Appear X Platform
Production
Recommended for normal production use.
Caution
Compatibility Note: This information is a general guide and may be incomplete, may not match a specific project implementation, and is subject to change as supported products and versions evolve. Confirm the exact implementation and requirements for each project with Riedel and the relevant equipment vendor, then validate the required functions end to end in the target environment before deployment.
Minimum hi Version: v2.7.5
Overview
The Appear X Platform integration reads IP inputs, IP outputs, and network interfaces through the Appear JSON-RPC management API, and reads ST 2110 group membership to hide inputs that belong to an ST 2110 group. Routing updates supported IP input resources, while periodic polling keeps the represented device state current. The Appear system remains responsible for SRT transport and stream configuration.
Network Requirements
-
Connection Model: hi initiates JSON-RPC requests to the configured X Platform management address.
-
Multicast / Unicast: Control traffic is unicast. Media behavior remains configured on the Appear system.
-
VLAN / IGMP: Follow the Appear media-network design.
-
Bandwidth: Control-plane traffic only.
-
IP Version: Determined by the configured management address and deployed Appear software.
-
Firewall: Permit outbound HTTPS from hi to the configured management address.
Standards Conformance
|
Standard |
Conformance |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
JSON-RPC 2.0 |
Implemented |
Appear X management methods for authentication
|
Operator Workflow
-
UI Surface in hi: Routing Matrix, Topology, and Inventory
-
Resources Exposed: IP inputs, IP outputs, and IP interfaces
-
Routing Semantics: A supported route updates the selected IP input resource.
-
State Updates: hi polls the management API at the configured interval.
Connection Details
|
Property |
Value |
|---|---|
|
Protocol |
Appear X management API using JSON-RPC 2.0 |
|
Transport |
HTTPS |
|
Default Port |
Not specified (device-dependent) |
|
Authentication |
Local-domain username and password exchanged for an access token |
|
Encryption in Transit |
TLS (HTTPS) |
|
Connection Model |
JSON-RPC request/response with periodic polling |
|
Required License |
hiCompressed |
|
Traffic Flow |
Outbound requests with inbound responses |
Required Configuration
|
Parameter |
Description |
Default |
|---|---|---|
|
Management Address |
Full HTTPS base address of the Appear X Platform |
- |
|
Username |
Local management account used by hi |
- |
|
Password |
Password for the configured management account |
- |
|
Polling Interval |
Interval in milliseconds used to refresh Appear resources |
1000 |
The Polling Interval accepts values from 500 to 120000 ms.
Device-Side Setup
Follow Appear X Platform Integration Configuration for the device-side and hi-side configuration steps.
Supported Features
|
Feature |
Access |
Exposed Operation and Scope |
|---|---|---|
|
IP Input Inventory |
Read-only |
Read supported inputs and their current settings. |
|
IP Input Routing |
Read/write |
Update supported input resources during routing. |
|
Redundant Input Routing |
Read/write |
Set the address and port of each network path of a seamless IP input in one route, and enable the input. |
|
IP Output Inventory |
Read-only |
Read supported IP outputs exposed by the platform. |
|
Interface Inventory |
Read-only |
Read supported IP network interfaces exposed by the platform. |
|
Polling |
Read-only updates |
Refresh resource state at the configured interval. |
Known Limitations
-
Available resources depend on the installed Appear software, hardware options, and product licenses.
-
hi reads IP Gateway inputs, outputs, interfaces, and ST 2110 groups from board slot 1 only.
-
Validate the management methods against the exact X Platform configuration before production use.
-
SRT connection parameters and media behavior remain configured on the Appear system.
-
hi signs in with a local account and starts a new session about every 9 minutes. After two failed requests, hi marks the Node as disconnected and tries to sign in again every second until the platform answers.
-
hi does not validate the TLS certificate of the X Platform, so a self-signed certificate is accepted. Keep the management network trusted.
-
Feature availability on Appear platforms is license-file driven, so the same module can expose different capabilities on different chassis. See the Appear X Platform page for the product family.
-
A group password policy can expire the password of the hi account. An expired password must be changed at the next sign-in, or the account is blocked when the policy disables users with expired passwords. Appear applies password policies per group, so place the hi account in a group whose policy does not expire passwords, or renew the password and update it in hi before it expires.
-
hi hides IP inputs that belong to an ST 2110 group. These inputs do not appear in hi and cannot be routed from hi.
What's Not Supported
-
Media-profile authoring and media-plane diagnostics.
-
Appear account, product-license, fleet-management, firmware-update, or backup administration.
-
Reading X Platform alarms.
-
Changing IP output settings. hi reads IP outputs but does not change them.
-
ASI port direction and ASI input or output configuration.
-
LDAP accounts. The Appear API supports LDAP authentication, and hi signs in with a local account only.
Trademarks
Note
Appear is a trademark of Appear ASA.
All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. Copyright in third-party software and materials remains with the respective owners. Use of these names does not imply endorsement.
RIEDEL Communications is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially partnered with Appear unless explicitly stated.