Server Settings

  1. Centova Cast Administrator's Reference Manual
    1. Managing Accounts
      1. Managing Existing Accounts
      2. Creating New Accounts
      3. User Account Settings
      4. Reseller Account Settings
    2. Statistics Report
    3. Server Settings
    4. Managing E-mail Messages
    5. Host Management
    6. Account Templates
    7. System Status
    8. System Logs
    9. Staff Management
    10. System Utilities
    11. Backups
      1. Account Backups
      2. Host Backups
    12. Credits

Server Settings

Prior to creating your first Centova Cast hosting account, you should review the default Centova Cast settings and customize them as necessary.

To access the Server Settings page, click the Settings link under the Settings heading in the navigation menu.

Centova Cast provides access to a wide range of settings for your server which are broken down into several tabbed pages, described below.

General

  • Site name
    Specifies the name of your web site or company.

  • Notification E-mail address
    Specifies the E-mail address to which any administrative notifications will be sent. You should set this to your real E-mail address to ensure that you receive any important notifications.

  • Sender E-mail address
    Specifies the E-mail address which will be used as the "Sender" or "From" address on notification E-mails sent to clients. You may either use a real address here, or a "no-reply" address of your choosing.

E-mail

These settings allow you to configure an SMTP server to be used for all outgoing E-mail generated by Centova Cast. If your clients complain that they are not receiving messages generated by Centova Cast, you likely need to use this feature.

  • SMTP server
    Specifies the hostname for your SMTP server - usually mail.example.com or smtp.example.com. If your SMTP server uses SSL, use add ssl:// to the beginning of the hostname (eg: ssl://mail.example.com).

  • SMTP port
    Specifies the port for your SMTP server - usually 25 for standard SMTP, or 465 if your SMTP server uses SSL.

  • SMTP username
    Specifies the username to use to authenticate with your SMTP server. Leave blank if your SMTP server does not use SMTP authentication.

  • SMTP password
    Specifies the password to use to authenticate with your SMTP server. Leave blank if your SMTP server does not use SMTP authentication.

Limits

Data Transfer

  • Notify clients via E-mail when... (data transfer)
    Specifies when to notify clients as they approach their data transfer limit. Enter a percentage value (from 0 to 100), and Centova Cast will automatically notify the client via E-mail when his stream uses this percentage of his monthly data transfer limit.

  • When transfer limit is exceeded...
    Specifies what action Centova Cast should take when a client reaches his data transfer limit. Options available include:

    • Shutdown streaming server and suspend account
      If selected, Centova Cast will automatically shut down and suspend the client's streaming server account when it reaches its monthly transfer limit. Note that the stream will remain offline and the client will not be able to reactivate it until the following month. A suspension notice will be sent via E-mail to both the client and the administrator.

    • Take no action
      If selected, Centova Cast will take no action other than notifying the client and administrator via E-mail.

  • When an account has been suspended...
    Specifies what action Centova Cast should take after an account has been suspended. Options available include:

    • Automatically unsuspend it until the following month
      If selected, Centova Cast will automatically unsuspend the client's account at the beginning of the following month.

    • Leave it suspended until unsuspended by an administrator
      If selected, Centova Cast will not automatically unsuspend the client's account. The administrator will be responsible for logging in and manually unsuspending the account.

  • Total data transfer limit for this server
    Specifies the data transfer limit that your own server provider has imposed on your server. This is only used to display a graph of your total Centova Cast-related bandwidth usage in the administrator's control panel; this setting is otherwise unused and is entirely optional.

Disk Quota

  • Notify clients via E-mail when... (disk quota)
    Specifies when to notify clients as they approach their disk quota. Enter a percentage value (from 0 to 100), and Centova Cast will automatically notify the client via E-mail when his account has used this percentage of its disk quota.

  • When disk quota is exceeded...
    Specifies what action Centova Cast should take when a client exceeds his disk quota. Options available include:

    • Shutdown streaming server and suspend account
      If selected, Centova Cast will automatically shut down and suspend the client's streaming server account when it reaches its disk quota. Note that the stream will remain offline and the client will not be able to reactivate it until the administrator unsuspends it. A suspension notice will be sent via E-mail to both the client and the administrator.

    • Take no action
      If selected, Centova Cast will take no action other than notifying the client and administrator via E-mail.

Logins

  • Login failures
    Specifies how to handle repeated login attempts which fail due to an invalid password. This feature is designed to prevent brute-force password attacks.

    If a user fails to enter a correct password the specified number of times during the specified time span, his account will be locked out for the specified number of minutes, during which time he will be unable to log in (even with the correct password).

    Brute-force attack prevention is applied universally across all login mechanisms, including the login form and XML API system; all login failures count toward this limit.

