AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation

About your device

AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation is a workstation for high-definition surveillance with support for two simultaneous 4K monitors. The workstation is preloaded with an AXIS Camera Station client and is preconfigured to minimize installation time. Together with Axis rack servers, AXIS S9301 creates comprehensive, high-end surveillance solutions.

Get started

The standard workflow to configure an AXIS Camera Station recording server is:

  1. Install your device

  2. Initial Windows® setup: After installing your device, you are guided through a few steps to set up the region, language, keyboard layout, an administrator account and its password.

  3. Initial Axis recorder setup: After the initial Windows setup, AXIS Recorder Toolbox is opened and you are guided through a few steps to set up basic and necessary settings, for example, computer name, date and time, and network. See .

  4. Configure Windows. We recommend to:

  5. Update AXIS Camera Station to the latest version.

    • If your system is online: open the AXIS Recorder Toolbox app and click Update AXIS Camera Station.

    • If your system is offline: go to axis.com and download the latest version.

  6. Configure AXIS Camera Station

  7. Connect your system to the AXIS Camera Station mobile viewing app. See Connect to AXIS Camera Station server.

Install your device

Before installation

  • Prepare additional accessories used for installation: monitor, mouse, keyboard and network cable.

  • Understand the usage of different user accounts.

The following table lists the user accounts that can be used for installation, configuration and operation of your Axis system.

User accountDescriptionNote
MyAxisUsed to download the latest software, access the license system, Axis Secure Remote Access, and System Health Monitoring.Registered from my.axis.com.
Windows®
Windows administratorAdministrator privileges in Windows. We recommend you do not use it as AXIS Camera Station administrator.Created during initial Windows setup.
Windows user with AXIS Camera Station administrator privilegesA Windows user granted with administrator privileges in AXIS Camera Station to be used by system integrator or system administrator for configuration or troubleshooting.Created in Windows settings.
Windows user with AXIS Camera Station operator or viewer privilegesA Windows user granted with operator or viewer privileges in AXIS Camera Station.Created in Windows settings.
Device
Device administratorUsed by the administrator to access the camera from the video management system or device webpage.Created from the device webpage or when you add the device to AXIS Camera Station.

Installation

For instructions on how to install the product, see the installation guide included in the box or on the product’s support page on axis.com.

Configure your device

Download audio drivers

One of the 3.5 mm audio jacks only functions as a line in/out, and the other 3.5 mm audio jack only functions as a headset jack. To switch functionality between the 3.5 mm audio jacks, you need to update the audio drivers. For example, if you are using a standalone microphone or a headset with two 3.5mm plugs, you need to update the drivers to reconfigure the headset jack as a microphone jack.

To update the audio drivers:

  1. See Dell’s support page and download the latest .exe file.

  2. Launch the file in Windows® and follow the instructions provided on screen.

Initial Axis recorder setup

After you have configured Windows®, AXIS Recorder Toolbox is opened automatically and you are guided through the first-time configuration wizard. In this wizard, you can configure several basic and necessary settings before you manage your device in AXIS Recorder Toolbox.

  1. Select Light or Dark theme and click Next.

  2. Change the computer name if you want and click Next.

  3. Under Power settings,

    • Never put the computer to sleep and Never turn off the display are selected by default.

    • We recommend that you keep both options selected to make the live view and recordings available all the time. You can always go to Start > Settings > System > Power & sleep to change the settings.

  4. Under Date and time, configure the following settings and click Next.

    • Select a time zone.

    • To set up an NTP server, select NTP server and enter the NTP server address.

    • To set manually, select Manual and select a date and time.

  5. Under Network settings, configure the following settings and click Next.

    • Use automatic IP settings (DHCP) and Use automatic DNS settings are turned on by default.

    • If your device is connected to a network with a DHCP server, the assigned IP address, subnet mask, gateway, and preferred DNS are automatically displayed.

    • If your device is not connected to a network or there is no DHCP server available, enter the IP address, subnet mask, gateway, and preferred DNS manually depending on the network requirements.

