Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why does StreamChecker need to run as a desktop application, and not as NT service?

Windows Media Player requires that the output stream can be directed to a visual display.  Unfortunately, this 'visual display' is not available when it is ran as an NT service.  Hence, it is necessary to run StreamChecker as a desktop application.

However, StreamChecker will work on a Remote Desktop session.

2. What is the HTTP port that StreamChecker listens on, and how can I change it?

The default port number for StreamChecker is 5051.  To change this, simply edit the file [StreamChecker.exe.config] and change the settings.

<add key="PortNumber" value="5051"/>

3. There is something strange with the application, how can I debug to see what's going on?

The default log level is set to INFO, this can be changed to DEBUG.   See StreamChecker.exe.config

4. It is not possible to connect to port 5051, do I need to configure anything?

Please make sure to open the firewall port (Default: 5051) on the StreamChecker host.

5. The monitoring infrastructure that we use times out even before StreamChecker completes it's test, how do we go about this?

Configure the monitoring solution to have a longer timeout period than the duration defined in the test request (http).

Example: setup nagios to have a 40 second timeout when requesting StreamChecker to test for 30 seconds (see nagios parameter service_check_timeout).

6. What is the maxbuffercount parameter?

The maxbuffercount parameter defines the number of maximum buffer count before aborting the test and throwing a 500 error. The minimum number for this is at least 1 or 2.

7. Can we test a stream until it ends (for on demand streams)?

Yes, as of version 2.1.4 you can test a stream without a specified duration; and just wait for the stream to end (don't do this for live indefinite streams). Simply set the time parameter to 0.

8. Can I export the log file for performance reports?

Yes, as of version 2.1.4 we support CSV output that can be imported to your database. The output is written in the file logs/results.txt.

9. How can I configure the plugin for nagios?

define command{
        command_name    check_streamchecker
        command_line    $USER1$/check_streamchecker -h $HOSTADDRESS$ -p $ARG1$ -
testurl $ARG2$ -testtime $ARG3$ -maxbuffercount $ARG4$
        }
		

10. I'm using Ubuntu - how do I fix this nagios shell error?

11. Does StreamChecker work with PRTG?

Check out this forum link from Laurie Collins: http://www.paessler.com/knowledgebase/en/topic/8733-how-do-i-monitor-a-video-stream-rtmp-via-wowza