AXIS Camera Station Pro - Installation and migration guide

This guide covers installation and migration scenarios for AXIS Camera Station Pro. Whether you're installing the software for the first time, upgrading from an earlier version, or moving your system to new hardware, you'll find step-by-step instructions here.

Before you begin any installation or migration, review the hardware requirements and licensing information to ensure your system is properly configured.

Choose the section that fits your situation:

• If you're installing AXIS Camera Station Pro for the first time:

• Go to Install AXIS Camera Station Pro.

• If you’re currently on AXIS Camera Station 5:

• Go to Upgrade from AXIS Camera Station 5 to AXIS Camera Station Pro. This covers upgrading on the same server or upgrading and moving to new hardware at the same time.

• If you’re currently on AXIS Camera Station Pro and need to move it to a different server:

• Go to Move AXIS Camera Station Pro to new hardware.

• If you need information about system requirements or licenses:

• See Hardware guidelines.

• See Licenses.

This section helps you design and configure your Axis Camera Station Pro system. System requirements depend on the number of connected devices and their generated bitrate. Use the Server requirements and Client requirements tables as a starting point.

For reliable recording solutions, consider Axis network video recorders and workstations, which are designed and tested specifically for this purpose.

The following tables list server requirements for physical servers. For virtual machines, refer to the technical paper about AXIS Camera Station in virtual environment.

Up to 128 Mbit/s recording bit rate or 8 video channels and a maximum of 16 doors:

Up to 128 Mbit/s recording bit rate or 8 video channels and a maximum of 16 doors:

Up to 256 Mbit/s recording bit rate or 32 video channels and a maximum of 64 doors:

Up to 512 Mbit/s recording bit rate or 64 video channels and a maximum of 128 doors:

Up to 1500 Mbit/s recording bit rate or 150 video channels and a maximum of 400 doors:

⁽¹⁾ For a list of supported Operating Systems, refer to the release notes. We recommended always using the latest service pack available from Microsoft.

⁽²⁾ For best performance and reliability, use local storage or a high-performance storage medium. Use only surveillance-class or enterprise-class drives for video storage.

In general, to scale a system, you can use more powerful hardware. However, this approach has a limit. When the system approaches a 150-video channel count, we recommend that you split the system into several servers. Moreover, if you expect heavy usage on the system, for example, when many video operators perform playback and scrubbing simultaneously, this recommendation should be taken at a lower channel count.

To scale a system with more devices per server, record on the AXIS S30 Recorder Series instead of a local disk or NAS. This approach significantly reduces the workload on the server and allows for more video channels to be added on less powerful server hardware.

1. Recording bitrate

2. Number of video channels per server

3. Recording on AXIS S30 Recorders

4. Recording on local disk

5. Recording on local disk with many active operators performing playback

A. AXIS S1216 or similar

B. AXIS S1232 or similar

C. AXIS S1296 or similar

D. Several AXIS S1296 or similar

Basic setup with 4K support and one monitor:

Basic setup with 4K support and one monitor:

Advanced setup with 4K support and up to four monitors:

⁽¹⁾ For a list of supported Operating Systems, refer to the release notes. We recommended always using the latest service pack available from Microsoft.

Use AXIS Site Designer to plan your system and track your projects, get estimates for storage space, network bandwidth and equipment. Refer to Server requirements when selecting the hardware for your Network Video Recorder.

We recommend running an AXIS Camera Station Pro server on a dedicated computer without any other critical or management software, such as databases, Active Directory servers, and print or telephony servers.

We strongly recommend using an SSD for the system drive. We also recommend avoiding using the system drive used as a storage option for AXIS Camera Station Pro recordings. This helps maintaining general system stability and achieve better performance, while avoiding fragmentation and bottlenecks.

For best performance and reliability, use local storage or a high-performance storage medium. Use only surveillance-class or enterprise-class drives for video storage.

Stream recording is quite operation-intensive. When using RAID technology, we recommend that you use a hardware RAID controller with high-performance capability combined with surveillance-class or enterprise-class drives for video storage.

AXIS Camera Station Pro fully supports saving recordings to a NAS. However, saving recordings to a NAS normally decreases the performance slightly compared to using local disks.

AXIS Camera Station Pro supports the option of using several network cards and several different networks. This allows for creating a more secure environment with cameras on a separate network; with the AXIS Camera Station Pro server providing secure access to the isolated network. Axis has several out-of-the-box recording solutions which are designed with this secure network layout.