  6. Click Finish. If you have changed the computer name, AXIS Recorder Toolbox will prompt you to restart the device.

Configure AXIS Camera Station

This Get started tutorial will walk you through the basic steps to make your system up and running.

Before you start, you may need to:

After necessary configurations, you can start to work with AXIS Camera Station:

  1. Start the video management system

  2. Add devices

  3. Configure recording method

  4. View live video

  5. View recordings

  6. Add bookmarks

  7. Export recordings

  8. Play and verify recordings in AXIS File Player

Start the video management system

Double-click the AXIS Camera Station client icon to start the client. When you start the client for the first time, it attempts to log in to the AXIS Camera Station server installed on the same computer as the client.

You can connect to multiple AXIS Camera Station servers in different ways.

Add devices

The Add devices page opens the first time you start AXIS Camera Station. AXIS Camera Station searches the network for connected devices and shows a list of devices found.

  1. Select the cameras you want to add from the list. If you can’t find your camera, click Manual search.

  2. Click Add.

  3. Select Quick configuration or Site Designer configuration. Click Next.

  4. Use the default settings and ensure the recording method is None. Click Install.

Configure recording method

  1. Go to Configuration > Recording and events > Recording method.

  2. Select a camera.

  3. Turn on Motion detection, or Continuous, or both.

  4. Click Apply.

View live video

  1. Open a Live view tab.

  2. Select a camera to view its live video.

View recordings

  1. Open a Recordings tab.

  2. Select the camera you want to view recordings from.

Add bookmarks

  1. Go to the recording.

  2. In the timeline of the camera, zoom in and out and move the timeline to put the marker at your desired position.

  3. Click .

  4. Enter the bookmark name and description. Use keywords in the description to make the bookmark easy to find and recognize.

  5. Select Prevent recording deletion to lock the recording.

  6. Note

    It’s not possible to delete a locked recording. To unlock the recording, clear the option or delete the bookmark.

  7. Click OK to save the bookmark.

Export recordings

  1. Open a Recordings tab.

  2. Select the camera you want to export recordings from.

  3. Click to display the selection markers.

  4. Drag the markers to include the recordings that you want to export.

  5. Click to open the Export tab.

  6. Click Export....

Play and verify recordings in AXIS File Player

  1. Go to the folder with the exported recordings.

  2. Double-click AXIS File Player.

  3. Click to show the recording’s notes.

  4. To verify the digital signature:

    1. Go to Tools > Verify digital signature.

    2. Select Validate with password and enter your password.

    3. Click Verify. The verification result page appears.

  5. Note

    Digital signature is different from Signed video. Signed video allows you to trace video back to the camera it came from, making it possible to verify that the recording wasn't tampered with. See Signed video and the camera’s user manual for more information.

Network configuration

Configure proxy or firewall settings before using AXIS Camera Station if the AXIS Camera Station client, AXIS Camera Station server, and the connected network devices are on different networks.

Client proxy settings

When a proxy server separates the client and the server, configure the client proxy settings.

  1. Open the AXIS Camera Station client.

  2. Click Change client proxy settings.

  3. Change the client proxy settings.

  4. Click OK.

Server proxy settings

When a proxy server separates the network devices and the server, configure the server proxy settings.

  1. Open AXIS Camera Station Service Control.

  2. Select Modify settings.

  3. In the Proxy settings section, use the default System account internet option or select Use manual proxy settings.

  4. Click Save.

NAT and Firewall

When a NAT, firewall, or similar separates the client and the server, configure the NAT or firewall to ensure that the HTTP port, TCP port, and streaming port specified in AXIS Camera Station Service Control can pass through the firewall or NAT. Contact the network administrator for instructions on configuring the NAT or firewall.

Server port configuration

For more information, see .

Security considerations

To prevent unauthorized access to cameras and recordings, keep the following in mind:

  • Use strong passwords for all network devices (cameras, video encoders, and auxiliary devices).

