SAFARI Montage^® Version 4.1.x

Introduction

This document contains the release notes for SAFARI Montage 4.1.x. This is a full release of the SAFARI Montage System and the following sections provide details to its release.

New in this Release

• Pathways SM Module
  • Management and control of classroom-based devices such as projectors, displays, and audio systems
  • Reservation and control of shared, centralized video streaming devices such as DTV tuners, video cameras, and DVD players
  • Manage video, ticker or URL All-Calls and digital signage district-wide
  • Centralized scheduling of All On/Off functions for district-wide devices
• Integrated Support of Local Document Cameras and Web Cameras
  • View local document camera and web camera video directly in the SAFARI Montage Media Player
  • Integrated control of document camera¹ and web camera² functions such as zoom, brightness, orientation, etc.
  • Record live video³ and capture still images to upload and share via CreationStation
• Integrated Support for Local Computer DVD Player
  • View DVD playback⁴ directly in the SAFARI Montage Media Player
  • Play, pause, stop, fast forward, rewind, skip forward, skip backward, and browse DVD titles and chapters
• CreationStation Module
  • Apple^® iWork^® file format support (.PAGE, .KEY and .NUMBERS file formats)
• Selective Video Streaming (SVS) Module
  • Expanded to include Motion JPEG support
  • Enabled support for AXIS Encoder
• Managed Home Access Module
  • Expanded to support home access playback of hinted MPEG-4 videos
• DataCasting Module
  • Enhanced the core features of datacasting
• SAFARI Montage Media Player (SMMP)
  • Expanded to support MPEG-1 video format
• Administration
  • Enhanced high volume school package assignment, allowing one-step assignment of multiple packages
  • Live access to technical support logs
  • Direct console access via SSH
  • MHA streaming test page (Admin -> Managed Home Access -> Verify Streamer)
  • Enhanced software upgrade process to automatically perform system maintenance prior to upgrade
  • Administrators may now restrict content access by grade range for each school
  • Merge duplicate user accounts, including personal data
  • Enhanced login security and extended SSL support to enable 2048, 4096 bit private keys
• Microsoft^® Windows 7 Client support added

Installation and Upgrade Notes

• Installation and Upgrade
  • See the SAFARI Montage 4.1.x Upgrade Instructions tab above.
• Minimum System Requirements
  • See the SAFARI Montage 4.1.x System Requirements tab above.

4.1.11 Release Details

• SAFARI Montage Media Player Version 4.1.70
• Administrator may now completely suppress the SAFARI Montage Media Player end-user update message
• WAN content licenses may now be assigned to remote servers

Known Issues and Workarounds

• Issue: Media playback using Apple QuickTime^® 7.6.6 may result in distortion or loss of audio
  • Work Around: Use SAFARI Montage Media Player as the default media player

Notes

¹ELMO^® TT-02RX / P10S / P30S only
²Logitech^® WebCam Pro 9000 only
³Video recording is not available when using supported ELMO products
⁴DVD playback software must be installed on the workstation
⁵Requires SAFARI Montage Media Player for playback

Browser Plug-ins (All Platforms)

• SAFARI Montage Media Player 4.1.x
  • Plays both Windows Media^® and Apple QuickTime^® (Apple QuickTime 7.6 required)

  SAFARI Montage Media Player is required for:

  • Microsoft Windows Vista Compatibility
  • SAFARI Montage Managed Home Access Module
  • Closed Captioning Toggle
  • Alternate Language Audio Tracks
  • Enhanced Full-Screen Playback
  • Playback of Career Clips Content
• Apple QuickTime 7.6
  • Required for Windows operating systems and Mac OS for playback of QuickTime and H.264 content, and Managed Home Access.
• Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 (Windows XP and Windows Vista) or Microsoft Windows Media Player 12 (Windows 7)
  • Required for the playback of Windows Media^®. Windows Media playback not available on Mac OS.
• Adobe^® Flash^® Player 10 - Required for Visual Dictionary interactive image package.
• Adobe^® Acrobat^® Reader 9
• Sun^® Java^® 6 Standard Edition - required for CreationStation uploads.

Additional Local Software

Additional software may be required to create or view certain CreationStation content.

• Software clients for the associated file types
  • SMART Notebook^® software / Notebook Interactive Viewer - .NOTEBOOK / .NBK
  • Promethean^® ActivInspire^® / ActiveStudio^® / Flipchart Viewer - .FLIPCHART / .FLP / .AS3A
  • Microsoft Office / Office Vewiers - .DOC/.DOCX, .XLS/.XLSX, .PPT/.PPTX
  • OpenOffice.org^® - .SDW/.ODT, .SDC/.ODS, .SDD/.ODP, .ODG; .ODF, .SDP
  • Apple iWork^® - .PAGES, .NUMBERS, .KEY
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader - .PDF
• Interactive Whiteboard Integration - supported software versions.
  • SMART Notebook Software / Notebook Interactive Viewer - v 9.5 or greater
  • Promethean ActivInspire (v 1.5 or greater) / ActiveStudio (v 2.5 or greater) / Flipchart Viewer

Managed Home Access Clients

• SAFARI Montage Media Player 4.1.x
• Appled QuickTime 7.6
• 768kbps Broadband Internet Connection

Local Area Network

• 100Mb Wired Ethernet
• NetBIOS Protocol
  • Windows: "Client for Microsoft Networks" protocol must be active on client machines.
  • OS X: The "Samba" suite of protocols is already active. No changes are required.
• Switched Backbone
• Full Duplex

Instructions for Upgrading SAFARI Montage OS to Version 4.1.x

Please note that these upgrade instructions are ONLY for upgrades to installations of version 2.3.13 or higher. If you are currently running a version prior to 2.3.13, you will need to update your installation to 2.3.13 first.

