Ooyala Flex 7.0.0 is a feature release. We have made the following changes:
(Please see the “What’s New” section for more details)
Services: Updated the Stream Processor Service
We have updated the Stream Processor service to enable the transcoding of HLS files.
Auto Retry Checkbox for Action Edit Page
You can now select and deselect the “Auto Retry” checkbox while editing an existing action. Previously, the “Auto Retry” checkbox could only be selected during the creation of a new action.
MAM
You can also remove an asset from a collection or group directly from the Memberships sub-tab.
Hot Folders: New Source Resource Expression in Import Actions for Growing Files
We have changed the expression that is used for source resources in import actions. We have changed it from ${resourceId}
to ${variables.resourceId}
.
Reviewer
Metadata Designer
Ability to Re-order Options: We have added the ability to re-order single-option and multi-option fields on the metadata definition edit page.
Ooyala Flex Publish
We have added the ability to manage collections in Publish.
We have added two new endpoints:
http://<publish-url>/public/api/collections/{collectionId}
http://<publish-url>/public/api/collections
We have also added three new plugins:
Notes:
Segment Proxy Plugin: Language Labels
We have added an “Audio Stream Names” field to the configuration for the “Segment Proxy” plugin. The Audio Stream Names field enables you to apply language labels to audio tracks listed in an .m3u8 file.
Example: you might have a list of tracks in an .m3u8 file that do not have a language assigned to them and are therefore treated as “unrecognised”. You can use this field to add a label to each track so that you know what language the track is in.
Notes:
Subtitles: Timed Text Markup Language Support
We have extended subtitles to include support for Timed Text Markup Language (TTML).
This allows styling and positional information to be rendered and displayed correctly when viewing subtitles in the player in both MAM and Reviewer.
To support this new format we have added a new “Read Xml Header” field to the configuration for the “Asset Import Action” plugin. If this field is set to “true”, the system looks for a header in the TTML file. If it starts with a tag, it will be imported as a subtitle asset.
Note:
Segmented Asset: Purge Action Purges all files in a Segmented Asset
From 7.0.0 onwards, whenever you run a purge action against a segmented asset (.m3u8) the whole folder structure will be purged including the folder in which the .m3u8 file exists. All the files and directories parallel to the master manifest file, including the master manifest will be purged.
Notes:
Segmented Asset Hot Folders: New Workflow Variable
Segmented assets are delivered as part of a package and in most cases the master manifest files have the same name (example: master.m3u8). Ooyala Flex only tracks master manifest files, and so, all the segmented assets have same name (example: master.m3u8) which created confusion.
In order to solve this, we have added a new workflow variable:
${variables.directoryName}
This new variable gives you the ability to rename the manifest file using an expression in the configuration for the import action. When a workflow is launched by a new hot folder, a directory name can be set. You should enter this variable in the Asset Title field in the Import plugin configuration.
Analyse Media Plugin
Job Execution Framework
We have made several changes to JEF in 7.0.0. These are as follows:
Demux: Audio and Video Codec Fields
We have added “Video Codec” and “Audio Codec” configuration fields to the Demux plugin. These enable you to specify a video and audio codec respectively. The following codecs are supported for use with the Demux plugin:
REST API: Endpoint to Approve a Review
We have added an endpoint to the assets resource, that enables you to approve an asset review session.
This is as follows:
Table 1.
Resource | Endpoint | Method |
---|---|---|
assets: | /assets/{assetId}/reviews/{reviewId}/actions | post |
Example:
{
"action":"APPROVE"
}
The values that can be entered for this field are as follows:
SDK: Support for Tag Variables
We have added support for tag variables in the SDK. This enables you to add new tag values to a metadata instance (by typing a name of a tag that is not currently in a tag collection - it will add it to the collection).
metadata.getField("tag-field").getValue() // Returns ["tag1", "tag2"]
metadata.getField("tag-field").setValue(["tag3", "tag4"])
Video Indexer Service: “Out of Memory” error occurs when uploading large files
It was found that when the file size was greater than 100MB, an “out of space” error would occur.
Resolution: This error has now been fixed.
Note: The upload will fail if the file is 1.5 GB or higher when the FILE option is chosen. However, if S3 is chosen the file will upload successfully.
