Import server certificate... (KDM Creator)

[Mrs-DCP]

Hi there,

I'm not new to DCP but I'm absolutely new to DCP-O-MANIA. And I wish I could use KDM Creator but... I think I'll need a bit of a help...

Actually, let's say I have 300 cinema server certificates in my list. I tried to "import" them one by one in the left window... creating each time the name of the cinema and screen1, screen2, etc... but that can't do the trick, it would take me 6 months at least to do so!!!
Is there a way to import this bunch of certificates so that it could be used afterwards? In a folder? It seems the software isn't creating a folder (or so) once certificates have been added.

Thank you for your help and regards.

[Carsten]

I think we never had a request for mass import so far. There is a cinemas.xml file in your prefs folder (also an export option using the same format in general pref settings). Maybe you can run your cinemas list and certs through some sort of converter to create it. Maybe Carl will think about a CSV import or something.

How is your current list structured?

- Carsten

cinemas.xml

[Mrs-DCP]

First of all, thank you for your fast reply!

I now saw this cinemas.xml in the AppData/local folder. I suppose that, if I install an another DPM-KDM on an another computer (for precaution reasons), it's possible to copy this cinemas.xml on the other computer?

By the way, I saw that this .xml is pretty hard to "read" as it includes the certificate itself (begin/end). Obviously, it should make the KDM generation easier/faster but, maybe, the import of the certificate not so easy. (as .pem aren't need anymore once imported)

Concerning my list, it's a "free list", meaning it's not organized at all. I use it with the alphabetic order...

And one more question: in "KDM type", it's possible to choose from "Modified/Multiple modified, etc...", which one should be used?

Thank you in advance.

[Carsten]

Where and how do you store the certs for your database then and how do you make sure which cinema/screen refers to which certs? If you don't have a structured database, I guess there is no way to import them all at once anyway.

The XML allows to import and export nicely in and out of Excel, I tried that a few times. If you don't have a structured database yet, then KDM Creator may be the starting point, even if it means some initial effort (I don't think it's 6 months, more like a few hours). It is easy to use the cinemas.xml file later for different applications. But at some point you clearly need to set up a structured database anyway.

Note that KDM Creator is not limited to DCP-o-matic projects - it is a universal KDM management tool. All you need is a DKDM for DCPs you want to authorize.

Yes, you can share the cinemas.xml file between different computers.

Currently, Modified Transitional 1 is the preferred method (works for both Interop and SMPTE content). It is also the default.

- Carsten

[Mrs-DCP]

Thank you again for your feedback.

My certificates are organized like this:
City1_Cinema1_room1
City1_Cinema1_room2
City1_Cinema1_room3

City1_Cinema2_room1
City1_Cinema2_room2

City1_Cinema3_room1

City2_Cinema1_room1
City2_Cinema1_room2... etc...

For now, I just copy/paste 2 or 10 or 100 certs in a specific folder and the KDM generation is applied to all those certs.
300 certs was for the example. In fact, I have at least 750 certs... and I sometime need to generate 750 KDM for a CPL in a row.

[Carsten]

So, essentially, all you have is a folder with a huge bunch of cert files, each named CityX_CinemaY_ScreenZ.pem. And to create KDMs, you copy a specific selection of these files to some sort of 'hot folder', which triggers KDM creation for those?

Once created - how do these KDMs get to their destination?

- Carsten

[Mrs-DCP]

So, essentially, all you have is a folder with a huge bunch of cert files, each named CityX_CinemaY_ScreenZ.pem. And to create KDMs, you copy a specific selection of these files to some sort of 'hot folder', which triggers KDM creation for those?
Yes, you're absolutely right.

Once created - how do these KDMs get to their destination?
I'm creating a zipped file for each 5 or 10 KDM that interested me for a particular destination.

In the meantime, I took something like 3 hours to import the cinema certs one by one and A-city is ok and I'm now at B(E)-city only.
But the very good point is that, indeed, I was able to copy/paste the cinemas.xml file created into an another installation and the list of servers is showing up. Just that, in a Mac, there is no /AppData folder so, it was hard to find out but you have to double click on something who looks like a "cinemas.xml" button to show the software which file is to be used instead of the default cinemas.xml.

And, as I find some promising things with this KDM Creator (once the cinema list is ok), I'm right now restarting with importing the certificates for B(I)-city.

Write to you later once I'll be at C-city cinemas!

[Carsten]

Right. I guess we typically assume that users build their DCP-o-matic site database more or less one-by-one, as we receive the requests, so, it is less pain. Technically, it wouldn't be too complicated to convert your cert-folder into a suitable XML file by scripting. The question with these things usually is, who is capable of doing this quickly enough, and does it take more time to program the script than it takes to create the DCP-o-matic database manually. On a Mac, one could use Automator for that job, or any popular scripting language typically available.

A script would read each file in your cert folder, parse City, Cinema, Screen from the file name, and copy the cert/file content into an XML tag block, then proceed to the next file. There are certainly people who can create a script like that within a few minutes, the problem is to find them.

https://dcpomatic.com/faq?id=23

The good thing is, once you're finished, your site collection is in a much better format for future handling, and it allows to attach email recipients, notes, UTC offsets, etc.

- Carsten

[Mrs-DCP]

Thank you again!

From my side, I'm not able to do this in an automatic way so, there's only the one-by-one version left.
And I can make some sorting at the same time. I'm at E-city...

And concerning the Mac, I absolutely haven't got any com.dcpomatic/2 in Preferences...

One more thing: this is not so often but, sometimes, KDM need to be associated to the serial number of the server (of course) but to a second number too. (Dual IMB?) How can we do this?

Thank you.

[Carsten]

On the Mac, in Finder Menu choose 'Goto'. While this dropdown menu list is open, press <alt> Key. You will notice 'Library' turning up in this list. Click on it, your PERSONAL (not system) library folder is opened. Find and double-click 'Preferences'. There you'll find the com.dcpomatic/2 folder.

'2' ist for version 2.x prefs. You will find a couple of files in it. DCP-o-matic also creates backups from time to time, so you will find multiple versions over time.

You can also RightClick -> Archive this into a ZIP file, and add a date or other note (like DCP-o-matic version number), so you can backup all your configs manually whenever you feel a need for it.

Note you can put config.xml and cinemas.xml on a network drive, dropbox folder as well, so multiple machines may access the same file.

Additional certs can be added under 'other trusted devices'. Some dual systems (like slaved secondary servers) may need their own individual secondary KDM. You may setup them as CinemaX_ScreenY_prim and CinemaX_ScreenY_sec or similar and create dual KDMs for them.

- Carsten