Defaults

General

  • Port range for new servers
    Specifies the default port range for port numbers assigned to new streaming accounts. When creating new streaming server accounts, Centova Cast will automatically determine which ports are already in use by other streaming servers, and pre-populate the Port field with the next available (unused) port within this range. Note that the administrator will still be able to change this value prior to provisioning the account if desired.

  • Default character encoding for new servers.
    Specifies the default character encoding to use for new servers. This is used to interpret metadata from media uploaded for use with the autoDJ.

AutoDJ

  • Enable re-encoding on new servers
    Specifies whether or not new streaming servers should be configured to re-encode media to the stream bit rate by default. Disabling re-encoding will reduce the CPU usage for a stream to practically zero (allowing many more streams to be hosted on a single machine than would normally be possible) however it requires that the client's media be pre-encoded to the correct bit rate and sample rate before it is uploaded. If any of the client's media is encoded at an incorrect bit rate or sample rate, the stream will use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth, and some songs may be broadcast at an incorrect speed (leading to a "chipmunk vocal" effect). This has no effect when the streaming source is sc_trans, as sc_trans always re-encodes the media it streams.

  • Default channels for re-encoding
    Specifies the default number of channels to be used by the encoder when the Enable re-encoding on new servers feature is enabled.

  • Default sample rate for re-encoding
    Specifies the default sample rate to be used by the encoder when the Enable re-encoding on new servers feature is enabled.

  • Default crossfade length for re-encoding
    Specifies the default crossfade length (in seconds) to be used by the encoder when the Enable re-encoding on new servers feature is enabled.

Features

General

  • Allow server log downloads
    Determines whether clients are permitted to download their raw ShoutCast/IceCast and autoDJ log files.

  • Provide stream directory
    Determines whether Centova Cast will offer the Stream Directory widget to your clients. This widget discloses information about all stations on your server which may represent a privacy issue, and as such is disabled by default.

Google Maps

  • Google Maps API Key
    Specifies whether Google Maps support should be enabled. Note that (with the exception of domain names using Google Maps prior to June 2016, which have been grandfathered in by Google) a Google Maps API key or Client ID must be obtained from Google prior to enabling this option.

  • Google Maps API Key
    Specifies your Google Maps API key for displaying Google Maps. Instructions for creating a Google Maps API key are provided by Google.

  • Google Maps Client ID
    Specifies your Google Maps Client ID, if your are a Google Maps APIs Premium Plan subscriber. This field should usually be left empty.

Albums

  • Import album cover images when available
    Centova Cast is able to import album cover images when importing media for the autoDJ, to be shown in the client area, the media library, and in the Recent Tracks widget.

    The procedure for obtaining album covers is explained in the the Albums Configuration Settings section of the User's Manual.

    This option configures whether or not Centova Cast will attempt to import cover images, which may slightly increase the time required to import media.

Album Data Source Configuration

The tabs on this page configure the options for each individual album data source. The data sources are described in detail in the Albums Configuration Settings section of the User's Manual.

  • Embedded (ID3/Metadata)
    Configures the retrieval of album covers from the internal metadata of clients' media files.

    • Enabled - Enables or disables this album data source.

  • Folder Images
    Configures the use of images saved in clients' media library folders for use as album covers.

    • Enabled - Enables or disables this album data source.

  • iTunes Store
    Configures the use of the iTunes Store for album covers and data.

    • Enabled - Enables or disables this album data source.

  • Amazon.com
    Configures the use of Amazon.com for album covers and data.

    • Enabled - Enables or disables this album data source.
    • Amazon Web Services Access Key ID - Specifies your Amazon AWS Access Key ID, allowing each stream to be configured with an Amazon.com affiliate ID to integrate with Amazon.com's affiliate program and retrieve album covers. Your AWS Access Key ID can be generated at Amazon.com.
    • Amazon Web Services secret key - Specifies your Amazon AWS Secret Key, which accompanies your AWS Access Key ID. Your secret key can be generated at Amazon.com.
    • Default Amazon affiliate ID - Specifies a default affiliate ID for all streams for which the client has not entered his own affiliate ID, allowing the administrator to collect commissions for Amazon affiliate sales for those streams.
    • Allow client-specified Amazon affiliate IDs - Configures whether or not client accounts are permitted to specify their own affiliate ID to collect Amazon commissions from Amazon affiliate sales. If set to No, only the administrator's affiliate ID will be used.

  • last.fm
    Configures the use of last.fm for album covers and data.

    • Enabled - Enables or disables this album data source.
    • last.fm API key - Specifies your last.fm API key. Your API key can be generated at last.fm.

Feature Buttons

Centova Cast provides a set of feature buttons at the bottom of the Server Settings page, which perform the following tasks:

  • E-mail test
    Tests the validity of the settings on the E-mail tab. After updating your E-mail settings, press this button to verify that Centova Cast is able to send mail via your SMTP server.

  • Change administrator password
    Changes the password for the admin account.

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Section: Centova Cast Administrator's Reference Manual
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