Although there is no hard limit, increasing the number of connected clients impacts AXIS Camera Station Pro server performance. Each connected client increases CPU load slightly, regardless of the number of streams and stream profiles the client uses.
The AXIS Camera Station Pro Windows client typically has a low impact on server performance. The AXIS Camera Station Pro Mobile App has a very low impact. However, the AXIS Camera Station Pro web client and AXIS Camera Station Cloud web client have a slightly higher impact on CPU usage compared to the Windows client.

AXIS Camera Station Pro includes several new features, known as “components”. While most have a minor impact on system resources, Smart search 2, Free text search, and Axis Data Insights Dashboard can consume significant resources when used with many cameras. If you plan to use these features extensively, consider limiting the number of cameras using them or choose a more powerful server. Other useful upgrades include adding more RAM, upgrading the CPU, or using a larger and faster SSD.

AXIS Audio Manager Pro and AXIS Camera Station Pro can typically run on the same server without issues. However, for optimal performance, we recommend separating them if you:

• Expect a high number (25 to 200 depending on hardware) of simultaneous audio stream playback or unicast audio streams.

• Use resource-intensive features like Smart search 2, Free text search, or Axis Data Insights dashboards that drive CPU usage above 80%.

• Run many camera live views or playbacks at the same time, pushing CPU usage above 80%.

• Use AXIS Audio Manager Pro in mission-critical scenarios where even minor delays or audio gaps would be unacceptable.

Hardware capacity

On hardware with limited resources (for example, AXIS S2108), we recommend a maximum of 25 simultaneous unicast audio streams in parallel with AXIS Camera Station Pro.

On more powerful hardware (for example, AXIS S22 Mk II Series, AXIS S12 Series, AXIS S93 Series), you can run up to 200 simultaneous unicast audio streams.

For servers not handling video recording or live view (running only AXIS Audio Manager Pro, either standalone or within AXIS Camera Station Pro), we recommend a maximum of 300 simultaneous unicast audio streams.

Multicast support

Using multicast in AXIS Audio Manager Pro zones significantly reduces CPU load since each stream transmits only once. This lets you support several hundred speakers. For more information, see the Network requirements for Axis network audio white paper.

AXIS Camera Station Pro supports a wide range of non-video devices such as audio devices, door controllers, network switches, and I/O devices. These non-video devices do not load the server to the same extent compared to video devices, such as cameras. Systems can, in general, handle a larger amount of these non-video devices without affecting the performance of the AXIS Camera Station Pro server.

An AXIS Camera Station Pro server can run on virtualized Windows machines. For more information, please see the technical paper about AXIS Camera Station in virtual environment. We don’t support running any AXIS Camera Station Pro client on a VM, mainly due to graphical limitations.

Unexpected shutdowns can cause database corruption, damage hardware or corrupt Windows. We highly recommend using a UPS. In critical installations, add a redundant power supply on an emergency power circuit. Consult your equipment or UPS manufacturer to know which UPS to use with your equipment.

We recommend monitoring your system closely during the first week after installation. It is preferable to review some of the recorded material over all relevant hours to verify that you have adequate video quality. Don’t rely solely on live view only when verifying the quality of video, check recordings done during different levels of illumination and during periods of high activity.

We highly recommend maintaining 50 GB of free space on the system drive. If the drive runs out of space, there is a high risk of a crash or corrupted data.

We recommend that you configure the local storage drives in AXIS Camera Station Pro to keep 5% free space for optimal performance. If you’ve configured less than 5%, AXIS Camera Station Pro will still function, and prevent the storage drive from becoming full, however, you may experience performance issues on larger systems.

In some cases, virus scanners can corrupt the database. We recommend that you exclude AXIS Camera Station Pro, its components and the storage drives used for recordings from scans. Both antivirus and firewalls can alter the traffic coming from video devices. Make sure you allow traffic from those devices to flow freely.

You can find information regarding the exclusion of Antivirus in the FAQ What to include in an Antivirus approved list for AXIS Camera Station.

You can find information regarding the exclusion of the firewall in the following FAQs:

• What do I need to configure in my firewall to allow access to AXIS Secure Remote Access?

• Which ports does AXIS Camera Station use?

AXIS Camera Station Pro performs nightly backups of the main databases to the system drive per default; however, we strongly recommend changing this to a network drive. External or operating system backups can impact the system performance. You can configure backup of recordings on demand or per schedule in AXIS Camera Station Pro. For more information, see Backup database in the AXIS Camera Station Pro user manual.

