From the administrative instances manager (https://admin.exacq.net/instances.php) locate the desired instance
In the Actions drop down menu select,Update ESM and choose the desired time zone in the Select a time zone drop down menu and click Okay
Tag: Time Zone
Symptom
In the exacqVision Client software on the ‘System Configuration’ page, under the ‘Date/Time’ tab, the Time Zone drop down menu has only one option, UTC-0.
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Problem
The user cannot set the proper server time zone.
Affecting only Windows systems, the script that obtains the time zones from the operating system has failed. The ‘timeconfig.ps1’ script will fail if the system is running PowerShell 2.0.
To check the version of PowerShell installed, open a PowerShell command prompt and enter: Get-Host | Select-Object Version
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Solution
Steps to correct:
- Update the installed version of PowerShell to 3.0 or higher.
- When the update has completed, restart the system.
- Run the exacqVision Server installer over the top of the existing install.
- Open the exacqVision Client software and set the proper time zone.
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exacqVision Edge is a version of exacqVision Server that runs directly on supported camera models and only connects to, and records video from, the camera it is hosted on. Cameras running the exacqVision Edge, or Edge+, application must be configured for the GMT+0 time zone.
Because the server application runs directly on the camera, the Time Zone field cannot be configured from a connected exacqVision Client, but will need to be configured through the camera’s web browser interface.
However, the Time and Date fields can be configured from within the exacqVision Client and should be configured to GMT+0 rather than the current time where the camera is located.
Because the server application is running directly on the camera, the application tells the camera to use the loopback address of 127.0.0.1 as its time source, effectively telling the camera to look to itself for its time. Enabling the Time Server setting will not correct this. But you may override this behavior by selecting the Enable Override option and entering the URL or IP address of an NTP source of your choice. This will override the localhost setting, forcing the camera to use a trusted network time source. For more information on NTP sources, refer to Explaining NTP.
The below example, from an Illustra camera, illustrates that the Time Zone will be set to GMT+0 in the camera. You will need to restart the Edge Server application on the camera if changing this after it has started.
When connecting the exacqVision Client to an exacqVision Edge Server instance, the Client will display the time of the client workstation in the OSD unless you configure the OSD to display Timezone information, in which case it will display the camera’s time of GMT+0.
The two example images below illustrate this effect. With the Timezone checked, the client time shown in the bottom-right of the window’s status bar is reflected in the camera OSD time. When the Timezone field is unchecked, the camera OSD time will match GMT+0 rather than the local client time.
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Background Information
The Windows or Linux (Ubuntu) operating system time of your exacqVision Server host should be set to the local time and time zone where it is located.
It is often desirable to synchronize the system to a central time server, rather than rely on the internal clock of the recording server. There are many freely available time servers available online capable of providing reliable time references, such as:
- pool.ntp.org
- time.google.com
- time.windows.com
- time.nist.gov
These time servers communicate using the Network Time Protocol (NTP), using network port 123. For more information about network time servers, refer to the article Explaining NTP.
If your system is on an isolated network without access to the internet, or you prefer to provide your own source for time, many SOHO routers provide NTP capabilities, or you may choose to run an NTP service on another device or system of your own. <br><br>
Best Practice Configuration Steps
- With the exacqVision Desktop Client connected to your exacqVision Server instance, navigate to the Configure System node on the navigation tree along the left, then select the Date/Time tab from the top of the page.
<br><br> - The URL or IP address of the time server you choose to use will be entered into the Time Server field after checking the Enable Time Server checkbox. If the Enable Time Server box is left unchecked, the system will rely on its internal clock, which is not as reliable as the NTP sources mentioned above. <br><br>
- Your networked IP cameras should be synchronized to the time and date of the exacqVision Server. While it seems counterintuitive, you will log into your cameras to configure their time settings and set them to the GMT-0 time zone. Then enter the IP address or URL of your exacqVision Server as the Time Server in the camera’s settings.
This will ensure that video sent to the exacqVision Server is recorded with a time code in reference to the Server time. For this reason, it is recommended to use the exacqVision Client’s on-screen display (OSD), to display the time and date overlay on your live video panels. If enabling the OSD within the camera instead, your time and date may display incorrectly because the exacqVision software has not accounted for your local time zone difference from GMT.<br><br> - The IP Camera Time Server field shown at the bottom of the Date/Time tab within the exacqVision Client is not commonly used for most deployments. Enabling the override feature allows an administrator to enter the URL or address of another time server. The exacqVision Server will then inform connected IP cameras to refer to the entered address as it’s “source of truth” for time, rather than using the time shown on the exacqVision Server.
NOTE: If using this feature, the cameras will require a network path to reach any address entered here, which may not be possible if your cameras reside on an isolated network or VLAN. <br><br>
Client Workstations
Client workstations running the exacqVision Client application should be configured to use the local time and time zone where they are located.
If they are remote users in a different time zone than the exacqVision Server, all times for live and searched video will be displayed in the client’s local time.
All video recorded by exacqVision is timestamped in Coordinated Universal Time, also known as UTC, so there is no ambiguity as to the absolute time when the video was recorded. In the exacqVision Client, the OSD display shows the server time zone as an offset from UTC with the timestamp. If the timezone is not configured for the OSD, the timestamp shown is the Client’s local time.
exacqVision ePlayer
Within the exacqVision ePlayer, the timestamp of the recorded video will display the timezone of the local computer on which it is playing, but will also show the time zone offset.
As an example, if you watch a video on a computer set to Eastern Daylight Time, you could see 9:00am (GMT-4:00), while the same video viewed on a computer set to British Summer Time would show 2:00pm (GMT+1:00). The UTC timestamp is the same in both cases.
Knowledge of the physical location of the recording server, which may be needed for evidentiary purposes, can be correlated to the local time of the machine on which video is being watched and the local time of the server on when it was recorded.<br><br>
exacqVision Edge/Edge+
This article applies to exacqVision Server software. For information on exacqVision Edge/Edge+ time settings, please refer to exacqVision Edge Time Zone Configuration.
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