  • Install AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation server, cameras, video encoders, and auxiliary devices on a secure network separate from the office network. You can install the AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation client on a computer on another network, for example, a network with internet access.

  • Make sure all users have strong passwords. Windows Active Directory provides a high level of security.

Manage Windows® user accounts

Create a user account

To help keep your personal data and information more secure, we recommend that you add a password for each local account.

Important

Once you create a password for a local account, don't forget it. There’s no way to recover a lost password for local accounts.

  1. Go to Settings > Accounts > Other people > Add someone else to this PC.

  2. Click I don’t have this person’s sign-in information.

  3. Click Add a user without a Microsoft account.

  4. Enter a user name, password and password hint.

  5. Click Next and follow the instructions.

Create an administrator account

  1. Go to Settings > Accounts > Other people.

  2. Go to the account you want to change and click Change account type.

  3. Go to Account type and select Administrator.

  4. Click OK.

  5. Restart your device and sign in with the new administrator account.

Create a local user group

  1. Go to Computer Management.

  2. Go to Local Users and Groups > Group.

  3. Right-click Group and select New Group.

  4. Enter a group name and a description.

  5. Add group members:

    1. Click Add.

    2. Click Advanced.

    3. Find the user account(s) you want to add to the group and click OK.

    4. Click OK again.

  6. Click Create.

Delete a user account

Important

When you delete an account you remove the user account from the login screen. You also remove all files, settings and program data stored on the user account.

  1. Go to Settings > Accounts > Other people.

  2. Go to the account you want to remove and click Remove.

Change a user account's password

  1. Log in with an administrator account.

  2. Go to User Accounts > User Accounts > Manage another account in sequence.

    You’ll see a list with all user accounts on the device.

  3. Select the user account whose password you would like to change.

  4. Click Change the password.

  5. Enter the new password and click Change password.

Create a password reset disk for a user account

We recommend to create a password reset disk on a USB flash drive. With this, you can reset the password. Without a password reset disk, you can’t reset the password.

Note

If you’re using Windows 10, or later, you can add security questions to your local account in case you forget your password, so you don't need to create a password reset disk. To do this, got to Start and click Settings > Sign-in options > Update your security questions.

  1. Sign in to your device with a local user account. You can’t create a password reset disk for a connected account.

  2. Plug an empty USB flash drive into your device.

  3. From the Windows search field, go to Create a password reset disk.

  4. In the Forgotten Password setup assistant, click Next.

  5. Select your USB flash drive and click Next.

  6. Type your current password and click Next.

  7. Follow the onscreen instructions.

  8. Remove the USB flash drive and keep it in a safe placet. You don't have to create a new disk when you change your password even if you change it several times.

Manage AXIS Camera Station user accounts

Configure user permissions

Go to Configuration > Security > User permissions to view the users and groups that exists in AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation .

Note

Administrators of the computer that runs AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation server are automatically given administrator privileges to AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation . You can’t change or remove the Administrators group's privileges.

Before you can add a user or group, register the user or group on the local computer or make sure they have an Windows Active Directory user account. To add users or groups, see Add users or groups.

When a user is part of a group, the user gets the highest role permission assigned to the individual or the group. The user also gets the access granted as an individual and receives the rights as part of a group. For example, a user has access to camera X as an individual. The user is also a member of a group that has access to cameras Y and Z. The user therefore has access to cameras X, Y, and Z.

Indicates the entry is a single user.

Indicates the entry is a group.

Name

Username as it appears in the local computer or Active Directory.

Domain

The domain that the user or group belongs to.

Role

The access role given to the user or group.

Possible values: Administrator, Operator, and Viewer.

Details

Detailed user information as it appears in the local computer or Active Directory.

Server

The server that the user or group belongs to.

Add users or groups

Microsoft Windows and Active Directory users and groups can access AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation . To add a user to AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation , you must add users or a group to Windows.