Contents - One(1) Upgrade DVD:

• SAFARI Montage - 4.1.x Upgrade DVD - Disc 1 of 1

Please read these instructions in their entirety before you begin:

• These instructions and all related documents are available online at http://www.safarimontage.com/support
• It is important that you review the SAFARI Montage 4.1.x Release Notes available online, as these may include Known Issues that you should understand before running the upgrade.
• Review the SAFARI Montage 4.1.x System Requirements, which include important information that will ensure your environment meets all requirements.
• Allow for time to backup your system in your update planning.
• No one should use the SAFARI Montage System during the update process, so please perform this update during off-hours.
• Review any questions with Technical Support in advance. Please note that SAFARI Montage Technical Support is available Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time and they may be contacted by telephone at 800-782-7230 or online via http://www.safarimontage.com/support/.

Important Considerations:

1. SAFARI Montage Media Player Deployment:
   • We recommend you update all client computers to the current version of the SAFARI Montage Media Player prior to running the OS upgrade. Not doing so will result in all users receiving an alert upon logging in to SAFARI Montage instructing them to upgrade the player. The latest version of the player is available for download at http://www.safarimontage.com/support.
2. Determine the version of SAFARI Montage OS that you are running by clicking on the "Admin" tab. Then click on "System" within the "Settings" menu on the left nav.
   • If you are upgrading from version 3.2.x or later:
     • This upgrade requires approximately two hours to complete for each server in your environment.
   • If you are upgrading from version 2.3.13 - 3.1.x:
     • This upgrade includes significant database updates and optimizations and it may take from four to six hours to complete on your primary server, after which updates can be distributed and synchronized to your expansion and remote school servers.
     • The total time to complete the update will depend upon the number of servers in your specific environment, so please use the following guidelines when planning your schedule:
       • 1 or 2 servers can be upgraded overnight.
       • 3 or more servers should be upgraded when 1-2 days of downtime can be scheduled.
     • Once the software update is complete, the SAFARI Montage server will reboot, and the database optimization process will begin automatically.
3. If monitoring the update from the console, be aware that the system may appear to be inactive at certain times during the update. This does not mean that the update has stopped.

WARNING: DO NOT interrupt the update in any way or power off the server at any time during the update process or database optimization. Doing so may severely and irreparably damage your Safari Montage system.

If you are running WAN Manager with Expansion Server(s):

1. The Expansion Controller must be upgraded first. See Upgrade Instructions below.
2. Once the Expansion Controller has been upgraded, it will automatically push the upgrade to all of the Expansion Servers. The progress of the upgrade can be viewed by navigating to Admin -> Expansion Server -> Expansion Servers.

If you are running WAN Manager with Remote School Server(s):

1. The WAN Manager Parent server must be upgraded first. See Upgrade Instructions below.
2. Once the upgrade is completed on the WAN Manager Parent server, you will be able to automatically 'push' the upgrade to the Remote School Servers, thereby eliminating the need to upgrade them separately on-site.
   1. Navigate to Admin -> WAN Manager -> Remote School Servers
   2. Either check 'Remote update all servers', which will update five servers at a time until they have all been upgraded, or select individual servers to be upgraded by checking the box next to the server name.

Total time to upgrade all expansion and/or remote school servers will depend upon the total number of servers and available bandwidth. The upgrade will be downloaded to each remote server, where the upgrade process will run automatically and take approximately one to two hours. If 'Remote update all servers' is selected, servers will be processed in groups of five, and upgrades will run concurrently on each group of remote servers.

Upgrade Instructions:

1. Backup your SAFARI Montage system via the Administration tools:
   1. Navigate to Admin Data Recovery Backup
   2. Perform a full backup setting the backup option 'Data Only' to 'No'.
2. At the SAFARI Montage Console, select 'Eject Removable Media' to open the DVD drive, and then insert the SAFARI Montage Upgrade DVD.
3. Select 'Update SAFARI Software' from the console menu.
4. Select 'Update from CD or DVD' to run the software upgrade. The upgrade will take approximately one to two hours, after which the server will reboot.
5. If you are upgrading from a version prior to 3.2.x, database optimizations will begin automatically when the server reboots. Please allow at least six hours for this process to complete.
6. When the upgrade is complete, choose 'Eject Removable Media' from the SAFARI Montage Console Screen and remove the disc.

~ THIS COMPLETES THE SERVER UPDATE PROCESS. PLEASE TEST FROM A CLIENT BROWSER. ~

Deploying the SAFARI Montage Media Player:

Go to http://www.safarimontage.com/support/ to download the latest version of the SAFARI Montage Media Player and for instructions on how to deploy the player to your client environment.