Feature toggle to disable / enable Enterprise integration with Authentication service
There were issues related to the integration of Flex Enterprise with the Authentication service. To solve this, we have introduced a temporary feature toggle that disables or enables the integration.
We will introduce a permanent fix in future releases.
Note: The Enterprise integration with the Authentication service is disabled by default.
Issue with Playback of Proxy Content
Proxy content is not supported from S3 buckets, public or private. This will be rectified in future releases.
Metadata Merge Issue
Metadata merge does not work on assets with more than 5000 records.
Metadata Search Issue
Metadata search no longer works in Flex Console and REST API.
Arango: Object reference is not displayed if associated with any Asset
If any mio object is referenced under asset metadata, then it should be visible under the reference tab of that object. However, after Arango migration, it is no longer displayed.
HLS clipping of growing file does not consider earlier segments
While creating a clip from a growing HLS stream, clipping did not start from the first segment. Instead it was an offset of the current segment resulting in an incorrect clip.
Resolution: We have resolved the parameters in Stream Processor in order to resolve the bugs that were found in the previous release.
MAM: Proxy Error for Child Assets
Users found that if an asset had a child, and that child also had a child, then the proxy would not be present for the asset.
Resolution: This has now been fixed and the proxy is present for assets and their children in MAM.
Ooyala Flex live streams are stuck in loop
The Ooyala Flex player was stuck in a loop whilst playing the first segment of a live stream.
Resolution: This has now been fixed and the player is no longer stuck in a loop.
MAM: Child UDOs are not displaying in alphabetical order in the Asset Summary panel
User defined objects were not displaying in alphabetical order in the Asset Summary panel.
Resolution: This has now been fixed. Child UDOs in the UDO Summary panel are now displaying in alphabetical order.
Reviewer: Listing Filters
Users found that the filters on the listing page were not clear. We have made the following changes to the filter names so that users know what each filter does:
Reviewer: Sorting functionality is not working on the landing page
The sorting functionality was not working correctly on the landing page in Reviewer.
Resolution: To solve this we have added sorting functionality to the Review Name column in the landing page.
Reviewer: Search is not working correctly on the review summary page
Users found that when they entered search criteria in the search box and pressed “Enter”, search results were not returned.
Resolution: This has now been fixed and the search is working correctly.
Hot Folders
The Hostname field would be set to “null” if a user configured a hot folder VFS location with a host name.
Resolution: While checking if the VFS location for the resource was valid, it was found that the VFS location object credentials were automatically overridden by the VFS location associated with the current VFS storage object, if both were of the same type.
To solve this we have implemented the following change: a check will be performed, and if the first VFS location is found to be valid, only then will it be overridden.
Notes:
Pre-Upgrade Checks
Metadata merges should not be in an “In Progress” or “Failed” state.
Pre-Upgrade Tasks (with all Flex apps and services stopped)
Delete the following RabbitMQ exchanges / queues:
Execute the following query in MongoDB for flex-registry schema:
db.getCollection('actionDefinition').remove( { _id : "5a8b4b71-58be-4eb3-b741-93580a76ceaa" }, 1 )
Execute the following query in MongoDB to remove the Smoke and QA plugins from flex-registry schema (JEF):
db.actionDefinition.remove( { _id: { $in:["3ab237d4-0b19-4f01-8ded-396ee5444284", "23319bb1-0393-4086-8c64-3bc6fd472ccf", "085650e8-d66b-4970-8628-0fed120e7114", "465cbd15-e715-4dd5-8ec4-265186416f3d", "323a13f5-de73-4218-852d-b10d08c96b3f"] } } ) db.resourceDefinition.remove( { _id: { $in:["ab5bb353-daa1-4bc6-a93d-3fe2215691d7"] } } )
Post-Upgrade Tasks
Set the replication factor to 2 for all the Arango edge collections in flex-taxonomy and flex-thesaurus databases. For more information, please consult the official ArangoDB documentation.
Note: If ArangoDB is used to store metadata instances (via the metadataArangoUsage feature toggle), both the Ooyala Flex Enterprise API search end-point and Ooyala Flex Console will no longer return results if a metadata search is run.