To add a user in Windows vary depending on which version of Windows you use. Follow the instructions on Microsoft's site. If you use an Active Directory domain network, consult your network administrator

Add users or groups

  1. Go to Configuration > Security > User permissions.

  2. Click Add.

    The list shows available users and groups.

  3. Under Scope, select where to search for users and groups.

  4. Under Show, select to show users or groups.

    The search result doesn’t display if there are too many users or groups. Use the filter function.

  5. Select the users or groups and click Add.

Scope

Server

Select to search for users or groups on the local computer.

Domain

Select to search for Active Directory users or groups.

Selected server

When connected to multiple AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation servers, select a server from the Selected server drop-down menu.

Configure a user or group

  1. Select a user or group in the list.

  2. Under Role, select Administrator, Operator, or Viewer.

  3. If you selected Operator or Viewer, you can configure the user or group privileges. See User or group privileges.

  4. Click Save.

Remove a user or group

  1. Select the user or group.

  2. Click Remove.

  3. In the pop-up dialogue, click OK to remove the user or group.

User or group privileges

There are three roles you can give to a user or group. For how to define the role for a user or group, see Add users or groups.

Administrator –
Full access to the entire system, including access to live and recorded video of all cameras, all I/O ports, and views. This role is required to configure anything in the system.
Operator –
Select cameras, views, and I/O ports to get access to live and recorded. An operator has full access to all functionality of AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation except system configuration.
Viewer –
Access to live video of selected cameras, I/O ports, and views. A viewer doesn’t have access to recorded video or system configuration.

Cameras

The following access privileges are available for users or groups with the Operator or Viewer role.

Access

Allow access to the camera and all camera features.

Video

Allow access to live video from the camera.

Audio listen

Allow access to listen from the camera.

Audio speak

Allow access to speak to the camera.

Manual Recording

Allow to start and stop recordings manually.

Mechanical PTZ

Allow access to mechanical PTZ controls. Only available for cameras with mechanical PTZ.

PTZ priority

Set the PTZ priority. A lower number means a higher priority. No assigned priority is set to 0. An administrator has the highest priority. When a role with higher priority operates a PTZ camera, others can’t operate the same camera for 10 seconds by default. Only available for cameras with mechanical PTZ and have Mechanical PTZ selected.

Views

The following access privileges are available for users or groups with the Operator or Viewer role. You can select multiple views and set the access privileges.

Access

Allow access to the views in AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation .

Edit

Allow to edit the views in AXIS Camera Station S9301 Workstation .

I/O

The following access privileges are available for users or groups with the Operator or Viewer role.

Access

Allow full access to the I/O port.

Read

Allow to view the state of the I/O port. The user can’t change the port state.

Write

Allow to change the state of the I/O port.

System

You can’t configure greyed out access privileges in the list. Privileges with check mark means the user or group have this privilege by default.

The following access privileges are available for users or groups with the Operator role. Take snapshots is also available for the Viewer role.

Take snapshots

Allow to take snapshots in the live view and recordings modes.

Export recordings

Allow to export recordings.

Generate incident report

Allow to generate incident reports.

Prevent access to recordings older than

Prevent access to recordings older than the specified number of minutes. When using search, the user doesn’t find recordings older than the specified time.

Access alarms, tasks, and logs

Get alarm notifications and allow access to the Alarms and tasks bar and Logs tab.

Access control

The following access privileges are available for users or groups with the Operator role. Access Management is also available for the Viewer role.

Access control configuration

Allow configuration of doors and zones, identification profiles, card formats and PIN, encrypted communication, and multi-server.

Access management

Allow access management and access to the active directory settings.

System health monitoring

The following access privileges are available for users or groups with the Operator role. Access to system health monitoring is also available for the Viewer role.

Configuration of system health monitoring

Allow configuration of the system health monitoring system.

Access to system health monitoring

Allow access to the system health monitoring system.

Manage your device

Update Windows®

Windows® periodically checks for updates. When an update is available, your device automatically downloads the update but you've to install it manually.

Note

Recording will be interrupted during a scheduled system restart.

To manually check for updates:

  1. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update.

