Remote Agent is the latest feature from Ryarc. This kind of Player does not have GUI and user can not play Audio or Video Campaigns. Remote Agent is basically Player service that will stay invisible and keep running in the background. This way user can publish only Commands from Web CMService without interrupting visually already running programs on the Desktop.

This feature is very useful to clients that only want to use the Player for executing Commands and also use the integrated MESH functionalities to remote access to the machines where the Ryarc Remote Agent is running. Because it's stripped from all audio and video features Ryarc Remote Agent will consume significantly less Resources (CPU and Memory) than standard Ryarc CMPlayer. Ryarc Remote Agent has separate installer and separate channel configuration file so user doesn't have to install anything else on the Player machine.

Same as Ryarc CM Player, Remote Agent is configured with a separate channel configuration file (.xml). For the first time configuration, the file needs to be accessible from the remote player. In order to configure the Remote Agent, we need to access the Remote Agent configuration. To create Remote Agent configuration file go to Channels page. From the left navigation menu or right context menu click on Create Player Configuration File button for the selected channel and click on Create Remote Agent Configuration File. If you want to create Default configuration file click on the option Create Default Remote Agent Configuration File from the Create Default Configuration File button on the menu.

After *.cmrac file is downloaded double click on it to open this file. Automatically Remote Agent Configuration will be shown.

Same as CMPlayer Configuration the Remote Agent Configuration is a separate program that we use in order to configure the player and all its options. The main window of the Remote Agent Configuration is made up of four sections: Player Details, Channel Settings, General Settings and Diagnostics. Same options are available in all section same as CMPlayer Configuration with the exception of all Audo and Video features. For example options for Image and Video player are not available, but all other options that are not related with GUI are present. At the top of the window message is shown informing the user that Player is set to be invisible (Remote Agent Player).

On the top of the Remote Agent Configuration window, under the main menu, there is information about the server and the domain that this player is configured from. The Player Details section is opened by default and has three subsections: Summary, Player Activity and Status information.

- The Summary subsection gives the user basic information about the Player (Remote Agent) setup.
- In the Player Activity subsection, we have information about the channel that the player is configured with.
- In the Status information subsection, there is information about further details of the machine that is running the player. There is information about: Gateway IP, DNS Name, Last Seen (this information explains when was the last time the player synced with the Service), O/S, RAM, Disk, CPU, Rebooted (when was the last time this machine was rebooted), Uptime (what is the time that the machine is running actively), Physical location, Time zone, Player version, AMT Capable, Average speed (the average speed of download), Live download speed, Sync Percentage, Call interval (what is the interval in seconds that the Remote Agent should check in with the CMService).

Two sections are available. In the first section at the top of the Channel Settings, the user can select channels for configuring all the screens that are attached to the Player machine. He can also select the screen orientation. Below this section user can change the CMService call interval (in seconds, by default is set to 60) in the section Connection Settings.

The General Settings section in the Remote Agent configuration is made of six subsections: Network Settings, General Settings, Restart and Exit Settings, Log Settings, Player Monitor Settings and RS232.

Below are explained all available options in these sections.

This section has the following options available:

Under this partition, the user can set Execute Interval in seconds, Enable RS232 for a selected screen, choose (load) command template, and create a custom RS232 command by typing Data, COM port, Parity, Stop bits, Data bits, Baud rate, Flow control and type a Power code.

The Diagnostics section has two buttons and a status window where the results are displayed. If everything is ok with the player configuration and the player can connect to the CM Service, then the diagnostics should pass.

Close the Remote Agent Configuration and start the Ryarc Remote Agent application.

After starting the Remote Agent, Player will be started and will continue running in the background. Only visible proof will be the Ryarc icons in the system tray. One of the icon is for Remote Agent, the other one is the Remote Agent Monitor.

To close the Player , right click on the tray icon and click on Exit button.

After Remote Agent is configured properly and started it will be shown in Devices list. Login as DomainAdmin on Web CMService and go Devices page. Newly configured Device (Remote Agent Player) will be shown in the list with proper info and details of the Player machine. The Remote Agent has different icon than the standard CMPlayer.

When the user selects a device row, two panels correspond to the player’s data: The Details view with unique information about the selected device, and the right panel where the tasks and player activities are placed.

The details view is the panel placed above the device’s list view and replaces the pie and the location map when the user selects a device.

