Getting Started with SAFR Desktop with a Cloud Account
SAFR Desktop installs the Desktop Client as well as SAFR Actions, a programmable interface to create and manage responses to event triggers.
The Windows SAFR Desktop installation includes the following:
- Desktop Client: One of the primary ways that administrators and operators can interact with the SAFR system. As such, the client can be used to enable camera connectivity, monitor video camera feeds, register users, view recognition events, and more.
- SAFR Actions: SAFR Actions is a GUI that facilitates configuring SAFRActions.config. SAFRActions.config is the file that defines all the defined actions for your SAFR System, as well as a couple fields that are used to connect ARES (and SAFR Actions) to your primary SAFR Server, whether that server is local or in the cloud. See Actions for more information about actions in SAFR.
- Actions Relay Event Service (ARES): ARES is a cross-platform Java application that acts as the event listener that dispatches configured actions in response to events. ARES can provide replies on any event handled by the client that originates an event and is normally installed as a service when either SAFR Platform or SAFR Desktop are installed. It is constantly active and is automatically started by the operating system on power-up.
- 0 or 1 of the VMS extensions
- Video Recognition Gateway Administration (VIRGO): Receives video feeds from one or more cameras, recognizes and tracks faces in those video streams in real time, generates tracking events, and sends events to an event server.
The macOS SAFR Desktop installation includes the following:
- Desktop Client: One of the primary ways that administrators and operators can interact with the SAFR system. As such, the client can be used to enable camera connectivity, monitor video camera feeds, register users, view recognition events, and more.
- SAFR Actions: SAFR Actions is a GUI that facilitates configuring SAFRActions.config. SAFRActions.config is the file that defines all the defined actions for your SAFR System, as well as a couple fields that are used to connect ARES (and SAFR Actions) to your primary SAFR Server, whether that server is local or in the cloud. See Actions for more information about actions in SAFR.
- Actions Relay Event Service (ARES): ARES is a cross-platform Java application that acts as the event listener that dispatches configured actions in response to events. ARES can provide replies on any event handled by the client that originates an event and is normally installed as a service when either SAFR Platform or SAFR Desktop are installed. It is constantly active and is automatically started by the operating system on power-up.
- Video Recognition Gateway Administration (VIRGO): Receives video feeds from one or more cameras, recognizes and tracks faces in those video streams in real time, generates tracking events, and sends events to an event server.
Before you begin the installation, ensure that you have the following prerequisites:
- SAFR Cloud Account: If you're not sure which account type you have, go to the Download Portal. If SAFR Cloud is listed among the downloads, then you have a SAFR Cloud Account.
- System requirements: Ensure that your system meets the minimum system requirements listed here.
- An up-to-date SAFR License: See Cloud Licensing for information about SAFR Cloud Licenses.
- An Internet connection: Cloud deployments must maintain a network connection with the SAFR Server maintained by RealNetworks in the cloud at all times. Any components that lose their connection to the cloud will immediately lose almost all their functionality.
To download and install SAFR Desktop, do the following:
- On the computer where you want to install SAFR Desktop, open a web browser and go to the Download Portal.
- Sign in with your SAFR Cloud Account's credentials.
- Once signed in, select your operating system from the menu and download the appropriate SAFR Desktop installer.
- After the download is complete, start the installation.
- The SAFR Desktop installer displays a Choose Components window where you can choose the features you want to install, such as:
You may uncheck the boxes for any features you do not want to install. We recommend installing all the components except the VMS and camera extensions the first time you install SAFR Desktop.
- Follow the installer prompts as they guide you through the rest of the installation process. The final phase of the installation may take a few minutes to complete as it installs dependencies and runs the configuration scripts. Allow it to continue without interruption.
After the installation finishes, two icons will appear on your desktop: one labeled "SAFRActions" and another labeled "SAFR". SAFRActions launches SAFR Actions, while SAFR launches the Desktop Client.
Note: Windows SAFR versions earlier than 3.1 are only compatible with NVidia driver versions 418.96 to 431.86.
Great! Now that you've installed a Desktop Client, you're ready to explore SAFR's features. We recommend that you do the following:
- Connect a Camera - If you have an integrated camera or a USB camera, this should happen automatically. If you don't have either camera type, or if you would like more information about camera connections, see Connect Cameras to SAFR.
- Importing and Registering People - The instructions in the first section, "Register People Using a Camera Conncted to the Desktop Client", will tell you how to start adding faces to the Person Directory.
- You're now able to watch as SAFR analyzes the camera's video feed and recognizes faces in real time. See Interpret Video Feed Overlays for details about the information that SAFR is showing you in the client's camera window.