  2. Click Check for updates.

Configure Windows update settings

It is possible to change how and when Windows® do its updates to suit your needs.

Note

All ongoing recordings stop during a scheduled system restart.

  1. Open the Run app.

    • Go to Windows System > Run, or

  2. Type gpedit.msc and click OK. The Local Group Policy Editor opens.

  3. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update.

  4. Configure the settings as required, see example.

Example

To automatically download and install updates without any user interaction and have the device restart, if necessary, at out of office hours, use the following configuration:

  1. Open Always automatically restart at the scheduled time and select:

    1. Enabled

    2. The restart timer will give users this much time to save their work (minutes): 15.

    3. Click OK.

  2. Open Configure Automatic Updates and select:

    1. Enabled

    2. Configure Automatic updates: Auto download and schedule the install

    3. Schedule Install day: Every Sunday

    4. Schedule Install time: 00:00

    5. Click OK.

  3. Open Allow Automatic Updates immediate installation and select:

    1. Enabled

    2. Click OK.

Troubleshooting

Check the current BIOS version

To check the current BIOS:

  1. Power on the device and repeatedly press F2 until the Axis logo appears.

  2. The version number is shown as first entry under Overview.

Upgrade BIOS

You should upgrade the BIOS only when you are instructed by Axis technical support.

  1. Go to the support pages on dell.com and enter your service tag. Go to Drivers & Downloads, filter on BIOS, and download the latest .exe file.

  2. Launch the executable in Windows and follow the instructions provided on screen.

Perform a system recovery

Internal recovery

If the device has had a system failure, perform an internal recovery to restore the system.

  1. Open Windows Settings.

  2. Select Update & Security.

  3. In the menu, select Recovery.

  4. Under Reset the PC click Get Started.

  5. Select Keep my files.

  6. Important

    It is strongly recommended that you do not select Remove everything as this will remove all Axis applications and configurations, including AXIS Camera Station.

  7. If you are connected to internet, select Local reinstall, otherwise go direct to step 7.

  8. Select Next without doing any changes.

  9. Select Reset.

  10. Note

    Before selecting Reset, you can view a list of apps that will be removed by the reset. These apps will be restored after the recovery.

  11. Important

    After a successful recovery, it’s important that you log in to Windows with an Administrator account to finalize the recovery process.

External recovery

If the device has had a complete system failure, you must use a recovery image to recreate the Windows® system. To download the AXIS Recovery Kit, contact AXIS Technical Support and supply the serial number of your device.

  1. Download the AXIS Recovery Kit and AXIS ISO to USB Tool.

  2. Insert a USB drive into your computer.

    • Use a USB drive with a minimum of 16 GB to 32 GB.

    • The USB drive will be formatted, and all existing data will be erased.

  3. Run the AXIS ISO to USB Tool and follow the onscreen instructions.

    Writing data to the USB drive takes approximately 10 to 15 min. Don’t remove the USB drive until the process is complete.

  4. After the ISO to USB tool is complete, take the USB drive and plug it into your device.

  5. Start your device and before the AXIS splash screen appears press F12. We recommend that you tap the F12 key repeatedly as the device boots fast.

  6. Navigate to your USB drive and press Enter. The system boots into the AXIS Recovery Kit.

    For example it should say UEFI: Sandisk.

  7. Click Reinstall Operating System.

    The recovery takes roughly 10 to 15 min to complete. You find detailed instructions in the download for the recovery kit.

Troubleshoot AXIS Camera Station

For information about how to troubleshoot AXIS Camera Station, go to the AXIS Camera Station user manual.

Product overview

  1. Power button/power LED
  2. Hard drive activity LED
  3. Line in/out
  4. Universal audio jack
  5. USB 3.2 port
  6. USB 3.2 gen 2 2x2 USB-C port
  7. 1 GbE Ethernet port
  8. USB 3.2 ports
  9. DisplayPorts
  10. Power connector

Need more help?

Contact support

If you need more help, go to axis.com/support.