Allowing Windows Updates to download and install automatically can downgrade performance and cause the system to a forced reboot, which can corrupt the AXIS Camera Station Pro databases. We advise you to schedule a maintenance window where Windows and driver updates can be applied and supervised.

Never allow a computer running AXIS Camera Station Pro to sleep, hibernate, or suspend. Not only will recordings stop, but database corruption might occur from the unexpected stop. Turn off these functionalities in the Windows Power options.

Core subscription licenses for Axis devices and Universal subscription licenses for third-party devices.

• 02990-001 ACS PRO CORE DEVICE 1y Lic

• 02991-001 ACS PRO CORE DEVICE 5y Lic

• 02992-001 ACS PRO UNIVERSAL DEVICE 1y Lic

• 02993-001 ACS PRO UNIVERSAL DEVICE 5y Lic

Core licenses are included and tied to the hardware for the lifetime of the recorders. Tied-to-hardware licenses are preloaded on or added to Axis hardware (expansion licenses). They are valid for the lifetime of the hardware, and you can't use them on other hardware.

We offer Core and Universal expansion licenses if you want to add extra licenses to a server. The expansion licenses are also tied to the server for the lifetime of the hardware.

• 02994-001 ACS PRO CORE DEVICE NVR Lic

• 02995-001 ACS PRO UNIVERSAL DEVICE NVR Lic

• 02996-001 Upgrade Core to Universal NVR license

We offer an upgrade license if you want to upgrade included Core licenses to Universal.

We consider the life of the hardware to be the life of the server's motherboard. If you replace a significant component, such as the motherboard, or if it becomes non-functional, the tied-to-hardware licenses are no longer valid.

An exception is if the on-site support service performs a motherboard replacement during the product's warranty period. In such a case, the tied-to-hardware licenses will still be valid. In the case of RMA, the licenses tied to the replacement hardware replace the tied-to-hardware licenses tied to the faulty server.

The table below shows examples of how many licenses you need for different categories of Axis devices.

1. Some I/O modules include a license in the box.

There are two different installation files:

• Full installer: Contains both server and client software (use this for your main server).

• Client-only installer: For operator workstations.

Prerequisites:

• Full administrator rights on the installation computer.

• Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributables (x86 and x64) must be pre-installed if running silently or passively. You can find the latest supported downloads on learn.microsoft.com.

Install:

1. Go to https://www.axis.com/products/axis-camera-station-pro, sign in with your My Axis account, and download your preferred installer.

2. Double-click the downloaded file and click Yes to allow it to make changes to your device.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions in the setup assistant.

4. After installation completes, follow the Quick start guide to set up your server.

Once you start the upgrade process, you can't reverse it.

Before you start:

• Upgrade your server to version 5.58 or later of AXIS Camera Station 5. If your current version is earlier than 4.31.018, first upgrade to version 5.24, then upgrade to 5.58 or later.

• Verify your server meets the recommended Server requirements.

• Check the port settings in Service Control as the default ports have changed, and update your configuration if needed. See Port list in the AXIS Camera Station Pro user manual for more information.

• Read about the new features available in AXIS Camera Station Pro.

• Know which organization you'll onboard the system to. For more information about organizations, see Register applications to an organization.

Once your system has the latest version of AXIS Camera Station 5, you can upgrade to AXIS Camera Station Pro on your existing server:

• Download and run the AXIS Camera Station Pro installer. Choose a version from the Download software updates list.

• After the upgrade completes, you need to re-license your server.

• If it’s an online server, it must be onboarded in order to utilize Cloud Services and Secure Remote Access v2.

If you have AXIS Camera Station 5 clients on computers without servers, upgrade them manually by downloading and installing the client-only .msi file.

Follow these steps if you're moving the software to a new server:

1. Install the same version of AXIS Camera Station 5 on your new server that's currently on your old server.

2. Go to AXIS Camera Station Service Control and click Stop to end the service on the old server.

3. Copy the main database files in C:\ProgramData\AXIS Communications\AXIS Camera Station Server from the old server, to the same location on the new server. The ProgramData folder is hidden by default, so you may need to show hidden files in Windows. For details about database files, see Database files.

4. Copy component settings to the new server. See Move components.

5. If your recordings are stored on the old server, move them from the recording location specified under Configuration > Storage > Management to the same location on the new server. If you use network attached storage, skip this step.