Under the Details view are located the information about the name, the status, when the player was last online, uptime, subscribed channels, player’s IP address, gateway IP, DNS name, O/S version, Player’s version, the call interval, location and time zone, live download and average download speed, CPU Disk and RAM state and Sync percentage.

By selecting the specific player, also another panel opens on the right side. Here are placed the Player Tasks, Remote Process, Player Activity and the location map of the selected player.

Under Player Tasks section are placed the commands for remote device management.

Only a user with Domain Admin permissions can use these commands, so if you are logged in as a project user than you won’t see the Player Tasks section at all. Remote device management feature enables the Domain Admin to approach remotely the devices where the players are playing at the moment so Domain Admin can use the commands under the Player Tasks only if the selected device is online. If the device’s service is not configured with remote management feature, then the whole Player Tasks section won’t be visible for any selected player.

If you are subscribed for this feature, then the service administrator already configured it in the realm mode.

Even configured, the remote device management feature is disabled by default.

How to enable the feature:

1. Go to domain’s Control Panel and open the Remote Access Settings tab,

1. Check the option under Remote Access,

1. Press Save,

1. Start your player,

1. Wait for 5 to 10 minutes for the service to install the remote feature’s agent on player’s device.

You will know that everything is installed when the links under Player Tasks becomes enabled.

There are seven commands under Player Tasks for devices that support remote management:

The last two settings depend of the device’s power settings.

In player activity, we can see the channels associated on the player (Remote Agent). Under currently playing we can see which Commands are published to the player.

The last section of the right panel is the location map that gives the graphical presentation of the device’s physical location.

The context menu contains all the options for the specific type of entity. The context menu for devices is located on the left side and replaces the site’s navigational menu. You can also approach Device’s context menu by right-clicking on the list view area.

The options from the right context menu are explained below:

Refine Location

When no device row is selected in Devices page, on the panel above the list view is displayed the devices status pie and the map with location pointers of all devices in the list. When you select one device, the details view for this device replaces the all devices view. Among the devices, information is shown the physical location of the device. The physical location is not precise all the time and can point a nearby location of your actual. If you like to change the location and where the pin points on the map, you can press on Refine Location. You can drag and drop the pin in a wanted location. Also, you can change the description of the location in the field above. This field also will offer suggestions of existing location while typing. If user chooses to go by suggestion, the pointer will automatically change to a new location. Relocate button will save the changes, and Reset to default will reset to a predefined location.

Besides the Remote Agent Configuration file, the user can change settings for devices in device’s configurational page in CampaignManager Web. This page differs from the configurational file with the fact that the Remote Agent must be started when the user makes changes in this page. This page can be opened with a double-click on a specific device’s row. After double click on the selected Device in the list following page is shown:

At the top of the page information message is displayed informing that this is Remote Agent:

Under Player's Details are listed three sections: Summary, Player Activity and Status information.

This section gives you information about player’s status, number of attached display devices, how many of available devices are configured to run the CM Player and the channels used in the configuration.

In the Player Activity subsection, we have information about the channel that the player is configured with. There is also information about which Commands are currently published.

In the Status information subsection, there is information about further details of the machine that is running the player.

There is information about: IP Address, Gateway IP, DNS Name, Last Seen (this information explains when was the last time the player checked in live), O/S, CPU Info, Is Genuine Windows, RAM, Disk, CPU, Rebooted (when was the last time this machine was rebooted), Up time (what is the time that the machine is running actively), Physical location, Time zone, Player version, AMT Capable, Average speed (the average speed of download), Live download speed, Sync Percentage, Call interval (what is the interval in seconds that the Remote Agent should check in with the CampaignManager).

In the top of the channel settings, there is placed the section for selecting channel and screen orientation for the player.

In the Connection Settings, we can set the CMService Call interval (in seconds) (time that the player checks back (contacts) the CM service).

The General Settings section in the Remote Agent configuration is made of six subsections: Network Settings, General Settings, Restart and Exit Settings, Log Settings, Player Monitor Settings and RS232.

The Network Settings is made of the Connection Settings and the Network interface section.

In this section we have the following options available:

Under this partition, the user can set Execute Interval in seconds, Enable RS232 for a selected screen, choose (load) command template, and create a custom RS232 command by typing Data, COM port, Parity, Stop bits, Data bits, Baud rate, Flow control and type a Power code.