Using the Orchid server process monitor – Technical Support

IMPORTANT: The information in this article is specific to Orchid version 1.12.7 or earlier. Equivalent instructions for Orchid versions 2.0.0 and above are available in the Orchid Core VMS Installation Guide in the sections "How to Check, Start, or Stop Orchid Core VMS Services" under each available installation platform.

On Ubuntu 14.04 LTS systems, Orchid and its associated processes are controlled by monit, an open source utility for managing and monitoring server processes on Unix systems.

Access monit

Monit is accessed via HTTP on port 2812. By default, monit is only accessible from the Orchid server itself (see the section Configure monit to make monit remotely accessible).

Using a web browser running on your Orchid server, open the address: http://localhost:2812. When prompted, enter the user name admin and the default monit administrator password 0rc#1d.

NOTE: changing the Orchid administrator password does not change the monit password. See the section Configure monit to change the monit password.

Use monit

After logging in, you will see that monit controls two server process:

orchid_server is the main Orchid server process responsible for recording cameras and serving video streams and the user interface.
onvif_autodiscovery_service is a helper process responsible for discovering ONVIF cameras on the local network.

On a healthy Orchid installation, the values of the highlighted fields will be as follows:

Status will display as Running.
Uptime will match the duration that the server itself has been powered on. In rare cases, the orchid_server process will periodically restart on a healthy Orchid server, but in no case should the uptime remain consistently low.
CPU Total will be between 0% and 80%. If one or more clients are connected using "low-bandwidth mode," this value may temporarily grow to 100%. So long as the value returns to less than 80% after all low-bandwidth clients are disconnected, this is not cause for concern.
Memory Total will be between 0% and 80%.

If the above values indicate that your Orchid server is unhealthy, consult the Knowledge Base for troubleshooting tips or submit an Orchid Technical Support Ticket.

Control processes with monit

To restart, stop, or start an Orchid process, click the desired process (e.g., "orchid_server") listed under the Process heading:

You will now see detailed information for the monitored process that you selected. At the bottom of this page, there are buttons that allow you to control the process:

NOTE: If you elect to stop any service, Orchid will not function again until you manually start the service.

Configure monit

By configuring monit you can:

Access monit remotely (from a computer other than the Orchid server itself).
Change the monit password (required if you make monit remotely accessible).

NOTE: Configuring monit to allow remote access may expose your Orchid server to security risks which could result in the loss of video and other data. Understand and accept these risks before modifying monit settings.

To configure monit, open a Terminal session and edit /opt/orchid/monitrc as the superuser:

Scroll down to the block of text shown below, and:

Prefix the two lines containing "localhost" with a hash (#) to enable remote access.
Change the text "0rc#1d" to your new monit password.

After saving the monitrc file, restart the monit process from the Terminal with sudo service monit restart:

If you enabled remote access, monit will be accessible remotely on port 2812 (e.g., http://xx.xx.xx.xx:2812).