On the new server:

1. Start the AXIS Camera Station service.

2. Start the AXIS Camera Station client.

3. Sign in to the server. If you've already signed in once, this might happen automatically.

4. Restore important credentials:

5. • Regenerate the root CA certificate. See Generate a root CA for instructions.

   • If your recordings are on a network share, go to Configuration > Storage > Management, select the network share, and click Reconnect....

   • Make sure the path to the recordings folder stays the same for the new server and re-enter the password.

6. Note

   If the server can't access the recordings at startup, they might have been deleted from the database. To resolve this, stop the service and replace ACS_RECORDINGS.FDB again.

7. Enter the passwords for your devices in Configuration > Devices > Management.

8. Restore optional credentials:

9. • SMTP server with password: Go to Configuration > Server > Settings, edit the SMTP server, and re-enter the password.

   • Password-protected Send HTTP Notification actions: Go to Configuration > Recordings and events > Action rules, edit the rules, and re-enter the passwords.

   • Scheduled exports to a password-protected network share: Go to Configuration > Server > Scheduled export and re-enter the password.

   • Incident reports to a password-protected network share: Go to Configuration > Server > Incident report, re-enter the password, and click Apply.

10. Add more devices to the server if needed.

For offline licensing, skip to License your server offline.

1. Go to Configuration > Connected services > Management.

2. Click Register and follow the prompts to onboard your server. Make sure you add it to the correct organization. This action can't be undone.

3. Your licenses are migrated automatically. If you're not using an Axis NVR, go to Product overview and click Start your subscription.

4. If you've added more devices, add licenses to cover them:

5. • Go to Product wallet > Redeem license key.

   • Click Confirm.

6. Allocate your licenses:

7. • Click Go to product licensing if you’ve added more licenses. Otherwise click the Product licensing tab.

   • If your system is in grace period and already has some licenses applied, click Edit to match allocated licenses with total devices.

   • Adjust the allocation and click Confirm allocation.

1. Go to Configuration > Licenses > Management and click Export system file.... If you add or remove devices, you'll need to export a new system file and repeat these steps.

2. Bring the system file to a PC with internet access, navigate to lm.mysystems.axis.com and sign in with your My Axis account.

3. Click Upload system file and upload the file you exported.

4. Go to Product wallet > Redeem license key, add any licenses needed for additional devices, and click Confirm.

5. Allocate your licenses:

6. • Click Go to product licensing if you’ve added more licenses. Otherwise click the Product licensing tab.

   • If your system is in grace period and already has some licenses applied, click Edit to match allocated licenses with total devices.

   • Adjust the allocation and click Confirm allocation.

7. Go to Systems setup and download the updated license file.

8. In AXIS Camera Station Pro, go to Configuration > Licenses > Management and click Import license file....

9. Select the file you downloaded and upload it. Your system is now fully licensed.

• Server certificate

• You can manage the server certificate to secure connections between clients and the server. Go to Service Control > Certificate tab. Either generate a self-signed certificate or import a certificate from your certificate authority.

• Body worn camera integration

• If you've integrated an Axis body worn system, generate a new connection file with the updated ports:

• 1. In Axis Camera Station Pro, go to Configuration > Other > Connection file.

  2. Enter a name and click Export.

  3. Apply the connection file in your Body Worn Manager.

  4. Test the connection to verify that the body worn system can transfer recordings to Axis Camera Station Pro.

• Secure Remote Access v2

• Secure Remote Access v2 activates automatically when you onboard and license your system. For information about adding users, see How to - Enable and Use Axis Camera Station Pro Secure Remote Access v2.

Prerequisites:

• AXIS Camera Station Pro 6.9 or later installed on the old server. If you haven't upgraded yet, do so before you begin.

• Passwords for all devices.

• If used, passwords for:

• • SMTP server

  • Network storage

  • Scheduled exports

  • Incident reports

  • My Axis account for Secure Remote Access

• If the old server isn't available, use the latest system backup file. See System backup.

1. Install Axis Camera Station Pro on the new server. See Install AXIS Camera Station Pro. Choose the version that was installed on the previous server.

2. Start the Axis Camera Station service from within the Axis Camera Station Service Control.

3. Go to Configuration > Server > Components, click Show components and wait until the status of all components is "Running", except for Axis Data Insights Dashboard, which is turned off by default.

