VODService Channels Configuration

VODService comes with a predefined set of channels; these are defined in vodservice-service-channels.xml. A channel is basically a static forward to some other VODServer service. Configuring channels provides several advantages:

• Clients can use a simple URL; they don't need to know which service to use for a specific channel and what service request parameters to use; they only need to specify a simple channel name/id.
• Channels are administered in a central place; if for example you want to use a different service or different service parameters to view a specific channel, this only needs to be updated in the VODServer configuration. Clients will not see this change because they are simply pointing to the predefined channel name.

The following is an example channel definition from vodservice-service-channels.xml:

<entry key="Channel 4" value="/playFromPage?url=http://castalba.tv/channel/12781" />

This allows clients to invoke http://vodserver:port/channel?id=Channel+4, which will cause VODServer to actually execute /playFromPage?url=http://castalba.tv/channel/12781.

You can modify the mappings in the existing vodservice-service-channels.xml to create a set of personal channels. As an alternative, if you do not want to change the bundled configuration file, you can perform the following steps:

• Copy vodservice-service-channels.xml to vodservice-service-mychannels.xml * Change the service name in vodservice-service-mychannels.xml from /channel to /mychannel (or anything you like, as long as it doesn't conflict with other service definitions). * Update the channel mappings in your vodservice-service-mychannels.xml. * Invoke your channels using http://vodserver:port/mychannel?id=...

Creating your own channels configuration file is actually recommended, since you can simply copy your own configuration file to upgraded VODServer installations, and refer to the bundled channels configuration in case of any problems.