMOTE_DESKTOP_CONTROL to false.

Important

Enabling Remote Desktop Control may be a security risk as it allows complete control of the remote machine running VADAAR Sender to everyone that can access the VADAAR Senders stream.

Windows

Remote Desktop Control on Windows can only inject inputs into applications that have less than or equal to the permissions granted to VADAAR Sender. This means that without sufficient permissions the inputs are rejected by the Windows Operating System as a Security feature. If required, you can choose to configuring VADAAR Sender to "Run as administrator" which will provide the necessary permissions to also control other applications that are "Run as administrator". Due to security concerns, it is not recommended to run VADAAR Sender with administrator privileges.

Important

User Account Control (UAC) prompts cannot be controlled with Remote Desktop Control regardless of the permissions given to VADAAR Sender.

info

Running VADAAR Sender in a Windows virtual machine on Hyper-V requires that the virtual machine is using the "Enhanced session" mode.

For more information on the the "Enhanced session" mode see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/user-guide/enhanced-session-mode.

Linux

On Linux VADAAR Sender needs read and write permissions for the /dev/uinput device for Remote Desktop Control. Typically only the root user has these permissions by default which means VADAAR Sender would need to run as root with something like sudo /opt/vadaar-sender/sender.

Alternatively, /dev/uinput could be owned by a uinput group instead of root and then have specific users intending to run VADAAR Sender with Remote Desktop Control added to the uinput group. This can be configured by completing the following steps:

1. Create a udev rule to allow the uinput group read and write access to the uinput device. For example, create /etc/udev/rules.d/99-uinput.rules with the following:

   KERNEL=="uinput", GROUP="uinput", MODE:="0660"
   For more information on creating udev rules see https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/udev.html
2. Ensure the uinput module is loaded so that the udev rule is executed. To force loading on boot create /etc/modules-load.d/uinput.conf with the following:

   uinput
   For more information on modules-load.d see https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/modules-load.d.html
3. Create the uinput group and add the users intending to run VADAAR Sender with Remote Desktop Control. For the user johndoe this might look something like the following:

   groupadd uinput
   usermod --append --groups uinput johndoe
   For more information on managing users and groups, see https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/7/html/system_administrators_guide/ch-managing_users_and_groups
4. Reboot the system.

Configuring Manual Recording Uploads

To configure VADAAR Sender to use Manual Recording Uploads:

Prerequisite

Have administrative access to the VADAAR Sender machine.

1. On the VADAAR Sender machine, using command line arguments, type in the following:
   • --local-storage-dir DIRECTORY
     • Example: --local-storage-dir C:\Users\Student1\Videos
2. Press Enter.

Result: VADAAR Sender is now configured to store recordings to the local directory without uploading them to VADAAR Server.