4. Note

   This ensures that the components are fully installed. If they're not installed properly, it could cause issues when moving the databases and during onboarding.

5. Go to Axis Camera Station Service Control and click Stop to stop the service.

If the recordings are stored on the old server, copy the recordings from the recording location specified under Configuration > Storage > Management on the old server to the same location on the new server.

If the recordings are stored on network storage, skip this step. You'll reconnect your recordings later in this guide.

To move the settings, you need all the credentials for the system. This includes passwords for devices, and if used, passwords for SMTP server, network storage, scheduled exports, incident reports, and the My Axis accounts used for Secure Remote Access.

1. If the old server is available:

2. Offboard the server from My Systems by clicking Disconnect... in Configuration > Connected services > Management.

3. Go to Axis Camera Station Service Control and click Stop to stop the service.

4. Move the core database files in C:\ProgramData\AXIS Communications\AXIS Camera Station Server to the same location on the new server. See Database files. Note that the ProgramData folder is hidden by default. You may need to show hidden files within Windows.

Certain components have settings that can be moved to the new server. These settings are in the folder C:\ProgramData\Axis Communications\Axis Camera Station\Components. To move a component's settings, copy the component's folder to the same location on the new server.

• Components you can move:

• Axis Camera Station Secure Entry: Copy SecureEntry.db and the cardholder photos folder from C:\ProgramData\Axis Communications\Axis Camera Station\Components\Axis Secure Entry on the old server to the same location on the new server.

• Axis Smart search 2: Copy smartSearch.sqlite3 and smartSearchTracks.sqlite3 from C:\ProgramData\Axis Communications\Axis Camera Station\Components\AXIS Smart Search\data on the old server to the same location on the new server.

• Axis System Health Monitoring: Copy system-health-monitoring.sqlite3 from C:\ProgramData\Axis Communications\Axis Camera Station\Components\AXIS System Health Monitoring on the old server to the same location on the new server.

• Axis Vehicle Data: Copy the AXIS Vehicle Data folder to the new server.

1. On the new server:

2. Start the Axis Camera Station service.

3. Start the Axis Camera Station client and log on to the server.

4. Restore important credentials:

5. • Re-generate the Root CA certificate. See Generate a root CA.

   • If your recordings are on a network share, go to Configuration > Storage > Management, select the network share and click Reconnect.... Make sure that the path to the recordings folder will be the same for the new server and re-enter the password.

   • Note

     Due to the server not being able to access the recordings at startup, the recordings may have been deleted from the database. To fix this, stop the service, replace ACS_RECORDINGS.FDB again, then restart the service.

   • Enter the passwords for the devices under Configuration > Devices > Management.

   • Renew or replace the Server Certificate from the Axis Camera Station Service control, in the Certificates tab.

6. Restore optional credentials:

7. • If any SMTP server with password has been configured, go to Configuration > Server > Settings, edit the SMTP server and re-enter the password.

   • If any Send HTTP Notification actions with passwords have been configured, go to Configuration > Recordings and events > Action rules and edit the rules and re-enter the passwords.

   • If scheduled exports to a password-protected network share is configured, go to Configuration > Server > Scheduled export and re-enter the password.

   • If incident reports to a password-protected network share is configured, go to Configuration > Server > Incident report, re-enter the password and click Apply.

8. Restore optional features:

9. • If Axis Secure Remote Access is used, follow the steps in the Axis Secure Remote Access v2 guide.

   • For any decoders (T8705 or D1110) in the system, set the views to be shown on the decoders again. See Multiple monitors.

   • If a body worn system has been configured, generate a new connection file and set up the system again. See Set up an Axis body worn system.

10. If you're not yet running the latest version of Axis Camera Station Pro, update to get the latest available features.

1. Onboard the new server:

2. Go to Configuration > Connected services > Management and click Register....

3. Select Existing Organization and click Confirm.

4. Click Go to My Systems to see the onboarded organization.

• License the system:

• Your licenses migrate automatically when you onboard. If you need to license offline, see License your server offline.

1. After onboarding:

2. Duplicate devices: My Systems will show duplicate devices. Some won't be reachable because they're from the old server. To remove them, see How To - Manage devices and folders in connected services with delete capabilities.

3. Folder name: The folder in My Systems still uses the old server's computer name. To change it, click the ellipsis next to the folder name.

4. Archive the old system: Contact Technical Support to archive the old system from License Manager. Include a system report in your ticket and note which system is redundant.